John "Swearing Jack" Waller (1741-1802) My 5th Great Grandfather on My Father's Side Part 1

John Waller's headstone in the Waller-Hackett
Cemetery from Find-A-Grave website

John Waller was born two days before Christmas in 1741 in Spotsylvania, Virginia. He is possibly our most famous or notorious ancestors, having made a name for himself as a Baptist preacher. John was the son of Captain Edmund Waller (1718-1771) and Mary Pendleton (1720-1880).

He was the eldest of seven children. He had three brothers William Edmund, Benjamin and Leonard James Mourning Waller and three sisters Mary, Dorothy Jemima and Nancy Ann Waller.

When he was 18, he received a gift of 100 acres from his parents in St. George’s Parish in Spotsylvania County. When he was 24, he married Elizabeth Ann Curtis, daughter of Rice Curtis and Susanna Brock. That was in about 1765. See my blogpost on Elizabeth to learn about their children. Two years after they were married John sold a 92-acre piece of property in St. George’s Parish to Larkin Chew for 12 pounds. This was a piece of property that had been given to his wife Elizabeth by her uncle Henry Pendleton.

When John was a young man he developed a reputation as having a satirical wit. This caught the attention of his uncle Benjamin Waller who encouraged John to study for the law. John completed grammar school and went on to study the dead languages. According to a biography of John written by Robert Semple in 1810, “His uncle’s death, and his father’s narrow resources, added to his own unbridled inclinations to vice, prevented him from finishing even his classical education.” Instead of studying the law of the land, John took up the gaming table. Semple continues, “Letting himself loose to every species of wickedness and profanity, he quickly acquired for himself the infamous appellation of, Swearing Jack Waller and the Devil’s adjutant”. Apparently, he was up to so much mischief that at one point there were three warrants served on him at one time.

At some point John heard Mr. Lewis Craig preach and he was taken by the manner in which Craig spoke. He was so impressed by Craig that he decided he wanted to practice the same religion and began to attend Craig’s meetings. John found the Holy Spirit and his life changed. John “saw and felt himself a sinner. He now, for the first time, except in blaspheming, began to call upon the name of the Lord. His convictions were deep and pungent. He fasted for seven or eight months and was almost in despair.” 

John Waller's main church still exists and is very
active.

As the Baptist church gained followers the decision was made to start several new churches. One was located in lower Spotsylvania County and John was chosen to serve as their first pastor. The church was consecrated on December 2, 1769 at which time it had 154 members. Depending on the source, John was either ordained on January 2 or June 20^th of 1770. John continued serving as pastor at that church, which became known as Waller’s, until 1793 when he and his family moved to South Carolina.

John had been preaching even before he was ordained and his doing so was strongly opposed by the official church. This resulted in his been arrested and put in prison multiple times. On June 4, 1768, Semple wrote, “he was imprisoned for the first time with Lewis Craig, James Childs and others. They were bound for 1000 pounds and held for 2 days. At court they were arraigned as disturbers of the peace. During their trial, "they were vehemently accused, by a certain lawyer, who said to the court, "May it please your worships, these men are great disturbers of the peace, they cannot meet a man upon the road, but they must ram a text of scripture down his throat." Mr. Waller made his own and his brethren's defense so ingeniously, that they were somewhat puzzled to know how to dispose of them.  They offered to release them, if they would promise to preach no more in the county, for a year and a day.  This they refused; and, therefore, were sent into close jail.”

This photograph is posted on the website for a Baptist History
tour in Spotsylvania. There was no caption. I believe it is
a depiction of Baptists being tried in court.

In November of 1770 John and his associate John Burris were preaching together and, "they continued preaching at, and near the same place, for three days; great crowds came out: Waller baptized five. Persecution began to rage. Some said they were deceivers; others that they were good men. On the second day, a magistrate attempted to pull Waller off the stage, but the clergyman of the parish prevented it. The next day, a man threw a stone at Waller while he was preaching; the stone missed Waller and struck a friend of the man that threw it..."

In May of 1771, John was appointed as the first Clerk of the Separate Baptists Association. The meeting took place at Craig’s Meeting House in Orange County, Virginia. On May 8, 1773 he was reappointed at their meeting held at Dover’s Meeting House in Goochland, Virginia. One year later they met again in May of 1774 and John was appointed to his third term as Clerk. The minutes of that meeting also noted that the largest congregation in Virginia was the church headed by John with 188 members. That meeting took place at the Fauquier Meeting House in the Northern District.

Historic sign about John's close associate William
Webber, pastor of Dover Baptist Church

John was arrested again on August 10, 1771 along with three other preachers – William Webber, James Greenwood and Robert Ware. The police had a warrant and instructions to arrest anyone who was preaching. They were tried by James Montague. “They first searched their saddlebags, to find treasonable papers; finding none, they proceeded to trial, taking them one by one, into private rooms, proposing to them, to give bond and security not to preach in the county again. Each of them expressly refused and the four were ordered to prison, and being conducted by two sheriffs, they were safely lodged in close jail that night, about 9 o'clock. The prison swarmed with fleas ; they borrowed a candle of the jailer; and, having sung the praises of that Redeemer, whose cross they bore, and from whose hands they expected a crown in the end; having returned thanks that it was a prison, and not hell that they were in ; praying for themselves, their friends, their enemies and persecutors.”

The jail in which Waller, Ware, Greenwood and Webber were confined was in the village of Urbana, at that time the county-seat of Middlesex.  A neat and commodious chapel, consecrated to the free service of God, now stands within a few feet of the spot on which the jail stood, and here a vigorous Baptist church are wont to meet statedly for worship. From a letter written by John Waller and dated " Urbana Prison, Middlesex County, August 12, 1771,"

Piscataway Baptist Church - one of many John was
associated with

On March 13, 1774, the day that the Piscataway Church was being constituted John was again arrested along with several others. “The men however, from first to last of their imprisonment, preached twice a week, gave much godly advice to such as came to visit them, read a great deal, and prayed almost without ceasing. In their stated devotion, morning, noon, and night, they were often joined by others. They continued in close confinement from the 13th to the 21st of March, which was court day. Being brought to trial, they were required to give bond and security for their good behavior for twelve months, or go back to prison. Ware and Shackleford gave bond and went home; Waller being always doubtful of the propriety of giving any bond whatever, determined to go back to jail.”

John was appointed as an Apostle for the area north of James River in October of 1774. On May 27, 1775 John was elected to his fourth term as Clerk and for the first time they named a second clerk, John Williams. During the meeting “The following query first occupied their attention: "Is salvation, by Christ, made possible for every individual of the human race?" The debate on this query took up the whole of Monday. Every thinking man in the Association felt himself seriously interested. Most of them spoke to it, more or less. The weight of talents and influence seems to have been on the Arminian side. Samuel Harriss, Jeremiah Walker, John Waller, and many other distinguished preachers stood forward and zealously, as well as ably, supported the argument in favor of universal provision.” One of the central tenants of the Arminian followers is the belief that all men can be “saved”. This contracted with the belief held by many that God preordained who could be saved.

This plaque describes the Baptist Association meeting of
August 15, 1775. It is signed by John Waller, Clerk

These battles that John was engaged in over religious freedom were a central issue during the American Revolution. In the revised edition of the “History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia”, 1894, Rev. G.W. Beale explains: “The discontents in America, arising from British oppression, were now drawing to a crisis; most of the colonies had determined to resist, and some went for independence. This was a favorable season for the Baptists. Having been much ground under the British laws, or at least by the interpretation of them in Virginia, they were to a man favorable to any revolution by which they could obtain freedom of religion. They had known from experience that mere toleration was not a sufficient check, having been imprisoned at a time when that law was considered by many as being in force. It was therefore resolved at this session to circulate petitions to the Virginia Convention or General Assembly throughout the State in order to obtain signatures. The prayer of these was that the church establishment should be abolished, and religion left to stand upon its own merits, and that all religious societies should be protected in the peaceable enjoyment of their own religious principles and modes of worship. They appointed Jeremiah Walker, John Williams and George Roberts to wait on the Legislature with these petitions. They also determined to petition the Assembly for leave to preach to the army, which was granted.

The next meeting of the Baptist Association was held in Louisa County at Lower Goldmine Church in August of 1776. Divisions among the members were an issue. It was at this time that John declared himself an independent Baptist, he withdrew from his Calvinist brethren and adopted the Arminian doctrine.

Jacobus Arminius, founder of the Arminian branch of the
Baptist Church which John followed

“After they met, John Waller was appointed to preach, and took his text from I. Corinthians 13th and 11th. He had fully embraced the whole Arminian system, and was determined to preach it at every risk. Being called to account before the Association, he and all his adherents withdrew from the Baptists and immediately set up for independence.

This was an exceedingly sorrowful time. Waller was held high in estimation among the Baptists. Serious consequences might reasonably be expected. The Association, however, took such measures as were within their power to prevent unpleasant effects.

It appears that it was agreed at this Association to divide into four districts—probably such a division as afterwards took place in 1783, viz., two south and two north of James River. But as this division was not permanent, we shall pursue the narrative by attending to the whole under one view, as if no such division had taken place.”

Waller’s own church in Goochland was the site of the next general committee of the Association held on March 7, 1778. There were two primary issues up for debate. First was, “whether the new Federal Constitution, which had now lately made its appearance in public, made sufficient provision for the secure enjoyment of religious liberty; on which, it was agreed unanimously that, in the opinion of the General Committee, it did not.” And, second, “whether a petition shall be offered to the next General Assembly, praying for the sale of the vacant glebes. After much deliberation on this subject, it was finally determined that petitions should be presented to the next General Assembly, asking the sale of the vacant glebes, as being public property ; and accordingly four persons .were chosen from the General Committee to present their memorial, viz. : Eli Clay, Reuben Ford, John Waller and John Williams.” Note: A glebe is cultivatable land owned by the parish; selling this unused land would be a source of income for the churches.

Waller's Church building, still an active parish

At the central committee meeting held on Saturday October 1783 there were thirty-seven delegates in attendance including most of the active preachers in Virginia. John Webber served as moderator, and John Williams as Clerk. John Waller and Reuben Ford were appointed as delegates to the General Assembly and asked to present a memorial.

They met again at Waller’s meeting house on the second Saturday in May of 1780 but no account of that session is available. According to Frontier Baptist Preacher, Baptist Encyclopedia published in 1888, around 1787 John decided to rejoin his original churchmen. “That same year a very great revival began under his preaching and continued for several years, spreading far and wide.”

At the August 11, 1788 meeting of the General Committee, held at Duprey’s meeting house, a recommendation to build a seminary of Baptist learning was introduced by Rev. James Manning. A committee of five from each side of the James River was assigned to study this and included John Waller. At that same meeting they made a decision to publish a History of Virginia Baptist – thank heaven they did; otherwise this post would be much shorter and less interesting.

Sources for the 4 post on John Waller: John Waller’s Last Will and probate papers; History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia by Robert Semple Rev. Rev. G.W. Beale; A Crane's Foot by E. Stuart Gregg, Jr; Virginia County Records Spotsylvania Co. 1721-1800, Transcriptions from Original County Records Wills, Deeds, Admin & Guardian Bonds, Marriage Licenses and List of Rev. War Pensioners; Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia by John Frederick Dorman; DAR Record, Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol. 071; Greenwood County Sketches by Margaret Watson; FindAGrave website; 1800 census; Rootsweb website.