|
States of America | 4 | 645
_Methodist bodies_:[17] | |
Methodist Episcopal Church | 19 | 1,179
Methodist Episcopal Church (South) | 21 | 1,716
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church | 1 | 45
_Presbyterian bodies_: | |
Presbyterian Church in the United | |
States (South) | 4 | 345
_Protestant Episcopal Church_ | 7 | 416
_Reformed bodies_: | |
Reformed Church in the United States | 1 | 140
_Roman Catholic Church_ | 1 | 60
-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------

[Footnote 17: Leesburg had, until a year or so ago when it was razed,
one of the oldest Methodist churches in America. The building, a large
stone structure, long abandoned, with galleries around three sides,
stood in the midst of an old Methodist graveyard in which are
tombstones more than a century old. It was built, according to report,
in 1780.

Leesburg is the oldest Methodist territory in the bounds of the Baltimore
Conference in Virginia, and it was here that the first Methodist
Conference held in the State convened May 19, 1778.]

Historical.

FORMATION.

In 1742, Prince William County, a part of the stupendous
Culpeper grant, was divided and the county of Fairfax created
and named in honor of its titled proprietor. Commencing at
the confluence of the Potomac and Occoquan rivers, the line
of demarcation followed the latter stream and its tributary,
Bull Run, to its ultimate source in the mountain of that name,
from which point it was continued to the summit of said
mountain, pursuing thereafter a direct course to the thoroughfare
in the Blue Ridge, known as "Ashby's Gap."

In 1757, Fairfax was divided and the territory west of its altered
boundary christened "Loudoun County." The new line followed the stream
called Difficult Run, from its junction with the Potomac to its
highest spring-head, and from that point was continued in a direct
line to the northeast border of Prince William County. This boundary
was afterwards changed and the present line between Loudoun and
Fairfax substituted (see "Boundaries," page 17).

The following are excerpts from the proceedings of