- Source: Briery Church
Briery Church is a historic Presbyterian Church located at Briery, Prince Edward County, Virginia. While the congregation dates as far back as 1755, the present building was designed by Rev. Robert Lewis Dabney (1820-1898) and built about 1855. It is a one-story, board-and-batten covered frame structure with a T-shaped plan. It has a steep gable roof with overhanging eaves, three cross gables, and lancet window openings in the Gothic Revival style.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.
The first house of worship was built about 1760.
Among the early church leaders were Samuel Stanhope Smith, Drury Lacy, and John Blair Smith, each of whom served as presidents of Hampden-Sydney College. Samuel S. Smith also served as president of Princeton University (then known as College of New Jersey) and John B. Smith also served as first president of Union College in New York. In 1766, funds were raised as part of a plan to 'support the gospel' which enabled the purchase of slaves that were then rented out.
The church remains an active congregation. It belongs to the Presbytery of the Peaks within the Presbyterian Church (USA).
References
Further reading
Oast, Jennifer (2010). ""The Worst Kind of Slavery": Slave-Owning Presbyterian Churches in Prince Edward County, Virginia". The Journal of Southern History. 76 (4): 867–900. JSTOR 27919282 – via JSTOR.