When described in detail, the oaths taken by 18th-c VA officeholders were typically described as "the Oaths appointed to be taken by Act of Parliament* followed by a statement about "repeat[ing] and subscrib[ing -- i.e., signing] the Test"** {Language quoted from William Nelson's assumption of governorship in October 1770 in Van Horne ed Nelson Correspondence 37-38n} *Act I George I stat 2 cap XIII - oath of allegiance to George I and succession of his Protestant heirs ** The Test was a repudiation of transubstantion required by the Test Act of 1673 At the beginning of a general assembly session and when new burgesses entered the Assembly from by-elections, the journals refer more succinctly to the oaths.... George Washington signed a Test Act Oath about May 22, 1754 - the document is extant, or at least preserved by published photographs...... And in 1777 VA adopted its own (secular) Test Act requiring "free male inhabitants of this state above a certain age to give assurance of allegiance to the same [i.e. to the commonwealth]." - Hening Statutes 9: 281-83. PS to original query : not sure I would characterize *1780s* as a period of " vicious persecution" of any denomination in VA Jon Kukla ________________ www.JonKukla.com <http://www.jonkukla.com/> On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 10:28 AM, Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > According to the "Industrial and historical sketch of Fairfax County, > Virginia," (1907), in colonial times all county officials were > required to take the "Test Oath" denying belief in the > Transubstantiation of the Eucharist, a clause no Roman Catholic could > swear to. > > Henry Wiencek > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html