"Between 1750 and 1755 John Gerrard, a Baptist preacher of Maryland, is said to have gone to Berkely County VA and thence journeyed over the Blue Ridge into the present Loudoun 'where he found the people ready to listen to the proclamation of the gospel.' The first Baptist church in Loudoun (and perhaps in Virginia as well) was built at Ketocton in 1756 or 1757, according to tradition, to be followed by a stone building in 1815 and then, in 1856, by the present brick edifice.

"Until 1765 the Baptist congregations in Virginia were united to the Philadelphia Association but in that year obtained their dismissal and set about the task of building their own association in Virginia. Their first convention was held 'in Ketocton in Loudoun', the OLD CHURCH there thus giving the first Baptist Association in Virginia its name." Delegates John Marks and John Lloyd represented Ketocton at this convention. -- Legends of Loudoun by H. Williams

John and Uriah Marks were dismissed from the Montgomery Baptist Church August 12, 1761, to go to Virginia. Weiss' Colonial Clergy of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, in naming eighty-six Baptist clergymen from the Upper Northern Neck area, lists: John Marks from Pennsylvania to Loudoun County Virginia, 1756. The same date John Marks and Uriah were dismissed from the above church to go to Virginia, a Joseph Marks was also dismissed to Philadelphia. It is not known whether there is a relationship between John and Joseph, but there is no further record of Joseph Marks in Philadelphia Baptist churches.

"Elder John Marks moved from Pennsylvania into Virginia either with Mr. Garred or about the same time. He was rather at an advanced state of life when he came, but settling in a healthy country and being very temperate and regular in his life, he lived to be very old. He died about the year 1786 [sic] having from first to last maintained a spotless reputation for piety and steadiness. As a preacher he was sound and sensible, yet cold and phlegmatic. Being a poor man and obliged to labor for his support, his ministerial services were confined within a small circle. To this circumstance, added to his cold and dry method, may be ascribed his not being more successful." - Robert B. Semple's History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia, page 302.

John Marks bought land in Loudoun County in 1762 and 1763. He was instrumental in forming the Ketoctin Baptist Association. He worked with the other three churches in the Association, baptizing and ordaining ministers. In 1785 he gave up the ministry due to poor health.

John Marks died in 1788 and is buried in SHORT HILL CEMETERY, Round Hill, Virginia, in Loudoun County. His will was dated 31 January 1787 and probated 4 April 1788.
Loudoun County Will Book C.

The eight children of Rev. John Marks are as follows:

• Mary Marks, born 14 May 1742; died 5 Dec 1811, Loudoun County VA. Mary married Thomas Humphrey and they were the parents of twenty-one children, sixteen of whom lived to adulthood. See Denise Oliver-Velez's web site "Enslavement and Freedom".   Denise's great-grandfather Presley Roberts was freed from slavery in the will of Margaret Marks Humphrey, who was the wife of Marcus Humphrey, son of Mary and Thomas Humprey.

• Elisha Marks, born 26 Dec 1744; died 18 Oct 1805, Loudoun County VA. Elisha married Sarah Smith 10 Feb 1768; they were the parents of twelve children.

• Martha (Patsy) Marks, born about 1745; died 1 Apr 1817. Martha married William Howell and they had four children.

• Uriah (Ury) Marks, born about 1752; died before 1830, Wythe County VA. Uriah married Jenkin Williams; they had eleven children.

• Isaiah Marks, born 5 Apr 1755; died 20 Jan 1785 unmarried. He was a Captain in the 56th Regular Virginia Continental Line in the Revolutionary War. Isaiah Marks was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine; he also fought in battles at Monmouth, Stony Point, and Valley Forge. He is buried at SHORT HILL CEMETERY in Loudoun County, Virginia.

  In 1783 Isaiah Marks received four military grants of Kentucky land, each amounting to 1,000 acres. The land is described in the Master Index Virginia Surveys & Grants 1774-1791, p. 123: 1000 acres on Highland Creek; 1000 acres on the Tradewater River; 1000 acres on the Ohio River and Highland Creek; and another 1000 acres on the Tradewater River. This land is located in present-day Henderson and Union Counties of western Kentucky. SEE LAND WARRANT

  The will of Isaiah Marks is dated 20 Jan 1785; it was probated 8 August 1785 in Loudoun County VA. In his will, Isaiah Marks names his brother-in-law Thomas Humphrey and his brother Elisha Marks his executors. Also named are cousins John Humphrey and Abner Humphrey; brother Thomas Marks; sister Ury Williams' two oldest sons; brother John Marks; brother Abel Marks; and sister Mary Humphrey. One thousand acres of Isaiah's land in Kentucky was left to the two Williams brothers, sons of his sister Uriah. The other three thousand acres was to be divided equally between brothers Elisha, John and Thomas and sister Mary.

  A portion of this original survey is still being farmed in Henderson County Kentucky by descendants of Isaiah's brother John Marks II. Alexander Crooks, the great-great-great-great nephew of Isaiah Marks, is the present owner of Brandywine Farm, which is located near Corydon, Kentucky. The farm still boasts the original "ghost flower" or yucca plants that John Marks II brought here from Virginia and planted. BRANDYWINE FARM, was designated a Bicentennial Farm by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1992.

• Thomas Marks, born about 1756; died 1832 Henderson County KY; was a Revolutionary War veteran. Thomas married (2) Keziah and they had many descendants, one of them my great-great grandfather Thomas Manuel Marks, who married Margara Jane Higginson, the great-granddaughter of Thomas Marks' brother John Marks II.

• John Marks II, born before 15 Jul 1753; died 24 Sep 1821, Henderson County KY; was a Revolutionary War veteran. John married Rachel and they had many descendants, one of them my great-great-grandmother Margara Jane Higginson, who married Thomas Manuel Marks, the grandson of John Marks II's brother Thomas Marks.

• Abel MARKS, born 20 Mar 1760; died 1817, Loudoun County VA. Abel married Mary Liddleton and they had eleven children.

My sincere gratitude to cousins Jean Marks of Salem, West Virginia, Rush Ashe of Barefoot, Florida, and Pearlene Melton Johnson, who all helped me get started with this line.