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Church of the Blind Preacher

Church of the Blind Preacher is a Virginia historical marker in northern end of Gordonsville, Orange County, dedicated 1929.

Orange County · dedicated 1929 · Rte. 15, northern end of Gordonsville

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Near here was the church of James Waddel, the blind Presbyterian preacher. Waddel, who had been a minister in the Northern Neck and elsewhere, came here about 1785 and died here in 1805. William Wirt, stopping in 1803 to hear a sermon, was impressed by Waddel's eloquence. He made it the subject of a classic essay.

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Church of the Blind Preacher

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