Parents: {of St. Paul's Parish, Stafford, VA.}

- Townshend Dade (Sr.) [1707-1777] (1781 was his will's probate date)

- Parthenia (Alexander) Dade [1709-1781]

Married Mary Ann (Simmons) on August 31, 1784 in Montgomery County, MD. She was the daughter of Samuel Simmons and Elizabeth Simmons, born on August 8, 1765 in Trefaldwyn, Md, and died June 29, 1837 in Kentucky.

Children:

- Elizabeth (Betty) Dade [1788-1794]

- Robert Townshend Dade [1786-1873]

- Parthenia Anne Dade [1791-1792]

- Parthenia Anne Dade Ross [1794-1828]

- Eleanor Dade [1797-1864]

Note:

First Episcopalian Minister of Christ Church in Alexandria, VA. Source

From his wife, Mary Simmons, came a tract of several hundred acres in the upper part of the county near Boyds where the house was built. The house still stands. Source

Note:

Two hundred years of Dade family ownership of "Friends Advice" {Boyds, MD} began in 1792, when the Reverend Townshend Dade purchased 345 acres of "Resurvey on Friends Advice" for £630. Reverend Dade's residency in Montgomery County came after three decades of religious and revolutionary activities in Virginia. In 1765 the 23-year-old Dade, whose ordination had been sponsored by family friend, George Washington, became the rector of Falls Church and of a small Episcopal "Chapel of Ease" of Fairfax Parish near Alexandria, Virginia. When the congregation completed Christ Church in Alexandria in 1773, Reverend Dade became its first rector.

Reverend Dade was an active participant in early revolutionary events. With his father, he signed the "Resolutions of the Patriots of the Northern Neck of Virginia," drawn up by Richard Henry Lee to protest the Stamp Act; in 1774 he was recorded as a member of the Fairfax County committee. In 1778, Reverend Dade resigned* and relocated in Loudoun County, Virginia. Visits to relatives and occasional preaching led Reverend Dade to Maryland, where his marriage in 1784 to Polly Simmons of Piney Hill (present-day Boyds) settled them in Montgomery County by 1792.

By 1792, the Dades had two children and twice that number of slaves. Reverend Dade practiced medicine and occasionally married couples upon request, but was not affiliated with any church. To the original acreage, he added 120+ more, as well as a stone spring and diary house (1806), tobacco barns, and other buildings necessary to a growing plantation. He continued to live at Friends Advice until his death in 1822.

Contrary to popular belief, Rev. Dade did NOT perform the eulogy of his friend, President George Washington, at Mount Vernon. It was performed by the Fairfax Parish rector at that time, Rev. Thomas Davis.

Revolutionary Patriot 1775-1783

D.A.R. #: A029285

*Note

"Old Churches of Virginia", vol. 2

We proceed now to such notices as we possess of the ministers of Fairfax parish. For these we are indebted to the vestry-records. The Rev. Townshend Dade was ordained for this parish by the Bishop of London in 1765, and entered upon his duties in the following year or perhaps sooner. It is more than probable that he was the son of Mr. Townshend Dade, who appears on the list of the first vestry, or of Mr. Baldwin Dade, who was a vestryman at a later date, and owner in part of the land on which Alexandria was built. We are sorry to be unable to make a favourable report of the Rev. Mr. Dade. In the year 1768, the vestry discuss the question of examining into some alleged misconduct of his, and decide against it, five members entering their dissent from the decision. In the year 1777, a committee is appointed to wait upon him to know why he neglects his congregation. Some months after, the committee is enlarged and directed to take further steps. The result was his resignation and relinquishment of the glebe and rectory. [Historically, there may have been a gambling problem]

See "The Reverend Townshend Dade (1741/42 - 1822): Minister, Father, Patriot" by William R. Gann

Death Notice

Baltimore Patriot Feb 12, 1822

DIED - On the 2d of February, the Rev. Townsend Dade, at his seat in Montgomery county, Md. in the 80th year of his age, after a lingering illness, which he bore with Christian patience.

Dedication of the Fairfax Resolves plaque

February 6, 2022

Today, February 6, 2022, on this 200th anniversary of the death of Rev. Townsend Dade, Jr. (1742-1822), the Fairfax Resolves Chapter, Virginia Sons of the American Revolution, along with the Gen. William Smallwood Chapter, Maryland Sons of the American Revolution, dedicated a plaque in honor of Rev. Dade's signing of the Fairfax Resolves in 1774 which claimed equal rights for colonists under the British constitution, rejected the British Parliament's regulation and taxation without colonial representation, and called for the colonies to govern themselves with their own assemblies with the blessing of the British Crown. Just as important, the Resolves called for the end to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The ideals of the Resolves regarding self-government helped pave the way for American independence once relations between the British government and its colonial subjects irreparably collapsed.

STATEMENT:

David Huxsoll

President, Fairfax Resolves Sons of the American Revolution

"We gathered today to commemorate the life and service of Reverend Townshend Dade, Jr., one of 25 signers of the Fairfax Resolves, a set of resolutions adopted by a committee in Fairfax County in the colony of Virginia, in the early stages of the American Revolution, and the namesake of our SAR Chapter.

These resolutions, written by George Mason at the behest of George Washington, rejected the British Parliament's claim of supreme authority over the American colonies.

They contained:

• a concise summary of American constitutional concerns on such issues as taxation, representation, judicial power, military matters and the colonial economy

• a proposal for the creation of a nonimportation effort to be levied against British goods

• a call for a general congress of the colonies to convene for the purpose of preserving the Americans' rights as Englishmen

• and a condemnation of the practice of importing slaves as a "wicked, cruel, and unnatural trade"; its termination was urged

When the Fairfax Resolves were adopted on July 18, 1774, they were considered "the most detailed, the most influential, and the most radical" of their time.

Today's event is a special one for a couple of reasons. First, today marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Reverend Townshend Dade, Jr. It also marks the first plaque dedication for a Fairfax Resolves signer. This effort began in the Fall of 2018 when the 1774 Society was founded as an initiative of the Fairfax Resolves Chapter.

The 1774 Society was charged with:

• Educating the public about the Fairfax Resolves

• Marking the graves of the signers

• and commemorating the 250th Anniversary in 2024

On behalf of the Fairfax Resolves Chapter, SAR, I welcome you to this dedication ceremony."

STATEMENT:

Lucas Ginn, President

Gen. William Smallwood, Maryland Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution

"The Reverend Townshend Dade, Jr. lived at a momentous time. He fomented and witnessed the casting off of colonial subjugation and the creation of a nation on the principles of self-government that continues to inspire people of lands near and far. As Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, we have the duty to uphold the memory of our nation's founders and the ideals they espoused. Though more than two hundred years separates us from the Revolutionary era, our gathering today is a reminder that we walk in the footsteps of our Founders. Their history surrounds us and must not be forgotten. Thank you for joining us today to honor our past, inspire the present, and inform the future."