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M.C.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02301 0652
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HUGUENOT CHURCH, CHARLESTON. S. (.
THE
FRENCH PROTESTANT.
0
E
(HUGUENOT)
1
CHURCH IN THE CITY OF CHARLESTON,
SOUTH CAROLINA.
1510676
APPEAL
OF
The French Protestant (Huguenot) Church,
IN THE CITY OF CHARLESTON, S. G.
The French Protestant Church, of Charleston, South Caro- lina, a sketch of which accompanies this paper, was founded more than two centuries ago by emigrants to South Carolina, driven from their homes by persecution for their faith and later by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
Its sister Churches, established by their fellow refugees in various portions of the Colony gradually succumbed to the wasting force of time, and the formation of new ties and asso- ciations, and have ceased to exist. The Congregations founded by their co-religionists in the other Colonies of America have also become scattered and have passed away. So this Church remains the only distinctive Huguenot Congregation in all this broad land. During these centuries of its existence, the Huguenot Church in Charleston experienced all forms of dis- aster-flood, fire, invasion, earthquake. By the blessing of God and the earnest, faithful devotion of its founders and their descendants, it has preserved its existence. The tablets upon its walls, the tombs and graves in the cemetery around it com- memorate the names, and embalm the merits of the first em- igrants and of their descendants, who sleep within its shadow. Sunday after Sunday within its sacred walls is repeated the simple and beautiful liturgy brought by their fathers from the vine clad hills and fertile valleys of France, and the songs of Zion which gave hope, confidence and endurance to Hugue- not Martyrs, resound within its walls. The struggle for its life was hard, earnest, sustained by undying faith and sup-
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ported by unfailing courage. But these years of endurance and suffering have made their mark. The funds which sustained the Church have grown smaller. The fortunes of its supporters have been impaired or wrecked. The necessities of the times have prevented the congregation from giving the pecuniary aid which it needs, and they are now threatened with the sad necessity of closing their Church forever. To prevent this calamity, they have determined to make one last effort. They seek to establish a permanent fund by means of which their Church may be preserved through all time, as the memorial of the virtues, the suffering, the heroism and the martyrdom of their Huguenot fathers. A memorial, not in stone and bronze, but a living temple of God, in which shall sound ever praise and prayers to the great Father who has so miraculously preserved their ancestors and them- selves, in which shall be preserved and taught the simple tenets and the holy faith, which nerved the arms and strengthened the hearts of Huguenots in time of disaster, famine, perse- cution, rapine and ruin. A living memorial of the truth of the Gospel, shedding its light, and extending its beneficial influence abroad.
To this end they cordially and affectionately invite the aid of all descendants of Huguenots in this and in other lands, asking their liberal co-operation and assistance in this holy work. sacred and dear to them as well as to themselves. The fund will be carefully invested and religiously preserved. The Church can thus be made a monument in all the coming years to the children of Protestant France, of the grand endurance. and sublime courage of their forefathers.
HENRY A. DESAUSSURE CHARLES H. SIMONTON. WM. C. RAVENEL, M. D., ISAAC HAMMOND, JAS. S. MAZYCK,
Committee.
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HUGUENOT CHURCH. CHARLESTON. S. C.
1
THE HUGUENOT CHURCH, CHARLESTON. S. C.
FOUNDED 1681 -. 2
Huguenots were strangely a part of the very beginning of American history. The first Protestant settlement upon this Continent was that of Jean Ribaut, within the present limits of South Carolina. When the colony failed, from Provi- dential causes, and the permanent occupation of the State was adjourned for more than a century, we find Huguenot names among the immigrants who came in 1670, with the first English Governor, William Sayle.
The first child born in New York City was Jean Vigné, and the first born in Albany, New York, was Sarah Rappelyea-children of Huguenot parents. Peter Stuyvesant, the famous Dutch Governor of New York, married Judith Bayard, the daughter of a Huguenot minister, and the Gover- nor's sister, in turn, married a Bayard. The Vice-Governor of New York, DeLille, was a Huguenot. In 1670, one- fourth of the population of New York City were Huguenots.
The Pilgrim Colony of Plymouth, Massachusets, was of date 1620, and among the passengers of the Mayflower, who formed that colony, was one who has been regarded as the typical Puritan Maiden-Priscilla, the heroine of history, romance, poetry and art; the Priscilla of Miles Standish, John Alden and the poet Longfellow-Priscilla Molines, the daughter of William Molines, a Huguenot.
John Esten Cooke, the historian of Virginia, says of the Huguenot colony which came to that State in 1699-"They infused a stream of rich and pure blood into Virginia society."
In 1680, the date of the settlement of the present City of
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Charleston. South Carolina, a colony of Huguenots arrived there, having been sent out by the English Government to cultivate oil, wine and silk. But the larger immigration came in 1685-6. when French Protestants flocked to the State in great numbers. They formed four settlements, one in the City of Charleston, and the other three in the country. Each of these settlements had its Church. The people were remark- able for their piety, industry and probity, and for the harmony and identity of feeling and interest in which they lived.
The three Churches of French Protestants outside of the city were, after a time, merged in the established Church of the colony. The Church of England became established in 1706. Too poor to sustain, uninterrupted, by their own reli- gions ordinances, subject to great disabilities had they been able; offered support for their Church and minister by the established Church, they gradually yielded. Practically, they did not conform to Episcopal authority until after the decease of their Huguenot ministers.
The Huguenot Church established in the City of Charles- ton, however, retained its autonomy and identity, and continues to this day. Its first recognized Pastor was Elias Priolean. who Hed from France at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685; but there is the strongest reason for believing that the Church in Charleston was in full existence at the time of his arrival, and that it was served by a pastor who had come out with the colony in 1680, or soon thereafter. Fleeing to the new world for the privilege of free worship, it is scarcely necessary to have documentary proof of the fact that they organized themselves into congenial Church relations without a moment's needless delay. The will of Cæsar Moze, made in 1687, bequeaths a sum of money to the "Church of French Protestant Refugees, " then existing, and the purpose of the bequest is to aid in the establishment of another Church in the country. Since that early period, the Huguenot Church of Charleston has continued, under a long succession of Pastors, until it is now-1898-the only Church on this Continent
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which retains the distinctive features of the Huguenot service. The Spiritual concerns of the Church are managed by a Consis- tory, composed of the Pastor, and a bench of Elders, elected by members of the Corporation. 3 Its temporal concerns are controlled by the Corporation. The Confession of Faith was composed by John Calvin, and is that adopted by the Reform- ed Church of France in 1659. A liturgical form has always been used in the Church. The liturgical form first adopted is believed to have been that of the Church at Geneva. After the fire of 1740, which destroyed all the records of the Church, the Liturgy of Neufchatel and Vallangin was adopted, and is still in use. From the year 1816 to 1819, the French lan- guage was partially disused-preaching alternating between this and the English. This gave much dissatisfaction, and a return to the exclusive use of French was made. But that tongue had largely ceased to be spoken or understood, espec- ially by the young, and, therefore, in 1828, it was determined to employ only the English tongue in the service.
The French Liturgy was referred to a committee of eminent gentlemen for translation. This translation is that which has ever since been used in the Church. Some changes were made in the order and aranagement of the liturgy of Neufchatel and Vallangin, and some additions, copied from the book of the French Church in London and kindred sources. Some occasioanl and concluding prayers were supplied. The sources from which the Book of Common Prayer was furnished were laid under tribute. As the Reformed Church of France had no burial service-their funerals being in silence, and at night, because otherwise prohibited by the Government, the committee had either to prepare one entirely new, or adopt one already in use. They chose the Scriptural and impressive burial service of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Following the example of the Church of France, this Church has always kept Christmas, Good Friday and Easter.
The present beautiful and chaste Church edifice is believed to be the fourth upon the present site-the others having
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given way, in turn, to new ones, and one being swept away in a great fire which visited Charleston. The Church now used for worship is purely Gothic in architecture, and chaste and classic in all its appointments. It was competed and occu- pied in May, 1845. Its interior is adorned with nmral tablets of great beauty and interest. One to a generous benefactor of the Church in later days, Mr. J. F. D. Lanier, of New York City. and this stone also records the munificent gift of his son, Mr. Charles Lanier, for the restoration of the Church building after the earthquake of 1886. An elaborate and beautiful stained window. also erected by the Hon. Elihu B. Washburne. our embassador at Paris during the horrors of the French Com- mune. commemorates the name of his wife, the grand daughter of General Gratiot. the companion in arms of the illustrious Huguenot. Francis Marion.
MURAL TABLETS IN THE HUGUENOT CHURCH, CHARLESTON, S. C.
1699-REV. ELIAS PRIOLEAU. Dedicated to the memory of ELIAS PRIOLEAU, Minister of the Gospel according to the doctrines of the Reformed Church of France. A native of Pons in Saintonge. He was one of the Emigrants, who, on the Rev- ocation of the Edict of Nantes, sought freedom of conscience in South Carolina. When he commenced his Ministerial labors in France is not known; but some of his Manuscript addresses, still preserved, show that he was engaged in them in 1677. In this country he continued those labors as Minister of this Church. His father, Samuel Prioleau, son of Antonio Prioli, was born in Venice about 1618; was educated in France, where he embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, and became a Minister of Christ, first at Rochelle, and afterwards at Pons, at which place he died in 1683. The Rev. Elias Prio- leau died in the autumn of 1699, at his farm on Midway, now Back River, in St. James Goose Creek; and there, his remains repose. This tablet is erected by several of his descendants, worshippers in this edifice, built on the site of that in which he preached. 1850.
1735-1770-1835-ISAAC MAZYCK, AND HIS SONS, ISAAC AND PAUL MAZYCK. In memory of ISAAC MAZYCK; born at St. Martin, in the Isle of Rhé, 11th of June, 1661, left France in 1685, in consequence of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantz, settled in South Carolina in 1686, and died ?th of March, 1735; and of his eldest son, ISAAC MAZYCK; born in Charleston, 6th of March, 1700, died 25th of July, 1770. He was many years a leading member of the Provincial Assembly, and was appointed one of the Assistant Judges of the Province in 1740. Their remains were interred at the East end of the old French Pro- testant Church, and are now covered by this building. This monument is erected in obedience to the testamentary direc- tions of PAUL MAZYCK, sixth son of the latter, who was born 4th January, 1744, and died 6th June, 1835. His remains are deposited in the cemetery of this church.
1716-LOUIS GOURDIN. LOUIS GOURDIN, the ancestor of the family of Gourdin in South Carolina, was born in the Province of Artois, France, a Huguenot, and on the Revocation of the Edict of Nantz in 1685, a refugee, he came to the Province of .Carolina, settled on the Echaw, near the Santee River, and died
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in 1716. Time has consigned to oblivion his virtues and his frailties: nevertheless, venerating his steadfastness to prin- ciple, and grateful that, under the Divine guidance, he has given them an inheritance in a land blessed with civil and religious liberty, the fourth and fifth generations of his descendants dedicate this tablet to his name and memory. "The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places." 1860.
1726-1927-ISAAC PORCHER, M. D., AND HIS WIFE, CLAUDE CHERIGNY. In memory of ISAAC PORCHER, M. D., a native of Severe. Province of Berry, in France; and of his wife, CLAUDE CHERIGNY, a native of La Roche Posay, Touraine. Attached to the faith professed by the French Protestant Church, they sought a refuge from persecution after the Rev- ocation of the Edict of Nantes, first in England, and afterwards in the Province of Carolina, where they found a home in the Parish of St. James, Berkeley County. After a union of forty- four years and eleven months, she died September 10th, 1726, aged sixty-five years and four months; he died March, 1727. This tablet is erected in pursuance of the intention of Samuel Porcher, of St. Stephens, their great grandson. 1859.
PETER CHARLES GAILLARD-Fifth in descent from PIERRE GAILLARD. the Huguenot, of Poitou, France. Born December 29th, 1812, died January 11th, 1889. An Elder of this Church. 1861-1865, Colonel 27th Regt., S. C. V. C. S. A. 1866, Mayor of Charleston. "The memory of the just is blessed."
1761-ANTOINE DE SAUSSURE AND HENRI DE SAUSSURE. AN- TOINE DE SAUSSURE, Seigneur de Dommartin, et de Monteuil, near Amance. France, having embraced the principles of the Reformation. abandoned his dignities and estates in Lorraine, and fled with his family from persecution into Switzerland in 1551, where he was an influential advocate of the Protestant faith. He took a bold and active part in the cause of the Refor- mation at Metz, Strasbourg, Geneva and Neufchatel; from the latter of which this church derives its Liturgical Services. Between John Calvin and himself there existed a close friend- ship, as evinced by their reciprocal letters still preserved by the branch of the family residing at Geneva. His descendants continue true to the Reformed Faith: one of them, HENRI DE SAUSSURE, removed from Lausanne, Switzerland, to South Carolina, in 1730, and settled as a planter in Beaufort District, where he died in 1761, highly esteemed and respected. A monumental stone near Coosawatchie, marks the place of his sepulture, and attests the filial piety of his children. In the
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war of the Revolution his four sons, and a grandson, took an active part. In the cause of Independence, Louis and Thomas died on battle-fields; Henry from disease caused by exposures of the camp; Daniel, the eldest son, was a member of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, and was one of the exiles to St. Augustine after the Capitulation of Charleston, in 1780; while his son, then a youth of seventeen years, after- wards Chancellor Henry Wm. deSaussure, was at the same time confined on board a British Prison Ship in Charleston Harbour. In veneration of men thus devoted to civil and religious liberty, their descendants and relatives have erected this monument. 1859.
1736-ELIAS HORRY. To the memory of ELIAS HORRY, the vener- able ancestor of the Horrys of South Carolina. He was born in France in the year 1664, and was the son of an Elder of a church in Paris, who died a martyr, for the Protestant faith, when the Edict of Nantes was Revoked by Louis XIV in 1685. Escaping the persecution, he fled to Holland, thence to En- gland, and came to South Carolina about the year 1690, and settled near the Santee, in the Parish of St. George Winyaw, where he resided forty-six years. He died in Charleston on the 25th of September, 1736, aged seventy-two years, and was buried in the cemetery of the French Church. "The South Carolina Gazette," which records his death, states that he was "one of the oldest settlers in theProvince, and who, by his merits and services to the country, had left behind him a very good character." Elias, the son of Thomas, and grandson of Col. Elias Horry, erects this monument to the memory of his great grandfather. 1825.
1799-DANIEL HUGER. In memory of DANIEL HUGER, born in South Carolina February 20th, 1741; died July 6th, 1799.
1873-DANIEL RAVENEL. DANIEL RAVENEL, son of Daniel Rav- enel, of Wantoot, in St. John's Parish, Berkeley, and Cath- erine Prioleau, his wife, was born the 26th October, 1789, and died in this city the 7th September, 1873, in his 84th year. From early youth to latest age he obeyed the Commandments of God and the precepts of, Jesus. Religion assimilated his spiritual nature, sanctifying the passions, the affections, the intellect, and he was righteous, pure and holy amid the trials and temptations of life. He walked humbly with God. His Christianity was catholic, and the charities of his heart widened and deepened as he grew in years. The moral and material interests of his native State and City had always his enlightened support. In manners grave, yet genial in · temper, warm and steadfast in friendship, sincerely courteous, his influence refined and elevated society. Of Huguenot
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lineage. descended (through the emigrant Rene Ravenel, of Bretagne. and the Rev. Elias Prioleau, in 1686, Pastor at Pons, in Saintonge, and probably the first Minister of this Church) from Pastors and Elders of the Reformed Church of France, the stern adherence of his ancestors to their Protestant faith stirred the chivalry of his soul; he venerated the Church for which they suffered; its tenets satisfied his judgment; the spirituality of its simple worship was in harmony with his religious nature: the solemnity of its quiet Ritual, with his deep reverence when communing with God. The revival of this ancient Church was a fixed purpose of his life : his intellect, his theological and ecclesiastical learning, his force, when heart and judgment concentrated their strength, fitted him for the work, and when the time for its accomplishment had come, he was. under Providence, the chiefest human instrument through which prayer, thanksgiving and praise ascend once more from this Church of our fathers to their and to our God. He assisted in the translation of the Liturgy. Thirty-eight years an Elder, and. for the last twenty-seven, President of the Church, his wisdom guided its councils. in difficulties of organization, his piety and moderation bound it together in harmony. To per- petuate the remembrance of this life, with gratitude to God that it was largely dedicated to its service, the Church lovingly erects this monument. 1880.
1852-ST. JULIEN RAVENEL, M. D., Aetat LXII. Chemist, Naturalist, Philosopher. His delight was in Science; Know- edge was more to him than Fame and Fortune. His labors en- riched the community. His discoveries were free to mankind. The Agricultural Society of South Carolina, grateful for his work and example, erect this memorial of his genius and worth.
JAMES F. D. LANIER, of New York. Born November 22, 1800, at Washington, Beaufort County, No. Ca. Died August 27th, 1881. This tablet commemorates a generous benefactor of this Church, and perpetuates within its walls the name of his son, CHARLES LANIER, also of New York, who gave munificently to its restoration after the destructive earthquake of 31st August, 1886. 1887.
STAINED GLASS WINDOW.
In Memoriam. GRATIOT WASHBURNE. Born at Galena, Illinois, May 6, 1849. Died at Louisville, Ky., Dec. 17, 1886.
In Memoriam. ADELE GRATIOT WASHBURNE. Born at Galena, Illinois, Nov. 12, 1826. Died at Chicago, Illinois, March 18, 1887.
RULES
OF THE
FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH
IN THE CITY OF
CHARLESTON, S. C.
ADOPTED AFTER REVISION,
MARCH 7TH, 1869.
PRESS OF WALKER, EVANS & COGSWELL COMPANY, CHARLESTON, S. C. 1898.
1510676
RULES
OF THE
french Protestant Church,
IN THE CITY OF
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.
PREAMBLE·
The church now recognized in law, by the corporate name of "The French Protestant Church in the city of Charleston, " was founded by French Protestant Christians, who having left France to avoid the persecution which followed the Revocation of the Edict of Nantz, in the year 1685, sought civil and reli- gious liberty in South Carolina. Its tenets are contained in the articles entitled "Confession de Foi, faite d'un commun accord par les Eglises reformees du Royaume de France." And its government and discipline were, as far as local circum- stances permitted, in accordance with the principles laid down and explained in the book entitled "Le discipline Ecclesi- astique des Eglises Reformees de France." Its worship was liturgical . The book used, as far back as memory extends, is an edition in quarto, entitled "La Liturgie ou la Maniere de Celebrer le Service Divin , que est établie dans les Eglises de la Principaute de Neufchatel et Vallangin. Scconde Edi- tion. Revue et a Corrigee a Neufchatel, chez Jonas Gallandre & Compagnie, 1737."' The psalmody of the church was con- ducted according to the book entitled Les Pseaumes de David, mis en rime Francoise, par Clement Marot et Theodore de Beze: in which Book the Psalms are set to music. But the worship of the church, for a long time subject to interruptions,
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in consequence of the necessity of procuring Ministers from Europe, had for years been suspended, partly for the reason just stated. but chiefly on account of a gradual dispersion of the families of members among churches in which the ser- vices were conducted in English. This being the language of the country, had become the language of the descendants of the French. A corresponding change in the services of the church was not made in due time. Its necessity, slowly admitted. eventually led to measures for effecting a translation of the Liturgies into English; which work having been accom- plished. an edition was printed, by order of the Corporation, in 1836.
The church owns an ancient endowment from the Lords Proprietors of the Province of Carolina, of two lots on the East side of King street in Charleston, designated in the Plan of the town by numbers 92 and 93;1 also the lots at the South east corner of Church and Queen streets, supposed to form the original site of the church. and to have been acquired by purchase.
On part of the latter, a new and more commodious House of Worship, on the original site and partly on the foundation of the former house, was commenced in 1844, completed in 1×45 and dedicated to the service of God on the 11th of May. in the latter year.
Thus provided with means, with a pure and scriptural liturgy in a language familiar to us, and with a convenient edifice, this ancient church again gathered a congregation deeply interested in its history and prospects, to whom divine wor- ship and sacred instruction, according to the forms and prin- ciples of its founders, have been afforded.
But experience has shown that some changes are necessary and proper in the system under which the revival of our ser- vices was commenced.
In humble trust. therefore that the blessing of God will
The necesities of the Church forced the sale of these lots about 1507
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rest on the right use of the means and privileges vouchsafed to us, the following rules are adopted.
ARTICLE I.
Liturgies to be used.
The services of this Church shall, in accordance with former usage, be conducted with an established Liturgy. When conducted in the French language, the Liturgies of the Churches of Neufchatel and Vallangin shall be used as heretofore, with the omission or alteration of such parts as are inapplica- ble to our local and civil relations. When conducted in the English language, the Liturgies used shall be those contained in the book prepared by a Committee of the Corporation, entitled "The Liturgy of the French Protestant Church, translated from the editions of 1737 and 1772, published at Neufchatel, with additional prayers carefully selected, and some alterations; arranged for the use of the Congregation in the City of Charleston, S. C., printed at Charleston, by James S. Burges, 1836"or in such new and amended edition of the same as shall have been approved and authorized by the Con- sistory of this Church, and also by the Corporation.
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