USA > South Carolina > History of the German settlements and of the Lutheran church in North and South Carolina : from the earliest period of the colonization of the Dutch, German, and Swiss settlers to the close of the first half of the present century > Part 7
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IN NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA.
" SOUTH CAROLINA.
" These are to certify whom it may concern, and in particular the Rt. Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lon- don, that the bearer, Bartholomew Zauberbühler, a native of Appenzell in Switzerland, appears to me on creditable testimony to have resided in this Province for the space of seven years last past, and during that time to have been of good life and be- havior as becometh a candidate for holy orders, &c., &c.,
" Signed, ALEXANDER GARDEN. "February 13th, 1743."
"On producing the said certificate his Excel- lency signed an order on the public Treasurer for the sum of £500, to be paid him on condition that the Treasurer take his written obligation to repay the said money upon his returning and settling in the Province, in case he does not bring over the Protestants he mentions."
The following counter-petition against Mr. Zau- berbühler from the Orangeburg settlers is found in vol. xi of Journals of Council, pp. 139-143, and dated March 6th, 1743 :
"Read the humble petition of the German and English inhabitants of Orangeburg and the adjoin- ing plantations, showing to his Excellency, to whom it is directed, that the petitioners heartily congratu- late his Excellency on his auspicious ascension to the government of this Province, hoping that by his judicious care and power not only their pres- ent grievances, but likewise all other misfortunes
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may evaporate and vanish. And ye said petition- ers humbly beg leave to acquaint ye Excellency, that above five years ago, the German minister hap- pening to die, Mr. John Giessendanner, by the con- sent and approbation of your said German petition- ers, went to Charlestown with the intention to make
his application to the Rev. Mr. Alexander Gar- den, Commissary, to admit him into holy orders, to preach in German in this township; and when the said Mr. John Giessendanner came to Charles- town aforesaid, he accidentally met with one Major
Christian Motte, who acquainted him that he ought not to trouble the said Rev. Alexander Gar- den with the affair, but to go with him to some certain gentlemen, who, if they found him suffi- cient, would directly give him orders according to his desire; upon which the said Mr. John Giessen- danner, being then a stranger to the English method of proceeding in such cases, accompanied the said Major Christian Motte, and was by him introduced to an assembly of the Presbytery, who, after examination, presented him with orders to preach, which he has since done in German con- stantly for the space of five years to the inexpressi- ble satisfaction of the congregation at Orangeburg; and about two years ago your said English peti- tioners, being fully sixty miles from any other place of divine worship, some of whom had not been favored with an opportunity of hearing a sermon in the space of seven years, observing the said Mr. John Giessendanner to be a man of learn- ing, piety, and knowledge in the Holy Scriptures,
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prevailed with him to officiate in preaching once every fortnight in English, which he hath since performed very articulate and intelligible to the entire satisfaction of ye said English petitioners, and always behaves himself with sobriety, honesty, and justice, encouraging virtue and reproving vice.
" And the said Mr. John Giessendanner lately observing great irregularities and disorders being committed almost every Sabbath day by some wicked persons in one part of the township, pub- licly reprimanded them for the same, which re- proof so exasperated them that they threatened to kick the said Mr. John Giessendanner out of the church if he offered to preach there any more, and have lately sent for one Bartholemew Zauberbüh- ler, a man who not long ago pretended to preach at Savannah town, but, as your said petitioners are informed, was soon obliged to leave that place and a very indecent character behind him. The last week he arrived at Orangeburg, and upon the last Sabbath, he, the said Bartholomew Zauber- bühler and his wicked adherents associated to- gether, and pretended that the said Bartholomew Zauberbühler had brought with him a power from the Hon. William Bull, Esq., late Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of this Province, his Majesty's Hon. Coun- cil, and the Rev. Mr. Alexander Garden, Commis- sary, an order to expel the said Mr. John Giessen- danner from the church, and to preach there him- self, and some of ye said petitioners demanded a sight of his said authority, but he refused to pro- duce it, which occasioned great animosities and
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disorders in the congregation, and when the said Bartholomew Zauberbühler makes his second ap- pearance at or near Orangeburg, which he declares shall be at ye expiration of three weeks, there will certainly be more disturbance and confusion than before, unless some powerful means be used to obstruct it.
" Whereupon your said petitioners most humbly beg that your Excellency will be pleased to inter- pose with your authority, and direct the said Mr. Alexander Garden, if he hath given or granted any such orders, to countermand them, and to per- mit the said Mr. John Giessendanner still to offi- ciate for them in divine service, free from any further disturbance or molestation, &c.
"Signed by John Harn, and above fourscore more subscribers.
" Ordered by Council that the consideration of this affair, and of the above petition, and those of Mr. Zauberbühler, be deferred until Mr. Zauber- bühler's return from England, and that ye Clerk acquaint them therewith in writing."
Fortunately, however, Mr. Zauberbühler had not yet departed on his journey to England as the Council had supposed, but had been lurking for awhile in Orangeburg District, and as soon as he returned to Charleston he once more made his appearance upon the floor of the Council chamber.
Journals of Council, Vol. XI, p. 143 : " Bar- tholomew Zauberbühler, being returned from Orangeburg Township, attended his Excellency in Council, and laid before him two written cer-
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tificates from justices of ye peace there in his favor, and which were read, representing his sobriety and good behavior, whereupon Mr. Zauberbühler was by his Excellency directed to wait again on Rev. Mr. Garden, and to learn if he has any objec- tions to his receiving orders in England, and to report the same."
Journals of Council, Vol. XI, p. 152: " Bar- tholomew Zauberbühler attended his Excellency, the Governor, in Council, according to order, whom the Governor gave to understand that he had not acted well in the exhibiting a certificate from the Township of Orangeburg, read at this Board on November 13th, 1742, seeing that under the notion of having an invitation to the ministry by the majority of that Township, there was, on the contrary, a later memorial laid before the Board, signed by near ninety of the inhabitants, and by far the majority of the Township, praying that Mr. Giessendanner, their present minister, might be continued to preach among them, and that Mr. Zauberbühler's going to preach in the said Township, and his design to be settled there as a minister, was not by their desire, on the con- trary, had occasioned no small disturbance in the said Township. That his proceedings with the Lieutenant-Governor and Council in ye said affair had not been with that candor that might have been expected from one who designed to take on him holy orders, and that, therefore, he ought to be contented with at least one-half of what had been paid him by ye Treasurer, and return the
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other £250, or, at any rate, to procure a joint se- curity of one residing in Charlestown that he would return the money in case he did not bring over the foreign Protestants mentioned, but that if he did bring them over the whole £500 should be allowed him; whereupon Mr. Zauberbühler withdrew."
After this action of the Governor and Council we read nothing more of Mr. Zauberbühler in the Journals of Council, and the Rev. John Giessen- danner was permitted to continue his labor as pastor in Orangeburg without further molestation.
The historical facts deduced from the above State papers are the following :
That the Rev. John Ulrich Giessendanner, Sr., who was the first pastor at Orangeburg, departed this life during the close of the year 1738, having labored there but little more than one year.
That his nephew, the Rev. John Giesendanner, became his successor some time during the year 1739, and that he was "a man of learning, piety, and knowledge in the Holy Seriptures;" he was probably educated for the ministry, but left Europe before he had been ordained; that, although a Lutheran in his religious persuasion, as we learn from other documents, he applied for ordination at the hands of any Protestant ministry who were empowered to impart the desired authority, there being at that time no Lutheran Synod in all the American colonies. That he was ordained by the Charleston Presbytery is certain, but that he was not a Presbyterian in faith is evident also, else he
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would not have endeavored first to obtain ordina- tion at the hands of the Protestant Episcopal au- thority, and only changed his purpose of becoming Episcopally ordained at the suggestions of Major Christian Motte, and doubtless also to avoid an expensive and wearisome voyage to Europe, which he would have been obliged to undertake had he insisted upon obtaining the requisite authority to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments either in the Lutheran or Episcopal Church.
That the first Orangeburg Church must have been built some time before the above-mentioned petition was written, A.D. 1743, as it is therein spoken of, as being then in existence.
That Rev. John Giessendanner labored faith- fully as a good servant of his Master, even bring- ing enmity upon himself for reproving vice; like- wise, that he preached in the German and English languages.
That the country in the vicinity of Orangeburg must have been sadly deficient at that time in the enjoyment of the usual means of grace, as many persons were living sixty miles from any other church, some having not heard a sermon preached for seven years; need we wonder at the irregulari- ties in faith and conduct manifested in those days.
That Rev. Giessendanner must have had a con- siderable congregation, inasmuch as the petition drawn up in his defence was signed by nearly ninety male persons, who were either all members of his congregation, or mostly so, and the remain- der his friends and adherents.
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That Rev. Bartholomew Zauberbühler must have sadly degenerated in the latter period of his ministerial life, as the Ebenezer pastors give us a very favorable account of him several years pre- vious in the Urlsperger Reports, when he first came to this country.
Rev. Giessendanner was affectionately remem- bered by the Church in Europe. Rev. Bolzius, in the Urlsperger Reports, Vol. III, p. 875, states : "I also wrote a letter to-day to young Mr. Gies- sendanner, the present minister in Orangeburg, informing him that a donation of about nine guilders had been collected for him in Switzer- land, of which a respectable merchant in Zurich writes, that as old Mr. Giessendanner had died, this amount should be paid over to his nephew. Also, that we will send him, as soon as possible, those books collected for him in Switzerland, which are sent in the chest for us, and which has not yet arrived.
"I would have been pleased to have sent him this money sooner had any safe opportunity pre- sented itself. I entreated him, likewise, to write to me occasionally, and inform me of the transac- tions of the departed Giessendanner, which may be of great service to him."
The name of Rev. Giessendanner occurs in sev- eral other paragraphs of the same Reports, but only in connection with the books and money above-mentioned; but nothing further is said con- cerning himself and his ministry, or that of his predecessor. He was probably prevented from
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imparting the desired information on account of the want of communication between Ebenezer and Orangeburg.
Rev. John Giessendanner labored ten years as a Lutheran minister, after which, in 1749, he went to London to receive Episcopal ordination at the hands of Rev. Dr. Sherlock, Bishop of London. The reasons for making this change in his Church relationship are not known; however, it is pre- sumable that, as he was then the only Lutheran pastor in South Carolina, he preferred to enjoy a more intimate connection with some ministerial organization than the one that was then afforded him in the bosom of his own Church; and although the Ebenezer pastors were also then laboring in the South, nevertheless they were somewhat dis- tantly removed from him, and dwelling in another Province. He doubtless also had his fears that some other Zauberbühler difficulty might harass him again, and thus, by taking this step, he would have all legal preferences in his favor, as the Church of England was then virtually the estab- lished Church of the Province.
He was united in marriage to Miss Barbara Hug, and became the father of several children, one of whom, a son named Henry, born July 3d, 1742, was still living in 1826, as he is mentioned in "Mills' Statistics;" and his widow spent the close of her life with one of her children residing in Georgia.
Henry Giessendanner was married to Miss Elizabeth Rumpf, February 25th, 1767; he re-
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corded the birth of but one child, Elizabeth, in his father's church-book, though he may have had more children, whose names were not entered there. This record-book likewise informs us that Rev. John Giessendanner had a brother and sister living in Orangeburg, named George and Elizabeth (afterwards married to a Mr. Krieh), and that the whole family were natives of Switzerland; hence also the money sent Rev. Giessendanner came from this country, as mentioned in the Urlsperger Re- ports. This concludes the history of the Giessen- danner family, as far as it is necessary for our pur- pose, and until recently it was not known that these two pastors were the first Lutheran minis- ters that labored in South Carolina-even their very names had become almost obliterated in the annals of the Lutheran Church. Dr. Dalcho yet adds this information, that Rev. John Giessen- danner departed this life during the year 1761.
The Orangeburg settlers at first clustered to- gether near the banks of the Edisto River, and built their dwellings near each other in the form of a small town, supposing that the adjacent stream would be advantageous in forming an outlet for them to Charleston, in the transportation of lum- ber to market. A year later other German emi- grants arrived, who located themselves on lands adjoining their predecessors, and thus this tide of immigration continued until the entire district be- came mostly colonized with German and Swiss emigrants. The present town of Orangeburg is located very near the spot where this original
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German village once stood. In this village the first Lutheran church in the Carolinas was erected, and there also the first Lutheran pastor of this congregation lived and died ; his nephew and suc- cessor, as is supposed by some of the present in- habitants, had his home several miles from the village, where he died and was buried.
Some half a mile from the centre of the present town of Orangeburg and towards the Edisto River there is a graveyard, which presents the appear- ance of having been a long time in use for the interment of the dead, and where the entombed generations of the present day are silently slum- bering with those of the past. It is still styled " the old graveyard," although there are many new- made graves to be seen in it; and here, doubtless, repose the remains of the first Lutheran pastor in the Carolinas.
During the evening twilight of autumn the writer visited this hallowed spot, in order to com- mune with the dead; the seared and faded leaves of October overhanging his head or rustling be- neath his feet; the peculiar sighing sound of the winds of autumn, passing through the foliage of the Southern long-leaved pine trees, produced Nature's sad and fitting requiem for the dead. He sought for records of the past upon some di- lapidated tombstone, but his search was unavail- ing, and, like the fallen leaves of many years past, even these mementos of a former age were no longer visible.
What lessons of the vanity of all human great-
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ness, namely : the power of wealth, the pride of family, the pleasures and gayeties of life ! All end at last in the grave-all alike blend in one com- mon dust.
Around this place, with the old church edifice very near it, the former village stood; they are both thus described by a correspondent : "The Orangeburg church was built of wood and clay, in much the same manner as chimneys are when made of clay; the old graveyard is still used as a burial-ground common to all; and the site of the church is still plainly seen-it is in the village, and was at that day in the centre of it. I have learned this likewise from an old gentleman who remembers hearing his father saying this as above. It fell to ruins at the time of the Revolution; but the spot has never been built upon since that day, and is now known as ' the old churchyard.' This church was the one used by the Rev. John Gies- sendanner as an Episcopal church, and no doubt used likewise by him at first as a Lutheran church; its dimensions were-say thirty by fifty feet."
The time when the old church edifice was erected is now no longer known, and can only be a matter of conjecture; however, it is possible that this event occurred during the elder Giessen- danner's ministry-the records do not positively state this to have been the case, nevertheless sev- eral indications are given which make it very probable that this was the time.
It became changed into an Episcopal house of worship in 1749, when the pastor, the younger
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Giessendanner, took orders in the Church of England, as he continued to labor there to the close of his life. At the time this change was effected, the congregation numbered 107 commu- nicants, and on Whitsunday following 21 persons more were admitted to the Lord's Supper.
In concluding the history of this congregation, we would simply add, that after Rev. Giessen- danner's death nothing further is known concern- ing it until 1768, when a new Episcopal chapel was ordered to be erected, and the Rev. Paul Turquand preached there in connection with another congregation.
During the Revolutionary War, Rev. Turquand was absent, and labored in the valley of the Mis- sissippi, but returned in 1788, when he resumed his labors in Orangeburg, and died the following year; since then no trace is left of the history of the church and its congregation.
The present Episcopal Church in the town of Orangeburg is of recent organization, and their house of worship is comparatively new, indicating that the old church edifice, the still later erected chapel, and the former congregation have long since become entirely extinct.
The existing Lutheran church and congregation in Orangeburg are of a still more recent date ; both the organization and church edifice have no his- torical connection with the past, made up of ma- terial in membership who have become citizens of the place not many years ago.
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Section 11. The German Settlers of Saxe-Gotha Town- ship, now Lexington County, S. C., A.D. 1737.
In Mills' Statistics of South Carolina, page 611, we have the following statement in reference to Lexington District (now County): "This District, when first settled, was merged in Orangeburg pre- cincts. A parish and township were laid out in about the year 1750, and named Saxe-Gotha, in compliment to the first settlers of the country, who came from that part of Germany."
An entirely different statement may be found on pages 25 and 26 of Dr. Hazelius' History of the American Lutheran Church; from which we learn that the name Saxe-Gotha originated in Queen Anne's time, and that the first settlers of that county "came from the neighborhood of the Rhine, Baden, and Würtemberg," kingdoms con- siderably removed from Saxe-Gotha.
But from the Journals of Council, in the office of the Secretary of the State, the date of the set- tlement of Saxe-Gotha by Germans is unmistak- ably fixed to be 1737, and that few, if any, of the first settlers of that county came from Saxe-Gotha.
Council Journal, vol. viii, p. 69: "May 26th, 1742 .- Petition of John Caspar Gallier and family, John Caspar Gieger and family, John Shalling and family, Abram Gieger and family, Jacob Liver and family, Julius Gredig and family, Caspar Fry and family, Conrad and Caspar Küntzler (now Kinsler), John Jacob Bieman and family, Herrman Gieger and family, Elizabeth
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Shalling and family, showing that, as they arrived and settled in his Majesty's Township of Saxe- Gotha, even since the year 1737, and received his Majesty's most gracious bounty of provisions and warrants for lands in Saxe-Gotha Township, but that they could not find in what office they are, therefore they humbly pray his Honor, the Lieu- tenant-Governor, and his Majesty's honorable Council, that they would be pleased to order that search may be made," &c., &c.
Again, under date 1744, "John Jacob Gieger arrived seven years ago, is now married, and prays for one hundred acres of land over against Santee River, opposite Saxe-Gotha, where he has already begun to clear ground and almost finished a house. Granted." Subtract seven years from 1744, and we have again the date 1737, the time of the first settlement of that township by Germans.
From the above reliable source of information we evidently perceive that Mills' statement is en- tirely incorrect, and that Saxe-Gotha Township was laid out and received its name long before the year 1750, as it is spoken of in the Journals of Council as early as 1742, as being then a town- ship and known by the name, Saxe-Gotha, and may have been so called, according to Dr. Haze- lius' statement, during Queen Anne's time, pre- vious to the year 1714, the time of her Majesty's death. However, the Council Journals likewise prove the Doctor to have been mistaken in stating that these lands were wrested from the Germans, for they settled there, and their descendants are
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there still, occupying the very lands which their forefathers had received by warrant from the king of England, showing conclusively that, inasmuch as their titles came directly to them from the first legal authority, these lands had not yet passed into other hands.
But it is possible that, as in the State of New York, the benevolent Queen Anne did make grants of land for church and school purposes in Saxe-Gotha Township, which, however, could not be occupied at the time, as the settlements in South Carolina had then not been extended so far inland; the Indians were still in possession of that portion of the province, and the grants and good intentions of the Queen were eventually lost sight of and forgotten. Afterwards, when the Germans did actually locate themselves in Saxe-Gotha, new warrants were issued and secured to them by the authority of the then ruling sovereign, his Majesty George II.
Independent of the actual accounts and dates of the settling of this township, we have before us the general rule that " Westward the star of em- pire takes its way," and that the farther westward or inland the settlements were made, the later will be the dates of such settlements. This is the result of natural causes, and admits of no excep- tions to the well-known rule; the first settlers of America necessarily located themselves along the seashore, afterwards a little more inland, whilst the aborigines, living in the forest, gradually re- ceded from the march of civilization; then further
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encroaches were made upon their territory, and so on, gradually, until the Appalachian chain of mountains was reached. After the Revolutionary War even the mountains formed no barrier to the settlements of the whites, and thus, in a short time, nearly all of America became populated, even be- yond the valley of the Mississippi.
Orangeburg, South Carolina, was settled by Germans in 1735; Saxe-Gotha, further inland, of necessity was settled still later; hence common sense will admit of no date of permanent settle- ment earlier than, or even as early as, that period of time.
Saxe-Gotha comprised nearly all that portion of territory embraced at present in Lexington County ; it is not many years since the name was changed, in honor of the battle of Lexington, Massachusetts, by an act of legislature, which was a most unfortunate exchange of names, being less euphonic, very inappropriate, and altogether un- historical. Give us back the old name, and may the citizens of old Saxe-Gotha, in South Carolina, never be ashamed of their German names and German extraction.
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