USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. I pt 2 > Part 13
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We have inserted. these extracts from Mr. Simpson's journal chiefly because they exhibit the sad, desolating, brutalizing, and demoralizing effects of war. The war of the Revolution, especially in South Carolina, was a civil war in which, in many communities, neighbors were against neighbors and kinsmen against kinsmen. If the same results do not follow the war in which we are now embarked, it will be contrary to the whole experience of mankind, and a signal instance of the merciful intervention of the Most High. [Written in 1864.]
Mr. Simpson remained in this country until May, 1784, when he sailed from Savannah for Scotland, to rejoin his family. While in Savannah he writes to Mr. Jolin Lambert as follows :
468
HIS RETURN TO SCOTLAND.
[1780-1790.
"SAVANNAII, May 3d, 1784.
" MY VERY DEAR SIR :- I take this opportunity of a gentleman going to Charleston, who has promised to leave this at Mr. Patterson's, to write you a few lines. I hope Hercules" [his servant] "returned safe with the horses, who would let you know that I got safe to Burysburg the day after I left you, but was very much fatigued. On the next morning, being the twentieth of April, I sent Hereules back, and got to this place about four o'clock that afternoon. I have been indisposed since I came liere, but rather owing to my fatigue than otherwise. I have preached these two last Sabbaths to numerous and well- behaved audiences. Infidelity and wickedness prevail much in this town and the State in general ; yet there is a considerable number of very serious people both in this place and the country, who show a great desire to obtain the gospel. There is at present no minister of any denomination in this place, and I am told there is not an ordained minister in the whole State. I am every day engaged in baptizing the children. I enelose you a memorandum of the books and offices in which the deeds, titles, and grants for my lands in the State of South Carolina are recorded. I am much hurried to sail to-morrow morning."
The following is the last record in Mr. Simpson's journal as contained in the volumes now preserved in the Charleston library : Saturday, March 13th -- "Put my things aboard Capt. Rankin's vessel ; am to pay ten guineas. Capt. Rankin goes first to Savannah." On March 22d he arrives at Savan- nah. "Walked into town, which has suffered much by the late war. Visited my old friend Mr. Zubly's meeting-liouse, which is in a very ruinous condition, and has a chimney in the 'middle of it, having been an hospital. Mr. Zubly died some years ago, having in his last days acted a very inconsistent part, changing sides from Congress to the British, and died despised by both; yet I am persuaded he was a real good man and that he is now in the kingdom of heaven. I also visited the Church of England, which is also in a very ruinous condition. * * March 28th, went up in the canoe of Mr. Mannus, who lives at Black Swamp, about thirty miles above Purysburg. Left four guineas and the key of his chest and trunks with Capt. Rankin, who provided him with two bottles of rum, a large piece of boiled beef, and several large biscuit; got to Purysburg about eight at night; stopped at a poor, mis- erable house at the north end of Purysburg, where Hercules and the horses were." Apparently Mr. Simpson makes a visit to his plantation while Capt. Rankin's vessel, bound for Scot- land, waits at Savannah.
These are the last notices we have of Mr. Simpson in his relations to South Carolina. He still occasionally wrote to his friends here, as we learn from a letter of James O'Hear, of Charleston, to John Lambert, then of Newport, Liberty county, Georgia, whither he had removed. On Mr. Simpson's return to Scotland he was appointed to the church in the town
469
FRENCH CHURCH, CHARLESTON.
1780-1790.]
of Renfrew, where he is believed to have died near the close of the century. One of his daughters died in early life at Port Glasgow, where Mr. Simpson preached before his visit to America. The other married Adam Johnston, of H. B. Majesty's Customs, afterwards collector of the ports of Green- och and Port Glasgow. She also died young, leaving an only child, Archibald Simpson Johnston, who, upon arriving at age, came to South Carolina, and died in 1819, leaving one daugh- ter and five sons who, in 1858, still survive. Mr. John Lambert, wlio first planted with Mr. Simpson on Mr. Simpson's land, and afterwards managed his plantation, left his estate in Lib- erty county, Georgia, whither he had removed, to trustees, for religious and charitable purposes, to be kept intact in all coming time, its interest only to be expended by the trustees. He also left to Rev. Mr. Gourlay a legacy of sixty pounds, of which he came into possession in 1799. Mr. Simpson was a godly man, an earnest preacher, laborious and faithful in all the duties of the ministry, and a blessing to the church while he lived.
CHAPTER II.
FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH, CHARLESTON .- The condition of this church during the period of the British occupation of Charleston is unknown to us. Probably its worship was sus- pended, as in the other churches. On the withdrawal of the British it must have been resumed. On the 12th of March, 1783, three months after the evacuation of Charleston, it was incorporated by the legislature, under the name of the " Cal- vinistic Church of French Protestants." The Rev. Bartholmi Henri Himeli, its former pastor, returned from his visit to Switzerland in 1785, and on the 23d of November was re-elected to the pastorate of this church. The record in the register of the church is as follows : "Le Ministre Himeli, ayant passe une douzaine d'annes dans sa Patrie, il est returne à Charles- ton, et il a été élu de nouvau Pasteur de l'Eglise françoise de cette ville, le 23me Novembre, 1785." He continued pastor of this church till 1789.
The PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH on EDISTO ISLAND obtained a charter on the 26th day of March, 1784. In 1790, January 20th, the Rev. James Gourlay, William Knox, Thomas Cooley, and James Wilson, and the Presbyterian church of the city of
470
EDISTO .- JAMES AND JOHN'S ISLAND. [1780-1790.
Charleston, the Presbyterian church of Edisto Island, the Pres- byterian church of Black Mingo, and the Independent Pres- byterian church of Prince William's, were incorporated by the legislature as "The Presbytery of Charleston," for the purpose of holding funds for the relief of the widows and children of the deceased Presbyterian ministers belonging thereto. Of the ministers named, the Rev. Thomas Cooley, a native of England, was pastor of the Presbyterian church of Edisto. He continued in this relation through this period and until 1790 .- (Statutes at Large, vol. viii., p. 158; Ramsay, vol. ii., p. 559.)
The history of the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH on JAMES ISLAND is hidden from us through this period. The last minister offi- ciating in its pulpit named in any document before us is Hugh Alison, mentioned by Mr. Simpson in 1770. During the Brit- ish occupation of Charleston the island lay at their mercy. Just before the occupation of the island by the British, M.r. Alison returned with his family to Charleston, where he died of consumption in 1781 or 1782. The church seems to have set up its banner after the war of the Revolution. It sought a charter from the State legislature, and obtained it on the 17th of March, 1785 .- (Statutes, vol. viii., p. 127.)
The church and congregation of JOHN's ISLAND were greatly disturbed by the movements of the British. The inhabitants, who resided on their plantations in the winter, in many in- stances lived in Charleston in the summer, and were counted as members of the congregations there. This, we have seen, was the case with Thomas Legare, the elder. As we have re- lated one incident of his Revolutionary history, which occur- red on John's Island, we will here relate another which befel his family while living elsewhere :-
" After Mr. Legare's capture on John's Island, and exchange, he removed his family for greater safety to one of his plantations in St. John's, Berkley, near Monk's Corner. The Rev. Dr. Percy, of the Episcopal church, and his family. Mrs. Percy's sister, Miss Rinchea Elliott, and Miss Baker, accompa- nied them, and all lived together under Dr. Percy's care till after the fall of Charleston. The Rev. Dr. P., though an Englishman, was friendly to Amer- ica, and even from the pulpit used liis eloquence to encourage a spirit of pa- triotism among the people. While there residing, Lieutenant-Colonel Wash- ington, in command of the regular cavalry of the American army, about three hundred in number, charged with covering the country and keeping open the communication between it and the town, was surprised by Colonels Tarle- ton and Webster on the 14th of April, 1780. About twenty-five Americans were killed or taken. As the attack was made about three o'clock in the morning, the fugitives, under cover of the darkness, fled to the neiglibor- ing swamps, in which they were hidden for days. A day or two after the defeat, a poor woman, Mrs. Gibson, went to Mr. Legare's and told them some
1780-1790.]
TROUBLES .- THOMAS LEGARE. 471
half-starved American soldiers, 'bloody as hogs,' as she said, had gone to her house and begged for food, but she had none to give. 'Then do send them here,' exclaimed Dr. Percy; 'we have enough and to spare! The next day several heads were seen peeping from the bushes. Mr. Legare's house was at the fork of the road, and Dr. P. immediately put on his ministerial robes (which was the sign agreed on with Mrs. Gibson by which they should know him to be a friend), and walked into the road, hoping his garb would encourage the soldiers to approach him. An officer with two of his aids came out of the woods and asked assistance. Dr. P. asked them into the house, and the ladies met them at the door with kind greetings. Miss Rin- chea Elliott, stepping forward, eagerly asked, 'Can you tell us, sir, what has ·become of dear Colonel Washington ? With a polite bow, the officer re- plied, 'I am that unfortunate man, madam.' 'O dear!' exclaimed Miss Elliott, blushing, and drawing back, for they were both unmarried at that time. Colonel Washington then said, 'I thank you for all your kindness to me, but most of my suffering men have not tasted food for three days, and now lie faint and exhausted in the woods.' 'Send and call them here,' said Dr. P .; we have had a large supply of food prepared already, and can relieve their wants.' On a given signal the soldiers came out of the woods in every direction, and while the ladies and servants busied themselves in serving out refresliments to the hungry and grateful soldiers, Dr. P. walked up and down the road as sentinel, to give the signal of alarm should the enemy appear in sight. Soon after this, as the family were sitting at breakfast, the approach of Mrs. Gibson was announced. She was always the bearer of ill news, and a feeling of anxiety seized the whole party. She exclaimed, 'Good people, have you heard the news? Charleston has fallen, and the devilish British soldiers have cut to pieces all the men, all the cats, all the dogs, and now they are coming to kill all the women and children !' Terrified by her incoherent statement, the ladies looked ready to faint, and Dr. P. criel, 'For shame ! Mrs. G., do you not know that Mrs. Legare's husband and son are in Charleston, and you will frigliten her to death by your wild talk.' 'Bless you, good woman,' replied Mrs. G., 'I have a husband and four sons there, too, and God only knows if any of them live.' In the course of a few days Mrs. G. received information that her husband and her four sons had been killed during the siege.
"After the fall of Charleston Mr. Legare again became a prisoner on parole. He obtained permission in the month of June to visit his family, from whom he had heard nothing for months. He walked up to St. John's, Berkley, and found them all well and still supplied with all the necessaries of life. The next morning a troop of Tarleton's brutal corps rode up to the house and took away every eatable they could find. In vain the ladies pleaded to have some of the provisions left for them; and Mr. Legare taking his and Dr. Percy's children, carried them to the commanding officer and asked if he would leave all of them to starve. Coldly eyeing the group of children, the officer re- plied, with an oath, 'Rebels had better starve than the king's troops.' They were thus obliged to remove to Charleston, where the small-pox was then pre- vailing. Before leaving they innoculated every member of the household who had not had the disease."*
* Mrs. Flud's MS. Hist. of the Legare Family. The Col. William Washi- ington referred to here, was born in Stafford county, Virginia. He com- manded the cavalry at the battle of Cowpens, and contributed much to the victory, and received, in compliment, a sword from Congress. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Eutaw Springs. He resided at Sandy Hill after the war, the residence of his wife, Jane Elliott. In 1798,
.
472
WILTON .- REV. MR. HENDERSON. [1780-1790.
We have recorded the preceding as relating to a family whose possessions and home were for the most part on John's Island, although the incidents occurred in another locality, as illustrating the hardships of the times, and because they were honorable to Dr. Percy, a man of catholic spirit and a true patriot. After the war this church, like others, sought to reestablish itself, and obtained, March 17th, 1785, an act of incorporation from the legislature of the State, under the name of " The John's Island Presbyterian Congregation."
Previous to the Revolution, James Latta, jr., was minister of this church. When his ministry ceased is unknown. The next in succession was Rev. Mr. Drysdale, whose character was not wholly unexceptionable, and with whom there was great dissat- isfaction, which probably terminated his connection with this church about 1790. Drysdale was of the Irish clergy men- tioned by Dr. Witherspoon .- (See also the answer of Rev. Elipha White and Kinsey Burden, in the case of the John's Island church, in chancery, in 1840.)
The PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH at WILTON .- Mr. Henderson continued to be the minister of this church through the war of the Revolution. According to Mr. Simpson, he took up arms against the British as a soldier in the ranks, but afterwards took British protection. "He is again," says he, " preaching at Wilton." In 1784 the church was incorporated under the style of "The Presbyterian Church at Wilton, in St. Paul's parish." -- (Statutes at Large, viii., 126.) In January, 1786, Mr. Henderson died. In a letter from James O'Hear of Charleston, to John Lambert, dated January 28th, 1786, (now in possession of John B. Mallard, one of the trustees of the "Lambert estate," Liberty county, Georgia), Mr. O'Hear alludes to Mr. Henderson's death, and mentions other things connected with the religious history of that day :
" I am sorry," he says, " that I have to communicate to you the melan- choly news of the Rev. Mr. Henderson's death, who departed this life at Will- town on the 18th of this month, of nervous fever. It seems he got his fatal fever by going over Pon Pon river, to marry Miss Glover. This, methinks, seems an awful dispensation of God's visible displeasure with our land in gen- eral, more especially the people of Willtown. God seems to be avenging upon them a slighted gospel, for I believe no set of people about this State showed more carelessness or indifference about the word preached than they have done of late. I speak from what I myself saw of them the two or three months I was up there just before the evacuation of Charleston, and if it was so then, when the ordinances of God's house had been almost everywhere a long
General Washington, of whom he was a relative, selected him as one of his staff, with the title of brigadier-general. He died in South Carolina in 1810.
473
REV. JAMES WILSON, SEN.
1780-1790.]
while suspended, by the calamities of the war and wickedness, nothing better could be looked for from them sinee they have enjoyed peace and tranquillity ; yea, I fear they have gone into a state of profound supineness and sinful ease in matters of so great concern. Here, in Charleston, we are more highly fa- vored with the gospel sound (not because we are better or more deserving than those above deseribed, but because God's grace is unrestrained. 'He showeth mercy on whom he will show merey, and whom he will he harden- eth.') I may say every church in this place now has a stated ministry, be- sides which, there are several preachers of the Methodist sect, who lecture a'most every night at the old Baptist meeting-house. At the new Baptist church they have a Mr. Furman, at present only on a visit, but I learn there is a great probability of his being settled with them, and it is much to be wished that he may, for he is certainly a most excellent gospel minister. He has an evening lecture every Wednesday and Thursday. I have heard him often, and methinks never a better, or at least, that I was ever more sensible of. Certainly, my dear sir, you will join with me in considering the state of the church here as an instance of God's merciful visitation,-the residue of the Spirit is with him. O, join with me, dear sir, in petitioning the Throne of Grace, that it may please the Lord of the Harvest that the word of the gospel may be accompanied with an abundant effusion of the Spirit, that many souls may be brought into Christ's vineyard." * * *
The lamentation of Mr. O'Hear over Mr. Henderson's death leads us to presume that he was a true and faithful minister of Christ, for the loss of none other would be grieved over in such terms by so sincere a child of God. Mr. Henderson's pas- toral connection with this church was long, in comparison with others.
In January, 1787, Mr. Paul Hamilton, in his report on the state of the church funds, informs us that Rev. James Wilson was employed, to whom the trustees allowed the use of the parsonage, negroes, £100, and the pew rents; and that on these terms Mr. Wilson continued for the years 1787 and 1788. -(Rev. J. L. Girardeau's MS. Hist.)
The Rev. James Wilson, sen., thus referred to, was received in 1785-1786 by the presbytery of New York as an ordained minister from Scotland, on testimonials produced by him from the presbytery of Irwine, and was dismissed in 1787-1788, in order to his settlement at Wilton in South Carolina .- (Minutes of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, pp. 516, 543.) In 1789 some strange resolutions were adopted by the congrega- tion releasing Mr. Wilson from his connection with the church, on the ground of the inadequacy of his support; and the Rev. Mr. Taylor was employed on the same terms for the years 1789 and 1790.
Of the Presbyterian church of CAINHOY we have ascertained nothing, save that the house of worship was used as a hospital by the American forces at the siege of Charleston .- (Moultrie's Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 62.)
474
BEAUFORT .- FIRST CHURCH, CHARLESTON. [1780 1790
The PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH in BEAUFORT .-- We are not able to trace this church through the ten years, from 1780 to 1790. One of its main supporters, Daniel de Saussure, had removed to Charleston, the troubles of the Revolution supervened, and this organization may not have survived them.
The FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH in the city of CHARLESTON. -We lack the means of tracing the history of this ancient church through the ten years that are before us. Mr. Simpson, on his arrival from Scotland, on the 8th of September, 1783, finds his friend, Daniel de Saussure, formerly of Beaufort, who had suffered severely during the war, living in Charleston, from whom and his family he received a hearty welcome. He is waited upon by Dr. Ramsay, with most pressing invi- tations to preach, in the name of the Independent church, which in this invitation he represented. This he engaged to do. In this connection he speaks of " the place of worship, formerly called the White, or New England meeting-house, be- longing to what was then" [during his former residence in Carolina] " called the Independent Congregation, but now the Independent Church, as being almost in ruins. The Scotch meeting-house," says he, "has the pulpit standing and some pews left, and, though otherwise much abused, yet may be preached in with decency. The Presbyterian congregation who usually worshipped in this place are much broken up and scattered, the most of that congregation having joined the British and gone off with them when they evacuated this town. The Independents have applied to such of this con- gregation as remain and get the use of their meeting-house for me while I stay in the place." He notices with pain the increase of profaneness in the public streets of Charleston, and the general decadence of piety. He says the Independ- ent church was first made a hospital, then a stable, during the British occupation. The Scotch church was a place for the Roy- alists from the country to live in, and is in some better order. The members of the Presbyterian church are few in number, and not yet concerned about public worship. Outside of the churches infidelity and deism prevail in the most open and avowed manner. As might be expected, he found Charleston much altered by the war, whole lanes and streets in ruins. Means were used, however, by the Independents first, whose numbers were least affected, to reorganize and restore their former order and worship. And in December, 1783, while in the country, he receives a letter from Mr. O'Hear, informing him that the Presbyterian church would be nearly ready by the 1st
475
1780-1790.]
REV. JAMES WILSON, JR., PON PON.
of January, 1784, that his return to the city was most earnestly desired, and that the Rev. Mr. Hollingshead, the minister for the Independent church, is come with his family. Mr. Simp- -son returned to Scotland ; and we are not informed at what exact time the First Presbyterian church of Charleston was able to resume its stated worship. In enumerating the ministers of this church, as far as they could be recollected, Dr. Ramsay's Hist., vol. ii., p. 25, places the name of Graham between those of Hewatt and Wilson.
Mr. James Wilson, junior, to distinguish him from James Wilson who settled at Wilton, was taken under its care as a candidate from Scotland, by the presbytery of New York, in 1784-1785, and his credentials were laid before the synod of New York and Philadelphia in 1785, and approved. He was ordained and installed on the 10th of August, 1785, as collegi- ate pastor of the united churches of Wall-street, the Brick, and Rutgers-street churches in the city of New York, being a licentiate when he arrived in this country. He labored in this charge three years, when, being affected with a pulmonary complaint, he was dismissed by the presbytery before May, 1788, in consequence of his having accepted a call from this congregation .- (Minutes of the Synod of New York and Phil- adelphia, pp. 507, 516, 543; American Quarterly Register, by Bela B. Edwards, vol. viii., p. 325.) We may therefore locate, for want of more authentic information, the pastorate of Mr. Graham somewhere between the years 1784 and 1788.
The presbytery of Charleston, or as it is more often called, the presbytery of South Carolina, Dr. Ramsay represents as dissolved during the war of the Revolution. "It was constituted," he says, at an early period of the eighteenth century, agreeably to the principles and practice of the Church of Scotland, but during the Revolutionary war was unfortunately dissolved by the death or removal of the ministers constituting it, and all its books and records were lost or destroyed."-(Hist. ii., p. 26.)
BETHEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND CONGREGATION OF PON PON, St. Bartholomew's parish, Colleton, enjoyed the minis- terial labors of Rev. James Gourlay as their stated supply until 1786 or 1787. After this the church was probably de- pendent on casual supplies. Among the sufferers through the tyranny and bad faith of the British during the war was Col. Isaac Hayne, an influential and prominent member of this church and congregation. His father was also of the same name, and was first a deacon, then a worthy and prominent elder, from 1739 to 1751, when he died. Isaac Hayne, the son, married a
476
ISAAC HAYNE, "THE MARTYR."
[1780-1790.
daughter of the Rev. William Hutson, pastor of Stoney Creek, and subsequently of the Independent church, Charleston. He was greatly beloved by the community in which he lived, and when a company of volunteers was raised near his residence in the beginning of the war, he was unanimously elected its cap- tain. He was subsequently named as colonel of the regiment, but, as he believed, through the intrigues of others, failed of being elected. He resigned the commission he held in dis- gust, and returned to the ranks, where by his exemplary zeal and obedience he contributed much in a private capacity to its discipline and efficiency. After the surrender of Charles- ton he returned to his seat west of the Edisto, under the terms of the capitulation, which permitted the militia "to return to their respective homes as prisoners on parole ; which parole, as long as they observe it, shall protect them in their prop- erty." Meanwhile Sir Henry Clinton had issued an extraor- dinary proclamation, ordering all militia prisoners on parole, not taken by capitulation or in confinement, to become British subjects or return instantly to the commandant of Charleston. Col. Ballingall of the royal milita, in the district of Hayne's residence, waited on him and communicated the orders he had received. Hayne plead his inviolability under the capitu- lation ; represented that the small-pox was then raging in his family; that all his children were ill with it; that one of them had already died, and that his wife was on the verge of dis- solution. He declared that no human force should separate him from his dying wife. A discussion followed, which was ter- minated by a written stipulation, by which Hayne agreed to " demean himself as a British subject so long as that country should be covered by a British army." Hayne repaired to Charleston, presented himself to Brigadier Patterson, with the written agreement of Ballingall, and solicited permission to re- turn home. The request was sternly refused, and he was told that " he must become a British subject or submit to close con- finement." To Dr. Ramsay, then a prisoner with the army, he communicated the conflicting emotions which agitated him, his unwillingness to submit to the tyrannical demand, and yet his wife and family were requiring his presence and support. He felt compelled, under this duress, for their sakes, to sub- scribe a declaration of his allegiance to the king of Great Britain, but not without expressly objecting to the clause re- quiring him to support the royal governmant with his arms. Patterson, the commandant, and Simpson, the intendant of police, assured him that such service would never be required ;
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