USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. II pt 1 > Part 32
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BEAUFORT. This church was visited by Joseph Brown, then centiate, in December, 1820. He had been recommended the Young Men's Missionary Society and at its request he s ordained by the Congregational Association of South olina, in the Circular Church, Charleston, on the 3rd of uary, 1821. The occasion was one of interest, Messrs. pha White, Epaphras Goodman, and Rev. Charles B. Storrs ployed by the Congregational Missionary Society, and ynolds Bascom were ordained at the same time. In the of consecration by prayer with the laying on of hands, the yers for the candidates were offered in succession by the v. Mr. Floyd, the Rev. Dr. Palmer, the Rev. Mr. Reid, the v. Mr. Lee, and the Rev. Mr. Boies. The Rev. Dr. Leland s present also as a delegate from the Presbytery of Har- ny. The Beaufort congregation must have been depen- it on occasional supplies henceforth.
WAYNESBORO, Burke County, Georgia. We are not inform- how this congregation was situated as to a permanent min- 21
322
WHITE BLUFF-MIDWAY.
[IS20-1830.
istry during this decade. The Savannah Missionary Society had appointed Mr. Cephas Washburn to labor at this place and its vicinity. But how long he served them we are not in-, formed. Rev. Frances McFarland labored in Burke County in the winter of 1822. On his arrival in this county he se- lected four places where he preached regularly on the Sab- bath, dispensing the word the remainder of the week wher- ever a door was opened for that purpose. In the latter part of this period Lawson Clinton was the stated supply of this church.
WHITE BLUFF, near Savannah. The Rev. Thomas Gould- ing continued the pastor of this church till 1822, when he re- signed his charge and removed to Lexington, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Here he remained during this decade. It was while there that he was elected on the 15th of December, 1828, Professor in the Theological Seminary of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia. He was honoured with the de- gree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of North Car- olina in 1829.
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, MIDWAY, GEORGIA. The Rev. Robert Quarterman officiated as pastor of this church during this decade to the great satisfaction of that people. A church of which it was said in 1849 that although it was a Congrega- tional Church in its origin, and still continued so, it had fur- nished more Presbyterian Ministers for the State of Georgia than all the other ninety-two counties united.
Changes took place in the boundaries of Presbyteries during this decade which it may not be amiss here to mention. In the formation of Harmony Presbytery by the Synod of the Carolinas at Poplar Tent in 1809, its western boundary was defined to be a line running nearly south from Augusta, Geor- gia, including St. Mary's, to the sea coast. At a meeting of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, held at Washing- ton, Wilkes County, Georgia, November 7, 1821, a petition came up from the Presbytery of Harmony, proposing that the Savannah River which divides the two States should be the dividing line between the Presbyteries. This was acceded to, and the members of the Presbytery of Harmony who resided in Georgia were constituted a new Presbytery to be known as The Presbytery of Georgia. The line between this Pres- bytery of Georgia and the Presbytery of Hopewell was like- wise adjusted. The Presbytery of Harmony, therefore, hence-
323
-1830.] CHARLESTON UNION PRESBYTERY.
h performed no presbyterial acts and had no jurisdiction ond the Savannah.
THE CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, November, 1819, made a proposal to the Presbytery of rmony " of a corresponding union by delegates." This s cordially acceded to by the Presbytery of Harmony at meeting in the Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston, ril 14, 1820, and Rev. A. W. Leland, D. D., and Rev. orge Reid were elected as delegates to the Association. Palmer attended subsequently the meeting of the Presby- y of Harmony as a delegate from the Association. At a eting of this Presbytery, held in Camden, April 17, 1822, committee composed of Messrs. John Cousar and T. C. nry were appointed to confer with the Congregational sociation of South Carolina and others on the subject of ir uniting with that Presbytery, with a view to a division the same if it should appear expedient.
The proposition was laid before that body on the 10th of vember, 1822, by Dr. Henry, and, after due consideration,
Association agreed to " dissolve for the purpose of iting with Harmony Presbytery, and with the view of ving that body divided, and a Presbytery formed in the tinity of Charleston." But, " in case such division does t take place, the resolution to be null and void." In pur- ance of this, the Rev. Dr. Palmer, who had been appointed this purpose, made application in behalf of the Associa- n that its members be received into the Presbytery. This s accordingly done, and the Rev. Benjamin M. Palmer, D., Joseph Brown, Reynolds Bascom, Epaphras Goodman, arles B. Storrs, and John Wheeler, with the licentiate, Dr. inan Strong, and the candidates, Dr. Jones and James Impbell, were received. A committee was appointed to nfer with the members of the Synod of North Carolina sident in this State to unite also with the Presbytery with view to its subsequent division and reorganization.
At the meeting of the Synod held in Columbia in Novem- r, 1822, in pursuance of a petition from the Presbytery of armony, the members of that body living in the lower parts the State, south of the Congaree and Santee Rivers, viz : hos. Read, George Reid, Benj. M. Palmer, D. D., Aaron W. eland, D. D., Artemas Boies, Arthur Buist, Elipha White, seph Brown, Reynolds Bascom, Epaphras Goodman, and
324
BETHEL PRESBYTERY.
[1820-1830.
Charles B. Storrs, were set off as a new Presbytery, to be known by the name of Charleston Union Presbytery, the licentiate, Dr. Lyman Strong, and the candidates, John Dick- son, Dr. Jones, and Mr. James Campbell, to be considered under their care. Said Presbytery was to meet in Charleston on the second Wednesday of April, 1823, Dr. Palmer or the senior member present to preside and open the Presbytery with a sermon.
Bethel Presbytery was organized during this decade by the following charter, granted by the Synod of North Carolina at its eleventh session, held at Statesville, Iredell Co., October 9, 1824.
" Resolved, That so much of the Presbytery heretofore known by the name of the Presbytery of Concord as lies in York and Chester Districts, in South Carolina, in Ruthe: ford County, North Carolina, and in that part of Lincoln County, in the said State, not included in the boundaries assigned to the Presbyteries of Concord and Mecklenburg, including the Rev. Robert B. Walker, James S. Adams, John B. Davies, Henry M. Kerr, Adam Williams, James B. Stafford, and Josiah Harris be, and hereby are, constituted a Presbytery, to be known by the name of the Presbytery of Bethel ; that they hold their first meeting at Beersheba Church on the Friday preceding the first Sabbath in November ensuing ; that the Rev. Robert Walker, or, in case of his absence, the senior minister present, preach a sermon on the occasion, and preside until a Moderator be chosen."
These with further specifications entered into the act of the Synod of North . Carolina constituting this Presbytery. By consent of the Synod of North Carolina, that portion of Bethel Presbytery which was in South Carolina was trans- terred to the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, by an act of the General Assembly in May, 1828. By this transfer, Lancaster District and-by a subsequent act of the Synod- Union District and Catholic Congregation were made a part of Bethel Presbytery. (Semi-Centennial Sermon of James H. Saye, April 2, 1875.)
These changes having been made in Presbyterial boun- daries during this decade, we proceed with the history of the particular churches, those, namely, which adopt the polity of the Presbyterian order.
325
FRENCH CHURCH.
-1830.]
CHAPTER II.
FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH, Charleston .- From the brief moranda furnished us by Mr Ravenel, we judge that Rev. Courlat continued to serve this church as its pastor from 9 to 1823. After the failure of the effort to revive the ner French service, measures were adopted to reopen the rch with its proper liturgies rendered into English. This asure was adopted in 1828, when a committee was a :- nted to prepare, or cause to be prepared under their ervision, a translation of the Book of Liturgies which had n used in the church, and to adapt it to public service in country, with authority to employ persons to make, or in making the translations. (MSS. of Daniel Ravenel.)* The services of the Church had been discontinued from the tr 1826. They had previously been interrupted from vari- s causes. " The members, who were then not numerous, ted with the other Christian Churches in the city-for the st part with the Episcopalians." (Southern Literary zette, June 19, 1852.)
The most important of these documents was the "Confession of th " made by common consent of the Reformed Churches of the gdom of France We are informed by Beza ( Historie des Eglises formee's an Royaurne de France, Tome Premier, 108) that God, by : singular grace. inspired all the Christian churches in France to emble and to agree in unity of doctrine and discipline, in conformity hi the Word of God. Pursuant to this, on the 26th of May, 1559, buties of all the churches hitherto established in France assembled Paris, and there, by common consent, was written the Confession of th, and was drawn up a form of ecclesiastical discipline, as near to institutions of the Apostles as their circumstances would then allow. inite difficulties were surmounted, and it was concluded that the hod should be held at Paris, not to attribute any superior dignity or inence to that city, but because it could better accommodate a large mber of ministers and elders, and more secretly than any other ce. The confession was there drawn up in forty articles A brief stem of discipline, as founded upon the writings of the Apostles, was pended, under forty heads. Done at Paris on the 28th of May, 1559, the 13th year of Henry, the King.
The first of these documents was translated by a committee of French Protestant Church. of Charleston, and presented to the cor- ration in print, the original French and the English in parallel nins, in October, 182S.
' It seemed to be demonstrated, during the ministry of Rev. Mr. urlat," says Rev. Charles S. Vedder, D. D., writing in July, 1873, "that e continuance of the services in the French language, or in alternate ench and English, was not feasible, and in 1828 a committee was ap-
326
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
[1820-1830.
The translation having been made with great care and ap- proved, the church entered upon its regular use, the Rev. Daniel DuPrè, a Methodist minister of Huguenot descent having been called to the temporary charge of the con- gregation.
THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE CITY OF CHARLESTON .- A deputation from this church waited upon the Presbytery of Harmony at its twenty-fourth sessions held in the Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston, on the 5th of May, 1821, praying that Mr. Arthur Buist, son of their former pastor, Dr. George Buist, be received under the care of that Presbytery, and for this purpose an extract from the minutes of the Dysart Presbytery of the Relief Church of Scotland, stating that he was regularly examined and duly licensed by that body, was presented. It was
Resolved, That he be received and that trials be appointed preparatory to his ordination and installation in the First Presbyterian Church, Charleston, which the deputation stated would be requested at the next sessions of Presbytery in Augusta, Georgia.
. During the meeting in Augusta, in November, 1821, a call from the First Presbyterian Church was preferred through the Presbytery, to Mr. Arthur Buist, who declared his acceptance of it. An adjourned meeting was appointed to be held on the 4th day of January, 1822, for the examination of Mr. Buist in the Hebrew language and for his ordination and installation, and for the further trials of John Dickson, a graduate of Yale College and a member of the Columbia Church, who had been received under the care of Presbytery as a candidate for licensure, at the same time at which Mr. Buist had been received. The Presbytery accordingly met on the 4th of January, 1822, in the city of Charleston, for the object specified. The examinations and the trials both of Mr. Buist and Mr. Dickson were had and sustained ; further trials were appointed for the latter, and on the 5th of January "the Presbytery met in the First Presbyterian Church for the
pointed to translate the Liturgy into English. This committee con- sisted of the Hon. Elias Horry, Chairman, and Messrs Joseph Manigault, William Mazyek, Sr., George W. Cross, Daniel Ravenel, Thos. S. Grimke, and William M. Fraser.
327
20-1830.]
SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
rpose of attending to the exercises connected with the or- ation and installation of Mr. Arthur Buist, when a sermon is preached on the occasion by the Rev. George Reid, from ark 16, xv : " And he said unto them, go ve into all the orld and preach the Gospel to every creature." After which e Rev. Mr. Buist having assented to the questions appointed be put to candidates for ordination, was ordained by prayer d laying on of the hands of Presbytery to the whole of the spel ministry. and the congregation having also assented the questions proposed to them, he was installed as the stor thereof according to the discipline of the Presbyterian hurch in the United States. And a suitable address was livered both to minister and people by the Rev. T. Charlton enry. Mr. Buist was invited to his seat as a member of esbytery." Minutes of the Presbytery of Harmony, pp. 2, 353, 357. 366, 377.
THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND CONGREGATION THE CITY OF CHARLESTON .- Of Dr. Flinn, the much loved id eloquent pastor of this church, who died on the 26th of ebruary, 1820, we have previously spoken. Dr. Henry was voted to the ministry by his father from his birth. He sent m to Middlebury College in the hope that in those revivals of ligion with which this college was so often visited, he would eet with renewing grace. In one of these seasons he was umbered among the converts and forthwith commenced his eparation for the ministry, finishing his education at Prince- n. In January, 1824, he accepted a call to Charleston, here his ministry was eminently successful.
It was at the close of his fifth year of labor in Columbia lat Dr. Henry received the unanimous call of this church to ecome their pastor. Here in the stated services of the pul- it, and the lecture room, in the bible class and Sunday chool, his soul was poured forth in earnest instruction and rvent supplication. In the first and second years of his ministry considerable additions were made to the church ; ut in the third, a blessed effusion of the Holy Spirit was en- yed. His indefatigable labors during this season rendered period of relaxation indispensable, and he therefore em- arked for Liverpool in April, 1826. During the four or five honths of his stay in Europe, he travelled through the prin- ipal parts of Great Britain and Ireland, and visited the con- inent. Several months were spent both in Paris and London.
328
DR. HENRY.
[1820-1830.
In October he took leave of his English friends, and after pay- ing a short visit to his venerable father and numerous relations in Philadelphia, he returned early in December to his congre- gation. With redoubled vigor he entered upon his labors among his people and upon the prosecution of his studies. The latter indeed had known no interruption.
On the first of October, 1827, when in the enjoyment of perfect health, he was suddenly seized with the Stranger's Fever, then prevalent in the city, which in four days termi- nated his valuable life, at the early age of thirty-seven, leav- ing a bereaved widow and three children to lament his loss. Amid the alarm and consternation occasioned by his fatal illness, he alone was calm and unappalled. While around him stood his afflicted relatives and friends, his expiring voice was employed in rejoicing and praise. And while a " horror of great darkness" fell upon others, at his sudden and prema- ture departure, he viewed it with rapture, as the bright and cloudless dawning of immortal glory.
Dr. Henry has left behind him several published sermons : an "Inquiry into the consistency of popular amusements with a profession of Christianity ;" his "Etchings," and his " Letters to an anxious inquirer." The two last were posthu- mous works. His " Letters to an anxious inquirer," have been twice published in America, the second edition under the auspices, and with a recommendatory preface of the late Rev. Dr. Bedell, and also in London, with an introduction by Dr. Pye Smith. The account of his death is also pub- lished in a volume of the London Tract Society, as an emi- nent exhibition of the triumphs of divine grace.
.
After the melancholy death of Dr. Henry, the church remained two years without a pastor, though faithfully sup- plied by the Rev. Benjamin Gildersleeve and the Rev. Dr. Leland.
In February, 1829, the Rev. William Ashmead, being in Charleston, on account of his health, received a call. In March he accepted of his appointment, and was in May, installed Pastor. On June 7th, he obtained leave of absence for the summer, with the intention of bringing his family, but died on his return, in Philadelphia, December 2d, 1829, having been connected with this church but little more than six months, of which he was absent more than four.
Mr. Ashmead has left behind him a few published sermons.
329
THE THIRD CHURCH.
1820-1830.]
Since his death a volume of his sermons has been issued from the press, to which is prefixed an interesting memoir by the lamented Grimke, who was his warm friend and held him in the highest estimation.
After the death of Mr. Ashmead, the church sat in her widowhood for several years, receiving her food from occa- sional supplies, especially from her tried friend the Rev. Mr. Gildersleeve.
THE THIRD OR CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THECITY OF CHARLESTON. The congregation comprising the Third Presbyterian Church which was organized in 1823, worshipped from that time in the building situated at the northwest cor- ner of Archdale and West Streets, which was originally erect- ed in 1814, by a congregation styled, " The St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, of the City of Charleston," who were seceders from "The Presbyterian Church of the City of Charles- ton," better known as "THE SCOTCH CHURCH," and whose first pastor was the Rev. John Buchan. After the lapse of nine years this congregation being without a pastor and burdened by debt, resolved to dispose of their premises on the conditions, that the church should be held sacred as a place of public Christian worship, and the ground attached thereto be continued as a cemetery. They were accordingly purchased by Messrs. Thomas Napier and Thomas Fleming two of the original members and founders of the Third Pres- byterian Church,* whose first pastor was the Rev. William Anderson McDowell, and who was installed over this con- gregation by the Charleston Union Presbytery on the 3rd of December, 1823. He already had experience in the minis- try. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick on the 28th of April, 1813, and was ordained and installed as pastor of the church at Bound Brook, New Jersey, on the 22d of December following. His connection with this church was a brief one. On the 15th of the next December he was in-
*The church was organized July 13, 1823, as "The Third Presbyterian Church." In the Sermon at the organization, the Rev. Dr. Leland says: 'The plan was formed in faith and prayer, and all the steps have been manifestly taken with a single eve to the glory of God and the promotion of the Redeemer's Kingdom. The history of the under- taking is brief and pleasing. Its origin has been eminently peaceful and harmonious, wholly undebased by schism or contention. A number of professing Christians, not connected with any church in the city, with others who were members of several churches, were led to consider it their duty to form a new church."
330
JAMES AND JOHN'S ISLAND. [1820-1830.
stalled pastor of the church at Morristown where he spent the next eight or nine years in useful and acceptable labor. He had never possessed robust health since the years of child- hood. An attack of small-pox at the age of twelve had im- paired the vigor of his constitution. While engaged in his preparation for the ministry he felt obliged to try the effects of a Southern climate and in the winter of 1811 and 12 he sailed for Savannah where his brother-in-law, Dr. Henry Kol- lock resided, and continued his study of theology under this able and eloquent divine. Being threatened now again with pulmonary difficulties, he traveled as far as South Carolina and passed the winter in Charleston with the most favorable results to his health. In the Spring he resumed his labors at Morristown with his accustomed energy, but soon sunk again into the feeble state from which he had emerged. A call came to him from this church in Charleston just at that juncture which it seemed to be the will of Providence that he should accept. His pastoral relation to the church at Mor- ristown was dissolved on the 8th of October, 1823, and the new relation with the Third Presbyterian Church in Charles- ton constituted as we have described. This church com- menced its existence therefore with a pastor in whom all had confidence, and with elders and officers whose character and energy commanded the respect of the entire congregation and the community around. -
During this decade we find the names of Robert B. Edwards and Jasper Corning as elders, the date of whose ordination is not recorded, and of Thomas Fleming and John Maxton, or- dained in July, 1824. The following were Presidents of the Corporation : Thomas Fleming, in 1824 and 1825 ; William Bell. in 1826, 1827 ; Thomas Napier, in 1828, 1829.
JAMES ISLAND. This church enjoyed the labors of the Rev. A. WV. Leland, D. D., lately pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Charleston. There are two eloquent discourses of his published in "The Southern Preacher" edited by the Rev. Colin McIver, the copyright of which is dated in 1823, and the title page dates in 1824. in which he is spoken of as pas- tor of the church of James Island.
JOHN'S ISLAND AND WADMALAW .- This church was vacant, it is believed, at the beginning of this decade. It was soon visited by Elipha White, who was a native of East Randolph, Mass., a graduate of Brown University in 1817, and of Andover
331
JOHN'S ISLAND.
820-1830.]
Seminary, in 1820. He was licensed to preach the gospel by he Union Association of Boston, and was ordained by the Congregational Association of South Carolina, on the 3d of January, 1821. At a meeting of the Association held at the Rev. Dr. Palmer's, in the city of Charleston, on the Ist of January, 1821, a letter was read bearing date December 6th, 1820. from H. C. McLeod, Chairman of the Committee of . he Young Men's Missionary Society of South Carolina, re- questing the ordination of Mr. Joseph Brown, whom they had employed as a missionary, "to labor in the region of Edge- feld, Newberry, and Beech Island, which is said to be very destitute." At the same time was received a communication from Joseph Tyler, Secretary pro tem. embracing the following: 'By direction of the Board of Managers of the Congregational Missionary Society of South Carolina, I present you with the following resolution :
Resolved, That the Recording Secretary be directed to request of the Congregational Association of South Car- olina the ordination of the Missionaries employed by them, on the first day of January next, dated December 19, 1820. The Missionaries of this Society were Mr. Elipha White, Epaphrus Goodman, Charles Backus Storrs, the latter a graduate of the college of New Jersey, and of the Andover Seminary in the class of 1820. To them was added Mr. Ray- nolds Bascom, a native of Massachusetts, a graduate of Wil- liams College in 1813, and a tutor in the same from 1815, 1817. These gentlemen passed through the usual trials and were ordained in the Circular Church on the 3d of January, IS21. in the way and under the circumstances we have before described.
Mr. White did not long retain his connection with the Congregational Association. On the 20th of December, 1821, he obtained a dismission from that body and became a mem- ber of Harmony Presbytery. On the 20th of April, 1822, " a call from the Presbyterian Congregation of John's Island for the ministerial labours of the Rev. Mr. White was laid before Presbytery and proposed to him, who accepted it." On the 8th of May the Presbytery met at the John's Island Church, and installed him as its pastor. His labours among them through the years of which we write, were faithful and highly appreciated by his flock.
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