USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. II pt 1 > Part 33
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332
EDISTO ISLAND.
[1820-1830.
In this same year (1822) the present church building was erected. " This was done by funds contributed for this pur- pose by members of the various denominations, Episcopal, and Methodists, and Baptists, joining with heart and purse to assist these Presbyterians." The amount contributed from these sources was $3,645. The church came also into the . possession of about $4,000, from the old John's Island So- ciety, a charitable association, which had been in existence for some time, and employed its funds for various charitable purposes, among others for maintaining a seminary of learn- ing, and relieving the indigent. It was incorporated Decem- ber 9, 1799, and becoming nearly extinct, its funds were di- vided among the churches by the surviving members. By his deed of gift of July 6, 1820, Thomas Hunscome, who was not a member of any church, conveyed to James Legare, Sen. Thomas Legare, Sen., and Hugh Wilson, Jun., Trustees of the . John's sland Presbyterian Church, fifty-six acres of land on the Island, and by his will gave and bequeathed to the Presby . terian Church of John's Island, whatever may be its corporate name or title in law the sum of $6,000.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ON EDISTO ISLAND enjoyed but a little longer the labors of their able pastor, the Rev. Donald McLeod. He died on the 30th of January, 1821. The mural monument dedicated to his memory speaks of him as a native of North Britain, and states that he had been for twenty-nine years their pastor. Dr. Leland, in describing him, said that "he wrote elegantly, but that his Scotch pronunciation was very broad. He was tall, elegant, polished, and graceful. Dr. McLeod was a fine specimen of a Scotchman." " In the year 1821," says the Rev. Wm. States Lee, from whose man- uscript we quote, "the present pastor," meaning himself, "took the pastoral charge of the Presbyterian Church of Edisto Island. The elders then in office were Daniel Town- send, William Seabrook, William Edings, and Ephraim Mi- kell. Previous to the year 1821, the church had been connected with the (old) " Charleston Presbytery, but in consequence of some cause ( unknown to the writer) it had not been repre- sented in the Presbytery for several years. Before, or about 182!, the Presbytery had become extinct, by the death or removal of its clerical members, and this church, therefore, became unconnected with any Presbytery, in which state (in 1858, the date of this writing) it still continues to exist. The
338
EDISTO ISLAND.
20-1830.1
wvernment in every other respect has been and is Presby - -jan. At the time the present pastor took the charge of the furch there were no sessional records in existence, by which could be determined who were communing members, or ben those claiming to be such were admitted to the church. ided by the most reliable testimony that could be obtained, list of members was made. The number at that time was xteen whites and seven colored members. In the spring of 822 the Lord's Supper was administered. The custom of he church had limited the administration of that ordinance two periods in the year, viz: the commencement of the bring and of the winter. There are now (1858), and have een for many years past, four seasons of communion annu- lly. There was but one public service on the Sabbath during he winter and spring months at that time, and during the ummer and autumn, when the inhabitants of the Island esorted to the sea-shore, as a residence, for health, the Epis- opal and . Presbyterian congregations worshipped together in n old building which had been used as an academy. The astors performed the services, sanctioned by their respective hurches, alternately. Much harmony and kind feeling pre- ailed between the two congregations. In the year 1824, in onsequence of the building (used by them) becoming incon- enient and even unsafe, the two congregations united in recting a building which was to be occupied by them jointly, s the academy had been.
This new building was erected and opened for divine vorship, but in consequence of some difficulty that arose especting the internal arrangement of the building, which could not be satisfactorily adjusted, the two congregations separated. The Presbyterians relinquished the building to the Episcopalians, and before the next summer they had erected place of worship for themselves. This building has from ime to time received improvements, rendering it a neater and more commodious place of worship.
From this period the public services have been observed during the summer and autumn, in the morning, afternoon and evening of each Sabbath. About the year 1824 an even- ng lecture was commenced during the week, in a private house, and in a very short time was conducted in almost every house in the congregation in turn, at the request of the fami- lies. The number of persons who attended or expressed a
334
EDISTO ISLAND.
[1820-1830.
desire to attend, having become too large to be accommo- dated in this manner, this lecture and the service on Sabbath evening (which had also been conducted in private houses) were removed into the church, where the attendance became, and continued to be, large and interesting, particularly on the evenings of the Sabbath. About the year 1823 or 1824, a Sabbath-school was organized and the exercises attended to, during the summer months and autumn, when the inhabitants were collected together in the village on the sea-shore. This valuable institution has been continued. A library of 700 or Soo volumes, presented by the members of the congregation to the Sabbath-school, has been an unfailing source of interest and instruction to the children. The population of the Island not being large, the number of children in the Sabbath-school has always been comparatively small, and varying from time to time.
About the year 1826, a bible class for ladies was formed. The studies belonging to it was attended to with interest, and it is hoped with profit. Various causes arising from changes in families, or change of residence by the members, would at times interrupt or suspend its exercises, but the class was kept up for many years. A bible class for males was also attempted for a few years, but did not continue long.
From the year 1821 regular attention had been paid to the religious instruction of the colored persons in services ap pointed and performed for them, apart from the white portion of the congregation. At the close of the service on the morning of the Lord's day, throughout the year, they re- mained in the church, and with prayer and praise, preaching was united in an extempore form, supposed to be better adapted to their comprehension. The attendance on this ser- vice has been uniformly good, sometimes large, aud attention during the services appeared to have been given with deep in- terest. All of the colored persons who offered themselves for membership in the church have been regularly catechised and instructed on each Sabbath, before the morning service, and this course has been pursued with them for twelve months or longer (if the cases seemed to need it) before they were pro- posed to the session for admission to sealing ordinances."
Thus wrote this admirable man and model pastor in 1858. In the limited population to which he ministered there were added in the first ten years ten white members and thirty-
335
WILTON.
820-1830.]
even colored, a number which in other places less circum- cribed and of an ampler population is often exceeded.
WILTON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH .- Our notice of this ancient church must again be brief. Good men lived here before us ind worshipped the God of their fathers and ministers of the Gospel have preached, and the organizations which still exist und which they have handed down show that such men have been, though they may have been careless in transmitting their names and perpetuating their memories. The Rev. Loammi Floyd still preached to this congregation. His in- roduction to our notice is connected with the Congregational Association of South Carolina, as we have mentioned on pre- ceding pages. On the 30th of April, 1820, a meeting of the Board of Trustees was held at the church and the minutes state that their house of worship had been newly erected. It is situated about a mile from the village of Adams' Run, and at the intersection of the Wiltown (or Charleston roads) and was finished about April, 1820. It was dedicated April 30, 1820. Mr. Floyd preached a dedication sermon from Exod. xx., 24, and Dr. Palmer followed with an address. (Ch. Intel., vol. II, p. 42.)
The Rev. Mr. Floyd continued to preach on alternate Sab- baths until 1822, when it seems that the congregation, having a new house of worship, became dissatisfied with the existing arrangement and desired to have the ministrations of the Gospel on every Sabbath. To this end they took action, dis- missing Rev. Mr. Floyd from further connection with the church and called Rev. Henry T. Jones, the editor of " The Southern Intelligencer," a religious paper then published in Charleston. They effected an arrangement with him by which he should, while retaining the editorial charge of the paper, come np and preach every Sabbath. Mr. Jones continued to serve the congregation with great acceptance until some time in the year 1823. In a paper dated 16th March, 1824, an al- lusion is made to his death. Several members of the congre- gation still remember him and speak of him as having been a useful and devoted minister. It was his habit to take a part of the week to visit the poor in the neighborhood by whom he was greatly beloved. It is related of him as an instance of his delicate regard for the poor, that on a sacramental occa- sion a woman in poor and humble circumstances being present, kept her seat through diffidence when the commu-
£
336
WILTON.
[1820-1830.
nicants had taken their usual places. Mr. Jones noticing her embarrassment, left the table and going to her offered her his arm and handed her to a seat among the members of the church.
There exists among the Records, a letter from Col. Wil- liam Oswald to Mr. James D. Mitchell an active member of the Wilton Church, dated Sept. 23rd, 1833, which commences with these words: "Having heard of the death of your late minister, Rev. Mr. Jones." There is also a letter from Mr. Jones to Mr. Mitchell, dated Feb. 10th, 1823. So that Mr. Jones died between February and September of that year. The letter of Col. Oswald a member of the Bethel Church in St. Bartholomew's Parish, contains a proposal to unite the Bethel Church at Pon Pon over Jacksonborough and the Wilton Church under the same pastor, specifying that he should preach alternately every other Sabbath at each church. He mentioned the Rev. Mr. Lathrop, who was then employed by the Missionary Society of Charleston as one whom the Bethel congregation desired to call. It appears that this pro- posal was declined, as Rev. Mr. Moses Chase was not long after this invited to take charge of the Wilton Church. In a paper dated May 13th, 1824, mention is made of Mr. Chase as preaching statedly to the congregation .* He did not con- tinue long in connection with the church as in November of the same year Rev. Zabdiel Rogers was invited to preach.
Mr. Rogers was born at Stonington, Connecticut, Oct. 2d, 1793. He became a subject of renewing grace and connected himself with the church in the year 1817. In the fall ensu- ing, he commenced fitting for college with a view to entering the ministry, in Coventry, Connecticut, with the Rev. Mr. Woodruff; was admitted to Yale College in the fall of 1816 ; was graduated in 1820; was engaged in teaching one year and then entered the Theological Seminary at Andover. Here he spent three years and having completed his theolog- ical course, he was ordained with one or two other fe'low- students. He came to Charleston, September 30, 1824, and in November of that year was invited to preach to the Wilton Church and continued with it for more than twenty-three years. He was received into the Charleston Union Presby- tery at his own request in November, 1828.
"He was a licentiate.
320-1830.] BETHEL, PON PON .- SALTCATCHER. 337
BETHEL, PON PON, St. Bartholomew's Parish, Colleton. de Rev. Loammi Floyd continued the pastor of this church ill his death, which occurred in April, 1822. But during the ears 1821 and 1822 he preached on alternate Sabbaths to he church at Wilton, St. Paul's Parish. The Rev. Lycan D. Parks, who was resident in the Parish, occupied the pulpit on he other alternate days. In the year 1821 the branch church t Walterboro was erected, most of the congregation being ocated there during the summer, or sickly months. Mr.
Floyd was the Moderator and oldest member of the Congre- ational Association at his death, and as an affectionate trib- te to his memory, Dr. Palmer was requested by that body to reach a suitable discourse in the church their deceased brother had occupied. From the death of Mr. Floyd in 1822 intil 1827, the church was supplied by the following minis- ers, none of whom were settled as pastors, viz. : by Rev. oseph Brown, Rev. George P. King, Rev. Eleazer Lathrop, nd Rev. Henry B. Hooker (afterwards D. D .* ) These gen- lemen were missionaries, employed by different Societies organized in this State. In the year 1827 the Rev. Edward Palmer became pastor of this church.
SALTCATCHER. We find no notice of this church till 1826, when Charleston Union Presbytery appointed Dr. Palmer and V. A. McDowell to inquire into its condition, and if found xpedient and practicable, to furnish it with supplies. They eported that it had been taken under the care of the Presby- ery of Harmony in 1811, and wished that it might be taken inder the care of Charleston Union. Their wishes were grat- fied and Dr. Palmer was appointed to visit the Church and administer to it the Lord's Supper. Drs. Palmer and Mc- Dowell were appointed to devise a scheme for furnishing it vith supplies. This was accordingly done. Yet it was found at a subsequent meeting that the appointments had all failed.
THE INDEPENDENT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE CITY OF SAVANNAH. After the lamented death of Dr. Kollock this church was supplied by Rev. Dr. Snodgrass, then by the Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Howe, and then by the Rev. Daniel Baker. He writes to his friend Mr. Handy in Washington, D. C., and to the members of the Second Presbyterian Church in that
*See Memoir of H. B Hooker, p. 3, 4, 5.
22
328
SAVANNAH-BEECH ISLAND. [1820-1830.
city, of which he had been the pastor, under date of May 13th, 1828, showing that his predecessors who immediately suc- ceeded Dr. Kollock, could not have served the church more than eight years. No record of this church is said to be in existence until March, 1828, under the ministry of Dr. Baker. He remained in connection with it till the year 1831 during which a considerable religious interest was manifested in the town in the various denominations, and twenty persons were added to the Independent Presbyterian church at one com- munion. It was about this time that the church in Wash- ington, D. C., extended to him a pressing call, to resume his pastorate among them. John Quincy Adams, who had at- tended his ministry in Washington City wrote to Mr. Handy of Washington, from Quincy, Massachusetts, October 16, 1830 as did also the President, Andrew Jackson, favoring his re- call. Life and Labors of Rev. Daniel Baker, D. D)., Chap. VI., pp. 125-154.
The SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN SAVANNAH had already come into existence. At the XVIth Session of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, held in Charleston in 1827 it was represented by Dr. Edward Coppie as Ruling Elder.
BEECH ISLAND .- The first mention of this locality which has met our eyes is in the first report of the Young Men's Mis- sionary Society of South Carolina, which was formed the first of the year 1820. In September of that year an attempt was made to secure the services of the Rev. Mr. Nettleson, which was unsuccessful. On the 25th of September, a letter was received from Rev. Dr. Porter, of Andover, whose services had been engaged to secure them a missionary, informing them of the choice he had made of the Rev. Joseph Brown. On the 3d of December, the Society authorized the call to Mr. Brown, which on the Sth he accepted, and measures were. taken to procure his ordination. His engagement commenced on the first of December, 1820, and previous to his ordina- tion he visited, as a licentiate, Beaufort and Stony Creek, and returning, was ordained on the 3d of January, 1821, and com- menced preaching in Edgefield District which had been assigned him, in connection with Newberry, as the field of his labours. In the course of his ministry, he visited Beech Island, "which," says he, "is not an island, but a part of Edgefield District, surrounded by a kind of swamp or bog.
339
BEECH ISLAND.
820-1830.]
He speaks of it as a large and wealthy settlement with an Academy of about fifty scholars and a promising field of use- ulness if regular and constant preaching could be afforded them .*
Samuel Mosely a native of Vermont, a graduate of Middle- bury College in 1818, and of the Andover Seminary in 1821. preached amongst them as a, licentiate for some four months, during which he was an inmate of the family of Mr. Samuel Clark. He was afterwards an agent of the A. B. C., F. M., then a missionary to the Choctaws, and died at Mayhew on the IIth of September, 1824, aged 33. The Rev. Henry Safford, who graduated at Dartmouth College in 1817, and at the Prince- town Seminary in 1820, followed soon after. He remained twelve months as a teacher and a preacher, receiving about $1,200 from the church and school. Rev. S. S. Davis, (after- wards D. D.), who supplied the church in Augusta, in con- nection with the Rev. Dr. Talmage for nearly a year, also rendered essential service before or subsequently to the de. parture of Mr. Safford. By his agency the Rev. Nathan Hoyt, (afterwards D. D.), was introduced to their notice, whose labours were exceedingly blessed, as is recorded in a tract, entitled " History of a Church in the South" written by himself, and full of interesting details of his ministry here, and well worthy of perusal. The result was the organization of a church, in which organization Dr. Davis assisted. Dr. Thomas S. Mills was ordained a Ruling Elder on the Ist of March, 1828. Dr. Hoyt resigned this charge amid the re- grets of the people and took charge of the church in Wash- ington, Wilkes Co. Ga.
On the 25th of May, 1828, baptism and the Lord's supper were administered by William Moderwell. The church then remained vacant until December, 1829, when it was served by Rev. Dennis M. Winston, for the term of six months.
At the session of the Presbytery of Harmony at Beaver Creek on the 5th of December, 1828, Dr. Thomas S. Mills, an elder of the church of Beech Island, appeared before that body, presenting a request from the church to be taken under its care. The prayer of the petition was granted, and Dr. Mills took his seat as a member of Presbytery.
*First Report of the Young Men's Missionary Society of South Caro- lina, May, 1821.
340
ST. AUGUSTINE. [1820-1820.
ST. AUGUSTINE .- " On the 10th day of July, 1821, the standard of Spain, which had been raised two hundred and fifty years before over St. Augustine, was finally lowered for- ever from the walls over which it had so long fluttered, and the stars and stripes of the youngest of nations rose where, sooner or later, the hand of destiny would assuredly have placed them. [Geo. R. Fairbank's History and Antiquities of the City of St. Augustine, p. 184.] The first mention of St. Augustine on our ecclesiastical records is in the Minutes of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, pp. 92, 93, No- vember 21, 1823, where it is recorded that Mr. Lathrop, " an agent of the St. Augustine Presbyterian Society, appeared before the Synod and presented his credentials. Whereupon it was unanimously
Resolved, That the Synod view with deep and affecting in- terest the moral and religious condition of Florida. They feel the powerful claims of this newly-acquired territory to the sympathy and charities of the Christian public, and that present circumstances demand immediate and energetic exer- tions in its behalf. They therefore regard the agency of Mr. Lathrop as intimately connected with the interests of Zion and the dearest hopes of humanity ; and as such do cordially and earnestly recommend it to the particular attention of the churches and their carc; and to all the charitable, the pious and patriotic throughout the United States.
They appointed also Drs. Brown and Palmer a committee to prepare a letter to the religious community in recommen- dation of the subject. [Minutes, pp. 92, 93.] This letter appears on pp. 100, 101, of the records of Synod, as signed, by order of Synod, by Aaron W. Leland, Moderator ; Rich- ard B. Cater, Clerk, pro tem. At the same meeting, the Mod- erator was directed to furnish Mr. (afterwards Dr.) McWhir, of Liberty County, Ga., who proposed to visit St. Augustine, with proper testimonials. The doctor at that time was in his 6Ist year. He there gathered and constituted a Presbyterian Church and ordained elders ; and was for several years un- tiring in his efforts to raise the funds requisite for the erection of a church edifice. He first founded a church at Mandarin, which was the first Presbyterian Church founded in Florida since the days when the French Huguenots, under Laudo- niere and Ribault, were so cruelly cut off by Menendez. (Sec
341
1820-1830.] PRESBYTERY OF GEORGIA.
Vol. I of this History, p. 25.) St. Augustine was occupied in 1825-1826 by Rev. Eleazar Lathrop, before mentioned, who had been received as a licentiate from the Presbytery of Oneida by Charleston Union Presbytery, and was ordained by them as an Evangelist and Missionary for St. Augustine, on the 20th of March, 1825 .* Ebenezer H. Snowden was stated supply at St. Augustine in 1828.
The Synod's efforts in behalf of this church are shown in its earnest exhortations to the churches, its appointment of agents, and its quasi assessment upon Presbyteries. (Min- utes, pp. 172, 199, 203, 334, 337; Minutes of Presbytery of Harmony, pp. 464: 468.) Yet this Presbytery felt more and more the inconvenience of its extensive territory, and peti- tioned the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, at its meet- ing at Washington, Ga., in November, 1821, that such of its members as reside in Georgia should be connected with the Presbytery of Hopewell. This led to the forming of a new Presbytery " The Presbytery of Georgia." So that henceforth Harmony Presbytery had no jurisdiction beyond the Savannah.
The Presbytery of Georgia had at that time nine ministers connected with it, one of whom, S. S. Davis, was stated supply at Camden, S. C.
In the statistical tables of the General Assembly for 1829 the following information is given respecting the Presbytery of Georgia :
The number of ministers, 8.
ST. MARY'S has a pastor, Horace S. Pratt, a membership of 96.
DARIEN has a pastor, Nathaniel A. Pratt, a total member- ship of 89.
Congregational Church, WAYNESBORO', in 1827, Lawson Clinton, stated supply ; membership, 19, of whom five were recent additions.
ST. AUGUSTINE, vacant; Ebenezar H. Snowden had been stated supply ; members, 21, 5 of whom were added during the year ; Rev. Thomas Alexander was residing at St. Augus- tine, without charge, in 1828.
*Mr. Lathrop was a native of New York, a graduate of Hamilton Col- lege in 1817 ; had studied two years at Andover ; was, after his residence at St. Augustine, a stated supply at Elmira, N. Y. ; was without pastoral charge at Painted Post, N. Y., afterwards at Elmira, then at Geneva. He died in 1834, at the age of 40.
342
WILLIAMSBURG-BETHEL AND INDIAN TOWN. [1820-1830.
DAWFUSKIE, Herman M. Blodget, stated supply.
SAVANNAH, John Boggs, pastor ; members, 22.
Wm. McWhirr, D. D., Sunbury, Liberty Co., W. C. Robt. Quarterman, pastor of the Congregational Church, Liberty Co., 550 members, a large proportion of whom were colored people.
CHAPTER III.
The ancient church of WILLIAMSBURG was still enjoying the labors of the Rev. John Covert and had done so from the time he ceased to preach in the Bethel and Indian Town Church until his death, which occurred, says Mr. Wallace, on the night of the great storm which swept over that part of the country, September 20th, 1822. " His body was borne to its lowly resting place on the shoulders of men, the trees pros- trated by the tornado having so blocked up the roads as to render the passage of vehicles impracticable." "He was cut down in the vigor of life, being in his 34th year." Wallace, P. 92.
. The two churches of BETHEL AND INDIAN TOWN remained united under the pastoral care of Rev. Robt. W. James, for a period of nine years, until .1827, when he was relieved from this charge by the Presbytery of Harmony and removed to Salem Church, in Sumter District. The licentiate Josiah W. Powers, who was a native of New Hampshire, a graduate of the University of Vermont, and in 1827, of the Theological Seminary at Andover, and who was sent as a home mis- sionary into this State, preached to these churches from De- cember, 1827, to May, 1828. The faithful labors of Mr. Covert and Mr. James had tended to remove old asperities and to unite the old Presbyterian Church, which claimed to represent the Williamsburg Church of former days and Bethel into one. Meanwhile there had arisen in the Bethel congre- gation a young man, William J. Wilson, (son of Mr. William Wilson,) who was graduated at the South Carolina College in 1822, and had spent a year at Princeton, feeling himself called to the ministry, he had first placed himself under the care of the Presbytery of New Brunswick, then under the care of the Presbytery of Harmony, and was licensed by the same on the Ist of April, 1825, at its meeting in Winnsboro'.
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