USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. II pt 1 > Part 5
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"Application having been made some time in the latter end of the year 1800, by Mr. Loami Floyd, a candidate for the ministry, to the Rev. Dr. Hollingshead and the Rev. Dr. Keith, of Charleston, and to the Rev. Mr. Adams, of Dor- chester, to concur in setting him apart, by solemn ordination, to the sacred office; and, also, to assist him in soliciting the concurrence and aid of such ministers in the neighborhood of Charleston, on the solenin occasion, as they might think proper to have associated with them in this important trans- action ; application also having been made, by letter, from the Independent Congregational Church in the vicinity of Waynesboro', Burke County, in the State of Georgia, to the ministers of the Independent Congregational Churches in and and near Charleston, to set aside Mr. Loami Floyd to the ministerial office, that he might more effectually exercise the functions of his ministry among them; the above named gentlemen, to whom these applications were first presented, agreed to take the advice of the Rev. Mr. McCalla, of the Independent or Congregational Church of Christ Church, and the Rev. Mr. Price, of the Presbyterian Church of James' Island ; and, if the way should be clear in other respects, to
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CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
[1800-1810.
request their attendance with them at the solemnity, at such time and place as may be agreed upon by them jointly.
" In the meantime, the Rev. Dr. Hollingshead, having con- ferred on the subject of Mr. Floyd's application, gave it to him as their opinion, that, though they could not determine what might be the mind of the ministers in the vicinity who ought to be consulted on the occasion, yet it would be proper, before any regular proceedings could be had in the business, that Mr Floyd should furnish them with a more particular account of the church of which he is invited to take the pas- toral charge ; and that, as Mr. Floyd is a stranger to them, and has belonged to another connection, it would be proper he should produce a certificate of his good standing with that connection at the time of his withdrawing from them.
Mr. Floyd, accordingly, on the 19th of January, 1801, presented to Dr. Hollingshead and Dr. Keith a certificate of his not having been accused of any immorality when he with- drew from the Methodists, signed by John Garven, Secretary of their Conference, held at Camden, dated January 6th, 1801. This certificate being satisfactory, invitations were sent to the Rev. Dr. McCalla, the Rev. Thomas N. Price, and the Rev. James S. Adams, requesting their attendance in Charleston on the 25th of March, if that day should not be inconvenient to them, to proceed to Mr. Floyd's examination, and, if ap- proved of, to set him apart by prayer and imposition of hands to the work of the ministry.
Agreeably to this invitation, the following gentlemen, the Rev. Dr. Hollingshead, the Rev. Dr. Keith, the Rev. Messrs. James S. Adams and Thomas H. Price, met at the Rev. Dr. Hollingshead's, on the 25th day of March, 1801, and they agreed to form themselves into an Association ; to assume the style and title of The Congregational Association of South Carolina, and the Rev. Dr. Hollingshead being appointed Mod- erator, opened the Association with prayer, and Mr. Price was chosen Scribe.
The following account of the Independent Congregational Church, near Waynesborough, was laid before the Associa- tion :
" We, the underwritten, a Committee of the Independent Congregational Society. in the vicinity of Waynesborough, Burke County, Georgia, being desirous to have the gospel preached among us, together with the administration of all its ordinances, do represent our situation to the Rev. William
1800-1810.]
CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 47
Hollingshead, D. D., the Rev. Isaac S. Keith, D. D., the Rev. Daniel McCalla, M. A., the Rev. James Adams, and the Rev. Thomas Price, and the other Ministers of their vicinity, whom they may think proper to consult on the occasion."
" On the eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord 1790, a. charter of incorporation for our congregation was obtained from His Excellency Edward Telfair, Governor of the State, who had been authorized by an Act of the General Assembly, passed the 23d day of December, 1789, to grant such charters of incorporation."
" On the 20th of September, 1790, Mr. Henry G. Caldwell was received as minister, and on the 3d day of March, 1794, he resigned the appointment. Since that time we have had no established minister, or regular performance of Divine worship. In the Spring of 1799 Mr. Floyd was introduced to the congregation by one of its members, but Mr. Floyd being at that time engaged as an itinerant preacher, could not make a permanent settlement, and only visited us at convenient intervals. He was requested then to become the pastor of our congregation, but his engagements prevented him from giving us any decisive answer. In January, 1800, he returned to Georgia. and expressed a wish to render us his ministerial services. The congregation made arrangements for his sup- . port, and a regular ministry, we hope, is only wanting to organize the congregation in a proper manner."
" Excited some time past by the same desire which now prevails among us, we addressed the Ministers of the Inde- pendent Congregational Church, in Charleston and its vicinity, requesting the ordination of Mr. Floyd. We return you our thanks for your attention to our request. As you, however. thought it not sufficiently explicit, we are willing to give all the satisfactory information on the subject in our power. We hope that what has been said will merit your attention, and that our recommendation of Mr. Floyd will justify his being ordained, and enable him to perform the various ministerial functions as pastor of our congregation."
(Signed,) ١١
" DAVID ROBINSON.
" JOSHUA E. WHITE.
" WILLIAM DOUGLASS.
" J. WHITEHEAD.
16
" AMOS WHITEHEAD.
" ALEX'R CARTER.
66
" GEO. POYTRESS."
.
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[1800-1810.
Mr. Floyd was ordained, in pursuance of these proceedings, in the Independent (or Congregational) Church, in Archdale Street, March 26, 1801, Dr. Hollingshead preaching the Ser- mon from Romans x., 15. Mr. Adams offering the ordination prayer, and Dr. Keith delivering the charge to the pastor. A letter was addressed to the Church in Burke County, inform- ing them of the fact, and of the hope the Association enter- tained that his ministry among them would be abundantly blessed.
At a subsequent meeting the following resolutions were adopted for their better regulation, till such time as a more ample Constitution should be adopted, (pp. 17-19) :
Resolved, I. That this Association presumes not to exercise any authority over the Churches with which its members are in connexion, it being our opinion that every Church has a ·right inherent in itself to be governed, on the principles of the Gospel, by its own members.
2. That a perfect equality be preserved among the members of the Association.
3. That the stated meetings of the Association be held on the second Tuesdays in May and December, at such places as may be agreed upon at each time of adjournment.
4. That a Moderator and Scribe be chosen at every stated meeting.
5. That every meeting of the Association be opened and concluded with prayer, and that the business before the Asso- ciation be attended to in order.
6. That the object of the Association being humbly to en- deavor to promote the Kingdom of Christ in the world, the members agree, as far as may appear expedient to each one, to report the state of religion in the society with which he is connected, and that means be proposed for promoting the interests of religion, and maintaining its life and power in our congregation.
7. That the Association also receive and consider applica- tions from churches to ordain their ministers.
8. That the Moderator, with the concurrence of any mem- ber, may call an occasional meeting of the Association, when they shall think it expedient.
9. That a fair record be kept of the proceedings of the As- sociation, in a book provided for that purpose, and that there
1800-1810.] CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 49
be a stated clerk, who shall have the custody of said book, into which he shall transcribe the minutes of the Association, and whatever other papers they may think proper to insert in it, and that said book be produced at every meeting of the Association.
IO. That the Scribe shall furnish the stated Clerk with a correct copy of the minutes from session to session.
The Rev. Drs. Hollingshead and Keith were appointed a committee to suggest a plan for providing a fund for promot- ing the interests of religion. This committee reported that there are many indigent and ignorant families in the State, and some considerable districts entirely destitute of the Gos- pel, which might be benefitted by the weil directed exertions of a society to be formed for this purpose; that subscription papers should be offered to persons in their own connection ; that if a sufficient amount could be raised among their own denominations, others should not be solicited. (See also Keith's Works, p. 267.) That two objects should be princi- pally aimed at, the distribution of books on the most necessary subjects of religion, which was all they could probably do at first, and when their funds should be sufficiently enlarged, the sending out of missionaries to preach the Gospel where people were unable or unwilling to support ministers among them- selves. Funds were to be raised by annual subscriptions of members, by donations of others not members, by charity sermons, and by the publication of small tracts, the profits of which, though small, might enhance the stock of the society. These recommendations of the committee were approved. Members were to give five dollars as a donation, and to sub- scribe five dollars annually. Some fifty subscribers were soon obtained, whose subscriptions would yield $250 annually ; some $750 were subscribed by members, as donations, and some $530 by persons not wishing to become members, and thus the projected society was ushered into existence on the 12th of January, 1802.
The original members of Congregational Association of South Carolina, at its formation, in 1801, were the Rev. Wm. Hollingshead, D. D., the Rev. Isaac Stockton Keith, D. D., The Rev. James S. Adams, and the Rev. Thomas H. Price. The Rev. Loami Floyd became a member on his ordination, March 26, 1801, and the Rev. B. M. Palmer on the 28th of
4
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CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
[1800-1810.
April, 1804. The Rev. Drs. Hollingshead and Keith, and the Rev. Mr. Price, were originally Presbyterian Ministers, and the Rev. Mr. Adams, previous to his ordination, in 1799, was a Licentiate of the Presbytery of Orange.
During this decade THE CHURCH IN BEAUFORT re-appears, now an Independent or Congregational Church. In our first volume it appears as a Presbyterian Church, having its con- nection with the old Presbytery of Charleston. (pp. 279, 322, 400, 402, 474 )
It is in connection with this church that we first meet with the name of B. M. Palner. He was the fourth of the sixteen children of Job Palmer, and his eldest son, and a grandson of the Rev. Samuel Palmer, who died in 1775, the only minister for forty years, and for most of that time the only physician of Falmouth, Mass. The father, Job Palmer, migrated to Charles- ton before the War of the Revolution, was exiled by the British to Philadelphia, where, in a fortnight after the arrival of his parents in that city, B. M. Palmer, the first of that name, was born on the 25th of September, 1781. From early life Dr. Palmer was equally distinguished for exemplary morals and piety, and high talent, and the promise of boyhood and youth was fully realized in ripened manhood. He re- ceived his school education at the College of Charleston, under Rev. Bishop Smith, who then presided over that institu- tion, and graduated at Princeton College, under Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, greatly indebted to his pastor, Dr. Keith, by whose efforts the means of pursuing his education were fur- nished. He studied divinity under Drs. Hollingshead and Keith, and was licensed on the 7th of June, 1803, by the Con- gregational Association of South Carolina. He preached to a Congregational Church, organized in Beaufort, which soon sought him as their pastor in the following terms :
"TO THE REVEREND THE MODERATOR OF THE CONGREGA- TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
" BEAUFORT, S. C., December 4th, 1803.
" Reverend Sir and Gentlemen :
" The Independent or Congregational Church in Beaufort having received satisfaction in the ministerial labors of the Rev. Benjamin M. Palmer, who was licensed by you lately, and having given him a call, unanimously, to undertake the office of Pastor to the said Church,
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B. M. PALMER'S ORDINATION.
1800-1810.]
request you to ordain him to this ofice, agreebly to your forms. and institutions.
"In behalf of the Church,
" We are, &c.,
"STEPHEN LAWRENCE, "JAMES E. B. FINLEY, Deacons
"SAMUEL LAWRENCE, SEN., \ Wardens." "JOHN BENTON,
Mr. Palmer was ordained, pursuant to this request, at Beau- fort, on the 28th of April, 1804. At this time the Church had 18 white and 2 black members. In 1806 the number of white members was 24, of black 6. . The Independent Church of Beaufort was incorporated December 21, 1804. (Statutes at Large, Vol. VIII., p. 223.)
A " Plan of Union " proposed by the General Association of Connecticut in 1801, and adopted by the General Assem- bly of the Presbyterian Church in America, to take effect in the mixed population of the new settlements, provided, that if any Church of the Congregational Order should call a Presbyterian minister as their pastor, the Church might still conduct its discipline on Congregational principles, the minis- ter being subject to his own Presbytery ; any difficulty be- tween the minister and his Church, or any member of it, should be referred to the Presbytery to which the minister belonged, if both parties should agree to it, otherwise to a council, one-half Congregationalists and the other half Pres- byterians, mutually agreed upon by the parties.
Congregations might be composed partly of Presbyterians and partly of Congregationalists. They might agree in choosing and settling a minister. In this case, the Church should choose a Standing Committee from its communicants, whose business it should be to call every member to account who should conduct himself inconsistently with his Christian profession, and give judgment on his conduct. If the person condemned be a Presbyterian, he shall have liberty to appeal to the Presbytery ; if he be a Congregationalist, he may appeal to the body of the male communicants. In the one case the decision of the Presbytery shall be final, unless the Church appeal to the Synod, or from that to the General Assembly. If he be a Congregationalist, he may appeal to the body of the male communicants, and from this an appeal may be made to a mutual council. If said Standing Commit-
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PLAN OF UNION.
[1800-1810.
tee of any Church shall depute one of themselves to attend the Presbytery, he may have the same right to sit in Presby- tery as a Ruling. Elder of the Presbyterian Church. This . Plan of Union is found in the Assembly's minutes of 1801, PP. 221, 224 and in Baird's Digest, p. 555.
There is a remarkable coincidence of dates between the origin of The Congregational Association of South Carolina and that of The Plan of Union. The former was organized . on the 25th of March, 1801, and the Overture of the General Association of the State of Connecticut to the General Assemby of the Presbyterian Church of the United States bears date in the same year. The Plan of Union was adopted by that Assembly on the 29th May, 1801, and was ratified by the General Association of Connecticut before the meeting of the Assembly in 1802. It remained in force until it was abrogated in 1837, a year memorable in the Presbyterian Church in these United States.
But though these two acts were cotemporaneous, or nearly so, there was this difference, that the Southern organization was intended to separate the Congregational element from the Presbyterian, by providing a specific organization for the former ; while the Northern plan was adapted to accom- modate the state of affairs in a newly settled country, so that Presbyterians and Congregationalists could be members of one and the same Church ; the discipline to be conducted, if the party were a Congregationalist, as far as possible after the Congregational form, and if a Presbyterian, as far as possible in accordance with the form of the Presbyterian Church.
A good understanding between Congregationalists and Presbyterians had existed in earlier times. Of this "the Heads of Agreement " drawn up by the ministers of London in 1690, for a basis of Union between the two sects, is an evidence. Of this, Increase Mather, President or Rector of Harvard University, being then in England, was greatly instru- mental. The principle of Presbyterianism, of higher and lower courts, had also been introduced, in a modified sense, in the Saybrook Platform, adopted in Connecticut in 1708, which, . besides the ASSOCIATION of the pastors of a particular district, provided for a CONSOCIATION, covering a larger district, to which these Associations should report, and the decision of which should be final.
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
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CHAPTER III.
IN the preceding chapter we have given such an account as we have been able to compile of the Independent or Congre- gational Churches of the Low Country. We have seen them separating themselves more distinctly from their Presbyterian brethren and organizing themselves for more independent action. We now turn to those Churches more strictly Pres- byterian. The first we mention is the FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH OF CHARLESTON, the only survivor of the Huguenot Churches of the Low Country or of the States. It had lost its house of worship, we have seen, vol. 1, 570, in the great fire of June 13, 1796. It was rebuilt in 1800,* but the congrega- tion had been dispersed. The Rev. Marin DeTargny, whose register begins January, 1805, seems to have ministered to the people till 1808. The last entry in his register is in November, 1807. From this date to the end of this decade the Church was without a pastor.
The FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH in the city of CHARLES- TON continued to enjoy through the larger part of this decade the labors of its beloved pastor, the Rev. Dr. Buist. On the 28th of October, in the year 1805, he was appointed by the Trustees of Charleston College, Principal of that institution. He had for years taught a large grammar school, which he now removed to the college building. His assistants were a Mr. O'Dunovan, of Ireland, the Rev. Robt. M. Adams, of Scotland, Mr. Hedley, an English Episcopal Minister, Mr. Raphael Bell. afterwards a licentiate of Charleston. Presbytery, Mr. Assalit, a French teacher, and Mr. (afterwards the Hon.) Mitcheli King. The plan of the college was to educate boys for practical life, or for the learned professions. The course marked out for the first class was arranged for nine years, that of the second class for eleven years. There were about one hundred boys in the various stages of education, none of whom graduated under Dr. Buist's administration, no class having attained a higher rank than that of Sophomore. Dr. Buist had the choice and superintendence of the subordinate teachers, confining his own instructions to the highest classes which were co-ordinate with those of the college proper. For
*Daniel Ravenel, 1799 Mills.
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REV. DR. BUIST.
[1800-1810.
this position he was eminently qualified, both because of his own attainn. ents in classical learning and his ideas of college discipline. (Am. Quart. Register, vol. XII., p. 168.) Under his guidance the college attained a respectability it had not acquired before, and if his superintendance could have continued longer, it would have passed, ere long, from the character of a grammar school which it substantially was, to an institution for the higher branches of learning and science. Dr. Buist retained his Scotch notions of Presby- terian Church government, but he cautions his friend, Robert M. Adams, against pushing them too far. "You know enough from your own people," (those of Stoney Creek) he says, "to find that we cannot carry the principles of Presby- terianism to their full extent in this part of the world; and we must rather do what we can, than what we wish or think best." (MS. Letter, Feb. 29, 1808.) It was through him that the old Presbytery of Charleston made its overture for union with the General Assembly in 1804, " but without connecting themselves with the Synod of the Carolinas." (Vol. I, p. 675.) The Hon. Mitchell King, to whom he was partial, and who was invited by him to occupy a situation as teacher in the College, informs us as to his general habits. In his (Dr. Buist's) very short absence from the College, his communica- tions in, respect to its government were ordinarily made to him. He owned a farm, about four or five miles from town, where he ordinarily spent his Saturday holiday. Thither Mr. King sometimes accompanied him, and almost every Satur- day he dined with him. "From early life," says Mr. King, " he was a great student, and his love of learning and knowl- edge seemed to increase with his increasing years. When he was first called to the ministry, he composed a great num- ber of sermons, which, after his marriage, and with the cares of an increasing family, and the labors of conducting an im- portant literary institution, he was, in a great measure, obliged to continue to nse, His excellent delivery still recommended them to his hearers. Had he been spared, and enabled to give himself to the composition of new ser- mons, it is confidently believed that, with his increased learn- ing, and experience, and knowledge, he would have left works behind him which the world would not willingly let die. The sermons which were published after his death were among his early productions, and are by no means to be re-
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HIS BURIAL.
1800-1810.]
garded as adequate specimens of his attainments and abilities in the later period of his life. It is hardly necessary to say that, with his literary tastes and great diligence, he was a pro- ficient in various departments of learning. While he was a student at the University, as well as afterwards, he was pas- sionately fond of the study of Greek. I have heard him say that, during his college course, he was accustomed frequently to start from his sleep and fine himself repeating some favor- ite Greek author."
But the life of Dr. Buist was cut short " in the midst of his days." On the 27th of August, 1808, he had invited a friend whose wite, with her infant child, was suffering in health, to accompany him to his farm, hoping the jaunt might be bene- ficial to both. On the way he complained of feeling unwell, on the next day, being Sabbath, a physician was sent for, and on Wednesday night, August 31st, at half-past II o'clock, he expired, after an illness of only four days, in the 39th year of his age. He was interred in the Scotch Church-yard, in a spot of ground he had some time before chosen; attended by the Masonic Lodge, the St. Andrew's Society, the congrega- tion, the College boys, headed by their Masters, and a num- ber of friends. A greater concourse of the citizens has never, I understand, been witnessed in this city." (The Letter of Chas. E. Rowand to the Rev. Mr. Adams, Rock Spring, near Coosahatchie, dated Sept. 14th, 1808.) His funeral service was performed by his intimate friend, the Rev. Dr. Furman, of the Baptist Church. More elaborate eulogies have been pronounced upon him, but we here produce the following closing portion of a sermon delivered by Rev. Robert M. Adams, of the Stony Creek Church, in the First Pres- byterian Church, Charleston, probably on a communion occasion, some short time after his death, which we have met with among Mr. Adams' manuscripts.
" These reflections on the universality and consequences of death recall forcibly to our remembrance the decease of your late worthy and ever to be lamented Pastor. If, in the circle of your domestic connections, you have had a friend or a brother whom you tenderly loved, whose name was dear to your heart, and in whom you experienced all that affection can confer or virtue adorn, the tear of sensibility must run down at the recollection of your loss.
" Let us contemplate him, for a moment, as a man, as a scholar, and as a minister of the Gospel.
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DR. BUIST.
[1800-1810.
" As a man -- he was distinguished by those qualities which adorn human nature, and add to the splendor of illustrious intellectual power, the charms of pure and energetic virtues. Possessed of those superior endowments of mind with which few of the sons of men are favored on an equal, and almost none in a superior degree, he shone as a star of the first mag- nitude, keen and penetrating, he, at one intuitive glance, discriminated characters, and was able to appreciate worth and excellence. He looked beyond the external appearance, and entered deep into the recesses of the human heart. Hence, he detected the pretensions of arrogance, and exposed the concealed artifices of hypocricy. With a candor, which is the fairest ornament of human nature, and discovered the purity and excellence of his own heart, he never for one moment would prostitute integrity for the fleeting applause of the time-serving sycophant. But, most distinguished as the powers of his mind certainly were, he never effected that superiority which disgusts rather than gains the admiration and love of others. On the contrary, Dr. Buist was modest and unassuming-a perfect judge of merit in others, he often undervalued or imperfectly appreciated the qualities in him- self but, in another's character, he would have admired as bright and luminous. Hence, in society, he was a most agreeable and pleasing companion, whose mind, being replen- ished with an inexhaustable store of the most interesting anecdotes or useful and improving truths, he had the peculiar felicity of communicating in an easy and engaging manner. Nor was he less amiable in his domestic relations than in his social intercourse with mankind. As a husband and as a father he discharged with exemplary fidelity the duties of his sta- tion.
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