USA > South Carolina > Berkeley County > Goose Creek > St. James church, Goose Creek, S. C. : a sketch of the parish from 1706 to 1909 > Part 5
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nots, Benjamin Mayzek giving £50 annually for three years. Mr. Millechampe about this time returned to England a second time for his health, and being there instituted to the Rectory of Coles- bourne, Gloucester, he never returned to Carolina. His wish was to retain both livings, of which the Society disapproved, and for more than two years the Parish of Goose Creek was very irregu- larly served by occasional supplies. The Rev. Robert Stone, A. M., became Rector in 1749 and died in 1751. He has left no other record.
In 1752 the Rev. James Harrison, A. M., became the Rector, and won the esteem and affection of his people, and in 1754 we find them subscribing #340.15s. currency to purchase a negro for the use of the Rectory. Three years later Mr. Peter Taylor presented the Parish with a negro slave for the use of the Rector, "as a small encouragement to him for his endeavoring to propa- gate the Gospel among the slaves in said Parish." In 1759 Mr. Thomas Wright built a vestry room for the Parish at his own ex- pense. About this time there were thirty-two white and twenty- eight black communicants, but in 1761 these numbers were some- what reduced, the Cherokee war having driven northward some of the parishioners.
There is but little of interest left to tell. The Ludlam fund, when turned over to the vestry by the honorable Society, had accumulated to the amount of £15,272 2s., and the remnants of it constitute the trust of the vestry to-day. Long after the date of this transfer the Parish was still in more or less active oeenpa- tion, but the story of that time was only a tale of slow decay. Successively the Rev. Edward Ellington, the Rev. Milward Pog- son and the Rev. John Thomson were the incumbents, but of their ministration there is nothing to relate. For many years the Parish has been vacant, and the once numerous and wealthy con- gregation has gradually melted away. The Parish Register bay long been lost, and the moss-clad stones of the silent graveyard are the only record of the busy activities which found their restful solace and their guiding influence for good in the ministrations of this time-honored sanctuary.
Among the men who worshipped God under this roof and re- ceived the blessed sacrament at this altar were some whose names were famous in the annals of the country, and many whose round of humble duty never extended beyond the limits of social and domestic life. Beneath the cool shadows of the ancestral oaks, in earthen graves or vaulted sepulchres, "after life's fitful fever they sleep well." For many a fleeting year they have been the only congregation in a perpetual Sabbath rest, in which the happy bird songs have been the only notes of praise, the only prayers the silent aspirations of stranger hearts who come to won -. der at this venerable memento of the past. But long after the preacher's voice was hushed and the pulses of his bearers stilled
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in death, the benediction of that educational bequest has lived and done its work of shedding the light of knowledge and Christian training in the dark places of ignorance and poverty. For a good deed done for others never dies, but lives on through the ages, to illustrate that word of inspired wisdom, that "The memory of the just is blessed."
ADDRESS
DELIVERED IN ST. JAMES CHURCH, GOOSE CREEK, S. C. SUNDAY, APRIL 17TH, 1904, ON OCCASION OF THE SERVICE COMMEMORATING THE COMING OF THE FIRST MISSIONARY SENT TO THE COLONY OF CAROLINA BY THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS.
BY JOHN PEYRE THOMAS.
In view of the boundless ocean of thought, it may be deemed one of the felicities of composition for the writer to define his theme.
Considering the tendency of the historian to be prejudiced and to make erroneous statements, to be wanting in accuracy as to facts and in precision of language, it is my ambition to-day to state clearly the limitations of my subject, and in the treatment thereof to be, as far as in me lies, at once judicious, truthful, accurate and precise.
While these virtues should be practised on every occasion, especially ought they to be illustrated on an occasion like this, so full of dignity of Church as well as the lesser dignity of State.
We are assembled here not to celebrate the founding of a city or the establishment of a Commonwealth. Ours is a pur- pose higher, grander and more far reaching. It is to honor a ministry and to commemorate the planting of a Church -- a work begun in 1702 and ended here on earth in 1706, thus em- bracing a period of but four years -- but four years full of heaven blessed fruitage. Mine is an epic of the Church of the living God and the hero is a soklier of Christ, one of the noble army of mar- tyrs.
The literature, bearing more or less upon my text, as contained in the able sermons delivered in this sacred edifice from time to time by distinguished divines of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this Diorese, and in the exhaustive sketches of Messrs. J. J. Pringle Smith, Edward MeCrady and Joseph Joof Waring-this literature is most interesting, and most valuable, it may be added, as embodying rich material for that history of the Diocese of South Carolina which, it is hoped, is a forthcoming volume. But interesting and valuable as this literature is, the speaker can only salute it as he passes on to his own special literature-limited it is true, but to be held like some prologue to the swelling act of an imperial theme.
The Society, organized in England during the reign of William III, and called the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
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in Foreign Parts," the noble offering of the Church of England, is the grandest missionary body ever organized in the history of Christianity. The volume before me entitled "Classified Digest, of the Records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1701-1892" justifies this culoginm.
The field of its operations has been North America, the United States, British North America, West Indies, Central and South America, Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe.
In 1892 the operations of the Society were then carried on in fifty-one dioceses, the number of languages in use being fifty- three. Of the 680 ordained missionaries on the list in 1892, 119 were natives of Asia, and 38 natives of Africa. In the So- ciety's colleges there were, at that time, 2,600 students; and 2,300 lay teachers, mostly natives, were employed in the various mis- sions in Asia and Africa, in the schools of which 38,000 children were receiving instruction. A record, shall I not say, greatly good and unexampled in church work?
It was under the first fresh auspices of this Christly Society that the work was begun and ended, which this bi-centennial emphasizes and praises and honors in the spirit of glory to God and of peace and good will to men without regard to sectarian conditions and religious differences, but on the part of its pro- motors, with loyal reverence for the church of their forefathers with its faith and its ordinances and its creed, and with fervent devotion to the English Prayer Book embalming forevermore "the grave ritual brought from England's shore."
When the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was in 1701 organized and put in operation in illustration of the best sentiment and high thought of old England, there was living at Badlydon, near Sudbury, in County Suffolk and Esses, with Elizabeth his wife, and children four, a clergyman of the Church of England, the Rev, Samuel Thomas. Indued with the missionary's spirit of self sacrifice, and of zeal to do the Master's will, beyond the limits of England, the Rev. Mr. Thomas presented his application for appointment as missionary to South Carolina and submitted his testimonial -- No 1-which reads as follows:
"We, whose names are hereunder written, being requested to deliver our sentiments of Samuel Thomas, of Ballydon, near Sudbury, do most willingly declare we esteem him to be a person of eminent piety such his conversation spoke him to be whilst resident amongst us, both when in his simple capacity and in his married state, and that for divers years he now, as we suppose, making near approaches to thirty. And he gave proof of his great knowledge in the things of God and mysteries of the King- dom in frequent conferences in the Religious Society and so far as we could discern, he behaved himself very prudently and with great zeal for the promoting the interest of holiness, and did exceed-
4S
ingly in his place further the Gospel reception and advance, and that by his life, his serious advice and pressing persuasions. By which means he drew many to attend upon the preaching of the Word, and to frequent the Sacrament and did show himself to be of a meek disposition and an entire lover of the King and thoroughly conformable to ecclesiastical constitutions and the doctrine of our church, and whom we conceive may be very instrumental for the converting and building up of souls through divine assistance and blessing, for which we heartily pray.
(Signed) NATH BURREL, of Glensford, Rect. EDWARD THOMAS, Cur. of Dedham. SAM'L FARR, Vier. of Stone Market. WM. BURKIT, Vier. of Dedham. "
This quaint but conclusive testimonial was satisfactory to the Society and furnished the desired eredentials for a missionary. In the excellent historical discourse delivered Sunday, April 12, 1896, by the Rev. Robert Wilson, D. D., before the congre- gation of St. James, Goose Creek, and the members of the Hu- guenot Society, who attended the services on that occasion-the text being from Proverbs x. 7, "The memory of the just is blessed." Dr. Wilson gives this epitome of the Rev. Samuel Thomas' life and service -- which I adopt as sum and substance of a brief carcer-the same being based upon the records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and upon other records concerning the Rev. Samuel Thomas in the British Public Record Office, furnished for Jno. P. Thomas, Jr., by the late W. Noel Sainsbury, of the British Public Record Office.
Dr. Wilson in his sermon says: "In June, 1702, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts of the Church of England commissioned the Rev. Samuel Thomas, of Bally- don, near Sudbury, as missionary to the Yemassee Indians in South Carolina. Through the kindness of a descendent of this gentlemen I have been able to consult copies of the minutes of the society in reference to Mr. Thomas' appointment, and personal letters of his own, which together give an exhaustive account of hiswork in allits details. His testimonials, signed by four clergy- men, bear witness to his high personal character, exemplary piety and ripe learning. Ile was about thirty years of age and was married. It makes strange reading for us now: his piteous com- plaints of a leaky ship, unarmed and insufficiently manned, caus- ing daily fear of being cast away or captured by the French; his ill treatment by the captain and his Godless crew, who cursed him and refused him the berth he had paid for; his voyage of more than twelve weary weeks in sickness and poverty, and his land- ing at Charles Town on Christmas Day, 1702. He was kindly received and cared for by the Governor, Sir Nathaniel Johnson,
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who took him to his house. But the Yemassees were restless and sore from a recent unsuccessful war against the Spaniards, and the Governor refused to let him go among them. In his defence before the Society, when charged with not going to work, he states that these Indians spoke a barbarous tongue, which was incapable of expressing and conveying the truths of Christianity. 'Our Father, who art in Heaven,' must be to them 'Our Father at the top.' 'Thy Kingdom come,' 'Thy great village come.'
"The Society accepted his excuse and he became Governor Johnson's chaplain, finding ample scope for his ministry in the conversion of heathen negroes and scattered Indians and in arduous duties among the settlers at three stations, fifteen miles apart, the charge of the Cooper River colonists having been assigned him by the Governor. His residence was Goose Creek, which he speaks of as 'the best settled creek in Carolina, ' the peo- ple well affected to the Church of England. He baptized seven children and recommends the appointment of a minister, 'his soul being moved to see the best and most numerous congrega- tion in South Carolina as sheep having no shepherd.' This was in 1704. In his cure there were over a thousand negro slaves, many of whom he taught to read and baptized. He enumerates one hundred and twenty families, including many people of note, five families of French Protestants, who were Calvinists, three Presbyterians and two Anabaptists. There were then thirty communicants, one being a Christian negro. Ile says they had built a small church, but it could not hold the numbers who came to his services. He tells us that the Dissenters were very bitter and anxious to build up their party at the sacrifice of all others. He was sorely troubled by the opposition of the Rev. Mr. Marston, minister at Charles Town, who strove to injure him with the honorable Society. He accuses this gentleman of being an ardent Jacobite and possible Papist, and states that he openly avowed his hostility to King William. He went to England in 1705, established his justification with the Society, and was paid all his arrears, and returned to Carolina with his family in 1706, dur- ing which year he died."
This condensed summary of the history of the Rev. Samuel Thomas is incorrect only in the statement that his family returned with him in 1706. It was in October, 1706, that Mr. Thomas returned to resume his work in Carolina, but he was not accom- panied by his wife, although this was expected and had been provided for. Dr. Wilson would also have covered his ground more completely had he emphasized the fact that Mr. Thomas was the first, not only to lay the foundation of the church, but also the first to establish the school in this Province of Carolina. The "Digest of the Records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," the best authority we have on
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the subject of this discourse, says that "as early as 1701 a school was opened at Goose Creek by the Rev. S. Thomas."
Of the Rev. Samuel Thomas the Digest speaks in authori- tative and commendatory terms in Chapter III, under the heading of South Carolina. The following abridged statement is taken from that vohnne that crowns the church of England with a diadem of God's glory.
Beginning with the declaration that the first missionary of the Society to South Carolina was the Rev. S. Thomas, the ac- count states that after twelve weeks and two days at sea, he arrived at Charles Town on Christmas Day, 1702, and continues thus: "He was designed for a mission to the native Yammon- sees, and on his appointment £10 was voted by the Society 'to be laid out in stuffs for the use of the wild Indians.' Wild, indeed, they proved to be -- they had revolted from the Spaniards 'because they would not be Christians,' and were in so much danger of an invasion that they were not at leisure to attend to instruction;' nor was it 'safe to venture among them.' Surrounding him, however, were many heathen equally needing instruction and mere capable of receiving it, viz: the negro and Indian slaves, who in the Cooper River District alone outnumbered the savage Yam- monsees. Therefore Mr. Thomas settled in that district. One of the places included in his charge was Goose Creek, containing 'the best and most numerous congregation in all Carolina.' who were 'as sheep without a shepherd.'
"Numbers of the English settlers were 'in such a wilderness and so destitute of spiritual guides and all means of grace' that they 'were making near approach to the heathenism which is to be found among negroes and Indians.' Mr. Thomas prevailed with the greatest part of the people to a religious care in same- tifying the Lord's Day,' which had been generally 'profaned.' Many also were induced to 'set up the worship of God in their own families,' to which they had been 'perfect strangers.' The Holy Comummion 'had not been administered' in one district before Mr. Thomas came, and after 'much pains' he could 'pro- eure only five' communicants at first. Before long this number grew to forty-five, and there was a ' visible abatement of immoral- ity and profaneness in the parish, and more general prevailing sense of religion than had been before known.' After taking great pains to instruct the heathen slaves also - Indians and ne- groes-some of whom were admitted to baptism, Mr. Thomas visited England on private affairs in 1705, at the same time being 'empowered and desired' by 'the Governor, Council and Parliament' of Carolina 'to make choice of five such persons' as he should 'think fit, learned, pious and laborious ministers of the Church of England to officiate in the vacant parishes,' pur- suant to a late Act of Parliament for the encouragement of the
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publie worship of God according to the Church of England in the Province.
"On this occasion Mr. Thomas submitted what the Society pronounced to be 'very full and satisfactory account of the state of the Church in South Carolina.' Ile also drew attention to an objectionable clause in the Act of the Assembly above referred to-passed November 4, 1704 --- which placed in the hands of certain lay commissioners the power of removing the clergy. Holding 'that by virtue hereof the ministers in South Carolina will be too much subjected to the pleasure of the people,' the Society referred the matter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London and agreed to 'put a stop to the sending any ministers * * * into those parts till * *
fully satisfied that * * * dlauses are or shall be reseinded, and that the matter be put into an ecclesiastical method.' *
*
* *
** * *
"Shortly after the Governor and Couneil addressed the fol- lowing memorial to the Society, September 13, 1706:
'We could not omit this opportunity of testifying the grateful sense we have of your most noble and Christian charity to our poor infant church in this province expressed by the generous encouragement you have been pleased to give to those who are now coming missionaries, the account of which we have just now received by the worthy missionary and our deserving friend and minister, Mr. Thomas, who to our great satisfaction is now ar- rived. The extraordinary hurry we are in, occasioned by the late invasion, attempted by the French and Spaniards, from whom God has miraculously delivered us, hath prevented our receiv- ing a particular account from Mr. Thomas of your bounty? and also hath not given us leisure to view your missionaries' instruc- tions either in regard of what relates to them or to ourselves. But we shall take speedy care to give them all due encouragement, and the venerable Society the utmost satisfaction. There is nothing so dear to us as our holy religion and the interest of the Established Church, in which we have-we bless God-been happily educated; we therefore devoutly adore God's providence for bringing and heartily thank your Society for encouraging so many missionaries to come among us. We promise your hon- orable Society it shall be our daily care and study to encourage their pious labors, to protect their persons, to revere their au- thority, to improve by their ministerial instructions, and as soon as possible to enlarge their annual salaries. When we have placed your missionaries in their several parishes, accord- ing to your directions, and received from them an account of your noble benefactions of books for each parish, we shall then write more particular and full. In the meantime we beg of our honorable Society to accept our hearty gratitude and to be as- sured of our sincere endeavor to concur with them in their most
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noble design of propagating Christ's holy religion.'
"By the same body the Society was informed in 1706 of the death of Mr. Thomas, of whom they reported that 'his exem- plary life, diligent preaching and obliging courage' had secured him 'the good will of all men. * Hle not only brought over several of the Dissenters, but also prevailed upon several that professed themselves members of the Church of England to lead religious lives and to become constant communicants, and other considerable services he did for the Church.'
"They added, 'we do most humbly request your honorable society to send us four more ministers for the country and upon your recommendation we shall have them fixed in the several parishes there.'
"Mr. Thomas' widow was voted two months' salary from the Society and a gratuity of £25 in consideration of the great worth of her husband and of his diligence in his ministerial office and for the encouragement of missionaries to undertake the service of the Society."
This extract, taken from "The Digest of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" in relation to the missionary Samuel Thomas, makes this closing remark: "Other faithful men were found to take up and extend the work begun in South Carolina."
Yes -- though the flag of the infant Church in South Carolina had fallen from the hands of the pioneer-nerveless now-yet there were LeJau, his successor, and Ludlam and Millichampe and Stone and Harrison and Ellington and Pogson and Thompson -reetors of St. James, Goose Creek, from 1707 to 1808-whose names are inscribed upon yonder tablet-to take the flag and carry on the work begun and spiritualized by the masterful missionary whose memory we honor to-day with song and ser- vice and tribute.
Born in England at Ballydon, near Sudbury, in the County of Suffolk and Essex about 1672, Samuel Thomas was about 30 years old when he took up the Cross of Christ in South Carolina in the spirit of a brave soldier. Dying in 1706 his ministry lasted nearly four years. Few men in the history of our Church have accomplished so much as Samuel Thomas did in that period of service-few if any. He fell a victim to pestilential fever con- tracted doubtless in the sphere of his duty. Ruskin somewhere says:
In the mud and scum of things Something always, always sings.
When it is recalled how the Rev. Samuel Thomas sickened and died, it may be deemed possible for even malaria to have its melody.
Of the first missionary to South Carolina sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, honorable
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mention is made in Humphrey's History of Missions, Howe's History of the Presbyterian Church, Hawkin's Missions of the Church, Logan's History of Upper Carolina, Ramsay's History of South Carolina, Daleho's Church History and in other works.
My case I have rested upon the "Digest of the Records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" and upon such additional records concerning Mr. Thomas as have been found by the late W. Noel Sainsbury of the British Public Record Office-material original and new and, except- ing the Rev. Dr. Wilson not accessible to the past biographers of Mr. Thomas-whose merits have not been fully appreciated, especially as regards his intellectual ability and his forceful character.
The tributes paid to Mr. Thomas I may close by presenting the testimonial No. 2, which he received upon his return to Eng- land in 1705.
"South Carolina.
"By the Rt. Hon. Sir Nathaniel Johnson, Knt., Governor of South and North Carolina, and by the honorable members of the Council.
"These are to certify unto all persons that the bearer hereof, the Rev. Mr. Samuel Thomas, for some years past hath been one of the ministers of the Church of England in South Carolina and that during his residence here he hath lived a religious and virtuous life, and by his diligent and constant preaching hath done much good in this province, and hath now the leave and consent of the Governor and Council of the Province to go to England in order to settle his affairs there and then to return again with his family to this Provines to exercise his ministerial function here, and is also further empowered and desired by the said Governor, Council and Parliament to make choice of five such persons as he shall think fit, learned, pious and laborious ministers of the Church of England, to officiate in the vacant parishes pursuant to a late Act of Parliament for the encourage- ment of the public worship of God according to the Church of England in this Province, and in the behalf of the said Gover- nor and Council recommend such persons as he shall so make choice of to the Right Honorable and Rt. Rev. Father in God, Henry Lord Bishop of London, for his lordship's appro- bation. In testimony of the truth of the above written we have hereunto set our hands and the public seal of this Province this 21st day of April, in the fourth year of the reign of our Sov- ereign Lady Anne by the Grace of God of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Queen Defender of the Faith, etc., and in the year of our Lord one thousand and seven hundred and five."
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