USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina under the proprietary government, 1670-1719, V.1 > Part 26
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1 It is strange that Bishop Perry. in his Hist. of the Amer. Episcopal Ch. (vol. I. 372). should have adopted this extraordinary statement with- out exananation. particularly as it was inconsistent with his statements in the very next paragraph of his work.
2 Dalcho's Ch. Ilist., 26.
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in the country in which Mr. Williamson was expected to officiate, as well as in the town;1 but this is mere con- jecture. Mr. Williamson, in 1709, petitioned the General Assembly "to be considered for his services in officiating as minister of Charles Town"; and the act of 1710-11, appropriating £30 per annum for his support, states that he "had grown so disabled with age, sickness and other infirmities, that he could no longer attend to the duties of his ministerial function, and was so poor that he could not maintain himself."2 As we have before concluded, it is possible that Mr. Williamson came out in 1680. There was a clergyman in Carolina in 1689, for it was one of the tyrannical acts of Colleton that he fined and imprisoned him for preaching what he considered a seditious sermon ; 3 but who this was, whether Mr. Williamson or another. is not known. Mr. Marshall, as we have just seen, had come out to be the minister at Charles Town, but died of yellow fever in 1699, before he had been three years in the province.
Mr. Marshall was an amiable, learned, and pious man, whose conduct and talents had given great satisfaction, and during whose short career much was done to es- tablish the church upon a firm basis. Though Governor Blake was not himself a churchman, an act was passed during his administration, October 3, 1698, "to settle a maintenance on a minister of the Church of England in Charles Town." Oldmixon claims great credit for his patron, Governor Blake, for the passage and allow- ance of this provision as an act of grace upon his part, though he was a dissenter;+ but the recital of the act
1 Bishop Perry is again mistaken in supposing that it was upon this land that the first church, i.e. St. Philip's. was built.
" Dalcho's Ch. Hist .. 32. See ants. p. 332.
3 Hist. Sketches of So. Cu. ( Rivers), Appendix, 410.
+ Oldmnixon, Carolina, Carroll's Coll., vol. II, 417.
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(which is important, too, in regard to what was soon to follow) places its enactment upon the proper ground. namely, that of a compliance with the charter of the provision.1
The act appropriated a salary of £150 per annum to the ministers of Charles Town, and directed that a negro man and woman and four cows and calves be purchased for his use, and paid for out of the public treasury.2 In the same year, Affra Coming, the widow of John Coming, made a deed, by which she gave to the Rev. Samuel Marshall, minister of the Gospel in Charles Town, and to his successors, appointed under the act just passed. seventeen acres of land adjoining the town as a glebe. Upon the death of Mr. Marshall, the Governor and Council addressed a letter to the Bishop of London, asking him to send another minister, telling him of the provision made for his support, and
1 Dr. Humphrey, the secretary and historian of the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," states that upon an inquiry instituted by Dr. Compton, Bishop of London, it was ascertained that though in the year 1701 there were above 7000 persons besides negroes and Indians in South Carolina. and though the province was already divided into several parishes and towns, there was until the year 1701 no minister of the Church of England resident in the colony at the time. (Hist. Account of the Soc. for the Propagation of the Gospel, etc., 25.) This statement is altogether inaccurate : (1) There were not that number of persons in the colony at the time (Drayton's View of So. Ca., 193; Dalcho's Ch. Hist .. 39); (2) the province was not then divided into par- ishes ; there was but one town ; and (3) there were at that time at least two ministers of the Church of England resident and officiating in the colony. The Rev. Samuel Marshall, rector of St. Philip's, had died in 1699, but Mr. Edward Marston had arrived and taken his place in 1700. The Rev. William Corbin was officiating in Goose Creek; and the Rev. Atkin Williamson was also in the province, though probably disabled.
2 Dalcho's Ch. Hist., 33. This act is not found in the statutes. The salary was probably payable in currency.
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that a good brick house had been built for him upon the land given by Mr. Coming.
The first church, which was known as St. Philip's. was built. as before stated, upon the spot reserved for it, upon the original plat of the town, i.e. where St. Michael's now stands. Dalcho fixes the date of the erection at about 1681 or 1632, but there is nothing cer- tainly known upon the subject. It was "large and stately," it was said, and was surrounded by a neat white palisade. It was built of black cypress upon a brick foundation. Mrs. Blake, wife of the Governor, subsequently contributed liberally towards its adornment, though not herself a member of the church.1
The Rev. Francis Mackensie. a Presbyterian clergy- man of Donegal. Ireland, it is said, visited Carolina in the fall of 1683, with serious thoughts of settling at Charles Town; but from the little encouragement he received. he changed his destination to Virginia.2 Of the Rev. William Dunlop, who came out with the Scotch colony and settled at Port Royal in 1684. we have already spoken.3
The mixed Presbyterian and Independent Church, known by various names, - the Presbyterian Church, the White Meeting.+ the Independent Church, the New Eng- land Meeting, the Circular Church, - was first organized some time between 1680 and 1690. It was at first com- posed of Presbyterians chiefly from Scotland and Ireland, Congregationalists from Old and New England, and some of the French Huguenots, who were strictly Presbyterian in their form of church government. The first known
1 Dalcho's Ch. Hist., 26. ? Howe's Hist. Presh. Ch., 76, 77. 3 Ante, p. 215. + Whence the name of " Meeting Street."
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Presbyterian minister in the province, excepting the Rev. William Dunlop at Port Royal, was the Rev. Thomas Barret. in 1685. His ministry was but temporary. The first regular pastor was the Rev. Benjamin Pierpont. in 1691. He died January 8, 1697-98, and was succeeded by a Mr. Adams, of whom little is known; and he by John Cotton of Boston, who sailed from Charles Town Novem- ber. 1688, and died September. 1699; and he by the Rev. William Stobo, upon his providential escape from the disastrous shipwreck and stranding upon the shores of Carolina. It is not known when the original building used by the church was erected. It was but forty feet square and slightly built.1 The site whereon the present church stands was given by " Madame Symonds " October 23, 1704. It was long known as the " White Meeting." 2
The first church of the French Protestants, known as the Huguenot Church, was erected at some time between the years 1687 and 1693. On the 5th of May, 1687, the lot whereon the present church stands was conveyed by Ralph Izard and Mary, his wife, to James Nichols "for the use of the commonalty of the French Church in Charles Town "; 3 and in 1693, the congregation complained to the Lords Proprietors that they were required to begin
1 Howe's Hist. Presb. Ch., 124, 126. 145.
2 Ibid .. 124.
3 It has been supposed probable that the Huguenots built their first sanctuary upon the site of the present church early in the year 1681. (See Year Book City of Charleston. 1885, 207.) This theory is based upon the supposition that Michael Lovinge, the grantee of this lot, was but a trustee for the church. But the record shows that this is a mistake. Michael Lovinge. the grantee, described as a "sawyer." con- veyed the lot to AArthur Middleton, the 24th of November, 1684. Arthur Middleton by will devised it to his daughter Mary, who, with her husband Ralph Izard, conveyed it to JJames Nichols for the church, as stated in the text. See Records, Secretary of State's Office Book, marked . Grants, Sales." etc., 1704-1708. 250.
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their divine worship at the same time as the English do. which was very inconvenient, as several of them lived out of the town and came by water to attend their service. and had to depend upon the tides,1 There must, then, have been a place of worship in which the congregation was accustomed to assemble before 1693, and it is but reasonable to suppose that this was upon the spot they had purchased for the purpose.2 The Rev. Elias Prioleau, pastor of the church at Pons, who, upon the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, left France with a considerable number of his congregation in April. 1686, and came to Carolina. is regarded as the founder of this church in conjunction with the Rev. Florente Philippe Trouillard, who were its first ministers. They served the church as colleagues, and probably without compensation, both ministers and people being dependent alike on secular employment.
One César Moze. a French refugee, by his will written in his native language. dated June 20, 1687. bequeathed to the church of the French refugees in Charles Town, trente sept lieures (thirty-seven livres) to assist in building a house of worship in the neighborhood of his plantation on the eastern branch of the Cooper River.3 As already mentioned, it is probable that Elias Prioleau ministered to this congregation. The Rev. de La Pierre is supposed to have been their first pastor. There was another settle-
1 Hist. Sketches of So. Ca. (Rivers), Appendix, 438.
2 Howe's Hist. Presh. Ch., 109. Mr. Fraser, in his Reminiscences of Charleston, says that the great fire of June, 1796, "burnt the original French Church where the Huguenot refugees worshipped for upwards of a century previous to that time." (pp. 33, 34.) But Sheeut states that the original church (which he says was built in 1701) was burnt in 1740 with all its records.
3 Probate office, Charleston, South Carolina, Will Book; Howe's Hist. Presb. Ch., 108.
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ment and church of the Huguenots on the western branch of Cooper River, of which Anthony Cordes, un médecin, who arrived in Charles Town in 1686, was one of the founders. Their first pastor was Rev. Florente Philippe Trouillard, whom we have just found associated with Elias Prioleau in the pastorship of the church in Charles Town. The Rev. Pierre Robert was the first pastor of the church in French Santee. Indeed, he is said to have been the first Calvinistic minister who preached in South Carolina ; and it is deemed questionable whether this church was not older even than that in Charles Town. The Huguenots on Goose Creek are not known to have formed an organ- ized congregation.1
Most of the members of the Baptist colony had moved to Charles Town before 1693. At first their meetings were held in the house of William Chapman in King Street. In 1699 William Elliott, one of the members, gave the church the lot of land on Church Street on which the First Baptist Church in Charleston now stands, and a house of worship was erected on this lot in that or the year following.2
No considerable groups of settlers are known to have emigrated to South Carolina between the years 1696 and 1730, nor does the white population appear to have in-
1 Howe's Hist. Presh. Ch., 111-113. There is, however, an old plat of a plantation on one of the head branches of Goose Creek, made by Joseph Purcell, Surveyor, in July, 1785, on which a spot is marked " Remains of a French Church." See Deed, Mesne Conveyance Office Book G, No. 6, 95.
- Hist. of the First Baptist Ch., 55. The first church building was, however, abandoned for another built on the east side of the street in 1746, the old lot on the west side continuing to be the burial-ground of the members. The present edifice on the old lot on the west side was erected in 1822, and the building on the east became the Marmers' Church, which was destroyed in the earthquake of 1sos. See Shecut's Essays, 5. 29.
Z
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creased at all until after 1715. In 1699 it was, as we know, probably about 5500. In 1708. as we shall here- after see, it had actually declined to 4080. There was a decrease also in the number of negroes during this period. The losses by smallpox and yellow fever will probably account for much of this ; but the neglect and mismanage- ment of the Proprietors, and the struggle over the estab- lishment of the church which we are soon to record, no doubt retarded the progress of the colony. We may assume, therefore, that the proportion of the various de- nominations in the colony was about the same in 1710 as it was at the time of which we are now treating. In a letter written in that year by a Swiss gentleman in Charles Town to his friend at Bern. it is stated that the propor- tions that the several parties in religion bore to the whole and to each other were as follows: Church of England 41 to 10; Presbyterians, including those French who retained their own discipline, 43 to 10; Anabaptists 1 to 10 and Quakers } to 10.1 In this estimate. for it is nothing more. Independents and Congregationalists, as well as Huguenots, are included as Presbyterians. There were in the colony at this time eight ministers of the Church of England, three French Protestants, two of whom had accepted Episcopal rule and observed the services of the church, four of British Presbyterians, one of Anabaptists. The ministers of the Church of England had, by the act of 1706. each £100 per annum from the public treasury be- sides contributions and perquisites from their parishioners. The dissenting ministers were maintained by voluntary contributions.2
In 1701 a movement was consummated in London by ! Howe's Hist. Presb. Ch .. 163; 11 Letter from So. Ca., etc., London, 1722 (second edition), 40.
: Ibid., and Dalcho's Ch. Hist., 182.
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the formation and incorporation of " The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," which exer- cised a great influence in this colony, not only in religious matters, but in the education of its youth. Several eminent persons, observing the want of clergy in the colonies of England and probably also the unfortunate character of some who had gone out to the provinces. had for some time before contributed to an effort for recovering their countrymen abroad from irreligion and darkness. Fel- lowships had been established in Oxford, the beneficiaries of which should be under obligation to take holy orders for service in his Majesty's foreign plantations, and salaries were provided for "preaching ministers."
The society resolved not to obtrude the Episcopal services upon the colonists against their wishes. They did not. therefore. send missionaries until applications were made for ministers of the Church of England, nor until they were assured that adequate means would be provided for their comfort and support. So liberal, indeed. was this society that in some instances they supported clergymen who were not episcopally ordained. As in- stances : the two Huguenots, the Rev. de La Pierre of St. Denis and Rev. P. de Richbourg of St. James, Santee (1715-20). The society was very minute in its instruc- tions to the clergy they employed. They were to keep in view the great design of their undertaking; to promote the glory of Almighty God and the salvation of men, by propagating the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour. The directions in regard to the instruction of negroes were still more minute and explicit, containing the simple statement in logical order and consequence of the substance of the Christian religion.
The society was equally careful in its directions to their schoolmasters, and impressed upon them that the end of
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their employment was the instructing and disposing chil- dren to believe and live as Christians. They were re- quired to oblige their scholars to attend regularly upon the services of the church and to have them publicly cate- chised. "They were to take special care of their manners both in and out of school; warning them seriously of those vices to which children are most liable; teaching them to abhor lying and falsehood and to avoid all sorts of evil speaking ; to love truth and honesty ; to be modest gentle well-behaved, just and affable, courteous to all their companions ; respectful to their superiors particu- larly towards all that minister in holy things and espe- cially to the minister of their Parish." 1
These instructions of the society are particularly perti- nent to the history of South Carolina, as it was in this province that the society commenced its labors. and in- deed did the most of its work. Its influence remained not only in the religious sentiment of the people, but in their system of education, which the masters from Oxford sent out by them. based upon a classical foundation.
The first missionary sent out by the society upon the application of the Governor and Council was the Rev. Samuel Thomas, who was appointed in June, 1702. His original mission was not to the colonists, but to the Yam- assee Indians. who surrounded the settlements; but Governor Johnson, not deeming it a convenient season for that duty, appointed him to the care of the church at Goose Creek. His ministry, however, though attended with considerable success, was but a brief one; on his return from England, to which he had gone on a visit, he died in 1705.
1 Daleho's Ch. ITist., 50.
CHAPTER XV
1700
Ar the opening of the new century, says Rivers, we must cease to look upon South Carolina as the home of indigent emigrants struggling for subsistence.1 The colony had now substantial numbers, and its various elements had begun to settle themselves into somewhat of a com- munity. The spirit of adventure had, in a measure at least, given way to the more sober purpose of citizenship. A review of its material condition will show what had been accomplished in the thirty years since the arrival of the first emigrants.
The population, which, as we have seen, was about 5500 besides Indians and negroes, was still clustered around the town in a comparatively small area; more than half, about 3000, were inhabitants of the town. There were, at least, 250 families residing in it, many of them having ten or twelve children each. The town still, however. com- prised only the space between the bay and the present Meeting Street. The principal street running through its whole length was the present Church Street. The cross streets were Queen, Broad, Elliot, and Tradd, though not then bearing these names. It was fortified. says Old- mixon, more for beauty than strength. It had six bastions, and a line all around it. There were three bastions on Cooper River. Craven Bastion was on the northeast corner of the town, at the end of what is now Market Street ;
Chapter in Colonial Hist. (Rivers).
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Blake's Bastion at the end of Broad Street, about where now stands the Old Exchange, the postoffice; Granville's Bastion stood where the battery now begins. From this point a creek ran up what is now Water Street, and a line of palisades extended on its northern bank, through what is now Stoll's Alley and the Baptist churchyard. to the corner of Tradd Street; thence along what is now Meet- ing Street to Cumberland; the northern line running diagonally from about the corner of Meeting and Cumber- land to what is now Market Wharf. At the intersection of Broad Street was a half-moon, a little later called John- son's Raveline, across which there was a drawbridge. Carteret Bastion was on the northwest corner, where Cumberland and Meeting streets now meet.
The only public buildings were the churches. an account of which was given in the last chapter. Charles Town was the market town, and thither the whole product of the province was brought for sale.1 Archdale declares that the road out of the town, which he says was called the Broadway, was so delightful a road and walk, so beautiful with odoriferous and fragrant woods, and pleasantly green all the year, that he believed no prince in Europe, by all his art, could make so pleasant a sight.2 There were also several fine streets in the town, says Oldmixon, and some very handsome buildings, as Mr. Landgrave Smith's house on the bay, with a drawbridge and wharf to it; Colonel Rhett's, also on the bay, and with drawbridge and wharf. He mentions also Mr. Boone's, Mr. Logan's, Mr. Schin- kingh's, and ten or twelve others which deserve notice. There was a public library in the town, he says, and a free school was talked of.ª
1 British Empire in Am., vol. I, 510 (Oldnixon). % Arch hab . in Carroli's Coll., vol. 11, 95.
3 British Empire in Am , vol. I. 011.
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Lawson. who wrote about the same time. gave this de- scription : 1_
" The Town." he says, " has very regular and fair Streets in which are good Buildings of Brick and Wood, and since my coming thence has had great Additions of beautiful, large Brick building besides a strong Fort and regular Fortifications to defend the Town. The inhabitants by their wise Management and Industry have much improv'd the Country which is in as thriving Circumstances at this time as any Colony on the Continent of English America, and is of far more Advantage to the Crown of Great Britain than any of the other more Northerly Plantations (Virginia and Maryland excepted). This colony was at first planted by a genteel sort of People that were well acquainted with Trade and had either Money or Parts to make good use of the Advantages that offered as most of them have done by raising themselves to great Estates and considerable Places of Trust and Posts of Honour in this thriving Settlement. Since the first Planters abun- dance of French and others have gone over and rais'd themselves to considerable Fortunes. They are very neat and exact in Packing and Shipping their Commodities ; which Method has got them so great a Character abroad that they generally come to a good Market with their Commodities, when often times the Product of other Plantations are fore'd to be sold at lower Prizes. They have a considerable Trade both to Europe and the West Indies whereby they become rich and are supply'd with all Things necessary for Trade and genteel Living which several other Places fall short of. Their cohabiting in a Town has drawn to them People of most Sciences, whereby they have Tutors amongst them that educate their Youth a-la-mode."
1 A Nero Voyage to Carolina, etc., 2, 3.
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The first act in order of time found remaining when the statutes were compiled in 1837 was one entitled " An act for the settling of a pilot," April 11, 1685.1 It was, how- ever, so defaced as to be illegible, but we have preserved one passed under Sothell. March 25, 1691, no doubt based upon that of 1685. This appointed three regular pilots who were required to make it their business to look out for ships coming into the harbor, regulating their conduct and prescribing the rates of pilotage.2 In 1694 an addition to this act was made providing for the maintenance of a watch on Sullivan's Island as well.3 In 1696 this was again added to and amended, and rates for bringing in vessels by the different channels prescribed.+ These pilots Lawson found on duty when he arrived in 1700.5 There was need of them; for from the town could now be seen entering the harbor vessels from Jamaica, Barbadoes, and the Leeward Islands. from Virginia and the other colonies, and the always welcome ships from England. About twelve of these ships were owned by the colonists, half of which were built by themselves.6 These were, however, small; for, unhappily, the bar across the mouth of the harbor admitted no ships of above 200 tons." Archdale. writing in 1707. says he could demonstrate what a great advantage Carolina is to the trade of England by consuming com- modities from thither, and by bringing great duties to the
1 Statutes, vol. II, 3. 3 Ibid., 93.
2 Ibid., 50.
+ Ibid., 127.
5 A New Voyage to Carolina, 6.
6 Chapter in Colonial IIist. (Rivers).
British Empire in Am. vol. I. 570.
Yet in an offer made by the Assembly in 1703 to supply a frigate with provisions, if one should be sent from England to cruise on the coast. it is said that Charles Town bar had "thirteen feet of water at high tide- water at neap fides, and fifteen thet at spring tides at least," and Port Royal eighteen fert at low tides and twenty-four at high water on ordi- nary tides. Hist. Sketches (Rivers). 202, note.
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Crown by importing goods or commodities thence: " For Charles Town trades near 1000 miles into the continent." That notwithstanding all the discouragements the town had met withal, yet seventeen ships that year came thence to London in the Virginia fleet laden from Carolina with rice. skins, pitch, and tar, besides several stragglers.1
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