David Ramsay, Hist of SC 1670-1808 Vol II on Google Books
Abstract at Research / Ramsay Vol. II Ecclesiastic History
Outline of the Religions in SC, Churches in Charleston 1760-1775 and colonial laws relating to religion
General:
Dissenters outnumbered Anglicans throughout the colonial period and from the moment of colonization. That said, the appointed governors were always Anglican, first by the Proprieters, then by the King.
Establishment of a Colonial Church:
Anglicans, when they had gained sufficient numbers in the colonial legislature in 1704, at a time when there were 3 dissenting churches in Charles Town but only one Anglican Church, passed a law " which made it necessary for all persons thereafter chosen members of the commons, house of assembly, to conform to the religious worship of the church of England and to receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper according to the rights and usages of that church." This act passed the lower house by a majority of only one vote. It virtually excluded from a seat in the legislature all who were dissenters, erected an aristocracy, and gave a monopoly of power to one sect though far from being a majority of the inhabitants.
The dissenters petitioned Queen Anne
and the House of Lords, receiving favorable decisions from both that
the act was improper. Despite that, the SC House refused to take any
action and began spending tax dollars to support the Anglican Church.
Over the next 70 years, the laws
regarding dissenters participating in government were ignored and, in
part, repealed. That said, SC civil government was organized around the Anglican parish system rather than by counties.
Anglicanism remained the official Church of the
colony and was supported by tax money collected from people of all
denominations – something that remained a significant annoyance to
dissenters until changed during the Revolution.
The
Anglican bureaucracy in Britain always supported the Church and
helped fund clergymen, particularly in the back country. The Church
of Enlgand paid its clergy 50 pounds per annum.
The number of
espiscopal clergymen who settled in Carolina anterior to 1731 is not
known; but from that year till 1 775, when the revolution commenced,
their aggregate number was one hundred and two*.
Most of them were
men, of regular education. Such of these and of others as arrived for
nearly the first half of the 18th century were generally sent out as
missionaries by the society for propagating the gospel in foreign
parts, and with a few exceptions they continued to preserve the good
moral characters they all brought out with them. . . . Of the whole
there was not a single native of Carolina. Two or three are said to
have been born in the northern provinces, but all the rest were
europeans.
In countries where
ecclesiastics have an official agency in the government, their
history is additionally important as it is blended with the civil
police. This was at no time the case in South Carolina. The people,
both of the province and state, were always averse to the exercise of
any civil power by ecclesiastics. Clergymen enjoyed the rights of
british subjects or of american citizens ; but at no time any
distinguishing privileges by virtue of their office.
Religious Toleration
Beyond the Anglicans use of tax money
to support their Church, discrimination against dissenters, so common
in Europe, was unknown in Carolina. The moderation og the established
church was great — . the toleration of the dissenters was complete.
Except the patronage from government, and support from the public
treasury, the civil rights and privileges of both were nearly equal.
The former were too apt to look down with contempt on the latter, as
an inferior grade of beings, but abstained from all private acts of
injury or oppression. The one gradually abated of their haughtiness,
the other of their scrupulosity. Fashion induced several prosperous
individuals among the dissenters to join the established church.
The
american revolution levelled all legal distinctions — diminished
prejudices — and brought hoth into a nearer connexion with each
other. Marriages between persons of different de nominations became
more common and excited less wonder. Fashion no longer led
exclusively to one church. The name of meeting-house and the ridicule attached to those who frequented them were done away. The
difference now is more in name than reality. The peculiarities,
formerly characteristic of each, have been so far dropt that there
is no longer any other obvious mark of distinction than that which
results from their different modes of per forming divine service.
Religious Sects & Their Houses of Worship In Charleston
Anglican:
St. Phillips Church (Sciway) - the sole parish of Charleston from 1680 to 1731 subdivision. Rebuilt on Church St. after being damaged in the 1710 hurricane, The tower of St. Philip's served for many years as the rear tower of a set of range lighthouses serving to guide mariners into Charleston's harbor
St. Michael's Church (Sciway) - a second parish of Charleston after 1731 (on the ruins of the 1st St. Phillips Church) encompassing the area south of Broad St.
Dissenting Protestant Religions
Congregationalists (& Presbyterians until 1731)
These two sects joined together initially, as their sole divirgence was not doctrinal, but on church governance. They both worshipped at the White Meeting House built in 1690.
The White Meeting House (Sciway) – This
building, after various enlargements, in the course of one hundred
and fourteen years, was finally taken down in 1804 ; and the present
church on a circular plan of 88 feet diameter was erected in its
place. This form accommodates a greater number of people, at less
expense, than any other ; is easy to the speaker, and makes his voice
more distinctly audible, especial ly at a distance The building has
already cost 60,000 dollars, and 14,000 more will be necessary to
finish the steeple. One half of the gallery is laid off for the use
of people of color, and accommodates about 400 decent, orderly, and
steady worshippers of that description. This church has had fifteen
ministers.
The commencement and termination of their ministerial
functions as far as is now known, was nearly as follows : . . .
Reverend James Edmonds settled
December 15, 1754, and resigned about 1761
Reverend William Hutson settled in
connexion with Mr. Edmonds, 1757, and died in 1761
Reverend Andrew Bennet was settled
as pastor with Mr. Edmonds in 1762, and resigned in 1763.
Reverend John Thomas was installed
pastor of the church in 1767, and died at New-York on the 29th of
Septem ber 1771.
The Reverend William Tennent
entered on the pastoral charge of the church in 1772, and died at
the high hills of San- tee in August 1777 ; from his death the
church remained va cant till the termination of the revolutionary
war.
While the british were in possession of Charlestown, the
building was used as a store house by the conquerors. The pews were
all destroyed and the house materially injured.
First (Scots) Presbyterian Church - broke off from The White Meeting House in 1731
Huguenot Church - French language services using the Anglican form from 1680 onwards.
St. John's Lutheran Church - 1755 (Sciway): Wooden church built in Charleston 1759-1763
Jewish Synagogue (Sciway) - Congregation established in 1749, 1764 had established a Jewish cematary, then in 1775 finished building their synagogue.
First Baptist Church (Sciway) - 1701
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