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Sect. 2. Edisto Island.

This Island is situated upon the seaboard, about 40 miles S. W. of Charleston. Before the Revolution, it formed a part of the cure of the Rector of St. John's, Colleton. But its distance from the Parish Church, on John's Island, and the inconvenience, and sometimes the danger of crossing a wide and rapid river to attend Public Worship, induced the inhabitants to petition the Assembly, for a Chapel of Ease. An Act was accordingly passed, April 7, 1770, and the following Commissioners appointed: Messrs. Joseph Seabrook, Benjamin Jenkins, John Seabrook, Christopher Jenkins, and Joseph Fickling. The Rector of St. John's, was required to perform Divine Service in this Chapel every sixth Sunday, provided it did not fall on Easter Day, Whitsunday, or Christmas Day; in which case he was to officiate on the following Sunday, and then on every succeeding sixth Sunday. The expense of conveying the Minister from the Parsonage on John's Island, to the Chapel on Edisto, and back, was to be defrayed, solely, by the Inhabitants of Edisto Island.

This Act, however, promised but little relief to the Inhabitants of Edisto. Divine Service was to be performed in the Chapel, but once in six weeks, and if the pious christian desired an opportunity of joining more frequently in public worship, he was constrained to cross over to John's Island. Dissatisfied with this state of things, instead of building a Chapel of Ease, they determined on having a place of Worship, and a separate cure of their own. In 1774, they erected a neat and commodious Church, and, subsequently, subscribed liberally towards a permanent fund for its support. The following persons subscribed in Sterling money of Great Britain, which, reduced into dollars, stands thus:

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The Church is built of wood, and is neatly finished. A Chancel has lately been added, at the expense of Mrs. Louisa Deveaux, and Edward Bailey. The Hangings were the gift of Mrs. Sarah E. Bailey. The Communion Plate, consisting of a Tankard, Paten, and two Chalices, was presented to the Church by Edward Bailey; and an elegant Prayer Book by R. S. Jenkins.

There had formerly been a Baptist Church on the Island, but its members were either dead or removed, and the land was considered escheated to the State. Application was made to the Legislature, and an Act was passed in 1808, to vest two tracts of land, containing about 80 acres, in the Episcopal Church. A Glebe, consisting of about 30 acres, and a good Parsonage-House, have lately been purchased for $3000.

The following Clergymen have been settled in this cure, since the Revolution: The Rev. James Connor in 1786; and the Rev. Edmund Matthews. He was Ordained by Bishop Smith, of this Diocess, Deacon, Dec. 19, 1796, and Priest, June 16, 1799. On the resignation of Mr. Matthews, he was succeeded in 1809, by the Rev. Joseph Warren. He had been formerly Rector of St. Paul's Church, North Kingston, R. I. and successively of Christ Church, Middletown, Con. St. Peter's Church, Peekskill, and St. Philip's Church, Philipstown, N. Y. He resigned the cure on • Sum omitted in the topy.

Edisto, in 1811, and removed to St. Thomas and St. Dennis'. He was succeeded, in 1813, by the Rev. Andrew Fowler, formerly Rector of St. Bartholomew's, who remained here until 1817, when he resigned. The Rev. Thomas Osborne was elected, Nov. 1818. He was ordained Deacon, June 28, 1818, by Bishop Hobart of New-York, and Priest, Nov. 14, 1819, by Bishop Bowen, of this Diocess. Mr. Osborne having been appointed Professor of Languages in the College at Cincinnati, Ohio, resigned this cure in Nov. 1819, and was succeeded by the present Incumbent, the Rev. Joseph Morgan Gilbert. He was Ordained, Deacon, June 1819, by Bishop Hobart, of New-York.

In the summer months, the inhabitants remove to the sea shore, on Edding's Bay. The Church was Incorporated in 1793, by the name of "the Protestant Episcopal Church of Edisto Island."

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Stateburgh was settled about the year 1783, and in 1788, an Act was passed" to Incorporate the Vestry and Churchwardens of the Episcopal Church of Claremont." In the following year the Church was built in the environs of the town. It is of wood; 51 feet by 37; and 17 feet high, with eleven arched windows, and four doors.

The Rev. Matthew Tate was elected Rector in 1790, and in 1792 he removed to Beaufort. The Church remained long vacant, and the congregation gradually decreased. The Rev. John Jacob Tschudy, A. M. was elected to this cure in 1807, and entered on its duties June 19, 1808. He was Ordained Deacon, Dec. 27, 1807, by Bishop Claggett, of Maryland, and Priest, April 23, 1809, by Bishop White, of Pennsylvania. The ordinances of religion being again restored, the congregation increased, and the Church flourished. Mr. Tschudy continued in this cure,

until Dec. 9, 1811, when he removed to St. John's, Berkley. The Church remained vacant until Easter 1813, when the Rev. George Strebeck, formerly Rector of St. Stephen's, New-York, was elected Rector; but at the end of the year, he removed from the Parish. The present Incumbent, the Rev. Parker Adams, was elected Rector, June 20, 1818. He was Ordained Deacon, Oct. 18, 1808, by Bishop Moore, of NewYork, and Priest, Oct. 27, 1811, by Bishop Griswold, of the Eastern Diocess.

A handsome Organ was presented to the Church, in 1816, by William Rees, Esq. and a neat and conve nient Parsonage-House, has been lately erected, about two miles from the Church.

Claremont was occasionally visited by such of the Clergy, as could make it convenient to leave their cures. But it is greatly to the honor of its inhabitants, that, during the long vacancies in their Church, some pious member of the Vestry, occasionally read Prayers and a Sermon, on Sundays, and thus preserved a Spirit of devotion, as well as regard to the Church of their fathers. It is to be wished, that this practice was more general, in places where the regular ministrations of our Clergy cannot be obtained. It would preserve the congregation in a collected form, and the word of God would be heard in his temple, though his Ordinances could not be administered.*

Sect. 4. Camden.

The town of Camden was laid out about 1760. Episcopal Clergymen occasionally officiated there, but a regular congregation was not formed until 1808, when certain persons were incorporated by the name of "the Camden Protestant Episcopal Church." In 1812, the Rev. Andrew Fowler visited this place as a

See St. Mark's Parish page 324.

Missionary from "the Protestant Episcopal Society for the Advancement of Christianity in So. Ca." The seeds which he sowed, though slow in growth, we trust are still alive, and will, in due season, yield their fruit. Arrangements are making for building a Church.

Sect. 5. Trinity Church, Columbia.

Columbia was founded by Act of Assembly 1786, and established as the seat of government of the State. In 1812, the Protestant Episcopal Society sent the Rev. Mr. Fowler as their Missionary to this town. He arrived there July 16, and by the 5th Oct. "he had collected a considerable congregation, composed of very respectable members of the community, who appeared to attend public worship with great devotion, and seemed to be zealous that all things should be done decently and in order."* Mr. Fowler was greatly aided, by the active co-operation of some zealous and respectable individuals, through whose influence a congregation was collected. In 1814, a neat and commodious Church was built of wood, by the liberality of several persons, in various parts of the State, and was consecrated by the late Bishop Dehon. The Rev. Mr. Lance, while preparing for the Ministry, officiated in this Church, as a Lay-Reader under the license of the Bishop, and was supported by an appropriation of the Society.

Gen. Wade Hampton generously made the Church a donation of an Organ, and upwards of $2000. The Legislature of 1813,† Gen. C. C. Pinckney, Elias Horry and Peter Smith, Esqrs. of Charleston, have endowed it with lands. Mrs. Mary Gregorie and Mrs. Sarah Russell, of Charleston, have likewise contri

* See Third Report of the Society.

+ See Appendix 1. 10.

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