Precept from the Church Commissioners, the Parishioners met to elect a Rector. It had been usual to choose the missionaries to this office, but Mr. Winteley's conduct not being satisfactory to the Parishioners, he was not elected. He discontinued his functions Jan. 1, 1728, and left the Province.

The Rev. Edward Dyson was engaged Feb. 1, 1730, to serve the cure until a Missionary should arrive from England. He discontinued his functions July 19th, following, in consequence of the arrival of the Rev. John Fulton, A. M. as a Missionary from the Society, who, on the 26th of that month, took charge of the cure. He was Ordained by Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London, Deacon, Jan. 18, and Priest, Feb. 22, 1729. Mr. Fulton had several severe fits of illness, which were supposed to have been owing to his own imprudence. He was tried for intemperance in the Commissary's Court, and suspended. The Rev. Laurence O'Neill, A. M. was invited, June 2, 1734, to officiate during the Vacancy. He exhibited to the Commissary, May 23, 1734, his Letters of Priest's Orders, signed by Dr. King, Archbishop of Dublin, Nov. 16, 1719; and likewise Letters Dimissory from Dr. Hoadly, Archbishop of Dublin, dated Nov. 20, 1733. He remained in this cure until Feb. 5, 1735, when the Rev. John Fullerton, A. M. took charge of the Parish as a missionary from the Society. The thanks of the Vestry were voted, May 26th, to Mrs. Susannah Haddrel, for her present of a Surplice.

The Parishioners were highly satisfied with the conduct and services of Mr. Fullerton, and rejoiced that their Church was once more so respectably supplied. But in the midst of these agreeable feelings, Mr. Fullerton was taken ill, and died Sept. 4, 1735. On the 13th, the Vestry wrote to the Society, and to the Bishop of London, acquainting them with the loss they had sus

or, at the opening of the Church, by an appropriate discourse of the Preacher. The first Church consecrated in South-Carolina, was St. Paul's, Colleton, Jan. 10, 1813, by the late Bishop Dehon See page 248.

tained in Mr. Fullerton's death, and solicited them to send another missionary to the Parish.

In 1736 the Rev. Thomas Morritt was appointed by the Society a missionary to this Parish; but some unfavourable reports having reached them, from his former residence in Prince Frederick's, the Vestry refused to receive him, and the neighbouring clergy occasionally supplied the cure. The Vestry, Oct. 7, 1737, appointed the Parish Clerk, Stephen Hartley, to read on Sundays, and Holy days, the morning and evening Prayers; and a Sermon after Morning Service, until the vacancy should be filled.

The Rev. Robert Small, A. M. arrived as a missionary in Oct. 1733, and was joyfully received by the Vestry. It appears by his testimonials, which he exhibited to the Commissary, Oct. 18, 1738, that he was Ordained. Deacon, Feb. 26, 1737, and Priest, April 16, 1738, by Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London. His License for this Province was dated May 15, 1738.

The Parsonage House not being worth repairing, the Churchwardens and Vestry petitioned the Assembly, for aid in building another. A grant of £400, was made to them for that purpose, Feb. 22, 1738–9; and £300 was raised among the Parishioners by subscription.

Mr. Small died Sept. 28, 1739, and the Rev. John Holmes was appointed, June 15, 1740, to the cure of this Parish; with a salary of £80 Stg. a year. But on the 15th November following, the Rev. Levi Durand, A. M. arrived in the Parish, as the Society's Missionary, and immediately entered on the duties of the cure. He was Ordained by Dr. Hoadly, Archbishop of Dublin, Deacon, June 12, 1738, and Priest, Nov. 19, 1739.

Mr. Durand was unanimously elected Rector, Feb. 23, 1741, agreeably to the provisions of the Church Act.

In 1750, there were 60 communicants. Mr. Durand continued in this cure eleven years, when, at the

request of himself, and the Churchwardens and Vestry of St. John's Parish, Berkley, he was removed by the Society to that mission, Nov. 1751. In their letter of removal the Society promise to send another Missionary to Christ Church, "as soon as it should appear that some things, then amiss in that Parish, were rectified." It does not appear what those things were.

After the removal of Mr. Durand, the neighbouring Clergy occasionally supplied the vacant cure. The Rev. Winwood Serjeant was Rector of this Parish in 1759; and some time before the War, the Rev. Henry Purcell was settled in this cure.

The church was burnt by the British in 1782.

The church remained for many years without an Incumbent. The Clergy of the city occasionally visited it, and administered the Ordinances of religion. The Rev. Albert Arney Muller, A. M. was elected Rector, Nov. 1, 1819. He was Ordained Deacon, April 25, 1817, by Bishop Dehon, of this Diocess, and Priest, May 16, 1818, by Bishop White, of Pennsylvania.

The Pro. Epis. Society for the Advancement of Christianity in So. Ca. have granted to this Parish, $500, per ann. for two years, in aid of their funds for the support of a Clergyman.

The Communion Plate of this Parish consists of a Chalice and Paten; upon the latter is the following inscription: The Gift of Jacob Motte, Esq. to Christ Church 1763. The Books, Vestments, some of the Plate, &c. belonging to the Church, were kept at the house of one of the Church Officers, which was burnt by the British in the Revolutionary War, and lost.

A considerable portion of the Journals of this Parish, is lost. The church was incorporated March 27, 1787.

CHAPTER VIII.

Parish of St. Thomas and St. Dennis.

THESE Parishes were at first distinct. St. Dennis was settled by French Protestants soon after the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, in 1685. St. Thomas' Parish was laid off, with several others, Nov. 30, 1706; and its boundaries defined by another Act passed Dec. 18, 1708, as follows: "to the N. E. by the Bounds of Craven County; to the South by the bounds of Christ Church Parish and Wando River; to the West by Cooper River, to that tract of land, commonly called the Hagin, inclusive, and to the North by the Eastern branch of the said Cooper River, to the Plantation of the Right Hon. Sir Nathaniel Johnson, Knight, Governor, exclusive, and then, by an East line from the northernmost Part of the said Plantation to the bounds of Craven County.* The first Church was built in 1703, by the private subscription of the Parishioners, and the liberal assistance of Sir Nathaniel Johnson. This was the first Episcopal Church in the Province, out of Charles-Town. It was erected on the eastern side of the east branch of Cooper River; was built of cypress 30 feet square, upon a small hill, usually called Pompion hill, which gave its name to the Church. It was afterwards used as a

*It was declared by an Act, March 5, 1736-7, that the Parishes of St. Thomas and St. Dennis "were bounded by the most northerly branch of the said Eastern branch of Cooper river."