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CHAPTER VI.

St. John's Parish, Berkley.

THIS Parish was laid off in Berkley County, by Act. of Assembly, November 30, 1706, and its Boundaries defined by an Act, Dec. 18, 1708, as follow: "to the North-East by the bounds of Craven County, tơ the South by the bounds of the Parishes of St. Thomas and St. Dennis, and by the Eastern branch of Cooper River, then down Cooper River to the Mouth of the Back River to the South-West, partly by the said Back River, to the Plantation of David Durham inclusive, and partly by a North-West line from the West part of the said Durham's Plantation, to the North-West bound of Berkley County, and to the North-East by the said bounds of the said County."

The Journals of the Vestry are not of an earlier date than April 19, 1732. Those anterior to 1725, were accidentally destroyed by fire, and the rest are lost. The Parochial Register commences in 1752.

In 1707, the Rev. Robert Maule, A. M. arrived in Charles-Town, as a Missionary from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. The Society having authorized the Governor and Council to place him where he would be most useful, they soon after appointed him to the Cure of St. John's Parish, on the Western branch of Cooper River, "a pleasant and healthful part of the country, where the Planters

were generally, good, sober and teachable people," but settled on Plantations at a great distance from each other.* Mr. Maule was the first Clergyman of the Church of England, who had resided there for any time.

No Episcopal Church had yet been built; but Mr. Maule performed Divine Service in the Church of the French Protestants, by the invitation of its Clergyman, Mr. Tuilliard. The number of French families was about ten, and those among them who understood English, attended the Ministry of Mr. Maule. The scattered situation of the settlements, frequently obliged him to perform Service at the Houses of the Planters, This made his duty very laborious, particularly in summer, and his Parishioners were so sensible of it, that they presented him with a Horse, as a mark of their respect for his zeal.

In 1710 they began to build an Episcopal Church in this Parish. The sum of £333 6 8 which had been granted by the Assembly for this Purpose, being insufficient, it was finished in the following year by private liberality. It is recorded of Col. Broughton, "a worthy Gentleman and serious Christian" that "he very generously adorned the Church, made a Communion Table, railed in the Chancel, made a Pulpit, Reading Desk, and some Pews, all of Cedar, and at his own expense."

There are two Glebes belonging to this Parish. The upper containing about 110 Acres of Land, is situated five miles above the Parish Church, and was bought from Sir John Colleton, 5th Dec. 1712, who gave three Acres for the site of Biggin Church. The lower Glebe was given by some of the same family. This is situated about four miles above Strawberry, and is supposed to be now [1819] worth from 15 to $20,000.

• In 1819, this Parish contained 617 White Inhabitants.

The Episcopal Congregation soon increased under the pious labours of the Missionary, which he ascribed principally, under God, to the books which he distributed by order of the Society; particularly the Book of Common Prayer, and Bishop Beveridge's Sermon on the Excellency and Usefulness of that inestimable Volume.

The sudden irruption of the Indians in 1715, compelled the Planters to seek protection in the security of a garrison. Mr. Maule accompanied them, and administered to them the consolations and ordinances of religion. "Considering," said he, in his Letter to the Society, "that having hitherto lived among them in their prósperity, I could not, in conscience, desert them in times of danger and distress, that so I might teach them, by example as well as doctrine, to submit with cheerfulness to the Will of God." He continued with his people in the garrison four months, and performed all the duties of his sacred office. He baptised their children, visited their sick and wounded, and buried their dead. He preached every Sunday, and read prayers twice every day in the week. But his constitution was unequal to the fatigue he endured in a sultry season, and a crowded garrison. After he returned to his home, he was seized with Dysentery, and was soon carried to his grave, greatly beloved and lamented by his Parishioners. As a testimony of his regard for the Society, he made them residuary legatees; by which they received above £600 Cur.

The Rev. Moses Clerk, A. M. was appointed his He arrived in 1720, but died in a few

successor. months.

Mr. James Child, a respectable inhabitant of this Parish, laid out a town on the western branch of Cooper river, called Childsbury, now Strawberry, and left several legacies to promote its settlement. He gave one square for a" College or University," £600 Cur. and a lot for a Free-School and house for the Master, and an

acre and half for a Church or Chapel, and burying place.* To promote the settlement of this town, an Act was passed, Feb 15, 1723, establishing annual Fairs, and two weekly markets. The parish was of considerable extent, and many of the inhabitants, from the distance of the Church from their dwellings, were prevented attending public worship. They subscribed a considerable sum, and built a neat brick Chapel, near Strawberry ferry. The parishioners having petitioned the Assembly to establish it by law, an Act was passed, Dec. 9, 1725, "for founding and establishing a Parochial Chapel of Ease at Childsbury, to the Parish Church in St. John's Parish." The Act provided, that the Rector or Minister of the Parish should "every fourth Sunday throughout the year, and not oftener, repair to the said Chapel, and then and there celebrate Divine Service, according to the Rubrick and Liturgy of the Church of England, and at proper Times preach and do and perform all such sacred and ministerial Offices which by him may be done, exercised and performed."

Chapels of Ease, according to the original meaning of the term, are not now known in this country. In England there is a distinction between a Chapel of Ease, and a Parochial Chapel of Ease. Chapels of Ease are founded for the convenience of the people in large Parishes, in attending Public Worship, where they live at a distance from the Parish Church; to which, however, the Sacraments and Burials are restricted. Parochial Chapels of Ease possess the parochial rights of baptising and burying, but have

* Extract from Mr. Child's Will, dated Oct. 29, 1718.

"Item. I give and bequeath one acre and a half of land for to build a Church or Chapel upon it, and for a burying place for the inhabitants of Childsbury. Town, and all within the Western and Eastern branches of Cooper River, as it is bounded out with locust trees and a Cedar fence, but the timber trees growing, or may hereafter grow, in the Church yard, and also the herbage and grass and pasture, I give to my son Isaac Child, and his heirs for ever, with a provisor and upon condition, he keep the Churchyard weeded and clean and smooth from hogs digging, upon penalty of forfeiting all the timber and trees, herbage and grass to my Trustees, and them to dispose of it to whom they shall think Kitting."

neither Rectory nor Endowment. The Curate or Vicar of both, is dependent on the Parochial Minister. To preserve this parochial dependence, a reservation is made of repairing to the Parish Church, on the great festival days. This explains the Sections in several Acts of Assembly founding Chapels of Ease in South-Carolina, wherein Christmas Day, Easter Day and Whitsunday are exclusively reserved for the service of the Parish Church.*

In consequence of Mr. Clerk's death, the Churchwardens and Vestry applied to the Society for another Missionary. The Rev. Bryan Hunt, A. M. was sent to the Parish in 1722, but his Mission proved unsuccessful. His contentious disposition rendered him disagreeable to the Parishioners, and unfit for the Mission. After many differences and contests, he returned to England in 1728. The Rev. Daniel Dwight, A. M. succeeded him in 1729. He was Ordained Deacon, May 25, 1729, by Dr. Waugh, Bishop of Carlisle; and Priest, by Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London, June 1st, 1729.

The earliest record extant of the Parochial elections, is April 19, 1732, when the following were elected: Churchwardens: Paul De St. Julien and John Harleston, jun. Vestrymen: Thomas Broughton, John Colleton, Nathaniel Broughton, John Gibbes, Thomas Cordes, James Le Bas, and H. Butler.

The liberality of the first royal Governor, Sir Francis Nicholson, in patronising learning and religion, had happily excited similar dispositions in others, and produced the establishment of schools for the instruction of the Colonists. The late Mr. James Child, bequeathed £600 Cur. and a lot of land, for founding a Free-School at Childsbury, and subsequently, the inhabitants subscribed a further sum of £2200 Cur. To these was added, the interest of £200 given by the

* See Burn's Ecclesiastical Law, I. 299. See likewise Act for building a Chapel of Ease at Markley's Old Field in this Parish, at the end of the chapter.

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