The Inhabitants professing the worship of the Church of England, elected the Rev. Richard Marsden, A. M. Rector of this Parish, Aug. 9, 1708. The earliest record of Church Officers is in this year, when the following were elected: Churchwardens; David Maybank and Henry Gill. Vestrymen; Thomas Barton, capt. William Capers, Leonard Hickman, John Simes, Richard Fairchild, John Hale and Nathaniel Loughton.

Mr. Marsden went to England in 1709. The Parish being thus left destitute of a Minister, the Vestry requested the Rev. Mr. Commissary Johnson, to procure them the occasional services of the neighbouring Clergy, until they should receive a Minister from England. In consequence of this application, the Commissary and the Rev. Messrs. Maule and Hasell, Missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and the Rev. Mr. Le Pierre, performed Divine Service in this Parish, each of them, once a month.

The Vestry immediately made the following application to the Society:

"To the Most Reverend, the Right Reverend, and Right Honourable, and Honourable the Lords and others, the Rev. and Hon. Members of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. May it please your Lordships, and the Honourable Gentlemen

of the said Society.

"That we, whose names are hereunder written, being the Vestry and Churchwardens of the Parish of Christ Church, in South-Carolina, Do presume to give your Honourable Society the trouble of this Letter, and to request the favour of them to supply this Parish with a good and able Minister, we having been destitute of a Minister these two years, and upwards; and indeed, can hardly say we ever had any, since the passing of the Act of Assembly for settling the Church in this Province; for upon Mr. Edward Marston being removed from Charles-Town, we got him into our

That on every Easter Sunday, Whitsunday and Christmas Day, the Rector or Minister of the said Parish, do perform Divine Service at the said Parish Church." The Rev. Mr. Hart died in this Parish in 1779.

The Sacramental Plate, with the exception of the French Chalice, was, probably, purchased by the Parish. It has the following inscription on each piece: St. John's Parish, South-Carolina in America.

A Chalice of Silver, gilt, was presented to the Parish. It had been used by the Protestants in France, before the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, and was brought to Carolina by the Rev. Mr. Lessou, formerly Minister of a French congregation in this Province.

Biggin Church was garrisoned by a party of British troops, in 1781, under the command of Lt. Col. Coates. When they were compelled to abandon it, they set it on fire, to prevent the stores it contained from falling into the hands of the Americans. It has since been repaired.

After the War, the Rev. Joseph White, a native of Virginia, and the Rev. Andrew M'Cully, officiated here for some time. The Rev. Peter Manigault Parker was invited to this Cure, April 3, 1796, and resigned it in 1802. The Rev. Christopher Edwards Gadsden, was elected Jan. 1808, and resigned Feb. 2, 1810, to enter upon the duties of Assistant Minister of St. Philip's Church. He was succeeded by the present Rector, the Rev. John Jacob Tschudy, A. M. formerly Rector of Claremont, who entered on the duties of the Cure, Dec. 1811. An interesting account of this gentleman's exertions and success, in communicating religious instruction to the Negroes, will be found in the Journals of the Convention of 1819.

The church was Incorporated in 1794, by the name of "The Vestry and Churchwardens of the Episcopal Church of St. John's, Berkley county." The late Elias Ball, Esq. presented the Parish in 1809, with a Glebe of 63 acres, on which is a frame house of three

stories, which he purchased for the purpose, and put into complete repair. This is the residence of the Rector. This Parish continues to be a highly respectable and flourishing Cure. Divine Service is performed on alternate Sundays, at Biggin Church, and Strawberry Chapel, from Nov. to June. During the summer, the inhabitants reside either in Charleston, or at Cordesville, a Pine Land settlement, where, from its elevation and aridity, health is generally enjoyed.

LIST

Of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials in St. John's Parish, Berkley.

The Parochial Register extends no further back than 1752.

Reported to the Convention in 1819, for the year preceding:

Baptisms 11. Marriages 3. Funerals 6. Communicants, 43 Whites and 14 Blacks.

CHAPTER VII.

Christ Church Parish.

THIS Parish was established by Act of the Assembly, Nov. 30, 1706; and its boundaries defined by another Act, Dec. 18, 1708, as follow: "to the NorthEast by a large Creek, or River, commonly, called Awindaw Creek, or Seawee River, being the bounds of Craven county, to the South-East by the Sea, to the West by Wando River, and to the North-West partly by the said River, and partly by a line drawn from the Cowpen of Capt. Robert Daniel, or the Swamp of the head of Wando River exclusive, to the Cowpen of Joseph Wigfal, on the head of the said Awindaw Creek or Seawee River inclusive."

The first Clergyman who officiated in this Parish was the Rev. Edward Marston. He had been removed from St. Philip's, by the Board of Lay Commissioners, and was offered a settlement in this Parish, which he refused.

The foundation of the Church was laid in 1707; but it was not completed for some years. The grant of £333 6 8, by the Assembly, was found insufficient; but a further grant of £225, with the aid of private subscriptions, enabled the Vestry to finish the Church; to purchase a Glebe of 100 acres, four miles from the Church, and to build a convenient Parsonage-House.

they should hear from the Society in England. He was to receive at the rate of £100 per ann. But an election being held for a Rector, Dec. 10, 1712, pursuant to an Order from the Church Commissioners, Mr. Jones was chosen conformably to Law. The Vestry apologized to the Society for having proceeded to an election without waiting for their answer, but assured them that they were solely influenced by their "zeal for, and earnest desire of, the Liturgy of the Church of England." Mr. Jones was in poor circumstances, and the Assembly, April 2d, 1712, generously granted him £50 cur. to defray the expense of his passage. He was subsequently appointed a Missionary of the Society, and was very assiduous and successful in the discharge of his Parochial duties. Soon after his settlement in the Parish, he informed the Society, that he had baptised 136 children, and 7 adults; and that the Persons who kept house in the Parish, did not exceed 105. These Baptisms appear not to have been recorded in the Parish Register, but in the Missionary's Notitia Parochialis. This pious man had the good of souls so much at heart, that he declined receiving any contribution from his Parishioners, but was content with his salary from the Province. was induced to this measure from the consideration, that his parishioners had suffered greatly in the Indian war, and he was fearful that some, who were unsettled in their religious principles, might deem their religion too dear, and forsake it altogether. Mr. Jones felt great interest in the spiritual welfare of the Negroes, and "endeavoured to persuade their owners to assist in having them instructed in the christian faith; but he found this good work lay under difficulties, as yet insuperable." In a letter to the Society he says, "though labouring in vain be very discouraging, yet, by the help of God, I will not cease my labours; and if I shall gain but one Proselyte, I shall not think much

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