Robert Gibbs and John Gibbs with the Vestry and Churchwardens for the time being, and their Successors to put out and keep out the five hundred Pounds at Interest, and the Interest of the said five hundred pounds shall be for the use of schooling and educating the Poor Children in the Parish of St. John's, Colleton county, John's Island, for the above use and no other purpose whatever."

Extract from the Will of George Hext, Esq.

"Also. I give and bequeath unto the Vestry and Churchwardens of the Parish of St. John's aforesaid, for the time being, and their Successors for ever, One thousand two hundred and fifty pounds lawful money of South-Carolina, upon trust, that they do and shall place out the said sum of One Thousand two hundred and fifty pounds at Interest, upon good security, and do and shall yearly and every year collect and receive the Interest arising therefrom, and apply the same from time to time for ever, for the Schooling of the Poor Children of the said Parish, and to no other use whatever. And I do Will and Order, that the said sum of One thousand two hundred and fifty pounds be paid within one month after my said Sister Jane Elizabeth Hext attains the age of twenty one years, or depart this Life."

The Rev. Mr. Lewis resigned the Cure of this Parish in 1773, and removed to St. Paul's. He was succeeded by the Rev. John Dundas, A. M. who was elected Rector, April 4th, 1774, and died the same year. He was buried at St. Michael's, July 28. He was succeeded by the Rev. Benjamin Blackburn, who was elected Rector, Aug. 7, 1775, and died the same year, of country fever. He is said to have been an amiable and pious man, a good preacher, and very generally esteemed. The Church remained vacant until 1787, when the Rev. Penuel Bowen, father of the present Bishop, was elected Rector. He died the next year, and was buried under the Church.

He

was succeeded in 1789, by the Rev. Stephen Sykes, who removed to Prince George, Winyaw, in 1791. The Church having long been in ruins, a new building of wood was finished in 1817, by the liberality of the late Francis Simmons, Esq. It is a neat and commodious building with a handsome Portico, standing on the site of the old Church. The interior is 45 feet long, by 32 wide; the extreme length 54. It was consecrated by the late Bishop Dehon, April 10, 1817. Its first Rector was the Rev. Paul Trapier Gervais, who was Ordained by Bishop Moore, of NewYork, Deacon, Nov. 25, 1807, and Priest, Aug. 4, 1809. The present Incumbent is the Rev. William Stanyarne Wilson, A. B. who was Ordained Deacon, March 14, 1819, by Bishop White, of Pennsylvania, by Letters Dimissory from Bishop Bowen, of this Diocess.

The Communion Plate consists of a Chalice, Paten, and Alms Plate.

St. John's, Colleton, is a flourishing and respectable Cure. It has a Glebe and Parsonage, and its funds are large and increasing. The inhabitants generally remove from the Parish during the summer, and the service of the Church is suspended from June to November.

The Parochial Register is incomplete. The Church was incorporated March 22, 1786. In 1819, there were 436 white inhabitants in this Parish.

CHAPTER XXI,

St. Bartholomew's Parish.

THIS part of Colleton County was made a Parish,

by an Act passed Nov. 30, 1706, and its boundaries defined by another passed Dec. 18, 1708, as follow: "to the East by South Edisto River, to the SouthEast by the sea, to the North-West by St. Helena Sound, Cambahee River, and the bounds of Granville County, and to the North-West by the North-West bounds of Colleton County."

The Inhabitants having made application to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Rev. Mr. Osborn was sent as their Missionary. He arrived in 1713, and was the first Clergyman of the Church of England, settled in this Parish. His cure was very extensive, and his duty laborious. It was 40 miles long and 30 wide, and contained in it 120 families.* Mr. Osborn officiated at five different places for the accommodation of his parishioners, who lived at considerable distance from each other. He had the satisfaction of seeing his labours productive of good; for, soon after his residence in the Parish, he baptised 70, many of whom were adults; and the Lord's Table began to be filled with pious Communicants. Mr. Osborn was greatly esteemed, and the Church flourished under his care. This prosperity, however, was soon interrupted. In 1715, the Indian War broke out, and the savages destroyed all the plantations in the Parish. So sudden was the irruption,

* In 1819, this Parish contained 3079 white inhabitants.

that the Indians were within three miles of Mr. Osborn's house before they were discovered. The Missionary with difficulty escaped to Charles-Town, where he soon after died.

It was some years before the Parish recovered from this disaster. A Missionary was not immediately sent out, but the Clergy of the neighbouring Parishes occasionally officiated in this cure. In consequence of the war, the Church remained unbuilt, and there was no fixed place for divine worship. An Act was passed Dec. 9, 1725, appointing Messrs. John Parker, John Hunt, Hugh Bryan and William Evertson, Commissioners for building a Chapel of Ease, at or near Capt. Cox's Plantation; and appropriating £300 cur. for the purpose. The Rector or Minister of the Parish, was required to perform divine service in this Chapel every fourth Sunday, conformably with the Rubrics and Liturgy of the Church of England, &c. It was likewise directed by the Act, that if a Minister of the Church of England should be appointed to the Parish, before the Church was built, he should perform divine service in the Chapel, as he would do in the Parish Church.

The Rev. Mr. Guy visited this Parish pursuant to directions from the Society. He informed them, July 19, 1732, that, there were 44 families belonging to the Church of England, within eight miles of the Church, and 79 Plantations within the same distance. There were 220 acres of Land belonging to the Glebe, about three quarters of a mile from the Church. The Parsonage-House was not in good repair, but another was soon to be built. He likewise stated that, the Parishioners were very desirous of receiving another Missionary.

In 1734, the Rev. Robert Gowie, A. M. arrived in the Province as the Society's Missionary to this Parish, and entered upon the duties of his cure. He was Ordained by Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London, Deacon, Sept. 23, and Priest, Oct. 21, 1733. How long he continued here is not known; but it is probable that it

was not long. He was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Thomson. He was Ordained Deacon, Nov. 8, and Priest, Nov. 15, 1730, by Dr. Chandler, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. Mr. Thomson informed the Society, May 1, 1736, that this Parish contained 120 white families, and 1200 negroes; that as there had been no settled Minister here for some years, he had only 9 communicants. He had baptised upwards of 100 children since he came into the Parish, and 16 since he entered upon the Society's Mission. He further stated that, he officiated once a month at Chehaw, the most remote part of the Parish, where a convenient building had lately been erected. He visited Savannah-Town,* where there was a Garrison, and performed Divine Service in the Fort, on the Lord's Day. He had baptised 10 of their children, five of whom had Indian mothers.

In 1744, he was removed to the Mission in St. George's Parish, and the Rev. Charles Boschi, was appointed by the Society his successor. Mr. Boschi had been a Franciscan Friar, but had become a worthy and pious professor of the Protestant faith in the Church of England. He had been highly esteemed in the Church for seven years, on account of his diligence, integrity, and humble submission to the divine Will. He took charge of this cure Feb. 22, 1745. He was Licensed by Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London, Dec. 12, 1744, "to perform the Ministerial Office in the Province of South-Carolina ;" and on the same day subscribed to the Declaration of Conformity to the Liturgy of the Church of England. The Society's Mission to this Parish was dated Dec. 15, 1744.

An Act was passed May 25, 1745, "for founding and establishing a Parochial Chapel of Ease at the Town of Edmundsbury," &c. Henry Hyrne, David Godin, and Barnaby Bull, Esq. were appointed Commissioners to receive subscriptions, and to build the

Savannah, Georgia.