Prince William Parish, South Carolina

United States South Carolina  Prince William Parish

Also known as Old Sheldon Church. It was burned in 1779 by British troops during the Revolutionary War, was rebuilt in 1826, and then at the end in the Civil War the insides were plundered by Union troops and local citizens for building materials.

Before the American Revolution, the state church of South Carolina was the Church of England (the Anglican Church, or Protestant Episcopal Church). Besides keeping parish registers, the church kept many records of a civil nature in their vestry books. The Vestry was as much a political body as a religious one. The wardens and commissioners were responsible for the roads, education, the poor and orphans, voting and collecting taxes in addition to their church duties.



Founded
Prince William Parish (near Sheldon, Beaufort, SC) was created in 1745 from the northwest side of St. Helena's Parish, part of Granville (1708-1768) County.

Boundary
Borders: St. Bartholomew's, St. Helena's, St. Peter's 1747-1767, St. Luke's starting 1767, and St. Matthew's starting 1768 parishes. For a map, see: Early parishes in South Carolina. An overlay of districts is available at Carolana.com.

Areas Served: Prince William Parish served:


 * part of Granville (1708-1768) County 1745-1768
 * part of Beaufort District 1768-1800 - (no church building 1779-1826)
 * most of Shrewsbury County 1785-1791 - (no church building 1779-1826)
 * part of Beaufort County 1800-1865 - (no church building 1779-1826)

Modern equivalents: The original parish covered parts of what are present-day Beaufort, Hampton, and a small slice of Jasper counties.

Research Guides

 * South Carolina Archives Summary Guide: Prince William County, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Cemetery
Many of the old parish church's graves are described at Find A Grave.

Members of the DAR did a survey of Sheldon Church Cemetery:


 * National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. Cemetery Records of South Carolina. Typescript. . [Includes Sheldon Church Cemetery, Prince William's Parish, Beaufort County.]

Genealogy

 * Bowers, Gloria Cook Jones. Southern Cousins: Cook, Fennell, and Related Families of Prince William's Parish, South Carolina. Varnville, S.C.: G. Bowers, 1991. 929.273 C771bg

Parish History
For an early history of the parish, see Chapter 23, Prince William's Parish, pages 382-384, in:


 * Dalcho, Frederick. An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina from the First Settlement of the Province, to the War of the Revolution; with Notices of the Present State of the Church in Each Parish and Some Account of the Early Civil History of Carolina, Never Before Published. Charleston: E. Thayer, 1820. ; digital versions at Google Books; Internet Archive.


 * Todd, John Reynard and Francis Marion Huston. Prince William's Parish and Plantations. Richmond, Va.: Garrett &amp; Massie, 1935.

Parish Registers
The original parish registers of Sheldon Church are kept at ... Abstracts:


 * deTreville, Marie and William L. Glover. "Registers of Sheldon Church, Prince William's Parish, 1826-1947," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Jul. 1955):151-156; Vol. 56, No. 4 (Oct. 1955):226-228; Vol. 57, No. 1 (Jan. 1956):51-53; Vol. 57, No. 2 (Apr. 1956):103-106; Vol. 57, No. 3 (Jul. 1956):179-181. Digital versions at JSTOR ($).
 * Sheldon Church, Prince Williams Parish, Beaufort, South Carolina Births or Christenings 1825-1873. ; Index: ; also indexed in the IGI
 * Sheldon Church, Prince Williams Parish, Beaufort, South Carolina Marriages 1826-1876. ; Index: ; also indexed in the IGI.

South Carolina Historical Society holdings: "Prince William (Episcopal) Parish Church. McPhersonville. Register, 1825-1876, 1907-1932. 1 vol."


 * "Baptisms, marriages, and burials (1823-76; 1907-32). Lists of communicants (1827, 1848, 1851, 1852, 1858, and 1876). Non-communicants (1839, 1848). Confirmations (1856-73, 1907-32). For the slaves, baptismal lists (1837-53); communicants (1842), with note of three suspensions of the fifty slaves named. Family names appearing in the records include Barnwell, Chaplin, Cuthbert, Deas, Elliott, Fraser, Fuller, Gregorie, Haskell, McPherson, Ravenel, Screven, and Wigg."

Websites

 * Hurst, Robert Latimer. "Old Sheldon Church Remains Hidden in South Carolina Low Country Near Pocotaligo." Accessed 17 February 2011. Includes history and photographs.
 * Old Sheldon Church Ruins - Yemassee, South Carolina, at SCIWAY (South Carolina's Information Highway). Includes some nice photographs and history.
 * Ruins of Old Sheldon, The Historical Marker Database