South Carolina Church History

Introduction
Church records and histories are critical to research in South Carolina because of the lack of civil vital records prior to 1900. During the colonial period, the Church of England, with 25 parishes by 1778, was the official church of South Carolina. In addition, many South Carolinians were Lutherans, Huguenots, and Quakers. Between the American Revolution and the year 1900, the largest religious groups in the state were Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians.

Baptist
For Baptists histories, see:


 * Bolt, Ernest C. South Carolina Baptist Churches by Association. Nashville, Tennessee: Historical Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, 196-.
 * Townsend, Leah. South Carolina Baptists, 1670-1805. Florence, South Carolina: Florence Printing Co., 1935. Digital Version,

An 1899 directory of Baptist ministers lists biographical details about many ministers born or serving in the state:


 * The Ministerial Directory of the Baptist Churches in the United States of America. Oxford, Ohio: Ministerial Directory Co., 1899. Digital version at Internet Archive.

Church of England (Anglican, Protestant Episcopal)
Before the American Revolution, the state church of South Carolina was the Church of England (also called Anglican, and later Protestant Episcopal). Besides keeping parish registers, the church kept many records of a civil nature in their vestry books. In many instances, parish registers containing baptism, marriage, and death records have not survived when vestry books have.

Parishes
Pages have been created for each of the colonial South Carolina's parishes. Each page describes its history and cites published copies of each parish's records:

All Saints· Christ Church· Prince Frederick· Prince George· Prince William· St. Andrew's· St. Bartholomew's· St. David's· St. George Dorchester· St. Helena's· St. James Goose Creek· St. James Santee· St. John's Berkeley· St. John's Colleton· St. Luke's· St. Mark's· St. Matthew's· St. Michael's· St. Paul's· St. Peter's· St. Philip's· St. Stephen's· St. Thomas and St. Denis


 * For a descriptive inventory of surviving colonial and more recent parish registers, see Margaretta Childs, and Isabella G. Leland, "South Carolina Episcopal Church Records," South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine 84 (October 1983): 250-63. Digital version at JSTOR ($). WorldCat entry..

History
British troops burned many of South Carolina's Anglican churches during the Revolutionary War. Some were rebuilt, others remained in ruins, but many records survive.


 * Anderson, J.S. The History of the Church of England in the Colonies and Foreign Dependencies of the British Empire. 3 vols. London: Rivington, 1856. Digital versions at Internet Archive: Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3. [Chapter 18, in Volume 2 and Chapter 30, in Volume 3 (pp. 581-696) cover the Carolinas.]
 * Clarke, P.G. Anglicism in South Carolina, 1660-1976. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1977.
 * 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 version at Internet Archive.
 * Thomas, Albert S. The Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina, 1820-1957. Columbia, S.C.: R.L. Bryan, 1957.

Clergy
To learn more about the origins of Church of England ministers sent to South Carolina from England during the colonial period, start with these books:


 * Fothergill, Gerald. A List of Emigrant Ministers to America, 1690-1811. London: E. Stock, 1904. Digital versions at Ancestry ($), Internet Archive, 1965 reprint:
 * Weis, Frederick Lewis. The Colonial Clergy of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Boston, Mass.: Society of the Descendants of Colonial Clergy, 1955. ; digital version at MyHeritage ($).

Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy points researchers to many valuable resources.

Davis created a list of South Carolina ministers (of all denominations) listed in Weis's publication:


 * Davis, Robert S. "Some South Carolina Colonial Ministers, 1681-1776," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Fall 2004):183-186.

Church of England ministers sent to South Carolina had often been educated at the English universities of Cambridge and Oxford. The website Expert Links: English Family History and Genealogy contains links to many of these university's records available online under the "Occupations" section.

The Clergy of the Church of England website (work in progress) also contains details of many of their ministerial careers before departing for America.

A special society in South Carolina was organized to care for the families of Episcopal clergy:


 * Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of the Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina, 1762-1861. Typescript, Charleston Historical Society, Charleston, S.C. Microfilmed 1951.

Disciples of Christ

 * Ware, Charles Crossfield. South Carolina Disciples of Christ: A History. Charleston, S.C.: Christian Churches of South Carolina, 1967. ;

Huguenot
Huguenots made settlements in Colonial South Carolina at Goose Creek, Orange Quarter, St. John's Berkeley, French Santee, New Bordeaux, and Purrysburgh.

Several histories of South Carolina Huguenots have been written, including:


 * Hirsch, Arthur Henry. The Huguenots of Colonial South Carolina. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1928. Digital version at Internet Archive. ; ; . Wallace Davis published an index in 1989: ;.

Many Huguenots appear in the following parish registers:


 * Clute, Robert F. The Annals and Parish Register of St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish in South Carolina from 1680 to 1884. Charleston, S.C.: Evans &amp; Cogswell, 1884. ; digital versions at Ancestry ($); Internet Archive.

Methodist
For a history of the Methodist Church in South Carolina, see:
 * Shipp, Albert Micajah. History of Methodism in South Carolina. Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Methodist Publishing House, 1884. Digital version at Internet Archive; ; . The appendix includes biographical sketches.

Presbyterian and Reformed

 * Howe, George. History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. 2 vols. Columbia, South Carolina: Duffie and Chapman, 1870-1883. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive. ; ; This volume covers the history of the church to 1800. James D. McKain published an index in 1995: ;

Society of Friends (Quakers)
For a history of South Carolina Quakers, see:


 * Bowden, James. The History of the Society of Friends in America. 2 vols. London: W. &amp; F.G. Cash, 1850-1854. ; . Volume 1 includes Carolina. Online at: Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 2 - FamilySearch Digital Library.