St. Matthews Parish, South Carolina

United States South Carolina  St. Matthew's Parish

History
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
St. Matthew's Parish (St. Matthew's, Calhoun, SC) was created in 1768 in Orangeburgh District.

Boundary
Borders: St. Mark's, St. James Goose Creek, St. George Dorchester, St. Bartholomew's, Prince William, St. Luke's, St. Peter's, and the Georgia border at the Savannah River. For a map, see: Early parishes in South Carolina. An overlay of districts is available at Carolana.com.

Areas Served: St. Matthew's Parish served:


 * historic Orangeburgh District 1768-1800
 * Orange, Lewisburg, Winton, and Lexington counties 1785-1791
 * Orangeburg, and Barnwell counties since 1800
 * Lexington County since 1804
 * Aiken County since 1871
 * Bamberg County since 1897
 * Calhoun County since 1908
 * Allendale County since 1919

Modern equivalents: The original parish covered most of what are present-day Orangeburg, Barnwell County, South Carolina, Lexington, Aiken, Bamberg, Calhoun, and Allendale counties.

Research Guides

 * South Carolina Archives Summary Guide: St. Matthew's Parish, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Parish History
For an early history of the parish, see Chapter 16, St. Matthew's Parish, pages 332-335, 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.

The history of the parish is also discussed in pages 2-17 of:


 * Salley, A.S. The History of Orangeburg County South Carolina: From Its First Settlement to the Close of the Revolutionary War. Orangeburg, S.C.: R. Lewis Berry, Printer, 1898. Digital version at Google Books.

Parish Records
For some births in the parish in 1770 and 1771, see:


 * "Some Records Kept by Rev. Paul Turquand of St. Matthew's Parish," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Apr. 1932):180; digital version at JSTOR ($).

South Carolina Historical Society holdings: "St. Matthew’s (Episcopal) Church. Fort Motte. Vestry Minutes, 1767-1778, 1785-1838. 2 vols. Many entries relate to the administration of the poor tax."


 * "References to the chapels of ease at Belville, at Campbell’s (1786), and at Totnes (1830), also to the consecrations of St. Matthew’s (1819) and Totnes chapel (1830). Copy of revised (1785) vestryman’s oath omitting anti-transubstantiation statements. Family names appearing include Felder, Fludd, Frierson, Gaillard, Goodwyn, Haskell, Heatley, Krabonski, McCord, Miles, Palmer, Platt, Richardson, Roach, Sabb, and Thomson. Vol. 2 is a reliable transcript of Vol. 1."

Taxation

 * [1818] "St. Matthew's 1818 Tax List," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Summer 1973):148-150; Vol. 1, No. 4 (Fall 1973):214.

Voters

 * [1811] "St. Matthew's Voters 1811," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Fall 1973):215-216.