Church of the Holy Cross, Stateburg, South Carolina

South Carolina Historical Society holdings:


 * "Church (Episcopal) of the Holy Cross. Stateburg. Records, 1788-1951. 5 vols. and 8 folders."


 * "Copy of the Act of Incorporation (1788), copy of the plat and release of land for the rectory by Judge Thomas Waites (1818). Infant and adult baptisms (1808-1936); confirmations (1825-64); marriages (1810-1937); deaths and burials (1808-1936); black communicants (1866, 1870, 1879). Among the family names recurring are Anderson, Bracey, Brownfield, Frierson, Ioor, Mayrant, Nelson, Reynolds, and Waties. In the antebellum period, surnames reasonably identifiable as of free blacks are Buchner, Carson, Claiborne, Ellison, Frierson, and Johnson. The number of black members dwindled from 91 in 1866 to 3 in 1879. After World War I the records attest to private marriages of the “Turks,” a small ethnic group dating from the late 18th century. Account book (1818-52) lists donors such as W. W. Anderson, F. K. Huger, S. D. Miller, and T. Sumter, contributing to rector’s salary or sexton’s wages. Transcript of vestry minutes (1808-44); detailed financial information on the construction (1850-52) of the church building designed by architect E. C. Jones; agreement (1895) with the vestries of St. Mark’s and Holy Comforter in Sumter to share support and services of a clergyman; appointment (1895) of lay committee to update records neglected over the previous 8 years; agreement (1817) with vestries of Hagood and Bradford Springs churches to share support and services of a minister; land records (1819-1917). Slave baptisms and marriages (1860s). Letters of transfer (1940-42). Parish history (ca. 1950) by F. K. Bull. Burials (1808-66). Specifications (1788) for the church to be erected by T. Bromsby and J. Porter. Resolution (1825) passed, with one opposed, that the church should accept slaves as payment for bond."