St. Andrews Parish, South Carolina

United States South Carolina  St. Andrew's Parish

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. Andrew's Parish (Ashley River Road, Charleston, Charleston, SC) was created in 1706 as an original parish from the southwest part of Berkeley (1682-1768) County. It is the oldest church building still in use in South Carolina.

Boundary
Borders: St. Philip's, St. James Goose Creek, St. Paul's, St. George since 1717, St. John's Colleton since 1730, and St. Michael's since 1751 parishes. For a map, see: Early parishes in South Carolina. An overlay of districts is available at Carolana.com.

Areas Served: St. Andrew's Parish has served:


 * part of Berkeley (1682-1768) County 1706-1768
 * part of Charleston District 1768-1800
 * parts of Berkeley (1785-1791), Charleston (1785-1791), and Colleton (1785-1791) counties.
 * parts of Charleston, and Colleton counties 1800-1897.
 * part of Charleston County 1897 to the present

Modern equivalents: The original parish covered part of what is present-day Charleston County.

Cemetery
More than 1,000 graves at St. Andrew's Parish Cemetery are described at Find A Grave. Includes transcripts and photographs.

Members of the DAR did a survey of St. Andrew's Church Cemetery:


 * National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. Cemetery Records of South Carolina. Typescript. . [Includes St. Andrew's Church in Charleston County.]

Parish History

 * Smith, Henry A.M. "Old Charles Town and Its Vicinity, Accabee and Wappoo Where Indigo Was First Cultivated, with Some Adjoining Places in Old St. Andrews Parish," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Jan. 1915):1-15; Vol. 16, No. 2 (Apr. 1915):49-67. Digital versions at JSTOR ($).

For a history of the parish, see Chapter 17, St. Andrew's Parish, pages 336-344, 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.

Parish Records
St. Andrew's Parish Register has been abstracted:


 * Webber, Mabel L. "Register of St. Andrews Parish, Berkeley County, South Carolina. 1719-1774," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Oct., 1911), pp. 172-189; Vol. 13, No. 1 (Jan., 1912), pp. 21-41; Vol. 13, No. 2 (Apr., 1912), pp. 104-112; Vol. 13, No. 3 (Jul., 1912), pp. 154-162; Vol. 13, No. 4 (Oct., 1912), pp. 213-223; Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1913), pp. 20-35; Vol. 14, No. 2 (Apr., 1913), pp. 81-97; Vol. 14, No. 3 (Jul., 1913), pp. 147-159; Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct., 1913), pp. 209-218; Vol. 15, No. 1 (Jan., 1914), pp. 39-50; Vol. 15, No. 2 (Apr., 1914), pp. 97-106. Digital version at JSTOR ($).

Webber's reading of the marriage register has been reprinted:


 * Holcomb, Brent H. and Thomas L. Hollowak. South Carolina Marriages, 1688-1799. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980.

The following church records have been indexed on the International Genealogical Index:

South Carolina Historical Society holdings: "St. Andrew’s (Episcopal) Church. Charleston. Register. 1719-1783. 1 vol. Typescript."


 * "Births (1720-83); christenings (1719-96); marriages (1714-74); mixed records (1830-99). Printed in this magazine in 1913-15."

Taxation

 * [1785] "1785 Tax Returns," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring 1977):89-93.

Websites

 * St. Andrew's Parish Church Marker, The Historical Marker Database