St. Pauls Parish, South Carolina

United States South Carolina  St. Paul's Parish

History
The original parish was also known as St. Paul's, Stono. The present-day parish is called Christ-St. Paul's at Yonges Island, South Carolina.

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. Paul's Parish (Rantowles-Hollywood, Charleston, SC) was created in 1706 from the eastern part of Colleton (1682-1768) County.

Parish Boundaries
Borders: St. Andrews, St. Bartholomew's, the Atlantic Ocean before 1730, St. George since 1717, and St. John's Colleton since 1730 parishes. For a map, see: Early parishes in South Carolina. An overlay of districts is available at Carolana.com.

Areas Served: St. Paul's Parish served:


 * part of Colleton (1682-1768) County 1706-1768.
 * part of Charleston District 1768-1800
 * parts of Berkeley (1785-1791) and Colleton (1785-1791) counties 1785-1791
 * part of Colleton County 1800-1897
 * parts of Charleston and Dorchester counties since 1897.

Modern equivalents: The original parish covered parts of what are present-day Charleston and Dorchester counties.

Research Guides

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

Cemetery
More than 1000 of the cemetery's graves are described at Find A Grave. Includes transcripts and select photographs.

An earlier survey of the tombstones, made before 1951, is available at the Caroliniana Library. Copy:


 * Epitaphs from St. Paul's Cemetery, Newberry County, South Carolina..

Census
1790 and 1800 parish censuses have been published:


 * Jarrell, Lawrence E. Early Colleton, South Carolina Census. Complete Transcription of the Federal Census Records; 1790 Charleston District Census, St. Bartholomew's, St. George's-Dorchester; St. Paul's and St. John's-Colleton Parishes; 1800 Colleton District Census--St. Bartholomew's, St. George's-Dorchester and St. Paul's Parishes; 1810 Colleton District Census. High Point, N.C.: Alligator Creek Genealogy Publications, 1998.

Parish History
For an early history of the parish, see Chapter 19, St. Paul's Parish, pages 351-359, 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.


 * Constitutional Form of Government and By-laws of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Saint Paul's, Radcliffeboro', Charleston, S.C. Charleston, S.C.: Courier Book and Job Presses, 1870. Digital version at Google Books.

Parish Records
South Carolina Historical Society holdings: "St. Paul’s (Episcopal) Church. Charleston County. Records, 1786-1869. 4 vols."


 * "Vestry minutes, 1786-1864. 2 vols. re list of subscribers to building fund (1810). Entries (1810-11) re disagreement, and breaking of contract, with Charleston architect-builder E. Magrath for building the church; also account (1809-12) listing three payments to Magrath; report on former warden’s attempted fraud (1848-52) in substituting unspecified for named Negroes as payment or surety for defaulted debt; use of church as commissary store by Confederate troops (1863). Plat (1859) of glebe land. Family names of vestrymen include Ancrum, Cams, Dwight, Haig, Hext, Ladson, Mell, Miles, Ogier, Postell, and Waring. Account book (1786-1869) noting dividends from Union Insurance Company, Planters and Mechanics Bank, State Bank, Bank of Charleston, interest on loans made to Vestrymen as private loans and payment (1864) for two Confederate bonds (1864). Account book (1815-22) lists contributors for 1815, records payments for bank stock purchases and receipt of dividends. Noteworthy medallion (ca. 1810), “soldier in barracks,” on cover. Record kept by William Postell."

Taxation
The original 1732 tax return is kept at the New York Public Library (South Carolina-Charleston Co.-Edisto Island; Rare Books and Manuscripts Division). Abstract:


 * [1732] "1732 Tax Return for Edisto Island," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Fall 1990):183-186.

A few tax lists from the 1780s have also been discovered:


 * [1783] "1783 Tax Returns," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Fall 1974):171-178.
 * [1785] "1785 Tax Returns," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring 1977):89-93; Vol. 5, No. 3 (Summer 1977).

Transport
The names of many St. Paul's parish residents appear in:


 * "St. Pauls Parish Commissioners of the Roads Minutes 1783-1839," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Summer 1986):123-132; Vol. 14, No. 4 (Fall 1986):190-195; Vol. 15, No. 2 (Spring 1987):92-94; Vol. 15, No. 3 (Summer 1987):169-174; Vol. 16, No. 1 (Winter 1988):49-54; Vol. 16, No. 3 (Summer 1988):139-147; Vol. 16, No. 4 (Fall 1988):197-204; Vol. 17, No. 1 (Winter 1989):33-38; Vol. 17, No. 2 (Spring 1989):104-109.

Websites

 * St. Paul's, Stono / St. Paul's Churchyard, The Historical Markers Database
 * Christ-St. Paul's Parish worship times, events, staff, vision, history, calendar, ministries, sermons, and contact information.