Charleston County, South Carolina Church Records

United States South Carolina  Charleston County  Church Records

Church records are an essential part of family history research. When there is a lack of vital records for a particular area, church records can be used as another source. Church records usually contain: baptism or christening records, marriage records, burial records, communion records and membership records. The quality of the records will depend on how well denominations record and maintain their records. Church records may be obtained from the church where your ancestor attended. However, older and defunct churches may have placed their records in denominational repositories.

Charleston County Churches identifies dozens of churches in the area, courtesy: South Carolina Genealogical Society.

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

Records of specific religions include:

Catholic
Spanish expeditions clearly explored the region that would become Charleston and there are indications that priests accompanied these expeditions. However, prior to the American Revolution there were few Roman Catholics in Charleston. In 1786 an Italian priest celebrated Mass with a congregation of about twelve people. In 1789 a tract of land was purchased which contained an old Methodist meeting house. The old meeting house was refurbished for worship and named St. Mary's.


 * England, John. Diurnal of the Right Rev. John England, D.D., First Bishop of Charleston, S.C. from 1820 to 1823. Philadelphia, Pa.: American Catholic Historical Society, 1895. Digital version at Google Books.
 * McElrone, Hugh P. The Works of the Right Rev. John England, Bishop of Charleston, S.C., With Memoir, Memorials, Notes and Full Index. 2 vols. New York: P.J. Kenedy, Publishers to the Holy Apostolic See, Excelsior Catholic Publishing House, 1900. Digital versions of Volume 1 and Volume 2 at Google Books.

Church of England (Anglican, Protestant Episcopal)
St. Philip's was the first church. Made of wood, it was located at the southeast corner of Broad and Meeting streets. This structure was replaced by a more permanent edifice in 1723 and opened on Easter. St. Philips was the earliest Church of England in the Carolinas and was the first Protestant foundation south of Virginia.

Before 1785, residents of what is now Charleston County were served by these colonial parishes.


 * St. Philip's Parish 1706
 * Christ Church Parish 1706
 * St. Andrew's Parish 1706
 * St. James Santee Parish 1706
 * St. Paul's Parish 1706
 * St. John's Colleton Parish 1730
 * St. Michael's Parish 1751

Sketches of several of Charleston's old parish churches are reproduced in:


 * Smith, Alice R. Huger, ed. A Charleston Sketch Book, 1796-1806. Forty watercolor drawings of the city and the surrounding country, including plantations and parish churches, by Charles Fraser. Charleston, S.C.: Carolina Art Association.

A biography of one of the ministers has been published:


 * Elliott, James H. In Memoriam. Tributes to the Memory of the Rev. C.P. Gadsden, Late Rector of St. Luke's Church, Charleston, S.C. Charleston, S.C.: Fogartie's Book Depository, 1872. Digital version at Google Books.

After 1785, residents of Charleston County were also served by these parishes. Click the link to see a description of the parish records held by the South Carolina Historical Society:


 * Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina
 * Christ Church Wilton, Adam’s Run, South Carolina
 * St. Luke’s Church, Charleston, South Carolina
 * St. Peter’s and Christ Churches, Charleston, South Carolina
 * St. Stephen’s Chapel, Charleston, South Carolina

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Early LDS Church records located at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.


 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Charleston Branch (South Carolina). Record of Members 1935-1943. Salt Lake City: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1954. film 1986 item 6.
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Charleston Ward(South Carolina). Annual Report 1947-1948. Salt Lake City: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1951?. film 23337. Charleston Ward was organized from a branch in October 1947.

Circular Church

 * "Register of the Independent (Circular) Church of Charleston, South Carolina, 1784-1815," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan. 1932):29-54; Vol. 33, No. 2 (Apr. 1932):154-174; Vol. 33, No. 3 (Jul. 1932):216-227; Vol. 33, No. 4 (Oct. 1932):306-316; Vol. 34, No. 1 (Jan. 1933):47-54; Vol. 34, No. 2 (Apr. 1933):96-102; Vol. 34, No. 3 (Jul. 1933):157-164. Digital versions at JSTOR ($).
 * South Carolina Historical Society. A Memorial of the Late Rev. William H. Adams, for Twelve Years Pastor of the Circular Church, Charleston, S.C. Charleston, S.C.: Walker, Evans &amp; Cogswell. Digital version at Google Books.

Huguenot
The Huguenots had their beginnings in Charleston in 1681. In 1687 a second church was built along the Cooper River. Both of these structures fell victim to fire, but they were rebuilt. By 1686 Huguenot settlements existed in Charleston, Santee River, St. John's Berkeley and Cooper River. Rev. Elias Prioleau was the first recoginzed and regular pastor of the French church.


 * The Liturgy, or Forms of Divine Service, of The French Protestant Church, of Charleston, S.C. Charleston, S.C.: James S. Burges, 1836. Digital version of 1836 edition at Google Books; digital version of 1853 edition at Google Books; digital version of 1869 edition at Google Books.

Jews
Almost all of the early Jews in Charles Town came from English possessions located in the western hemisphere. These places included New York, Georgia, Barbados, and the British West Indies.Beth Elohim met for worship in a wooden house from 1750 to 1757.


 * Breibart, Solomon. "The Synagogues of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, Charleston," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 80, No. 3 (Jul., 1979), pp. 215-235. Digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * Cohen, J. Barrett. Judaism and the Typical Jew. An Address Delivered Before the Jews of Charleston, S.C., on the Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Birthday of Sir Moses Montefiore at the Hasel Street Synagogue, October 26th, 1884, by J. Barrett Cohen. Charleston, S.C.: The News and Courier Book Presses, 1884. Digital version at Google Books.
 * Elzas, Barnett A. Jewish Marriage Notices from the Newspaper Press of Charleston, S.C. (1775-1906). New York: Bloch Publishing Company, 1917. ; digital version at Google Books.
 * Elzas, Barnett Abraham. The Old Jewish Cemeteries at Charleston, S.C.: A Transcript of the Inscriptions on Their Tombstones, 1762-1903. Charleston, S.C.: Daggett Print., 1903. ; digital versions at Ancestry ($); ; Google Books; Internet Archive; and World Vital Records ($).
 * Elzas, Barnett A. The Reformed Society of Israelites of Charleston, S.C. New York: Bloch Publishing Company, 1916. Digital version at Google Books.
 * Elzas, Barnett A. The Sabbath Service and Miscellaneous Prayers Adopted by the Reformed Society of Israelites Founded in Charleston, S.C. November 21, 1825. Reprint, New York: Bloch Publishing Company, 1916. Digital version at Google Books.
 * Hagy, James W. "The Death Records of Charleston," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 91, No. 1 (Jan., 1990), pp. 32-44. Digital version at JSTOR ($). [Local study on Jewish deaths in Charleston during the nineteenth century.]

Methodist Episcopal
The visit of John Wesley in about 1736 was the beginning of Methodism in Charleston. The organized beginning of the church was in 1785 with the assistance of Bishop Francis Asbury. By the end of the year Charleston had a membership of thirty-five white and twenty-three African-Americans. In 1786 the first Methodist Church was erected on Cumberland Street in Charleston.


 * Mood, F.A. Methodism in Charleston: A Narrative of the Chief Events Relating to the Rise and Progress of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., With Brief Notices of the Early Ministers Who Labored in that City. Nashville, Tenn.: E. Stevenson &amp; J.E. Evans, 1856. Digital version at Google Books.

Presbyterian
Presbyterianism was established in South Carolina by the Congregational Presbyterians in 1682. In about 1865 individuals from Scotland and New England formed the Presbyterian Meeting. In about 1680 Lord Cardross attempted to organize a Presbyterian colony at Port Royal. The colony was attacked by the Spanish and abandoned in 1688. Many remained in Carolina and were organized into congregations.


 * Centennial Celebration of the Dedication of the First Presbyterian Church, Charleston, S.C., Organized Seventeen Hundred and Thirty-two: Dedication, December Twenty-ninth, Eighteen Hundred and Fourteen: Celebration, December Twenty-sixth to December Twenty-ninth, Nineteen Hundred and Fourteen. Charleston, S.C.: Walker, Evans &amp; Cogswell Co., 1915. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * Smith, Thomas. Manual, for the Use of the Members of the Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston, S.C. Charleston, S.C.: Jenkins &amp; Hussey, 1838. Digital version at Google Books.

Unitarian

 * The Old and the New, or, Discourses and Proceedings at the Dedication of the Re-modelled Unitarian Church in Charleston, S.C., on Sunday, April 2, 1954: Preceded by the Farewell Discourse Delivered in the Old Church, on Sunday, April 4, 1852. Charleston: S.G. Courtenay, 1854. Digital version at Ancestry ($).