St. Johns Colleton Parish, South Carolina

United States South Carolina  St. John's Colleton 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. John's Colleton Parish (Johns Island, Charleston, SC) was created in 1734 from the John's Island, Wadmalaw Island, Edisto Island and other adjacent sea islands portion of St. Paul's Parish on the southeast side of Colleton (1682-1768) County.

Boundary
Borders: the Atlantic Ocean, St. Paul's, St. Andrew's, and St. Bartholomew's parishes. For a map, see: Early parishes in South Carolina. An overlay of districts is available at Carolana.com.

Areas Served: St. John's Colleton Parish served:


 * part of Colleton (1682-1768) County 1734-1768
 * part of Charleston District 1768-1800
 * Colleton (1785-1791) County 1785-1791
 * part of Colleton County 1800-1897
 * part of Charleston County 1800-present

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

Census

 * 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 20, St. John's Parish, Colleton, pages 360-365, 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. John's, Colleton has a rich archive of early records, including a list of ministers, officers, act of incorporation, minutes, disbursements. Copies:. Other records include accounts, act of incorporation, minutes, list of members, plat of church pews, and other miscellaneous records. Copies:. Many of these records were kept at the Bishop's office, St. Philip's Church, Charleston in the 1950s.

South Carolina Historical Society holdings: "St. John’s (Episcopal) Church. John’s Island. Minutes, 1734-1917. 3 vols."


 * "Vol. 1 (1734-1817) contains copies of forms and oaths for the establishment of religious worship; entries re the poor tax; information re legacies and accounts. Brisbane, Boone, Gibbs, Hanahan, Jenkins, Ladson, and Walpole are names of some of the planters serving on the vestry. Senior Warden in the 1820’s was R. J. Turnbull. In vol. 2 (1817-1874) are copies of the acts incorporating three colonial parishes, St. John’s, St. Bartholomew’s, and St. Helena’s; accounts; correspondence, including Rev. C. H. Hall’s resignation expressing concern for the needs of the bondsmen (Nov. 4, 1856); appointment of Negro churchman to serve as collector of the Bishop’s Fund. Vol. 3 (1874-1927) after 1898 makes frequent reference to Grace Chapel, Rockville, gives detailed treasurer’s reports and, on the fly leaf, a brief list of the church’s financial assets in 1874. Names of well-known sea island families recur: Bailey, Chisholm, Gervais, Grimball, Laroche, Mitchell, Seabrook, Sosnowski, Stevens, Stickney, Whaley, and Wilson."

Websites

 * [http://www.stjohnsparish.net/ St. John's Parish (Protestant Episcopal Church) website has calendars, ministries, resources and history of Grace Chapel (of ease).
 * St. Paul's, Stono / St. Paul's Churchyard highway marker tells how original St. Paul's Parish Church was turned over to the St. John's Colleton Parish.