bwaugh
In the early years, South Carolina was settled by many Presbyterians of Scotch and Scotch-Irish heritage that entered the Upstate by way of the Shenandoah Valley from Pennsylvania. Others arrived in the state through the ports of George Town, Charleston, and Beaufort with some settling in the coastal cities, but others moved west deeper into the Lowcountry away from the British colonial government and its Church of England. However, there are exceptions to the prevalence of the Church of England on the coast such as First Scots Church in Charleston, as well as kindred subscribers to the Westminster Standards, Congregational churches in Charleston, Dorchester, and the region. Presbyterians distributed themselves from the outer regions to the geographic center of the state at Columbia which became the political capital in 1786. In the nineteenth century Columbia was the hub of state Presbyterianism with Columbia Seminary, an influential First Church, and some on faculty at South Carolina College (University of South Carolina). There were also Highland Scots immigrants in South Carolina just across the state line from their primary settlements in the area between Fayetteville and Wilmington, North Carolina (for example, Scotland County). Also, both the Covenanters and Seceeders were represented in the state with the former settling in the mid-eighteenth century in the north-central part with William Martin their minister, and currently the Seceeders are the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.
During the last ten years or so the author has posted several articles about South Carolina on Presbyterians of the Past. What follows is a catalog of these posts, each with a brief description of the content. Most of the collection is directly related to South Carolina but some entries are about other subjects that include information about a person, place, thing, or event associated with the state. The headings of the catalog are: Huguenots, Places, Book Reviews, Reference, the largest category is People, and finally a brief annotated bibliography of South Carolina Presbyterian history titles. All entries are linked to their respective posts. The dates given designate the date the article was posted, and the entries under each heading are ordered by date with the most recent first. The Huguenots are included because they were a Reformed confessional church with a form of presbyterian polity, but additionally, I find them interesting because they were an industrious people that assimilated well as French Americans and as the years passed they joined Presbyterian churches resulting in the eventual demise of all their churches except for the one in Charleston.
The portrait is George Howe, possibly the last one made of him. He was riding home in a carriage when he fell and broke his leg resulting ib his death April 15, 1883 after two weeks of suffering. The header map shows South and North Carolinas the year before the Revolutionary War began with the often disputed region between the two states in the west. What was then the colony of South Carolina was divided into seven precincts: on the coast from north to south are George Town, Charleston, and Beaufort; then moving to the two abutting precincts at the west are Cheraw to the north and Orangeburg to the south; and abutting Cheraw and Orangeburg on the west are Camden to the north and Ninety Six to the south.
As articles relevant to South Carolina Presbyterianism are posted on Presbyterians of the Past, they will be linked to this post.
Barry Waugh
Huguenots
(French Reformed Church)
“Florida Huguenot Trail,” July 26, 2022, provides a guide to Florida Huguenot sites and connects them in some cases to Huguenot history of South Carolina.
“James F. Gibert, Huguenot Presbyterian Minister,” July 14, 2022, provides the biography of a Presbyterian minister of Huguenot descent that served in the Abbeville region of the state. Included in the biography are quotes about the Huguenots from John Lawson’s A New Voyage to Carolina; Containing the Exact Description and Natural History of that Country: Together with the Present State thereof. [etc.], 1709.
“André Guillebeau, Jean Louis Gibert, & the New Bordeaux Huguenots,” July 9, 2017, provides some history of the Huguenot Christians that founded New Bordeaux settlement and influenced other regions of the state. The Huguenots raised silk worms and, not surprisingly, made wine.
“David Xavier La Far, 1826-1897,” January 17, 2017, was born in Charleston, attended the College of Charleston, and pastored several churches in South Carolina. He is buried in the cemetery beside the Huguenot Church in Charleston.
Places
“Books for Visiting Charleston, South Carolina,” August 16, 2023, considers three titles relevant to Charleston and how they can be helpful for those interested in locating Presbyterian and other historical sites and addresses in the city. The books are–Jonathan H. Poston’s The Buildings of Charleston A Guide to the City’s Architecture; also, Census of the City of Charleston, South Carolina, for the Year 1861; and finally Richard N. Cote’s City of Heroes: The Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886.
“Smyrna Presbyterian Church, Robert McLees, 1820-1866,” April 13, 2021, tells the congregation’s story following an introduction about the Smyrna Church in Revelation 2:8-11. McLees was born in Anderson County and after completing studies at Columbia Theological Seminary he pastored several churches.
“Salem Presbyterian Church,” March 9, 2021, is located in Blair. The article includes information about the denomiation adjudicating cases of ministers receiving secondary income from government employment. The issue came before the General Assembly in 1806 via the case of Boyd Mercer of the Presbytery of Ohio, then in 1807, South Carolinian Samuel Yongue worked in a government job that was interfering with attendance to his pastoral ministry.
“Friendship Presbyterian Church William McWhorter, 1811-1884,” February 22, 2021, McWhorter was pastor of the church for over thirty years and biographical information is provided. The church is about ten miles outside Laurens.
“Old Jackson Creek Church and Cemetery,” December 31, 2020, the church was founded about 1775. This article tells about the ruins and cemetery. About the time a new church was constructed in 1893, the name was changed to Lebanon Presbyterian Church.
“Liberty Springs Presbyterian Church,” November 6, 2020, is located in Cross Hill and this article provides its early history from its organization in 1787. The church most often was served by stated or occasional supply ministers due to a lack of funds to call a full-time minister.
“Chicora College for Women,” March 13, 2020, was founded by Presbyterians in Greenville. The article provides a brief history; a flow chart of its development and relocations; and a promotional pamphlet when it was in Columbia, as well as a nice picture of the Columbia campus which was located across the street from Columbia Theological Seminary (i.e. Robert Mills house).
“Fairview Presbyterian Church, South Carolina,” March 1, 2020, is Greenville County’s oldest Presbyterian church. The building dates to 1858 and on the property is a cemetery. It is marked with a state historical marker.
“Bethel Presbyterian Church, Clover, SC,” May 20, 2019, was organized in 1764 and its first minister was Hezekiah Balch. The church was supplied by a number of minsters for several years until its fifth pastor, R. A. Webb, served six years before leaving pastoral ministry to become an educator.
Book Reviews
“Review, Reflections on the Word, by Tom Hervey,” January 23, 2025, The author is a member of Friendship Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Laurens County, South Carolina. The book provides his thoughts about items of concern for confessional and Biblical Christians.
“Review, Selected Writings of Benjamin Morgan Palmer, Willborn & Cangelosi,” February 19, 2015, is a collection of brief articles by Palmer as published in a newspaper. Palmer’s ministry was primarily in New Orleans, but he was also a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary.
“Review, Our Southern Zion: Old Columbia Seminary, David B. Calhoun,” November 1, 2012, presents Dr. Calhoun’s history of the seminary from 1828 to 1927. The author was Professor of Church History at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri for over thirty years.
Reference
“A Year in Greenville, South Carolina, 1893,” January 31, 2022, includes items of note from my reading of The Greenville Mountaineer for 1893 as available on microform. Included are local and national points of interest such as the opening of Clemson and a tragic accident on campus, the World’s Columbian Exposition, the battle between gold and silver for hard money standard of the nation, and an account of a terrible hurricane in Charleston.
“Resource for Old Church Photographs,” January 13, 2022, includes information about South Carolina available through the Federal Writers Project as published in a guide in 1941.
“A Guide to the Complete Works of Rev. Thomas Smyth, D.D. as edited by Rev. J. W. Flinn, D.D. Published in Ten Volumes, 1905-1912,” by Barry Waugh, March 10, 2012. The link will take you directly to the PDF as supplied by the PCA Historical Center. Thomas Smyth (1808-1873) was the minister of Second Church, Charleston, South Carolina from 1834 until his death in 1873. His works were published posthumously as edited by John William Flinn (1847-1907) who was Smyth’s son-in-law by marriage to his daughter Jane Ann Adger Smyth. Smyth’s granddaughter, Louisa Cheves Stoney, edited his life and letters in a book titled, Autobiographical Notes, Letters and Reflections by Thomas Smyth, D.D., 1914, which is a good resource not only for Smyth’s life but also theological discussions and issues during his era. Both Works and Autobiographical Notes can be downloaded on the Log College Press website at the page, “Thomas Smyth (1808-1873).”
People
(It is possible that the works of the following individuals are available for download on the Log College Press website at the “Free PDF Library” page.)
“Paul Settle, Yeah, Hath God Said,” March 31, 2025, is a memorial for Reverrend Settle who not only pastored but also was important for the founding of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) established in 1973. He was the first chairman of its Committee on Christian Education and served churches in Texas and South Carolina.
“Thomas S. Williamson, Missionary Physician of Souls,” July 8, 2024, is the biography of a minister, physician, and missionary born in balmy South Carolina who follows the Lord’s call to minister the Gospel to the Dakota peoples in the blizzards of the Dakota Territory. Williamson organized the first Presbyterian church in the region that would become Minnesota. He said in one of his last sermons regarding his years of ministry that, “When we have called upon him in the day of trouble, he has ever shown himself a God who hears and answers prayer.”
“Alfred H. Mathes, 1828-1878,” May 1, 2024, was born in Greenville, South Carolina but grew up in Washington County, Tennessee. He studied theology at Princeton Seminary and returned to serve churches in the South.
“John M. Krebs, German-American Presbyterian,” February 19, 2024, was moderator at the 1845 Old School General Assembly. Relevant to South Carolina Presbyterian history was the division of the Synod of Georgia and South Carolina into two synods.
“Leighton Wilson’s Find & Evolution,” January 25, 2024, tells of the important missionary born in Sumter, South Carolina, who after graduating Union College in Schenectedy studied for the ministry at Columbia Seminary. This article is biographical but emphasizes a scientific discovery he made while leading missionary work in Africa.
“William P. Jacobs, A Barnabas, A Good Man,” December 7, 2023, provides a biography of possibly the most important Presbyterian of his era for the Synod of South Carolina. He was significant for many years of ministry at First Church, Clinton, Thornwell Orphanage, and Presbyterian College. The cynicism of today doubts there is anyone who could be called good, but Dr. Jacobs’s piety manifested the fruit of maturing sanctification.
“Charles S. Vedder, Presbyterian Huguenot Minister,” October 16, 2023, was born and raised in Schenectady, New York and after studying for the ministry at Columbia Seminary was ordained by the Presbytery of Charleston. He ministered for forty years at the Huguenot Church in Charleston. He provides an example of the close relationship between the Presbyterians and Huguenots in the era.
“David Wills, Pastor, Chaplain, Teacher,” September 3, 2023, was born and raised in Pennsylvania but studied divinity at Columbia Seminary. He served churches in South Carolina and Georgia before working to establish Oglethorpe University. This biography is particularly interesting because of Wills’s views of the Civil War and his actions in later years as he lived in Washington, DC.
“Old Richland Presbyterian, Church Emeritus,” February 23, 2023, is not far outside of Columbia and was a regular place for Columbia Seminary students to supply the pulpit. Professors also supplied the church and the South Carolina Historical Marker at the site says the building was dedicated by Dr. John L. Girardeau in 1884. I thought that since the church is no longer active, why not call it a church emeritus just as an inactive church officer might be called emeritus? So many churches are closing and are then either torn down or remodeled into homes, condos, or bars, so having old churches in decent repair honors their past and reminds the passers by of the God worshipped within their walls.
“Joseph R. Wilson, Pastor, Educator & Stated Clerk,” November 7, 2022, is a biography of President Woodrow Wilson’s father who was a pastor in several churches, a professor at Columbia Seminary, and stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the United States (PCUS) from 1861 to 1898. At the time of the Civil War, he was minister of First Church, Auguata, Georgia.
“James F. Armstrong, Chaplain & Peacetime Pastor,” June 16, 2022, mentions Armstrong’s venture into South Carolina during the Revolution and provides information about the presbyteries of the Synod of the Carolinas from the minutes of the 1804 General Assembly.
“Samuel Blatchford, Immigrant Pastor & Educator,” April 15, 2022, relates information about South Carolinians imprisoned in England during the Revolution, and organization of the Synod of Georgia and South Carolina by the 1813 General Assembly.
“George G. Mayes, South Carolina Princetonian,” December 10, 2021, was born in South Carolina and served his entire ministry in the state including Greenville. His last calls were in the area of Winnsboro.
“Joseph Clark, The Carpenter’s Carpenter,” December 3, 2021, includes comments from the minutes of the 1800 General Assembly about admission to the judicatory of the Presbytery of Charleston.
“Charles A. Stillman, 1819-1895,” November 3, 2021, Stillman was born in Charleston. The biography includes an account of a group of South Carolinians that settled along the Black Warrior River in Alabama.
“Joseph Alexander, William C. Davis, and Bullock Creek Presbyterian Church,” June 28, 2021, provides the story of the founding of the church by Alexander and the controversial minister, Davis, who succeeded him. Davis’s The Gospel Plan led to him founding the Independent Presbyterian Church with some like-minded congregations. During the Civil War the Independent Presbyterian Church reunited with the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America (PCUS after the war).
“Aaron W. Leland, Congregationalism and Grassroots Presbyterianism,” May 26, 2021, provides a biography of Massachusetts-born Leland and his influential work for South Carolina Presbyterianism including his teaching at Columbia Seminary.
“S. Beach Jones, 1811-1883, Presbytery of Patapsco,” April 6, 2021, was born in Charleston, but was educated at Yale and then Princeton Seminary. He faced difficulty as a minister sympathetic to the spirituality of the church doctrine while staying with his Northern Old School church. The origin of and reasons for the independent Presbytery of Patapsco as an independent presbytery separated from the PCUSA are discussed as well as its eventual reception into the PCUS.
“Donald J. Auld, 1810-1857,” March 23, 2021, was born on Edisto Island and while a medical doctor became a Christian. He was then ordained to serve churches in South Carolina. This is a particularly interesting story.
“William A. McDowell, 1789-1851,” October 17, 2020, was born in New Jersey but moved to Charleston to become the first pastor of Third Church, which would become Central Church in 1852. He was selected a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in 1832 but turned down the position.
“Moses Waddel, 1770-1840,” August 21, 2020, was born in North Carolina, but his ministry would be in South Carolina. While pastoring he founded the Willington Academy and remained there until 1819 when he accepted the presidency of what is now the University of Georgia.
“Andrew Flinn, 1773-1820,” July 17, 2020, attended James Hall’s Ebenezer Academy on the Bethany Presbyterian Church property near Statesville, North Carolina. He was the first pastor of Second Church, Charleston.
“Robert E. Allen, 1857-1909,” February 20, 2020, and his brother Herbert operated a grocery store in Greenville. He was also a deacon then an elder in Presbyterian churches in Greenville.
“Edwin Cater, 1813-1882,” February 12, 2020, was born in Beaufort County. He married Sarah, the daughter of his professor at Columbia Seminary, Aaron W. Leland. He ministered in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida.
“Lectures about Thornwell,” January 27, 2020, refers to an article in The Confessional Presbyterian, 2013, which included an entry, 79-102, about addresses remembering the centennial of James H. Thornwell’s death.
“Robert Mills, 1781-1855,” December 6, 2019, was the architect of the Washington Monument, but the amount of work he accomplished in his native South Carolina is astonishing. Despite his mass of work, he struggled with poverty. Mills was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church.
“Zelotes L. Holmes, 1815-1885,” November 11, 2019, with a name like Zelotes, how could he not be interesting? He was born in New York, but moved to South Carolina because of health challenges. A fascinating guy whose interests were varied. His son, Nichols J. Holmes, established Holmes Bible College, in Greenville after leaving the Presbyterian ministry.
“Alfred H. Mathes, 1828-1878,” September 14, 2019, was born in Greenville, but went to seminary at Princeton, New Jersey, then served churches in Georgia and Florida.
“William P. Jacobs, 1842-1917,” August 5, 2019, was born and educated in South Carolina. He pastored for forty-seven years at First Church, Clinton, he founded Thornwell Orphanage, and he was essential for the founding of Presbyterian College.
“Robert H. Reid, 1821-1907,” July 20, 2019, was born and educated in South Carolina; founded schools in what came to be Reidville; and was minister of Nazareth Church for over forty years. When writing this I concluded he worked hard and faithfully, but he did not care much for the public eye.
“James A. Lyon, 1814-1882,” June 22, 2019, grew up in Tennessee, graduated Princeton Seminary, and served the Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Mississippi. He is significant for South Carolina Presbyterianism because an elder in the Columbus congregation endowed the Professorship of Natural Science in Connection with Revealed Religion at Columbia Seminary which James Woodrow held at the time of his prosecution for teaching evolution.
“John Witherspoon, 1791-1853,” June 13, 2019, was a grandson of the John Witherspoon. One of his aunts was the wife of David Ramsay who wrote an important history of the state. John was a prominent but troubled minister; possibly, living in the shadow of his grandfather was hard to handle. His ministry was primarily in North and South Carolinas.
“Andrew F. Dickson, 1825-1879,” April 22, 2019, was born in Charleston and graduated from Yale University. He taught in several capacities until he joined Charles Stillman at what is currently Stillman College in Alabama.
“Wesley F. Martin, 1850-1915,” December 7, 2018, was a member of a Presbyterian church in Greenville, a member of the Greenville Volunteer Fire Department, and he left textile mill work to become a trolley motorman.
“Alexander T. McGill, 1807-1889,” September 1, 2018, was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but he went to Columbia Seminary to teach. He returned to Pennsylvania after a year at Columbia and later became a professor at Princeton Seminary.
“Edward P. Davis, 1851-1937,” May 21, 2018, was born in North Carolina and served mostly churches in the Carolinas. All four of his daughters graduated Chicora College. He was clerk of Enoree Presbytery for several years.
“Samuel R. Preston, 1849-1929,” April 5, 2018, studied in King College and Columbia Theological Seminary. His first call was in Florida and other states ministered in were Virginia and South Carolina.
“One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism,” James Woodrow, 1902, June 3, 2017, provides a brief biography of Woodrow that introduces a PDF download of “One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.” Woodrow was a controversial figure whose views on science and evolution resulted in his removal from the faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary.
“Colin McIver, Salkehatchie Presbyterian Church,” August 24, 2016, provides a biography of McIver and an account of the Salkehatchie Church. He supplied and pastored a number of churches in the Carolinas.
“James H. Thornwell and Waxhaw Presbyterian Church,” August 8, 2016, provides biographical information and an account of his early church ministry in South Carolina.
“Flournoy Shepperson, 1883-1966,” April 22, 2016, was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) who served churches in Arkansas and South Carolina. He was an associate of Carl McIntire and important for founding the Bible Presbyterian Church. He is buried in Greenville.
“Robert Means, 1796-1836,” February 12, 2016, tells of a gifted minister who suffered health problems leading to his death at the age of forty. I discovered him through purchasing book I found in a used bookstore in Beaufort, South Carolina.
“Ellison A. Smyth, 1847–1942,” May 14, 2015, was the son of Rev. Thomas Smyth, pastor of Second Church, Charleston. He was important for the state’s textile industry and a Presbyterian elder in churches in Greenville.
“George Howe, 1802-1883,” December 11, 2014, was a professor at Dartmouth College before becoming a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary for over fifty years. He wrote a two-volume history of Presbyterians in South Carolina.
“Thomas Smyth, 1808–1873,” February 27, 2014, was born in Belfast, Ireland, and served Second Church in Charleston for nearly forty years. His corpus is massive filling ten thick volumes.
“William S. Plumer, 1802-1880,” December 6, 2013, was born in Pennsylvania and ministered there as well as in the southern states. My impression is he could get along with those whose views differed from his, and he was the type of minister that just about anyone would have liked. He was moderator of the Old School Assembly, 1838, and then of the PCUS Assembly in 1871, which makes him the only minister to be a General Assembly moderator in both the Old School PCUSA and the post-war PCUS.
Bibliography
Calhoun, David B., Our Southern Zion: Old Columbia Seminary, 1828-1927, Banner of Truth, 2012. The author was Professor of Church History at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, for 30 years. The book provides biographical information about Columbia faculty and covers issues faced such as the Civil War and the evolution controversy involving professor James Woodrow. See on this site, “Review, Our Southern Zion: Old Columbia Seminary, David B. Calhoun,” for further information.
__________, The Glory of the Lord Risen Upon It: First Presbyterian Church Columbia, South Carolina, 1795-1995, was published by the church in 1994. This title could be considered a sister work to his Our Southern Zion because of the close relationship between Columbia Seminary and First Church particularly during the nineteenth century.
Clarke, Erskine, Our Southern Zion: A History of Calvinism in the South Carolina Low Country, 1690-1990, 1996. The author is Professor Emeritus of American Religious History at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.
Garrett, Mary Lou, History of Fairview Presbyterian Church of Greenville County, South Carolina, was published by order of the session of Fairview Presbyterian Church, 1986, for the church’s bicentennial. This is a nicely done hardback book with information about not only the congregation and its ministers but also Presbyterianism within Greenville and abutting counties.
Gist, Margaret Adams, editor, Presbyterian Women of South Carolina, [n.p.]: Women’s Auxiliary of the Synod of South Carolina, 1929. This volume fills 785 pages with history and biographies as well as some portraits. It is often difficult to locate information about Presbyterian women in the era, but this massive book is informative and may be unique for its articles about Presbyterian women of of the era.
Howe, George, History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, By George Howe, D.D., Professor in the Theological Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina. Prepared by Order of the Synod of South Carolina, 2 vols. (vol. 1, Columbia: Duffie & Chapman, 1870; vol. 2, Columbia: W. J. Duffie, 1883). The set was reprinted by the Synod of South Carolina of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, vol. 1, 1965, and vol. 2, 1966. This set is a massive study totaling 1528 pages of fine-font text that includes detailed information about the largest and smallest of congregations in the state along with presbytery and synod histories. The inadequate index is overcome by searching digital versions that are available.
Jones, F. D. and W. H. Mills, History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina Since 1850, Columbia: Synod of South Carolina, 1926. This 1116 page title picks up where Howe’s set ended but the format is different. The editors sought contributions from the churches within each presbytery which resulted in inconsistent information from one church to the next and the quality of information varying from limited use to very good. At the time there were eight presbyteries in the synod: Bethel, Charleston, Congaree, Enoree, Harmony, Pee Dee, Piedmont, and South Carolina. There is also a section about Presbyterians and education in the state. Digital copies are available.
Martin, Joseph B., III, “Guide to Presbyterian Ecclesiastical Names and Places in South Carolina 1685-1985,” as published in South Carolina Historical Magazine, combined issue 90:1 & 2, January-April, 1989. This tediously compiled labor of love provides information about the numerous Presbyterian churches, educational institutions, and other entities in the state. An example of its benefits is it helps readers discern which of a dozen Bethel Presbyterian Churches is the one relevant to one’s interest.
Memorial Volume of the Semi-Centennial of the Theological Seminary at Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia: Presbyterian Publishing House, 1884. The book was issued to commemorate the life and ministry of recently deceased professor George Howe. It includes lectures by B. M. Palmer, James H. Saye, T. E. Peck, Henry M. Smith, C. A. Stillman, and John L. Girardeau. Also included is a historical sketch of the seminary by Howe as well as an article by J. Leighton Wilson on the history of missions by the PCUS and its relationship to Columbia Seminary. There is a section listing the graduates for each class and some of the graduates have biographies included in the book.
Willborn, C. N., “John L. Girardeau: Pastor to Slaves and Theologian of Causes,” Ph.D. dissertation, Philadelphia: Westminster Theological Seminary, 2003, provides the definitive study of Girardeau including his background, work with the enslaved particularly in Charleston, teaching at Columbia Seminary including his opposition to Professor James Woodrow teaching evolution, and his comradery with and love for the African American members of the PCUS.
