|
Edisto Island Presbyterian
Church
EDISTO ISLAND
Edisto Island Presbyterian Church stands by the
highway in a grove of great oak trees overhung with moss. It
is a beautiful
post-colonial building, erected in 1831, and has
one of the most interesting histories of all our South
Carolina churches.
This is said to be the oldest
uninterrupted Presbyterian organization in South Carolina. So
far as is known, it was organized by Scotch Presbyterians
between 1690 and 1710. Its records were destroyed in the
Revolutionary War.
The communion table has been used by
the church since its beginning. Around 1800 tokens were
discarded, though they were distributed among the Negroes as
late as 1860. However, the time honored custom of sitting
around the table has always been adhered to.
In 1705,
Henry Bowers obtained a grant of three hundred acres of land
from the Lords Proprietors. In 1717, he conveyed the same to
certain persons in trust, for the benefit of a Presbyterian
minister of Edisto Island. Later, the church received a
donation of Negro slaves to be employed on the church
lands.
By order of the Confederate Government, in 1861,
Edisto Island was abandoned by the whites, who followed by
some of their slaves, refugeed in other parts of the state.
After the war was over and these people returned to their
homes, they found the island in possession of the Negroes, who
had not only taken possession of their houses, but headed by
Negro preachers, had appropriated the Presbyterian church for
their own use. They were not ejected until help came from the
Federal Government.
BY
HAZEL CROWSON SELLERS
South Carolina
Churches |