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METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON: 


Of   THE 

CHIEF  EVENTS   RELATING  TO   THE   EISE  AND 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 

CHURCH  IN  CHARLESTON,  S.  C, 

WITH 

BRIEF  NOTICES  OF  THE  EARLY  MINISTERS 
WHO  LABORED  IN  THAT  CITY. 


BY  THE 

KEV-  F.  A.  MOOD,  A.M., 

OF  THE  BOOTH  CAROLINA  CONFERENCE. 


EDITED  BY  THOMAS  0.  SUMMERS,  D.D. 


PUBLISHED  BY  E.  STEYENSON  &  J.  E.  EVANS,  AGENTS, 

FOR  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,   SOUTH. 

1856. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 

STEVENSON  &  EVANS,' Agents, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  'for  the  Middle  District  of 

Tennessee. 


FEINTED    BY  A.  A.   STITT, 
SOUTHERN  METHODIST  PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  NASHVILLE,  TENN. 


itMntiun. 


TO 

MY   BROTHER, 
JAMES   R.   MOOD,    M.  D., 

AT  WHOSE   SUGGESTION  IT  WAS   UNDERTAKEN, 
Efjta  little  Folwroe 

IS    AFFECTIONATELY   INSCRIBED, 

BY  THE   ATTTHOB. 

1*  (y) 


tdtflfottdifltt. 


The  principal  part  of  this  work  appeared  in 
successive  numbers  of  the  Southern  Christian 
Advocate,  published  in  Charleston.  A  strong 
desire  having  been  expressed  for  its  appearance 
in  a  booh,  the  author  revised  and  enlarged  it,  and 
very  kindly  submitted  it  to  our  disposal.  Being 
a  member  of  the  South  Carolina  Conference  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  a  native  of 
Charleston,  the  preparation  of  the  work  was  a 
pleasing  task  to  the  author.  He  has  not,  how- 
ever, unduly  magnified  his  subject.  He  has  paid 
less  attention  to  the  graces  of  style  than  to  the 
faithful  narration  of  facts.  This  is  a  matter  of 
vast  importance  in  works  of  this  class.  By  refer- 
ring to  old  records,  and  by  consulting  with  old 
members  of  the  Church  in  Charleston,  he  has 

(vii) 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

secured  a  great  deal  of  reliable  information  co 
ceming  the  introduction  and  progress  of  Metho 
ism  in  that  city,  -which  will  not  only  be  interes 
ing  to  the  reader  in  its  present  form,  but  w 
also  be  available  to  the  future  historian  of  tl 
Church. 

&he  dbitox. 

Nashville,  Tstss.,  July  26, 1856. 


(ftflttUnis. 


DEDICATION ▼ 

INTRODUCTION Vii 

CHAPTER  I. 

Mr.  Wesley's  visits — Mr.  Whitefield's  visits — Bishop  As- 
bury's  first  visit — Jesse  Lee — Henry  Willis — Preach- 
ing in  a  deserted  Baptist  meeting-house — Conversion 
of  Mr.  Wells 11 

CHAPTER  II. 

John  Tunnel — Henry  Willis — Worship  in  Mrs.  Stoll's 
residence — Conversion  of  George  Airs — Isaac  Smith 
— Erection  of  Cumberland  Church — Visit  of  Dr.  Coke 
—  Rev.  Wm.  Hammet  —  Hammet'  schism  —  Beverly 
Allen,  his  fall  and  flight^Official  members — Arrange- 
ment of  classes 29 

CHAPTER  III. 

Conference  session— Visit  and  labors  of  Bishop  Asbury 
—Death  of  Mr.  Wells— Death  of  James  King— Per- 
secutions—Erection  of  Bethel  Church— Tobias  Gib- 
son— Fresh  persecutions — Pumping  of  Mr.  Dougherty 
— Erection  of  the  Parsonage — Bishop  Asbury's  first 

visit  to  it— Death  of  Nicholas  Watters 72 

(ix) 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

J.  H.  Mellard — Measures  to  repress  disturbances — 
Cranmer  and  Brady — Mr.  Owens  and  the  mob — Ar- 
rest of  the  congregation  by  the  military — Richmond 
Nolley — Dr.  Capers — Singular  incident — Illness  of  F. 
Ward — Measures  for  building  a  brick  church — S. 
Dunwody  and  J.  B.  Glenn 97 

CHAPTER  V. 

John  Collingsworth — Camp-meetings — African  schism 
— Cession  of  Trinity  Church — Prosperity  of  the  Church 
—  Schism  of  1834 — Asbury  Chapel — Burning  of 
churches — Division  of  charges 123 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Eminent  ministers — Deaths  of  ministers — Itinerant 
preachers  sent  out  from  the  city — Members  of  former 
days — Aged  living  members — Colored  membership — 
Anecdotes  of  colored  members — Benevolent  institu- 
tions— Preachers  stationed  in  the  city 154 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON, 


CHAPTER  I. 

Mr.  Wesley's  visits— Mr.  Whitefield's  visits— Bishop  Asbury's  first 
visit — Jesse  Lse— Henry  Willis— Preaching  in  a  deserted  Baptist 
meeting-house— Conversion  of  Mr.  Wells. 

On  Saturday,  July  31st,  1786,  John  and  Charles 
Wesley  reached  Charleston  from  Savannah,  after 
escaping  a  perilous  storm  in  St.  Helena's  Sound. 
Though  neither  of  the  Wesleys  visited  Charleston 
on  this  occasion  as  Methodist  preachers,  as  the 
term  is  now  understood,  it  is  not  uninteresting  to 
know  that  Charleston  was  one  of  the  few  places 
on  American  soil  trod  by  those  men  of  God  who 
afterwards  shook  the  world. 

John  Wesley  says  of  his  visit:  "We  came  to 
Charleston.  The  church  is  of  brick,  but  plastered 
over  like  stone.     I  believe  it  would  contain  three 

(11) 


12  METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON. 

or  four  thousand  persons.  About  three  hundred 
were  present  at  the  morning  service  the  next  day; 
(when  Mr.  Garden  desired  me  to  preach;)  about 
fifty  were  at  the  holy  eommunion." 

The  church  here  alluded  to  was  the  building 
occupying  the.  site  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church,  now  known  as  St.  Philip's.  Mr.  Alex- 
ander Garden,  of  whom  Mr.  Wesley  makes  men- 
tion, was  the  rector  of  that  congregation  thirty- 
four  years.  At  the  time  of  Mr.  Wesley's  visit, 
he  was  the  Bishop  of  London's  commissary.  He 
was  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  literati  of  Europe, 
and,  in  compliment  to  his  valuable  botanical  inves- 
tigations, Linnaeus  named  after  him  that  beautiful 
and  popular  flower  of  the  South,  the  Gardenia. 
He  was,  as  we  will  see,  a  great  stickler  for  the 
forms  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  Wesley  was  much  struck  with  the  presence 
of  several  negroes  at  church,  and  sought  occasion 
for  conversation  with  one  of  them.  "She  told 
me,"  he  says,  "she  was  there  constantly;  and  that 
her  old  mistress  (now  dead)  had  many  times  in- 
structed her  in  the  Christian  religion.     I  asked 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  13 

her  what  religion  was.  She  said  she  could  not 
tell.  I  asked  her  if  she  knew  what  a  soul  was. 
She  answered,  'No.'  I  said,  'Do  not  you  know 
there  is  something  in  you  different  from  ,your 
body ?t— something  you  cannot  see  or  feel?'  She 
replied, '  I  never  heard  so  much  before.'  I  added, 
'  Do  you  think  then,  a  man  dies  altogether  as  a  horse 
dies?'  She  answered,  'Yes,  to  be  sure.'  0  God, 
where  are  thy  tender  mercies  ?  Are  they  not  over 
all  thy  works  ?  When  shall  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness arise  on  these  outcasts  of  men  with  healing 
in  his  wings !" 

The  answers  given  by  this  poor  creature  do  but 
little  credit  to  the  church  or  home  instructions 
she  had  received';  but  the  conversation  proves 
Mr.  Wesley  to  have  been  fully  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  a  true  missionary.  How  satisfactorily  has 
this  prayerful  inquiry  of  his  been  answered!  It 
may  be  much  doubted  if  in  all  the  streets  of 
Charleston,  now  numbering  its  ten  thousand  ne- 
groes, one  adult  among  them  could  be  found  so 
utterly  ignorant  of  religious  truth.  Little  did 
Mr.  Wesley  think  while  conversing  with  this  be- 
2 


14      METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

nighted  slave,  and  lamenting  her  ignorance,  that 
he  was  soon  to  set  in  motion  agencies  and  influ- 
ences which  would  set  all  England  in  a  blaze  of 
religious  zeal,  awaken  the  American  continent 
from  its  religious  torpor,  and  which,  under* the 
blessing  of  G-od,  would  penetrate  the  darkness  of 
these  ignorant  Africans,  and 

"O'erthe  negro's  night  of  care, 
Pour  the  living  light  of  heaven : 
Chase  away  the  fiend  Despair,  ' 
Bid  him  hope  to  be  forgiven!" 

After  paying  a  visit  on  Monday  to  the  Governor, 
Mr.  Wesley  desired  to' return  immediately  to  Sa- 
vannah; but  experiencing  some  difficulty  in  ob- 
taining either  a  vehicle  or  vessel,  with  his  charac- 
teristic activity,  he  started  to  make  the  journey  on 
foot.  Between  Charleston  and  Beaufort,  however, 
he  was  kindly  provided  with  a  horse  by  a  Mr. 
Bellinger.  During  this  trip  his  escape  from  ill- 
ness and  death  seems  miraculous.  Though  the 
heat  of  summer  was  upon  him,  besides  travelling 
on  foot  during  the  day,  he  slept  at  night  in  the 
open  air/ and  was  wet  by  rain  more  than  once; 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  15 

yet  he  experienced  no  inconyenience  from  it.  It 
was  regarded,  then,  as  it  is  now,  almost  certain 
death  to  inhale  at  night  the  malaria  of  that  low 
country  at  that  season  of  the  year,  and  particu- 
larly dangerous  to  he  wet  by  the  summer  rains. 

He  visited  Charleston  again  in  April  of  the 
next  year,  "determined,"  as  he  says,  "if  possible, 
to  put  a  stop  to  the  proceedings  of  one  who  had 
married  several  of  my  parishioners  without  either 
banns  or  license." 

During  this  visit  he  again  preached  in  Mr. 
Garden's  church,  His  text  was  1  John  v.  4: 
"Whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh-  the 
world."  He  must  have  spoken  on  that  occasion 
as  a  Methodist  preacher  should  speak,  for,  after 
service,  a  man  of  education  and  character  seriously 
objected  to  .the  sermon,  saying,  "Why,  if  this  be 
Christianity,  a  Christian  must  have  more  courage 
than  Alexander  the  Great." 

After  obtaining  from  Mr.  Garden  the  proper 
assurances  in  reference  to  the  irregularities  com- 
plained of,  he  remained  until  the  following  Sat- 
urday, and  met  the  ministers  of  the  neighboring 


16      METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

parishes  in  their  annual  convocation.  He  says 
that  during  their  assembly  "there  was  such  a 
conversation  for  several  hours  on  ( Christ  our  Righ- 
teousness' as  he  had  not  heard  at  any  visitation  in 
England,  or  hardly  on  any  other  occasion." 

Mr.  Wesley  visited  Charleston  but  once  after 
this,  and  that  was  on  the  occasion  of  his  reem- 
barking  for  England,  after  his  ill-treatment  in 
Savannah.  When  determined  to  leave  the  last- 
mentioned  place,  after  posting  a  handbill  on  the 
public  square  to  that  effect,  he  again  started  for 
Charleston  on  foot,  accompanied  on  this  occasion 
by  three  friends. 

Between  Purysburgh  and  Beaufort  they  were 
lost  in  a  swamp ;  and  after  wandering  about  all 
day,  they  spent  the  night  on  the  ground,  worn 
out  with  hunger  and  fatigue,  having  eaten  nothing 
all  day  but  a  small  ginger-cake  divided  between 
them,  which  Mr.  Wesley  found  in  his  pocket : 
their  sufferings  were  the  greater  as  it  was  the  month 
of  December,  and  the  cold  severe. 

After  travelling  about  in  uncertainty  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  next  day,  which  was  Sunday,  they 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON.  17 

reached  the  house  of  a  French  family  before  night, 
and  as  soon  as  he  was  somewhat  refreshed,  Mr-. 
"Wesley  had  the  family  and  neighbors  summoned, 
to  whom  he  read  prayers  in  their  native  tongue. 

Tuesday  of  the  week  following  he  reached 
Charleston;  but  the  cold  and  exposure  brought 
on  severe  sickness;  notwithstanding,  on  Thursday 
he  set  sail,  bidding  a  final  adieu  to  America. 

After  a  tedious  voyage  of  several  weeks,  his 
vessel  east  anchor  at  the  Downs.  His  friend,  Mr. 
Whitefield,  had  set  sail  for  Georgia  from  that  very 
port  but  a  few  hours'  previous  to  Mr.  Wesley's 
arrival!  The  vessels  passed  in<  sight  of  each 
fc£her,  but  neither  of  them': knew  that  the  vessel 
at  which  he  wag  gazing  held  so  dear  a  friend. 
•  About  a  year  after  Mr.  Wesley's  final  depar- 
ture, Mr.  Whitefield  reached  Charleston.  He 
also  preached  for  Mr.  Garden.  In  a  mention  of 
his  sermon,  it  is  said,  « The  people  at  first  de- 
spised his  youth,  but  his  engaging  address  soon 
gained  their  general  esteem,  and  Mr.  Garden 
thanked,  him  most  cordially."  .  Mr.  Whitefield, 
alluding,  to  the  church  building,  calls  it  "a 
2* 


18  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

grand  church,  resembling  one  of  the  new  churches 
in  London." 

Mr.  Garden,  in  conversation  with  Mr.  White- 
field,  made  a  free  allusion  to  Mr.  Wesley's 
troubles  in  Savannah,  vindicating  his  conduct, 
and  assuring  Mr.  Whitefield  that  if  ever  they 
attempted  arbitrary  proceedings  against  him  of  a 
similar  character,  he  would  defend  him  with  his 
life  and  fortune. 

Upon  his  second  visit,  however,  he  remarked 
an  evident  change,  both  in  the  appearance  of  the 
people,  and  in  the  conduct  of  his  former  friend, 
Mr.  Garden.  He  says,  "  When  I  came  to  Charles- 
ton, Saturday,  Jan.  3d,  1740,  I  could  scarcely 
believe  but  that  I  was  amongst  Londoners,  both 
in  respect  to  gayety  of  dress  and  politeness  of 
manners." 

He  discovered,  also,  that  through  field-preach- 
ing he  had  forfeited  the  friendship  and  good 
wishes  of  the  commissary.  Proceedings  were 
instituted  against  him  in  the  ecclesiastical  court 
of  the  province,  and  he  was  cited  by  Mr.  Garden 
"to  answer  to  certain  articles  and  interrogatories 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  19 

which  were  to  be  objected  and  ministered  to 
him  concerning  the  mere  health  of  his  soul,  and 
the  reformation  and  correction  of  his  manners 
and  excesses,  and  chiefly  for  omitting  to  use  the 
form  of  prayer  prescribed  in  the  communion 
book." 

Mr.  Whitefield  appeared,  but  denied  the  au- 
thority of  the  court  to  proceed  in  his  case,  and 
"  prayed  time  to  exhibit  his  objections." 

Upon  the  second  convention  of  the  court,  Mr. 
Whitefield  entered  his  caveat,  and  was  ably  de- 
fended by  Andrew  Rutledge.  The  court  con- 
sisted of  the  Rev.  A.  Garden,  commissary,  and 
the  Revs.  Messrs.  Guy,  Mellichamp,  Roe,  and 
Orr.  They  unanimously  decreed  « that  the  ex- 
ception be  repelled."  The  final  result  was  a 
sentence  from  the  court,  suspending  Mr.  White- 
field  from  his  ministerial  oflice. 

And  so  this  apostolic  man,  whom  the  Christian 
world  delighteth  to  honor-with  a  greater  mind 
wd  soul  than  any  or  all  of  his  judges-would 
have  had  his  voice  for  God  hushed  by  them, 
could    they  have   done   it,   because    his    great 


20  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

soul  could  not  comprehend  a  ministerial  zeal 
which  was  only  limited  to  a  certain  routine  of 
printed  prayers  and  a  few  written  sermons — be- 
cause his  godly  zeal  overleaped  metes  and  hounds, 
set  up  by  neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles.  But 
such  a  man  could  not  be  hid,  his  voice  could  not 
be  hushed.  He  preached  for  the  Independent 
minister  in  his  meeting-house,  called  then  the 
"White  Meeting-house,"  and  occupying  the  site 
of  the  present  Circular  church.  The  Huguenot 
congregation  also,  with  their  characteristic  catho- 
licity, insisted  upon  having  his  services  part  of 
the  time.  It  is  said  of  his  labors  on  that  occa- 
sion, "At  the  first  sermon  all  was  gay  and  trifling, 
no  impression  seemingly  made  at  all.  But  next 
morning  at  the  Huguenot  church  the  scene  was 
quite  altered.  A  visible  and  almost  universal 
concern  appeared..  Many  of  the  inhabitants 
earnestly  desired  him  to  give  them  one  sermon 
more,  for  which  purpose  he  was  prevailed  upon 
to  put  off  his  journey  until  next  day;  and 
there  was  reason  to  think,  his  stay  was  not  in 
Tain." 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  21 

On  the  next  day  lie  started  for  the  seat  of  the 
Orphan  House  he  was  then  laboring  to  establish; 
by  the  way  of  Savannah,  going  in  an  open  row-boat. 
At  a  brief  visit  made  to  Charleston,  the  March 
following,  he  took  up  his  first  collection  for  his 
Orphan  House,  preaching  an  impressive  sermon 
in  behalf  of  its  inmates.  He  obtained  donations 
to  the  amount  of  £70. 

On  another  visit,  five  or  six  years  afterwards, 
when  he  was  again  collecting  money  for  the  Or- 
phan House,  which  was  encumbered  with  a  heavy 
debt,  Charleston  proved  herself  then,  as  now,  the 
queen-city  of  liberality.  He  remarks,  "The 
generous  Charleston  people  raised  a  subscription 
of  £300,  thus,  for  a  while,  stopping  the  gap." 
With  this  he  purchased  some  valuable  lands,  in- 
cluding a  large  plantation  and  slaves  upon  it,  for 
the  assistance  and  support  of  the  orphans. 

Although  since  his  second  visit  Mr.  Whitefield 
had  personally  separated  from  Mr.  Wesley,  it 
was,  no  doubt,  of  advantage  to  the  future  estab- 
lishment of  Methodism,  that   "justification  by 


22  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

*faith"  was  fearlessly  and  powerfully  proclaimed 
in  Charleston. 

Twenty-rthree  years  afterwards,  only  a .  few 
months  previous  to  his  death,  this  zealous  servant 
of  God  again  visited  Charleston.  He  landed  there 
in  feeble  health,  after  a  tempestuous  voyage 
from  London  of  sixty-five  days ;  and  yet  so  great 
was  his  eagerness  to  do  something  for-  the  salva-, 
tion  of  souls,  that  he  consented  to  preach  on  the 
day  of  his  arrival.  His  reception  was  as  hearty 
as  ever,  if  not  indeed  more  hearty  than  formerly. 
He  says  himself,  "Friends  receive  me  cordially. 
Praise  the  Lord,  0,  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all 
his  mercies.  0,  to  begin  to  he  a  Christian  and  a 
minister  of  JeSus  I" 

Four  years  after  this,  in  1773,  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Pilmoor,  one  of  the  ministers  sent  to  America  by 

« 

Mr.  Wesley,  visited  Charleston  and  preached. 
Of  the  particulars  of  his  visit  we  have  no  account. 
He  seems  to  have  been  passing  through  the 
South,  discovering  the  places  most  destitute  of 
religious  teaching,  and  concluded  Charleston  toe 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  23 

closely  occupied  to  alloW  of  his  permanent  labor 
there. 

The  first  regular  effort  for  the  establishment 
of  Methodism  in  Charleston,  as  a  distinct  part  of 
the  Christian  Church,  was  not  made  until  the 
year  1785.  In  that  year  Bishop  Asbury,  accom- 
panied by  the  Rev.  Jesse  Lee,  of  celebrated 
memory,  and  the  Rev.  Henry  Willis,  visited  the 
city,  the  latter  preceding  the  Bishop  several  days, 
and  announcing  for  him  his  appointments  along 
the  route.  They  spent  several  days  in  George- 
town, S.  C,  on  their  way  to  Charleston,  stopping 
with  a  Mr.  Wayne,  a  cousin  of  the  celebrated 
General  Wayne.  After  spending  several  days 
with  him,  preaching  several  times,  and  leaving 
Mr.  Wayne  under  deep  distress  for  his  sins,  they 
started  for  Charleston,  having  letters  of  recom- 
mendation from  him  to  a  Mr.  Wells,  a  wealthy 
merchant  of  the  city,  to  whose  house  they  re- 
paired immediately  on  their  arrival 

Mr.  Willis  met  them  some  miles  out  of  the 
city.  They  found  Mr.  Wells  at  home,  but  in  a 
condition  far  from  anticipating  the  visit  of  two  or 


24       METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

three  Methodist  preachers,  the  bugbears  to  all 
the  worldly  and  irreligious  people  of  that  day. 
They  found  him  and  his  family  in  the  midst  of  a 
studied  preparation  for  a  visit  to  the  theatre  that 
evening,  where  a  favorite  play  was  to.  be  acted. 
His  plans  of  amusement,  however,  were  speedily 
abandoned :  he  gave  these  messengers  of  God  a 
warm  and  gentlemanly  reception,  and  family  wor- 
ship was  the  instituted  engagement  of  the  evening. 
Through  the  perseverance  of  Henry  Willis, 
they  obtained  the  use  of  a  deserted  Baptist  meet- 
ing-house, situated  on  the  west  side  of  Church 
street,  between  Water  and  Tradd  streets,  and 
occupying  the  site  of  what  is  now  known  as  the 
First  Baptist  Church.  The  congregation  who 
had  once  worshipped  in  it  had  been  almost  en- 
tirely scattered  during  the  Revolution ;  and  while 
Charleston  was  in  the  hands  of  the  British,  the 
church  building  had  been  used  by  them  as  a  de- 
posit for  army  stores.  It  was  being  used  by  a 
Baptist  merchant  as  a  storehouse  for.  salt,  bacon, 
etc.,  at  the  time  Mr.  Willis  endeavored  to  obtain 
its  use.     Through  his  efforts  it  was  cleaned  out 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  AO 

mi  fitted-  up  with  rough  benches,  ready  for  the 
Bishop's  arrival. 

Jesse  Lee  commenced  operations,  after  having 
given  notice  through  the  city  papers,  Tby  preach- 
ing on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  Feb.  27th ;  and 
Henry  "Willis  followed  in  the  afternoon.  Mr. 
Lee  preached  .from  Isaiah  liii.  5,  6:  "But  he 
was  wounded '  for  our  transgressions,  he  was 
bruised  for  our  iniquities :  the  chastisement  of 
our  peace  was  upon  him ;  and  with  his  stripes 
we  are  healed.  All  we  like  sheep  have  gone 
astray :  we  have  turned .  every  one  to  his  own 
way;  ,and  the  Lord  hath  laid  upon  him  the  in- 
iquity of  us  all.".  Speaking  of  the  services,  h6 
says,  "I  preached  with  some  faith  and,  liberty, 
and  the  people  appeared  to  be  quite  amazed." 

The  Bishop. seems  to, have  spent  the  day  en- 
deavoring, to  form  a  proper  notion  of  the  religious 
condition  of  the  community.  In  the  morning 
he  visited  St.  Philip's  l  Protectant  Episcopal 
Church.  In  the  afternoon,  he  attended  the  In- 
dependent (Circular)  Church,  where  he  says  he 
heard  an  excellent  discourse. 
3 


26      METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

The  congregations  of  these  pioneers  through 
the  day  was  quite  small,  although  they  would 
have  been  encouragingly  large  had  all  remained 
who  came  to  the,  church;  but  numbers  having 
never  seen  nor  heard  a  live  Methodist  preacher, 
came  and  sat  long  enough  to  satisfy  their  curi- 
osity, and  then  left.  By  night  the  curiosity  of 
the  community  was  fully  aroused,  and  the  house 
was  crowded.  Jesse  Lee  preached,  and  a  goodly 
number  were  moved  under  the  faithful  appeal  of 
this  giant  of  early  Methodism. 

The  Bishop  says  of  the  first  day's  proceedings: 
"The  Calvinists,  who  are  the  only  people  in 
Charleston  who  appear  to  have  any  sense  of 
religion,  seem  to  be  alarmed."  If  their  alarm 
arose  from  the  fear  of  having  another  church 
established  in  their  midst,  they  had  cause  for  it, 
for  from  that  first  Sabbath's  labors  in  Charleston, 
the  existence  of  Methodism  there  was  a  fixed 
fact. 

The  Bishop,  possibly  from  previous  fatigue, 
as  well  as  other  reasons,  did  not  preach  until 
Wednesday  of  that  week,  when  he  delivered  hi? 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  27 

first  message,  from  2  Cor.  v.  20,  "Now,  then, 
we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did 
beseech  you  by  us:  we  pray  you,  in  Christ's 
stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." 

Service  was  continued  every  night  of  the  week, 
and  on  Saturday  afternoon,  Mr.  Wells,  the  gen- 
tlemanly host  of  the  strange  preachers,  acknow- 
ledged himself  under   deep  convietion  for  sin. 
The  Bishop  remarks,  "  My  soul  praised  the  Lord 
for  this  first  fruit  of  our  labors,  this  answer  to 
our  prayers."     We  know  not  what  were   Mr. 
Wells's  prejudices  up   to   this   time  about  the 
Methodists,  but  if  he  was  opposed  to  becoming 
one,  he  placed  himself  in  great  danger  of  such  a 
result  when    he    entertained    three    Methodist 
preachers  of  such  faith  and  prayer  as  Asbury, 
Willis,  and  Lee. 

The  second  Sabbath  morning  of  Charleston 
Methodism  was  characterized  by  much  feeling  in 
the  congregation,  though  it  was  few  in  number. 
At  night  the  Bishop  says,  "A  large  wild  com- 
pany were  in  attendance.^  Several  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  other  churches  had  taken  the  pains  to 


30  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

January,    1786,  for  quarterage,   £11    lis.  9<L 
He  is  represented  as  "  a  man  of  great  depth  and' 
uniformity  in  piety,  an  indefatigable  laborer,  and 
a  preacher  of  commanding  talents/'  a  man  also<j 
"  of  great  simplicity.' ' 

Henry  Willis,  his  co-laborer,  was  especially, 
adapted  to  the  work  assigned  him.  "  He  was  a 
man  of  deep  piety,  amiable  manners,  general 
intelligence,  with  an  entire  devotion  to  his  work,- 
and  the  most  inflexible  perseverance  in  accom- 
plishing the  important  work  of  his  mission." 

It  is  probable  that  Charleston,  during  this 
year,  was  ateo  visited  by  the  Rev.  Workman 
Hickson,  as  the  steward's  book  shows  him  to1 
have  received  £10  10s.  5d.,  for  services  ren- 
dered. 

Under  the  labors  of  these  men,  but  particu- 
larly through  the  pious  zeal  and  indomitable  en- 
ergy of  Henry  Willis,  Methodism,  this  the  first 
year  of  its  existence  there,  attained  respectable 
foothold  in  Charleston ;  for,  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  thirty-five  whites  and  twenty-three  colored' 
Were  reported  as  members  of  the  society.     It  ig 


METHODISM   IN   .CHARLESTON.  31 

cot  probable,  however,  that  all  these  were  resi- 
dents in  the  city:  the  steward's  book,  of  which 
mention  has  been  made,  is  for  "  Charleston  Cir- 
cuit." ,  The  collections  from  Cainhoy  and  George- 
town are  recorded  with  those  from  the  pity,  and 
there  is  no  separate  return  made  in  the  minutes 
of  the  membership — the  numbers  given  are  from 
the  entire  circuit. 

The  infant  society  must  be  regarded  as  hav- 
ing done  nobly  in  money  matters.  From  their 
books  it  seems  they  paid  to  their  preachers  this 
first  year  a!5out  $425.  ■  Henry  Willis  received 
but  a  small  portion  of  it.  This  is  accounted  for 
in  the  fact  that,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  skil- 
fully managed  a  business  of  his  own  while  labor- 
ing for  the  church,  and,  when  he  died,  was  able 
to  leave  his  family  an  ample  fortune.  His  me- 
moir says,  "His  argument  for  his  intense  appli- 
cation to  temporal  husiness  was  his  bodily  inca- 
pacity to  labor  constantly  in  word  and  doctrine. 
By  his  own  hands  he  ministered  to  the  necessity 
of  himself  and  family :  he  would  not  eat  the 
bread  of  the  Church  of  God,  because  he  could 


32  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

not  be  wholly  employed  therein,  though  he  was 
prevented  only  through  weakness  of  body.  He 
considered  the  travelling  ministry  the  most  ex- 
cellent way,  and  nearest  to  the  apostolic  plan  of 
spreading  the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ  with 
success." 

After  Bishop  Asbury's  departure,  they  contin- 
ued to  worship  in  the  old  meeting-house  for 
some  months,  but  their  success  would  not  permit 
them  long  to  retain  it. 

When  the  congregation  assembled  one  Sabbath 
morning,  they  found  the  benches  helter-skelter 
in  the  street,  and  the  doors  and  windows  barred 
against  them.  This  was  taken  as  a  hint  that 
they  were  desired  to  change  their  quarters ;  and 
a  Mrs.  Stoll  generously  offered  them  the  use  of 
her  residence  on  Stoll' s  Alley. 

They  worshipped  at  her  house  until,  the  con- 
gregation becoming  too  large  to  be  comfortably 
accommodated,  they  obtained  the  use  of  an  unfin- 
ished dwelling,  situated  on  Wentworth  street, 
near  East  Bay,  which,  though  enclosed  and  cov- 
ered, was  not  made  very  comfortable. 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  33 

This  house  witnessed  some  scenes  entirely  new 
to  Charleston.     Among  them  we  may  mention 
the  conversion  Of  George  Airs.     He  was  a  man 
of  impulsive,  ardent  temperament,  and  had  been 
long  confirmed  in  sinful  habits.     He  was  seeking 
religion  for  some  days  under  poignant-  grief  for 
his  sins.     Light  at  length  broke  .in   upon  his 
darkness,  his  captive  soul  was  freed,  and,  as  we 
might   expect,  the  demonstration  he  made  was 
not  a  little  boisterous:    After  strongly  assuring 
all  present  of  the  wondrous  change  which  had 
passed  upon  him,  he  rushed  from  the  building, 
anxious  to  tell  the  world  what  a  merciful  Saviour 
he  had  found.    He  ran  towards  East  Bay,  "  Hal- 
lelujah !"  bursting  from  his  strong  lungs  at  every 
step.     This  produced  a  great  sensation  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  quite  a  crowd  took  after  the 
supposed  maniac,  who  had  been  rendered  so  at 
the  Methodist  ■meeting.     After  ranging  around 
several  squares,  much  to  the  horror  of  the  people 
living  thereabout,  what  was  their  surprise  to  see 
him  quietly  return  to  the  house,  the  big  tears 
streaming  down  his  face !     Instead  of  finding  a 


34  METHOpiSM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

maniac,  they  had  in  truth  fallen  upon  one  who 
had  been  just  clothed  and  put  in  his  right  mind, 
as  his  subsequent  life  of  piety  abundantly  proved. 

Henry  "Willis  and  Isaac  Smith  Were  the  preach- 
ers sent  to  the  city  for  the  year  1786,  each  of  them 
to  labor  six  months. 

Isaac  Smith  had  been  a  faithful  and  brave  pa- 
triot during  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  He  was 
in  the  main  army  under  Washington,  and  in  all 
the  principal  battles  in  which  it  engaged.  He 
underwent  the  sufferings  of  the  camp  during  the 
sad  winter  the  army  spent  at  Valley  Forge,  and 
was  in  the  battles  of  Trenton,  Princeton,  and 
Brandy  wine,  at  the  defence  of  Fort  Mifflin,  the 
battle  of  Monmouth,  the  capture  of  Stony  Pointy 
and  the  surrender  of  Yorktown,  and  he  bore  in 
his  forehead  to  his  grave  the  indentation  where 
he  was  struck  by  a  musket-ball.  After  his  con- 
version and  assumption  of  ministerial  vows,  he  was 
an  efficient  laborer  in  many  parts  of  the  low  country 
in  South  Carolina,  establishing  what  was  for  years 
known  as  the  JMisto  Circuit,  embracing  what  is 
now  included  in  the  Cooper  River,  Cypress,  St. 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  37 

George's,  Walterboro,  Orangeburg,  and  tJarnwell 

Circuits. 

Early  in  this  year  measures  were  taken  toward 
the  erection  of  a  church.  It  was  located  on  Cum- 
berland street;  was  sixty  feet  long  by  forty  wide, 
with  galleries  for  the  accommodation  of  the  colored 
people.  •  This  must  have  been  a  considerable  un- 
dertaking for  the  society,  then  so  weak,  both  as  it 
regarded  wealth  and  numbers.  Yet  so  economi- 
cally and  prudently  was  the  whole  affair  managed, 
that  it  was  completed  by  the  middle  of  the  year 
following,  unencumbered  with  debt,  the  ground 
and  building  costing  £1300. 

It  is  interesting  to  look  through  the  Steward's 
book  and  see  their  method  of  proceeding.  Some 
of  the  present  day  would  have  regarded  their  pro- 
ceedings as  decidedly  "fogyish;"  but  it  was  evi- 
dently a  resolution  on  the  part  of  tha  trustees  not 
to  have  their  house  of  worship  threatened  by  the 
sheriff,  or  their  consciences  annoyed  by  the  thought 
of  using  a  house  unpaid* for,  and  they  therefore 
stepped  very  cautiously. 
4 


38  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

Jfit  the  laying  of  the  foundation,  they  took  up 
collection  of  £2  14s.  The  first  Sabbath's  colte^ 
tion,  4aken  up  at  the  dedicatory  services  of-tfic 
morning,  and  through  the  day,  was  more  favor* 
able,  amounting  to  £20  7s.  7d.  Some  of  the 
entries  are  of  a  primitive  style,  hard  for  the  Charley 
tonians  of  the  present  day  to  realize.  The  most 
costly  is  the  amount  paid  for  the  lot,  £300;  then 
there  are  entries  like  these : — To  brother  Brough- 
ton,  to  buy  stones,  £1-  For  cartage  of  boards,  os. 
To  brother  Hughes,  for  nails,  £1.  To  brother 
Seavers,  for  work,  £10.  To  brother  Seavers;  for 
corn  for  workmen,  10s.  6d.  To  brother  some  one 
whose  name  is  illegible,  for  shingles,  £8  4d.  To 
brother  Hughes,  for  sills,  £6.  For  one  dozen 
hooks  and  staples,  4s.;  etc.,  etc.  These  entries 
show  the  Methodists  to  have  been  liberally  patron* 
ized,  and  that  if  a  Methodist-  was  engaged  in  any 
avocation  that  could  be  of  any  avail  in  connection 
with  their  church  building,  his  services  and  goods 
and  attention  received  the  preference.  It  is  true, 
in  the  big  schemes  of  the  present  day,  these  little 


METHODISM   IN  .-CHARLESTON. 


39 


niceties  of  Discipline  and  courtesy  are  sometimes 
unobserved,  but  not  to  the  advantage  of  Method- 
ism. 

No  distinct  name  was,  given  to  the  building. 
It  was  for  a  long  time  known  as  the  ''Blue  Meet- 
in"-  "  in  contradistinction  from  the  "White  Meet- 

Id". 

ing,"  of  which  mention  has  been. made.     After- 
ward it  took  the  name  of  the  street,  and  Cumber- 
land Church  became  the  scene  of  many  pleasing 
and  painful  incidents.    At  the  time  of  its^occupa- 
tion  it  was  without  glazed  sashes,  but  was  lighted 
by  small  glazed  lights  from  above  the  doors  and 
windows:  the  other*  was  a  luxury  of  later  date; 
and  to  the  time  of  its  demolition,  in  1839,  it  had 
no  other  than  plain  pine  benches.     Though  never 
ornamented  with  Brussels  carpet,  the  floor  was 
always  covered  with  a  layer  pf  clean  white  sand. 
The  congregations  during  this  year  Were  large, 
especially  the  night  meetings.     It  is  worthy  of 
mention  also  that  in  connection  with  the  building 
c*f  the  -church  the  trustees  purchased,  as  the  nu- 
cleus of  a  library  for  the  preachers,  all  the  works 
then  published  by  Mr.  Wesley's  approbation,  and 


40  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

bestowed  them  in  a  convenient  place  for  their  uag* 
An  official  record  is  also  made  of  the  purchase  of  - 
a  box  with  three  different  locks,  whose  keys  were 
distributed  among  the  stewards,  so  that  three  were 
required  to  be  present  at  the  solemnity  of  disburse 
ing  the  funds. 

Beverly  Allen  and  Lemuel  Grreen  were  the  sta* 
tioned  preachers  for  1787.  The  occupation  of 
their  church  building  was  an  important  era  for 
Methodism  in  Charleston.  As  Bishop  Andrew 
in  reference  to  it  remarks:  "It  gave  them  an  es* 
tablished  and  permanent  character.  It,  was  a 
public  declaration  that  we  had  driven  down  our 
stake  and  intended  to  hold  on."  There  was  no 
actual  increase  in  the  white  membership  this  year 
as  reported  m  the  minutes,  but  fifty-three  colored 
were  reported.  It  -  is  probahle  that  the  supposi- 
tion heretofore  made  about  the  connection  of 
Charleston  with  the  circuit,  accounts  for  this 
seeming  want  of  progress. 

They  were  visited  this  year  by  Bishop  Asbury?: 
"Here,"  says  he,  "we 'already  have  a  spacious 
house  prepared  for  us,  and  the  •congregations 'are 


BftETHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  41 

crowded/'  Dr.-  Coke  paid  his  first  visit  here  this 
year;  and  this  year  the  first  Conference  held  in 
Charleston  convened. 

Keuben  Ellis  and  Ira  Ellis  were  appointed  here 
at  this  Conference  fqr  the  year  following.     The 
first  -was  a  man  of  tjomrnanding-  person,  but  of 
feeble  constitution.     "He   was   a  weighty  and 
powerful  preacher,"  and  a  man  of  great  self-de- 
nial.    It  is  said  of  Mm  in-  the  notice  of  his  death 
by  the  Conference :  "He  sought  not  himself,  dur- 
ing twenty  years  of  labor.     To  our  knowledge  he 
never  laid  up  twenty  pounds  by  preaching:  his 
house,  his    clothing,  and  immediate  necessaries 
were  all -be  appeared  to  want  in  the  world."     Ira 
Ellis  was  in  several  respects'  his  ©ontrast.     "He 
was  a  man,"  says  Bishop  Asbury,  "of  quick  and 
solid '  parts,  with  undiss'epbled  sincerity,  great 
modesty,  deep  fidelity,  great  ingenuity,  and  un- 
common  powers  of  reasoning,   and   most   even 
temper."     These  preachers  remained  here  until 
the  Conference  of  1790.     The  (Shurch  seems  te 

bave  progressed  steadily  ttoder  their  administra- 
tion. 

4* 


42  METHODISM   IN    CHAKtESTON. 

The  second  Charleston  Conference  met  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1788,  and  is  characterized  by  the  Bishop  as 
"  a  free  and  open  time."  On  Sabbath  morning  of 
the  Conference,  while  one  6f  the  preachers  "was 
delivering  his  message  to  a  crowded  audience,  they 
were  greeted  with. the  first  open  demonstration  of 
hostility  from  the  inhabitants.  There,  was  a  riot 
raised  at  the  door.  A  general  panic  seized  the 
audience,  and,  terror'Strickeu,  the  ladies  leaped 
from  the  windows,  to  make  good  .their  escape. 
This  was  only  the  prelude.  At  night,  while  the 
Bishop  was  preaching,  the  house  again  crowded 
to  overflowing,  it  was  assailed  on  all  sides  with 
stones  and  brickbats.  The  Bishop  narrowly  es- 
caped being  badly  hurt,  as  one  of  the  missiles 
struck  the  inside  of  the  pulpit  near  him;  but, 
undisturbed,  he  finished  his  sermon.  His  text  was 
Isaiah  lii.  7 :  "  How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains 
are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good  tidings, 
that-.publisheth  peace:. that  bringeth  good  tidings 
of  good,  that  publisheth  salvation:  that  saith  unto 
Zion,  Thy  Gpd  reigneth.,"  The  uproar  without 
seems  to  have  awakened  the  good  old  man  to  fresh 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  43 

rfc,  as  his  sermon  was  one  of-  great  unction. 
He  says ;  "  Upon  the  whole,  I  have  had  more  lib- 
erty to  speak  in  Charleston  than  ever  before,  and 
I  am  of  opinion  that  God  will  work  here." 

Dr.  Coke  was  present  at  fhe  Conference  held 
in  Charleston  in  1789.  It  was  during  this  session 
of  Conference,  most  probably  from  the  presence 
of  Dr.  Ooke,  that  a  fierce  attack  upon  the  Church 
rules  on  slavery  was  made  in  the  city  papers. 
Bishop  Asbury,  though  :  knowing  who  the  -author 
was,  does  not  in  his  journal  disclose  his  name; 
yet  he  makes  mention  of  the  circumstance.  Thus 
commenced,  through  the  -indiscreet  interference 
of  a  pious  minister  with  a  "civil  institution,  a  se- 
ries of  assaults,  public  and  private,  upon  the  Meth- 
odists of  Charleston,  which,  more  than  all  else, 
prevented  their  success  with  every  class. 

In  addition  to  the  riotous  molestations  we  have 
noticed,  and  have  yet  to  record,  the  public  news- 
papers were  filled  with  the  most  bitter  invectives 
and  fierce  denunciations  of  Dr.  Coke,  and  of  all 
eomiected  with  him;  and  the  public,  unable  to 
&»tinguish  between  the  individual  and  his  Church, 


44  METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON. 

united  as  heartily  in  denouncing  the  entire  sect. 
The  least  patriotic  of  us  can  easily  imagine  how 
soon  a  prejudice  could  be  raised,  and  how  easily 
it  could  be  sustained,  against  a  society  which  had 
found  its  origin  on  a  distant  shore,  and  which 
seemed  to  be  in  the  leading-strings  of  a  foreigner 
who  had  undertaken,  to  dictate  laws  to  a  young 
republic — a  republic  whose  blood  was  yet  hot  with 
the  excitement  of  a  newly  acquired  independence, 
and  whose  homesteads  were  rnany  of  them  yet 
smouldering  in -ruins,  the  work  of  this  foreigner's 
own  prince. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  attempt,  in  the  slightest 
degree,  to  palliate  or  justify  the-illegal  and  cow- 
ardly assaults  made  by  the  "young  chivalry"  of 
Charleston  upon  unoffending  women  and  children 
while  worshipping  their  God.  But  we  do  feel 
astonished  that  -  any  Methodist  preacher  would 
press  before  the  public  his  notions  of  reform,  at 
the  sacrifice  of  the  peace,  comfort,  and  good  name, 
of  others,  and  continue  his  conduct  in  the  face 
of  their  sufferings  and  remonstrances.  Dr.  Coke 
did  not  suit  the  latitude  of  the  Carolinas;  and 


METHODISM*  IN  CHARLESTON.  45 

while  we  rdvere  his  pious  zeal  and  $el£s.acrifierng 
devotion,  we  believe  it  had  been  better,  far  better, 
had  he  prudently  remained  away  from  the  city 
of  Charleston.  From  the  session  of  the  Confer- 
ence, regarded  by  the  "public  as  a  convention  of 
wily  incendiaries,  much  comfort  to  the  ministers 
or  advantage  to  the  Church  could  not  be  expected, 
The  Conference  was'  again  held  there  the  win- 
ter following.  Bishop  Asbury  was  accompanied 
at  this  visit  by  Richard  Whatcoat,  afterwards 
Bishop.  The  meetings  during  Conference  -were 
iively  and  interesting,  several'yotirig  persons  hav- 
ing come  under  awakenings;' and  during  the 
Wednesday  of  Conference,  while  the  Bishop  was 
preaching,  much  feeling  exhibited  itself-  in  'the 
congregation/  upon  which  he  dryly  remarks,- 
"And  wie  had  noise  enough."  He  complains  of 
this  visit,  "Friends  are  too  mute  and  fearful,  and 
many  of  the  outdoors  people  are  violent  and 
wicked  ;•>  from  which  we  judge  that  they  were 
■tiH*  annoyed  and  insulted  during  their  publie 
gatherings. 

At  this  Conference  an  important   movement 


46       METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

was  projected,  which  was  the  establishment- of 
"Sunday-schools  for  poor  children,,  white  and 
black."  The  establishment ,  of  any  sort  of  Sab- 
hath-school  in  South  Carolina' has- been  se4  down 
to  a  much  later  date: — 1819  or  1820 — -but  the 
record  of  this  movement  shows  differently-  It  is 
not  probable,  however^  that  the  resolutions,  which 
passed  this  Conference  contemplated  the  estab- 
lishment of  Sabbath-jschools  on  %he  present  plan. 
The  children  of  slaves  were  allowed  at  that  time 
the  privilege  of  schools  of  their  own,  in  which 
they  received  elementary  instruction ;  and  as  it  is 
particularly  specified,  li  Sabbath-schools  for  poor 
children,  white  an&black,"  they  probably  intended 
to  .afford  them  on  the  Sabbath  the  opportunity 
of  learning  to  read,  free  of  charge.  While  no 
Sunday-schools  existed,  the.  children  were  af- 
forded catechetical,  instruction  by  the  preachers 
-every  Saturday  afternoon :  no  mean  substitute, 
as  the.  preachers  thereby  became  acquainted  with 
and  interested  m  the  children  of  the  congregation, 
James  Parks  labored  here  during  the  year 
1791 ;  nothing  special  occurring  during,  that  time 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  47 

Conference  convened  here  again  the  follow- 
ing winter;  Bishop  Asbury,  with  indefatigable 
punctuality,  reaching  the  city  a  day  or  two  before 
its  opening.  He  seems,  at  this  visit,  to  have 
been  much  depressed  in  spirits.  The  congrega- 
tions to  whom  he  first  preached,  from  some  cause, 
were  small;  and  he  indulges  his  melancholy  as 
follows  :  "  We  grow  here  but  slowly.  I  feel  the 
want  of  religion  here:  indeed,  the  gross  immo- 
ralities of  the  place  are  obvious  to  every  passen- 
ger in  the  streets." 

During  the  next  week,  hearing  that  Dr.  Coke 
was  on  his  way  to  the  city,  the  Conference  pro- 
tracted its  session  one  day,  in  order  to  have  him 
with  them.  On  that  day  he  arrived,  accompa- 
nied by  the  Kev.  Win.  Hammet,  having  both 
narrowly  escaped  drowning  by  shipwreck  off 
Edisto  Island.  The  Doctor's  preaching  during 
this  brief  visit  seems  to  have  been  received  with 
toore  forbearance  by  the  inhabitants  than  pre- 
viously; for  "the  poor  sinners  appeared  to  be  a 
httle  tamed."  Bishop  Asbury  preached  also,  with 
unusual  power ;  and  he  says  that  in  his  last  ser- 


48      METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

mou  he  "let  out  freely  against  :the  races/'  then 
in  full  play.         "      "         •  : 

Up  to"  this  time  Methodism  in  Charleston  had 
stea-dily  progressed.  If 'there  had  been  no  extra- 
ordinary enlargement  of  its  memberships  the  com- 
munity had  gradually  become  better  informed  as 
to  its  principles  and  doctrines;  and  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  colored  persons^  redeemed  from  the  thral- 
dom -of  sin,  and  leading  pious  lives,  were  vindi- 
cating the  purity  of  its  intentions,  .and  extending 
its  hallowed  influence.  It  numbered",  at  the  close 
of  this  year,  six$y-six  whites,  and  •  one'  hundred 
and  nineteen  colored. 

r  But  at  this  Conference,  or  rather  just  after", 
evil  symptoms  began  to*  appear,  which -broke  out 
with  alarming  violence  during  the  year.  Bishop 
Asbury  says  :'"I  am  somewhat* distressed  at  the 
uneasiness  of  our  people  here,  who  ejaintf  the  right 
to-dfhoose  their  own  preachers- — a  thing  quite  new 
among  Methodists.  None  but  Mr.  Hanimet  will 
do  for  them.     We  shall  see  how'it  will  end."     ' 

The  Rev.  Wm.Hammet  was  b  native  of  Ire- 
land.    He  had  been  converted  through  the  in- 


MSIT^ODISM   IN    CHARLESTON.  49 

gtrumentality  of  the  Wesleyan  preachers,  and  had 
entered  the  itinerant  r.anks  of  the  British  Confe- 
rence. He  was  a  man  of  attractive  bearing,  cour- 
teous in  his  manners,  and  one  "  whose  pulpit  per- 
formances had.  acquired  for  him  almost  unrivalled 
popularity."  He  sailed  from  England  in  1785, 
in  company  with  Dr.  Coke,  as  ,a  missionary  to 
Nova  Scotia.  They  had  a  fearful  passage  over. 
For  ten  weeks  they  were  driven  about  over  the 
sea,  and  finally  were  compelled  to  return  to  the 
point  whence  the,y  started.  Twice  they  narrowly 
escaped  being  run  down  by  larger  vessels,  and 
several  times  as  narrowly  escaped,  shipwreck. 
During  this  voyage  Mr.  Hammet  proved  himself 
to  have  been  prompted  by  the  noblest ,  impulses. 
Several  times  he  had  an  opportunity  to  return; 
but,  with  a  noble  firmness,  he  remained  fixed  in 
his  purpose.  In  one  of  the  violent  storms  which 
assailed  the  vessel,  and  in  which  they  expected 
every  moment  to  sink,  and  when  the  missionaries 
were  offering  up  prayers  for  its.  safety,  "  Brother 
Hammet,"  says  Dr.  Coke,  "  was  superior  to  us  all 
m.  faith  for  the  occasion.  His  first  prayer,  if.  it 
5 


50  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

could  be  called  by  that  name;  was  little  less  than 
a  declaration  of  the  fall,-  assurance  he  possessed 
that  God  would  deliver  us;  and  his  second  address 
was  a  thanksgiving  for  our  deliverance." 

After  reembarking,  the  same  ill  fate  of  tempest- 
uous weather  attended  them,  and  they  were  com- 
pelled to  put  into  the  island  of  Antigua,  whence, 
after  touching  at  other  islands,  they  proceeded  to 
St.  Christopher's,  the  place  to  which  Dr.  Coke 
now  appointed  Mr.  Hammet, 

He  immediately  entered  upon  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  his  mission,  preaching  in  the  court- 
house to  crowded  audiences.  A  number  of ■  the 
first  families  of  the  place  sent  him  pressing  in- 
vitations to  stay  with  them ;  and  in  Basse  Terre, 
the  capital  of  the  island,  seme  friends  were 
found  who  engaged  to  rent  a  house  for  Mr.  Ham- 
met,  to  induce  him  to  make  it  his  place  of  abode. 
Here  he  labored  faithfully  and  zealously,  so  that 
three  years  after,  when  Dr.  Coke  again  visited  the 
island,  where  at  his  first  visit  "vital  religion  was 
totally  unknown,  through  the  indefatigable  exer- 
tions of  this  missionary,  a  society  of  seven  hun- 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  51 

dred  members  was  formed,  and  the  far  greater 
part  appeared  to  be  devoted  to  God.  In  addition 
to  this,  and  what  was  of  considerable  importance 
to  the  work,  two  local  preachers  had  been  raised 
up  among  .them,  and  their  labors  had  been  ren- 
dered exceedingly  beneficial."  One  of  these  last, 
a  Mr.  Brazier,  we  will  have  occasion  to  speak  of 
hereafter. 

After  this  Mr.  Hammet  was  appointed  to 
Kingston,  in  Jamaica.  But  here  such  uninter- 
rupted success  did  not  awai|  him.  After  meeting 
with  greai  success  and  erecting  a  commodious 
church  building,  attended  by  large  congregations, 
finding  him  in  connection  yith  .Dr.  Coke;  whose 
opinions  are  so  well  known  upon  the  subject  of  sla- 
very, the  people  began  to  persecute  him  severely ; 
tod  these  measures  of  hostility  succeeded  to  a 
surprising  extent.  When  Dr.  Coke  reached  him 
en  his  regular  tour  of  visitation,  he  found  Mr. 
Hammet  in  a  most  deplorable  condition,,  through 
excessive  fatigue  and  violent  opposition.  Fre- 
quently his  very  life  was  in  imminent.peril.  His 
house  of  worship  had  feeea.repeatedly  assailed  by 


52  METHODISM  IN   CHAELESTON. 

mobs,  and  for  weeks  he  had  been  compelled  to 
ask  the  assistance  of  the  authorities  ts  defend  it 
by  an  armed  force. 

The  papers  of  the  island  teemed  with  the  most- 
virulent  calumnies  against  the  Methodists,  and 
every  species  of  falsehood  that  malice  could  frame 
or  ignorance  credit  found  a  ready  publication^  to 
poison  the  public- mind,  and  make  the  denomina- 
tion an  object  ©f  abhorrence.  On  one  occasion, 
about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  the  mob,  attacked 
the  church,  breaking  down  the  gates  leading  into 
the  yard,  and  it  was  only  after  the  sternest  inter- 
ference of  the  magistrates  and  chief  men  of  the 
place  that  further  violence  did  not  ensue.'  As" 
an  evidence  of  the  spirit  that  prevailed  there, 
when  Mr.  Hammet  indicted  some  of  the  most 
riotous,  the  G-rand  Jury  threw  out  the  indictment, 
giving  it  as  their  opinion  that  both  preacher  and 
chapel  ought  to  be  pronounced  public  nuisances. 
From  anxiety  of  mind  and  excessive  fatigue,  Mr. 
Hammet  was  quite  ill,  and  all  service  was  sus- 
pended in  his  church  for  several  weeks.  It  be-' 
came  reported  through  the  community  that  the 


METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON.  53 

preacher. had  been  killed  by  the  niob,  and  secretly 
buried;  and,  so  bitter  was  the  feeling  against  the 
oh-urch,  assort  of  public  jubilee  was  held  over  the 
announcement.  When  this  was  proven  false, 
they  continued  to  predict  his.  death,  which  they 
seemed  determined  to  occasion. 

Mr.'  Hammet's  indisposition  increasing,  his 
physicians  directed  his  removal  to  the  continent, 
for  which  he  set  sail,  in  company  with  Dr.  Coke. 
Misfortune  again '  attended  them.  They  expe- 
rienced a  long  and  tempestuous  voyage :  in  a 
storm  their  vessel  was  dismantled  and  driven  upon 
Edisto  Island,  from  which  they  reached  Charles- 
ton, just  at  the  close  of  Conference,  making  a 
large  part  of  the  journey  on  foot. 

Allusion  has  been-  made  to  some  excitement  in 
connection  with  Mr.  Sanimet  which  was  becom- 
ing visible  just  after  the.  Conference  of  1791. 
He  remained  in  the  city,  preaching  to  the  un- 
bounded admiration  of  immense  congregations, 
and  during  the  year  the  discontent  in  the  church 
was  clearly  developed.  From  what  appeared  to 
be  only  a  transient  feeling  of  discontent,  it  in- 
5* 


54  METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

creased-  to  an  open  agitation  and  final  secession, 
which  shook  the  church  to  -its  centre,  and  well- 
nigh  made  an  entire  shipwreck  of  Charleston 
Methodism,  as  yet  small  and  feeble. 

Mr.  Hammet,  it  must  be  Remembered,  -reached 
Charleston,  in  company  with  Dr.  Coke,  the  day 
after  the  business  of  the  Conference  had  been 
dispatched  by  that  body.  It  was  only  in  compli- 
ment to  Dr.  Coke  that  they  remained  together  one 
day  longer ;  for  they  had  heard  of  his  shipwreck 
and  other  misfortunes,  and  desired  to  extend  to 
him  their  sympathies,  as  well  as  do  him  honor. 
With  the  rest  of  the  Conference  business,  the  ap- 
pointments had  all  been  arranged  by  Bishop  As- 
bury,  and  every  preacher  was  ready  to.  enter  upon 
his  work.  Mr.  Hammet  preached  immediately 
upon  his  arrival,  to  the  great  delight  of  all ;  and 
before  the  Bishop's  departure  the  evil  symptoms 
alluded  to  made  their  appearance.  Although  a 
man  of  estimable  traits  had  been  appointed  to  la- 
bor in  the  city,  the  disaffected  ones  were  found 
clamoring  for  Mr.  Hammet's  appointment  among 
them.     This  was,  in  every  respect,  a  most  unrea- 


METHODISM   IMT  CHARLESTON.  55 

sonable  demand.  Mr.  Hammet  was  not  a  mem- 
ber of  the  American  Conference,  but  claimed  bis 
attachments  with  the  British  Connection  •  and 
when  asked  to  connect  himself  with  Methodism 
in  this  country,  declined  doing  so.  He  therefore 
did  not  recognize  any.  control  which  would  have 
been  attempted  over  him  by  Bishop  Asbury.  Be- 
sides, Conference  was  past:  the  Revs.  Messrs. 
Ellis  and  Parks  had  been  appointed  to  labor  in 
the  city ;  and  to  have  removed  them  after  the  ad- 
journment of  Conference,  would  have  been  gross 
unkindness  to  them,  and,  also,  a  proceeding  be- 
yond all  order.  It  was,  moreover,  in  entire  hos- 
tility to  Methodist  ktw  and  usage  for  the  congre-J 
gation,  in  part  or  whole,  to  decide-  upon  iheir  fa- 
vorite, and  demand  hia appointment  among  them. 
And  with  all  this,  no  doubt  Bishop  Asbury  found 
a  strong  reason  for  declining  to  yield  to  their 
demand  in  the  bearing  of  the  man  himself :  at 
whose  conduct  we  cannot  but  feel  astounded  when 
we  recall  the  scenes  through  which  he  had  just 
passed. 

The  entire  proceeding,  in  connection  with  him 


56  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

and  his  followers,  seems  to  have  been  about  this: 
He  was  from,  abroad,  where  he  had,  been  emi- 
nently successful;  and  where,  too,  he  had  been 
almost  a  martyr.  Here,  in  Charleston,  he  found 
himself  to  be  the  "star."  Persons  who  before 
had  despised  the  collection  of  "common  people" 
at  the  Methodist  "  Blue  Meeting,"  now  crowded 
to  hear  the  great  Irish  orator;  and  hung, -in 
breathless  attention,  upon  his  lips.  Some  of  the 
more  progressive  in  the  Church  of  that  day,  over- 
whelmed at  this  condescension  of  the  "elite,"  be- 
gan to  think  that  they  were  baited,  and  now  was 
the  time  to  catch  them,  and  their  demand  must 
be  yielded  to.  True,  it  was  contrary  to  all  law 
and  order :  true,  it  would  be  an  insult  to  the 
preachers  already  stationed  there;  but  what  of 
that?  Was  not  this  Charleston?  Should  not 
they  be  heard  ? 

This  feeling  of  the  people  was  not  near  so  sur- 
prising as  the  conduct  of  the  preacher.  He  en- 
couraged the  disaffection,  kept  conspicuously  be- 
fore them  his  claim  to  preference,  and  finally, 
enraged  at  the  calm,  firm,,  dignified  consistency 


METHODISM* IN   CHARLESTON.  57 

of  the  Bishop,  he  hurled  his  anathemas  at  his 
head.  He  assailed  him  through  the  prints  of  the 
city  in  the  most  bitter  spirit.  Marvellous  to 
relate,  he  declared  himself  a  persecuted  man  : 
thought  the  American  preachers  had  insulted 
him  ;  complained  that  his  name  was  not  printed 
in  the  minutes  of  the  American  Conference ;  de- 
clared that  a  Nota  Bene  cautioning  the'  Method- 
ists in  the  United  States  against  strange  preach- 
ers, and  whitm  was  framed  previous  to  his  arrival 
from  the  West  Indies,  was  directed  against  him. 
Finally,  he  declared  the  whole  of  "American 
'  Methodism  a  schism,  because  their  preachers  did 
not  wear  gowns  and  powder,  and  because  he 
judged  they  did  not  pay  respect  enough  to  Mk. 
Wesley.  It  is  palpable  that  all  these  were  the 
merest  pretests  for  his  unjustifiable  conduct. 
The  truth  is,  he  had  become  one  of  those 
splendid  meteors  who  despise  the  ordinary  rou> 
tme  of  toil,  cannot  live  subjected  to  common 
law,  and  think  they  must  have  an  eccentric 
course,  or  rather  think  the ,  law  must  be  made 


5$  METHODISM   IN   CpAKLESTON. 

to  work  eccentric,  so  as  to  let  them  range  and 
shine. 

A  number,  some  of  them  regarded  as  the  most 
valuable  and  estimable  members  of  the  church, 
went  with  him.  He  set  up  for  himself  under 
the  title  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church.  He 
preached  for  some  time  in  the  market-place  to 
large  audiences ;  and  so  great  was  his  influence, 
that  in  a  short  time  he  succeeded  in  erecting  a 
fine,  commodious  church  at  the  corner  of  Hasel 
street  and  Maiden. Lane,  which  he  named  Trin- 
ity. To  this  also  was  attached  a  building-lot, 
with  a  comfortable  parsonage  and  outbuildings, 
all  deeded  to  him  in  person,  and  all  free  of  debt. 
Better,  far  better  for  his  fame,  had  he  remained 
in  Kingston,  Jamaica,  and  suffered'  martyrdom 
from  the  mobs,  than  thus  have  brought  disaster 
to  the  church,  and  subsequent  ttnhappiness  to 
himself  and  others. 

"  While  memory  lasts,"  says  the  Rev.  Henry 
Smith*,  "  I  never  can  forget  a  lecture  our  venerable 
Aabmry  gave  us  a  great  many  years  ago,  in  the 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  -59 

Baltimore  Conference,  on  Popularity.  He  re- 
lated a.  ease  of  a  Wesleyan  preacher  (Mr.  Ham- 
niet)  who  had  been  sent  to  one  of  the  islands, 
where  he  preached  the  gospel  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  sent  down  from,  heaven,  and  great  was  his 
success;  but  he  was  very  unpopular,  and  dread- 
fully persecuted — perhaps  oast  into  prison.  But 
he  bore  up  under  all  this  like  a  Methodist 
^preacher;  and  even  rejoiced  that  he  was  worthy 
to  suffer  persecution  for  Christ's  sake.  The  cli- 
mate, his  excessive  labor,  together  with  his  suf- 
ferings, soon  wore  him  down,  and  he  came  to 
America  to  recover  his  health.  In  this  country 
he  became  popular,  very  popular  indeed.  When 
the  Bishop  came  to  this  part  of  his  history,  he 
closed  hig  eyes  and  raised  his  hand,  and  said, 
'  The  breath  of  the  people  came  down  upon  him, 
and  he  sank !'  Yes,  he  sank  low  enough. 
Strange  indeed  that  the  breath  of  the  people  in 
this  land  of  liberty  should  prove  more  fatal  to 
the  preacher  than  rough  persecuting  hands  in 
another."* 

*  Hei-oes  of  Methodism. 


60  METHODISM   IN    CHABLESTON. 

The  Hammet  schism  was  a  most  disastrous 
affair  for  Methodism  here,  as  yet  only  struggling 
into  life.  It  was  felt  severely,  not  only  from  the 
withdrawal  of  so  many  members,  some  of  them 
the  most  conspicuous  and  influential,  but  also 
from  the  feelings  it  engendered,  and  the  devas- 
tating influence  it  had  upon  the  piety  of  the 
membership.  Mr.  Hammet  sent  abroad  letters 
denouncing  the.  presiding  eldership  and  other 
things  connected  with  Methodist  Church  govern- 
ment. These  were  replied  to  by  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Morrell,  then  stationed  in  New  York. 
We  judge,  however,  >  that  Mr.  Morrell's  reply 
must  have  been  rather  inefficient;  for  Bishop 
Asbftry,  in  alluding  to  the  two  papers,  says/ "I 
am  not  surprised  that  Hammet  should  ►find  fault 
with  the  presiding  eldership  :  its  duties  he  was  h 
man  not  likely  to  fulfil.    •  Had  brother 

Morrell  known  niore,  he  would  have  replied 
better" 

Mr.  Hammet  also  wrote  an  appeal  to  the  Brit- 
ish Conference,  but  of  the  character  of  its  recep- 
tion we  have  no  account.     He  also,  through  the 


METHODISIvr  IN'  CHARLESTON.  61 

papers,  vented  his  wrath  against  Dr.  Coke,  de- 
nouncing him  as  a  sacrilegious  tyrant.  All  of 
these  proceedings,  with  their  attendant  excite- 
ment, were  enough,  it  would  seem,  to  the  infant 
church  here.'  Well  for  them  had  this  been  their 
only  misfortune  at  this  juncture. 

We  have  mentioned  the  name  of  Beverly 
Allen  as  having  been  stationed  here  in  1787. 
Frpm  that  time  he  had  been  mostly  in  and  about 
Charleston;  and,  at.  the  time  to  which  we  are 
about  to  allude,  was  preaching  on  Edisto  Island, 
and  was  possessed  of  much-  popularity.  He  was 
a  man  of  elegant  manners  and  brilliant  parts, 
and  by  these,  and  his  marriage  into  one  of  the 
first  families  of  the  low-country,  had  acquired  an 
extensive  influence  and  wide-spread  reputation 
as  a  preacher.  ,  About  the  commencement  of  the 
Eammet'  affair,  suspicions  of  a  foul  nature  were 
raised  against  him :  he  was  watched,  his  guilt 
proven,  and  he  was  promptly  expelled.  Bishop 
Asbury  had  entertained  suspicions  of  his  real 
iteracter.  several  years  previous  to  his  detection, 

6 


62  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

and  speaks  of  the  ill-treatment  he  had  received 
from  him. 

After  his  expulsion,  he  too  spoke  bitterly 
against  Bishop  Asbury,  and  repeatedly  wrote  to 
Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Wesley  injuriously  to  the 
Bishop's  character.  Shortly  after  his  expulsion, 
Major  Forsyth,  United  States  Marshal,  undertook 
to  serve  a  writ  against  him,  upon  which  he  made 
a  precipitate  flight  from  the  city.  He  was  over- 
taken by  him  in  Augusta,  and  arrested.  So  per- 
fectly affable  and  polite  in  his  manners  was  he, 
that  this  officer  of  justice  mercifully  declined 
placing  manacles  upon  him,  and  was  walking 
alongside  of  him,  when  they  came  opposite  to 
Allen's  place  of  lodging.  He  asked  and  obtained 
permission  to  go  in  and  select  a  few  articles  of 
clothing  to  take  with  him.  The  marshal  pa- 
tiently waited  a  proper  time,  and  finally  went  to 
his  room,  where  he  found  him  seated  upon  his 
trunk,  and  when  required  to  leave,  obstinately 
refused  to  go.  The  marshal  insisted,  and  was 
about  to  use  compulsion,  when  Allen  dared  him 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  63 

to  attempt  it,  telling  him  it  would  be  at  the  risk 
of  his  life.  He  advanced  toward  him,  when 
Allen  drew  a  pistol  and  shot  him  dead.  He  fled 
and  buried  himself  in  the  Western  forests,  his 
devoted  wife  accompanying  him  in  all  of  this 
misfortune. 

It  is  said  that  while  this  unhappy  man  was 
flying  from  justice,  his  heart  torn  with  fear  and 
remorse,  he  chanced  to  stop  at  a  church  near  the 
frontiers  on  the  Sabbath  day,  where  he  found  a 
Calvin  istic  clergyman  enforcing  the  doctrine, 
"  once  in  grace,  always  in  grace,"  with  the  kin- 
dred doctrines  of  election  and  reprobation.  He 
listened  respectfully  to  the  close  of  the  discourse, 
when,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  congregation, 
with  a  haggard  countenance,  he  arose  and  warned 
them  against  the  teachings  of  the  sermon.  He 
told  them  he  was  a  living  proof  of  its  falsity. 
He  told  them  of  his  early  convictions,  of  his 
happy  conversion,  and  how  for  years  he  had 
"walked  in  the  light  of  God's  countenance ;  and 
then  he  told  them  of  his  foul  and  grievous  fall, 
and  in  solemn  accents  declared  that  he  felt  the 


64  METHODISM   IN  CHARLESTON. 

doors  of  damnation  ready  for  his  reception,  that 
he  believed  there  was  no  mercy  for  him,  and  he 
did  not  dare  to  hope  to  be  saved;  and  then 
withdrew,  leaving  the  whole  audience  deeply  im- 
pressed by  his  narrative. 

A  greater  blow  than  Allen's  fall,  through  one 
man,  couid  scarcely  have  fallen  upon  the  Church 
in  South  Carolina,  and  especially  the  church  in 
Charleston.  At  this,  time  the  indiscreet  inter- 
ference of  Dr.  Coke  with  slavery  had  aroused 
hostility  against  the  Church  in  all  quarters. 
Methodists  were  watched,  ridiculed,  and  openly 
assailed.  Their  churches  were  styled  "negro- 
churches,"  their  preachers  "the  negro  preach- 
eia.*'  Any  slander,  however  vile  or  absurd, 
about  the  members  or  preachers,  or  about  their 
church  meetings,  was  eagerly  received  and  as 
eagerly  circulated.  And  now  in  the  midst  of  all 
this,  for  these  slanders  through  this  conspicuous 
man  to  have  really  the  appearance  of  truth,  in  his 
detection  in  the  worst  immorality,  made  it  an 
overwhelming  calamity.  Such  an  occurrence 
could  not  be  hidden :  it  flew  upon  the  wings  of 


METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON.  65 

rumor,  and  the  double  crime  of  incest  and  mur- 
der was  exaggerated  with,  every  repetition.  The 
consequences  were  immediate.  The  flourishing 
society  on  Edisto,  previously  known  as  Cainhoy, 
which  was  made  up  of  the  first  men  of  that  region, 
was  soon  disbanded,  and  to  this  day  the  odium 
of  that  occurrence  has  prevented  Methodism 
from  ever  again  obtaining  countenance  among 
them. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  mention  the 
names  of  the  leading  men  of  the  Church  at  that 
day,  and  to  know  also  who  it  was  among  them 
who  stood  firm  in  their  attachment  to  Method- 
ism, amidst  the  strife  and  excitements  of  the 
year  previous.  There  was  one  local  preacher  in 
the  society,  Alexander  McFarlane,  afterwards 
sire  and  grandsire  to  nine  Methodist  preachers, 
seven  of  them  now  living.  The  stewards  and 
several  of  the  leaders,  as  put  down  in  the 
Church  book  for  that  year,  are  as  follows : — 
Edgar  Wells,  who  seems  ever  to  have  been  fore- 
most in  every  good  word  and  work :  A.  Seaver, 
I-  McDowell,  W  Adams,  J.  Milne,  G.  Milnor, 
6* 


66  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON- 

W-  Smith,  J.  Hughes,  M.  Moore,  W  Bee,  B. 
Lukeson,  J.  Cox,  J.  Gordon :  all  of  them  were 
leaders  of  classes,  the  first  five  being  stewards. 
There  was  also  a  class  led  by  the  preachers,  and 
one  by  the  local  preacher.  Several  of  the  lead- 
erg  had  charge  also  of  a  colored  class,  over  which 
they  exerels&d  the  usual  oversight,  besides  leading 
one  among  the  whites.  Thus  the  preachers  in 
charge,  Alex.  McFarlane  and  William  Smith, 
had  under  their  charge  large  colored  classes. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  also  that  there  was  at  that 
early  day  a  class  styled,  "  The  Young  Men's 
Class,"  and  one  also  entered  on  the  books  as 
"The  Young  Women's  Glass."  This  is  worthy 
of  special- notice,  and  worthy  also  of  imitation  by 
those  in  charge  of  circuits  and  stations,  where* 
the  thipgis  practicable.  'This  method  of  placing 
together,  under  a  proper  leader,  all  the  young 
persons  of  the  church,  had  a  great  tendency  to 
bring  about  a  unity  of  feeling  and  sentiment,  not 
otherwise  attainable,  and  tended  to  produce  a 
laudable  emulation  in  liberality  and  piety. 

The  facts  exhibited  above  give  decisive  indi- 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  67 

cations  of  a  wide-spread  piety  through  the  entire 
society.  ^  To  have  been  able  to  array  sixteen  or 
seventeen  class-leaders  in  a  society  of  two  hun-  • 
dred  and  nineteen,  white  and  colored,  thus  giv- 
ing about  a  dozen  members  only  to  each  class, 
shows  that  there  must  have  been  very  few  luke- 
warm or  unconverted  men  among  them,  and, 
therefore,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  finding  a 
large  and  efficient  official  board.  It  indicates 
also  a  very  general  attendance  upon  class-meet- 
ing. Each  leader  had  only  a  dozen  or  less,  and  it 
appears,  from  the  statistics  given  in  the  stew- 
ard's books,  the  far  greater  majority  were  in 
regular  attendance.  The  books  show  the  class- 
meetings  to  have  been  very  punctually  held: 
their  weekly  class-collections  are  given,  and 
every  interruption  from  the  weather,  or  inter- 
ference of  love-feasts  or  other  meetings,  is  care- 
fully entered.  The  size  of  the  classes  seems  to 
nave  been  arranged  upon  the  supposition  that 
all  would  attend:  a  very  different  one  from  the 
principle  that  obtains  in  their  arrangement  in 
some  places  at  the  present  day.     Some  time  ago, 


68  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

a  preacher,  in  the  examination  of  a  class-book  of 
his  charge,  found  forty-eight  names  put  down 
in  it  as  under  the  charge  of  one  leader.  Upon 
declaring  his  intention  to  divide  the  class  into  at 
least  two,  as  soon  as  possible,  he  was  met  by  this 
objection  from  the  whole  official  board :  "  Why, 
sir,  that  will  break  up  the  class  entirely ;  for,  as 
it  is,  we  have  only  five  or  six  in  attendance  out 
of  the  forty-eight ;  now  what  will  be  done  when 
the  attendance  is  divided  into  two  or  three  ?"  A 
puzzling  problem,  truly ! 

It  must  have  been  with  great  discouragement 
that  the  newly-appointed  preacher,  Daniel  Smith, 
entered  upon  his  labors  for  the  following  year, 
(1792,)  after  all  the  exciting  events  heretofore 
noticed.  His  labors,  however,  appear,  to  have 
been  owned  of  the  Lord;  and  when  Bishop 
%.sbury  visited  the  city  in  December,  to  attend 
the  session  of  Conference  there,  he  found  them 
to  some  extent  recovering  from  their  previous 
misfortunes,  and  enjoying  a  season  of  revival. 
He  says,  "I  am  happy  to  find  that  our  principal 
friends  have  increased  in  religion.     0  that  God 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  69 

ftild  Mess  the  wild  and  wicked  inhabitants  of 
is  city  I" 

Daniel  Smith  was  returned  for  the  year  1793, 
ith  Jonathan  Jackson  as  a  colleague ;  Reuben 
[Kg  being  Presiding  Elder.  This  Was  the  first 
ar  that  two  preachers  were  stationed  in  the 
jy  to  remain  together  the  whole  year.  In  the 
evious  mention  of  two  preachers/  one  only 
mained  as  preacher  in  charge ;  the  "  other 
ending  only  a  part  of  the  year  in  the  city. 
Jonathan  Jackson  is  represented  as  a  real  "son 
thunder."  He  dealt  but  the  terrors  of  the  law 
th  overwhelming  power,  and  it  Was- frequently 
e  case  under  his  preaching  in  the  city,  that 
awful  was  the  sense  of  danger  that  came 
er  the  unconverted  present^  they  would  rush 
ttn.the  house,  fearing  the  immediate  Vengeance 
Heaven.  Bishop  Asbury  paid  them  a  visit 
two  weeks  this  year,  doing  efficient  service  for 
e  cause  of  Christ  in  preaching  night  and  day, 
d  visiting  from  house  to  house'.  He  calls 
Weston  "a  growing,  busy,  dreadfully  dissi- 
*ed  place."     He   met  the  stewards  in  their 


70  METHODISBT    IN    CHARLESTON. 

weekly  meetings,  every  other  one  of  which  was 
purely  spiritual,  consisting  of  their  narrations  of 
experience,  "  and  opening  their  hearts  to  each 
other." 

During  this  year  the  necessity  for  a  buryiag- 
ground  began  to  be  felt  by  the  society,  the  lot 
upon  Cumberland  street  being  too  contracted  for 
that  purpose.  A  subscription  was  set  on  foot 
for  a  suitable  purchase,  and  it  was  proposed  also 
to  erect  another  church  building  upon  the 
newly -procured  lot.  The  latter  project,  how- 
ever, slumbered  for  several  years.  The  subscrip- 
tion for  the  burying^-ground  was  also  suppressed, 
for  upon  the  trustees  making  application  to  Mr. 
Bennet,  (the  father  of  ex-Governor  Bennet,  now 
living,)  to  sell  them  the  lot  on  the  corner  of  Pitt 
and  Boundary  (now  Calhoun)  streets,  he  gene- 
rously deeded  it  to  them  without  cost. 

During  the  year  1793  the1  interest  of  the  com- 
munity in  the  church  privileges  seems  to  have 
been  awakened  to  a  surprising  degree.  The 
number  of  hearers  was  largely  increased,  and 
full  houses  were  had  at  the  week-night  prayer- 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  71 

meetings.  Alluding  to  the  morning  service  of  a 
Sabbath  which  he  spent  in  the  city,  Bishop 
Asbury  says,  "  Brother  Smith  and  myself  let 
loose ;  and,  according  to  custom,  they  [the  con- 
gregation] fled :  they  cannot,  they  will  not, 
endure  sound  doctrine/'  From  which  it  appears 
that  it  had  become  quite  common  for  the  people, 
when  they  found  the  preacher  presenting  the 
truth  clearly  and  forcibly,  to  make  a  general 
stampede.  A  few  days  after,  the  Bishop  left 
the  city,  as  he  says,  "  The  seat  of  Satan,  dissipa- 
tion, and  folly,"  after  appointing  Joshua  Cannon 
and  Isaac  Smith  to  the  station. 

The  close  of  this  year  completed  the  first  de- 
cade of  Charleston  Methodism.  It  has  been 
shown  what  peculiar  difficulties,  heavy  disasters, 
and  fierce  trials,  the  church  was  called  to  pass 
through,  in  this  brief  period  of  its  early  exist- 
ence. The  membership  numbered,  at  the  close 
°f  the  period,  sixty-five  whites,  and  two  hundred 
a^d  eighty  colored.  A  gratifying  increase  from 
fcaught— -when  we  remember,  too,  that  by  the 
Hanimet  schism  about  one  half  of  the  white 
Membership  were  withdrawn. 


72  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Conference  session— Visit  and  labors  of  Bishop  Asbury — Death  <5f 
Mr.  Wells — Death  of  James  King — Persecutions — Erection  of 
Bethel  Church  —  Tobias  Gibson — Fresh  persecutions — Pumping 
of  Mr.  Dougherty — Erection  of  the  Parsonage — Bishop  Asbury 's 
first  visit  to  it — Death  of  Nicholas  Watters. 

Philip  Bruce  was  appointed  •  to  Charleston 
for  the  year  1795.  -He  was  a  descendant  of  the 
Huguenots,  and  had  been  a  valiant  soldier  of  the 
Revolution.  He  proved  himself  as  efficient  in 
battling  for  the  Lord  of  hosts,  as  he  had  been  in 
the  field  of  blood,  fighting  for  the  liberties  of  his 
country.  Mr.  Bruce  was  assisted  by  Enoch 
George — who  Was  afterwards  made  Bishop-— 
James  Rogers,  and  Henry  Hill,  each  of  whom 
spent  three  months  in  the  city.  Bishop  Asbury 
also  spent  two  months  with  them,  preaching  both 
at  the  church  and  in  private  houses,  visiting  from 
house  to  house,  and  regulating  the  affairs  of  the , 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  73 

society.  He  still  complained  of  "  the  desperate 
wickedness  of  the  people/'  "  ignorance  of  God, 
the  playing,  dancing,  swearing,  and  racing."  He 
had  good  reason  to  complain  of  their  wickedness ; 
for  about  this  time  persecution  ran  high.  He 
was  repeatedly  openly  insulted,  he  says,  in  the 
streets,  "  with  some  as  horrible  sayings  as  could 
come  out  of  a  creature's  mouth  on  this  side  of 
hell."  One  Sabbath  evening,  while  the  congre- 
gation were  quietly  engaged  in  worship,  a  crowd 
assailed  the  church/ beating  open  the  doors,  and 
breaking  open  the  windows ;  but  were  finally  in- 
duced to  disperse. 

During  this  year  a  partial  reaction  seems  to 
have  taken  place  among  the  followers  of  Mr. 
Hammet.  The  names  of  several  who  went  off 
with  him  are  found  again  recorded  on  the  church 
books.  The  cause  is  not  developed.  Mr.  Ham- 
met  retained  his  popularity  as  a  man  and  min- 
ister for  a  number  of  years  after  the  schism.  Thf 
labors  of  the  preachers  this  year  were  greatly 
blessed  of  Grod,;  A  season  of  revival  was  enjoyed 
throughout  a  considerable  part  of  the  year ;  and 
7 


74  METHODISM    IN    CHARLESTON. 

a  goodly  number  of  promising  young  persons  con- 
nected themselves  with  the  church.  Conference 
convened  in  Charleston  at  the  close  of  this  year; 
but  was  marked  rather  by  a  feeling  of  distress 
and  discouragement  than  otherwise.  Early  in  the 
session,  Dr.  Coke,  who  was  with  them,  received 
the  melancholy  intelligence  of  the  burning  of 
Cokesbury  College,  with  its  library  and  appa- 
ratus, involving  a  loss  of  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

During  the  session  of  Conference,  the  Rev. 
Henry  Hill  made  the  experiment  of  street- 
preaching,  but  unsuccessfully.  He  stood  in  the 
market-place  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Meeting 
streets,  occupying  the  site  of  the  present  City  Hall. 
Just  after  he  had  succeeded  in  engaging  the  at- 
tention Of  a  large  audience,  a  posse  of  the  city 
guard  was  delegated  to  stop  him.  The  attempt, 
however,  had  the  effect  of  attracting  a  large  con- 
gregation to  the  Methodist  church  that  night, 
which  for  the  most  part  listened  respectfully. 

Bishop  Asbury  spent  January  and  February 
here,  occupying  every  moment  in  faithful  toil,  and 
improving  every  possible  opportunity  of   doing 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON.      75 

good.  He  mentions  on  one  occasion  holding 
prayer-meeting  for  the  blacks  in  Mr.  "Wells's 
kitchen,  while  one  of  the  preachers  conducted 
the  love-feast  for  the  whites  in  the  parlor.  Dur- 
ing his  stay  in  the  city,  though  weighed  down 
by  infirmities — being  considerable  part  of  the 
time  in  the  doctor's  hands — he  preached  eighteen 
sermons,  met  all  the  classes,  black  and  white,  fif- 
teen in  number,  wrote  eighty  letters  on  church 
business,  read  several  volumes  of  books  through, 
and  visited  thirty  families  again  and  again ;  and 
yet  he  is  found  lamenting  his  want  of  zeal  and 
diligence  ! 

Benjamin  Blanton  was  appointed  to  Charleston 
in  1796.  He  labored  alone  the  whole  year,  but 
with  gratifying  success ;  for  at  the  close  of  the 
year  a  large  increase  in  the  membership  was  re- 
ported. 

We  find  Charleston  for  the  year  1797  united 
With  Georgetown,  and  Benjamin  Blanton,  John 
•N-  Jones,  and  James  King,  the  preachers  ap^- 
pomted  to  the  joint  station.  It  was  a  year  of 
sPeeial   affliction  to   the   church  in  Charleston. 


76  METHODISM  JN   CHARLESTON. 

While  Conference  was  yet  in  session,  Mr.  Edgar 
Wells,  who  had  been  feeble  for  some  time,  was 
stricken  down  by  severe  disease.  About  fourteen 
months  previous  to  this,  he  seems  to  have  had 
his  soul  blessed  to  an  extraordinary  degree,  and 
to  have  been  more  than  ever  given  up  to  the  work 
of  God.  Any  service  that  he  could  render  to  the 
church,  he  most  cheerfully  afforded;  and,  though 
harassed  by  difficulties  of  a  mercantile  character, 
he  found  much  time  to  devote  to  the  church, 
while  he  was  a  proverb  of  liberality.  Bishop 
Asbury  was  in  the  city  during  his  illness,  and 
visited  him  frequently ;  but  despite  the  attentions 
of  physicians,  and  the  prayers  of  the  pious,  he 
gradually  sank,  until  death  relieved  him  of  his 
sufferings.  He  made  a  most  peaceful  end,  and 
was  followed  to  the  grave  by  nearly  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  grieved  and  stricken  church.  Dr. 
Coke  read  the  funeral  service,  and  pronounced 
an  oration  at  the  grave,  and  Bishop  Asbury,  on 
the  following  Sabbath,  preached  his  funeral 
discourse,  from  Rev.  i.  10.  He  was  buried  in 
a   small   piece  of  ground  attached  to   Cumber- 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  77 

fend  Church.    A  plain  marble  slab,  containing  the 
following  inscription,  marks  his  last  resting-place  : 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory 

of 

MR.  EDGAR  WELLS, 

whose  dear  remains  lie  under  this 

marble,  a  beloved  and  never  to  be  forgotten 

friend. 

He  departed  this  life,  Jan.  17th,  1797, 

aged  44  years. 

Amongst  Husbands,  Brothers,  Fathers,  and  Parents, 

he  had  few  equals. 

Ever  ready  for  all  the  duties  of  piety, 

his  carriage  toward  all  mankind 

was  eminently  benevolent." 

During  the  year  1797,  they  had  not  only  to 

lament  the  loss  of  their  most  efficient  member, 

Edgar  Wells,  but  in  the  summer  the  yellow-fever 

broke  out  with  violence,  and  James  King,  the 

junior  preacher,  was  attacked  by  it,  and  after  a 

short  illness  passed  peacefully  away.     He  was  a 

young  man  of  great  zeal,  excellent  sense,  and  of 

attractive  appearance  in  the  pulpit.     He  was  of 

the  age  of  only  twenty-four  when  he  died :  the 

first  martyr   to  this  fatal  epidemic  among  the 

Preachers  sent  to   Charleston. 

7* 


78  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

The  church  this  year  was  still  called  to  suffer 
much  annoyance  from  rioters  and  mobs.  On  one 
occasion,  a  young  Scotchman  deliberately  com- 
menced an  uproar  in  the  church  during  service, 
by  shouting  out  in  a  loud  voice,  and  struck  three 
or  four  men  while  being  taken  out  of  doors.  This 
outrage  was  too  flagrant  to  be  passed  over  in 
silence,  and  he  was  indicted  by  the  official  board ; 
but  the  Grand  Jury  refused  to  find  a  bill  against 
him.  For  a  long  time  after  this,  every  night  the 
services  were  interrupted  by  riotous  proceedings 
outside;  and  the  congregation,  while  in-doors, 
and  especially  when  dispersing,  were  grossly  in- 
sulted, because  their  cowardly  assailants  felt  they 
could  do  it  with  impunity. 

The  writer,  as  a  native  of  Charleston,  is  sorry 
to  be  compelled  to  record  these  disgraceful  pro- 
ceedings ;  and  he  must  confess  that  it  excites  in 
his  mind  no  small  feeling  of  contempt  for  the 
leading  men  of  the  community  of  that  day,  who, 
ignorant  of  any  thing  to  be  alleged  against  an 
unoffending  people,  except  that  they  were  called 
Methodists,  would  jsuffer  them  thus  to  be  hope- 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  79 

lessly  trampled  upon  and  injured.  The  sum  and 
substance  of  their  crimes  was,  that  they  preached 
without  gowns,  sang  without  organs,  and  worship 
ped  without  a  steeple  to  their  church  building; 
and  that,  though  wanting  these,  people  were  con- 
verted and  made  better.  But,  thank  God!  amidst 
it  all,  they  were  undaunted;  for,  be  it  known, 
difficulties  must  be  nothing  short  of  insurmount- 
able that  will  stop  the  progress  of  the  Methodists. 
They  have  everywhere  sustained  the  character 
given  them  in  the  Charleston  Court,  by  one  of 
the  State  Judges,  several  years  after.  A  similar 
occurrence  to  the  one  just  mentioned  had  called 
tor  the  interference,  of  the  law,  and  during  the 
proceedings  the  counsel  of  the  defendants  com- 
menced a  bitter  onslaught  upon  the  Methodists. 
v  Stop,"  .  said  the  venerable  Judge,  raising  his 
hand,  "  I  have  watched  these  Methodists  for  many 
years,  and  I  have  ever  found  them  like  the 
calves  mentioned  in  Ezekiel's  vision — they  never 
go  backwards." 

■Notwithstanding  the  discouragements  they  were 
called  to  meet  with  this  year,  with  a  true  progres- 


80  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

sive  spirit,  they  determined  upon  the  erection  of 
another  church  upon  their  recently  acquired  lot  in 
Pitt  street.  I  have  before  me  the  "  Minutes  of  a 
meeting,  and  resolutions  entered  into  by  the  Min- 
isters and  Stewards  of  the  Society  of  a  People 
called  Methodists,  in  Cumberland  street,  Charles- 
ton, S.  C,  which  aforesaid  Society  is  in  con- 
nection with  the  general  body  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, Feb.  14th,  1797." 

At  this  meeting,  Francis  Sutherland,  G-.  H. 
Myers^  Wm.  Smith,  and  Alex.  McFarlane,  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  act  with  the  preachers 
in  collecting  money  and  soliciting  subscriptions, 
and  to  act  as  a  building  committee  in  the  erection 
of  the  house.  Bishop  Asbury  presided  at  this 
meeting.  At  a  subsequent  meeting,  it  was  "Re- 
solved, first,  That  when  we  can  get  a  carpenter  we 
will  undertake  td  build  a  house,  forty  by  sixty 
feet.  Second,.  That  the  name  of  the  house  shall 
be  Bethel,  the  Hebrew  word  for  the  house  of 
God."  The  first  resolution  was  afterwards  quali- 
fied to  read,  "As  soon  as  three  hundred  pounds 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  83 

can  be  raised,  supposing  the  building  to  cost  six 
hundred  pounds." 

The  building  was  occupied  during  the  next 
year.  Only  the  outside  of  the  building  was  up 
at  the  time  of  its  dedication :  it  was  not  lathed 
nor  plastered  until  eleven  years  afterward.  Ben- 
jamin Blanton,  the  presiding  elder,  preached  the 
dedicatory  sermon,  to  a  crowded  congregation. 
He  preached  his  discourse  from  a  platform  of  rough 
plank — the  pulpit  as  yet  not  being  erected.  The 
formidable  sounding-board  which  hung  over  the 
pulpit,  a  terror  to  very  tall  men,  and  to  the  child- 
ren in  windy  weather,  lest,  as  it  swayed  to  and 
fro,  it  might  crush  the  unlucky  one  underneath, 
was  a  modern  innovation — a  real  foreign  importa- 
tion. It  was  not  swung  into  its  position  until  the 
erection  of  the  new  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  was  purchased  from  the  old  building. 

A  large  increase  of  colored  members  was  re- 
ported at  the  end  of  the  year.  At  its  close  Con- 
ference assembled  in  Charleston ;  but  Bishop  As- 
kwy-was  unable  to  attend,  and  Jonathan  Jackson 
Presided,  assisted  by  Jesse  Lee.     John  N.  Jones 


84      METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

and  Tobias  Gibson  were  sent  to  the  city.  The 
latter  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  a  man  of 
superior  parts,  and  the  one  just  then  needed  in 
their  effort  of  Church  extension.  Though  pos- 
sessing a  property  sufficient  to  give  him  an  ample 
support,  he  left  the  ease  and  comforts  of  home, 
to  brave  the  dangers,  and  submit  to  the  odium, 
and  undergo  the  toils,  of  an  itinerant  preacher's 
life.  He  was  handsome  in  person,  in  manners 
soft  and  affectionate  and  agreeable. 

Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  his  perseverance 
in  duty  from  the  following :  Shortly  after  his  ap- 
pointment in  Charleston,  he  was  sent  to  labor  as  a 
missionary  to  Natchez  and  the  adjoining  country. 
After  travelling  six  hundred  miles  to  the  Cumber- 
land river,  finding  his  progress  impeded  by  the 
lameness  or  death  of  his  horse,  he  took  a  canoe 
and  put  his  saddle  and  equipage  on  board,  and,  all 
alone,  paddled  himself  out  of  the  Cumberland 
into  the  Ohio  river,  and  made  a  passage  of  eight 
hundred  miles  through  the  meanderings  of  that1 
great  stream.  It  is  no  wonder  that  a  man  po8' 
sessed  of  such  an  earnest  spirit  should  have  been 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  85 

successful  in  Charleston,  though,  daily  discourage- 
ment awaited  him. 

Mr.  Jones  was  a  man  of  feeble  constitution, 
and  was  sent  to  labor  in  Charleston)  when  unable 
to  undergo  the  fatigues  of  circuit  work.  He  was 
a  man  of  great  zeal,  a  fervent  preacher,  primitive 
in  his  manners  and  appearance.  Soon  after -en- 
tering upon  his  work  here  he  was  seized  with  se- 
vere illness,  and  entered  joyfully  into  his  reward. 
.Thus,  for  two  years  successively,  the  church  in 
'Charleston  was  called  to  mourn  the  death  of  its 
junior  preachers. 

Nothing  worthy  of  special  note  occurred  dur- 
ing the  year  1799.  John  Harper,  the  father  of 
■Chancellor  Harper,  so  widely  known  through  the 
State,  and  Nicholas  Snethen,  afterwards  the  re- 
nowned preacher  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  were  the  stationed  preachers.  The 
Church  seems  to  have  had  some  rest  this  year 
from  mobs  and  violence,  under  their  administra- 
tion. John  Harper's  name  is  upon  the  minutes 
for  three  years  successively.  He  was  among  the 
few  upon  whom  this  honor  was  conferred — for 
8 


86      METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

we  suppose  it  should  be  regarded  as  Such — pre- 
vious to  the  establishment  of  the  Disciplinary 
limitation,  restricting  the  length  of  any  pastorate 
to  two  years. 

Mr.  Harper  was  returned  the  following  year, 
with  George  Dougherty  as  preacher  in  charge. 
Mr.  Dougherty  was  a  man  of  much  affliction. 
He  was  tall  and  slender,  disfigured  in  the  face 
by  small-pox,  by  an  attack  of  which  he  lost 
one  of  his  eyes :  he  was  also  of  a  consumptive 
habit.  He  possessed  uncommon  fortitude,  and 
"his  mind  and  memory  were  exceeding  capa- 
cious. He  was  possessed  of  a  fund  of  knowledge. 
It  seemed  as  if  he  retained  the  substance  of  all  he 
heard  or  read.  He  was  plain,  sentimental,  and 
pointed  in  all  of  his  pulpit  discourses."  These 
men  labored  faithfully  and  acceptably  during  the 
year,  and  at  its  end  were  both  returned  to  the 
same  field  of  labor. 

During  the  year  1800  the  hostility  to  the 
Methodists  assumed  a  graver  and  more  violent 
aspect  than  at  any  time  previous,  and  the  rest 
and  quiet  they  had  enjoyed-  was  only  the  prelude 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  87 

to  more  flagrant  insults  and  more  open  outrages. 
During  the  Conference  of  1800,  the  church  ser- 
vices were  repeatedly  interrupted  by  rioters,  and 
Bishop  Asbury  was  frequently  insulted  by  these 
outlaws.  On  one  occasion,  knowing  that  he  was 
to  preach  at  Cumberland,  they  gathered  in  large 
numbers  at  the  door  and  awaited  his  Coming,  and 
when  he  appeared,  and  while  entering  the  build- 
ing, they  greeted  him  with  sneers,  hurrahs,  and 
shouts. 

Not  long  after  Conference,  and  shortly  after 
the  Bishop  left  the  city,  John  Harper,  one  of  the 
stationed  preachers,  received  a  package  from  one 
of  the  Northern  societies  or  Conferences,  con- 
taining resolutions  from  that  body  to  memorialize 
the  Legislatures  of  the  Southern  States  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  commonwealths  represented  by 
them.  Upon  Mr.  Harper's  finding  them  filled 
with  undisguised  abolitionism,  he  declined  letting 
any  one  see  them,  and  carefully  stowed  them 
away.  It  appears,  however,  that  a  local  preacher 
of  Mr.  Hamme't's  churchy  on  terms  of  intimacy 
With  Mr.  Harper,  hearing  of  the  reception  of 


88  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

these  pamphlets,  begged,  as  a  special  favor,  that 
he  might  he  permitted  to  see  one  of  them.  Mr. 
Harper  gave  him  one,  but  not  without  suitable  pre- 
cautions, and  with  the  promise  that,  no  one  else 
should  see  it.  This  gentleman,  astonished  at  the 
boldness  of  the  measures  proposed  in  the  papers, 
thought  it  no  harm  to  confide  his  pamphlet  to  a 
friend  of  his,  who  felt  under  no  obligation  to 
keep  it  secret.  -  Soon  the  wildest  reports  about 
the  abolitionists  and  the  Methodist  preachers 
spread  over  the  city.  The  Intendant  soon  heard 
of  it,  and .  promptly  called  upon  Mr.  Harper, 
who  stated  the  case  as  it  really  was,  and,  to  con- 
vince the  Intendant  that  no  harm  should  follow 
their  introduction,  threw  them  into  the  fire  while 
he  was  present.  He  left  apparently  quite  satis- 
fied of  the  preacher's  loyalty. 

But  they  were  Methodist  preachers,  and  were 
not  therefore  to  be  allowed  thus  to  escape.  Here 
was  a  fine  pretext  for  the  young  bloods  of  Charles- 
ton to  display ,  their  chivalry,  and  a  large  mob 
collected  around  Cumberland  Church  the  follow- 
ing Sunday  night,  prepared  to  undertake  sum- 


METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON.  89 

jnary  measures.  Being  very  brave  young  gen- 
tlemen, they  selected  the  night-time  for  their 
deeds  of  daring.  They  seized  Mr.  Harper  com- 
ing out  of  church,  and  were  carrying  him  in 
triumph  down  Meeting  street,  when  they  were 
confronted  by  the  city  guard,  and,  in  the  confu- 
sion of  the  moment,  his  friends  dexterously  extri- 
cated him,  and  led  him  to  a  neighboring  house. 
The  rage  of  the  mob,  upon  discovering  the  escape 
of  their  victim,  was,  of  course,  intense.  Fists 
were  clenched,  lips  bit,  and  the  Methodist  Church 
in  general,  and  the  preachers  in  particular,  were, 
in  their  imprecations,  consigned  to  a  very  dread- 
ful place. 

Their  blood  was  up,  and,  upon  holding  a  council 
of  war,  it  was  determined  to  catch  the  so-called 
villain,  or  some  of  his  crowd,  the  night  following. 
Mr.  Dougherty  led  the  prayer-meeting,  and,  as 
one  Methodist  preacher  in  their  eyes  was  as  good 
or  rather  as  bad  as  another,  he  was  seized  by  the 
tttob,  and,  though  winter-time,  and  he  a  man  of 
feeble  health,  they  thrust  him  under  a  spout  near 
the  church,  and  pumped  him  almost  to  drowning. 
8* 


90  METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

In  the  midst  of  their  work  of  cruelty,  while  some 
of  the  members  in  affright  had  fled,  and  others 
stood  by,  unable  to  give  assistance,  a  Mrs.  Kug- 
ley  rushed  into  their  midst,  and,  tearing  off  her 
apron,  pushed  it  into  the  pump-spout,  and  com- 
manded them  to  desist.  At  the  same  time,  a 
gentleman,  forcing  his  way  into  the  midst,  sword 
in  hand,  threatened  death  to  any  one  who  should 
touch  Mr.  Dougherty's  person.  The  crowd  of 
patriotic  bullies,  as  might  be  anticipated,  in- 
stantly made  a  precipitate  retreat. 

Mr.  Dougherty  never  recovered  from  the  ill- 
treatment  of  that  terrible  night.  It  precipitated 
the  disease  to  which  his  lungs  were  predisposed, 
and  shortly  afterward  he  made  a  triumphant  end. 
The  whole  affair  was  as  unreasonable  as  it  was 
cruel  and  disgraceful.  It  was  preposterous  to 
suppose  that  Messrs.  Harper  and  Dougherty,  born 
and  brought  up  and  spending  their  whole  lives 
on .  the  soil  of  Carolina,  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
institution — the  jealousy  about  which  gave  them 
so  much  trouble — would  have  meditated  mischief 
to  their  own  homes.     "  There  is  one  fact  more/' 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON.  91 

gays  Bishop  Andrew  in  his  mention  of  this  oc- 
currence, "connected  with  the  history  of  this 
business  which  deserves  to  be  noticed.  Of  all 
the  principal  leaders  in  this  outrageous  proceed- 
ing, not  one  prospered  afterwards.  Most  of  them 
died  miserable  deaths  in  a  short  time.  One  of 
them  lived  some  time,. only  to  feel  and  acknow- 
ledge that  the  curse  of  God  was  upon  him  for  his 
conduct  to  that  good  man." 

-  The  next  year  Charleston  missed  its  annual 
festival,  as  the  Conference  was  held  in  Camden. 
Bishop  Asbury,  however,  visited  the  city  just 
after  the  close  of  the  Conference,  and,  reaching 
it  on  Saturday  night,  preached  once  on  the  Sab- 
bath, and  administered  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper.  John  Garvin  and  Benjamin  Jones  were 
the  preachers  sent  to  labor  that  year  in  the  city. 
Of  Mr.  Garvin's  character  and  labors  we  have 
but  little  account,  and  he  located  at  the  following 
Conference. 

Benjamin  Jones  was  a  native  Carolinian,  "of 
Slgnal  solemnity  of  countenance  and  manner, 
deeply  serious,   of  gentle   mind  and  Christian 


92  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

spirit,  having  always  walked  as  the  Christian  and 
minister."  Shortly  after  his  appointment  to 
Charleston,  he  was  drowned  in  an  inlet  of  Wac- 
camaw  Lake,  having  fallen  into  it,  as  supposed, 
in  convulsions,  as  he  had  been  several  times  at- 
tacked with  them. 

During  this  year  the  trustees  determined  to 
build  a  parsonage  upon  the  vacant  part  of  the  lot 
occupied  by  Bethel  Church.  This  appears  to 
have  been  quietly  accomplished  from  funds  in 
hand,  without  specially  soliciting  aid  from  with- 
out, showing  their  affairs  to  have  been  managed 
with  praiseworthy  discretion.  It  is  not  the  least 
remarkable  thing  connected  with  the  early  his- 
tory of  Methodism  in  Charleston,  that  they  moved 
along  with  so  much  ease  in  money  matters,  yet 
exercising  great  liberality. 

Bishop  Asbury,  upon  paying  a  brief  visit  to 
the  city  towards  the  end  of  the  year,  was  per- 
mitted, among  the  first,  to  occupy  the  new  parson- 
age. He  seems  to  have  enjoyed  the  ease  and 
quiet  of  his  new  home  very  much.  He  says,  "I 
continued  a  week  in  Charleston,  lodging  in  our 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  93 

own  house  near  Bethel,  receiving  my  visitors, 
ministers  and  people,  white,  and  black,  and  yel- 
low. It  was  a  paradise  to  me  and  some  others ;" 
and  afterwards  adds,  "Who  knows  what  God 
may  yet  do  for  wicked  Charleston?"  As  few  of 
the  preachers  of  that  day  had  families,  the  stew- 
ards provided  a  housekeeper. 

The  account   given  of  Bishop  Asbury's  first 
visit  to   the   parsonage   is  characteristic  of  the 
man.      The   building   had   been   completed   for 
some  time,  but  no  step  had. been  taken  toward 
supplying  it  with  furniture.      The  old   gentle- 
man had  heard  of  its  erection  and  completion, 
and  when  he  reached  the  city,  passing  by  his  old 
stopping-places,  he  went  directly  to  the  parson- 
age, where  he  hitched  his  horse,  took  his  saddle- 
tags  and  put  them  in  one  of  the  rooms,  and 
gravely  sat  down   upon   the   door-step,  no   one 
knowing  of  his  arrival.     A  negro  man  passing 
observed  him  sitting  there,  and  recognizing  him 
to  be  the  Bishop,  stopped,  and  told  him  no  one 
hved  there.     "I  know  that/'  said  the  Bishop. 

"here  do  you  want  to  go,  sir?  I  will  show  you 


94  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

the  way."  "I  want  to  go  nowhere,"  said  the 
Bishop :  "I  will  spend  the  night  here."  The 
negro  started  off  and  informed  several  of  the 
members  of  the  church  of  the  Bishop's  arrival, 
and  of  his  intention  to  .stay  at  the  parsonage. 
Soon  a  number  of  his  friendjg  waited  on  him,  and 
found  him  still  sitting  there,  reading  his  Bible, 
and  quite  at  home.  "Come,  Bishop,"  said  one 
and  another,  "come,  go  home  with  us."  "I 
cannot,"  said  he :  "  this  is  the  parsonage,  and  I 
desire  to  stay  here."  "  But  there  is  nothing  in 
the  house :  you  cannot  stay  here,"  they  said.  "I 
do  not  need  much,"  he  replied.  "Well,"  said 
they,  "if  you  will  stay,  we  must  try  and  make 
you  comfortable."  So  away  they  went,  one  soon 
bringing  a  bed,  another  a  bedstead,  chairs  and 
tables  and  kitchen  utensils,  until  they  had  two 
rooms^-one  in  which  to  sleep,  and  the  other  in 
whieh  to  receive  visitors — with  the  kitchen,  com-" 
fortably  furnished.  This  was  the  object  of  this 
observant  man,  and  soon  the  preachers  were  able 
to  move  in  and  take  possession. 

The  good  old  man  called  his  new  home  a  pai"a" 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  95 

dise;  for  he  was  able  there,  untrammelled  by  forms 
or  customs,  to  manage  things  his  own  way,  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  make  a  paradise  below,  by  con- 
stant communion  with  his  God.  Kising  at  four  in 
the  morning,  the  call  was  sounded  for  family  wor- 
ship. This  was  attended  regularly  for  years  by  a 
number  of  persons,  who  were  themselves  among 
irreligious  families,  or  who  were  otherwise  cut  off 
from  this  privilege ;  also,  by  a  number  of  colored 
•persons ;  so  that  often  at  family  prayer  at  the  par- 
sonage, there  would  be  an  assembly  of  forty  or 
fifty  persons,  and  that  between  the  hours  of  four 
and  five  in  the  morning,  showing  a  love  for  this 
precious  privilege  quite  in  contrast  with  some 
toore  modern  Methodists. 

When  persons  called  through  the  day,  the 
"Bishop  generally  conversed  upon  religious  sub- 
jects, frequently  holding  miniature  class-meetings. 
Before  they  left  he  generally  prayed  with  them,  so 
that  twelve  or  fourteen  times  a  day  the  voice  of 
prayer  went  up  from  this  house,  rendered  memo- 
ra-ble  by  his  frequent  residence  within  it. 

Bennet  Kendrick  and  Thomas  Barley  labored 


96  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

here  during  1803.  Bennet  Kendriek  was  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  choice  preachers  of  the  Con- 
nection. He  was  quite  young,  yet  he  filled  in 
succession  the  important  stations  of  Wilmington, 
Columbia,  and  Charleston.  He  was  remarkably 
plain  in  his  manners  and  dress — entirely  free  from 
any  thing  like  the  affected  gentleman — yet  bland, 
courteous  and  dignified,  as  equally  free  from  the 
levity  of  youth.  He  was  a  close  student,  and  a 
skilful,  eloquent  preacher;  and,  with  it  all,  per- 
haps his  highest  eulogy  is,  "  The  poor  Africans 
repeated  his  name  and  death  with  tears.  He  was 
a  willing  servant  to  slaves  for  the  sake  of  Christ." 
His  qualifications,  spiritual  and  mental,  for  the 
duties  of  a  Methodist  preacher,  can  well  be  esti- 
mated from  the  circumstance  that,  though  so 
young,  he  was  appointed  to  fill  the  place  of  George 
Dougherty  as  Presiding  Elder  on  the  Camden  Dis- 
trict, whose  loss  was  regarded  as  irreparable. 

His  colleague,  Thomas  Darley,  was  a  rough- 
hewn  son  of  nature.  He  had  been,  for  several 
years  before  his  conversion  and  entrance  into  the 
ministry,  a  seaman;  and,  as  a  preacher,  he  ^ 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  97 

Characterized  by  all  the  frankness,  candor,  and 
generosity  of  the  sailor. 

The  Conference  of  1804,  held  in  the  city  of 
Augusta,  appointed  Nicholas  "Watters  to  labor  with 
Bennet  Kendrick,  who  was  returned.  The  first, 
though  a  sensible,  well-informed  man,  was  not  a 
ready  speaker ;  but  this  deficiency  in  the  pulpit 
was  more  than  supplied  by  his  untiring  labors  as 
%  pastor.  His  memory  was  embalmed  in  the  hearts 
of  many,  around  whose  bedside  he  waited,  minis- 
tering to  them  the  word  of  life,  and  affording  com- 
fort in  the  hour  of  affliction  and  bereavement. 
Early  in  the  summer  the  yellow-fever  broke  out, 
and  from  frequent  contact  with  it  he  soon  con- 
tracted it,  which,  with  a  constitution  then  feeble, 
soon  bore  him  from  his  scene  of  labor. 

Thus  fell  the  second  martyr  to  this  dire- 
ful plague  among  the  Methodist  preachers  in 
Charleston. 

During  the  ten  years  just  notieed,  there  was  a 
decrease  of  three  white  members ;  and,  as  it  in- 
cludes the  period  of  most  violent  open  hostility  to 

the  church,  this  should  go  far  toward  convincing 
9 


98 


METHODISM   IN  CHARLESTON. 


those  who  think  that  persecution  is  the  time  most 
favorable  for  the  growth  of  the  Church,  that  they 
may  be  mistaken.  The  colored  membership, 
however,  continued  to  increase  with  a  steady 
growth.  They  averaged,  during  this  decade,  a 
yearly  increase  of  sixty-two ;  so  that  at  the  close 
of  the  year  1804,  they  numbered  nine  hundred 
and  three. 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  99 


CHAPTER    IV. 

J.  H.  Mellard — Measures  to  repress  disturbances  —  Cranmer  and 
Brady — Mr.  Owens  and  the  mob — Arrest  of  the  congregation  by 
the  military — Bichmond  Nolley — Dr.  Capers — Singular  incident 
—Illness  of  F.  Ward — Measures  for  building  a  brick  church— 
S.  Dunwody  and  J.  B.  Glenn. 

Conference  again  assembled  in  Charleston  at 
the  close  of  1804.  A  good  state  of  feeling  was 
developed  during  the  session,  the  preachers  left 
with  a  general  feeling  of  satisfaction,  and  the 
church  seemed  much  encouraged.  Buddy  W 
Wheeler  and  James  H.  Mellard  were  appointed 
to  labor  in  the  city.  Their  labors  were  crowned 
with  considerable  success. 

James  H.  Mellard  'is  widely  known  through 
the  South  by  the  older  members  of  the  church. 
He  survived  most  of  his  compeers,  and  died  while 
the  author  was  yet  employed  on  this  little  work. 
He  ^as  in  person  small,  thin,  and  pale,  with  an 


100  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

open  countenance,  cheerful  and  pleasant  to  all, 
and  possessed  of  great  tenderness  of  soul.  He 
was  an  energetic,  and  often  an  eloquent  and  pow- 
erful preacher;  and  one  that  knew  not  the  fear 
of  man  in  the  proclamation  of  truth.  It  is  re- 
lated of  him,  when  stationed  at  Georgetown,  and 
while  yet  young  in  the  ministry,  upon  finding  the 
congregation  small,  he  determined  to  go  into  the 
highways  and  seek  for  hearers.  Accordingly, 
without  previous  notice,  one  Sabbath  morning  he 
was  found  near  the  river,  standing  on  a  platform, 
at  the  hour  of  worship,  ready  to  conduct  public 
service.  A  large  crowd  were  immediately  at- 
tracted by  this  novel"  proceeding.  Some  wicked 
men  of  the  place  determined,  if  possible,  to  make 
him  desist,  and,  dressed  in  old  uniforms,  they  ap- 
peared on  the  street,  shouting,  hallooing,  beating 
a  drum,  and  blowing  a  bugle.  Finding  that  he 
noticed  this  no  more  than  the  music  of  tQe 
waves  at  his  feet,  they  threatened  to  throw  hi© 
into  the  river ;  but,  with  a  wonderful  indifference, 
he  proceeded  in  his  preaching,  and  deliberately 
closed  the  service  and  went  home.     He  never 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  101 

wanted  for  a  congregation  after  that;  and  during 
the  year,  a  powerful  revival  of  religion  took  place 
under  his  ministry,  by  which  the  church  there 
was  established  on  a  firm  and  respectable  footing. 
He  died  18th  November,  1855,  in  great  peace. 

Lewis  Myers  and  Levi  G-arretson  were  ap- 
pointed to  labor  in  Charleston  for  the  year  1806. 
The  latter  left  at  the  commencement  of  the  sickly 
season. 

Mr.  Myers  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment, 
deep  piety,  and  warmly  attached  to  all  the  pecu- 
liarities, or  rather  excellences,  of  Methodism.  He 
was  a  very  laborious  man  and  successful  preacher. 

During  this  year  Cumberland  Church  was 
lengthened  twenty  feet,  and  Bethel  received  its 
first  coat  of  paint.  It  was  also  determined  to  en- 
large the  parsonage,  and  purchase  another  burial 
lot,  the  one  on  Pitt  street  having  this  year,  by  a 
resolution  of  the  trustees,  been  divided,  and  the 
southern  half  devoted  to  burial  purposes  for  the 
blacks. 

The  oflicial  board  seem  not  until  this  year  to 
ave  become  fully  awake  to  the  importance  of 
9* 


102  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

suppressing  the  riots  around  Cumberland  Church, 
and  the  maintenance  of  their  civil  privileges. 
We  find  upon  their  books  the  following  record  : 

"  Whereas,  there  have  been  lately* very  great 
disorders  by  many  troublesome  persons,  who  have 
frequently  attended,  on  preaching  and  prayer- 
meeting  nights,  at  Cumberland  Church  for  the 
purpose  of  disturbing  the  congregation ;  therefore, 
Resolved,  That  any  persons,  members  or  other- 
wise, who  attend  the  congregations,  and  are 
suitable  persons,  who  will  volunteer  in  the  busi- 
ness, shall  be  united  into  a  body  or  society  for 
the  purpose  of  watching  and  suppressing,  by  all 
possible  lawful  measures,  all  such  riots  or  dis- 
orders. Also,  Resolved,  That  said  society  shall 
be  appointed  by  the  corporation,  and  act  under 
the  authority  of  the  same. 

(Signed,)  "Amos  Pillsbury." 

It  was  not  an  unwise  proceeding  to  solicit  the 
aid  of  persons  out  of  the  church;  for  the  first 
effectual  step  towards  bringing  about  good  order 
was,  we  believe,  the  work  of  one  of  this  class- 
His  name  was  Cranmer.     He  regularly  attended 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  103 

the  church  for  some  time,  and,  though  wicked 
and  thoughtless  about  religion,  he  seemed  always 
to  find  a  pleasure  in  the  services.  He  was  a  man 
of  powerful  frame,  and  withal  no  coward;  and 
was  fully  prepared  to  defend  any  one  or  any  thing 
to  which  he  took  a  fancy. 

On  a  certain  Sabbath,  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Brady  came  into  the  church.  He  was  probably 
one  of  the  leaders'  in  the  church  riots,  and  one 
who  professed  sovereign  contempt  for  the  Method- 
ists. He  commenced  a  series  of  antics,  by  which 
the  congregation  was  greatly  annoyed.  Cran- 
mer,  who  happened  to  be  in  attendance  that  day, 
left  his  seat,  and  placed  himself  alongside  the 
disturber,  and  in  a  whisper  directed  him  to  be- 
have himself.  Brady  paid  no  attention  to  his 
requirement,  and  began  to  make  himself  more 
conspicuous :  whenj  to  his  amazement,  Cranmer 
deliberately  laid  hold  of  him,  and,  despite  his 
efforts  to  the  contrary,  coolly  took  him  out  of 
doors ;  and  upon  Brady's  continuing  obstreperous, 
ae  gave  him  the  necessary  dressing,  and  left  him 
aQiazingly  cool.     Of  course,  Brady,  having  before 


104  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

him  the  example  of  his  illustrious  predecessors, 
gave  vent  to  the  usual  amount  of  boasting  and 
terrible  threatening;  but  it  got  out  that  the 
Methodists  had  begun  to  fight  for  their  rights, 
which,  for  a  time,  seemed  to  check  the  valor  of 
the  persecuting  knights.  Cranmer,  as  long  as  he 
continued  punctual  at  church,  was  really  a  terror 
to  evil-doers. 

Jonathan  Jackson  and  William  Owens  were 
the  preachers  for  1807.  Of  the  first  we  have 
already  made  mention.  William  Owens  appears 
to  have  been  a  man  of  general  amiability,  firm- 
ness, and  good  sense. 

During  this  year,  with  all  their  previous  efforts 
to  maintain  tranquillity  in  their  congregations) 
they  were  once  threatened  with  the  repetition  of 
the  Dougherty  tragedy  in  the  person  of  Mr. 
Owens,  which,  however,  ended  in  quite  a  farce,  at 
least  in  the  estimation  of  the  beholders.  It  was 
at  a  Monday  night  prayer-meeting  in  Cumberland* 
the  church,  as  was  usual  on  such  occasions,  being 
quite  crowded,  a  couple  of  young  men  began 
some  very  improper  conduct.     Mr.  Owens  mildly 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  105 

reproved  them,  but  they  took  it  in  high  dudgeon. 
We  judge  that  Cranmer  must  have  been  absent; 
for  after  meeting,  assisted  by  a  crowd,  they  seized 
Mr.  Owens  in  the  aisle,  and  theery  was,  "Pump 
him."  Some,  probably  from  fear  of  consequen- 
ces, said  an  apology  would  be  sufficient,  and 
finally  the  crowd  separated  into  two  parties,  the 
one  crying,  "Pump  him,"  the  other,  "Let  him 
apologize."  In  the  midst  of  the  uproar,  both 
parties  trying  to  make  themselves  heard,  and  each 
trying  to  prove  itself  the  strongest,  Mr.  Owens 
made  his  escape,  and  safely  reached  home.  Mean- 
while, the  two  parties  of  the  mob  proceeded  from 
words  to  blows ;  and,  scattered  in  pairs  down  the 
street,  there  were  probably  fifteen  or  twenty  couple 
of  zealous  young  men  beating  each  other  about  they 
hardly  knew  what.  In  the  intervening  time,  some 
°ue  ran  to  the  guard-house  and  informed  the  In- 
tendant  of  the  uproar  down  the  street.  He  sent 
^°wn  a  posse  of  the  city  guard,  who  came  upon 
''hem  in  the  midst  of  their  bloody  engagement, 
aQd  landed  them  safely  in  the  calaboose.  We  are 
a°t  informed  which   side  proved  itself  in  the 


106  METHODISM   IN  CHARLESTON. 

ascendent ;  certain  it  is  that  Mr.  Owens  was  never 
pumped,  neither  did  he  apologize. 

We  must  not  judge,  however,  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  the  interference  of  the  city  guard 
on  this  occasion,  that  the  authorities  were  any 
more  favorably  disposed  towards  the  church  than 
previously.  Indeed,  from  appearances,  it  would 
seem  as  if  they  were  then  more  determined  than 
ever  to  subject  their  congregations  to  annoyance 
and  alarm.  On  a  Sabbath  afternoon  of  this  yeat, 
while  Jonathan  Jackson  was  preaching  at  Bethel, 
to  the  amazement  of  the  assembly,  a  large  body 
of  the  city  guard,  in  full  uniform,  and  armed 
with .  muskets,  surrounded  the  building.  The 
blacks  had  become  so  subject  to  annoyance  at 
Cumberland,  that  they  preferred  to  attend  Bethel; 
which  thus  so  far  had  not  seemed  to  attract  much 
attention  from  the  rioters.  The  church,  as  was 
always  the  case  on  Sabbath  afternoon,  was  crowded 
with  blacks.  Having  thus  formally  laid' siege ■*> 
the  house,  the  captain  of  the  detachment,  blazing 
in  a  full  uniform,  walked  in,  sword  in  hand,  a»d 
demanded  the  dispersion  of  the  congregation' 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  107 

But  it  was  not  necessary  to  make  this  formal  de- 
mand. The  clatter  of  arms  had  already  aroused 
the  fears  of  the  blacks,  who,  with  indiscreet  haste, 
rushed  down  the  stairs,  and  tumbled  themselves 
from  the  gallery  windows ;  but  emerged  into  the 
street  and  graveyard  only  to  find  themselves  cap- 
tured. Then,  in  a  hollow  square,  as  felons  or  in- 
cendiaries, they  were  deposited  en  masse  in  what 
was  then  popularly  known  as  the  "  Sugar  House." 
Singular  to  state,  no  reason  was  ever  assigned  for 
this  outrage,  nor  any  explanation  given  for  this 
extraordinary  procedure. 

We  have  again  to  add,  that  it  seemed  enough 
for  the  public  to  know  it  was  a  Methodist  church 
to  render  any  thing  of  the  kind  altogether  reason- 
able. We  may  judge  what  an  impression  was 
toade  on  the  public  mind  by  the  presentation  of 
Such  a  scene  during  the  quiet  of  a  Sabbath  day, 
and  that,  too,  under  sanction  of  the  authorities. 
^s  no  explanation  was  ever  given  to  the  public, 
°*  course  they  were  left  to  conjecture  any 
trightful  cause  that  their  imaginations  would 
SQggest. 


108  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

Bishop  Asbury,  about  this  time,  seems  to  have 
become  quite  discouraged  as  to  the  prospects  of 
Methodism  in  Charleston.  He  says  :  "  I  doubt 
if  in  Charleston  we  have  joined  more  than  one 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  members  of  the  fair 
skin  in  twenty  years,  and  seldom  are  there  more 
than  fifty  or  sixty  returned  :  death,  desertion,  and 
backsliding :  poor  fickle  souls,  unstable  as  water, 
light  as  air,  bodies  and  minds." 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  however,  that  with  this 
discouraging  aspect  of  things,  a  year'  seldom 
passed  without  a  season  of  revival  being  enjoyed 
by  the  church.  The  Bishop  does  not  make  men- 
tion of  the  numbers  who,  converted  and  brought 
under  religious  convictions  in  the  Methodist 
church,  connected  themselves  with  other  com* 
munions.  It  would  be  an  interesting  table  of 
statistics,  could  we  by  any  means  reach  the  figures 
in  the  case.  The  crowded  audiences  who  so  con- 
stantly attended  the  Methodist  meetings  were  fre- 
quently moved  under  their  earnest  appeals,  but; 
unwilling  to  identify  themselves  with  those  wh° 
were  the  instruments  of  their  salvation,  the? 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  109 

joined  other  churches.  Methodism  in  Charleston 
may  have  lived  to  see  herself  outstripped  by 
other  churches  in  the  number  of  church  or- 
ganizations, but  not  in  the  number  of  converts. 
In  the  rapid  extension  of  other  denominations 
here,  no  one  will  deny  that  Methodism  has  been 
an  efficient  agent. 

William  Phoebus  and  John  McVean  were  sta- 
tioned in  the  city  in  1808.  The  former  was  a 
man  of  fine  pulpit  talents,  as  he  was  of  handsome 
personal  appearance,  and  afterwards  filled  various 
important  stations  in  the  New  York  Conference. 
Mr.  McVean  was  regarded  as  an  eccentric  char- 
acter :  he  subsequently  gave  decided  evidences 
of  mental  derangement. 

This  was  a  year  of  great  prosperity  to  the 
church:  a  powerful  revival  took  place  early  in 
the  year,  extending  through  several  months.  A 
large  increase  in  the  membership  was  reported  at 
its  close,  and  the  church  in  all  its  departments 
^as  in  a  flourishing  state.  A  number  who 
joined  about  this  time,  became  afterwards  the 
ttiost  faithful  and  influential  of  the  church  mem- 
10 


110      METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

bers :  a  few,  but  very  few,  survive,  venerable  in 
years,  the  remnant  of  early  days. 

At  the  close  of  the  year,.  Conference  again  con- 
vened in  the  city,  and  was  attended  by  Bishopg 
Asbury  and  McKendree.  A  gracious  influence 
attended  its  session,  mtich  of  the  preaching  being 
of  a  powerful  and  impressive  character. 

We  begin  now  to  reach  names  familiar  to  us 
all.  Samuel  Mills  and  William  M.  Kennedy  suc- 
ceeded to  the  station,  presenting  quite  a  contrast 
in  manners  and  appearance.  The  one  was  a 
thin,  spare  man,  of  consumptive  appearance: 
the  other  stout-built,  erect  in  his  carriage,  and 
fresh  and  healthy  in  his  appearance.  The  one 
was  of  a  stern  and  solemn  countenance,  serums 
always  in  his  bearing  and  intercourse  :  the  other 
of  a  lively,  cheerful  aspect,  pleasing  and  affable 
to  all,  ever  ready  with  bis  lively  anecdotes  and 
dry  wit  to  provoke  a  smile  from  the  gravest. 
The  one  was  emphatically  a  rigid  disciplinarian, 
bordering  upon  extreme  severity  in  his  adminis- 
tration of  church  law :  the  other  mild,  tender? 
and  forbearing.     Both  were  faithful  pastors,  both 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON.  Ill 

highly  esteemed,  and  to  this  day  their  praise  is 
in  all  the  churches. 

The  year  following,  William  M.  Kennedy  was 
returned  as  preacher  in  charge,  with  Thomas 
Mason  and  Richmond  Nolley  as  junior  preachers. 

Thomas  Mason  was  in  his  preaching  always 
lively,  often  powerful :  he  was  much  beloved, 
and  his  active,  zealous  pulpit  ministrations  com- 
manded large  audiences. 

Richmond  Nolley  was  a  young  man,  tall,  thin, 
and  delicate  in  appearance.  He  was  extremely 
diffident,  but  beloved  as  .a  man  of  great  holiness 
and  faithfulness.  He  was  exceedingly  timid  in 
the  pulpit,  and  frequently  after  reading  his  text 
would  close  his  eyes  and  preach  his  entire  sermon 
Without  once  opening  them.  He  was  possessed,, 
however,  of  remarkable  energy,  as  was  displayed  in 
his  subsequent  career.  Not  long  after  the  close 
°*  bis  labors  in  Charleston,  he  volunteered  as  a 
Missionary  to  the  frontiers,  where,  after  several 
years  of  faithful  and  successful  labor,  he  fell  a 
Martyr  to  his  work.  He  had  attempted  in  the 
ePta  of  winter  to  ford  one  of  the  tributaries  of 


112  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

the  Mississippi,  then  swollen  in  a  freshet,  when 
his  horse  was  swept  from  under  him  and  carried 
down  the  stream.  He  swam  to  the  shore,  and 
after  walking  a  long  distance,  feeling  overcome 
by  fatigue  and  cold,  he  knelt  down  and  com- 
mended his  soul  to  God;  and  in  that  attitude 
was  found  a  corpse.  Wherever  he  labored  he 
was  much  beloved,  and  his  death  has  long  been 
a  watchword  to  the  missionaries  of  the  Western 
wilds  in  their  attempts  to  push  forward  the  vic- 
tories of  the  cross. 

The  Charleston  churches,  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  Messrs.  Kennedy,  Mason,  and  Nolley, 
were  again  visited  by  a  powerful  revival,  and 
peace  and  prosperity  reigned  throughout  their 
borders. 

They  were  succeeded  by  William  Capers  and 
William  S.  Talley,  with  Francis  Ward  as 
preacher  in  charge.  The  last  was  a  man  of 
pleasing  manners,  excellent  preaching  talents, 
and  he  was  also  a  faithful  pastor.  William  S.  Tal- 
ley was  of  easy,  gentlemanly  bearing,  an  excel- 
lent preacher,  and  diligent  in  visiting  from  house 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  113 

to  house.  It  was  only  the  third  year  of  William 
Capers's  ministry  when  sent  to  the  city,  yet  his 
preaching,  from  its  eloquence  and  earnestness, 
with  his  youthful  appearance  and  pious  zeal,  pro- 
duced a  profound  sensation.  Large  audiences 
crowded  to  hear  him,  and  many  and  lasting  im- 
pressions for  good  were  made. 

During  this  year  a  novel  incident  occurred 
with  William  Capers,  and  one  that  for  a  time 
was  painful  and  alarming  to  him ;  for  we  must 
remember  that  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence,  in 
addition  to  his  youth,  it  was  his  first  appointment 
in  the  city.  One  day,  while  busy  in  his  study, 
a  handsome  equipage  made  its  appearance  at 
the  parsonage  gate,  and  a  finely-attired  female 
Was  handed  out  by  a  liveried  footman.  She  was 
shown  to  the  parlor,  and  upon  her  inquiring  for 
Mr.  Capers,  he  was  called.  In  a  bland,  ladylike 
banner,  she  stated  that  she  had  called  upon  him 
to  request  his  attendance  at  her  house  to  conduct 
the  funeral  services  of  a  young  lady,  an  orphan 
Whom  she  had  befriended,  but  who  had  died  pre- 
maturely of  consumption.  He  signified  his  will- 
10* 


114  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

ingness  to  attend,  and  she  left,  telling  him  the 
carriage  should  be  in  waiting  at  the  hour  speci- 
fied. He  arrived  at  the  house,  which  even  to 
his  unsuspecting  mind  seemed  to'  have  a  singular 
if  not  questionable  appearance.  He  was  con- 
ducted up  stairs,  where  in  truth  he  found  the 
corpse  of  a  young  woman;  but  judge  of  his 
horror  when  he  discovered  that  he  at  the  same 
time  had  been  betrayed  into  a  house  of  ill-fame ; 
for  around  the  room,  in  disgusting  array,  were 
Beated  the  unfortunate  inmates  of  this  vestibule 
to  hell. 

His  first  instinct  was  to  make  an  unceremo- 
nious retreat ;  but,  upon  reflection,  he  concluded- 
that  all  the  proper  dictates  of  humanity  were  to 
extend  to  the  unfortunate  creature  before  him 
the  rites  of  burial.  After  taking  his  position 
near  the  corpse,  he  stated  to  those  present  that 
he  had  been  unknowingly  brought  within  a 
building  which,  if  its  character  had  been  known, 
he  could  never  have  entered,  at  least  thus  unat- 
tended ;  but  he  may  have  been  allowed  to  enter 
there  through. the  merciful  providence  of  God, 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  115 

to  offer  them  salvation  through  Christ,  and  to 
stop  their  certain  passage  to  darkness  and  damna- 
tion. With  streaming  eyes,  an  overflowing  heart, 
and  an  eloquent  tongue,  he  preached  to  them 
Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  warned  them  of  their 
impending  danger,  pointed  to  the  horror  of  their 
course,  and  besought  them  to  abandon  their  life 
of  wretchedness  and  crime,  and>  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come.  And,  amid  the  bitter  tears  of 
his  audience,  previously  lost  to  shame  or  remorse, 
he  read  the  funeral  service,  and  retired. 

In  January,  1812,  Bishop  Asbury  made  a 
brief  visit  to  Charleston,  preaching  twice.  Fran- 
cis Ward  was  returned,  and  Jacob  Humph  as 
his  colleague. 

Francis  Ward,  about  the  middle  of.  the  year, 
was  seized  with  severe  fever,  which  terminated 
m  dropsy,  from  which  he  never  recovered.  He 
remained,  however,  on  his  work  until  the  close  of 
the  year. 

Jacob  Rumph,  his  co-laborer,  is  represented  as 
"abstemious,  steady,  studious,  and  uniform, 
touch  in  prayer  and  meditation,  in  discipline 
10* 


116  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

strict  and  persevering."  In  September  he  was 
taken  ill  of  bilious  fever,  at  that  time  common  to 
the  climate  of  Charleston,  and,  despite  the  atten- 
tions of  physicians  and  friends,  it  terminated 
fatally  in  a  few  days.  He  was  much  lamented, 
especially  by  the  children ;  for  he  was  remark- 
able for  his  attentions  to  the  young  of  all  his 
charges. 

Notwithstanding  the  sickness  of  the  senior  and 
death  of  the  junior  preacher,  this  year  was  only 
second  to  the  previous  year  in  prosperity  to  the 
church.  The  year  1811  was  a  more  prosperous 
year  among  the  whites  than  any  previous  one. 
A  powerful  religious  influence  rested  upon  the 
congregations  during  the  year,  and  at  its  close 
an  increase  was  ireported  of  eighty-one  whites 
and  four  hundred  and  fifteen  colored  members. 

During  this  year,  also,  an  important  step  was 
taken  toward  church-extension.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  male  members,  at  which  Bishop  Asbury 
presided,  it  was  resolved  to  open  subscriptions 
toward  the  erection  of  a  commodious  brick 
church  in  a  central  part  of  the  city,  so  that  * 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  117 

more  permanent  building  might  be  secured  to 
their  growing  congregations  than  they  then 
possessed. 

Among  their  proceedings  in  connection  with 
this  movement,  we  find  the  following  record  : 

■ "  Upon  a  retrospect  of  our  temporal  affairs,  we 
think,  first,  that  there  has  been  great  attention 
paid  our  temporal  concerns ;  that  they  who  have 
served  us  deserve  great  credit  for  their  fru- 
gality and  economy ;  that  we  have  done  the  best 
we  could,  as  circumstances  have  been;  but  we 
think  that  houses  made  of  wood  are  only  tempo- 
rary buildings,  subject  to  waste  and  decay,  and 
that  in  a  very  short  time.  A  brick  house 
properly  built  may  last  one  or  two  hundred  years, 
besides  its  security  against  fire.  We  think  the 
society  in  Charleston  should  not  stand  back  more 
than  in  other  cities — that  they  ought  to  have  at 
least  one  permanent  house.  Bethel  was  designed 
for  a  relief,  and  so  it  is,  but  it  is  in  too  remote  a 
situation  to  be  any  thing  more.  Cumberland, 
though  it  be  very  accessible  to  the  centre  of  the 
c%>  is  dangerously  situated.     We  marked  with 


118  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

serious   concern   the  near  approach  of  the  late 
fire. 

"  When  we  consider  the  increase  of  our  con- 
gregations and  our  societies,  and  the  good 
effects  resulting  from  the  night  lectures,  (a  prac- 
tice peculiarly  ours,)  in  drawing  hundreds  to  our 
ministry  when  other  churches  are  shut  up,  we 
think  we  should  enlarge  our  borders,  we  should 
make  them  room,  we  should  build  another 
house.  And  that  we.  may  not  be  continually 
taxed  in  repairs,  in  enlargement,  etc.,  we  will 
build  a  house  of  brick,  eighty-four  by  sixty-two, 
two  stories  high. 

"Finally,  as  this  is  a  business  of  magnitude 
and  importance,  we  cannot  expect  it  very  soon 
completed ;  but  it  must  have  a  beginning.  We 
lay  it  before  the  society:  we  will  enter  into  it 
with  zeal  and  faith,  and,  under  the  present  and 
promised  favorable  circumstances,  a  short  term 
of  years  will  complete  it. 

"Francis  Asbury,  CJiavrman. 
"Wm.  Capers,  Secretary." 

We  have  been  thus  careful  to  give  a  copious. 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  119 

extract  of  this  part  of  the  proceedings,  to  show 
the  policy  of  the  early  trustees  and  preachers, 
directed  by  the  venerable  Bishop  Asbury.  Some 
have  erroneously  conceived  that  the  fathers  of 
the  Church  scarcely  ever  looked  to  the  permanent 
and  enlarged  establishment  of  Methodism  in  the 
city.  Some  have  even  ventured  to  attach  to  the 
more  recent  erection  of  brick  churches  the  seem- 
ing want  of  progress  in  the  Church.  We  believe 
that  it  would  have  been  a  good  thing  for  the 
church  in  Charleston  could  this  well-conceived 
project  have  been  consummated;  but  it  never 
was.  The  Bishop,  shortly  after,  became  too 
feeble  to  accomplish  much  for  the  church  here 
of  his  own  planting.  The  year  after  the  project 
Was  started,  the  preacher  in  charge  was  taken 
sick,  as  we  have  mentioned,  and  the  other  died, 
and  the  result  was,  the  entire  abandonment  of 
the  affair. 

The  foregoing  record  sets  the  seal  of  the 
Church's  approbation  to  the  frugal  and  wise 
Management  of  the  church  by  its  trustees  and 
Rewards.     The  opinion   has   prevailed   in   later 


120  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

years  that  theirs  was  a  narrow-minded,  stingy 
policy.  It  has  been  shown  all  along  just  the 
opposite.  It  is  easier  now  to  ridicule  the 
churches  and  parsonages  erected  through  their 
frugality,  than  to  tell  how  they .  could  have 
erected  more  costly  ones. 

Some  one  has  spoken  contemptuously  of  the 
Methodist  churches  in  Charleston  as  "barns." 
Let  us  thank  God  that  the  Methodists  of  Charles- 
ton have  so  much  more  inviting  places  to  wor- 
ship their  God  than  the  "  wise  men"  had  in  their 
first  adoration  of  the  Saviour ;  for  that  was  even 
meaner  than  a  barn — it  was  only  a  stable.  No 
doubt,  could  the  parents  of  Christ  have  found  a 
better  place  of  lodging,  they  would  have  chosen 
it.  The  venerable  men  who  had  these  houses 
built  would  possibly  have  built  churches  equal  to 
St.  Michael's  or  St.  Paul's,  in  the  same  city? 
could  they  have  procured  the  means. 

N.  Powers,  John  Capers,  and  S.  Meek,  la- 
bored in  the  city  in  1813,  all  men  of  good  pulp^ 
talents.  Nothing,  however,  of  special  interest 
occurred  during  their  labor  there.     They  were 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  121 

succeeded  by  Samuel  Dunwody,  Alexander  Tal- 
ley,  and  J.  B.  Glenn. 

We  have  already  made  mention  of  Mr.  Talley. 
S.  Dunwody  is  well  and  widely  known  as  a  man 
of. extraordinary  eccentricity,  but  of  great  powers 
of.  speech  and  Bible  knowledge. 

His  colleague,  Mr.  Glenn,  was  scarcely  lesjs 
eccentric.  A  thousand  anecdotes,  both  impress- 
ive and  amusing,  are  told  about  each. 
■  Of  the  one,  we  might  tell  of  his  leaving  the 
church  and  walking  home  with  the  saddle  on  his 
own  back,  forgetting  his  horse,  and  having  after- 
wards to  send  for  it;  and  of  his  singular  mistakes 
While  visiting  in  the  city,  making  the  most  curi- 
ous and  sometimes  astounding  visits  to  persons 
whom  he  never  knew,  and  who  therefore  took 
him  to  be  deranged.  But  we  prefer  to  recall  his 
ceaseless  and  earnest  labors  for  good,  and  his  ex- 
cellent and  as  yet  unanswered  dissertations  upon 
Calvinism,  Baptism,  and  Slavery. 

Mr.  Glenn  is  well  known  as  the  preacher  who 
collected  an  immense  congregation,  by  giving  out 
that  on  a  certain  day  at  that  church  he  would 
11 


122  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

kill  witches.  His  method  was  to  draw  the  pic- 
ture of  some  error  by  which  he  thought  the  com- 
munity were  bewitched,  and  then  discharge  gos- 
pel truth  against  it. 

The  following  is  told  upon  him,  though  the 
particulars  cannot  be  vouched  for.  He  had  vis- 
ited one  of  his  week-day  appointments  several 
times,  and  finding  no  one  out  to  hear  him,  he 
stuck  up  a  placard  on  the  door,  stating  that  he 
would  be  there  four  weeks  from  date,  and  preach 
whether  any  one  was  present  or  not.  He  dame, 
and  finding  no  one  present,  true  to  his  word,  he 
proceeded  into  the  pulpit,  sang  a  hymn,  and  was 
at  prayer,  when  one  of  the  neighbors,  a  wicked 
man,  passing  by,  hearing  a  voice  within  and  see- 
ing no  one,  went  in  to  see  what  it  could  mean. 
Mr.  Glenn  arose  and  gravely  proceeded  with  the 
service,  the  man  remaining  through  mere  curi- 
osity. He  announced  for  his  text  Nathan's  re- 
proof to  David,  "Thou  art  the  man,"  and  pro- 
ceeded to  tell  his  solitary  listener  that  he  was  the 
one  God's  Spirit  had  been  following  for  many 
years,  etc.;  and  closed  by  inviting  him  to  the 


METHODISM  IN   CHAELESTON.  123 

altar  for  prayer.  Deeply  agitated  and  alarmed, 
he  went  to  the  altar,  remained  several  hours  in 
prayer,  and  finally  gave  his  name  to  Mr.  Glenn 
for  membership  in  the  church.  Mr.  Glenn's 
friends  at  the  next  church  were  curious  to  know 
what  had  been  the  result  of  his  visit  at  his  rep- 
robate appointment.  He  told  them  he-  had,  to 
his  agreeable  surprise,  a  fine  meeting,  and  that 
every  wicked  man  in  the  house  was  converted 
and  joined  the  church.  He  lacked  a  congrega- 
tion there  no  more,  having  crowded  houses  to 
the  close  of  the  year. 

During  this  decade  was  the  most  prosperous 
era  of  the  Charleston  churches,  so  far  as  an  in- 
crease in  the  membership  of  the  church  is  con- 
cerned. The  largest  yearly  increase  ever  known 
Was  during  this  period.  They  averaged  an  in- 
crease each  year  of  twenty-two  whites,  and  eighty- 
nine  colored;  so  that  at  the  Conference  of  1815, 
a  membership  was  reported  of  two  hundred  and 
eighty-two  whites,  and  three  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  ninety-three  colored.  The  greatest  in- 
crease in  any  one  year  of  this  time  was  in  1810, 


124  METHODISM- IN  CHARLESTON. 

while  William  M.  Kennedy,  Thomas  Mason,  and 
Richmond  Nolley  were  stationed  there.  During 
the  greater  part  of  that  year,  the  city  was  kept 
in  consternation  hy  the  frequent  recurrence  of 
earthquakes,  and  the  churches  were  often  crowded 
during  that  time,  even  in  the  week.  This  cir- 
cumstance gave  them  access  to  a  much  greater 
number  of  persons  than  otherwise. 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  125 


CHAPTER    V 

John  Collingsworth — Camp-meetings — African  schism — Cession  of 
Trinity  Church— -Prosperity  of  the  Church — Schism  of  1834— As- 
"bury  Chapel — Burning  of  churches — Division  of  charges. 

In  the  previous  notices  of  Methodism  in 
Charleston,  a  narrative  has  been  given  of  the 
principal  events  occurring  yearly,  from  its  estab- 
lishment in  1785  until  the  year  1815.  It  is  my 
purpose  now  merely  to  sketch  the  chief  events 
occurring  from  that'  time  until  the  present,  with- 
out special  reference  to  the  order  of  time. 

John  C6llingsworth  was  the  Presiding  Elder 
of  Edisto  District  for  1814,  in  which  district 
Charleston  was  included;  Alexander  Talley, 
John  B.  Glenn,  and  Samuel  Dunwody,  being  the 
preachers  of  the  station.  The  Presiding  Elder 
^as  in  some  respects  a  remarkable  man.  He  was 
powerful  in  prayer,  and  seemed  possessed  almost 
of  an  almighty  faith. 
11* 


126  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

It  is  said  of  him  that  on  one  occasion,  passing 
through  the  State  of  Virginia,  his  righteous  soul 
was  vexed  upon  seeing  the  land  wholly  given  to 
tobacco.  He  preached,  and  after  a  fierce  denun- 
ciation of  the  vices  of  the  day,  the  one  of  tobacco 
included,  he  got  down  to  pray.  He  presented 
the  wants  of  the  congregation  in  an  earnest 
manner,  and  besought  the  Lord  to  convince  the 
people  of  their  error  in  spending,  in  the  cultivation 
of  a  noxious  weed,  their  time,  and  means,  and 
toil,  that  should  have  been  devoted  to  the  pro* 
duction  of  serviceable  things.  He  prayed  the 
Lord  to  signalize  his  disapproval  by  destroying 
the  crops,  then  in  a  flourishing  state,  if  nothing 
else  would  convince  them.  Sure  enough,  a  ter- 
rific hail-storm  passed  through  that  section  during 
the  afternoon,  knocking  up,  or  rather  knocking 
down,  the  prospects  of  the  Virginians  for  a  boun- 
tiful crop;  for  the  fields  were  torn  up  most  sadly. 

An  ungodly  old  planter,  who  was  one  of  the 
sufferers,  and  who  had  heard  of  the  preacher's 
demonstration,  the  next  day  pursued  after  him  in 
hot  haste.     Riding  up  to  him,  in  fierce  wrath  he 


METHODISM   IN   CHAKLESTON.  127 

demanded,  "Are  you,  sir,  the  Methodist  preacher 
who  prayed  the  Lord  to  destroy  my  crop  of  to- 
bacco V    He  replied,  "  My  name  is  Collingsworth : 
I  preached  yesterday  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
prayed  the  Lord  to  show  his  disapproval  of  rais- 
ing tobacco."     "Well,  sir,  you  are  just  the  man 
I  am  after :  I  am  ruined  for  this  season,  and  I 
have  come  to  take  my  revenge  out  of  you,  sir  \" 
at  the  same  time  brandishing  a  frightful-looking 
wagon-whip.     Commencing  to  dismount,  the  old 
man  coolly  replied,  "  Well,  if  I  must  be  whipped 
for  it,  I  suppose  I  must  submit;  but  take  care 
ihat,  before  you  have  done,  I  do  not  pray  the 
Lord  to  overtake  you  with  something  worse  than 
overtook  your  crop."     That  thought  had  never 
entered   the  planter's  mind.      Hastily  putting 
Spurs  to  his  horse,  he  galloped  off,  glad  to  try  if 
possible  to  get  out  of  the  reach  of  the  prayers  of 
such  a  man. 

Under  his  auspices  the  first  Charleston  camp- 
meeting  was  held.  The  spot  selected  for  the 
purpose  was  upon  G-oose  Creek.  Large  congre- 
gations attended,  and  several  times  the  services 


128  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

were  marked  by  overwhelming  displays  of  the 
Divine  presence.  The  service  most  strikingly 
signalized  in  this  respect  was  the  one  of  Satur- 
day night.  Samuel  Dunwody  preached,  from 
Ezekiel's  vision  of  the  dry  bones.  His  sermon 
on  this  occasion  is  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  most 
powerful  ever  delivered  by  him.  From  a  silent, 
wrapt  attention,  the  throng  was-  gradually  melted 
to  tears,  and  finally  the  speaker's  voice  was 
drowned  amid  the  cries,  and  sobs,  and  shouts  of 
the  multitude.  An  invitation  was  extended  for 
mourners  to  come  to  the  altar,  when  a  general 
rush  was  made  in  opposite  directions,  many  hast- 
ening forward  to  obtain  the  prayers  of  the  pious, 
and  numbers  endeavoring  to  make  their,  escape 
from  under  the  arbor.  Many  of  these  last,  over- 
whelmed by  their  sense  of  guilt  even  in  their 
flight,  fell  to  the  earth  in  every  direction,  as  if 
smitten  by  the  hand  of  death;  and  until  the 
dawn  of  the  Sabbath,  from  under  the  arbor,  the 
tents,  and  over  the  ground,  the  voice  of  weeping 
and  intercession  was  heard.  This  scene  was  re- 
newed under  the  sermon  of  Mr.  Collingsworth, 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  129 

and  a  number  were  added  to  the  church  as  the 
result  of  this  meeting. 

The  camp-meetings  for  the  city  have  been  con- 
tinued, with  occasional  interruptions,  until  within 
the  last  four  years.  There  are  those  who  think 
such  a  meeting  superfluous,  with  all  the  other 
church  privileges  enjoyed  in  the  city;  but  whe- 
ther it  may  be  accounted  for  physiologically  or 
religiously  j  our  ministry  rarely  have  failed  in  ac- 
ifomplishing  much  on  occasions  of  this  kind. 
The  preachers  preach  better,  and  the  people  seem 
to  hear  to  more  profit.  Besides,  for  the  city  we 
can  conceive  of  nothing  more  calculated  to  pro- 
mote a  union  of  feeling,  sentiment,  and  interest, 
between  the  different  charges,  than  a  joint  gath- 
ering of  this  kind.  And  if  affording  sound  doc- 
trine and  Methodist  preaching  to  a  large  multi- 
tude, who  never  hear  any  preaching  or  other 
religious  service,  be  an  argument,  surely  the 
camp-meeting  should  be  continued.  The  thought- 
less, unconverted  multitude  of  Charleston,  the 
thousands  for  whom  no  church  accommodation  is 
Provided,  should,  must  be  reached,  and  if  the 


130  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

camp-meetings  be  too  inconvenient  or  expensive, 
let  some  form  of  street-preaching  be  devised.  It 
is  worthy  of  mention  in  behalf  of  the  utility  of 
the  camp-meetings  near  Charleston,  that  some 
twenty  of  the  actiye  itinerants  of  the  South  Car- 
olina Conference  trace  their  conversion  to  God 
at  these  annual  festivals. 

During  the  year  1815,  under  the  administra* 
tien  of  Anthony  S  enter,  preacher  in  charge,  a 
careful  revision  was  had  of  the  state  of  the 
colored  society.  They  numbered  at  that  time 
about  four  thousand.  Upon  a  close  investigation 
of  the  conduct  and  management  of  their  mone- 
tary affairs,  much  corruption  was  found  to  exist. 

Up  to  this  time  the  colored  official  member? 
were  allowed  a  distinct  Quarterly  Conference, 
and  their  collections,  taken  up  by  their  leaders 
and  preachers,  were  held  and  disbursed  by  them. 
Mr.  Senter,  upon  the  discovery  of  the  improper 
workings  of  this  system,  required  of  them  to  de- 
liver the  collections,  according  to  Discipline,  in*0 
the  hands  of  the  stewards.  And  their  chufcfi 
trials^  also,   which   had  been   hitherto  entirely 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  131 

among  themselves,  were  now  conducted  in  the 
presence  of  the  preacher  in  charge.  His  proceed- 
ing awakened  considerable  opposition  among  the 
leaders,  particularly  after  the  abolition  of  their 
Quarterly  Conferences,  and  their  opposition  soon 
awakened  quite  an  agitation  among  the  colored 
membership.  This  agitation  was  secret  in  its 
character  for  a  long  time,  and  during  the  two 
years  of  this  hidden  movement  the  enormous  in- 
crease of  two  thousand  was  reported. 

It  appears,  as  was  afterwards  developed,  that  a 
regular  scheme  had  been  devised  for  the  formal 
'secession  of  the  disaffected  ones  from  the  church ; 
and,  as  a  preparatory  step,  two  of  them  had  gone 
to  Philadelphia  and  obtained  ordination,  with 
a  view  of  assuming  the  pastorate  over  them. 
Measures  were  also  commenced  by  them  to  obtain 
possession  of  Bethel  Church  by  legal  process,  be- 
cause, as  they  had  heard  by  tradition,  the  colored 
^embers  at  the  time  of  its  erection  had  contri- 
buted liberally  towards  it. 

For  two  years  their  plans  were  being  matured, 
aid  they  awaited  a  pretext  for  a  demonstration. 


132  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

An  occasion  was  afforded  in  the  erection  of  a 
hearse  house  upon  their  burial  lot  on  Pitt  street. 
This  lot,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  gift  of 
Mr.  Bennet,  and  it  was  only  a  benevolence  to 
them  in  allowing  them  its  use.  Upon  the  trus- 
tees paying  no  heed  to  their  protests  against  the 
erection  of  the  house,  great  excitement  ensued, 
and  at  the  time  fixed  upon  for  the  deploy,  at  one 
fell  swoop  nearly  every  leader  delivered  up  his 
class-papers,  and  four  thousand  three  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  of  the  members  withdrew.  None 
but  those  who  are  accustomed  to  attend  the 
churches  in  Charleston,  with  their  crowded  galle- 
ries, can  well  appreciate  the  effect  of  such  an 
immense  withdrawal.  The  galleries,  hitherto 
crowded,  were  almost  completely  deserted,  and  it 
was  a  vacancy  that  could  be  felt.  The  absence 
of  their  responses  and  hearty  songs  was  really 
felt  to  be  a  loss  to  those  so  long  accustomed  to 
hear  them.  \  Comparatively  a  few,  numbering 
thirteen  hundred  and  twenty-three,  who  had 
hitherto  found  the'  Methodist  preachers  their  best 
friends,  hung  bravely  to  the  old  side. 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  138 

The  schismatics  combined,  and,  after  great  ex- 
ertion, succeeded  in  erecting  a  neat  church  build- 
ing at  the  corner  of  Reid  and  Hanover  streets. 
Their  organization  was  called  the  African  Church. 
They,  however,  were  never  permitted  to  worship 
in  their  own  building.  They  dragged  out  a  mis- 
erable existence  until  the  year  1822.  In  that 
year,  upon  the  discovery  by  the  authorities  of  an 
intended  insurrection  among  the  blacks,  the 
church  building  was  demolished  by  their  order, 
and  a  deserted  burial-place  is  all  that  is  left  to 
mark  this  singular  movement.  Numbers  of  them 
——like  all  real  schismatics — found  the  new  scheme 
did  not  work  as  well  as  they  had  expected,  and 
returned  again  to.  the  Methodist  Church.  Large 
numbers  connected  themselves  with  the  Scotch 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  rest  were  peeled 
and  scattered.  Thus  the  eventful  history  of 
Methodism  in  Charleston  was  marked  by  another, 
schism. 

Ah  account  has  been  given  of  the  Hammet 
schism,  and  the  circumstances  leading  to  the  erec- 
tion of  Trinity  Church.  Mr.  Hammet  continued 
12 


184  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

to  preach  in  it  until  the  year  1813.  Early  in 
that  year  his  health,  hitherto  precarious,  failed 
entirely,  and  he  died  on  May  the  15th,  under 
very  melancholy  circumstances.  He  was  buried 
back  of  the  pulpit  of  Trinity  Church,  and  bis 
remains  now  lie  under  the  pulpit  of  the  new 
building. 

,  For  a  year  or  two,  the  congregation  were  with- 
out a  minister.  In  the  deed  by  which  the  church 
property  was  secured  to  Mr.  Hammet  during  his 
life,  it  was  provided  that  at  his  death  it  should 
be  the  property  of  a  Mr.  Brazier  during  his  life- 
time, and  then  to  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  con- 
gregation; Mr.  Brazier  acting  as  pastor  while  he 
lived-  His  name  has  been  previously  mentioned 
as  being  a  convert  of  Mr,  Hammet  in  the  West 
Indies.  Upon  the  death  of  their  pastor,  the  con- 
gregation wrote  to  Mr.  Brazier,  informing  him 
of  the  provisions  of  the  deed,  and  requesting  him 
to  assume  the  pastorate  among  them.  He  came 
to  the  city  and  preaehed  a  short  time,  but,  "from 
all  accounts,  not  to  the  great  admiration  of  his 
congregation. 


y  «5*i'*i  1 


-fi 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  137 

About  this  time  the  Rev.  Mr.  Frost,  rector  of 
St.  Philip's  (Episcopal)  Church,  on  account  of  a 
rupture  among  his  congregation,  had  determined 
upon  the  erection  of  a  church  building  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  party  favorable  to  him. 
Discovering  that  Mr.  Brazier  was  not  sanguine  in 
his  attachment  to  his  church,  he  made  proposals 
to  him  for  the  purchase  of  Trinity,  to  which  he 
assented;  and  the  church  building,  graveyard, 
and  parsonage,  were  all  relinquished  for  the  sum 
of  two  thousand  dollars.  Pews  were  immediately 
erected,  and  the  church  dedicated  by  the  Bishop, 
according  to  the  forms  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

This  proceeding,  however,  aroused  the  violent 
hostility  of  Mr.  Hammjet's  members,  and  they  in* 
stituted  proceedings  in  law  for  the  recovery  of 
their  buildings  and  land.  While  the  suit  was 
pending,  the  counsel  for  the  plaintiffs  expressed 
to  them  the  opinion  that  could  they  obtain  peace- 
a«le  possession,  it  would  enhance  the  probabilities 
of  the  suit  in  their  favor. 

Shortly  after,  while  public  service  was  being 
held  by  Mr.  Erost,  one  of  the  Hammetites  who 
12* 


138     METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

happened  to  be  present,  observing  where  the  keys 
were  hung,  quietly  slipped  them  into  her  gown 
pocket;  and  after  service  there  was  no  small  ado, 
among  the  newly-appointed  officers  of  the  church, 
about  the  keys  so  suddenly  los.t.  M&m while,  mes- 
sengers were  dispatched  to  the  absent  Hammet- 
ites,  who  hurried  to  the  rescue,  barred  up  the 
windows,  and  locking  themselves  in,  held  peace- 
able possession  of  the  building. 

Several  months  intervened  between  that  occur- 
rence and  the  decision  of  the  question  by  the 
court,  yet  the  church  was  never  empty  of  its  pos- 
sessors:  here  they  slept,  sewed,  and  ate;  and  it 
was  not  a  little  singular  to  see  the  grave  old  ma- 
trons seated  in  the  churqh  before  the  window1^ 
plying  their  needles,  with  the  doors  carefully 
barred  and  watched  against  presumptuous  intru- 
ders. It  has  been  whispered  that  one  Charleston 
nian  was  honored  with  old  Trinity  as  his  birth- 
place; for  this  I  cannot  vouch:  his  name  at 'least 
has  not  escaped  oblivion. 

Upon  the  decision  of  the  court  against  the 
claims  of  the  new  preachers,  the   congregate* 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  139 

who  remained  made  proposals  for  the  cession 
of  the  property  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  :  this  was  acquiesced  in  under  the  follow- 
ing agreement.  The  paper,  after  enumerating 
the  members  and  their  families,  reads  : 

"  The  above-named  members  of  the  Primitive 
Methodist  society  aforesaid,  are  to  continue  mem- 
bers of  the  aforesaid  society  during  their  natural 
lives,  and  at  their  death  they  and  their  families 
have  the  right'  of  being  buried  near  where  their 
relatives  have  been  buried.  Nevertheless,  nothing 
is  to  be  so  construed  as  to  oblige  the  officiating 
minister  to  administer  the  gospel  ordinances  to 
any  who  should  live  immoral  lives.  The  son 
and  daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  Hammet  are 
included  in  the  provision  for  burial,  and  should 
they  ever  be  in  want  of  pecuniary  aid,  they  are 
recommended  to  the  liberality  of  those  having 
control  over  the  funds.  Those  of  the  members 
°f  the  aforesaid  Methodist  society  who  have 
entered  into  full  connection  with  the  society  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Charleston,  are 
herein  entered   in   alphabetical   order,   and   are 


140  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

accordingly  expeeted  to  attend  to  all  the  rules 
and  regulations  of  said  church.  But,  should  they 
ia  future  neglect  class-meetings,  or  any  other 
rule,  so  as  to  oblige  us  to  erase  their  names  from 
the  list  of  members  in  connection  with  the 
society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  they 
will  still  continue  members  of  the  Primitive 
Methodist  society*  and  as  such  we  are  obliged  to 
administer  the  gospel  ordinances  to  them,  unless 
they  are  guilty  of  such  immorality  as  would 
justify  their  exclusion  from  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church. 

"Alexander  Talley,  P.  E." 

St.  James's  Chapel,  which  had  been  erected 
by  the  Primitive  Methodists  upon  King  street, 
upon  what  was  then  known  as  the  Neck,  was  at 
the  same  time  transferred  to  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  Thus  ended  this  schism,  as 
singular  as  it  was  unnecessary.  The  venerable 
Henry  Muckenfuss  is  now  the  only  surviving 
member  of  the  original  society  of  Primitive 
Methodists. 

From   the  time  of  the  accession  of  Trinity 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  141 

Church  in  1816,  and  the  schism  among  the 
blacks  in  1818,  the  church  in  Charleston,  for  the 
following  fifteen  years,  enjoyed  uninterrupted 
peace  and  prosperity.  During  that  time,  the 
molestations  from  rude  men  and  mobs,  which  we 
have  hitherto  had  occasion  so  frequently  to 
notice,  entirely  ceased.  The  congregations  were 
generally  large,  attentive,  and  respectful,  and 
frequently  the  power  of  Grod  was  displayed  in 
the  salvation  of  souls.  A  just  idea  of  the  state 
of  the  church  about  this  time,  may  be  gathered 
from  a  report  presented  at  the  Fourth  Quarterly 
Conference  of  1831,  by  the  preacher  in  charge. 
The  Third  Quarterly  Conference  had  passed  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions  : 

"  From  information  adduced  before  the  Quar- 
terly Conference,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that 
a  number  of  the  members  of  our  church  here  do 
constantly  neglect  partaking  of  the  ordinance  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  while  others  attend  but  sel- 
dom; therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  each  class-leader  be  requested 
to  make   a  special   report  to  the  preacher  in 


142     METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

charge,  specifying  who  of  the  members  of  his 
class  constantly  partake  of  the  sacrament,  who 
partake  but  seldom,  and  who  do  not  partake  at 
all,  and  that  the  preacher  in  charge  be  requested 
to  report  to  the  next  Quarterly  Conference." 

The  following  is  the  report : 

"According  to  a  request  from  the  last  Quar- 
terly Conference,  that  information  be  furnished 
the  preacher  in  charge  concerning  the  attend- 
ance of  our  members  on  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  the  following  statement  is  sub- 
mitted. There  are  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  Charleston  six  hundred  and  twelve 
white  members,  divided  among  twenty -six  Glasses. 
Of  these,  after  a  proper  investigation  into  the 
subject,  it  is  found  that  about  four  hundred  and 
ninety-five  are  regular  and  constant  communi- 
cants, thirty-six  commune  occasionally,  leaving  a 
remainder  of  eighty-one  who  do  not  attend  upon 
this  ordinance.  We  may  mention  however,  that 
there  are  seventy-six  members1  on  trial,  now  1° 
the  church.  Among  these,  there  may  be  some 
whom  we,   ourselves,  should  prefer  to  rema*° 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  143 

$  little  time  in  a  probationary  relation  to  the 
church,  before  attending  upon  this  sacred  ordi- 
nance. Again,  there  are  many  who,  not  hav- 
ing satisfactory  conviction  of  their  acceptance 
with  Grod,  feel  some  conscientious  scruples  on 
this  subject.  In  all  cases  of  the  kind  which 
have  offered  themselves  to  the  notice  of  the  min- 
isters of  the  station,  suitable-  efforts  have  been 
made  to  correct  the  evil — in  some  instances,  we 
trust,  with  success.  But  observation  too  clearly 
proves  that  we  may,  in  these  times,  appropriately 
adopt  the  report  of  Mr.  Wesley,  concerning 
another  and  earlier  period  of  Methodism,  that 
there  are  many  in  our  societies  who  neither 
repent  nor  believe  to  this  day. 

i(  We  have  only  to  add  our  sincere  prayer,  that 
our  successors  may  be  more  wise  in  their  admin- 
istration of  discipline,  more  successful  in  their 
efibrts  to  build  up,  enlarge,  and  establish  the 
cause  of  Zion,  the  interests  of  which  we  have 
endeavored,  however  feebly,  yet  sincerely,  to 
Promote.  Nicholas  Talley, 

"Preacher  in  charge." 


144  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

With  the  facts  stated  in  the  church  boots, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  above  report, 
we  think  no  Methodist  society,  at  any  pe- 
riod, could  have  given  better  evidences  of  a 
wide-spread  piety,  or  more  decisive  indications 
of  genuine  prosperity.  In  the  short  period 
included  between  the  years  1818  and  1833,  the 
church  in  Charleston  had  nearly  doubled  its 
membership,  having  increased  from  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  six  hundred  and  fifty.  In  the 
same  time,  the  colored  membership  had  been 
tripled,  presenting  in  that  time  the  enormoua 
increase  of  over  two  thousand.  The  Quarterly 
Conference  had  become  a  large,  influential,  well- 
informed  body,  numbering  frequently,  at  its  sit- 
tings, between  twenty  and  thirty.  The  classes, 
and  a  young  men's  prayer-meeting,  at  which 
conversions  were  frequent,  were  in  active  opera- 
tion, and  well  attended.  No  difficulty  was  found 
in  meeting  the  expenses  of  the  preachers  and 
their  families,  and  the  church,  out  of  debt, 
was  yearhr  adding  to  its  real  estate;  in  fact) 
every  thing  seemed  to  promise  a  glorious  career 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON.     145 

of  uninterrupted  success  for  Methodism  in  the 
city,  when  suddenly,  in  the  midst  of  all  that  was 
cheering,  clouds  and  darkness  intervened,  and  a 
lasting  blow  was  again  struck  at  its  advance- 
ment. "  Behold  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire 
&ndleth  I" 

In  a  previous  article,  the  large  size  of  the 
colored  membership  has  been  mentioned.  At 
the  time  to  which  I  am  now  about  to  allude,  the 
Uelored  portion  of  the  membership  was  rapidly 
recovering  the  injury  sustained  by  the  schism  of 
1818,  and  was  enjoying  great  prosperity.  They 
Nnumbered,  in  1833,  over  three  thousand.  To 
accommodate  such  a  multitude  with  comfortable 
church-sittings,  was  a  matter  of  no  small  diffi- 
culty. Cumberland,  Trinity,  and  Bethel,  though 
having  each  galleries  around  the  entire  body 
of  the  building,  could  not  accommodate  unitedly, 
at  the  utmost,  more  than  fifteen  hundred.  To 
afford  additional  accommodations,  as  well  as  con- 
venience to  the  aged  and  infirm,  at  the  instance 
°f  Bishop  Asbury,  in  each  church  a  panelled 
division  was  erected  near  the  doors,  which  was 
13 


146  METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON. 

generally  known  as  "  The  Boxes."  It  appears 
that  after  the  erection  of  the  boxes,  when  the 
white  congregations  were  small,  a  few  of  the 
older  free  persons  of  color  were  accustomed  to 
take  their  seats  beyond  the  boxes  in  the  body 
of  the  church;  and  what  was  conceded  as  a 
privilege,  was  finally  claimed  by  them  as  a  right. 
Gradually  others  among  the  colored  people  be- 
gan also  to  pass  the  barrier  of  the  boxes,  and 
their  boundaries  were  finally  so  much  enlarged 
as  to  encroach  seriously  upon  the  comfort  of  the 
whites. 

As  early  as  the  year  1829,  complaints  on  this 
subject  were  formally  presented  to  the  Quarterly 
Conference,  and  a  correction  of  this  evil  requested 
from  that  body ;  for  it  had  become  not  an  un- 
frequent  occurrence  that  some  of  the  whites  were 
compelled  to  leave  the  church,  their  seats  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  church  being  preoccupied  by 
colored  persons,  who  refused  to  surrender  theffl- 
Complaints  were  renewed  to  the  Quarterly  Con- 
ference in  1830,  and,  as  a  step  towards  the.  cor- 
rection of  the  evils  complained  of,  it  was  deter- 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  147 

mined  to  appoint  quarterly  a  committee  of  two 
for  each  church  from  among  the  official  mem- 
bers, whose  duty  it  should  be  to  maintain  order 
in  the  several  congregations.  The  appointment 
of  these  committees  was  continued  until  1833, 
when  difficulties  of  a  more  serious  nature  arose. 

In  that  year,  Dr.  Capers  was  stationed  in  the 
city,  and  his  preaching  generally  attracted 
crowded  white  audiences;  and  the  complaints 
about  the  sittings  of  the  colored  people  be- 
came constantly  greater.  On  one  occasion,  the 
fflfe&eher  in  charge  being  complained  to  on  the 
subject,  told  those  complaining  that  they  should 
not  trouble  the  preachers  on  that  point,  as  it  was 
properly  the  business  of  the  members  to  arrange 
the  sitting  of  the  congregation. 

The  committees  last  appointed  to  preserve 
order  were  almost  entirely  from  among  the  young 
men  of  the  church,  who  felt  fully  empowered  by 
these  remarks  to  proceed  in  the  matter  as  their 
judgment  should  dictate.  The  result  was  that  a 
few  Sabbaths  afterward,  when  Bethel  Church  was 
crowded  to  overflowing,  upon  some  of  the  colored 


148  METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

people  refusing  to  vacate  their  seats  for  the 
whites,  the  committee  forcibly  ejected  them  from 
the  church ;  and  upon  their  returning  the  Sab- 
bath following,  their  expulsion  was  repeated. 
This  proceeding  produced  quite  a  sensation  in 
the  church  :  some,  who  had  been  annoyed,  highly 
applauding  their  course,  and  others,  who  sympa* 
thized  with  those  long  sitting  there,  reprobating 
it  as  harsh  and  unkind.  Some  reference  wag 
made  to  it  by  one  of  the  preachers  at  the  love- 
feast  following,  and  his  remarks,  conveyed  to  the 
committee  probably  in  an  exaggerated  form,  gave 
them  great  offence ;  and  as  far  as  the  beginnings 
of  this  unhappy  affair  are  traceable,  it  com- 
menced just  at  this  point.  After  mutual  expla- 
nations, this  wound  was  healed,  and,  as  all  parties 
felt  the  necessity  of  completing  some  arrange' 
ment  by  which  these  complaints  among  the 
whites  should  be  properly  met,  at  the  ensuing 
Quarterly  Conference  resolutions  were  passed 
recommending  some  inconsiderable  alterations 
about  the  boxes,  by  which  all  the  slaves  should 
be  sent  into  the  galleries,  and  the  seats  on  the 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  149 

lower  floor  secured  to  the  free  persons  of  color,.. 
A  committee,  selected  from   among  the  young 
men,  was  appointed  to  convey  these  resolutions 
to  the   trustees,  and   also  authorized   to   collect 
money  to  defray  the  consequent  expense. 

A  disagreement  between  these  parties  ensued. 
What  appears  to  have  been  a  commendable 
spirit  of  energy  and  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
young  men,  was  considered  a  spirit  of  innovation 
or  rebellion,  and  they  were  treated  accordingly. 
They  were  foiled  in  every  attempt  to  carry  out 
what  they  seem  to  have  regarded  the  general 
wish  of  the  membership.  They  became  factious, 
and  finally  organized  a  party  in  the  church,  so  as 
systematically  to  accomplish  their  intentions. 
This  step  produced  an  entire  estrangement  of 
feeling  between  the  preachers  and  older  members 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  young  men's  party  on 
the  other.  The  young  men,  from  endeavoring 
to  correct  a  local  evil,  with  their  feelings  imbit- 
tered,  finally  repudiated  some  of  the  important 
features  of  the  Discipline,  and  they  were  accord- 
ingly arraigned  for  church  trial. 
13* 


150  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

At  this  juncture,  a  compromise  was  offered  by 
Bishop  Emory ;  but  it  seemed  never  to  have  been 
fully  acquiesced  in  by  both  sides,  and  after  the 
suspension  of  hostilities  for  a  while,  before  the 
compromise  was  consummated,  fresh  difficulties 
arose,  and,  after  an  unparalleled  excitement,  nine 
of  the  most  prominent  were  expelled  from  the 
church.  Upon  their  expulsion,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  members  withdrew,  and  or- 
ganized under  the  discipline  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church.  This  must  be  regarded  as 
the  greatest  misfortune  that  has  ever  overtaken 
the  Methodist  church  in  Charleston.  At  one 
blow  the  church  was  deprived  of  a  large  body 
of  intelligent  young  men,  who  probably  com- 
bined the  larger  part  of  the  energy  and  activity 
of  the  membership ;  while  at  the  same  time,  from 
the  attendant  excitement,  a  tremendous  shock 
was  given  to  the  spirituality  of  the  church. 
The  writer  thinks  he  can  safely  say,  after  en- 
deavoring to  give  an  impartial  attention  to  all 
the  facts  and  circumstances,  as  presented  in  the 
church  books  and  the  printed  pamphlets  of  both 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  151 

sides,  that,  under  the  present  rigime  of  Method- 
ism, a  recurrence  of  such  a  case  would  be  almost 
an  impossibility. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the  church, 
held  September  2d,  1834,  the  following  resolu- 
tion was  passed : 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  desirable  and  expedient 
to  have  a  chapel  somewhere  in  the  south-west 
part  of  the  city,  west  of  King  street,  not  -farther 
north  than  Queen  street,  nor  farther  south  than 
Tradd  street." 

A  committee  was  accordingly  appointed  to 
purchase  a  suitable  lot,  and  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  erection  of  a  building.  The  lot 
at  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Logan  streets,  then 
containing  a  large  building,  known  as  the  "Acad- 
emy of  Fine  Arts,"  was  purchased,  and  the 
building,  arranged  with  galleries  and  pews,  was 
dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God,  and  called 
\Asbury  Chapel.  Services  were  held  in  it  until 
the  middle  of  the  year  following,  when  it  was 
'ent  for  some  time  to  the  congregation  of  St. 
Philip'g  (Protestant  Episcopal)  Church,  who  by 


152  METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON. 

a  disastrous  fire  had  been  deprived  of  their 
church  building.  Public  services  by  the  Method- 
ist preachers  being  resumed  in  it,  they  were,  as 
before,  attended  for  several  years  by  large,  intel- 
ligent congregations;  but,  in  the  mean  time, 
St.  Peter's  (Protestant  Episcopal)  Church  was 
erected  a  few  squares  above,  on  Logan  street, 
which  so  materially  affected  the  congregations  at 
the  chapel  that  its  sale  was  considered  expedient. 
It  was  purchased  in  1837  by  a  Mrs.  Seabrook, 
whose  spacious  dwelling  constitutes  what  was 
formerly  Asbury  Chapel. 

Soon  after  this,  it  was  determined  to  erect  a 
spacious  brick  church  upon  Cumberland  street. 
Accordingly,  the  old  church,  the  scene  of  so 
many  interesting  occurrences,  was  taken  down, 
and  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  building  laid,  with 
appropriate  ceremonies,  in  1838.  The  building- 
had  progressed  favorably,  when  a  devastating  fire 
swept  over  the  city,  destroying  several  millions 
of  property.  The  portion  of  the  new  building 
that  was  erected  was  ruined,  and  Trinity  Church 
also  Was  consumed ;  so  that,  at  once,  the  Method- 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  153 

ists  were  deprived  of  their  two  principal  houses 
of  worship.  Through  the  kindness  of  the  con- 
gregation of  St.  Philip's  (Protestant  Episcopal) 
Church,  they  were  provided  with  a  temporary 
place  of  worship  in  a  large  building  erected  for 
their  own  use,  while  their  new  church  was  in 
process  of  building,  and  which  was  known  as 
the  Tabernacle  j  while  services  were  provided  for 
the  blacks  in  the  "  old  circus,"  which  then  occu- 
pied the  corner  of  Queen  and  Friend  streets. 
The  injury  done  to  the  new  building,  with  their 
Other  losses,  seriously  embarrassed  the  trustees, 
and  they  were  consequently  compelled  to  modify 
the  plan  of  Cumberland  Church,  so  as  to  reduce 
its  cost. 

Measures  were  immediately  taken  for  the  re- 
building of  Trinity ;  and  the  two  buildings  were 
completed  at  a  joint  cost  of  fifty-seven  thousand 
dollars.  They  were  both  dedicated  during  the 
summer  of  1839 — Dr.  Capers  conducting  the 
dedicatory  services  of  Trinity,  and  the  following 
Sabbath  the  Kev.  James  Sewell  those  of  Cum- 
berland. 


154  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

Methodism  in  Charleston,  in  its  enlarged  form, 
as  has  been  shown,  was  the  result  of  a  gradual 
but  constant  growth.  The  labors  commenced  by 
Bishop  Asbury  and  his  compeers,  on  February 
27th,  1785,  in  the  deserted  Baptist  meeting- 
house on  Church  street,  had  been  steadily  con- 
tinued by  his  successors,  until  the  Methodists, 
though  long  struggling  with  many  difficulties,  had 
risen  to  be  a  numerous  body  in  the  city.  In 
1842,  though  numbering  four  church  buildings, 
with  a  membership  of  five  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  whites,  and  thirty-five  hundred  colored,  they 
were  all  united  under  one  charge.  One  board  of 
stewards,  one  of  trustees,  managed  the  affairs  of 
the  church  in  the  city ;  and  though  several 
preachers  were  sent  to  labor  there,  but  one  was 
put  in  charge. 

The  following  is  a  plan  of  the  appointments 
for  one  Sabbath,  and  also  for  the  Tuesday 
evening,  .Wednesday  evening,  and  Friday  evening 
services  in  the  several  churches,  as  they  were  pub- 
lished weekly  in  the  Southern  Christian  Ad- 
vocate : 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  155 

Plan  of  Appointments  for  preaching'  in  the  Methodist 
Churches,  Sunday,  July  30th,  1837  .■ 

MORNING.  AFTERNOON.  NIGHT. 

Bethel,  N.  Talley.         J.  N.  Davis.  B.  English. 

Trinity,  B.  English.       W.  Capers.    J.  Sevrell. 

Cumberland,  J.  N.  Davis.     N.  Talley.      W.  Capers. 
St.  James,       A.  R.  Danner.  J.  Sewell.      Gr.  W.  Moore. 
Tuesday  Evening,  Aug.  1st,  Bethel,  J.  Sewell. 

Wednesday  Eve'g,  Aug.  2d,  Trinity,  J.  N.  Davis. 

Friday  Evening,  Aug.  5th,    Cumberland,  W.  Capers. 

In  the  year  just  mentioned,  the  necessity  for  a 
different  arrangement  began  to  be  felt.  Indeed, 
a  separation  of  the  congregations  into  distinct 
charges  had  been  agitated  in  1840 ;  but,  at  the 
church  meeting  held  for  the  discussion  of  the 
question,  a  majority  decided  against  it. 

In  1842,  however,  at  a  meeting  of  the  male 
members,  after  a  long,  free,  and  earnest  discus- 
sion of  the  whole  question,  a  majority  decided  in 
favor  of  the  change  suggested.  Accordingly,  a 
petition  was  sent,  at  the  Conference  following,  to 
the  presiding  Bishop,  who  appointed  a  preacher 
in  charge  to  each  church ;  and  in  1844  a  division 
Was  also  had  of  the  church  debts  and  property. 


156  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Eminent  ministers — Deaths  of  ministers — Itinerant  preachers  sent 
out  from  the  city — Members  of  former  days — Aged  living  mem- 
bers— Colored  membership — Anecdotes  of  colored  members — Be- 
nevolent institutions — Preachers  stationed  in  the  city. 

In  reviewing  the  history  of  Methodism  in  the 
city,  one  cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  fact  that 
the  large  proportion  of  ministers  who  have  labored 
there  have  been  men  possessed  of  far  more  than 
ordinary  abilities.  It  can  be  safely  asserted  that 
no  denomination  in  the  city  can  show  the  same 
proportion  of  gifted  men  as  their  regular  pastors : 
none  of  them  the  same  constancy  of  sound,  evan- 
gelical, eloquent,  popular  preaching.  Nor  has  it 
been  the  fitful,  evanescent  glare  of  an  occasional 
preacher  here  and  there  in  ten  or  twenty  years; 
but  since  the  first  planting  to  the  present  time, 
the  Methodist  churches  in  the  city  have  enjoyed 
the  ministrations  of  gifted,  holy  men,  whose  abil- 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  157 

ities  have  only  been  surpassed  by  their  untiring 
zeal  and  faithfulness.  In  the  darkest  hour  of 
trial  and  persecution  to  the  church,  a  respect  was 
extorted  from  its  worst  foes,  for  a  ministry  who 
so  boldly  and  eloquently  enforced,  by  their  lives 
and  labors,  the  great  doctrine  of  holiness.  The 
high  grade  of  the  ministry  is  indicated  in  the 
fact  that,,  besides  its  first  establishment  by  a  ven- 
erated Bishop,  four  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Church 
have  at  different  timeSj  before  their  election  to 
that  office,  been  stationed  in  the  city. 

Need  we  dwell  upon  the  labors  of  the  venera- 
ble Bishop  Asbury,  that  prodigy  of  goodness  and 
toil  ?  It  was  at  his  instance  that  the  establish- 
ment of  a  society  was  projected  in  the  city;  and 
it  was  a  regular  place  of  visitation  until  the  last 
year  of  his  life.  Indeed,  Charleston,  with  other 
points  in  Carolina,  was  among  the  last  places  he 
tbited  and  preached  at,  a  few  months  before  his 
death.  Glorious  old  man  !  Who  can  fully  speak 
his  praises?  Soundest  in  judgment,  great  in 
holiness,  zealous  and  untiring  in  labors,  for  many 

years   he   travelled    up   and    down    the    conti- 
14 


158  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

nent,  preaching,  praying,  visiting,  suffering,  then 
'"ceased  at  once  to  work  and  live."  Is  he  not 
properly  called  the  Wesley  of  America?  Or, 
rather,  should  he  not  be  styled  the  Apostle  of  the 
New  World  ? 

Enoch  George  was  for  one  year  a  regular  laborer 
in  the  city,  and  was  for  several  years  Presiding 
Elder  of  Edisto  District,  in  which  Charleston  was 
included.  He  labored  there  at  so  early  a  date, 
that  nothing  authentic  can  be  gathered  about  his 
city  labors ;  but  it  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that 
he  belonged  to  the  number  of  spotless  worthies 
who  have  held  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of 
the  Church. 

Fifteen  years  of  the  life  of  our  late  lamented 
Bishop  Capers  were  spent  in  the  city  of  Charles- 
ton-— ten  years  as  a  regular  pastor,  four  years  as 
an  editor,  and  one  as  missionary  secretary;  and 
during  that  time  he  never  ceased  to  be  honored, 
and  revered.  Of  the  good  accomplished  by  his 
pulpit  labors,  which  were  always  given  without 
stint,  we  have  nothing  by  which  we  can  form  a 
proper  estimate.      Eternity  alone  can  reveal  it- 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  159 

Let  one  fact  suffice.  Daring  his  regular  labors 
in  the  city,  a  sister  denomination,  whose  "churches 
were  frequently  almost  deserted  from  the  general 
desire  to  hear  the  eloquent  Capers,  was  enlarged  by 
the  establishment  of  two  additional  congregations. 
Of  Bishop  Capers's  life  in  Charleston,  what  a 
history  might  be  given  of  powerful  sermons, 
crowded  audiences,  and  remarkable  conversions  ! 
How  many  affecting  scenes  might  be  depicted,  oc- 
curring in  sick-rooms,  and  on  death-beds  !  And 
had  a  journal  been  spared  to  us,  what  a  soul -stir- 
ring picture  should  we  have  of  the  triumph  of  our 
blessed  religion;  as  in  1826,  when  stern  death 
seemed  to  have  already  claimed  him  as  its  victim, 
and  life  seemed  to  be  breathed  anew  into  him  in 
special  answer  to  prayer;  or  in  1834,  when  fierce 
discord  threatened  destruction  to  the  church. 
And  0  !  who  that  used  to  see  and  hear  him  will 
Dot  feel  it  a  lifelong  privilege  to  recall  those 
Messed  seasons  afforded  at  the  Cainhoy  and  Goose 
Greek  camp-meetings,  where  listening  thousands 
hung  entranced  upon  his  lips,  and  the  divine 
glory  seemed  almost  visible  about  his  person, 


160     METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

where  stern  hearts  Bowed  before  his  eloquence  as 
the  oak  before  the  hurricane,  and  the  proud  sin- 
ner quailed  beneath  his  eye,  lit  up  with  holy  fire ! 
Well  may  the  Charleston  churches  mourn  the  ab- 
sence of  his  venerable  form. 

Bishop  Andrew,  also,  for  three  years  was  a 
stationed  preacher  in  the  city,  and  also  for  a  term 
its  presiding  elder.  His  labors  here  were  unre- 
servedly bestowed,  and  met  a  just  reward  in  the 
number  brought  into  the  church  during  his  pas- 
torate here.  A  goodly  number  of  the  converts 
of  his  ministry  still  remain,  who  are  able  to  re- 
member him  as  their  pastor  and  spiritual  guide  \ . 
and  who  still  grow  warm  when  recounting  his 
labors  and  successes  in  the  city. 

In  Charleston,  too,  our  admired  Bishop  Pierce 
labored  as  a  stationed  preacher,  and  that,  too,  in 
very  troublous  times,  when  were  required  "  pru- 
dence, and  piety,  and  patience,  all."  And  the 
older  heads,  who  heard  his  burning  words  of 
truth  and  eloquence,  declare  that  his  election  to 
the  bishopric  was  nothing  more  than  they  had 
predicted  many  years  ago. 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  161 

But  many  pages  would  not  suffice  for  a  proper 
mention  of  every  one  of  the  great  and  good  men 
who  have  in  Charleston,  as  elsewhere,  been  bright 
and  shining  lights.  Some  of  their  names  have  al- 
ready been  mentioned,  and  to  the  names  of  Willis, 
Kendrick,  Dougherty,  and  Dunwody,  of  early 
days,  we  mention  among  distinguished  names 
of  later  days,  Olin,  Wightman,  Summers,  and 
Smith,  all  of  whom  the  Church  still  delights  to 
honor. 

Methodism  in  Charleston  has  not  only  to  boast 
of  a  ministry  distinguished  for  learning  and  elo- 
quence, but  one  characterized  also  by  deep  piety 
and  fervent  zeal.  It  may  have  been  remarked, 
in  the  brief  notices  already  given  of  the  ministers 
there,  that  one  attribute  was  in  almost  every  in- 
stance accorded  them ;  and  that  was  their  faith- 
felness  and  energy. 

I  hate  vain  boasting,  and  will  not  indulge  in  it ; 

and,  in  attributing  this  to  each,  it  has  only  been 

done  because  it  was  strikingly  developed  in  their 

lives.     What  candid  heart  does  not  swell  with 

8ublime  emotions  of  admiration  as  it  contemplates 
14* 


162  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

the  energetic  lives  and  the  triumphant  deaths  of 
the  early  Methodist  preachers?  Many  theories 
have  lately  been  set  afloat  to  account  for  the 
amazing  success  of  the  Methodist  preacher — some 
of  them  plausible  enough ;  but  they  may  be  all 
laid  aside  in  the  light  of  their  untiring  energy. 
Here  was,  here  is  now,  the  secret  of  their  success : 
that,  with  a  sound  creed,  and  working  by  a  system 
wonderfully  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  masses, 
they  combined  with  fervent  piety  an  energy  of 
spirit  that  became  irresistible.  No  distance  was 
too  great  for  them  to  travel  to  preach  the  gospel. 
No  hovel  was  too  mean  for  them  to  enter  and 
minister  the  bread  of  life.  No  soul  was  too 
humble  or  too  degraded  for  their  care  and 
teaching.  No  time  was  inopportune,  no  labor 
too  hard,  no  sacrifice  too  great,  no  danger  too 
threatening  for  them  to  encounter.  Day  and 
night,  amid  the  shivering  blasts  of  winter  and 
the  sweeping  pestilence  of  summer,  they  were 
found  praying,  exhorting,  preaching  and  liv- 
ing for  God.  Illustrious  immortals!  0  that 
our    souls  might   more  fully  catch"  their  holy 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  168 

zeal,  and  transmit  it  to  the  latest  ages  of  the 
Church ! 

Charleston  has  for  many  years  been  subject  to 
the  periodical  visitations  of  that  fatal  pestilence, 
the  yellow-fever;  and,  with  her  sister  cities,  she 
too  suffered  from  cholera  and  different  contagions. 
Previous  to  the  establishment  of  the  Methodist 
Church  there,  it  had  been,  from  time  immemorial, 
a  settled  custom  for  the  Protestant  ministry,  at 
the  first  appearance  of  such  diseases,  Jonah-like, 
to  take-  passage  for  some  distant  port.  So  accus- 
tomed had  their  congregations  become  to  this  pro- 
ceeding, that  it  was  not  uncommon  for  them  to 
pay  an  extra  dividend  to  hasten  their  retreat. 
But  such  a  course  was  not  consonant  with  the 
fervid  souls  of  Wesley's  followers.  They  believed 
that  when  the  hand  of  God  was  laid  in  afflic- 
tion upon  his  people,  then,  if  ever,  they  needed 
the  care,  attention,  and  sympathy  of  their  shep- 
herds. And  although,  from  their  itinerant  sys- 
tem, they  were  more  exposed  to  danger  than  any 
other  class  of  ministers,  they  always  stood  firmly 
to  their  posts.     Not  a  few  among  them  were  hon- 


164  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

ored  with  a  call  from  their  Master  as  they  stood 
among  the  dead  and  dying,  and,  like  heroes,  fell 
all  covered  with  glory. 

First  among  them  was  James  King,  a  promis- 
ing young  man,  only  twenty-four  years  of  age, 
who  in  1797  made  a  glorious  exit  to  the  heavenly 
world  from  the  scenes  of  horror  and  death  among 
which  he  was  called  to  labor. 

In  the  year  following,  fell  John  N.  Jones, 
"worn  out  with  pain  and  afflictions  of  body." 
In  the  impressive  language  of  his  memoir,  "He 
was  rapt  up  in  the  vision  of  God  at  the  time  of 
his  departure." 

In  1804,  Nicholas  Watters  died  also  of  yellow- 
fever.  When  on  his  bed  of  death,  and  weeping 
friends  stood  around  him,  after  many  precious  ex- 
hortations, he  said:  "I  am  not  afraid  to  die,  if 
it  be  the  will  of  God.  I  desire  to  depart  and  be 
with  Christ;"  and  soon  after  exclaiming, 

"Farewell,  vain  world,  I'm  going  home: 
My  Jesus  smiles  and  bids  me  come," 

he  passed  triumphantly  away. 

Then,  there  was  Jacob  Eumph,  than  whom, 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  165 

perhaps,  there  was  never  a  more  godly,  faithful 
minister.  On  the  sacramental  occasion  preceding 
his  death,  while  administering  the  communion, 
he  exclaimed :  "This  day  the  Lord  hath  enabled 
me  to  be  perfectly  willing  to  die  in  Charleston." 

The  truth  of  his  exclamation  was  soon  satis- 
factorily tested.  With  songs  of  praise  he  en- 
tered into  rest,  his  countenance  lit  up  with  the 
smiles  of  peace  and  triumph. 

In  Charleston,  too,  Francis  Ward  took  the  yel- 
low-fever, which  terminating  in  dropsy  soon  after, 
caused  his  death.  He  was  an  able  minister  of 
the  New  Testament;  and  it  is  recorded  of  him 
that,  like  a  scribe  well  instructed,  he  "brought 
forth  out  of  his  treasure  things  new  and  old." 
V*  Here,  too,  died  "  the  Rev.  Henry  T.  Fitzgerald, 
a  young  man  of  uncommon  sweetness  of  temper, 
an  active,  discriminating  mind,  great  amiableness 
of  manners,  and  ardent  love  for  God  and  his 
cause.  He  shrunk  not  in  the  day  of  pestilence ; 
but  did  as  every  Christian  pastor  should  do — gave 
himself  uninterruptedly  to  the  service  of  the 
flock  committed  to  his  care,  and  undauntedly  met 


166  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

death  in  the  work  to  which  the  Holy  Ghost  had 
called  him." 

In  Charleston,  also,  the  amiable  and  humble 
Asbury  Morgan  met  his  fate,  falling  a  victim  to 
the  insatiable  yellow-fever,  ere  he  had  passed  the 
noon  .of  life.  But  as  in  life  his  unaffected  hu- 
mility, his  meekness  and  affability  were  always 
present,  so  in  death  his  peace  forsook  him  not, 
and  he  left  the  world  leaving  a  radiant  path  be- 
hind him. 

Here,  too,  in  1830,  the  lovely  Thomas  L.  Winn 
was  attacked  by-  the  same  fatal  malady,  which 
rapidly  developed  his  constitutional  tendency  to 
consumption,  which  soon  hurried  him  away.  He 
died  in  Camden,  whither  he  had  been  removed 
in  the  hope  of  improvement  by  the  change ;  but 
death  had  marked  him  as  its  victim.  "As  a 
preacher,  altogether  he  richly  merited  the  high 
estimation  in  which  he  was  held ; '  and  what  he 
was  by  the  grace  of  God,  as  a  man  and  Christian., 
let  his  death-bed  speak." 

Charleston,  too,  witnessed  the  death  of  that 
man  of  God,  the  Kev.  Urban  Cooper.     While 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  167 

the  shafts  of  death  were  playing  thick  and  fast, 
and  the  same  dire  disease  which  had  smitten  his 
predecessors  was  snatching  away  many  of  the 
loveliest  and  best,  he  was  found  firm  at  his  post. 
While  ministering  at  the  bedside  of  a  brother 
minister,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Flynn,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  he  imbibed  the  fatal  contagion.  But  it 
did  not  meet  him  unprepared,  for  his  spirit,  with 
joyful  haste,  flew  away  to  meet  its  God. 

This  seems  like  a  heavy  tribute  to  pay  to  one 
city,  and  nearly  all  to  one  disease;  but  it  has  not 
been  without  its  fruit.  Their  .examples  still  live. 
They  fell,  but  gained  the  victory  in  their  death. 
The  current  has  been  turned,  and  for  years,  like' 
the  Methodist  preachers,  the  ministers  of  all  de- 
nominations, amidst  the  peril  of  disease,  cease 
not  to  administer  warning  to  the  living  and  solace 
to  the  dying. 

Not  the  least  significant  fact  in  the  history  of 
Methodism  in  Charleston,  is  the  large  proportion 
of  travelling  preachers  it  has  sent  forth.  The 
Writer,  however,  is  forbidden,  on  this  point,  to 
utter  all  he  knows  and  feels.     He  has  included 


168  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

in  the  list  of  preachers,  several  who  were  not 
actually  recommended  from  the  Quarterly  Con- 
ferences of  the  city;  but  as  they  had  lived  and 
were  converted  in  the  city,  -and  made  their  reso- 
lutions to  preach  while  there,  he  thought  they 
could  be  properly  enumerated  among  the  sons  of 
Charleston  Methodism. 

1797.  Alexander  McCain,  located  in  1806. 
He  afterward  connected  himself  with  the  Method- 
ist Protestant  Church.  He  is  now  living*  at 
Aiken,  South  Carolina,  probably  one  of  the  oldest 
survivors  of  the  early  movements  of  Methodism 
in  America. 

1798.  Hanover  Dennan,  located  in  1808. 
1800.  Jeremiah  Russel,  located  in  1806. 

1819.  John  Sehroeble  joined  the  Conference, 
and  located  in  1821.  Christian  Q-.  Hill  joined 
the  same  year,  and  located  in  1823. 

1820.  Robert  Adams,  now  living,  a  local 
preacher  in  the  bounds  of  the  Alabama  Con- 
ference :  located  in  1836. 

*  He  died  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  June,  1856.— [EmtoB- 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  169 

1824.  John  Mood  and  Joseph  Galluchat,  Sen. 
The  first  located  in  1830,  and  now  lives  in  the 
city  of  Charleston.*  The  latter  located  in  1825, 
and  died  in  the  city  in  1835. 

1825.  George  W-  Moore,  who  is  now  an  effi- 
cient member  of  the  South  Carolina  Conference, 
m  Cooper  River  Mission. 

1827.  John  Honour,  Sen.,  and  John  Coleman, 
ffhe  first  died  at  his  post  in  1830,  on  Ashley  River 
Mission,  from  bilious-fever,  contracted  in  the 
swamps  where  he  labored.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  missionaries  to  the  colored  people  in  the 
United  States.     John  Coleman  located  in  1828. 

1828.  Samuel  W.  Capers,  Matthew  Bythewood, 
and  William  M.  Wightman.  S.  W.  Capers  died 
in  Camden  in  1855.  Matthew  Bythewood  located 
in  1830.  William  M.  Wightman  is  now  Presi- 
dent of  Wofford  College,  South  Carolina  Con- 
ference. 

1829.  David  Allen,  now  a  member  of  the 

*  A  most  excellent  man,  the  father  of  the  author  of 
*his  book,  and  of  three  other  ministers  in  the  South 
Carolina  Conference. — [Editor. 
15 


170  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

Memphis  Conference,  and  one  of  the  Professors 
in  the  Female  College,  at  Holly  Springs,  Alabama. 

1833.  Whitefoord  Smith,  supernumerary  in 
the  Conference  and  Professor  in  Wofford  College. 

1834.  Charles  S.  Walker  and  Alexander  W. 
Walker,  The  first  now  agent  of  Wofford  College : 
the  latter  an  efficient  preacher  on  Walterboro' 
Circuit. 

1836.  Robert  J.  .Limehouse,  located  in  1848: 
he  resides  within  the  bounds  of  the  Conference. 

1838.  Wm.  P.  Mouzon :  an  efficient  mem- 
ber of  the  Conference,  and  stationed  in  the  city. 

1839.  Abel  M.  Chreitzberg:  travels  the  An- 
derson Circuit. 

1840,,  William  H.  Fleming,  now  stationed  in 
the  town  of  Sumter.  John  A.  Porter,  on  the 
Graniteville  and  Aiken  Mission,  and  Dennis  J. 
Simmons,  now  on  the  Orangeburg  Circuit. 

1841.  Henry  M.  Mood,  now  on  the  Bennetts- 
ville  Circuit,  and  James  Wesley  Wightman, 
teacher  in  Cokesbury  School. 

1842.  Henry  A.  Bass,  located  in  1854. 
1844.  William  Tertius  Capers,  located  in  1851- 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  171 

1845.  Urban  Sinclair  Bird,  whose  health  failed 
the  year  following,  and  he  located. 

1846.  Osgood  A.  Chreitzberg,  who  located  in 
1852,  and  John  A.  Mood,  now  on  Black  Kiver 
and  Pee  Dee  Mission. 

1847.  John  T.  Wightman,  now  stationed  in 
the  city.  James  T.  Munds,  a  supernumerary  of 
the  Conference,  and  Benjamin  Jenkins,  one  of  our 
missionaries  to  China. 

1848.  Elias  J.  Meynardie,  now  in  the  Barn- 
well Circuit. 

1849.  Julius  J.  Fleming  and  Edward  J.  Pen- 
nington. The  former  now  travels  the  Sumter  Cir- 
cuit.    The  latter  located  in  1852. 

1850.  John  Wesley  Miller,  now  a  supernume- 
rary in  the  Conference.  William  W.  Mood,  now 
on  the  Orangeburg  Circuit.  Francis  Asbury 
Mood,  in  Columbia,  South  Carolina.  Charleston 
0.  Lamotte,  who  withdrew  from  the  connection 
in  1854. 

1851.  Osgood  A.  Darby,  now  stationed  in 
Wadesboro',  South  Carolina  Conference. 

1853.  Edward  D.  Boyden.     A  young  man  of 


172  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

great  promise,  who  was  sent  this  year  to  the 
Conwayboro'  Circuit;  but  soon  after  entering  upon 
his  work,  was  called  to  his  reward.  Joseph  B. 
Cottrell,  an  efficient  member  of  the  Alabama 
Conference. 

1854.  Samuel  Barksdale  Jones,  now  the  sta- 
tioned preacher  in  the  town  of  Spartanburg. 

1855.  Peter  M.  Byburn,  who  joined  the  Geor- 
gia Conference,  and  now  travels  the  Jeffersonville 
Circuit. 

It  would  take  a  much  larger  space  than  could 
properly  be  allowed  to  give  even  a  tithe  of  the 
many  interesting  anecdotes  and  impressive  facts 
connected  with  the  lives,  labors  and  death  of 
many  of  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Church 
in  Charleston.  There  have  never  been  wanting 
among  them  men  and  women  of  great  holiness, 
sterling  worth  and  brilliant  virtue.  Many  of 
them  joined  the  Church  at  a  time  when,  by  such 
a  connection,  they  perilled  their  good  name  in 
the  community.  Many  of  them,  for  years, 
witnessed  the  scenes  of  trial  and  the  alarming 
excitements   which    frequently   threatened   the 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  173 

existence  of  the  Church ;  yet  they  quailed  not, 
and  by  their  integrity  and  consistency  lived  down 
and  silenced  the  calumnies  of  its  foes;  and,  in 
their  deaths,  fully  vindicated  the  truth  and  power 
of  the  religion  they  had  professed.  A  brief 
biography  of  every  one  of  these  worthies,  how- 
ever interesting  it  might  be,  would  of  itself  oc- 
cupy many  pages;  and  it  will  be  allowed,  there- 
fore, only  to  make  a  brief  mention  of  a  few  of 
them. 

To  the  names  of  those  mentioned  among  the 
male  members  of  earlier  date,  may  be  added  those 
of  George  Airs,  Philip  Reader,  and  Eliab  King- 
man, who  were  for  many  years  stewards  and 
trustees  of  the  churches  in  the  city.  They  came 
up  to  the  disciplinary  requirements  of  a  steward, 
being  men  of  solid  piety,,  who  both  knew  and 
loved  the  Methodist  doctrines  and  discipline,  and 
Were  of  good  natural  and  acquired  abilities  to 
transact  the  temporal  business  of  the  Church. 

The  names  of  Amos  Pillsbury,  John  Kugley, 
and  Robert  Riley,  should  be  mentioned  out  of  the 
lisij  of  class-leaders,  as  men  of  special  qualifica- 
15* 


174  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

tions  for  the  office  which  they  held.  The  first 
was  possessed  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  vocal 
music,  and  taught  the  singing-classes  of  the 
church.  He  also  compiled  a  book  of  sacred 
hymns  and  songs,  called  the  Zion's  Songster,  which 
was  at  one  time  extensively  used  throughout  the 
South  and  West,  and  at  camp  and  protracted 
meetings. 

There  are  also  several  who  lived  within  the 
recollection  of  many  of  the  present  living  mem- 
bers. 

Jacob  Miller,  an  humble,  holy  man,  for  many 
years,  like  Enoch,  "  walked  with  God." 

George  Just  was  one  for  whom  the  writer  would 
fain  express  his  love  and  admiration.  He  was 
a  native  German,  unacquainted  with  the  wisdom 
of  the  schools,  but  fully  taught  of  God.  For 
years  he  led  the  class  which  numbered  the 
largest  of  the  young  men  of  the  church,  many 
of  whom,  should  this  meet  their  eye,  will  quicken 
with  the  recollections  of  the  exhortations,  pray? 
ers,  and  tears,  which  he  shared  with  them. 
Though  an  orphan  from  a  foreign  land,  by  his 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  175 

sterling  integrity  and  undeviating  consistency,  he 
won  his  way  to  an  enviable  position  in  the  com- 
munity; while,  by  his  faithful  attendance  to 
duty,  and  his  remarkable  aptitude  for  encour- 
aging, chiding,  and  guiding  the  young  of  his 
class,  he  obtained  the  universal  confidence  of  the 
church. 

Nor  should  we  omit  the  name  of  John  Honour, 
Sr.,  for  many  years  a  local  preacher  of  influence, 
as  were  also  Duke  Groodman,  Joseph  G-alluchat, 
Sr.,  and  Urban  Cooper,  whose  names  have 
already  been  mentioned. 

Among  the  females  qf  the  church,  there  are 
many  names  worthy  to  be  had  in  lasting  remem- 
brance. 

We  have  spoken  of  Mrs.  Martha  Kugley,  the 
heroic  woman  who  rescued  Mr.  Dougherty  from 
being  drowned  by  a  mob.  The  wetting  she  re- 
ceived at  the  pump  from  the  heartless  ruffians 
who  were  the  leaders  in  the  infamous  proceed- 
ings of  that  night,  was  the  cause  of  her  prema- 
ture death.  Like  Mr.  Dougherty,  she  was  of  a 
consumptive  habit,  and  the  cold  acquired  that 


176  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

wintry  night  never  left  her,  and  she  and  Mr. 
Dougherty  died  about  the  same  time. 

Mrs.,  Catherine  McFarlane,  whose  house  was 
for  years  the  home  of  the  preachers  sent  to 
Charleston,  was  long  honored — for  she  felt  that 
she  was  honored — with  the  regular  visits  of 
Bishop  Asbury  while  he  stopped  in  Charleston ; 
and  was,  by  special  selection,  the  maker  of  the 
Bishop's  knee-breeches.  He  used  to  say,  "No 
one  can  suit  me  as  sister  M." 

Mrs.  Ann  Vaughn  was  for  many  years  an 
humble  saint. 

Mrs.  Seavers,  wife  of  the  steward  of  that  name, 
was  a  godly  woman,  "  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits." 

Mrs.  Selina  Smith,  who  was  for  years  the 
housekeeper  of  the  parsonage"  during  the  dispen- 
sation of  clerical  bachelorism,  was  truly  an 
humble  and  devoted  servant  of  Grod. 

Mrs.  Matilda  Wightman,  another  Dorcas, 
"  full  of  good  works  and  almsdeeds  which  she 
did,"  always  ready  for  every  good  word  and 
work,  was  a  leading  spirit  in  all  the  benevolent 
and  religious  enterprises  of  the  church. 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  177 

Mrs.  Agnes  Ledbetter  died  but  a  few  years 
ago  at  a  very  advanced  age.  The  closing  part  of 
her  life,  with  which  many  of  the  readers  of  this 
book  are  familiar,  was  a  faithful  index  of  her  whole 
previous  course.  When  weighed  down  with  in- 
firmities and  age,  unable  to  go  to  the  house  of 
God  and  mingle  with  his  people,  her  heart  was 
still  among  them,  and  still  alive  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Church.  By  her  needle,  with  eyes 
dimmed  and  hands  palsied  by  age,  she  yearly 
earned  a  liberal  contribution  to  the  missionary 
cause,  while  to  every  one  who  went  to  see  her, 
she  told  of  the  goodness  of  God. 

Time,  in  Charleston  as  elsewhere,  has  brought 
about  surprising  changes.  The  old  ministers 
who  planted  the  Church — those  faithful  watch- 
men of  Zion — have,  most  of  them,  ceased  to 
utter  their  notes  of  warning,  and  are  gone  to 
their  reward.  And,  one  after  another;,  the  great, 
and  good,  and  conspicuous  among  its  early  mem- 
bership have  gradually  faded  away,  and  been 
released  from  earthly  toil.  But  a  few  among 
them  now  live  to  tell  of  the  powerful  and  some- 


178  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

times  tragic  scenes  of  earlier  days.  Old  Cum- 
berland, old  Trinity,  and  old  Bethel,  have  each 
been  removed  out  of  their  place,  and  so  most 
of  the  members  who  identified  themselves  with 
Methodism  in  those  plain  structures  have  been 
removed  to  the  family  above.  A  few  remain — 
the  remnant  of  a  larger  band.  Let  them  be 
duly  honored  while  they  live. 

The  youngest,  and  most  earnest,  and  most 
hopeful  of  us  in  the  strife  of  the  holy  warfare  in 
which  we  are  engaged,  cannot  but  feel  our  hearts 
dilate  when  we  read  or  hear  the  old  men  tell  of 
the  wonderful  works  God  performed  for  Method^ 
ism  in  earlier  days :  when  men,  self-made  in  let- 
ters, wielded  "the  sword  of  the  Spirit"  with 
such  wondrous  power  and  dexterity,  that  their 
congregations  were  smitten  to  the  earth,  and,  as 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  cried  in  beseeching 
tones  :  "  Men  and  brethren,  what  must  we  do  ?" 
And  do  we  not  instinctively  wish  that  this  living 
power  could  ever  abide  with  His  ministers  ? 

The  oldest  living  white  member,  as  indicated 
by  the  church  books,  is  Mrs.  Sarah  Venroe,  who 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  179 

joined  in  1804.  She  has  for  over  half  a  cen- 
tury been  permitted  to  worship  with  the  Method- 
ists in  Charleston ;  and  during  all  that  time  has 
maintained  her  consistency. 

There  are,  besides  her,  several  other  pious 
female  members,  who  joined  forty  or  fifty  years 
ago,  and  whose  lives  have  ever  been  in  accord- 
ance with  their  profession  :  as,  Mrs.  Susannah 
Seyle,  who  joined  in  1811;  Mrs.  Catherine 
Mood,  who  joined  in  1812 ;  Mrs.  Susannah  Bird, 
who  joined  in  1809;  Mrs.  Charlotte  Will,  who 
joined  in  1808 ;  Mrs.  Magdalene  Brown,  who 
joined  in  1810;  Mrs.  Mary  dhreitzberg,  who 
joined  in  the  same  year;  and  Mrs.  Margaret 
Just,  who  joined  in  1807. 

Among  the  male  members  but  very  few  sur- 
vive, and  all  their  names  could  be  mentioned 
without  occupying  much  space. 

The  oldest  male  white  member  is  John  Mood, 
who  joined  in  1808. 

Abel  McKee,  who  joined  in  1810,  is  the  old- 
est official  member  in  the  church,  having  been 
appointed  steward  and  trustee  in  1817,  both  of 


180     METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

which  offices  he  retained  until  the  year  1848. 
He  is  now  class-leader  at  Trinity  Church. 

John  Mood  is  a  local  elder,  belonging  also  to 
Trinity,  who  having  reached  almost  fifty  years' 
connection  with  the  Church,  still  lives  and  prac- 
tices the  doctrines  and  discipline  that  he  em- 
braced so  many  years  ago. 

Samuel  J.  Wagner  is  still  one  of  the  most 
active  and  influential  members  of  the  Church : 
he  joined  in  1811. 

George  Chreitzberg  joined  in  1810,  and, 
though  seldom  permitted  to  worship  with  the 
brethren  whom  he  loves,  still  lives  a  Methodist, 
or  rather,  still  lives  a  Christian. 

John  C.  Miller  is  also,  one  of  the  oldest,  official 
members  of  the  Church.  He  joined  in  1811, 
and  was  for  years  one  of  its  stewards. 

William  Bird,  a  member  at  Bethel,  is  in  the 
new,  as  he  was  in  the  old,  house,  always  at  his 
post.  He  joined  in  1817.  Not  long  ago,  the 
writer  dared  to  remonstrate  with  him,  finding 
him  on  his  way  to  church  on  a  very  cold  and 
wet  evening.     Said  he,  "  It  has  always  been  my 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  181 

rule  to  allow  nothing  to  keep  me  from  church 
which  does  not  keep  me  from  my  daily  business. 
I  was  at  my  business  to-day,  and  it  is  my  pur- 
pose to  be  at  church  to-night."  A  capital  rule, 
which  can  be  recommended  to  all. 

Henry  Muckenfuss  is  one  of  the  few  who  are 
permitted  to  tell  of  scenes  occurring  even  before 
the  Methodists  preached  at  all  in  Charleston. 
He  first;  joined  at  Trinity,  under  Mr.  Hammet's 
ministry,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church  when  the  house  was  ceded 
to  that  Church.  No  one  living,  it  is  presumed, 
can  recall  the  time  when  his  venerable  form  has 
been  absent  from  its  place  in  church.  Glod 
bless  the  old  man,  and  spare  him  to  us  yet 
awhile ! 

Were  a  stranger  in .  Charleston,  visiting  the 
Methodist  churches  in  the  city,  asked  to  point 
out  what  impressed  him  as  the  most  remarkable 
feature  of  those  churehes,  as  contrasted  with  the 
other  congregations  of  the  city,  it  is  very  proba- 
ble that  he  would  point  to  the  large  congrega- 
tions of  colored  persons  who  are  every  Sabbath 
16 


182  METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON. 

to  be  seen  filling  the  •galleries.  And  to  one 
made  familiar  with  the  prejudices  of  the  com- 
munity and  the  difficulties  of  the  Church,  proba- 
bly the  success  of  the  Methodists  among  them 
would  be  quite  astonishing. 

It  is  a  matter  now  of  great  ease,  since  preju- 
dices have  been  outlived,  and  false  clamors 
choked  down,  to  stand  oif  and  philosophize  and 
surmise  and  speculate  upon  this  subject.  It  is 
not  my  purpose  to  attempt  either— but  simply  to 
say,  that  if  any  one  desires  to  ascend  to  first 
causes,  and  to  discover  the  hidden  springs  which 
brought  about  success,  let'  him  follow  the  history 
of  the  Church  in  Charleston  back  through  all  its 
vicissitudes — let  him  recall  the  patient  endu- 
ance — the  ceaseless,  painful  toil — the  earnest, 
parental,  affectionate  care  and  attention  of  those 
holy  men  of  God  who  have  lived  and  labored 
here  as  their  pastors. 

The  names  of  five  thousand  two  hundred  col- 
ored persons  are  enrolled  in  the  city  as  members 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  very  many  of  them 
may  be  pointed  out  as  patterns  of  humble  piety. 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  183 

While  much  of  the  success  of  the  Methodist 
preachers  among  the  colored  population  is  trace- 
able to  the  simple,  earnest  and  powerful  manner 
in  which  they  enforced  gospel  truth— as  we  have 
just  indicated — much  more  is  traceable  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  class -system,  and  to  the  un- 
wearied attention  paid  to  their  spiritual  interests 
by  the  white  members,  and  particularly  by  the 
preachers  who  have  labored  in  the  city  from  time 
to  time.  They  have  been  "  willing  servants  of 
servants  for  Christ's  sake." 

Much  of  the  embarrassment  thrown  in  the 
way  of  early  Methodism  in  the  city,  is  attribut- 
able to  the  jealousy  and  suspicion  of  its  public 
men,  about  the  success  which  attended  the 
Methodist  ministry  among  them.  With  the 
Church,  as  with  individuals,  good  deeds  are  soon 
forgotten,  while  evil  ones  have  a  life-long  remem- 
brance. Not  that  the  Charleston  Methodists  are 
conscious,  at  any  period  in  their  history,  of  hav- 
ing done  evil ;  but  a  hue  and  cry  was  for  many 
years  maintained  against  them,  though  they  were 
entirely  innocent  of  doing  any  thing  but  good,. 


184  METHOMSM   IN  CHARLESTON. 

and  this  undefined  prejudice  was  always  the 
basis  of  an  argument  against  them  by  their  foes. 
We  fear  from  all  the  evidence  now  in  possession 
of  the  Church  in  the  city,  that  this  prejudice  was 
stirred  and  kept  hot  against  them  by  jealous 
churches,  who  were  either  unwilling,  ashamed, 
or  afraid  to  do  for  the  negroes  what  the  Method- 
ists persevered  in  doing,  and  cheerfully  continue 
to  do. 

And  now,  after  unwearied  pains  and  care 
have  secured  a  large,  pious,  and  consistent  col- 
ored membership,  and  a  persistent  determination 
to  save  their  souls  has  resulted  in  unexpected 
good,  and  has  secured  the  influence  and  affection 
of  the  immense  majority  of  the  blacks — an 
attachment,  too,  which  cannot  be  broken  or 
diverted — how  painfully  uncharitable  and  puerile 
does  it  appear  to  an  honest  heart,  for  jealous 
ones  ,  to  be  always  sneeringly  asserting,  that 
"  Methodism  is  successful  among  the  negroes, 
because  it  is  only  suited  to  them."  Had 
Methodism  in  Charleston  courted  the  favor  of 
the   wealthy,   and  kissed   the  feet  of   political 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  185 

aspirants,  and  let  go  her  hold  and  interest  upon 
the  blacks,  she  too  might  have  claimed  the  favor 
of  those  who  affected  to  despise  her;  but  her 
mission  was  to  spread  holiness  and  to  save  souls, 
and,  thank  Grod,  she  would  not  be  diverted  from 
her  design  by  the  enticements  of  secular  favor, 
or  the  opposition  and  contempt  of  enemies. 

Be  it  recorded,  in  the  memory  of  every  one 
who  loves  the  cause  of  truth,  and  who  wishes  to 
remember  facts  worth  remembering,  that  in 
1822,  when  an  insurrectionary  movement  was 
discovered  among  the  blacks,  when  good  and  bad 
among  the  slaves  were  suspected,  out  of  the  hun- 
dreds who  were  placed  under  ban,  and  the  many 
Who  were  tried  and  condemned — numbers  of 
them  members  of  other  churches— not  one  of 
them  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
out  of  the  thousands  then  belonging  to  it.  And 
yet  no  one  would  be  impressed  by  the  fact, 
though  the  effort  to  force  an  impression  by  it 
upon  the  public  was  repeatedly  made.  The 
fact  that  numbers  of  the  condemned  were  at- 
tached to  other  churches,  was  buried  with  the 
16* 


186     METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

other  fact,  that  seemed  to  the  enemies  of 
Methodism  as  alarming,  that  not  one  was  a 
member  of  that  Church;  and  the  community 
WOttld  allow  themselves  to  be  impressed  with 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other. 

Did  it  seem  necessary,  much  might  be  said 
about  the  management,  etc.,  of  the  colored  por- 
tion of  the  membership.  It  must  be  seen  at  a 
glance  that  with  such  an  immense  number,  of  a 
©lass  with  whose  lives  and  Christian  deportment 
it  was  impossible  for  the  ministers  or  white 
members  to  become  acquainted,  it  required  a 
thoroughly  organized  and  well -maintained  sys- 
tem of  observation  and  discipline.  Suffice  it  to 
say,  that  the  plan  developed  in  the  Methodist 
system  has  been  found  completely  adapted  to  the 
emergency,  and  has  been  vigorously  maintained, 
and  has  resulted  in  amazing  good,  as  may  be 
everywhere  seen  in  the  city  at  this  day. 

It  would  hardly  be  in  keeping  with  the  plan 
hitherto  followed,  to  pass  over  in  utter  silence 
the  names  of  the  many  worthy  and  excellent 
people  who,  among  the  colored  Methodists  in 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  187 

the  eity,  have  vindicated  the  truth  and  power 
of  godliness.  Much  might  be  written  about 
them  that  would  be  appropriate  and  profitable  as 
well  as  interesting;  but  the  unexpected  length 
to  which  these  chapters  have  been  extended 
warns  against  such  an  attempt.  A  mention  of 
a  few  of  the  names  conspicuous  in  former  days 
must  suffice. 

Arnong  the  early  colored  members  remarkable 
for  their  intelligence  and  business  traits,  were, 
Harry  Bull,  Quaminy  Jones,  Peter  Simpson,  Abra- 
ham Jacobs,  Ben  McNeil,  Smart  Simpson,  Alick 
Harleston,  Amos  Baxter,  Morris  Brown,  Bichard 
Holloway,  Castile  Selby,  and  John  Boquet. 

Harry  Bull  and  Morris  Brown  went  oif  in  the 
African  schism :  the  last  moved  to  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  was  afterwards  known  as  Bishop  Brown, 
of  the  African  Church  in  that  State. 

Castile  Selby  was  eminent  for  his  humility,  ho- 
liness, and  unbending  integrity.  Though  a  black 
man,  an  humble  carter,  moving  in  the  humblest 
position  in  life,  he  was  eminently  a  good,  and  no 
doubt,  in  the  sight  of  God,  a  great  man.     But  I 


188  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

will  give  his  character  as  summed  up  by  Bishop 
Capers  in  a  private  letter  to  a  friend,  the  use  of 
which  has  been  granted  me. 

The  Bishop  says :  "  The  weight  and  force  of 
his  character  was  made  up  of  humility,  sincerity, 
simplicity,  integrity  and  consistency,  for  all  of 
which  he- was  remarkable,  not  only  among  his  fel- 
lows of  the  colored  society  of  Charleston,  but  I 
might  say  among  all  whom  I  have  ever  known. 
He  was  one  of  those  honest  men  who  need  no 
proof  of  it.  No  one  who  ever  saw  bim  would 
suspect  him.  Disguise  or  equivocation  lurked  no- 
where about  him.  Just  what  he  seemed  to  be, 
that  he  invariably  was — neither  less  nor  more. 
Add  to  this  a  thorough  piety,  which  was  the  root 
and  stock  of  his  virtues,  and  you  find  elements 
enough  for  the  character  of  no  common  man; 
and  such  was  Castile  Selby."  As  early  as  1801, 
his  name  is  on  the  record  as  one  of  the  leaders, 
and  he  held  the  office  untarnished  for  over  half  a 
century. 

John  Boquet,  a  slave,  was  very  intelligent  and 
deeply  pious,  and  in  consideration  of  his  virtue 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON.     189 

and  good  service  was  set  free  by  bis  owner.  The 
following  affecting  occurrence  is  related  of  him  by 
Bishop  Capers,  in  the  letter  referred  to..  "Vis- 
iting him  on  his  death-bed,  I  found  him  unspeak- 
ably happy  in,  the  love  of  God,  but  not  as  well 
provided  as  I  thought  he  ought  to  be,,  with  little 
comforts  and  refreshments  which  his  wasted  body 
anight  require.  I  noticed  it,  and  told  his  wife  of 
several  things  which  he  might  take  for  nourish- 
ment, and  which  she  must  procure  for  him.  '  He 
wants  them/  said  I,  'and  he  must  have  them. 
The  expense  is  nothing,  and  he  must  want  for 
nothing.''  'Want,  want!'  exclaimed  the  dying 
man,  'glory  be  to  God,  I  am  done  with  want  for 
ever !  Want !  want !  I  know  no  want  but  hea- 
ven, and  I  am  almost  there  by  the  blood  of 
Jesus/  " 

Hichard  Holloway  was  also  conspicuous  for  his 
intelligence  and  zeal.  His  zeal,  however,  was 
sometimes  ill-judged,  but  he  died  much  beloved 
and  respected. 

There  are  two  or  three  names  among  the  fe- 
males which  must  not  pass  unnoticed. 


190  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

Mary  Ann  Berry  will  be  long  remembered  as  the 
tender,  careful,  ladylike  nurse,  and  humble  saint. 
Bishop  Capers  says  of  her:  "I  never  knew  a  fe- 
male, in  any  circumstances  in  life,  who  better  de- 
served the  appellation  of  Deaconess  than  Mary 
Ann  Berry :  one  who  seemed  to  live  only  to  be 
useful,  and  who,  to  the  utmost  of  her  ability,  and 
beyond  her  ability,  served  the  Church  and  poor. 
And  I  might  say  too,  that  what  she  did  was  al- 
ways exceedingly  well  done,  directed  by  an  intel- 
ligent mind  as  well  as  sanctified  spirit;  so  that, 
humble  as  was  her  position  in  common  society, 
she  was  really  a  mother  in  Israel.  Her  meekness, 
her  humility,  and  a  peculiar  gentleness  and  soft- 
ness of  spirit,  which  distinguished  her  at  all 
times,  might  have  done  honor  to  a  Christian  lady 
of  any  rank." 

Rachel  Wells,  top,  was  remarkable  for  her  hu- 
mility and  piety,  and  in  most  respects  was  the 
counterpart  of  Mary  Ann,  except  in  personal  ap- 
pearance. Of  her,  the  Bishop  in  his  letter  also 
speaks  in  high  terms.  He  states,  that  not  long 
before  her  death,  he  called  to  see  her,  after  she 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  191 

had  received  a  severe  contusion  which  prevented 
her  going  to  church,  at  which  a  protracted  meet- 
ing was  then  in  progress.  Upon  sympathizing 
with  her  upon  the  unfortunate  accident  which 
prevented  her  getting  to  church,  she  replied: 
"Ah,  Mr.  Capers,  since  this  occurred  to  me,  which 
you  call  an  unfortunate  accident,  God  has  found 
a  much  nearer  way  to  my  heart  than  by  Trinity 
Church." 

Nanny  Coates  also  was  a  colored  ■  woman  of 
marked  piety  and  generosity.  And  here  again 
let  Bishop  Capers  speak.  "Did  I  mention  Maum 
Nanny  Coates?  Bless  old  Maum  Nanny!  If  I 
had  been  a  painter  going  to  represent  meekness 
personified,  I  should  have  gotten  her  to  sit  for 
the  picture.  It  was  shortly  after  I  had  been  ap- 
pointed Secretary  for  the  Missions,  that  being  in 
Charleston  at  the  house  of  my  brother,  as  we 
were  sitting  together  in  the  parlor  one  evening, 
Maum  Nanny  entered.  I  wish  I  could  show  her 
to  you  just  as  she  presented  herself,  in  her  long- 
eared  white  cap-kerchief  and  apron  of  the  olden 
time,  with  her  eyes  on  the  floor,  her  arms  slightly 


192  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

folded  before  her,  stepping  softly  towards  me. 
She  held  between  her  finger  and  thumb  a  dollar 
bill,  and  courtesying  as  she  approached,  she  ex- 
tended her  hand  with  the  money.  'Will  you 
please,  sir/  said  she  in  subdued  accents  and  a 
happy  countenance,  'take  this  little  mite  for  the 
blessed  missionaries?'  I  took  it,  pronounced  that 
it  was  a  dollar,  and  said,  '  Maum  Nanny,  can  you 
afford  to  give  as  much  as  this?'  '0  yes,  sir/ 
she  replied,  lifting  her  eyes,  which. till  then  had 
been  on  the  floor,  'it  is  only  a  trifle,  sir.  I  could 
afford  to  give  a  great  deal  more,  if — I — had — it.'  " 
The  three  last  mentioned  were  all  freed  by 
their  owners  for  their  faithfulness  and  virtue. 
But  these  names  are  those  of  a  very  few,  and 
these  incidents  but  a  meagre  mention  of  the 
many  souls  and  many  interesting  facts  which 
might  be  gathered  about  the  colored  membership 
of  the  Charleston  churches.  Their  names  are  not 
enrolled  among  the  great  and  mighty  of  the 
earth,  but,  what  is  far  better,  their  names  and 
deeds  have  honorable  mention  in  the  Lamb's 
Book  of  Life. 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON.  193 

There  are  several  institutions  of  a  benevolent 
character  connected  with  the  Church  in  Charles- 
ton, a  mention  of  which  seems  appropriate  here. 
Giving  the  precedence  to  age,  the  first  institution 
of  the  kind  deserving  notice  is  the  Methodist 
Charitable  Society.  It  was  established  in  the 
year  1808,  and  incorporated  three  years  after- 
wards, under  the  following  officers :  H.  P.  Wees- 
ner,  President;  Amos  Pillsbury,  Vice  President; 
William  Cruikshanks,  Treasurer;  Robert  Riley, 
Secretary;  William  McKewn,  and  Robert  Will, 
Stewards.  It  is  based  upon  the  mutual  aid  prin- 
ciple, and  has  been  in  active  operation  ever  since 
its  first  establishment.  None  are  allowed  to  be- 
come regular  pensioners  upon  its  bounty  but 
members  or  their  families,  and  they  cannot  be- 
come pensioners  until  they  have  been  members 
for  seven  years,  or  have  paid  into  the  treasury 
fees  equal  to  seven  years'  cost  of  membership.- 
The  constitution  allows  of  donations  to  aged  and 
indigent  members  of  the  Methodist  Church,  with' 
out  reference  to  place,  and  yearly  these  silent 
messengers  of  mercy  relieve  the  sufferings  of  the 
17 


194  METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON. 

needy,  both  in  and  out  of  the  city.  The  entrance 
fee  is  ten  dollars,  and  its  yearly  contribution  two 
dollars.  It  has  funds  invested  to  the  amount  of 
nine  thousand  four  hundred  dollars,  and  the  an- 
nual average  amount  distributed  is  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Singular  to  state,  it 
numbers  but  twenty-three  members,  and  has  but 
one  regular  pensioner. 

Another  excellent  institution,  established  on 
the  same  basis,  and  also  confined  to  the  members 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  is  the  Methodist  Fe- 
male Friendly  Association.  It  was  founded  in 
1810,  and  incorporated  in  1819.  It  has  funds 
invested  to  the  amount  of  six  thousand  dollars, 
and  its  annual  charities  average  about  four  hun- 
dred dollars.  It  numbers  twenty-six  members, 
including  five  regular  pensioners.  Though  its 
stated  benevolence  is  allowed  only  to  its  members, 
the  constitution  permits  donations  to  any  females 
of  the  Church  in  indigent  circumstances,  without 
reference  to  place.  Its  officers  consist  of  a  Di- 
rectress, Secretary,  and  three  Trustees,  who  are 
elected  annually.     One  third  of  all  the  donations, 


METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON.  195 

regular  or  occasional,  are  retained  to  swell  the 
capital  fund,  while  the  entire  interest  is  expended 
for  benevolent  purposes. 

Connected  with  the  church  of  the  same  name, 
is  the  Cumberland  Benevolent  Society,  founded 
in  1845,  and  incorporated  in  1847.  Its  funds 
invested  amount  to  two  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars,  and  it  numbers  sixty-five  me'mbers,  male 
and  female.'  Qne  thousand  dollars  of  its  funds 
was  the  legacy  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Hewie,  formerly  a 
member  of  Cumberland.  Members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church  have  the  precedence  in  its  benefac- 
tions, but  its  object  is  to  relieve  distress  wherever 
found,  and  it  has  its  regular  visiting  committees, 
appointed  quarterly,  to  search  out  cases  of  suffer- 
ing and  want. 

A  generous  spirit  must  be  accorded  to  the 
Charleston  churches.  The  rates  of  living  in  the 
city  are  enormous,  even  at  the  cheapest;  and 
though  their  white  membership  is  neither  lai-ge 
nor  wealthy,  it  has  been  only  very  occasionally 
that  the  churches  have  failed  to  meet  every  de- 
mand necessary  for  the  support  of  the  ministry. 


L96  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

During  the. year  1855,  the  aggregate  cost  for 
the  support  of  the  preachers  and  their  families, 
lighting  the  churches,  and  meeting  other  neces- 
sary expenditures,  was  over  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars. In  addition  to  this,  they  paid  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars  into  the  Missionary  Treasury,  two 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  dollars  for  their  Sab- 
bath-schools, one  hundred  and  seventy-one  dollars 
to  the  tract  cause,  and  four  hundred  dollars  to 
the  Conference  Collection,  making  the  expendi- 
ture of  the  church  for  one  year  amount  to  more 
than  ten  thousand  dollars.  They  have  ever  been 
liberal  to  the  cause  of  Missions,  and  on  this  point 
there  has  generally  existed  between  the  different 
charges  a  generous  rivalry. 

Besides  the  regular  organizations  among  the 
whites  for  the  collection  of  missionary  money, 
there  is  a  small  colored  missionary  society,  which 
usually  sends  to  the  Conference  one  hundred  dol- 
lars or  more.  This  society  extends  to  the  free 
colored  females  of  Trinity  charge. 

Indeed,  while  upon  the  subject  of  giving,  it 
should  be  remarked,  that  after  an  observation  of 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  197 

years,  the  writer  lias  never  known  a  benevolent 
enterprise  of  any  kind  to  be  presented  to  any  one 
of  the  Methodist  churches  of  the  city  that  did  not 
meet  a  generous  response.  .Their  contributions 
are  not  the  liberal  donations  of  a  few  wealthy 
ones,  but  the  heart-offerings  of  the  many,  includ- 
ing— God  bless  them — the  boys  and  girls  of  the 
Church. 

The  following  is  the  decennial  increase  of  the 
membership  for  the  period  passed  through  in  the 
last  two  chapters : 

From  1815  to  1825,  there  was  an  increase  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  whites,  making  a 
yearly  average  increase  of  fourteen.  There  was 
in  the  same  time  a  decrease  of  one  thousand  three 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  colored.  The  African 
schism  in  1818  carried  off  four  thousand  three 
hundred  members,  so  that  branch  of  the  member- 
ship recovered  surprisingly  in  seven  years.  The 
greatest  increase  in  one  year  among  the  whites 
was  in  1818,  when  Lewis  Myers,  Z.  Dowling,  and 
H.  T.  Fitzgerald  were  the  preachers,  who  re- 
ported an  increase  of  seventy-six  whites. 
17* 


198  METHODISM  IN   CHARLESTON. 

From  1825  to  1835,  there  was  an  increase  of 
only  fifteen  whites, — the  schism  of  1834  having 
directly  and  indirectly  caused  the  loss  of  over  two 
hundred  members.  Among  the  colored  there 
was  an  increase  of  six  hundred  and  ninety-six 
members. 

From  1835  to  1845,  there  was  an  increase 
among  the  whites  of  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven,  averaging  nineteen  members  each  year. 
The  greatest  increase  during  any  one  year  of  this 
decade  was  in  1836,  when  William  Capers,  James 
Sewell,  J.  W-  McColl,  and  W-  A.  Gamewell 
were  the  preachers.  They  reported  an  increase 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-four  members — the 
largest  increase  among  the  whites  ever  reported  in 
one  year  since  the  establishment  of  the  church 
in  the  city.  During  these  ten  years  there  was  an 
increase  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  colored. 

From  1845  to  1855,  there  was  an  increase  of 
one  hundred  and  ninety-two  whites,  making  an 
annual  average  increase  of  nineteen  members- 
being  the  same  rate  of  increase  as  the  ten  years 
previous.     The  greatest  increase  in  a  year  during 


;i\>:! 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON.     201 

this  decade  was  in  1846,  when  an  increase  of 
ninety-two  was  reported,  Samuel  Leard,  White- 
foord  Smith,  Claudius  H.  Pritchard,  and  John  W. 
Kelly,  being  the  stationed  preachers.  The  larg- 
est increase  was  at  Cumberland  and  St.  James's 
— the  one  reported  an  increase  of  thirty-seven 
members,  the  other  an  increase  of  thirty-nine. 
During  these  ten  years  there  was  an  increase  of 
four  hundred  colored. 

The  churches  now  number  an  aggregate  mem- 
bership of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-five  whites 
and  five  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
colored,  with  eight  Sabbath-schools  in  active  ope- 
ration, numbering  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
ofiicers  and  teachers,  and  four  hundred  and  nine- 
teen whites,  and  fifteen  hundred  colored  children. 
The  above  facts  are  suggestive  of  many  thoughts, 
both  sad  and  pleasing;  but  I  will  leave  the  reader 
to  ponder  them  and  make  his  own  observations. 

The  congregations  at  Cumberland,  Trinity,  and 
Bethel,  now  worship  in  spacious,  but  plain,  sub- 
stantial brick  buildings,  each  occupying  the  sites 
of  the  original  churches  named  as  above.     A 


202     METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON. 

portion  of  the  St.  James  congregation  have  re- 
cently determined  to  emigrate  a  few  squares  from 
the  site  of  the  present  building.  They  will  now 
soon  enter  their  new  building  on  the  corner  of 
Coming  and  Spring  streets.  When  finished  it 
will  probably  be  the  handsomest  Methodist  ehurch 
building  in  the  city. 

It  will  be  satisfactory  to  append  a  list  of  all  the 
preachers  who  have  been  stationed  in  Charleston, 
with  the  year  of  their  appointment : 

1785.  John  Tunnel. 

1786.  Henry  Willis.  Isaac  Smith. 

1787.  Lemuel  Green. 

1788.  Ira  Ellis, 

1789.  No  preacher  named  on  the  minutes. 

1790.  Isaac  Smith. 

1791.  James  Parks. 

1792.  Daniel  Smith. 

1793.  Daniel  Smith,  Jonathan  Jackson. 

1794.  Joshua  Cannon,  Isaac  Smith. 

1795.  Philip  Bruce. 

1796.  Benjamin  Blanton. 

1797.  Benjamin  Blanton,  J.  N.  Jones,  J.  King 


METHODISM  TN   CHARLESTON.  203 

1798.  John  N.  Jones,  Tobias  Gibson. 

1799.  John  Harper,  Nicholas  Snethen. 

1800.  George  Dougherty,  J.  Harper. 

1801.  George  Dougherty,  J.  Harper. 

1802.  John  Garvin,  Benjamin  Jones. 

1803.  Bennet  Kendrick,  Thomas  Darley. 

1804.  Bennet  Kendrick,  Nicholas  Watters. 

1805.  Buddy  W.  Wheeler,  J.  H.  Mellard. 

1806.  L.  Myers,  Levi  Garrison. 

1807.  Jonathan  Jackson,  William  Owen. 

1808.  William  Phoebus,  J.  McVean. 

1809.  Samuel  Mills,  William  M.  Kennedy. 

1810.  W.  M.  Kennedy,  T.  Mason,  It.  Nolley. 

1811.  Samuel  Dunwody,  F.  Ward,  William 
Capers,  William  S.  Talley. 

1812.  F.  Ward,  J.  Kumph. 

1813.  N.  Powers,  J.  Capers,  S.  M.  Meek. 

1814.  S.  Dunwody,  A.  Talley,  J.  B.  Glenn. 

1815.  A.  Senter,  A.  Talley,  S.  K.  Hodges. 

1816.  J.  W    Stanley,  E.  Christopher,  James 
O.  Andrew. 

1817.  Solomon  Bryan,  W.   B.  Barnett,  W- 
Kennedy,  W  Williams. 


204  METHODISM   IN    CHARLESTON. 

1818.  L.  Myers,  A.  Talley,  H.  Bass. 

1819.  L.  Myers,  Z.  Bowling,  Henry  T.  Fitz- 
gerald. 

1820.  William  M.  Kennedy,  Henry  Bass,  J. 
Murrow. 

1821.  William  M.    Kennedy,  D.   Hall,  W. 
Kennedy,  Asbury  Morgans 

1822.  James  Norton,  D.  Hall)  J.  Evans,  K. 
Flournoy. 

1823.  John  Howard,  William  Hawkins,  Thos. 
L.  Winn,  Elijah  Sinclair. 

1824.  S.  Dunwody,  J.  Howard,  J.  Galluchat, 
Sen.,  S.  Olin. 

1825.  William  Capers,  A.  P.  Manley,  sup., 
Benjamin  L.  Hoskins,  S:  Olin. 

1826.  Wm.  Capers,  H.  Bass,  P.  N.  Maddux. 

1827.  J.  0.  Andrew,  H.  Bass,  N.  Laney. 

1828.  J.  0.  Andrew,  A.  Morgan,  Benjamin 
L.  Hoskins. 

1829.  N.  Talley,  J.    Freeman,  William   H. 
Ellison. 

1830.  N.  Talley,  Thomas  L.  Winn,  William 
M.  Wightman. 


METHODISM  IN  CHARLESTON.     205 

1801.    C.  Betts,  Bond  English,  W  Murrah. 

1832.  William  Capers,  William  Cook,  Thomas 
E.  Ledbetter,  William  Murrah. 

1833.  William  Capers,  J.  Holmes,  H.  A.  C. 
Walker,  Reddick  Pierce,  (to  change  after  three 
months  with  J.  K.  Morse.) 

1834.  William  M.  Kennedy,  William  Martin, 
G.  F.  Pierce. 

1835.  William  M.  Kennedy,  William  Martin, 
J.  J.  Allison,  W-  A.  Gramewell. 

1836.  William  Capers.  J.  Sewell,  J.  W  Me- 
Coll,  W.  A.  Gamewell. 

1837.  B.  English,  J.  Sewell,  J.  N.  Davis, 
James  W.  Welborn. 

1838.  B.  English,  J.  E.  Evans,  Samuel  Arm- 
strong. 

1839.  N.  Talley,  J.  E.  Evans,  W.  Capers,  P. 
A.  M.  Williams. 

1840.  N.  Talley,  H.  A.  C.  Walker,  White- 
foord  Smith. 

1841.  B.  English,  J.  Sewell,  J.  Stacy,  T. 
Hutchings,  city  missionary. 

1842.  B.  English,  H.  Spain,  A.  M.  Shipp. 
18 


206  METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON. 

1843.  Cumberland,  W.  0.  Kirkland;  Trinity, 
James  Stacy;  Bethel,  B.  Bass;  St.  James,  J. 
Nipper. 

1844.  Cumberland,  S.  W.  Capers;  Trinity, 
J.  Stacy;  Bethel,  William  C.  Kirkland;  St. 
James,  J.  A.  Porter. 

1845.  Cumberland,  S.  W.  Capers;  Trinity, 
T.  Huggins;  Bethel,  C.  H.  Pritchard;  St.  James, 
D.  Derrick. 

1846.  Cumberland,  S.  Leard;  Trinity,  W. 
Smith;  Bethel,  C  H.  Pritchard;  St.  James,  J. 
W.  Kelly. 

1847.  Cumberland,  A.  M.  Forster;  Trinity, 
Whitefoord  Smith;  Bethel,  W.  P.  Mouzon;  St. 
James,  M.  Eaddy. 

1848.  Cumberland,  W.  Smith ;  Trinity,  sup- 
plied by  Alexander  Speer,  local  preacher  of  Geor- 
gia ;  Bethel,  W.  P.  Mouzon ;  St.  James,  William 
T.  Capers. 

1849.  Cumberland,  W-  Smith ;  Trinity,  C.  H. 
Pritchard;  Bethel,  J.  A.  Porter;  St.  James,  A. 
G.  Stacy. 

1850.  Cumberland,  William  Gr.  Conner;  Trin- 


METHODISM   IN   CHARLESTON.  207 

ity,  James  Stacy ;  Bethel,  Henry  M.  Mood  ;    St. 
James,  A.  Gr.  Stacy. 

1851.  Cumberland,  W  A.  Gramewell;  Trin- 
ity, W.  A.  McSwain ;  Bethel,  C.  H.  Pritchard ; 
St.  James,  J.  R.  Pickett. 

1852.  Cumberland,  W.  Smith;  Trinity,  W. 
A.  McSwain;  Bethel,  C.  H.  Pritchard;  St.  James, 
John  B..  Pickett. 

1853.  Cumberland,  W.  Smith,  sup.,  .John  T. 
Wightman ;  Trinity,  C.  H.  Pritchard ;  Bethel, 
Joseph  Cross;  St.  James,  Allen  McCorquodale. 

1854.  Cumberland,  John.  T.  Wightman,  W. 
Smith,  sup.;  Trinity,  H.  C.  Parsons;  Bethel,  J. 
Cross;  St.  James,  A.  McCorquodale. 

1855.  Cumberland,  S.  Leard;  Trinity,  J. 
Cross;  Bethel,  J.  T.  Wightman;  St.  James, 
William  E.  Boone. 

1856.  Cumberland,  W  P.  Mouzon ;  Trinity, 
Joseph  Cross;  Bethel,  John  T.  Wightman,  St. 
James,  William  E.  Boone. 

THE    END.