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CHAPTER VIII.

Parish of St. Thomas and St. Dennis..

THESE Parishes were at first distinct. St. Dennis was settled by French Protestants soon after the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, in 1685. St. Thomas' Parish was laid off, with several others, Nov. 30, 1706; and its boundaries defined by another Act passed Dec. 18, 1708, as follows: "to the N. E. by the Bounds of Craven County; to the South by the bounds of Christ Church Parish and Wando River; to the West by Cooper River, to that tract of land, commonly called the Hagin, inclusive, and to the North by the Eastern branch of the said Cooper River, to the Plantation of the Right Hon. Sir Nathaniel Johnson, Knight, Governor, exclusive, and then, by an East line from the northernmost Part of the said Plantation to the bounds of Craven County.* The first Church was built in 1703, by the private subscription of the Parishioners, and the liberal assistance of Sir Nathaniel Johnson. This was the first Episcopal Church in the Province, out of Charles-Town. It was erected on the eastern side of the east branch of Cooper River; was built of cypress 30 feet square, upon a small hill, usually called Pompion hill, which gave its name to the Church. It was afterwards used as a

*It was declared by an Act, March 5, 1736-7, that the Parishes of St Thomas and St. Dennis "were bounded by the most northerly branch of the said Eastern branch of Cooper river."

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Chapel of Ease. The Parish Church was built pursuant to an Act passed in 1706. It was of brick, and was erected on a neck of land, on the N. W. side of Wando River. It was begun in 1707, and finished in 1708; the latter date is inscribed on one of the bricks. There were 200 acres of Land attached to it, as a Glebe, and 420 to the Chapel of Ease. The money allowed by government for building the Parsonage House, being insufficient, it was placed at Interest, until it should amount to the sum required.

In 1709, the Rev. Thomas Hasell,* A. M. was sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, as a Missionary to this Parish. He was born in England, and was Ordained Deacon, April 10th, 1705, by Dr. Compton, Bishop of London. On his arrival in Carolina, in 1705, he was employed by the Society as a Catechist in CharlesTown, and discharged his duties with diligence and success. In 1709 he went to England and was Ordained Priest, July 31st, by the Bishop of London. Mr. Hasell was very successful in his Mission, which he ascribed, under God, to the distribution of the Book of Common Prayer. In 1713, the Parish contained about 120 families, including the Orange Settlement, of French Protestants.+

In March 1721, Richard Beresford, Esq. of this Parish died, and by his will made the following provision for the education of the poor:

"Item. I Give, Devise and Bequeath unto the said Colonel Thomas Broughton, his Executors and Administrators, all the Rest and Residue of the yearly Profits and Produce of my said Real and Personal Estate, not herein before Devised, until my said Son shall attain to his age of one and twenty years, upon

*Three of the descendants of Mr. Hasell are now in the Church in this Diocess: the Rev. Christopher E. Gadsden, D. D. Rector of St. Philip's, Charleston; the Rev. Allston Gibbes, and the Rev. Henry Gibbes, Minister of All Saints, Waccamaw.

+ In 1819, St. Thomas and St. Dennis contained 212 white inhabitants.

the further special Trust and Confidence, and for the several Uses, Intents and Purposes herein after mentioned; that is to say, Upon Trust, that he the said Thomas Broughton, Do yearly and every year, Pay the same into the hands of the Vestry, for the time being, of the Parish of St. Thomas in Berkley County, to be disposed of by the said Vestry, or the major part of them, in manner following, that is to say, one third part thereof to the Schoolmaster, or Schoolmasters of the said Parish, (for the time being) and the other two thirds of the said Residue of the said Profits and Produce of my said Real and Personal Estate, until my said Son shall come of age, for and towards the support, maintenance, tuition and education of the children of the Poor of the said Parish as shall be there sent to School, during the time aforesaid, there to be taught and instructed in Reading, Writing and Casting Accounts, Learning of the several Languages, Mathematics, or other Liberal Learning, and Education, as the said Vestry shall Direct, and in Case there shall be no Schoolmaster or Schoolmasters, Reading and Teaching in the said Parish of St. Thomas', I will, That the said Vestry do Employ the said Profits of my said Estate, so paid into their Hands, towards the building of a School or Schools in the said Parish, until a Schoolmaster or Schoolmasters can or may conveniently be had, or put the same out at Interest for any of the Purposes aforesaid, as they shall think best and most convenient."

The Vestry accordingly received from his estate, £6,500, Car. Money, for promoting these pious and charitable purposes. They laid out £1200, in the purchase of a plantation, about half a mile from the Church, containing 600 acres, with convenient buildings upon it, for the intended School, and placed the balance of the money at interest, upon landed security. This charitable foundation was called by the Vestry

Beresford Bounty. Their Seal for this Trust has the following Motto:

Deus Benedicat Operi et faventibus.

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The Vestry were Incorporated May 29th, 1736, the more effectually to enable them to execute the Trust of the Testator.* This is the only instance of the Incorporation of a Vestry under the establishment. The Rectors, for the time being, were incorporate, and possessed the usual powers of corporate bodies.†

In 1728, the inhabitants of this Parish, including the Orange settlement, were computed to amount to 565 whites, 950 negroes, 60 Indian slaves, and 20 free negroes.

Desirous of fulfilling the trust reposed in them by Mr. Beresford, the Vestry addressed a Letter to the Bishop of London, requesting him to recommend a Person qualified to take charge of the School.

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The laudable and Christian example set to the Parishioners by Mr. Beresford, was followed by Mr. Richard Harris.

The following extract is taken from his Will, dated Jan. 10, 1731-2.

"Item. I give and bequeath to the Minister and Vestry of the Parish of St. Thomas, and their Successors for the time being, the sum of Five Hundred Pounds Current Money of this Province, to be put out at Interest by my Executor till the same shall arise to the sum of one Thousand Pounds, which said Thou

*It was provided by the Act, that, no person be deemed a Member of the said Vestry, until he had taken the following Oath: "I, A. B. do solemnly and sincerely acknowledge and swear, that I do not owe or am indebted to the Vestry of the Parish of St. Thomas, in Berkley County, on account of the donation of Richard Beresford, Esq. deceased, any sum or sums of Money whatsoever, and I do solemnly promise, that I will not, during the time of my being a Vestryman, apply for or take up at Interest any sum or sums of Money of or from the said Vestry, and that I will well and faithfully execute the Office of a Vestryman of the Parish of St. Thomas, and to the utmost of my power observe and follow the directions of the Act of the General Assembly made for Incorporating the said Vestry, and for other purposes in the said Act mentioned. So help me God." It was likewise directed that, duplicates of the Treasurer's Accounts, and a copy of the proceedings of the Vestry, be laid before ile Court of Chancery, once every year.

+See Church Act, Appendix 1. Ï. S. XV.

sand Pounds shall be paid by my Executor to the Minister and Vestry of the Parish of St. Thomas', and be by them put out at Interest for ever, and the Interest arising thereby to be applied towards the Education and Maintenance of the Poor Children of the said Parish, and for no other use whatsoever.".

In the division of the lower part of the Province into Parishes, Nov. 30, 1706, the French settlement, called Orange Quarter, fell within the limits of St. Thomas'; but as few of the Inhabitants understood English sufficiently to attend the service of the church, it was erected into a distinct Parish and called St. Dennis. They had a small church of their own, and it was well attended while they had a French Clergyman. The Rev. Mr. Le Pierre was their only Minister. Their means being inadequate to the support of a Clergyman, they petitioned the Assembly to be made a Parish, and to have a public allowance, like other Parishes, for the support of a Minister Episcopally ordained, who should use the Liturgy of the Church of England, but should preach in French.

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The Assembly enacted, Dec. 18, 1708, that, Whereas by the above-mentioned Limits and Bounds of the several Parishes of St. Thomas and St. Dennis, [established by this Act,] the said Parish of St. Dennis is included in the said Bounds, and it will be difficult at present to fix the Bounds of the said Parish of St. Dennis, lying in the midst of the Bounds, and designed at the present only for the use of the French Settlement which, at present, are mixed with English. Be it therefore further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the French Congregation of the Church of St. Dennis, only shall be liable to the Charges and Parochial Duties belonging to the said Church, during the time that the Divine Service of the said Congregation, be in the French Language, and that for the future, when the Service shall be performed in the English Language, the said Church of St. Dennis shall become

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