St. Davids Parish, South Carolina
United States Genealogy 
South Carolina St. David's Parish
History[edit | edit source]
During the Revolutionary war St. David’s Church was used as quarters for the South Carolina militia and as a hospital for the British troops under Major McArthur, who was under Lord Cornwallis’s command.[1]
Before the American Revolution, the state church of South Carolina was the Church of England (the Anglican Church, or Protestant Episcopal Church). Besides keeping parish registers, the church kept many records of a civil nature in their vestry books. The Vestry was as much a political body as a religious one. The wardens and commissioners were responsible for the roads, education, the poor and orphans, voting and collecting taxes in addition to their church duties.
Founded[edit | edit source]
St. David's Parish (Cheraw, Chesterfield, SC) was created in 1768 from the northeast corner of the Georgetown District and most or all of the Cheraw District.[2]
Boundary[edit | edit source]
Borders: Prince Frederick and St. Mark's parishes, and the North Carolina border. For a map, see: Early parishes in South Carolina. An overlay of districts is available at Carolana.com.
Areas Served: St. David's Parish served:[2]
- Cheraw and part of Georgetown districts 1768-1800[2]
- Chesterfield, Marlboro, and Darlington counties since 1785[3][4]
- part of Liberty County 1785-1798,[3] and thereafter part of Marion County since 1798[5]
- the north tip of Kingston County 1785-1801,[3] and thereafter the tip of Horry County[6]
- part of Florence County since 1888[7]
- part of Lee County since 1902[8]
- Dillon County since 1910[8]
Modern equivalents: The original parish covered what are present-day Chesterfield, Marlboro, Darlington, and Dillon counties, and parts of present-day Lee, Florence, Marion, and Horry counties.[2][8]
Record Loss[edit | edit source]
- Lost parish registers: 1768 to 1818
Resources[edit | edit source]
Parish History[edit | edit source]
- St. David's Episcopal Church. Women's Auxiliary. Chapter B. Old St. David's, Cheraw, South Carolina, 1770-1947. Cheraw, S.C.: Lillian Lovelace, 1975. FHL Book 975.763/C1 K2o
For an early history of the parish, see Chapter 14, St. David's Parish, pages 326-327, in:
- Dalcho, Frederick. An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina from the First Settlement of the Province, to the War of the Revolution; with Notices of the Present State of the Church in Each Parish and Some Account of the Early Civil History of Carolina, Never Before Published. Charleston: E. Thayer, 1820. FHL Film 22657; digital versions at Google Books; Internet Archive.
Parish Records[edit | edit source]
The original parish registers are kept in [Charleston?], South Carolina. Copies of a transcript: FHL Film 22742 Item 6. Published abstracts:
- Holcomb, Brent H. and St. David's Episcopal Church. St. David's Parish, South Carolina: Minutes of the Vestry, 1768-1832; Parish Register, 1819-1924. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1979. FHL Book 975.763/C1 K2h
Taxation[edit | edit source]
- General Tax Collection List, Parish of St. David, 1783-1787, Darlington Flag, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Winter 2008).
Websites[edit | edit source]
- Old St. David's Marker, The Historical Marker Database
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wiki Contributors, "Cheraw, South Carolina," Wikipedia, accessed 25 January 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "South Carolina Districts and Parishes - 1770" [map] in Carolana at http://www.carolana.com/SC/Royal_Colony/sc_royal_colony_districts_parishes_1770.html (accessed 7 May 2011).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "South Carolina Districts and County - 1785" [map] in Carolana at http://www.carolana.com/SC/Early_Statehood/sc_statehood_1800_districts_counties_1785.html (accessed 24 May 2011).
- ↑ Brent H. Holcomb, St. David's Parish, South Carolina: Minutes of the Vestry, 1768-1832; Parish Register, 1819-1924 (Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1979), introduction.
- ↑ "South Carolina Districts and County - 1792 to 1799" [map] in Carolana at http://www.carolana.com/SC/Early_Statehood/sc_statehood_1800_districts_counties_1799.html (accessed 24 May 2011).
- ↑ "South Carolina Districts - 1810" [map] in Carolana at http://www.carolana.com/SC/1800s/sc_1800s_districts_1810.html (accessed 24 May 2011).
- ↑ "South Carolina Counties - 1890" [map] in Carolana at http://www.carolana.com/SC/1800s/sc_1800s_counties_1890.html (accessed 24 May 2011).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "South Carolina Counties - 1910" [map] in Carolana at http://www.carolana.com/SC/1900s/sc_1900s_counties_1910.html (accessed 24 May 2011).
