St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish, South Carolina
United States Genealogy 
South Carolina St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish
History[edit | edit source]
St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish has served historic Charleston District and Berkeley County. Also known as White Church.[1] Pompion Hill Chapel served as a chapel of ease to St. Thomas parishioners.[2]
In the Colonial period, many Huguenots attended this church. It was the first South Carolina parish church built outside of Charleston.[3]
The churchwardens of St. Thomas and St. Dennis Parish reported the following poor tax statistics in 1751:
- 70,265 acres
- 2,062 slaves
- £21,366 at interest[4]
Founded[edit | edit source]
- 1706
Boundary[edit | edit source]
- Borders Christ Church, St. James Goose Creek, St. James Santee, St. John's Berkeley, St. Philip's and St. Michael's, and St. Stephen's parishes. For a map, see: Early parishes in South Carolina. An overlay of districts is available at Carolana.com.
Resources[edit | edit source]
Cemetery[edit | edit source]
More than 100 graves from the parish church cemetery are described at Find A Grave. Includes transcripts and select photographs.
Many graves from Pompion Hill Chapel Cemetery are also described at Find A Grave.
Genealogy[edit | edit source]
- Webber, Mabel L. "Moore of St. Thomas' Parish," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jul., 1926), pp. 156-169. Digital version at JSTOR ($).
Parish History[edit | edit source]
For a history of the parish, see Chapter 8, Parish of St. Thomas and St. Dennis, pages 284-294, in:
- Dalcho, Frederick. An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina from the First Settlement of the Province, to the War of the Revolution; with Notices of the Present State of the Church in Each Parish and Some Account of the Early Civil History of Carolina, Never Before Published. Charleston: E. Thayer, 1820. FHL Film 22657; digital versions at Google Books; Internet Archive.
Parish Records[edit | edit source]
St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish has a rich archive of early records, including accounts, minutes, marriages, baptisms, christenings, births, deaths, and burials. In the 1950s, they were kept at the Bishop's office, St. Philip's Church, Charleston. Copies: FHL Film 22660 Item 3. Parish register copies: FHL Films 22744 Item 6, 22660 Item 4.
Parish registers have been abstracted:
- Clute, Robert F. The Annals and Parish Register of St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish in South Carolina from 1680 to 1884. Charleston, S.C.: Evans & Cogswell, 1884. FHL Collection 975.7 A1 no. 33; digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books; Internet Archive; World Vital Records ($).
Marriage registers have been abstracted:
- Holcomb, Brent H. and Thomas L. Hollowak. South Carolina Marriages, 1688-1799. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. FHL Book 975.7 V2hsc v. 1
Abstracts of St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish Marriages 1751-1780 are available online, courtesy: South Carolina TriCounty Genealogy.
Websites[edit | edit source]
- St. Thomas Church, The Historical Marker Database
- White Church, Berkeley County (Cainhoy vicinity) in National Register Properties in South Carolina at SCDAH. Includes old photographs and history.
- Pompion Hill Chapel Marker, The Historical Marker Database
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ St. Thomas Church Marker, The Historical Marker Database, accessed 17 February 2011.
- ↑ Pompion Hill Chapel, The Historical Marker Database, accessed 17 February 2011.
- ↑ Frederick Dalcho, An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina from the First Settlement of the Province, to the War of the Revolution; with Notices of the Present State of the Church in Each Parish and Some Account of the Early Civil History of Carolina, Never Before Published (Charleston: E. Thayer, 1820), 284.
- ↑ Reported in the South Carolina Gazette, August 26, 1751, by Stephen Hartley and Andrew Hazell, Churchwardens, according to Philip D. Morgan, "A Profile of a Mid-Eighteenth Century South Carolina Parish: The Tax Return of Saint James', Goose Creek," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 81, No. 1 (Jan. 1980):52. Digital version at JSTOR ($).
