DEPARTMENT DF STATE
BEN W. FDRTSDN, JR. SECRETARY OF STATE
ATLANTA 3, GEDRQIA

Churches, I^lscopal St. Paul's %iiscopal Church (of Augusta) Richmond County
History. "First Days of St. Paul's Church,

Reel No. 327 Positive filed in

Augusta, Georgia; Paper Read Before the Laymen 's Kission League of

St.

Painul'spoCshsuercshs,i.oDneceomfb.eSr t2. ,

191C." Paul's

S^iscopal

Church

Augusta, Ga.

Date microfilmed-Feb. 9, I960

MICROFILME33 BTl H^CE MEtfBORN_

Georgia Department OF Microfilm Division 1516 Peachtree ST., NE Atlanta 9, Georgia.

Archives,

and Mstory

FIRST DAYS ST. PAUL'S , CHURCH
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA
Paper fead before the Laymen's Mission League of St, Paul's Guirch December 2, 1910.
JOSEPH R. LAMAR

FIRST DAYS OF
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH AUGUSTA GEORGIA
Paper read before the Laymen's Mission League St. Paul's Church December 2, 1910.
BY
JOSEPH R. LAMAR

Mr. Chairman:--
Some carping critic has sneeringly compared those interested in history to a rower who looks one way and pnlls another.
But while faith and hope look to the future, we are dependent upon the past for our knowledge, our experience, and often for our encouragement. We are heirs of all the ages. We have entered into other men's labors. We are debtors to the past, and can only pay that honest debt by transmitting, undiminished in quality and increased in quantity, the inheritance thus received.
At the end of the series of eloquent addresses on Missions by Dr. Patton, it may be possible to emphasize what he has said by showing that you yourselves are debtors to the Missionary spirit.
I do not mean an indebtedness to that first and greatest Missionary, St. Paul, who carried light from Asia to Europe in a blazing torch; nor to the subsequent historic work of the countless men who lighted their lamps and carried the fiame into Gaul and then to Britain; nor to those influences which developed a Christian civilization which is, at last and above all, our greatest heritage. I refer to your own debt to Missions. For it can be shown that here, on the banks of the Savannah, in the City of Augusta, you are specially and particularly indebted to missionary zeal, and that your venerable and historic St. Paul's was once itself a Mission.
In endeavoring to establish that fact I must ask you to go back in imagination a long, long way. To a period when there were only 500,000 inhabitants in the Thirteen Colonies--to a time when the total
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popnlation of Georgia was 4,400 and Augusta had 50 houses and 300 inhabitants.
You must picture Augusta in 1745, in the days when Georgia was controlled by a Board of Trusees; who, sitting in London, directed the most minute affairs of the young Colony in distant America, even ordering the laying out of the very streets of the little town of Augusta on the Savannah River. Those streets were not named, but the town then embraced the narrow strip between the River and what are now McIntosh, Ellis and Lincoln Streets. This strip was surrounded on the East, South and West by "Commons," in which every owner of a town lot had what the lawyers call "Common of Pasture," and was also entitled to "Common of Estovers," or right to cut timber for fire and fences. This building in which we now sit, on the corner of Broad and Jackson Streets, was a part of what was then "West Commons."
On the Bluff, at what is now the corner of Washington and Bay, was Fort Augusta,--built of logs,-- in which was stationed a Company of English Rangers consisting of 20 men commanded by Capt. William Kent of the British Army. There were five warehouses in the village, in which were stored the guns, bayonets, flint-locks, powder, beads, trinkets, blankets, used in barter with the Indians, to be given in exchange for deer skin, beaver and furs. That was then a surprisingly extensive business, in which the Augusta traders employed 2,000 horses. At the annual "round-up" when these 2,000 pack horses returned, laden with furs and followed by the Indians, who ever fiocked to the little town, the village presented a busy scene. It taxed to its capacity what we call Broad Street, which had been
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laid out, Spanish fashion, as a sort of plaza, and was

then nearly twice as wide as it is now.

We may be sure that when the traders returned

from their distant trips to the Creeks and Cherokees,

some having even gone beyond what is now the Ten-

nessee and Mississippi line, they, as well as the In-

dians who returned with them, often drank deep of

"fire water". And Broad Street, crowded with

horses, with here and there a tent or an Indian tepee,

witnessed many a noisy and exciting scene, as men

rode wildly through the lawless and turbulent crowd.

The continued scenes of disorder and riot, the noisy brawls, finally led the more peaceably disposed to

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ask Captain Kent to exercise the powers of a Peace

Officer. And this he did--the absence of a Commis-

sion from the Trustee being supplied by the support

of public opinion.

Lord Egmont enters in his Journal for August

1740 that ` ` Colonel Oglethorpe writes that they have

built a pretty Town House in Augusta ' ', and we are

justified in supposing that Captain Kent, as self-

constituted law officer held his first court in this

"pretty Town House," and punished some one or

more of these offenders. But his technically illegal

conduct was, no doubt, reported by one of the mis-

demeanants who had felt the heavy hand of the

"Captain Justice," and this resulted in the Grand

Jury in Savannah indicting Captain Kent for unlaw-

fully usurping such jurisdiction. When, however,

the Trustees in London heard of what had been

done, and the occasion therefor, and realized the

necessity of having an officer nearer than Savannah,

they ratified the action of the citizens, and commis-

sioned Captain Kent as "Conservator of the Peace."

Let us hope that he restored order. With returning

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order, or for other reason, there came a desire for a Church in which to worship.
There are few letters from or concerning Augusta at this time. We have one or two brief descriptions hy persona who passed through the little settlement, and one letter dated Augusta, written hy Col. Oglethorpe in 1739. But there is absolutely nothing from the people of Augusta themselves; no word or record from them prior to 1749, when there appears the first authentic record now existing of the life of the little community.
It is peculiarly appropriate to be read on this occasion because it tells, in some slight measure, of the preliminary public movement, out of which St. Paul's Church was built and organized. It shows that there then lived in Augusta the ancestor of that useful but unpopular citizen,--whose tribe has immensely increased, and whose numerous descendants are with us to this day,--who carries around the subscription paper. He, however, did what some of his descendants have not always done. He secured the necessary pledges, and collected the money with which to build. But a great question arose as to where the building should be erected. It was at first decided that it should be erected "adjoining the Port," as being a place of safety from the ever present danger of savage assaults. But some thought that it should be put at the extreme outer edge of the town, away out beyond Ellis Street, on the Commons, where Greene Street now stretches its leafy way. These seem to have carried the day, and on July 26, 1749, Mr. James Fraser, for himself and others of Augusta, delivered a memorial to the President and Assistants in Savannah, reciting that "the inhabitants of Augusta had subscribed and gathered
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a considerable sum of money for the building of a church there, intending to build the same adjoining the Port. But as many inconveniences might arise from such a situation, they now desire that the same may be built on some part of the common belonging to the Town."
Thereupon, it was ordered that they be "authorized to take a piece of ground on the said Common, not exceeding two acres, to build the said Church."
But when the leading citizens returned from their long and perilous journey to Savannah, bringing with them a Deed to two acres of land and permission to build the church on the Common, they must have been met with a loud protest from many,-- some of whom were not overly anxious to go to church at all,--who no doubt announced that they would never attend a church built in so remote and dangerous a situation as Greene Street.
They no doubt stood on their rights, and insisted that they would not pay their subscriptions unless the church was built "near the Port" as originally intended, and on the faith of which they had subscribed. They prevailed, and now the little town, which, for fourteen years, had been without a church, and for fourteen years had never heard a sermon, began to build on the present site "within the curtain of the Port," or, as Bishop Perry says; "under cover of the guns of the Fort".
But though the traders and soldiers and citizens could build the walls, they could not fill the pulpit, and there went up from the settlement on the banks of the Savannah the Macedonian cry: "Come over and help us. Send us a Missionary." This we know. This is matter of record, because their Minutes show that on August 8, 1750, the Trustees in
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London read "a Petition from the inhabitants of Augusta to procure a Missionary for that town to be appointed by the Incorporated Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts."
That petition contains some facts of local interest. It was entered on the Minutes of the Society and reads as follows:
TO THE INCOKPOBATED SOCIETY FOR PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS.
The Memorial of the Truftees for estahlifhing the Colony of Georgia in America SHOWETH
That in the month of June 1749 the Society were pleased to continue the Reverend Mr. Bartholomew Zouberbuhler a Mifsionary at Savannah in the Province of Georgia, with a Salary of Fifty ponds a year, to which he had been appointed about three years before--
That the said Mr. Zouberbuhler is the only Mifsionary in the said Province--
That the settlements around Savannah are grown so numerous, that the said Mifsionary's Duty at Savannah requires his Attendance on the said Settlements--
That the Town of Augusta in the said Province is large, and contains a great number of Inhabitants, and at so great a diftance from Savannah (being at least 140 miles) that Mr. Zouberbuhler's Duty at Savannah and the adjoining Settlements will not suffer him to perform any Duty there--
That the Inhabitants of the said Town of Augusta have at their own Expence erected an handfome and convenient Church and have transmitted
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a petition to the Truftees, to proeeure from this venerable Society, a Minifter to be appointed for the said Town, a copy of which Petition is herewith inclofed, with a plan of the Church--
That the smallnefs of the Parliaments Grant for the Truftees, and the short time during which they can hope for any (as their Power of Governing the said Province will expire within three Years) make it impofsible for the Truftees to engage such a Mifsionary, or fettle any Stipend upon him; But they intend to Grant to the Petitioners the Ground for the Church and Churchyard, and Three Hundred Acres of Land to be cultivated for the support of the Minifter there, and the Pulpit Cloth and other things which they desire--
The Truftees therefore hope and defire this venerable Society will appoint a Mifsionary for the said Town of Augufta, as one is so much wauted there. Signed by order of the said Truftees, the 8th day of August 1750.
Benj. Martin. (Seal)
One week later the Trustees of the Colony of Georgia met in the Vestry-room in St. Margarets Church, in London, and passed the following Resolution; w'hich is the second recorded utterance in the ecclesiastical History of Augusta:
"Resolved. That it be recommended to Com"mon Council--[the Executive branch of the then "Colonial government]--to make a proper convey"ance of the ground upon which the Church is built "at Augusta and of the Church Yard to belong "thereto, as also to grant three hundred Acres of
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"land to be cultivated for the support of a Minister "there.
"Resolved. That it be recommended to the Com"mon Council to order some glass to be sent over "for the windows of said Church, as also a Pul"pit cloth and furniture for the communion table, "to be sent over when a Missionary is appointed by "the Incorporated Society, and under his care."
Think of it I Think of Augusta ever having been in "Foreign parts." Think of this quiet, conservative, peaceful, law abiding City, with its multitude of churches and its years of religous history, having ever been a Mission Station!
It was no easy matter to grant the request. The demand then, as now, was greater than the supply, and it was not until six months later that the Society secured the services of the Reverend Mr. Copp, as Missionary to Augusta. He left London about May 1751, bringing with him the window glass, church furniture and deed to the glebe land of three hundred acres. He arrived in Augusta about three months later, and found the church almost completed. The window glass--probably the only window glass in the town, when put in--no doubt excited the amazement of the recently imported Africans, the Indians, and possibly of some of the small boys born in the town, who had never before seen such a sight. It puzzled them that the glass could resist storm and touch, and yet admit light from within and without.
There were no saw mills in the Colony, and the bnilding, if not of logs, was of rough hewn timbers. But it was a Church. It was a sacred edifice, and the hearts of those Indian traders and rough frontiersmen would not be satisfied until it bore an out-
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ward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. And so they had erected a steeple. They put within it a bell, and we can imagine the feeling of devout pride when first "it rang the call to prayer. ' '
That first day in St. Paul's must have witnessed the assembling of the whole population--for it, a great congregation. There were many rough men, few women and few children. In the corners crouched a few savage Indians and half savage blacks draw by the novelty of the scene. As the Reverend Mr. Copp read for the first time in Augusta, from the stately service of the church of England, "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him," the eyes of men unused to tears, grew moist, and their hearts swelled with emotion. It was a temple, a Holy Temple, and in awed silence they followed the words of the Minister of God.
Every white man in that audience was an Englishman. Most of them had lived in London. The older men had witnessed the completion, in 1697, of that splendid Cathedral on Ludgate Hill designed by the great Sir Christopher Wren. Some of the older men perhaps, had even labored in the erection of that mighty building. Many of them had worshipped within its walls. Possibly Mr. Copp, or others in the assembly, had been members of that Parish. And in their honest pride in the work of their hands, and the difSculties they had overcome here in the wilderness, they thought it no unworthy tribute to name the little Church on the Savannah, after that historic Cathedral near the banks of tbe Thames in London.
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And thus thinking of the great Missionary Apostle, and also of that stupendous pile in London, they named their Church St. Paul's, and so St. Paul's it was. After a hundred and sixty years, St. Paul's it is. For many a long Century, St. Paul's may it remain!
Immediately after the completion of the Church, letters were written to the Trustees in London, and to his Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury, expressive of the thanks of the inhabitants for what had been done in their behalf in sending Mr. Copp, in making a grant of the glebe lands and for the church furniture. One of those letters has been lost. Eecently, and by a mere accident, I came across a reference to the other, a letter of Captain George Cadogan and his fellow committeemen, written from Augusta, on August 31, 1751.' I immediately wrote to England for a copy. The Agent in London found it in that treasure house of ancient documents--the Library of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in Lambeth Palace. By special permission the original was transmitted to the British Museum, and there the Agent was permitted to make a copy.
It reached me a few days before the invitation to make this address and I accepted, on condition that I might read this old letter which has never been published. I believe that it is the oldest document extant that relates to Augusta. It is not only of interest in itself, but of peculiar interest to this gathering because it tells you something about the Mission Church and gives you some little insight into the affairs of that small town on the banks of the Savannah. It is written in the ancient style. The nouns all begin with capitals. There is no
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punctuation. Some of the spelling is an improvement on Webster. It is crude and quaint, but it is filled with a spirit of courtesy and appreciation for what had been done in the writers' behalf, and it also somewhat naively suggests the need of further assistance.
[Lambeth Palace Libbaby 1123] Honobable Gentlemen
As we Doubt not the generous Intentions of the Trustees for Establishing this Colony it gives us the greater Encouragement to aply to your Honours for this Particular District in order to render so useful a Frontier as religious as beneficial.-- With the utmost gratitude therefore for your Honours Complyance to our Petition We return our thanks little indead in Comparison to those Hapinesses you may expect for promoteing a Work to which Eternal Rewards are annexed.
The Letters from Mr. Martyn & Mr. Verelst from England & from Mr. Habersham at Savannah acquainting ns with the Arrival of those things you were pleas'd to grant are further Instances of your goodness for the better Establishment of this Township and improvements of its Inhabitants, a township, which in our Opinion in its consequence as a Frontier shou'd not be neglected,--You have indead Honourable Gentlemen added a religious Zeal to our private Interest which Already manifasts itself in the immediate Contributions of the Inhabitants and other transient Persons towards the Ministers House, for which purpose 120 Ster: was soon subscrib'd and agreable to the reverend Mr. Copp we have fixed the dimensions of it vizt 26 feet by 18 two storys high to which a Kitcheon at one
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End 18 ft by 16, a Stack of Brick Chimneys to

contain three Fire Places and an Oven--the whole

to be compleated in the best & most expeditious

manner We can.

A large Spott of ground for a Garden is some

time Since fenc'd in and a Tract of about ten Acres

quite clear & good pasturage round the whole is to

be so likewise the Rails being provided & most of

them on the ground for that Purpose ready.

With regard to Mr. Copp's Salary the Committee

have taken care that his first years of 20 Ster-

*

ling shall be collected by them & Quarterly paid

without any Trouble to him--but here arises a

difficulty--This district not being erected into a

Parish with proper officers, such as Church wardens

&c. and the care of the Committee terminating when

We have finished the Ministers House we are at

a Loss without your Honours assistance in the Case

to make Such Salary Permanent & certain As the

dispositions of Mankind in general, with regard to

Voluntary Contributions are not always to be de-

pended upon. We therefore beg Leave to recom-

mend it to your Honour's consideration whether its

not necessary to Erect this Township into a parish

with Power to Church wardens to asses the Inhabi-

tants according to their circumstances for the

future payment of such Salary at Least till such

time as by-Laws may be made by a General Assembly

relative to whole Province.

We would not Trouble your Honours for anything

we cod conveniently get here tho a Pall for Fun-

nerals Damask Linen for the Communion Table

& such Household furniture for the Ministers'

House as Mr. Copp infor'd us You were so good to

hint the sending to him & which he Seams to ex-

pect would be very necessary.

<

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We found it requisite to have a BeU for the Steeple

& bought the largest We cod get in Charlestown

But we find it much to small as many of the In-

habitants live at to great a distance from the

Church, & therefore of small benefit to them One

of about 200 wt. wod fully answer the Intent but

cannot be got in this part of the world such a pres-

sent would be highly grateful to us--The Recommendation of Mr. Copp (which we hope he will

answer) obliges us among your many other Favours

to Acknowledge with the most Hearty Thanks your care & goodness and throu your Honours We also

beg Leave to offer the Same Sentiments to the venerable Society.

The goodness of his Grace of Canterbury requires

from our gratitude a particular Letter which we

hope he will not think to presuming as it contains

only the results of Hearts truely Sensible of his

great Benevolence and assureing him that his Name

will always Live in these parts.

We understand that your Honours have several

Books by You & we know no Place in this Province

where Some may be more usefull than here. Wee

are Loath to add Bequest upon Bequest but this as

well as all other matters submit to the supperior Judgment of those who it is our interest as well as

Duty to obey & to whom We are with the utmost

respect & Gratitude Your most obedient & most Humble Servants, Geo Cadogan John Bae

James Fraser

James Gamble

Augusta

Da.Douglas

31 August 1751

.

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There was, no doubt, much correspondence between Mr. Copp and the Society, but there is a hiatus in the Eecords to which I have had access. Prom a copy of the Minutes of the Society, which I have seen, we can, however, learn something of what went forward. For example their Minutes of June 21, 1754 refer to
"A letter from the Eev.d. Mr. Copp Mifsionary at Augusta in Georgia, dated March 30th. 1754, acquainting that the Inhabitants have greatly increased of late, but his Congregation is about 80 or 100 persons, and their regular Communicants are only 12, that at the Eequest of the Governor of South Carolina and of the Inhabitants of New Windsor in that Province, Eode over and preached once in a month; for which the House of Afsembly were pleased to allow him 17 Sterling P. annum without which Gratuity, he could not well have subsisted his Wife and Children. The Parsonage House was not yet finished, nor the Glebe Cultivated, ... "
Again on April 18, 1755 the Minutes refer to
"A letter from the Eev.d. Mr. Copp the Society's Mifsionary at Augusta in Georgia dated Nov. the 6th. 1754, acquainting, that the Parsonage House was finished between 27 feet in length & 18 in breadth with a Kitchen annexed, & would make a pretty good one were there any glass windows in it; but for want of them it is uncomfortable in the winter Season. Mr. Copp says he constantly officiates in the Church, & Endeavours to explain & persuade his Congregation to the practice of the Christtion Eeligion, & he has the Satisfaction to see it held in great esteem (tho not without gainsayers)
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& to be more countenanced by many then heretofore: . . The number of his communicants is 15. He says that his Situation is very dangerous, for that since the defeat on the Ohio the French Indians have been almost within that Neighborhood at an out Settlement, where they have Killed & Scalped 14 or 15 Persons & carried as many more into Slavery: he adds that he had lately received an Invitation from the People of Norwalk in Connecticut, which if the Society shall approve of & remove their present Mifsionary, he is willing to accept."
We know that a community peopled by reckless and daring frontiersmen did not instantly become a model of propriety because the Missionary had come, and the Church had been opened. It was a hard field to which Mr. Copp had been sent and probably the subscriptions to his salary were not promptly paid, for as Captain Cadogan said in the letter which I have read:
"The dispositions of mankind in general with regard to voluntary contributions, are not always to be depended upon."
And a community which for fourteen years, had been without a Minister or religious influence, no doubt had scoffers and men to thwart every good work of the Missionary from England. At least it appears that he did not remain in Augusta many years. (History of the Am. Episcopal Church by Bishop Perry, vol. 1, p. 356.)
The Church building itself was a place of refuge from the Indian attacks which, about this time, broke out in all the outlying settlements. This we learn from the petition presented in 1761 to the Commons
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House of Assembly in Savannah. The House minutes contain this entry:
"A petition of the Church Wardens and Vestry of the Parish Church of St. Paul was presented to the House and Head.
"Setting forth that the Church and Parsonage House of the said Parish are in a very Euinous and decayed Condition the former so much so that no repair Whatever can render it fit for service.
"That this decayed State hath been chiefly Occasioned by length of time, but helped by the unavoidable uses to which those two Edifices were appropriated during the late Cherokee War and Creek Alarm to wit, as places of Reception for the Persona and Effects of the out Inhabitants of that part of the Province.
"That the aforesaid Church and Parsonage House were at first Built by Private Subscription to which the Parishoners Contributed Cheerfully According to their ability and thereby prevented an Expence to the Publick.
"That the said Parish hath been for some Considerable time past without a minister of the Gospel and as a Favourable opportunity now offers for the Inhabitants thereof to Avail themselves of one they Would Willingly Embrace it.
"That the Inhabitants of the said Parish are Incapable of going through the Whole Expence of Building a New Church and repairing the Parsonage House but will Contribute thereto according to their Ability, and
Therefore Praying that an Act of General Assembly might pass this Present session for the building a New Church and repairing the
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Parsonage House in the Parish aforesaid and that this House would be pleased to grant for those Purposes Such a Sum of Money as this House should think Proper.
"Ordered that Mr. Barnard Mr. McGillivray and Mr. Graham be a Committee to Examine the Matter of the said Petition and Report the same as it shall appear to them, to the House, And then the House Adjourn 'till To-morrow Morning Nine O'clock."
You will notice that all the time these people were asking and receiving assistance, they were at the same time doing all they could for themselves. They had built a cburch. 'They had built the parsonage at a cost of 120 Sterling, which, considering the purchasing power of money then, was equivalent to $3,000 now. The church and the parsonage had been destroyed in tbe public service during the Indian war. Undiscouraged, they had begun to rebuild, and obtained 100 assistance from Commons House of Assembly, which in 1753, had succeeded to the powers of the Trustees in London. The Assembly had established St. Paul's Parish and for a while appropriated 50 pounds per annum to the support of the Minister. But the heavy losses and these heavy charges made it impossible for the citizens to bear all the expense, and while they paid part of the salary, they were still dependent upon the Society in London.
They were not willing to remain without a Minister, and again, in 1764, application was made to the Society which appointed the Rev. Mr. Samuel Prink, M. A., a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge. He gave great satisfaction to the community, as
in

we learn from an entry of the Commons House of Assembly, in December 1765, reading as follows:
"A petition of the Church wardens and vestry of the Parish of St. Paul in behalf of themselves and the rest of the inhabitants of the said Parish, setting forth that in consequence of an application some time since made by the Petitioners of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts to send them a Missionary, the Reverend Mr. Samuel Frink A: M: a worthy, pious, learned Clergyman has been appointed for that Purpose and resided among the Petitioners near a Year and acquitted him in the Discharge of his Function with universal liking and Approbation--That in Consequence of several Emoluments which the Petitioners set forth to the said Society that would have accrued to a Clergyman in the Parish aforesaid (but some of which had since failed) the Society thought proper to allow their Missionary only Thirty Pounds Per Annum--That from the failure of the aforesaid emoluments the Petitioners with Concern behold their worthy Rector disappointed of near forty Pounds Per Annum whereby his Income is insufficient to support the Dignity of the Station. And further setting forth that the Petitioners have endeavored as far as their circumstances would permit (by private Subscription amongst themselves) to relieve the aforesaid Dissappointment, but not being able wholy to do so they therefore pray'd the Honorable House would be pleased to assist them by such Augmentation of the Salary already established for a Clergyman as to its Wisdom shall seem meet. ' '
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We know, from letters to the Society and its Minutes, that the Reverend Mr. Ellington succeeded Mr. Frink, and that the Reverend Mr. Seymour succeeded him as Missionary to Augusta, being appointed, and in part supported, by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. (History of Am. Episcopal Church, vol. 1, p. 357; vol. 2, p. 203-4.)
He remained for many years in this community, during which time the work, influence and numbers of the church grew with the rapid growth of the town. Although he adhered to the cause of the Mother Country, he retained the respect and affection of many citizens and finally left because the Church again was occupied by men of war and used for military purposes during the siege of Augusta.
The church and the parsonage were practically destroyed during the engagements in and around Fort Augusta; which was first captured by the Americans; recaptured by the English and named Fort Cornwallis; again recaptured by the Americans to become again Fort Augusta. At last in the days of peace it ceased to be a Fort and gave place in time to the beautiful and venerable church which now stands on the spot which has been the scene of the bloodiest and fiercest scenes in the history of Augusta.
But the brief records of that far away time speak of a Missionary church there. They tell a story of privations borne, of difficulties overcome, and of duty performed, in which you must take deep satisfaction. Indeed, as a great writer has said, there is no pride which exceeds that which a successful man feels when he compares the achievements of his
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greatness with his day of small things. And well may you congratulate yourselves when you think of the small acorn from which the tall oak has grown. But mingled with your pride must be the sense of obligation imposed. Realizing the benefits which you have received, the sacrifices which have been made in the past, and the long years of faithful service by men into whose labors you have entered, each voice here must join in repeating the language of the great St. Paul himself when he said, "Freely ye have received, freely give."
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