Appendix E

COMMISSIONERS OF ST . MICHAEL ’S CHURCH

Othniel Beale (1688?–1773)

Born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Othniel Beale was a ship captain in the Carolina trade and settled in Charles Town as a merchant in 1721. By the 1730s, he had become one of the leading merchants in the lucrative Indian trade. The firm of Othniel Beale & Son had its stores and wharf on the Bay, where Beale amassed a considerable fortune without engaging in the slave trade. His home, located at present-day 97–101 East Bay Street, was built opposite his wharf after the Fire of 1740 devastated most of Charles Town’s waterfront. He was justice of the peace for Berkeley County and firemaster of Charles Town and served on numerous commissions. He sat on the Council for seventeen years and was appointed its president after five years. A highly competent engineer, in 1752 Beale was named superintendent in charge of rebuilding Charles Town’s defense line between Broughton’s Battery and Granville Bastion after a severe hurricane struck the city. Beale rose to the rank of colonel in the militia and commanded the Charles Town Regiment for many years. As a Congregationalist, in 1770 Beale objected to an education bill with provisions for instruction of the precepts of the Church of England, preferring that schools teach only secular subjects. His children were baptized in St. Philip’s Church, and he owned pews in both St. Philip’s and St. Michael’s churches. Beale died in 1773 and was buried in St. Philip’s Churchyard. ²⁸⁴

William Bull Jr.* (1710–1791)

Son and namesake of Acting Governor William Bull Sr., William Bull Jr. was born at Ashley Hall in St. Andrew Parish. In his early years, he was educated in the province and completed his education abroad. In 1734, he received an MD degree from Hermann Boerhaave at Leyden University. Although he studied medicine abroad, in the colony Bull enjoyed an active political career. At the time of his appointment as commissioner for St. Michael’s, he had served continuously in the Royal Assembly from 1736 and was speaker for some of that time. Bull marched with James Oglethorpe against St. Augustine in 1740 and later became a brigadier general of the Provincial forces. He rose to even greater political prominence before the Revolution, governing the colony for more than eight of the last fourteen years that South Carolina was a Royal colony.

Because of his great wealth, Bull cast his lot with the king at the time of the Revolution and refused to take the oath of allegiance to the government of South Carolina. He was banished from the state and returned when the British occupied Charles Town in 1780. Bull left the province when the British evacuated the city in 1782. His property, valued at £51,554 sterling, was confiscated because of his participation in the government of occupation. In anticipation of this action, Bull had transferred most of his holdings to a group of trustees, which deeded them to his nephew, Stephen Bull. William Bull sailed away with the British and died in exile in London After much legal maneuvering, Bull recovered Ashley Hall and left it in his will to his nephew, another William Bull Jr. ²⁸⁵

Edward Fenwick (Fenwicke)* (1720–1775)

Edward Fenwick was born in South Carolina. He inherited nearly thirteen thousand acres, including Fenwick Hall on Johns Island and Old Place at the head of the Ashepoo River. He acquired another eleven thousand acres through grants and purchases. Five hundred slaves worked his seven plantations and staffed his residences on Church Street and his country seat at Fenwick Hall. Known as the “Founder of the Turf in Carolina,” he maintained a three-and-a-half-mile racetrack at his Johns Island plantation and imported fourteen Thoroughbreds for his stables. He was one of the eight original founders of the Jockey Club. Fenwick divided his time between the colony and England, where he saw to the education of his children and purchased horses for his stud. Although he was a member of the Commons House and the Royal Assembly, he was not very active in politics. He served on several commissions and was a member of the Charles Town Library Society. Fenwick’s first wife was Martha Izard; they had one child. Following Martha’s death, he married Mary Drayton; they had fifteen children. Fenwick suffered from dropsy, and local physicians advised him to spend the summer in a northern climate. He died in New York in 1775. His widow chartered a vessel to return his body to South Carolina for burial. ²⁸⁶

James Graeme (Graham, Greeme) (d. 1752)

Chief Justice James Graeme was a Scots attorney who practiced law in Charles Town in 1729. He was one of the defense lawyers who represented Thomas Cooper and Job Rothmahler, who were arrested for land speculation. When the Commons House speaker of the Ninth Royal Assembly had the attorneys arrested, Graeme filed suit against him. The next Assembly investigated and voted to expel Graeme and then twice denied him his seat because he had breached the privilege of the House. In 1740, Lieutenant Governor William Bull appointed Graeme judge of the Vice Admiralty Court, a post he held until his death. Graeme represented St. Philip Parish in the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Royal Assemblies and was floor leader for the faction supporting Governor James Glen during the Nineteenth Royal Assembly. Graeme remained in the House until he was named to the Royal Council in 1750. He was appointed chief justice of South Carolina in 1750 and continued in that office until his death. He was a Mason and served in Solomon’s Lodge as grand master. He died in 1752 and was buried in St. Philip’s Churchyard. ²⁸⁷

James Irving (Irvin, Irvine, Irwing)* (d. 1762)

Dr. James Irving immigrated to Charles Town in the 1740s. He stopped practicing medicine and engaged in the lucrative Indian trade. He was the owner of a twenty-ton sloop and co-owner of two ninety-ton snows. At the time of his appointment as commissioner for St. Michael’s, he represented St. Helena Parish in the Royal Assembly. He was a member of the St. Andrew’s Society and the Charles Town Library Society. He married the daughter of Jacob Motte and Elizabeth Martin Motte. Four weeks after the wedding, Irving fought a duel with James Dawkins of Jamaica; both were wounded but recovered. In 1762, Irving died penniless, leaving a ledger of “irregular and confused accounts.” ²⁸⁸

Gabriel Manigault (1704–1781)

The son of Huguenot immigrants, Gabriel Manigault was born in the province in 1704. With a reputation of being a man of unimpeachable honesty and business integrity, he became the province’s wealthiest merchant and private banker. He operated shops on Tradd Street, dealing in the importation of rum, wines, sugar, oils, fabrics and flour and the exportation of rice, naval stores, leather, beef and corn. Although Manigault was known for his dislike of the slave trade and would not lend money to slave dealers, he occasionally ventured into that trade. He owned several vessels in partnership and was the sole owner of the brigantine Carolina and two schooners. Manigault was a planter of consequence, owning the entire Seewee Barony—5,581 acres that included Silk Hope plantation, once owned by Governors Nathaniel Johnson and Robert Johnson. Manigault also owned 2,200 acres on the Pee Dee River in Craven County, 650 acres in St. Thomas and and St. Denis Parish, the official governor’s residence on Charles Town Neck, several lots and stores in Charles Town, a pew in St. Philip’s Church and 289 slaves.

Manigault represented St. Philip Parish in the Ninth, Tenth, Fourteenth and Twentieth Royal Assemblies and St. Thomas and St. Denis in the Seventeenth Royal Assembly. He was president of the Charles Town Library Society and contributed rooms to house the books. He generously contributed to worthy causes, including £3,500 to help French Protestant immigrants. Between 1776 and 1779, he supported the revolutionaries by lending £652,500 to the government of South Carolina, more money than any other individual. Manigault retired to his plantation in Goose Creek when the British captured Charles Town in 1780. After the war, the legislature did not confiscate his estate, presumably because of his reputation and service and the large contributions he made to support the Patriots’ cause. He died in June 1781 and was buried in the family vault at the Huguenot Church. ²⁸⁹

Isaac Mazyck* (1700–1770)

Born in 1700, Isaac Mazyck was the son of Huguenot immigrants. In 1715, his parents sent him to England to continue his education. He studied at an academy in Islington for two years and enrolled at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He left Dublin in 1719 and traveled extensively in Europe. When he returned to England, he joined the British army. Not liking the military, he returned to Charles Town in 1723 and joined his prosperous father’s mercantile business. Mazyck later left his father’s business and made a considerable fortune independently. He was a large landholder and owned nine lots and several houses in Charles Town. He also held the ferry rights over the South Santee River and was co-owner of the schooner Marian . From 1736 to 1770, Mazyck was elected to the Royal Assembly by seven different parishes; he represented St. Philip in the Eleventh and Twelfth Royal Assemblies. At the time of his appointment as St. Michael’s commissioner, he had already held numerous local offices, including justice of the peace for Berkeley County. A French Huguenot, Mazyck worshiped at the French Protestant Church and later attended St. Michael’s Church, where he owned a pew. ²⁹⁰

Thomas Middleton (1719–1766)

Thomas Middleton was born in 1719, the son of Arthur Middleton and Sarah Amory. A Goose Creek planter, he was one of the founders of the Goose Creek Friendly Society. He moved to Charles Town in 1749 and became a highly successful merchant. He was one of the founders of the Charles Town Library Society. Middleton’s representation in the Royal Assembly began in 1742, where he intermittently served between 1742 and 1764. He was a justice of the peace for Berkeley and Granville Counties; a captain in the militia; and a colonel in a Provincial regiment, where he commanded the Carolina troops who participated in the Cherokee Campaign. When Colonel James Grant, commander of the British Regulars, questioned Middleton’s leadership, he started a feud that ultimately ended in a duel. Grant disarmed Middleton and claimed that it was within his power to have killed him. Following this event, Middleton retired from public life and in 1761 moved to Beaufort. His mercantile firm—Middleton, Liston & Hope—was vastly overextended by 1765. When Middleton died the following year, the firm owed more than £329,000 to various creditors. Middleton’s personal estate of three plantations and a Beaufort town house became entangled in the legal difficulties that arose from the firm’s bankruptcy. ²⁹¹

Charles Pinckney* (1699?–1758)

Charles Pinckney was born in South Carolina. He entered the Inner Temple in England in 1734 but was back in the province six months later. His challenge of Chief Justice Benjamin Whitaker’s charges to a jury caused Pinckney to be convicted of contempt of court and fined twenty shillings. The case established his reputation, and he became a successful lawyer who went on to serve as attorney general in 1733. Pinckney’s legal practice prospered, enabling him to purchase Belmont plantation on Charles Town Neck. He made Belmont his principal residence until 1747, when he built a house on Colleton Square overlooking the waterfront. In the city, Pinckney was a founder and director of the Friendly Society and president of the Charles Town Library Society. He represented St. Philip in the Seventh, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Royal Assemblies, serving as speaker from 1736 to 1739. Among other offices he held, Pinckney was advocate general of the Vice Admiralty Court and justice of the peace for Berkeley County. In 1740, he rose to the rank of commander of the Charleston Regiment. He was appointed acting chief justice until Peter Leigh arrived with a royal commission in 1753. Pinckney’s first wife was Elizabeth Lamb of London. She died in January 1744, and in May of the same year, he married Eliza Lucas. Pinckney died in 1758 at Jacob Motte’s home in Mount Pleasant, where he was recovering from malaria, and was buried in St. Philip’s Churchyard. He and Eliza were the parents of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Thomas Pinckney. ²⁹²

Robert Pringle (1702–1776)

One of the colony’s leading merchants, Robert Pringle was born in Symington in the County of Edinburgh, Scotland. His father made provision for him to learn the mercantile trade and sent him to London, where he was a clerk in the firm of Humphrey Hill, a West Indian merchant. Pringle arrived in Charles Town in the 1720s and established himself as a factor for London and New England merchants engaged in the Carolina trade. In 1734, he married Jane Allen. Pringle was a member of the St. Andrew’s Society and served St. Philip Parish as a tax assessor and collector, as well as a commissioner of the Work House & Markets. He was a churchwarden in St. Philip Parish during the relief effort after the Fire of 1740 left much of the city in ruins; it was considered the most demanding relief period in the parish’s history.

After his wife died in 1746, Pringle sailed for Scotland in 1747. On the voyage, he was captured and imprisoned in St. Augustine; when he was released, he returned to Charles Town. In 1751, he married Judith Mayrant, the widow of Stephen Bull. Pringle served in the Royal Assembly from 1752 to 1762 and on several commissions. He was adjutant of the Charles Town Militia Regiment, justice of the peace for Berkeley County and justice of the quorum and peace. In 1761, he was appointed an assistant judge of the Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions. He was removed from the bench in 1771 because he attempted to open the courts without the requisite stamped paper and had taken other positions that were not in favor of the Crown. After his removal from the bench, Pringle retired to his house on Tradd Street. He died in Charles Town in 1776 and was buried in St. Michael’s Churchyard. ²⁹³

Jordan Roche* (d. 1752)

Jordan Roche was a successful Indian trader who became a factor for Charles Town merchants. He later went into business for himself and opened a store in the city. His profits from the Indian trade allowed him to maintain a well-furnished town house staffed by twenty slaves. In 1734, he married Rebecca Brewton, sister of Miles Brewton. He had served in six Royal Assemblies, representing St. Philip Parish from 1747 to 1751, when he was appointed to the St. Michael’s Commission. He was justice of the peace for Berkeley County, served as an ensign in the Charles Town Militia Company and was appointed to several commissions. Roche died in 1752 and was buried in Charles Town. ²⁹⁴

Andrew Rutledge* (d. 1755)

Andrew Rutledge emigrated from Ireland in 1730. He established a law practice and became an eminent attorney. In 1735, he married Sarah Boone; they resided on a Wando Neck plantation, which his wife had inherited from her first husband, Hugh Hext. Rutledge held a grant for one thousand acres in the High Hills of Santee near the Wateree River. He imported a cargo of slaves in 1752 and was in partnership with several merchants as owners of the schooner Mary and the brigantine Teesky . He represented Christ Church Parish in the Tenth, Eleventh, Seventeenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first Royal Assemblies. At the time of his appointment as a commissioner for St. Michael’s, Rutledge was speaker of the Commons House, a position he held from 1749 to 1752. He was adjutant general of the militia and served as justice of the peace for Berkeley County. He was a member of the St. Andrew’s Society and the Charles Town Library Society. Rutledge and his wife had no children. He left his estate to the children of his deceased brother, John Rutledge. Andrew Rutledge died in 1755 and was buried in St. Philip’s Churchyard. ²⁹⁵

George Saxby (d. 1786)

George Saxby emigrated from London in 1731 when the Crown appointed him searcher of the customs at Charles Town. He was a placeman and achieved his appointments through his kinsman, William Saxby, who was a prominent placeman in the Carolinas and Bahamas. George Saxby expanded his financial base through shipping partnerships with three Georgetown merchants, with whom he shared ownership of one sloop and two brigantines. He owned outright two sloops and a schooner. He also had two other mercantile partnerships that were successful enough to enable him to participate in moneylending transactions. Saxby speculated in land through royal grants for more than six thousand acres in Craven and Granville Counties and operated a rice plantation near Georgetown. He advanced socially through his wife, Elizabeth Seabrook, who had inherited a two-hundred-acre plantation on Johns Island and a brick house on Tradd Street.

Saxby was appointed receiver general of quit rents in 1742 and served in the Commons House in the Fourteenth and Twentieth Royal Assemblies. The Crown appointed him to the Council in 1753; he resigned his post in 1760 because it interfered with his duties as receiver general. Saxby was appointed to several commissions and was a member of the Charles Town Library Society. His fortunes had begun to decline in 1765 when he visited England and received the unenviable appointment of royal inspector of stamp duties. The Stamp Act required all legal documents, permits, newspapers and pamphlets in the colonies to carry a tax stamp, and this was deeply resented in the colonies. Prior to Saxby’s return from England, an angry mob ransacked his house, searching for the detested stamps, and he was burned in effigy.

When he returned to Charles Town, Saxby suspended his duties as inspector, but the strong public opinion during the Stamp Act crisis began to affect his mental and physical health. He developed signs of apoplexy and never fully recovered from the mob attack. Saxby and his wife sailed for England in 1772 and remained there the rest of his life. He received £500 sterling compensation and £40 sterling annually. He was financially ruined when his Carolina property was confiscated by the new state government, for the annual payments were insufficient for him to live as well as he once had. ²⁹⁶

Benjamin Smith* (1717–1770)

Benjamin Smith was one of the most prominent of Charles Town’s merchant bankers. He was born in the province and inherited a two-thousand-acre plantation in St. James Goose Creek Parish; in addition, he owned Accabee plantation on the Ashley River, a town house with twelve slaves on the Bay in Charles Town and three lots and houses in the city. His wealth derived primarily from his mercantile activities, in which he was active in the slave trade and the fur trade. He owned jointly with other leading merchants seven ships, two brigantines, two snows and one sloop. From 1747 to 1765, he represented St. Philip Parish in the Royal Assembly and was speaker of the Commons House from 1755 to 1763. Smith was active in the Masons and belonged to many prestigious civic organizations. He served as justice of the peace for Berkeley County and commissioner for building an Exchange and Customs House and a new Watch House in Charles Town. Smith owned pews in both St. Philip’s and St. Michael’s Churches. A vestryman and churchwarden in St. Philip Parish, he contributed to the Reverend Alexander Garden’s “Negro School” and to the Ludlam School Fund. Smith left bequests in his will for £1,000 to the poor, £1,000 to the South Carolina Society, £1,000 to the Charles Town Library Society, £500 to the proposed College of Charles Town and £50 to purchase an organ for St. Philip’s Church. In the summer of 1770, Smith and his family traveled to Newport, Rhode Island, where they intended to remain for the season. Smith died unexpectedly and was buried in Trinity Churchyard, Newport. He was reinterred in St. Philip’s Churchyard that fall. ²⁹⁷

Alexander VanderDussen* (d. 1759)

Alexander VanderDussen was a merchant and a planter. He owned land totaling 2,836 acres in Craven, Granville and Colleton Counties and was one of the original landowners in Beaufort. His plantation on the Cooper River in St. James Goose Creek Parish was known for its dairy and mulberry trees. VanderDussen had the reputation of being a cruel master; after his death, his lands were deserted and were said to be haunted. He was an experienced soldier when he immigrated to the colony in 1731 and offered his service to the militia. In 1740, he was colonel of a regiment detailed to assist General Oglethorpe in his Florida Campaign of 1739–40. In 1742, VanderDussen sailed to London to solicit military assistance from the Crown. He was commissioned a brevet lieutenant colonel in the British army and appointed commander of three independent companies in Carolina. He returned to the colony in 1746 and represented Goose Creek in the Twelfth Royal Assembly; by a special election, he represented St. Philip Parish in the Fifteenth Assembly but resigned after his appointment to the Council. VanderDussen was a founding member of the St. Andrew’s Society and justice of the peace for Berkeley County. He also served on several commissions. He was removed from the Council in 1755 for being “disordered in his mind,” and trustees were named for his estate the following year. He died in England in 1759. ²⁹⁸

* appointed in 1751