When was orangeburg sc founded

It has been asserted that the German congregation established in Orangeburg among these settlers was Reformed, which is evidently a mistake, as any one may perceive from the following facts. On the one hand, it must be admitted that the Swiss came from the land where John Calvin labored, and where the Reformed religion prevails, but where there are also many Lutheran churches established.

It is also admitted that the Giessendanners were natives of Switzerland, but it would be unsafe to conclude from these facts that the German congregation at Orangeburg, with all, or nearly all, of its members, and with their pastors, were Swiss Reformed or Calvanistic in their faith. On the other hand, although nothing positive is mentioned in the Record-book of the Church, concerning their distinctive religious belief, yet the presumptive evidence, even from this source of information, is sufficiently strong to conclude that this first religious society in Orangeburg was a Lutheran Church.

The facts from which our conclusions are drawn are:. Firstly - Because a very strong element from Germany was mixed with their Swiss brethren in the early settling of this county, which, by still later accession of German colonists, appears to have become the predominating population, who were mostly Lutherans, and the presumption becomes strong that their church-organization was likewise Lutheran.

Secondly - It seems to have been a commonly admitted fact and the prevailing general impression of that time, when their second pastor had become an ordained minister of the Church of England.

Thirdly - In examining their church records one will discover, through its entire pages, a recognition of the festivals of the Lutheran Church, as were commonly observed by the early Lutheran settlers. Fourthly - In Dalcho's History of the Prot. Church in S. How could Dr. Dalcho have been mistaken when he had the records of the Episcopal Church in South Carolina before him; and in that denomination this was the prevailing impression, as was, doubtless, so created from Giessendanner's own statements in the bosom of which Church he passed the latter days of his life.

Fifthly - One of the churches which Giessendanner served before he became an Episcopal clergyman, located in Amelia Township, called St. Matthews, has never been any other than a Lutheran Church, and is still in connection with the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of South Carolina. Sixthly - The Orangeburg colonists, after their pastor departed from their faith, were served with Lutheran pastors entirely, numbering in all about seventeen ministers, and only for a short time a Reformed minister, Rev.

Zubly, once labored there as a temporary supply. Seventhly - In Dr. Hazelius' History of the American Lutheran Church, p. It is to be hoped that all this testimony is satisfactory to every candid inquirer, that the first established Church of Orangeburg, South Carolina, which was likewise the first organized Lutheran Church in both the Carolinas, was none other than a Lutheran Church; that those early settlers from Germany and Switzerland were mostly, if not all, of the same denomination, and that Dr.

Dalcho has published no falsehood by asserting that "their pastor was a minister of the Lutheran Church. The first colony of German and Swiss emigrants who settled in Orangeburgh village and its vicinity in , as well as those who selected their homes in Amelia Township along Four-Hole swamp and creek, did not bring their pastor with them; the Rev. John Ulrich Giessendanner did not arrive until the year ; he was an ordained minister and a native of Switzerland, and was the first and, at the time, the only minister of the gospel in the village and District of Orangeburgh; we infer this from Mills' Statistics, p.

We infer this, moreover, from the record of Giessendanner's marriages; the ceremony of one was performed in the English language during the first year of his ministry, with the following remark accompanying it: "Major Motte having read the ceremony in the English language," from which we conclude that at the time, October 24th, , Rev.

Giessendanner was still unacquainted with the English language, and that on this account he solicited the aid of Major Motte in the performance of a clerical duty. That there could have been no other minsiter of the gospel within reach of the parties, who did not reside in the village, otherwise they would not have employed Rev.

Giessendanner came to this country with the third transportation of German and Swiss settlers for this fertile portion of South Carolina. Family Tree. From FamilySearch Wiki. United States Genealogy. South Carolina. Orangeburg County. South Carolina Online Genealogy Records.

Rowesville Santee Springfield Vance Woodford. Wilkinson Heights. Draper, Utah: Everton Pub. Provo, Utah: Ancestry, , Myer, Indian Trails of the Southeast. Nashville, Tenn. FHL Book Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co. Thomas and St.

South Carolina Dept. This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Navigation menu Personal tools English. Namespaces Page Talk. Views Read View source View history. Submit Wiki Content Report a Problem. Orangeburg County , South Carolina. Location of South Carolina in the U. General compliance by Billion Graves. SCGenWeb Archives. FamilySearch Places. The Edisto Rifles served with the First South Carolina Regiment and absorbed terrible losses before the conflict ended.

In early General William T. With emancipation, former slaves formed schools, churches, and small businesses. During Reconstruction, at least twelve African Americans represented the county in the General Assembly. Marshall Jones, a Democrat who served from to , was the last black legislator from Orangeburg until the election of Earl Middleton and John Matthews in At the turn of the century, cotton remained the economic mainstay.

Dissatisfied black cotton pickers struck unsuccessfully for higher wages in Violence against African Americans was common. Seven black people were lynched between and , including one woman. The Ku Klux Klan terrorized residents during the s. Railroad service expanded during the early twentieth century.

Corn, soybeans, poultry, hogs, and dairy farming gradually claimed many former cotton fields. The Orangeburg Massacre. Macon, Ga. Culler, Daniel Marchant. Orangeburgh District, — History and Records. Spartanburg, S. Salley, Alexander S. Reprint, Baltimore: Regional Publishing, Go to Top.