Historical analysis highlights the unique architecture of a rare 18th-century parsonage site, revealing insights into early Anglican missionary life.
In 1707 ‘a small but convenient House of Brick’ (SPG, St Paul’s Vestry to SPG Secretary, January 20, 1715) was built and made ready for the newly arrived missionary of St Paul’s parish. In late July of 1715 it was burned during the Yamasee Indian War and never rebuilt. Other than that, very little was known from the historical records about this parsonage or others from this early Colonial period in the Carolinas. Early 18th-century structures in South Carolina are rare, and parsonages even more rare. This parsonage site is the only known early 18th-century Anglican parsonage location in the state. Therefore, the site offers insight into two aspects of early South Carolina history that have been under researched – early 18th-century architecture and the lives of the early Anglican missionaries. Here, using multiple lines of evidence, we will provide architectural interpretations, as well as present data supporting the hypothesis that the structure we have located archaeologically is indeed the St Paul’s parsonage.
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Pyszka et al. (2013) studied this question.