The first "Free" Church...St. Stephen's Episcopal and the Three Sarahs

67 Anson Street

     Nestled comfortably among the historic homes and gardens of the quiet neighborhood of Ansonborough is a church that bears a distinction no other can claim. In a time when, in order to attend church, you were required to pay rent on or purchase your pew, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church was established as the first "free" church in America-- where anyone who wanted to worship was welcomed no matter their race, financial  means, or social status. The early congregation (established in 1822) was a diverse mix of white and African-American (both free and slave), wealthy and destitute members. In recent years, it has returned to that diversity with both white and African-American members coming together in both worship and service.

     

     St. Stephen's owes its earliest existence to a trio of ladies dubbed "The Three Sarahs". The first of the three Sarahs was Sarah Hopton Russell, wife of wealthy merchant Nathaniel Russell and mother of two daughters, Alicia and Sarah. They made up the family that built the beautiful Federalist home at 51 Meeting Street, the Nathaniel Russell house, which now serves as a home museum maintained by Historic Charleston Foundation.  Sarah Russell was an advocate for those less fortunate and spent much of her energy and means in providing relief for the destitute.  Along with her daughter, Sarah, who married Theodore Dehon, Second Episcopal Bishop of South Carolina, and Sarah Rutledge, daughter of Edward Rutledge, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of South Carolina, Sarah Russell set out to provide a place of worship for those who could not afford the pew rent necessary for worship in other churches. Together they founded the Ladies Benevolent Association in 1819. They began to elicit funds to make this a reality. Sarah Rutledge authored a cookbook entitled "The Carolina Housewife", with the proceeds going to establish a free church. Sarah Russell donated land on Guignard Street to be used for the construction of the new church building.  In 1924, the new building was consecrated.       
     
     Sadly, the structure burned in the fire of 1835. A few items, including the organ and a tablet for Mrs. Russell were saved from the fire and are in the present church. The new church was built on Anson Street and was probably designed and built by John and Henry Horlbeck who owned Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant. Their brickyard supplied the bricks used in the chapel. The Anson Street chapel, beautiful in its simplicity is constructed of stuccoed brick in a simple Greek Revival style. It stood unscathed in the Great Fire of 1838 which miraculously spared the church by a sudden change of the direction of the wind. 

     In a church built on inclusiveness, they insisted that no one would ever be turned away. All who enter this historic church are reminded of this promise with the words engraved over the door:  "My house shall be called a house of prayer for ALL people".



     

      

Rev. Daniel Jenkins and the Jenkins Orphanage Band

Portrait of Rev. Daniel Jenkins displayed in the City Council Chamber  in Charleston City Hall, 80 Broad St.

         On a cold December day in 1891, Rev. Daniel Jenkins happened to come across four young black boys, all under the age of 12, huddled together in an abandoned warehouse. He discovered that they were all orphans and were left to fend for themselves on the streets. Rev. Jenkins immediately took them home with him and gave them a place to live and a sense of family. Unfortunately, these four boys were simply the tip of a huge iceberg that represented the hundreds of young black orphans in Charleston who had no place to live and no parents to care for them. While there were nine orphanages in South Carolina for white orphans, none existed for black orphans. Rev. Jenkins set about to change the lives of the boys he encountered and the many others they represented......and the Jenkins orphanage was born.
        In January of 1892, Rev. Jenkins petitioned the city for the use of the abandoned Marine Hospital on Franklin Street and received permission for its use and a small stipend. Robert Mills, who designed the Washington Monument, as well as other famous national, state and local buildings, was the architect. The building was built in 1834 and had once served as a hospital, but was badly damaged during the war. It was located right beside the City Jail which was, no doubt, a source of both fear and motivation for the young boys living at the orphanage. 

Site of Jenkins Orphanage, formerly Marine Hospital, 20 Franklin St.

        Rev. Jenkins' primary goal was to teach each of his young charges to become self-sufficient so that as adults they would no longer need to rely on the charity of others. To achieve this goal, he felt that farm land need to be purchased to teach the boys the skills the would need to become self-sufficient. He petitioned the City of Charleston for funds, but was denied. He could barely afford to make the orphanage livable and provide for the basic needs of the children. Funds were not readily available for South Carolina's only black orphanage even though over 360 orphans lived at the orphanage now, instead of on the streets of Charleston. In desperation he searched around for ideas that could help raise the necessary funds.....and the Jenkins Orphanage Band was born.  His plan was based on the military bands of the day. His requests for funds were not very successful; however, a request for instruments yielded more fruitful results. Old instruments were donated, with a large donation of new and used instruments from Siegling Music House on King St. Graduating Citadel cadets donated their old uniforms which became the first uniforms of the Jenkins Orphanage Band. Rev. Jenkins was not a musician himself and so he hired two local musicians to teach the boys: "Hatsie" Logan and Francis Eugene Mikell. They learned not only to play instruments, but music theory and music history, as well.

        Soon the band was playing on street corners all over Charleston to try to raise as much money as possible to keep the orphanage open. Unfortunately, funds were much too meager but, instead of giving up, Rev. Jenkins used his last remaining funds to take the 13 member band on a tour of some northern cities. Their success was less than they had hoped, but, once again, Rev. Jenkins was not ready to give up. With the last bit of money they had, he took the group to London. There they performed on the streets of London....and were promptly arrested for disturbing the peace. The group, which had become a favorite on the streets of London, suddenly received the support of the churches in the area and a favorable support in the newspapers.

          By1896, the band had established regular tour routes up and down the Eastern coast and in Europe. They played in Paris, Berlin, Rome, Vienna and London. In 1905, the band played in President Roosevelt's inaugural parade and President Taft's inaugural parade in 1909. In the 1910s and 20s, the band included the styles and rhythms of the jazz beats sweeping the nation and the Gullah songs and dances of their lowcountry heritage. DuBose Heyward insisted that the band play for the two year run of his play Porgy on Broadway and they performed at each performance. By now, there were five separate bands and two vocal ensembles. 

       Follow this link to a rare audio tape and early pictures of the
Jenkins Orphanage Band

        Some of jazz music's finest players received their musical training in the Jenkins Orphanage Band. Among them, Jabbo Smith (contemporary and rival of Louis Armstrong), Cat Anderson (who was a lead trumpet player in Duke Ellington's Band), Freddie Green (famous jazz rhythm guitarist) and Edmond Thornton Jenkins (famous clarinetist and composer and son of orphanage founder Rev. Daniel Jenkins).  I would encourage you to explore the many video and audio tapes found on the web and particularly on youtube of each of these musicians, remembering their beginnings as members of the Jenkins Orphanage Band.

       In the August 26, 1937 issue of Time Magazine, an article and picture were published honoring Rev. Daniel Jenkins and the Jenkins Orphanage Band.

       Rev. Jenkins' dream continues even today with The Jenkins Institute for Children. Explore their website and see the plans of Rev. Daniel Jenkins still impacting children of the 21st century who need a dream just as much as those who went before them. They are deserving of our support!

A Stroll Through Washington Park

Washington Park, Meeting Street

       

          Washington Park, sometimes called Washington Square, is a green oasis of great, moss-draped oak trees, located at the corner of two of Charleston’s most historic streets: Meeting and Broad. A beautiful wrought iron gate at each entrance welcomes you into a tucked away part of Charleston and invites you to slow down, rest, and enjoy this bit of retreat from the heat of the day and the noise of the city.

       This area was developed as a park as early as 1818, but it was not until October 19, 1881 that Washington Park was dedicated in honor of George Washington, who visited the city in 1791, and in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of General Cornwallis’ surrender to General Washington at Yorktown. Only five years later, the park became a virtual tent city housing many of the thousands left homeless after the great earthquake of 1886. The earthquake struck a little before 10:00 PM on August 31, 1886 and has been estimated as having an intensity of 7.3 on today’s Richter scale. Aftershocks kept the frightened citizens out of buildings for weeks and the earthquake demolished or damaged countless homes and historic buildings in Charleston. It is said that the quake was felt as far away as Canada!

Statue of George Washington

            Facing the Meeting Street entrance, the statue of George Washington, for whom the park was named, is the most recent addition to the statues and memorials in the park. More than 100 years after Washington Park was dedicated, Mayor Joe Riley appointed General William Westmoreland to chair a committee to raise funds for a statue of George Washington to be placed in the park that bears his name. The statue, created by sculptor, John N. Michel, was dedicated on Dec. 14, 1999.

Washington Light Infantry Monument

The obelisk at the center of the park is the Washington Light Infantry monument and is dedicated to the soldiers of the Washington Light Infantry who fought in the Civil War. This impressive four-sided monument was dedicated in 1891 and reads in part, “This shaft commemorates the patience, fortitude, heroism, unswerving fidelity to South Carolina, and the sacrifices of the Washington Light Infantry in the War Between the States, 1860-1865. One company in peace; three full companies in for the war.”

P.G.T. Beauregard Memorial

           Just a few steps away from the Washington Light Infantry statue is a marker honoring P.G.T. Beauregard, commander of the Confederate forces in South Carolina. A few steps from this marker and mounted on the rear wall of the park, is a prayer composed by Ellison Capers who was an Episcopal Bishop and a Confederate soldier.

In keeping with the Confederate theme, facing the Broad Street entrance to the park is a bust of Henry Timrod, known as the poet of the Confederacy. Henry Timrod was born in Charleston in 1829 and this memorial was erected, according to the marker, “with the proceeds of the recent sale of very large editions of the author’s poems by the Timrod Memorial Association of South Carolina”.

Bust of Henry Timrod

       Other notable monuments in Washington Park include a marker honoring Francis Salvador, “the first Jew in South Carolina to hold public office and to die for American Independence” and a marker to Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, mother of President Andrew Jackson, given by the Rebecca Motte Chapter of the D.A.R. The inscription reads: “In memory of Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson.......who gave her life in the cause of independence while nursing Revolutionary soldiers in Charles Town and is buried in Charleston.”


        A stroll through Charleston's earliest park is a microcosm of the history of the city herself. From tributes to Revolutionary War heroes and heroines, to Civil War history, to a statue of an eighteenth century leader dedicated on the eve of the 21st century, Washington Park offers not only rest and respite, but reflection as well.