Reverend Samuel Hart

Licensed Anglican (Church of England) Missionary in Mobile, Alabama, May 5, 1764 (Note that Florida did not become English territory until 1763 and Mobile was likely just a rustic outpost or fort).[1]

Fort Louis de la Mobile model

(Wikipedia, Author HARFANG free to share)

Provided the opening prayers at the March-April 1765 Congress of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians at Fort Mobile where two thousand Indians were present.[2]

From the St. Pauls Mobile Alabama Church Bulletin dated 1-29-2017

Per Marie Bankhead Owen in her "Story of Alabama", she states that "In what is now Alabama, the Episcopal Church, the legitimate descendant of the Church of England, had representation among the very earliest British Settlers.  Rev. Samuel Hart of Charleston, South Carolina, the first ordained minister in the state, received his license to minister in 1764, and came to Mobile where he remained only a year, returning to Charleston."  At that time Mobile was only a small garrison town.  That same year the Reverend William Dawson, also an Episcopal minister from South Carolina, was licensed to minister to West Florida.  The British Government provided a stipend of 100 pounds annually for clergymen and 50 pounds for schoolmasters.  Both of these men reached their destinations soon after their appointments and began their ministry in the sparsely settled region.  The Rev. Samuel Hart preached to the Indians through an interpreter.  His duties consisted chiefly of ministering to the soldiers at the fort.  There was much sickness, and he had a large number of funerals. Both of these men soon became discouraged.  Rev. Hart remained in Mobile until the end of 1764.  Rev. Dawson remained in Pensacola until about 1788.  Both of them returned to South Carolina.

Assistant Rector at St. Michael's Parish Church in Charleston, SC from June 1765 until June 1770.[3]  St. Michael's is the oldest religious structure in Charleston.  George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette attended this church.  Several Revolutionary War soldiers are buried in the church's cemetery and two of the most notable are Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and John Rutledge, both signers of the US Constitution.[4]

St.Michael's Church, present day

(Courtesy St. Michael's Church)

The S. C. Gazette, of December 31, 1765

Friday (December 27, Ed.), being the Feast of St. John Evangelist, the Society of Free Masons assembled in the Morning, and went in Procession to St. Michael's Church, where an excellent Discourse, suitable to the occasion, was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Hart, Assistant of said Church, the members present being in Number about 160; among whom were the Right Worshipful Benjamin Smith, Esq., Provincial Grand Master, the Hon. Egerton Leigh, Esq., Deputy Grand Master, and many other Gentlemen of Distinction.

Rector at St. John's Berkeley Parish Church (Biggin Church), 1775.[5]

Biggin Church, formerly St. Johns Parish Church, near Monck's Corner, SC

(All Photos Courtesy SC Archives)

From the SC Archives

Biggin Church Ruins are the remains of the parish church of St. John’s Parish. The church was established by an act of the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly in 1706, which divided the colony into ten parishes. The original Biggin Church was probably completed ca. 1711. Biggin Church was used through the mid-nineteenth century and the surrounding cemetery is still being used. During the American Revolution, ammunitions were stored in the church by British troops who, upon leaving, set the church on fire. The church was burned several other times throughout its use, the last time in the late 1800s when it was not subsequently rebuilt. For many years the site served as a local brickyard. Although only portions of two walls remain, there is evidence that originally Biggin Church was designed with a degree of sophistication. Notable architectural details which remain include a Gibbs surround at the main portal, quoins at the corner, radiating voussoirs over the windows, and a rounded water table—all executed in brick.

An interesting connection with my paternal and maternal ancestors and Biggin Church:  My paternal 5th great grandfather James Lamont (Lemon), was a Patriot soldier that was wounded (and later died from his wounds) at the Battle of Monck's Corner in April 1780 [6].  This battle took place in and around Biggin's Bridge and Church.  James was with the 5th SC Regiment, [7]a unit that later merged with the 1st SC Regiment commanded by Brigadier General Isaac Huger.  The infamous Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton and Major Patrick Ferguson (KIA October 1780 at the Battle of King's Mountain) were the antagonists for the British. The Battle of Monck's Corner was a part of the much larger Siege of Charleston which ultimately resulted in the exodus of my paternal Loyalist Merck and Dorris ancestors to Nova Scotia.   I read one anecdotal story that claimed James Lamont's wound was received as he crouched beside a structure which makes me wonder if the structure was the church itself. Col. James Mayson is my maternal ancestor & Rev. Harts' daughter was Col. Mayson's 3rd wife.

There are 2 land record for Rev. Samuel Hart in Ninety Six District, May 1775:

• A plat of 500 acres on Reedy Fork of Long Cane Creek.  Other names on this record are Francis Bremar (Esq., Surveyor), William Coassaree, James Harthorn, Robert Lang (Surveyor) and Thomas McRee.
  
  

Rev. Samuel Hart 500 Acres, Ninety Six District
(SC Archives)

• A plat of 250 acres in Ninety Six District near Little Saluda River and Pen Creek.  Other names on the record are Francis Bremar, Ogden Cockrith and Robert Lang.
  
  
  
  
  Rev. Samuel Hart 250 Acres, Ninety Six District
  (SC Archives)

From Lucian Lamar Knight, A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 5, page 2575

"John C. Mayson married Henrietta Hart, a daughter of Rev. Samuel Hart who was the first pastor of historic St. Michaels Episcopal Church, in Charleston, South Carolina.  Rev. Mr. Hart was one of the most distinguished divines of his day, a fine scholar and a real benefactor to those he served."

Note: It is now known that Henrietta Hart married Colonel James Mayson NOT John C. Mayson.  

July 1779 Pay Roll, Lt. Col. James Mayson and Chaplain Rev. Samuel Hart

3rd Regt. SC Continental Troops commanded by Col. William Thomson

(Courtesy Family Search website)

Colonel Mayson and Henrietta are buried on the Ninety Six National Historic Battlefield Park near Greenwood, SC.

Gravesite of Col. James Mayson and his wife Henrietta Hart, Ninety Six National Battlefield Park

(Author photo, 2018)

Colonal James Mayson was an immigrant from Scotland. (Note: I will be posting more information on James at a later time and will provide a link.)

The Index-Journal, Greenwood, SC, March 21, 1942

(Newspapers.com)

The December 1796 Will of Colonel James Mayson can be found in numerous books and at the SC Archives.  It names many children, his wife Henrietta, son James Robert Mayson as well as his granddaughter Addeaney Mayson.[8]  

The James noted in the newspaper article above with a question mark is son James Mayson.  My research indicates that James was not a son by Col. Mayson's wife Henrietta - he most likely was a son by his 1st wife Miriam.  James Robert Mayson married Anne Nancy Conway.  Two of their children were Addeaney Dolba Mayson and James Lucas Mayson.  These two children made their way to Georgia.  Addeaney Dolba Mayson lived in Franklin County - she married James Miller. 


James Lucas Mayson came to DeKalb (later Fulton) County in the 1820s where he was an early settler.  Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta was formerly named Mayson Bridge Road for James Lucas Mayson.  The Mayson Turner Ferry was named for James and Daniel Turner (see my book, Decatur and Atlanta First: They Were Presbyterians for more).

_________________

Notes

[1]Charles Woodmason, The Carolina Backcountry on the Eve of the Revolution: The Journal and Other Writings of Charles Woodmason, Anglican Itinerant, pp. 82-83

[2]The Reverend James Seymour, S.P.G. Missionary in Florida, The Florida Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 196-201

[3]Statutes Relating to and by-laws of the P.E. Church of the Parish of St. Michaels, Appendix

[4]Frederick Adams Virkus, The First Families Of America, Volume V, 1933, p. 542

[5]Daniel W. Barefoot, Touring South Carolina's Revolutionary War Sites, (John F. Blair,1999), p.77

[6]Listed as James Lemmans

[7]Listed as James Lemon

[8]He specifically calls her his granddaughter.  Also, his Will contains familial nicknames for his children and Addeaney may not have been her formal name - Her name may have been Adenia or Adeana or any number of variations.

All land plats from SC Archives, Columbia, SC

Links:

St. Michael's

Biggin/St. John's

Biggin/St. John's

Biggin/St. John's

(This page was updated on 7/14/2023)