Richmond County GaArchives History .....Church History of Augusta 1890
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CHAPTER  XXIX. CHURCHES.

   Early Religious Discrimination in Georgia—Establishment of Religious
Freedom—The Colony Divided into Parishes—Church of England Established—Parish of
St. Paul—Augusta's First Clergyman—Rectors of St. Paul's Church—Worshipers
Required to Carry Fire-arms to Church—St. Paul's Burned in the Revolution—A New
Church Built—The Protestant Episcopal Society Incorporated—St. Paul's
Rebuilt—St. Paul's Ancient Tombs—Church of the Atonement—The Presbyterian
Churches—History of the First Presbyterian—Originally called Christ
Church—Incorporated in 1808—List of Pastors—The Telfair Building—A Model
Sunday-school—Changes in Charter—The Pew Law—Who is a Worshiper—Baptist
Churches— The Old Kioka Church—Daniel Marshall's Grave—First Baptist Church
Incorporated in 1809 Reincorporated in 1817—Building Completed in 1819—List of
Pastors—Second Baptist Church Incorporated in 1860—The Baptist
Convention—Methodist Church—Early Difficulties—"The Weeping Prophet "—St. John's
Established in 1801—Rev. John Garvin, Its First Pastor—His Distinguished
Successors—St. James Built in 1855—Other Methodist Churches—Early
Catholics—Catholic Society Incorporated in 1811—The First Church—Diocese of
Georgia Created in 1850—List of Bishops—St. Mary's Convent Established in
1853—Consecration of St. Patrick's Church in 1862—Father Duggan and Other
Pastors—Sacred Heart Church Built in 1874 —Sacred Heart Academy in 1876—The
Franciscan Sisters—The Christian Church—The Lutheran Church—The Synagogue—The
Unitarian Society—Colored Churches—Quaint Observances—Young Men's Christian
Association—Ministerial Association—Liberal Religious Sentiment.

BY the charter of Georgia it was provided "that forever hereafter there shall be
a liberty of conscience allowed in the worship of God to all persons inhabiting,
or which shall inhabit or be resident within our said province, and that all
such persons, except Papists, shall have a free exercise of religion, so they be
contented with the quiet and peaceable enjoyment of the same, not giving offence
or scandal to the government."

   By the sixth article of the first State Constitution of Georgia, as adopted
on February 5, 1777, it was provided that no person should be. eligible to be a
member of the House of Representatives unless, among other qualifications, he
were "of the Protestant religion,"but in 1789 when the second constitution of
the State was adopted it was specifically provided that " all persons shall have
the free exercise of religion," and thus the faith of the Scottish Highlanders
who saved the infant colony at the battle of Bloody Marsh with the Spaniards,
and of the French auxiliaries who poured out their blood before Savannah was put
upon a footing of legal equality in Georgia with all other creeds.

   The discrimination against Catholics was not, however, the only governmental
interference with matters of religion in Georgia's early days, for while the
charter established religious liberty for all but Catholics, both the Colonial
and home government lent their influence in favor of the Church of England. Upon
the cessation of the proprietary government and the erection of the province
into a King's government, one of the first acts of the Colonial Assembly was to
divide it into parishes and provide for the support of Episcopal worship
therein. In 1758 the province was laid off into eight parishes named
respectively the parishes of Christ Church, St. Matthew, St. George, St. Paul,
St. Philip, St. John, St. Andrew, and St. James. What had been the district of
Augusta became the parish of St. Paul, and it was provided that from and after
March 17, 1758, "the church erected in the town of Augusta with the cemetery or
burial place thereto belonging, shall be the parish church and burial place of
St. Paul." For the management of the parish many regulations were made, it being
the avowed purpose of the act to establish the Church of England as the
governmental faith, as appears by the title of the statute which reads as
follows: "An act for constituting and dividing the several districts and
divisions of the province into parishes, and for establishing religious worship
therein, according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England; and
also for empowering the churchwardens and vestrymen of the respective parishes
to assess rates for the repair of churches, the relief of the poor, and other
parochial services." Vestrymen and churchwardens were to be selected and sworn
to the faithful performance of their duties. For the purpose of keeping the
church edifice in repair, for the care of the appurtenant cemetery, sacred
utensils, and ornaments, to provide bread and wine for the Holy Eucharist, to
pay the salaries of clerk and sexton and to assist the poor and impotent of the
parish, the rector, churchwardens, and vestrymen were empowered to levy a tax on
the estate real and personal of all the inhabitants within the parish sufficient
to yield annually the sum of thirty pounds. With the rector, churchwardens, and
vestrymen rested the authority of appointing sextons and of regulating their
salaries and fees. The rector was to be one of the vestry, and the churchwardens
were instructed, at the charge of the parish, to procure a well bound paper or
parchment book wherein the vestry clerk was to "register the births,
christenings, marriages, and burials of all and every person and persons that
shall from time to time be born, christened, married or buried within the said
parish, under the penalty of five pounds sterling on failure thereof." Such
registers were to be adjudged and accepted in all courts of record in the
province as furnishing sufficient proof of the births, marriages, christenings,
and burials therein recorded. If any party was convicted of "wilfully making or
causing to be made any false entry therein," or of " wilfully erasing, altering
or defacing an entry, or of embezzling any entry or book of record, he was to be
adjudged guilty of a felony and to be punished with death without benefit of
clergy." The vestry was instructed to nominate a proper person to keep a record
of its proceedings, and to act as the custodian of its books and papers. No
authority was conferred upon rectors to exercise any ecclesiastical jurisdiction
or to administer ecclesiastical law.

   But, to quote Colonel C. C. Jones, the great authority in Georgia on all
matters of Colonial history, " while the patronage of the Crown and the favor of
the Colonial assembly were extended in this special manner in aid of churches
professing the Episcopal faith, it was not the purpose of this act to sustain
them by exclusive recognition. This would have involved a violation of the
privileges originally promulgated in the charter granted to the trustees. The
idea appeared to be to accord to that denomination, within the limits of
Georgia, a preference akin to that which the Church of England enjoyed within
the Realm, to create certain offices for the encouragement of that religious
persuasion and the extension of the Gospel in accordance with its form of
worship and mode of government, and to describe a method by which faithful
registers of births, marriages, christenings, and deaths might be made and
perpetuated. Numerous were the dissenters then in the province. They were
represented by Presbyterians, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Methodists,
Anabaptists, and a few Hebrews. To all sects, save Papists, was free toleration
accorded, and wherever a dissenting congregation organized and applied for a
grant of land whereon to build a church, the petition did not pass unheeded.
There can be no doubt, however, but that it was the intention of the government,
both Royal and Colonial, to engraft the Church of England upon the province and
within certain limits, to advance its prosperity and ensure its permanency. At
the same time a loyal adherence to its rubrics was in no wise made a condition
precedent to political preferment"

   While Augusta was laid out in 1735 it was not until 1751 that it had stated
religious services or a regular pastor. About that time a number of the
prin-cipil inhabitants forwarded a memorial to the "Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in foreign parts," setting forth their spiritual needs, and asking
assistance. It appears that as an earnest of their disposition they built a
church near the fort on the Savannah River, the location of which is supposed,
and probably with entire correctness, to be on or near the site of the present
St. Paul's Church; and agreed to build a parsonage, set apart a glebe, and raise
a salary of twenty pounds per annum if a clergyman were sent there. Rev.
Jonathan Copp, a native of Connecticut and graduate of Yale, who had been
ordained by Dr. Sherlock, the famous Bishop of London, was selected to go as a
missionary to Augusta, then the furthest point in Georgia, to which the Church
of England had penetrated, and about 1751 entered on his ministry with joy and
hope. According to Colonel Jones: " Although he found a congregation numbering
one hundred souls, with eight communicants, there was no parsonage, the glebe
land lay uncultivated, and there appeared but little hope of collecting the
twenty pounds offered by the committee. He continued to labor in this isolated
field with indifferent success and in extreme poverty, for some five years;
when, utterly disappointed and disheartened, he accepted the rectorship of St.
John's Parish in South Carolina, where he died in 1762."

   Some eight years after Mr. Copp's removal, the Rev. Samuel Prink was sent out
by the Society. He reported the population of Augusta at that time as 540
whites, 501 slaves, and 90 Chickasaw Indians. Mr. Prink labored until 1767, when
he was succeeded by Rev. Edward Ellington. In 1768 this zealous and faithful
rector reported that St. Paul's Church was the only place of worship within one
hundred miles of Augusta. His exertions, as appears from the society's reports,
were most strenuous and praiseworthy. He generally left home on Monday, traveled
thirty or forty miles and preached at three different places about ten miles
apart during the week, and returned on Friday for the next Sunday's services.
During his three years' service he traveled over three thousand miles to
minister to his scattered flock, baptised 428 persons, mostly children, married
sixty-two couples, and raised the number of communicants to forty. After Mr.
Ellington's departure in 1770 it was a number of years before we find trace of
any clergyman in Augusta. The times seemed to be portentous of the storm about
to break in the Revolutionary War, and from an act of this year, 1770, the
performance of divine service seems not unattended with peril. The act is
entitled "an act for the better security of the inhabitants by obliging the
white male persons to carry fire-arms to places of public worship," and provides
that every such person liable to militia duty shall on " resorting on any Sunday
or other times, to any church, or other places of divine worship within the
parish where such person shall reside, shall carry with him a gun, or a pair of
pistols, in good order and fit for service, with at least six charges of
gunpowder and ball, and shall take the said gun or pistols with him to the pew
or seat where such person shall sit, remain, or be, within or about the said
church or place of worship, under the penalty of ten shillings for every neglect
of the same, to be recovered by warrant of distress and sale of the offender's
goods," one-half the fine to go to the churchwardens and the other to the
informer. The churchwardens of each parish, and the deacons, elders, or select
men of other places of worship were to examine every male person attending such
church on Christmas and Easter, and on twelve other times during the year to see
if he was so armed, and if not, such officials if not lodging information of the
fact in fifteen days were to forfeit the sum of five pounds; any person
declining to allow examination of his weapons was to forfeit ten shillings.

   Then the Revolutionary War came on. Augusta was the scene of a bloody border
warfare and the voice of religion seemed lost in the clash of arms. St. Paul's
was burned by the British, or their loyalist allies, and in 1782 the Legislature
which met in Augusta, in summing up the wrongs of Georgia, evidently refers to
this heinous act in speaking of " the abandoned profligacy of setting torches to
temples dedicated to the service of the Most High God, whereby they completed a
violation of every right, human and divine."

   After the war one of the first cares of the Legislature was to rehabilitate
the interests of religion in Augusta, and by act of 1783 certain commissioners
were appointed to sell the town lots of that city and out of the proceeds to
erect on one of the best lots " a church or house of worship to the Divine Being
by whose blessing the independence of the United States has been established." A
new St. Paul's was accordingly erected on the site of the old one in 1786. Three
years later the governor was empowered on the application of any religious
society then erected to grant the petitioners a charter of incorporation on the
same terms as those granted Christ Church in Savannah, which provided for the
election annually on Easter Monday of two churchwardens and seven vestrymen. It
does not appear that the Episcopalians of Augusta availed themselves of this
act, but it seems that Rev. Mr. Boyd officiated for them for some ten years
after the building of the second St. Paul's.

   For some twenty years after this, the Episcopalians of Augusta appear to have
been unable to support a rector, and no mention appears of their denomination,
but in 1816 John Milledge, John Carter, Valentine Walker, George Walton, Thomas
Watkins, Richard Tubman, Edward F. Campbell, Augustine Slaughter, Freeman
Walker, Joseph Hutchinson, William M. Cowles, John A. Barnes, Milledge Galphin,
and Patrick Carnes were incorporated as " the trustees of the Protestant
Episcopal Society in the city of Augusta and county of Richmond." The trustees
of Richmond Academy were directed to convey them, an acre of ground for the
erection of a church. The act required that three pews in the church should be
reserved for the use of strangers, and provided that no one residing out of the
county should be eligible to be a trustee. Under this act a third St. Paul's
Church was erected on the site of the first This building still stands. It was
completed in 1820 and consecrated by Bishop Bowen, of South Carolina, on March
20, 1821. Pending the erection of the edifice Rev. Hugh Smith was called to the
rectorate and officiated from 1819 to 1831. On the removal of Mr. Smith, Rev.
Edward Eugene Ford became rector in April, 1832, and for more than thirty years
served faithfully in his high vocation. Dr. Ford died on Christmas Eve, 1862,
and was buried beneath the altar. A handsome memorial tablet in the church
records his long service and many virtues. He was succeeded by Rev. William H.
Clarke* who also died in harness, departing this life in January, 1877. Mr.
Clarke was succeeded by Rev. Chauncey C. Williams, the present rector. In
seventy years St. Paul's has, therefore, had but four rectors. For many years,
and in fact, up to the opening of the present city cemetery, St. Paul's
churchyard was the common burial place of Augusta, and in the yard may be seen
the tombs of those of all denominations. Many of the monuments are very old.
Here lies Oliver Bowen, the commodore of the American Navy in the Revolution.
William Long-street, inventor of the steamboat, is also interred here, as also
Marshall Forsyth, father of the celebrated John Forsyth, and a soldier of the
Revolution and member of the Order of the Cincinnati, the insignia of which are
sculptured on his tomb. A nephew of General Washington, who came south for his
health and died in Augusta, and several of the French refugees from San Domingo,
and one of the exiles from Ireland, in consequence of the rising of '98, are
also buried beneath the shadow of St. Paul's. Rev. Mr. Clarke, rector, and
General Polk, an Episcopal bishop, are interred here. An act of 1818 recites
th;it from time immemorial that lot in Augusta bounded north by the river, east
by Washington street, south by Reynolds street, and west by lands of Jacob
Danforih, had been used as a burial place and conveys the same to the trustees
of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the City of Augusta so long as the same
was used as a place of interment and for the site of a church, but on failure to
devote the same to such purposes, to revert to the State. A walk in this ancient
cemetery is full of interest. This graveyard was formerly larger than it is, the
western part having been used for the interment of slaves, but in 1826 an act of
the Legislature authorized the sale of that part, the proceeds to go to the
vestry, on the remains being removed and carefully interred in the new colored
cemetery and a brick wall being built on the line formerly dividing the white
and colored burial grounds. This wall is still to be seen and marks the western
limit of the white portion of the original cemetery.

   The Church of the Atonement is a handsome Episcopal edifice on the corner of
Telfair and Kollock streets. It is built in the form of a cross and is covered
with ivy, presenting an antique and picturesque appearance, though of modern date.

   The Presbyterian Church in Augusta is said to date from 1804, and the present
organization may possibly only go back that far, but there are evidences that
this denomination, or one closely allied to it, is of older date. As far back as
1796 we find that the trustees of the town of Augusta were directed to convey a
one-acre lot for the erection of a church thereon to Cornelius Dysart, Samuel
Jack, Dennis Smelt, Isaac Herbert, James Pearre, John Springer, and Moses
Waddel, who were incorporated as "the trustees of the Augusta Meeting House."
From a still older act we gather that this was a Congregational Church, but it
does not appear that a building was erected.

   Returning to the Presbyterian Church, there was a congregation of that
denomination in Augusta in 1804, with Rev. Washington McKnight as pastor. In
1805, on the death of Mr. McKnight, Rev. John R. Thompson, then rector of the
Richmond Academy, was called to the charge on July 3, 1806, and served
acceptably to his death in 1816. Up to the time of Mr. Thompson's incumbency the
church had three ruling elders, but three more were then added, Messrs. Oswell
Eve, Thomas Gumming, and Augustus Moore. The church was at that time called "St.
Paul's Church," from the fact that they then worshiped in the second St. Paul's
Church which was rented them by the trustees of Richmond Academy, the Episcopal
organization, as has been stated being in abeyance from about 1796 to 1816, and
St. Paul's being used for other denominations.

   The system of renting being uncertain and the congregation increasing, the
members subscribed fur the erection of a church of their own, and nominated John
Taylor, James Pearre, John Wilson, sr., Thomas Cumming, John Campbell, John B.
Barnes, and William White as trustees, who were incorporated by act of December
16, 1808, as "trustees of Christ Church in the city of Augusta." The act
provided that these trustees should remain in office until January 1, 1810, on
which day, and on the first day of January annually thereafter, the congregation
was to elect seven trustees, none to be eligible if residing out of the county.
Until the new church was built the congregation was to meet in St. Paul's. The
act further provided that the trustees of Richmond Academy should convey to the
church trustees that lot of land in Augusta, then on the commons, bounded "on
the north by Telfair street, on the east by the road leading from Washington
street to Savannah, on the west by McIntosh street, and on the south by a line
to be drawn parallel to and distant from Telfair street aforesaid, three hundred
feet."

   On the passage of this act the congregation met and appointed Messrs. John
Murray, David Reed, Robert Creswell, Oswell Eve, and Ferdinand Phinizy as a
building committee. The corner-stone was laid on July 4, 1809, by Dr. John
Mundy, in the presence of the trustees and congregation of the church, the
trustees of Richmond Academy, the city officials, and a large concourse of
citizens. The building was completed in 1812,and dedicated on the 17th of May in
that year, the spire being added in 1818.

   After Mr. Thompson's death in 1816 the pastorate was vacant till February 6,
1820, when Rev. Mr. Moderwel was called to the charge and remained till July 16,
1826, at which time Rev. Drs. Davis and Talmage officiated conjointly for about
a year. Then Dr. Talmage was pastor till 1835 when he accepted a call to
Oglethorpe University, and the pulpit was vacant till May, 1837, when Rev. A. N.
Cunningham was called and served till 1842, when he was succeeded by Rev. C. S.
Dod, who resigned a few years after. In 1867 Rev. Ebenezer P. Rogers became
pastor, and after him Rev. James R. Wilson, D.D., who resigned in 1870 to accept
the chair of pastoral theology in the seminary at Columbia. In November, 1870,
Rev. Dr. Robert Irvine was called from Knox's Church, Montreal, Canada, who
remained till his death, in 1883. Dr. Irvine was a man of great learning,
eloquence, and power, of fine personal presence and high executive ability.
During his pastorate three new Presbyterian churches were erected, the Riverside
Chapel on Bay street, the Second Presbyterian, a handsome edifice on Upper Green
street, and Sibley Church on Upper Broad. The Sabbath-schools largely increased,
and number some five hundred scholars. At the same time the church membership
was increased to three hundred and five. A handsome marble monument to Dr.
Irvine, surmounted by a statue of him, heroic size, in his robes, now stands
close by the church.

   The grounds have been further beautified by the Telfair building, justly
claimed to be the best, the finest, the most beautiful and convenient
Sunday-school building in the United States.

  Miss Mary Telfair, of Savannah, a wealthy old maiden lady, died leaving a
bequest of $30,000 "to the Presbyterian Church of Augusta, bearing her name, to
erect a suitable and commodious Sunday-school house and library." On the 25th of
April, 1883, the money was paid to Mr. Alfred Baker, chairman of the board of
trustees. The plans were made by Mr. Jacob Snyder, of Akron, O., a church
architect, with the light of suggestions from Mr. J. W. Wallace, the sixth
superintendent of this Sunday-school, who has held his place for twenty years.
On the 6th of August, 1883, the building was contracted for.

   The corner-stone was laid in September, 1883, and work begun. Mr. Baker
resigned in January, 1884, and General M. A. Stovall suceeded him as president
of the board, directing the construction, at the head of a building committee,
consisting of George T. Jackson, W. F. Alexander, J. A. North, and John D. Butt.
The building was completed, and on Sunday, June 22d, 1884, it was dedicated by
imposing ceremonies.

   It has been put up after the pattern of several successfully operated halls,
and is an improvement upon each, and finer than them all. The great difficulty
with Sunday-schools heretofore has been to separate the different departments
and classes during the time for instruction, and yet save time and prevent
confusion upon the reassembling of classes, as well as to economize space in
providing for these changes. "Complete separation," says an experienced
authority, "where teacher shall be brought face to face with his class, yet
union, speedy and quiet, together with capacity to accommodate each member of
the school, was the problem." The Sunday-school room is the largest and central
room in this new building, and is most spacious and finished and ingenious in
its arrangement.

   The superintendent's desk is in the center of the semi-circle, and the level
space in front of him is filled with walnut chairs, while back of these, in easy
view of the superintendent, yet separated from each other by walls and sash
doors, are the different compartments for the intermediate and primary classes.
The seats for the smaller children are arranged tier upon tier, resembling
"gently sloping hillsides " encircling the teacher. The doors closed, the class
is entirely to itself, without the danger of interference from the outside; a
signal from the superintendent, however, the doors are opened, and that officer
stands as the easy focus of every eye. This spacious Sunday-school auditorium
occupies the height of two stories, and is fifty-three feet by forty-five in
length and breadth, and twenty-eight feet in pitch. Over the lower class rooms
are symmetrical Bible class apartments, similarly opened and closed, and all
within easy sight of the superintendent's desk. From the second story a balcony
projects, which is reached by half spiral steps from the vestibules below, and
which is arranged in tiers for the accommodation of visitors, so ordered,
however, that the view of the second story class-rooms is not obstructed from
the superintendent. The plan of one central or main room connected with two
stories of radiating class-rooms, made radiating to secure a mutual view between
the occupants of the superintendent's platform and those of the twelve radiating
class-rooms, is a capital one, and affords exceptional advantages for officers
and pupils. Both the intermediate and infant class rooms down stairs have a
separate staircase from the outside, and these lower apartments will accommodate
two hundred and ten children. The Bible-class rooms up stairs enable older
children and adults to enjoy quiet for their meetings and exercises, and yet
give them the advantage, if not the publicity, of the song and prayer service of
the whole school. This main room is elegantly ventilated from the cupola
overhead, and four arched windows of colored cathedral glass, with the light of
the class-rooms, furnish sufficient sunshine for the afternoon or morning
exercises. The room is beautifully finished. The ceiling is a delicate blue,
upon which the projecting oak work of the Elizabethan style is massive and
elegant. The walls are cream color, the carpets bright, and the oak and bronze
railing of the gallery is very handsome. Upon the walls of the main room is the
inscription, "and they search the Scriptures daily whether those things were
so." Back of the superintendent's stand is a marble tablet with the words, "held
in grateful remembrance, Mary Telfair, of Savannah, through whose munificent
bequest has this edifice been erected and furnished."

   The front room on the first floor, reached upon entering the building from
the vestibule, is the lecture-room, richly carpeted, with trim little pulpit,
confronted by comfortable mahogany chairs. The pitch of this room is
twenty-eight feet, and its dimensions are thirty-six by thirty feet. It is large
enough, and yet as cosy and finished as an office. On the right is the
Sunday-school library, through which the scholars will pass in entering the main
room, and change their books. This is twenty-five by twelve feet; it is well
supplied, and contains cells for three thousand books. To the left of the
lecture-room is the pastor's library, study and office, a counterpart to the
library, where the pastor will have his headquarters. Upstairs, over the
lecture-room, is the ladies' society room, thirty-six by thirty feet, elegantly
fitted up and supplied with toilet-rooms and kitchen, designed for church
entertainments, charity suppers, etc.

   Taste, ingenuity, experience, care and money have been expended without stint
to make the structure what it is confessedly, the finest and most complete in
the country. The inside is of pure cathedral architecture; the outside is of
solid and symmetric Gothic build. There are in this beautiful structure
ninety-six windows, and the building is illuminated at night with one hundred
and fifty gas burners. The chairs are moveable and are solid walnut; the glasses
are colored cathedral style; the rooms are warmed with furnaces, and the mantels
are exquisite stone pieces. The building cost throughout $32,000.

   As originally incorporated this church was called Christ Church, but by act
of December 29,   1836, this name was changed to First Presbyterian Church in
Augusta, by which it has since been known; the act also required the election of
trustees on the first of January annually. In 1859 another act was passed which
minutely regulates the matter of pews, and rights of pew-holders. It provides
that the trustees may call a meeting of pew-holders at any time on one week's
notice in any city paper and oral notice from the pulpit on the Sunday before
the meeting; that at such meeting, which shall be held in the church or at the
lecture room, each pew-holder shall have one vole, in person or by proxy, and
that all assessments made at such meetings shall be binding on all pew-holders
and may be collected by law. It further provides that if any pew-holder be in
arrears for two years' annual assessment, the trustees may, by resolution
entered in the minutes, declare such pew forfeited, and it shall thereupon
revert to the church, or if the trustees so elect the pew may be sold by
execution issued on judgment obtained for the amount of unpaid assessment, as in
case of other property. All pews belonging to estates on which there is no
representation for two years shall revert to the church, and no one shall vote
for a deceased pew-holder except his legal representative, but the trustees may
transfer such pew to the decedent's widow or children on payment of all
assessments due. "All pews held by business firms or by two or more persons
jointly," shall on the death of one joint owner rest absolutely in the other who
shall be liable for all assessments thereon. Lastly the title to pews are
transferable by the owners on the books of the trustees, if clear of
assessments, and not otherwise. These provisions form a more complete body of
ecclesiastical law on this subject than can be found as respects any other
denomination in Georgia. The same act empowers the trustees to convey and
dispose of any real estate theretofore or thereafter conveyed them unless
expressly prohibited by the terms of the grant.

   By an act of February 21, 1850, the trustees are empowered to take and hold
land for a parsonage and a missionary church, to be under the care of the parent
church.

   By act of December 21, 1866, the charter was again amended so as to provide
for the election of nine trustees instead of seven, three for one year, three
for two, and three for three years, so as to elect but three each year to hold
three years; those who had filled one term not to be re-eligible till the
expiration of one year. In 1870 it was enacted that the trustees should elect
three persons to be pew-owners and residents of Richmond county, for terms of
one, two, and three years respectively as an endowment committee, to receive and
hold all church property with power to invest same, holding proceeds to use of
the trustees, and to make annual reports, but in 1876 this act was repealed and
the management of the church property left with the trustees as before.

   By an act passed in 1825, Timothy Edwards, M. M. Payne, Joseph Hutchinson,
Robert Thomas, and James Primrose were incorporated as "the trustees of the
Harrisburgh Presbyterian Church in the village of Harrisburgh and county of
Richmond." The act provides that the succeeding trustees were to be elected
annually on the first Saturday in March "by the worshipers in the church," and
then proceeded to define that language by saying "those shall be considered
worshipers who attend divine service there twelve Sabbaths during the year."

   The Baptist denomination is numerically the most powerful in Georgia, and in
and about Augusta its history extends back over one hundred years. As far back
as 1789 an act of the Legislature states that " a religious society has for many
years past .been established on the Kioka, in the county of Richmond, called and
known by the name of the Anabaptist Church, on the Kioka," and incorporates
Abraham Marshall, William Willingham, Edmund Cartledge, John Landers, James
Simms, Joseph Ray, and Lewis Gardner as "the trustees of the Anabaptist Church
on the Kioka." This church was originally established in 1773 by Rev. Daniel
Marshall.

   The name Anabaptist was subsequently changed to Baptist and for many years
after 1789, this old-time congregation met and worshiped in a church building on
the side of the road leading from Augusta to Appling, the county seat of
Columbia county, after that was cut off from Richmond county. The building has
long since disappeared but a venerable tree on the left hand side of the road
within some hundred yards of the court-house at Appling is still pointed out as
having shaded the old church. Rev. Daniel Marshall, said by tradition to have
been the first Baptist preacher in Georgia, for many years ministered in the
Kioka Church, and just across the road from the site of the edifice his grave is
still to be seen, a square mound of rock being his monument. The act
incorporating the church provided that the trustees should hold office for three
years, and that on the third Saturday in November in every third year "the
supporters of the Gospel in said church should convene at the meeting-house, and
there between the hours of ten and four should elect from among such supporters
seven discreet persons to be trustees." An act of 1801 provided that the
trustees should fill any vacancy in their ranks, and that the congregation might
fix the time of the general election at their pleasure.

A few years after another church was established by act of December 5, 1806 at
Red's Creek, and Loveless Savage, James Simms, Archibald Odom, David Walker, and
John Collier were granted a charter as "The Incorporated Red's Creek Baptist
Church."

   By act of December 2, 1809, the trustees of Richmond county academy were
directed " to lay off a lot of ground between Telfair and Walker streets, not
exceeding half a square, for the purpose of building a Baptist Church thereon,
and to convey the same to the general committee of Georgia Baptists or to such
persons in trust, for the purpose aforesaid, as they have or may nominate, to
receive titles as aforesaid." It does not appear that the scheme of this act was
carried into effect, but in 1817, and evidently through the untiring exertions
of Rev. Abraham Marshall, an act was passed on December 19, " to incorporate the
Baptist Church in the city of Augusta and county of Richmond, and to authorize
the trustees of the Richmond Academy to convey a lot of land in the city of
Augusta to said Baptist Society." By this act Abraham Marshall, John McKinne,
James H. Randolph, Woodson Ligon, and Jesse D. Green were incorporated as " The
Trustees of the Baptist Society in the city of Augusta and county of Richmond,"
and empowered to have and to hold real and personal property for the purpose of
erecting a house of worship for said society in the city of Augusta and
maintaining a minister of the Gospel for the same. To provide a site, the
trustees of the academy were directed to lay off and convey to said trustees a
one-acre lot in the city, where they might deem proper. In 1818 all the church
societies in Augusta were authorized to sell such parts of their lots as they
might deem proper, the proceeds to be devoted to church purposes.

   In 1819 the First Baptist Church was organized in Augusta and located on the
corner of Greene and Jackson streets, where it still stands. The building cost
$22,000, and the funds for its erection were mainly secured by the efforts of
Rev. Dr. William T. Brantly, the first pastor, who at the time of the
organization was rector of the Richmond Academy. The congregation at that time
did not number over twenty all told, and but few of those were able to
contribute anything towards the erection of the building, but their brother
Baptists throughout the State, with their proverbial zeal and liberality, came
to the rescue. By 1826 the church had increased and prospered to an extent which
allowed it to give a ministerial stipend of $1,200. Rev. James Sliand became Dr.
Brantly's successor in the pastorate and served three years, when he resigned to
accept the chair of ancient languages in the University of Georgia. Rev. Charles
D. Mallary then became pastor and remained five years, the church in his time
numbering one hundred and twenty-five members. Rev. W. J. Hard, at one time
professor in Mercer University and for many years a well-known teacher in
Augusta, was the next pastor, and was succeeded by Rev. W. T. Brantly, jr., son
of the founder of the church who ministered for seven years, resigning to become
professor of belle-lettres in the State University. The other pastors have been
Rev. N. G. Foster, Rev. Mr. Gillette, Rev. Dr. J. G. Binney, who was twice in
charge and subsequently became president of the Missionary College at Rangoon,
Burmah; Rev. Dr. Ryerson succeeded, and then came Rev. A. J. Huntington, D.D.,
who removed to become professor in Columbia College, District of Columbia. Rev.
J. H. Cuthbert, D.D., who subsequently became pastor of the first Baptist Church
in Washington, D. C., and Rev. Drs. James Dixon and M. B. Wharton succeeded.
Then came Rev. William Warren Landrum, who was succeeded by the present able and
eloquent pastor Dr. Lansing Burrows. The church now numbers over four hundred
members. The building has been remodeled and is now an exceedingly handsome
edifice and has a magnificent organ. A new lecture room, the finest in the city,
has been built on Jackson street just in rear of the church at a cost of $10,000.

   Just before the outbreak of the war the denomination had increased in Augusta
to an extent which called for another church, and by act of December 8, 1860,
Henry J. Sibley, Samuel A. Verdery, Daniel B. Plumb, James Hill, David R.
Wright, and Richard Timmerman were incorporated as the Second Baptist Church,
Kollock street, Augusta, Georgia, and made trustees for life of the church.
Since then three other Baptist Churches have been erected, the First Ward or
Calvary Baptist Church, on Lower Greene street, Curtis Baptist Church on Upper
Broad, and the Berean Church in Harrisburgh.

   In 1830 an act "to incorporate the Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia
" was passed which provided that Jesse Mercer, moderator; Abiel Sherwood, clerk;
J. P. Marshall, assistant clerk; James Armstrong, B. M. Sanders, Jonathan Danis,
and Thomas Stocks, the then executive committee of the convention, and their
successors in office, should be a body corporate as " the Executive Committee of
the Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia," with power to hold all property
of the convention and receive donations and bequests made thereto. In 1837 this
act was so amended as to withdraw any taxing power from the committee or
convention, if such it had under the act of 1830, legislation which seems rather
anomalous and obscure. The same act authorized the committee to establish the
now famous Mercer University.

   The Methodist Church found difficulty in establishing itself in other
portions of Georgia, but its early ministers met encouragement and support in
and around Augusta. In 1786 in the Virginia Conference mention was made of
Georgia as a missionary ground and several zealous clergymen volunteered to
plant the faith there. Two of them, Rev. Thomas Humphries and John Major were
accepted and soon formed a circuit about Augusta, extending up the Savannah as
far as Little River and in the interior to Washington, in Wilkes county. Several
churches were formed in a short time with an aggregate membership of four
hundred. Mr. Major was particularly active, and from his plaintive style of
preaching received the name of "the Weeping Prophet." It is a notable fact that
in the early stages of Methodism it encountered much opposition in the towns and
it was not until 1799. or some thirteen years after the advent of the first
clergymen of this denomination in Georgia that a Methodist Church was formed in
Augusta under the leadership of Stith Mead. In the same year Rev. John Garvin,
of Augusta, entered the ministry and sought to establish a Methodist Church in
Savannah, the third attempt in this direction. In 1790 Rev. Hope Hull visited
that place but met opposition and was even threatened with mob violence. In 1796
Rev. Jonathan Jackson and Josiah Randle attempted to make converts but failed.
Then Mr. Garvin essayed the task in 180.0 and made some slight progress, but the
difficulty of holding together his small society was so great that he also
abandoned the attempt and it was not until 1807 that Methodism obtained a
footing in Savannah. On his return from that stubborn field Rev. Mr. Garvin
became pastor of the Augusta congregation and in 1801 the meeting house was
built on the site of the present St. John's Church. Owing to the rule of the
Methodist discipline which changes pastors at frequent intervals, it is
impracticable to give a full list of all the clergymen who in the lapse of some
ninety years have officiated in St. John's. Suffice it to say that many of the
most illustrious names in the history of Georgia Methodism have at one time or
another had this venerable church in charge. Among them may be mentioned in
addition to the pioneers Rev. John Garvin and Hope Hull, Lovick Pierce, Dun
woody, Bishop Andrew, and Bishop Pierce. In 1844 when the latter, then Rev.
George F. Pierce, was in charge the present brick building was erected. From St.
John's as a center went out many other congregations so that the old church is
affectionately known in the denomination as the mother of churches.

   In 1885 St. James Church was built to accommodate the increased membership
and has had since its organization the following pastors; Rev. William M.
Crumley, E. W. Speer, Thomas Jordon, W. F. Cook, A. T. Mann, Lovick Pierce, H.
J. Adams, George R. Kramer, G. H. Patillo, H. H. Parks, J. E. Evans, A. J.
Jarrell, S P. Richardson, C. A. Evans, W. T. Gibson, and J. H. Bigham. The
membership is about six hundred.

   In 1859 Asbury Church was established and since then four others have been
organized, the Broad Street Church, Jones' Chapel, St. Luke's Church, and
Wesleyan Chapel.
   Up to 1849 St. John's had a large colored membership which in that year was
formed into Trinity Church, and since then four other colored Methodist
congregations have been organized, namely Bethel Church, St. Mark's Church,
Mount Zion Church, and Holsey Chapel.

   Among the first settlers of Augusta we find Kennedy O'Bryan. William
Callahan, Faley and McQuen, Lachlan McBean, and John Campbell, whose Scotch and
Irish names betray their Erse and Celtic origin, and inferentially their
Catholic faith. In 1770 Daniel M'Murphey appears as a resident of Augusta and
one of the board of town commissioners. In 1791 James Toole is a commissioner,
but it is not until about the close of the eighteenth century that any
considerable number of Catholics were found in the city. At that time the rising
of '98 in Ireland and the contemporaneous insurrection of the blacks, in San
Domingo drove many Irish and French refugees, particularly the latter, to
Augusta and Savannah. Tradition reports that as early as 1800 they established a
place of worship, but it was not until 1811 that a regular church was erected.
In that year James Toole, Bernard Bignon, James Bertrand Lafitte, Francis
Bouyer, and John Cormack were incorporated as "the trustees of the Roman
Catholic Society in the city of Augusta and county of Richmond," and the
trustees of Richmond Academy were directed to convey to them that lot of land in
Augusta, bounded on the north by Telfair street, on the east by McIntosh street,
on the south by Walker street, and on the west by Jackson street, for church
purposes. The trustees of the church were empowered to fill vacancies happening
in their board, and no non-resident of the county was eligible to a seat. By an
act of 1820 the Roman Catholic Society was to elect trustees annually, the board
to fill intervening vacancies.

   On the passage of the act of 1811 a small church in the form of a cross was
erected in the center of the lot, and for half a century was the only Catholic
Church in the city. In this building such distinguished prelates as Bishop
England and Bishop Barry preached, and in the next quarter of a century the
congregation largely increased. The building of the Georgia Railroad begun about
1835 brought a large number of Irish laborers to the city and vicinity, most of
whom settled in Augusta after the work of construction was complete. The
presence of the French colony attracted others of that nationality, and their
slaves, a number of whom followed their masters from San Domingo and professed
the Catholic faith, helped to swell the congregation. For a number of years
before the present church was built the old building was inadequate to
accommodate all the worshipers, and at mass many could be seen kneeling outside
the door and following the services from afar off as in European countries.

   Up to the year 1850 Georgia was included in the South Carolina diocese and
presided over by the Bishop of Charleston, but in that year Right Reverend
Francis Xavier Gartland, of Philadelphia, was appointed bishop of the new
diocese of Savannah, which comprised the State of Georgia. In 1853, under the
administration of this prelate, the Sisters of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy
established a convent and academy known as St. Mary's Academy, on the northeast
corner of the church lot, and by act of February 7, 1854, were incorporated
under the above name " for the advancement of the cause of education and
charity, and the performance of acts of mercy and benevolence."

The original incorporators were Elizabeth Mahoney, Catharine McRena, and Rose
Ann Reilly. By order of the Superior Court of Richmond county of May 9, 1881,
the sisters were given the right to confer diplomas, honors, degrees, and other
like marks of scholastic distinction in their academy.

   Scarcely had the academy been instituted and Bishop Gartland began his
administration before Augusta was devastated with the yellow fever epidemic of
1854. The old Catholic parsonage, which was situate in the rear of the old
church was converted into a hospital, and here among the sick and dying Bishop
Gartland, and Fathers Barry and Duggan, pastor and assistant pastor of the
church, aided by the sisters, labored until the pestilence ceased. To his zeal
the good bishop fell a victim, dying of the plague. Many were the orphans left
by the dread malady. The sisters cared for the little girls and Father Barry
adopted the boys, some of whom still live as honored citizens to bless and
revere his name.

   For three years the see was vacant, but in 1857 Father Barry was appointed
bishop. He died in 1859, while on a visit to Rome, whence his remains were
brought back and interred under the church. On Bishop Barry's demise, Dr. Verot,
a professor at St. Mary's College, Baltimore, Md., and a scholar of profound
erudition, was appointed bishop, and continued such until 1870, when he was
translated to the new diocese of St. Augustine, which covers the State of
Florida. During Bishop Verot's administration the present St. Patrick's Church
was built. The old church had grown entirely too small for the congregation, and
early in his incumbency he resolved upon a new and more capacious edifice. The
congregation subscribed liberally, and many of the poorer members contributed so
many days labor on the building. In 1862 it was completed, and consecrated by
Bishop Verot, Bishop Quinlan of Mobile delivering the sermon. Upon the
translation of Bishop Verot to the new see of St. Augustine, the Right Reverend
Ignatius Persico, bishop of Agra, in the East Indies, was made bishop of
Savannah. His labors in the torrid climate of Hindostan had injuriously affected
his health, and it was expected that a change to a more genial air would restore
him. This expectation was not realized, and in 1872 his resignation was accepted
and he returned to his native Italy, where he was made bishop of Naples,
formerly the see of St. Thomas, the Angelic Doctor. Since then he has been made
archbishop of Damietta, and it is thought will shortly be named cardinal.

   In 1873 Father Gross, a Redemptorist, was made bishop, and continued such
until 1885, when created archbishop of Oregon.

   Bishop Gross was succeeded on March 26, 1886, by Right Reverend Thomas A.
Becker, the first bishop of Wilmington, Del., which see he had filled since
1868. Bishop Becker is one of the most learned men in the church, speaking
several modern languages and deeply versed in the ancient tongues, theology, and
philosophy. He is moreover a man of remarkable executive ability, and under his
administration the Catholic Church has prospered wonderfully throughout the
State. Particular exertions are made in behalf of the colored population, and
there are priests, sisters, churches, schools, and an asylum specially for them.

   Of Bishop Barry's exertions while pastor of St. Patrick's, we have already
spoken. Father Duggan, the next pastor, was a man of saintly life. With
missionary zeal he labored incessantly for others, and himself led the life of
an anchorite. By the most extreme and unvarying economy and self-denial he
gathered up a fund of some eight or ten thousand dollars, which he left to build
a school for youths, and St. Patrick's Commercial Institute, a very fine academy
conducted by the Christian Brothers on the site of the old church is the
realization of the good father's life long exertions. Father Duggan was
succeeded by Father Kirby, whose monument is the new church. To build this was
his hope and aspiration. The next pastor was Father Hamilton, a clergyman of
imposing presence and most persuasive eloquence, who after some years faithful
service removed to the diocese of Mobile and there died, lamented by all. Father
O'Hara, the next pastor, died shortly after Father Hamilton's removal, and was
succeeded by Father Prendergast, a clergyman of very great erudition. His
knowledge of the history, traditions, and councils of the church was something
wonderful, and many were the converts he made. He still labors with unabated
zeal in other parts of the diocese. Fathers Quinlan and McNally followed, and
the latter was in turn succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. James M. O'Brien,
for many years the head of the famous boy's school at Washington, Ga., which has
fitted so many homeless lads for lives of usefulness and honor.

   In 1873 additional church facilities were needed by the Catholics of Augusta,
and in October, 1874, the Jesuit fathers completed the Church of the Sacred
Heart, in the upper part of the city. In 1876 a second convent and academy was
established by the Sisters of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy under the name of
the Sacred Heart Convent and Academy, near the Sacred Heart Church.

   At a little later period another order known as the Franciscan Sisters
established a school near Augusta for little colored girls and are doing an
excellent work of charity. In addition to their care of the orphans under their
charge, and the management of their academies, the sisters attend the City
Hospital as nurses to the sick and injured.

   The Christian Church, or Church of the Disciples of Christ, was organized in
Augusta in 1835. At that time there were few members and the services were
conducted in private parlors or rented rooms, but in 1842 Mrs. Emily H. Tubman,
a wealthy and devoted member of the congregation, erected a church on Reynolds
street now used as a young ladies' seminary as the Tubman High School. The first
pastor was Dr. Hook whose faithful service for several years gave the
congregation an impetus which carried it along steadily for a quarter of a
century or more of progress until in 1873 the original building had become too
sm ill for proper accommodation. Mrs. Tubman again came forward and erected at
her own expense a new and exceedingly handsome church, on the corner of Greene
and Mclntosh streets, which was finished and occupied by the congregation on
January, 1876. The second Christian church in the upper part of the city is of
recent establishment.

   The Lutheran Church is one of the oldest in Georgia. As early as 1733 a
congregation of some one hundred sailed from Germany for Georgia under the
charge of two pastors, Rev. Messrs. Bolzuis and Gronau, and though encountering
many vicissitudes which for years caused the faith to remain almost stationary,
it never died out and of late years has greatly increased. In 1859 a church was
erected on Walker street, in which services are still held, and in 1887 a second
church was erected on Greene street opposite the City Hall. The Walker street
church is styled the German Evangelic Lutheran Church, and services are
conducted in the German tongue. In the second church the services are in
English, and the church owes its origin to the desire of the younger members to
have their religious exercises in a language more familiar to them and better
calculated to reach the general public than the tongue of the fatherland. The
same difference of opinion on the subject of the language in which services
should be conducted was one of the decadence of the Lutheran faith in the
earlier days of its settlement in Georgia, but happily a revival of the
discussion in later days in Augusta has had the effect of really increasing the
denomination, its membership being quite strong enough to support both kinds of
congregation.

   The faith of Israel was early planted in Georgia. The second ship which
sailed from London for the new province in 1733 brought forty Hebrews, men,
women, and children who settled in Savannah, and very shortly after their
arrival rented a house in that city where the exercises of their religion were
held until about 1741, when the congregation was temporarily broken up by the
removal of many of its members to Charleston. In 1774 it was revived again
largely owing to the efforts of Mr. Mordecai Sheftall, son of Mr. Benjamin
Sheftall, one of the original settlers, but was again dissolved by the
Revolution. Mr. Mordecai Sheftall took a prominent part in this struggle and was
commissary-general of the Georgia Brigade in the Continental Army, Sheftall
Sheftall, another member of the family, being deputy commissary.

   After the Revolution the congregation, which we should state was called
Mickva Israel, was re-established in 1786, and for a number of years service was
regularly performed. Then another suspension occurred and lasted till 1820 when
a synagogue was constructed which was used till accidentally burned in 1829. Dr.
Moses Sheftall, the president of the congregation, was very active in rebuilding
the edifice. Subscriptions were liberally made not only by the congregation but
many Christians, and a new synagogue was soon built.

   In 1854 Lewis Levy, Isaac Mayer, and Henry Myers were incorporated as
"trustees of the permanent fund of the Children of Israel, a Jewish congregation
in the city of Augusta." The fund at that time consisted chiefly of ten shares
of the capital stock of the Franklin Building and Loan Association, and the
trustees were directed to manage and increase the same for the improvement of
the cemetery of the congregation and ultimately for the erection of a synagogue.
At this time and for many years thereafter the congregation, which is known as
B'nai Israel, or Children of Israel, occupied a building on the corner of Greene
and Jackson streets, known afterwards as Douglass Hall, and now the site of the
new Opera House.

   In 1872 a handsome synagogue was erected on Telfair street, in rear of the
City Hall. The design is that of a Grecian temple and the interior presents a
singularly bright and cheerful appearance. Above the entrance is in large gold
characters the Hebrew inscription B'nai Israel. This synagogue cost $12,000. The
present officers are Joseph Myers, president; S. Lesser, vice-president; and A.
Asher, I. C. Levy, and H. Brooks, trustees. One of the original trustees, Mr.
Henry Myers, still survives, full of years and rich in the public respect and
esteem. The confidence of his fellow- citizens has made him president of the
Richmond County Reformatory Institute, a benevolent institution intended for the
reformation of juvenile offenders.

   Many years ago, in 1826, Alexander Cunningham, Gilbert Longstreet, Thomas S.
Metcalf, William Sims, and Philip Crane were incorporated as the Unitarian
Society in Augusta, Georgia, but it has been long since the organization has had
an active existence.

   The colored churches of Augusta are quite numerous and are of the Baptist,
Methodist, and Presbyterian denominations. The colored Baptist churches are
eleven in number, namely: Antioch, Central African, Friendship, Hale street,
Harmony, Hosannah, Macedonia, Mount Olive, Springfield, Thankful, and Union
Church. The colored Methodist churches are five in number, namely: Bethel, St.
Mark's, Mount Zion, and Trinity Church, and Holsey chapel. There is one colored
Presbyterian congregation called Christ Church.

   Of these churches Springfield and Thankful have a very respectable antiquity,
the former particularly. As early as 1805 the village of Springfield was spoken
of as being a cluster of houses and a house of worship for the colored people of
that day. The location of this village, now long absorbed into the corporate
limits of Augusta, was at the intersection of Broad and Marbury streets, and
within a few hundred feet of this point the present Springfield Church is
situate. At the other extremity of the city is Thankful Church, much the junior
of Springfield, but still of good age, having been built some fifty years ago.
These churches were originally designed for the use of the slave population, and
on the emancipation of their congregations have remained in their hands and been
the fruitful centers of new congregations and new churches. Connected with them
are some quaint, time-honored observances. At stated intervals there is a
baptizing. There starts from the church towards the river a procession with the
pastor, in a long white robe and leaning upon a long staff, at its head; at his
right hand and left are assistants similarly clad and equipped; behind these
comes the choir; then the persons to be baptized, the men in long white gowns
and the women in white dresses, each applicant supported on either hand by
friends of his or her sex. Then came the congregation two and two. The pastor
"lines out" a hymn and the choir and congregation respond, and thus the
procession wends its way to the river where the immersion takes place.

   Another curious custom is in connection with the burial of the dead.
Connected with the older churches are benevolent societies, each with a
distinctive uniform, which turn out en masse to the funeral of a deceased
member. The feature of the uniform of the females is a cape, in some societies
black with purple bands, in others white with black bands. Those with the black
capes wear black dresses and black straw hats, those with white capes, white
dresses and plain straw hats. These long processions moving along in perfect
order and silence not infrequently present a weird appearance. The custom is of
unknown antiquity.

   The Young Men's Christian Association of Augusta has been in operation for a
number of years and is now on a solid and prosperous basis, with attractive
rooms and a large and growing membership. Attached to it is a fine gymnasium,
comfortably furnished reading-room and parlor, and a spacious lecture-room.

   The Ministerial Association of Augusta is of recent date, but a body of great
dignity and moral weight. It is composed of divines of nearly all denominations
and is intended to make common cause in the interests of morality and religion.

   In closing this sketch of the churches and religious institutions of Augusta
it is pleasant to refer to the spirit of charity which prevails among all.
Bigotry and polemic asperity are all but unknown, and as a consequence the
religious sentiment of Augusta is as mild and tolerant as it is decided,
zealous, and sincere.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from Chapter XXIX

Memorial history of Augusta, Georgia : from its settlement in 1735 to the close
of the eighteenth century
by
Charles Colcock Jones

D. Mason & Co. Publishers, Syracuse, N.Y.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/richmond/history/other/gms391churchhi.txt

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