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St. John's Episcopal
Church
Congaree, Richland County
St. John's Episcopal Church, Congaree, is a
quaint little white frame building which stands in a secluded
grove of trees about fifteen miles from Columbia.
The
church was established in 1858, and was consecrated one year
later. The founders were: Governor Adams, Dr. William "Weston,
and Colonel Paul Bulkeley. The first rector of the church was
the Reverend William Hankel.
The church was built in
the old Weston burial ground. A part of the brick wall
surrounding it was removed for the church
building.
During the Confederate War it was ransacked
by the Negroes, the organ being removed and placed in a Negro
home on slaves' row in the neighborhood.
This church is not
one of South Carolina's oldest, but it is typical of the small
rural Episcopal churches built in the period just before the
Confederate War.
BY
HAZEL CROWSON SELLERS
South Carolina Churches
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