St. James (Lybrand) Church
Saluda County, South Carolina
Use these records in your
research but, please, do not publish without permission of the chapter.
On January 1, 1821
Henry Lybrand deeded to the Elders of St. James (Lybrand) church 1 acre
of land, surrounded on all sides by lands of Henry Lybrand. The Church
was probably already built at this time. The location of the Church
was on the southern edge of Doc. Hamilton's Point, near the
Timberlake Plantation. There are graves there (1 grave marked and
14 marked with rough stones when Lake Murray was built). The
marked grave is for George Lybrand born 1798 died 1948. The known graves
are:
1. George Lybrand 1798-1848
2. Henry Lybrand ca. 1765-1837
3. Mary Barbara Ballentine Lybrand ca. 1770-1842 Wife
of Henry Lybrand
4. William Haltiwanger 1803-9/7/1878
5. Kesiah Lybrand Haltiwanger 6/4/1808-9/7/1873
6. Annie Coogler ca. 1875-1880
7. Daniel Lybrand ca. 1795-1818 Son of Henry and Barbara.
8. Male Lybrand childname unknown ca. 1793-180?
Son of Henry and Barbara.
9. Male Lybrand childname unknown ca. 1795-180?
Son of Henry and Barbara
My Grandmother told me that the grave of Kisiah
Haltiwanger was robbed by grave robbers and they left the body on top of
the ground. They were never caught for this. In those days
many valuables were buried with the bodies. The body of Annie
Coogler was moved to Bethel Lutheran Cemetery at white Rock.
When the Lake Murray water level is at 362, the
Cemetery is covered, but the location where the Church stood is
above water. The Church is described as being 20 to 40 feet, but in 1960 the
corner stones were still there, and measured 24 by 40 feet. The Church was
built of hewn logs and was described as a neat building. There were two doors,
one on the north side and one on the east end. It had a goblet like Pulpit over
which hung a large sounding board. The sounding board was
made in the shape of a star and painted red.
The Church was used as a place of worship until after 1870. About
1890 when my father Walter E. Rauch was 8 years old, the Church was still
standing, but the roof had fallen in. He and his brothers and friends
would pass the location going to Saluda river to fish.
The Church was Lutheran and in 1842 was served by Rev.
Herman Aull. Rev. Jesse Lowman and Rev. Godfrey Dreher were also
known to preach there. The Church was abandoned probably due to the
establishment of Macedonia Church in 1847. Also, many
of the older members had died by the 1870's. The building was
surely in a poor condition by that time.
The home of Henry Lybrand was located approximately 150
yards east of the Church. It has been said that some of the stones for pillars,
chimney, etc. are visible when the water is very low. The Church Cemetery
must have been started as a Lybrand Family Cemetery, since Henry had two sons
who died before the Census of 1820. This would be before the Church was built.
This Church History was written by William B Rauch and appeared in
the Dutch Fork Digest in the July-Aug-Sep issue of 2002
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE "LYBRAND CHURCH" FROM THE
HISTORY OF MACEDONIA EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
In 1842 the South Carolina Synod met in St. Mark Church in
Edgefield District, now Saluda County. In the minutes of Synod for that year,
mention is made of the Lybrand Church and it is listed as "St. James
(Lybrand) Church". At this time it was served by Rev. George Haltiwanger,
Sr. The congregation is mentioned in connection with contributions made to
"The Cemetery Fund" of Synod. The names of the contributors given in
the report are: Dr. P. H. Todd, Jeremiah Drehr, Hezekiah Drehr, Jno,. M. Sulton
(perhaps Mike Sulton), Jacob Bates, Mrs. Singly and Mrs Jacob Harman. This is
the only historic record found on the "Lybrand Church".
Posted 5 November 2004
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Last
updated 07 January 2023