The Founding of St. Michael’s Parish
By 1740, the population of Charles Town was greatly expanding, and the only Anglican Parish was St. Philips. The St. Philips church was not large enough to provide sacred services to parishioners in the town. On February 8, 1751, commissioners of St. Philips petitioned the governor’s council to create a second parish and erect a second church. On June 14, 1751, the governor signed a bill into law establishing a new Anglican parish to be erected on the southeast corner of Meeting and Broad Streets. St. Philip’s congregation was to be split by residency with the half living above Broad assigned to St. Philip’s and those living below Broad to St. Michael’s. (See illustration.)
Nine original Commissioners were charged with the responsibility of overseeing the construction of the church and the parsonage house. It was not until 1761 that the new church was completed.
The commissioners who were charged with this daunting task include:
William Bull, Junior Isaac Mazyck Andrew Rutledge
Edward Fenwick Charles Pinckney Benjamin Smith
James Irving Jordan Roche Alexander VanderDussen
