St. John's Parish: 1890-1901

The conclusion of last month’s article anticipated the 1890 completion of our present church building. The Rev. Mr. William Alexander Guerry was rector at the time. St. John’s was the only parish of which he was rector before becoming the eighth Bishop of South Carolina. Guerry was an 1884 graduate of the University of the South at Sewanee. Following graduation, he taught at Porter Academy for a year before entering seminary. He was ordained a deacon at Christ Church in Greenville in 1888, after which he was charged with the Florence Mission.

Guerry married Anne McBee on November 27, 1889 in Lincolnton, NC. In his book, Refugees and Remnants , author Nick Zeigler attributes the fact that Miss McBee was baptized and confirmed on the day of her wedding to Mr. Guerry’s “evangelical zeal.” 1 Of their return to Florence, Guerry wrote:

… we took up our abode in a little three-room cottage next door to my friend and kinsman by marriage Edward H. Lucas. We did not keep house, but enjoyed the privacy of our cottage home and took our meals next door with Mr. and Mrs. Lucas. 2

Designed by Silas McBee and built of stone from Anson Quarries, Wadesboro, NC, the present church building was occupied in December of 1889. Its first service, held on December 22, included the ordination of Mr. Guerry to the priesthood. The Rev. John Kershaw (Holy Comforter, Sumter) preached and presented Guerry for ordination. Later that day, Bishop W.B.W. Howe confirmed 14 people. In his journal entry for that day, Bishop Howe commented, “When the debt is paid we will look forward with interest to the consecration of the new St. John’s.” 3

Upon Mr. Guerry’s departure, the Reverend Robert Woodward Barnwell was named rector of St. John’s. A graduate of the University of the South, Barnwell was ordained in 1884. He was a published poet and had a keen interest in history. Mr. Zeigler describes him as “an excellent preacher [who] delivered his sermons without notes. His gentleness and intellectual openness are revealed in this passage from his treatise on church government.

Mr. Guerry’s tenure in Florence came to an end in 1893 when he was appointed professor and chaplain at Sewanee. In Refugees and Remnants, Zeigler quotes a passage from Guerry’s report to the diocesan convention listing his accomplishments while rector:

Since our last report the congregation have fitted up the school building adjoining the church, at a cost of some $600, for a rectory. The church now owns a very valuable piece of property in the center of the town. The church has been built and paid for and rectory secured. There is now in sight about $400 towards debt still standing on [the] rectory, and a good prospect of canceling it entirely in two or more years. 4

… we took up our abode in a little three-room cottage next door to my friend and kinsman by marriage Edward H. Lucas. We did not keep house, but enjoyed the privacy of our cottage home and took our meals next door with Mr. and Mrs. Lucas. 2 

Above all, let it be borne in mind that deviations from God’s appointed ways does not set Him angrily to deprive of Grace, nor is His chosen way His only possible way, but each and every way has its own capabilities, and God will use it at its fullest value, and probably even increase that value in order that His loved ones be not deprived. There is great capacity in some of these post-Reformation ways to all human judgment, but let those who believe they have God’s own chosen way abide in it faithfully and charitably.” 5

During Barnwell’s first year at St. John’s, the rectory – located on the site of the present parish hall – was completed. The first vested choir was organized (by Nettie Evans, daughter of Dr. James Evans), and the congregation grew. Mr. Zeigler quotes a letter from the rector’s daughter, Sarah Barnwell Gregorie, that offers an idyllic picture of that time: “The country people came to church in their buggies and hitched their horses behind the church. They often brought beautiful vegetables or eggs or fresh sausage, hogshead cheese, spare ribs, etc. to us and it seems that everyone was lovely and kind. [The rectory’s large yard] had a table garden behind it. We had a lovely vegetable garden and my father had hundreds of roses there on the fences and the piazzas.” 6

Barnwell left St. John’s in 1895 to become assistant rector of Grace Church, Charleston. The Reverend Wilmer S. Holmes served as St. John’s rector for a year, after which Mr. Barnwell returned and remained until 1901. During both of his terms, Barnwell also served Christ Church, Mars Bluff, the Church of the Advent, Marion, and St. Matthews, Darlington. In his second term, the mission at Kingstree was added to his list of duties. Eventually, concern began to grow that such a schedule was more than should be required. The Reverend James Magruder reported:

Christ Church is only six miles from Florence, and the most distant family is only about eight miles from St. John’s Church, Florence. The people go in constantly during the week for their purchases, and it seems that they might take the trip on Sunday for their spiritual privileges… the missionary at Darlington gives service at Christ Church, Mars Bluff, on the fifth Sundays only, it being impossible to maintain our work at Marion with only one service a month. It is hoped that the entire congregation of Christ Church will in time become regular attendants at St. John’s, Florence, as it is not very far. 7

Mr. Barnwell left Florence in 1901 to serve as assistant rector at St. Luke’s Church in Atlanta. He married Florence native Malinda Brunson in 1902 (his first wife died in 1900). He returned to Florence in 1910 and dabbled in farming. In 1922, he completed the construction of a home on Cherokee Road, where he lived until his death in 1952. Between 1910 and 1915, he served from time to time at St. Paul’s in Bennettsville and the Chapel in Pineville. Mr. Zeigler writes, “In 1915 he retired from the active ministry stating that ‘from the clearest of skies a bolt fell on me and my ministry was a thing of the past.’ It was rumored that Barnwell’s explanation for giving up the ministry was his inability to give a reasonable answer to the question, Who created God?” 8  (Picture to left: St. John's ca. 1900)

… to be continued … 

  1 Eugene N. Zeigler, Refugees and Remnants: The Story of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Pee Dee and St. John’s Episcopal Church, Florence, South Carolina   (Spartanburg: Clio Press, Inc., 2002), 157.
  2 Ibid., 157.
  3 Ibid., 158.
  4 Ibid., 162.
  5 Ibid., 170.
  6 Ibid., 171-172.
  7 Ibid., 172.
  8 Ibid., 173.
  9 Ibid., 171.
10 Ibid., 158.
11 Ibid., 159.

The primary reference for this series of articles is Nick Zeigler’s book, Refugees and Remnants , cited above. Special thanks to Mr. Zeigler for permitting the use of quotations from this work

Last Published: February 26, 2007 11:48 AM
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Forward in Faith:
Time Line for Progress

1865
St. John’s founded (classroom and hotel)

1867
St. John’s Mission founded

1871
First church building consecrated at Darlington and Coit streets

1886
Extensively damaged by earthquake; abandoned building; services held above a store at Evans and Dargan streets

1887
Became a self-supporting parish

1889 – December
present building occupied

1890
Present building completed

1922
Parish Hall built as memorial to Mrs. Frances Church

1957
Parish founded All Saints’ Mission

1966
Church building renovated, additions to parish hall, education wing

1972 
O’Dowd Building completed

1986
Extensive repairs and renovation to parish hall and church house

1990
Several phases of Marvin Plan begun

1992
Greenberg property purchased; most of revised Marvin Plan completed

1994
Further property swaps and purchases

1995
Sunday School wing renovated with additions and improvements

1996
Plans for master plan for campus begun

1997 – 1998
Major church reinforcement & electrical improvements

1998
Purchase of McLeod property including Youth Building

1999
Bell tower, bells, and entranceway/hallway completed

2000
Forward in Faith Capital Campaign begun

2002
Completion and dedication of new buildings, renovations and parking

2004
Dedication of new chapel

2005
Completion of Kathy Dargan Garden

2006
Garden furniture acquired
Final property purchase made
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