09 May 2011

Oh I Wish I Were in Charleston, Hurrah, Hurrah... or: The Charleston "Mariner's Church"

Words can't describe how badly I wanted to attend the NGS conference in Charleston, SC, where most of our noted brethren are headed this week.

My husband has a heavy swath of ancestors in Charleston, as well as some relatives living there today. We had the good fortune to visit in 2006, and I was enraptured by the city, which is so historical, so charming, so grandiose yet so comfortable.

In order to calm my envious passions, I have been devoting myself to some long overdue Charleston research. In trying to connect a certain gentleman to my husband's family, I found the funeral notice for his wife:

The Relatives, Friends and Acquaintances of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. H. Harvey, and of Captain John Carnighan and family, are respectfully invited to attend the Funeral Services of the Wife of the former, at the Mariner's Church, THIS MORNING, at 10 o'clock.-The Charleston Daily News, 13 December 1871.

I know that Mr. Harvey's father was a shipwright, and dear William may have been one as well. Mrs. Harvey's father, John Carnighan, was a Capt. Thus, I suppose, the affiliation with the Mariner's Church.

I found some interesting information on the church, which was actually heavily damaged in the 1886 Charleston earthquake:



The church was a Baptist one, which is an interesting piece of information for my research.

There is an interesting image of the Mariner's Church, post-earthquake, at the Charleston Museum site, here.

Interested in the history of the First Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina? Well, the internet has that too. Now if only it could jet me over to Charleston while the kids are taking their afternoon nap...

2 comments:

Greta Koehl said...

Oh, I wish you were here, too! It would be so much fun to meet you. This is my first time in Charleston, and I am so excited.

Jennifer said...

Aw, thanks Greta! I hope to meet you too one of these days soon. Have an awesome time in Charleston, it's such a special place!