Two historic churches represent two distinct segments of Lowcountry society.
This journey through the past begins just outside of Pritchardville at St. Luke’s Methodist Church. The Colonial Assembly authorized St. Luke’s in 1767 and built on land donated by prosperous planter John Bull in 1786 .
Today, it stands as one of the oldest surviving frame churches in South Carolina and is architecturally significant as a representation of the transition from early, Georgian-style Episcopalian to Greek Revival. Named to the National Historic Register of Historic Places in 1987, it also has one of the only intact church slave galleries in the state.
On a tour of the grounds, church historian Betty Forristall reveals points of interest.
She tells of the cross above the pulpit, recycled from the original slave gallery wood railing. She shows the tomb of Mary Bull, wife of Colonel William Bull of Sheldon, who “departed this life after a painful illness” on November 3, 1793. Other significant gravesites include those of famed botanist and Confederate Army surgeon Dr. Joseph Mellichamp. 11 Confederate soldiers, 43 other veterans and those with an important family to Bluffton lie here as well.
This Greek Revival-style historic church on Boundary Street was built in 1853 and was originally the Bluffton Methodist Episcopal Church. The oldest church in Old Town—and one of only two that survived the Burning of Bluffton by federal troops in 1863—the congregation consolidated after the Civil War and passed the building on to nine former slaves: Renty Fields, Jacob Chisholm, William Ferguson, Jeffrey Buncombe, William Smith, David Heyward, Christopher Bryan, Theodore Wilson and William Lightburn to form Bluffton’s African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Details remain unclear as to why a white congregation turned their church over to the freedmen. We know little about these former slaves who took it over. Research indicates that at least one of the men, Jacob Chisholm, had been a slave of a previous trustee.
Native Blufftonian Nate Pringle has a vested interest in learning more about the history of Campbell Chapel A.M.E.
He wishes to restore the church to its former glory, as he is a descendant of William Lightburn, one of the nine founders.
The congregation outgrew the original building and moved to a new church next door in 2004. Efforts are currently underway to have Campbell Chapel A.M.E. listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. This allows for funding for its preservation and restoration it for use as a community center.
Celebrate Bluffton’s Executive Director Carolyn Coppola has been instrumental in researching the church’s history and evaluating its historical integrity, with the help of Savannah College of Art and Design students.
Boasting an unusual application of board and batten siding, the church has expanded throughout the years. This includes a small addition in 1874, with a second addition constructed around the first in 1957. The current configuration came to be in 1966 with the construction of an annex. These additions most likely conceal important historical features and materials.
The historic church bell was recently located and rang again in 2015 in honor of Campbell Chapel’s 141st anniversary, as well as in memory of the nine murdered at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, including South Carolina State Representative and Mother Emanuel Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who served as the pastor at Campbell Chapel from 2009-2010.
Both congregations welcome historical information and pictures from their past. If anyone has details on St. Luke’s Methodist Church, please email Betty Forristall at b4istall@gmail.com. Please contact Carolyn Coppola at (843) 781-7390 if you have information on Campbell Chapel A.M.E..
Photography and article by Allyson Jones
