Copyrighted © 2017, Orient of California, all rights reserved
Charleston Society Clubs
Social Clubs and Organizations
Started in Charleston, South Carolina
By: Ill. Brother McDonald “Don” Burbidge, 33°
In early Charles Town persons of like national origin tended to
organize their own clubs for purposes of charity and pleasure. There
were clubs representing all principle national elements in the province.
The Scotch had their St. Andrew’s Society, the English their St. George’s
Society, the French their South Carolina Society. As early as 1736 there
was a Welch Club which celebrated the anniversary of their patron saint.
There was an Irish Society in 1749 and a German Friendly Society in
1766.
Other clubs from the ranks of population at large also had civic,
cultural, or benevolent interests. A charitable Society gave notice of a
meeting in 1757, and the Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans
of the Clergy of the Established Church advertised a special anniversary
in 1770. The Winyah Society, founded about 1740 for purposes of
conviviality by indigo planters, established a school with surplus funds
from its treasury. The Charleston Library Society, founded in 1748, in
addition to its other functions, sponsored literate discussions and
scientific demonstrations. Patriotic groups such as the Sons of Liberty
and the Club Forty-Five came into being after the Stamp Act. Fraternal
organizations like the Masons, who by 1766 had four lodges in
Charleston and three in other communities flourished and multiplied.
The importance of club life in the eighteenth-century England was
reflected in colonial South Carolina. The Gazette fails to reveal the
presence of counterparts of the Hell-Fire clubs, the tavern did not
occupy as important a place, and there was a greater emphasis upon the
eleemosynary; but except for these details the club life of the Carolinian
and of the Englishman had much in common. The social structure of the
colony was based upon wealth, but it was a wealth accumulated by
energy and ability rather than by inheritance. This wealth made possible
leisure for pleasure and self-improvement, and brought with it a feeling
of responsibility toward the community.
The Societies or Clubs that we will be looking at will be the ones
started by our late Masonic Brothers.
The St. Andrew’s Society
Founded in 1729
The St. Andrew’s Society of Charles Town, South Carolina, founded in
the year 1729, is not only the oldest, but it is also the progenitor of
some, possibly a great number, of these St. Andrew’s Societies. That it is
the oldest there is little reason to doubt, for on none of the lists of
Scottish associations, which have been published from time to time,
does there appear a St. Andrew’s society with an earlier date of
establishment. That it is the progenitor of at least two other associations
of the same name is equally certain. According to the same authorities
which assign the Charleston society the place of the oldest, the St.
Andrew’s Society of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the second oldest,
having been founded in 1749. This organization, beyond all doubt, was
modeled with minor changes after the one in Charleston, probably, of
the removal from Charleston to Philadelphia of a resident of the former
city that carried the idea with him. Certain it is by this means it was
transmitted from Philadelphia to New York, where the St. Andrew’s
Society of the State of New York was established in 1756. A president of
the Charleston Society evidently intended to suggest this when he said,
the name of St. Andrew and the symbol of his cross, the consecrated
banner of their fathers, are still held in deep reverence by every
Scotsman; and whenever at a distance from Scotland they unite for any
social or benevolent purpose, and especially to cherish the recollection
of their beloved native land, that name and symbol, and the thistle of his
Order, and its daring motto, generally distinguish their voluntary
associations.” No reasonable person will hold it against the members of
the St. Andrew’s Society of Charleston for indulging themselves, as they
proudly approach their two hundredth and seventh first anniversary.
In the course of time the Roman Empire accepted Christianity and
Andrew came to be held in great veneration out of Northumberland.
Athelstan, a fierce Warrior, who was almost at his Heels, and overtook
him not far from Hadington. The Picts dismayed at the sudden approach
of their enemies, stood immediately, to their arms, and kept themselves
in their stations, ‘till very late; having set their watches for the night,
Hungus being inferior in other things, desired Aid of God, and gave
himself up wholly to prayer. At last, when his body was wearied with
Labor, and his mind oppressed with care, he seemed to behold Andrew
the Apostle, standing by him in his sleep, promising him the victory. This
vision being declared to the Picts filled them full of hope, so that they
prepared themselves with great Alacrity for a combat, which it was in
vain to think of avoiding. The next day they came to a pitched battle.
Some add, that another prodigy was seen in the heavens, a cross like the
letter X, which did so terrify the English, that they could hardly sustain
the first onset of the Picts. Athelstan was slain there, who gave name to
the place of battle, which is yet called Athelstan’s Ford. Hungus ascribed
the victory to St. Andrew, to whom, besides other gifts, he offered the
tithes of his royal demesnes.
This incident, it is asserted by some writers, led to the acceptance of
Andrew as the patron saint of Scotland, but others hold that he had
become such before the battle of Athelstan’s Ford; hence his assistance
to Scottish forces at the time. Certain it is that henceforth he occupied
that high station. One authority states positively that after the battle
“they [Achaius and Hungus] went in solemn procession, barefooted to
Kirk of St. Andrew, to return thanks to God and his apostle for their
victory; vowing that they and their posterity would ever bear the figure
of that cross in their ensigns and banners. In this way, it would seem,
Scotland acquired that emblem which appears today in her national flag
and in the British Union Jack along with the crosses of St. George and St.
Patrick.
When the founders of the St. Andrew’s Society of Charles Town chose
their insignia and devices, they took the figure of the saint, the cross
decussate, the thistle, and the motto. Not necessarily because they were
the insignia and devices of a knightly order but more probably because
they were ancient Scottish symbols. To these they added a crown, for
what reason is not clear, possibly because it occurs along with the thistle
in the national badge of Scotland. The thistle, the crown, and the motto
are employed in the society’s seal which is described in the original rules
as “a Silver Seal with a thistle and crown over it, engraved upon it, and
the motto, Nemo Me Impune Laciest.” The figure of the saint supporting
the cross has appeared from time to time on its banner, and for a time it
was required that each member at the anniversary meeting should wear
it. It is worn at the present time only by the president as a badge of his
office.
Who were the founders of this Society, or Club as it was first called?
On the original copy of the rules, which required that “every member
hereafter to be admitted shall immediately subscribe to the rules,”
under the words “Original Members Present, 30th of November, 1730”
occur the signatures of thirty-four persons.
The first printed edition of the rules bearing the imprint, “London:
printed by James Crokatt, printer and bookseller to the Society, at the
Golden Key near the InnerTemple Gate in Fleet Street, 1731,” shows
sixty-four names under the heading “Original Members presented the
30th of November, 1730. Dr. John Lining name appeared as the 48th
signature on this list with other signatures under “admitted August 31,
1731.”
The original rules remained substantially unchanged until 1796, and it
appears that the members governed themselves strictly in accordance
with them.
The Club meet four times a year which was held on the last day of
February, May, and on August, along with St. Andrew’s Day, except when
these dates fell on Sunday, then the meeting was held on the monday@123
following. These took place, as the rules stipulate, “at one convenient
house in Charles Town.
The principal design of this club is to assist all people in distress of
whatsoever nation or profession they may be, its not doubted their
number and stock would continue to increase.
Oucconastotah, the great warrior and chief of the Cherokee Nation
apparently so highly regarded his membership that he carefully
preserved his certificate of admission for many years.
Together with these were many of humbler stations, James Kerr, the
Vintner, Charles Shepheard, and his successors Robert Dillon and
William Holliday, keepers of a tavern on the corner of Broad and Church
Streets. On the whole it seems that these members were drawn from
practically every class represented in the colony.
Their anniversary celebration on St. Andrew’s Day early became an
event of great moment in the social life of the city. After what was the
most important Buenos session of the year, when the officers were
elected and the larger charities voted, there followed a dinner attended
not only by a majority of the members but also by distinguished guests.
These guests would sometime include the governor, chief justice,
council, the speaker of the commons house of assembly, and the
prominent visitors in the colony.
These dinners were, indeed, “handsome entertainment’s.” They were
generally held at the tavern which stood at the northeast corner of
Church and Broad Streets, know for a time as “Shepheard’s Tavern” and
then as “Dillon’s on the Corner.” They were prepared by the best satraps
of the day, amount them Mr. Henry Gignilliant, Mr. James Kerr, Mr.
Charles Shepheard, Mr. Thomas Blythe, Mr. Robert Dillon, Mr. William
Holliday. Though there is no record of the action, it is quite evident that
the provision of the rules permitting the president or vice president to
agree “at their discretion for the entertainment of the club for any sum
not exceeding Ten Shillings Sterling a Man” was soon amended.
In the colonial period there were five presidents of the St. Andrew’s
Society one of which was John Moultrie (1760-1771). John Moultrie was a
native of Culross Shire of Fife, Scotland. He came to South Carolina early
in the eighteenth century but returned to Scotland where he received his
M.D. degree from Edinburgh University. He returned to Charles Town
before November 30,1730, for on this day he signed the rules of the
Society. Here he became a successful physician. His five sons, four of
whom rose to prominence in public life, were all members of the Society,
and one (General William Moultrie) became president.
The Winyah Indigo Society of Georgetown, South Carolina
Founded in 1755
The Winyah Indigo Society, one of our nations oldest organizations,
has its roots in changes that were enveloping the Georgetown Area in
the mid-18th Century. According to tradition, in the 1740s local planters
began meeting on the first Friday of each month at Nathaniel Tregagle’s
popular Old Oak tavern on Bay Street to ponder the news of their
community, Charleston, and London. Along with food, drink, and
convivial discussion of weather, taxes, politics, and social goings-on,
there arose in that decade special interest in what was then called
“Indico,” the herb that yields highly prized blue dye.
In October 1744, April 1745, and January 1747, Charleston’s South
Carolina Gazette printed a four page weekly article devoted considerable
space to indigo providing readers’ with basic information concerning
how to cultivate and process the crop. Planted in April and May, this
native of India matured at different times during the summer months,
resulting in several cuttings. Stem perhaps three feet long, together with
leaves, then were steeped in a vat and allowed to ferment. The pulpy
mass was subsequently dissolved, beaten, and drained before being
dried, cut into squares, and placed in casks. It was a messy smelly job, a
task that attracted flies and mosquitoes, work usually done by slaves.
Some Georgetown planter’s in the 1750’s were reaping high profits on
their indigo crops. At some point, those gathering at the Old Oak tavern
formed themselves into an informal club. An anonymous writer to the
South Carolina Gazette (February 6, 1755) called “a company or Society.”
Just when this organization began to function is unclear, although the
Winyah Indigo Society seal bears the date of 1753. This group, the writer
boasted, had reduced the processing of indigo to “a plain, easy, and
familiar Method” and soon would supply every member with “a
complete history of the settled and most generally approved Method of
Indigo-making, from the cutting to the barreling.” Anyone joining the
society, he stressed, will immediately receive this valuable information,
which would “be more than the equivalent of his admission money.”
According to tradition, members sometimes were permitted to pay their
dues in indigo, although the royal charter obtained a few years later
specified such sums were to be paid in money.
This gentleman also alluded to the fact that “the whole Monies paid
by members at their entrance, is to be added to a fund already sunk for
building a free-school in George-Town, for teaching and instructing
indigent children, in the use of letter, and the principles of religion.”
Initially, however, this school did not fulfill the hopes and dreams of
those advocating education and moral betterment.
In January 1760, although deserving pupils were given free education,
books, pens, ink, paper, firewood, and two suits of outside clothes each
year, a notice in the South Carolina Gazette reveals ten of the twelve
“indigent” slots lay vacant. Also, despite being called a “Free-School,” it
should be noted that a majority of pupils always paid tuition and other
related expenses. Considering the difficult task of finding and keeping a
schoolmaster and the turmoil of the times, one suspect this institution
did not function as promised until the American Revolution had run its
course.
On the “Roster of Members,” John Lining is listed as joining on 1756.
The Charleston Library Society
Founded in 1748
The Scots formed their St. Andrew’s Society in 1729, the English their
St. George’s Society in 1733, the Huguenots (becoming less aggressively
French) established the South Carolina Society in 1737, and the Germans
Friendly Society in 1766. All of these organizations continue their active
existence and objectives today. And as the members of various groups
intermarried and become South Carolinians, we find many men on the
rolls of more than one society.
Another kind of organization was the Charleston Library Society. In
1748 William Burrows was one of “a group of seventeen aspiring young
intellectuals,” who agreed to raise a fund of ten pounds sterling and
import recent magazines and pamphlets from London. These seventeen
men held together by the bond of reading habit, including a school
master, two planters, a peruke maker, a doctor, a printer, two lawyers,
and nine merchants. The library Society soon was supported with rules
and organization; in 1750 the eminent Dr. John Lining, resident of
Charleston, meticulous observer and recorder of weather data,
experimenter in electrical phenomena, and correspondent of Benjamin
Franklin, was president; the membership, comprising the leaders of the
province, numbered 129.
Society of the Cincinnati
Founded in 1783
FOR BROTHERLY KINDNESS. FOR UNION AND NATIONAL HONOR. AS
LONG AS THEY SHALL ENDURE.
From The Institution.
President John Adams, in a letter written to Thomas Jefferson, said
that he remembered having been in a tavern in Westchester County,
New York, in the month of October 1776, together with Generals
Washington, Knox, Patterson and others.
General Knox was then heard to say that when the war was over, he
should like to have some ribbon to wear in his hat or in his buttonhole,
to be transmitted to his descendants as a badge or proof that he had
fought in the defense of the liberties of this country. He spoke of it in
such precise terms as showed that he had revolved it in his mind before.
Year
Name
1810
John Mitchell
1811
John Mitchell
In the Institution, or basic law of the Society, its founders thus
explained their choice of its name:
“ The Officers of the American Army have been generally taken from
the citizens of America, posses high veneration for the character of that
illustrious Roman, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, and being resolved to
follow his example, by returning to their citizenship, they think they may,
with propriety, denominate themselves the Society of the Cincinnati.”
George Washington’s signature lead the names subscribed to the first
copy of the Institution. He never signed the Roll of Virginia, his Native
State, nor that of any other State, but remained a member at large until
his death.
Admission to Membership
*********************************************************Eligibi
lity to original membership among Continental Army Officers was
defined by the founders of the Society of Cincinnati as existing in officers
of the Line (regular Army), who held commissions by the Continental
Congress and who were included in any of the following classes:
1)
Those officers who were in service at the time of the
foundation of the Society in 1783.
2)
Those officers previously deranged (honorably retired) by act
of Congress.
3)
Those officers who served three years as such in the
Continental Line.
The Story of Cincinnatus
The story of the Roman dictator, Cincinnatus, is told in a popular
translation of Livy’s History of Rome, in the following way:
Five horsemen bore tidings to Rome that the Army was besieged. The
people were sorely dismayed to hear these tidings, nor when they cast
about for help, saw they man that might be sufficient in this time of
peril, save only Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus. By common consent,
therefore, he was appointed Dictator for six months and messengers
were sent to tell him.
He was cultivating with his own hand a plot of ground and when the
messengers of the people came to him they found him plowing.
The messengers said, “Put on thy robe and hear the words of the
people.” Then Cincinnatus astonished called unto his wife Racilia, that
she should bring forth his robe from the cottage. So she brought it forth
his robe from the cottage. So she brought it forth and the man washed
from himself the dust and the sweat and stood before the messengers.
These said unto him, “The People of Rome make thee Dictator and bid
thee come forthwith to defense of the land.”
Under the lead of Cincinnatus the invader was soon driven out of the
land. Thereupon he resigned the Dictatorship and returned to his plow.
Orphan’s House at Charleston
From its founding in October 1790, John Mitchell was one of the
Commissioners of the Orphan House at Charleston, A tablet
commemorating the first meeting of the Commissioners on October 28,
1790 lists Mitchell second after Major Charles Lining, and he is recorded
as being present at every meeting thereafter until 1794. The minutes
show no one more active than Colonel Mitchell in promoting public
support for the Orphan House and in the management of its affairs
during the difficult first years. On Saturday May 7, 1791 President
George Washington, with the City Intendment and Wardens, visited the
Orphans House, and Mitchell is listed as the senior Commissioner
receiving him, afterwards entertaining him at breakfast in the
Commissioners’ Room.
The Charleston Orphan House, the oldest municipal orphanage in the
United States, was founded October 18, 1790, at the instigation of John
Robertson, a philanthropic citizen and a member of City Council. It’s
main purpose was to establish the Institution for the “purpose of
supporting and educating poor and orphan children and those of poor
and disabled parents who are unable to support and maintain them.
During the 1800’s the Orphan House was a well-known child care
institution.
The institution was a completely self-sufficient entity. The children
were fed by homegrown food, dressed in homespun clothing, and
educated in the building by former students trained by the Principal of
the School. This method of management was established in order to
reduce the cost of maintaining the children. A Board of Commissioners
annually elected by City Council governed the Orphan House. This Board
met weekly, with each member alternating his services as a Visiting
Commissioner. The Visiting Commissioner primarily investigated
applicants for admission or indenture; however, he also conducted
religious services on Sunday afternoon and inspected the house,
grounds, and staff.
Commissioners of the Charleston Orphan House list John Mitchell as
one starting on October 25, 1790 and ending on November 27, 1794.
The Charleston Orphan House stood at the corner of Calhoun and St.
PHILIP Streets. Built on the site of the Revolutionary War Barracks, the
Institution was officially occupied October 18, 1794.
A set of tablets containing the names of the first commissioners-
Arnoldus Vanderhorst, Charles Lining, John Mitchell, John Robertson,
Richard Cole, Thomas Corbett, William Marshall, Thomas Jones, and
Samuel Beekman, and also, individual tablets to John Robertson, was
made and put on pubic display at the Orphan House.
At the one-hundredth anniversary of the Orphan House a banner was
made. On the front of the banner it had written; 1790 Charleston
Orphan House 1890. On the back of the banner located in the center
was a drawing of a ship anchor with a chain on it. Above the anchor is
the word “Faith” and below it is written “Charity.”
Club Fourty-Five
Amid celebrations in Charleston over the repeal of the Stamp Act, the
Declaratory Act went nearly unnoticed. Couched in the same sweeping
terms as the Irish Declaratory Act of 1719, it pronounced the American
Colonies subordinate to and dependant upon the Crown and
Parliament. While Charleston rang with cheers and huzzas, a more sober
meeting at the Liberty Tree was taking place. There Gadsden and the
mechanics gathered privately, and in the words of George Flagg the
painter, “Gadsden harangued them at considerable length, on the folly
of relaxing their opposition and vigilance, or of indulging the fallacious
hope that Great Britain would relinquish her designs and pretensions.
He drew their attention to the preamble of the act, forcibly pressed upon
the folly of rejoicing at a law that still asserted and maintained the
absolute dominion of Great Britain over them. Then reviewing all the
chances of succeeding in a struggle to break the fetters whenever again
imposed on them,” the mechanics joined hands and swore their defense
against tyranny,” but, like the silversmith Grimke, some must have
thought, “Thank God” the province was “now again, the land of Liberty.”
Charles-Town, Nov. 21, 1772
The FRIENDS of LIBERTY
Agreeable to the ENGLISH CONSTITUTION,
Who are Members, and particularly the Stewards,
Of the CLUB No. 45,
The Meeting of which was adjourned to the Day whereon certain
Advice should be received of the intrepid Patriot
JOHN WILKES, Esq.;
Being advanced to the high Dignity of
LORD MAYOR of London,
Are desired to meet at Mr. Holiday’s Tavern, at Six o’clock
THIS EVENING, to choose Stewards, and otherwise
Prepare, for the Celebration of their Sincere Joy upon so glorious
And important Event.
Public Notice will be given, when the News is received, of
the Day appointed; and Tickets for Admission may in the mean
Time be had of Joshua Lockwood, Joseph Verree, and
Morris, three of the former Stweards, and at T.
Powell & Co.’s Printing-Office, near the Exchange.
(As printed in the South Carolina Gazette Paper)
Also printed in the Gazette newspaper is a description of another
meeting that took place under the Liberty Tree.
About 5 o’clock they all removed to a most noble LIVE OAK tree, in Mr.
Mazyk’s pasture, which they formally dedicated to LIBERTY, where many
loyal, patriotic, and constitutional toasts were drank, beginning with the
glorious NINETY-TWO Anti-Rescinders of Massachusetts-Bay, and ending
with, unanimity among the members of our ensuing Assembly not to
rescind from the said resolution [to boycott England], each succeeded by
three huzzas.
In the evening, the tree was decorated with 45 lights, and 45
skyrockets were fired. About 8 o’clock, the whole company, preceded by
45 of their number, marched in regular procession to town, down King-
Street and Broad Street, to Mr. Robert Dillion’s tavern; where the 45
lights being placed upon the table, with 45 bowls of punch, 45 bottles of
wine, and 92 glasses, they spent a few hours in a new round of toasts,
among which, scarce a celebrated Patriot of Britain or America was
omitted; and preserving the same good order and regularity as had
been observed throughout the day, at 10 they retired.
”The Society for the Relief of the Widows and Children of the Clergy
of the Church of England in the Province of South Carolina.”
Established on April 21, 1762 by Right Rev. Robert Smith for the
purpose of providing relief to the widows and children of the Clergy. A
total of 11 members of the clergy attended the first meeting. At the
second meeting Right Rev. Smith was elected it first Treasurer.
It was adopted at the first meeting that the clergy would give a
“Charity Sermon” to each church. On December 27, 1762, Rev. Smith
provided the Masons of Charles Town the first documented sermon. The
sermon was titled, “Charity Sermon for the Masons, No. 100.”
On October 3rd, 1818, Ill. Bro. Rev. Dalcho attended his first meeting
according to the meeting of the Society and was listed as representing
St. Michael’s church.
This Society still survives and is, next to one in Virginia, the oldest
society of the kind in America.
Right Rev. Robert Smith is also credited with the founding the College
of Charleston.
In 1790 Rev. Smith offered to merge his academy into the purposed
college and yield to it his sixty pupils. This plan was adopted and was the
real beginning of this institution, the oldest municipal college in the
United States. Though the college had an earlier conception, in the
sense of making it an actuality, Mr. Smith may be called the founder of it.
He was the first president of the board of trustees and the first principal
of the college. Rev. Smith was a man of tradition who was a generous
man, who understood life. He presided over the college, “ wrote one of
his former students,” with great dignity and address, and had more
power over boys than anyone in a similar capacity, although never
severe or morose.”