03/06/2022
Our continuing efforts to explore the historical merchant shipping links between Wiscasset and the South Carolina low country bring us to the most fascinating and beautiful sites, including this one, the Chapel of Ease ruins on St. Helena Island.
British colonial rules required that in order to be chartered as a town, a community had to meet certain criteria, including establishing and funding “a church, a preacher, a school and a teacher”. Wiscasset struggled with these requirements in its own pursuit of a town charter, constructed several meeting house churches which were lost to fire, and was once fined by the Massachusetts courts for failing to maintain a school even after it had become a town.
In 1712, the Lords Proprietor of Carolina established the colonial church of the Church of England in downtown Beaufort. The building was built in 1724. Today called the St. Helena Episcopal Church, it is one of the oldest continuously active churches in North America.
In the age before bridges and roads between islands and towns however, planters of indigo and sea island cotton moved to outlying plantations, and could not easily travel into town for worship. They instead build parish “chapels of ease” and held regular worship services there.
The St. Helena Chapel of Ease, built of tabby (oyster shells and lime) construction, was built in 1740. It served planter families until November 4, 1861, when Sunday services were interrupted by news that Union forces were invading Beaufort. Most of the white planters fled, in what is locally know as “the great skeedaddle”, leaving their fields, homes, and thousands of African slaves behind.
During Federal occupation, it was used for Union troop services, and to educate and assist the freed slaves until the historic Penn Center was built just across the street. Following the destruction wrought by an 1886 forest fire, the church was not rebuilt, and its ruins have stood ever since as a monument to a past era. Now listed as a National Historic Site, it is free and open for exploration, with its tabby walls and surrounding burial grounds of several of the Fripp family, for whom the popular nearby vacation destination of Fripp Island is named.
It is said that Union forces attempted to break into the mausoleum housing Edgar and Eliza Fripp, looking for treasure. They removed the brick entrance one day, only to find the bricks replaced the next day. It was regarded as haunted after that, and local lore holds that people have heard singing and seen ghosts there. The mausoleum still stands, and one can still find evidence of respect for “haints” in the ancient burial ground, which dates from the same time as Wiscasset’s Ancient Cemetery.
Special thanks to our intrepid tour guide, Jennifer Rentz, who is always up for an adventure with an old friend, and who knows all of the cool spots in the area. And for guests of Tabby on the Tee, this is a don’t miss spot right in your backyard during your stay.
