Visit the 'Our History' page for a basic history timeline.
Visit the 'art and architecture' page for a timeline of and more information on the church's various art forms, including essays.
Visit the 'Graveyard' page for more information about the historic graveyard.
Visit the 'Bicentennial Campaign' page for more information on our current renovation/restoration work.
Select online references have been linked at the bottom of this page.
This essay (pdf) is a more in-depth look at the early parish history. References are included. An excerpt is below.
FOUNDING AND EARLY DAYS
The First Mass Celebrated in Charleston
Because of the laws proscribing Catholicism in the colonial period, few Roman Catholics dared to publicly acknowledge their religion. Yet in 1786 a ship with an Italian priest aboard put into Charleston harbor and celebrated Mass in a private home for about a dozen people. In addition to the sacraments, this gathering allowed isolated Catholics to meet like-minded souls and to form a community.
Founding of the Roman Catholic Community which became St. Mary’s Church
In 1788 Fr. John Carroll, Apostolic Prefect of the United States, later Bishop, and Archbishop of Baltimore, sent Dublin priest Fr. Matthew Ryan to Charleston. He rented a house on Hasell Street which had been used as a chapel for the Countess of Huntington’s Methodists, a more rigorous community than that of John and Charles Wesley’s Methodist community. Illness forced Fr. Ryan to seek a healthier climate. Bishop Carroll then sent Fr. Thomas Keating to the Charleston mission. Fr. Keating had a public ministry, for example, he attended a condemned man on the scaffold, an event so unusual it was reported in the newspaper. He facilitated the purchase of the Hasell Street site and the act of incorporation by the trustees – an act which was to bedevil the community for decades. Charleston’s climate proved too much for Fr. Keating; he sought a relief in Philadelphia and died in 1793.
Émigris from the French Revolution sought refuge in Atlantic and Gulf port cities, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, Mobile, and New Orleans. The French in Charleston created a more cosmopolitan society: balls, musicals, coffee houses, dancing masters, French language teachers, a girls’ school, and a free mixed race Catholic element in Charleston’s Protestant and white and enslaved culture. Émigris were Catholic, monarchists, republicans, slaveowners, businesspeople, and begged the Archbishop for a French speaking pastor. Among the émigris were Admiral Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse and his family; de Grasse was the French commander who blockaded British General Cornwallis at Yorktown, thus ensuring victory in the War for Independence.
Irish-born Fr. Simon Felix Gallagher followed Fr. Keating. Gallagher founded the Hibernian Society and taught at the College of Charleston. He was also frequently absent from his duties, which incurred the Archbishop’s censure. To replace Gallagher and provide a priest for the growing French community Archbishop Carroll sent newly ordained Fr. Joseph Pierre Picot de Limoëlan, Chevalier de Clorivière in 1812. The 40-year-old priest was a grizzled royalist soldier and counter-revolutionary in France; and Christmas Eve, 1800, attempted to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte.
Gallagher refused to leave Charleston and appealed to Rome for reinstatement. Public scandal and ecclesiastical schism resulted. As the new pastor Clorivière incurred the wrath of vestry, and slaveholders, when he formed a catechism class for enslaved people. Anti-monarchists tried to kidnap the French priest; failing that an assassin tried to murder him as he celebrated Mass. Archbishop Leonard Neale placed the church under interdict which meant all sacraments were forbidden. The rebellious vestry kept the doors open, while Fr. Clorivière celebrated Mass and the sacraments in a private chapel. Archbishop Ambrose Marechal sent Jesuit fathers Benedict Fenwick and James Wallace to restore order in Charleston. Fr Clorivière accepted the post of chaplain to the Visitation Monastery in Washington, DC where he is revered as a second founder. He died in 1826. Fr. Fenwick became president of Georgetown College (later Georgetown
University) and Bishop of Boston. Fr. Wallace left the Jesuit order in 1820 and taught mathematics at the South Carolina College (later University of South Carolina). Anti-Catholic bigotry forced him to leave his teaching post. When he died in 1851 his estate went to establish a male orphan asylum in Charleston.
The Charleston Schism was so serious that in 1820 Rome finally sent Irish-born Fr. John England to form a new diocese in 1820.
This essay (pdf) gives more information about Fr Clorivière.
Complete list of pastors:
Rev. Matthew Ryan, 1788
Rev. Dr. Thomas Keating, 1789
Rev. Simon Felix Gallagher, September 1, 1793
Fr. Joseph Pierre Picot de Limoëlan, Chevalier de Clorivière, 1812
Rev. Benedict J. Fenwick, S.J., 1818
Rev. James Wallace, S.J., 1818
Rt. Rev. John England, 1820, First Bishop of Charleston
Rev. John McEnroe, 1822
Rev. J. Barry, 1829
Rev. Andrew Byrne, 1830
Rev. Robert Browne, 1835. Died April 20, 1839
Rev. William Burke, July 1844. Died August 1846
Dr. James Corcoran, Admin. 1839 – 1845
Rt. Rev. P.N. Lynch, D.D., 1845, became third Bishop of Charleston
Rev. Richard S. Baker, July 3, 1847. Died January 30, 1870
Rev. Claudian B. Northrop, 1870. Died September 21,1882
Rev. J.J. Woolahan, 1882. Died September 5, 1890
Rev. P.J. Wilson, admin. during closing years of Fr. Woolahan’s illness
Rev. P.L. Duffy, October 17,1887
Rev. J.D. Budds, January 1894
Rev. Thomas F. Hopkins, D.D., 1894. Died August 23, 1904
Rev. George A. Kraft, September 15, 1901. Died April 16, 1923
Rev. Charles DuBois Wood, 1923. Died January 2, 1944
Rev. Bernard Fleming, 1928. Died January 6, 1931
Rev. J. W. Carmody, February 14, 1931. Died January 25, 1971
Rev. Charles J. Molony, March 12, 1966 – August 1, 1967. Died October 24, 1972
Rev. Thomas Duffy, Admin. August 1,1967. October 17,1968
Rev. Joseph J. Murphy, October 17, 1968 – June 13, 1975. Died August 11, 1998
Rev. Charles H. Rowland, June 13, 1975 – June 15, 1982
Rev. Msgr. John A. Simonin, June 15, 1982. June 5, 1999
Rev. Msgr. Chester M. Moczydlowski, June 5, 1999 – June 28, 2001
Rev. Msgr. Joseph R. Roth, June 28, 2001 - April [??] 2008
Rev. Gregory B. Wilson, Administrator, April 8, 2008 – Aug. 10, 2011
Rev. Jeremi Wodecki, Administrator, Aug. 10, 2011 – Sept. 5, 2011
Rev. Msgr. Steven L. Brovey, Administrator, Sept. 5, 2011 – June 30, 2017
Rev. H. Gregory West, JCL, Pastor, July 1, 2017 -- June 30, 2020
Rev. Patrick S. Allen, Temporary Administrator, July 1, 2020 - September 8, 2020
Rev. Msgr. D. Anthony Droze, VG, Pastor, September 9, 2020 - present
Selected References:
-St. Mary’s Church by Rev. Thomas F. Hopkins, D.D.. Published in The Year Book of Charleston, 1897.
-Will of Rev. G.P. Bournonviviere, proved Nov. 27, 1801, Charleston County Probate.
-St. Mary’s Family Year Book, 1913-14. City Gazette, August 15, 1793.
-Our Catholic Roots – Old Churches East of the Mississippi by Walter H. Maloney.
-In the Beginning - St. Mary’s Church. Charleston. South Carolina 1789-1989. Researched and Edited by Florence Marie Hennessy, MA, Catholic University of America. History by Agatha Airnar Simmons. Brochure text edited & updated 1996 by W. Thomas McQueeney and in June 2001 by Msgr. Chet Moczydlowski. Special Thanks to Msgr. John A Simonin and to Mrs. Jervey D. Royall.
-The Charleston, S.O., Schism of 1815-1818 by Francis T Furey. Published in The American Catholic Historical Researches, Vol 4, No 2 (OCTOBER, 1887), pp 184-188 (JSTOR, Open Access)
-The Development of American Industries Since Columbus by Daniel Spillane. Published in Popular Science Monthly, Vol 40, (MARCH 1892) (WikiSource)
-The Life and Times of John England, First Bishop of Charleston (Google Books)
-Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the United States, Volume 1 (Google Books)
-Toward a Biography of Henry Erben by John Ogasapian. Published in The Tracker, Vol 21, No 4, pp 1, 3-5.
(Organ Historical Society archived issues, pdf)
-An 1874 Jardine Gains Second Manual by Lawrence Trupiano. Published in The Tracker, Vol 28, No 4, pp 11-17.
(Organ Historical Society archived issues, pdf)
-Jardine and Son by Peter T Cameron. Published in The Tracker, Vol 47, No 1, pp 4-12
(Organ Historical Society archived issues, pdf)
-Charleston County Public Library newspaper database (search available with login using CCPL library card)
-National Register of Historic Places application
Visit the 'art and architecture' page for a timeline of and more information on the church's various art forms, including essays.
Visit the 'Graveyard' page for more information about the historic graveyard.
Visit the 'Bicentennial Campaign' page for more information on our current renovation/restoration work.
Select online references have been linked at the bottom of this page.
This essay (pdf) is a more in-depth look at the early parish history. References are included. An excerpt is below.
FOUNDING AND EARLY DAYS
The First Mass Celebrated in Charleston
Because of the laws proscribing Catholicism in the colonial period, few Roman Catholics dared to publicly acknowledge their religion. Yet in 1786 a ship with an Italian priest aboard put into Charleston harbor and celebrated Mass in a private home for about a dozen people. In addition to the sacraments, this gathering allowed isolated Catholics to meet like-minded souls and to form a community.
Founding of the Roman Catholic Community which became St. Mary’s Church
In 1788 Fr. John Carroll, Apostolic Prefect of the United States, later Bishop, and Archbishop of Baltimore, sent Dublin priest Fr. Matthew Ryan to Charleston. He rented a house on Hasell Street which had been used as a chapel for the Countess of Huntington’s Methodists, a more rigorous community than that of John and Charles Wesley’s Methodist community. Illness forced Fr. Ryan to seek a healthier climate. Bishop Carroll then sent Fr. Thomas Keating to the Charleston mission. Fr. Keating had a public ministry, for example, he attended a condemned man on the scaffold, an event so unusual it was reported in the newspaper. He facilitated the purchase of the Hasell Street site and the act of incorporation by the trustees – an act which was to bedevil the community for decades. Charleston’s climate proved too much for Fr. Keating; he sought a relief in Philadelphia and died in 1793.
Émigris from the French Revolution sought refuge in Atlantic and Gulf port cities, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, Mobile, and New Orleans. The French in Charleston created a more cosmopolitan society: balls, musicals, coffee houses, dancing masters, French language teachers, a girls’ school, and a free mixed race Catholic element in Charleston’s Protestant and white and enslaved culture. Émigris were Catholic, monarchists, republicans, slaveowners, businesspeople, and begged the Archbishop for a French speaking pastor. Among the émigris were Admiral Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse and his family; de Grasse was the French commander who blockaded British General Cornwallis at Yorktown, thus ensuring victory in the War for Independence.
Irish-born Fr. Simon Felix Gallagher followed Fr. Keating. Gallagher founded the Hibernian Society and taught at the College of Charleston. He was also frequently absent from his duties, which incurred the Archbishop’s censure. To replace Gallagher and provide a priest for the growing French community Archbishop Carroll sent newly ordained Fr. Joseph Pierre Picot de Limoëlan, Chevalier de Clorivière in 1812. The 40-year-old priest was a grizzled royalist soldier and counter-revolutionary in France; and Christmas Eve, 1800, attempted to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte.
Gallagher refused to leave Charleston and appealed to Rome for reinstatement. Public scandal and ecclesiastical schism resulted. As the new pastor Clorivière incurred the wrath of vestry, and slaveholders, when he formed a catechism class for enslaved people. Anti-monarchists tried to kidnap the French priest; failing that an assassin tried to murder him as he celebrated Mass. Archbishop Leonard Neale placed the church under interdict which meant all sacraments were forbidden. The rebellious vestry kept the doors open, while Fr. Clorivière celebrated Mass and the sacraments in a private chapel. Archbishop Ambrose Marechal sent Jesuit fathers Benedict Fenwick and James Wallace to restore order in Charleston. Fr Clorivière accepted the post of chaplain to the Visitation Monastery in Washington, DC where he is revered as a second founder. He died in 1826. Fr. Fenwick became president of Georgetown College (later Georgetown
University) and Bishop of Boston. Fr. Wallace left the Jesuit order in 1820 and taught mathematics at the South Carolina College (later University of South Carolina). Anti-Catholic bigotry forced him to leave his teaching post. When he died in 1851 his estate went to establish a male orphan asylum in Charleston.
The Charleston Schism was so serious that in 1820 Rome finally sent Irish-born Fr. John England to form a new diocese in 1820.
This essay (pdf) gives more information about Fr Clorivière.
Complete list of pastors:
Rev. Matthew Ryan, 1788
Rev. Dr. Thomas Keating, 1789
Rev. Simon Felix Gallagher, September 1, 1793
Fr. Joseph Pierre Picot de Limoëlan, Chevalier de Clorivière, 1812
Rev. Benedict J. Fenwick, S.J., 1818
Rev. James Wallace, S.J., 1818
Rt. Rev. John England, 1820, First Bishop of Charleston
Rev. John McEnroe, 1822
Rev. J. Barry, 1829
Rev. Andrew Byrne, 1830
Rev. Robert Browne, 1835. Died April 20, 1839
Rev. William Burke, July 1844. Died August 1846
Dr. James Corcoran, Admin. 1839 – 1845
Rt. Rev. P.N. Lynch, D.D., 1845, became third Bishop of Charleston
Rev. Richard S. Baker, July 3, 1847. Died January 30, 1870
Rev. Claudian B. Northrop, 1870. Died September 21,1882
Rev. J.J. Woolahan, 1882. Died September 5, 1890
Rev. P.J. Wilson, admin. during closing years of Fr. Woolahan’s illness
Rev. P.L. Duffy, October 17,1887
Rev. J.D. Budds, January 1894
Rev. Thomas F. Hopkins, D.D., 1894. Died August 23, 1904
Rev. George A. Kraft, September 15, 1901. Died April 16, 1923
Rev. Charles DuBois Wood, 1923. Died January 2, 1944
Rev. Bernard Fleming, 1928. Died January 6, 1931
Rev. J. W. Carmody, February 14, 1931. Died January 25, 1971
Rev. Charles J. Molony, March 12, 1966 – August 1, 1967. Died October 24, 1972
Rev. Thomas Duffy, Admin. August 1,1967. October 17,1968
Rev. Joseph J. Murphy, October 17, 1968 – June 13, 1975. Died August 11, 1998
Rev. Charles H. Rowland, June 13, 1975 – June 15, 1982
Rev. Msgr. John A. Simonin, June 15, 1982. June 5, 1999
Rev. Msgr. Chester M. Moczydlowski, June 5, 1999 – June 28, 2001
Rev. Msgr. Joseph R. Roth, June 28, 2001 - April [??] 2008
Rev. Gregory B. Wilson, Administrator, April 8, 2008 – Aug. 10, 2011
Rev. Jeremi Wodecki, Administrator, Aug. 10, 2011 – Sept. 5, 2011
Rev. Msgr. Steven L. Brovey, Administrator, Sept. 5, 2011 – June 30, 2017
Rev. H. Gregory West, JCL, Pastor, July 1, 2017 -- June 30, 2020
Rev. Patrick S. Allen, Temporary Administrator, July 1, 2020 - September 8, 2020
Rev. Msgr. D. Anthony Droze, VG, Pastor, September 9, 2020 - present
Selected References:
-St. Mary’s Church by Rev. Thomas F. Hopkins, D.D.. Published in The Year Book of Charleston, 1897.
-Will of Rev. G.P. Bournonviviere, proved Nov. 27, 1801, Charleston County Probate.
-St. Mary’s Family Year Book, 1913-14. City Gazette, August 15, 1793.
-Our Catholic Roots – Old Churches East of the Mississippi by Walter H. Maloney.
-In the Beginning - St. Mary’s Church. Charleston. South Carolina 1789-1989. Researched and Edited by Florence Marie Hennessy, MA, Catholic University of America. History by Agatha Airnar Simmons. Brochure text edited & updated 1996 by W. Thomas McQueeney and in June 2001 by Msgr. Chet Moczydlowski. Special Thanks to Msgr. John A Simonin and to Mrs. Jervey D. Royall.
-The Charleston, S.O., Schism of 1815-1818 by Francis T Furey. Published in The American Catholic Historical Researches, Vol 4, No 2 (OCTOBER, 1887), pp 184-188 (JSTOR, Open Access)
-The Development of American Industries Since Columbus by Daniel Spillane. Published in Popular Science Monthly, Vol 40, (MARCH 1892) (WikiSource)
-The Life and Times of John England, First Bishop of Charleston (Google Books)
-Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the United States, Volume 1 (Google Books)
-Toward a Biography of Henry Erben by John Ogasapian. Published in The Tracker, Vol 21, No 4, pp 1, 3-5.
(Organ Historical Society archived issues, pdf)
-An 1874 Jardine Gains Second Manual by Lawrence Trupiano. Published in The Tracker, Vol 28, No 4, pp 11-17.
(Organ Historical Society archived issues, pdf)
-Jardine and Son by Peter T Cameron. Published in The Tracker, Vol 47, No 1, pp 4-12
(Organ Historical Society archived issues, pdf)
-Charleston County Public Library newspaper database (search available with login using CCPL library card)
-National Register of Historic Places application
