In Beaufort County, beside a busy highway, we find the ruins of old Sheldon Church.

A beautiful spot, the ruins are surrounded by magnificent live oak trees.

One has a sense of peace when visiting here.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [plaintive piano music] ♪ ♪ The church was chartered in 1747 as a separate parish.

At first it belonged to St. Helena's of Beaufort, but it was determined that it would be better to build a church by itself in what was then called "Indian Land."

Following the will of her husband, Mrs. Elizabeth Bellinger of Tombee gave 50 acres of land for the church and its environs.

It adjoins Sheldon Plantation, the home of the Bull family.

Sheldon was so named for their ancestral home in England, Sheldon Hall in Warwickshire.

The gentlemen who built this church were very wealthy planters.

We have no history of log cabin pioneers in this area, because these gentlemen came from England or the Barbados.

Men of wealth, they were prepared to invest in a beautiful church, which they and their heirs would enjoy.

We find here many examples of the beautiful church building of the times.

Woodmason, an Englishman who visited this country and surveyed colonial churches, sa ys that Sheldon, when finished in the late 18th century, was as beautiful as St. Michael's in Charleston.

We note that it did not have a steeple, because there was a colonial law that churches could not have steeples and a bell unless there was a large number of parishioners to hear the bell calling them to worship.

This was a Church of England building until after the American Revolution, when it became part of the Episcopal Church of America.

Many people worshipped here.

The black people and the white people worshipped together, but, unfortunately, the clouds of war came over this peaceful land with the American Revolution.

Following the Battle of Beaufort, Sheldon was burned in 1780.

Some say it was by the troops of Colonel Augustine Prevost.

Others say that Sheldon was destroyed by a Loyalist, a Tory sympathizer from Beaufort.

His cousin, a Patriot sympathizer, had been seriously wounded earlier in the battle of that city.

As you notice the ruins, you will see several holes along the walls.

This is called the putlog hole.

In building masonry at this time, masons would insert a horizontal plank into the brickwork.

Then as the brickwork rose, they would use that as part of the scaffolding, and they would raise the height of the plank.

After the scaffolding was no longer used, the holes left by the ends of the boards would be filled in with brickbats or half bricks.

Those were not based as securely as the rest of the bricks, and in time of burning or just aging, brickbats would be the first parts to be destroyed.

Unfortunately, we have no pictures of the appearance of Sheldon Church during its colonial or later life.

We do have a rendering by an artist of the ruins as they appeared in 1820, and we have another picture drawn by an artist of the way this church might have appeared.

You will find that the windows and doorways have been destroyed, but even today, Sheldon Church has its very own charm.

♪ It is obvious that these steps are the side entrance of old Sheldon Church.

There is a walkway of beautiful handmade brick covered with moss just outside.

Here we have an example of the half columns which surround the church.

The corner columns are almost complete, and the freestanding four columns of the portico make it a very lovely spot.

At the chancel end of the church, we see interesting glazed bricks.

One of our sources on old Sheldon told us about this, and we were pleased to discover it.

Builders used the end of the bricks, the leader, and glazed them, set them into the wall, so that we have the date of the building of the church.

To this side, we have 1-7, and on the far side we have 5-1.

It's interesting to note that the construction time of the church was recorded in such an interesting, unusual fashion.

The interior is not large, compared to some of our modern churches, but it was quite comfortable for colonial days.

It was stuccoed on the interior.

From the large window back of the chancel where the altar would have been, we could imagine it was truly beautiful.

If it followed other colonial churches, the important plantation families would have their own enclosed boxes with a little door to enter.

At the rear would be extra pews and benches for visitors and also for the black people of the area.

The church was burned in 1780, but not forgotten.

In 1815, services again were held in Sheldon.

Records say that the entire area was overgrown by trees.

In the center a large oak tree had grown so tall that its limbs and leaves made a roof over the building, and there was a cedar tree in the chancel.

The trees were cut down, and boards were placed on the stumps, and the congregation came again to worship God in this beautiful church.

Funds were raised, and by 1826, old Sheldon was completely rebuilt.

I found it interesting that the date is carved on a brick just outside the entranceway.

Services were held here continually.

In 1855, there were 25 white members of this church.

Other members of a chapel built nearby... too far away for parishioners to come to services here.

With the black people, the congregation totaled 100 people.

In 1852, an organ loft had been added, and the bishop, in visiting the next year, noted the lovely tone of the music and the voices of the choir.

However, the storms of war were gathering and, unfortunately, the War Between the States began.

The people of the plantations left this area because of the proximity of the enemy.

Only a very few people were left to tend to the plantations and to continue life as best they could.

In 1862, it's recorded that only three services were held here at Sheldon, and those were for the benefit of the Confederate soldiers who were stationed nearby.

But war does come, and for the second time, Sheldon was burned in the process of war by the troops under Sherman as he left Savannah, entered South Carolina, and then later turned toward Columbia.

Sheldon Church, or Prince William Church, has never been rebuilt.

However, it has not been forgotten.

In 1900, Congress suggested that petitions be made for the reimbursement of churches destroyed during the War Between the States, and this Episcopal parish listed Sheldon among the three which had been destroyed by Sherman.

However, it was thought that two groups destroyed the church, one following the other, with fire.

There were no eyewitnesses.

There were no church records.

Consequently, the diocese of the Episcopal Church of South Carolina was never reimbursed for the desecration which occurred here.

Later, services were held here on the second Sunday after Easter.

Except for the war years of World War II, this custom has continued.

It must be a very beautiful occasion.

In 1957, Bishop Thomas dedicated this stone, which we see by the brick altar, which now represents the former altar in the chancel.

The monument is to Lieutenant Colonel William Bull.

The history of this church is almost the history of the Bull family.

Colonel Bull loved Sheldon, and, indeed, in 1756, he gave a silver communion service to be used here.

When the church was being built again in the early 19th century, a little English lady living in Beaufort brought forth a package which had been handed to her by a British officer during the American Revolution.

The package contained the silver cups.

Two silver communion cups had been given in 1753 and then the silver given by Colonel Bull.

This is the communion service which John Bull gave to St. Helena's Church in 1734.

The service given by William Bull to Sheldon Church in 1756 would have been similar.

When the stone was laid for Colonel William Bull in 1957, it was placed by four brothers, hi s descendants.

This church has not been forgotten.

In the churchyard we find even modern stones where people wh ose ancestors worshipped here had brought people back here for their final rest.

Let's go outside now and see some of the mausoleums and the grave markers of old Sheldon, which are extremely interesting.

This is one of four tombs erected to the memory of members of the Bull family.

Here we have the inscription for Mary Bull, wife of John, who died in 1771 at the age of 69 years.

This is a fascinating churchyard, many interesting grave markers, and buried here somewhere is James C. Cuthbert, the gentleman who gave the church a sweet-toned organ that sounded so beautiful and also who, in his will, left the church $5,000.

This was a tremendous amount of money in 1852, a time when solid mahogany drop-leaf tables in 3 sections were selling for a grand sum of $25.

This is a very interesting cemetery.

Sadly enough, so many of the markers are those of infants and of the very elderly.

Some of the markers in this cemetery bear testimony to those who died at a young age, a witness to the level of medical care in times not too distant from today.

Among the tall, ancient oaks of the Carolina Lowcountry, the ruins of Sheldon Church provide a place of peace and solace even for the living, a place where history and memories linger in the soft, warm spring afternoons.

If sometime in the future you are traveling to Beaufort or to Hilton Head, the side trip to Sheldon Church mi ght provide a restful stop, for here you can almost touch the past.

♪ ♪ ♪ Along the road from Sheldon, past Beaufort to St. Helena Island, there are two other places worth a visit.

They're just a few among many lovely historic sites in the Sea Islands.

This is the Chapel of Ease of St. Helena's Church in Beaufort.

It was built in the 1750s for the Episcopal parishioners of St. Helena because it was almost impossible for them to go to church.

It was at least five miles, first by rutted sand road and then by boat.

In 1812, this became an independent church and served the community until 1861.

This church was not burned by Sherman as so many were, but it was destroyed by a forest fire in 1889.

Further destruction occurred with the great hurricane of 1893.

It's a beautiful church built of wood and brick, covered with the Lowcountry tabby-type concrete and then stuccoed on the interior and exterior.

One column remains from the four which obviously held the portico at one time.

It's a lovely spot.

♪ ♪ ♪ We have stopped at Penn School, originally organized by the Quaker church, where many beautiful, white buildings attest to a large community.

After Union occupation of the Sea Islands in 1861, two Northerners, Laura Town and Ellen Murray, came to assist the freed blacks of this area, establishing Penn School here in 1862.

The earliest-known black teacher was Charlotte Forten, who traveled all the way from Massachusetts to help her people.

Penn School was reorganized as Penn Normal, Industrial and Agricultural School in 1901.

As a result of this change, incorporating principles of education found at both Tuskegee and Hampton Institutes, Penn became an international model.

Its program was removed to the Beaufort County school system in 1948.

Our Lowcountry holds many treasures of history.

Amid the abundant plants and wildlife, some of these places, such as those we have seen, have a quiet serenity, and there are others, such as our next site, that was built to preserve peace.

When man lays claim to his portion of the earth, he must be prepared to defend it.

Throughout the history of civilization, we find the story of fortifications, where man has been prepared to mount guard against all enemies.

Here at Land's End on St. Helena Island, we find fascinating fortifications through many periods of time.

Across Port Royal Sound, we find some of the earliest forts in what is now the United States of America.

First, the Spaniards came in 1520, and then the French in 1562.

Both were built on what is now Parris Island.

In 1515, the first Spaniards explored this area, and in 1520, built a fort, wresting the land from the Coosa Indians.

In 1562, the French came, building Charles Fort, a portion of which is still standing.

Then the Spaniards-- it was back and forth.

After the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, the Englishmen came and laid claim to the land as a permanent settlement for their homes and agriculture.

This is very historic land.

Even the name St. Helena Island is the last name on our seacoast of Spanish origin.

It was named Santa Elena, which has been anglicized into St. Helena.

I'm standing on the upper rampart of Fort Fremont, one of our national fortifications built during the Spanish-American War.

The Spanish-American War is very interesting, with causes which can be greatly debated.

However, the thing that triggered our final declaration of war against Spain in 1898 was the destruction of the battleship "Maine" in Havana harbor.

Two months later, after the cry "Remember the 'Maine'!"

had echoed throughout the United States, our country was at war with Spain.

This installation was built between 1898 and 1899 but had been planned for earlier than that by President Grover Cleveland, who suggested to Secretary of War Steward that the United States should have fortifications from New York to Florida in case the enemy did arrive on our shores.

So since the Spanish-American War was a war between navies, America was ready.

Fort Fremont, named for John C. Fremont who was born in Savannah, not far from here, consisted of several escarpments for guns.

Here we have the placement area fo r a large, 10-inch-in-diameter-bore cannon.

It was called a rifled cannon because of the interior of the bore similar to the rifle we know today.

There were three of these large gun emplacements, plus several for 6-inch and 4-inch guns.

Very interesting about these huge cannon... they could disappear!

According to the rigging, the cannon could be put in place by a metal arm, fired, and the recoil would cause the cannon to sink down below the level here so the enemy at sea couldn't see it.

It would be completely camouflaged by the trees and undergrowth.

The cannon would be reloaded-- a good gun crew could fire twice per minute-- and then the cannon would be brought up again.

The recoil of the cannon would release a huge 55-ton ball, which would descend into a large hole in this floor.

When the cannon had to be raised, it would be tripped, and the weight of the cannon itself would bring it forward... very interesting indeed!

Underneath this rampart is a veritable labyrinth of storage rooms and passage areas.

From where I am, I see a huge, iron ring set into reinforced concrete, used for holding back part of the mechanism of the gun.

By 1908, this was quite a military establishment here.

Never, of course, equaling the United States Marine base in this direction, Parris Island, but 104 men were stationed here.

Barracks had been built for the men, officers' quarters.

The income that went into Beaufort each month from this military establishment was well over $2000.

However, 1908 may be prosperous, but 1911, only 3 years later, brought the threat of great disturbance on the Mexican border.

All of the military personnel except one noncommissioned officer and four men left here to go to defend, if necessary, the border of Texas against the Mexican forces.

Later the four men were ordered to pack up, move all of the movable equipment from Fort Fremont.

They did, and it became deserted.

But they had to leave the large 10-inch-bore cannons, which remained here until just before World War I.

The entire coast had a line of defensive forts such as this.

In most of them, cannon were loaded on railroad flatcars for transportation.

However, the three huge cannon from here were taken down the hill to barges, placed onboard ship, and started northward.

Legend says, however, that the ship on which they were placed ran into a dreadful storm at sea and sank off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

The only building left standing co nnected with Fort Fremont is this interesting building behind me.

Now a private home, originally it was the hospital of the fort.

It cared for the military as well as the people of the area.

Many things about Fort Fremont are fascinating but, to me, one item is, it never fired a shot in warfare.

The only damage done by a shell from the fort was when one hit the woods in Hilton Head Island and created a tremendous fire.

This is a beautiful place.

You will enjoy a visit here.

Frankly, I find it fascinating!

We have visited old Sheldon Church, a place consecrated to peace and, yet, destroyed twice by war... the American Revolution an d the War Between the States.

We visited Fort Fremont, a place designed for war but which never fired a shot in anger.

It has lived forever in peace.

Life is very interesting... don't you think?

♪ ♪ [plaintive piano music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Program captioned by: CompuScripts Captioning, Inc. 803.988.8438 ♪ ♪