In the 17th century, European missionaries arrived in hopes of bringing Christianity to the inhabitants of the area. However, they met with great resistance from the natives and soon left their settlement, which was initially called San Simeon.

In 1736, English settlers, led by General James Edward Oglethorpe, established a colony and fortification at Fort Frederica, just a stone’s throw from the site of today’s Christ Church, Frederica. These Englishmen engaged in many battles against Spanish invaders, the most deadly being the Battle of Bloody Marsh. Against strong odds, the British troops were able to hold the fort and township of Frederica.

After the establishment of the 13 colonies, a great number of English loyalists returned to their homeland. However, many determined pioneers stayed or headed north to fight the British troops. John and Charles Wesley, founders of the Methodist Church, arrived in 1736 and, under the massive oak trees, preached to the natives and established a congregation at Frederica, the predecessor of Christ Church. Plantation life began when it was discovered that the soil in this area was very fertile and could grow many diverse crops, one of which was a special strain of cotton that became known as Sea Island cotton. It was in high demand worldwide and, as a result, many slaves were brought from Africa to tend the fields. In fact, several of their direct descendants still live on St. Simons today.

After the Civil War, life on the plantation drastically changed. The land had been neglected and the slaveshad been emancipated. Many of the plantation owners left to begin their lives anew elsewhere.

In the years following the Civil War, some of the plantation owners moved to Brunswick, former residents returned to the area, and the port town began to grow. Brunswick became a busy shipping center, and industries connected to lumber and naval stores became established. The mild climate attracted visitors to the town, which by 1880 had two railroads, an excellent harbor and a new hotel. On St. Simons Island, the property of Hamilton Plantation, on a bluff overlooking the marshes and the mainland, became a busy sawmill. Boat service between Brunswick and the island brought supplies, mail and visitors, including The Reverend Anson Dodge, Jr., who stayed, built the present Christ Church, Frederica, and became its rector. By the turn of the century, summer visitors were beginning to come regularly to St. Simons Island, and it soon became one of the favorite resorts in Georgia.

Today, St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Island, Little St. Simons Island and the mainland are often referred to as Brunswick and the Golden Isles. The climate is moderate and the area is blessed with sandy beaches, ocean breezes, beautiful marshes and towering oaks. Tourism is a major industry in the area, and many newcomers arrive each year to make their homes.

The local Chamber of Commerce has a visitors’ guide that you may want to peruse. It gives a more detailed view of this beautiful area of coastal Georgia and its rich history. You may also want to check the Chamber’s website at www.brunswick-georgia.com.

 

Parish History

The church traces its origin to General James Oglethorpe’s landing with the first English settlers on St. Simons Island on February 22, 1736. After breakfast, a group assembled and joined in reading the Litany with The Rev. Benjamin Ingham. General Oglethorpe had established the first English colony in Savannah and settled this second colony at Frederica to protect the new colony of Savannah from the Spanish threat in Florida.

Three outstanding religious leaders of the 18th century were associated with the establishment of the church on St. Simons Island. The Rev. Charles Wesley, MA, entered his ministry at Frederica on March 9, 1736, two weeks after the landing of the first settlers. He served as Chaplain to General Oglethorpe and as Secretary for Indian affairs. Services were also conducted by The Rev. John Wesley, The Rev. George Whitefield and other clergy appointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. These ministers were ordained clergymen of the Church of England by whom the Episcopal Church in the United States was planted and nurtured. After the return of the Wesleys to England, the evangelical revival eventuated in the origin of the Methodist Church in which John Wesley had the principal role.

In 1752, the Trustees surrendered their Charter to the King, and Georgia became a Royal Colony. In 1758, the Province was divided into parishes, and Frederica and St. Simons were designated as St. James Parish.

Following the Revolutionary War, the descendants of early settlers petitioned for a charter and were incorporated by an act of the State Legislature on December 22, 1808, as "The Episcopal Church in the Town of Frederica," called Christ Church. Land from the town of Frederica was also "Given, Granted and Secured To and For the Use and Benefit of the Said Episcopal Church."

The first church on the present location was erected in 1820, and the congregation worshiped in it until the outbreak of the Civil War. The Reverend Edmund Matthews, DD, who became rector in 1810, was one of three clergymen composing the Primary Convention for the organization of the Diocese of Georgia in 1823.

The Rev. Anson Green Phelps Dodge, Jr., rebuilt the church following its destruction during the Civil War as a memorial to his first wife, Ellen. The church was consecrated on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1886 by the Rt. Rev. J. W. Beckwith, DD, Bishop of Georgia. In addition to establishing an endowment for Christ Church, Frederica, Mr. Dodge built and endowed the Anson Dodge Home for Boys (closed in 1956), and established the Georgia Missions Fund for the support of missionaries and teachers in certain designated counties of the Diocese. This legacy still provides college scholarships for young men in the Diocese of Georgia.

The present church building is cruciform in design with a trussed Gothic roof. Stained glass windows, given as memorials, commemorate events in the life of Christ and the early history of the church on St. Simons Island. The Font was given to the church by the Sunday School of St. Thomas Church, New Haven, Connecticut, in 1884. Part of the Credence Table and an inset in the present altar are from the altar of the 1820 church.

In the surrounding churchyard are buried former rectors of the church, early settlers and their families, people who lived in the plantation era and island residents and church members from the early days of the 19th century to the present. Georgia’s first State Historian, Lucian Lamar Knight, is buried here. The oldest gravestone that has been discovered dates from 1803.

St. Ignatius Church, located on Demere Road near the causeway to Brunswick, was erected in 1886 and serves today as a chapel of Christ Church, Frederica with services held there regularly. Both churches are built of heart pine lumber produced at the island’s 19th century lumber mill located on the banks of the Frederica River at Gascoigne Bluff, now the location of Epworth-by-the-Sea, a camp and conference center of the United Methodist Church.