Charleston County · Marker 10-22
St. John's Church
5 Clifford St., Charleston
Front inscription
This church grew from services held for German inhabitants in Charleston by Rev. Johann Martin Boltzius in 1734 and Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg in 1742. The cornerstone of the first house of worship was laid in 1759; the second and present church building was dedicated in 1818. Dr. John Bachman, noted clergyman, naturalist, and author, served as minister of St. John's 1815-1874. During this time, he
St. John's Church
helped his ornithologist and artist friend John James Audubon in producing Birds of America and the work entitled Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. Bachman was influential in establishing the SC Lutheran Synod (1824), the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (1830), and Newberry College (1856). He died in 1874 and is buried in the church.