35 Legare Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29401 | Page 6

http://www.huguenotsociety.org/heritage/history/

History

HUGUENOT
TIES & THE ST. JULIEN FAMILY
The early history at 35 Legare Street is heavily tied to the early history of
Charles Town itself. Carolina was known as a religiously and politically tolerant colony and therefore welcomed the immigration of persecuted or atypical individuals. The proprietors of Carolina even went as far as to advertise
with pamphlets in European countries about the toleration of the colony as
a way of attracting more people to settle in the new world. One of these
people groups was French Huguenots who, following the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes in 1685, emigrated from France into neighboring countries
or colonies accepting of their protestant beliefs. It is documented that at
least one third of these pamphlets enticing immigrants for a new life in Carolina were distributed in France to target Huguenots.*

These 45 immigrants were part of a group of 81 original Huguenot families to arrive in South Carolina as a result of the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes.* The St. Julien family fled secretly from France directly following
the revocation in 1685.* Upon their exile from Vitre, France, their estate
was confiscated and leased by authorities. The St. Julien family arrived in
South Carolina shortly thereafter; in the Proprietary records of South Carolina, there is a recording of a Peter (father) and Peter (son) de St. Julien in
Berkeley County from July 22, 1690 solidifying this idea.* Peter, the son,
purchased the property encompassing the 35 Legare Street lot, known then
as the Grand Modell lots of #226 and #227 sometime after 1694. These
lots not only encompassed the current parcel at 35 Legare, but included the
land along Legare Street until it butted up to Tradd Street and stretched
more than half way to current day Lenwood Boulevard. While it is unknown
how Pierre (Peter following immigration) used the lots during his ownership,
it is known that upon his death in 1719 he willed the property to his children.
It is quite unique for the St. Julien family to have owned the property, most
particularly the large Grand Modell Lott for as long as they had. The property was passed from Pierre to two of his sons Paul and Henry. They then
split the land prior to 1771 between various descendants. The land was divided amongst St. Julien heirs - including Ravenels, Marions, and Moultries.
However, the lot where 35 Legare is located was willed to Elizabeth Damaris
de St. Julien at some point prior to 1771.
Elizabeth Damaris de St. Julien married William Moultrie in 1749; they retained ownership of the Legare Street plot until 1771.
*Edgar, Walter B, South Carolina: A History, (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1998), 50.
*Edward Manigault, Register of Carolina Huguenots: A Partial Listing of 81 Refugee Families, (Piedmont, CA:
www.lulu.com, 2007).
*Bertrand van Ruymbeke, From Babylon to Eden: The Huguenots and Their Migration to Colonial South Carolina, (University of South Carolina Press: Columbia, S.C., 2006) 59.
*Susan Baldwin Bates and Harriott Cheves Leland, Proprietary Records of South Carolina, Vol. 3, (Charleston,
SC: History Press, 2005), 130.