Dalcho, Frederick

(1770-Nov. 24, 1836). Church historian. He was born in London, England, and was baptized on Oct. 15, 1770. Dalcho came to Baltimore, Maryland, studied medicine, and became a surgeon's mate in the United States Army in Apr. 1792. In 1799 he settled in Charleston, South Carolina, where he practiced medicine. In 1807 he became one of the two editors of the Charleston Courier, a Federalist daily newspaper. Dalcho began to study theology in 1811. He was ordained deacon on Feb. 15, 1814, and priest on June 12, 1818. On Feb. 23, 1819, he became assistant minister at St. Michael's Church, Charleston, where he remained until his death. In 1820 Dalcho published An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in South-Carolina, from The First Settlement of the Province, to The War of the Revolution; with Notices of the Present State of the Church in each Parish; and some Account of the Early Civil History of Carolina, never before published. To which are added; The laws relating to religious worship; the Journals and rules of the Convention of South-Carolina; the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and the course of ecclesiastical studies: with An Index, and List of Subscribers. This was the first diocesan history. In 1824 he with others established The Charleston Gospel Messenger and Protestant Episcopal Register, a monthly journal of church affairs, which was published until 1853. The Dalcho Historical Society of the Diocese of South Carolina, named in honor of Dalcho, was organized on Apr. 23, 1945. It was organized at St. Philip's Church Home, Charleston, for the “study and preservation of the history of the Diocese of South Carolina, its origin and development, and the stimulation of interest in the same.” Dalcho died in Charleston.