South Carolina from A to Z

“M” is for Moultrie flag. In January 1776, the South Carolina Council of Safety sent Colonel William Moultrie, commander of the Second South Carolina Regiment at Fort Sullivan, twenty-three yards of blue cloth. In the colonel's memoirs he wrote: “it was thought necessary to have a flag for the purpose of signals: (there was no national or state flag at the time) I was desired by the council of saf...

“M” is for Moultrie, William (1730-1805). Soldier, governor. Born in Charleston, in 1752 Moultrie won election to the Commons House of Assembly. Over the next four decades he was a fixture in South Carolina government, representing various lowcountry parishes and royal, revolutionary, and state assemblies almost continuously until his retirement from public life in 1794. He achieved national fame...

“M “is for Moultrie, John, Jr. (1729-1798.) Physician, planter, political leader. Born in Charleston, Moultrie was the first native-born American to receive a medical degree from the University of Edinburgh. In 1761 he participated in the expedition against the Cherokees and in the same year elected to the Commons House of Assembly. In 1764 the governor of British East Florida (newly acquired from...

“H” is for Hurricanes. The term “hurricane” comes from the West Indian word “huracan” which means “big wind” and is used to describe severe tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. From the earliest days of European settlement in South Carolina, there have been references to West Indian storms that we would now call hurricanes. The hurri...

“G is for Grimké, John Faucheraud (1752-1819). Legislator, jurist. Grimké was born in Charleston and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1775 he organized an artillery unit for service in the Revolutionary War. In 1780 he was captured and imprisoned by the British but escaped to join General Nathanael Greene's army. In 1782 Grimké began the first of five terms in the General Assembly, inclu...

“C” is for Colonoware. On historic-period sites in South Carolina, archaeologists often find locally made, hand-built, unglazed pottery that was fired in open hearths rather than kilns. Vessels and sherds of this ware may be found on the sites of Indian camps and villages, the city lots of Charleston and other towns, underwater near wharves and ferries, and on small farms and large plantations. Th...

“C” is for colonial agents. The overseas market for rice, South Carolina ‘s principal export was restricted by Parliamentary legislation. How could South Carolina get parliament to pay attention to its particular concerns? The answer was a colonial agent, paid for by the colony’s Commons House of Assembly. The colonial agent regularly reported to the Commons House on matters of interest to the col...

“C” is for Colleton County (1,056 square miles; 2020 population 38,604). Colleton County was one of the three original counties organized in the English province of Carolina in 1682. However, the county was divided into three parishes by 1730 which took over most county responsibilities. Lying south and west of Charleston between the Stono and Combahee Rivers, the current boundaries of the county...

“B” is for Boyce, Ker (1787-1854). Merchant, bank president. Born in Newberry District, Boyce opened a store in the town of Newberry in 1814. After prospering as a young upcountry merchant, he opened a store on King Street in Charleston and later established a factorage and commission house. As he prospered, he invested in other enterprises and from 1837 to 1841 he was president of the Bank of Cha...

"S” is for Sothel, Seth (d. 1694). Proprietory, governor. In 1675 Sothel was granted 12,000 acres near Charleston to establish a settlement. Before this transpired, he purchased the Clarendon proprietorship in 1677 and agreed to undertake the government of North Carolina. From 1682 to 1688 Governor Sothel ruled Carolina (or Albemarle as it was called) with considerable skill. A coup in 1689 forced...

“S” is for Sonoco. This Hartsville-based international packaging manufacturer had its beginnings in the late nineteenth century, when Major James Lide Coker and his son James, Jr. became the first to successfully produce paper from pine wood pulp. The Cokers made a modest investment in equipment and began making cones for the southern textile industry with paper produced by their pulp mill. In 189...

November 26, 2025

“S” is for Smyth, Thomas (1808-1873). Clergyman, author. Born in Ireland, Smyth immigrated with his parents to the United States. At Princeton Theological Seminary, he came under the influence of conservative Presbyterian theologians. In 1831 Smyth was called to the be the supply pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Charleston. Three years later he was called to be the congregation’s duly i...

“S” is for Smyth, Ellison Adger (1847-1942). Industrialist. A Charleston native, Smyth’s business career began after the Civil War when he took a position as a junior clerk with a hardware wholesaler. By the end of the 1870s he was convinced that it was better to invest in the emerging textile industry of the upstate than in Charleston. In cooperation with Charleston capitalist Francis J. Pelzer,...

“S” is for Smith, William Loughton (1758 to 1812). Lawyer, congressman, diplomat. Born in Charleston, Smith studied in Europe and at the Inns of Court in England. He remained in Britain during the Revolutionary War and did not return to Charleston until 1783. He was admitted to the bar and despite his extended sojourn in Europe he moved successfully into state politics. In 1788 he was elected to t...

“S” is for Smith, William (ca. 1762-1840). U. S. senator. Born near the North Carolina border, Smith was a Jeffersonian of the purist stripe. He espoused strict constructionist and states’ rights principles well before such views came to dominate southern politics. In December 1816 he was elected to the U. S. Senate. In the Senate, Smith gained notoriety in both state and national politics. His de...

“S” is for Smith, Thomas (ca. 1648-1694). Governor. Born in England, Smith immigrated with his family to Carolina in 1683, likely as a member of a great Dissenter migration to the province that occurred during the 1680s. He obtained a landgrave’s grant of 48,000 acres. During the 1680s he augmented his wealth with political influence. The Lords Proprietors appointed him a member of the Grand Counc...

“R” is for Rutledge, Edward (1749-1800). Lawyer, governor. A native of South Carolina, Rutledge studied law at the Middle Temple in London. One of his first cases involved a successful habeas corpus petition that freed a printer jailed for contempt by the upper house of assembly. The reputation he gained in this politically charged case paved the way for his election to the Continental Congress in...

“P” is for Port Royal (Beaufort County, 2020 population 14,516). Port Royal has a history of French (1562), Spanish (1565-1587), Scots (1684), and English (1670) settlement. In 1869 construction of the Port Royal Railroad between Augusta, Georgia and Battery Point on the southern end of Port Royal Island led to the development of a town and harbor facilities. Commercial development of phosphate de...

“M” is for Moultrie, John (ca.1699-1771). Physician. Moultrie was born in Culross, Fifeshire, Scotland and apparently studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He spent some time as a surgeon in the British Navy before coming to Charleston in 1728. Moultrie soon established a successful practice and served as physician to Saint Philip's Parish hospital and as a quarantine officer for the pr...

“M “is for Moultrie, James, Jr. (1793-1869). Physician, medical educator. Born in Charleston, Moultrie graduated from South Carolina College and did his medical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He devoted the rest of his life to medical practice, medical education, organized medicine, and the community. Moultrie was president of the Medical Society of South Carolina and entered the natio...

“M” is for Motte, Rebecca Brewton (1737-1815). Revolutionary War heroine. Rebecca Brewton married Jacob Motte, Jr. They actively supported the patriot cause. Their plantation, Mount Joseph, in St. Matthew's Parish was near the junction of the Congaree and Wateree Rivers and McCord’s Ferry. This advantageous location overlooked a key British supply route. British troops took the Motte house, fortif...

“M” is for Moses, Ottolengui Aaron (1846-1906). Chemist, geologist, inventor. Born in Charleston, Moses earned his Ph. D. at the university of Leipzig, Germany. He and his brother engaged in phosphate mining from 1868 to 1870 at the Massot Farm in Berkeley County. He then served as state inspector of phosphates (1872-1874) and geologist of South Carolina. He was the author of a report, The Phospha...

“M “is for Moses, Franklin J., Jr. (ca.1840 to 1906). Governor. Born in Sumter District, Moses was an enthusiastic secessionist. After the Civil War, Moses supported President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policies. In 1868 he executed an abrupt political about face and joined the Republican Party. Elected to the S.C. House of Representatives, Moses was its speaker (1868-1872). As Speaker, he re...

“M” is for Morton, Joseph, Sr. (ca.1630-1688). Governor. Born in Wells, Somerset, England, Morton was a prominent Dissenter. He traveled to South Carolina as part of the migration of a relatively substantial number of English Dissenters to the colony. He was made governor and landgrave in 1682. As governor, Morton tried unsuccessfully to get the South Carolina parliament to accept a revised versio...