South Carolina from A to Z

“M” is for Moore, Darla Dee. Business woman, philanthropist. Born in Lake City, Moore graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B.A. in political science. After obtaining an M.B.A. from George Washington University she went to work for Chemical Bank in New York City’s bankruptcy division—and made millions for the bank in the 1980s. In 1991 Moore married Richard Rainwater and in 1994 j...

“M” is for Moore, Andrew Charles (1866-1928). Biologist, educator. After graduating from the South Carolina College, Moore did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He was appointed assistant professor of biology, geology and mineralogy at South Carolina College in 1900. In 1906 Moore became head of the newly created Department of Biology. He served for some years as Dean of the University a...

“L” is for Lucas, Jonathan (ca.1754-1821). Millwright. Born in England, Lucas immigrated to South Carolina around 1786, which proved a fortuitous time and place for the arrival of a talented young millwright. The pounding (removal of the outer husk from the rice grains) was by hand with wooden mortars and pestles. Soon after his arrival in South Carolina, Lucas was put to work by a Santee River ri...

“L” is for Loyalists. Perhaps twenty-five percent of White South Carolinians either actively opposed the movement for independence or supported British authority against the state government during the American Revolution. But a far greater number of people resisted the revolutionary government in subtle but no less debilitating ways, such as refusing to pay their wartime taxes, selling supplies t...

“H” is for Huguenots. Huguenots are French Calvinists. In 1685, French King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and outlawed Calvinism in France. Faced with a painful choice to convert to Catholicism or flee, between 160,000 and 200,000 fled France. The Huguenot migration to South Carolina is part of a larger diaspora, traditionally known as le Refuge , which stretches from the late 1670...

“H” is for Huguenot Church (Charleston). Located at 140 Church Street, the French Protestant Huguenot church was the first Gothic Revival ecclesiastical building erected in Charleston. It was designed by Edward B. White and is built of brick finished in stucco. The overall composition lacks the intricate stone sculptural details characteristics of medieval European Gothic architecture but blends h...

“G” is for Gregg, William (1800-1867). Manufacturer, industrial promoter. Born in Virginia, by the mid-1820s Gregg had set up shop in Columbia where he built a successful business importing and producing fancy goods. In 1837 he took over the management of the Vaucluse mill in Edgefield District and made it a profitable enterprise. He later relocated to Charleston and was a partner in the firm Hayd...

“G” is for Greer, Bernard Eugene (b. 1948). Writer. A native of Spartanburg, Ben Greer attended the University of South Carolina where he was a student in the school’s new creative writing program. In 1973 he moved to Maine. In 1975 Greer published his first novel, Slammer , based on his experiences as a prison guard at Columbia’s notorious Central Correctional Institution. The novel, hailed for i...

“D” is for Dunovant, John (1825-1864). Soldier. Dunovant was born in Chester and fought in the Mexican War as a sergeant in the famed Palmetto Regiment. In 1855 he was commissioned a captain in the regular United States Army. Dunovant resigned his commission in early 1861 and was appointed a major in the South Carolina volunteers. In August 1862 he was court-martialed for drunkenness and cashiered...

“C” is for Chapman, Martha Marshall, II (b. 1949). Musician. Chapman was born in Spartanburg. After graduating from Vanderbilt, she settled in Nashville and began her career as a songwriter and performer. In 2003, Chapman published Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller, an autobiographical account woven around twelve of her songs and including reminiscences of her early days in South Carolina. In 2010 s...

“C” is for Cleveland, Georgia Alden (1851-1914). Writer, activist. A native of Georgia, Cleveland married and settled in Spartanburg where she was noted for her generosity, charity, and humanity. She and her husband played leading roles in the founding of Converse College in 1889. Cleveland kept a detailed diary from 1890 to 1914 in which she chronicled life as an upper class, married, southern Wh...

“B” is for Bolden, Charles Frank, Jr. (1946-2017). Soldier, astronaut. A native of Columbia, Bolden was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He became a naval aviator in 1970 and flew more than one hundred combat missions during the Vietnam War. In 1980 he was selected by NASA for training and he became an astronaut in 1981. Bolden was a veteran of four space flights—as crew on the Colum...

“B” is for Boineau, Charles Evans, Jr. (1923-2005). Legislator. Boineau was the first Republican to be elected to the South Carolina General Assembly in the twentieth century. After service in World War II, he returned home to Colombia, engaged in local business affairs and was director of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. In the 1950s he was active in Richland County politics and following his in...

“B” is for Bonham, Milledge Luke (1813-1890). Soldier, congressman, governor. Born in Edgefield District, Bonham graduated from South Carolina College. He was a major general in the state militia (1843-1852). In 1857 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was appointed commander in chief of the South Carolina army with the rank of major general in 1861. He later received an appoin...

“W” is for Wofford College. A four year liberal arts college in Spartanburg, Wofford College was founded with a $100,000 bequest from Methodist minister and Spartanburg native Benjamin Wofford. The college opened in 1854. In the aftermath of the Civil War, the institution went through a period of retrenchment and rebuilding—especially in attracting dedicated faculty. Wofford’s improved academic re...

“W” is for Winthrop University. Located in Rock Hill, Winthrop University traces its roots to1886 when Winthrop Training School, a teacher-training school for Columbia teachers opened. In 1891 the General Assembly created the Winthrop Normal and Industrial College of South Carolina. In 1895 the institution moved to Rock Hill. By 1920 the name was changed to Winthrop College, the South Carolina Col...

“S” is for Sirrine, Joseph Emory (1872-1947). Architect, engineer. Born in Georgia, Sirrine graduated from Furman university. In 1895 he was hired by a New England textile engineering firm to be resident engineer for two Greenville projects. In 1899 the company appointed Sirrine as its southern representative, responsible for all of the company’s textile construction in the region. In 1903 he left...

“S” is for Sinclair, Bennie Lee (1939-2000). Novelist, poet. A native of Greenville, Sinclair was a graduate of Furman University. In 1986 she was appointed the fifth poet laureate of South Carolina. Sinclair taught writing at Furman and gave workshops at the University of Notre Dame, Western Carolina University, and Brevard College. Her commitment to teaching poetry included a twenty-eight-year c...

“R” is for Royal Council. The Royal Council was a twelve-man governing board created in 1720 to serve as an advisor to the governor, as a court of appeals, and as an upper house of the legislature. Throughout royal rule, the council was dominated by men who were nominated by the governor and approved by the London-based Board of Trade for their wealth, political connections, and willingness to sup...

“R” is for Rosenwald Schools. In the early twentieth century, schooling for southern Blacks was neither well planned nor well supported. Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago merchant and philanthropist, made the most significant contribution to the education of southern rural Blacks of the time through construction of school buildings. From 1913 to 1932, 5,357 schools, shops, and teachers’ homes were built...

“P” is for Poinsett Bridge. Named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, president of the Board of Public Works (1819-1821), the Poinsett Bridge (with a span of 130 feet over Little Gap Creek) was built during the construction of the state highway from Columbia to Saluda Mountain in 1820. Still intact and in good repair in the twenty-first century, the bridge may be the oldest in the state. Located on Highway...

“P” is for Poinsett, Joel Roberts (1779-1851). Congressman, diplomat. U. S. secretary of war. Born in Charleston, Poinsett was educated primarily in England and Scotland. In 1810 he was named U. S. trade envoy to South America and spent several years promoting unsuccessful rebellions in Spain’s South American colonies. In 1825 he was appointed the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico. His meddling in l...

“P” is for Poetry Society of South Carolina. Those involved with the Poetry Society’s creation in 1920 espoused the idea of a local organization, with its aim to encourage all southern poets. Critics and poets turned to the group as the leader of the literary arts revival in the South. Writers affiliated with it won two Pulitzer Prizes (Julia Peterkin for fiction and Robert Lathan for editorial wr...

“P” is for Poellnitz, Baron Frederick Carl Hans Bruno (1734-1801). Nobleman, horticulturist, inventor. Born in Prussia, Poellnitz emigrated to the United States in 1782. He eventually settled in New York City where he purchased a small estate, called Minto, where he pursued his interest in horticulture and conducted agricultural experiments. He also developed new types of farm implements including...

“M” is for Montgomery, John Henry (1833-1902). Manufacturer, merchant. Born in Spartanburg County, Montgomery went into a general merchandising  business in 1857. After the Civil War he continued to engage in farming and mercantile activities. In 1874 he moved to Spartanburg where he joined the mercantile firm of Walker, Fleming and Company, the largest cotton buyer in the county.  In 1882 when th...