South Carolina from A to Z

“M” is for Miller, Thomas Ezekiel (1849-1938). Political leader, college president. Born in Beaufort District, Miller regarded himself as a Black man but his fair complexion led to persistent speculation and controversy about his racial identity. He graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. A loyal Republican, Miller served in the state House of Representatives 1874-1880) and state Senate...

“M” is for Miller, Stephen Decatur (1787-1838). Congressman, governor, U.S. Senator. Miller was born in Lancaster District and graduated from South Carolina College. He read for the law and settled in Stateburg. Miller's public service began in 1816 when he was elected to Congress. From 1822 to 1828 Miller was a member of the South Carolina Senate and an early leader in the movement toward nullifi...

“L” is for Lords Proprietors of Carolina. King Charles II granted the land that became North and South Carolina to eight English noblemen in 1663. Before the government of King George II bought out the last owners in 1729, nearly fifty individuals owned or claimed to own these eight shares. Settlement attempts by New Englanders and Barbadians failed, but the foundering colonial enterprise was resc...

“H” is for Hootie and the Blowfish. Founded in 1986, Hootie and the Blowfish emerged as the most popular rock band on the University of South Carolina college scene in the late 1980s an early 1990s. Consisting of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Darius Rucker, lead guitarist Mark Bryan, drummer Jim Sonefeld, and bassist Dean Felber, the band suddenly grew into a national phenomenon with the releas...

“H “is for Hookworm. Long before hookworm was identified as a parasitic disease, its mostly White victims were a common presence in the South. Pale and listless, with vacant stairs and winged shoulder blades, these lazy southerners were a staple of northern literature. In the early 1900s the shiftless Southerners thesis was debunked as their traits had a biological basis: infestation by a worm, Ne...

“P” is for Pinkney, Bill (1925-2007). Musician. A native of Dalzell, Pinkney began singing gospel songs as a child working in South Carolina’s cotton fields. As a pitcher with the  New York Blue Sox of the Negro Baseball League, in 1949 he met a fellow gospel singer, Clyde McPhatter. That relationship evolved into a new musical group, the Drifters. In 1953 the Drifters signed a contract with Atlan...

“M” is for Miller, Kelly, Jr. (1863-1939). Educator, writer. Born a free Black man in Winnsboro, Miller attracted the attention of northern missionaries and received a scholarship to Howard University. He was the first Black American to attend Johns Hopkins University. In 1890 he was appointed a professor at Howard where he remained for his professional career.  From his position at Howard and his...

“M” is for Mill villages. Early textile entrepreneurs built not only factories but frequently entire villages. Employment contracts were signed with entire families, rather than with individuals, and mill villages were central to retain employees. The mill villages declined many reasons, beginning in the 1920s. Automobiles made it easier for workers to commute to jobs. Tougher child labor laws und...

“M” is for Mill schools. Textile mill entrepreneurs remade the South Carolina landscape in the late nineteenth century. They surrounded their mills with villages and provided schools to educate the children of mill workers and to demonstrate to the public their concern for the community’s well-being.  The mill school was a reflection of the individual community and was run with little interference...

“B” is for Blenheim ginger ale. Blenheim's ginger ale has its origins in the Marlboro County village of Blenheim. During the late 1890s Doctor C. R. May began adding Jamaican ginger to the mineral water gathered from a local artesian spring. Originally the concoction was marketed as a palatable digestive aid. Until 1993 Blenheim bottling company avoided any attempts at modernization. Each bottle w...

“B” is for Blease, Coleman Livingston (1868-1942). Governor, U.S. senator. Born near Newberry, Blease obtained a law degree from Georgetown University and was admitted to the bar. In 1890 he was elected to represent Newberry County in the S.C. House of Representatives. In 1905 he was elected to the state senate. Blease ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1906 and 1908 but won the office in 1910 and...

“L” is for Longstreet, James Peter (1821-1904). Soldier. Born in Edgefield District, Longstreet was a graduate of West Point. His service record—especially during the Mexican American War—was highly commendable. In June 1861 he resigned his U.S. Army commission and entered the Confederate Army. In 1862 Robert E. Lee made Longstreet his second in command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Longstreet...

“H” is for Honea Path (Anderson County; 2020 population 3,690). A water stop on the Greenville and Columbia Railroad in the 1850s developed into a town whose name origin is uncertain. Honea Path may be misnamed for William Honey, an early landowner, or it may be double named by Cherokee Indians, with “Honea” being an Indian name for “path” according to folklore. In 1917, the town was incorporated...

“H” is for Holmes, Nickels John (1847-1919). Clergyman, educator. Born in Spartanburg, Holmes was licensed as a Presbyterian minister and served several churches in Spartanburg County. In 1893 he formed a school that in time became known as Holmes Bible College. In 1895 after experiencing entire sanctification or holiness, Homes became an itinerant evangelist--preaching sanctification and divine h...

“G” is for Greenville (Greenville County; 2020 population 70,899). The sixth largest city in South Carolina, Greenville traces its origins to 1797 when plans for the courthouse town for Greenville County were laid out. In 1831, the legislature granted the village a municipal charter. Growth was slow until after the Civil War when Greenville became a leading cotton market and a center for the growi...

“D” is for Drayton Hall (Charleston County). Established in 1738, Drayton Hall is a historic plantation located between the Ashley River and Ashley River Road, about nine miles from Charleston. At the time of its construction, its two-story, brick main house with raised basement was representative of current English Georgian architecture. Its recessed, two-story portico—the earliest of its kind in...

“D” is for Dock Street Theatre (Charleston). Incorporating the nineteenth-century façade of the Planters’ Hotel, the Dock Street Theatre is a fine example of New Deal Construction and illustrates a key tenet of historic preservation: retaining streetscapes. By 1736 Charleston boasted a theater—fronting on Queen Street (then called Dock Street) that had been lost by the nineteenth century. In 1809...

“C” is for Chamberlain, Daniel Henry (1835-1907). Governor. Born in Massachusetts, Chamberlain came to South Carolina in 1866 to attend the affairs of a deceased Yale classmate. He entered politics as a delegate from Berkeley County to the 1868 constitutional convention. From 1868 to 1872 he served as attorney general. In 1874 he became the Republican candidate for governor and won the general ele...

“B” is for the Best Friend of Charleston . Commissioned by the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, the Best Friend of Charleston was the first locomotive built in the United States for public service. Constructed in New York City, the locomotive had its formal debut on Christmas Day 1830, pulling passenger cars from Charleston to Dorchester. Its performance exceeded expectations, with one...

“A” is for Ayers, Sara Lee Harris Sanders (1919-2002). Native American potter. Ayers was born on the Catawba Indian Reservation near Rock Hill. She probably learned to make pottery from her grandmother, a full-blooded Catawba. By 1939 her work was so popular that she spent half the year selling her pots in Pennsylvania and the other half working in a textile mill. In 1962 she and her family left t...

“W” is for Wilkes Fund Controversy. In December 1769 the Commons House of Assembly appropriated £1,500 for the defense fund of British radical John Wilkes. Through long practice the Assembly had gained financial control by issuing money from the public treasury without the consent of the governor or council—repaying it from the next year’s tax bill. London’s response was a “Special Instruction” th...

“D” is for Drayton, William Henry (1721-1779). Revolutionary leader, planter. Born in St. Andrew’s Parish, Drayton attended Balliol College, Oxford. Returning home he opposed the non-importation association in a series of essays that resulted in his being ostracized politically, socially, and economically. In 1770 he sailed for England where he was seen as a supporter of the crown. He was rewarded...

“C” is for Chicora, Francisco de. Indian captive. Born in the early sixteenth century, the man Spaniards baptized as “Francisco” was a native of the present-day South Carolina coast. In 1521, he was captured by Spanish slave traders and taken to Santo Domingo. There, he was purchased by Lucas Vàzuez de Ayllón and taken to Spain. In Spain, chroniclers (including Peter Martyr) heard Francisco’s tale...

“C” is for Chicken bog. While anecdotal evidence exists that the name chicken bog was related to the “boggy” nature of is home, the Pee Dee, culinary historians agree on one thing: that a “bog (unlike a pilau) is any stew that includes wet, soggy rice.” Traditionally, the ingredients are chicken, rice, sausage, and onions, seasoned with salt and plenty of black pepper. The best chicken to use is a...

“C” is for Cheves, Langdon (1776-1857). Legislator, congressman, bank president. Born in Abbeville District, Cheves acquired much of his education through intensive personal study. Admitted to the bar in 1797, he soon had a statewide practice. In 1802 he was elected to the S.C. House of Representatives and held his seat until 1809. In 1810 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a “...