South Carolina from A to Z

“E” is for England, John (1786-1842). Catholic bishop, educator.

“D” is for Dillon (Dillon County; 2020 population 6,352)

“S” is for Sassafras Mountain (Pickens County).

“R” is for Riley, Joseph P., Jr., Legislator, mayor of Charleston. In 1975 he was elected to the first of ten terms as mayor of Charleston.

“P” is for Petigru, James Luis (1789-1863). Lawyer, politician. Petigru remained a staunch Unionist until his death.

“M” is for McCord, Louisa Susanna Cheves (1810-1879). Essayist, poet. McCord’s essays were well received and praised by her male contemporaries and were reflective of the dominant opinions of South Carolina’s elite in the decades prior to the Civil War.

“L” is for Liberian exodus. The return of the Democratic Party to power in South Carolina in 1876, and the violence that accompanied it, raised anxiety among African Americans in the state and interest in the possibility of emigration.

“J” is for Judson, Mary Camilla (1828-1920). Educator. Judson taught nearly every subject in the college curriculum and started the first club for women in Greenville where girls wrote papers and debated topics.

“H” is for Hayne Paul Hamilton (1830-1886). Poet, educator, essayist. Hayne was one of the few in the post-Reconstruction South, respected in academia as a refined poet and cultured man of letters.

“G” is for Godbold, Lucile Ellerbe (1900-1981). Olympic athlete, educator. At the Olympics, in Paris, Godbold competed in six events helping the US team to a second place finish.

“F” is for Fox, William Price (1926-2015). Author. William Price Fox’s novels Moonshine Light, Moonshine Bright; Ruby Red; Dixiana Moon; and Wild Blue Yonder give full range to his talents for depiction of southern humor.

“E” is for Emancipation Day. The tradition of marking the end of slavery with Emancipation Day celebrations began in South Carolina on January 1, 1863.

“B” is for Benbridge, Henry (1743-1812). Artist. When Charleston fell to the British, Benbridge was imprisoned in St. Augustine for his revolutionary fervor.

“A” is for Ashmore, Harry Scott (1916-1998). Author, editor, Pulitzer Prize winner.

"W” is for White-tailed deer. State animal. State animal.

“T” is for Trescot, William Henry (1822-1898). Writer, diplomat, historian.

“S” is for Sass, Herbert Ravenel (1884-1958). Journalist, naturalist, novelist.

“M” is for McCollough, John DeWitt (1822-1902). Minister, architect.

“L” is for Lexington (Lexington County; 2020 population 23,554).

“J” is for Jones and Lee. Edward Culliatt Jones (1822-1902) and Francis D. Lee (1826-1885) were a leading force in South Carolina architecture in the 1850s.

“H” is for Hayne, Henry E. (b. 1840). Legislator, secretary of state.

“G” is for Gleaves, Richard Howell (1819-1907). Lieutenant governor, jurist, merchant.

“F” is for Forty-Acre Rock (Lancaster County). Forty-Acre Rock harbors one of the most diverse plant habitats in the Piedmont of South Carolina.

“D” is for Dickey, James (1923-1997). Poet, novelist, educator.

“C” is for Cashwell, Gaston Barnabus (1862-1916). Clergyman. Popularly known as the “apostle of Pentecost in the South,” Cashwell was instrumental in bringing the Pentecostal message to South Carolina in the early twentieth century.