South Carolina from A to Z

“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...

“L” is for Lunz, George Robert, Jr. (1909-1969). Museum curator, marine biologist. Born in Charleston, Luntz graduated from the College of Charleston and in 1933 joined the staff of the Charleston Museum. He worked primarily on invertebrates and published papers, mainly on crustaceans. In 1945 the museum's board of trustees agreed to develop a laboratory for research on the cultivation of oysters,...

“H” is for Hunter-Gault, Charlayne (b.1942). Journalist, civil rights activist. Born in Due West, South Carolina, Hunter-Gault attended  the University of Georgia and was the first African American woman to graduate from the school. It was the first of many firsts for one of the nation’s groundbreaking minority journalists. In 1968 she joined the reporting staff of the New York Times . She joined...

“G” is for Gridley, Mary Putnam (1850-1939). Civic leader, businesswoman. Born in Boston, Mary Putnam moved to Greenville where her father was active in the development of cotton mills. In 1876 she married Isaac Gridley, but after his death, Mary Gridley went to work for her father at Batesville Mill. Following his death, she assumed the position of mill president. In 1889 Gridley was co-founder o...

“C” is for Colleton, Sir John (1608-1666). Proprietor. Born in England, Colleton was a soldier and a courtier to King Charles I. Following the king's execution, Colleton and his family fled to Barbados. He returned to England in 1659 and welcomed Charles II to the throne. Colleton was knighted in 1661 for his service and loyalty to the crown. Until his death he was the foremost leader of the Lord...

“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 Colhoun, John Ewing (ca.1749-1802). U.S. senator. Born in Virginia, Colhoun moved with his family to the Long Canes region of the South Carolina backcountry in what is now Abbeville County. He was a captain in the militia during the Revolutionary War. He entered the General Assembly in 1779 and remained a fixture in the S.C. House of Representatives over the next two decades. In Decembe...

“C” is for College of Charleston. In 1785 the General Assembly passed an act creating a college “in or near the city of Charleston.” The institution struggled and in the early nineteenth century functioned as a college preparatory school. In 1837 the institution became a publicly funded city college. The college barely survived the Civil War, but in the first decades of the twentieth century a mod...

“C” is for Coker’s Pedigreed Seed Company. Coker's Pedigreed Seed Company had its origins in the efforts of David R. Coker to develop and market a highly productive variety of upland cotton that yielded fiber of superior quality and length. Over the years the company maintained a staff of talented plant breeders and became a major supplier of improved seeds for field crops. By the mid-1960's the c...

“C” is for Coker University. Founded in 1908 Coker is an independent liberal arts school located in Hartsville. Named for James Lide Coker, the school is the product of his philanthropic efforts to improve the state's educational opportunities. The burgeoning business enterprises of the Coker family provided funds to support the new institution. Until 1969 Coker was an all-women’s college. From it...

“S” is for Smith, Nell Whitley (1929-2011). Legislator, educator, businesswoman. Born in North Carolina, Nell married Harris Paige Smith and moved to Easley, South Carolina. Harris Smith, a state senator from Pickens County, died in July 1981. The following November voters in Senate District No.1 (Abbeville, Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens) elected Nell Smith to serve out his unexpired term. As a re...

“S” is for Smith, Benjamin (1717-1770). Merchant, politician, planter. Born in South Carolina, in 1735 Smith began a twenty-seven year mercantile career with several partners in both Charleston and London. His heavy involvement in the lucrative trade in slaves and furs made him one of the wealthiest factors in South Carolina by midcentury. In 1746 St. Philip's Parish elected him to the Commons Hou...

“S” is for Smith, Ellison Durant (1864-1944). U.S. senator. Born in Sumter District (later Lee County) Smith represented Sumter County in the state legislature from 1897 to 1901. In 1905, as an executive committee member of the Southern Cotton Association, Smith traveled the southeast organizing cotton growers and polishing his oratorical skills. In 1908 he stunned the political establishment by w...

“S” is for Smith, Arthur (1921-2014). Musician. Thanks to the widespread popularity of his instrumental hit “Guitar Boogie,” Arthur Smith became one of the best known guitarists in country music. Like many other South Carolina musicians, Smith was a product of the textile mills. He started a Dixieland jazz band and played at WSPA Spartanburg, but the group had little success until switching to cou...

“S” is for Smith, Alice Ravenel Huger (1876-1958). Artist. Born in Charleston, Smith emerged as the leading artist of the Charleston Renaissance. Through her writings and art she helped to disseminate the history and charm of her native lowcountry to a national audience. Through her evocative imagery, especially in watercolor, Smith fueled the Charleston Renaissance, the cultural and economic revi...