South Carolina from A to Z

“H” is for Hunter, John (d. 1802). Congressman, U.S. senator. Little is known about Hunter’s early life, but he pursued agricultural interests near the present-day town of Newberry and owned considerable real estate. In 1785 he won election to the General Assembly from Little River District (modern Laurens County).  In 1788 he was a delegate to the state convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution...

“G” is for Grimké, Archibald Henry (1849-1930). Activist, scholar. Grimké was born in 1849, the son of Henry Grimké, a planter and an enslaved woman Nancy Weston. He was also the nephew of Henry's abolitionist sisters, Sarah and Angelina Grimké. After the Civil War, Archibald attended Lincoln University. His aunt Angelina acknowledged kinship and became his patron. Grimké graduated from Harvard La...

“C” is for Coker, David Robert (1870-1938). Businessman, plant breeder, philanthropist. An illness in 1897 led Coker to withdraw from the management of J. L. Coker and Company and to focus on his first experiments with plant breeding. He saw a need not only for  better seed to provide more productive crops but also for a change in attitude from traditional to more modern methods of farming. Coker'...

“C” is for Coker, Charles Westfield (1879-1931). Businessman, philanthropist, social reformer. At an early age Coker became involved with his family’s various business enterprises. When the Southern Novelty Company was organized in 1899, Coker was treasurer and in 1918 he became president. It was Charles Coker who brought modern industrial and managerial practice to the family controlled business,...

“C” is for Cofitachiqui. Cofitachiqui is the name of a sixteenth-and seventeenth-century Native American chiefdom as well as one of the principal towns of that chiefdom. The towns of Cofitachiqui and neighboring Talimeco were located on a bank of the Wateree River below the fall line near Camden.  In 1540 the chief of Cofitachiqui was a woman. The  chiefdom included the central portion of South Ca...

“B” is for Boyce, James Pettigru (1827-1888). Minister, educator. A native of Charleston, Boyce graduated from Brown University and attended Princeton Theological Seminary.  In 1851 he became a pastor at the Baptist Church in Columbia. Boyce soon returned to the academy, accepting a position at Furman. In1855 he convinced the South Carolina Baptist Convention to support the creation of a separate...

“W “is for Woodrow, James (1828-1907). Scientist, educator, college president. Born in England, Woodrow's family moved to Ohio in 1837. After graduating from Jefferson College and receiving a Ph. D. from Heidelberg University, he became a professor at Oglethorpe University in Georgia and an ordained Presbyterian minister. During the Civil War, Woodrow was chief of the Confederacy's chemical labora...

“W “is for Woodmason, Charles (ca.1720?). Clergyman. Woodmason arrived in Charleston around 1752 and for ten years lived in Prince Frederick's Parish. In 1756 he applied for the position of itinerant Anglican minister in St. Mark's Parish in the South Carolina backcountry. He had to go to England for ordination and returned to South Carolina as an ordained Anglican priest and licensed to work in S...

“S” is for Smalls, Robert (1839-1915.) Legislator, congressman. Born into slavery in Beaufort, in 1851 Smalls was hired out as a laborer in Charleston where he worked on coastal vessels. At the start of the Civil War, he was employed as a pilot on a cotton steamer, the Planter , which was impressed into Confederate service. On May 13, 1862, Smalls led the takeover of the Planter by its slave crew,...

“R” is for Russell's Magazine (1857-1860). Russell's Magazine was the last of the southern antebellum literary magazines and arguably the best. Supported by Charleston literary groups, the magazine should be credited for a desire to keep politics out of literary assessments--although in practice this objectivity applied only as long as slavery was not in any way attacked or “falsely” portrayed. It...

“P” is for Poppenheim, Mary Barnett (1866-1936) and Louisa Bouknight Poppenheim (1868-1957). Club women, social reformers. Born in Charleston Mary and Louisa attended Vassar College. They returned to Charleston with leadership skills and a desire to promote women's education. The Poppenheims helped bring the burgeoning women's club movement to Charleston, as founding members and officers of numero...

“P “is for Pope, Thomas Harrington, Jr. (1913-1999). Attorney, legislator, historian. Born in Newberry County, Pope won his first election to the state House of Representatives from Newberry in 1936. With America's entry into World War II, Pope was called to active duty and served in North Africa and Italy. When one of Newberry's seats in the General Assembly became vacant in the spring of 1945, l...

“N” is for Nullification. The passage of the federal tariff law of 1828 signaled the rise of the nullification controversy in South Carolina. Led by John C. Calhoun a majority of South Carolinians eventually came to assert that a state had the right to nullify or veto federal laws and secede from the union. In 1832 the General Assembly called for a special convention to nullify the tariffs of 1828...

“N” is for Nuclear power. The first time nuclear power was used to generate electricity in South Carolina was a small 17 megawatt experimental prototype by South Carolina Electric and Gas (and partners) at Parr from 1963 to 1967. In 1967 the General Assembly passed the Atomic Energy and Radiation Control Act. This led to the creation of nuclear-powered electrical generation plants and the creation...

“C” is for Coastal plain. The coastal plain is South Carolina's largest landform region, forming two-thirds of the state and encompassing approximately 20,000 square miles. It includes the land from the Sandhills to the coast. The upper coastal plain is that section lying between the Sandhills and the Orangeburg Scarp. The middle coastal plain continues only a few miles to the Surrey Scarp, where...

September 19, 2025

“L” is for Ludwell, Phillip (1638-1723). Governor. Born in England, Ludwell travelled to Virginia where he became a member of the Grand Council and Speaker of the House of Burgesses. In 1689 he was appointed governor of North Carolina. In 1691 the Lords Proprietors appointed him governor of all Carolina and sent him to Charleston to reestablish order. This he failed to do, as the Goose Creek Men (...

“H” is for Humphreys, Josephine (b.1945). Novelist. Born in Charleston, Humphreys graduated from Duke and received a master of arts degree from Yale. After further study at the University of Texas she returned to Charleston to teach at Baptist College (now Charleston Southern University). Drawing praise for its finely honed language and strong characters, Humphreys first novel, Dreams of Sleep (19...

“G” is for Gressette, Lawrence Marion (1902-1984). Legislator. Born near St. Matthews, Gressette received his law degree from the University of South Carolina. He served state government as a legislator for more than a half century. Gressette represented Calhoun County for three terms in the state House of Representatives (1925-1932). He later served twenty-three terms in the South Carolina Senate...

“D” is for Dutch Fork. The Dutch Fork lies in a fork between the Broad and Saluda Rivers that includes parts of the modern counties of Newberry, Lexington, and Richland. Many of the early settlers were German speakers, although others came from northern colonies to the Dutch Fork via the Great Wagon Road. The preponderance of German speaking settlers however gave the area its name Dutch fork for D...

“C” is for Cockfighting.  Cockfighting is a blood sport that has existed in South Carolina from colonial times into the twenty-first century, despite the fact that it was banned by the General Assembly in 1887 and carries a felony charge for participants and less severe penalties for spectators. Until 2023, the oldest continuously published magazine for cockers (as cockfighters signed styled thems...

“C” is for Coastal Carolina University. Located in Horry County between Conway and Myrtle Beach, Coastal Carolina University is a public comprehensive liberal arts institution with more than 11,000 students. In 1954 local citizens opened Coastal Carolina Junior College as a branch of the College of Charleston. In 1958 the school became independent and a voter referendum approved county funding for...

“C” is for Clyburn, James Enos (b.1940). Congressman. Born in Sumter, Clyburn has had an extensive career in public service. From 1971 to 1974 he served on the staff of Governor John C. West. From 1974 to 1992, Clyburn was South Carolina human affairs commissioner. In 1992 he won the Sixth District congressional seat, becoming South Carolina's first African American congressman since 1897. In 1998...

“B” is for Boudo, Louis (ca. 1786-1827), and Heloise Boudo (d. 1837). Silversmiths, goldsmiths, jewelers. Louis Boudo arrived in Charleston from Santo Domingo about 1809 and established himself as “goldsmith, jeweler and hairworker.” In addition to representing himself as a jeweler and watchmaker, he advertised the manufacture of silver spoons and other silver work. Boudo's best known piece is a s...

“B” is for Bouchillon, Christopher Allen (1893-1968). Musician. A native of Oconee County, Bouchillon was raised in Greenville.  From his father he learned to play the old-time banjo. Bouchillon was the first person to popularize “the talking blues” form of song delivery. In 1926 Chris went to Atlanta for the first of six sessions for Columbia records. His initial effort resulted in “Talking Blues...