South Carolina from A to Z

“S” is for Seneca (Oconee County; 2020 population 8,850). Founded in 1873, as Seneca City, the town’s name was taken from an earlier Indian village and the nearby Seneca River. It was the arrival of the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad (intersecting with the Blue Ridge Railroad) that was responsible for the town’s establishment. In 1874 Seneca was chartered by the General Assembly. And it w...

“R” is for Rock Hill Movement. Following the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery and the 1960 lunch-counter sit-ins in Greensboro, African Americans in Rock Hill took the lead in energizing the civil rights movement in South Carolina. In 1957 boycott of the local city bus company resulted in its bankruptcy and the creation of a Black-operated alternative transportation company. In 1960, students at Fri...

“P” is for Pinckney, Eliza Lucas (ca. 1722-1793). Planter, matriarch. Born in the West Indies (probably Antigua), Eliza was educated in London and later moved with her family to a rice plantation on Wappoo Creek near Charleston. When her father returned to Antigua in 1739, he left his teenaged daughter in charge of the plantation. He sent Eliza indigo seed from the West Indies hoping that the crop...

“P” is for Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth (1746-1825). Soldier, statesman, diplomat. Born in Charleston, Pinckney was educated at Christ Church College, Oxford, and the Middle Temple. Returning home, he was elected to the Commons House of Assembly. By 1775 Pinckney was a member of all the important revolutionary committees. With the outbreak of hostilities, he was appointed commander of the First Re...

“M” is for Mennonites. The Mennonites of South Carolina are a Protestant group descended from the Anabaptists of the Reformation. They believe in a conscious choice to join the church (adult baptism), a disciplined church in which members are responsible to each other, and a sharing church in which material needs are met by fellow members. They reject the union of church and state and the validity...

“S” is for Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy. In 1829 the Catholic Bishop John England founded Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy in Charleston. By the 1840s the congregation operated an orphanage, an academy, and a free school for girls and a school for free children of color. The community expanded its ministries in the twentieth century. St. Francis Xavier Hospital, Charleston, added...

“R” is for Rugeley, Rowland (1738-1776). Author. One of South Carolina's earliest writers, Rugeley was born in England. In 1763 his Miscellaneous Poems: Translations from La Fontaine and Others was published in Cambridge. In 1765 he immigrated to South Carolina  where the governor appointed him to the office of registrar. In 1769 became a member of the Royal Council. In 1774 he published in Charle...

“R” is for Rubin, Lewis Decimus, Jr. (1923-2013). Teacher, author, editor, publisher. Born in Charleston, Rubin later used his hometown for settings and inspiration in his novels such as Surfaces of a Diamond and in nonfictional works such as Seaports of the South . After graduating from the University of Richmond, Rubin earned his Ph. D. from Johns Hopkins. From 1957 to1967 he taught at Hollins C...

“P” is for Pollock, William Pegues (1870-1922). U. S. Senator. Pollock was born near Cheraw in Chesterfield County. In 1891 he graduated from the University of South Carolina law school and was admitted to the bar in 1893. From 1894 to 1898 he represented Chesterfield County in the state House of Representatives. In 1914 Pollock participated in a spirited U. S. Senate campaign with three other can...

“P” is for the Pollitzer sisters. Educators, suffragists, reformers. Carrie, Mabel, and Anita Pollitzer were all born in Charleston. Carrie Teller Pollitzer (1881-1974) was a tireless campaigner for women's rights. She was a charter member of the Charleston Equal Suffrage League and was active in the National Woman's Party (NWP). In1929 Mabel Louise Pollitzer (1885-1975) obtained legislation estab...

“M” is for Molloy, Robert (1906-1977). Novelist, editor, critic. Born in Charleston, at age twelve Molloy moved with his family to Philadelphia and then New York City. By 1936 he was working as a book reviewer and copy editor for the New York Sun and was later its literary editor. He wrote short stories that were published in national magazines and then a friend suggested he try novel writing. His...

“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...