BDC Programs & Outreach for March 2020

The program attendance count continues to be strong. We've broken 900, averaging 47 people per program. I'm sure that we will increase that average attendance number with the next programs and outreach events on our calendar. In fact, one of the lectures is already almost completely full! (Our partner opened registration quite early). I refer to the upcoming appearance of Beaufort's beloved Dr. Larry Rowland.

On Thursday, March 12th  he will discuss "Kate Gleason, Libby Sanders, and Beaufort in the 1920s" in the next "Historically Speaking" lecture that we do in conjunction with the Beaufort County Historical Society. Please note: This lecture will happen in the big Meeting Room at St. Helena Branch Library. As with all library related programs, we observe applicable fire codes.  When the number of registrants meets the Fire Marshal limit for occupancy in the room, registration will be closed. Until then, registration is open through the Beaufort County Historical Society's  website: http://bit.ly/38svUNz

Two days later on Saturday, March 14th, we participate in the Beaufort History Museum's  5th Annual Living History Encampment. 

Kristi and/or I will be out on Craven Street at the BDC's table with some surrogates representing our newspaper, 19th century prints and photographic collections along with distributing handouts about the Library's many Civil War and Reconstruction era materials from 10 AM to 1 PM. 

In concert with the Beaufort History Museum and the National Park Service, the BDC hosts two free lectures that date. Both programs are first come, first seated. Doors will open 30 minutes ahead of program start time for seating. 

• 10 AM - NPS Ranger Chris Barr explains why Beaufort District was critical to Reconstruction. 

•  2 PM - Professional storyteller extraordinaire Cora Newcomb will share amazing stories of real women who made a difference in Beaufort District. In addition to mobilizing soup kitchens and relief societies, women also cared for wounded soldiers and were effective spies. It is estimated that 300 women fought on the battlefields, usually disguised as men. This program will focus on those women who were in Beaufort and involved in many different aspects of the war. 

If you go into the Reconstruction Era Interpretative Center be sure to take a careful look at the "Islands of Hope in a Sea of Despair" exhibit. The Library contributed a number of the images shown on the Beaufort History Museum's exhibit that has been loaned to the Reconstruction Era National Park. The NPS center is free of charge.

The BHM is offering a reduced rate for entrance to its museum throughout the day.

The BDC takes to the road again at the end of March. Hilton Head Branch Reference Librarian Jo Gaillard and I will represent the Library system during the "Lowcountry Fair with Historical Flair" on the Coastal Discovery Museum's campus on Saturday, March 28, 2020. Please drop by to say "Hello" or to ask about any of the Library's many materials and services.  

A lot of re-enactors and historical groups are scheduled to participate in the Fair. Tickets are available through the Santa Elena History Center website at  https://santa-elena.org/lowcountry-fair-2020/.

Just a reminder: We can be contacted at 843-255-6468 or by email to bdc@bcgov.net with any questions about what the BDC is, has or does.

Thomas E. Miller: Reconstruction Era "Man of Mark"

In honor of Black History Month, we draw your attention to one of Beaufort District's African American native sons who found prominence on the state and national scene. He was a local Reconstruction Ear "Man of Mark".

Thomas Ezekiel Miller (1849-1938):

Miller was born to free black parents in Ferrebeeville, S. C., near present-day Ridgeland. As a youth, Miller attended schools for free African-Americans in Charleston although such schools were prohibited by state law at the time. He studied for the bar in Columbia, S. C. after his graduation from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1872. It was in the course of his law studies that Miller’s involvement in the Beaufort County Republican Party began.


Miller married Anna M. Hume around 1874. They would have 9 children together, 7 of whom would survive into adulthood.
 
His first public office was that of Beaufort school commissioner in 1872.  Two years later he was elected as representative to the state General Assembly. Miller served in the U. S. House from 1890-1891 upon successfully contesting the election of William Elliott. His political career was plagued by questions about his parentage and racial identity. He was frequently mocked as the "Yellow Canary" in the Democratic press. He lost the next election and returned to Beaufort before he served again in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1894 to 1896.

Palmetto Post, 9 June 1892, p. 2

Miller was a progressive Republican. Miller joined with Robert Smalls to block legislation at the state Constitutional Convention of 1895 that would disfranchise black male citizens. They failed. At this same convention, Miller expressed his support for women’s suffrage. More successful was Miller’s efforts to found a state-supported college for African-Americans, the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural and Mechanical College in Orangeburg, now known as South Carolina State University.

SCSU is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina. He oversaw construction of the campus's first building, Bradham Hall. Miller became the college’s first president in 1896 and served until 1911 when he was forced to resign by Governor Coleman Blease. 


From 1911 until 1923 and again from 1934 until his death on April 8, 1938 he lived in Charleston, devoting himself to community activism. His tombstone in the Brotherly Association Cemetery in Charleston is inscribed: “I served God and all the people, loving the white man not less, but the Negro needed me most.”

We recommend these materials for additional information about Thomas E. Miller:

Black Carolinians: A History of Blacks in South Carolina from 1895 to 1968 by I.A. Newby. Columbia, SC: Published for the South Carolina Tricentennial Commission by the University of South Carolina Press, 1973. 

Black over White: Negro Political Leadership in South Carolina during Reconstruction by Thomas Holt.  Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1979, ©1977.

Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen by Philip Dray.  Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 2008.

"Dr. Thomas E. Miller, President" A Digital Collection Celebrating the Founding of the Historically Black College and University is a collection of primary resources from HBCU libraries and archives, no date.

A History of South Carolina State College, 1896 - 1978 by John F. Potts.Orangeburg, SC: South Carolina State College, 1978.

"Miller, Thomas E. (1849 - 1938)" Online Encyclopedia of Significant People and Places in African American History

"Miller, Thomas Ezekial," Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
 
"Miller, Thomas Ezekiel," History, Art and Archives: United States House of Representatives website 

Miller, Thomas Ezekial" by William C. Hine, South Carolina Encyclopedia, Original Published date: June 8, 2016, Date of Last Update March 16, 2017, Accessed 21 February 2020

Rebellion, Reconstruction and Redemption, 1861 - 1893 (The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, vol. 2) by Stephen R. Wise, Lawrence Sanders Rowland, Gerhard Spieler and Alexander Moore. Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, [2015].  

South Carolina Negroes 1877–1900 by George Tindall. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, reprint  edition, 2003.

"Thomas E. Miller, 19^th Century Politician” in the African American Registry

 

"Thomas E. Miller and the Early Years of South Carolina State University," by William C. Hine. Carologue 12 (Winter 1996): 8 -12. 

This post is based substantively on the work of Dennis Adams, BCL's former Information Services Coordinator (now retired) prepared for the Library's pre-2016 website. An earlier version of this article was posted as "Famous Beaufortonians: Thomas E. Miller" in Connections in February 2012.

Presidential Visits to Beaufort District

Please note: Updated on 26 January 2024 - and with a few presidential hopeful visits added in.

There have been plenty of distinguished visitors in Beaufort District throughout its long and storied history. A number of politicians and candidates for the nation's highest government office have visited Beaufort District in the past, though most of the visits have occurred before the man became President of these United States (POTUS). Among the presidential hopefuls in the very late 20th century and early 21st century were John McCain, John Edwards, Donald Trump, and Pete Buttigieg. In November 2019, Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise visit to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to serve Thanksgiving dinner to service members.

  
In honor of the Presidents Day national, state, and Beaufort County holiday:

Q: Who was the first President to visit Beaufort District? 

A. Ulysses S. Grant
B. George Washington
C. Bill Clinton
D. Herbert Hoover
E. Jefferson Davis
F. James Monroe

Let's see: [and here you can follow my thinking and learn a little history at the same time]:

James Monroe was the 5th POTUS, serving from 1817 - 1825. He spent several days in early May in the town of Beaufort on his way to Florida. (You'll see this theme repeated in the 19th and 20th century history of this area: Tourists may drop by see a bit of the area's charms on their way to Florida though by the late 19th century, some of those travelers have purchased former plantations for timbering or hunting purposes.) But back in 1819, Monroe was on his way to inspect the land the United States got via the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819.  He's a real contender.
 
By process of elimination, Jefferson Davis is out. He was a President, just not a POTUS. He was the one and only president of the Confederate States of America, 18 February 1861 to his capture by Union forces in Irwinville, GA on 10 May 1865. And though there are always rumors circulating that Davis sent the missing Confederate gold treasure to Beaufort (What's safer than storing such a treasure behind enemy lines?), there are no verifiable documents to substantiate that talk. (And, yes, from time to time treasure hunters show up in the Research Room to ask about old maps that would indicate where the treasure might be. Trust me, if I had access to such a map, I would have had that gold already in my possession and be a retired lady of leisure!)

Also I did not include any of the eight presidents under the Articles of Confederation, 1781-1789 for two reasons: Who remembers them - or that document? None of them appear to have ever visited Beaufort District. 

POTUS #31 Herbert Hoover was a great humanitarian with a number of highly successful business and charitable ventures. However, his reputation has been permanently tarnished by his failure to recognize the extreme danger inflicted on the nation's and world's economy by the New York Stock Exchange Crash of 1929. Hoover never visited Beaufort to my knowledge but his wife did.  Lou Henry Hoover arrived on the Presidential yacht "Sequoia" on March 3, 1932 on her way to Florida.  She was met by Mrs. B.E. deTreville and Mrs. W.J. Thomas of the local chapter of the  Daughters of the American Revolution and Mrs. R. Maynard Marshall representing the City of Beaufort.  Mrs. Hoover attended a reception hosted on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, saw a few historic sites, and shook hands with many area residents before departing the next day. 

Beaufort Gazette, 3 March 1932, p. 1

Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton were frequent guests at Hilton Head's Renaissance Weekend founded by Phil and Linda Lader in 1981. Renaissance Weekend was a by-invitation-only conference of civic, business and political leaders and their families to share ideas and discuss big issues off-the-record in a relaxing environment. But it wasn't until 1993 that Clinton attended as the sitting POTUS #42. Renaissance Weekend has now moved from Hilton Head Island though it is still being held each year at a different location. (Monroe is still in the lead - and his visit would have obviously preceded any made by Ulysses S. Grant who was born in 1822, three years after Monroe's brief visit.)

Beaufort District residents entertained President George Washington in May of 1791. Washington decided to visit each state to unite the country under its recently ratified Constitution. For many people, he personified the term "American." Washington left Philadelphia (then the capital city of the new nation) on March 21, 1791 and headed south through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. It was a long, bumpy, and dusty trip by horse-drawn coach. He reached Beaufort District on May 11 of his Southern Tour. From his journal:

Wednesday 11th. After an early breakfast at Mr. Smiths we road 20 Miles to a place called Pokitellico, [Pocotaligo, now in Jasper County] where a dinner was provided by the Parishioners of Prince William for my reception; and an Address from them was presented and answered. After dinner we proceeded 16 Miles farther to Judge Haywards [Thomas Heyward, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and veteran of the Battle of Port Royal Island, 1779 that I wrote about earlier this month] w[h]ere we lodged, &, as also at Mr. Smiths were kindly and hospitably entertained. The next day we traveled another 22 miles to Purisburgh (National Archives, Founders Online database,)

A: Thus George Washington was the first President of the United States under the Constitution and the first POTUS to visit Beaufort District.

Reminder: The Beaufort County Library system - and the Beaufort District Collection Research Room - will be closed on Monday, February 19, 2024 to observe Presidents Day. 

Beaufort District's Record Snowfall, 1973

Last updated: 6 December 2024 - gmc.

The record snowfall in Beaufort County remains the blizzard of February 10-11, 1973. This winter storm is listed on the Climate Office’s “Storms of the Century” web page. It was indeed “A Rare Visit.”

Island Packet, February 15, 1973, p. 4

Snow fell across most of the state for approximately 24 hours beginning in the late afternoon on the 9^th. The belts of largest amounts lay parallel to the coast about 75 miles inland. Heaviest snowfall was 24 inches measured in Rimini, Clarendon County, SC. As this headline from the Beaufort Gazette noted:

The County’s other newspaper at the time, the Island Packet’s headline was: 

Island Packet, February 15, 1973, p. 1.

About 30,000 tourists were stranded on the State’s highways. Many had to be rescued by helicopter. Eight fatalities resulted from exposure. The snow was accompanied by strong winds and followed by severe cold. Drifts to 8 feet were found in some locations. At least 200 buildings collapsed, as did thousands of awnings and carports. Three truckloads of mail destined for Beaufort County actually had to await the thaw before delivery. Hunting Island State Park lost six feet of beach.

                               

 Beaufort Gazette, February 22, 1973, p. 10-A

Power loss was widespread. Schools were closed for a week in many counties.

The property damage and road damage plus cost of snow removal and rescue operations were estimated at close to $30 million.

Newspapers carried scores of photographs of wintry scenes and snowmen. Scott Graber was captured skating down Charles Street. In fact, Gerhard Spieler wrote in his “Low Country Comments” column in the Beaufort Gazette that “Beaufort’s Population Grew” on account of the numbers of snowmen erected in town. He particularly liked the creative persons who used cascades of Spanish moss for snowmen hair and crab claws for snowmen noses.

The Library has some photographs of the 1973 Blizzard in the Lucille Hasell Culp Collection posted online through our long partnership with the Lowcountry Digital Library. Here you can see her outside the Palmetto Studios shop on Bay Street. (Lucille Hasell Culp Collection, BCL-LCDL https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/lcdl/catalog/lcdl:1632.  Please note: the images in the Lucille Hasell Culp Collection are copyrighted by the Beaufort County Library).

Clippings in the BDC’s "Weather and Climate" vertical file indicate two other blizzards: the tongue-in-cheek Blizzard of February 1958 that the Beaufort Gazette covered and a certified blizzard of February 1899 documented by the Palmetto Post.

It's always a good idea to make an appointment to visit any archive or special library collection. If you want to visit the BDC Reading Room, give us a call 843-255-6468 or send us an email in advance of your visit bdc@bcgov.net. 

Very Brief History of Black History Month and Upcoming Programs

The story of Black History Month begins in Chicago during the late summer of 1915. Like thousands of other African Americans, Carter G. Woodson traveled from Washington, DC to participate in a national celebration of the 50th anniversary of emancipation sponsored by the State of Illinois. While there, he was inspired to do more to highlight the role of African Americans in the story of the United States.

Woodson selected February to honor the birthdays of two great Americans, Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809) and Frederick Douglass (chosen date February 14, circa 1818), both of whom played a prominent role in shaping black history. Well aware of the pre-existing birthday celebrations for these two men within the Black community, Woodson built Negro History  Week around traditional days of commemorating the black past. His goal was that the public would extend their study of black history and celebrate the contributions of Africans to American history. He wanted to make sure that achievements of Black men and Black women would be acknowledged and promoted.

The first Negro History Week was held in February 1926. As the modern Civil Rights movement gained momentum through the 1940s- 1970s, interest in studying the African-American experience also gained momentum.  In 1976, 50 years after the first celebration, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) used its influence to get a Presidential Proclamation of Black History Month.

Each year tends to have a theme. On account of 2020 being the 100th anniversary of Women's Suffrage, this year's focus is on voting rights.

To honor the contributions of Black people to local history, the Beaufort District Collection is holding two programs during February, one at Hilton Head Branch Library and the other at St. Helena Branch Library. Both are free to attend.  The family history workshop requires advance registration due to space and equipment limitations while the Gullah Days talk is first come, first seated.

 

Monday, February 10, 2020 at Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 AM

Three well-known and respected members of the community, Tom Barnwell, Emory Campbell, and Carolyn Grant, will share their memories and research about daily life on Hilton Head Island before the bridge connected it to the rest of Beaufort County. 

Beaufort was ground zero for men enlisting in the United States Colored Troops because of the Union army occupation. More than 5,000 men from South Carolina served in the United States Colored Troops, the majority of them from the Lowcountry. Popular and experienced genealogist Toni Carrier, Executive Director of the International African American Museum's Center for Family History will show participants how to find their USCT veteran ancestor from the records of their enlistment all the way until their death. There are abundant record sets for documenting USCT veteran ancestors and we'll look at each one, the information each contains and how to use it in your research. Part 1: Lecture by Toni Carrier; Part 2: Guided Practice with Toni & Grace to assist you.

 

Saturday, February 15, 2020 at St. Helena Branch Library, 1 PM - 4 PM

                                               Registration required: Call 843-818-4587

Battle of Port Royal Island (Gray's Hill), February 3, 1779

As we get ever closer to the Sestercentennial (250th anniversary) commemoration of the United States, local historic events relating to the Revolutionary War will garner greater attention.

The location of the Battle of Port Royal Island fought on February 3, 1779  has long generated speculation and discussion. However with careful research, patience and improvements in archaeological technology in his favor,  archaeologist Daniel Battle discovered the actual site of the Battle of Port Royal Island in the Gray's Hill area in 2016. The site is on private and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort property and therefore inaccessible at this time though a communication from the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust indicates that contracts to purchase the land were signed in January 2020. An historic highway marker is near the location on US Highway 21.

Photo by Mike Stroud https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=14738

There is considerable discussion about whether to call the engagement a "battle" or more aptly a "skirmish." Whether battle or skirmish, whether the engagement is called _ of Port Royal Island, _ of Beaufort, or _ of Gray's Hill, the end result for those killed during the engagement is the same - a grave. Each man was fighting for his life. Eight Patriots were killed while the British suffered an estimated 52 casualties. This was the only instance in the Revolutionary War in which two Signers of the Declaration of Independence fought side-by-side. Thomas Heyward, Jr. of Beaufort District and Edward Rutledge were head of two artillery companies from Charleston that shelled the British forces that day. Heyward's plantation had been torched by the British the day before.   

According to Old Churchyard Cemetery of St. Helena's Episcopal Church, two of the British officers who died that day were interred in the Parish Church of St. Helena Churchyard on 5 February 1779 by Patriot Capt. John Barnwell read the burial service and reputedly said: "We have shown the British we not only can best them in battle but that we can also give them a Christian burial."

(BDC Postcard Collection Item 0530002186431)

Dennis Ford wrote that this was South Carolina's first land based engagement between professional British, militia, and Continental forces. The British Winter Campaign, 1778 -1779 in the state had mostly gone in Britain's favor up to this point.  The significance of the engagement was largely psychological for the Patriots.

The American Battlefields Trust has an informative website about the engagement.

We have a vertical file about the engagement under the title "Port Royal Island, Battle of, 1779" in the Research Room that includes more information about the discovery and efforts to preserve the battlefield.