New (and New to Us) Materials in the Research Room March - October 2020 : All the Rest

A lot of items about a broad range of topics have arrived in the Research Room since March. I also bought some titles in multiple copies in order for you to be able to check out a title through the Local History sections at the Branch libraries and from the bookmobiles. Most of the titles listed below came  from donors though I have made a few purchases. The items relating to genealogy that the Heritage Library gave to the BDC are in a separate post. Other donors during this period were the ever reliable Friends of the Beaufort Library, Bill Engeman, Liz Alston, Scott Strawn, Maria Benac, Rick English and Mary Lou Brewton. As always, I appreciate the generosity of others when it comes to helping me improve the range of our holdings. 

For the archives we added a photograph from the Beaufort Little Theater's production of "Annie Get Your Gun" and a photograph of the Dale School Library Branch from the early 1990s. We received additional deposits of archival materials from the Beaufort County Historical Society as well.

With COVID-19 causing so many community events to be cancelled or postponed, we only added 5 posters during this period. "Always a Bridesmaid" was supposed to happen in late March but the stage play was cancelled as was the Women's Wellness Weekend at the USC Center for the Arts. Both the "Hurray for Hollywood" concert and the "Race4Love" were held in February before the national COVID 19 shutdown. The 5th Annual Living History Encampment was held at the Arsenal on Saturday, March 14, 2020 - and has likely become the BDC's last in-person community event of 2020.

All the other items received in the Research Room from March through October are listed below in alphabetical order by title:  

Above and Beyond by Charles Patrick Weiland  (1997) is a memoir of a retired-to-Beaufort-County for a period of more than ten years resident about his experiences with the Marines during World War II.

Andre Michaux: Journals and Letters, 1785-1797 edited by Charlie Williams, E.M. Norman and Walter Kingsley Taylor (2020) is the first English translation of this naturalist's personal journals and correspondence written from America. King Louis XVI sent him on nine journeys to identify unknown plant species that might improve French forestry, agriculture and horticulture. One of those journeys included Beaufort District.

Beaufort 1849 by Karen Lynn Allen (2011) is an historical novel that uses the Secession Movement and doubts about slavery as a backdrop to the protagonist's romantic difficulties. 

Beaufort High School Yearbooks, 1941, 1947, 1963 join our growing collection of school yearbooks.

Beautiful Beaufort by the Sea Guidebook edited by George Graham Trask, 6th edition (2007) joins all the prior editions of this title from a local press.

Black Soldiers in Blue: African American Troops in the Civil War Era edited by John David Smith (2002) contains 14 original essays about the role of the United States Colored Troops in the conduct of the war but the main reason that I decided to accept this title was for Noah Andre Trudeau's article about Civil War colonels Thomas W. Higginson, James Montgomery and Robert Gould Shaw, each of whom was stationed in Beaufort District. Combahee Raid, anyone?

The Culture of Early Charleston by Frederick Patten Bowes (1942) is a classic. Because the upper echelons of Beaufort District's planters tended to reside in Charleston during the social season, the book provides excellent background to their communal life and times.

"Dawn of Freedom": The Freedmen's Town of Mitchelville by JoAnn L. Zeise (2012) was written as a Master's level thesis in Public History. She discusses the interplay of the former enslaved people's desire to exercise control over their lives and community with the goals of the military establishment occupying Hilton Head Island beginning in 1861.

Dear Wife: The Civil War Letters of a Private Soldier by Daniel B. White and Jack C. Davis [1992?] contains personal correspondence from Sergeant Simeon Anderson Tierce to his wife Sarah Jane that includes descriptions of his life as a member of the 144th New York Regiment while stationed on Hilton Head Island.

The Ethnic History of South Carolina: South Carolina's Contribution to American History by Elizabeth H. Alston (2020) gives an historical overview of the diverse peoples who have affected the state's and the nation's story. 

The Escape of Robert Smalls: The Perilous Voyage out of Slavery by Jehan Jones-Radgowski, illustrated by Poppy Kang (2019) is a children's picture book about the exciting dash to freedom made by one of Beaufort District's most famous native sons. 

Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner (2010) explains how the issue of enslavement defined Lincoln's greatness. In some ways, General David Hunter's decision to emancipate the freedmen locally here in Beaufort District forced the President's hand. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2011.

Gardener's Guide for Charleston and the Lowcountry by the Garden Club of Charleston, revised edition (2000) offers advice about landscape plants best suited to grow in the local area.

Goody, Goodie: A Gullah/Geechee Tale by Queen Quet Marquetta L. Goodwine, illustrated by Quadré Stuckey (2020) shows how Bruh Rooster outfoxes Bruh Fox in this charming rhyming tale for children.

Healin' fa de Soul: Inspirational Readings from De Nyew Testament, the Gullah Bible (5 sound cds, 2011) has 24 Gullah speakers render comforting passages from the Good Book. 

Juan Pardo Expeditions: Explorations of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566-1568 by Charles M. Hudson and Paul E. Hoffman (2005) describes what happened when Santa Elena's Governor Pedro Menendez de Aviles ordered Captain Pardo to find a land route to the silver mines of Mexico.  

The Land was Ours: How Black Beaches Became White Wealth in the Coastal South by Andrew W. Kahrl (2016) documents the interrelationship between coastal economic development beginning in the mid-20th century and the dispossession of traditional African American landowners along the southeast and Gulf coasts.

Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne edited by Rupert Sargent Holland, illustrated by Nathaniel Glover, Reconstruction Era Edition (2019) documents Towne's experiences as a teacher to the freedmen at Penn School from 1862 until her death in 1901.

Mattie Sams Diary: Recollections of a Florida Pioneer Life by Mattie Sams LaRoche (2020) is a personal memoir of the permanent relocation of a Beaufort District family to Brevard County Florida in 1875.

Numismatics of South Carolina, volume 1: Merchant Trade Tokens by Anthony Chibbaro (2020) does indeed provide "a complete history of private coinage issued within the state," including some by Beaufort District merchants. I must say that I found Chibbaro's research prodigious and the narrative fascinating. I learned things. I expect that others who come to the Research Room to explore the massive tome will too.

River of Words, 2017: Musings on Port Royal Sound through Poetry & Art by the Beaufort County School District (SC) and Port Royal Sound Foundation (2017) is an annual student showcase celebrating local marine ecology and estuary. The Research Room also holds volumes for 2013 and 2018.

The Sandman's Daughter by Robin M. Carter with Queen Quet; illustrated by Al Hawkins (2019) .  intertwines education about the threatened life cycle of the sea turtle with exposure to Gullah culture. 

The Shell Builders: Tabby Architecture of Beaufort, South Carolina, and the Sea Islands by Colin Brooker (2020) is the long-awaited master work of one of the world's foremost authorities on tabby construction. Once COVID-19 gets out of the way, Colin has promised to come do a program at the Library for the BDC and Beaufort County Historical Society. Copies are available through the Local History sections, too.

State of Grace: The History of the Diocese of Charleston by Pamela Smith (2020) outlines the course of Roman Catholicism in South Carolina from the first prayer uttered by Spanish priests at Santa Elena in the 16th century through the present day.

They Served: Stories of the United States Colored Troops from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina compiled and edited by Nancy Burke, Patricia Burke and Susie Marquis (2017) is based on military pension record applications of Black soldiers in the Union Army during the Civil War. Copies are available through the Local History sections, too.

The Story of Sea Island Cotton by Richard D. Porcher and Sarah Fick (2010) is both a botanical and land genealogy of an agricultural product unique to this local area.  Copies are available through the Local History sections as well. 

A Treasury of Carolina Tales by Webb Garrison (1988) offers little known vignettes about North and South Carolina history that sometimes include events relating to residents or visitors to Beaufort District. 

Waking Up Dead: A Loose Collection of Anecdotes from Life as the Son of a Funeral Director and Coroner, Among Other Things by Ryan Copeland (2020) is a romp of a read by a Beaufort born librarian, author, photographer and former local newspaper columnist. Copies are available through the Local History sections also.

Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America's Most Progressive Era by Douglas R. Egerton (2014) explores the dramatic course of local and state politics during the 1870s. 

In summary, I hope that your take away is that even in times of pestilence, Beaufort County Library's special collection and archives unit and staff continues to serve its community - and be supported by its community - as together we all muddle through 2020 as best we can.

2020 Thanksgiving Holidays

Reminder: The Library - including the Beaufort District Collection Research Room -- is closed for Thanksgiving, November 26, 2020 and Heritage Day, November 27, 2020. The Branch Libraries will resume their regular Saturday hours on November 28th. 

The Research Room will be re-open on Monday, November 30th for those who have confirmed an appointment with me.

Please have a safe and enjoyable holiday - whatever form that may take in this time of contagion.

New (and New to Us) Materials in the Research Room March - October 2020 : Genealogy Titles

A  lot of items have arrived from a variety of donors and a few purchases. The largest category relates to genealogy. This is understandable in light of the fact that all the following items were donated to the BDC from the Beaufort Branch of the Heritage Library which closed earlier this year. Thanks to Barbara Catenaci, Executive Director of the Heritage Library Foundation and her organization, the Research Room now has the following family history related items to share with our customers:

Black Genesis: A Resource Book for African-American Genealogy by James M. Rose and Alice Eichholz. 2nd edition (2003) covers the basic resources and strategies for conducting productive family history research about Black ancestors.

Cemeteries of Jasper County: A Project of the Jasper County Historical Society, South Carolina, 1994 - 1996 by Wofford E. Malphrus, 2001 is actually a second copy for the BDC. Occasionally a local reference book is so important that I want to insure that the Research Room will always be able to share the information contained therein - even once I am moldering in my grave. This volume falls into that "forever for sure" category for me. Arrangement is by graveyard and thence by the interred deceased surname. There is no volume index - which I must admit is a bit annoying.

A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services with Their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence ... Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census, bound with a General Index prepared by the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1989) expands the work of the Pension Lists of 1820 below. This report was initially published 1841. By that point most of the veterans were well into their 70s and 80s. The oldest South Carolina Revolutionary War pensioner was 107 years old John Wilson of Pickens District. There are no entries for Beaufort District pensioners.

Death & Marriage Notices from The Watchman and Observer, 1845 - 1855 compiled by Brent Holcomb (2004) covers notices from the Presbyterian newspaper published in Richmond, VA that served the entire South, particularly North and South Carolina and Alabama. Arrangement is by date of the newspaper issue; Names cited are indexed. 

Directories of the City of Charleston for the Years 1830-31, 1835-36, 1836, 1837-1838, and 1840-41 by James W. Hagy (1997) are somewhat similar to City of Charleston Year Books that we have, 1884, 1886, 1889, 1908, 1912, 1939 and 1945.   

Guide to Tracing Your African Ameripean Civil War Ancestor by Jeanette Braxton-Secret (1997) outlines some of the key government records to search and steps to take that are most likely to help you identify your Black soldier or Black sailor who served between 1861 - 1865.  

When one thinks of the Mercury, the word "Secession" looms large but it was also a local daily newspaper. Marriage & Death Notices from the [Charleston, South Carolina] Mercury, 1822 - 1832 compiled by Brent H. Holcomb (2000) actually includes far more than the usual marriage and death notices. He decided to include funeral notices, the occasional coroner's report and most significantly for the BDC, "legal notices from burned record districts such as Colleton and Beaufort" - some of which were posted by one of my ancestors, Benjamin H Buckner, Beaufort District's Commissioner in Equity  in 1824. 

Omitted Chapters from Hotten's Original Lists of Persons of Quality ... and Others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600 - 1700: Census Returns, Parish Registers, and Militia Rolls from the Barbados Census of 1679/80 edited by James C. Brandow (1982) supplements not only Hotten's Original Lists but also a few other reference books that we have about Barbados. Anyone familiar with the origins of South Carolina know that the original first settlers sailed from Barbados and that those Barbadians had a profound effect on early South Carolina laws and the establishment of chattel slavery in the colony. 

Pension List of 1820 [by the United States War Department], reprinted with an Index by Murtie June Clark (1991) was compiled to comply with an Act of Congress issued in 1818 to identify Revolutionary War veterans in need of financial support. It seems that some of the men in the 26 states who had been receiving the support had not served in the military and/or were of sufficient means to be ineligible for payment. The report is arranged by state and thence by 19th century alphabetical order - more or less all the names beginning with a "C" are together; all the surnames beginning with an "M" are together within the state's roster. 

A Savannah Family, 1830 -1901: Papers from the Clermont Huger Lee Collection including A Sketch of the Life of Frederic Augustus Habersham, written for his three little children by their mother Leila Elliott Habersham the summer of 1863 edited by Anna Habersham Wright Simth and Leila Elliott Habersham (1999) contains correspondence between the Beaufort Elliotts and the Savannah Elliots, Stiles, and Habersham families.

Some South Carolina Genealogical Records compiled by Janie Revill  (1986) covers 12 counties in the state but Beaufort nor Colleton is among the list. She abstracted records such as jury lists, wills, estate records, deeds, plats, tombstone inscriptions, etc. So why did I choose it for the BDC? Because of the variety of records index and because sometimes I do acquire reference materials about other counties just to add context and to support those who may wander in (when that was possible pre-COVID) to ask about ancestors from other parts of the state. If this book covered only one county or just one type of record, (unless that county happened to be Beaufort, Hampton, and/or Jasper) I would not have added it.  

South Carolina Marriages,  vol. 1: 1688 - 1799 was compiled from 34 primary sources by Brent Holcomb (1980). It has an index and joins his vol. 2 covering the years 1800 - 1820.

Surname Index to Sixty-Five Volumes of Colonial and Revolutionary Pedigrees by George Rodney Crowther, III (1964) is an index to other series of genealogical volumes, Colonial Families of America, Colonial and Revolutionary Lineages of America and 18 other individual volumes "about families who have helped to make America." This volume supplements the multivolume Genealogies in the Library of Congress and Richard Côte's Local and Family History in South Carolina: A Bibliography already in the Research Room.

During the course of doing family history research, one is almost sure to come across terms or activities that leave you scratching your head and thinking "What Did They Mean by That?" The BDC added two titles What Did They Mean By That?: A Dictionary of Historical Terms for Genealogists by Paul Drake, revised edition (1998) and Ancestry's Concise Genealogical Dictionary compiled by Maurine Harris and Glen Harris (1989) to help answer those questions.   

Again, I thank the Heritage Library Foundation for allowing me to have first dibs on historical and genealogical materials that it no longer needed. As I often say, the favor of first refusal is the best gift that one can give me to enhance the holdings of the Research Room. If you happen to have something that you might like to give to the BDC, I would be happy to discuss what and why we collect certain materials (or not) with you. I can be contacted at 843-255-6446 or by email gracec@bcgov.net if you want to talk about donating items to the BDC.

New (and New to Us) Materials in the Research Room, March - October 2020 : Government Documents

Wow! I was astounded to see that I had not posted about incoming Research Room materials since the COVID-19 shutdown began back in mid-March.  To make progress, I am going to make several posts rather than one really long post to catch back up.  Expect at least two (perhaps three) more posts to cover all the new (and new to us) materials added to the Research Room holdings over the past 7 months. 

Today I will concentrate on recently cataloged local, state and federal documents added to the collection.

Let me be clear on this critical point: The Beaufort County Library is not a federal, state, county, or municipal record depository so we are not responsible for sharing government documents forever. We simply do not have the physical space nor the financial resources to permanently house all documents issued by governmental entities. Thus the BDC is highly selective in what we keep. That is, BDC staff check the South Carolina State Documents Depository, Hathitrust, and Internet Archive to see if the document happens to be online first. If so, then the BDC does not have to give up shelf space for that particular document. If not, then I decide whether the item will likely be useful to a researcher investigating the topic covered by the document. Accordingly, the following items have been cataloged by the Library's Technical Services unit for permanent retention here in the Research Room: 

On the topic of water quality: Lowcountry Guide to Runoff Control and Wise Water Use for Homeowners and Builders (1983); Areawide Water Quality Management : The Lowcountry (1992); and, Impact of Dredging Operations on the Floridian Aquifer near the Port or Port Royal, South Carolina (1991).   

On the topic of environmental degradations on local military installations and residential properties: VCC- Port of Baldwin Mines (2005) covers an EPA Superfund site at the base of the McTeer bridge on the Town of Port Royal side; Remedial Investigation/RCRA Facilities Investigation for Site 12/SWMU 10- Jericho Island Disposal Area Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina Volume II-Appendices (2001); Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island Administrative Record Supplement Information- Volume A: HRS II Scoring at Various Naval Activities in South Carolina (1992); and, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island Administrative Record Supplement Information- Volume B: Tetrachloroethylene Contamination Assessment and Conceptual Corrective Action Plan U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Dry Cleaning Facility (1994).

Planning documents added recently are: Historic Preservation Plan of the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort (1987); Urban Beautification Plan for Beaufort South Carolina (1970); Overall Program Design Update (1974); A Preservation Plan for Historic Beaufort, South Carolina (1972);  Beaufort Comprehensive Plan Summary Results of Public Participation (1996); Population Projections, 1970 - 2000 (1977) [which were way off in 20-20 hindsight] and the Greater Beaufort Area Comprehensive Plan (1983). 

I kept a nifty Study of Pre-1951 Non-Metal Truss Highway Bridges of South Carolina (1993) because we get questions about bridges fairly often. Two documents about the operation of Beaufort County government may bolster someone's Master's or Doctoral thesis about the efficiency and challenges of public administration in a Sunbelt community experiencing unprecedented growth in a short period of time. The documents Beaufort County: A Study of Organization and Administration of the County Government (1961) and Beaufort County Study of Central Administration (1976) join a Public Administration Study of Beaufort County compiled in June 1971.

Although we sent 11 boxes of government documents inherited from Beaufort Branch Library's old compact shelving area to Beaufort County Records Management for disposal or storage, there are yet several more shelves worth to go. 

Heads up: 

Circumstances Shape Change in Some BDC Services and Programs

Being a librarian and archivist places my work activities well within the GLAM field, short for Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums. Among the several e-newsletters, blogs and listservs that I subscribe to is Colleen Dilenschneider's "Know Your Bone" blog in which she researches topics and preferences regarding cultural heritage experiences.  A recent article examines the amount of time that the GLAM community's usual visitors now spend online - and the implications for our community. 

It's a lot ... and growing, not only because of COVID-19 mitigation efforts but as part of a decade long trend more people have adopted towards staying home on the weekend and the advent of widespread streaming capabilities on the technology front. When one thinks about it, the Great Recession did keep a lot of us at home and more focused on making home more comfortable. Implication of the research? It may be harder than ever to attract the folks who attended history-related and arts-related in person events before March 2020 back to in-person programs and exhibits in 2021 and likely into 2022.

-- Which is why the Beaufort County Historical Society and the BDC decided to give local history programming online a try. Our first attempt was Suzie Parker Devoe's presentation about the "Women of Reconstruction." There's still time for you to watch it on the Library's YouTube Channel  https://youtu.be/wmsvv0r3Mlc before it goes away on Tuesday night. Initial reactions were so positive that we already have a date for filming the next lecture in the series.  Dr. Brent Morris will be the presenter for the second lecture. 

 

Given the need to limit access to the Research Room because of staff shortages and the small size of the physical space in this time of COVID-19, I have tried to extend the BDC's online offerings in other ways as well. For example, I'm working with Jan Beaudrie of the County Channel on some more "Beaufort County Moment" videos; there are new topics featured in the BDC's WordPress blog; two docents are working to prepare items in our archives for eventual digitization; and I'm doing my best to create interesting social media posts on a regular and recurrent basis at a level 10 - 25% higher than before COVID-19. 

Looking ahead: The Library will be closed Thursday, November 26th and Friday, November 27th for the Thanksgiving holidays.

In Honor of World War I Veteran Henry Buncombe

World War I, also known as the “Great War” was officially concluded on the 11th hour of the 11th day of November in the year 1918. In 1919, President Wilson declared November 11 as "Armistice Day." In 1954, President Harry S. Truman renamed the celebration of "Veterans Day." Today, Veterans Day is still observed on November 11th as a national holiday to honor all veterans of the United States Armed Forces. To honor the men who died in World War I, I highlight how to use some key resources in the Research Room and through the Library's website. I'm going to walk you through some basic research I did about Henry Buncombe of Bluffton. 

The BDC holds the Official Roster of South Carolina Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, World War 1917-18 (2 volumes) [Call number SC 940.4 OFF]. Vol. 1 lists the white folks; Vol 2 lists the "Colored" folks. Volume 2 (for Black men) has this entry on p. 1233:

BUNCOMBE, HENRY. 4134177 Res Bluffton SC NA Beaufort SC Aug 12/18. Br Bluffton SC May 10/95. 156 Dep Brig to Sept 18/18; Co A 431 Res Lab Bn to disch. Pvt. Hon disch Dec 21/18

Translating the abbreviations into regular English: "Buncombe, Henry. Service registration number 4134177, resided in Bluffton SC, joined the National Army in Beaufort SC on August 12, 1918. He was born in Bluffton on May 10, 1895 (but the long list of abbreviations doesn't make this clear). He was attached to the 156th Depot Brigade to September 18, 1918. I think that he was part of Company A, 431st Reserve Labor Battalion until his honorable discharge three months later on December 21, 1918. His rank was Private.

Beaufort County Library provides access to Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) which one can access from home with a BCL library card through the end of 2020 as a COVID-19 mitigation effort. One of the subscription databases inside ALE is the World War I Draft Registration Cards database.

From the description of the WWI Draft Registration Cards I learn that:

On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and officially entered World War I. Six weeks later, on 18 May 1917, the Selective Service Act was passed, which authorized the president to increase the military establishment of the United States. As a result, every male living within the United States between the ages of eighteen and forty-five was required to register for the draft.

The card used for the first registration (sometimes called the Twelve-Question card because of twelve questions on the front) includes this information: name, age, address, date and place of birth, citizenship status, employer’s name and address, dependent information, marital status, race, military service, and physical appearance.

I locate the digital images of his original WWI Draft Registration Card. Here's what I learn:

Henry Buncomb is 22 years old and had been born at Okatee on May 10, 1895. He is a self-employed farmer with a wife but no children. He gives his race as "African." He wants to be exempted from the draft because of his "dependent wife" who is not named. The registrar describes Henry's physical features: Medium height, medium build, black eyes, and black hair. He is not bald. Henry has at least one eye from which to see, both hands, both feet, both legs, and both arms so does not qualify for exemption from the draft due to physical disability. Henry was registered on June 5, 1917. 

If there is any male person in your family tree would was between 15 and 45 years old during the 1910s, you may want to see if they served during the Great War beginning with the same steps I took. 

The Library resumes regular hours (post-Covid) on Thursday, November 12th. Please remember that access to the Research Room is limited to those who have made an advance appointment directly with me. As of this writing (5:40 pm 10 November), the next available Research Room appointment time slot is Monday, November 16th.

Election Problems in 1996

1996 was a memorable election. I was not living in Beaufort back in 1996, but I remember standing in a long line in a Jasper County precinct for that election day.

Beaufort County had some issues, too, as a document transferred into the BDC, "1996 - Report on General Election of November 5, 1996," explains. Unlike most local government documents, the purpose was clearly stated on the cover: "The purpose of this report is to provide the general public with a better understanding of the duties of the Board of Elections and Voter Registration, a more accurate knowledge of the causes of problems in the General Election of November 5, 1996, and a statement of the Board's plans to provide more trouble-free elections in the future."  Members of the Board of Elections at that time were: James W. Richardson, Chairman; Martha K. Baumberger; Gregory D. Shorey; Jennie S. Green; Teresa A. Steen; Artie A. Heape; Lawrence Washington, Sr., and Barbara J. Lippard. Agnes M. Garvin was the Executive Director of the Board. 

In 1996, there were approximately 50,000 registered voters in Beaufort County. (In 2020, the numbers for Beaufort County are 95 precincts and 138,180 registered voters).  Interest was high due to the presidential contest. There were a lot of amendments proposed to the 1895 South Carolina Constitution that remains the fundamental document of state government -  and given that most state legislators tend to also be lawyers, those amendments were about as clear as mud.

That year was a three-way presidential race. POTUS #42, Bill Clinton, was running for re-election against Bob Dole, the Republican presidential candidate and Reform Party candidate Ross Perot. President Clinton was re-elected with 379 Electoral College votes and 49.2% of the popular vote. Bob Dole and his running mate Jack Kemp carried 19 states, North Carolina to Mississippi, and the mountain west along with Indiana for a total of 159 electoral college votes and 40.7% of the popular vote. Although Ross Perot received more than 8 million popular votes, he did not earn any electoral college votes. 

A number of "Election Day Problems" were cited: Long lines at precincts; Insufficient number of voting machines at precincts; Unequal distribution of registered voters per precinct; Incorrect voter registration cards; Family members voting in different precincts; Inadequate polling sites;  Inadequate Poll Manager training; Issues with absentee voting; and Disenfranchisement of voters. The biggest issues for the Board of Elections were that the ballot on the day was very long due to the number and complexity of the amendments to the South Carolina Constitution and the large number of write-in votes.

According to the report, a number of the issues arose from inadequate voter preparation. As a result of reading the document, I learned that in 1996 - and still - by South Carolina law 7-13-740, a voter is allotted 5 minutes to vote once s/he is left alone in the private ballot booth. Voters who refused to follow that law in 1996 cried "foul" and "voter disenfranchisement" at the poll managers who were doing their best to enforce the rules. 

It is important to remember, I think, that the number of people residing in Beaufort County had grown substantially during the 1990s which meant that precincts changes - enacted by state legislation and approved by the US Justice Department - had occurred. Many voters had not verified the location of their 1996 polling place.

The Board of Elections acknowledged that the poll managers could have been better trained - and promised that in future a poll manager would have to be certified every three years rather than five years in hopes of guaranteeing a more efficient and up-to-date corps of trained managers.

There were parking and size of polling places issues as well. Then as now, the Board of Elections relies on donated premises for the day as polling places. Many are in public buildings such as libraries, schools, or fire stations but sometimes there are other places utilized, such as sport arenas in 2020. [Which by the way, I think was a fabulous idea where possible].    

Given that I am writing this in the midst of the 2020 pandemic when 100 million American voters cast ballots before election day, the absentee turnout in Beaufort County of 3.7% in 1996 seems minuscule. 

There were even more issues in the conduct of the election that political nerds will enjoy reading. The document is in our Research Room under call # SC 324.97579 REP 1997. You can make an appointment (gracec@bcgov.net or 843-255-6446) to come read it for yourself.

Reminder: All units of the Beaufort County Library, including the Beaufort District Collection, will be closed on Wednesday, November 11th to observe Veterans Day. Regular hours resume Thursday, November 12th. Because the BDC continues providing access by advance appointment only, please contact me on or before Tuesday, November 10th if you'd like to come do research on Thursday, November 12th or Friday, November 13th. 

If you'd like to delve deeper into history of election problems in Beaufort District, the rough-and-tumble times of the Reconstruction Era and the Counterrevolution of 1876 aptly described in Rebellion, Reconstruction and Redemption by Stephen R. Wise and Lawrence S. Rowland (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2015). I encourage you to read Chapters 19 and 22 carefully. 

C.C. Pinckney and the Presidential Election of 1800

C.C. Pinckney (National Archives)

As the 2020 presidential election looms  - and the outcome appears too close to call among the pollsters and pundits - it is good to remember that electing a president is a process that only begins on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every four years beginning in 1800. Remember your high school Civics class. Though it is not obvious on many state ballots since most just show the party affiliations of the candidates thereon, our ballots are actually cast for electors who have pledged to cast their ballots for a particular candidate shown in the Presidential race. So many times, we forget that the United States is a republic, not a direct democracy. 

What matters the most is whether a presidential candidate can secure the required number of electoral ballots to be elected. In 2020, that number is 270 - which is why you hear the term "path to election" used on the news. It matters not who gets the most votes when all the ballots of all the registered voters in all the states are counted. What matters is how the states certify the results of the ballots cast under their jurisdiction and then how the states allocate their electoral votes: winner take all? distributed by percentage of popular tallies? winner of the popular vote from each Congressional district?

If no one presidential candidate is able to secure the requisite 270 electoral college votes, then the Constitution has a process for that circumstance as well. A recent blog post about "The National Archives and the Electoral College" explains the current process per the United States Constitution and the historical controversies that surrounded the Elections of 1800, 1824, 1876 and 2000 far better than I can. 

South Carolina played a key role in the outcome of the Election of 1800. It was hard fought between John Adams and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825)  representing the Federalist Party and Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, representing the Democrat-Republican Party. (Yes, that really was a political party.)  

Back then, the Constitution's process for electing the President and Vice-President of the United States was quite different than now.  Jefferson and Burr tied with 74 electoral votes each; Adams received 65 electoral votes; while C.C. Pinckney had 64 electoral votes. The election was sent to the House of Representatives where each state's delegation would have to agree to vote for one candidate. It took 36 ballots - and Alexander Hamilton convincing other Federalists to back Thomas Jefferson rather than Aaron Burr - for Thomas Jefferson to become the 3rd President of the United States.

A Beaufort plantation owner and vice-presidential candidate, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746 - 1825), refused to change his support from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson.  It is claimed that Pinckney would have become the Vice-President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson if he had gone back on his word to support John Adams. In 1801 John Adams wrote Christopher Gadsden (a Patriot of Charleston) that: "Pinckney's 'frank, candid and honorable' behavior during the election was consistent with 'the whole tenor of his conduct of life.'" (Griffith, "He Gave His Word, 2012, p. 16.)

Read about the ins-and-outs of C.C. Pinckney's role in the Election of 1800 in these Library resources:

 "He Gave His Word: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and the Presidential Election of 1800," by Steve C. Griffith, Jr.  Carologue Magazine (Fall 2012) vol. 28, no. 2: pp. 10 - 16.

"Eleanor Park Lewis to Mrs. C.C. Pinckney," South Carolina Historical Magazine, vol. 63, no. 1: pp. 12 - 17.  

"Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 1746 - 1825" in the South Carolina Encyclopedia, University of South Carolina Press, 2006, pp. 727 - 728. 

Charleston in the Age of the Pinckneys by George C. Rogers, University of South Carolina Press, 1980. 

 
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Founding Father by Marvin R. Zahniser, Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Va., by the University of North Carolina Press, 1967. 

 
 A Founding Family: The Pinckneys of South Carolina by Frances Leigh Williams, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978.

 
Biography of an Island: General C.C. Pinckney's Sea Island Plantation by Merrill G. Christophersen, Westburg Associates Publishers, 1976.

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