"All Together Now" BDC Program #1: Africans in South Carolina

This year's Summer Reading theme "All Together Now" is meant to bring us all together no matter of our age, socio-economic status, political affiliation or physical location. As library employees we were tasked with coming up with a program or two for adult audiences related to local history that touched on the theme. Bluffton Branch Reference Librarian Debra Henderson suggested that we explore the historical demographics of our state in a program at her branch library.  

One fact that a lot of people misunderstand about the history and demographics of South Carolina is how decisions made before the year 1700 have resounded through all the ensuing years. We hope that those who attend our next local history program leave having a better understanding of our state's unique colonial and post-Revolutionary War history. 

As one of the original thirteen colonies, South Carolina possesses a rich heritage of African American history because of decisions made in Europe beginning in the 16th century that carried over into the settling of South Carolina and its later history. Africans first arrived in the Lowcountry with the Spanish in 1526. When the English Lords Proprietors established control over the land that would later become South Carolina in 1670, they immediately encouraged settlers to purchase and enslave Native Americans and Africans to carve settlements out of the wilderness. Rather quickly, Africans of diverse origins comprised about 20% of the colony's population. Because enslaved people became the colony's major labor force, by 1720 Africans outnumbered white settlers. 

By 1740, African Americans made up two thirds of South Carolina’s population, many of whom had first landed at the Sullivan's Island Quarantine Station in Charleston Harbor. That year also marked two firsts in South Carolina:  the enactment of a more comprehensive slave code in the wake of the Stono Rebellion (1739) and the enactment of a law curtailing the slave trade. 

Though the Stono Rebellion occurred in what is now Charleston County, it scared the beejezus out of the planters who owned slaves - and hardened their planters' hearts against any attempts at resistance. The laws governing the enslaved were tightened; the behavior of the whites in charge tightened against Black persons in the state.

Peter H. Wood wrote a groundbreaking thesis in 1972 that was turned into a monograph in 1975 entitled Black Majority : Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion has remained in print ever since. Wood explored the consequences of importing the largest single group of non-English-speaking migrants to the North American colonies on United States history through a thorough and penetrating case study of the Palmetto State during the period. He ends it with the Stono Rebellion of 1739 and its aftermath. We highly recommend Wood's book as a key source explaining these early years in the colony.

In spite of the change in importation law, over 58,000 Africans were imported into the colony between 1750 and 1775, the highest number for any of the North American mainland colonies. After 1750 the majority of these imported enslaved people were from the West African areas of Senagambia and Sierra Leone who brought along their skills at rice cultivation, a major cash crop of the colony.

Consequently, imported Africans and their descendants were critical to the development of the area's society and economy. Africans also played a critical role in the Revolutionary War. Join us to learn about African life and activity in in the Lowcountry from 1526 to 1790 from African-American Studies Professor, Meldon Hollis, Jr..  

 About Professor Hollis: 

Mr. Hollis has held senior governmental positions at the municipal, State, and Federal levels. He has served as vice president for University Relations at Texas Southern University and as a university administrator at Harvard and the University of Maryland at College Park. He has taught on the faculty of Northeastern University, the University of Maryland, Howard University and as a visiting professor at Savannah State University. 

Over a 35-year work history, he has served in the Army Security Agency; as special assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Education in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; as director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs; as an attorney; and as a business consultant. In 1965, while enlisted in the Army, Mr. Hollis received a Presidential nomination to and attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. 

Mr. Hollis holds an M.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a J.D. and M.P.A. from Harvard University. He has studied international law and indigenous courts at the University of Legon in Ghana, West Africa.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Hilton Head Island Gullah Museum.  

Saturday, June 24, 2023 - "African Presence in the Lowcountry" with Meldon Hollis, Professor of African American History | 10 AM - Noon | BDC@ Bluffton Branch Library, 120 Palmetto Way

Debra and I hope to see you soon! (And if you do attend, you can mark off the "Participate in a Library Event" block on your SRP 2023 Bingo Card!) 

A heads up: 

"Black Resistance:" Antebellum Style : Mary Heuston's Story

One of the things that I like most about working in the Research Room is learning new "stuff" from BDC customers. One recent inquiry just so happens to fall into the "Black Resistance" theme for this year's Black History Month celebration.

 
The initial inquiry from Professor Eben Miller came through the Library's general email address in early January and was forwarded to me. That said:

I am a historian (Southern Maine Community College, South Portland, Maine) researching the life of Mary Heuston. She explains in a 1912 interview in a Maine newspaper that she was born into slavery during the 1820s. Her first enslaver was David Turner, of Beaufort, South Carolina. Using digitized resources, including records available through familysearch.org and ancestry.com, I've learned that Turner owned property on St. Helena Island. He was also customs collector and postmaster in Beaufort during the 1830s. He seems to have died in 1845.

Sometime before or after his death, possession of Mary turned over to Turner's daughter, Louisa Tupper. She and her husband, Frederick Tupper, lived in Savannah. In the summer of 1850, the Tuppers brought Mary with them to Bath, Maine. Mary freed herself by escaping with the assistance of Black women and men who lived in the Bath area. She was never recaptured and lived the rest of her life in Maine.

I'm trying to piece together as much of her story as possible. I'm reaching out to you for suggestions for finding any further leads on David Turner available through the library's Beaufort District Collection. I've never conducted research in South Carolina and would be grateful for any guidance.

If you have any thoughts on resources I could utilize, I'd be grateful.

The back-and-forth went on for almost a month. He sent along clippings of the article from the Lewiston [ME] Journal, Illustrated Magazine Section, 23 August 1912, pp. 1-2. [If you want to see the article go to digital page image 18 and digital page image 19 of the online link]. 

Here's the article:  

Very intriguing, isn't it? I was indeed hooked - and very grateful for the clues Mary gave in the newspaper article -  particularly since I already knew what the Black History Month theme for 2023 was [i.e. "Black Resistance"]  and hoped that perhaps I could use research time not only to help the off-site customer, but to help me with social media. So, I did a little research along and along and reported back to him about 10 days later: 

I regret that my investigation into other potential records that might include David Turner had little results. Beaufort is considered a burned county because of the loss of many pre-Civil War era records.

• No mention of David Turner in the indexes to that bible of Beaufort District history, The History of Beaufort County South Carolina, 1514 – 2006 by Lawrence S. Rowland, et al. (3 vols).
• No mention of him in a Sea Island Diary by Edith Dabbs about the history of St. Helena Island.  
• He is not listed in the History of Pharmacy in South Carolina (1951) that covers the colonial period through 1950. [ I looked in here because my NewsBank research in the historic Charleston SC newspapers showed him offering new stocks of drugs and tonics for a number of years on a rather regular basis.] 

Because you thought that David Turner likely died before 1845, I checked Marriage and Death Notices from the Charleston Observer, 1827 – 1845 by Brent Holcomb (1980) and found a marriage notice for Mary and Frederick’s wedding:

Issue of December 7, 1833

    On the 28^th ult. , at Beaufort, S.C., by the Rev. Daniel Bythewood, Frederick A. Tupper, Merchant, Savannah, Ga. , to Miss Louisa W., daughter of David Turner, Esq., Post Master of said place. (p. 79)

There was no further reference to David Turner in this book. However, I knew that Rev. Bythewood was a Baptist minister – and we have a church history, A Lamp Unto the Lowcountry: The Baptist Church of Beaufort 1804-2004 by Annette Milliken Maddox (2004) that I checked for David Turner. All that I gleaned from pages 76, 78-80, 87, and 260 was:

                Turner served on the 1842 building committee as he was among 19 male members of the Church to evaluate the condition of the original tabby church structure and encourage building a new, much larger facility. Turner was Chairman of the building committee. He was thanked for his role during the new Church dedication service in September 1845.  (p. 76 -80, 87)

                Turner paid $25 to rent a pew box on the first row on the north side in the new building. “Turner was an affluent man without slaves, and he chaired the committee to build a new church after first arguing to save the old one.” The configuration inside the church has since changed. (p. 260) – Which sort of begs the question about when and how he may have stopped owning others.

                The author refers to “Church Book C, 1840 - 1911“ from the Baptist Church of Beaufort’s own archive as a key source for these tidbits of information....

He is not listed in Burials in the Baptist Church of Beaufort Cemetery as of 24 March 2003, an unpublished document hand-delivered to me by its compiler in 2004.  

I used my personal State Library library card to gain access to back issues of the Charleston Courier and came across notices that refer to David Turner as the Port Collector to find land for a light house (1837); a runaway slave notice that mentions Jim as a former slave of David Turner of Beaufort (1829); administering estates of others (1810s); and as a wholesale agent for various tonics (1810s-1830s). He lost the 1831 election to the Beaufort Town Council, coming in at #7. There were 6 seats at the time. I found no mention of his death in these back files.

Also, I suggested that the professor contact the Baptist Church regarding “Church Book C” and to check with the Live Oak Public Library’s local history room in Savannah to see what it had about the  Tuppers.

He was not disappointed after all:

My gosh, Grace, I am humbled at your effort to assist me--thank you very much!

Despite Beaufort being in a burned county, I'm intrigued by some of these details you mention, like the description you found of Turner from 1845 as "an affluent man without slaves." My guess is that at some point he gave possession to his daughter(s). Tax records from Savannah, for instance, show that Louisa Tupper (nee Turner) possessed more than a dozen slaves during the 1840s.

From other records, I've learned that Turner was customs collector and postmaster in Beaufort during the Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren presidencies. South Carolina tax records indicate that he owned 300 acres in Prince William Parish, as well as property in St. Helena Parish. But after reading histories of St. Helena Island and not seeing him mentioned, I'm left to wonder if he lived in the city of Beaufort, rather than on a farm/plantation. I've also squinted at this 1825 map of the Beaufort District from the Library of Congress searching without success for "Turner."

If it's no trouble, could you let me know the date of the issue of the Charleston Courier in which you saw a runaway ad for Jim? I'd love to have a copy of this ad. I don't know if I'll be able to track this down through my own local library, but having the specific date from 1829 might be of help in that quest.

Many thanks, again, I'm so appreciative of your assistance! 

I sent him the citation - Charleston Courier, 11 December 1829, p. 1 - and a cellphone picture of the printout I made of the entry. 

About 2 weeks later, the professor sent me an update. He had found - if not a smoking gun, at least a little whiff of smoke in the air towards - confirmation of Mary Heuston's story:

Thanks again for your help, Grace. I've heard back from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History and thought you might appreciate an update. The sole document they could find is a marriage settlement between Louisa Turner and Frederick Tupper. It was photocopied and mailed to me. It's a little difficult to read the handwriting, but I've transcribed it as best I can and have copied below some of the most helpful information. Because Mary Heuston explained in her 1912 interview that she was known as Clara when enslaved, my attention is drawn to the names of three individuals named Clara and can't help but wonder if one of them was her.

whereas Louisa W Turner is entitled unto an estate both real and personal in a moiety of the trust Estate of Eliza and Louisa W Turner children of David and Mary Turner to wit One Home and Lot in the town of Beaufort known on the plot of this said town as number (116) One Hundred sixteen [Batting?] and [B--?] to the north on a lane thirty feet wide, on the east on the lot number (115) one hundred and fifteen on which is erected a place of worship called the Tabernacle on the south by Craven Street and in the west by Charles Street together with the [lot buildings?] Helena state + [--] attached also one tract of land in Prince William Parish containing three hundred and thirty acres more or less bounded on the east by land of the trust estate of Henry J Nichols and Eliza W Nichols formerly belonging to Philip [Givens?] to the west on land of John B. Givens to the North on land of William [Johnson?] and to the south by a small island called B(?) John or Browns Island with all the buildings improvements that houses appertaining + there unto belonging also to forty negroes herein named to wit Jack Amy + Jane(?) also Venus Yellow Jack, Cassandra, Ben Sharper, Alick Hector + Clara also Croessia(?) Thomas Harry Richard Jackson + Ned also old(?) Charlotte, Minty Daphney Tom Charlotte Abram + Jacob also to Clara Joe(?) Saturday Rachel Mariah Mary also [--] Robert Hilliard John Clara Isabella, children of Bets(?) and to the following single negroes Bram Long Peter Abe + [--] together with the increase of the females of the above mentioned negroes

I think that the Professor has a plausible case that one of the three females named Clara might indeed be the woman telling her story of escape from enslavement as one of David Turner's former chattel.  She had made a run for it - and succeeded! 

The BDC also now has two new vertical files: TURNER FAMILY and FUGITIVE SLAVES as a result of my inquiry for present and future customers of the Research Room to consult long after I am no longer in charge. To my way of thinking this inquiry was a win-win all around.   

Just in case you're wondering, I used my customer's name and institution with his expressed permission. The American Library Association Code of Ethics states the values to which we are committed, and embodies the ethical responsibilities of the profession in this changing information environment.  Number 3 is : "We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted." I would have never told you his name or why he contacted the Beaufort County Library otherwise. 

Miller Featured in the SC African-American 2022 Calendar for October

Latest update: 7 May 2026 - gmc 

Since 1989, the South Carolina African American History Calendar has highlighted the contributions of distinguished Black citizens who have connections to the Palmetto State. The October 2022 honoree is Beaufort District's own Thomas Ezekial Miller. 

The text from the October 2022 calendar says: 

"Thomas Ezekiel Miller was born June 17, 1849, in Ferrebeeville, S.C. near present-day Ridgeland. He was raised by Richard and Mary Ferrebee Miller, both freed slaves. Due to his fair skin, there was much speculation about his biological father. [Indeed in the press, he was often referred to as the "Yellow Canary."] 

In 1851, Miller moved to Charleston with his family where he attended illegal schools for free Black children. Miller attended Lincoln University in Chester County, Pa. and upon graduation in 1872, he returned to South Carolina where he became school commissioner of Beaufort County. Later he studied law at the recently integrated University of South Carolina before returning to Beaufort to set up his practice. 

Miller was elected to the S.C. General Assembly where he served until 1880 when he went to the state Senate. Miller returned to the S.C. House of Representatives in 1877 and served on the Republican State Executive Committee from 1878 to 1880 and was state party chairman in 1884. In 1890, Miller served in the U.S. House of Representatives in the seat formerly occupied by Black Representative and Civil War hero Robert Smalls, although he only served for a few months due to election fraud, which many registered Black voters were prohibited from casting their ballots resulting in his opponent, incumbent William Elliott being initially declared the winner. 

After his time in Congress, Miller remained active in politics, serving as a member of the 1895 Constitutional Convention. He helped establish South Carolina State University in 1896 and served as their first president until 1911. Miller was married to Anna Hume and had nine children. He passed away in 1938 in Charleston, S.C." 

Miller faced a lot of scorn in the local press. The Palmetto Post published a derisive "We'uns Canary" article on June 9, 1892 on page 2: 

Tom Miller is reported as being in Minneapolis, whooping up Harrison and "hustling" generally. If Miller should accidentally get lost so far away from home - but the thought is too harrowing -- Columbia State.

So far as the people of his own county are concerned, the loss of Miller, and a half dozen others of his kidney, would be looked upon as a great gain through the mercy of Providence. 

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.”

An earlier Connections blog post includes links to additional biographical and political information about this important Beaufort District historical figure. 

Heritage Walking Tour: Smalls & Whipper

Latest update: 7 May 2026 - gmc

Beaufort's native son, Robert Smalls, was born into slavery in 1839. He was a man of great daring and a masterful politician. Smalls served in the South Carolina Legislature, the United States Congress, and was a Customs official almost to his death in 1915. He was an exceptional man in an exceptional time as our post "Robert Smalls: War Hero, Public Servant, and a Man of Mark, 1839-1915" explains. 

His relationship with his master's family is well documented in Yearning to Breathe Free by Andrew Billingsley (2007) and his political activities are well documented in Gullah Statesman by Edward Miller, Jr. His audacious plan to steal The Planter steamer and deliver the vessel to the Union Navy is excitingly recounted in Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls by Cate Lineberry (2017).  But there are plenty of other titles and materials from which you can learn more about his amazing story in our "Robert Smalls, 1839-1915: A Selective List of Links & Materials" guide.   

If you are in downtown Beaufort and are able to walk 1 to 2 miles without difficulty, then perhaps you will want to take this heritage walking tour. It is based on one created by Penn Center in 2005 for a Beaufort County Library/Penn Center co-sponsored seminar near the release of Adrina Ifill's documentary, Congressman Robert Smalls: A Patriot's Journey from Slavery to Capitol Hill. 

Stop #1: 911 CRAVEN STREET Robert Smalls Bust and Burial Site in the Tabernacle Baptist Church Cemetery

Robert Smalls Bust by Marion Talmage Etheredge

A bust of Robert Smalls sculpted by Marion Talmage Etheredge sits next to Tabernacle Church. Although a founding member of First African Baptist Church, Smalls was interred between his two wives, Hannah Jones (1826-1883) and Annie Elizabeth Wigg (1856-1895) in this churchyard.  The monument is inscribed with an excerpt from his speech contesting the SC Constitution of 1895 in which black citizens were stripped of many of the rights they had under Reconstruction: “My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life.” (1895) 

Stop #2: 920 BAY STREET “Abraham Cockcroft House / Beaufort Customs House”

This building was constructed as a residence about 1857. The Greek Revival styled front of the house faces the Beaufort River. The structure looked over wharves and docks on the river making it an ideal location for the Beaufort Customs House.  Robert Smalls worked here as the Collector of Customs from 1889 until his retirement in 1912. William Joseph Thomas bought the building in 1932 converting the Bay Street façade into retail and office space.

Customs House, 920 Bay Street as it appeared in 1860s (Beaufort County Library)

On your way along Bay Street as you head towards New Street, you will pass some buildings that Robert Smalls would have passed himself as he walked home from the Customs House. Linger at the base of the Woods Bridge at Cannon Park to enjoy the view. If it's low tide, breathe in the wonderfully evocative smell of pluff mud.

Stop #3: 414 NEW STREET “William Johnson House”

Samuel J. Bampfield bought this two storied frame house around the time of his marriage to Smalls’s daughter Elizabeth on April 24, 1877. The structure sits on a tabby foundation and may have been built as early as the 1770s based on architectural studies done in 2006. Bampfield participated in the political affairs of the town and county during the Reconstruction era serving as a state representative, newspaper editor, Clerk of Court and postmaster. After her husband’s death in 1899, Elizabeth served as Postmistress until 1908 after which she became secretary to Rossa B. Cooley, head of Penn School. In 1910 Elizabeth and her children moved to Charlotte, NC where she died at age 101 in 1959. She never remarried. Samuel, Elizabeth and seven of their children are buried in the Mercy Cemetery at the corner of Boundary and Lafayette Streets on US Highway 21.

Stop #4: 606 NORTH STREET “Whipper House”

Both Smalls and prominent Black attorney and politician William J. Whipper owned this antebellum property at separate periods after the Civil War. Whipper attended the SC Constitutional convention of 1868, served as a State Representative 1868-1872 and again from 1875-1876, and was Beaufort County Probate Judge, 1876- 1888. Smalls and he became political rivals beginning with the election of 1872. After arguing vigorously against black disenfranchisement during the SC Constitutional Convention of 1895, Whipper refused to sign the document as did all the other Beaufort County delegates, including Robert Smalls. Whipper died in Beaufort in 1907. It is believed that both his wife, Francis Rollin Whipper and he are buried in unmarked graves in the Wesley United Methodist Church yard at the corner of Prince and West Streets.

Stop #5: 601 NEW STREET “First African Baptist Church”

First African Baptist Church was built in the Gothic Revival style circa 1861 by the Baptist Church of Beaufort for its black members who far outnumbered the white congregants. The black congregation took over the building in 1863. Robert Smalls helped found the congregation and attended services. Needing funds to repair Civil War damage in their own church, the Baptist Church of Beaufort sold the structure to the congregation’s deacons for $300 in 1868, at a considerable discount. The building “was enlarged and beautified” before 1873. Smalls family weddings and funerals were held here.

Stop #6: 511 PRINCE STREET “Henry McKee House / Robert Smalls House”

Likely built around 1810, this house was owned by the McKee family at the time when Robert Smalls was born into slavery on this property in 1839. Working as a crewman aboard the steamer Planter in Charleston in 1862, Robert Smalls earned freedom for his family by stealing the steamship and delivering it to the Union Blockading Squadron. Small purchased this house at a tax sale in occupied Beaufort in January 1864. The DeTreville Family who had purchased the property in 1855 sued to regain title to the house after the Civil War. The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Smalls thus deciding the validity of all the wartime property tax sales in South Carolina. Robert Smalls lived in this house throughout his busy political career as state legislator, state senator and five-term U.S. Congressman. He died in the house on February 23, 1915. It remained in the Smalls family until 1940. The house was added to the National Register in 1975.

Stop #7: 708 EAST STREET “The Tree House”

This property gets its nickname from its situation around a beautiful great oak tree. The structure originally served as a home on the Emmon’s Farm located at the corner of Carteret and Boundary streets. Smalls moved it to East Street in 1910. The wing was added by a later owner. 

Stop #8: 508 DUKE Street "The Smalls-Nash Cottage"

This structure was built by Robert Smalls as a rental property in 1890. It has two fireplaces placed back-to-back inside. It may have served as a wash house. Dolly Nash, a direct descendant of Robert Smalls, and her husband John willed the property to Historic Beaufort Foundation (HBF) in 2006. HBF renovated and restored the structure in 2007. 

 Stop #9: 715 NEW STREET “Samuel Bampfield House”

Robert Smalls purchased this circa 1830 property for Bampfield to house his large family. Originally only 2 rooms over 2 rooms, extensions were added to the rear and double-porches were added to the front of the house.

Stop #10: CORNER OF CARTERET AND WASHINGTON STREETS Former “William Fuller House” (razed) 

Colonel William Fuller built a house on these grounds in 1829. The Beaufort School Board of Education purchased the property in 1867 to open a public school for blacks. The deed had a proviso that the property always be used by citizens of Beaufort for school purposes. The board was mostly African American and consisted of Robert Smalls, Jonathan J. Wright, William J. Whipper, Richard H. Gleaves, London S. Langley, Walter Fuller, Isaac Simmons, Prince Rivers, R.F. Bythewood, Rev. Arthur Waddell, J.J. Cohen, George Waddell, and J.C. Rivers. In 1925 the Board of Education decided to raze the deteriorated black school and build a new school for black students to be called Robert Smalls High School at another site. The property is part of the University of South Carolina Historic Beaufort Campus complex today. 

OPTIONAL Stop #11: It's probably too far for some to walk, but the Beaufort County ROBERT SMALLS GOVERNMENT COMPLEX sits on the CORNER OF BOUNDARY STREET AND RIBAUT ROAD on the site of the former Robert Smalls Schools complex. 

When the public school for black students located in the former William Fuller house closed, a new school was built in 1924 at the intersection of Ribaut Road and Boundary Street. Named for Robert Smalls, this school complex at various times included both primary and secondary education facilities for black students. This school integrated as did all Beaufort County schools in 1965. The Robert Smalls High School was razed in the mid-1980s to make way for the current Beaufort County government administration buildings. A new integrated Robert Smalls Middle School opened in 1985 on W.K. Alston Drive, named after the longest serving principal of Robert Smalls High School, W. Kent Alston. Alston was principal of the Robert Smalls High School from 1938 until 1962.