Peace Officers Memorial Day, May 15

Latest update: 25 April 2025 -- gmc 

Statistics vary somewhat but the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty since the United States was founded in 1776 is now approaching 25,000. The Officer Down Memorial Page provides a figure of 24,872 since 1776; The National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum website begins counting in 1786 and states that 24,412 law enforcement officers had died in the line of duty.  

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week. The Memorial Service began in 1982 as a gathering in Senate Park of approximately 120 survivors and supporters of law enforcement. Decades later, the event, more commonly known as National Police Week, has grown to a series of events which attracts thousands of survivors and law enforcement officers to our Nation's Capital each year since, except for a few years during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

National Police Week is co-sponsored by the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum, the Fraternal Order of Police and Auxiliary (FOP) and Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS). The 2025 Police Week runs May 6 - May 16 in Washington, DC. 

Among the fallen law enforcement officers who lived and/or died in Beaufort County who are honored on the monument are: 

BENJAMIN PAUL CARDEN
5-E: 20
End of Watch: January 6, 1925
Beaufort County, South Carolina, Sheriff's Department

ELMO FRAZIER LANGFORD
49-W: 20
End of Watch: June 6, 1927
Beaufort County, South Carolina, Sheriff's Department

RICHARD V WOODS
22-W: 18
End of Watch: August 19, 1969
South Carolina Highway Patrol

BRUCE KENNETH SMALLS
5-W: 2
End of Watch: September 27, 1985
South Carolina Highway Patrol

RUSSELL RICHARD BELL
4-E: 10
End of Watch: April 17, 1990
Beaufort County, South Carolina, Sheriff's Department

Walter Dennis wrote a poem "Tribute to Deputy Russell Bell (Killed in the line of duty.) for inclusion in his self-published pamphlet of poems and short stories, Street People:

I didn't know him
Nor did many of the thousands
Who came that day to say goodbye.
But we felt his presence in his widow's eyes
Who must carry on and continue on with life.
We could feel his love in his children's faces
Who were left to grow up
With only memories of a great man.
We could see his compassion in the deep furrows
Of his mother's face who had lost
All that was precious and all that was good.
We could feel his strength
Etched in the faces of his friends
Who had been touched by his short life.
And in his peers, we could feel his dignity and his courage
Standing proudly beside him
But we all thank him for what he did.
For each of us he gave his life
So we might live a better one.
We will honor your memory and forever remember your name.
For you are the man who gave so much
To those of us you hardly knew.

DYKE A COURSEN

48-W: 23
End of Watch: January 8, 2002
Beaufort County, South Carolina, Sheriff's Department

DANA LYLE TATE SR
13-E: 23
End of Watch: January 8, 2002
Beaufort County, South Carolina, Sheriff's Department

To learn a bit more about the circumstances of some of these deaths, visit the "History" page of the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office website. 

The BDC has several vertical files on the topic of law enforcement and law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty: Murders - Woods (1969); Murders - Coursen-Tate (2002); Police; Beaufort County Sheriff's Department and of course, lots of information and publications by and about legendary Sheriff Ed McTeer (who, just to be clear, was not killed in the line of duty). Just be sure to contact me (bdc@bcgov.net; 843-255-6468 to make an appointment to come into the Research Room to review these and other BDC materials.

It's National Postcard Week!

National Postcard Week runs May 2 - May 8 this year. 

Of all the formats of graphic materials in the BDC, I actually like looking at the postcards the most. Why? you may ask. It has to do with ease of storage and familiar materials. Postcards tend to be made of paper. I like paper. I like handling paper and I like taking care of paper. Postcards tend to be small and rather uniform in size which helps minimize storage and care issues. One could readily find postcards in stores and pharmacies and at tourist destinations. This was important - to me - because I was a horrible photographer! I knew that a few postcard purchases would be far more reliable documentation of my trip than what might get developed from my film camera. (Thank goodness that my new cell phone has 4 - count them - 4 cameras! so I seldom have to discard blurry images any more). 

Postcards are also versatile in subject matter. Some deltiologists (the formal name of postcard collectors) concentrate on just one topic or area or a particular genre of postcards. In the BDC, as one might expect, our focus is on postcards connected to the area's local history. (At my house, I still tend to pick up a postcard or two when traveling - well, at least before COVID quarantine conditions - just in case. Old habits die hard.)  

Postcards are so popular with library and archives customers that we made a digital version of the Arnsberger Collection to celebrate National Postcard Week in 2017. View it through our partner Lowcountry Digital Library's website http://bit.ly/2q8VS3e. Indeed, if you just put "Postcards" in the LCDL search box, you'll get almost 5000! hits of postcards from the state and beyond. 

But wait! There's more. 

We have the Rev. Robert Peeples postcard collection that contains has more Hampton and Jasper County related images and content and family correspondence, particularly during World War II in the Research Room.  We also have an artificial collection of staff curated postcard collections for Beaufort County and the Amalia Pugh Scrapbook : Beaufort, S.C. Now and Then that includes vintage postcard images juxtaposed with photographs taken mostly in the early 21st century of the sites on the vintage postcards.

If you're on Facebook, check out our page this week. Each day I will post a postcard and write a little something about the postcard's history or subject matter. I did my best to highlight postcards not included on the BDC's Facebook in previous years. 

Please contact us for information about other postcards and local history materials we have: bdc@bcgov.net or call 843-255-6446. At least for the foreseeable future, appointments will be required to access the Research Room.

Hip! Hip! Hooray! It's our 10th Anniversary Today!

Ten Years Ago: We dedicated the relocation of the Beaufort District Collection to the 2nd floor of the Library building at 311 Scott Street on 29 September 2010. [You can flash back to the time and conditions in which the collection was located in the SC Room downstairs with this old Flickr photostream. The room has since been converted into the Beaufort Branch Meeting Room and has become the frequent site of past - and once it is safe to do so we hope future - BDC Local history series programs.]

 

Library Public Services Coordinator Hillary Barnwell gave me her full support for upgrading the historical collection's facility from the very first time I broached the topic. Library Director Julie Zachowski agreed and allowed me to make a short presentation to the Library Board of Trustees. Thus began the process. Library Director Wlodek Zaryczny saw things through until sufficient financial arrangements were in place to see to critical elements of the relocation plan. Wlodek never wavered in support of this project. County Engineer David Coleman shepherded the building process. It was quite sad for me that Hillary Barnwell did not live to see the move accomplished since those who knew her know how much she advocated for historical projects.

 

With the help of my then assistant Charmaine Seabrook Concepcion, my son, Ciaran and almost son Kyle (who were paid in cheeseburgers), we got everything moved from the old South Carolina Room downstairs over the summer and in place with almost an hour to spare before the ceremony! Whew! but that was cutting it really, really close.  

 

The Friends of the Beaufort Library then headed by Deena Culp provided $25,000 seed money and the Clover Club hosted a fund-raiser with Dr. Larry Rowland as featured speaker to help purchase the compact shelving array that allows us to store 2.5 - 3 times as many materials in the limited space available inside the Paul Siegmund Room. All in all about 150 private citizens and local organizations contributed to the fund-raising efforts. I remember being particularly pleased that BDC researchers Stephen Hoffius and Robert Cuthbert surprised me at a BDC Author Book Talk on Northern Money, Southern Land by donating all their sale proceeds after the program that day towards our compact shelving fund.

 

The Friends of the Library also funded a nice reception that evening shown here. 

Look closely and you'll see Former Assistant County Administrator Morris Campbell, my former bosses Dennis Adams and Julie Zachowski, USCB librarians Geni Flowers and Mae Mendoza and former Library Board of Trustee members.   

 

 

Library Board members Patsy Hand, Theresa Dunn, and then Beaufort County Council Chairman Paul Sommerville marked the occasion as well. 

 

It was nice that the Beaufort Gazette covered the re-opening and that the Island Packet's David Lauderdale championed the project in his column several times through the years: 

Beaufort Gazette, 30 September 2020 p. 1A.

 

Charmaine Seabrook Concepcion and I gave tours that evening and throughout October in honor of American Archives Month. I even recently found the note cards we used to give those tours:

What a difference a decade makes! 10 years later we have approximately 7000 books, videos and cds; our archival collections have doubled and then some though the largest archival collection is still the Lucille Hasell Culp Collection. We've added 5 years worth of newspaper microfilms, some additional SCDAH microfilm series, and many, many more vertical files since then. We've added 7 digital collections, an active Facebook page and another blog to the "Virtual BDC." About 7500 people attended more than 250 BDC local history programs in the last 10 years. There's still room enough to grow though my successor whomever s/he may be will probably have to start advocating for additional space as soon as 2026 if my experience with how quickly things tend to happen in Beaufort County holds true.

 

I reflected on the journey of moving the collection into more suitable quarters in the BDC's Connections blog at the time:

"It's been an arduous 9 year journey from the initial request I made to the Library Board of Trustees on September 18, 2001 to the ribbon cutting today. Although at times I despaired that it would ever happen, I am so grateful for all the people and organizations that have helped me protect the "Wonders of the Beaufort District Collection" by giving of their time, talents, and monies. I am scared to mention anyone by name in fear that I will inadvertently omit someone. I hope the 150 angels of the BDC already know that I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. We done good. -- Grace"

I remain grateful for all the community support, Library Administration and staff, Library Board of Trustees, County Administration and staff, Beloved BDC Docents, and former assistants (Amber Shorthouse, Dannielle Landry, Charmaine Concepcion, Ashley Sylva, Melissa Jacobs, Amanda Forbes, Samantha Perkins, and Kristi Marshall) who helped make the BDC the well-regarded special collections and archives unit it is today.  

 

Though COVID-19 mitigation has prevented us from hosting researchers inside our facility for many months, that is about to change.

Beginning Monday, October 5, 2020 we will be providing some on-site, in-facility services under limited circumstances. The major change is that service will be provided by appointment only for the time being for these key reasons: 

 

1) The Research Room is quite small. Maintaining the CDC recommended 6 feet apart social distancing rubric means that we can only accommodate one researcher at a time;

 

2) Until we can find, hire and train a new part-time circulation assistant, I am the entire BDC staff so advance arrangements are required to make sure that I will be on-site to provide access to the Research Room materials; and

 

3) To keep us all safe, customers must wear masks properly [that is, covering the nose and mouth with two or more layers of fabric or appropriate material] at all times while in County buildings. Disinfectants will be applied to all high touch surfaces between customers. 

 

Please note: To get on my calendar, please call 843-255-6446 or email me at gracec@bcgov.net to make the necessary arrangements.

77 Years Ago ...

As has been demonstrated through past Connections posts, the contents of the Research Room are a combination of purchased and donated items relating to the people, places, themes, and events of Beaufort District's long and storied history 15,000 BCE to 1970. Together the various sources complement and supplement our understanding of the past and indicate what I think may be of importance to future researchers. Although I can do about 65%-75% of my job from home, at least on a temporary basis, to get the fullest picture, I have to be in the Research Room where I can go to the shelves or to a particular vertical file or grab a map or see an image to acquire content to share.  

Today's post required gearing up with mask and hand-sanitizer to come into the office. I looked at obituaries, pulled books about churches and cemeteries, consulted several vertical files and went into some online databases in order to demonstrate the interplay between various types of sources to expound on references found in documentary evidence. In this particular instance as an illustration, I used a diary entry for May 30, 1943 kept by a local businessman, Frederick Holmes Christensen (1877-1944). Christensen [FHC] often wrote about political, social, and economic life in Beaufort during the period 1893 - 1944. Here's his commentary about what he did and what had happened in town 77 years ago: 

sunday, May 30 [1943]
Decoration day will be celebrated this year tomorrow the 31st. Never the less Helen, Frederik and I went over to the church yard with flowers today and decorated father and Mother's lots. In the afternoon I went to the wharf and witnessed the colored exercises for those lost at sea.

"Decoration day" was what we now call Memorial Day. "Decoration Day" began in the late 1860s and used to be a fixed observance in many Northern communities to remember the Union Civil War dead. May 30th was chosen because there had been no major Civil War engagement on that particular date. Memorial Day became a Federal holiday in 1971 when the government set the annual commemoration on the last Monday in May. You can read more about the history of Decoration Day in Beaufort in another Connections post. 

His parents were Niels and Abbie Holmes Christensen whose graves are located in the family plot located at Lot A-22 of the Baptist Church of Beaufort cemetery.  Niels, an immigrant to the United States, had served in the Union Army and stayed in the area to found with Abbie, a prominent local family who are quite involved in community affairs even now. FHC's body was interred into the family plot when he died in 1944.

FHC wrote about two funerals held in the town the previous week at which he served as a pall bearer: 

Tuesday I acted as pall bearer at the funeral of Mrs. Chas. Guffin once Miss Crocker. She has lived in Charleston for years.

Obviously he did not know Mrs. Guffin well as it turns out that some of his details were incorrect. Sources in the Research Room show that she was not the wife of Dr. Charles Guffin but the mother of Dr. Charles's nephew, also a Charles. She was the widow of his Dr. Charles's brother, George Elliott Guffin. George's published obituary in the Beaufort Gazette gave not only his parents' names but also his widow's full maiden name, her parents' names and her brother's name. Together George and Hattie had four children: Charles M., George E., Jr., Hazel and Louise. However, we do not have a Beaufort Gazette obituary on file for Mrs. George Guffin. I found her death certificate through the Library's subscription to Ancestry Library Edition. Though the typescript is rather faint, her long residence is confirmed as "36 yrs." as are the names of her husband and parents, and place of burial. Their son, Charles, provided the key information regarding her age, birth, etc. while Dr. Buist filled out the causes of her death. She was buried in the Baptist Church of Beaufort cemetery with her husband in Lot N-14 A & B.

From Ancestry Library Edition

FHC was also a pall bearer of the body of Major Elliott. The Beaufort Gazette published an article on May 27, 1943 about the tragic mishap that befell the son of Confederate General Stephen Elliott (1830-1866):  

From the BDC Obituary Files

Major Elliott Disappeared On His Boat Monday On Fishing Trip Bogged Down in Marsh Trying Reach His Boat Was Drowned

The body of Major Charles Pinckney Elliot, retired, 84 years old, was found Saturday afternoon in the marsh near Seabrook. Death was apparently caused by drowning.

Major Elliott, who lived alone went out on a fishing trip Monday and was not missed until Thursday. After that a widespread search was made on Broad river. His boat was located about noon Saturday. Shortly afterwards his dog returned to the house. The body was found near where the boat was recovered.

It seems that he docked his boat and went out on the bank and in an attempt to get back in his boat he bogged down in the marsh and remained until the tide probably swept in over him.

Major Elliott was born March 15, 185? [text is difficult to read, a common problem with microfilm of old newspapers], son of General Stephen Elliott who fought at Fort Sumter in the War Between the States. Major Elliott graduated from West Point about sixty years ago. He served in World War No. 1 and volunteered to active duty in the present war, but was rejected because of his age.

Funeral services were held at 5 pm Monday at St. Helena's Episcopal Church and interment was in the churchyard. He was a double first cousin of the late William Elliott of Columbia, other double first cousins Mrs. J. Sumter Moore and Mrs. W. B. Smith Whaley of Columbia, three sons, Charles P., Jr., Stephen and Nathaniel R. Elliott. Major Elliott has many friends in Beaufort who regret to learn of his death. He was a familiar figure on the streets meeting his old friends.

It is somewhat odd that his widow, Hortense Darling Beaumont, nor their other five children who were alive at the time of his death, are not mentioned in the Beaufort Gazette article. Perhaps the editor only mentioned the sons who were known in the local community. 

The United States Military Academy published a rollicking memorial to their Class of 1882 member in July 1944 that we house in the "Elliott Family" vertical file. It seems that CPE had quite a colorful and exciting life. He fought the Apaches out West and was held captive by some Mexican soldiers. Only the timely arrival of the US 4th Cavalry averted his execution. Within a few years of that, he wooed and won the hand his commander's daughter in marriage at Fort Bowie, Arizona. He had eight posts in the first eight years of his marriage. He was assigned to Vancouver Barracks in 1893 where spent time surveying the Bitter Root Mountains and Mount St. Helens for the War Department. He fought in the Philippines during the Spanish American War and then surveyed the status of the salmon industry in Alaska in an attempt to improve his health. He retired from the Army for the first time in July 1898 on account of a disability caused by his military service. He returned to the Army during the Great War as one of the assistants of the Utilities Officer in charge of sanitation on the docks of Hoboken, New Jersey. Apparently he was a stickler for the rules and had absolutely forbidden smoking on the docks - which promptly burned down the week after he was relieved of his duties. There were also run-ins with the Coast Guard over possible bootlegging, attacks by diamondback rattlesnakes, and other times where he got stranded for days while out hunting or fishing.   

As the memorial notes, CPE volunteered again in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941 but his offer was graciously rejected. The Beaufort Gazette published an extract from his rejection letter on January 1, 1942 in which Major General Emory S. Adams, adjutant general of the Army, wrote glowingly of CPE's past service to the nation: "Although I do not believe it will be necessary to place you on active duty during this crisis [remember that CPE was a youthful 82 years old at the time], I wish to assure you personally that your patriotic offer to serve your country again is deeply appreciated."  

The number of his survivors is considerably longer in his West Point memorial. Mentioned by name are his widow; their four sons: Stephen, Charles P., Jr., Nathaniel and John; and their four daughters: Margaret; Mrs. William L. Lance; Mrs. Frederick H. Linthilicum; and Mrs. Reyburn Watres.

Odds are FHC had read the Beaufort Gazette article before he wrote a bit about being a pall bearer at the Major's funeral at St. Helena Episcopal Church: 

Also Major Elliott Chas. P. Elliott who could remember being taken out of Beaufort across the Whalebranch Ferry in a wagon when his family and the rest of the Whites evacuated Beaufort on the approach of the Federal fleet in the last war when he was a small boy, died the first of the week. As was his habit he had taken provisions in his boat and gone out for a couple of days fishing. As he did not return search was made for him. His body, partly covered by water was found in the marsh. Eighty-six years old his sight was poor. Perhaps he left his boat and was unable to find it. Perhaps he had a heart attack.

From Ancestry Library Edition

The official cause of his death was accidental drowning as the death certificate indicates. 

Major Elliott, we remember your service to your country. 

Sources: 

Frederik Holmes Christensen Diary, vol. 12: 5 January 1930 - 30 July 1944, p. 125. 

"Memorial Day" History [Channel] website, latest update 18 May 2020.  

Obituaries on file in the Research Room: George Guffin, Dr. Charles Guffin, D.W. Crocker and (Major) C. P. Elliott 

Burials in the Baptist Church of Beaufort Cemetery as of 24 March 2003, [p. 3].

Ancestry.com. South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1968 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original date: South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1925-1949; Death County or Certificate Range: Charleston

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 27 May 2020), memorial page for Hattie Crocker Guffin (14 Jan 1887–24 May 1943), Find a Grave Memorial no. 81872661, citing Beaufort Baptist Churchyard, Beaufort, Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Candy Weickhardt Pethe (contributor 47586286) . 

"Major Elliott Disappeared On His Boat Monday On Fishing Trip Bogged Down in Marsh Trying Reach His Boat Was Drowned," Beaufort Gazette, 27 May 1943, p. 1.

"Elliott Family" vertical file, BDC Research Room contains the West Point memorial and the Beaufort Gazette, 1 January 1942, p. 1 article. 

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 27 May 2020), memorial page for Charles Pinckney Elliott (15 Mar 1860–17 May 1943), Find a Grave Memorial no. 171913551, citing Saint Helena's Episcopal Churchyard, Beaufort, Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Steven M (contributor 48604297) .

Ancestry.com. South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1968 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1925-1949; Death County or Certificate Range: Beaufort