Learn Local History at Programs in Mid-April

As you will discover, April 2024 is a very busy month for the BDC staff. We're hosting three Behind-the-Scenes tours and two local history programs, plus doing some outreach. If local history lectures are your "thing", we have two coming up in mid-April. One deals with the colonial period; while the other addresses the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. We'll go in chronological order this time. 

Join us at St. Helena Branch Library the day after taxes are due for a reprise of "Snakebit" -  an examination of surviving sources of information about one of the state's most fascinating Englishmen of the colonial period by The Red Bird and the Devil author, Robert E. Lanham.  

"Snakebit: Henry Woodward, South Carolina's First English Settler" with author Robert Lanham | Tuesday, April 16, 2024 | 2 PM | Beaufort History Museum/Beaufort County Library Local History series 7.4 | St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Rd   | Doors open for seating at 1:30 PM

The main focus of Lanham's presentation is how he discovered and made use of historical documents to flesh out the personality and activities of the Palmetto State's first permanent English settler, trying to separate what was "fact" from what is commonly held "fiction" for his novel.  

The title of the lecture comes from an extract of a letter that Henry Woodward wrote to John Locke dated 12 November 1675 in which Woodward shares some of the Native American's beliefs. "Port Royall Indians worship the Sun but the Westos worship the Devil and have his figure carved in wood." He shared that some Indians purport to "have power over the ratle snakes soe farr as to send one over severall over rivers and brooks to bite a particular Indian which has bin don since our being here."

Robert Lanham is a retired family law attorney and former geologist residing in the South Carolina Lowcountry where Henry Woodward, the protagonist of his book, The Red Bird and the Devil lived 350 years earlier. Lanham moved here from Colorado and fell in love with the Lowcountry and its history. His distant grandfather came to the southern colonies as an indentured servant in the late 1600s, the same time as Henry Woodward, sparking his interest in early colonial history. Using skills developed during 40 years of research, writing, and teaching in science and law, Robert published The Red Bird and the Devil, a fresh look at the origin and first decades of Carolina Colony from the perspective of Henry Woodward. 

On Thursday, April 18th, we will gather for the next "Historically Speaking" series lecture co-sponsored by the Beaufort County Historical Society. This lecture is part of our contribution to the Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era 2nd Annual Symposium, April 19 - 20, 2024. 

"Freedom's Eddy: To Beaufort and Battle by Boat" with Wyatt Erchak | Thursday, April 18, 2024 | 11 AM | "Historically Speaking" series 5.5 | First Presbyterian Church Education Building, 1201 North Street, Beaufort  | Doors open for seating at 10:30 AM

Carnegie Mellon PhD candidate Wyatt Erchak will share a little known story about a daring escape by enslaved people into the Union lines at Port Royal.

On October 26, 1862, nine enslaved people used the Union Navy's presence to escape from Georgetown and join the black regiment being formed in Beaufort. Their goal was to take a direct action against slavery. Wyatt's presentation explores the life of Bristow Eddy. Born enslaved as a forced plantation laborer, when he and eight others made their break for freedom, he became Corporal Eddy. A skilled carpenter and soldier, Bristow was best summed up in the words of a comrade: "he was a little fellow but he was a good deal of a man." Before attaining that reputation, his group made their way to an island where others like them had been gathering for months as the floodgates of slavery broke down and waves of freedom seekers rushed out, often boarding arriving gunboats. "I was taken with others by boat," Bristow remembered, and came to Beaufort, where "I enlisted voluntarily" in November. From there, he entered the maelstrom of war and got to work; after peace returned, he built a new life for his family in the Beaufort area, at Lady's Island and Dixonville. Eddy's odyssey of freedom, represents the most singularly understudied figure of the Civil War era: the formerly enslaved Black soldiers of the Deep South, whose untold stories, once told, significantly transform how we understand that conflict.

Wyatt Erchak was Dr. Edda Fields-Black's research assistant at Carnegie Mellon University as she was preparing her latest book, Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid and Black Freedom during the Civil War (Oxford University Press, 2024). During the Combahee research process, Wyatt became irrevocably entangled with the obscure story of the Union's first-formed black regiment. The story of the First South Carolina Volunteers of African Descent has become the core of his doctoral candidacy.  The University of South Carolina's Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era has asked Wyatt to be a keynote speaker at their pending symposium 19-20 April 2024 at USC-B.  Wyatt lives in upstate New York, is currently a Carnegie Mellon PhD candidate, and will present a version of our talk at the World Congress of Environmental History conference being held in Oulu, Finland in August.  

No need to register. Both local history programs are a first come,
first seated opportunity to learn more about the depth and scope of Beaufort District's history, its people, environment, and events. 

Reminder: The Library will be closed on Friday, March 29, 2024 for Good Friday. The Beaufort District Collection will re-open on Monday, April 1st. BCL units usually open on Saturdays will be open on Saturday, March 30, 2024.

Program Topics in November 2023

Port Royal Harbor and its surrounding islands were among one of the first areas to be occupied by Union forces after the Civil War broke out. Among those troops of occupation were the members of the 79th New York.  Re-enactor Tom Vaselopulos will share a brief history of the Highlanders with a lecture "Kilted Warriors" on Friday, November 3rd  at 2 PM in the Beaufort Branch Library's Meeting Room. First come; first seated: Doors will open for seating at 1:30 PM. People will be admitted until we run out of chairs  and/or reach Beaufort Branch's Meeting Room capacity is part of the Beaufort History Museum's Civil War Encampment.   The lecture will set you up to better enjoy the Civil War Encampment hosted by the Beaufort History Museum in the Arsenal on Saturday, November 4th from 10 AM - 4:30 PM. Jalen and I will be on hand outside the Arsenal with flyers about the BDC's Civil War related materials to distribute.  

A few days later, we turn to the colonial period for a program about the man who stayed behind in the 1660s to live with the Native Americans in order to stake stronger English claims to this area. 

Henry Woodward was one of early Carolina Colony’s most remarkable citizens. In 1666, four years before Charles Town, he lived with the Native Americans in present-day Port Royal—the only Englishman in four hundred miles. His stay was interrupted when he was held prisoner by the Spanish in St. Augustine. Freed by an English privateer, he served as a surgeon on a buccaneer ship in the Caribbean, and after being shipwrecked in a hurricane, miraculously ended up back in Carolina Colony as one of the Colony’s first settlers. Relying on his rapport with the Native Americans, he traded for food, helping the colonists avoid starvation. Surviving political intrigue, personal loss, and physical hardship, he became one of the Colony’s most important figures.

Separating fact from fiction about this enigmatic figure is challenging. The records from 17th-century Carolina Colony are sparse. We know he was the Colony’s earliest explorer and Indian trader but his legacy is tangled. Was he America's first frontiersman or an unlucky pawn of the English Lords Proprietors who owned the colony? Was he a friend or a foe of the Native Americans, or both? The speaker, Robert Lanham, spent five years investigating Woodward’s role in the Colony’s earliest years. In 2022, he published The Red Bird and the Devil, answering these questions while setting forth the fascinating story of one of Colonial America’s forgotten figures.

Robert Lanham is a retired family law attorney and former geologist residing in the South Carolina Lowcountry where Henry Woodward, the protagonist of his book, The Red Bird and the Devil lived 350 years earlier. Robert moved here from Colorado and fell in love with the Lowcountry and its history. His distant grandfather came to the southern colonies as an indentured servant in the late 1600s, the same time as Henry Woodward, sparking his interest in early colonial history. Using skills developed during 40 years of research, writing, and teaching in science and law, Robert published The Red Bird and the Devil, a fresh look at the origin and first decades of Carolina Colony from the perspective of Henry Woodward. 

We are holding two sessions of "Snakebit" over the course of Fiscal Year 2024:

1) The premiere will be on Thursday, November 9, 2023 at the Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road, at 11 AM. We will open the doors at 10:30 AM for first come seating. We will admit folks until we reach the Fire Marshal's limit for the room. Free parking, too! 

2) The reprise will be held in the Spring as part of the Beaufort History Museum/Beaufort County Library local history series.

On December 7, 2023 we have Mary Dorsey of the Samuel J. Bush Post 217, American Legion coming to Beaufort Branch to tell us about the Bush Brothers at Pearl Harbor and what happened to them at and after the "day that will live in infamy." 

After this jammed packed Fall series, the BDC will take a break from coordinating local history programs for the arts-and-crafts programmers to do their thing over the holiday season. Be sure to keep up with any additions, subtractions, or re-scheduling via the Library's calendar of events.  

Season 6 of the BHM-BCL Local History Series Roster

With the cooperation of the Beaufort History Museum, I am proud to announce the roster for Season 6 of our joint Local History series. Programs will be in-person only and registration is required. Our roster covers the 17th - early 21st centuries: Proprietary period, Civil War era, a local seafood industry, and drug smuggling. In other words, there is something for everyone! Please take particular note of the location in which program will be held. Sometimes we will be at Beaufort Branch Library and sometimes we will be at St. Helena Branch Library.

1. Tuesday, October 4, 2022 @ Beaufort Branch Library | 2 PM – Jackson Canady re: 11^th South Carolina Volunteers CSA | Registration opens: September 20th on the BHM website

Learn about the history of Beaufort’s Civil War era 11th South Carolina Volunteers Confederate regiment.. Canady will cover  the local men who served, the battles they fought, and the struggles they encountered.                  

Jackson Canaday is a resident of the city of Beaufort. He grew up in Beaufort learning about his many local Confederate ancestors, which instilled a fascination for historical research-primarily of the 11th South Carolina Volunteers.  In these efforts, he has read many soldiers' personal letters and records, tracked their individual journeys throughout the war, and located and cleaned numerous final resting places of men within his ancestors' unit.

Registration opens September 20, 2022 at https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-4884467. 

2. Tuesday, December 6, 2022 @ St. Helena Branch Library | 2 PM – John Warley re: Tuscarora Jack Barnwell | Registration opens: November 22^nd on the BHM website 

Learn about Colonel John “Tuscarora Jack” Barnwell (1671-1724) whose contribution to the survival of Beaufort and the other English settlements in both North and South Carolina has not been fully appreciated.  Both the Yamasee and Tuscarora Indians made concerted efforts to drive the colonists into the Atlantic, and both failed largely due to Tuscarora Jack’s courage, skill and determination. And when it came time for South Carolina to free itself from the clutches of the Lords Proprietors, there was only one man to send to London to make the case: Colonel Barnwell.

The lecturer, John Warley, is the grandson of Colonel Barnwell seven generations removed and is currently at work on a biography of his famous ancestor.  He is the author of five works of fiction and one history of his undergraduate alma mater: Stand Forever, Yielding Never, The Citadel in the 21st Century. John lives in Beaufort and currently serves as vice-president of the Beaufort History Museum. 

Registration will open for this local history program on November 22, 2022 at https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-4884890. 

3. Tuesday, March 21, 2023 @ St. Helena Branch Library | 2 PM – Beverly Jennings about her book Shrimp Tales: Small Bites of History | Registration opens: March 7^th on the BHM website 

Shrimping is a tough, messy business full of physical risks and economic hardships. Beverly Jennings interviewed over 65 fishermen, marine biologists and others to explore the commercial shrimping life along the southeastern coast to create an exhibit for the Sharon and Dick Stewart Maritime Center - which in turn led to the publication of her book Shrimp Tales: Small Bites of History in 2020.  

The book explores the trade that started in Florida and eventually found its way up to Georgetown, SC. There are lots of photographs, illustrations, quotes from shrimpers and even some recipes you can cook at home after the program.

Beverly Bowers Jennings has loved the sea since age 6 when her father built a white rowboat named Little Fish for her. A Master Naturalist, Jennings has designed exhibits for the Port Royal Sound Maritime Center and Coastal Discovery Museum.  She has been featured on Walter Edgar’s Journal,  Local Life magazine, and SCETV’s By The River series. 

Registration will open for this local history program on March 7, 2023 at https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-4962919.

4. Tuesday, May 2, 2023 @ Beaufort Branch Library | 2 PM – Jason Ryan about his book Jackpot: High Times, High Seas and the Sting that Launched the War on Drugs  | Registration opens: April 18^th on the BHM website | 

Topographically speaking, if smuggling is on your mind, then our county's waterways are just about perfect! 

For centuries a variety of outlaws have used the twisting waterways of the South Carolina Lowcountry to conceal illegal activity. Pirates found refuge in Carolina creeks, Civil War blockade runners sneaked supplies past a naval blockade, and rumrunners imported alcohol in the midst of Prohibition. 

But perhaps more exciting than all of those historic misdeeds are the escapades of South Carolina’s “gentlemen” marijuana smugglers, who sailed nearly $1 billion worth of pot into Southern marshes during the 1970s and ‘80s. Come learn how a group of fun-loving college dropouts from the Palmetto State made it big in the world of marijuana trafficking before losing it all at the hands of federal investigation Operation Jackpot.

Jason Ryan is a nonfiction author and journalist in Charleston. His books include the marijuana smuggling tale Jackpot: High Times, High Seas and the Sting that Launched the War on Drugs, the true crime thriller Hell-Bent: One Man’s Crusade to Crush the Hawaiian Mob, and the early aviation account Race to Hawaii: The 1927 Dole Derby and the Thrilling First Flights That Opened the Pacific. He is a former reporter for The Beaufort Gazette and The State newspaper and is currently at work on a book about the Murdaugh family of South Carolina.

Registration for this local history program will open on April 18, 2023 at https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-4962913. 

A word about registration: When we opened registration a month ahead of program date, we had a lot of no-shows. We learned by trial and error that the 2 weeks window for registration resulted in getting the most butts in seats. We are pleased that our programs have been quite popular in the past, often "selling out" all seats. However, even with the shorter registration period, we may have no-shows. Therefore, we decided that a reservation holds a seat for you up to 1:54 pm the day of the program. Any seats vacant at 1:55 pm are offered to others on stand-by to enter the session until room capacity is reached. 

Tips: 

1. Don't be late if you have a reservation. 

2. It's best not to rely on showing up at the last minute in hopes that a seat might be empty. Oftentimes there isn't one left at 1:55 pm the day of.

"First" Cremation in North America: December 9, 1782 SC

Dear Reader, The subject of John Laurens came up earlier today at a local history program - which reminded me of what had happened to Henry Laurens' body after his death. Latest update: 18 November 2025. - gmc

According to the Cremation Association of North America, in many parts of the United States and Canada the rate of cremation has overtaken requests for burial after death. Which sort of begs the question of when did the practice of intentional cremation begin in British North America? The answer to that question leads us back to colonial South Carolina and December 9, 1792. 

Henry Laurens,  prominent South Carolinian with plenty of personal conflicts about slavery and his role in it, had no such contradictory emotions about what should be done with his mortal remains upon his death. He became one of the first, if not the first person in America, to request cremation of his remains within his will.

According to D. D. Wallace in Life of Henry Laurens with a Sketch of the Life of Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1915), Laurens feared being buried alive. He had once almost buried his infant daughter, Martha, believed to be dead of smallpox. However, when her body was placed near a window while the grave was being dug, her attending physician noticed that the cool air had revived her. Dr. Moultrie managed to save her.

Laurens certainly did not want to take any chances with his own life. His will instructs:

"I Solemnly enjoin it on my son as an indispensible Duty .... he cause my Body to be Wraped in twelve Yards of Tow Cloth, and Burnt until it be entirely and totally consumed: And then collecting my Bones, deposit them where ever he shall think proper." 

Parson Weems that inventor of many misrepresentations of American history whose body was buried for a short while in the St. Helena's Episcopal Churchyard, wrote that Henry Laurens said "My flesh is too good for worms. I give it to the flames." The quote was yet another fabrication of Mason Locke Weems's fertile mind.

On December 9, 1792 Henry (the Younger) Laurens did as his father had specified in his will. Laurens, Sr.'s body was cremated on a high hill across from the family's home at Mepkin Plantation where the ashes were placed next to the buried remains of Laurens's eldest son, Colonel John Laurens who had died in one of the final skirmishes of the American Revolution at Chehaw Neck just over the Combahee River crossing in neighboring Colleton County on 27 August 1782. Both father and son were renowned Patriots. 

Sources: 

"2025 Annual Statistical Report," Industry Statistical Information, Cremation Association of North America, Accessed 18 November 2025.

Image of Henry Laurens is from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942. 

"Laurens, Henry" by C. James Taylor in South Carolina Encyclopedia, University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies, Date of Last Update March 1, 2019, Accessed 9 December 2020

Life of Henry Laurens with a Sketch of the Life of Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1915), pp. 457-458.  

Abstracts of Wills of Charleston District, South Carolina and Other Wills Recorded in the District, 1783 - 1800 compiled by Caroline T. Moore (Charleston, SC: Self-published, 1974), vol. IV, p. 282. 

"Parson Weems" by Katie Uva in the Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington, Accessed 18 November 2025.   

"Laurens, John" by Gregory D. Massey in South Carolina Encyclopedia, University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies, Date of Last Update July 2, 2019, Accessed 18 November 2025

We Recommend these Titles:  

According to Robert G. Albion, "The best biography is D. D. Wallace, Life of Henry Laurens (1915), a very detailed, intimate account, thoroughly documented" portrait of the man. We have a copy of this book in the BDC. There are copies in circulation within the SCLENDS consortium or you can read the book online on the Hathitrust.org website. Pages 457 -458 of the printed book correspond to pages 683-684 of the digitized volume.  

The Hanging of Thomas Jeremiah: A Free Black Man's Encounter with Liberty by J. William Harris (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009) is a fascinating read. Henry Laurens, Patriot, slave trader and slave owner, accused the wealthiest Free Black man in South Carolina for inciting insurrection amongst the enslaved people. Jeremiah - also an enslaver - was tried, convicted, hung, and his body torched on a Charleston scaffold in August 1775 in spite of the colonial Governor William Campbell's efforts to save him. The BDC has a copy you can read in our Research Room and other SCLENDS libraries have copies you can borrow. 

The World of Thomas Jeremiah: Charles Town on the Eve of the American Revolution by William Randolph Ryan (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010) profiles the port of Charleston, SC during the two-year period leading up to the Declaration of Independence. It focuses on the dramatic hanging and burning of Thomas Jeremiah, a free Black harbor pilot and firefighter accused by the patriot party of plotting a slave insurrection during the tumultuous spring and summer of 1775. The BDC has a copy you can read in our Research Room and other SCLENDS libraries have copies you can borrow. 

Christopher Gadsden and Henry Laurens : The Parallel Lives of Two American Patriots by Daniel J. McDonough (Sellingsgrove, PA: Susquehanna University Press, 2000). This book falls outside the scope of the BDC's collection development policy but the SC State Library has plenty of copies for you to borrow. 

"Henry Laurens." The Study SC website provides links to other online resources about this prominent South Carolina and national figure. 

John Laurens and the American Revolution by Gregory D. Massey (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2000) examines the dashing military career of Henry's eldest son. The BDC has a copy you can read in our Research Room and other SCLENDS libraries have copies you can borrow. 

The Book-Peddling Parson: An Account of the Life and Works of Mason Locke Weems, Patriot, Pitchman, Author, and Purveyor of Morality to the Citizenry of the Early United States of America by Lewis Geary (Chapel Hill, NC : Algonquin Books, 1984).  The title says it all. The Research Room has the only copy of this title in the SCLENDS Consortium of Libraries.

If you happen to be interested in the subject of "Funeral Rites and Customs", the SCLENDS Consortium offers almost a dozen titles of what to do or is done once the inevitable has occurred. If you are a BCL library card holder, our subscription to Hoopla Digital has a number of instant e-books and audiobooks to guide you on how to conduct a funeral or navigate funeral customs of various ethnicities.  

Reviews of Two Books about Henry Woodward

Latest update: 20 August 2024 - gmc

Way back in 2000, I wrote book reviews for the Palmetto Dunes newsletter. In one issue, I reviewed Hilton Head by Josephine Pinckney (New York: Farrar, Rinehart, 1941) and Dr. Henry Woodward: Forgotten Man in History by Effie Leland Wilder (Columbia, SC: Sandlapper, 1970) that I repeat here with some updates to reflect more recent historical research as well as to be more politically and gender correct:

As drawn for Leland’s Dr. Henry Woodward: Forgotten Man in History, (1970)

The facts of a person's life are usually very genealogical [pun intended]. A person is born, parented by two people, and lives until s/he dies. It is what a person accomplishes and how a person treats other people between their birth and death that measures the mettle of a human being. By any one's measure, Henry Woodward was quite a man.

The early facts of his life are sketchy. Historians offer Barbados or Nevis or England as his probable birthplace sometime around 1646. He married at least twice, appears to have been given an Indian concubine who produced no progeny, and fathered at least two children with his second wife Mary Godfrey Browne, a widow. [Some sources indicate that he had three legitimate children.] From his loins arose numerous and talented descendants. Among the Beaufort District luminaries who count Henry Woodward among their ancestors are Stephen Elliott, Robert Barnwell Rhett, Rev. Richard Fuller, the Gonzales brothers, Ambrose and Narciso, and Robert Y. Hayne.

Woodward has two unique distinctions. On the one hand, he is considered the first permanent settler of South Carolina. On the other hand, he is falsely credited with the introduction of rice culture to America. While it makes for an entertaining story that a slave-running sea captain happened to have a few rice seeds left over from his oceanic crossing that he gave to Dr. Woodward, historians generally agree that he was not personally responsible for the introduction of rice culture in the Lowcountry. Instead they credit the slaves from rice producing areas in Africa for the introduction of rice in South Carolina or like Dr. Richard Porcher, Jr. in Market Preparation of Carolina Rice: An Illustrated History of Innovations in the Lowcountry Rice Kingdom, they credit Col. Hezekiah Maham (1739 - 1789) with Carolina Gold. However, even if Woodward did not bring rice to Carolina, his accomplishments with the Indian trade make him one of the key figures in the early Proprietary Period of South Carolina history.

Dr. Henry Woodward: Forgotten Man in History: A Sketch of South Carolina's Intrepid Pioneer by Effie Leland Wilder addresses the significance of her ancestor to the successful English settlement in South Carolina at Charles Towne. Leland emphasizes the facts of Woodward's life that can be supported by written documentation. By all accounts, it was a rather short life. Woodward died around age 40 having put excitement in his 20 years of adulthood than most people can hope to experience in 100!

Although much of his early life is in shadow, we know that by 1664, Woodward was a settler at Cape Fear in what is now North Carolina. In 1665 around age 20 Woodward joins the Carolina expedition of sea captain Robert Sandford to explore coastal Carolina around Port Royal Sound. As a surgeon, Woodward is chosen to go along on the expedition and to provide medical treatment when it should come necessary. Sandford sails his ships up the Broad River to the Tullifinny and Coosawhatchie Rivers and around Daufuskie and Hilton Head Islands, befriends the Escamacu and Edisto Indians of the area, and intends to provide a beach head for further English settlement of what became South Carolina.

From South Carolina Indian Lore …, edited by Bert W. Bierer,  (Self-published, 1972), p. 139

As Wilder states, and Pinckney describes in her novel Hilton Head, Woodward was quite the explorer and pioneer. He volunteered to stay behind with the Escamacu Indians in order to learn their language and culture and to conduct espionage for the Lords Proprietors when Sandford returns to Cape Fear. By forging personal relationships with the leaders of some of the Indian tribes in the area, Niquesalla of the Escamacu, the Edistos, and the Cassique of Kiawah, Woodward learns much about the geopolitics of the Southeast. In a sense, then, Woodward is the first English spy in Carolina. He actively gathers intelligence for his employers, the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, about the area's Native Americans, geography, potential sources of profit, and how to wrest control of what becomes the southeastern United States from the Spanish Crown.

It is not long before word reaches Spanish Florida about the resident Englishman of the Sea Islands. Such a man cannot be left alone. Spaniards go ashore at Port Royal, capture Woodward and imprison him in their fortress at St. Augustine. Among his many adventures are conversion to Catholicism, appointment as official surgeon at St. Augustine, a raid by pirates (this time of the English variety) and freedom, and surviving a shipwreck near Nevis. He finally returns to the Carolina colony with the 1669-1670 English expedition to establish what became Charles Towne. All these adrenaline producing experiences in the space of less than five years!

Woodward is considered the first English settler of South Carolina since he used what became South Carolina as his home base from approximately 1665 until his death about 1686. What made him so special? Pinckney, the novelist, maintains that the key to Woodward's success was his openness to change and his adaptability to the situation of the moment. Wilder, the descendant historian, says that the key to Woodward's success was his interpersonal skills. His involvement with the various Native American tribes throughout the Southeast allowed him to smooth the path for trading relationships thereby making him critical to the early economic life of the colony.

I must confess that I adore sweeping historical novels. Josephine Pinckney captures the essence of the frontier environment that was early Carolina in her 1941 novel, Hilton Head.  It was a very unsettled time. Numerous small tribes of Native Americans were roaming the area, the Spanish had claims to Carolina and missionary settlements to back up those claims, and the English appeared unprepared to meet the challenges. Then enters Dr. Woodward. Hilton Head makes a very satisfying read because Pinckney is a deft creator of characterization. Dr. Woodward is shown to be part master negotiator, part political bungler, part capitalist, and something of a religious chameleon.

If you'd like to know even more about Henry Woodward and his work among the Indians tribes of the Southeast, review our "Henry Woodward, ca 1646 - ca. 1686" list of links and materials in the BDC's Wordpress blog.

Please note: All units of the Beaufort County Library will be closed Wed., April 18, 2018 for staff development. Regular hours resume on Thurs., April 19. 

August Outreach & Programs

The Beaufort District Collection sponsors programs about local history, Gullah culture, natural history, archaeology, genealogy and materials preservation on a recurrent basis throughout the Beaufort County Library system. We're featuring local history, natural history, archaeology, films, a tour, exhibits, and military history during August:

The "Reconstruction History Long Ignored, Neglected: Are We Finally Ready to Talk?" panel exhibit from the USC-B Libraries is currently on display in our 2nd floor lobby. 


We're also working with USC and the Beaufort Chapter, ASSC to reach out to the community tonight through the USC-B Reception and Book Signing with Dr. Larry Rowland and Dr. Stephen Wise. (At long last, volume 2 of the History of Beaufort County South Carolina is published!) We're taking some of our own Civil War, Reconstruction era, phosphate mining, and Hurricane of 1893 treasures to display. Library Director, Ray McBride and Library Assistant Director, Jan O'Rourke will be on hand to meet-and-greet you and answer any questions you might have about the Library system. If you have any questions about the items and surrogates on display, feel free to ask me for more information.

Meg Gaillard, Archaeologist

Tomorrow morning, Meg Gaillard, Archaeologist with the SC Department of Natural Resources Heritage Trust Program will be here to show documentary films about Fort Frederick, the oldest tabby structure in Beaufort District, and lead participants on a tour of the Fort Frederick historic site. (We regret that we cannot provide transportation to the site on the Naval Hospital grounds). Join us in the Beaufort Branch Meeting Room at 11 am for the film showings. Come early as we can only seat 50 people. 

For photos from the Historic American Buildings Survey about Fort Frederick click http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20sc1116&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true.

On August 27th,  I'll be sharing images and personal accounts about the Hurricane of 1893 at Hilton Head Branch on the 122nd anniversary of the most devastating disaster to ever befall Beaufort District. That presentation will begin at 2 pm.

We also expect that the "We Are P.I.: Making Marines" panel exhibit from the Parris Island Historical & Museum Society will arrive very soon. (Stay tuned for the announcement).

Program about Fort Frederick, August 13th

The Beaufort District Collection continues its partnership with the Beaufort Chapter of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina to present another local history and archaeology program in August. This time there is even an optional tour of an important historic site!

(From the Lucille Hasell Culp Collection, Beaufort County Library)

Join us for the Film Screening of the Fort Frederick documentaries on Thursday, August 13th at 11am in the Children’s Programming Room (1^st floor) of the Beaufort County Library, 311 Scott St., Downtown Beaufort, SC. At the conclusion of the library program, there will be an optional tour of the Fort Frederick led by the archaeologists. The remains of Fort Frederick are located mostly on the Beaufort Naval Hospital grounds.  

Archaeological excavations, tabby restoration, and public tours took place at Fort Frederick Heritage Preserve in Beaufort County during the winter of 2014-2015, under the aegis of the Department of Natural Resources Heritage Trust Program. This cultural resources work was documented through a series of short films that will be screened at the Library. Funding for the archaeological work and filming was provided by the DNR Heritage Trust Program and through grants received from the Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund and The Humanities Council SC. 

Extract from Plat of Smith's Plantation,  BDC Map Collection

Meg Gaillard, Archaeologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Heritage Trust Program, will introduce the short films. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of those who did the digging, filmed the archaeology work, and who now protect the historic site.

Seating is limited to the first 50 guests. Guests will be asked to complete a brief DNR survey about the films prior to an optional field trip to the Ft. Frederick site. (Please note: Transportation is NOT included). The program and tour are free and open to anyone over age 6 interested in the topics of local history, military history, colonial history, archaeology, or historic preservation.  

About the Presenter:

Meg Gaillard has over 12 years of photography experience, and over nine years of archaeology and public outreach experience working mainly in the Southeastern United States. Her primary research is in historical archaeology, ethnography, and public interpretation. Meg holds two B.A. degrees from the University of South Carolina in Anthropology and Journalism. She also holds an M.A. degree from the University of Manchester (England) in Visual Anthropology. Meg has worked as a photographer, anthropologist, archaeologist, public interpretation specialist, and ethnographer on projects in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and the United Kingdom. In 2010, Meg co-founded the South Carolina Archaeology Public Outreach Division (SCAPOD), a 501c3 with a mission to encourage knowledge of South Carolina’s cultural heritage and archaeology. She is currently an archaeologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Heritage Trust Program, which was established in 1974 as the first of its kind in the nation to conserve natural and cultural properties across South Carolina.

Want to do a little background reading on this British colonial fort before you come to the program? Learn about Fort Frederick on one of the BDC’s Local History and Nature Pages.

                                                                                                                                                                  

BTW: Some images from the Beaufort District Collection are included in the films.      

REMINDER: The Research Room is closed Friday, July 17th.                                     

Exhibit & Local History Programs Continue

“Harriet Tubman and the Combahee Ferry” Exhibit

The exhibit highlights the fascinating story of Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid that resulted in widespread destruction of rice plantations along the Combahee River in South Carolina and the freedom of more than 700 enslaved people in June 1863. The exhibit is a collaboration of Brockington & Associates, SC Department of Transportation, US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, Beaufort County Engineering & Infrastructure, Beaufort County Planning Department and the Beaufort County Library.

Time and Date of Event: Mondays through Fridays 10 am – 5 pm, April 3 – June 27^th

Location of Event:  Beaufort District Collection, 2nd floor, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort, SC 29902

“Archaeology of the Combahee Ferry Historic District," with Dr. Eric Poplin

Dr. Eric Poplin talks about the rich and multi-tiered archaeological record of the Combahee River crossing as an integral part of South Carolina’s early transportation network, the lost town  of Radnor, remnants of mid-19^th century African American life, and Harriet Tubman and the  Combahee River Raid of 1863. This lecture is co-sponsored by the Beaufort Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina.  Ages 12–Adults.

Time and Date of Event:  Monday, June 9 at 6 pm

Location of Event:  BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library Children’s Programming Room, 1^st floor, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort, SC 29902

Price of Event: Free

Contact info: 843-255-6468, gracec@bcgov.net

Website:  beaufortcountylibrary.org

To supplement the Library’s “Maker Spaces” initiative:

Event Name:  "Memoir Writing Workshop"

Short Description of Event: Susan Kammeraad-Campbell, publisher of Joggling Board Press, will guide a dozen writers through her unique process to write true stories others will want to read. Ages 12 – Adults. Registration required. 

Time and Date of Event: Saturday, June 14, 1:00 – 3:00pm

Location of Event: BDC@ Bluffton Branch, 120 Palmetto Way, Bluffton, SC 29910

 Price of Event: Free; Only 12 slots are available. Please register in advance.

Registration contact info: Call 255-6468 to reserve a space at this free BDC@ Bluffton Branch program designed for mature teens and adults!  gracec@bcgov.net

Website:  beaufortcountylibrary.org