Charleston Raconteurs in Charleston, SC

HISTORY TOLD WITH WIT AND SKILL

1758
Feb. 28 -- Lt. Col. Henry Bouquet, who author Walter J. Fraser Jr. (Charleston! Charleston!) called a "brash thirty-eight-year-old British soldier-of-fortune" demanded that the colonial Assembly pay for his officers' housing needs. The Assembly refused his request. Soldiers' housing would become one of colonists' complaints as the country moved toward revolution.

March 18 -- The Assembly denied Lt. Col. Henry Bouquet's demand that they pay for his soldiers' housing. Among those who were opposed were Peter Manigault, Christopher Gadsden, Charles Pinckney, Henry Laurens and Rawlins Lowndes, writing "Officers and Soldiers cannot, legally or constitutionally, be quarter'd in private Houses, without the special Consent of the Owners or Possessors of such Houses."

1760
Jan. 9 -- Gov. Lyttleton and his soldiers marched (somewhat) victoriously down Broad Street and at noon cannons fired to welcome the troops back to Charleston after having concluded a peace treaty with the Cherokees near Keowee. The treaty was hastily made as a raging smallpox epidemic was ravaging the tribe, and the soldiers feared catching it.

Jan. 12 -- Three days after Gov. Lyttleton's return, the worst epidemic to date of smallpox broke out within the colony.

1761
Dec. 17 -- Early Patriot leader Christopher Gadsden wrote an editorial in the Gazette accussing Lt. Col. James Grant, a Scottish officer in the British Army, of not having been aggressive enough in his attacks on the Cherokees, claiming he did not permit his men "to cut the throats of as many as they could have." In Charleston! Charleston!, author Walter J. Fraser Jr. suggests the criticism may have been fueled, at least in part, by "personal jealousies increasingly common in relations between British regular officers and provincial officers" (p. 95).

1764
Aug. 19 -- Arthur Middleton married Mary Izard, "a Lady who is one of the first of her sex for sense, politeness and every female accomplishment."

1765
Sept. 4 -- Christopher Gadsden, Thomas Lynch and John Rutledge set sail for the illegally called Stamp Act Congress in New York City. Gadsden, ever the ardent Patriot, served as chair of the committee that drafted resolutions condemning the act.

Oct. 24 -- An angry mob seeking the whereabouts of the destested tax stamps issued through the Stamp Act stormed a number of notable residences in downtown Charleston, including that of Henry Laurens, who said that under the guise of "Patriotism ... committed at length Burglary & Robbery." (Fraser Jr., West J. in Charleston! Charleston!, p. 109)

Oct. 26 -- Leaders of a rebel mob spread rumors that Charles Town's two local stamp agents, George Saxby and Caleb Lloyd, were hiding out at Fort Johnson on James Island. Over the next two days, the mob rampaged through the streets of Charles Town, threatening to kill the agents if they did not resign their office. (Source: Charleston, Charleston!, p. 109, by Walter J. Fraser Jr.)

Oct. 28 -- Because of the murderous threats by an angry rebel mob two days before, Charles Town's stamp agents, George Saxby and Caleb Lloyd, announced that to ensure the peace of the province (and save their lives), they would not enforce the hated Stamp Act. The Sons of Liberty poured into the streets and unfurled the blue flag of "Liberty." (Source: Charleston, Charleston!, p. 109, by Walter J. Fraser Jr.)

Dec. 17 -- Amid rumors of a possible slave rebellion, Acting Governor William Bull called an emergency Council meeting. A hundred militia men were deployed to patrol the city and the captains of ships moored in the harbor had their sailors stand sentinel at night. The holidays passed peacefully, though the patrols continued both day and night through early January (Charleston! Charleston! by West Fraser Jr., p. 113).

1766
Jan. 1 -- Becoming increasingly alarmed at the ratio of the enslaved vs. white population in Charles Town, the Assembly imposed heavy import duties on all slaves brought into the colony as of this date.

June 6 -- Elizabeth Thomas Broun dies and is buried in the St. James Goose Creek Chapel of Ease churchyard.

1768
Oct. 1 -- In preparation for the upcoming Assembly elections, Charles Town's mechanics nominated candidates who opposed the Quartering Act, Stamp Act, and Sugar Act. Led by Patriot Christopher Gadsden, they met at the Liberty Tree "where many loyal, patriotic and constitutional toasts were drank." The company then marched on to Dillon's Tavern to continue the celebration.

1769
July 22 -- The colonial Assembly appointed a Committee of Thirty-Nine, which included an equal number of merchants, planters and artisans, thus for the first time granting the laboring classes a significant voice in the colony's government. (Source: Walter J. Fraser Jr. in Charleston, Charleston!, p.125)

Dec. 8 -- The S.C. General Assembly voted to send 1,500 pounds Sterling to John Wilkes, a member of England's Parliament who had been arrested and imprisoned for criticizing the King. As Patriotic tensions here grew, they felt a kinship with Wilkes's cause. Unfortunately, the King's counselors saw the gift as a slap in the face to their sovereign, which did nothing to mellow the rebellous tensions that were brewing. (Source: Walter J. Fraser Jr. in Charleston, Charleston!, p.126)

1770
Jan. 30 -- Lt. Gov. William Bull recommended to the General Assembly the establishment of a provincial college, which became what we know today as the College of Charleston (and my Alma Mater).

Dec. 13 -- Charlestonians voted a local boycott against the importation of British goods (with the exceptions of tea and luxury items) as a result of the repeal of the Townshend Act. (Source: Walt Fraser in Charleston. Charleston! page 127)

1773
Jan. 12 -- Though authoritative accounts vary, what may indeed have been the first public museum in America was established, The Charleston Museum.

Nov. 19 -- The so-called "Club Forty-Five" met at the Liberty Tree to agitate for independence from English rule.

Dec. 2 -- The English ship London dropped anchor in Charles Town harbor with 257 chests of tea aboard. As the tension of the impending revolution filled the air, it was clear that if the colonists allowed the cargo to be delivered with its three-pence-per-pound duty collected as authorized by Parliament, it would be an admission that the colony was answerable to the governing body of England so far away. Christopher Gadsden was incensed. He and his friends posted handbills all over town calling for a meeting the next day at the Old Exchange Building to discuss what should be done. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 136)

1774
Oct. 22 -- Henry Middleton was elected President of the first Continental Congress.

1775
April 14 -- News reached Charles Town that Parliament was sending additional troops to enforce British policies (and taxation) in the colonies. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 141)

April 26 -- In response to the news that British troops were being dispatched to the colonies, the Secret Committee of Five, created by the Provisional. Congress and led by William Henry Drayton, seized the arms and powder that were being stored in local magazines and hid them in private houses throughout the city. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 141)

June 8 -- Two Charlestonians who remained loyal to the Crown, a small-time merchant named Laughlin Martin and another man named James Dealy, were tarred and feathered by locals calling for revolution, based on an accusation that they had cheered rumours that enslaved Blacks, Catholics, and Native Americans were to receive arms from British forces to help quell the rebellion. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 143)

June 16 -- A slave named Jemmy said in a depostion to Revolutionary authorities that he had been approached by his brother-in-law Thomas Jeremiah to "take a few guns" to a runaway slave named Dewar. The weapons, he said, were "to be placed in Negroes hands to fight against the inhabitants of this Province" to support the British. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 145)

August 11 -- The slave Thomas Jeremiah went on trial under the Negro Act of 1740 for helping to arm other enslaved Blacks in support of the British cause. Found guilty, he was sentenced "to be hanged, and then burned to ashes." (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 145)

August 12 -- A local mob seized a British soldier "for some insolent speech he had made," tarred and feathered him, and "putting him in a cart paraded through the Town ... using him very cruelly all the time." But the afternoon, the crowd had grown to 400, who roamed through the streets, stopping at the houses of suspected Crown sympathizers, using the soldier to demonstrate what their fate might be if they continued their support of the Crown. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 145)

August 17 -- Jemmy, the slave who testified against his brother-in-law Thomas Jeremiah, recanted his testimony that Jeremiah had been involved in transporting British arms to this enslaved colleagues. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 146)

August 18 -- Despite his brother-in-law's recanted tesimony that he was distributing British arms to enslaved Negros, Thomas Jeremiah was hanged anyway, then burnt to ashes as his sentence decreed. He had maintained his innocence to the end. S.C. Gov. William Campbell believed Jeremiah was innocent, as did the Royal Attorney General, saying Jeremiah was the victim of local hysteria. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 146)

1776
June 3 -- S. Smith published "A View of Charles-Town, the Capital of South Carolina, from an Original Picture Painted at Charlestownin the Year 1774," painted by Thomas Leitch and engraved by Samuel Smith.

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CHARLESTON AT HER PINNACLE

1784-1820

1784

June 25 -- The Hebrew Benevolent Society of Charleston, the oldest Jewish charitable society in the United States, was founded, the oldest Jewish charitable society in the United States. .

Nov. 18 -- The Charleston City Gazette announced that the city was going to begin selling lots on what today we know as East Battery.

1785

Jan. 27 -- According to the journal of the House of Representatives, two petitions were presented, one of which called for the establishment of a school (which would later become the College of Charleston) at Charleston and the other at Winnsborough. The petitions were sent to committee for consideration. (Source: A History of the College of Charleston, p. 18.)

March 19 -- Because "the proper education of youth is essential to the happiness and prosperity of every community," the General Assembly of South Carolina passed an "act for erecting and establishing" the College of Cambridge in the district of Ninety-Six, Mt. Zion College in the district of Camden, and the College of Charleston, in or near the city of Charleston. (Source: A History of the College of Charleston, p. 1)

1786

March 2 -- Seeking a less expensive means by which to move their goods (as opposed to the expensive new Santee Canal), landowners in Goose Creek petitioned the State House to create turnpikes and tolls along the Goose Creek Road that ran from Charleston to Wassamassaw in an effort to ensure better maintenance of the land route. (Source: Goose Creek: A Definitive History, Volume II, p. 28.)

Oct. 12 -- Attorney Ralph Isaacs challenged Dr. Joseph Brown Ladd to a duel.

Oct. 23 -- At dawn, Ralph Isaacs and Dr. Joseph Brown Ladd met in Philadelphia Alley to duel for their honor.

Nov. 2 -- Ten horrific days after being shot in the kneecap by Ralph Isaacs, Dr. John Brown Ladd died at the Thomas Rose House, 59 Church Street.

1787
Jan. 1 -- Arthur Middleton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence dies.

1788

May 23 -- A special convention of South Carolinians voted to ratify the new Constitution of the United States of America.

1792

Feb. 15 -- The first race held at the new Washington Race Course (now Hampton Park) was held.

Dec. 3 -- In his will, John Coming Ball of Back River made specific directives about the disposition of several of his enslaved people: "I give my Negro man Nat his freedom and all my wearing apparel. I give my Negro woman, Hagar, and her child Charlotte their freedom and, desire my executors will have the latter educated & when she shall be old enough placed out as an Apprentice to a Millinor or Mantua Maker. I give my Negro Man, Jackey (son of Lucy) who is at present my driver his freedom, I give and bequeath to my sister, Mrs. Wilson, any Negro Girl among my female Slaves she may prefer ...." (Source: Goose Creek: A Definitive History Vol. I, p. 91)

1793

Oct. 6 -- A strong hurricane tracked along the coast causing significant property damage, bu not as much flooding as the Great Hurricane of 1752.

1794
Feb. 10 -- Planter, Revolutionary War Patriot, and author of a manuscript relaying his experiments with planting matter Aaron Loocock died.

1797
Dec. 11 -- After suffering for 18 years from an accidental bayonette wound he received at the Siege of Savannah, Patriot Capt. Archibald Broun (aka Brown) died at Blessing Plantation. During his distinguished career, he negotiated with the French for miltary supplies and equipment, and became one of the five wealthiest land owners in St. Thomas Parish (near today's Goose Creek area).

1799

March 17 -- The Hibernian Society was established by by eight prosperous Irishmen, both Catholic and Protestant, for the purpose of “true enjoyment and useful beneficence,” according to early records.

1801
Feb. 2 -- Joseph Alston, who would become South Carolina's governor, married Theodosia Burr, the daughter of the nation's third Vice President, Aaron Burr.

March 17 -- Two years after its founding on this date, the Hibernian Society adpoted its name, motto and seal.

July 15 -- The Hebrew Orphan Society of Charleston was founded as America’s oldest incorporated Jewish charitable organization.

1802
Nov. 23 -- Theodosia Burr, daughter of Vice President Aaron Burr and a future First Lady of South Carolina, arrived in Charleston.

1804

Sept. 6 -- A large, violent hurricane which probably would have ranked as a Category 3 or 4, moved north along the Georgia coastline toward southern South Carolina. Though it most likely made landfall before reaching Charleston, it produced significant wind and water damage around the Lowcountry and killed hundreds.

1807
Jan. 1 -- The foreign slave trade ended per Federal law (at least officially, if not in absolute practice).

1811

April 2 -- The South Carolina Advocate reported on the burning of the Cooper River Campground, which was also known as the Goose Creek Methodist Camp, near the confluence of Goose Creek to the Cooper.

Oct. 6-8 -- A hurricane made landfall south of Charleston, spinning off a tornado that caused a lot of damage in the city.

1813

Jan. 29 -- A man named Pierre Mathesau was hanged in front of the Old City Jail on Magazine Street. (Source: Abode of Misery, p. 15.)

Aug. 27 -- A brief but violent hurricane that caused significant property damage and storm surge flooding similar to the 1752 storm and worse than the 1804 storm.

1815

Jan. 10 -- American Patriot Rebecca Brewton Motte died.

1819

Feb. 16 -- A group of vigilantes rode out to the Five and Six Mile taverns, operated by John and Lavinia Fisher, looking for a gang of suspected robbers. When they found a group they suspected were at Five Mile House, they ordered the suspects out of the building before setting fire to it. As Five Mile House burned to the ground, its smoke could be seen by those at Six Mile House, who escaped into the woods before the cavalcade’s arrival.

Feb. 20 -- Based on the statements and identifications provided by David Ross and John Peeples, officials again headed out to Six Mile House, arresting John and Lavinia Fisher and their business partner, William Hayward, along with several others.

Feb. 22 -- The Charleston Courier rain a story outling the details about the arrests of John and Lavinia Fisher and their gang at Six Mile House.

Sept. 13 -- John and Livinia Fisher nearly escaped from the District Jail by creating a rope out of strips of cloth. John went down first and had almost reached the ground when the rope broke, leaving Lavinia trapped on the jail’s upper floors. Rather than leave his wife, John remained below Lavinia’s window and was, of course, recaptured.

1820

Jan. 20 -- John and Lavinia Fisher’s appeal on charges of highway robbery was unsuccessful. They were sentenced to be hanged Feb. 4, but an extension was granted so they could prepare their souls before the executiion.

Feb. 18 -- The Friday morning issue of the Charleston Courier related that John and Livinia Fisher were hanged, convicted of the crime of highway robbery, near "the lines, on the Meeting-Street Road..." today near the foot of the old Cooper River bridges.

We visit the final resting place and hear the sad tale of Archibald Broun on our Day on the Cooper River Tour.

We visit the grave of Aaron Loocock, a Revolutionary War soldier and owner of several plantations, on our Day on the Cooper River Tour. In addition to writing a 18th century book on growing matter, after the Revolution, Loocock served in the first Assembly in the new state government.

We visit the house where Dr. Joseph Brown Ladd died tragically in 1786 on our Charleston Overview Tour.

Hear the story of America's first Jewish benevolent society on our Lost Charleston Tour.

We discuss the infamous 1860 Democratic National Convention, including the roles of the Hibernian Society, S.C. Institute, and St. Andrews Hall on our Lost Charleston tour.