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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JANUARY

January 1

1766 -- As they became more alarmed at the ever-increasing ratio of the enslaved vs. white population in Charles Town, the Assembly imposed heavy import duties on all slaves brought into the colony.

1787 -- Arthur Middleton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, died.

1807 -- The foreign slave trade ended per Federal law, at least legally if not actually in practice.

1838 -- Osceola arrived as a prisoner at Fort Moultrie.

1863 -- One of the greatest scientists you've probably never heard of, Arthur T. Wayne, was born.

1910 -- A reporter for the News & Courier wrote: “Traveling men usually remember the places they visit by the kinds of hotels at which they stopped. In Charleston there is one hotel that the consensus of opinion has named ‘The Best.’ This is the Charleston Hotel … a part of [the city’s] traditions.”

January 3

1918 -- Mary A. Storfer, the new proprietress of the Timrod Inn (formerly the Commercial Club), announced in the News and Courier: "Many people have told us that the Timrod Inn fills a distinct place in the community, and indications are that our rooms will be in demand from the beginning. We shall open Monday morning and guests will be given desirable accommodations without delay."

January 6

1704 -- Ruth Brewton, the daughter of Col. Miles and Mary Brewton, as well as future wife of S.C. Commissary Gen. William Pinckney, and mother of Col. Charles Pinckney, was born.

January 8

1732 -- Thomas Whitmarsh, who had once worked for Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, published the first edition of the South Carolina Gazette.

1741 -- Feeling that the Great Conflagration of 1740 was a sign of God's displeasure of Charles Town's sinful society, Anglican evangelist George Whitfield wrote in an article for the Gazette saying that even the colony's clergy did not follow in "the Footsteps of our True Sheperd." He was soon arrested and upon his release returned to England.

January 9

1752 -- Archibald Broun, who would go on to be a Patriot hero of the American Revolution, was born at Brounsfield Plantation, north of Charles Town. His gravesite is included in Charleston Raconteurs' Day on the Cooper River Tour.

1760 -- Gov. Lyttleton and his soldiers marched down Broad Street, while cannons fired to welcome the troops back to Charleston after concluding 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. Several days after their return, the city's worst epidemic to date of smallpox broke out within the colony.

1861 -- What some call the "real" first shot of the Civil War was fired from Morris Island at a United States merchant ship, Star of the West, that was bound for Fort Sumter, to resupply the fort.

January 10

1815 -- American Patriot Rebecca Brewton Motte died.

1901 -- The Navy Board recommended Charleston as the site of its new Navy Base.

1947 -- Union Station was destroyed in a fire that started in an oil stove by the ground-floor newsstand that “just flared up.”

January 11

1747 -- George Lucas died in French captivity during the War of Austrian Succession. He left his 17-year-old daughter, Eliza, to manage his Wappoo, Garden Hill and Combahee plantations.

January 12

1723 -- Sir William Rhett, a colonial leader and captain who captured the notorious Stede Bonnet and other pirates, died.

1760 -- A punishing smallpox epidemic broke out in Charleston.

1773 -- The forerunner of The Charleston Museum was founded as one of the first, and perhaps even the first depending on how one defines it, public museum in the colonies.

January 13

1947 -- A story in the Evening Post recorded that fate had “taken a hand in the problem of providing Charleston with the type of railway passenger facilities a community of this size and prospects is entitled to” as it reported on a fire that destroyed Union Station.

January 15

1778 -- One of the most destructive fires in Charleston's history broke out after dark near the intersection of Queen and Union (now State) streets.

1929 -- Joseph "Big Joe" Gawrych was born in North Haven, CT. According to his obituary in the Post and Courier, after his Navy service he and his Charleston bride settled in Mt. Pleasant, where he coached 11- and 12-year-old boys' baseball for more than 45 years. The Joe Gawrych Baseball Park in Mt. Pleasant is named in his honor. He also planted gardenias on Charlotte Street in the 1970s, which his obit said have been propagated across the Southeast.

January 17

1767 -- Mary-Anne Schad, the wife of a plantation overseer, gave birth to her second child, a daughter. Planters believed that having a married overseer on the property would keep an overseer more settled and responsible. (Source: South Carolina Women, p. 66)

1820 -- John and Lavinia Fisher’s appeal on charges of highway robbery was unsuccessful and they were sentenced to be hanged Feb. 4.

January 18

1735 -- Planter Charles Lowndes advertised his 1,000-acre Goose Creek plantation for sale in the South Carolina Gazette. (Source: Goose Creek, A Definitive History, Vol. 1)

January 19

1738 -- Captain Morris offered 100 acres in Goose Creek free for experimentation with growing silk. He also requested that the Commons House of Assembly appeal to Parliament to reduce the duty on silk. (Source: Goose Creek, A Definitive History, Vol. 1, p. 99)

1903 -- S.C. Lt. Gov. James H. Tillman, Ben Tillman's nephew, fatally shot Narciso Gener Gonzales, editor of The (Columbia) State newspaper, during a confrontation on the S.C. State House steps.

January 20

1649 -- King Charles I of England went on trial, accused by Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan allies, for high treason. The Carolina colony had been named in his honor.

1837 -- Sarah and Angelina Grimke begin the first of a six-week lecture series about slavery in New York Baptist churches.

1994 -- Shannon Faulkner became the first woman to attend classes at The Citadel. She joined the cadet corps in August 1995, but dropped out about a week later, citing isolation and stress from the legal proceedings and her reception at the college.

January 24

1735 -- A troupe of traveling actors working with local musicians staged the colony's first theatrical season in the "long room" of Shepheard's Tavern, located on the northeast corner of Broad and Church streets. The season opener was The Orphan, or the Unhappy Marriage and cost 40 shillings for a ticket.

1945 -- The Christ Church (Mt. Pleasant) flagon was returned to the Rev. Edmund Coe by Bonnie McArty, whose uncle Frank Blaine, a Union infantryman, stole it in the aftermath of the Civil War. (Source: Stolen Charleston: The Spoils of War, p. 11.)

January 25

1739 -- The South Carolina Gazette advertised the sale of James Moore's "very good brick two-story House" at his Goose Creek plantation. (Source: Goose Creek: A Definitive History, Vol. 1, p. 97)

1902 -- Linnelle Hall (m. Griggs) was born in Marlboro County.

January 27

1785 -- 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.)

2003 -- Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg, Charleston resident Frank Abagnale and Tom Hanks attend a press conference in London before the UK premier of the movie, "Catch Me if You Can."

January 28

1861 -- The S.C. General Assembly approved Barnwell Rhett Jr.'s proposed design for a state flag featuring a blue background with a white palmetto tree centered and a white crescent with horns pointing upward in the left-hand corner,

January 29

1813 -- A man named Pierre Mathesau was hanged in front of the Old City Jail on Magazine Street. (Source: Abode of Misery, p. 15.)

January 30

1649 -- Charles I was beheaded as Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan Party assumed rule over England.

1662 -- Newly restored to the British throne, Charles II had the body of Oliver Cromwell exhumed on the 12th anniversary of his father's execution and beheaded the corpse.

1770 -- 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.

1838 -- Osceola died and was buried at Fort Moultrie.

1862 -- Henry Michael Lofton, of the 10th Regiment, took time off from the Civil War to marry Susan Ann Morrison at Second Presbyterian Church. (Source: Home in the Village, p. 76)

1866 -- The melted fragments of St. Michael's bells were shipped back to England to be recast after their destruction during the Civil War.

January 31

1861 -- In the wake of Seccession, S.C. Attorney General Issac W. Hayne, who was serving Gov. Francis W. Pickens as an envoy to Washington, wrote to U.S. President Buchanan warning him that the U.S. possession and occupation of Fort Sumter "if continued long enough, must lead to a collision." (Source: Confederate South Carolina, p. 19-20)

Charleston's history is inseparable from the story of enslaved Africans and their descendents. All of Charleston Raconteurs' interpretations include factual information and disucssions about the South's "peculiar institution."

We visit the site of one of Charleston's grandest early 20th century failures, the Commercial Club, on our Lost Charleston Tour.

American Patriot Archibald Broun is among those listed on Charleston Raconteurs' list of Favorite Dead People. We visit his gravesite and hear his tragic story on our Day on the Cooper River Tour.

The history of the Charleston Naval Base can be found in Lost Charleston.

We visit the Pirates Monument at the site where Stede Bonnet and his crew were hanged on our Charleston Overview Tour.

We visit the site of Shepheard's Tavern on our Charleston Overview Tour.

We hear the story of St. Michael's bells' many trips across the Atlantic Ocean on our Charleston Overview Tour.

We visit Christ Church on our French Santee Tour. (Image: Public domain, credit Wikimedia Commons.)

We visit the former residence of international con man, author and FBI instructor Frank Abignal, seen here with Leo DiCaprio, Steven Speilberg, and Tom Hanks from the movie Catch Me if You Can, on our Charleston Overview Tour.