Reconstruction (1866-1877)

Largely because of its proximity to the railroad, the town initially experienced rapid growth.

General George Washington Goethals was made chief engineer of the Panama Canal in 1907, and he selected Gaillard to oversee dredging and excavation.

The “stump,” which referred to a time when politicians promoted their candidacy by allegedly giving speeches while standing on tree stumps, was moved to a site beside the Holliday family store and continued by four generations of Hollidays.

Dr. Gantt was a pioneer in public health, prevention of tuberculosis, medical inspection of schools, and social hygiene.

Gary served as a bill clerk in the state legislature for nine years before being elected by Abbeville County to the S.C. House of Representatives in 1890. He remained there until 1900 and served as Speaker of the House from 1896 to 1900.

Gary capitalized on the reputation he earned in war. Active in Democratic Party politics, in 1876 he was the most uncompromising and outspoken leader of the “Straight-out” faction of the South Carolina Democratic Party, stressing white supremacy and solidarity while vigorously opposing any cooperation with Republicans or black Carolinians.

Geddings was an active participant in the intellectual life of antebellum Charleston. He was a friend of the author William Gilmore Simms, who dedicated one of his books to Geddings, and was an early subscriber to the works of John James Audubon, whom he also knew.

During Reconstruction, with its large black majority, Georgetown County became a Republican Party stronghold. Even after the return of Democratic rule to South Carolina after 1876, African Americans in Georgetown County still held significant political power. They shared control in uneasy cooperation with local whites in a process called “fusion” until 1900, when white control was reestablished.

Inspired by her “urge to write,” in 1895 she became the first woman to enroll in South Carolina College (later the University of South Carolina), two years after the General Assembly mandated that women should be allowed to attend the school as special students.

During his fifty-four-year career at the College of Charleston, Gibbes taught mathematics, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, and endeared himself to generations of students despite his exacting standards.

Keenly interested in natural history, Gibbes collected bird specimens, mollusk shells, and minerals. He was especially interested in vertebrate fossils, and it was in the field of paleontology that he made lasting contributions.

For Gilman, Charleston was her first permanent home and, even though she retained much affection for the North, she soon came to see herself as a southerner. As hostilities between the two regions increased, Gilman felt compelled to try to reconcile these differences in her writing.

A powerful preacher who was at home with the Gullah dialect, Girardeau attracted large numbers of African Americans to the congregation. To accommodate the growing crowds, a new church building, Zion Presbyterian, was built on the corner of Calhoun and Meeting Streets primarily with money from the Adger and Smyth families of Charleston.

Gist's biographer Daniel Bell describes him as “influential” in bringing about disunion, but it is doubtful that his personal leadership was truly essential. By 1860 the movement possessed more momentum than could be attributable to any one man.

His first trial resulted in a conviction, but in a second trial he was acquitted. He was elected lieutenant governor of the state in 1872 and reelected in 1874, in which capacity he served as president ex officio of the S.C. Senate. Gleaves also served in the South Carolina state militia as a major and judge advocate in the First Brigade, colonel and aide to the governor, and colonel and judge advocate in the Second Division.

Inspired by the rise of Ben Tillman’s hate-mongering but successful campaign for governor in 1890, Ambrose, Narciso, and their younger brother William, founded the State newspaper in Columbia as an ardent and outspoken anti-Tillman daily.

Hoping to give a voice to the conservative wing of the Democratic Party after Ben Tillman’s election to the governorship, Gonzales joined with his brother Ambrose to found the State Publishing Company in January 1891, with the financial backing of conservative Democrats.

Working under his brother Narciso, William’s career in journalism began to take shape. Narciso had served as William’s greatest supporter and mentor, and his death at the hands of James Tillman in 1903 severely affected William.

He made perhaps his greatest contribution to the city with the opening of the Cooper River Bridge in 1929. Grace was president of Cooper River Bridge, Inc., which built the bridge connecting Charleston with Mount Pleasant, Sullivan’s Island, and the Isle of Palms.

After some initial teething, the company quickly proved highly prosperous, producing shirting and sheeting that sold well in markets as far away as Philadelphia and New York. Graniteville was also unusual in that it employed the labor of free white laborers, mostly women and teenaged children, at a time when most southern manufacturers used the labor of black slaves.