The Antebellum South (1816-1860)

By the early twenty-first century, all members of the town council and the mayor were black. The town is the home of Voorhees College, a predominantly black institution that was founded in 1897, and Denmark Technical College, which evolved from a trade school established in 1948.

DeSaussure and many of his fellow lowcountrymen feared that upcountry growth would overwhelm their interests, especially the protections given to both plantation and slave holdings. Regarding the increasingly egalitarian rhetoric of upcountry leaders and their yeomen constituents with “dread,” he warned of the “ultimate effects of a degrading, calumnating democracy.”

Although in office less than a year, DeSaussure considered the Senate to be “grand theater, the arena where proud Sovereignties are fighting for their rights.”

Early in his career, he was an influential figure in the chartering of the Medical College of South Carolina (1823). He was elected professor of medicine in the new school and gave the inaugural address for the first entering class in 1824.

He devoted most of his energy while governor toward the establishment of South Carolina College in Columbia to advance public learning and to help unify the state. Following his term as governor, he again served as warden of Charleston and was one of its representatives in the Senate until 1808, when he again won election as governor.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Drayton held the rank of commander. Of the navy’s fifteen hundred officers, one-quarter left to serve with the South. But Drayton did not and chose instead the cause of Union.

Drovers contributed to the prosperity of the districts through which they passed, as taverns, stations, and farms provided feed, pens, and accommodations.

His catholicity was expressed in his concern for the unity of the church and in his commitment to the Bible as the church’s book. He insisted that the Bible is both human and divine: its form is human, and its content is divine.

According to Governor Francis W. Pickens, Dunovant’s unit became “the best drilled Regiment in the Service.”

In 1896 Earle defeated the unpopular John Gary Evans for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate in the state’s first direct primary.

The newspaper retained its forthright style throughout the twentieth century. William Walton Mims assumed control of the newspaper in 1937, and the staunchly conservative newspaper was not afraid to take unpopular stands on local issues.

Inactive during the Civil War, the Elliott Society resumed its activities soon afterward. In an attempt to broaden its appeal, the organization changed its name to the Elliott Society of Science and Arts in 1867.

In South Carolina, Elliott’s education and ability quickly placed him among the most influential African Americans in the state.

Although a highly respected legislator and banker, Elliott is perhaps best remembered for his activities as a botanist.

Elliott returned to Beaufort to pursue a career in planting, politics, and literature. He was known as one of the South’s most progressive and scientific planters.

The early antebellum decades were auspicious for Ellison, as the expanding “Cotton Kingdom” increased demand for his skills.

A year after completing his term in the House in 1839, Elmore was elected president of the Bank of the State of South Carolina (BSSC). During his tenure the bank prospered and proved itself to be a vital institution of economic development in the state.

John England abhorred slavery but stated that his church permitted retention in servitude of descendants of those originally enslaved. He hoped that American slavery would not continue, but he saw no quick end to it.

After the war, Ensor became active in the Republican Party and moved to South Carolina. In 1870 Governor Robert K. Scott appointed him superintendent of the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum.

From its founding, the college played an important role in nurturing the social and cultural cohesion of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.