South Carolina from A to Z

“S” is for Seneca (Oconee County; 2020 population 8,850).

“R” is for Rock Hill Movement. Following the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery and the 1960 lunch-counter sit-ins in Greensboro, African Americans in Rock Hill took the lead in energizing the civil rights movement in South Carolina.

“P” is for Pinckney, Eliza Lucas (ca. 1722-1793). Planter, matriarch.

“P” is for Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth (1746-1825). Soldier, statesman, diplomat.

“M” is for Mennonites. The Mennonites of South Carolina are a Protestant group descended from the Anabaptists of the Reformation.

“S” is for Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy. In 1829 the Catholic Bishop John England founded Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy in Charleston.

“R” is for Rugeley, Rowland (1738-1776). Author. One of South Carolina's earliest writers, Rugeley was born in England.

“R” is for Rubin, Lewis Decimus, Jr. (1923-2013). Teacher, author, editor, publisher.

“P” is for Pollock, William Pegues (1870-1922). U. S. Senator.

“P” is for the Pollitzer sisters. Educators, suffragists, reformers. Carrie, Mabel, and Anita Pollitzer were all born in Charleston.

“M” is for Molloy, Robert (1906-1977). Novelist, editor, critic.

“M” is for Moore, Darla Dee. Business woman, philanthropist.

“M” is for Moore, Andrew Charles (1866-1928). Biologist, educator.

“L” is for Lucas, Jonathan (ca.1754-1821). Millwright. Born in England, Lucas immigrated to South Carolina around 1786, which proved a fortuitous time and place for the arrival of a talented young millwright.

“L” is for Loyalists. Perhaps twenty-five percent of White South Carolinians either actively opposed the movement for independence or supported British authority against the state government during the American Revolution.

“H” is for Huguenots. Huguenots are French Calvinists.

“H” is for Huguenot Church (Charleston). Located at 140 Church Street, the French Protestant Huguenot church was the first Gothic Revival ecclesiastical building erected in Charleston.

“G” is for Gregg, William (1800-1867). Manufacturer, industrial promoter.

“G” is for Greer, Bernard Eugene (b. 1948). Writer.

“D” is for Dunovant, John (1825-1864). Soldier.

“C” is for Chapman, Martha Marshall, II (b. 1949). Musician. Classified by many as a country-music artist, Martha Marshall Chapman,II, and her style nonetheless have been difficult to categorize.

“C” is for Cleveland, Georgia Alden (1851-1914). Writer, activist.

“B” is for Bolden, Charles Frank, Jr. (1946-2017). Soldier, astronaut.

“B” is for Boineau, Charles Evans, Jr. (1923-2005). Legislator. Boineau was the first Republican to be elected to the South Carolina General Assembly in the twentieth century.

“B” is for Bonham, Milledge Luke (1813-1890). Soldier, congressman, governor.

“W” is for Wofford College. A four year liberal arts college in Spartanburg, Wofford College was founded with a $100,000 bequest from Methodist minister and Spartanburg native Benjamin Wofford.

“W” is for WIS Radio and Television. WIS Radio and Television stations in Colombia played an influential role in the development of South Carolina's media as a result of being among the state’s pioneer commercial broadcasters and located in the state’s capital city.

“W” is for Winthrop University. Located in Rock Hill, Winthrop University traces its roots to1886 when Winthrop Training School, a teacher-training school for Columbia teachers opened.

“S” is for Sirrine, Joseph Emory (1872-1947). Architect, engineer.

“S” is for Sinclair, Bennie Lee (1939-2000). Novelist, poet.

“R” is for Royal Council. The Royal Council was a twelve-man governing board created in 1720 to serve as an advisor to the governor, as a court of appeals, and as an upper house of the legislature.

“R” is for Rosenwald Schools. In the early twentieth century, schooling for southern Blacks was neither well planned nor well supported. Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago merchant and philanthropist, made the most significant contribution to the education of southern rural Blacks of the time through construction of school buildings.

“P” is for Poinsett Bridge. Named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, president of the Board of Public Works (1819-1821), the Poinsett Bridge (with a span of 130 feet over Little Gap Creek) was built during the construction of the state highway from Columbia to Saluda Mountain in 1820.

“P” is for Poinsett, Joel Roberts (1779-1851). Congressman, diplomat. U. S. secretary of war.

“P” is for Poetry Society of South Carolina. Those involved with the Poetry Society’s creation in 1920 espoused the idea of a local organization, with its aim to encourage all southern poets.

“P” is for Poellnitz, Baron Frederick Carl Hans Bruno (1734-1801).

“M” is for Montgomery, John Henry (1833-1902). Manufacturer, merchant.

“M” is for Montagu, Lord Charles Greville (1741-1784). Governor.

“M” is for Moncks Corner (Berkeley County; 2020 population 12,497).

“L” is for Lowndes, William Jones (1782-1822). Congressman. In his final important public work, William Jones Lowndes with Henry Clay led the successful effort in the house to pass the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

“S” is for St. Mark’s Parish. South Carolina’s first backcountry parish and by far its largest in land area, St. Mark’s was established in 1757.

“R” is for Ravenel, Harriott Horry Rutledge (1832-1912). Novelist, biographer, historian.

“P” is for Parish, Margaret Cecile (1927-1988). Author.

“O” is for Opera houses. In the period between 1880 and 1920, opera houses flourished in communities across South Carolina.

“N” is for New Era Club. Founded in Spartanburg in 1912, the New Era Club began disguised as a study group.

“S” is for St. Luke’s Parish. In 1767, the Commons House created St. Luke’s Parish by taking territory from St. Helena’s Parish.

“P” is for Pardo, John. Spanish soldier, explorer.

“O” is for O’Neall, John Belton (1793-1863). Jurist, author, social reformer, entrepreneur.

“N” is for New Ellenton (Aiken County; 2020 population 2,189).

“S” is for Seneca (Oconee County; 2020 population 8,850).