Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1861-03-02
O0MN1WIN00 OOMS.
FOR THE KEOWEE COURIER.
Sketches of Life in South Carolina.
NUMBER NINE.

According to promise in our last number,
VIC will now proceed to Charleston fearing,
however, that as we progress in its description,
our partinlity may be too plainly discovered.
For this is our native city; the home of our
childhood and youth the place where lie. in
solemn pcaccfulncss, till the last great day,
the bones of father, mother, brother and of
all cur sacred dead Believing that the OK.
tract below will interest good many, cspc.
cially at this present time, we will here quote
the following from the writings of the great
and good DIR. DAVID RAMSAY. In "Ram-
says History of South Carolina" vol / page
l, chapt. l, he thus describes the very first
beginning of the City of Charleston:
That germ Of civilized population which
took root, fourshed, and spread in South
Carolina, was first planted at, or near Port
Royal, in 1910, by a few emgrants from Eng.
land, under the direction of WILLIAM SAYIn,
the first governor of the province Dissatis-
fled with that situation, they removed, in
l61l to the western banks of Ashley River,
and there laid the foundations of old Charles
ton, on aplaptation now belonging to ELIAS
LYNCH HovEY. This site was iniudiciousy
chosen, for it could not be approached by vcs-
sells Of large burden, and was therefore aban-
doned. second removal took place to Oys-
ter Point, formed by the confluence of the
rivers Ashley and Cooper. There in the year
1850, the foundation of the present city of
Charleston was laid and in one year thirty
houses were built. Neither the number of
the first settlers, nor their names, with the
exception of WILLIAM SAYLE ard JOSEPH
WEST, have reached posterty. They could
not, however, have 'bccn many; for all of
them, together with provisions, arms, and
utensils requisite for their support, defense
and comfort, in country inhabited only by
sayages, were brought from England to Caro-
lima in two vessels"
note appended to tho above, says that
ga monument in the Circular Church, erected
to the memory of Robert TnADD states that
he was the first male child born in Charleston,
and that he died on the Both of March, 1871
IN the SD year of his age" ThOugh the pre-
else time of his birth is not mentioned, the
whole accords with other historic evidence,
that Charlestown began to be built in 1880
AT first these settlers were from different
countries, and with different principles Eff.
teen years afterwards, many Protestants, of
the IIuguenot faith, Compelled by the rcvo-
cation of the Edct of Nantz) migrated from
the South of France to Carolina Many of
them settled on the Santce River, which was
named from them, the French, Santec But
from those among these refugees who estab-
ished themselves in " Charlestown,' es many
as 65 OF the most respectable families Of the
city are sprung. DR.. RAMSAY has Gin the
same chapter from whioh we quoted our OK.
tract,) given the names of all these founders
OF families. Among them are the names so
familiar to us in Pickens District, of +" Gail
lard and Dupre - and also of {" Laureus,"
the name of our ncighboring ID .rct Thus
we have given the earliest known history of
the dear old City. The approach TO it, we
think, is much more imposing as viewed from
the seaward on entering the harbor, than as
seen from the windows Of the cars by travel
lers from the country, Seated on the very
edge of the water, with her forest of masts,
her spires pointing to Heaven, and her line
Of Palaces on the 1}attery, she looks like tho
q Queen City of the South" the portal of the |
shivalrous lite}e Palmetto State, closed aud
guarded, and which must first be forced by
The ,eiistly, ere an Catrimce can be gained into
the interior '' ~ .ffE.H sia
And here we mnst be allowed to remark