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"D" is for Dale, Thomas (ca. 1700-1750)

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"D" is for Dale, Thomas (ca. 1700-1750). Physician, author, entrepreneur. A native of England, Dale received his medical degree from Leiden. After an unsuccessful career as a physician in London, he immigrated to South Carolina in 1732. Dale arrived just as yellow fever began spreading in Charleston and his services were put to use immediately. A widower, he married well twice—improving his wealth and social status. He had a successful pharmaceutical and medical practice. He also operated a prosperous gin distillery. Throughout his life, Dale regarded himself as a participant in the transatlantic world of letters. He corresponded with and sent specimens to naturalists in England and Europe. Friends in England got his poetry and essays published in periodicals. Thomas Dale is best known today for his poems, his writings, and his witty letters.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.