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"Y" is for Sir John Yeamans (1611-1674)

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"Y" is for Sir John Yeamans (1611-1674). Governor.  A native of Bristol, England, Yeamans was a Royalist soldier during the English civil war. In 1650, he joined other Royalists in immigrating to Barbados where he became a large landowner, judge, and member of the council. In 1665, Yeamans was named governor of the unsuccessful Barbadian colony at Cape Fear. In 1671, the Proprietors named him a landgrave and he immigrated to Carolina. Upon his arrival he claimed the governorship over the objections of local officials. However, in 1672, the Proprietors did appoint him to the office. In the slightly more than two years Yeamans was governor, he sold food at inflated prices for his own benefit. At the time of his death, the Proprietors had issued an order removing Sir John Yeamans as governor.

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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.