Walter Edgar

"D" is for Dabbs, Edith Mitchell (1906-1991). Author, churchwoman, community activist. Dabbs, a native of Dalzell, graduated from Coker College and then taught school for several years. Through the 1940s and 1950s she was active in the work of the United Church Women (an ecumenical Christian organization) and served as state president. Under her leadership the organization grew from half a dozen white women to an integrated annual gathering of more than two hundred. She also served on the national organization’s Public Relations Committee.

"P" is for Pardo, Juan. Spanish soldier, explorer. In 1565, Pardo travelled to Spanish Florida as the captain of one of six military companies sent to reinforce the colony. His company was posted to Santa Elena, located on present-day Parris Island. He was ordered to explore for an overland route to the silver mines of Mexico—thought to be just several hundred miles inland. He never reached Mexico, but his two expeditions provided a valuable look at mid sixteenth century southeastern Indians. On his second expedition he built six forts, garrisoned with Spanish soldiers.

"K" is for Kellogg, Clara Louise (1842-1916). Opera singer. Born in Sumter, Kellogg’s family moved to Connecticut when she was a child. After completing her education at Ashland Seminary and Musical Institute, she made her musical debut in 1861at the Academy of Music in New York. During the 1870s Kellogg toured extensively throughout Europe and North America. She was one of the first American operatic singers to gain an international reputation.

"J" is for Jackson, Andrew (1767-1845). Soldier, U.S. senator, president of the United States. Jackson was born in the Waxhaw settlement of Lancaster District. He was an active partisan fighter during the Revolutionary War. After the war he moved to North Carolina and then to Tennessee. Very quickly, he entered politics representing Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. During the War of 1812, he led the successful defense of New Orleans and became a national hero. In 1824, he won the popular vote, but lost the election to John Quincy Adams.

"I" is for Indian Affairs Commission. The Lords Proprietors established the first Indian Affairs Commission in 1680 with the expectation that it would help promote peace between the local Indians and the settlers. During the colonial period—up to 1763 when the British government assumed control over Indian affairs in all colonies—the commission continued to function. However, it appears that the royal governor wielded most of the authority. After the Revolutionary War, control over Indian affairs passed to the United State government.

"H" is for H.L. Hunley. On the night of February 17, 1864, the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley attacked and sank the USS Housatonic about four miles off Sullivan’s Island. This was the first successful sinking of an enemy ship by submersible in the history of the world. Constructed in Mobile, Alabama, and named for one of its owners, the iron vessel was forty feet long, five feet tall, and four feet wide. It was transported to Charleston with the hopes that it would help break the Union naval blockade of the port.

"G" is for Gadsden, Christopher (1724-1805). Patriot, merchant. Born in Charleston, Gadsden was educated in England. In the 1740s he launched one of the most successful mercantile careers in the colony. Possessing financial independence and a civic spirit, he pursued public office. In 1757 he began his nearly thirty years’ service in the Commons House of Assembly. He became an outspoken defender of colonial rights and—after a public dispute with the royal governor in 1762—was transformed into a zealous American patriot.

"F" is for Fairfield County (687 square miles; 2010 population 23,838). Fairfield County, lying in the lower Piedmont, is a geologically diverse region with topography ranging from level plains to hilly terrain. The county lies primarily between the Broad and Wateree Rivers north of Richland County. Originally part of the 1769 court district of Camden, the area became Fairfield District in 1800 and then Fairfield County in 1868. Mississippian mound builders were active in the region from 1300 to 1400 C.E. The first European settlers arrived in the 1740s.

"E" is for Earle, Joseph Haynsworth (1847 - 1897). U.S. senator. A native of Greenville, Earle was orphaned at five and was reared by an aunt in Sumter. In 1864 he enlisted in the Confederate army. After the war he attended Furman and was admitted to the bar. He opened a practice in Sumter in the mid-1870s. In 1878 he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and in 1882 to the state senate. He was South Carolina Attorney General from 1886-1890. Although a staunch member of the Democratic Party’s Conservative faction, he was elected a circuit judge in 1894.

"C" is for Caesar (ca. 1682-ca. 1754). Enslaved Person, medical practitioner. Caesar was an enslaved person who gained his freedom in 1750 in exchange for his revealing knowledge of cures for poison and rattlesnake bite.  Upon hearing of his cures, the Commons House began an investigation into their effectiveness. After having his remedies verified by physicians and other notables, the Commons House of Assembly granted him his freedom and awarded him an annual pension of £100 currency. In May 1750 the South-Carolina Gazette published Caesar’s cures and reprinted them in 1751.

"S" is for Springdale (Lexington County; 2010 population: 2,635). One of the youngest towns in the Midlands, until World War II this was a farming community with daily life dominated by crops, weather, seasons, church activities, and classes at Long Branch School. In 1955, reacting to fears of annexation by nearby West Columbia and Cayce, residents informed state officials of tentative plans to establish the town of Sherwood. In the ensuing election, voters were asked to do three things: approve or reject incorporation; if approved, the form of government; and name the new town.

"S" is for Spratt, John McKee, Jr. (b. 1942). Congressman, lawyer. Reared in York, Spratt graduated from Davidson College; was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford, and obtained his law degree from Yale. After military service he returned home to practice law. In 1982, he was elected to Congress from the 5th Congressional District—and was subsequently re-elected until 2010—serving in the House twenty-eight years. In Congress Spratt garnered seats on three key House committees:  Budget, Armed Services, and Government Reform and Oversight.

"S" is for Spotted salamander. State amphibian. The spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) became the official state amphibian in June 1999. The designation resulted from the interest and activity of children in the third-grade class at Woodlands Heights Elementary School in Spartanburg. Students conducted research and a letter-writing campaign to get the amphibian adopted, enlisting support from scientists, public officials, and other third-graders in the state.

"S" is for Spoleto. In 1977, the composer Gian Carlo Menotti, backed by the National Endowment for the Arts, chose Charleston as the home for the American counterpart of his festival in Spoleto, Italy. He ran the festival himself. When he angrily pulled out in 1993, few thought that the festival would survive. It nearly did not. But by the turn of the twenty-first century, Spoleto was flourishing. It developed a substantial endowment and an even more substantial reputation for quality, variety, innovation, and, not least, for nurturing young artists.

"S" is for Spirituals. With both sacred and secular influences, spirituals reflect the strong interplay between African American cultural traditions and those of European Americans. Scots-Irish in the backcountry and English and French settlers on the coast introduced a rich variety of church hymnody. Slaves and freedman introduced West African music styles. One of the primary focuses of both black and white spiritual music rests with an emphasis on group participation and improvisation.