Genealogy Resources: Steps In Time

EDISTO ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA

Off the beaten path
and in another time lies a fabulous island...
Forty miles southwest of Charleston, South Carolina and resting within the arms of two tidal rivers, is beautiful Edisto. An aura of mystic and alluring charm hovers over this Island and its old homes. Ancient Spanish Moss shrouds with ghostly grandeur magnolias and gnarled live oak trees which have withstood the ravages of time. Great and small plantation houses stand sentinel over the land, as yellow jassamine and white Cherokee rose play against a contrast of dark tangled jungles of palmetto myrtle, yucca and jack vine. Tidal marshes and creeks stretch their arms wide and lonely, beckoning--beckoning an unwary visitor into the swaying gray-green grasses hiding from view the deadly twists and turns of the salt creeks and inlets.

Sit back. Relax. Close your eyes. It is evening. Still. Breathlessly quiet. The faint haunting melody of a lullaby drifts across the twilight. A galloping horse passes. Listen! The swish of a silken skirt. A soft step on wooden floors.

Way back, in what we call the old days, the Edistow Indians lived on the banks of the North Edisto River. They enjoyed fertile land, wild game, and fish in an abundant supply. When the Spanish came to the area, they called the Island Oristo. It has also variously been called Locke, and Mause Island.

It is possisble that Edisto was settled before Charles Towne. Old records claim that the Earl of Shaftesbury, one of the Lords Proprietors, bought the land in 1674 from the Edisto Indians for a piece of cloth, beads, and hatchets. It is known that one Paul Grimball constructed a home at the Point of Pines and to this day its tabby foundation is intact. In 1682, the fifth colonial governor of Carolina, Joseph Morton, built his home on the Island. These were perilous times for settlers because of threats from Indians and Spaniards. In 1686, the Spaniards raided the Island, and burned Grimball's and Morton's houses. Their raid provided them with gold, silver and other valuables as well as their slaves.

The first settlers of Edisto planted rice, but the infusion of salt water precluded its culture. Instead, indigo (source of blue dye) became gold for the plantation owners. At the start of the Revolutionary War, England ceased paying for indigo, and its cultivation resulted in a state of decay.

The Islanders were not to be daunted. They turned their skills to the cultivation of Sea Island Cotton, which flourished in the Island's black fertile soil. It has been said that France bought all of the cotton after harvest, before it ever had a chance to go to market.

The money from Sea Island Cotton brought untold wealth to the planters. Exquisite furniture, silver, clothing and ornaments graced the plantation homes. Children were sent abroad for schooling. The planters established summer homes on Edingsville, a small barrier island connected to Edisto by a causeway built on a foundatiion of sea shells and black marsh med. Town houses were taken in Charles Towne, and trips were taken to the other colonies. Then came the War!

The cotton fields lay idle. Beautiful homes were empty or no longer stood. Spiders spun shimmering webs between crystal prisms on the chandeliers. And the gardens became as stems without flowers.

A roster of early settlers named Chisolms, Clarks, Baynards, Seabrooks, Hanahans, Townsends, Middletons, Whaleys, Mikells, Lees, and Baileys. Their children intermarried, and within several decades nearly all of the families were connected by blood or marriage.

Today Edisto, has changed, but still remains the same. The ghosts of yesterday are everywhere, and the ebbing tide shows the

"Steps In Time".

NOTE: The above was adapted from a book no longer in print, Tales of Edisto,by Nell S. Graydon, 1955. Although much my senior, Nell was a dear friend of mine. We corresponded for years before her death in 1986. Our friendship began shortly before her book was completed. Much of the material on the Rev. William States Lee was given to her by me. I was a student at the time, under the tutorial of the Ursuline Nuns at their convent school. Although neither of us were Catholic, she was instrumental in instilling in me, the value of an "Ursuline Education." She was a leader in the restoration of Cokesbury College and a leading advocate of historical preservation in South Carolina. She authored and co-authored ten books pertaining to South Carolina history, but was best known for her Tales of Edisto.She died at ninety-three.

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