The Dataw Heritage Walk
In early 2009 the Dataw Historic Foundation began the development of the Dataw Heritage Walk as a living legacy to those who have made Dataw the very special place it is today.
Bill Riski is a retired USAF Officer and systems engineer. His hobbies include history, photography, writing, and travel. Maintaining this website is a labor of love for the Dataw Historic Foundation in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where he and his wife now live.
Tabby Tattler 2011 Spring
Spring 2011 – DHF Annual Oyster Roast, Dairy-Cold Room Preservation, National Register Listing, HBF preservation award, and more…
HBF Preservation Award
Every year the Historic Beaufort Foundation gives its Historic Preservation Honor Award to celebrate successful and exemplary historic preservation projects around Beaufort County. This March the Dataw Historic Foundation received a 2011 Preservation Award from the HBF, at its Annual Meeting, for its preservation and stewardship of the Sams Plantation Ruins.
Issue 01 – Dataw changes hands… the early years (Part 1)
The early owners of Dataw from 1680 through 1755.
Issue 02 – Dataw changes hands….the early years (Part 2)
The early owners of Dataw from 1755 through 1861, the beginning of the Civil War.
Issue 03 – There is only one left in South Carolina…and we have it!
A story about the Dairy/Blade house in the Sams Family Plantation ruins complex.
Issue 04 – How ice came to Dataw?
A story about how ice was harvested in New England and shipped to Dataw Island.
Issue 05 – Berners Barnwell Sams had fifteen children!
BB Sams had a curious way of naming his 15 children.
Issue 06 – More about B. B. Sams family
More information about the 15 children and where they are buried. CLement Charles Sams is buried in Chester, SC.
Issue 07 – Dataw produces cash crops for the world!
From an Indigo plantation to a highly successful Sea Island Cotton plantation.
Issue 09 – King Datha…a giant among men?
The legend of a giant Indian named King Datha, the source of Dataw Island’s name.
Issue 10 – A child’s life…antebellum style.
The Rev. James Julius Sams Memoirs of Datha. Written circa 1905, they tell about his life as a child on Dataw. His reflections reveal how close he felt to his brother Horace Hann Sams, and why Horace’s death in the Civil War cut him so deeply.