eMagazine Articles
Dataw Island has three eMagazines that are released quarterly on a rolling basis throughout the year. Members of the Dataw Historic Foundation have written articles for them over the years. We thought you might be interested in where you can find these interesting stories. You can find the back issues by logging in to the Dataw website, clicking on MY CLUB, then eMAGAZINES.
Here are the first few sentences from each article to describe what each article is about. John Colgan, our former DHF President and long-time Dataw resident, wrote most of these.
Dateline – Mar/Apr 2012 – page 11
“Michael, Row the Boat Ashore is a well-known African-American spiritual popularized in 1960 by a folk- singing group calling themselves The Highwaymen. But did you know that it was first noted during the American Civil War right here on St. Helena Island? It was sung by former slaves whose owners had abandoned the island before the Union navy would arrive to enforce a blockade. ”
Dateline – Jul/Aug 2012 – page 11
“The Rev. James Julius Sams, son of B.B. Sams, wrote about his life growing up on Dataw through his “Memoirs of Datha Island.” His memoirs have provided us with considerable insight into his father’s plantation. This is one of his stories of “ghosts” or strange noises. It is written below exactly as written with no editing.”
Dateline – Sep/Oct 2012 – page 11
“According to historic records, the progenitor of the Sams Family was Bonum (Bonham) Sams II. He was baptized into the (Anglican) Church of England on February 2, 1663, in Somerset, England; one of six sons born to Thomas and Mary (Bagge) Sam. Not being the first-born son, Bonum did not inherit any of his parent’s estate. He would have to make his own way in the world. Indeed, political events intervened to shape that way early in his life.”
Dateline – Nov/Dec 2012 – page 11
Chapter Two of the article above. It starts out, “After arriving in Charleston with his wife Enstis, Bonum Sams worked for Capt. Benjamin Blake for thirteen years learning how to operate a plantation. Finally, on September 13, 1694, he received a warrant for 100 acres of land on the banks of the Wadmalaw River. He established a homestead on Wadmalaw Island near Seabrook and Johns Island. There, Bonum and Enstis planted indigo and processed the harvest into dyestuff for export to England where it was used in the burgeoning textile industry.”
Dateline – 2nd Quarter 2013 – page 11
“A few months ago, during a dock renovation project on Reeve Court, workers uncovered a number of articles. Most were old bottles, rusted cans, and broken pieces of glass – just junk, right? But one item caught homeowner Rosa Lee’s eye. It was a sherd of pottery with some distinctive triangular-shaped markings on it. This piqued her curiosity, so Rosa Lee called Jack Brown of DHF and asked him to have a look at it before she consigned it to the trash, Jack took the piece to Joel Holden, then President of DHF, who compared it to pieces of similar pottery on display at the Welcome/Sales Center. It matched perfectly! Rosa Lee had found a piece of Thom’s River punctuated pottery (1500 B.C. – 500 B.C.. Archaeological investigation reveals that some 3,500 years ago, a large Indian village once stood on the shores of the Morgan River extending from what is now Reeve Court over to Big Dataw Point.”
Dateline – 1st Quarter 2014 – page 11
“On May 30, 1783, William Sams purchased Dataw Island from Sarah and Robert Gibbes for 55,000 pounds. While the single owner history of the Island through its eight previous owners, beginning with Caleb Westbrook in 1682, is fascinating reading, it was not until William Sams’ death in 1789 that the Island was ever subdivided. William willed almost half of his possessions and use of the Plantation to his wife Elizabeth during her natural life, and willed the remaining to his three youngest sons, Lewis Reeve, Berners Barnwell, and Edward Hext , upon attaining their majority. Lewis and Berners bought out Edward’s interest and divided the island between them into approximately equal parcels, with Lewis assuming ownership of the north half termed “Datha Point” and Berners of the south half termed “Datha Inlet”, which contained the old house.”
Dateline – 2nd Quarter 2014 – page 11
“John Barnwell (1671–1724) was a native of Ireland who emigrated to the province of South Carolina in 1701. A skilled cartographer, Barnwell literally and figuratively put Beaufort on the map, according to a family history by Elizabeth Barnwell Gough. He also was patriarch of a family that influenced Beaufort politically, socially and economically for generations.”
Dateline – 3rd Quarter 2014 – page 14
“The great thing about history is that the truth continues to reveal itself yet mystify at the same time as you dig deeper and deeper into the past! That is exactly what has happened at the Sams Plantation Tabby Complex ruins this month!”
