Enslaved People of South Carolina & Datha Island
This photo is of Brutus on Palawana Island, SC, circa early 1900s. The image is from Face of an Island: Leigh Richmond Miner’s Photographs of Saint Helena Island, compilation by…
Horace Hann Sams (1829 – 1865)
Horace Hann Sams (1829-1865) is one of the four Beaufort men I wrote about earlier who died in the Civil War. Today I dig deeper into Major HH Sams life and legacy. It becomes clear from contemporary accounts about him what drove this southern soldier in our American Civil War. Those he left behind were deeply affected by their loss. To paraphrase novelist Mitch Albom, his death ended a life, not a relationship. His older brother Rev. James Julius Sams, carries his sorrow into the memoir he wrote 40 years later.
Slavery and Datha’s Enslaved by Jane Griffith
The Sams family’s success and prosperity could not have been achieved without the hundreds of enslaved men, women, and children who worked silently tilling the land, harvesting the sea island cotton, building the structures, and serving their Sams masters in many ways. Datha’s enslaved peoples were an undeniable and vital part of this island’s plantation era history. Their lives and work on plantations on Datha Island, Ladys Island, and St. Helena Island spanned three generations of the Sams family.
Sea Island Cotton of South Carolina
Presentation by Bill Riski, of the Dataw Historic Society, on the history of sea island cotton. He explains why plantations came to the sea islands, why this crop was unique to the sea islands, why it was so desirable, and why it disappeared. This presentation adds to the body of knowledge of the Sams of South Carolina. Though sea island cotton generated enormous wealth for a few, it required great suffering by many.
Reflections
It was 237 years ago that William Sams and his wife Elizabeth Hext bought Datha Island and started the journey that led to Alcoa South Carolina Inc. and the residential community we know as Dataw Island. I’ve really enjoyed writing the 52 Sams in 52 Weeks series this year. It has been a labor of exploration and discovery from the Dataw Historic Foundation for the island residents and Sams descendants. Now it’s time for a break. Rather than continue the weekly rhythm, I plan to cut back to ‘whenever.’ History comes from memories, from experience, from events both personal and public. I will be following the truth of these, and I will write again as the stories inspire me. [1]
From my experience this year and your feedback, it is clear that “history matters to people on this island.”
Antebellum Christmas on Datha Island
Christmas in the Lowcountry of South Carolina will be celebrated this week, as it has been for centuries. However, back in the antebellum days, the planters celebrated one way, and the enslaved in a much different way. Like the plantation system, which was imported from Britain, the Christmas traditions when the Reverend James Julius Sams (1826 – 1918) reflected on his childhood around 1835 – 1840 on Datha Island were probably more British-inspired than German. Julius begins his reflections about Christmas this way,
“Christmas was the merriest and saddest time. The merriest, because we were all together. The saddest, because the time was coming for us to part again.”
Uncertainty – Grateful to Andrew Robinson
This week’s theme is UNCERTAINTY. Take, for example, who is buried in the Cotton Dike Cemetery? This story begins in 2004 with an interview with two brothers, then wanders through monuments, ground-penetrating radar, a rededication ceremony, and the British territory of Saint Helena Island. It ends with the recent graveside service of Andrew Robinson. We are grateful to Andrew, his brothers, and his nephew for bringing a measure of certainty to our Cotton Dike cemetery.
Dataw Island: No Ordinary Place
From prehistoric times to present day, an island rich in history, mystery, and stunning natural beauty. Experience the beauty and history of Dataw Island, South Carolina in this exquisite, limited edition, historical, coffee table book. With over 200 images – from archaeological findings to Dataw’s ruins and its breathtaking natural vistas, you will enjoy and learn the depth of history that makes Dataw the special place that it is today.
Tale of Two Cemeteries
The tabby ruins at the Sams Plantation Complex stand as mute evidence of a bygone era. There were two distinct ways of life which coexisted in the antebellum South. The Plantation Owner and his family were White, European-American, educated, affluent and engaged, politically, socially and culturally, in the wider community. The Slaves, on the other hand, were captured by European slavers who forcibly removed them to North and South America from all over West Africa.