Thomas Walter: Patriot and Botanist

Thomas Walter was likely born in Hampshire, England about 1740; an aunt died there in 1784 and left him a house, from which he collected rent for the last 6 years of his life. It does not appear that he attended a major university like Cambridge or Oxford, but Walter likely received a formal education. By 1769, Walter was in South Carolina.

Over the next two decades, Walter acquired nearly 5,000 acres of land across the Lowcountry and Pee Dee, much of which was in Berkeley County. Though he spent time in Charleston, his home plantation was on the south side of the Santee River near Mexico Plantation and the Marion family.

Walter’s first wife was Anne Lesesne of Daniel Island, who unfortunately died within a year of marriage. Walter’s next wife was Ann Peyre, possibly of St. Stephen’s Parish, with whom he had four children; their marriage was also short, ending with Ann’s death in 1780. His third and final marriage, in 1781, was to Dorothy Cooper. They also had a daughter.

Around the time of Anne’s death, Walter began an earnest study of botany. Walter studied the plants within an approximately fifty-mile radius of his plantation and worked with fellow botanist John Fraser to study and collect specimens from the Midlands and Upstate. Walter’s botanical garden on the Santee was likely one of the first intentional botanical gardens in the English colonies of North America. Fraser took Walter’s research manuscript and samples from his collection to England in 1788. The manuscript was published as Flora Caroliniana, and the specimens are still housed at the British Museum of Natural History. Walter was the first to use the Linnaean system of classification for North American flora, providing brief descriptions for over 1,000 plant species. Since his death, eight plant species have been named in Walters’ honor. The Flora Caroliniana can be viewed as a PDF here.

Being an Englishman by birth, many assume that Walter was a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War. This was not the case. Walter was a member of the committee for the Continental Association, actively recruiting for the Patriot cause by at least the autumn of 1774. In 1779, the botanist-planter was commissioned Deputy Paymaster of the Militia.

Walter also had an even more local connection to us here at the Berkeley County Museum, which is located inside Old Santee Canal Park. In 1786, Walter joined the board of a commission created to investigate and plan connecting the Santee and Cooper Rivers with a canal. The Canal would not be constructed until after Walter’s death, but he was involved in the early years of planning.

Photo by Mike Stroud, 2009.

Thomas Walter died in January 1789 after being ill for some time. His will listed 32 enslaved people, 7 oxen, 9 cows, 39 sheep, 19 hogs, 230 bushels of corn, 45 barrels of rice, and nearly 3000 bushels of rough rice. He was buried in his garden beside the Santee River. A historical marker for him stands outside of St. Stephen, and a road called Thomas Walter Circle can be found in Santee. Botanist H.W. Ravenel visited the Walter property in the 1850s, but unfortunately, "one or two . . . things, were the only memorials left of his botanical garden.”

Artifact Spotlight: "Columbia Calls" recruitment poster

The focus of today’s Artifact Spotlight is this World War I “Columbia Calls” recruitment poster.

MSS29.1.1

Convinced that the US entering the war was inevitable, Frances Adams Halsted wrote a poem, Columbia Calls, in 1916. After America entered World War I on April 6, 1917, Halsted donated her poem and accompanying image design to the U.S. War Department. Three months later, the New York Times announced plans to print 500,000 copies as a poster; over one million copies were eventually printed. This poster therefore dates to about that year.

The poster is torn on the bottom right and the corner is missing, but most of the text remains. The original poster was painted by Vincent Aderente.

The poster was found in the Museum’s map cabinet with no provenance or donation information - if you know the donor, please let us know! Unfortunately, our copy of this poster is in extremely poor condition and cannot go out on display.

Dianah Johnson of White House Plantation

To continue telling a diverse history of the Revolution, the Museum and Berkeley 250 are working to research the lives of the War's Berkeley County women.

Formerly enslaved at White House Plantation in Goose Creek, Dianah Johnson was a teenager when she "ran off" in 1780. In November 1783, Dianah embarked from New York City on the L'Abondance, a British ship used to transport formerly-enslaved Black Americans to Nova Scotia. Nothing else is known of her life, though there is a marriage of a Dianah Johnson and Mingo Leslie in New York City in 1783. The embarkation list for the L’Abondance shows Mingo Leslie's name listed directly above Dianah's.

The image here comes from the "Book of Negroes," a list of nearly 3,000 Black refugees leaving the United States for Canada in 1783. There are several Berkeley County names in the document; more research is ongoing.

WWI Story: Felix Ferguson

Private Felix Ferguson was born in 1893 or 1895 in Berkeley County, the son of Felix Ferguson and Keziah Brown. His exact birth year is unknown - his death certificate shows 1893, but his draft registration shows 1895. Before the military, he worked as a farmer near Whitesville.

In December 1917, Ferguson registered for the draft at Moncks Corner. By April of the next year, he was a private in the 371st Infantry headed to France; Ferguson listed his place of residence on the departure sheet as "Oakley Depot". He served until February 24, 1919 and was honorably discharged in March 1919. Ferguson was awarded three citations for gallantry in action near Trieres Farm (France) in September 1918, continuing to fight though he had trench foot.

Unfortunately, Ferguson's post-war life was short. He passed away in January 1920, less than a year after returning home. His cause of death was nephritis, with the condition "discovered soon after return from Army." While it's not listed as such, it's possible that Ferguson died of trench nephritis, an infection first recognized during the War. He left behind a partner and children.

Ferguson is buried at Beaufort National Cemetery; his headstone was installed there in 1937. His American Victory Medal and Silver Star are on display here at the Berkeley County Museum.


Timothy Withers of Goose Creek

To continue telling a diverse history of the Revolution, the Museum and Berkeley 250 are working to research the lives of the War's lesser-known figures, including women and enslaved people.

Timothy Withers was born in about 1757. It is unknown where Withers was born or if Timothy was his name at birth. He was enslaved by William Withers at one of his Goose Creek plantations, possibly Red Bank.

Though the Book of Negroes says that Withers acquired his freedom in 1779, it is more likely that he self-emancipated sometime between the death of William Withers in the autumn of 1778 and the sale of Red Bank plantation in December 1778.

Timothy Withers | 26 | Stout fellow
(from The Book of Negroes - Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester: Papers, The National Archives, Kew (PRO 30/55/100) 10427 pages 133-134.)

Withers joined up with the Black Pioneers, a British auxiliary military unit, perhaps when the group was in Charleston; his position within the Pioneers is unknown, but the jobs were often dangerous ones such as courier and scouting duties. The Company traveled with Colonel Sir Henry Clinton and were with him in New York City at the end of the War. It was here in November 1783 that Withers embarked on the Joseph, a ship used to transport formerly enslaved Black Americans to Nova Scotia. He was listed in the ship manifest as 26 years old, a “stout fellow,” and formerly enslaved by William Withers.

Nova Scotia Archives; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Land Petitions (1765-1800); Volume Number: 20

Unfortunately, little else is known about the life of Timothy Withers. Withers made it to Nova Scotia, where he and other former Black Pioneers made lives for themselves in Annapolis County and the surrounding area.

In 1789, Withers and over 100 other formerly enslaved Black people were given property on the southern part of the peninsula. Withers, for having served with the Black Pioneers, was to given nineteen acres of farmland near Clementsvale and Digby. He was also to be granted a town lot. Whether or not Withers actually settled there is unknown; many of the names on the land grant application never used the land. A “Timothy Weathers” appears in Clements Township (now called Clementsport) census records in 1791, but it is unknown whether this is the Timothy Withers formerly of Goose Creek. More than 1,000 Black people who had evacuated to the Maritimes of Canada left for Sierra Leone in 1792; Withers may have been among them.

What's in a Name?: Moncks Corner

Today, a visitor asked, "When did they add the 'c' to Moncks Corner?" and we thought that would be a good blog post!

The short answer is that it was always there. The longer answer involves spelling standardization (whether people included the 'c' or not when writing about the town). But neither answer includes the monks at Mepkin Abbey, who arrived over 200 years after the town was first settled.

The area around modern Moncks Corner was historically occupied by Indigenous peoples. During the late 17th century, the first permanent white settlers were largely French Huguenots, many descendants of whom still live in the area. These Huguenots intermarried with English settlers.

In 1735, James Le Bas - grandson of a French Huguenot immigrant - deeded 1,000 acres of land to Thomas Monck. Thomas Monck was married to Joanna Broughton, daughter of future lieutenant governor Thomas Broughton; it’s possible he purchased the Le Bas land to be close to his wife’s family, who had land in the area. Monck named the land “Mitton.”

By 1748, a settlement had sprung up in the area of Mitton Plantation and was called Monck’s Corner, as seen in this South-Carolina Gazette real estate notice. This settlement was likely called “Monck’s Corner” because it was on or near the land owned by the Monck family. Mitton Plantation was near the fork or “corner” in the road out of Charleston; the left fork went toward the Cherokee Path and the Congaree River Road, while the right fork went toward the Santee River and Georgetown and points northeast. Moncks Corner doesn’t appear to have been planned - it just happened to spring up around the heavily-trafficked intersection.

It is unknown who the first permanent residents of “Monck’s Corner” were, though they were likely traders or those who benefited from trade. The first known marriage in Moncks Corner was solemnized in 1754 between Simeon Theus of the town and Elizabeth Mackey of Amelia Township (near Orangeburg). By the late 1750s, several stores and businesses were located in the town.

The apostrophe in the name came and went for decades, before (mostly) disappearing with the arrival of the railroad in the 1850s, as shown on this 1857 atlas. There was likely no postmaster in Moncks Corner between the end of the Civil War and 1873, when a post office was reestablished.

So where do the monks come in? In 1949, Henry and Clare Booth Luce donated a large part of the Mepkin Plantation property to the Order of the Cistercians of Strict Observance, more commonly known as “Trappists.” The Abbey is open most days and is a beautiful and historic place to visit.

WWI Story: Florence Inez Meyers

Florence Inez Myers was born in Cordesville in December 1899. In her youth, she attended Carlisle Academy in Bamberg. Her family were farmers.

In October 1918, Myers enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve in Charleston. By the end of WWI, over 12,000 women served with the USNR. Myers was honorably discharged in July 1919.

After the war, Myers returned to Cordesville and farmed with her family. Within a few years, she had married and moved to North Charleston, where she shows up on the 1930 census with her husband and daughter. The Smiths lived in North Charleston through at least 1970, when Frank Smith, retired superintendent of Texaco, died.

Florence Myers Smith died in 1979 and is buried in Pinopolis.

Did you know Mrs. Smith? We'd love to have a photo to include in our database of WWI servicepeople.

Grave marker photo by Mike & Bushy Hartman on FindAGrave.

National Prune Day

June 15 is celebrated as National Prune Day. For more information, visit the California Prune website.

The South-Carolina and American General Gazette, Mar 13, 1777.

There are over a dozen varieties of plums native to North America. Early colonists would have had access to the wild American plum, Prunus americana, here in South Carolina. Prunus angustifolia, the Chickasaw plum, is native to the continent, but was likely introduced to South Carolina via Native American trade. Notice in the 1777 property ad that the orchard contains plum trees of both English and Chickasaw varieties. Henry Laurens also introduced French plum trees into the Lowcountry. As early as 1739, traders in Charleston were importing “Raisins of the Sun and Prunes” for the colonists’ enjoyment. (An interesting, non-prune-related note: importer William Welfit noted in the same July 1739 notice that he would take payment in “Good Rice, Pich (sic.), Tar and Deer Skins” in addition to “ready Money.”)

Horticultural experimentation with native plums occurred throughout the following centuries, but most larger cities and markets relied on important or non-native plums for their money-making. Not all plums are good for making prunes; both the wild American plum and the Chickasaw plum can be dried to eat, but other varieties are better for this purpose. Today, prunes most commonly come from the European plum.

MSS02.2.31

In the spring of 1904, Mrs. Mary Louise (Gaillard) Macbeth of Pinopolis ordered groceries from Welch & Eason in Charleston. She was accidentally sent six pounds of prunes! We don’t know if Mrs. Macbeth settled up with the grocers, but we do have several other receipts from the Macbeth family around the turn of the 20th century.

WWI Story: Ruth Evelyn Bunch

Ruth Evelyn Bunch was born in Town of St. Stephen, SC in February 1901. Her parents were Edward and Mary Bunch.

By the fall of 1918, Bunch had moved to Charleston. She enlisted as a Landsman, Yeoman (F), U.S. Naval Reserve Force in September; it's possible that she lied about her age, because the "The Official Roster of South Carolina Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the World War" claims she was born in 1899. Bunch was stationed at the Navy Yard in Charleston until Armistice Day.

Bunch was discharged as a Yeoman (F) 3rd class in June 1920. Her occupation is listed as "civil service stenographer" on the 1920 census, and she worked as a stenographer at the Port Terminal
through at least 1921.

1920 census entry for Ruth E. Bunch (line 73).

By 1930, Bunch was married to accountant Harry Walker and living in Atlanta. Harry Walker had also been in the service, a sergeant in the Quartermaster Corps. Their time in Atlanta must have been brief, because they were living in the Charleston area again by 1935 and through Harry's death in 1967.

Bunch lived a long life, dying in Florida in 1991.

Artifact Spotlight: Gaillard Map

This is part one in a new blog series called “Artifact Spotlight.”

Upon walking into the Museum, one of the first things people see is the Gaillard Map hanging proudly on the wall. This map was donated in 2005 by the late former Charleston Mayor J. Palmer Gaillard, Jr.

Donor J. Palmer Gaillard Jr. points to Lake Moultrie on the large map. The photo was taken prior to the donation in 2005.

The map was first created in 1926 by Gaillard’s father, the late J. Palmer Gaillard (1874-1962). The senior Gaillard was a civil engineer and land surveyor. He worked for Harza Engineering of Chicago to do extensive surveys of the land that would become part of the Santee Cooper Project. Santee Cooper hired Harza (and Gaillard) in the summer of 1938.

The map was updated over the years, with the final changes coming in 1955. Landmarks such as the Santee Cooper Lakes and the Tailrace Canal were added as they were constructed. Most of the names of people and properties shown on the map date to the 1920s, giving a snapshot into the area before the Lakes.

Stop in soon to see the 6-foot map in all its glory, and see how many names you recognize on it!

From the Director's Desk

This post was originally published on Facebook on May 23, 2026.

From the Director's Desk:

Former director Michael Coker welcomes current director Chelsy Proper to the Museum family in 2019.

Happy Saturday, y'all! Today marks my 7th anniversary at the Berkeley County Museum. (Technically I started in April 2019, but May 23 is the day I was officially on my own.) Thank you to the Museum Board, my coworker and volunteers, my colleagues in local history and tourism, and, most importantly, YOU: the Museum supporters and community members who love our history as much as I do.

In the last 7 years, I've seen the Museum grow by leaps and bounds. From 2019's Pirate Festival to 2022's opening of Fort Fair Lawn to this past February's Revolutionary Berkeley Day, I've seen the community come out to our events and support us again and again. One of my favorite exhibits has been "Lowcountry Mourning in the Progressive Era," and judging by the compliments we received on it, y'all love it too! (Maybe it'll make a reappearance this fall....) I also love our state-of-the-art Revolutionary War kiosk, especially when I get to share the Revolutionary history of the neighborhoods of local students.

Again, thank you. Here's to 7 years and then 7 more!

National Iced Tea Day

Today is National Iced Tea Day. Pictured here is one of 6 tea plants recently added to the Museum gardens.

Though tea was consumed locally in the 17th and 18th century, it was mostly imported; Native Americans consumed caffeinated tea-like drinks made from yaupon, and this "Carolina tea" was eventually (and briefly) adopted by the white colonists.

French botanist Francois Andre Michaux first planted Camellia sinensis in the Lowcountry in 1799. (If you're familiar with the area around the Charleston International Airport, his name may ring a bell!) This tea did well but was generally unpopular because the flavor was different than the usual bohea or green teas.

Dr. Junius Smith started a commercial tea farm in Greenville in 1848, but it only lasted a few years because of his untimely death. Other tea farms came and went through the following decades. In 1893, Pinehurst Plantation in Summerville plucked its first native-grown tea. Pinehurst flourished until 1915.

In the 1960s, Lipton Tea Company took root cuttings from the former Pinehurst site and started new farms in Summerville and on Wadmalaw Island. In 2003 the Wadmalaw farm was purchased by Bigelow, who still own and operate Charleston Tea Garden today. The American Black Tea grown there is the only commercially-sold tea grown in the United States.

Since 1995, iced tea has been the official Hospitality Beverage of South Carolina.