Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts

Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Huguenot Emigrants 1680 - History of Charleston South Carolina the French Church

The Huguenot emigrants, who only arrived in Charleston 1680 to 1686, began their "French Church" in Charleston about 1687 in the upper part of Charlestons Church Street on land conveyed by Ralph Izard and Mary his wife (a Miss Middleton) for that purpose. Isaac Mazyck, one of Charlestons earliest and wealthiest emigrants of their race, gave generously to Charleston. At the other end of Church Street were the Baptists, on land in Charleston given by William Elliott, and the Quakers had a Friends Meeting House outside the walls, near to the present King Street in Charleston. Thus in ten years from the founding of Charleston or Charles Town there was no lack of places of worship; it is remarkable that although no one of the original buildings in Charleston remains churches still stand upon each of these sites, belong-ing to the same organizations and denominations. The " Friends' is the only exception to this. The building was destroyed by fire, and there being no Quakers now in Charleston it was never rebuilt; but the lot is kept sacred, and is still owned by the society.

So far the people of all these various denominations were, with the exception of a few Dutch, from Nova-Belgia, descendants of Great Britain, subjects of the King; but now from 1680 to 1688 came the French Huguenots, strangers and aliens, into this English community.

Irene Hurricane

Charleston had not seen the last of Sir Henry. He came back to charleston with an army in February, 1780, and advancing this time by way of John's and James Islands, crossed the Ashley River above the city of charleston and laid siege to it from the rear on the main land. About the same time, the fleet, mindful of its former drubbing, ran past Fort Moultrie, under a heavy fire, without attempting to engage it, and, in conjunction with batteries erected on James Island, threatened the city of Charleston from the south and west. A shot from one of these batteries, that stood near the conspicuous point called the "Hundred Pines," left a mark in Charleston which may still be seen.

At the intersection of Broad and Meeting streets there was then placed a statue of William Pitt, raised by the grateful colonists in recognition of that statesman's fearless espousal of their cause in the British Parliament, in resisting the Stamp Act and other oppressive measures. A cannon shot from James Island, unmindful of the distinguished statesman at home, and of the fact that he was then upholding his government manfully in the pending struggle, struck the statue. carrying away its arm, and otherwise mutilating it. It now stands in Washington Square, hard by its former location, with its beauty still sadly marred by what was a home bullet if not a home thrust."

General Lincoln, who commanded the American forces, should not have attempted to stand a siege the city of Charleston, but should have saved his little army - sadly needed elsewhere while yet there was time. He was in a cul-de-sac, without hope of relief, was largely outnumbered, and his capitulation was only a question of time.

The Huguenot Emigrants 1680 - History of Charleston South Carolina the French Church

Monday, October 17, 2011

Atlantic Hurricanes - The Top 3 Atlantic Hurricanes in Recorded History

Living near the Virginia capes, I know about hurricanes, and have lived through a few. Recently, we had a close call with a hurricane.   In the local newspaper they had a picture of a property affected by that "close call".  In the picture, the road that I was driving on just last summer, is now 100 yards out in the ocean!   It got me to wondering what the most dangerous hurricanes have been. The three I found are 1) 1992 Hurricane Andrew 2) 1926 Miami and 3) 1900 Galveston.   Read on and I'll show you why they are at the top.

Hurricane Andrew 1992. This was the 2nd most intense hurricane. It struck the Bahamsas and later on hit Florida.  Estimated Damage was .5 Million. But there was another storm that was quite dangerous.

Irene Hurricane

In 1926 the Miami hurricane was particularly deadly. It wasn't just devastating to property but it also took many human lives. It was the most destructive storm in the US. And after hitting Florida, the result was 325 deaths. Some estimates suggest that the death toll could have gone up to 800. 

The last of the top 3 hurricanes came in the early 1900's. It was the Galveston hurricane  This was the most damaging.  With a death toll of 6,000 people, it took out all of Galveston. Even today, they remember the impact this storm had on the area. 

Each year hurricanes come and go, but these three remain in everyone's memory: Hurricane Andrew, the 1926 Miami hurricane and the 1900 Galveston hurricane.  If you want to learn more, check out the hurricane websites online. You might find out others that were also dangerous.

Atlantic Hurricanes - The Top 3 Atlantic Hurricanes in Recorded History