First of two Beauforts

May 7, 2020 – After anchoring in a remote spot just north of the SC/GA border, we made a short run up to take a mooring ball at Beaufort, SC.

Beaufort, South Carolina, is pronounced “BEW-fert”,  with a similar sound as the one you find in the word “beautiful.”

In about 330 more miles, we will come to Beaufort, North Carolina, which is pronounced “BOW-fert” or “BOH-fert.” It has a similar pronunciation as the one you find in the old-fashioned name “Beauregard.”

Important to know, since you don’t want to go around mispronouncing the name of the place when talking to people who live there!

Founded in 1711, Beaufort is known for its historic Antebellum streets framed by natural foliage and centuries-old, moss-draped live oak trees, so we dinghied ashore to take a look around.

Baptist Church

In addition to the residential buildings, we noted a couple churches (in addition to the big Baptist church) with interesting side stories.

The first of these was the First African Baptist Church. It doesn’t exactly say why it needed to be founded. But I think that we know why.

Anyway, a very nice looking church, and and interesting story about one of its notable members is described below.

Not being familiar with Mr Smalls, mentioned on the plaque, we looked him up, and found that he lived quite a remarkable life. From Wikipedia: Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was an American businessman, publisher, and politician. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil War by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, CSS Planter, in Charleston harbor, on May 13, 1862, and sailing it from Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it. He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in Beaufort-Port Royal-Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army.

After the American Civil War he returned to Beaufort and became a politician, winning election as a Republican to the South Carolina State legislature and the United States House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era. Smalls authored state legislation providing for South Carolina to have the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States. He founded the Republican Party of South Carolina. Smalls was the last Republican to represent South Carolina’s 5th congressional district until 2010.

We had also been advised to visit the cemetery of the St Helena church. St. Helena’s Church is one of the oldest active churches in the country. The congregation dates back to 1712 when St. Helena’s colonial parish was established by the Church of England. 

In the cemetery, we found headstones for combatants on both sides during the Revolutionary War.

The church was also used as a Union hospital during the Civil War.

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