Off the Beaten Path

The first settlers of Edisto planted rice, but the infusion of salt water precluded its culture. Instead, indigo (source of blue dye) became gold for the plantation owners. At the start of the Revolutionary War, England ceased paying for indigo. Its cultivation soon fell into a state of decay.

The islanders were not to be daunted. They turned their skills to the cultivation of Sea Island Cotton, which flourished in the island's black fertile soil. It has been said that France bought all of the cotton after harvest, before it ever had a chance to go to market.

The money from Sea Island Cotton brought untold wealth to the planters. Exquisite furniture, silver, clothing, and ornaments graced the plantation homes. Children were sent abroad for schooling. The planters established summer homes on Edingsville, a small barrier island connected to Edisto by a causeway. (Sea Shells and black marsh mud formed the foundation for this over-the-water road.) Town houses were taken in Charles Towne and trips were taken to the other colonies. Then came war!

Cotton fields lay idle. Beautiful homes were empty or no longer stood. Spiders spun shimmering webs between crystal prisms on chandeliers. Gardens became as stems without flowers.

But, the people remained. A roster of early settlers read Chisolm, Clark, Baynard, Seabrook, Hanahan, Towsend, Middleton, Whaley, Mikell, Lee, Villepontoux, Cantey, and Bailey. Their children intermarried and within several decades nearly all of the families were connected by blood or marriage.

Today, Edisto has changed, but still remains the same. I like to call it their modern look, tempered by tradition. The ghosts of the past are everywhere and the ebbing tide preserves their steps in time.

Standing in this pristine beauty and resting at the edge of a salt marsh, are the tenacious remains of a beautiful old home--the Presbyterian Manse of my great-great-great-grandfather, William States Lee. Time and elements have spared this three-story beauty with its tabby foundation. Today, it steadfastly continues to defy the coastal onslaught of flood, hurricane, wind, rain, hail and salt. The Manse holds its place on the National Register of Historic Houses.

Presbyterian Manse, c.1838

In 1960 I walked, for the first time, through its rooms. Ghosts of the past flitted before my view and carried me into their misty world. I heard, on the wind, the long-ago footsteps of the Lee children, Caroline and Sarah. The aroma of country ham played with my imagination. The walls spoke softly to their

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