Charleston Currents – Theodosia Burr Alston

FOCUS: A Hamilton walking tour of Charleston

By Andra Watkins, special to Charleston Currents | Most people associate Alexander Hamilton with New York, but his influence reached far beyond his adopted home state. Couple his reach with other characters from Hamilton: An American Musical on a future visit to historic Charleston, South Carolina.

A powerhouse of early America, Charleston rivaled Manhattan in size, money and influence. Its busy port was the first point of entry for many travelers to America, from foreigners seeking a fortune in the new world to Africans wrongly enslaved. Given the flood of people and commerce, Charleston was a hub for anyone after prosperity and power.

by Charleston Currents · 11/28/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

View of U.S. MIlitary Academy in West Point, N.Y., looking north up the Hudson River, 2001. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

BRACK: New “afterlife” novel by Watkins is hard to put down

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Local author Andra Watkins thrills at bringing history alive. She did it earlier this month in a talk at the Charleston County Public Library. And she does it in her new supernatural mystery thriller, Hard to Die.

On Nov. 2, about 30 people gathered at the library to hear what I thought would be a regular author talk by Watkins to help the launch of a new book, which came out the day before. Her talk was anything but regular.

by Andy Brack · 11/14/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Reviews, Views

HISTORY: Joseph Alston, governor

Scion of one of the great rice planting families of Georgetown District, Joseph Alston was born ca. 1778, the son of William “King Billy” Alston and Mary Ashe. Educated by private tutors, Alston attended the College of Charleston from 1793 to 1794. In 1795 he entered the junior class of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton), but withdrew before graduating. Alston studied law under Edward Rutledge, who predicted a brilliant future for his pupil. Admitted to the bar in 1799, Alston practiced only occasionally, devoting his career to the management of his extensive rice plantations in All Saints Parish, comprising 6,287 acres and 204 slaves.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 10/31/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia