Charles Shinner was an obscure Irish lawyer whose wealthy English client nominated him to be Chief Justice of South Carolina. He and his young wife arrived in Charleston in 1762 and settled into a prosperous life. In the face of growing political opposition in the mid-1760s, the defects of Shinner’s education soon undermined his career and endangered his family.

Episode 193: The Rise of Charles Shinner, Irish Chief Justice of South Carolina

The Apprentices’ Library Society, founded in 1824, sought to enhance the education of Charleston youths by providing reading material to teenagers studying traditional handicrafts, but its educational mission expanded to include programs and classes. 

Although fire wrecked the society’s fortunes in 1861 and it dissolved in 1874, this forgotten institution pointed towards the future libraries of Charleston that we recognize today.

Episode 217: Educating Antebellum Tradesmen: The Charleston Apprentices’ Library Society

Irish immigrants who adhered to the Catholic faith were not free exercise their religion in South Carolina until several years after the American Revolution. In the years preceding the War of Independence, however, a handful of documents point to the existence of an “Irish Church” in Mr. Mazyck’s Pasture, just outside the boundaries of urban Charleston. In the next episode of Charleston Time Machine, we’ll explore clues pointing to the location and purpose of this forgotten institution, the identity of its visitors, and its connection to the more-famous “Liberty Tree” and the revolutionary “Sons of Liberty.”

Episode 227: The 'Irish Church' in Mazyck's Pasture: An Early Catholic Refuge in South Carolina?

Dr. Nic Butler, historian at the Charleston County Public Library, explores the less familiar corners of local history with stories that invite audiences to reflect on the enduring presence of the past in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

Episode 227: The 'Irish Church' in Mazyck's Pasture: An Early Catholic Refuge in South Carolina?

Charleston Time Machine

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