Charleston : Crossroads of History

Residents and visitors alike will be intrigued by this story of America's Most Historic City -- and the story of her people -- told by Charlestonians who intimately know the families, the houses, and the history. This is the story of the Middletons, Laurenses, Lowndes, Pinckneys, Gadsdens and, Manigaults -- the tempestuous, arrogant, independent Charlestonians who seceded not once, but three times: from their Proprietors in 1719, from the British three months before adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and tragically in 1860 from the United States of America. It's all here -- Indian uprisings, slave insurrections, race riots, hurricanes, tornadoes, Scots-Irish immigrants living in earth shelters "rather like potatoe hooses," the wealthy rice planter flaunting his coat of arms on his palatial Battery mansion, the slave boatman who became a United States Congressman -- and the oldest church bells in the city that play "Three Blind Mice."

Isabella Gaud Leland was a Charlestonian with maternal roots in the area dating back to 1678. Her father was founder of the Gaud School for Boys in Charleston. The late Ms. Leland's professional background included twenty years teaching in Charleston public and private schools; seven years feature writing for the Charleston News and Courier; co-author of Our Charleston, a history booklet published by the Junior League; and a lecturer and licensed tour guide Robert N. Rosen is a shareholder in the law firm of Rosen, Rosen & Hagood in Charleston, South Carolina. He received his B.A. degree in history with distinction from the University of Virginia in 1969, his M.A. degree in history from Harvard University in 1970 and his J.D. degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1973. He was admitted to the South Carolina Bar that same year. He has served on the board of the South Carolina Historical Society, is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Historic Charleston Foundation and is Chairman of the Arts and History Commission of the City of Charleston