Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2017

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feature
Looking at Mount Pleasant today, you might have
a tough time believing that this ever-expanding
town was once a small, quaint bedroom
community where everyone knew everyone else’s
name and life moved at a slow and steady pace. Modern
development has a way of changing all that, and, if not
for a few history books and the recollections of those who
grew up here, that idyllic picture certainly would fade
away forever. Francis Graddick is one of those people who
remembers that long-ago Mount Pleasant.
Graddick recalls a time when his uncles would take
him hunting for deer and even possum where Mount
Pleasant Towne Centre is now a bustling center of
commerce. That wasn’t always the case, of course.
“Years ago, that was nothing but woods,” he said.
Born in Charleston in 1962, Graddick lived in
Mount Pleasant until he was 5, when his family moved
to Brooklyn, New York. For the next 12 years or so, he
returned to Mount Pleasant every summer to stay with his
grandparents.
“It was very different back in those days. I can
remember when everyone would hitchhike to get where
they needed to be,” Graddick said. “You don’t see that too
much these days, but, back then, everyone did it.”
He explained that even enjoying boiled peanuts was a
unique experience when he was a kid.
“My cousins and I would go pick peanuts out of the field
ourselves and my grandmother would boil them for us. Now
you just run to the store when you want them,” he said.
Staying with his grandparents each summer left him
not only with many great memories but also with an
appreciation for hard work and perseverance.
“My grandmother, Martha Gaillard, was actually
born in one of the slave cabins at Boone Hall Plantation,”
Graddick said. “As a child, she would go with her
grandmother, who worked at Boone Hall, carrying a
lantern to see because it was so early in the morning.”
Looking further back into his family history,
Graddick’s great-great-grandmother, Serena Jefferson
Spann, was brought to Boone Hall Plantation in 1864 and
remained there as a cook until her death in 1936. Serena
was very well known back then for her culinary skills, and
Graddick said the talent was passed down the line to her
granddaughter, Martha.
“When my grandmother Martha cooked, people who
worked at Boone Hall would come to her house just to
eat,” he said.
While Graddick had fun during those long East
Cooper summers, he also worked hard.
“My Aunt Catherine and Uncle Edward once owned
and operated the Exxon gas station and restaurant that
were located next to the Olive Branch AME Church on
Highway 17, where all the locals went for lunch. I worked
at the station many summers pumping gas,” he said.
Once he was old enough, Graddick joined the Army,
Martha Gaillard.
Francis Graddick,
left, and his cousin,
Arthur Graddick.