Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2018

63 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestofMP.com feature We Were Mount Pleasant I n the mid-1970s, Betty Lee Johnson interviewed dozens of seniors living in the East Cooper area, learning about the history of this area as people lived it – things you won’t find in any history book. The stories were one of the most popular weekly features of the East Cooper Pilot, which closed its doors in 1979. Johnson compiled the interviews into two books in the late 1980s: “As I Remember It: An Oral History of the East Cooper Area” and “As I Remember It: Volume II.” The stories are priceless personal tales of the small town of Mount Pleasant and its surrounding communities. Those who narrated have long since passed, yet their words still bring life to their memories of when they were Mount Pleasant. ESTHER ROYALL GREGORIE Born September 1891 Esther Gregorie grew up on Hibben Street near the ferry landing. “Mount Pleasant was a small, isolated community where life was simple and everyone was either related to or good friends with everyone else,” she said. The neighborhood children found ways to entertain themselves with games like baseball, basketball or shinny outside, or indoor games like parcheesi or lotto.” The streets were bustling with activity in those days, she recalled. Farmers from all over town and as far north as McClellanville would drive cows down Georgetown Road – now Highway 17 – down to the Hibben Street wharf. “It was very exciting for those of us who lived on Hibben Street but also scary to have those cows come swarming up in front of the house,” she recounted. An organ grinder with a monkey dressed in a colorful coat would come annually; the man would grind a tune while the monkey danced and held out a tin cup for pennies. Gregorie remembered all of the local children following him like he was the Pied Piper. The ice cream man would occasionally make the trip from Charleston, selling it by the block; he also picked up a large following of children. In 1922, Esther married Ferdinand Gregorie and moved to the centuries-old home at Oakland Plantation. Guests used the window panes as a “register” and etched their names into the glass with diamonds and other items, some dating as far back as 1773. She lived in the house for the rest of her life. BY ANNE SHULER TOOLE