Mount Pleasant Magazine Sept/Oct 2014

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in Newman, Georgia, in 1848, McKinley graduated from
the University of Georgia prior to studying at the Presby-
terian Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina.
Rather than pursuing a ministry placement, the talented
poet, writer and scholar decided on a career in journalism
and was hired to head the Columbia bureau of the Charles-
ton News and Courier.
On the fateful night of Aug. 31, 1886, McKinley, who
resided in Mount Pleasant and served as chief editorial
writer for the News and Courier, wrote a firsthand account
of the effect of the earthquake both in the Village and on
Sullivan’s Island. He described how first the tremors were
felt and later the fissures appeared, along with the strong
odor of sulphur. Damage in Mount Pleasant was less than
that in Charleston since most of its structures were made
of wood, which sway when the ground moves, as op-
posed to brick buildings, which tend to topple. There were
reports of fallen chimneys in Mount Pleasant. At this time,
the population of Mount Pleasant was slightly more than
700 and almost evenly divided between whites and blacks.
McKinley purchased the former summer cottage of the
von Kolnitz family, which overlooked the harbor. Upon
McKinley’s death in 1904, the home was sold and then, in
1928, purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Dana Osgood of Mas-
sachusetts. The Osgoods created a popular tourist desti-
nation overlooking the harbor and featuring azaleas and
camellias. They playfully named their gardens “Pierates
Cruze.” Subsequently, the land was sold and divided into
lots adjacent to Alhambra Hall.
Louis Frederick kLipstein
If ever there was a fish out of water, it was Louise Klip-
stein. Born in 1813 in Virginia, he was the grandson of a
Hessian surgeon who served in the American Revolution
and then settled in Virginia. Klipstein studied at Union
Theological Seminary before graduating from Hampden-
Sydney College in Virginia, where he became interested in
language, especially Anglo-Saxon. For health reasons, he
came to South Carolina and was hired as a tutor by Mrs.
Rebekah DuPre Jerman of Echaw on the Santee River. He
married her daughter, Allston Cahusac Jerman, and his
sister, Cornelia, who came with him to South Carolina,
married Edward DuPre Jerman. The bride’s mother gave
the couple Cedar Grove Plantation on Shem Creek as a
wedding present. The property had a long history and a
grand old plantation house. ...
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