Just want to let you know about the exciting event related to Archives.  Remember the little cannon ball that Esther found on the beach at the north end of Dewees Island?

At Judy’s suggestion it was decided that we should find out if it was "live".  Jill called the Dewees Island Public Safety Officer, Randy Snipes, who called the Sheriff's Department.  Very soon the "bomb squad" arrived (6 people!).  One person very carefully scraped off all of the rust and barnacles, looking for a hole that could have held a fuse.  Finding none, he announced that it was safe to keep.  A digital photo was taken and sent to the Charleston Museum.  In a few minutes a reply came from the Curator of History, identifying it as a Revolutionary War Cannon Ball!  It is probably the oldest artifact that we have, except for the Indian pottery shards.

Later, members of the Archives Committee took the cannon ball to the Charleston Museum on Meeting Street to show to Grahame Long, the Curator of History. He confirmed that we have a Revolutionary War "grape shot" cannon ball, made of cast iron, weighing 1 and 1/2 pounds, 2 and 3/4 inches in diameter.  A number of balls this size would have been put into a canister which was then loaded into a cannon. The ball was never intended to be loaded with powder but was to be used for close range firing, for example, from ship to ship in order to clear the deck or to break a mast. 

Mr. Long's guess is that when the British ships were sailing past Dewees Island on their way to the fort on Sullivan's Island in June, 1776, they dropped weight (including these cannon balls) in order to move faster in the water. There was not a naval engagement at Dewees Island when the British ships passed.

While this ball that Esther found was encrusted with some rust, it was in very good condition because of having been covered in silt on the ocean floor.  It will be on display in the Archives in the Landings Building.

Additional information about the role of Dewees Island in the Revolutionary War can be found in Chapter 5 of Dewees: The Island and Its People by James Cochrane.