Kayla Sees the Lowcountry

Living in lowcountry South Carolina feels at times like a dream. As a native Texan, my natural surroundings have been almost exclusively composed of parking lots, sprawling highways, endless flat fields, and the occasional howling winds of a passing tornado. I made my way to Beaufort with the intention of recovering, so to speak, from the chaotic bustle of life in Dallas. And in this gorgeous, quiet, and remote part of the country, I recover. The history of the lowcountry, with all its violence, resilience, and resistance, permeates every aspect of daily living. The past is present. My intention with this series, which is part of a larger body of work titled Kayla Sees America, is to hold what was and what is in tension, in an effort to discover something beautiful in between.

“The average Savannah ghost is a young man with a latch-key, and such ghosts are very hard to lay.”

The Atlanta Constitution, 1883

“It has been reported that there were ghosts in the county jail … the news has been whispered around: ‘The jail is haunted.’”

The Atlanta Constitution, 1897

“Beaufort seemed a place far away, all by itself and it was hard to think of it as a part of South Carolina.”

The Newberry Weekly Herald, 1917

“It is no exaggeration to state that … Beaufort resembled a fairyland, whose sights, sounds and salt sea breezes … captured the senses.”

The Gaffney Ledger, 1917

“The ghost said—‘But soft—methinks I scent the morning air: Brief let me be.’”

The Atlanta Constitution, 1901

“‘If you are a man, I shall kill you; if you are a ghost this won’t hurt you,’ and with that the loud report of his pistol startled the night’s stillness.”

The Atlanta Constitution, 1882

“Where now thy lustrous form, thy shining hair? / Where thy bright presence, thine imperial eyes? / Lost in dim shadows of the realm of Ghosts!”

The Charleston Daily, 1871

“To Beaufort and its lovely sunset skies [and] laughing waters … I must say ‘Goodbye,’ to get me back to home and duties.”

The Edgefield Advertiser, 1894

“A day for poetry and song, a new song. These cloudless skies, this balmy air … are in harmony with the glorious morning of liberty about to dawn upon us.”

Douglass’ Monthly, Vols. 4–5, 1861–1863

“In accordance, as I believe, with the will of our Heavenly Father, and by direction of your great and good friend, … Abraham Lincoln, … you will be declared ‘forever free.’”

The New York Times, 1863

“A violent storm prevailed … the wind and waves were so high that it was found impossible to cross the harbor.”

The Goldsboro Messenger, 1875

“Everybody who went through Sunday’s storm on the island is unanimous in declaring that it was an experience which they are willing not to repeat.”

The Manning Times, 1911

“The meeting was held in a beautiful grove … adjoining the camp … As I sat on the stand and looked around … I thought I had never seen a sight so beautiful.”

The Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimke, 1863

“The dawn of freedom which it heralds may not break upon us at once; but it will surely come, and sooner, I believe, than we have ever dared hope before.”

The Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimke, 1863

“The storm was one of the most severe the people of the coast have ever known.”

The Anderson Intelligencer, 1893