Stephen Yan

O’Sullivan, Florence. 1670. “Letter from Florence O’Sullivan to Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury.” Shaftesbury Papers 01: 206–8. https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.php/document/csr01-0076.

In his letter to Anthony Ashley Cooper, Florence O’Sullivan reports his observations of the new land, progresses on establishing a new colony, and requests for supplies and inhabitants from England.

Florence O’Sullivan was an Irish soldier and one of the first planters in Carolina, having been on board the Carolina, one of the ships in the original expedition in 1670, as the surveyor general of Carolina.[1] Anthony Ashley Cooper was one of the Eight Lords Proprietors, who received land grants of Carolina and ranks in English nobility for helping to restore Charles II to the throne after the English Civil War.[2]

O’Sullivan describes the land as “good beyond expectation aboundin in all things”. The presence of “turkies partridges rabbitts turtle and fish” suggests that the settlers had a variety of meat supply; the soil that “produceth anything that is putt into itt” demonstrates the potentials for growing food crops. The settlers also had steady sources of fruits in the forms of “peaches strawberryes and other sorts”. However, O’Sullivan’s mention of the lack of provisions, manpower, and supplies seems to contradict the bountiful scenes portrayed earlier.[3]

The settlement O’Sullivan described was located near present-day Charleston, South Carolina. While the location is distant from Chapel Hill, the colony’s establishment is significant due to the fact that the 130 settlers were the original inhabitants of English settlement on Carolina that would expand and eventually include the present-day Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[4] The animals, crops, and fruits on the land would sustain the settlers to venture beyond the coast, gradually shaping the land into the Carolinas as we know today. The narrative depicts a picture of both abundance and dire needs, which, in turn, reflects the conflicts early settlers had to face in procuring food to establish a new home.

 

 

[1] Melvin, Patrick. 1975. “Captain Florence O’Sullivan and the Origins of Carolina.” The South Carolina Historical Magazine 76 (4): 235–49. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27567338?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

[2] “The Connection – A Brief History.” South Carolina Traveler. South Carolina National Heritage Corridor. May 24, 2013. http://www.scnhc.org/story/the-connection-a-brief-history.

[3] O’Sullivan, Florence. 1670. “Letter from Florence O’Sullivan to Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury.” Shaftesbury Papers 01: 206–8. https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.php/document/csr01-0076.

[4] Watson, Alan. n.d. “Arrivals in the East: Settlement of the Coastal Plain, 1650 to 1775.” North Carolina Museum of History. NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Accessed October 8, 2018. https://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/workshop/nc-geography/session-1.