Botany Bay Road in Winter, Edisto Island, SC
Briefly, in the dreams of the early South Carolina colony, a perfect little island south of Charleston, was picked by the Lords Proprietors, and a plantation was planned, to be managed by Lord Ashley’s relative, Andrew Percivall. The plantation never materialized, as the founders later picked land for Charles Towne that was more easily accessible, where Charleston lies today, just north; and John Locke, the great philosopher from England, never set foot on Edisto Island, which bore his name on early maps of Carolina.
Locke and Dr. Henry Woodward, explorer, interpreter, first English settler, wrote letters to one another. Locke, insatiably curious, longed to learn the religion and customs of the native American Indians. Quite the letter writer, John Locke left an astounding 3,637 surviving letters, written to him and by him. (The most famous letter-writers of the ancient world, Cicero and Augustine, left only a few hundred each) Correspondence in the form of letter writing, in mid 17th century, was a practice central to English culture. Letters were read out loud, and it ‘served also to rescue people from intellectual and personal isolation’. It is what social utilities like Facebook, do, too, in today’s culture, attractive because we Americans have become self isolating, the result of our convenience filled, independent lifestyles. My own life on this remote island is enriched by my online connection and correspondence, and I wonder it is not an effort of our culture to renew our lost connections to one another, like letter writing did in the 17th century, something one writer called a “phenomenon”.
Just who was the man who dreamed of living on the eden isle, the paradise called Edisto Island?
Palms and dunes on Edisto Island
That he was born on the 29th of August in the year of our Lord 1632
and that he died on the 28th of October in the year of our Lord 1704.
This tablet, which itself will soon perish, is a record.”
How intriguing is the man who also dreamed of this island, a place that still boasts so much of the natural beauty it had when Locke imagined it, thanks to many committed people, the preservation efforts of The Edisto Island Open Land Trust and The Lowcountry Open Land Trust who work to preserve and keep sacred these great open spaces of South Carolina.
I was called to be an artist. And as an old old midwife said to me "If the Lord wants you to do something, you won't have no good luck' til you do." So, here I am, sharing what I love, longing to illuminate the work of art, which is everywhere.
Charleston Through an Artist's eye 
Thank you Charlotte.
Nice post about man’s need for socialization (and John Locke). I have saved the page of his letters to my favorites and will browse through them. I came across a quote this morning that goes along with your post: “Beware the walls we build around us to keep out the sadness, also keep out the joy!” So true today as we seem to “self-isolate” even from our own family members!
Love your posts. Edisto is in the heart!
Cork
Love your blog – it’s always inspiring. Thanks for your kind words about the conservation work being done on Edisto – we are told that Edisto Island is the conservation showpiece of the ACE Basin with its almost 200,000 acres of preserved lands. There’s no other place like Edisto on SC’s coast – a place that can transport you back to an earlier and more serene time. Glad you’re here, hopefully full-time?
M
Showpiece she is! You deserve much credit for the work being done to preserve the shining star of an island I am proud to call home. Thanks so much for the visit to the blog, and your kind comments, Marian.
Charlotte,
What an exceptional gift to breathe life into the man and to animate with the deft touch of your words the tabula rasa for which Locke is most famous.
A pity the great man never set foot on Edisto’s Paradise.To make the life and letters of a philosopher sing is,indeed,no small musical feat.And,also, you give back the lost art of writing letters its deep and abiding personal and literary
value.Your wedding of information and lyricism is a joy to behold.