When African slaves were brought to the American South to work the plantations, they brought with them their culture, traditions, and religion—including what came to be called voodoo. This unique blend of Christianity, herbalism, and folk magic is still practiced in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Though a beginners guide, Lowcountry Voodoo offers a surprising wealth of information about this fascinating part of Lowcountry life. Learn about: the Gullah and their ways how to bring good luck and avoid bad luck spells and curses and how to avoid them how to cook up traditional good-luck meals for New Years Day a real voodoo village you can visit sweetgrass baskets events and tours to acquaint you with Lowcountry culture. In a selection of Lowcountry tales that feature voodoo, meet: a boo hag bride who sheds her skin at night Dr. Buzzard, the most famous root doctor a giant ghost dog a young man whose love potion worked too well George Powell, who outwitted a haint Crook-Neck Dick, who (mostly) outwitted a hangman Doctor Trott, who captured a mermaid.

During the day, residents and visitors alike enjoy the quiet beauty of the peaceful coasts and Lowcountry of South Carolina. But in a state where soldiers fell, slaves died without knowing freedom, and the practice of voodoo is still an open secret, the night is bound to be a bit more exciting. Whether you are an amateur ghost-hunter, a South Carolina buff, or just love a good scare, you will enjoy these tales of ghostly encounters and supernatural happenings. From the bustling streets of Charleston and the graceful old plantations, to the foreboding coastal forts and the darkest heart of the swamps, spirits and creatures seem to lurk in every corner.

During the 1920s and 1930s, anthropologists and folklorists became obsessed with uncovering connections between African Americans and their African roots. At the same time, popular print media and artistic productions tapped the new appeal of black folk life, highlighting African-styled voodoo as an essential element of black folk culture. A number of researchers converged on one site in particular, Sapelo Island, Georgia, to seek support for their theories about "African survivals," bringing with them a curious mix of both influences. The legacy of that body of research is the area's contemporary identification as a Gullah community. This wide-ranging history upends a long tradition of scrutinizing the Low Country blacks of Sapelo Island by refocusing the observational lens on those who studied them. Cooper uses a wide variety of sources to unmask the connections between the rise of the social sciences, the voodoo craze during the interwar years, the black studies movement, and black land loss and land struggles in coastal black communities in the Low Country. What emerges is a fascinating examination of Gullah people's heritage, and how it was reimagined and transformed to serve vastly divergent ends over the decades.

James Edwin McTeer 1903-1979 Born in Hardeeville, South Carolina, Ed McTeer was appointed sheriff of Beaufort County, South Carolina on February 11, 1926 when his father died, leaving an unexpired term in office. The next year he married Jane Lucille Lupo, a young school teacher from Dillon County, South Carolina. They had five children, Jane, Georgianna, Sally, Ed, Jr., and Thomas. Ed McTeer went on to serve an unprecedented thirty-seven years as "High Sheriff of the Low Country."

"Yancey Yarboro is home from the war and growing tomatoes on his father's land. Susan Drake, married, beautiful and neglected, lives in a beach house not far away. They have never met, at least not yet. When real estate developers come looking for land to expand a golf course, Yancey wonders if he is about to lose everything. But Yancey has four hundred pounds of marijuana salvaged from a dope run gone awry. And he has Gator Brown, near-sighted hoodoo doctor, whose spiritual machinations sometimes fly wide of the mark. It's the Lowcountry of South Carolina. The jasmine is blooming and the moon and the magic are working overtime"--Dust jacket.

Ed McTeer's mother, Florence Percy Heyward, was a direct descendant of Thomas Heyward, Jr., a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Their ancestors came to America with King's grants to large tracts of land and were among the largest rice planters in the South. The McAteers settled in Hampton and Colleton counties in the 17th Century and acquired many land holdings. The Author's great-grandparents' wills show that the "A" was dropped from their name prior to the Civil War. Given a leave of absence by Governor Thomas G. McLeod during World War Two, McTeer was appointed Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard mounted beach patrol for the Sixth Naval District. An avid hunter, fisherman, writer, poet, developer and entrepreneur, Ed McTeer was honored shortly before his death in 1979 by having a bridge across the Beaufort River named for him. The bridge stands as a symbol of the love he felt for these beautiful Sea Islands where he spend his life.