The Huguenots of Colonial South Carolina 
By Arthur Henry Hirsch, Ph.D.
1928, Duke University Press; 1962 by Archon Books

   It is proper that special mention be made of Benjamin d'Harriette, a French
Protestant merchant, and his relation to South Carolina history.[23] The editor
of the South Carolina Gazette styled him "an eminent merchant". The home of his
widow in 1760 was one of the most elaborately furnished houses in South
Carolina.[24] Benjamin d'Harriette was one of the refugees who went to South
Carolina from New York early in the eighteenth century. The will of Mrs. Phoebe
Outman shows that her daughter Ann was then (1732) the wife of Benjamin
d'Harriette, of Charles Town, formerly of New York.[25] The will of Benjamin
d'Harriette, Sr., a New York merchant, shows him to have been a man of wealth
and refinement. Much of the large estate in the possession of Benjamin
d'Harriette, Jr., while resident in Charles Town, was inherited from his
father.[26] His former wife, Ann Smith, died on July 12, 1754.[27] On October
16, of the same year, he was married to Mrs. Martha Fowler, the widow of James
Fowler.[28] Mr. d'Harriette was probably in Charles Town as early as 1726, at
least a bill of sale to him of a negro boy is recorded March 1, 1726.[29] In
1736 an advertisement appears in the Gazette stating that he desires an overseer
for his plantation on John's Island.[30] The will of his father mentions him as
being in Charles Town then, that is, in 1741.[31] His advertisements in the
Gazette in 1739 show that he was then a merchant on Union Street.[32] In 1752 he
was in partnership with John McCall, engaged in the business of importing white
servants and slaves of all sorts.[33] Benjamin d'Harriette died in February,
1756.[34] On February 26, 1756, his executors, Gabriel Manigault,[35] Alexander
Broughton, and Peter Manigault, advertised for sale at auction part of the
estate of the deceased, including 1,070 acres of land on John's Island, twelve
miles from Charles Town, hogs, cattle, tools, etc. On March 31 were sold a lot
in Charles Town, on the corner of Meeting and Queen Streets, 200 x 150 feet,
with two houses on it, a lot on the Bay, 25 x 25 feet, and a lot on Union
Street, 44 x 205 feet.[36] Mr. d'Harriette left a considerable estate of
personal property.[37] His codicil provides that his wife Martha, be given the
household furniture, a suit of mourning, seven negroes, and £10,000 currency in
addition to undivided portions of the estate. Among the French Protestants of
South Carolina he was one of the most generous contributors to benevolent
causes. The following amounts are bequeathed in his will: £1,000 to the French
Protestant Church of Charles Town; £500 to the "Brick Meeting House"; £500 to
the Baptist Society of Protestant Dissenters; £3,000 to the South Carolina
Society; £1,000 to the Church Wardens and Vestry of St. Philip's; £1,000 to the
French Protestant Society of New York City. To friends and relatives he
bequeathed no less than £24,000. Among them he remembered his friend Gabriel
Manigault with £100; and the Rev. Richard Clarke, Rector of St. Philip's, and
the Rev. John Tetard, Minister of the French Protestant Church, of Charles Town,
with £100 each. To Thomas Grimball he bequeathed his wearing apparel, gold
watch, silver-hilted sword, his gun, and all of his French books. His humane
sympathies are evidenced in the fact that he also made provision for the freedom
of four of his faithful slaves and the care of a number of others. Though a
public spirited man, aggressive and able, he was apparently not a money hoarder
nor a grasping money maker. The South Carolina Gazette was in its obituary
comments usually conservative and not given to flattery. As a rule it selected a
leading trait of the deceased and commented briefly on it. With reference to
Benjamin d'Harriette its brief though striking comment is included in these few
lines: "On Sunday died Suddenly Mr. Benjamin d'Harriette, formerly an eminent
Merchant of this Town, but had retired from Business some years - Knowing when
he had enough".
____________________________

23 Coll. N. Y. Hist. Soc., (Wills) 1. 346.

24 MS Pr. Ct. Red., 1758-61, 314.

25 Coll. N. Y. Hist. Soc., (Wills) 111. 55 and 331.

26 Ibid., 111.   331.

27 Tomb Stone, St. Philip's Church-Yard, Charleston.

28 S. C. Gaz., Oct. 23, 1755.

29 MS Pr. Ct. Rcd., 1726-7, 240.

30 S. C. Gaz., Dec. 18, 1736. 

31 Coll. N. Y. Hist. Soc., (Wills) III.

32 S. C. Gaz., May 26, 1739.

33 S. C. Gaz., Oct. 3, 1752.

34 His tomb-stone has Feb. 17. The S. C. Gaz., Feb 19, 1756, has Feb. 15.

35 S. C. Gaz., Feb. 26, 1756.

36 Ibid.

37 MS Pr. Ct. Rcd., 1753-56. S. C. Gaz., Feb 19, 1756.

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