Lasting Legacy

Agricultural Society of South Carolina

On August 24, 1785, Thomas Heyward Jr. invited a select group of gentlemen planters to a meeting at Charleston City Hall "for the purpose of forming a Society in the state to encourage Agriculture." Forty-one planters attended and agreed to form the "South Carolina Society for promoting and improving Agriculture and other Rural Concerns."

Of these founding members of the Society, one was a Signer of the Declaration of Independence; two were United States Ministers (to Great Britain and France); one United States Senator; four were Members of Congress; three were judges, one of whom was Chief Justice of the United States; four were Governors of South Carolina; and five were Revolutionary Officers.  The society was, without question, comprised of the most influential men in South Carolina. 

For more than two centuries, The Agricultural Society of South Carolina has carefully and thoughtfully provided leadership to guide South Carolina agriculture through war, loss of traditional crops, pests, labor shortages, natural disasters and, most recently, coastal urbanization. 

Join historian Doug Bostick as he unveils the fascinating story of a society that, at every turn, rose to meet the challenges and threats to agriculture and fulfill the purpose as espoused by Thomas Heyward Jr. centuries ago. 

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