1700 — Sep 14, Hurricane, Rising Sun wrecked, Ashley River bar, Charleston, SC — ~100
–~100 Blanchard estimate.[1]
–>100 Gibb. Glasgow, The Making of a City. 1983, p. 41.
–<100 Rubillo. Hurricane Destruction in South Carolina: Hell and High Water. 2006, p. 36.
–>100 South Carolina State Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricane Climatology.
— >97 Rappaport/Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994. 1995, p.23.[2]
Narrative Information
Gibb: “John Lawson, the Surveyor-General of North Carolina, set out from Charleston on a journey among the Indians. On the large and desolate Dix’s Island he encountered an hospitable Scotsman whose house was well furnished with flotsam the Rising Sun, a Scottish ship fleeing from Darien, commanded by Captain Gibson of Glasgow, who went down with his ship and over one hundred souls off the bar of the Ashley River in September, 1699.” (Gibb 1983, p. 41.)
Rappaport and Partagas: “No. 146. Charleston, SC 14 Sep 1700 >97.”[3]
Rubillo: “Depending on whose version of events is more accurate, the Carolina coast suffered… [a] major natural disaster in either 1699[4] or 1700.[5]…The Scottish ships the Rising Sun, the Duke of Hamilton and several smaller ships were anchored outside of Charleston harbor. Because of their size, the ships could not safely navigate across a bar at the entrance to the port’s haven. This small feet was en route from Panama back to Scotland. It was carrying the survivors of an abortive attempt to establish a settlement along the steamy, malarial coast of Central America. The fleet had stopped at Charleston to take on fresh water and other supplies before venturing into the Atlantic for its final leg home.
“A small party from this refugee fleet went ashore. While they were there, a powerful hurricane struck, driving the sea before it. Charleston’s wharves were washed away. The town was flooded and the people sought refuge on their rooftops.[6] Meanwhile, the wind and water drove the Rising Sun onto the shore where it was smashed by the relentless surf. Captain James Gibson and everyone still on board were killed. Close to one hundred souls perished. Their bodies washed ashore and were found along James Island. They were all buried there.
“A letter to the Lords of the Admiralty dated in October 1700 read as follows:
Some Scotchmen are newly arrived hither from Carolina that belonged to the ship Rising Sun (the biggest ship they sent out for the Caledonia expedition) who tell me that on the third of last month a hurricane happened on that coast, as the ship lay at anchor, within less than three leagues of Charles Town in Carolina with another Scotch ship called the Duke of Hamilton and three or four other; that the ships were all shattered in pieces and all the people lost, and not a man saved. The Rising Sun had 112 men on board. The Scotchmen that are come hither say that 15 of ‘em went on shore before the storm to buy fresh provisions at Charleston Town by which means they were saved. The other of their ships they suppose were lost in the Gulf of Florida in the same storm.[7]
SC Climatology Office: “In autumn of 1700, ‘a dreadful hurricane happened at Charles Town which did great damage and threatened that total destruction of the Town, the lands on which it is built being low and level and not many feet about high water mark, the swelling sea rushed in with amazing impetuosity, and obliged the inhabitants to fly to shelter…’ A ship, Rising Sun, out of Glasgow and filled with settlers had made port just prior to the storm’s landfall. It was dashed to pieces and all on board perished.” (SC State Climatology Office. SC Hurricane Climatology.)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: “In Autumn of 1700, “a dreadful hurricane happened at Charleston Town which did great damage and threatened the total destruction of the Town, the lands of which it is built being low and level and not many feet above high water mark, the swelling sea rushed in with amazing impetuosity, and obliged the inhabitants to fly for shelter…” A ship, Rising Sun, out of Glasgow and filled with settlers had made port just prior to the storm’s landfall. It was dashed to pieces and all on board perished.” (USCOE. SC Hurricane Evacuation Restudy Tech. Data Report.)
Sources
Gibb, Andrew. Glasgow, The Making of a City. Routledge, 1983. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=os0NAAAAQAAJ
Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994. Miami: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995. Accessed 8-7-2017 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf
Rubillo, Tom. Hurricane Destruction in South Carolina: Hell and High Water. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2006.
South Carolina State Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricane Climatology. Accessed 6-6-2009 at: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/Tropics/hurricanes_affecting_sc.php
United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). South Carolina Hurricane Evacuation Restudy Technical Data Report. June 2000. Accessed 11-27-2008 at: http://chps.sam.usace.army.mil/USHESdata/SC/SCChapter1.htm
[1] Accounts below seemingly refer only to the Rising Sun, yet it was one of a small fleet in the harbor. Additionally, the hurricane, accompanied by a significant storm surge, drove some Charleston residents to their rooftops. Thus, it is conceivable there were land fatalities as well as additional maritime fatalities.
[2] Appendix 1. Atlantic tropical cyclones causing at least 25 deaths.
[3] Cites: Ludlum, D. M. Early American Hurricanes, 1492-1870. Boston: American Meteorological Society, 1963.
[4] Cites: James Percival Petit. South Carolina and the Sea (Volume I). Charleston, SC: 1986, p. 39.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Cites: David Ramsey. History of South Carolina (Volume II). Newbury, SC: 1858, p. 176.