February 10
1863: In a letter bearing this date, President Abraham Lincoln authorizes that part of a 64-acre tract known as Polly’s Grove Plantation be used for Beaufort National Cemetery. The land had been acquired by U.S. Army Gen. David Hunter for $75 at an 1863 tax sale of properties confiscated by the federal government. After the Civil War, 29 acres of the parcel was retained for the cemetery.
February 11
1926: James Edwin McTeer is appointed sheriff of Beaufort County after the death of his father, also James Edwin McTeer, before his term in office expired. The younger McTeer would serve as sheriff until his retirement in 1963, McTeer was widely known as a root doctor and an expert on witchcraft, according to the Beaufort Gazette.
Compiled by Mike McCombs
