December 28
1979: Longtime Beaufort County Sheriff James Edwin McTeer dies of pneumonia, emphysema and other symptoms of old age at the age of 76 at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Sheriff for 37 years from his appointment in 1926 to his retirement in 1963, McTeer was widely known as a root doctor and an expert on witchcraft, according to The Beaufort Gazette.
January 1
1909: Lt. Col. Eli Cole assumes command of the newly created Marine Officers’ School, U.S. Naval Station, Port Royal.
2009: Friends of Hunting Island holds the first Pelican Plunge on the beach on Hunting Island.
— Compiled by Mike McCombs
