March
1684: A group of Scots settles Stuart’s Town somewhere in the vicinity of present-day Beaufort.
March 1
1960: Naval Air Station Beaufort is recommissioned as Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
March 2
1867: Congress establishes the Second Military District, consisting of North and South Carolina, with Maj. Gen. Dan. E Sickles in command.
1975: Joe Frazier (32-2) defeats Jimmy Ellis by TKO in Melbourne, Australia for his final professional win.
March 3
1865: Congress establishes the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. The Freedman’s Bureau, as it was commonly called, functioned in South Carolina until June 30, 1872.
March 4
1968: Beaufort nativeJoe Frazier defeats Jimmy Ellis to become the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) undisputed Heavyweight Champion.
2016: Donald Patrick “Pat” Conroy, an author for whom Beaufort plays a prominent role both in his works and his life, dies of pancreatic cancer at age 70. Among Conroy’s works were “The Water Is Wide,” “The Lords of Discipline,” “The Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini.”
— Compiled by Mike McCombs