Hubbell Pioneers - South Carolina
A Sea Captain Marries a Southern Belle
Sears Hubbell
Like a lot of East Coast states, the Spanish (1500) and French (1600) had their eyes on South Carolina before the British were successful in establishing settlements. So did one of our Hubbell pioneers have “his eye on South Carolina” -- more particularly one young woman who lived in colorful, historic Charleston town with its cobblestone streets.
It was the Lords proprietors, 18 nobles, who were given the Carolinas by Charles II of England to establish settlements for commercial reasons. In 1667, Dr. Henry Woodward came from the West Indies. He joined a group to found Charles Towne (as it was known then) in 1670 at Albemarle Point. Ten years later they moved the town to the present site of Charleston. (The town name is spelled three different ways in this chapter, depending on date of usage.)
The port of Charleston was valuable for the trade of furs, pelts and rice and later cotton. In the 1700s, the British had struggles first with the Spanish, then the French, and Indians. By 1718, pirates infested the coastline.
Into this background came German, Scotch-Irish and Welsh settlers, those going into the "Up Country" having different backgrounds from the “Low Country” planter class. (Up Country was the central area of the state.) Although all settlers were required to pay taxes to the state, only the Low Country had representation in government before 1770.
South Carolinians took an active part in the Revolution. The first decisive victory of the war was won in 1776 at Ft. Sullivan, later known as Ft. Moultrie, just offshore of Charleston. The British overran the state in 1780 and 187 battles were fought within her boundaries.
Our pioneer ancestor from South Carolina was born into this period of American history. He is Sears Hubbell, son of Thaddeus Hubbell and his second wife, Mrs. Phoebe Sears Squire, of Wilton Parish, Connecticut. He was born in 1777. The couple may also have had a daughter Polly. Sears had 10 half-brothers and half-sisters.
As one reads Hubbell history, particularly in Connecticut, one finds many Hubbells attracted by the sea so it is not unusual that Sears became a sea captain probably trading with the West Indies. Thus we speculate that Sears found his way by sea to Charleston.
Sears Hubbell's love affair prompts some speculation because there is little on paper to, first, explain how Sears got from Connecticut to South Carolina. Secondly, we have been unable to locate diaries or family papers to tell the story of Sears and Charlotte Hubbell.
Charlotte Henrietta Broeske lived in Charlestown with her father, Army Colonel Broeske, and mother of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is possible that Charlotte's father was stationed at Ft. Moultrie. Charlotte was a young girl of almost 20 at her marriage in 1804 to Sears Hubbell. He was not quite 27 years of age. The marriage lasted almost 40 years. The couple had two children, Thaddeus Cooper, born 1813, and Pamela, born 1818.
In the 1830 census, Sears was shown as having three males in the household: one 10-15 years, one 15-20 years, himself 50-60 years; two females: one 1-15 years, his wife, 40-50 years. His slaves included three under 10, one 36-55, all males and one under 10 and one 36-55, females.
Sears must have been in the grocery business or delivered merchandise to people in Charlestown, possibly bringing it in on his ship. In one 1824 case he sued to receive $331.68 as payment for merchandise delivered including salt, flour, soap, brandy and butter. Sears also dealt in other items such as sugar, coffee, wine, tea, nails, tobacco, cheese and candles.
On several occasions Sears was hailed into court for his failure to repay promissory notes in 1819, 1833, 1835, 1836 and 1838. Hubbell Pioneers gives details of some of the problems he had.
Sears died in 1838 at the age of 60 or 61. The inventory of his personal estate consisted of 30 bushels of corn $20, 1 silver, 1 batch $15 and an old negro wench $20 for a total of $55.