“S” is for Smalls, Robert (1839-1915)

“S” is for Smalls, Robert (1839-1915.) Legislator, congressman. Born into slavery in Beaufort, in 1851 Smalls was hired out as a laborer in Charleston where he worked on coastal vessels. At the start of the Civil War, he was employed as a pilot on a cotton steamer, the Planter, which was impressed into Confederate service. On May 13, 1862, Smalls led the takeover of the Planter by its slave crew, sailed past the harbor’s formidable defenses, and surrendered the vessel to the Federal blockading force. He represented Beaufort County in the South Carolina House of Representatives until 1870 when he was elected to the state Senate. From 1874 to 1886 Smalls served intermittently in the U.S. House of Representatives. Robert Smalls's last major political role was as one of the six Black members of the 1895 state constitutional convention.