"S” is for Sothel, Seth (d. 1694)

"S” is for Sothel, Seth (d. 1694). Proprietory, governor. In 1675 Sothel was granted 12,000 acres near Charleston to establish a settlement. Before this transpired, he purchased the Clarendon proprietorship in 1677 and agreed to undertake the government of North Carolina. From 1682 to 1688 Governor Sothel ruled Carolina (or Albemarle as it was called) with considerable skill. A coup in 1689 forced the governor into exile and he eventually found his way to Charleston where the colonists were trying to oust Governor James Colleton. In October 1690, Sothel, on the basis of his position as a proprietor, assumed the governorship with the support of the assembly. As governor he pushed through laws to regulate the Indian trade in South Carolina. In 1693, possibly ill and conflict with the London-based proprietors, Seth Sothel departed South Carolina.