William Gilmore Simms

William Gilmore Simms was born on April 12, 1806 in Charleston, South Carolina of Scotch-Irish descent. In his teen years, he worked as a drug store clerk, but began to study law at the age of eighteen. The Charleston bar admitted him to practice in 1827, but he soon abandoned that profession in order to devote himself to a writing career. In 1828, he became the editor and part-owner of the City Gazette, where he remained until 1832. He also began to publish a series of popular novels which...See more

William Gilmore Simms was born on April 12, 1806 in Charleston, South Carolina of Scotch-Irish descent. In his teen years, he worked as a drug store clerk, but began to study law at the age of eighteen. The Charleston bar admitted him to practice in 1827, but he soon abandoned that profession in order to devote himself to a writing career. In 1828, he became the editor and part-owner of the City Gazette, where he remained until 1832. He also began to publish a series of popular novels which focused on pre-colonial and colonial Southern history, including The Yemassee (1835), The Huguenots in Florida (1850), and The Cassique of Kiawah (1859). His non-fiction History of South Carolina (1842) was the standard history text-book in the State for several generations. Simms published a pro-secession paper during the Civil War until his press was destroyed when the Union forces invaded Charleston. He died on June 11, 1870. See less