"E" is for Ensor, Joshua Fulton

"E" is for Ensor, Joshua Fulton [1834-1907]. Physician. A Maryland native, Ensor had a distinguished career as a surgeon in the Union Army. After the Civil War, he became active in Republican Party politics. He moved to South Carolina and was appointed superintendent of the South Carolina Lunatic Aylum. Ensor was appalled by the condition of the facility when he assumed his duties, claiming that the buildings were overcrowded, poorly ventilated and heated, and unsanitary. He publicized the asylum’s plight in the state’s newspapers—adding to the embarrassment of the Republicans and providing political fodder for the Democrats. Although forced out of office in 1877, he remained in Columbia and opened a medical practice. President William McKinley appointed Joshua Fulton Ensor Postmaster of the City of Columbia—a position he held until his death.