"W" is for Walter, Thomas [ca. 1740-1789]. Botanist, planter, patriot, politician. Born in England, Walter was in South Carolina by 1769 and remained in the lowcountry for the next twenty years. During this period he collected plants in the coastal plain of South Carolina and cultivated others in his garden. The culmination of his botanical efforts was Flora Caroliniana, the first flora document of a region of North America to utilize the Linnǽan system of classification. Published in 1788, it contained more than one thousand species—including many new to science. During the American Revolution, he was Deputy Paymaster for the state militia. After the war, he was involved with the planning of the Santee Canal. Thomas Walter died in 1789 and was buried in his garden on the south side of the Santee River in Berkeley County.
"W" is for Walter, Thomas [ca. 1740-1789]
