John Hugh Means, born near here in 1812, served as governor of South Carolina from 1850 to 1852, presided over the 1852 Secession Convention, and signed the Ordinance of Secession in 1860. A colonel in the 17th Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, CSA, he died on Sept. 1, 1862, from wounds received at the Second Battle of Manassas and is believed to be buried in the Means Cemetery about 50 yards east. William Harper, a graduate and trustee of South Carolina College, immigrated here from Antigua in 1791. Admitted to the bar in 1813, he served in the South Carolina House, was a U.S. Senator, court reporter, Chancellor, and judge of the Court of Appeals. He died in 1847 and is buried 50 yards east. The University of South Carolina's Harper College is named for William Harper.