Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sothel, Seth

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624720Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 53 — Sothel, Seth1898John Andrew Doyle

SOTHEL, SETH (d. 1697), colonial governor, became one of the proprietors of South Carolina by purchasing Lord Clarendon's share. In September 1681 Sothel, in the capacity of senior proprietor, succeeded to the governorship of the settlement at Albemarle, which afterwards became North Carolina, but on his way out he was captured by Algerine pirates. He, however, escaped or was ransomed, and reached the colony in 1683. His misgovernment irritated the colonists into rebellion, and he was by them deposed and banished. He then went to South Carolina, where he fared better. Finding the colony in a state of rebellion against the government collector, he succeeded in getting himself recognised as governor by the colonists. This, however, was disallowed by the proprietors, and in 1691 he was definitely superseded by the appointment of Philip Ludwell. Sothel appears to have died in 1697, since on 20 Dec. of that year a letter from the proprietors refers to the vacancy caused by his death.

[Ryve's Historical Sketches of South Carolina; Winsor's Hist. of America, v. 296, 313; Publications of South Carolina Historical Society.]

J. A. D.