New Book On the H.L. Hunley Crew Released By Local Author

Press Release

A new book is out in time for Veteran’s Day which delves more into the men behind the H.L. Hunley submarine than previous books about the historic sub. Professional genealogist Cheryl Oliver of Summerville did extensive research for the past seven years for her ninth book, Ghosts of the Hunley: From the Beginning, available in paperback on Amazon.com.

“Ghosts” goes further this time as it explores the biographies and genealogies of the men involved with the financing and construction of the sub and the various crew members in its history. Oliver is dedicating the book to Dr. Lee Wilson who has worked at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center for over 20 years.

Cheryl was asked to write a book on this aspect of the sub’s history of its men by Mark Clark who was a volunteer with “The H.L.  Hunley Traveling Exhibit” and volunteer Al Couch. Clark said no one had written about the men behind the Hunley before. Oliver began the book by tracing Horace Lawson Hunley’s family tree. She discovered she is actually related to Hunley by way of Virginia  where she is from, as that is where Horace’s grandparents landed from England. She also said that while the Friends of the Hunley and Clemson University did research on the scientific aspects of the Hunley about 20 years ago, they did not have as much internet access to obtain information as they do today. Her research consisted of her own genealogy and by doing research at the Charleston Archives, the archives at the Charleston Public Library and the archives at the College of Charleston as well as phone calls, Internet research, and even trips. This spring, she went to Tennessee where she has a cousin who was also related to Horace Hunley, and then went to Houma, Louisiana to visit her distant cousin, did research in New Orleans, and then went over to Mobile, Alabama to do more research. 

Oliver said she learned so much from working on this book which has the word “ghosts” in its title. 

“People still see some of the ghosts walking out there along the shore or along the water,” Cheryl said. She said one of the military men claimed that they saw the sub’s engineer James McClintock walking towards them out of the water and told them there had  been an accident (and that was before the first sinking). 

She discovered so many interesting things all throughout the book which is nearly 400 pages in length. She said it was not just Hunley building the sub that caught her attention. 

“There are several things that gripped me of things which Hunley did. He bought ships and had them decked out for battle and placed them at the service of the Confederacy. He even had a lighthouse repaired so the Confederacy could see in Mobile Bay, and so on. He really was quite a remarkable man.” 

Oliver says working on this aspect of the H.L. Hunley’s history has meant so much to her. 

“It is close to my heart since I discovered that I am related to Horace. I feel like I have come to know these men,” Oliver said. “Finding out their genealogy, who they were, and why they were there gave me an understanding of the men behind the sub.” 

In fact, Oliver has unearthed so much information on the Hunley’s crews that she plans to write a series of three or four more books on the topic and is almost finished writing the second book in the series, Ghosts of the Hunley: Men of Courage, which she hopes will come out in January, pending editors’ reviews. That book will delve more into engineers James McClintock and Baxter  Watson who built the sub and some of the crew members and she said the men’s lives will surprise readers. 

AUTHOR BOOK SIGNING EVENT: The public can meet Oliver at her book signing event at Main Street Reads in Summerville the  day after Veteran’s Day on Sat., November 12th from 1 pm to 3 pm. Otherwise, for an autographed copy of her book, please send her a Facebook message via her page: https://www.facebook.com/CherylOliverCastor or email at CherylOliverCastor@hotmail.com.

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