St. Julien Ravenel
| St. Julien Ravenel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 15, 1819 Charleston, South Carolina |
| Died | March 16, 1882 (aged 62) Charleston, South Carolina |
| Cause of death | Cirrhosis |
| Resting place | Magnolia Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Physician, chemist |
| Spouse(s) | Harriott Horry Rutledge |
| Children | Harriott Rutledge (1852) Anna Eliza (1853) John (1856) Lise R. (1857) Edward Rutledge (1859) St. Julien (1861) Frances Gualdo (1865) Francis Gualdo (1869) Helen Lowndes (1872) |
| Parent(s) | John Ravenel Anna Elizabeth Ford |
St. Julien Ravenel (December 15, 1819 – March 16, 1882) was an American physician and agricultural chemist. During the American Civil War, he designed the torpedo boat CSS David that was used to attack the Union ironclad USS New Ironsides. Following the war, he helped pioneer the use of fertilizers in agriculture and led the growth of phosphate fertilizer manufacturing in Charleston, South Carolina.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, St. Julien was the oldest child of merchant and ship owner John Ravenel and his wife Anna Eliza Ford. After attending grammar schools in Charleston, he left for Morristown, New Jersey to continue his education. In 1840 he graduated from the Medical College in Charleston after studying medicine under J. E. Holbrook, then continued his studies for a summer in Philadelphia and a year at Paris, France. Returning to Charleston, he began to practice medicine and was named Demonstrator of Anatomy at the Medical College.
Finding the medical work distasteful and disliking the drudgery of being a doctor, he began an association with Professor Louis Agassiz, studying microscopy, natural history, and physiology. When the American Association for the Advancement of Science met in Charleston during 1850, Dr. Ravenel was the treasurer. On March 20, 1851, he married writer and historian Harriott Horry Rutledge (1832–1912), the sole child of Edward Cotesworth Rutledge and Rebecca Motte Lowndes. Between 1852 and 1872, St. Julien and Harriott would have nine children.
St. Julien undertook the study of chemistry beginning in 1852. However, he did not completely forsake his previous work. When an outbreak of Yellow Fever struck Norfolk, Virginia in 1855, he was one of the first on the scene and worked throughout the epidemic to aid the patients. At his Stony Landing Plantation along the Cooper River, he experimented with the production of lime from marl deposits located along the river banks. After cement was discovered under the limestone layers, in 1856 he partnered with Clement H. Stevens to establish the Colleton Lime Works at his plantation which sold lime for 0.90c per barrel. This company would provide most of the lime used by the southern states during the American Civil War.
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