Serving Greater Bluffton Since 1987
Paul and Lucile Pinckney
ow many people do you know that have been married four times..and to each other? Paul Cotesworth Pinckney explained how it started. “Courting wasn’t that easy in my day. I had a hell of a time finding a girl to date in Bluffton who wasn’t kin to me,” he said and grinned at Lucile. “In those days, a date meant ‘Let’s go dancing.” There were family dances at the Rose Hill House, where we waltzed or square danced. We danced at the pavilion at the end of Calhoun Street, but the one on Harrison Island was better.”
Paul’s wife added, “My family lived on Calhoun Street. At the nearby pavilion, there was a jukebox and the Marine Corps Band sometimes played, but at Harrison Island, they had an orchestra and we could foxtrot.” (For you baby boomers, it takes two people in sync to do that snappy dance number, none of this ‘I’ll do my own thing,’ kind of dancing).
Lucile Hodge was the dance partner that stole Paul’s heart and they set a wedding date for June 24, 1932. Twelve days before the wedding, Paul and Lucile accompanied two of their friends, who also wanted to get married, to Ridgeland and woke up Judge Cook, (the marrying judge, as he is still called). “Our friends got cold feet, and rather than make the Judge mad, Lucile and I went ahead and tied the knot. We went straight home and decided not to say anything about it, our families planning a big wedding and all. But the next day, the word got out and the mayor’s wife headed over to see Edward (Ned) E. Hodge, Bluffton’s policeman, who just happened to be Lucile’s father. In disgrace I was exiled to The Point (Pinckney Colony) and Lucile was restricted to her home until the day of our real wedding. We didn’t have phones back then,” he remembered ruefully, “and couldn’t talk or see each other until the big day.”
Married twice in the same month, the couple settled down in Bluffton, but jobs were scarce during the depression and when Paul got a chance to work in Washington D.C., he and Lucile headed north. Lowe’s theaters were famous for their stage shows and movies. Lowe’s Palace, which held 3000 people, and Lowe’s Fox, which held 3500, were always crowded with people anxious to escape their dreary existence for a few hours of exciting entertainment by the stars of the day. Paul’s prestigious job of assistant manager of the two theaters included free passes for Lucile. The young couple saw and rubbed elbows with the many greats, including duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Jean Harlow and Katherine Hepburn. Garry Moore performed there, as did Arthur Godfrey, who for a a long time had a regular Sunday afternoon show. “The important people in Washington came too. Senators, representatives and embassy delegates were frequent visitors to our shows,” Paul said.
Another Blufftonian, Hallie Prichard, who is Paul’s first cousin, was connected with “show biz” and had a dance studio in Houston, Texas. “Hallie’s most famous student was Gene Kelly; her richest was Howard Hughes. She visits here occasionally and I’ll never forget the year that she was seventy,” Lucile recounted, “Hallie was showing me a dance routine and did a flip…at her age.”
In spite of the tinsel and lights, the Pinckneys were homesick and returned home with baby Coty (Paul Jr.) a few years later. “The job situation was still bad, so we headed out to Houston where I worked construction for about a year. The 1939 tag ran out on my car and it was a message to go home. I asked Lu if she wanted to go to Bluffton and she asked me, ‘How long will it take you to get ready?’ When we returned, I got a job in Savannah with the electric company (SEPCO) and worked for them for 33 years.”
Two years after they returned to Bluffton, daughter Virginia (Dean) was born and completed their family. The Pinckney families had many children, but the Hodge family was very excited about a new addition. Everyday before the baby came, they would ask Lucile, why haven’t you had that baby yet? “I’m waiting for my birthday,” was her reply. On May 17, Virginia was born, as predicted. In Savannah, the family had friends who owned an ambulance, and Lucile and new baby were brought back to Bluffton in style.
Lucile, a Methodist, raised her children in the Catholic faith of her husband and family. When Virginia was about 10, Lucile converted to Catholicism and soon became a mainstay of St. Andrews and the Altar Society. The Parrish house was built next to their own home on Lawton Street. Lucile and Paul have devoted many years to the priests who have lived there. Paul found time to serve 10 years on the Bluffton Town Council
Their 25th wedding anniversary was a special occasion as they renewed their vows. This was wedding three. A hand painted parchment from Pope John commemorated the event. In 1982 on their 50th anniversary over 300 friends and family gathered for wedding four. Pope John II sent them a beautiful Apostolic Blessing painted and written on sheepskin.
Paul and Lucile have been blessed in many ways through their devotion to God and because of their love for each other. They both consider being able to live in Bluffton as one of their special blessings.
