05/09/2023
REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERITAGE
HORRY COUNTY, SC
Today marks the 248th anniversary of the day that news of the Battle of Lexington, Mass. reached South Carolina by way of horseback. It arrived in what is now Horry County on May 9, 1775. The following is a description of that event:
THE BOUNDARY HOUSE - LITTLE RIVER, SC
By Ben Burroughs, Horry County Archives Center, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC (2023-05-09)
One of the oldest documented buildings within Horry County, S.C. was the Boundary House. It was built in the early 1700s on the boundary line between North and South Carolina.
The Boundary House was located on a tract of 300 acres granted to Charles Hart on February 9, 1732. Hart sold the property to William Waties, Jr. who sold it on March 9, 1734 to George Pawley. When George Pawley sold the property on February 4, 1754 to Christopher Guinn, the tract was described as being commonly known as the “Boundary House.” It served as a meeting place for the people of the area and traveling ministers would often stop there to preach.
In 1775, the Boundary House was the home of Isaac Marion, older brother of General Francis Marion. Isaac Marion served the area as Justice of the Peace. It was here that South Carolina received (by way of horseback) the first official word of the Battle of Lexington, Mass., which marked the beginning of open hostilities in the Revolutionary War. Couriers on horseback were used to rush the news of the battle southward.
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William Gilmore Simms wrote in his book, The Life of Francis Marion, published in 1844, “A letter from Isaac Marion, one of the brothers of our subject [Gen. Francis Marion], who dwelt at Little River, the Northern boundary of the province, is worthy of quotation, as serving to show that he was animated with the same public spirit that possessed his more distinguished kinsman. It was written to accompany the express, which brought the news of the battle of Lexington. A letter to him, from R. Howe, of N.C., forwarding the express, remarking, "I know you stand in no need of being prompted when your country requires your service" -- would seem to show that he too had shared in the reputation of his brother.”1
Upon receiving the express forwarded from Brunswick, NC, Isaac Marion, of the Boundary House, then wrote the following message and sent it on to the Committee of Safety in the village of Little River, S.C.:
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Boundary, May 9th, 1775, Little River.
Gentle Men of the Committee:
I have just now received express from the Committees of the Northring Provinces desiring I would forward the enclosed packet to the Southren Committees as you are the nearest I request for the good of your country and the welfaire of our Lives Liberties and fortune you not lose a moment time but dispatch the same to the Committee of George Town; to be forwared to Charles Town in mean time I am Gentlemen
Your obliged Humble Servant &c.
Isaac Marion.
To: Dennis Hankins,
Josias Allston & Samuel Dwight, Esquires &
Messrs. Francis & John Allston
Gentlemen of the Committee of Little River.
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To ensure that the news arrived in Charleston, S.C. as quickly as possible, a dispatch had also sent by way of ship to Charleston. That ship actually arrived in Charleston harbor one day before the message sent by horseback arrived at the Boundary House in Horry County, S. C. However, it should be noted that the message sent by horseback had the added advantage of being able to alert everyone along the route of the momentous event.
The site of the Boundary House is now (2023) marked by a 600 pound granite monument, that also marks the NC/SC state line, and is located on the former Marsh Harbor Golf Course, Horry County, S.C..
