Author: Kenneth Scott Collins

William Girardeau was born January 15, 1752 at Dorchester, Berkeley Parish, South Carolina.  His parents were Issac Girardeau (1720 – 1773) and Anne Chamberlain (1730- 1764).

2- William’s father, Issac Girardeau, and uncle, Richard Girardeau (1712 – 1766) were members of the White Meeting House at Dorchester, South Carolina, along with their father, Jean Girardeau, who had emigrated from France.

3- Issac Girardeau and his family moved to the Midway District of Georgia in 1755, just after the first church was completed, and Richard Girardeau followed with his family in 1757.  Both died before the Revolutionary War and were reportedly buried in the Midway Congregational Church Cemetery, but no graves have been identified.

William’s father, Isaac, and uncle, Richard Girardeau, died before the Revolutionary War reached Georgia but were probably active in discussions held at the Midway Meeting House concerning Independence.

On August 3, 1777, William Girardeau, along with many residents of Liberty County and other Georgia counties, signed a Petition to the Continental Congress in objection to the appointment of Lachlan McIntosh to the rank of Brigadier General in the Continental Army. 

He married Patience Harris (born 1765), in 1785 at Liberty County, and they had two sons, William Harris (born 1787) and William Pickney (born 1798).

William Girardeau died January 21, 1822, at Liberty County, Georgia, and was buried in Midway Congregational Church Cemetery, Row A, Grave 28.  The inscription on his tombstone reflects his militia service in the Revolutionary War: “Wm Girardeau GA. M L Rev. War.”

 

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