Author: Edward E. McBride III
Laodicea “Dicey” Langston was a heroine during the American Revolution and provided Patriotic Service. She was only 15 years old when she started spying on a band of loyalist outlaws called the Blood Scouts who attached patriots and their families in Laurens, SC. Dicey relayed her information to the SC Militia so that they would be ready to surprise the Blood Scouts when they attacked individuals who supported the patriots. There is one instance that is noteworthy when she overheard that the Bloody Scouts were going to attack a group of SC militiamen including her brother in the Little Eden settlement the next day. That night Dicey walked over 20 miles through woods, across marshes and creeks, and the rain swollen Tyger stream to warn the militiamen of the upcoming attack by the Bloody Scouts. When the Bloody Scouts arrived the next day, the location was deserted since everyone had escaped well before the attack. Her service is documented in the Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Bobby G. Moss in 1983, vol.2, page 553. Her service is also noted in The Women of the American Revolution by Elizabeth F. Ellet in 1850 pages 284-291, and Some Heroes of the American Revolution by James D. Bailey in 1924 pages 270-274.

She met her future husband, Thomas Springfield, during the American Revolution when they both opposed the Bloody Scouts who attacked patriots and their families in SC during the American Revolution. They both are buried in the Springfield Family Cemetery in Travelers Rest (Greenville), SC. The Daughters of the American Revolution have prepared a tribute at the grave site to Dicey Langston Springfield as a heroine during the American Revolution.

Laodicea “Dicey” Langston was born on May 14, 1766 in Laurens, SC and died on May 23, 1837 in Travelers Rest (Greenville County), SC. Her father was Solomon Langston who was a Lieutenant in the Spartan Regiment of the SC Militia during the American Revolution. On January 9, 1783 she married Thomas Springfield in Laurens, SC. He had been a soldier in the SC Militia during the American Revolution. He was born on July 15, 1766 in Greenville, SC and died on March 21, 1845 in Travelers Rest (Greenville), SC. They had 21 children including Hugh Springfield, Sr.