John Weir of Craven County and Chester District, South Carolina

by John D. Sinks

District of Columbia Society, Sons of the American Revolution

17 April 2021

South Carolina encouraged settlement by passing an act on 25 July 1761 to provide a bounty to Protestant immigrants from Europe.  Those arriving were issued certificates that they were of good moral character and were Protestants.  Two dozen ships have been identified that sailed from Ireland to South Carolina between 1763 and 1774.[1]  A John Weir was on a list of Irish Protestants who petitioned for and were granted certificates on 13 January 1764.[2]  Whether this was the same John Weir who resided in the part of the Camden District that included Chester County when it formed in 1785 is unknown.  The name “John Weir” was not rare in South Carolina during the Revolution.

John Weir signed his will in Chester District, South Carolina on 15 May 1801 and it was proved on 1 February 1805.[3]  The will not only names his heirs, but it also identifies land that enables his residence prior to the Revolution to be determined.  The heirs, their relationship, and bequest of lands were:

Wife (not named)—use of plantation on which I now live and all personal property;

Son-in-law George Weir & wife Mary (“my daughter”): ½ of 225-acre grant on which they now live adjoining the McCullough Tract, John Kell, John Campbell, & Robert Fullerton;

Son David Weir: 100 acres of a 200 acre grant adjoining Rice Hughs, Robert Laird, & John Kell;

Daughter Isabella Weir: 100 acres known as the McCullough Tract adjoining my own land, William Paul, & John Kell;

Son-in-law William Gaston & wife Sarah my daughter: the other ½ of the tract where George Weir lives to be laid off part on the lines of McCullough, William Paul, Henry Rocks, & Robert Fullerton;

Son Ebenezer Weir: 100 acres from east side of 250-acre tract on which I live and 30 acres from the 200-acre tract along Paul’s line to the Stillhouse Branch down to the mouth of Ebenezer Weir’s Spring Branch;

Son Joseph Weir: plantation on which I now live, 220 acres being the remainder of 250 and 200 acres to be his at his mother’s decease, which he has the right to occupy while she lives and shall give her support;

Daughter Agness Fullerton: £15;

Granddaughter Margret Wier now living with me: £5 at her grandmother’s death;

Grandson John Gaston: one year of schooling and board.

John Weir left his books in common among his children, an indication that he was educated.  He named friend John McCreary, son David Weir, and son-in-law William Gaston as executors.

John Weir owned adjacent three tracts of land at the time he signed his will: grants of 225 and 200 acres, and the McCullough tract.  The planation on which he resided consisted of parts of the first two tracts.  John Weir purchased 100 acres of land on a small branch of Rocky Creek for £50 acres from James McCulloch on 6 August 1771.[4]  The land was in Craven County, Camden District at the time and according to the deed had been granted on 2 May 1760.  The 200-acre tract was adjacent to grants to James McCullough and James Paul was surveyed for John Weir was surveyed under a precept dated 3 September 1771.[5]  The survey of the 225-acre tract of land was certified on 25 March 1785.[6]  It was on the branches of Rocky Creek on the southwest side of the Catawba River.  The plat shows the tract was adjacent to land owned by Henry Rock, John Campbell, James Paul, and James McCullough.  Paul’s Cemetery is located on land that belonged to James Paul.  The cemetery, also known as Anderson Cemetery, is located just under 3 miles south of the center of Richburg, South Carolina.  John Weir acquired two of the three tracts before the Revolution, one shortly after the Revolution, and owned all three at the time of his death.  During the Revolution this area was the home of many Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who hated the British. 

About five South Carolina men of the name “John Weir” were in South Carolina, including one who served in the Continental line from Camden District and one Tory.[7]  Fortunately John Weir’s residence before, after, and during the Revolution enabled his correct Revolutionary service to be identified. 

John Weir is on a list of petit jurors for the Camden District between the Broad and Catawba Rivers for 1778-1779.[8]  This is an immense area.  The land owned by John Weir is within this area.  A second service was serving on a jury to appraise the estate of Josiah Hughes on the Rocky Creek, St. Mark’s Parish, Camden District in 1782.[9]  Juries to appraise estates and lay off widows’ dowers were typically selected from men who lived in the vicinity.  In this case the decedent lived on waters of the same creek as John Weir.

The correct military service is resolved in Accounts Audited of Claims Growing out of the Revolution in South Carolina, 1775-1856.  The original records are in the South Carolina State Archives and organized by the name of the claimant.  In some cases, a file will contain records of more than one person of the same name.  There was a file for John Weir in which there were claims by two separate men (#8485).  The claims of interest were itemized in one key document:

   1 mare lost at Fishdam Ford;

   25 days duty [paid at the rate for a private];

   17 days service for three horses;

   loss of a gray horse in service;

   loss of a saddle in service;

   2 bushels of wheat.

Col. Edward Lacey certified the claims, except for the loss of the gray horse about which he said he knew nothing.  In 1789 Lacey wrote from Chester County regarding the claim of “John Weir Camden Dist & my Regement [sic.]” regarding loss of the horse, saying he now had better grounds for the claim.  A biography of Edward Lacey confirmed that he was a colonel of the militia in the part of the Camden District from which Chester County formed, and before the engagement at Fishdam Ford had recruited on Fishing Creek and Rocky Creek.[10]  John Weir lived on the waters of Rocky Creek. 

The Sumter Papers of the Draper Manuscripts provide details about the recruiting and travel of Lacey’s troops to Fishdam Ford (pp. 194, 197-200).  Sgt. William Wylie after the war told people that he and Lacey recruited in what became Chester County and enlisted 150 men in a single day!  How was Lacey able to arouse the patriotic spirit in so many men in such a short period of time?  A Tory named Knight lived a few miles from Chester.  Lacey paid him a visit and seized a barrel of whiskey.  The recruits, described in the Draper manuscripts as “warm hearted whiskey loving Irish,” sampled the ambrosia and used any vessel that could use to hold the liquid.  They set out to join Sumter, continuing to drink on the way.  About 7 miles from Fishdam Ford they encountered a British patrol.  The patriots, their courage well-fortified, without orders took the initiative and charged.  The British fled.  Wylie said that when the men arrived at the ford they “tumbled” from their horses. 

The engagement at Fishdam Ford occurred on 9 November 1780 about 1:00 A.M. on the Broad River.  General Thomas Sumter’s patriot force of about 500 men was attacked by a force under Major John Wemyss of about half that size—about 210 dragoons and mounted infantry, and about 40 Tories.  Although Sumter was not prepared to receive an attack, two of his colonels, Thomas Taylor and Richard Winn, were prepared and opened fire when the British attacked.  Maj. Wemyss suffered a broken arm and shattered knee at the outset of the battle.  Wemyss did not reveal his plan to his subordinates, so his loss was especially important.  The battle none the less remained even until men under Edward Lacey and James Hawthorn opened fire.  The patriots suffered about 4 killed and 10 wounded; the British lost about 4 killed, 20 wounded, and about 25 captured, including Maj. Wemyss.  The British did succeed in scattering the patriot force.

Summary.  The story of John Weir is typical of Irish Presbyterians who immigrated South Carolina in the 1760’s and 1770’s.  He settled near others of the same background.  John Weir took advantage of the opportunities afforded him in South Carolina, acquiring 300 acres of land before the Revolution.  His appearance on a He along with many of his neighbors answered an urgent call to arms in November 1780, dark days for the Revolution in South Carolina after the fall of Charleston.  He was at the Battle of Fishdam Ford.  After the Revolution he acquired an additional 225 acres of land.  John Weir died testate in Chester District, South Carolina, where he had resided before the Revolution when it was Craven County.  He made a bequest to his wife whose name was not given, sons David, Ebenezer, and Joseph, and daughters Mary (wife of George Weir), Isabella Weir, Sarah (wife of William Gaston), and Agness Fullteron.  The will was signed on 15 May 1801 and proved on 1 February 1805.