Captain Edward Conner
This story relates to the Graham/Durant family.
It was submitted by Carolyn Buckley,
March 7, 2008
American Revolution War Hero
Captain Edward Conner
1757 - 1837
By: Carolyn Jane Harrelson-Buckley
The Honorable Captain Edward Conner of (Kingston) a commissioner who resided at Hulls Island (Loris) was born on December 31, 1757 at Dublin Co. North Carolina (before our country was even formed). Edard was an American Revolutionary War soldier in the most famous and romantic bands of all times during the Revolutionary War, the Swamp Fox Band.
Edward Conner owned numberous plantations scattered across Horry County and along the North and South Carolina borders. He was a emeritus soldier of the America Revoluntionary War and took a leading part in all affairs pertaining to the developments of his village and section. He had a gutsy spirit and was a colorful character. Edward Conner was a man of mental prowess, strength of character, physical energy and was highly respected while serving as one of the first commissioners of Kingston.
When Edward was about (10) years of age his family migrated to the South Carolina Kingston area. Edward helped his Pa pack the covered wagon with a few of the bare necessities of life needed and followed the rugged old Native American Indian trails from North to South Carolina.
Life in the Kingston wilderness was very treacherous with wild animals, boggy mesquite infested swamps and born diseases that folks had to work closely together with one another for their own safety and survival. South Carolina was the first to secede from the Union. Commercial and political leaders of the Colonies demanded independence from the king of England. The shot that was heard around the world was delivered by horseman to neighboring Isaac Marion who was living at the Boundary House.
“Isaac Marion, descendant of French Huguenots lived at a house that sat directly on the line between the province of North and South Carolina called the Boundary House. While Isaac was living here he entertained his younger brother Francis. He was there when the news came of the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, which touched off the American Revolutionary War. The courier did not reach South Carolina until May 9, 1775. Marion forwarded the message to the Committee of Safety in Little River, part of a defense and information network connected to Charleston. From Little River it was sent to Georgetown and onto Charles Towne (Charleston South Carolina). The committee constituted the only governing body in the area in the days before state government could take hold. They could require local residents to show opposition to the English crown by signing an oath of allegiance to the new government
In autumn of 1776 this young patriot left his fathers home to embrace the cause. Edward enlisted first in North Carolina. He served under several different commanders while becoming an emeritus soldier in the American Revolutionary War. Edward Conner gallantly rode with and served under General Francis Marion. Conner was a member of the most famous and romantic military bands of all time, the fearless ‘Swamp Fox Band.’ Captain Conner received land grants and a pension for serving in the American Revolutionary War. He was a true Patriot serving his country courageously filled with pride. The ‘Gallant Old Graham Plantations’ often sheltered the Old Swamp Fox Buccaneers on Mitchell Swamp. Family history maintains that Francis Marion once put young Mr. Mc Eachern into “chains” in Robeson County North Carolina as a “blacksmith” to help out during the Revolutionary War.
Edward married the amiable Miss Sarah Wingate Grissett, daughter of Mr. George and Mrs. Sarah Grissett from Grisssettown. Together Edward and Sarah carved out a homestead in the wilderness and raised a family. Their children were Dorcas Ann, Edward Grissett, Daniel Cornelius, Sarah, Mary, Rebecca and my great-great grandmother Jane Conner ( born 1798 died 1862) who married William Bellamy Graham of Mitchell Swamp. Today this area is known simply by Loris, South Carolina.
Captain Conner was well-noted furthermore a highly respected gentleman around the villages of the Kingston area. His honorable character earned him legions of friends and followers. He taught his children and grandchildren by example. He was renowned for what would be later termed “taking care of business.” He was a godly man of broad charity. Manuscripts and letters that have survived reveal that Captain Edward Conner held positions on boards and committees in Kingston. He believed in being an active participant in local affairs. His dedicated leadership gave him a strong voice in the villages and surrounding area.
“The minute book of the building committee provides historical records indicate
that on February 3, 1817, Commissioner Edward Conner, Robert Conway, Silvius
Sweets, and John Dicks were guests of Richard Singleton at his home to discuss
the building of the first courthouse.”
Census records that lead me to military records helped reveal the fascinating history of my ancestor and gutsy hero, Captain Edward Conner. Over, generations spanning more than (250) years my honorable ancestors experienced the everyday life of the nation. My family witnessed the whole transformation of the English Colonies into the most powerful country on earth.
An excerpt from an article on local history clearly shows that Captain Conner was an admirable man who was well respected among his piers. The News Reporter of Whiteville North Carolina on May 3, 1993 says: ‘We, Edward Conner and James G. Cochran, arbitrators indefferenty chosen by John Bessent and Stephen B. Daniell, to hear and determine a case of certain Negroes, namely Chloe and her children and having heard the evidence of William Gore setting forth fully that said Stephen hath bargained with the said John in his prescience and by the papers produced to us, it clearly appears that the said John paid up fully his contract and the said Negroes are the said property of John Bessent, 28 March, 1816. Edward Conner and James G. Crochran, I agree, Stephen B. Daniell.’
President George Washington visited the Little River area on April 27, 1791. He was lodging at the home of Edward Conners friend James G. Cochran. Undoubtedly Edward was afforded the opportunity to meet the first president of the newly formed United States of America. Edward was a large plantation landowner, slave owner and a businessman. He was a Revolutionary War Patriot and a fearless leader of our early nation.
Throughout my great, great, great grandfathers colorful life he always enjoyed the shared camaraderie with his esteemed guerilla backwoods freedom fighters, the famous Swamp Fox Band. Some of Edward and Sarah’s friends, neighbors and those old buccaneers included Captain John Merril, William, Joseph, Gilbert and John Graham, Moses and Josiah Harrelson, James G. Cochran, William Gore, John Bessent, Robert Conway, Isaac and Francis Marion, Charles Bullock, Daniel Fowler, Nicholas Prince, Stephen B. Daniell, Benjamin Holt, Matthias Vaught, William and Joseph Hardee, Moses Milligan, Joseph P. Floyd, Thomas Durant, John Sessions, Thomas King, John Cox, John Bellamy, Bryant Mincy, Robert, Adam and James Jordan, Gilbert Johnston, Jr., Hugh Giles, John Ruthledge, Peter and Hugh Horry, Samuel Floyd, Jacob Powell, John Grainger, Shadrack Vaught, Jeremiah Vereen and their families just to name a few.
Thank God for men and woman like Conners that transformed a struggling colony into a great nation. We who look back to the past find we have some large shoes to fill if we are to fulfill the promise of a greater future. Captain Edward Conner was a good hero of the Colonial Era and American Revolutionary War. His spirited legacy lives on in the good works that he began and through the legions of industrious and loving descendants who are spread all over the world today.
I am truly honored and tremendously proud to be a great, great, great granddaughter of this unconquerable American Revolutionary War Hero~ Captain Edward Conner~ my champion too!