Indiantown in Williamsburg County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Indiantown Presbyterian Church: “Disarm in the Most Rigid Manner”
Photographed By Anna Inbody, March 18, 2012
1. Indiantown Presbyterian Church: “Disarm in the Most Rigid Manner” Marker
Inscription.
Indiantown Presbyterian Church: “Disarm in the Most Rigid Manner”. . After Francis Marion’s initial victories in August and early September 1780, British military authorities in South Carolina moved to eliminate the threat of an insurgency in Williamsburg District. Lord Cornwallis ordered Maj. James Wemyss to sweep through the area with a large force of British regulars and Loyalist militiamen and “disarm in the most rigid manner, all Persons who cannot be depended on” to support the King. Faced with a much larger force on his trail, Col. Marion had little choice but to retreat into the swamps of eastern North Carolina, but his decision left Williamsburg undefended., On September 20, Maj. Wemyss reported to Cornwallis that he had “burnt and laid waste about 50 houses and Plantations, mostly belonging to People who … are now in arms against us.”, According to local lore, Weymss also ordered the burning of Indiantown Presbyterian Church, calling it a “sedition shop.” Founded in 1757 and the heart of community identity for the rebellious Ulster Scots (or “Scots-Irish”) families of the area, it probably was a center of Whig activity in Williamsburg. The church, a simple log structure on the site of the present building, was rebuilt after the Revolutionary War and again in 1830.
After Francis Marion’s initial victories in August and early September 1780, British military authorities in South Carolina moved to eliminate the threat of an insurgency in Williamsburg District. Lord Cornwallis ordered Maj. James Wemyss to sweep through the area with a large force of British regulars and Loyalist militiamen and “disarm in the most rigid manner, all Persons who cannot be depended on” to support the King. Faced with a much larger force on his trail, Col. Marion had little choice but to retreat into the swamps of eastern North Carolina, but his decision left Williamsburg undefended.
On September 20, Maj. Wemyss reported to Cornwallis that he had “burnt and laid waste about 50 houses and Plantations, mostly belonging to People who … are now in arms against us.”
According to local lore, Weymss also ordered the burning of Indiantown Presbyterian Church, calling it a “sedition shop.” Founded in 1757 and the heart of community identity for the rebellious Ulster Scots (or “Scots-Irish”) families of the area, it probably was a center of Whig activity in Williamsburg. The church, a simple log structure on the site of the present building, was rebuilt after the Revolutionary War and again in 1830.
Erected 2012 by Francis
Click or scan to see this page online
Marion Trail Commission of Francis Marion University.
Location. 33° 43.508′ N, 79° 33.718′ W. Marker is in Indiantown, South Carolina, in Williamsburg County. Marker is on Hemingway Hwy (State Highway 261/512), on the left when traveling west. In the yard of the Indiantown Presbyterian Church. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4865 Hemingway Hwy, Hemingway SC 29554, United States of America. Touch for directions.
If Maj. James Wemyss indeed ordered Indiantown Presbyterian Church put to the torch, it was certainly a military calculation and not the result of ethnic or religious prejudice, since, like the Williamsburg rebels he was seeking to subdue, Wemyss himself was a Scottish Presbyterian. Courtesy Jim Palmer, Jr.
Photographed By Anna Inbody, March 18, 2012
5. Drawing on the Marker
The nature of warfare in South Carolina left much of the countryside in ruins. In Williamsburg District and elsewhere, the civilian population suffered the destruction of homes, farms, mills, and livestock, primarily by British troops intending to quash the rebellion.
Photographed By Anna Inbody, March 18, 2012
6. Map on the marker
Indiantown, one of the colonial settlements in Williamsburg District, from Mills‘ Atlas (1825). The church (or "meetinghouse") is noted as “M.H.”
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on March 25, 2012, by Anna Inbody of Columbia, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 1,235 times since then and 36 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on March 25, 2012, by Anna Inbody of Columbia, South Carolina. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.