Little River, South Carolina?

[aemrick]

New member and not full of the pirate rancor yet, but I need help. I work for Horry County, SC and I'm trying to document the legends of Pirate activity in the community of Little River, SC. Little River is located very near the NC/SC border and is and was a deep water port on a navigatable inlet from the ocean. It was used by Confederate ships during the Civil War as it was not well known by the Union Blockades. It was formerly part of Craven County, North Carolina.

There has been a great deal of pirate lore thrown about concerning this area, but I have never seen anything other than speculation to back up or disprove the lore.

Any help or leads would be greatly appreciated.

Adam Emrick

Senior Planner

Horry County, SC

[the Royaliste]

Well, I happen to know of one pyrate happening in Little River;......the Privateer Royaliste went aground January 2007. Wasn't a pretty sight, I tells ye'

[Caraccioli]

You're probably in the best place to find evidence for your area. I'd be looking through the newspapers, court documents, police records (if they have some from the periods you're considering) and similar current event scrawlings. Court docs are often a goldmine for such info.

Or you could just go the traditional route and say, "_xxx_ is reputed to have _yyy_" and "Legend says that _zzz_".

[aemrick]

You're probably in the best place to find evidence for your area. I'd be looking through the newspapers, court documents, police records (if they have some from the periods you're considering) and similar current event scrawlings. Court docs are often a goldmine for such info.

Or you could just go the traditional route and say, "_xxx_ is reputed to have _yyy_" and "Legend says that _zzz_".

The "xxx is reputed to" is what we have now. I'm hoping for more. Thank you again for anything additional. I'm continuing to search down those other tracks as well.

[Joe Pyrat]

Based on your location it is highly probable that you had pirate activity. We know that Teach, Vane, Bonnet, Moody and Worley were in the area. What was Little River known as between 1713 and 1718? When was Little River (or the original settlement in the area) settled? Charles Towne (Charleston, SC) dates to 1670 so if you have a township at your location prior to 1720 you will have someplace to start. Keep in mind that the Golden Age of Piracy arguably ends in or near 1722 and the big explosion in piracy in the area occurs following the end of Queen Anne's War (known in Europe as the War of Spanish Succession) so if I were you I'd being concentrating on 1713 - 1718 if you are looking for associations with well known pirates.

You may also find this of value on good research techniques.

Hope this helps.

[aemrick]

Based on your location it is highly probable that you had pirate activity. We know that Teach, Vane, Bonnet, Moody and Worley were in the area. What was Little River known as between 1713 and 1718? When was Little River (or the original settlement in the area) settled? Charles Towne (Charleston, SC) dates to 1670 so if you have a township at your location prior to 1720 you will have someplace to start. Keep in mind that the Golden Age of Piracy arguably ends in or near 1722 and the big explosion in piracy in the area occurs following the end of Queen Anne's War (known in Europe as the War of Spanish Succession) so if I were you I'd being concentrating on 1713 - 1718 if you are looking for associations with well known pirates.

You may also find this of value on good research techniques.

Hope this helps.

The earliest deed I've seen referencing "Little River" is 1716. Thus far, the earliest non-deed reference I can find for the area using the name Little River is 1734. In that same reference, A New Voyage to Georgia by a Young Gentleman, 1st edition published in 1735. In that account the author references several times stopping at "Ash's, Little River". A 1740 account of Rev. George Whitfield also references both Ash's and Little River.

Below is the most popular account of Pirate activity.

Pirates - Little River is said to have been visited by the likes of William Kidd "Captain Kidd", Edward Teach "Blackbeard", Stede Bonnet and Anne Bonney. Sections of the coast that are laced with islands and inlets were often hideouts of pirates and others who sought concealment and secrecy. There have long been rumors among the locals of buried pirate treasure in the area

Indian settlers of this area called Little River Mineola. Some of the early property owners in the Little River area, reportedly from the late 1600s to the early 1700s - Landgrave Thomas Smith, William Waites (Indian Trader), Thomas Ash, Jonathan Calkins, Boriah Grant, Nicholas Frink, Charles Hart, George Pawley, James Minor, John Bessent, and John Morrall.

Again, I am grateful for anything else you can help me with.

[Joe Pyrat]

I would think Anne Bonny unlikely and William Kidd even less likely, Teach, is more of a possibility. If there were no settlements in the area where records were kept until 1740 I would think you are going to find it difficult to substantiate any pirate activity other than to say we know pirates were in the area on both sides of you and we know they would use areas like yours to careen in. So in general it is possible, but unless you can find some documentation that would place a pirate in the area I believe conjecture is all you will be left with.

That said, they have pirate festivals in Arizona and you are in a much more pirate-likely location so depending on what you want to accomplish with a pirate link you may not need anything more than that.

[blackjohn]

found stuff regarding founding of the town... nothing substantial... nothing relating to pirates.

"1706, Jan. 21-? Trott in his Laws of British colonies in America rel to church, etc., 1736, N.C. section, prints a fragment of an act with the caption 'Part of an Act, Intituled, An Act for a Town in Little River. At an Assembly begun January 21st, 1705/6."

"On Sept. 13, 1715, the council records show the following... Ordered that a proclamacon be Issued out for ye Assemblys meeting at Captn Richard Sanderson in Little River instead of the church in Chowan which was the place of ye last meeting."

[Caraccioli]

I would think Anne Bonny unlikely and William Kidd even less likely, Teach, is more of a possibility. If there were no settlements in the area where records were kept until 1740 I would think you are going to find it difficult to substantiate any pirate activity other than to say we know pirates were in the area on both sides of you and we know they would use areas like yours to careen in. So in general it is possible, but unless you can find some documentation that would place a pirate in the area I believe conjecture is all you will be left with.

That said, they have pirate festivals in Arizona and you are in a much more pirate-likely location so depending on what you want to accomplish with a pirate link you may not need anything more than that.

I would say Joe right. You might try and find the closest city with a newspaper from that time and see what you can find there. Other than that and possibly court record from the closest place with a court during that period, I don't know what else you could search for. The few journals we have from pirates are not very specific on locations and the latitude/longitude stuff of a particular island or city between seaman's accounts often don't even agree with each. I'd say your best bet is land-based records (or an undiscovered journal. )

Edited February 5, 2009 by Caraccioli

[Joe Pyrat]

Excellent Michael, a starting point perhaps. I hit the Library of Congress' online research data with no hits on either Little River or Richard Sanderson but then all that could mean is nothing is in the database or my search was inadequate.

Wonder if tax information is available for 1705? Would be interesting to see if Sanderson showed up and if you could link him to property in Little River. From there you might find who was recording the tax information and where they were located, possibly leading to discovery of who the local politicians were (who might be more easily tracked) and the name of a local paper if there was one.

Is there anyone who has done a history of South Carolina which specifically details small towns?

EDIT: The South Carolina Historical Society is located at 100 Meeting street in Charleston and might be worth a look.

Adam, when do the county/city records say the township/county was incorporated?

Edited February 5, 2009 by Joe Pyrat

[aemrick]

Excellent Michael, a starting point perhaps. I hit the Library of Congress' online research data with no hits on either Little River or Richard Sanderson but then all that could mean is nothing is in the database or my search was inadequate.

Wonder if tax information is available for 1705? Would be interesting to see if Sanderson showed up and if you could link him to property in Little River. From there you might find who was recording the tax information and where they were located, possibly leading to discovery of who the local politicians were (who might be more easily tracked) and the name of a local paper if there was one.

Is there anyone who has done a history of South Carolina which specifically details small towns?

EDIT: The South Carolina Historical Society is located at 100 Meeting street in Charleston and might be worth a look.

Adam, when do the county/city records say the township/county was incorporated?

Great question. Horry District (pronounced O' ree) was established in 1801, later to become Horry County in 1868. However, this section of current Horry County was a part of Craven County, North Carolina, which many of you may be able to help me with. I do not know if the early records of Little River Court documents, etc. might be with y'all up there.

As for the cemeteries. That is my other big project right now and I am attempting to inventory every historic cemetery in the County, numbering over 300. Unfortunately, there are few stones from the 1700s existing. Most of those who were here then used wooden markers and of those that still survive, nothing is legible.

Regarding the earlier posting about the 1706 Act which established the Town in Little River... Is there a citation or a site that you can refer me to on this? This is the first mention of anything like this and I know that the residents of Little River would love to hear more about this if more exists.

Thank you all again so much for your assistance. The information you've provided is already vastly more than I had when I started.

Adam

[blackjohn]

Regarding the earlier posting about the 1706 Act which established the Town in Little River... Is there a citation or a site that you can refer me to on this? This is the first mention of anything like this and I know that the residents of Little River would love to hear more about this if more exists.

Look here for the bit about meeting there instead of at Chowan. Scroll up two pages to page 514 for the bit about the 1706 act.

[Dutchman]

a thought about the cemeteries. you seem to have early organized cemteries in your part of the world, but think outside the box. look for old family plots- they should be marked on USGS maps but will have little to no information readily available. While head markers were used, as you noted they are probably long since rotted. look for balast stones instead. these will be good indicators of the earlier identifiable plots. from there head to the north carolina records and start digging for family property deeds.