GEORGETOWN, S.C. —  A presentation on the life of a prominent Georgetown County citizen will be given this week to the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Dr. Roy Talbert, a professor and lecturer at Coastal Carolina University, will give a talk at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Prince George Parrish Hall about Peter Horry, who was second in command to Francis Marion during the American Revolution.

Horry, the namesake for Horry County, lived in Georgetown County during the summer of 1812, said Meggan Farish, a fellow of the Waccamaw Center for Cultural and Historical Studies at Coastal Carolina University. Horry was a native of Georgetown County — born in Prince George Winyah Parish in 1743.

Talbert and Farish are editing Peter Horry’s journal, which Horry kept in Georgetown and Columbia from 1812 to 1815. Wednesday’s talk will give more details about Horry’s life, and how he spent his time after the Revolution.  

“Dr. Talbert will discuss [with the DAR] Peter Horry’s daily activities, including his interactions with family, friends and slaves,” Farish said.

Talbert has published other material about Petery Horry and the summer of 1812, Farish said.

A previous publication, “So Fine a Beach: Peter Horry’s Summer of 1812,’’ was part of a lecture series at Coastal Carolina University.

According to Farish, Horry is a neglected figure in American historiography. One of the first to collect sources and to write about the Revolution, Horry’s initial efforts to publish were changed by Parson Weems.  

Alexander S. Salley published portions of Horry’s journal during the 1930s and 1940s in The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, but Horry’s collection of war documents and private writings, while used extensively by prominent antebellum historians, has never been published, nor has anyone attempted an in-depth study of Horry himself, according to Farish.

“The Peter Horry Project is the only investigation of this fascinating character in modern times,” Farish said.

Talbert will soon finish the transcription of Horry’s journal. Farish, the winner of the 2010 Lewis P. Jones Research Fellowship at the University of South Carolina, will spend the summer at South Caroliniana Library completing the annotation.

The journal will be published sometime next year.

“This is going to be a project that touches a lot of people in Georgetown and Columbia,” she said.

“He had a lot of acquaintances in Georgetown, with families who are still around today.”

By Kelly Marshall Fuller

Kfuller@gtowntimes.com