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No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Tarleton Brown Memoir #05063, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternative Form of Materials

This transcription was made from a microfilm copy of the 1862 publication of Tarleton Brown's memoir. The microfilm is held by the Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Greensboro, N.C.

Provenance

Received from Lawrence E. Jarrell of High Point, N.C., in June 2001 (Acc. 98985).

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Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

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• American loyalists--South Carolina.
• Brown, Tarleton, 1757-1845.
• Pioneers--South Carolina.
• Soldiers--United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
• South Carolina--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
• United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Campaigns.
• United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Personal narratives.
• Whig Party (S.C.).

• The Memoirs of Tarleton Brown, 1862. North Carolina Collection, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Tarleton Brown was born in Albermarle County, Va., on 5 April 1757 to William and Sarah Brown. In 1769, his family moved to South Carolina. In 1775, Tarleton Brown was drafted for a year to fight the British and, in 1776, he voluntarily enlisted as a private in the "American Army." He was promoted to captain in 1780. During the Revolutionary War, Brown took part in the First Siege of Savannah, the Battle of Monk's Corner, and the Siege of Augusta. Throughout much of the war, Brown served as a scout in South Carolina and Georgia. His commanders included William Harden, Francis Marion, and Andrew Pickens. During the war, his father and other family members were killed by Tories and their house burned to the ground. Brown himself contracted smallpox during the war and was sick for 40 days.

After the war, Tarleton Brown was a farmer and owned several grist mills and about 20 slaves. In 1788, he married Almedia Matthews, with whom he had three children. Almedia Matthews Brown died in 1800, and, in 1804, Brown married Judith O'Bannon, widow of Wilson Cook, Jr. Together they had four children. Judith died in 1837.

Brown was also very active in public service and a leader in the community. He was county coroner and sheriff, 1788-1792, of Winton County, S.C., and served in the state House of Representatives, 1792-1797, and Senate, 1798-1799. He was elected as sheriff of Barnwell, S.C., in 1799 and held that position until 1804. He eventually moved to Boiling Springs, S.C. At some point in the 1830s or early 1840s, Brown wrote of his Revolutionary War experiences and memories. He died on 4 September 1845.

The collection consists of an undated 20-page typed transcription of a microfilm copy of the 1862 publication of Tarleton Brown's memoir of the Revolutionary War, which he wrote sometime before his death in 1845. Brown began by describing the South Carolina countryside before the Revolutionary War, when it was a frontier society and still being settled. The bulk of his memoir relates to his experiences in the Revolutionary War, 1775-1780, when he fought under such commanders as William Harden, Francis Marion, and Andrew Pickens. Brown discussed his participation in the First Siege of Savannah, the Battle of Monk's Corner, and the Siege of Augusta, as well as his work as an army scout in both South Carolina and Georgia.

The memoir also describes the relationship between Tories and Whigs in South Carolina at that time. Brown painted a picture of guerrilla warfare in South Carolina during which his family home was burned to the ground, his father murdered, and his mother and sisters forced to flee. He discussed British control in South Carolina and the effect this had on the character of the Revolutionary War in that area and problems of establishing peace and order after the war. He wrote about Tories who continued to murder, steal, and wreak havoc on the population even after the fighting had ceased. Included is a brief synopsis of his life after the war, during which he built several mills and moved to Boiling Springs, S.C.