The 2nd Great Awakening and Port’s Ferry: A Port’s quest to understand his family history.
At first glance, Francis Port’s last will and testament is seemingly rather ordinary. Francis Port’s will was recorded in February of 1812 and conveys land and slaves to numerous individuals. There are references to several people and the typical legalese language. A widow of Thomas Port, a representative of South Carolina’s continental congress and an owner/operator of “Port’s Ferry”. Port’s Ferry served as a key piece of terrain during the American Revolutionary War as a strategic crossing for General Francis Marion aka “The Swamp Fox”. In addition to its Revolutionary significance, Port’s Ferry was used often as a crossing for Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury. Bishop Asbury’s connection to the Port family is even more intriguing when one looks at the text of Port’s will where she bequeaths the vast majority of her assets to one Mary Port Snow “daughter of Thomas Humphries”. Herein lies the challenge for this researcher, Francis Port’s hus...