Marion at Port's Ferry

Front: Port's Ferry, 3 miles NE on the Pee Dee, was owned and operated by Frances Port (c. 1725-1812), widow of Thomas Port, who was a member of the Provincial Congress from Prince Frederick's Parish. This was a strategic crossing for Francis Marion, who fortified and used it frequently in his fall campaign of 1780 against British and Tories. Reverse: During his journeys in S.C. from 1801 on, Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury often used the ferry and stayed at the homes of friends nearby. In 1811, the year before Frances Port's death, Asbury "found mother Port keeping house at eighty-seven." His last crossing was in January 1816, a few weeks before his own death.