his new world, then a wilderness; no doubt under many distresses and
dangers, and with few of the facilities with which emigrants settle new,
but rich countries, at the present day. His son, also called Gabriel,
was the father of five sons, Isaac, Gabriel, Benjamin, Francis, and Job,
and of two daughters, grandmothers of the families of the Mitchells, of
Georgetown, and of the Dwights, formerly of the same place, but now of
St. Stephen's parish.

* This is in error--The Marion family moved to Winyaw when
Francis was six or seven years old. Francis was probably
born either at St. John's Parish, Berkeley, or St. James's
Parish, Goose Creek; the respective homes of his father's
and mother's families. 1732 is probably correct as the year
of Francis's birth, but is not absolutely certain. Despite
beginning with this error, the author's remoteness from this
event is not continued with the events mentioned later in
the book, to which he was a witness. Those remarks should be
given their proper weight.--A. L., 1997.

Of the education of FRANCIS MARION, we have no account; but from the
internal evidence afforded by his original letters, it appears to have
been no more than a plain English one; for the Huguenots seem to
have already so far assimilated themselves to the country as to have
forgotten their French. It was indeed a rare thing, in this early state
of our country, to receive any more than the rudiments of an English
education; since men were too much employed in the clearing and tilth of
barren lands, to attend much to science.

Such an education seemed to dispose Marion to be modest and reserved in
conversation; to think, if not to read much; and, above all, not to be
communicative. An early friend of his, the late Captain John Palmer, has
stated, that his first inclination was for a seafaring life, and that
at the age of sixteen he made a voyage to the West Indies. The vessel
in which he embarked foundered at sea, and the crew, consisting of
six persons, took to an open boat, without water or provisions: but,
providentially, a dog swam to them from the ship, whose blood served
them for drink, and his raw flesh for food, for six days; on the
seventh, Francis Marion, and three of the crew, reached land, but the
other two perished at sea. Things which appear accidental at the time,
often sway the destinies of human life. Thus it was, that from the
effect of this