Upper Dorchester County Historical Society 

P.O. Box 15, Dorchester, SC 29437

David Gavin (1811-1874) served in the SC General Assembly from 1834-1843 for The Parish of St. George Dorchester and the Colleton District from 1865-1866,  owned the Texas Plantation near present day St. George, was a surveyor, estate appraiser, and philosopher.

" He wrote these observations 150 years ago," said Phyllis Hughes, President of the organization," never knowing that when he entered his last entry, the journal would be rescued from a trash bin and preserved and donated by  the Gavin family to The Southern Historical Collection of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1946. Mr. Gavin's Diary  is an extraordinary look at the Upper Dorchester County area. He recorded his observations of life on the plantation during the turbulent times of the Civil War Era along with candid comments about his neighbors, local, state, national, and international events and economics."

Many records for the area were  lost in a  well-intended but ill-fated attempt to move them from the Colleton District Courthouse to Columbia to save them from General Sherman's torch. There are hundreds of families names that he wrote about that are still prevalent in the area. This is a significant journal in which one who has family ties to the Colleton/Dorchester area can trace their own families history.

David Gavin  refers to Indian Field very often,  recording life on a southern plantation through turbulent times. His diary covers the years leading up to the War Between The states, during & after. He relates the weather, building roads, thieves, true men, and deceivers, conversations, and events.

For more information about The Upper Dorchester County Historical Society and/or David Gavin Diary contact Phyllis Hughes at 843-563-2298.