A Little-Known Slice Of South Carolina History Can Be Found Along This Small-Town Main Street
By AnneMarie|Published February 01, 2024
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AnneMarie
Author
South Carolina has been home for AnneMarie since 2001. Her favorite part of the state is Lake Jocassee. An App State alumna, it's always the mountains; the lake bonus makes it heavenly. When not writing about the state, she may be spending time with family, relaxing by the pool, or out somewhere enjoying nature.
As one of America’s first 13 original colonies, South Carolina has such a rich and storied history. Some of that history is very well known, while other parts of the history not so much. One particularly fascinating story that you may never have heard before involves one of our country’s first vice presidents, Aaron Burr. It’s an occurrence that could even be one of the oddest moments in South Carolina history.
The year was 1806, late one March afternoon, and the third Vice President of the United States, Aaron Burr, who had completed his term the previous year, had been arrested by the military for treason. A nine-man military guard was escorting him from Fort Stoddert (in present-day Alabama) to Richmond, Virginia to stand trial.
South Carolina was considered friendly territory for Burr, as his daughter and son-in-law lived in the lowcountry. To avoid that part of the state, the group took a more northern route, which included passing through a village where the small town of Chester is today.
As the group passed near a tavern where people were gathered about, Aaron Burr dismounted his horse at this rock (pictured below) and loudly exclaimed, I am Aaron Burr under military arrest and claim the protection of the civil authorities. The military guard reacted quickly, forcing Burr back into the saddle and proceeding on quickly away from the tavern.
A mile or so beyond the village, Burr and the person leading his horse were overcome with emotion of the situation at hand. Legend has it that the group spent the night at Lewis Inn (at 2743 Aaron Burr Road), where Burr attempted, but failed, to escape from the second floor of the home, and thus slept on a wooden bench on the front porch with two standing guard over him for the remainder of the night.
That bench now sits at the Chester County Historical Society Museum ...
... and the rock, now a historical marker, sits at the intersection of Main Street and Gadsden Street, seen on the right when traveling east on Main Street.
Aaron Burr's daughter, Theodosia Burr Alston, and her husband who served as Governor of South Carolina during the War of 1812, lived at the Oaks Plantation in Murrells Inlet.
You can tour the Oaks Plantation at Brookgreen Gardens where you can still see the rice fields, parts of the architectural structures where the home was, a family cemetery, and more.
