Colonel Henry Fox
Posted by John Howell on Friday, October 31, 2014
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Henry Fox III was born in 1698, and in 1721 he married
his first wife, Mary Goodwyn. She became the mother to Unity, Thomas,, Henry,
and John. He married his second wife, Martha Keen in 1738 and she was the mother
of Temperance, William, and Joseph. In 1720 he moved to the newly formed
Brunswick County and became associated with the Virginia Indian Company which
had control of all trade with the Indians south of the James River. That is
where he became experienced in Indian affairs and military activities which
gained him the title of Colonel. He arrived in South Carolina in 1733. He owned
plantations in Marlboro County, Clarendon County, and Richland County, where
Second Creek became known as Colonel's Creek where he lived when he was not
traveling to check on his other plantations. The military career of Colonel
Henry Fox III in South Carolina included a mission to the Catawba Indians from
1737-1739, service to the expedition against the Spaniards at St. Augustine in
1740, a mission to the Wateree Indians in 1740, duty as Commissioning and
Appointing Officer in the War Office in Charlestion from 1746-1747, and
Paymaster General of "Our Guards Garrisons and Land Forces" in 1761. He also
served as Justice of the Peace for Craven County from 1737-1738, a member of the
petit jury for Prince Frederick Parish in 1740 and 1742, a commissioner to lay
out a road in 1740, a petitioner for the laying out of a road in 1754. It is
recorded that Colonel Fox was an eminent lawyer in Charlestown. A Cherokee War
Document of July 30, 1761, mentions him, as "our right trusty and well beloved
Councilor, HENRY FOX, Esquire." He died in 1770.
Contributed by David Fox
Contributed by David Fox