As part of the Chapter Clips feature, I will be sharing the story behind the names of our chapters as well as the stories of many other patriots whose names were not chosen by chapters but are a part of our Revolutionary history. You will be fascinated by not only Emily's story, but all of their stories!
Of course, you will find the script below in the event you could not hear any part of the rededication. I hope you enjoy learning about one of our many patriots!
Script
for the Re-dedication Ceremony Monuments, Tablets, and Medallions Placed by the
SCDAR at the SC State House
South
Carolina State House Grounds
June
13, 2018
Written
by Penny Renwick
DIANNE:
In 1900, the SCDAR provided a plaque
commemorating the heroic ride of Emily Geiger. This tablet hangs on the wall of
the main lobby near the main entrance opposite the carved marble representation
of the Ordinance of Secession.
 |
| Emily Geiger from the NSDAR Great Women of the American Revolution pewter medallion collection |
PENNY:
When eighteen-year-old Emily
heard that General Nathaniel Greene needed someone to carry a message to Thomas
Sumter and Francis Marion, she volunteered. To deliver the message, it was
necessary that she cross British lines and, as a result, she was captured by
the enemy.
When the soldiers left her
alone to find a female to search her, Emily memorized the message, then tore it
into small pieces and swallowed it. When the British were unable to find
anything after searching her, they released her. She was able to complete her
mission and deliver the crucial messages to Sumter and Marion, saving many
patriot lives.
In an article published in
Volume 8 1896 of the American Monthly Magazine the Historian of the Rebecca
Motte Chapter wrote the following concerning Emily Geiger.
This old seal having become worn in
the course of its long service of one hundred and twenty years, the Legislature
of our State, in 1895, ordered a new seal to be made similar to the original,
except that the supporters should be individualized and that hereafter William
Moultrie and Emily Geiger should be placed upon it as the representatives of a
noble past. Thus do they now stand upon
the Seal of State of South Carolina which must be affixed to every public document
signed by the Governor ere it can be an official state paper.
No other woman in the United State
has, in all likelihood, received so public and honor as to be chosen by the
highest legislative body of her State to be the representative woman of that
Commonwealth. Emily stands now as the
heroine to be ever remembered here, and taken as the highest example of what a
woman can do, and dare, in the service of her country; and, should similar
circumstances arise again, our State looks to her daughters to be ready to
imitate, as well as to admire, her deed of high courage and energy.
DIANNE:
In
the series finale of TURN, the character of George Washington says, “Our
country owes its life to heroes whose names they will never know.” One author stated that “such was the aid
rendered by women whose deeds of disinterested generosity were never known
beyond their own neighborhood.”
The SCDAR rededicates this tablet
to Emily Geiger whose name and contribution we do know as well as the women
whose names and contributions we will never know but without whose contributions
the war and our freedom for our nation would have never been won.
PLACE FLORAL ARRANGEMENT.
Pause.
DIANNE:
Thank you.
From History of American Women – Women in the American
Revolution, I share with you the story of Emily Geiger.
During the Revolutionary War, the Carolina colonies were
invaded by the British in 1781. Patriot
Generals Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter, Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, and
Francis Marion were waging an all-out campaign to rid South Carolina of the
British.
General Greene had spent 28 days trying to capture the
fort at Ninety-Six, South Carolina but had been forced to retreat when he
discovered that British General Lord Francis Rawdon was coming with
reinforcements. General Greene felt that
Rawdon’s men were vulnerable to attack but knew he lacked the manpower to win
the skirmish.
If General Greene could get a message to General Sumter,
the two units could join forces and attack General Rawdon en masse. Two things made getting such a message to
General Sumter very difficult. Seventy
miles of difficult terrain – some of it
dense marsh – separated the two armies, and the area was a hotbed of British
sympathizers.
General Greene hesitated to order any of his men – who
were exhausted and weak from lack of proper food – to undertake such a
ride. So he called for a civilian
volunteer to carry the message. But no
one could be found willing to run the risk of traversing a section of country
that was infested with vengeful Tories.
About two miles from where General Greene had camped with
his weary and disheartened troops, stood the residence of a well-to-do farmer
named John Geiger, a loyal and outspoken patriot but an invalid and unable to
bear arms for his country. His
eighteen-year-old daughter was an ardent patriot as well.
Emily Geiger overheard her father and one of his friends
discussing Greene’s dilemma and his call for a courier. Without saying anything to her father, she
left the house and went to General Greene’s camp asking to speak to the general
personally. She bravely offered to carry
his message to General Sumter.
Greene was understandably leery about sending a young
woman on such a long and dangerous trip.
Emily also stated that she was well acquainted with the route to be
travelled as she had been over it more than once. Desperate, Greene finally consented to let
Emily go, wrote his message, [also communicated it to her verbally] and sent
her on her way. [She traveled under the
guise of going to her Uncle Jacob’s house.]
Unknown to Emily, a Tory spy had seen her leave General
Greene’s camp. He reported her
activities to a man named Lowry who in turn sent a man to apprehend Emily. Unsuspecting, Emily continued her journey
until she was forced to stop for the night and stay with strangers who were
secretly Tories.
In the middle of the night, the man tracking Emily
arrived at the house where she was sleeping.
He decided to rest a few hours before taking custody of Emily. She figured out what was happening, and while
the others slept, she sneaked out the window, saddled her horse, and silently
rode away. She pushed her horse as hard
as she dared, knowing that the rider would be tailing her as soon as he woke.
Emily made it about two-thirds of the way to General
Sumter’s camp when she saw three British soldiers coming toward her. The sight of a young woman traveling alone
from the direction of General Greene’s camp and on a well-lathered horse made
them suspicious. When they questioned
her, the soldiers became even more wary of Emily. [Emily was not a spy and
could not lie very well.]
They took Emily captive and carried her before Lord
Rawdon whose camp was about a mile distant [Fort Granby]. He questioned Emily closely as to where she
was from and where she was going. He
considered her answers evasive, and ordered her to be locked up in one of the
upper rooms of the guard house until a woman could be found to search her.
Emily agonized over what to do next. Being found with a message would mean she
would be tried and probably hanged as a spy.
The answer came to her suddenly.
She memorized the words on the paper, and then bit by bit, she ate the
message.
She choked the last bit down just as a woman appeared
prepared to search her and her clothing.
Obviously, nothing of a suspicious nature was found upon her, and Lord
Rawdon was honor-bound to permit Emily to continue on her journey unmolested. He gave her an escort to a house [her Uncle
Jacob’s] a few miles distant where she ate and rested a few hours.
With a fresh horse and a guide who could show her a
shorter and safer way, Emily set out, and by riding all night, they were far
from Lord Rawdon’s camp. At sunrise, the
guide left her to continue her journey alone.
She rode on steadily, hot as it was, until 3 o’clock on
the afternoon of the third day, she suddenly came upon a file of soldiers, whom
from their dress she knew to be friends.
They conducted Emily to General Sumter; hungry, weary, and almost
fainting, she clearly and succinctly delivered her message. In an hour, General Sumter was ready to march
to meet General Greene.
After a few days of rest, Emily returned home to her
father.
Emily Geiger later married a wealthy planter named John
Threwits who lived on the Congaree River in South Carolina.
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