Front Description
War of American Independence 1776
Francis Salvador 1747-1776
Killed August 1st, 1776, along the Seneca River near what is today Clemson University while a volunteer in an expedition against the Cherokee
First person of the Jewish faith to hold public office in South Carolina and to die for American independence
In 1773 Salvador emigrated as a young man to near present-day Greenwood (then part of the Ninety-Six Judicial District of South Carolina). He served in the Committee to Enforce the Continental Association in Ninety-Six District (1775), and as a member of South Carolina’s first and second provincial congresses (1775, and 1776-78), and of the first General assembly of South Carolina (1776). During these years, Salvador helped implement the state’s revised courts, currency system, and election districts. Further, he participated in drafting South Carolina’s first state constitution.
As a volunteer in the War for American Independence, Salvador died along with a few other unknown patriots during the only Revolutionary War battle fought on soil that in time became Pickens County. He was shot from his horse and scalped. One of Salvador’s comrades-in-arms, Major Samuel Taylor, named his 400 acre plantation on the Seneca River “San Salvador”, which means “Without Salvador”. This acreage was near General Andrew Pickens’ Hopewell Plantation and included a portion of the former Cherokee town of Esseneca and the site of the Revolutionary War Fort Rutledge.
Born an Englishmen, he cast his lot with America; true to his ancient faith, he gave his life to fulfill hopes of liberty and understanding.
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