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Information concerning the Purysburg Settlement and the original settlers (and their descendants) of the Purysburg Settlement is being sought by Bob Hammond of the Burke County, Georgia Museum. The town of Purysburg, South Carolina (Beaufort District, now Jasper County), was settled by 600 poor Swiss Protestants in 1731 and abandoned a century later. Although Purysburg itself has disappeared, the descendants of its settlers are still found throughout South Carolina; they include, for example, the present governor, Jim Hodges. The town, whose name commemorates its founder, Jean Pierre de Pury of Neuchatel, Switzerland, has disappeared almost completely from the banks of the Savannah River and the site is in danger of being lost, according to architect, Eason Cross in a recent Harvard Magazine article by Diana Kudayarova (quotes from Cross below obtained from Kudayarova's article). Cross himself is not a descendant of the Purysburg settlers. However, he wants to build a library and information center in what used to be the town of Purysburg, South Carolina. Cross has been actively involved in trying to bring together more Purysburg descendants, organizing regular Swiss-American exchanges, and recovering the lost history of the Purysburg settlement. Cross considers the hoped-for information center an important part of the effort, especially since "all that remains of Purysburg is a jug well and a cemetery." As he sees it, an information center that serves as a focal point for tourism will keep Purysburg on the map and "remind the writers of history, mostly New Englanders, that significant events in American history occurred below the James River!" This Purysburg Project is part of an effort by the Purysburg Preservation Foundation, of which Cross is director and founder, to "make Purysburg more visible." Cross says, the evidence of the existence of Purysburg has almost completely disappeared under the sprawl of "single-family houses, where people just come to enjoy the river." A community center in nearby Ebenezer has brought new attention to that town's early colony of settlers from Salzburg, Austria. Once Purysburg's sister town, and only a river's crossing away, Ebenezer is now much more widely known. Information concerning the original inhabitants of Purysburg is being sought by: Bob Hammond, Burke County Museum, Waynesboro, Georgia. Contact Mr. Hammond at 706-554-4889 or bcmuseum1@yahoo.com Posted: February 28, 2006
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.... And Thus History Began
1. PURYSBURG SETTLEMENT
"FANTASY"
