“P” is for Purrysburg

“P” is for Purrysburg (Jasper County). The town of Purrysburg, located on the Savannah River in present day Jasper County, was named after its founder, Jean-Pierre Purry. Born in Switzerland, Purry was a wine merchant who developed colonization plans for areas in the Dutch and British empires that could be suitable for agricultural development. The township plan initiated in 1731 under Governor Robert Johnson, provided the necessary impetus for the foundation of Purrysburg the following year.   In 1732 and 1733 some three hundred French-Swiss and German-Swiss colonists arrived in South Carolina with Purry to settle the 48,000-acre township. The inhospitable terrain and severe climate, land encroachments by British settlers, and bickering between French- and German-speaking settlers over linguistic matters, and most importantly, the relocation of many enterprising Purrysbergers to Charleston and Savannah condemned Purrysburg to remain a marginal southern frontier town.