Arthur Parr was born July 5, 1758, in Rowan, North Carolina. He was the first son of Arthur Parr (Maryland) and Margaret Wright (Hillsboro, North Carolina). When Arthur was 6 years old, his father died from injuries received transporting an Indian to jail. Margaret was left with 6 children to raise. At some point after her husband’s death, she married Peter Starnes, who moved Margaret and her children with him to Camden District, South Carolina, around Winnsboro around 1768-1770.
In 1776, Arthur Parr, now 17, was drafted into the South Carolina militia. He was drafted into the 2nd Regiment, in a company commanded by Captain Thomas Woodard, Fairfield District. He was marched to Charleston and stationed at Sullivan Island as a guard. He was on duty at Sullivan Island and watched the 2nd battle in Charleston Harbor on March 21, 1776, when the South Carolina Provincial Navy defeated a British warship for the first time. His tour of duty was completed shortly after this event. It obviously made a significant impact on him, and he began volunteering for military service.
Arthur Parr then volunteered to join the Captain Joseph Handcock’s (Captain John Hancock?) company under Colonel Jonas Beard, Lower District Regiment (aka Dutch Fork Regiment). For this tour of duty, he fought the Cherokee Indians on Indian frontiers until the Spring of 1777 when he was discharged from duty at Lyndleys Fort or Elosons Fort. (The two settlers forts were close together and by 1832 when Arthur was dictating his service record, he could no longer remember which fort he was discharged from.)
Arthur immediately signed up again, this time under Captain Joseph Kirkland, in the Fairfield Regiment, commanded by Colonel John Winn. Arthur knew this campaign under the title of “The Augustine Campaign”, but it was also known as the 3rd Florida Expedition. The Georgia Rangers have twice before attempted to take control of East Florida away from the British. This 3rdtime, they convinced General George Washington to support the expedition with additional troops from other states. Arthur spent three months on this campaign until the patriots failed to take East Florida for the 3rd time. After he returned to South Carolina, he was stationed at various places on the Savannah River until late 1777 or early 1778.
Next, he was headquartered at Purysburg (Purrysburg), but marched to Charleston and stayed there until the fall of 1778 when he returned to Purysburg and was discharged.
In the spring of 1779, he volunteered for the 4thtime. Again he served under Captain Joseph Kirkland. His first assignment was to destroy the road between Savannah and Charleston. He completed that assignment about June 1, 1779. Following that, he moved to the mouth of Stono Creek opposite the Isle of St. Jans and was in the battle of Stono Ferry between Savannah and Charleston led by Brigadier General Benjamin Lincoln. The left-wing of the battle formation was led by South Carolina Continental Brigadier General Isaac Huger. Arthur’s Fairfield Regiment was part of the left-wing. At Stono Ferry, the patriots were attacking a British encampment on one side of the Stono River and a Hessian camp on the other side. The battle ended as a draw with the British and Hessians maintaining their positions. The British were prevented from pursuing the patriots by the surprising action of Count Casimir Pulaski and his cavalry force. That must have really intrigued young Arthur because he managed to get himself attached to Pulaski’s calvary for the Siege of Savannah.
