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- Joseph Brevard (1766-1821). Son-in-law of Ely Kershaw (1743-1780);
father-in-law of Benjamin Thomas Elmore.
Joseph Brevard, born 19 July 1766 in North Carolina, was the son of
John Brevard and Jane McWhorter. As a young boy, he served in the North
Carolina Continental Line and was commissioned a lieutenant in 1782.
Following the American Revolution, he moved to Camden, South Carolina. On
11 February 1792 he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of
law; he was associated with William Falconer of Chesterfield. Brevard
also became a land-holder. Through grants he obtained 1,650 acres in
Camden District and 200 acres in Berkeley County. Writing his will in
September, 1821, he mentioned Nettleton plantation, Antrim plantation on
the Wateree River; undisclosed acreage on the Wateree, Twenty-five Mile
Creek, and Great Lynches Creek; four lots, a town house, and other houses
in Camden; and monetary bequests of $12,000. An inventory of his estate
included 126 slaves, a library of approximately 900 books, and 100 shares
of bank stock.
Public service began for Brevard in January 1789 when he was elected
sheriff for Camden District. He served in that post until 1 March 1791.
On 14 October 1791 he was appointed a commissioner for the Court of
Equity for the northern circuit. During the 1790s he also served as
county attorney for several counties, including Chesterfield, Darlington,
and Salem, and as recorder and legal advisor for Camden. Kershaw elected
Brevard to the House for the Twelfth (1796-1797) and Thirteenth
(1798-1799) General Assemblies. Elected to the state Senate by Lancaster
and Kershaw election district, he served in the Fourteenth General
Assembly (1800-1801). The legislature on 3 December 1801 elected him an
associate judge of the Court of General Sessions and Common Pleas; he
remained in that position until poor health forced his resignation in
December 1815. He was electe to the United States House of
Representatives by Camden District and served in the Sixteenth Congress
(1819-1821). He was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
On 17 March 1793, Brevard married Rebecca Kershaw, daughter of Ely
Kershaw and Mary Cantey (b.1749). At least four children were born to
them: Alfred, Edward Carrington, Eugene Joseph, and Sarah Aurora (m.
Benjamin Thomas Elmore). Rebecca Kershaw Brevard predeceased her husband
circa June 1802. Joseph Brevard died 11 October 1821 in Camden and was
buried in an unmarked grave in the Quaker cemetery.
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