Bishop Gregg, that Col. Hugh Giles, “a distinguished character” during the Revolutionary War, lived just over Smith Swamp, south of the site of the Marion courthouse, and it was for him, after 1783, that the settlement was called Gilesborough.
Hugh Giles married our Sarah Ball. She is the great-great-great-grandmother of Curt Gowdy, who lived south of Marion, South Carolina.
Primary Marriage Record Found
A surviving diary entry by the Reverend Evan Pugh provides direct contemporary evidence that Hugh Giles married Sarah Ball on 7 February 1772. Pugh recorded: “Feb: 7th 1772 — Married Hugh Giles To Sarah Ball.”
Sarah Ball was a daughter of Bartholomew Ball. This diary entry is an important primary source connecting the Ball and Giles families in colonial South Carolina.
Source: Evan Pugh Diary, February 1772, South Carolina Historical Society, 1236C-Ball Collection, image file 1292-28-668-10_EvanPughDiary_Feb1772_02.