Wednesday 11th. After an early breakfast at Mr. Smiths we road 20 Miles to a place called Pokitellico, where a dinner was provided by the Parishoners of Prince William for my reception; and an Address from them was presented and answered. After dinner we proceeded 16 Miles farther to Judge Haywards w[h]ere we lodged, &, as also at Mr. Smiths were kindly and hospitably entertained. My going to Colo. Washingtons is to be ascribed to motives of friendship & relationship; but to Mr. Smiths & Judge Haywards to those of necessity; their being no public houses on the Road and my distance to get to these private ones increased at least 10 or 12 miles between Charleston and Savanna.
Pocotaligo, an Indian settlement taken over by whites in the early years of the century, was on the Pocotaligo River, a branch of the Broad River (, 23). The address of the people of Prince William’s Parish and a copy of GW’s very brief answer are in DLC:GW.
Thomas Heyward, Jr., in whose Charleston town house GW had lodged, lived at White Hall plantation on Hazzard Creek, another tributary of the Broad River. He also owned nearby Old House plantation and on his two plantations in 1790 had a total of 440 slaves. A lawyer educated at the Middle Temple in London, Heyward served in the Continental Congress 1776–78 and fought as a militia officer in 1780 at Charleston, where he was captured. He was elected a state circuit judge in 1779 and held that position until 1789, when he resigned to pursue his serious interest in agriculture at White Hall. In 1785 he helped to found and became first president of the Agricultural Society of South Carolina (, 16–17, 24).