A personal journal written by Peter Horry (1744-1815), the Revolutionary War militia leader for whom Horry County was named, was recently published by the University of South Carolina Press, edited by Coastal Carolina University history professor Roy Talbert Jr. and Meggan Farish, a CCU history alumna and Duke University doctoral candidate.

The diary covers two years near the end of Horry's life, 1812 to 1814, providing an intimate account of the social and political life of South Carolina in those years as well as a revealing personal portrait of Horry, a prominent planter, soldier and political figure.

A Georgetown County planter, Horry served closely with Gen. Francis Marion in the Revolutionary War and also served in the state legislature as a representative and senator in the 1780s and '90s. In 1801, the newly created Horry District (now Horry County) was named for him in honor of his services in the American Revolution.

When the journal begins, Horry is living on North Island near Georgetown. The early part of the diary chronicles the day-to-day management of his plantations and his interactions with his household slaves. In 1813, Horry moved to Columbia, and the latter part of the journal describes the social and political life in the state capital. This section of the diary also recounts the construction of his new home, now known as the Horry-Guignard House, which still stands on Senate Street near the University of South Carolina.

Talbert holds the Lawrence B. and Jane P. Clark Chair of History at CCU. He is the author of numerous historical books on subjects ranging from the TVA to military intelligence, as well as institutional histories of many South Carolina organizations. He joined the CCU faculty in 1979.

Farish has been a research assistant for CCU's Waccamaw Center for Cultural and Historical Studies and an archives processor at the South Caroliniana Library in Columbia. In 2010, she was awarded the Lewis P. Jones Summer Research Fellowship at the South Caroliniana Library.