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“B” is for Burroughs, Franklin Gorham (1834-1897)

“B” is for Burroughs, Franklin Gorham (1834-1897). Manufacturer, merchant, land developer. Born in North Carolina, in 1857 Burroughs moved to Conway, South Carolina to work with a cousin. That same year on his own initiative, he won contracts to construct a bridge and gallows for the town. After the Civil War, Burroughs and his wife settled in Conway where he expanded his successful turpentine and retail business. In 1895 Burroughs formed a partnership dealing with manufacturing, naval stores, land, and mercantile stores in key Horry County localities. The naval store business declined after an 1893 hurricane ravaged timberland, but their real estate business thrived. Franklin Gorham Burroughs set in motion the building of a railroad to what is now Myrtle Beach, and his sons completed his plan--a major step toward developing the resort.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.