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"B" is for Burroughs, Franklin Gorham (1837-1897)

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"B" is for Burroughs, Franklin Gorham (1837-1897). Manufacturer, merchant, land developer. A native of North Carolina, Burroughs disliked farming. In 1857 he moved to Conway and went to work with a cousin in a mercantile and turpentine business. On his own he won contracts to build a bridge and gallows for the town. He entered Confederate service in 1861 and served in the Army of the Tennessee. He was captured in 1864 and imprisoned near Chicago. Returning home, he expanded his turpentine and retail businesses. Although Myrtle Beach was not founded in his lifetime, Burroughs dreamed of a coastal resort between New York and Miami. 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.