About Us

Alexander Chesney (1755 – 1843) / Kevin Dodson

Alexander Chesney was born in September of 1756 near the town of Dunclug in the County of Antrim, Ireland. Chesney emigrated from Ireland to South Carolina in 1772 with his father Robert and other family. Upon the outbreak of the Revolution, the Chesney family often aided loyalists by harboring refugees and guiding them to safety. Alexander was arrested and imprisoned for this and given a choice between trial or joining a patriot militia in combat with native groups on the frontier. Alexander chose the latter but escaped the Americans back into the British fold upon their capture of Charleston in 1780. Alexander Chesney remained with the British for the duration of the war. He will be represented by Kevin Dodson of Shepherd University.

Margaret Hodge (1759 – 1781), wife / Daniel Lucas

Margaret Hodge, born in 1759 and eldest daughter of William and Elizabeth Hodge, was Alexander Chesney’s first wife. Margaret and Alexander were married on the third of January 1780. Their marriage was short-lived, however, lasting until Margaret’s untimely death in November 1781. Margaret was only twenty-two years old when she died. She is interpreted by Daniel Lucas, a senior and soon-to-be graduate of Loyola University Chicago. Daniel is excited to be studying the female head of the Chesney household despite her short life.

Col. John Philips ( – ), friend / Paul Coblentz

Hello my name is Paul Coblentz of Shepherd University. My Major is in History and I’m studying for a degree in Civil War and 19^th Century American. As a part of Dr. Bankhurst’s HIST 302 class of the American Revolution, I’ll be working with a group doing research on the Alexander Chesney household, a group of Loyalists from South Carolina. Each member of the group will be focusing on one member from this household and will try to understand the American Revolution from their point of view.

The character I’ve been assigned to is Col. John Philips, a close friend of the Alexander Chesney household. John Philips was born in Ulster, Ireland and moved to South Carolina in 1770 with his wife and 7 children. Although new to America, he remained loyal to the Crown throughout the conflict. In 1780, he became the commanding officer of the Jackson’s Creek Loyalist Militia, and took part in several of the campaigns in South Carolina. He was captured in early 1781, but was exchanged soon afterwards and rejoined the Loyalist Forces. Towards the end of the war, he was made the muster-master of the loyal militia and refugees who were coming into Charleston to flee America when it was clear for the British that the war was lost. Afterwards, John Philips left South Carolina and returned with his family to Ulster, where he would remain till his passing in 1809.

Robert Chesney (1737 – 1818), father / Sajjad Sajjadi

John Robert Chesney also was known as Robert McChesney/Sajjad Sajjadi: Robert Chesney born on 15 May 1737, in Dunclug, Antrim, Northern Ireland. He is the son of Alexander Chesney and Jane Fulton. His son Alexander Chesney was born on September 12, 1756, when Robert Chesney was 19 years old. Robert Chesney farm in Dunclug was too small for his family, so he moved his family to Kirkinreallough or Kirkmareally to a larger farm. After living for 5 years in their new farm, the Chesney family moved to South Carolina in a Snow (ship) called the JAMES AND MARY of and from Lame. Robert Chesney’s family consisted of himself, his wife, Alexander, Ann, Martha, Jane, William, Robert, John, and Peggy about 8 months old who died of smallpox on the passage. Robert, his wife, and all the eight children left Lame on the 25th. August 1772 to South Carolina. On 16 October of 1772, they arrived safely in the Harbor of Charleston, South Carolina after a passage of seven weeks and three days. He is interpreted by Sajjad Sajjadi. I am an undergraduate majoring in biology.