Although many immigrants who came to Saxe Gotha – now Lexington County – came directly from Europe to South Carolina, some went elsewhere first.

The Quattlebaum family originally settled in Pennsylvania before moving down to what would become Lexington County.

The Derrick family came over as indentured servants and settled in the German Village near Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island in Georgia. The Germans there helped supply the fort’s soldiers with food.

Both of these families ended up in Saxe Gotha by the 1760s. Many of the German and Swiss German settlers maintained contacts with other German settlements such as Ebenezer in Georgia as well.

JR Fennell is Lexington County Museum director.