Gideon Gibson

He was a leader and left behind a lasting legacy in our state. Gideon Gibson was a mixed-race freedman born in 1721 who would grow up to change South Carolina law forever. His participation in the Regulator Movement, a vigilante movement that challenged the colonial government, led to a tense armed standoff with a group of constables near Marrs Bluff on the Pee Dee River on July 25, 1767. When a colonel arrived with troops to arrest Gibson weeks later, his troops sided with Gibson and refused to arrest him. Gibson’s instigation is now known as the Marrs Bluff Affair, which eventually led to the creation of circuit courts in our state. The Marrs Bluff Affair, and Gibson, are commemorated in a mural inside the Florence County Judicial Center, painted by Florence artist Robert Garey.