Emily Geiger is an American Revolutionary War heroine who was captured by the British while on a military mission as a civilian. She was carrying an important message across enemy grounds when she was captured and questioned. The Tory matron could find nothing on her because Geiger had memorized the message, then eaten it, so they had to let her go. She proceeded, reached the general she had sought, and verbally delivered the message.
Family history
Geiger’s family was from the village of Wydnau, Zurich, Switzerland. Her great-grandfather, Hans Jacob, and grandfather, Herman, left Switzerland on December 5, 1736, and arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 1, 1737, aboard The Prince of Wales. The family settled in Saxe Gotha, South Carolina. Her father was John Geiger and her mother was Emily Murff. The family and the Geigers of South Carolina pronounced their name with the G as in “go” and the ei as in “eager.” She was an only child. She married John Threwits. She had one child, a daughter named Elizabeth Juliet Threwits.
Soon after the siege of Ninety Six, South Carolina, and after General Nathanael Greene had crossed Broad River, he was anxious to send an order to General ThomasSumter, then on the Wateree River, to join him that they might attack Lord Rawdon, who had divided his force. The country being full of British and Tories, no one appeared willing to undertake this dangerous mission. Due to Geiger’s father's infirmities, she could not go to the battlefield, so when the opportunity to deliver a very important message for General Nathanael Greene across enemy grounds arose, Emily Geiger jumped at the chance to serve her country and defend her father’s beliefs. The general, both surprised and delighted, consented to her proposal. He wrote a letter and gave it to Geiger, and at the same time communicated the contents of it verbally, to be told to Sumter in case of accidents and/or capture. Geiger pursued her journey on horseback, riding sidesaddle. She traveled under the guise of being on her way to her Uncle Jacob’s house many miles away. But on the second day, Lord Rawdon’s scouts intercepted her near the Congaree River. Because she was coming from the direction of Greene’s army and wasn’t able to lie without blushing, Geiger was suspected and confined to a room. The officer called for an old Loyalist matron to search her. When they weren’t looking, Geiger tore the message to pieces and ate it all. When the matron arrived to search her, she found nothing. They let her go and had someone accompany her on her journey to her Uncle Jacob’s house. Once there, Geiger made her way to General Sumter and delivered the message verbally.
Burial
Geiger’s grave marker was moved to the Geiger Cemetery in 1958. The State newspaper stated on April 13, 1958, that “A granite marker to Herman Geiger, a pioneer citizen of the Congaree area, is to be dedicated at 3:30 p.m. May 11, 1958, at the Geiger Cemetery. This historic spot is near the line between Calhoun and Lexington counties, on the Calhoun side, a quarter of a mile west of U.S. Highway 176 on a county road half-way between Geiger's store and the county line.”
Memorials
Three South Carolina chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution have been named for Emily Geiger, but only one is currently in existence. The Emily Geiger Chapter NSDAR is based in Bluffton, South Caroline, and has members from Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, and other areas of Beaufort County. To honor Geiger and commemorate her heroic ride, the woman holding the laurel branch on the South Carolina State Seal is designated as Emily Geiger. There are also monuments to her at the Cayce, South Carolina, history museum and the South Carolina statehouse.
