William Ioor
William Ioor was a farmer, physician, and South Carolina’s first dramatist. He was born in 1780 near Dorchester, where he would later open his first medical practice. Beginning in 1800, he served as a representative of St. George in the General Assembly and, inspired by his political involvement, wrote the plays on which his reputation rests: Independence and The Battle of Eutaw Springs.
Independence; or Which Do You Like Best, the Peer or the Farmer? is the first play written and produced by a native of South Carolina. It premiered at the Charleston Theatre, then on the corner of Broad and New Streets, in 1805. Though set in England and adapted from an English novel, the play illustrates distinctly American themes: a preference for rural pleasures, a commitment to hard work, and a hearty distrust of English nobility.
Ioor’s second play, The Battle of Eutaw Springs, written shortly before the War of 1812, was intended to “exalt the American character, and depress that of the British government.” The first play to dramatize Revolutionary War combat in the Southern colonies, it premiered at the Charleston Theatre in 1807 and was reprised the next season. A troupe connected to the Charleston Theatre performed the play in Richmond in 1811, and again in Philadelphia in 1813.
Following the production of his plays, Ioor moved to Savannah, where he practiced medicine for fifteen years before retiring to the upstate. He died on July 30, 1850, at his residence near Pelzer and is buried alongside his wife in the Springwood Cemetery in Greenville. Ioor was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 2015.
Independence; or Which Do You Like Best, the Peer or the Farmer? is the first play written and produced by a native of South Carolina. It premiered at the Charleston Theatre, then on the corner of Broad and New Streets, in 1805. Though set in England and adapted from an English novel, the play illustrates distinctly American themes: a preference for rural pleasures, a commitment to hard work, and a hearty distrust of English nobility.
Ioor’s second play, The Battle of Eutaw Springs, written shortly before the War of 1812, was intended to “exalt the American character, and depress that of the British government.” The first play to dramatize Revolutionary War combat in the Southern colonies, it premiered at the Charleston Theatre in 1807 and was reprised the next season. A troupe connected to the Charleston Theatre performed the play in Richmond in 1811, and again in Philadelphia in 1813.
Following the production of his plays, Ioor moved to Savannah, where he practiced medicine for fifteen years before retiring to the upstate. He died on July 30, 1850, at his residence near Pelzer and is buried alongside his wife in the Springwood Cemetery in Greenville. Ioor was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 2015.
