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murder.28 There had been enquiries into his fate, but there was no contemporary attempt to unravel how or exactly when he died, for, almost simultaneously, on Good Friday, 1715, the whole of the province found itself under a threat to its very existence: the Yamasee Indians rose up and killed many Indian traders and frontier settlers. These Indians had many genuine grievances against the Carolinians. Many traders were dealing in the Indian slave trade as well as in furs and skins, and were deliberately manipulating ancient rivalries between the various tribes to create inter-tribal wars. Hughes's good friend, Thomas Nairne, was one of the first to die. He was slowly burnt alive by the Yamasees on the first day of the conflict.29 The era of inter-racial co-operation envisioned by Nairne and Hughes would not become a reality. A synopsis ofPryce Hughes's will, dated 28 February 1712, and proven on 27June 1719, left the residue of his estate to Valentine Hughes and some money to his three brothers-in- law.30 Mary's husband, John Jones of Oerffrwd, Llanwnog, had been closely involved with the British side of the Hughes' enterprise, as one of the.manuscript letters shows. Pryce had previously sent him a journal of his travels to the Mississippi as well as sketches. The letter instructed Jones to 'assume a good stock of boldness' in using their court connections, to include Dr Robinson, the Bishop of Bristol as well as the Lord Treasurer. It was his task to enlist the 'deserving poor' of Wales for the journey and to hire ships in Bristol for that purpose. Among the Montgomeryshire names mentioned by Hughes as helping them were Richard Tudor of Welshpool, who would help with 'pocket expenses' and was an executor of Pryce's will, Thomas Edwards and Rees Edwards." Pryce also left bequests to his servants in America. Edward Ellis, David Meredith, Rice Price, Robert Jones, Morris Evans and Lewis Morgan were to receive 100 acres each. Rowland Evans, mentioned in the above letter also, is the only one that I have managed to trace in the South Carolina records. He survived the 1715 Indian war to become a respected captain of the militia and commander of a frontier garrison. He was sick in August 1732 and died in April 1733. His will left lands in the area of Beaufort, South Carolina to his wife, Margaret.32 This was no doubt the land inherited from Pryce and mentioned in his will as '200 acres of land unstockt and unimproved'. Beaufort is located just north of the border with the later colony of Georgia, on what was the wildest and most exposed frontier of the province. Most of the original grants of land to the Hughes brothers were in this southernmost part of the colony. The land was left to the servants only if Pryce died before the 'expiration of their service', as actually happened. Genealogical searches and South Carolina's historians have so far failed to discover and appreciate Pryce Hughes, this shadowy, heroic figure. To me, it is incredible that a member of the Welsh squirearchy experienced such a meteoric role even with the court connections the Hughes family had through the Herberts of Powis Castle. His progress from a Welsh county figure to national, if not international stature in just three years should be remembered and respected. It is time to discover his story, and I welcome any insights and information your readers can give me on the Montgomeryshire background. aThe original map is in the Public Record Office, with a copy in the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. 79 Verner W. Crane, The Southern Frontier, pp. 164-70. 38 Abstract of Pryce Hughes's will in the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 5 (1906), 3"Five Letters', copy to 'Brother' Jones, undated. 52 South Carolina Archives, Columbia, Charleston County Wills and Miscellaneous Documents, Vol. 3 (1731-37), p-45 One of his witnesses has a Welsh sounding name, Lewis Jones; South Carolina, Journal of the Upper House of Assembly. R.S.U.S. SC Ala/2/1/204, 411.