In use during the American Revolution, Witherspoon’s Ferry was the site where Francis Marion accepted command of the Williamsburg Militia in 1780. Ownership of the ferry lands passed from Robert Witherspoon to John Witherspoon in 1787, and in 1802 John bequeathed the land to Aimwell Presbyterian Church, which had closed by 1820. In 1819 former South Carolina Governor David R. Williams, John Witherspoon’s son-in-law, obtained these ferry lands. In 1842 William Johnson acquired the land, and in 1843 a post office named Johnsonville was established nearby.