Our history of Alexander Love begins in Pennsylvania. The exact date of arrival of the Love family in America is not known, but from research and available documents, it appears they were part of the Scots-Irish immigration into Pennsylvania in the early 1700’s.   

In 1743, Love married Margaret Moore, a native of County Antrim, Ireland. The Moores were Quakers and strongly objected to the marriage of their daughter to a Presbyterian.  Margaret was disowned by the Society of Friends, and a brother was suspended for a time for siding with her. However, Love’s family had no objection to the marriage.

Public records place Alexander Love in Straban Township, Lancaster County, which later became York, and finally Adams counties. In April, 1755, the will of John Love of Straban Township was probated and lists his son, William Love, and son in law, Michael Drumgold as executors. Alexander Love and John Murphy signed as witnesses. Alexander would have been 37 years old. Other records of that time period in Straban show various members of the Love and Murphy families applying for business licenses together.

The Scots-Irish continued their migrations as cheaper lands opened up in Virginia and the Carolinas. The exact date that Love left Pennsylvania is unknown, but it was before 1771. He settled his family on Upper Fishing Creek, about 1 ½ miles from what later became Yorkville, S.C. This area was then Craven County, North Carolina, later Craven County, South Carolina, then the New Acquisition, now York County. Many believe he and his family were the first settlers in the area.

Love was soon recognized as a prominent member of the frontier society. He was one of a 14-member delegation to the Provincial Congress of South Carolina that assembled in Charleston on November 1, 1775, to protest British treatment of the Colonies.  

In August 1775, after his election, Love wrote his brother John in Pennsylvania, stating, “I don’t like it. It is 200 miles off and very expensive, but I cannot get clear. I doubt it will hurt me, but anything is better than Slavery.”

When the district in which the Loves lived was laid out, he was sent as a member to the legislature where he succeed in having the new district named York after his old home of York County Pennsylvania. He was active in the Bethesda Presbyterian Church, where he is buried. During his life there he managed to accumulate a large amount of property in the Bethesda Community.

The Love Family was actively involved in the Revolutionary War. Francis Ross, husband of the Loves’ oldest daughter, served as a major. He was killed in action near Rocky Point, in present-day Aiken County.  Andrew Love became a colonel of the local forces and was wounded at the Battle of Kings Mountain. He also served in the state legislature. Son Robert was also a soldier during the war

The children of Alexander and Margaret Love were Rachel, married Francis Ross; Andrew, married Anne Lattimore; James; never married, drowned;  Mary, married David Horner;  Jane, married John Murphy; Elizabeth married Charles Miles; Margaret, married James Sterling; Sarah, married John Sterling; Robert; Alexander, never married; and William, married Margaret McDowell.

In September 1971, a group of descendants representing the Alexander Love Chapter, NSDAR, assembled at Bethesda Presbyterian Church Cemetery to mark the grave of Alexander Love. The marker reads:

Alexander Love
Revolutionary War Soldier – 1718 – 1784
Daughters of the American Revolution

His grave is marked by a marble slab, which bears the following inscription:

Alexander Love
Died March, 1784, aged 66 years

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