Respected as a minister and essayist, Thomas Reese was a defender of education, reason, and order in a time and place of social upheaval. Born in Pennsylvania in 1742 to David and Susan Polk Reese, he received a classical education in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (under Rev. Joseph Alexander and a Mr. Benedict), and graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) in 1768. Licensed as a Presbyterian minister in 1773, Reese married Jane Harris and accepted the charge of Salem Church at Black River, South Carolina. For almost two decades Reese served Salem as minister, teacher (both at a classical school and a school for slaves), and unofficial physician. He fathered seven children, two of whom graduated from the College of New Jersey.

The violence of the American Revolution, intensified in South Carolina after the British occupation of Charleston in 1780, disrupted Reese's duties at Salem. After two patriot members...