Laodicea Dicey Langston Springfield

Ancestor Number

A069020 »

Date of Birth

May 14, 1766

Place of Birth

South Carolina

Date of Death

May 23, 1837

Place of Death

Greenville District, South Carolina

Spouse(s)

Thomas H. Springfield

Children

22 children according to her obituary, including Aaron, James L., Moses, Henry, Elizabeth, Ephraim, Sarah, Hugh, Martha Patsy, Laodicea, Nancy, Thomas B., Bennett, Solomon Langston, and Willis

American Revolution Service

Dicey Springfield’s obituary reported that she “took an active part in the [Revolutionary War] struggle and performed many daring deeds on behalf of her suffering country and friends.”

State of Service

South Carolina

Donor

The Alabama Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored the tree which honors Dicey

Laodicea “Dicey” Langston was born on May 14, 1766, in South Carolina. Her parents were Solomon Langston and Sarah Bennett Langston. They lived in an area where Whigs and Tories lived side by side.

As a young girl, she listened to conversations of Tory neighbors and warned her brother and other local Patriots of planned attacks. When she learned that a group of ruthless Loyalists planned to attack the settlement where her brother and his Whig friends were living, she traveled many miles through forests and forded the rain-swollen Tyger River to warn them. Another exploit was commemorated on a medal commissioned by NSDAR. Tories visited her home with the intent to kill all the males. Finding only her invalid father, they prepared to shoot him. She jumped in front of her father and told the Tories that they would have to shoot her first. The Tories spared them out of admiration for her bravery.

Miss Langston shielding her father / T.H. Matteson. Engraved by Alfred Jones.

Laodicea Langston Springfield Monument in Travelers Rest SC. Photo taken by DAR Member Nancy Folk.

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After the war she married Thomas Springfield, and according to her obituary, they had 22 children.

They included Aaron, James L., Moses, Henry, Elizabeth, Ephraim, Sarah, Hugh, Martha Patsy, Laodicea, Nancy, Thomas B., Bennett, Solomon Langston and Willis. When she died on May 23, 1837, in Greenville, South Carolina, her obituary reported that she “took an active part in the [Revolutionary War] struggle and performed many daring deeds on behalf of her suffering country and friends.”

An engraving showing “Miss Langston Shielding Her Father,” created by T.H. Matteson in the 1800s, is housed in Library of Congress. NSDAR issued a medal honoring her in its Great Women of the American Revolution series, and the Nathaniel Greene Chapter NSDAR dedicated a monument to her in Travelers Rest, South Carolina in 1933.

Several DAR chapters are named for her, including Daring Dicey Chapter in Alabama, whose members and associate members include her descendants. The Alabama Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored the tree which honors Dicey.