Maple Swamp Gang is topic of meeting

Heard of outlaw gangs of the Old West, but have you heard of the infamous Maple Swamp Gang of Old Marion District?

Carley Wiggins Jr. will acquaint folks with this renegade Civil War band at the Pee Dee Chapter, S. C. Genealogical Society meeting, at 3 p.m. on March 8, in the Conference Center at Pee Dee Federal Savings & Loan in Marion.  Pee Dee Federal is at 106 E. Court Street across the square from the Marion County Courthouse. The public is invited to the meeting.

Following his retirement from 42 years employment with Herald Office Supply in Dillon, Wiggins became a freelance writer for The Dillon Herald, writing in 2003 the article “A Dying Breed,” the story of a small county store that was closing after 22 years of service to a community.

As far as he knew, this would be his first and only newspaper article. When the article was published, the response from readers was staggering and the newspaper’s editor welcomed future articles. At the age of 62, Wiggins says he found a new talent and career as a freelance writer. Five years later, he has written more than 250 articles that have focused on little-heard-of places and people in the Pee Dee area. He has won five major awards for articles he has written, including one for “Henry Berry Lowrie, The Indian Outlaw” by The North Carolina Society of Historians.

He has also received awards for “The James K. Braboy Story,” “The Velma Barfield Story,” and “The Night the Lights Went Out In Maxton.” He recently published a book, Remembering Dillon County, South Carolina that includes many of his popular articles.

A Dillon County native, Wiggins is married to the former Helen Diane Lane and father of Joseph (Joey) Carley Wiggins.  In addition to his membership in the Pee Dee Chapter, he is vice president of the Dillon County Historical Society and a member of the Robeson County (North Carolina) Genealogical Society and Three Rivers Historical Society of Hemingway.