Historian Durant Ashmore receives DAR’s Historic Preservation Recognition Award from Behethland Butler Chapter

Historian and battlefield preservationist Durant Ashmore is the recipient of the prestigious Historical Preservation Recognition Award of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

The award, presented by the Behethland Butler Chapter, NSDAR, recognizes Ashmore, of Fountain Inn, whose American Revolutionary War lectures and tours of South Carolina battlefields play an integral role in the public’s understanding of the Palmetto State’s critical role in the war for independence.

Ashmore is the caretaker of several sites and battlefields in the Upstate for the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust. His work has led him to search for and conduct archaeological studies of those battlefields so that he can share his knowledge during his lectures. He has proactively proposed improvements or additions to battlefields, and, in some cases, he has volunteered the resources of his landscaping company for those.

Among the sites for which Ashmore is caretaker are Hammond’s Old Store, Hayes Station Massacre, Lindley’s Fort, Kellett’s Blockhouse, Rosemont Plantation, all in Laurens County; Battle of Dunlop’s Defeat, Abbeville County, and Battle of the Great Cane Break, Greenville County, where Ashmore is restoring a grove of pecan trees planted 100 years after the battle.

The award was presented during a lecture Tuesday (Nov. 12) at the Laurens County Museum, where Ashmore was giving a talk on Francis Marion, whose military prowess in the French and Indian War and American Revolution makes him perhaps the most famous South Carolinian. The talk was the first in a series of three lectures that Ashmore is planning on South Carolina militia generals of the American Revolution.

Loretta Mulle, Regent of the Behethland Butler Chapter, in Greenville, said Ashmore’s commitment to sharing his love of history, particularly in light of the upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026 of America’s founding, sparked her chapter’s interest in honoring him with the award.

“Our community is truly blessed by Mr. Ashmore’s willingness to volunteer his time and to share his historical knowledge so that people of all ages can better understand the Revolutionary War in our area and honor the men and women who participated in the conflict,” Mulle said.

Behethland Butler chapter member, Tracy Andrew, coordinated the chapter’s efforts to present the award. “We truly appreciate Mr. Ashmore’s efforts to find, preserve and improve important, smaller battlefields in the Upstate of South Carolina and to share his knowledge of those sites and general Revolutionary War history with the public,” she said. “The DAR Historic Preservation Recognition Award honors his great service to our state and nation.”

A Greenville native, Ashmore gives at least 40 public lectures and tours annually. “It is gratifying that the DAR has taken particular interest in the work that I do. I could not do it without the support of the DAR and so many other individuals and groups who believe in the importance of historic preservation and who have been advocates for our work,” he said.

His next project will be to establish a room at the Laurens County Museum dedicated to the area’s rich Revolutionary War history. “I am looking forward to this project,” he said, noting that he also is particularly interested in learning more about the events planned for American 250! in the area known as the Old Ninety Six District, which comprised 10 counties in western South Carolina during the period before and after the American Revolution.