Samuel Torbert, son of Samuel Torbert (1730-1798) and Susannah Haslet Addis Torbert (1730-) was born about 1753 or 1754 in Union, Union County, South Carolina, near current day Lockhart, SC. His parents owned a farm on the Broad River and operated a ferry, called the Torbert Ferry, across the river. During the Revolutionary War, his father ferried troops and supplies and was later reimbursed by the Patriot government.
During the Revolution, Samuel Jr. served in the New Acquisition District militia under Col. Thomas Brandon. In June 1772 the border between North and South Carolina west of the Catawba River was established by survey and a large tract of land between the Broad and Catawba Rivers that had previously been claimed by North Carolina was incorporated into South Carolina. The area included modern York County and a portion of Cherokee County, and was originally designated by South Carolina as the New Acquisition region, according to "A Brief History of the New Acquisition Militia" by Michael C. Scoggins of the York County Historical Center.
"In June 1775 the South Carolina Provincial Congress ordered each of its twelve districts to raise a regiment of foot soldiers for the defense of the province, and this order was soon followed by a request from the Continental Congress for three regiments of provincial troops. . . . In September 1775 a militia enlistment and draft was held in the New Acquisition to prepare for possible action against British, Loyalist and Indian forces," according to Scoggins. The NAM militia fought in numerous battles and skirmishes for the next seven years, finally disbanding after the British abandoned Charleston in December 1782.
Samuel's brother-in-law, Moses Cherry, husband of his sister Elizabeth, and step-brother Richard Addis Jr. served in the same unit. According to one of his sons, Benjamin, he served the entire seven years of the militia's existence.
"These men who were fighting in the backcountry for the patriot cause, what they were fighting for was their right to determine their future. They were fighting for self-determination. They did not have that [right] when the king of England and the royal government were dictating how life was going to be in the backcountry. The people in the backcountry were left out of that decision-making process and this was the crux of why these men became patriots instead of loyalists," according to Durant Ashmore, a Revolutionary War historian.
In 1784, Samuel and his father either bought land that was put up for sale in Abbeville County, two counties to the west, or (more likely) received land in lieu of cash for their Revolutionary War service. (In a receipt, Samuel Torbert Sr. asked that 20 pounds of his reimbursement be titled as a "bounty of 200 acres of land for me.") In July 1784, Samuel Sr. received 200 acres on the south side of the Saludy River, and in a separate grant, he received 200 acres on Brushy Creek for Samuel Jr. And in a third grant, Samuel Jr., now 30, received his own 200 acres on Brushy Creek.
When his father died in 1795, he left Samuel all land or plantation on the Broad River as well as a 90-acre tract adjoining, after his mother's death.
Where and when Samuel died is unknown. In 2023, Robert Ellington Torbert, author of "Southern Torbert Families," on microfilm at Family Search, wrote, "I traced the Tolbert family in Benton/Calhoun County and now think I have been mistaken to think he was our Sam Jr. In the 1850 Census of Benton Co, the widow is "C" Torbit is born about 1800 in South Carolina and has a son Samuel born about 1815 in Georgia. Our Samuel Jr. already has a son Samuel born earlier in South Carolina."
By 1833, however, all of Samuel's children had moved away from South Carolina, which could suggest that Samuel died in the early 1830s.
* By 1820, sons Samuel Cherry and James were in Upson, GA
* By 1819, John was in Tennessee
* By 1831, A.W. Torbert was in Tennessee
* By 1833, Lemuel was in Thomaston, Upson County, GA
* By 1825, George was in Oglethorpe, Georgia
* By 1833, Benjamin was in Butts, GA
* Daughter Rachel may have married Alexander Rider, in which case she moved to Monroe County, Tennessee by 1821.