Robert J Williams <robjnil@hargray.com> contributed this information on the Koger house, estimated to be over 200 years old:   ©

     It's in Dorchester County,  south of St. George.  Its in the general area where the  early Raysors, the Rishers, the Fontaines, the Stokes, and Williams families resided.  The house is about 5 miles north of the Edisto.

     In general some believe the house is at least 200 years old.  There is some indication that construction may have begun around 1791.  If so, Joseph Koger II, a veteran of the American Revolution may have started construction.  There is a lot of confusion about  Joseph Koger II and his son Joseph Koger III, some have merged them into one person.  Joseph Koger II passed away in 1835, his son sold the home to Judge Carroll in 1838.  Joseph Koger III then moved to Mississippi.

     In an area where the graves of many of our ancestors have been lost or abandoned, the old house is one of the few visible landmarks of their existence.  Benjamin Risher, Jr. married Mary Koger, the daughter of Joseph Koger III.  They had 3 sons before Ben, Jr's untimely death"  Benjamin Risher III; Joseph Koger Risher, and Francis Fontaine Risher.

Bo Peterson, in his April 14, 2002 article in the Post and Courier, describes the property, then owned by Fitzhugh Sweatman, as one of the 11 Most Endangered Properties in South Carolina by the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation.  Peggy Phalen and St. George Mayor David Sojourner had sought the designation for several years.

According to the article,  the old stagecoach house located on Wire Road near I-95 was built around 1800 and occupied by two state legislators - Joseph Koger and James Carroll.  It is believed to have served as a Civil War hospital.