Background
Huger was born at Limerick plantation, South Carolina in 1744. He was the third son of Daniel and Mary (Cordes) Huger and the brother of Isaac Huger.
Huger was born at Limerick plantation, South Carolina in 1744. He was the third son of Daniel and Mary (Cordes) Huger and the brother of Isaac Huger.
He was probably educated in England.
In 1760 he served as ensign in the Cherokee War and just before the Revolution was a member of the commons house of the Provincial Congress. At the outbreak of the Revolution, with twelve others, he was chosen a member of the colonial Council of Safety, which was the Revolutionary executive government of the colony and was invested with supreme power over military affairs, including the power "to certify commissions, to suspend officers, and to order courts-martial for their trial; and to have the direction, regulation, maintenance and ordering of the army, and of all military establishments and arrangements, and to draw on the treasury for the demands of the publick service" (Ramsay, post, I, 38).
When the new state constitution was adopted he became the first secretary of state. His duties were of the most varied character. We find him countersigning military and naval commissions, letting contracts for building or purchasing frigates, and issuing proclamations against counterfeiters of state and continental currency (South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, October 1908, p. 192). For some years he served as intendant of the city of Charleston.
He was married twice: first on March 15, 1767, to Charlotte Motte, daughter of the treasurer of the province; and, second, to Mrs. Anne (Broun) Cusack on January 11, 1785. These marriages brought five sons and three daughters. Of his children the most distinguished was Alfred (1788 - 1872), who was a Unionist during the Nullification struggle and, afterward, the postmaster at Charleston for a generation.
Like other members of the Huger family, John Huger had a good deal of wealth. He was able in his will to provide a plantation for each of his four surviving sons, and possessed in addition a house in Charleston and numerous slaves (Will Book, D. p. 431, Probate Court).