The following probably refers to this Cornelius and his brother William.

The earliest known document relating to Dewees was written in 1697 and shows the island to be the property of Colonel Thomas Carey. Carey had served as Receiver General of the Lord's Proprietors and Deputy Governor of North Carolina. He received the hunting island, then known as Timicau, as a grant for his service to the crown. In the mid 1700s, William Dewees took possession of the land and soon after, Cornelius Dewees began operating a shipyard on the island, supplying ships for the West India trade. Although the island saw little direct action during the American Revolution, it proved valuable to the American cause. A Colonial seafaring victory on June 28, 1776 was made possible by a sighting of a British fleet from Dewees several weeks before. Soon after, William and Cornelius joined in the capture of the HMS Glasgow on the Isle of Palms. For the remainder of the war, Dewees Island and its residents were limited to a support role and allowed the cutting of wood to supply the Charleston garrison. Charleston fell to the British in 1780 and William Dewees was expelled from the city in 1782 as a result of his continuing resistance. He died on Dewees Island in 1786.3617