By the end of the war, she had become one of the wealthiest individuals in the state, having inherited property from both her older brother Miles Brewton, who was lost at sea in 1775, and her husband Jacob Motte, who died in 1780.

Rebecca was the daughter of Robert Brewton, a successful goldsmith in Charleston, South Carolina, and his wife, the widow Mary Loughton, née Griffith.

Among her siblings was older brother Miles (1731-1775), who married Mary Izard, daughter of planters, and became a wealthy slave trader, owning eight ships; and sister Frances (b.

Rebecca's older brother, Miles Brewton (1731–1789), gained property by a good marriage, and later owned up to eight ships after becoming South Carolina's largest slave trader and one of the wealthiest men in the province.

On June 13, 1776, the women of Charleston presented the second regiment of the Continental Army with "a pair of silken colors, one of blue, one of red, richly embroidered by their own hands..."[3] Susanna Smith Elliott presented the flags to officers Moultrie and Motte, saying, "Your gallant behavior in defense of liberty and your country entitles you to the highest honors; accept these two standards as a reward justly due to your regiment; and I make not the least doubt, under heaven's protection, you will stand by them as long as they can wave in the air of liberty.

"[3]The Motte family supported the American Revolution and supplied troops with rice, beef, pork, corn, and fodder from 1778-1783.

[9] During the war, Rebecca Motte and her children were living for a period at the Charleston town house she inherited from her late brother Miles.

The British allowed Thomas Pinckney on parole to recuperate there, as he had been wounded and taken prisoner in August fighting at the Battle of Camden with General Gates.

[13] In January 1781, Thomas Pinckney left for Charleston, then Philadelphia, along with other captured and paroled patriot officers, where they were to await possible exchange by the British.

After five days of attack without dislodging the British, Marion and Lee decided to burn the mansion, which had a dry wood shingle roof.

Rebecca Motte did not hesitate to "burn her home" and provided the patriot forces with some arrows from East India that were designed to light on impact.

She and son-in-law Thomas Pinckney developed the rice plantation, Eldorado on the South Santee River, downstream from "Fairfield."