 The first Boykin Spaniel, or the precursor of today's breed, was reportedly a small, stray spaniel type dog that befriended a banker walking from his home to the First Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina around 1900.Alexander L. White (1860–1942) liked the little dog and took it home.After the dog showed some aptitude for retrieving, White sent the dog called "Dumpy" to his longtime friend and hunting partner Lemuel Whitaker Boykin near Camden, South Carolina.