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J’\. •®.’ ^ v % °-^^** j?’ \ ‘'&m?S A ^ /-iSafe/* */ .^X . o0 «-^k' 0 ° A ••-■'■* ’W •'*?!*& - t§&gfi* : < ®W* " 5 >^ b ♦ ■% A* ■° • S% •• •- ^P ' j’ 0 'v % *^*> % ‘HE>* / " \ tfc A* *^Va’» *<& ^ « ‘ - r** -Hall* ti :, • ^esfefer* A v $ +t$ :^| 4,0-^ ti lgC ,: aMi 0 ; 1?% v^^'f '.^ % *•••' ^ ..... % "’ / , * .Cr ^7*' A ° <& °^ **'' ,0 s#» ( ♦ ^ ^ -W* ' A History of Spartanburg County A History of Spartanburg County COMPILED BY THE Spartanburg Unit of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of South Carolina American Guide Series (Illustrated) SPONSORED BY THE SPARTANBURG BRANCH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN SOUTH CAROLINA 1940: Band & White SOUTH CAROLINA STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, State-wide Sponsor of the South Carolina Writers’ Project FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY John M. Carmody, Administrator WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION F. C. Harrington, Commissioner Florence Kerr, Assistant Commissioner Lawrence M. Pinckney, State Administrator COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. Copyrighted 1940 by The Spartanburg Branch, American Association of University Women All rights are reserved, including the rights to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form FOREWORD This attempt to chronicle A History of Spartanburg County has been a labor of pleasure and enthusiasm. The book is not patterned on the conventional county history; it deals with individuals, not as persons in their own right, but only as figures in the affairs of the city or county. To compress into so brief a compass the mass of data available and to preserve proper perspective and proportion has been difficult. Despite painstaking thought and effort to guard against mistakes in fact or in judgment, some, no doubt, have crept in. For these, apologies are hereby made. A thousand pages would not hold all the data available: anecdotes, characterizations, intimate details, circumstantial accounts of battles and enterprises, customs and tra¬ ditions of older days and ways. But a book so filled would have to be for the few. To gather material for this history, the workers in the Spartan¬ burg office of the South Carolina Writers’ Project have pored tire¬ lessly over manuscript records in the courthouse and the city hall, and have enjoyed always the wholehearted cooperation of all officials to whom they applied for aid. They have scanned repeatedly the files of local papers in local libraries and in the Herald-Journal build¬ ing, and have been accorded every facility for making and checking transcripts. They have been assiduous in tracing plats and maps, and in compiling statistical summaries from census reports and official documents. No less faithful has been the cooperation of the editorial staff of the State office. Four distinct versions of the manuscript for this history have been critically evaluated and judged. Special thanks and acknowledgments are due from the Spartan¬ burg staff to Miss Mary Baugham of Kennedy Library, whose famil¬ iarity with local sources is encyclopedic. Many friends have read the manuscript in whole or in part, and have been generous with sugges¬ tions and with encouragement. Three command particular mention— Dr. Frank Dudley Jones of Clinton, Dr. James Patton of Spartan¬ burg, and Howard B. Carlisle, Esq., of Spartanburg. All of these have given the entire manuscript careful and constructive criticism. Mr. Carlisle, indeed, has been almost a collaborator, so unflagging has been his interest and so valuable his assistance. The members of the Spartanburg Branch, American Association of University Women, who have demonstrated their faith in this work and in the civic spirit of their fellow-citizens by assuming the respon¬ sibility of publishing it, have won a claim to especial gratitude. This feeling extends to the members of the county delegation who supported the judgment of the University Women by underwriting the financial responsibility involved in the publication of a county history. This book is so short, so simple, so clear that nobody could find reading it burdensome. If the reading of this history should have on readers the same effect that its preparation has had on the staff of writers, no one will lay it down without having come to love and understand Spartanburg County better. Fronde Kennedy, Supervisor, Spartanburg Unit South Carolina Writers’ Project. Spartanburg, S. C., July 22, 1940. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. RECEIVED DEC 2 3 1940 COPYRIGHT OFFICE CONTENTS Chapter Page Foreword___ 5 I. Blockhouses and Settlements_ 11 II. Spartans in the Revolutionary Struggle. 21 III. The Making of Spartan County_ 33 IV. Spartan District, 1800-1825. 43 V. The Courthouse Village. 54 VI. The Old Iron District._ 66 VII. Looms and Spindles. 73 . VIII. Doctrines and Dogmas. 82 IX. Schools and Learning.. 92 X. The Prosperous Fifties_____ 104 XI. Social Life in the Old Days_ 117 XII. Secession and War Years_ 124 XIII. Political Cross-Currents—1865-1868. 140 XIV. The Union League and the Ku Klux Klan... 149 XV. The Banner District of Democracy, 1868-1876.. 158 XVI. Rails and Expansion_ 166 XVII. Social Life During Reconstruction__ 175 XVIII. Plows and Progress.. 183 XIX. The Tillman Era.. 192 XX. “Spartanburg, City of Success”__.,_ 204 XXI. Education and the Arts-... 220 XXII. Preparations For War_ 233 XXIII. The Twenty-Seventh Division at Camp Wads¬ worth_ 242 XXIV. The Year 1918_ 252 XXV. Demobilizations and Memories.. 259 XXVI. These Latter Days-- 273 Bibliography_ 286 Index- 297 ILLUSTRATIONS A Map of Spartanburgh District in 1825—Reproduced from Mills’s Atlas with insets: A Plat of Spartanburgh Village in 1802—Col¬ onial and Revolutionary Sites . Front End A Map of Spartanburg County in 1925—Drawn for the Chamber of Commerce of Spartanburg. Back End Following Page Samuel Noblit’s Notebooks. 32 Limestone Springs Hotel. 48 Glenn Springs Hotel. 64 The Walker House. 64 The Palmetto House. 64 An Antebellum Home. 80 An Antebellum Church. 80 Three Historic Mills..—. 80 The Reidville Female College. 96 The State School for the Deaf and the Blind. 96 Wofford College . 112 The Baptist Church of the Fifties... 112 At Airline Junction... 176 The Merchants Hotel.—— 176 Morgan Square in 1884. 208 The Morgan Rifles in 1887._. 208 Fire-Fighters of the Eighties. 208 Policemen of the Eighties. 208 The Second Jail of Spartanburg County. 208 City Hall of Spartanburg... 208 The Kennedy Free Library. 224 Converse College . 224 Textile Institute .-. 224 Camp Wadsworth Scenes. 256 City of Spartanburg in 1931. 272 Acknowledgment: The use of these cuts has been made possible through the courtesy of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal and the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce. CHAPTER ONE Blockhouses and Settlements The Name of Spartanburg alone among the forty-six counties the County 0 f Carolina bears a name based on the character of its settlers. No account exists of the circumstances at¬ tending the selection of this name. It appears among the records for the first time in a letter signed John Thomas, and bearing the head¬ ing, Spartan Regiment, September 11, 1775. Three weeks earlier, on August 21, 1775, William Henry Drayton of the Council of Safety wrote an official report of a meeting held that day on Law¬ son’s Fork. According to tradition this meeting took place at Wof¬ ford’s Iron Works (now Glendale). Drayton stated that here he had found, for the first time during his tour of the back country, a strong sentiment for the liberty cause; that he had advised the men present to organize themselves into companies and to form a regiment of their own, independent of Colonel Fletchall, since he seemed de¬ termined to adhere to the King’s party. Whether Drayton also sug¬ gested a name for the regiment is entirely a matter of surmise. Some have thought he did. On the other hand, there were gentlemen in the regiment whose education had made them as familiar as was Drayton with ancient history, and who were as capable as he was of realizing the appropriateness of the epithet “Spartan” to men so situated. The name of the regiment was soon extended to the district. Conditions of Many of the men who made up the Spartan Settlement Regiment had poured down the valley trails from Pennsylvania and Virginia after the French and Indian War, eager to secure grants in the rich Piedmont of Carolina. The wilderness spread itself before them—ready to be subdued and enjoyed. The map of Spartanburg County today preserves proof of how abundant were the animals whose skins were the chief wealth of the Cherokees and of the first white men who traded and settled in this section. Many streams bear the names of animals which once drank from them and inhabited their banks. There are in the county today creeks named Wolf, Bear, Buck, Elk, Buffalo, and Beaverdam. Upon read¬ ing that in one season a man trapped twenty beavers on Fair forest Creek one easily understands why two Spartanburg County creeks to this day bear the name Beaverdam. The animal called a tiger by the early settlers was a species of panther, and was the most dreaded 11 12 A History of Spartanburg County of all the wild creatures. It seems only logical that the three branches of the Tyger River should perpetuate its name. Herds of buffalo were seen by all the early explorers of this area. The tradition handed down from them says that the herds of buffalo had regular “runs” through the forests and tall grass, that they followed the sprouting of the young canes in spring to graze on the tender shoots, and that their paths led across the fords of the streams. According to this tradition, the Indians and Indian traders took over and de¬ veloped into paths the runs of the buffalo. Stories have been handed down of the experiences of pioneers with wild beasts. As Mrs. Ford sat in the doorway of her log cabin near the old Indian field on Enoree River, a panther leaped over her shoulder into the cabin, and was shot on the hearth by her husband. Near Grindal Shoals on Pacolet River a pioneer hunter was kept in a tree all night by a pack of wolves. The first settlers made a prac¬ tice of hunting bears in the fall, dressing the skins for robes and rugs, and salting the flesh to be used as bacon. The settlers lived in tents, or in their covered wagons, until they could cut down trees and erect log cabins. Then fields had to be cleared and fenced; the Indian trails transformed into wagon roads; new roads laid out and put in condition for neighborhood use. The streams were not of great service for the transportation of goods because they were too swift and rocky and in places shallow. The consequence was that horses were invaluable. An “old Indian field” on the Enoree River was the scene of annual meetings of men from the surrounding region where they “broke” colts, and traded or raced horses. On August 25, 1775, William Henry Drayton attended a horse race in the Upper District at Duncan’s Creek. With no maps and surveys to guide them, the first settlers from the Northern colonies followed the old Indian trading paths and pushed their way into the fertile valleys of the numerous streams. In the early grants, lands were designated as in “the Packolate set¬ tlement,” or “the Tygar settlement,” or “on the waters of Fairforest Creek,” and so on. Tributary streams soon received names from the first settlers on them. Often agents of the landed proprietors organized and arranged for companies of immigrants. In the period of early settlement the approach to what is now Spartanburg County was easier from the Northern colonies than from Charleston. W. L. Trenholm wrote of these first settlers: “As these immigrants had Blockhouses and Settlements 13 come with wagons and teams, there must have been practicable routes from the Alleghanies to the Southern slopes of the Saluda Moun¬ tains. It was not only more natural for them to maintain intercourse with the Northern settlements than with those on the coast, but was less difficult, for the whole upper country of South Carolina was a wilderness in 1750 until they were settled.” Example of an The experiences of an Irish immigrant family, as Immigrant Family recorded in the journal of one of its members, show how some of those settlers who came by Charles Town got to the Up Country. The Chesney family left Ireland August 25, 1772, spent seven weeks and three days on the voyage to Charles Town, and then spent seven weeks and one day in quarantine because there was smallpox on the vessel. The eight-months-old baby died of the disease. The Chesney family did not stop in Charles Town; as soon as they were released from quarantine, at Pritchard’s shipyard, a few miles above the city, they bargained for transportation by wagon to the Up Country, and set out for “John Winn’s old place” (now Winnsboro). They paid at the rate of one penny per pound for hauling. The diary does not indicate how much they brought. The oldest of the eight children, Alexander, the writer of the diary, was in his seventeenth year, and was apparently his father’s mainstay. He went on foot ahead of the wagons, to the home of relatives to announce his family’s arrival. These relatives met the family at Winn’s, took them to their home, and entertained them until they got one hundred acres of land surveyed. On it they built a cabin, and cleared some of the land. Then a letter came to them from a widowed aunt who resided on Pacolet River, “sixty miles higher up in the country,” urging them to settle near her. The diarist writes: “I proceeded on foot in a right direction for that place, there being no direct road.” He had instructions to call at certain homes and obtain, at each, directions how to reach the next. He crossed Broad River in a canoe, and forded Pacolet River near Grindal Shoals. He was then within five miles of his aunt’s home. He was warmly welcomed and records that the greater part of the settlers thereabout were relatives. These kinsmen soon found a desirable “vacant tract of 400 acres” and he had it surveyed for his father. Alexander Chesney recorded that in 1774 he had to go in person to Charles Town to “hurry the patent on my father’s lands through the office.” 14 A History of Spartanburg County Explorers, The earliest explorers and traders found no Indian Traders, Cowmen villages in the entire area between the Broad and Saluda rivers, because it was in the Cherokee hunting grounds. The white men were a long time understanding why their settlement on what seemed unoccupied ground was so resented by the Indians. The viewpoint of the Indians was expressed in a plea made in 1758 by the Lower Cherokees to the Governor of Georgia. They begged him to persuade the South Carolinians to hold themselves within certain bounds because the deer were becoming so scarce the Indians could not find food for their wives and children. But the white men pushed on. Curosity asks who was the first white man to set foot on Spartan¬ burg soil; and no exact answer can be given. It seems quite possible, however, that it was the Spanish leader Pardo, who in 1567 led an expedition from the vicinity of Parris Island to the mountains. Belief in this possibility rests on the fact that in the summer of 1934 a farmer near Inman plowed up with a tractor a stone bearing every evidence of great age and having on it marks clearly made by human hands. These marks appear to be the figures 1567 and some sort of diagram, indicative of locality or direction. The first settlers of the Tyger section heard from Indian traders of a white man who, before their coming, had started a mill near Reidville and had been killed by Indians; and of another would-be settler, a Baptist preacher named Benjamin Peck, who had mysteriously disappeared, leaving as a memorial Ben’s Creek, named for him. The Indian traders doubtless traversed this area early. It pleases the imagination to picture a packhorse train in the 1700’s making its way along the Blackstock Road to the Block House, there to exchange with the Cherokees calico, beads, fire-water, guns and ammunition, for dressed skins and furs. Every driver carried a heavy cowhide whip, and all of the horses, ranged in close Indian file, were forced to proceed at a brisk trot, as the chief driver commanded, their bells jingling and jangling, the horsemen shouting and cursing and crack¬ ing their whips menacingly, filling the forest and meadow with shout¬ ing and tumult. Sometimes such caravans had as many as twenty men and sixty horses. These packtrains usually made about twenty miles in a day, setting out soon in the morning, and pausing by mid¬ afternoon to make camp on some inviting plain or cane-meadow. An Indian trader had to erect for himself a strong blockhouse in Blockhouses and Settlements 15 which to keep his stores secure. About it were built the cabins and sheds required for the use of his family and helpers and live stock. Such blockhouses were not unlike the stockaded forts built by the Horse Rangers as bases from which they patrolled the Indian Line. Quite naturally the location of these strongholds influenced the first permanent settlers to select lands near them. Many Indian traders profited by their acquaintance with the country to select lands with mill sites and fertile soil, and such men became leaders among the permanent settlers. The cowmen had a part in developing the back country, without in the beginning having any intention of establishing permanent settle¬ ments. They were here before any grants were made, or any clearings. At first nomadic and seasonal, many of them were transformed into householders and landowners. The clusters of cowpens and the railed enclosures for the cattle were supplemented with sturdier log houses for the women and children accompanying the cowmen to the wilds. Grain fields, gardens, orchards, trading posts followed; and what began as cowpens became settlements. Elijah Clark, described as the “Daniel Boone of Spartanburg,” is said to have led a large company of settlers in 1755 into the Pacolet Valley. A community developed from their settlement about Grindal Shoals, and was in what is now Union County, although its fringes extended up the river toward “Hurricane Shoals” (now Clifton). Clark soon moved on into Georgia and settled there. Early The first permanent settlements in what is now Spartan- Settlements burg County seem to have been those on the various branches of the Tyger River. In 1761 a group of Scotch-Irish Pres¬ byterian settlers came from Pennsylvania and chose for themselves tracts of ground along the branches of the Tyger. In this party were families bearing the names Barry, Moore, Collins, Anderson, Thomp¬ son, Vernon, Pearson, Dodd, Jamison, Ray, Penney, McMahon, Mil¬ ler, and Nicholls. Some of these names occur in James Jordan’s Fort Prince accounts, kept in 1776. Within a few years another group of Scotch-Irish came through Charles Town into the Tyger area and took up lands mostly on the highlands left unclaimed by the first settlers. Among them were families bearing the names Coan, Snoddy, Peden, Alexander, Gaston, Morton, and Nesbitt. These two parties soon occupied an area nearly twenty miles square. As early as 1765 they had selected a conveniently located site and erected on it a log meeting 16 A History of Spartanburg County house, which they named Nazareth. Nazareth Church, formally or¬ ganized in 1772, was the first permanent organization in the county. About it cluster enough associations to fill a volume. Its people have cherished its history, and made of it a shrine of hallowed memories. The Earle family immigrated to the North Pacolet region in the decade of 1760 and established a strong settlement, which came to be called Earlesville. Earle’s Fort, their chief stronghold against the Indians, and later the Tories, was in North Carolina, just across the State line. This family sent vigorous pioneers into Greenville, Pickens, and Anderson counties, South Carolina, and Rutherford and Polk counties, North Carolina, and had an important part in the making of Spartanburg County. Bayliss Earle was one of the first County Com¬ missioners. The Hamptons, Jacksons, Hannons, and Princes were other influential families in the North Pacolet area. Companies of Virginia Baptists, angered by the religious intoler¬ ance of which they were victims, and imbued with the doctrines of Thomas Jefferson, streamed along with the immigrant tide into South Carolina. Some of them settled in the Fairforest basin and built a log meeting house, tradition says in 1765, which became Friendship Church. This meeting house was an “arm” of Fairforest Baptist Church (in the Union County area), which was the first church of its denomination in the Up Country. This church seems to have had other arms, as mission stations were called. The most historic Bap¬ tist church in Spartanburg County is Bethel at Woodruff, which has been traced back to its origin in 1771 as an arm of Fairforest. This arm withered during the Revolution, and was reorganized before 1787 as “the Church of Christ on Jamey’s Creek.” Later this church was moved and became known, first as Woodruff’s Meeting House, and finally as Bethel Church. In the settlement about Boiling Springs, it is believed, Fairforest had an arm in 1772. The militia organization of South Carolina at the outbreak of the Revolution included twelve regiments. The men from the total area between the Broad and Saluda rivers were in the Upper Saluda Regi¬ ment, which was under the command of Colonel Thomas Fletchall. Many of the officers and men in his regiment had fought in the French and Indian War and in the Indian Wars on the Carolina frontier in 1760 and 1761. Numbers of them, no doubt, had helped to erect the string of forts along the Indian Line: Earle’s Fort, the Block House, Blockhouses and Settlements 17 Gowan’s Fort, Prince’s Fort, Jamison’s Fort, Wood’s Fort, Nicholls’ Fort, Blackstock’s Fort. There is reason to believe that the strongest of these blockhouses was Fort Prince. Records of grants show that the region about it was well settled before the Revolution. The account book kept in Fort Prince shows how all of these forts were operated in periods of Indian warfare. It is the only such book locally preserved, and it proves that the country was pretty well settled and that there was already much agricultural development by 1775; for the inhabitants were selling to the fort commissary, James Jordan, flour, tobacco, wheat, steers, tallow, butter, and Indian corn, in considerable quan¬ tities. The following names of persons who made sales to the fort appear in Jordan’s account: Alexander Rea, Francis Dods, Samuel Brice, James Miller, Alexander Vernon, Nathaniel Miller, John Timons, George Salmon, John McElkey (McElhenny), Thomas Prince, Francis Prince, John Lander, Moses Lander, William Feals, Thomas Barnett, the widow Barnett, Mrs. McCarter, Mrs. Samons, John McCarter, Robert Lusk, James Rytchey, William Readman. Only four of these people made their marks instead of signing their names and all those signing thus traded for small amounts. This may be taken to indicate that the people of these communities had educa¬ tion. One entry in the accounts of James Jordan shows him as having received from “Captain John Gowins, Three Bills Cons, to discharge a debt to Heart Due in Charles Town.” The amount was one hundred six pounds, fifteen shillings. Possibly this John Gowins commanded at the fort a few miles distant from Fort Prince, on the Indian Line, mentioned often in Revolutionary stories as Gowan’s Fort, which was the nucleus of what was to become the flourishing Gowansville com¬ munity. This old Gowan’s Fort, local tradition says, was put in repair and used as a stronghold by deserters during the Civil War. When the World War soldiers were in training, the range for their artillery practice included the site of Gowan’s Fort. Development Men were busy, from their arrival, in carrying on and Expansion trade. They raised cattle and sold them on the hoof in Charles Town or Augusta or Philadelphia. They grew tobacco, and packed it into hogsheads to protect it from the weather on its way to market. To these hogsheads shafts were attached, and horses then rolled them to market over the wretched roads. Wagons were used 20 A History of Spartanburg County to a document by which they solemnly bound themselves “to associate in the defense of South Carolina against every foe and to hold all those persons inimical to the liberties of the colonies who shall refuse to subscribe this association.” The Congress, June 14, 1775, appointed a Council of Safety “with power to do whatever the safety of the State demanded,” and in July this Council sent its representatives into the Up Country to explain the revolutionary movement to the people and appeal to them to set their signatures to the “Association.” The response of the population to this appeal drew the inhabitants of the back country into a common struggle with the rest of the State and marked an epoch in their history. CHAPTER TWO Spartans in the Revolutionary Struggle Formation of the The commissioners sent into the Upper District by Spartan Regiment t h e Council of Safety were William Henry Dray¬ ton and William Tennent; and, at first, they met with little encourage¬ ment. Many of the back-country settlers spoke out boldly, saying they preferred the rule of the King to that of the “Charles Town gentlemen” who had been reluctant to grant them courts and offices in their own section. Colonel Fletchall, in command, under the Royal government, of the Upper Saluda regiment, which comprised the area of the present counties of Spartanburg, Cherokee, Union, and parts of Newberry and Laurens, was firm in refusing to sign the document pressed on him by Drayton and Tennent, declaring that he “would never take up arms against the King or his countrymen, and that the proceedings of the Congress at Philadelphia were impolitic, dis¬ respectful, and irritating to the King.” Fletchall and some of his officers, to counteract the “Association,” drew up a paper pledging loyalty to the King, and to this document fifteen hundred signatures were affixed. Although most of the men of Fletchall’s regiment refused to sign the association, there were some who did sign it. Of these signers the Spartan Regiment was formed within Fletchall’s territory, with Colonel John Thomas, Sr., at its head. The origin of the regiment may probably be traced to the meeting held by Drayton at Wofford’s Iron Works on August 21, 1775; for on that date he reported to the Council of Safety that he had advised such a step. He mentioned that he had on this occasion barbecued a beef. This was doubtless the first, but by no means the last political barbecue held in Spartanburg County. Meetings were held at several other places in the Upper District. On August 23, at “an old Indian field” on the Enoree River, a regular muster ground which later was to be the scene of the Battle of Mus- grove’s Mill, Drayton and Tennent held an important meeting. In August and September the Spartan Regiment was being organized and was then reported as ready for service. Though many men had to be left at home to protect the frontier, two hundred were ready to march. 21 22 A History of Spartanburg County The Regiment The first service rendered by the Spartan Regiment m Action was j ts participation under Colonel Richard Richard¬ son in his campaign against the Loyalist forces. Colonel Thomas and his two hundred Spartans reported to Richardson at the Congarees, December 2, 1775. They bore their share in the campaign that ended December 24 with the engagement at the Great Cane Brake beyond the Indian Line, in what is now Greenville County. The Battle of the Great Cane Brake was fought by men who had not a tent or a wagon, or other shelter than their saddle blankets. Its object was to capture the King’s men, who had retreated beyond the Indian Line and were trying to induce the Cherokees to join them. The Americans had their enemy surrounded almost before their own approach was discovered. About twenty-five of the King’s men escaped, five or six were killed, and a hundred captured. During this struggle snow began to fall and continued thirty hours, covering the ground to a depth of two feet. On Christmas Day the Americans made their way from this scene to rejoin Colonel Williamson. They called this expedition “The Snow Campaign,” and many a Revo¬ lutionary soldier proudly included in his record a statement that he was “at the Snow Camps.” From the beginning of the factional disputes, the Indians on the border had been a problem. Each side accused the other of seeking the Cherokee alliance in the quarrel; and each side professed abhor¬ rence of the idea of white men’s encouraging Indians to attack the settlements. The Indian agents, Captain John Stuart and his deputy, Alexander Cameron, were suspected by the Council of Safety of at¬ tempting to arouse the Indians against the liberty men, but the agents disclaimed the charges. The Council sent a party among the Chero¬ kees to seize Captain Stuart. This party was attacked by the Indians, its leader barely escaping with his life. On July 1, 1776, the Cherokees heard that a British fleet was in Charles Town harbor. Immediately they swept over the frontier, burning homes and massacring the inhabitants. Spartans suffered severely all along the Indian Line. The Hites, Hamptons, Fords, Hannons, Bishops, Thompsons, Andersons, and Millers were among the families attacked. People crowded into the forts. Several hun¬ dred men, women, and children along the entire Indian frontier were slaughtered before Major Andrew Williamson was able to get together a force strong enough to attempt punishment. From the middle of Spartans in the Revolutionary Struggle 23 July until about the middle of October he swept through the Cherokee towns, in cooperation with militia from North Carolina and Virginia. Some of the Spartans were with Williamson on this campaign against the Cherokees, and in its course the Spartan Regiment was ordered by Williamson to destroy the stronghold of Richard Pearis, because it was an Indian and Tory base. This stockade was where the city of Greenville now stands, and Pearis’s lands included Paris Mountain—which, in corrupted form, preserves his name. Even though the Cherokees were subdued, the frontiers were not considered safe. There were some avowed Tories; and many non- combatants were suspected of being Tories at heart. The Revolu¬ tionists, therefore, manned the frontier forts and stockades and kept rangers and scouts in active service along the Indian Line. The Second In the spring of 1778 the Spartan Regiment was Spartan Regiment divided. The part known as the Spartan Regi¬ ment continued under the command of Colonel John Thomas; Major Brandon was raised to the rank of colonel and given command of the newly-formed Second Spartan Regiment. The indications are that Thomas and his men remained in the home area, presumably manning the forts and doing scout duty; and Brandon’s regiment, made up largely of men from the less exposed areas, vounteered for service in the campaigns elsewhere. In 1778 Major Andrew Williamson, who had commanded the expedition against the Cherokees, was appointed brigadier general of the newly-formed Upper Brigade of South Caro¬ lina Militia. Colonel Brandon and the Second Spartan Regiment went with Williamson that year on an expedition against the Florida Loyalists. In the winter of 1779-1780, Colonels James Steen and Thomas Brandon were both participants in the defense of Charles Town, each in command of men from the Upper District. Collapse The fall of Charles Town, May 1780, and the consequent in 1780 movement of the British to occupy the entire State, brought about a complete change in local conditions. The Upper District had not been touched by actual warfare since the Indian massacre of 1776; but it was now to become one of the principal arenas of the struggle. Upon the fall of Charles Town, Colonel John Thomas accepted final defeat as inevitable and made a submission to the conquerors, hoping thus to insure protection of the families and property of his men and himself. In following this course he did only what many 24 A History of Spartanburg County of his fellow-officers, including Sumter and Pickens, did. The officer at Ninety-Six, in charge of receiving submissions from Americans, was the very Richard Pearis whose property had been destroyed by the Spartan Regiment under Colonel Thomas, and it was probably to Pearis that Thomas made his “submission.” The Dark When these Americans surrendered, they were assured Summer the s t a f- us G f prisoners of war on parole. But, June 3, 1780, Sir Henry Clinton, the British conqueror of Charles Town, issued a proclamation that all those inhabitants who refused active allegiance to the British should, after June 20, be treated as enemies and rebels. Confident that the State was conquered, Clinton then sailed away to New York to fight Washington. The ensuing summer has been well named “The Dark Summer.” Clinton, before leaving Charles Town, sent three forces inland to occupy Augusta, Ninety-Six, and Camden. Lieutenant Colonel Tarle- ton was dispatched in pursuit of Lieutenant Colonel Buford’s Virginia troops, which had been on the way to Charles Town and had turned back toward home upon hearing of the surrender. Overtaking Buford at Waxhaws, May 29, Tarleton’s troops savagely butchered the Vir¬ ginians after they had thrown down their arms. The news of this occurrence sent a wave of anger through the Southern area, and had much influence in bringing on the renewal of conflict. Another procedure of the British that inflamed the inhabitants to fury was the burning of homes and the appropriating of property. But, most insulting of all, and in direct violation of the terms of sur¬ render, was the British demand that those revolutionists who had sur¬ rendered and “taken protection” now serve in the British forces which were attempting to conquer any Americans still in arms. Many Americans, saying that this violation of the terms released them from their paroles, resumed arms. Colonel John Thomas did this, and was captured and imprisoned at Ninety-Six. Before seizing him, a band of Tories, led by Patrick Moore, plundered his place and drove off his slaves and cattle. Sir Henry Clinton wrote, June 4: “There are few men in South Carolina who are not either our prisoners or in arms with us.” But things were not to be as easy for the British as Clinton anticipated, for, on that same June 4, Colonels Thomas Brandon, John Thomas, Jr., and Janies Lyles held a conference and agreed to assemble their troops and form a recruiting camp near Fairforest Creek in the Upper Spartans in the Revolutionary Struggle 25 or Spartan District. The Spartans still held, hidden safely, some of the powder furnished Colonel Thomas, Sr., by Drayton and Rutledge in 1776. Brandon’s first step, June 8, 1780, was to secure and secrete this powder. Meanwhile the Loyalists were flocking to the British allegiance. Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Ferguson, who had been appointed by Colonel Balfour to enroll and train Loyalist troops and to act against the revolutionists who refused to swear allegiance to the British, was very active and successful. Early in June a group of Ferguson’s Tories surprised Brandon’s men and defeated them, securing, how¬ ever, only a small part of the powder. The Spartan Regi- The Whigs held a gathering at Bullock’s Creek ment Reorganized Church in York, June 12, 1780, rallying here after Brandon’s defeat. To these bewildered men—who were as sheep without a shepherd—John Thomas, Jr., made an inspiring ap¬ peal, whereupon all agreed to continue resistance. The Colonel of the Spartan Regiment, John Thomas, had capitulated in May; his son, John Thomas, Jr., was now made Colonel by the men who were de¬ termined not to stop fighting. Therefore, they made their way to Sumter’s camp and placed themselves under his command, taking to him the powder they had saved. This ammunition was used in the engagements which soon followed—Huck’s defeat, July 12; Rocky Mount, July 30; and Hanging Rock, August 7. These fights some¬ what turned the tables on Ferguson, for after them, in Tarleton’s own words, men “flocked from all parts of South Carolina” to join Sum¬ ter. The British realized that the war was not ended, and that much more had to be done by them than reorganizing a British government in a conquered Up Country, and setting up camps in which to receive pledges of allegiance. Early in July the British, under Ferguson’s direction, had seized the plantation of Colonel James Williams of the Little River Regi¬ ment, and, moving into the Upper District, had formed a camp near the present-day Union. They marched and counter-marched through the surrounding country, plundering the Whig inhabitants and exact¬ ing submissions from waverers who hastened to prove their zeal as they saw the British apparently in power. The weeks that followed were incredibly troubled ones in the Upper District. During the years from 1777 to 1780, life there had gone on peacefully enough. New settlers had moved in; lands had 26 A History of Spartanburg County been bought and sold; fields had been cleared and planted; houses and mills had been erected. Wagon trade with Charles Town had been brisk. Soldiers had come and gone between their homes and the frontier forts, or had done what they called “tours of duty” with the forces about Augusta, Savannah, or Charles Town. The Upper District The resolution made by Thomas, Brandon, and a Battleground Lyles, June 4, was the precursor of local skirm¬ ishing. From that time on the Upper District was a battleground. The state of affairs was almost that of civil war; neighbor arrayed against neighbor. Within the area occurred many small engagements, all designed to check and, if possible, destroy Colonel Patrick Fer¬ guson. Lord Cornwallis, August 20, 1780, reported to the home gov¬ ernment that Ferguson, as inspector general of the militia for the District of Ninety-Six, had organized “seven battalions of militia of about 4,000 men, well affected to the British government, which were so regulated that they could with ease furnish fifteen hundred men at a short notice for the defense of the frontier or any other service.” On both sides the frontiersmen had organized themselves into three groups—one for active fighting, one for patrolling and manning the forts, and one to plant crops and serve as home guards. There were no Continental troops in the State to oppose Ferguson, but the partisans and volunteer militia were equal to the occasion. Their activities in one week of July have thus been summed up: “They had risen and attacked the British outposts along the whole line in what are now the counties of Chester, York, and Spartanburg. There had been engagements upon four successive nights, in each of which the Whigs had been victorious. At Williamson’s and Bratton’s plantations in York they had attacked and destroyed Huck and his party on the 12th of July. Colonel John Thomas, Jr., had defeated the attack made upon his camp at Cedar Spring in Spartanburg on the night of the 13th. Then Colonel Jones had surprised the Loyalists at Gowen’s Old Fort near the South Pacolet in the same county on the night of the 14th; and finally the attack of Dunlap on McDowell’s camp on the night of the 15th had been avenged by Hampton on the morning of the 16th. Of these engagements, it is true, none could be described as a great battle, but the British had, in less than a week, lost more than a hundred men in killed and wounded, while the loss of the Americans had not mounted to half that number.” Fort Thicketty, in what is now Cherokee County, had been built Spartans in the Revolutionary Struggle 27 by Patrick Moore and made a Tory stronghold from which bands sallied forth to plunder the surrounding country. It was captured by the Whigs, July 30, 1780—a victory of especial value for two reasons: it brought relief to a harassed population, and the capture of the fort threw into the hands of the Americans valuable supplies of arms and ammunition. All of these small but important engagements occurred in July 1780. Cedar Spring August was to bring larger activities. The first and Wofford’* clash between the main forces under Colonel Charles Iron Works McDowell and Colonel Patrick Ferguson came in what has been sometimes called the Second Battle of Cedar Spring, and sometimes the Battle of Wofford’s Iron Works. It was fought August 8, both sides claiming the victory. The moral victory was all on the American side, however, because the Americans were able by retiring to a new position to check the attack of Ferguson’s men. Battle of The victory of the Americans at Musgrove’s Mill, Musgrove’* Mill August 19, marked a definite turn of the tide—even though on the preceding day the Continental Army under General Horatio Gates had been disgracefully routed near Camden. The de¬ feat of Gates did not impair the determination of the partisans to drive the British and the Loyalists from their State. Few battles of the Revolution surpassed in strategic importance the small battle of Mus¬ grove’s Mill. It was participated in by Carolinians, Georgians, and Tennesseans on the American side, opposed by British Regulars and American Loyalists from both Carolinas, New York, and New Jersey. This engagement was one of the turning points of the war, being fought by about two hundred Americans against a British force of between four and five hundred. The American loss was thirteen, that of the British was seventy captured and one hundred fifty-three wounded or killed. The Americans, led by Colonels James Williams, Elijah Clarke, and Isaac Shelby, left Smith’s Ford on Broad River in the afternoon of August 18, and rode all night across country—mostly through the woods and by-paths, because they knew Ferguson was near. They reached the muster ground near Musgrove's Mill about dawn and made brilliant plans for battle. Hastily throwing up breastworks of logs and brush, they drew the British into an ambush and before eight o’clock in the morning, had won their fight. Then, while they debated whether to proceed at once against Ninety-Six, they had 28 A History of Spartanburg County news of Gate’s disastrous defeat and of the approach of fresh British troops. The Ride to At once they distributed the prisoners and started Hillsboro toward North Carolina, under the command of Colonel James Williams. They rode the rest of the day, all night, and part of the next day, stopping only to feed or water their horses, sleep¬ ing in the saddle, and eating only the peaches and raw corn they gathered from the wayside fields or orchards. In all, within forty- eight hours, they traveled in the August heat more than one hundred miles over rough, wild country, fought a battle, and for sixty miles of their ride escorted seventy prisoners. These prisoners they de¬ livered to Governor John Rutledge at Hillsboro, N. C. So swollen were their faces from the strain that many of the men were not recognized by their friends at Hillsboro. Governor Rutledge, de¬ lighted with Williams’ report of the battle at Musgrove’s Mill, and with the seventy prisoners, mostly British, he delivered, gave Williams a commission as brigadier general. Thus he expressed the delight of a refugee governor, the guest of Governor Nash of North Carolina. Dissensions Among By the men who flocked to him in July, Sumter the Americans had been chosen general, and for a time Williams had served with him; but when Sumter planned to go to North Caro¬ lina, Williams and a large body of men who agreed with him that they should attack the British at Ninety-Six, turned in that direction and formed a camp at Smith’s Ford in the Upper District, on Broad River. With Williams went Brandon and many of the Spartans, but John Thomas, Jr., and his regiment seem to have stuck to Sumter. Williams, learning of the concerted movement to check Ferguson, and that men from over the mountain would cooperate, rejoined the Americans then encamped at Cowpens, the place agreed upon as a rendezvous, and presented his commission. He demanded that Sum¬ ter and his men yield him their obedience, but they refused. A group of five of Sumter’s officers—one of them Colonel John Thomas, Jr.,— went to Governor Rutledge to protest Williams’ commission. It makes a sad story, this quarrel between Sumter and Williams. There were Spartans on each side in it; but after the death of Williams at Kings Mountain, all of them united in following Sumter. The regi¬ ment commanded by John Thomas, Jr., retained the name Spartan Regiment. At this period Brandon’s Regiment was often called the Fairforest Regiment, from the fact that most of its men lived in the Spartans in the Revolutionary Struggle 29 Fairforest basin. Both regiments were active at Kings Mountain, October 7, 1780. Fighting in the During all of this time, Ferguson’s men had been Fairforest Region here an( j there j n the Upper District, or just over the North Carolina border from it, and there had been numerous skirmishes. Chesney recorded in his Journal that “scarcely a day passed without some fighting” during the summer of 1780. The region about Fairforest Shoals, in the lower part of the Upper District, was for nearly a year the scene of frequent skirmishes and encamp¬ ments. Colonel Brandon and Major Mcjunkin and their men played an important part in the battle at Blackstock’s Ford, November 20, 1780. This battle was fought just where the Blackstock Road crossed Tyger River. The tobacco barn and forted house of an Indian trader named Blackstock served as headquarters for the Americans under Sumter, who were attacked here by Tarleton with a strong force. Sumter repulsed Tarleton, but during the night he slipped away, severely wounded. He stopped for a day or two of rest at Wofford's Iron Works, and then proceeded to a more secure refuge near the North Carolina line. The Battle By far the most brilliant and most important Revolu- of Cowpens tionary engagement fought on the soil of the Upper District was the Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 1781. Indeed, judged from the standpoint of military strategy and of consequences, this was one of the outstanding battles of the entire Revolution, deal¬ ing the death blow to Tarleton’s career and ending serious fighting on the soil of the Upper District. In every stage of the battle, Spar¬ tans had heavy responsibilities as scouts, skirmishers, commissary officers, and combatants. A volume could be filled with personal anecdotes concerning Cowpens. Brandon’s part was especially gallant. Tory Bands and Warfare began in this district in 1776 with Indian Their Outrages an d T or y attacks. This menace overhung the area throughout the struggle, keeping always a large part of the militia at home to hold it in check; and, after the organized British forces had passed through the Upper District for the last time, the inhabitants of Revolutionary sympathies suffered inroads and outrages from bands of Tories and Indians. Early in the year 1781 the Loyalists and Whigs of the Up Country agreed upon a truce so that the crops could be cultivated for the ensuing summer; for they realized both sides 30 A History of Spartanburg County must eat. But bands of violent men disregarded this truce, their ac¬ tivities possibly stimulated by news of renewed efforts by the British to reestablish their hold on the State. “Bloody Bill” Cunningham and “Bloody” Bates were the outstanding leaders of Tory bands which dashed here and there throughout Ninety-Six District, leaving behind them death, fire, and desolation. What the people of the Upper District endured was well sum¬ marized by the Reverend George Howe, in the course of his “Cen¬ tennial Discourse,” at Nazareth Church, September 14, 1861: The most bloody foes your fathers had were neighbors reared with them, acquainted with all their ways, and more unforgiving than those who had crossed the ocean to fight us. Your soil was the camping ground of the friendly and hostile forces, resounding under the hoofs both of Washington’s and Tarleton’s dragoons, and wet with the blood of your kindred and their foes. Through the diligence and labor of your pastor, we have been able to learn the story of the “Plundering Scout,” who passed through these neighborhoods some eighty-four years ago, taking everything that could be of value to them; horses, cattle, beds, and bedding; hanging one aged man in his own gate-way, and hack¬ ing another with their broad swords. And of the “Bloody Scout,” of which “Bloody Bill” Cunningham was the presiding genius, who came after, like Death on the pale horse, and Hell following; of their killing the sick man (Captain Steadman) in his bed; of their hacking the boy, John Caldwell, in pieces; of their killing John and James Wood, and the last, notwithstanding his wife’s entreaties; and of the death of John Snoddy at their bloody hands .... We have read of the bravery of your men—of Major David Anderson, who fought at Ninety-Six, at the siege of Charleston, at Eutaw Springs, and at Augusta; of Captain Andrew Barry, who met the foe at Musgrove’s Mill and the Cowpens; of Captain John Collins, who fought on many fields, both in Carolina and Georgia. We have read of Colonel Thomas, of Fairforest, who com¬ manded the Spartan Regiment till the fall of Charleston, three of whose sons watered the tree of liberty with their own blood, and whose sons-in-law held commissions in the war. Of William Kennedy, Samuel Mcjunkin, Major Joseph Mcjunkin, General Thomas Brandon, Captain William Savage, Colonel Hughes, and Major Otterson, in the old Brown’s Creek Church below, who with one other man, captured thirty of Tarleton’s cavalry on their re¬ treat from Cowpens; and of Samuel Clowney, of Fairforest, who, with his negro man, captured four of the enemy. We have read of the brave women of the Revolution—among Spartans in the: Revolutionary Struggle; 31 them, of Mrs. Thomas, of Fairforest, and her ride of fifty miles, from Ninety-Six, where her husband was prisoner, to Cedar Springs, to warn her neighbors and children there of a threatened attack, and of the heroic defense of her house by Culbertson, her son-in-law, who fired on the large band of attacking Tories, while she, her daughters, and her son Willie, loaded; of Mrs. Dillard, and her arrival on a gallop, to warn the camp of Colonel Clarke, at Green Spring on Lawson’s Fork, after she had prepared supper for the Tory band, led by Ferguson and Dunlap; of Dicey Lang¬ ston, who forded the Tyger River at the dead hour of the night, the waters reaching to her neck, floundering on, in bewilderment at times, to warn the settlement, where her brother lived, of the “Bloody Scout”; of Ann Hamilton, who seized a Tory that was firing her house, by his collar, and hurled him down the stairs. “Bloody Bill” Cunningham and his “Bloody Scout” ended their career of plunder and murder in the Upper District by burning Wofford’s Iron Works in November 1781. Soon after this Cunning¬ ham fled to Florida and remained there. As though by preconcerted arrangement, “Bloody Bates” led a horde of Indians and Tories through the frontier section about Go wan’s Fort, at the same time that Cunningham was sweeping through the lower settlements. Bates, in November 1781, captured Gowan’s Fort, in which many of the terrified inhabitants had found refuge. Few of the men, women, and children who threw themselves upon his mercy escaped; those who did were scalped or otherwise mutilated. One victim to escape this barbarous slaughter was Mrs. Abner Thompson, of Greenville, South Carolina, who lived fifty years afterwards, although she had been scalped and left for dead. Many traditions of the outrages perpetrated by Bates, and of his subsequent course as a horse thief, have come down. A particularly romantic story describes how one of his near-victims, a young Motley, of Upper Spartanburg County, hearing he was in the jail at Green¬ ville, led a body of neighbors, took Bates from the sheriff, and hanged him before the courthouse—with the approval of the community. The body was taken from the gallows and buried on the spot. There it lies to this day—covered by the Greenville post office. Samuel Earle, during 1782-1783, commanded what was probably the last body of armed troops in Upper South Carolina, the South Carolina Rangers. Earle had been commissioned by General Andrew Pickens to raise this body of mounted men and to use it in policing the frontier. Samuel Earle once told B. F. Perry that at the close of the 32 A History of Spartanburg County Revolution he was personally acquainted with every settler above the Congarees. Characterization of The circumstances under which they lived and the Spartan Regiment f OU ght determined the character of the partisan bands of the Upper District who fought for independence. They had a loose, flexible organization, chose their own officers, decided by mutual agreement on their activities, fought hard and boldly when they felt they had a chance of winning, and disappeared with speed when they felt sure of impending defeat. They refused to be con¬ fined to prolonged training in camp, and when scouts reported no enemy near, claimed the right to go home and attend to their domestic concerns, hurrying back to the scene of action if they got word they were needed. The tale has come down that, when Morgan realized he must fight Tarleton, he sent out couriers to round up his forces. Captain Andrew Barry’s wife, Kate, tied little Katie to the bedpost, mounted her horse and rode through part of her husband’s beat, giving the call to arms. If these partisan volunteers disapproved the tactics or objectives of a leader, they sometimes detached themselves and joined another group. The result was that, at one time or another, the same man served in Thomas’s, Brandon’s, Roebuck’s, or Steen’s regiment. They enlisted for short terms, and transferred themselves almost at will from one leader to another when they re-enlisted. They were, after all, volunteer militiamen—the most thoroughly democratic and self-assertive type of soldier possible. The fortitude and vision of men and women in the Upper District had no small influence in the final outcome of the Revolution. It is never to be forgotten that, when their leaders were ready to yield the cause as lost and to make submission to General Clinton, the partisan militiamen of the back country said “No”; and, by their stubborn resistance to British efforts at organizing the State, forced a renewal of the contest. The Spartan Regiment richly deserved the honor be¬ stowed on it when its name was given to the county. Pages From the Notebooks of Samuel Noblit Below, One of His Compositions A SONG You Carolinans all Draw near Attention give & you Shall hear The Truth to you I zxnll Relate it is of General Clouds Defeat The Hilanders Came marching Down Thinking to get into Willmington Then Casivells Soldiers stop’d them by the way A marching down in Battle Ray Then general Cloud came marching Dozen With his men that Did to him Belong March on March on Brave Boys Said he For zee Sliurely Shall gain the Victory Then general Cloud came marching Down With Szz’ord in hand he cries aloud Fight on Fight on leas all his Tone For I make no Doubt but the Days our ozm Then general Cloud came marching Dozen Within Reach of Rifles & Great guns Until! a Rifle Bullet give him a zuound Which Brought his Body to ye ground Then general Cloud Presum'd to Rise Fight on Fight on Dear Boys he Cries Fight on Fight on Dear Boys said he For americans near shall have Liberty Then Caszeells Soldiers being Such Val¬ ient men They Cock’t their Rifles once again They Drew their Sights on him so neat Which Caused general Clouds Defeat Then the Highlanders turn’d tail to Run Thinking to Recover home Then Caszeells Soldiers Stopcd them by the zeay Which caused them to Lement the Day Then Colnl Thaxton met them their Thinking they had Run from the War He took their zvaggons & fiz’e hundred men The Privates he sent home again Well since the Battle is ore & Done Praises to god zee will Return lie has Cleared us of our Miser ye and Still Maintains our Liberty This Song Wrote By me Sam! Noblit Wednesday May ye 10th 1780 CHAPTER THREE The Making of Spartan County The Jacksonborough As soon as conditions permitted, after the close Assembly Q f t h e Revolutionary War, Governor Rutledge took the proper steps to set up an orderly government. In November he instructed the brigadier generals to conduct elections of represen¬ tatives to a General Assembly. The Governor’s proclamation pro¬ vided that only active Revolutionists were eligible to vote or act as representatives. The Assembly thus elected, January 7, 1782, con¬ vened at Jacksonborough, a village near Charles Town. Since the British army still occupied Charles Town, the meeting was safe¬ guarded by the presence of General Greene’s army. The Upper Dis¬ trict was represented in the Assembly by General William Henderson, Colonel Thomas Brandon, Samuel Mcjunkin, and Colonel John Thomas, Jr. Of this gathering, sometimes called the Jacksonborough House, a distinguished historian wrote: “It was a reunion of the civil and military leaders who had saved the State, and there never was a more notable gathering in South Carolina.” The Jacksonborough House was fully occupied with vexing questions in connection with the pay of the soldiers and terms of peace. During the following year the General Assembly began to wrestle with the problem of civil administration. The history of Spartanburg County as a distinct unit of government begins with the action of this legislature providing for the division of the seven large districts into small counties. Creation of A commission composed of Andrew Pickens, Richard the County Anderson, Thomas Brandon, Levy Kelsey, Philemon Waters, Arthur Simkins, and Simon Berwick was appointed by the legislature, in 1783, to lay off Ninety-Six District into counties. These men at the session of 1785 recommended the division of the District into six counties: Abbeville, Edgefield, Laurens, Newberry, Spartan, and Union; and an act was passed creating the counties in accordance with this recommendation. The quaint wording used in the first published editions of the Acts of the General Assembly of South Carolina prescribed that county courts were to be held “at Spartan.” The phrase, “Spartanburgh County,” first appeared in an Act dated December 21, 1798. The 33 34 A History of Spartanburg County Act of 1798-1799, abolishing county courts, went into effect January 1, 1800; and thereafter Spartan County became Spartan, or Spartan- burgh, District—these terms appearing interchangeably in the records of the period. The constitution of 1868 was to return to the designa¬ tion county, which has continued in use ever since. It may be noted, however, that all during the post-bellum years, into the eighties, many old-fashioned writers retained the use of the word district, resenting the change as a Yankee imposition. Evolution of The area of the county thus created and put into County Boundaries operation had been, in the colonial period, a part of Craven County. In 1685, when the Province of South Carolina was only fifteen years old, its Proprietors laid it off into four counties. The largest of these, Craven County, started at the mouth of the Seewee River, a tributary of Bull’s Bay, and followed it to its head. From the head of the Seewee River the Craven County line was run northwest to the Santee River, up that stream to the Congaree, thence up to the Saluda, following the river’s course to the North Carolina line, and thence to the Atlantic coast, and down the shore back to the starting point, the Seewee River. The upper part of Craven County remained Indian lands until after Grant’s war in 1761. By the treaty of December 18, 1761, an agreement was reached with the Indians by which the so-called Indian Line was marked, coinciding roughly with the present lines separating Spartanburg from Green¬ ville, Greenville from Laurens, and Abbeville from Anderson counties. Settlers could thereafter obtain grants up to this Indian Line. Some Spartans still own old grants in this area which designate their lands as in Craven County. The line between the two Carolinas was uncertain until 1772, when the King had it surveyed as far as the “Indian Line”—that is, to the northwest corner of what is now Spartanburg County. This fact ex¬ plains why many of Spartanburg’s early settlers had grants from North Carolina, and why South Carolina grants describe land in what is today Spartanburg County as in Craven County, while grants to ad¬ jacent lands issued by North Carolina designate these lands as in Mecklenburg or Tryon counties. Sometimes two men would hold grants to the same tract, one from North Carolina and the other from South Carolina. An example is found in the case of William Wof¬ ford, who held grants from North Carolina to lands, as in Tryon County, which were set down as “vacant” in South Carolina. A The Making of Spartan County 35 struggle over these titles took place in connection with Buffington’s Iron Works. In 1769 Ninety-Six District was created, and the area which was to become Spartanburg was included in it, and so continued until the creation of the counties in 1785. One clause of the act creating new counties read: “One to be called Spartan, bounded by Laurens County on the north, the Indian Line on the westward, North Carolina boundary and Broad River to Tate’s Ferry, thence along the road to John Ford’s plantation on Enoree River, including the same.” Spartan County, as thus created, contained 1,050 square miles. Re-surveys reduced it to 1,004. In 1897 the northeastern part was taken to help form Cherokee County. Since that time its area has been 765 square miles. Natural Features The mountains are in sight from nearly every part of the County 0 f Spartanburg, and several elevations are locally named mountains; but the county has not a single real mountain. The altitude of the city is 875 feet, and the county varies little from this figure. The highest point in the county is little more than one thous¬ and feet. The streams flowing from the Blue Ridge Mountains tra¬ verse Spartanburg County in a general southeast direction so as to di¬ vide it into long, almost parallel ridges. The Pacolet River, fed by its north and south forks and Lawson’s Fork, waters the northeast sec¬ tion, and provides much of the tremendous power which has been so important in the industrial development of the county. The Tyger River—with its north, middle, and south branches, and its tributary, Fairforest Creek—provides similar advantages for the central and up¬ per western part of the county. The Enoree drains the lower western part of the county. All of the streams are swift and are broken by falls or shoals. The distribution of the rivers, the numerous springs and small creeks, and the gentle slopes of the watersheds combine to make Spar¬ tanburg one of the best counties in the United States for farming and grazing. The Blue Ridge Mountains, just to the north, serve as a protection from severe cold winds. Every part of the county is well watered and variegated in surface, so that woodlands, pastures, meadows, cultivated fields, and rich bottom-lands, are all to be found in nearly every section. The ridges are especially adapted to orchards. The numerous mineral springs, the gold, iron, and limestone deposits were early recognized as potentially wealth-producing. 36 A History of Spartanburg County The unusual possibilities of the county were fully realized by the pioneer settlers. The story goes that one of the earliest bands of settlers encamped on a ridge in the southeast part of the county two miles from Glenn Springs, and that a member of their company, James Mc- Ilwaine, exclaimed in rapture, “What a fair forest is here!” The phrase was seized upon and applied to the stream nearby and the region it waters. Spartanburg County was indeed a fair forest from its beginnings. Organization of The purpose of dividing Ninety-Six District County Government j n t 0 coun ties was to provide smaller units of government and thus insure proper administration of justice; and at the same time minimize the expense and inconvenience citizens must incur in attending court or transacting legal business. Circuit Court would still be held twice a year at Cambridge (as the courthouse town of Ninety-Six District was named) ; but each county had its own gov¬ ernment administered by a county court and officers appointed under its jurisdiction. The first judicial officers for Spartan County were Baylis Earle, John Thomas, Jr., Henry White, John Ford, James Jordan, William Wood, and Henry Machan Wood. Their commissions were dated March 24, 1785, and signed by his Excellency William Moultrie, Esq. The commission continued during “good behavior,” and authorized the holders “to have full power and jurisdiction to hold the County Court in and for the said County . . . and you are to hear and deter¬ mine all causes and other matters and controversies properly apper¬ taining and referred by law to your jurisdiction.” These commissions —inscribed by John Thomas, Jr., previously appointed clerk of court—constitute the first public documents recorded in the county. The duties of these “gentlemen justices,” as they were officially styled, included the selection of a suitable place for holding court and the erection of necessary public buildings—courthouse, gaol, pillory, whipping post, and stocks. They were to hold court four times a year, and to elect officers for the county. They had limited juris¬ diction in criminal cases, but were charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order in the county. They had jurisdiction over the laying out of roads and the regulation of “public houses of enter¬ tainment.” The: Making of Spartan County 37 The First The first meeting of court was on the third Monday in Courts June 1785, at Nicholl’s (later Anderson’s) Mill on Tyger River. It is clear that a struggle attended the efforts of the county justices to select a site for the public buildings; for they waited two years to make a final decision. Meanwhile court convened in September and again in December 1785, at the plantation of Thomas Williamson, and throughout the year 1786 at John Wood’s plantation. After selecting a hill on Wood’s plantation for the public buildings, the gentlemen justices, in December, reversed this decision. The clerk’s office was then removed to Samuel Porter’s plantation on Lawson’s Fork. In January 1787 the commissioners came to an agreement— under legislative pressure—and settled on the Williamson plantation site. Williamson sold them a rectangular two-acre tract for five shillings. Thus was finally determined the precise location of Spartan Court House—later Spartanburg. First Public A special meeting was held, January 17, 1787, for the Buildings purpose of letting the contract for “public buildings”; but it was not actually made and signed until February 1. Its pro¬ visions specified that a gaol, pillory, whipping post and stocks, “such as is usual,” should be completed within the year, and the courthouse by 1789. Richard Harrison, Esq., took the contract for two hundred and four pounds, and gave bond. The first courthouse was built of hewn timbers, and was twenty by thirty feet, with a square roof having a twelve-foot pitch. It had one story and contained a court room and two jury rooms. The two- story log jail was sixteen feet square, and had a foundation of heavy stones. These two buildings and the pillory, whipping post, and stocks stood among the trees on the Public Ground and constituted the seat of justice of Spartan County. The courthouse stood almost exactly where the Morgan monument now stands, the location being determined by its proximity to a bold spring from which flowed a good stream. Such provision for the comfort of man and beast was essen¬ tial. This spring dried up long ago, and buildings today cover its site. County Officers and Their Duties Colonel John Thomas, Jr., was appointed by the legislature the first clerk of court of Spartan County. The county court at its first meeting elected William Young sheriff, and Joseph Buffington coroner. In March 1787, Colonel John 38 A History of Spartanburg County Thomas, Jr., was elected treasurer and was provided with a deputy clerk of court. To these officers were added, in 1791, five constables: Richard Nolly, Hancock Smith, Thomas Gordon, Henry Wolf, Robert Harper. The first ordinary, Gabriel Bumpass, was appointed in 1804. The sheriff’s office was one of great dignity and responsibility, as he was the chief administrative officer, with the power to arrest, to sell forfeited property, and to take any measures he deemed necessary for preserving the peace. The clerk of court was responsible for all records—and records were kept in long hand and written with quill pens. Deeds, wills, bills of sales, records of public business transacted—all had to be copied carefully. All these records are treasured in the office of the clerk of court. The officers who administered the laws were not paid salaries; instead, the legislature drew up an elaborate code of regulations pre¬ scribing their duties and the fees to be collected for the performance of each. Their reward was in proportion to their activity. Their official duties in early years required little of their time. Many years were to elapse before public officers here or in other counties were obliged to give their entire attention to their official duties. When that condition arose, popular demands eventually led to legislation abolish¬ ing the fee system and providing salaries proportioned to the demands of offices. Some Old Old court records throw much light on the simple Court Records ij ves 0 f t h e “ ru( j e forefathers” of Spartanburg. At meetings of the county court the gentlemen justices were much occu¬ pied with such routine business as qualifying and commissioning ap¬ pointees, and establishing rates for taverns, liquor retailers, and houses of public entertainment. Some of the prescribed prices and items are of interest: A “common cold dinner or supper” was priced at eight pence; the same, “neatly cooked,” cost one shilling. A “common breakfast” cost eight pence; and, “with bohea, coffee, or chocolate,” it cost nine pence; “with bohea and loaf sugar,” it cost a shilling. A “clean bed” for one person cost fourpence; for two persons, three¬ pence each. “Stabling an horse, with sufficient fodder or hay, for twenty-four hours,” cost one shilling sixpence. Each quart of com or oats cost twopence. The variety of drinks and their prices astonish the present-day reader: Jamaica rum cost twelve shillings per gallon; West Indian rum, eight shillings; Nantz brandy cost ten shillings per gallon. Whiskey cost four shillings per gallon. The “best Madeira The Making of Spartan County 39 wine” cost four shillings eight pence a bottle. At least a dozen varieties of wine, besides draught, English bottled, and domestic ale, were listed. In those first years the number of licenses issued for “Keeping House of Public Entertainment and Retailing Spirituous Liquors” is truly astonishing, and indicates a considerable amount of travel and apparently unquenchable thirst. The fees paid for these licenses seem to have formed a sort of contingent fund for the use of the court. According to the first Bill of Sale recorded in the county, “William Neel of Spartan County sold to Daniel Jackson of Union County for 200 pounds sterling (cash), 3 negroes—a woman named Sue, a girl named River (?), a boy named Limas, 1 feather bed and furniture thereto belonging, 1 wagon and gears, 1 white horse, Sept. 20, 1785, at Spartanburgh. Witnesses John Motlow and William Prince.” Several entries show citizens registering “marks” for their cattle. Detailed rulings were recorded as to “estrays”—hogs, cows, and horses—what was to be paid for their keep, how they were to be dis¬ posed of, and so forth. Taxes have always caused agitation. At the September court, 1788, the grand jury argued that the time of collection be prolonged “so that those liable to pay the said tax may have time to carry their produce to market to enable them to pay the said tax.” The court prolonged the time until December. At the March term, 1789, the court ruled that, “whereas experience hath proved the inconvenience of holding court in this county at the June term, the inhabitance of the county being generally engaged at that period with their harvest,” jurors should be drawn for September; and a notice was posted that certain cases would be carried over from the March to the September term. Punishments Some of the modes and degrees of punishment com¬ mon in the early courts astonish twentieth-century Spartans. For example, an attorney at law convicted of petit larceny was, July 15, 1791, after a month in jail, sentenced to be “taken from the said jail to the public whipping post of this county, and between the hours of twelve and two o’clock, to receive on his bare back, five lashes well laid on by the sheriff.” He was also “forever hereafter silenced from prac¬ ticing as an attorney at law in this court.” Further, because he had uttered threats of vengeance against two fellow-citizens, he was re¬ quired to furnish a bond of one thousand pounds with sufficient se- 40 A History of Spartanburg County curity that he “peaceably behave” before he could be “admitted to liberty.” The court, in 1785, fined a man who “called on God to damn the grand jurors” fourteen shillings and costs. A citizen, in April 1810, was fined one cent upon being convicted of libel. A constable, in November 1814, was fined ten dollars for “having suffered spirits to be carried into the room” in which witnesses were held. In 1823 an “illiterate and ignorant man,” convicted of passing counterfeit money, was recommended to mercy. No mercy was shown horse stealing. Convicted horse thieves were hanged by the neck at the place of public execution. In 1821 the grand jury recommended that the punishment for horse stealing be lightened. Property seems to have been dearer in the eyes of the law than human life, for in November 1827, a convicted murderer was sentenced to six months imprisonment and to be branded in the brow or thumb with the letter M. On May 27, 1808, a forger was “hung by the neck at the place of public execution.” Cases of assault and battery were frequent. In January 1796, a citizen who had had a large piece of his left ear bitten out in a fight petitioned the court that the matter be entered upon the records “as a manifestation to the world that it happened not by corporal punish¬ ment by the laws of the land.” At the October 1804 term of court a citizen was found guilty of biting off another’s nose. Some Amusing Grand At the second court, September 1785, the first Jury Presentments grand jury was drawn. Its members were: William Bensong, George Bratton, William Thomson, David Lewis, Charles James, John Head, William Lipscomb, James Oliphant, Cap¬ tain William Smith, Charles Moore, Zadock Ford, Andrew Barry, William Poole (Taylor), John Carrick, Thomas Jackson, Edward Mitchison, Obediah Tremia, Israel Morris, Robert Goodlett, John Barry, David Goodlett, Daniel McClam, Vachel Dillingham, and William Prince. Year after year the grand juries surveyed the condition of the county and presented for the attention of the courts true bills against offenders and “grievances” which demanded redress. Some of the presentments provide amusing reading. For example, in October 1803, the presentment attacked the evils of capitalistic monopoly in the following breathless utterance: The: Making of Spartan County 41 We, the Grand Jury, present as a Great Grievance that the people who are compelled to attend the court of this District in the capacities of Jurors, suitors, witnesses and otherwise can not find accommodations for themselves and their horses at the Court House more because one fellow citizen who owns the land all around the Court House chooses to monopolize for his own family and connections all the profit arising from Tavern Keeping in consequence of which no house of entertainment is kept here ex¬ cept one kept by his own Son-in-law and the one kept in the jail by the jailer no competition can take place for the improvement or in¬ crease for these accommodations because he will not sell any Lott to any one who will keep a house of entertainment in order to in¬ duce the commissioners from erecting the Public Buildings to place them where they now are he promised to sell out some Lotts which evaded the object of the Commissioners by selling at vendue only four having them bought in by himself, his son and his two sons- in-law, we, therefore, recommend that the Legislature shall ap¬ point certain commissioners to value some given quantity of land near the Court House at its just and reasonable value and that the State should pay for it at that rate and that the Commissioners should then lay it out by a fixed place into convenient lots and sell out those lots at private sale to such as will buy them under such regulations as will prevent a repetition of this oppressive monopoly and the proceeds of those sales shall be paid into the Public Treasury to reimburse the State and we request that our members in the Legislature will use their influence to have this recommen¬ dation carried into effect. Year after year the grand jury complained that the grand jurors were required to serve without recompense. In April 1811, they lamented piteously the plight of the grand juror who, “driven to the woods for a pillow to relieve his weary head upon draws his biscuit from his napsack to satiate his hungry appetite.” Not only were they unpaid, but some presentments pointed out that jurors were not made decently comfortable, that the jury rooms were “not furnished with tables,” that the “Grand Jury Box” was not large enough. Complaints of incompetence against public servants appeared early. The grand jury, October 1803, reported “the unfinished situation of the Court House” pointing out that nearly four years had passed since money was appropriated for erecting it, and that it was still incomplete, so that it was “unfit for the reception of the Court and the officers thereof.” The inhabitants of the county lived and dressed in a pioneer style which harmonized with their rough public buildings; nevertheless they 42 A History of Spartanburg County had a reverence for the majesty of the law, and courts were conducted with all the decorum of established legal procedure. The sheriff wore a cocked hat and a sword, and the judges wore wigs and robes. That rule of court was enforced which read: “No person who is not a member of the bar shall be allowed to sit at the table or desk designed for the use of the bar in any Court House in the State, nor shall any member of the bar be allowed to take a seat there unless he be first noted, nor to continue seated there unless he also continues in his robe, and it shall be the duty of the Sheriff to attend the execution of this rule.” County From the establishment of the courthouse, the first Mon- Sohdanty day in each month was Sales Day; and neither heat nor cold, nor plowing, planting, or harvesting—and only in extreme cases “high water on the Tygers”—prevented the gathering of throngs of men on the “Public Ground” on those days. Some came at the behest of the sheriff; some, to see what property was changing hands; some, to get bargains. Old women in covered wagons came to sell ginger¬ bread, apples, and cider. Men from the remote settlements seized the opportunity to “trade,” swapping knives, hogs, cows, and horses. They wrestled and played marbles and sampled each other’s liquor, and exchanged the news. They held impromptu horse races. The Act of 1798-1799, abolishing the county courts and ordaining that circuit courts should be held at all the county courthouses in accordance with a regular calendar, brought to Court Week a greater dignity and importance than had belonged to it in former days. Lawyers from other localities brought fresh viewpoints on public questions, and animated debates and discussions in the inns and streets made of court week a school of politics. Thus the courthouse proved a focus for the life of the people of the county—the high and the low, the rich and the poor, found in it a community center and built up about it a strong sense of county solidarity. CHAPTER FOUR Spartan District, 1800-1825 Population By the first census, taken 1790, the population of Spar¬ tan County was 8,800. Included in this number were twenty-seven “free persons not white,” and 866 slaves. Of the 1,264 heads of households, more than one thousand owned not even one slave. In round numbers, one hundred households had two, three, or four slaves each. The number of households which owned from five to ten slaves each hardly exceeded fifty; and not more than ten house¬ holds in the entire county owned more than ten slaves each. One man owned twenty-seven, another thirty-six—these two being the largest single owners in the county. Settlement and development continued in this area during the Revolution until 1780. Many Revolutionary soldiers obtained grants and settled here after 1785. But many also left to obtain better or larger acreage in the newly opened Indian lands of the present coun¬ ties of Greenville, Anderson, and Pickens. Lo«» of Colonel John Thomas, Sr., went into the new lands as Noted Citizens “Commissioner of Locations for the north side of the Saluda River,” and settled a place he called Milford in Greenville County. Several years later Colonel John Thomas, Jr., followed his father to Greenville County, and became the first ordinary of that county, having already been the first clerk of court and the first treasurer of Spartanburg County. It is a matter of record that the son of that Thomas Williamson, on whose plantation the courthouse was erected in 1787, was a Pres¬ byterian minister in Union, and that he migrated to Ohio in 1805, “entertaining some scruples about the institution of slavery.” Whole congregations of Quakers and numbers of Scotch Presbyterians joined this Ohio migration, in many instances taking their slaves with them to be set free. All these are typical illustrations of the restlessness of the period. Yet, in spite of such losses, the county grew and pros¬ pered. Many valuable new settlers poured in. Governor John Drayton of Charleston, governor from 1800 Drayton’s View to 1802, made a tour of the State and published in 1802 A View of South Carolina, a book that contained few specific references to Spartanburg County but many general descriptions 43 44 A History of Spartanburg County which applied to it. In one passage he gave an interesting account of social customs in what he designated as the “upper country”: In the retired parts of the country, the amusements are few; consisting of dancing, horse-racing, ball-playing, and rifle shoot¬ ing. At different places in the upper country one occasionally meets ball-alleys, which are resorted to by young men, for playing at fives. Horse-racing is more discountenanced by them than formerly; the people having become more industrious, and atten¬ tive to family concerns. At rifle shooting they are particularly ex¬ pert ; and in some cases find it much to their advantage. Instead of articles being sold at vendue, they are often shot for, by rifle shooters, at a small price each shot; which is more useful and honorable than the raffling mode .... They generally shoot at a mark about the size of a dollar, and he who does not strike the center of it, or nearly so, will come in for no part of the reward. Drayton went on to say that in this manner often one or two men went away with the whole of a beef thus put up. He said that the marksmanship of these men was such that they easily hit a deer at its utmost speed at a distance of 100 yards. He found the interest in fine horses very general, and said that it was customary for boys not older than eight years to ride to school, and, though there was not a riding master in the State, that expert riding was general. Roads Of roads Governor Drayton wrote: “. . . . at this time a carriage and four may be driven from any part of this State to the other, and from the seashore to the mountains, without any other difficulty than such as naturally arises in long journeys.” He found that most of the streams in the Up Country were fordable or provided with ferries or bridges—“some few toll.” Crossroads connected all the courthouses with each other, and an excellent wagon-road led from the North Fork of Saluda Road to Knoxville, Tennessee, over which wagons bearing 2,500 pounds passed easily. Tolls Today travelers have a gasoline tax to grumble over; in the years just before and after 1800 they had tolls to pay at bridges and ferries. In some cases owners even charged them for the privi¬ lege of fording the streams that traversed their property. Typical of toll charges are those the legislature permitted Casper Webb to charge at a ferry over Broad River. Sheep, goats, and hogs were charged for at the rate of two cents each; horses at four cents; foot passengers at four cents; passengers on horseback, seven cents; a two-wheel carri¬ age with horse or horses and driver, twenty-five cents; four-wheel Spartan District, 1800-1825 45 carriage ditto, fifty cents; a hogshead of tobacco rolled, with horses and driver, twelve cents. Webb was responsible for keeping up roads opposite his ferry. It is easy to realize how expensive Spartan farmers found it to get their cattle and produce to market, and how early they were awake to the importance of improving their transpor¬ tation facilities. Impression of a A Charleston gentleman, Columbus F. Hale, Charleston Visitor v i s iting friends in the vicinity of Fort Prince, in¬ cluded in his diary an excellent description of this area in the year 1804. His journey to Fort Prince in a carriage, with an outrider, required ten days. Of the neighborhood about the present-day Enoree, he wrote: “Farms and settlements of different extent car¬ peted numberless acres, and although not pleasant to the eye of the lower countryman in their method of erecting their houses, being mostly built of logs, still there might be perceived a neatness within which destroyed other impressions.” This traveler was much impressed as he crossed the Enoree, by the “tumbling fury of the cataract, with sheets of foam.” He ad¬ mired the “elegant seat of a Mr. Farrow,” as he drove along. This was Samuel Farrow, an outstanding citizen, Lieutenant Governor of the State 1810-12, afterwards a member of Congress and later of the State legislature, where he earned a place in the State’s roll of fame as the “Father of the Asylum.” He resigned from Congress in order to enter the State legislature and urge the importance of establishing a State hospital for the treatment of mental diseases. In crossing Middle Tyger, Hale’s “chair”—a two-wheeled vehicle —got into a deep hole, and was extricated with difficulty. He spoke of the “risk” incurred in this passage. The appearance of the “Inde¬ pendent Church,” he pronounced “respectable for these parts.” Hale mentioned passing two other churches, but he did not indicate their names or comment on them. He had to ford all three Tygers and found all steep and rough. Typical Homes Hale wrote that the section in which he was a guest of 1804 had been settled by the family of Colonel Wade Hampton. Hampton’s home he described as having eight rooms and two stories, and approached by an avenue of chestnuts and walnuts. The home of Captain Peter Gray, whom Hale visited, was doubtless typical of the better class of houses in Spartanburg District at the 46 A History of Spartanburg County period. “Secluded on the summit of a very high hill” it “commanded an extensive view.” It was a frame dwelling of four rooms with one story, a piazza in front, and standing on pillars four feet from the ground. An “avenue of tall and stately oaks, hickory, walnut, and chestnut trees as if planted by art” led from the “broad road” to the house, a distance of two hundred yards. On the right of the house was a fourteen-acre orchard of “lovely peach, apple, and plum trees.” Seventy-five acres of planting land of the 280 contained in the property had been cleared for cultivation. A barn, a “framed” house, a kitchen, stables, and negro houses of logs were clustered about the house. The neighbors impressed Hale as being “many of them respectable,” but for the most part “truly ignorant and much attached to ardent spirits —many beastly so.” The crops were wheat, rye, Indian corn, to¬ bacco, and “some little cotton of the short staple kind.” The liquors, of domestic manufacture, were whiskey, peach and apple brandy, and, to a limited extent only, wine. Hale spoke approvingly of the “hospitable plantation and home of General Thomas Moore of the Spartan District,” with whom he and his wife exchanged visits. He found General Moore, with his wife and six children, living “all in the backwoods state, but on a more re¬ fined scale than that presented by the generality of settlers, his circum¬ stances being more independent.” Spartanburg This Charleston visitor deplored the facts that Handicaps in 1804 ver y i lot wea jj ier an( j strain on his horses on the existing roads limited visiting. He went to the “Court House of Spar- tanburgh” on September first, and, in driving over a newly cleared road from which the stumps had not been removed, was thrown from his “chair” and broke an arm. He suffered four days before a surgeon ar¬ rived, and the messenger who brought this surgeon had traveled a dis¬ tance of one hundred and twenty miles to procure him. Hale commented on the fact that in spite of excellent lands and a good climate, farming could not be made very profitable because of the lack of transportation facilities. He was unfavorably impressed by the prevalence of “camp meetings” and by the addiction of all classes of society to an excessive indulgence in drink. Glimpses from Bishop Asbury visited this section annually be- Asbury’s Journal tween 17g7 and 18H> an( j there are many entries j n his Journal which show him as in thorough agreement with Captain Spartan District, 1800-1825 47 Hale on the subjects of drink and bad roads. But he thanked God for the camp meetings. Some of the entries made in his diary by this saintly founder of Methodism in South Carolina were as follows: Feb. 20, 1788 . . . Our friends here on Tyger River are very much alive to God, and have built a good chapel. We rode on to Buffington’s in the evening on Fairforest Creek and were kindly entertained. March 26, 1795 . . . Crossed Pacolet River . . . My body is weak, and so is my faith for this part of the vineyard . . . This country improves in cultivation, wickedness, mills and stills; a prophet of strong drink would be acceptable to many of these people. I crossed Lawson’s Fork at the high shoals, a little below the Beauty Spot. I could not but admire the curosity of the people— my wig was as great a subject of speculation as some wonderful animal from Africa or India would have been. I had about one hundred people at the meeting-house, some come to look at, and others to hear me . . . After brother M. and myself had preached we passed the Cow-Pens where Morgan and Tarleton had their fray. Nov. 2, 1803: Preached to a lifeless congregation (at Wood’s), and came off, without dining, to John Foster’s twelve miles . . . In this route I crossed the three branches of Tyger River and passed through Greenville and Spartanburg counties . . . find that the camp meetings have been conducted in good order and with great success. Nov. 3, 1803: At Foster’s Meeting House ... In evening had a lively prayer-meeting. Nov. 3, 1803: Recrossed branches of Tyger and Enoree, came along a crippling path to Thomas Terry’s. Dec. 2, 1810: We breakfasted with kind and attentive An¬ thony Foster, and continued on to Robert Haile’s. Bishop Asbury gave some vivid accounts of bad roads he en¬ countered in the Up Country, and of the sparseness of the population. “It is a trifle,” he wrote of the Broad River Circuit in 1803, “to ride in this country thirty miles without food for man or beast. ’ It was in a neighboring county that he made this entry: “We met people coming from a militia muster, drunk . . . Glory be to God we have our camp-meetings too!” On one journey he got out of his carriage and mounted the horse to get across the river. Often he had to retrace his way because he found the waters up and fords impassable. Once 48 A History of Spartanburg County he wrote: “Then had we to cross Broad River, and pierce thru the woods, scratch and go in the by-paths—wind round the plantations— creep across the newly cleared ground by clambering over trees, boughs, and fence-rails; thus we made our way fifteen miles." Michael Gaffney’* Another picture of this section at the same period Description* j s f ounc j j n t h e dj ar y of Michael Gaffney, founder of the town of Gaffney, whose trading post and tavern at the intersection of two established trading paths came to be called Gaff¬ ney’s Cross-Roads, later Gaffney’s Old Field, later still Gaffney. In 1802 he settled in that part of Spartanburg District which is now Cherokee County. His diary has been preserved and it gives a very clear picture of his impressions as he passed from Charleston to Smith’s Ford on Broad River. A native of Ireland and possessed of some means, he was disappointed, as he made his way up from Charleston, to find the interior “low and unhealthy” and the people “yellow, poor, and sickly." He had anticipated finding in the foot¬ hill region “a fine country, but was surprised to find it poor, sandy, rocky, and hilly.” Most of the people were poor and were dressed, peasant style, in hunting shirts and trousers, home-woven of coarse cotton yarn. “Every farmer or planter,” he noted, “is his own shoe¬ maker, tanner, tailor, carpenter, brazier, and, in fact, everything else. Everything comes by the farmer and his family. It is the business of the wife and daughter to pick cotton and have it brought home, pick it from the seed, spin it, weave it, and make it ready for your back. Some of the girls made very handsome cloth. The women in this country live the poorest lives of any people in the world. It is directly opposite to Charleston; here they must do everything from cooking to ploughing, and after that they have no more life in them than Indian squaws. They hardly ever sit down at the table with their husbands, but wait on them like menial servants.” When this was written, about 1802, much of Spartanburg District, except along the water courses and the two or three Indian trading paths which traversed it, was virgin forest. Gaffney’s description doubtless applied to a large proportion of the scattered settlers of the Up Country, although traditions indicate that there were, here and there, families provided with slaves and equipment, whose homes, even though crude, were comfortable and tasteful; and among whom social amenities were observed and a few books were cherished. Few, in¬ deed, they must have been, when little Angelica Mitchell, about this nn •V *v/s mm mmm wm^m x^::X\*XvNx:s-x:-: W$m mm WWW Limestone Springs Hotel, Built in 1835 Spartan District, 1800-1825 49 time, had to learn her letters from Locke’s Essay on the Human Understanding and learned to write by the use of a sharp stick on sandy ground. Boiling Springs Local tradition runs that Boiling Springs was a Traditions trading center and crossroads point of such im¬ portance in the early days that it was seriously considered by the county commissioners as a location for the courthouse. It was a gathering place for drovers, being situated at the intersection of two much-traveled roads and in the heart of the cattle-raising country. Lossing gathered an account of how, in the beginnings of the country, small communities grew up from the activities of those men who kept cows. During the summers they made butter and cheese for market and trained the steers as beasts of burden, using them to secure and haul lumber. In the fall they drove to market those animals ready for sale as beef or draft animals. These activities demanded the work of a good many men, and soon taverns, trading posts, and churches, grew out of their needs. When such a community had the added asset of a remarkable spring, it soon became outstanding. Mineral Pacolet Springs seems to have been the first of the mineral Springs springs of the county to attain note. The stagecoach tables show that it was a stop in the 1790’s on the route from York- ville to Spartanburg. John Drayton mentioned it in 1802. Before 1825 it became Poole’s Spring, and in 1855 R. C. Poole was operating there a hotel for forty to sixty boarders in “plain, decent country style.” He advertised “a number of common summer log cabins for rent,” and stated that these springs had been “resorted to for the last century or more by those afflicted with most kinds of diseases.” Pat¬ terson’s Spring, less known than Pacolet Springs, was in the same vicinity, and almost immediately across the Pacolet River. In the early part of the century, Willson Nesbitt, of the Nazareth settlement, bought thousands of acres of land along Cherokee Creek and Broad River with the purpose of developing iron works. On one of his tracts was a spring known as Nesbitt’s Limekiln Spring. Later named Limestone Springs, this and an adjacent freestone spring be¬ came the nucleus of one of the first villages in the old Spartan Dis¬ trict. In 1835 a stock company built there one of the handsomest hotels in the entire country, surrounded it with cottages, and employed landscape artists to beautify the grounds. Within ten years the hotel 50 A History of Spartanburg County was closed, and the property bought at forced sale for use as a girl’s school. The village remained a popular resort for years, many wealthy families owning summer homes there. Boarding houses were oper¬ ated after the hotel was closed. The first white traders learned from the Indians, tradition says, of the remarkable qualities of a spring on the Means plantation. They said the deer resorted to it first and that the Indians learned by acci¬ dent of its medicinal virtues. Revolutionary soldiers found that bath¬ ing in its waters cured “itch” and that drinking it relieved intestinal disorders. The spring became so popular and visitors in the Means home so numerous that, in 1816, Means sold the spring and the land surrounding it to John B. Glenn, who bought it with the purpose of erecting a boarding house. Soon what had been the “Sulphur Spring,” or the “Powder Spring,” took the name of Glenn’s Springs. Before the Revolution a bold spring was locally known, because of its color, as the Green Spring. This name was dropped and the spring early became the Cedar Spring. It was a community land¬ mark during the Revolution, and was the site of encampments and fights between Whigs and Tories. The Cedar Spring Baptist Church was in existence as an arm of Fairforest (of*Union County) before the Revolution, and was organized as an independent church in 1786. When Robert Mills described Spartanburg District, he was especially enthusiastic in his account of the flourishing village of Cedar Spring. He described it as “growing into importance,” with a large Baptist meeting house, nine “small but decent dwelling houses, laid out with regularity facing the spring,” a grove of oaks and hickories surround¬ ing it, and a “promising academy in which Latin, Greek, mathematics, and English studies are taught.” It was already a popular summer resort, the water from the spring being used for drinking and bathing. Cedar Spring at this time, according to Mills, had “thirty-five whites,” characterized by him as a “very select society.” Lockwood, in a geography of the State published in 1832, also commended Cedar Spring. An Official In 1826 the earliest existing statistical survey of Spar- Survey tanburg District was published, in Statistics of South Carolina, prepared by Robert Mills under the authority of the Board of Public Works. According to the 1820 census the population was 13,655 whites, 3,308 slaves, and 26 free blacks. Twenty-seven paupers were support- Spartan District, 1800-1825 51 ed by an annual tax of $835. In Mills’ statistical tabulations Spar¬ tanburg District ranked twentieth among the twenty-eight districts in the value of its products, and twenty-third in the amount of taxes paid. The established value of marketable products was $320,000. The taxes paid in 1824 amounted to $4,176.60. The District contained 672,000 acres of land—50,000 acres under cultivation. The staples produced for home consumption were peas, corn, and oats; and for market, cotton. Iron was the only other marketable product Mills listed, and he pronounced it of an inferior quality not fit to compete in the markets with foreign iron. Mills found in the District “three public and several private distilleries,” and doubtless their products were marketable and found ready sales. Cer¬ tainly “the coarse cottons and woolens manufactured in the District, some for sale,” should be included in the list of marketable pro¬ ducts. Rather lightly, with the comment that “two cotton factories on Tyger do very good business,” did Robert Mills pass over what was in truth the most significant industrial enterprise he saw. Mills condemned the lack of an agricultural society in the Dis¬ trict, and found agriculture “deplorably deficient,” no fertilizer used, and no proper management of timber. He distinguished by special mention Daniel White, Esq., whom he described as an enterprising ex¬ perimental farmer with vision. Prices of farm products, in 1825, may be compared to present-day prices: Corn brought from 37c to $1 per bushel; wheat, $1 to $1.25; beef sold at 3^2c per pound. Costs of labor were correspondingly low, wage hands receiving $8 to $10 a month. Board cost $50 to $100 a year. During the quarter century after 1800, the problem of transpor¬ tation absorbed much public attention. In 1816 the Spartanburg Grand Jury presented as a grievance the fact “that Tyger and Enoree rivers were not made navigable for boats as well as other rivers, inasmuch as their being made navigable would tend greatly to facilitate the trans¬ portation of our produce to market, inhance the price of lands, tend to the conveniences of the citizens generally, and the great internal improvements of our State.” Robert Mills, too, was impressed with the belief that Spartanburg suffered because of its distance from markets and lack of facilities for transportation. It had productive soil and a favorable climate; but despite these advantages little agriculture beyond what was necessary 52 A History of Spartanburg County to supply local needs was practicable on account of the cost and diffi¬ culty of getting crops to market. In his eagerness to see a network of canals over the entire State, Mills professed to see no reason why the Tygers, the Enoree, and the Pacolet should not be made navigable. He even thought it advisable that Spartanburg plan a system of navigation by way of Lawson’s Fork, the Pacolet, and the Broad rivers, to the markets at and below Columbia. The Map The Atlas which accompanied the Statistics of South of 1825 Carolina is one of the most valuable sources of infor¬ mation on the early history of the State. It presents a picture of the development of each of the twenty-eight districts of which it treats that cannot be elsewhere duplicated. Its map of Spartanburg District indicates the quality of the land in different parts of its area; the loca¬ tion of natural resources—iron ore, limestone, marble, soapstone; the location of mills, post offices, taverns, dwellings of important citizens, and churches; the names and directions of roads, and several.points of historic interest. The nine post offices tell their own story, indi¬ cating the general distribution of population. Nearly fifty mills are shown on the map. It is possible, by checking county court records, to find when the nineteen taverns were licensed, and by whom they were kept. The general distribution of travel may be estimated from their locations. They were thickest on the Buncombe Road, the Blackstock Road, the Georgia Road, and the Rutherfordton Road. Along these roads the traders and drovers passed to and from market. The roads of the county Mills pronounced “in pretty good re¬ pair,” with the principal river-crossings bridged—six bridges over the Tygers, three over Fairforest, and “several” across South Pacolet. The roads marked Ballenger’s Road and Tolleson’s Road are signifi¬ cant. Certain energetic men owned and managed trains of wagons, with which they conducted lucrative transportation enterprises. Such men undertook the maintenance of roads, and were sometimes per¬ mitted to place toll gates on them to help with the cost of their up¬ keep. These roads often bore the names of their promoters or sponsors. Prospects Such is the general picture of the District forty years after its creation—handicapped by its remoteness from markets, but inhabited by enterprising men and women who already had laid the Spartan District, 1800-1825 53 basis for expansion. The years to follow were to show the evolution of the shabby little courthouse village'into a thriving town; the estab¬ lishment throughout the District of churches and schools of real im¬ portance ; the development of the iron industry to such an extent that for many years Spartanburg was to hold first place in the State in the value of manufactured products; the building of cotton factories which were destined to transcend in importance the iron works. These achievements were, in the decade before the Civil War, to win for the District a place of honor and influence throughout the State. CHAPTER FIVE The Courthouse Village Early Citizens The indications are that the courthouse village grew and Activities ver y s i ow ly. As late as 1802 John Drayton in his survey of the State included in his list of forty-two villages only two in the Up Country: Greenville and Pinckneyville. He wrote: . . a few houses and stores are erected in every district, in the vicinity of the courthouses belonging to the same.” A plat showing the “courthouse village of Spartanburgh” of 1802 bears out this ac¬ count. The growth of the county’s needs soon necessitated a larger public square, and in 1825 H. H. Thomson sold the northeast lot across from Brannon’s to the State of South Carolina for $900, and on it was erected the second courthouse. The new jail had already been built on what became known as Jail Street (now Wall Street). There was now more space for the public and private activities of salesday, and for the drovers and traders. Appearance of the The traditions of later years delighted to por- Courthouse Village tra y t i ie y 0un g courthouse village as a sort of “Wild West” frontier settlement, to which, on salesdays and court days, men resorted to drink, gamble, fight, and race horses; not a place for establishing a home or rearing a family. No doubt the old men who told some of the tales of those wild days enjoyed shocking their hearers and exaggerated a bit. One tale often repeated was to the effect that in 1793 two young attorneys from Charleston came to Spartanburg to plead a case in court. When bedtime came they were horrified to see from their window what seemed to be hundreds of men fighting and scuffling on the Public Ground by the illumination of pinewood torches. The scene was so barbaric that the next day—the story runs—they placed their affairs in the hands of local attorneys and hastened back to civilization. For its first fifty years the town of Spartanburgh had a shifting and adventurous population. Well-to-do Spartans of that era showed no aspiration for village life, but acquired extensive tracts of land and mill sites and lived such lives as the country squires enjoyed in the old world. Those first residents of the village were there to operate shops and stores and taverns, or to practice medicine and law; and 54 The Courthouse Village 55 most of them owned plantations or mills in the county. Few of them built handsome homes in the village. As an old man, General B. B. Foster, who was born in 1817, re¬ called the village as being, in his boyhood, hardly more than a cluster of buildings in the backwoods, surrounded by chinquapin thickets and uncleared woodland. It had the “handsome jail” commended by Mills, and a new courthouse; otherwise its buildings were largely of logs or frame structures. Jesse Cleveland’s cow pasture extended from the heart of the present city to Wofford College; and what is now Main Street, between Liberty and Pine streets, had but a few scattered houses along it, and was a race-path over which, on public days, men tried out their horses. As late as April 13, 1838, the town council decreed: “Be it ordained by the Intendent and Wardens of the town of Spartanburgh in council assembled that if any person or persons run horses or be engaged in running horse races in any street or public road within the corporate limits of this town, he shall be fined for each and every offense against this ordinance, ten dollars.” General Foster recalled the sight of Jesse Cleveland mounted on the flea-bitten horse which he always rode when he hunted deer or traveled, setting out for Baltimore or Philadelphia to buy goods for his store. He was preceded by a train of wagons and slaves to load and bring home his purchases. Once, about 1812, according to the remi¬ niscences of a son of his partner, Benson, Jesse Cleveland drove a four-horse wagon to Philadelphia loaded with rabbit skins and gin¬ seng, and returned at the exact hour set. On this occasion a group of his friends met him at Dick Thomson’s Mill (now White’s Mill) and celebrated his return in accordance with the custom of the period. The Second A new courthouse was authorized by the General As- Courthouse se mbly in 1825, begun in 1826, and occupied in 1827. It was of whitewashed stone. The lower floor contained offices, and the upper story was devoted to the jury rooms and the court room. In the cornerstone were placed three dimes and a seven-pence, a copy of the “Masonic Mirror,” and some other mementos. On the cornerstone a silver tablet, 5x7 inches in size, bore the date 1826. Engraved on this tablet were the names of national and state officials, and of the men who participated in the erection of the court¬ house. The inscription on the middle column bore local names and read: 56 A History of Spartanburg County BUILT BY ACT OF THE ASSEMBLY OF 1825 CORNER STONE LAID IN DUE FORM AND ORDER AT THE RE¬ QUEST OF THE SPARTANBURG BRETHREN, BY THE WORSHIP¬ FUL MASTER AND BRETHREN OF LODGE NO. 43 AT UNION, C. H. ON THE 13TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, IN THE YEAR OF MASONRY, 5826. DOCT. T. M. BRAGG, W. MASTER. BUILDERS: C. HUMPHREYS, ARCHITECT; A. BEARD, B. JOHN¬ SON, JOHN WILBANKS, J. MAYS, W. PERRY, J. J. FULLER, MASTER WORKMEN; THOMAS POOLE, A. FOSTER, JESSE CLEVE¬ LAND, COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS. Village According to the survey of Robert Mills the population of Statistics village i n 1825 was 800. Possibly Mills wrote the figure 3 and it was mistaken for 8. Even 300 seems a liberal estimate. Mills reported that the village contained 26 houses, including a tailor’s shop, a saddler’s, 3 stores, and 3 houses of entertainment. The next available statistical account of the village is to be found in a census taken by order of the town council in 1836. David W. Moore, Esq., was the sole “Censor” and he was paid $3 for the job. His report follows: Whites: Total 312—under 10 years 55 males, 46 females; from 10 to 20 years 48 males, 35 females; from 20 to 50 years 73 males, 42 females; over 50 years, 5 males and 5 females. Blacks: Total 158—under 10 years 31 males, 22 females; from 10 to 20 years 13 males, 20 females; from 20 to 50 years 31 males, 32 females; over 50 years 3 males and 5 females; ministers of the gospel, 3 ; doctors, 4; lawyers, 8; merchants, 13; merchants’ clerks, 5; students at school, 68; school masters, 2; school mistresses, 1; carpenters, 10; tanners, 2; tailors, 10; shoe makers, 5; blacksmiths, 5; tavern keepers, 2; brick masons, 3; tinners, 1; saddlers, 2; carriage makers, 7. Incorporation “The village of Spartanburgh” was incorporated of the Village by a legislative act passed December 17, 1831, with of Spartanburgh limits extending one mile in every direction from the courthouse. Its charter provided for a town council consisting of an intendant and four wardens to be elected annually on the first Monday in September. These officers had to take prescribed oaths, but received no salaries. Their duties were: to appoint constables, to establish all rules and by-laws and ordinances respecting streets, ways, and markets; to preserve health and order, peace and good government. They were authorized to collect taxes and apply moneys to the corporation, and to impose and use fines. They could apply to The Courthouse Village 57 the needs of the town money secured from licensing billiard tables, taverns, and retailers of spirituous liquors. They could regulate the working and improving of the streets and “compound,” according to their judgment, with citizens liable for street duty. They could not impose any fine of more than $25; and from any fine of more than $10 a citizen had the right to appeal to the higher court. The Town The oath of office was administered, June 27, 1832, to Council the first council: Thomas Poole, Intendant; William Trimmier, R. M. Young, James E. Henry, and J. V. Miller, Wardens. For some years the council deemed four regular meetings a year Sufficient for attending to the affairs of the village. They met in the office of the clerk of court in the courthouse on the first Saturday in January, April, July, and October; and on whatever other occasions a meeting might be called. The minutes indicate that they really met whenever they had some business to transact, and not otherwise; and that they were constantly changing the time of meeting. They had various duties, besides those they entrusted to the clerk and treasurer and the marshal. It was their job to try cases of assault and battery, which were surprisingly frequent among the leading citizens, as well as others. They had no jurisdiction over any case for which a penalty of more than $10 seemed indicated, but turned such cases over to the court of sessions. They adopted ordinances fixing patrol duties, road work, the opening, closing, or changing of streets, the licensing of taverns and shows. The minutes are filled during the thirties and early forties with such matters, and contain nothing that indicates any civic interest in education. The council was preoccupied with penaliz¬ ing drunkenness, promoting road improvement, and regulating the movements of slaves. The earliest expense account recorded in the minutes of the town council was H. H. Thomson’s report in 1834. As intendant he received during the year $201.20 and paid out $158.88. The chief public outlays were for working the roads. Every citizen between the ages of 15 and 50 had to work 12 days on the road each year, or pay a commutation tax of $2 for himself and every male slave he owned. In the course of time practically everybody paid the tax, and the roads were worked by contract. According to the standards of the thirties and even the fifties, a mile of road could be satisfactorily worked for from $15 to $30. The limits were a mile from the courthouse, and the roads were worked that one mile. There the county commissioners took over the job. 58 A History of Spartanburg County The intendant and four wardens were not paid for serving the municipality; but they employed a marshal, who was bonded at $500. He must enforce the laws, preserve order, and report evasions of legal obligations to the council. One of his principal duties was to whip slaves convicted of drunkenness, or other misdemeanors, and for each such service he was paid fifty cents by the owner of the slave. The marshal’s income was thus determined by his efficiency. Every citi¬ zen must take his turn at patrol duty, the village being divided in half, and each division furnishing three patrols. In the thirties a patrol consisted of a captain and four men; its service lasted one month; and it had to patrol at least twice a week, and report to the council through its captain. For each failure to patrol, the council fined an offender $1. The marshal received at first $10 a year for tolling the academy bell ten minutes each night, beginning at the stroke of nine. All slaves, un¬ less provided with “passes,” must be at home when it ceased to ring, or the patrol would arrest them and the marshal would cowhide them. Everybody has heard “Run, nigger, run, de pader-roller’ll git yuh! Won’t git me, git dat nigger ’hin’ dat tree!” The barrooms also stopped business at nine, or the patrol or marshal got them. Such was the early police system of the town. As the village grew, the hazard of fire provided the council with one of its most important problems. One of the first ordinances passed in 1832 required every householder and storekeeper to have a ladder at least fifteen feet long for use in case of fire. A fire alarm called out every citizen with his bucket. The treasurer served without compensation until 1836, when he was allowed a commission of 5 per cent on all moneys handled by him. It is noteworthy that Joseph M. Elford was elected town clerk and treasurer in 1856 and served without a break for 51 years—a record never even approached by any other public servant in the history of the city. In September, 1838, James E. Henry became the first Town Solicitor—at what remuneration is not clear, but later Simpson Bobo was granted tax exemptions in return for the service. About that time the council met oftener, usually in Henry and Bobo’s office. The First Churches The first organized congregation in the court- in the Village house village, the Baptists, arranged for the Reverend J. G. Landrum to preach to them regularly. This group The Courthouse Village 59 was officially “constituted” in 1839 by a Presbytery consisting of Reverends Samuel Gibson, Elias Rogers, and J. G. Landrum. The Baptists erected their first building on the site now occupied by the county jail, Richard Thomson having deeded for the purpose six- tenths of an acre of ground to John W. Lewis, August 19, 1836, “in trust for the use and in behalf of the Baptist denomination of Chris¬ tians, attached to the Tyger River Association.” The consideration was $300, and Thomson remitted $200 as a gift. Meanwhile the Methodist Society had been organized into a station of the Spartanburg Circuit of the Lincolnton District; in 1836 this group, which seems to have been meeting regularly for prayer-meet¬ ings in the home of Miss Elizabeth Wright, “the first Methodist in Spartanburg,” built the first church in Spartanburg. Nearly $1,200 was raised for the erection of this church, largely through the in¬ strumentality of the Reverend Thomas Hutchings, one of the most versatile characters in the early history of the county, active equally in church work and cotton factory promotion. He obtained gifts from Charleston and Savannah and elsewhere. A flimsy little weather- boarded structure was erected on land deeded by George Jones, one of the charter members. The site on which this first building stood has been used by the congregation ever since, and is today occupied by Central Methodist Church, on North Church Street. Major A. H. Kirby, one of the leading citizens of a later day, in his old age, re¬ called the village as he remembered it from his boyhood. He moved to Spartanburg in 1837, when he was eight years old, and one of his most vivid impressions was his first view of the steeple of the Metho¬ dist Church—which he was later to join. It was the first church he had seen with a steeple. Although it was painted, it had neither ceil¬ ing nor plastering, and its pews were but rough benches. It had a high box pulpit, in which the minister was almost invisible when seated. There was no organized Presbyterian congregation in the village before 1843. However, in the early thirties, the Reverend Michael Dickson, the Reverend Zelotes Lee Holmes, and others, preached at intervals in the courthouse; and for several years before 1839 the Reverend J. L. Boggs sometimes held preaching services. Assisted by his wife and daughters and the teachers in the Seminary, he made it a practice to hold Sunday Schools. The Presbyterian Church of Spartanburg village was organized 60 A History of Spartanburg County on the fifth Sunday in August, 1843, the Reverend S. B'. Lewers offici¬ ating. The first elders were T. B. Collins and A. C. Jackson. Within a few months Samuel Farrow was added to this number. There were only eight charter members, but the church grew; and, June 5, 1844, a contract was signed for the erection of a church building to cost $1,820. The parties to this contract were: John Poole, J. C. Judd, and T. O. P. Vernon, Trustees Presbyterian Church Spartanburg Village, and Thomas L. Badget. The specifications called for the use of the best hard-burned brick, “the front to be finished with pressed brick,” and for a porch “ten feet in the clear, and four brick columns to support the roof.” The dimensions were 62 feet 4 inches in length, 42 feet 4 inches in width, 20 feet from floor to ceiling. This building was erected in a grove of oak trees on the north side of East Main Street between Liberty and Converse streets, on a tract purchased from Richard Thomson. The Building The first mention of a school in the village is found of Schools j n a ^eed “j une 3 i ” 1829, for thirty-two acres of ground “near the village of Spartanburg on the road leading from the courthouse to McKie’s old mill.” This tract of land was conveyed in trust by Robert Goldthwaite to Elisha Bomar, James E. Henry, George Jones, Jesse Cleveland, James Hunt, Thomas Poole, William Trimmier, Willson Nesbitt, Andrew B. Moore, John Crawford, Rob¬ ert M. Young, Simpson Bobo, and Lewis Hunter, trustees of the Spar¬ tanburg Village Academy. The stipulation was made that as soon as practical these trustees should erect on it “a suitable building for an academy.” Goldthwaite was paid $150 cash for this land. Probably no building was erected, for records show that, January 8, 1835, James E. Henry, in consideration of $1, conveyed to the trustees of the Spartanburg Male Academy of Spartanburg District, ground “on which the brick academy is now located.” No records exist to prove when this building was constructed, but the site was not on the Goldth¬ waite tract, but on a location now intersected by Henry Street, be¬ tween Union and Kennedy streets. The building had one story and in dimension it measured 30x50 feet. It was divided into two rooms with a ten-foot hall separating them, and was shaded by stately oaks. The trustees in 1835 were: Simpson Bobo, Jesse Cleveland, William W. Harris, William Walker, Robert M. Young, James Hunt, George Jones, Sr., Elisha Bomar, Thomas Poole, Wilson Nesbitt, A. B. Moore, John Crawford, and John W. Lewis. The Male Academy The Courthouse Village 61 had numbers of boarding pupils from other parts of the State. Its teachers included graduates of high-grade colleges—notably W. M. Irwin, of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The Female Seminary was founded at about the same time, and with the same motives as the Male Academy. It was established by subscription, the largest amount pledged being $150, and the total amounting to $1,300. The subscribers were: H. J. Dean, George Jones, E. Bomar, W. Walker, W. W. Harris, W. T. Jones, Jesse Cleveland, James E. Henry, R. M. Young, E. F. Smith, G. B. Brim, John Boggs. October 5, 1835, Hosea J. Dean and Simpson Bobo sold to the trustees for $1,300 the dwelling of Dean and five acres of ground on the northwest corner of East Main and Dean streets, the present-day site of the First Baptist church. The school had a portico supported by two large columns, and was surmounted by a small belfry. A walk, bordered with jonquils, led to the front gate, and a lombardy poplar grew beside the gate. The house was “quite pretentious for a town no larger than Spartanburg.” The Reverend John Boggs and his family conducted this school for four years. Miss Phoebe Paine I n 1839 the trustees secured for the Female and Her Methods Seminary Miss Phoebe Paine, a native of Port¬ land, Me., and a graduate of Miss Willard’s Seminary. She brought accomplished assistants with her, and under her tutelage the school reached its zenith. A twelve-year-old girl from Charleston, Eugenia C. Murrell, entered the preparatory department of this Seminary in 1839. This pupil became, in her turn, an educational leader in Cali¬ fornia—founding the Poston School; and, after her death, the Eu¬ genia Poston Club published a memorial volume in her honor contain¬ ing a tribute she paid to Miss Phoebe Paine: “I have never known a system better adapted to form character, to develop the crude girl into the efficient, loyal woman, than that followed in this institution.” The sort of education and stimulus given here one hundred years ago to Eugenia Murrell Poston was described by her to the Poston School pupils as follows: The system adopted in our school in California was based upon Miss Paine’s, of which the principal features were the daily open¬ ing of the school with Bible reading and the Lord’s Prayer; the respect shown by the teachers to students, consulting with them on matters of general interest to the school; the encouragement of a 62 A History of Spartanburg County feeling of class loyalty, an altruistic, “Help one another spirit” among them; thorough teaching in elementary branches, drawing maps, etc.; provision for healthful play as well as for study, botany in the woods and on the hillsides, astronomy under star-lit skies; May-day festivals; Friday evening gatherings, at which a “Class Paper” was read once a month. In introducing each feature into our school, I had the advantage of a practical knowledge of its effects upon the girls twenty years before. And girls are girls, whether living in the first or last half of the nineteenth century. You see here what the influence of a teacher is; how it is trans¬ mitted from one generation to another. If you have derived any benefit from the Poston School, such benefit is largely due to Miss Paine—-a teacher whom you never saw. A Journey Mary Owen, a young woman not quite seventeen from Washington years old, had been a pupil of Miss Phoebe Paine to Spartanburg j n c ar ii s i e . Miss Paine visited the Owen family, in the city of Washington, and persuaded this favorite pupil to ac¬ company her to Spartanburg as an assistant teacher. On the morn¬ ing of February 28, 1839, Miss Paine, Mary Owen, and another as¬ sistant, Miss Webb, left Washington for Spartanburg—a distance of 500 miles. Mary Owen’s account of her journey is recorded in her diary, and it exemplifies how remote Spartanburg was. These three gently reared women traveled day and night by steamboat, train, and stagecoach, reaching Spartanburg late in the afternoon of March 6. Some of the roads were snow-covered; others rutted and muddy, so that the stage passengers had to walk to lighten the load for the horses. At junction points they built fires in the open and huddled about them to get warm. In her diary Miss Owen wrote: “The four days and nights from the time of reaching the terminus of the railroad until we reached Union, S. C., seemed like a phantasm—a horrid dream. During that time we never saw a bed or stopped a moment except to dine, breakfast, or sup. During much of the time Miss Paine and Miss Webb slept. ... I never slept.” If the writer had not been properly dressed for a journey she would have suffered more. She wore a heavy coat, over that a fur cape, and fur-lined shoes. A close-fitting lace cap kept her hair smooth, and a quilted black satin hood protected her head and neck against the cold. She carried an “immense muff.” Such was the most convenient mode of travel in the thirties and forties. Two of the brave women who endured the hardships of this The Courthouse Village 63 journey married local citizens. Mary Owen became Mrs. Hosea Dean and Miss Webb married Dr. R. M. Daniel. Both have many descendants in the county. Growth and Improvement The “handsome jail of soapstone and granite,” the presumably more handsome second courthouse, the churches, and the schools, all transformed the village. During the years following its incorporation the town continued to grow stead¬ ily, although not spectacularly. In 1843 the council granted leave to citizens on Main Street, “toward Bomar’s and Gillespie’s,” to lay off sidewalks four feet wide. At a meeting of the council, February 24, 1837, “it was ordered and ratified that the Clerk be required to call on one good surveyor and have the town surveyed and have a platt made of the same, showing the location, breadth, etc., of all the roads, streets and alleys within the incorporate limits . . . Council ordered that Daniel White be employed as Surveyor.” This plat, if made, has disappeared. October 2, 1838, council ordered a well dug “in the center of the Public Square.” Presumably, up to this time, the spring and its branch had sufficed. Fir,t The town had its first newspaper in 1842, the Spartan- Newspapers burg Journal, founded by Asa Muir. This paper con¬ tinued little longer than a year, but was soon followed by the Spartan, founded March 1, 1843, by Z. D. Cottrell, who came to Spartanburg from Edgefield to teach school. This weekly paper had a very cred¬ itable history; it was alert in advertising the advantages of Spartan¬ burg, and in attempting to shape and inform public opinion; and it has preserved for posterity the most detailed picture of the town— its history and growth—in existence today. Inns Before During the forties the Mansion House, owned by R. C. 1850 Poole, was “carried on by part of his own family in plain decent Style.” It accommodated travelers and boarders at “the regular County Tavern prices.” Poole especially solicited the pat¬ ronage of stock drovers, providing suitable lots for wagons and shelter for horses, free except at “public times,” and selling corn and fodder at the lowest prices. The Mansion House stood on the square, and was the commercial hotel of its day. The Walker House stood about where the Franklin Hotel now stands, and was especially commended to summer visitors; for in the forties the people of the lower part of the State began to 64 A History of Spartanburg County find in the climate of Spartanburg a delightful change in summer. Among the notables who patronized it was the family of William Gilmore Simms. Thomson’s Spring, a mile and a half east of town, was a tempting objective for a walk or a buggy ride or a picnic. Trade and The stores did much business by barter, and advertised Barter f 0 r sa i e j ar( j } mountain cheese, wool, feathers, and tallow, as well as silks, leghorn straw, hoop-skirts, and other luxuries brought from the markets by enterprising local merchants. Merchants of Columbia and Charleston advertised in the columns of the Spartan; and its editor boasted that the paper served a territory which included Spartanburg and Union, and large parts of Laurensville, Greenville, and York districts, and the adjacent counties in North Carolina, and that Spartanburg was a trading center for large areas of Tennessee and Georgia. Conventions Conventions were great occasions in the old times. In ante-bellum days private entertainment was provided locally for all delegates. In 1843 the town, although it had a population of less than 1,000, entertained the State Temperance Convention for three days— August 2-4. Dr. Landrum, writing about 1890, characterized this convention as “probably the largest body from various Districts in the State that had ever assembled in the present City of Spartan¬ burg.” Three hundred twenty-seven delegates attended, from all parts of South Carolina, and from Henderson County and Davidson College in North Carolina. The public programs were given in the grove near the Walker House. The Spartanburg Village Washington Society erected the stand and seats. Spartanburg District had at this time twenty-four organizations. In 1848 the Methodists entertained the Annual Conference. This appears to have been the second State-wide gathering held in Spar¬ tanburg. Every home shared in the pleasure and benefit of both these meetings, for every citizen kept open house on such occasions and every bed was made available, not merely in the town but in all com¬ munities within easy driving distance. Court The social life of the village rose to its highest level on such Week occasions as “Court Week,” which periodically brought to the town a group of the State’s leading lawyers. B. F. Perry entertain¬ ingly described the lawyers’ mode of travel from one court to another in the horse and buggy days. Usually they rode in light carriages or Glenn Springs Hotel, Built in 1836 The Walker House, Later the Piedmont House, Built in the Early Forties, Burned in 1882 The Palmetto House In the early days, a sloping lawn surrounded the Palmetto House, extending to the Public Ground. On gala occasions, such as military or circus parades and public speakings, the balconies were reserved for the ladies. During Court Week this inn was the headquarters for visiting lawyers and the scene of an annual dinner to the presiding judge. In it gay May Day parties were held, and railroad banquets. It was the scene in April 1856, of a “Social Party” given by Spartans in honor of the visiting Washington Light Infantry of Charleston. It was the scene in January 1880 of the “First Leap Year Sociable of Spartanburg.” This picture was made in the ’80's when Becker’s Oyster Saloon and Ice Cream Parlor was the social center of the city. The old inn was replaced in the early ’90’s with the Palmetto Building erected by the Duncan Syndicate, at North Church and East Main Streets. The: Courthouse: Village: 65 buggies, sometimes horseback, and carried lunch baskets. At the noon hour they stopped at some attractive spot on the roadside where there was a spring, unhitched their horses, and rested for an hour or so. When it was possible to do so, they planned their itinerary so as to stop in the middle of the day at an inn. Some of Perry’s letters to his wife, during such trips, amusingly pictured his experiences. Repeatedly he told her how much enjoyment her gingerbread and pound cake afforded his friends, and how quickly they were consumed. As the lawyers thus journeyed together they formed warm friend¬ ships, which led to interchanges of visits among their families. The circuit court system thus rendered an important service in establish¬ ing and strengthening social bonds which knit the courthouse towns together and promoted homogeneity within the State. CHAPTER SIX The Old Iron District The Old Public speakers and newspapers began, during the Iron District th i rties> to call Spartanburg The Old Iron District— a merited appellation, for the first iron works in the State were erected in it, on Lawson’s Fork, in 1773; and forges and small furnaces were operated at several places in it, during the years immediately follow¬ ing the Revolution. On branches of Tyger River Michael Miller, Samuel Nesbitt, William and Solliman Hill, and the Galbraiths had forges. William and Sanford Smith had a forge on Dutchman’s Creek, and were famed gunsmiths. William Clark and William Poole operated on branches of the Pacolet River. But the organiza¬ tion of two strong companies, in the early thirties, established the preeminence of Spartanburg in iron production. In 1856 Spartan¬ burg had four of the eight important furnaces in the State. Extent and Location l r0 n ores, limestone, forests, and water power of Iron Area were the essentials of iron production; and all of these occurred close together in that section of the county which justified calling it “The Old Iron District.” As a matter of fact, York was, almost equally with Spartanburg, entitled to the appel¬ lation. The heart of the iron beds lay within the area on each side of Broad River between the North Carolina line and Smith’s Ford. Within the iron district lay a part of Union County, prac¬ tically all of Cherokee, a small strip of the present-day Spartan¬ burg, and a wide strip of York. The ores were of several varieties. In the same area were quantities of limestone for fluxing, quartz rocks and beds of fire clay for furnace-building, as well as extensive forests to furnish charcoal; and all these in combination furnished a basis for a great industry. Added to these advantages was the situa¬ tion on the Broad River and its tributaries, which supplied unlimited w r ater power for operating machinery, and supplied a means for trans¬ porting the product to market. Magnetic and specular ores in inexhaustible quantities were found on the west slope of Kings Mountain, extending into York, Union, and Spartanburg. The magnetic ore was commonly called “gray” ore, and made the best iron for bar iron or castings; the hematite ore was commonly called “brown” ore, and, although somewhat inferior 66 The Old Iron District 67 in quality, was more abundant and cheaper. It was made usually into pig iron. The ore was not mined, but was dug from the sur¬ face. Wofford’s In 1773 Joseph Buffington, iron master, erected Iron Works a bloomery on Lawson’s Fork because he found there water power, iron ore, and abundant forest lands—all necessary to iron production. He also met with encouragement from the in¬ habitants, who were glad to be able to buy pots and pans and farm implements at home, and equally glad to find a cash market for their wood. Almost every farmer had a pit for burning charcoal to sell at the iron works. The lands Buffington bought and leased for his plant lay in the region claimed by North and South Carolina before the running of the boundary line in 1772, and he had much trouble about his titles, for William Wofford had established his claim to the iron works tract on the basis of North Carolina grants. Buffington apparently operated with borrowed capital, and soon lost control of the iron works, which became known as Wofford’s Iron Works, and kept that name in popular speech until burned by Bloody Bill Cunningham in November 1781. After that it was for a time called the “old iron works.” In 1776 Buffington borrowed more than 6,000 pounds from the State to complete his plant. William Henry Drayton and many local patriots of influence endorsed his request for this loan, because they knew that iron goods were necessary to the conduct of war. It is noteworthy that, at this and other iron works built later in Spartan District, weapons and ammunition were manufactured for use in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the War Between the States. In 1778 William Wofford sold a three-fourths interest in the iron works built by Buffington to Simon and John Berwick and Charles Elliott of Charles Town, and for a brief time the name “Berwick’s Iron Works” was used. The record of when the works were rebuilt and how Buffington regained control of the plant has not been found, but in 1785 an act of the legislature ordered the sale of Buffington’s Iron Works, to satisfy the unpaid debt on them. Possibly at this sale William Poole acquired the works, for there can be little doubt that this same site (which is today Glendale) was that of Poole’s Iron Works. 68 A History of Spartanburg County Expansion of the The two largest of the iron manufacturing com- Ir°n Industry: panies were developed from the furnaces of two Graham and Black men —Moses Stroup and Willson Nesbitt. Nes¬ bitt was operating furnaces before Stroup, but the company which bought and developed Stroup’s little furnaces into a great enterprise was organized before Nesbitt’s company. Moses Stroup built his first furnaces on Kings Creek in 1822, and two years later he built a forge on the Broad River. He sold his fur¬ naces two years after that to a company of well-to-do men, who or¬ ganized, under the leadership of Emor Graham, the corporation called E. Graham and Company. Associated with Graham were James A. Black, Jacob Deal, P. R. Brice, and David Johnson. The town of Blacksburg was named for James Black. In 1832 these men deter¬ mined to get a charter from the legislature, to enlarge their capital, and to change the name of their company and call it the South Caro¬ lina Manufacturing Company. Four years after that, they did the same thing again, this time capitalizing their company at what was a large sum for the time, $200,000, and changing their name to the Kings Mountain Iron Manufacturing Company. They built much larger furnaces and enlarged operations by building a rolling mill, as well as puddling furnaces, blast furnaces, and forges. They bought thousands of acres of land and more than a hundred slaves. They not only built iron works, but also cotton gins, sawmills, dwellings for the operatives and slaves. They owned many horses, mules, cows, and pigs, and operated company stores at their different plants. Willson Nesbitt’s Willson Nesbitt was operating a furnace and a Operations forge near the Cowpens battleground and the Limestone Springs as early as 1811. When he saw the enterprises of Graham and Black and their associates, he determined to form a com¬ pany and enlarge his operations as these men were doing. So, in 1835, the Nesbitt Iron Manufacturing Company was chartered by the legislature, with a capital stock of $100,000. Willson Nesbitt, Wade Hampton, and Franklin H. Elmore were the chief stock¬ holders. They were three of the wealthiest men in the State, and had good credit with the State Bank. They borrowed money from it and began to enlarge their plant to rival that of the Kings Mountain Com¬ pany. They bought many slaves, thousands of acres of land, and costly new machinery. One of the most interesting things they did was to build a wooden The Old Iron District 69 railroad from their furnace on the side of Thicketty Mountain to a point five miles away. In the furnace they made pig iron, which was then loaded into wagons on the wooden tramway. These wagons were drawn by mules which were so well trained that some of them could make the trip to the end of the wooden road without a driver. From the end of this road the wagons were drawn over a dirt road several more miles to the plant at Hurricane Shoals—the site today of Clifton Mill Number One. At this place the company had a puddling furnace, a foundry, and a rolling mill. The pig iron was again cooked in the puddling furnace and made into great balls of iron of a better quality than the pig iron. These balls were then melted or hammered and were used to make all sorts of tools and household implements, or were sent on to the rolling mill where they were rolled into sheet iron, or made into tacks, nails, wire, and the like. Difficulties and But all the time both of these companies were hav- Reorgamzations j n g fj nanc i a i difficulties. The Nesbitt Company especially had trouble because it had arranged to borrow from the Bank of the State a large sum of money, and, with the promise of this money, bought more than it was able to pay for without the loan. When in 1837 there was a financial panic, the Bank found itself unable to make the promised loans. In spite of getting some govern¬ ment orders for cannon balls and other supplies for the use of the Army and Navy, both companies had a hard time. Besides money troubles, the problem of fuel, as the years passed, proved a troublesome one to all of the iron makers. They kept cutting down the trees and burning them into charcoal without planning care¬ fully for new growth. Even though farmers brought in charcoal by the wagonload, yet the supply was not sufficient, and prices went up on it so as to reduce the profits. One of the iron makers begged the legislature to push the building of railroads and the clearing of rivers so as to enable manufacturers to buy mineral coal and charcoal from other parts of the country. Finally, in 1850, the Nesbitt Iron Company was sold in bankruptcy proceedings. It was bought by a company who reorganized it under a new name, The Swedish Iron Manufacturing Company. When it was sold, its inventory showed that the company had more than 10,000 acres of land valued at about $15,000; improvements, which included dwellings, buildings and machinery, valued at $75,000; 105 slaves valued at more than $100,000; and stock and supplies valued at 70 A History of Spartanburg County about $8,000. Some of the stockholders brought a suit under a re¬ newed charter of the South Carolina Manufacturing Company, by which they were able to regain control of most of the Nesbitt proper¬ ties which had been put into the company. This South Carolina Manufacturing Company continued to operate until after the War Between the States. The Swedish Company did not prosper, and the foreigners who operated it withdrew, chiefly because of the scarcity of fuel. They tried to mine by sinking shafts to obtain better ore, but did not find this practice profitable. Soon the Swedish Company broke up, and in 1863 its properties were bought and it was reorganized as the Magnetic Iron Company. If the war had not created a greatly in¬ creased market for its products, this reorganized company might also have had to close. But, as things turned out, every one of the struggling iron works had more orders than they could fill, from the Confederate government. They made shot, shell, cannon balls, tools, and all sorts of special equipment. The cupola furnace at Bivings- ville, which was one of the smaller plants, made bowie knives for Confederate soldiers. Collapse of the The iron industry, which was so invaluable to the Iron Industry Confederate cause, was one of the casualties of the war. The abolition of slavery destroyed fully half of the invested capital, for all of the companies owned slaves who were skilled artisans. The iron masters had been paid by the Confederate govern¬ ment in bonds which the outcome of the war rendered valueless. Their machinery had been worn out by four years of pressure production. The charcoal supply was rapidly diminishing. After the war there was no immediate market for iron goods because not many of the farmers and mill owners who would have been glad to be purchasers had anything with which to pay for new equipment. All of these circumstances would have been enough to check the South Carolina iron industry, in spite of the recognized fact that the iron products made here were of excellent quality. But another situation made impossible the revival of the iron industry in this State; new iron works were being built in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Indiana, where rich iron ores were found alongside abundant supplies of cheap coal. These enterprises had the advan¬ tages of better ore and cheaper, more abundant fuel, and were able to secure cooperation with the new railroads being promoted. They The Old Iron District 71 provided a competition which the South Carolina manufacturers could not meet. Transition to At last cotton manufacturing entirely replaced the a New Industry [ ron industry. Great cotton mills were built to utilize the water power which had operated the iron masters’ bellows and stamping machines and rolling mills. The Kings Mountain Iron Company’s plant became the site of the Cherokee Falls Cotton Factory. What had been Wofford’s Iron Works, became, in 1835, Bivingsville—a seat for all sorts of manufacturing, as was customary at that period, but with an imposing cotton mill as its main under¬ taking. A cupola furnace at Bivingsville was used during the sixties to make bowie knives, crude swords, and war-time tools for the Con¬ federacy; but after the war, iron making was abandoned at this his¬ toric site. Known successively as Buffington’s Iron Works, Wofford’s Iron Works, and Bivingsville, it was again, in 1878, renamed. D. E. Converse, one of the greatest of South Carolina’s cotton manu¬ facturers, rebuilt and greatly enlarged the Bivingsville Cotton Mill, and gave the village the name Glendale. Two years later this same D. E. Converse bought the Hurricane Shoals site of the South Caro¬ lina Iron Manufacturing Company and renamed it Clifton. The Hur¬ ricane Shoals power soon turned the machinery of a million-dollar cotton mill—one of the two largest in the State. Two other great cotton mills in Spartanburg County—the Startex plant at Tucapau, and the Pacific Mills plant at Lyman—occupy sites where in early days small iron works were carried on by Willson Nesbitt and Michael Miller. Vestiges Nearly one hundred years have passed since those old and Relics i ron mas (; ers se nt their sales managers to peddle iron wares through the Carolinas and Georgia. These men had in their charge trustworthy slaves who drove trains of wagons, loaded with pots, pans, kettles, plows, hoes, and nails. Some of the wares thus sold are to this day treasured as heirlooms by old families in Spar¬ tanburg and elsewhere; as are, also, wrought iron fencing, quaint andirons, and huge pots—all products of the once prosperous manu¬ facturing establishments of The Old Iron District. On the side of Thicketty Mountain is a road known locally as “The Old Furnace Road.” It leads to the “Old Furnace Place,” which is situated in Cherokee County about eight miles from the Cowpens Battleground. That spot is the best preserved of the iron- 72 A History of Spartanburg County making sites. No vestige remains of the furnace itself; a gentle stream trickles over a dam made of large rocks, known to have been built in 1811. In this way power was provided to operate the bellows and the grist and sawmills which stood there. Quantities of slag and cinders are all about. Once there were more, but great loads of these materials have been hauled away for use in laying new roadbeds. Ugly hollows and gashes in the surrounding country show where were once the iron pits from which rocks were dug. On a hill may still be seen the large boarding house which housed the foreman and skilled employees. Once fifty or more cabins for the slaves were clustered about the big house; but not one now remains. The once familiar fact that this region used to be called The Old Iron District is almost forgotten; and few indeed are those who have visited the “Old Furnace Place” to see for themselves its scanty reminders of what was, one hundred years ago, the leading industry of the South Carolina Piedmont area. CHAPTER SEVEN Looms and Spindles Beginnings of Although iron making was begun sooner in Spartan- Cotton Mills burg and gave the district its picturesque appellation, “The Old Iron District,” cotton manufacturing was the industry which eventually insured for Spartanburg wealth and culture. This was an outcome not foreseen before the Civil War. The first settlers planted a little cotton, and made it into cloth in their homes—every step in the process of transforming the raw cotton into cloth being carried on by hand before Eli Whitney’s gins were set up in South Carolina. Spinning wheels and hand looms were operated in most homes in the first fifty or more years of Spartanburg history. During these years the transition proceeded steadily though slowly from the making of raw cotton into cloth in the homes to¬ ward the eventual abandonment of all domestic weaving or spinning. Sometimes, after the first mills were built, farmers carried their cotton to a mill to be carded and took the carded rolls home. There the women and girls of the household spun it into thread for knitting, and wove it into homespun cloth. There were men and women who lived by the trade of weaving. Some of the first mills were adapted only for carding wool and cotton. Later most mills were able to spin the cotton into thread; and it was then woven in the homes. Few early mills were even equipped with looms, and none could weave all the thread they spun. Every large plantation had looms and skilled weavers. During the War Between the States, all of the cloth woven by the mills was used by the government, because the output was limited. Cotton mills were established in the lower part of the State long before the first mills were built in the Up Country, but the excellent water power of the region soon gave the Piedmont a supremacy which it still holds. The first mills in the Up Country were built on the waters of Tyger River in Spartanburg District between 1816 and 1818 by two groups of New Englanders. One of these groups was led by the Hill brothers and the other by the Weaver brothers, and the honor of operating the first cotton factory in the county has been claimed for each group by their descendants. Unfortunately, neither family can establish such a claim by clear documentary evi- 73 74 A History of Spartanburg County dence, and traditions are contradictory. Both groups came from Rhode Island in 1816, both built small mills, and both mills—tradition runs—were twice burned and twice rebuilt. The Weaver factory ceased operations in 1826, but the Hills continued, with varying fortunes, to operate a cotton factory on Tyger River until after the Civil War. The South Carolina It is quite clear that the Weavers used as a firm Cotton Manufactory name « the gouth Carolina Cotton Manu¬ factory.” Court records show that Benjamin Wofford, in 1818, lent money to the Weavers; that Wofford sold the South Carolina Cotton Manufactory, with 489 spindles and sixty acres of land, to Nathaniel Gist in 1818; that the Weavers confessed a judgment of $12,000 to Nathaniel Gist and W. G. Davis in 1819; and that Nathaniel Gist deeded the property to Barham Bobo in 1826. Some fragments of the Weaver account books were preserved, and from them a few facts can be established, such as names of the men first employed, and approximate dates and costs of first products. These books do not contain mention of a firm name. In them appear the names of four members of the Weaver family—Philip, Lindsay, John, and Wilbur. Philip seems to have been the leader of the group. Others who came with the Weavers were Thomas Hutchings, Thomas Slack, William Bates, William Ralph—all of them apparently as em¬ ployes of the Weaver brothers. One of John Weaver’s books con¬ tains this significant entry: “The following is the price of yarn in 1818 when the Burnt Factory first started on Tyger River in Spar¬ tanburg, S. C. No. 6, 66 cents per pound—$3.30 per bunch; No. 7, 69 cents per pound—$3.40 per bunch; . . . No. 16, 96 cents per pound—$4.80 per bunch.” This entry was apparently made from memory by John Weaver after he had removed to Greenville County and established a mill on Thompson’s Beaverdam Creek there. Although the indications are that the mill changed ownership more than once, the Weavers continued to operate it until possibly 1826. Nathaniel Gist, April 3, 1826, sold to “Barrum Bobo for $2,500 three tracts of land, on one of which was situated the late Manufactory called Weavers,” and on another was situated “the late South Carolina Manufactory”—the presumption being that one of these sites was that of the “burnt factory” of the Weavers. It seems possible—but is a matter of surmise—that a second fire and the general failure of the Weavers to adjust themselves to the Looms and Spindles 75 locality accounted for their abandonment, at this time, of the enter¬ prise. Philip and Lindsay Weaver left the State. In a significant passage of one of his letters, Philip Weaver throws much light on social attitudes which affected his happiness in the South: “I wish to leave this part of the country and wish to settle myself and family in a free state, where myself and family will not be looked down upon with contempt because I am opposed to the abominable practice of slavery.” Common usage fixed the names of their operators on both the pioneer factories on Tyger River. The name Burnt Factory was at¬ tached not to the Weaver factory but to the Hill factory. That mill was not on the river itself, but on a tributary stream. To this day a county road retains in common language its old name, the Burnt Factory Road, and the bridge is yet spoken of by older citizens as the Burnt Factory Bridge, although in reality a re-survey of the road when it was paved led to the changing of the site of the bridge and of the road at this point, so that the site of the factory is no longer on the road named for it. The Industry Man- Although “The Industry Manufacturing Com- ufactunng Company pany” seems to have been the official name of the Hill family’s factory, it rarely appears in records or traditions. This group included George and Leonard Hill, William B. Sheldon, John Clark, and James Edward Henry, and possibly others. The traditions concerning their operations indicate that they were free from the financial difficulties which so embarrassed the Weavers. Family stories have been handed down of how the machinery was shipped from New England and hauled from Charleston by wagons— a strenuous undertaking. The first mill erected is said to have had 700 spindles, and four looms. The machinery and its operation ex¬ cited such interest throughout the surrounding region that the place was constantly thronged with visitors. The Hills, like the Weavers, suffered two losses by fire, and had no insurance ; but they recovered each time and continued their enterprise. Indications are that the Hills operated as a stock company, and it may be that it was by taking in partners they were enabled to re¬ build and resume operations after their fires. Leonard Hill apparently always held the controlling interest. In 1820 William Sheldon re¬ tired from the firm; and in 1825 George Hill sold his share, return¬ ing to Rhode Island. The firm then became Hill and Clark, and so 76 A History of Spartanburg County remained until 1830, when Clark sold his interest to Leonard Hill, who thereby became sole owner. On December 17, 1835, a charter was granted to the South Carolina Manufacturing Company, the list of incorporators reading “James Edward Henry, Leonard Hill, James Nesbitt, Jr., Simpson Bobo, and others who now are or here¬ after may be members.” According to the records of the Hill family, Leonard Hill retained control—if not sole ownership—of Hill’s Factory, as the common name for it always ran, until his death in 1840. At that time it fell into the hands of his four oldest sons— James, Albert, Whipple, and Leonard. About 1845 or 1846 James and Albert bought the interest of the other two brothers and operated the factory until 1866, when they sold the machinery but not the lands of the mill to Nesbitt and Wright. The machinery was then removed to a site at Mountain Shoals on Enoree and used in setting up a new factory, the Barksdale Factory. The Hill factory was so small in 1847 as to fall presumably among the “several minor establishments in the back country,” ac¬ cording to a survey of the cotton mills of the State published that year in the Columbia Telegraph. Yet in the fifties Hill’s Factory was ad¬ vertising the quality of its work, and was stressing its “seamless woven pictorial counterpanes.” During the Civil War it was listed with Bivingsville as turning in valuable supplies to the Confederate Govern¬ ment. The Story of The life of William Bates exemplifies an era of cot- William Bates ton manu f ac t U ring. He was born in 1800 in Rhode Island, the son of a poor farmer. At the age of eight he was put to work in Green’s Cotton Factory—the second of its sort in the United States, Slater’s, near by, being the first. At that time these mills made only yarn; in fact, there was not in the United States then a power loom. Bates worked next for Senator De Wolf of Rhode Island, whom he described as a “celebrated United States senator and slave- trader.” In 1812 he worked in Sprague’s factory which operated day and night, Sundays too, to keep up with the demand. In 1819, with $17 in his pocket, he left Rhode Island to try his fortune in the South, and landed in Charleston with $2 in his possession. But he had an overcoat, and this he sold to the stage driver to pay for his passage to what he later designated as the Burnt Factory. He worked there for two years without receiving a cent of pay, and then he obtained employment with Hill and Clark. He worked for them two or three Looms and Spindles 77 years, and saved over $500. During this time he had married and he determined to attempt to better his fortunes by establishing a factory. He found partners in Colonel Downs and Hugh Wilson and set up a mill on Rabun’s Creek in Laurens District, which turned out a dis¬ astrous failure and he lost all of the money he had saved. He then went to Lincolnton, North Carolina, and worked there for Hoke and Bivings for a time. Returning to South Carolina he bought at sheriff’s sale the mill built in upper Greenville District by John Weaver and operated it for a time. Then he moved to Lester’s Factory and entered into a partnership with Lester and Kilgore. Soon he exchanged his interest in this factory with Kilgore for a small mill Kilgore owned on Rocky Branch; and at this place Bates, in partnership with Cox and Hammet, founded Batesville. So suc¬ cessful was this factory that during the Civil War it was sold to George Trenholm and others, of Charleston, for $340,000. With the money thus obtained, Bates bought lands and established permanently the prosperity of his descendants. So able a man was William Bates that a keen observer and close friend of his for forty years was sur¬ prised to learn after his death that he could neither read nor write and signed his name mechanically. Although he made a career for him¬ self in Greenville District, Bates first worked in three Spartanburg factories. The Career of More romantic, but less successful from a Thomas Hutchings ma terial standpoint, was the career of another of the New Englanders who came to Spartanburg in 1816 and partici¬ pated in the textile and cultural development of the Piedmont. This was Thomas Hutchings, who after the failure of the Weavers, with whom he came South, built a small cotton factory at Lester’s Ford on Enoree River. This mill was operating in 1822. No doubt Philip Les¬ ter furnished the capital for this enterprise, and it was soon known as Lester’s Mill. At an early date Josiah Kilgore bought an interest in this mill, and its operations were greatly enlarged. Its name was changed to Buena Vista, and under the joint ownership of Kilgore and Lester it consumed about 500 bales a year, producing quantities of yarn which not only sufficed for local barter but were distributed in wagons through Western North Carolina, East Tennessee and lower South Carolina. One important item of the Tennessee trade was the flax brought from that region to the mill and made into flax thread for shoe makers and also into linen cloth. Much of this weaving was 78 A History of Spartanburg County done in the homes, and the factory had a standard rate of payment for such weaving, giving a skein of cotton thread ready for weaving in exchange for the weaving of a yard of linen cloth. Thomas Hutchings seems to have had special talents as a pro¬ moter, starting enterprises and then passing on to new fields. He started a small factory in Greenville District in 1833, which he abandoned to undertake a factory at Cedar Hill, which was known as the South Tyger Manufactory. Capital for this enterprise was sup¬ plied by Simpson Bobo, James McMakin, and David W. Moore, but the management seems to have been entrusted to Hutchings. Soon the affairs of the mill were involved, litigation ensued, and Hutchings was the loser. Soon afterwards—and apparently as an outcome of this matter—he was removed from the ministry of the South Caro¬ lina Conference of the Methodist Church. He had been exceedingly popular as a preacher, as well as mill promoter. After his unfortunate experience at Cedar Hill, Hutchings removed to Georgia, and there became a minister of the Protestant Methodist Church. He died in Savannah, April 27, 1869, and his body was brought to his former home and buried beside that of his wife in Mount Pleasant Grave¬ yard, thirteen miles west of Spartanburg. Dr. James Bivings The first large mill in the District was that and His Mills which came to be called the Bivingsville Cotton Factory. All of the mills which preceded it were small and meagerly equipped. Its erection may, then, be regarded as a milestone in the textile history of Spartanburg—and indeed of the State, because tex¬ tile operations have gone on at the same place uninterruptedly ever since its erection. This is a record rivalled only by that of the Pendle¬ ton Manufacturing Company of Anderson County. Steps toward building Bivingsville began in the early 1830’s, under the leadership of Dr. James Bivings, who came from Lincolnton, North Carolina, about 1832. He brought with him a full set of competent workmen, stonemasons, carpenters, machinists, and the factory build¬ ing he put up was, for its time, a very imposing affair. He bought his machinery in Paterson, New Jersey, one feature which elicited ad¬ miration being an overshot wheel of 26-foot diameter and 12-foot breast. This mill had 1,200 spindles and 24 looms. County records show that Dr. Bivings acquired titles to extensive tracts of land adjacent to and including the site of Wofford’s Iron Works. He organized a company, The Bivingsville Cotton Manu- Looms and Spindles 79 facturing Company, “for the purpose of manufacturing cotton and wool.” The incorporators were James Bivings, Simpson Bobo, and Elias C. Leitner; and the capital was $100,000, with the privilege of increasing to $500,000. The charter “provided that the said indi¬ viduals should not have corporate capacity until $100,000 shall have been actually paid in, also that the stockholders shall be liable in¬ dividually, in case of insolvency of said company, to an amount equal to the amount of share in said company, which they may have respec¬ tively held within one year of the failure of said company, over and above their original subscriptions.” It had not been long in operation before litigation arose which resulted ultimately in the withdrawal of Dr. Bivings from the mill to which he had with pride given his name. Incidentally, the name of the village was retained until 1878, when it was changed to Glendale, a name retained to the present day. A vivid picture of the activities of Dr. Bivings in developing Biv- ingsville may be found in a racy communication in the Spartan, March 10, 1880, signed J. W. V.: Here a mere shadow (physically speaking), with gold frame spectacles over his face all the time, had the thorn bushes and scrubby cedars removed, the gullies filled up, and the mills and houses, and shops and a church and a cotton factory put upon the unpretending waters of “Lawson’s Fork.” Inducements were offered to sell to a company, and E. C. Leitner (one of the most plausible men I ever saw) was elected superintendent. He as¬ sured the stockholders that if all hands would pay in what was due the company, he would show them in one year’s time “how to turn over the stumps and kill spiders.” The company paid in the money, but they never got a peep at him again. The proba¬ bility is that he emigrated to a country where pepper grows spontaneously. Jno. C. Bomar, or “Big John,” as many called him, became superintendent, and perhaps owner of most of the stock. He was a good man as ever lived, but never was cut out to manage a cotton mill. Converse and Twitched let on a small stream of Yankee genius and Yankee energy, and the machinery moved with unwonted ease. It would make a book to tell how these men endured and toiled and hung on during long years, with only partial success. Any¬ body else would have quit. Bivingsville Mill was, in 1847, listed as one of the important cot¬ ton mills of the State—with the notation, “The Bivingsville Cotton Factory, near Spartanburg Courthouse, now the property of G. and E. C. Leitner . . . doing well.” However, in 1856, it was sold, in 80 A History of Spartanburg County bankruptcy proceedings, and was bought by John Bomar and Com¬ pany for $19,500. The company included at first, S. N. Evins, Simp¬ son Bobo, Vardry McBee, John Bomar, John C. Zimmerman, and D. E. Converse. McBee’s connection soon ceased. Dr. James Bivings, in 1846, undertook a mill on Chinquapin Creek, about two miles north of the courthouse on the old Rutherfordton Road, and failed because of the inadequacy of the water power. Un¬ daunted by this disappointment, he and his son bought and completed a mill eight miles west of the courthouse. To this mill, begun by a man named Williams, the Bivingses gave the name Crawfordsville, in honor of John Crawford. It was noted by The Telegraph, in 1847, as among the ten important mills of the State, with the comment “a new establishment, now being erected by Dr. Bivings' on a large scale, not yet in full operation . . . but, from the intelligence and energy of the proprietor, we have no doubt of his success.” In 1857 this mill had 1,000 spindles and 20 looms. It had been sold by Dr. Bivings and his son the preceding year to the firm of Grady, Hawthorn, and Turbyfill. Soon afterwards Dr. Bivings removed to Georgia and died there less than three years later. His death elicited in the Spartan this tribute: “He did more than any other individual to build up and promote the manufacturing interests of our District. He possessed a remarkable foresight and a discriminating judgment.” Dr. James Bivings was indeed a superior man. He was an ardent supporter of Adams against Jackson in 1828, and of Harrison against Van Buren in 1840, and was a forceful campaign speaker. He was also an advocate of temperance, and a man of positive religious con¬ victions. On one occasion he closed the Bivingsville Factory and urged all of his operatives and their families to attend a revival meet¬ ing in progress. Joseph Finger and I n 1839 another citizen of Lincolnton, North Gabriel Cannon Carolina, moved to Spartanburg to take advan¬ tage of its water power facilities. This was Joseph Finger, who bought lands and erected a “large merchant mill” on North Pacolet River one mile above the site of McMillan’s Mills, where were also located saw and merchant mills, equipment for wool-carding, a store, and a blacksmith shop. According to some accounts, Finger pro¬ jected a cotton factory at his arrival, but abandoned the enterprise until 1848, when he formed a partnership with Gabriel Cannon, and Glendale Site of Wofford’s Iron Works, 1773; Bivingsville, 1835; Glendale, .1878. Probably the oldest seats of continuous manufacturing in the Up Country. Lyman : Seat of a Pacific Mills Plant, 1924 Bridge Over Pacolet River at Converse (Hurricane Shoals) One: of the Handsome Antebellum Homes on Magnolia Street Home of Dr. Lafayette Twitty, on the site now occupied by the United States Post Office and Courthouse The Church of the Advent, Begun in the Fifties Looms and Spindles 81 they built a mill which was successfully operated until its destruction by fire in 1885. Cannon was at the time engaged in various enterprises, one of which was a large store at New Prospect, within three miles of Fin¬ ger’s merchant mill. When built, the mill was very modest, with a capital of only $5,000, according to Landrum, and it operated 400 spin¬ dles. According to the statistics collected by August Kohn, it had, in 1867, 500 spindles and 15 looms. Upon the organization of the Manu¬ facturers’ Association of the Confederate States, at Augusta, Georgia, November 19, 1862, Gabriel Cannon, of Fingerville, was named presi¬ dent and H. F. Lester, of Buena Vista, secretary. The Coming of When the Bivingsville plant fell under the direction D. E. Converse 0 f Bomar, he was wise enough, according to Landrum, to set out in search of an experienced manager. He found a genius in Dexter Edgar Converse, a man who came of an able family of cloth manufacturers, and who was himself expertly trained in the various phases of mill management. Bomar employed Converse as manager of the Bivingsville mill, and in so doing set on foot a train of circumstances of the greatest significance in the history of the section. Converse was a partner and soon became the leader of them all. Not only did he organize a paying enterprise at Bivings¬ ville, but he manifested a civic spirit which made him invaluable in the building of Spartanburg. The part he played in time of war and later of reconstruction was outstanding in the development of city and county. He brought into being in Spartanburg a new stability and perseverance in the textile industry. The example he set in¬ spired others to surmount obstacles. CHAPTER EIGHT Doctrines and Dogmas Winds of While they were fighting wild beasts and Indians, clear- Doctrine j n g forests, opening roads, setting up orderly forms of government, building iron works and mills, Spartan pioneers were also erecting log churches and establishing schools, and were blown upon by all sorts of winds of doctrine. They were divided in their views concerning slavery, temperance, nullification, theology, public education, and other social and economic problems. Slavery Slavery was sanctioned by the law of the land, but in the early days the Spartanburg area had preachers and others who ven¬ tured to oppose the institution. Such an occurrence took place July 20, 1796, when James Gilliland, Jr., son of the Nazareth pastor, presented himself before the Presbytery of South Carolina for or¬ dination. A “remonstrance” bearing twelve signatures was presented, accusing the candidate of “preaching against Government.” This charge he denied, but he said he felt “called of God to preach against slavery.” After heated discussion he was persuaded to “be guided by the counsel of Presbytery as the voice of God,” and promised that he would not “as a preacher attack slavery from the pulpit.” In 1804 Gilliland’s convictions in opposition to slavery forced him to resign his pastorate and join the migration to Ohio. Instances could be multiplied to show how slavery was a contributory factor in draining the population of some of its most desirable elements. New England industrialists, Quakers, and Scotch Presbyterians were among those who joined in the Western migration because of it. Freemasonry Sentiment among stern religionists was divided on other subjects—for instance, freemasonry. While the churches seem, with some exceptions, to have endorsed the temperance movement, indications are frequent that in the old days they viewed with sus¬ picion and disfavor the secret fraternal orders. This is illustrated by the case of the Reverend John Williams of the Cedar Spring Church. This church, upon learning that he had joined the free¬ masons in the Tyger River Church bounds, suspended him and brought him to trial. He defended himself and appealed for a new hearing before Tyger River and Bethlehem churches. These congre¬ gations voted in favor of sustaining the action of Cedar Spring 82 Doctrines and Dogmas 83 Church. The case was argued again, with four churches participating —Upper Duncans Creek, Boiling Spring, Bethlehem, and Cedar Spring. The churches denied the contention of Williams that he was within his rights in being a freemason, and the outcome was that in September 1801, he was excluded from the Baptist ministry for join¬ ing the masons. Fifty years later ministers and church officers were leaders in freemasonry. Church The experiences of John Williams and James Gilliland Discipline illustrate the social control exercised by the churches. Instances could be cited from the church books of former days of astonishing rebukes and disciplinary measures administered for such faults as quarrelsomeness, profanity, slander, drunkenness, operating stills, marital infidelity, habitual absence from public worship. In the forties James Edward Henry, a member of the Methodist Church, declined a challenge to fight a duel because he felt honor bound by his church vows to such a course of action. Temperance The observations of Bishop Asbury and Columbus Hale would not indicate that the nation-wide agitation for temperance could have met any marked success in Spartanburg District. Yet the case was quite to the contrary. In 1822 and 1826 two men made church-to-church visitations, speaking in behalf of temperance—the Reverend Michael Dickson of the Nazareth congregation, and the Reverend Christopher Johnson of the Philadelphia Baptist Church. In 1831 the Reverend John L. Kennedy spoke from every pulpit opened to him in the District on behalf of temperance societies. Judge J. B. O’Neall’s influence had great power in winning men to join temperance societies. There were two types of these societies— those requiring a pledge of total abstinence and those requiring what was called the Washingtonian pledge, which permitted the drinking of wines and beer, but not of distilled liquors. When Spartanburg, August 2, 1843, entertained the State Tem¬ perance Convention, the District was represented by 84 delegates, the organizations and number of delegates sent by each being as follows: Spartanburg District Temperance Association, 3; Spar¬ tanburg Village Washington Society, 7; Lawson’s Fork Washington Society, 1 ; Shiloh Washington Society, 2; New Prospect Washington Society, 3; Mount Zion Total Abstinence Society, 6; Boiling Springs Total Abstinence Society, 3; Trinity Washington Society, 1; Chapel Washington Society, 1; Foster’s Meeting House Total Abstinence 84 A History of Spartanburg County Society, 2; New Hope Washington Society, 2; Young Men’s Tem¬ perance Society of Spartanburg District, 7; Washington Bethlehem Society, 3; Republican Washington Society, 8; Bivingsville Total Abstinence Society, 6; Washington Society of Maberryville, 3; Naza¬ reth Temperance Society, 7; Tuck’s School House Temperance So¬ ciety, 3; Ridgefield Washington Society, 5 ; Holly Springs Tem¬ perance Society, 3; South Pacolet Total Abstinence, 4; Mount Pleas¬ ant Temperance Society, 1. There were at the Convention about 300 delegates. The State membership at the time was 19,211; Spartan¬ burg’s societies had 1,811 members—second in the State to Charles¬ ton, which had 4,042 members. Typical of the temperance celebrations held annually by the various organizations was one at Rich Hill, May 15, 1858. The exercises be¬ gan at 10 a.m. with a procession formed at the church. Leading the procession was an organization called the Neighbors’ Band. Then followed, in order, the citizens, the ladies, Calhoun Lodge 84 A. F. M., and the Fairforest No. 1 Free and Independent Brothers of Tem¬ perance. The line of march was under command of Colonel Joe Ballenger, Captain T. W. Wyatt, and General B. B'. Foster. The exercises began with prayer by the Reverend C. S. Baird, and in¬ cluded an anniversary address by the chaplain and the main address on Temperance by Professor J. H. Carlisle. An “Ode” concluded the program, and a “handsome repast” followed. The attendance was reported as between a thousand and fifteen hundred. Religious When settlements were new and preachers were Denominations scarce> doctrinal divisions were of little consequence. The separation of church and State caused heated controversy in the low country, but was a question never agitated in Spartanburg, where the idea of an established church was generally repugnant. The Pres¬ byterians and Baptists had churches in operation when the Revolution broke, but the Methodists first appeared after 1785. Robert Mills’ Statistics, in 1825, reported the District as having a population of 16,000 with fewer than 2,000 church members. The Baptists were listed as having six churches with 1,425 communicant members. Evi¬ dently Mills did not list the many “arms” which the Baptists had established before this time. The records of the Baptist denomination include the following churches in Spartanburg County as founded be¬ fore 1825: Friendship (1765), Buck Creek (1779), Cedar Spring (1787), Boiling Springs (1792), Bethlehem (1800), Philadelphia Doctrines and Dogmas 85 (1803), Wolf’s Creek (1803), Mt. Zion (1804), Holly Springs (1804), Green Pond (1810), Abner’s Creek (1818), Bethesda (1820), New Prospect (1820). According to the Statistics there were two Presbyterian churches, with 128 communicants. These were Nazareth (1765) and North Pacolet (1780). There were Methodists in Spartanburg in 1785; but as late as 1825 they had no organized churches; although Mills stated that 361 were enrolled in societies. What Mills described as “another sect not organized” was no doubt the Episcopalians, of whom a strong group existed at this period near Glenn Springs. Camp The camp meeting was an institution which all denomina- Meetmgs tj ons f oun d of use, but in the hands of the Methodists it was especially successful. Popular camp meeting grounds in this area were those at Shiloh, Bird Mountain, Lebanon Church, Pacolet, Fingerville, and, most famous of all, Cannon’s Camp Ground. Lorenzo Dow, known in England as the “Father of the Camp-Meet¬ ing,” once lived for a year or so in Spartanburg District. He founded Sharon Church; and John Chapman, Sr., named a son after him. The first great camp meeting in Spartanburg District was held, July 2-5, 1802, at Poplar Springs in the Nazareth community. It was an outgrowth of the meeting of the Second Presbytery of South Caro¬ lina, and 13 Presbyterian preachers were present, besides several visit¬ ing ministers of other denominations. The attendance was estimated at from 3,000 to 7,000. More than 200 carriages and wagons were counted; and the saddle horses were numerous. The number of tents was remarkably large. Camp meetings continued to be popular until comparatively recent years, and, in days of poor transportation and few preachers, they greatly promoted religious activity. Cannon’s Camp Ground, established about 1834 in connection with McKendree’s Chapel, continued for more than seventy-five years to be the scene of annual gatherings. It was typical of the best of them. There was a large “Arbor”—a development of the brush arbor of primitive days—of rough lumber, open on all sides. It had a pulpit, around which was built the “mourners’ bench”— where penitents bowed to ask for prayer or give testimony. A space on one side of the pulpit was reserved for the slaves, who always attended in large numbers. The worshipers sat on “peg-leg” benches without backs. The ground was covered with straw—saved from the threshings for this use. “Light-horses”—wooden scaffolds about four feet high, 86 A History of Spartanburg County covered with rocks and soil, were placed on all four sides and heaped with rich “light-wood”—resinous pine wood. Their characteristic odor and flaring light were among the unforgettable associations in the memories of all who ever attended the old-fashioned camp meeting. Candles, and in later days kerosene lanterns, supplemented the out¬ side lights. Over the pulpit hung a horn, the blasts from which gave signals for each day’s activities. The singing, so hearty that it could be heard more than a mile away, was another memorable feature. There was preaching three times each day. The day began at seven o’clock with a sunrise service announced by the blaring horn. Most families owned tents, as the wooden shacks grouped about the arbor were called; and these were made as comfortable as the standards of a family demanded. Sometimes two or more wagons were required to convey the necessary equipment to and from camp. Some householders took feather beds to soften the straw in the built- in bunks. Food was prepared in advance, at home, so far as possible— baked hams, turkeys, chickens, cakes, pies, and loaf bread. Jars and jars of pickles and preserves were carefully packed. Sharing meals and exchanging recipes for admired dishes was a pleasure indeed to housewives who, in the strenuous older days, too seldom had the chance to enjoy each other’s hospitality. Patterns, new stitches in crocheting and knitting—these also were by-products the ladies carried from the camp meeting. The Brushy In August 1831, the Saluda Baptist Association held Creek Revival a rev j va i a t the Brushy Creek Church eight miles north of Greenville. This meeting rivalled the camp meetings in the interest it aroused. Men and women rode amazingly long distances to attend the services. New preaching centers were established, brush arbors were put up, and so great was the interest that shops were closed, looms and spinning wheels were stopped, and only necessary household duties were attended to. According to a highly intelligent narrator: It is difficult now to state the precise results of this revival. Within an area of twenty-five miles square, thirteen new churches were formed, while the old ones were filled to overflowing. It is safe to estimate that during the whole period there were added to these churches between two and three thousand souls. Nor was the great work confined to the ignorant and excitable; the best material in the country was gathered into the folds of the church; and a new era dawned in the history of the Baptists of Upper Carolina. Doctrines and Dogmas 87 Denominational The years following the Brushy Creek revival were Growth years of growth in all denominations. The list of churches was greatly expanded, especially in the Methodist and Bap¬ tist denominations. The Presbyterians added only one new organiza¬ tion—the Spartanburg church. The Episcopalians organized the Church of the Advent in Spartanburg (1848), Calvary in Glenn Springs (1850), and a chapel in Wellford. The Methodists had many preaching places, and organized churches when the number of converts justified. They were, according to the Reverend A. M. Chreitzberg, included in the Broad River Circuit, 1785-1802; in the Saluda Circuit, 1802-1805; and in the Enoree Circuit, 1805-1833. Five counties — Spartanburg, Union, Chester, York, and Fair- field — made up this circuit. During that period circuit preach¬ ers visited the stations as they could, and camp meetings and district conferences were held. Benjamin Wofford’s activities began in 1805, when he was received as a preacher. In 1816 he was ap¬ pointed a “traveling preacher.” In 1817 the fourth quarterly con¬ ference of the Enoree Circuit was held at Wofford’s Chapel, and Ben¬ jamin Wofford, as secretary, kept the records. The only year in which the records included a tabulation of the churches was 1836. Twenty-two churches were listed—the following in the Spartanburg area: Tabernacle, Chapel, Shiloh, Foster’s Meeting House, and Mc- Kendree’s Chapel. The great revival of 1831, the building of a church in Spartanburg, and especially the building of Wofford College, were influential in the strengthening and multiplying of chapels and churches of the Methodist denomination. The Baptists especially owed much to the revival of 1831. Some “arms,” almost ready to wither, took on renewed life. Several re¬ markable Baptist preachers—Thomas Ray, Richard Shackleford, Thomas Woodruff, John G. Landrum, outstanding among them— were influential factors in this growth. “Uncle Tommy” Ray and “Dick” Shackleford were especially identified with Bethel, which was for many years the leading Baptist church of the district. On November 1, 1833, twelve churches sent representatives to Mount Zion Church to organize the Tyger River Association. J. G. Landrum was made moderator. Of these churches, one—Mountain Page—was in North Carolina; one—Cedar Grove—was in Laurens District; six—Clear Spring, Brushy Creek, Head of Tyger, Washing¬ ton, Bethuel, and Pleasant Grove—were in Greenville; and four— 88 A History of Spartanburg County Bethlehem, Mount Zion, Green Pond, and Holly Springs—were in Spartanburg. In 1876, when this association was broken up and the Spartanburg Association formed, Landrum was again moderator. His ability and tireless energy are illustrated by the fact that during the year 1848 he actually served eight churches regularly, preaching each month sixteen sermons and riding at least 250 miles horseback to keep his appointments. Some of these churches had to hold services on weekdays to secure Landrum’s ministry. During his long life Landrum served as pastor of New Prospect 50 years; of Bethlehem 36 years; and of Wolf Creek as long, and preached regularly for con¬ siderable periods at other churches. It was estimated that he baptized between 5,000 and 6,000 men and women. Bethel The most remarkable of the Baptist churches was Bethel. Church g 0 anc j en t ti ia t its beginnings are clouded in obscurity, it emerged into prominence by 1803. In that year a third meeting¬ house was built: ... a long low-framed building, never ceiled, and with a gallery across each end. The pulpit was situated in the centre of one side. It was a high, square-shaped box with steps running up at one end, and closed with a door. The book board was so high that a minister of small stature might find some difficulty in making himself seen over it. One can imagine how, upon a warm summer day, about three or four preachers could enjoy themselves, sitting upon a bench nailed to the wall, with the door buttoned tight, which was rarely neglected, cooped up in this box, and with no ventilation except a small window in their rear, about as high as their heads .... the house for its time a goodly one, was beauti¬ fully situated in a grove of large spreading oaks, and near to the corner of the same old graveyard. This house stood until 1849. In Bethel Church, in 1789, was organized the Bethel Association, which held thirty-three meetings in it. In 1839 Bethel entertained the State Baptist Convention, and after entering the Tyger River Association entertained that body. A touching story of this church tells how the revival of 1802 ex¬ tended to it. Thomas Woodruff was then the neighborhood school¬ master, and one day he became uneasy at the long absence from the schoolroom of little Rhoda Bragg. He went in search of her, and found her on her knees praying aloud for him. He was deeply affected, and remained listening until other pupils came to the scene. The master sent for a preacher, and so began a meeting which led to Doctrines and Dogmas 89 one hundred eighty-eight baptisms and a great renewal of religious zeal in Bethel Church. Another affecting story of this church has to do with the political bitterness of Nullification days. The Reverend Thomas Ray of Union County had for many years ministered to the Bethel flock acceptably. But when he aligned himself with the Nullifiers and even accepted election to the Nullification Convention, some of his Unionist members so resented his course that he was dismissed from the pastorate. Things went from bad to worse until the church was divided into two factions who refused to have dealings with each other. The as¬ sociation sent a committee to investigate the situation and ordered a day of fasting and prayer. On the appointed day, November 28, 1834, a large and serious throng gathered. Some of the leaders of the denomination spoke and prayed and urged steps toward reconciliation. The people, deeply moved, formed two lines in the churchyard and marched past each other, singing the songs of Zion and shaking hands, every Nullifier with every Unionist. Ray was soon invited to return—and he did so with great joy. Political James H. Carlisle, in an address to Spartanburg college Differences girls, described how bitterly men felt on the question of Nullification: There are not many now living who remember to have seen a cockade on a Nullifier’s hat. Think of a rosette made up of blue ribbons, the rosette as large nearly as a silver dollar; now on the middle of that, fasten a gilt palmetto button. That was the Nulli¬ fier’s cockade, that was his flag, that was his creed. The men of that day wore beaver hats. That cockade put on the left side of the hat was the Nullifier’s flag flying. The absence of that usually meant a Union man. The very cockade was almost an invitation to a fight, it was like a chip which a young fellow puts on his shoulder and goes about with, challenging the opposition, the State of South Caro¬ lina, and the universe to knock it off. The cockade was about like that, and not many salesdays or court weeks passed without a fight. It drove the dividing line through the State. A father would be on one side, a Union man, and his son a Nullifier. Of two boys, one would put on a cockade, the other would not. The subject came up at the dinner table, and everywhere. Some of the best citizens left the State in disgust and despair, trying to find in other States the harmony and peace which South Carolina did not give them. This county was largely Union, but there were some Nullifiers 90 A History of Spartanburg County in old Spartanburg. Years ago, in looking over old papers, I found a handbill, signed by a committee of Nullifiers in Spartan¬ burg, warning their friends not to go into the courthouse on the Fourth of July, that the Union men were to meet there. The two parties could not meet together in an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration, to rejoice over English tryanny being abolished. No, they were Nullifiers and Unionists. About that time some early risers in the little village of Spar¬ tanburg were surprised to find an effigy of Calhoun hanging from the limb of a tree very near where the Morgan monument now stands. John C. Calhoun was then understood to mean John Cataline Calhoun, when the opposing party desired to translate his middle initial . . . Very dramatic scenes were enacted in Spartanburg in connection with the Nullification dispute. William Hoy was of the opinion that a five-hour speech delivered by Judge Smith, in the fall of 1831, crystallized sentiment against the Nullification doctrine. Hoy gave a striking account of the great Fourth of July celebration of 1832, when the Unionists organized a spectacular political demonstration. From all over the district the people thronged to hear the speeches and share the excitement. At dawn a cannon salute ushered in the day, and at 11 o’clock a line of parade was formed, led by Revo¬ lutionary soldiers and distinguished citizens. The customary orations, songs, and toasts were included in the celebration, and a special point was made of reading Washington’s Farewell Address instead of the Declaration of Independence. In the fall elections Spartanburg’s vote was overwhelmingly Unionist as against States’ Rights. A custom of that day made pos¬ sible the election of non-resident representatives to the proposed State Convention, and Spartanburg elected Judge J. B. O’Neall of New¬ berry, J. S. Richardson of Clarendon, and Alfred Huger of Charles¬ ton, to represent the county, with three native sons—John S. Row¬ land, James Crook, and S. N. Evins. Despite the fact that the Unionist sentiment prevailed in 1832, public opinion steadly veered around to the side of States’ Rights. What tariff injustices would not do, abolitionist agitation did. Even¬ tually, in 1849, the Southern delegates in Congress issued an address to their constituents analyzing the situation and recommending that meetings be held in every Congressional District of the South to con¬ sider existing conditions and insure the Southern people opportunity to express their sentiments as to their constitutional rights. Doctrines and Dogmas 91 Spartans were among the first to respond to this call, holding a meeting at the courthouse, March 6, 1849. Dr. John Winsmith pre¬ sided over this meeting, and James E. Henry had a large part in its deliberations. This native of New England, who represented Spartan¬ burg District in the legislature for twelve years, was the mover in the adoption of resolutions expressing resentment at the grievances, in¬ justice, and degradation to which the South was being subjected, and pledging the citizens of Spartanburg District to unite with others in arresting further progress of such conditions. The chair was author¬ ized to appoint a vigilance committee, and named on it: Colonel H. H. Thomson, Major H. J. Dean, Simpson Bobo, Esq., Dr. W. C. Bennett, Hon. Gabriel Cannon, Captain Robert Jackson, General J. W. Miller, Colonel S. N. Evins, Jonas Brewton, Esq., Dr. C. P. Wofford, James Nesbitt, Z. D. Bragg, Esq., J. Davis, C. P. Smith, J. C. Zimmerman, Thomas Littlejohn, Dr. Samuel Otterson, Captain A. Bonner, and Henry Dodd, Esq. As the years passed, interest in railroads, agricultural societies, schools, and general business and social life was crowded into the background by a growing concern about the turmoil in the nation. Political sentiment on the question of secession divided Spartans, along with all Southerners, into three distinct factions: Unionists, Secessionists, and Cooperationists. Each faction had able and patri¬ otic adherents, not only in the District but in the entire South. The unwise policies of the national leaders and of the Abolitionists, and the course of the national agitation concerning slavery and protection of it as an institution, gradually, by 1860, brought about in Spartan¬ burg a united support of secession. John Brown’s Raid increased popular indignation against the North. Local papers were filled with accounts of it and comments on its significance and its expected effects. Musters, drills, tournaments, flag presentations, and liberty- pole raisings multiplied. Men and women even at the time felt dimly that they were living through the end of an era. The years behind them had followed a pattern of life which another year was to break up and destroy forever. These years were to take on in memory a glamour and a glory which they had never possessed in reality—“the good old days befo’ the War.” CHAPTER NINE Schools and Learning Log Churches The log churches that the first settlers established and Schools were used also as schools, and in many cases the preacher was the schoolmaster. Some old church books contain indications that it was usual when building a new church to retain the old one for the school. In 1828 the Methodists in a district con¬ ference meeting of the Enoree Circuit put themselves on record as disapproving the use of the meeting-house for “schools, reading, or singing.” Many of the schools were built for the purpose to which they were put, and in the early days they seem, like the churches, to have been made of logs. Before 1840 the framed school buildings were exceptional, and brick school buildings were exceptional at any time before the Civil War. One of the old-time combination church-schoolhouses was de¬ scribed by Judge Robert Gage, of Union, writing some time in the seventies: It was a hewn log structure, with one of those ancient, high boxed-up pulpits, with the clerk’s box in front. . . How many associations come trouping into our minds at the mention of this old log church, with its old-fashioned pulpit and grove of grand old oaks. It was our second school house, and the hours spent there come back with a vividness common to nothing but school days. The struggle to be first in the morning, to store away our basket or bucket in the pulpit and hide to surprise the next comer, the excitement of “spells,” the shout at play time, and the rush for the spring to enjoy the bottles of cool milk, the invigoratory games of “Prisoner’s Base,” “Cat and Chimney,” all come back. Charles Petty, reared near Limestone Springs, discussing typical schools of the period 1830-1845, wrote: The first school the writer ever attended was a little log concern, slab benches, a loose floor, a good ventilation, hickory hooks to hang the dinner baskets on, and a chimney nearly as wide as the house. The teacher began as soon as he could get to the school, and he did his best through the long hours of the day. But the boys and girls of that time did not learn as rapidly then as they do now. . . At least three-fourths of the time of the little fellows was spent in nodding or gazing around, or “scrouging” around the big fireplace. 92 Schools and Learning 93 William Hoy delighted in recounting the successful careers of men of the Tygers area who, in the early 1800’s, attended school in log houses with dirt floors and wooden chimneys but taught by educated masters. Records of an Old- During the years between 1778 and 1815 Sam- Time Schoolmaster ue i jSToblit taught school in the Fairforest set¬ tlement, and his notebooks show the excellences and defects of his type of schoolmaster. His penmanship was undoubtedly his especial pride, and some pages are as beautiful as an engraver’s copperplate. One book contains the entire Shorter Catechism of the Presbyterian Church, the Child’s Catechism, and Bible texts, in flowing, flawless penmanship. This book is endorsed Samuel Noblit His Book, May 1782. Although Noblit seems to have kept his attendance records with the greatest care and to have noted when his pupils “begun to write,” he entered few notes to indicate the nature of the work done in his schools; nor did he indicate the exact location of the schools he taught. In one entry he noted losing three days while the school- house was being repaired. In another place he “opened school in the shop.” One entry runs that “Polly Smith begun to R Lat March ye 16th, 1780.” School seems to have begun in August and run until the week before Christmas. Year after year, about December 22, Noblit makes such notes as this: “The Schollars Bard me out untill ye Monday after New Year’s Day.” School began often about February and ran into July. Now and then Noblit noted, “I attended, no Schol¬ lars came.” He noted days lost from school for buryings, musters, vendues, threshing wheat, harvesting, “sewing flax,” “raising flax,” “getting fodder,” “diging” potatoes, attending corn huskings, raising barns or lofts, making fences, “hailing corn,” and so on. Once, in 1778, he noted, “We had a Cotton Picken.” Another time he was out of school two days because his wife was sick. The value of paper in the old days and the thrift manifested in its use appears in the fact that almost every inch of space left blank in the school records as originally kept was later utilized for preserving valuable notes, such as birth, marriage, and death dates in the community. Apparently Noblit did not serve in the Revolu¬ tion himself, but he noted the departures for camp, or Charlestown, or Hammond’s Old Store, of neighbors. One page indicates a pos- 94 A History of Spartanburg County sibility that he did serve and keep the order book. He entered a note on the battle of Musgrove’s Mill “on the Eniree River,” and of the fall of Charlestown. On April 23, 1780, he noted that “T F started for North Carolina with his daughter Peggy Teral. Came home Monday 11th, 1780, and taken away by Tories Sept, ye 15th, 1780.” Not the least interesting pages in Noblit’s books are those con¬ taining Revolutionary ballads and love songs, some original and some secured from friends. He kept some copies of letters he wrote. Several times he entered dates when friends set out for “Georgia State.” He recorded worshipping, at different times, at “the meeting house,” “The Babtist meeting house,” and “the Tent over the creek.” From time to time he noted fast days and sacra¬ ment Sundays. Once he referred to “our minister, Mr. William¬ son,” and at various times he noted hearing sermons from the Rev¬ erend Mr. Walker, the Reverend Mr. Alexander, Mr. Newton, and Mr. Edmonds. On October 16, 1785, he noted that “the young Reverend Mr. Hall preached at ye Tent and babtzd my son Wm.” Noblit’s notebooks show that he was a practical farmer and when he could not get a school he farmed for himself or for his neighbors on shares. He carefully balanced his accounts with his patrons, crediting them with such articles as “cloath,” “cloath boots,” shirts, “lincey,” farm products, and labor. His charges seem to have varied with the number and advancement of the pupils. The years 1783 and 1784 he seems to have spent in Georgia. Noblit’s rolls included the names of Park, Thompson, Means, Say, Faris, Simmerall, Davidson, Smith, Curry, Gooden, Anderson, Dinney, Bird, Blasinghame, McWhorter, Storey, Edwards, Noblit, Rutledge, McBride, Pruett, Williamson, Finley, Cunningham, Drake, Mcllroy, Wellsh, and White. The Spartanburg The Spartanburg Philanthropic Society was Philanthropic Society founded in the Nazareth congregation in 1794, and was incorporated in 1797. Its membership was soon extended to include leading men from this district and Union. Its object was to “contribute to the public and general interest of our county” by promoting “a much more general diffusion of knowledge and sound literature.” The Reverend James Templeton was, it appears, the leader, and the other members who actually organized this society were: James Jordan, Samuel Nesbitt, Thomas Moore, Isham Foster, Schools and Learning 95 Gabriel Benson and Samuel Miller. The list of members soon passed fifty and included David Johnson, who was to be the first Up Country governor of South Carolina, and Abram Nott, a future chancellor. The full list of members, as it has been preserved, includes, besides those mentioned, most of the outstanding men of the old Upper District: Isham Harrison, John Nesbitt, John Collins, D. Golightly, Osborne West. William Farrow, John Sloan, William Williamson, Samuel Morrow, Thomas James, W. Golightly, Moses Casey, Jr., R. S. Saunders, Peter Gray, Gab. Benson, Samuel Farrow, William Wells, A. B. Moore, Burrell Bobo, Benjamin Peak, John Harrison, William Lancaster, Archibald Taylor, Willis Willeford, Daniel White, John Barnett, William Ross Smith, Christopher Johnson, Thomas Patton, Hugh Means, John Thomas, Jr., John O’Neill, James Smith, Aaron Smith, Thomas Hanna, William Kingsborough, William Will- banks, William Palmer, A. Casey, Thomas Williamson, Berryman Shumate, and William Smith. The Spartanburg Philanthropic Society, according to the act of incorporation bearing date of December 16, 1797, specified that it was formed for the “purpose of erecting an academy.” Appar¬ ently the first school founded by the Society was called the Eustatie School—of which few particulars have been handed down. The Minerva School seems to have followed it, and to have been taught for many years in a building erected for it, as is indicated by the recollections of those who attended it. None of them, however, have preserved any facts as to how it was conducted or where it was located. A manual labor school at Poolesville under the auspices of the Spartanburg Philanthropic Society asked to be received under the care of the Second Presbytery of South Carolina. Of it no specific facts have come down. This school was referred to by Lockwood in 1832 as being under the Second Presbytery, and by James H. Carlisle in his address at the opening of Converse College as the first manual labor school in South Carolina. Rock Spring Academy, mentioned by Ramsay, with Minerva School, as one of the two schools in the district in 1800, was possibly the Poolesville School. The record book of the Spartanburg Philanthropic Society was in 1892 described as being then in bad condition, and its present whereabouts is unknown. Presumably the organization, having ac- 96 A History of Spartanburg County complished its purpose, faded into oblivion as local organizations here and there gathered strength. The Cedar Robert Mills singled out for special commendation Spring Schools th e sc hool at Cedar Spring—“a promising academy in which Latin, Greek, mathematics, and English studies are taught.” He noted that “female education was much neglected” in the dis¬ trict, but that plans were under way to establish a school for girls. This was done, a schoolmaster named Scarborough conducting it. These two schools were incorporated by the following trustees: Robert Ores well, Elihu Creswell, Daniel White, James W. Cooper, Isaac Smith, James Brannon, Robert W. Young, John W. Farrow, Zachariah McDaniel, Francis H. Porter, Thomas Bomar, John Black, Eber Smith, Augustus Shands. The male academy was named the Word Academy and was pre¬ sided over by the Reverend James Porter. This school was an ex¬ cellent one. The Scarborough School, the Glenn Springs School, and the Spartanburg Female Academy enjoyed successively the in¬ struction for a long time of “Madame Sosnowski and her daughter, of the Polish nobility.” These ladies later founded a famous “Home School for Girls,” in Georgia. Other As communities and churches grew, the number of Academies academies multiplied. Many intensely interesting glimpses of them have been handed down. But records have been lost, and traditions are confusing as to exact names of teachers, locations of schools, or dates of activity. A few of the academies were for both sexes. Some of them had several teachers and large numbers of boarding students. Some of the classical schools for boys only had, clustered about the schoolhouse itself, several small log cabins, each serving as a sort of private sitting room and study for a group of older boys. In such schools as this the master would step to the door of the schoolroom and shout or blow a signal on his cowhom to attract attention. He would then call out “Caesar,” “Cicero,” “Demosthenes,” “Algebra.” Thereupon the students in whatever class was called made for the central building to recite. Some of these academies were very modem in viewpoint, teach¬ ing the principles of common law by organizing moot courts, and holding weekly declamation and debating contests in which all pupils must take their turns. Some of the masters taught what would to¬ day be called pre-medical courses. Woodruff had a flourishing “busi- Reidville Female College In the inset upper right is the modern school plant which replaced it. In the inset upper left is the girls’ dormitory of the Reidville Female College The State School for the Deaf and the Blind Schools and Learning 97 ness school” in the fifties. Without exception, all the schools stressed mathematics and spelling. Public examinations were held, usually in June or July, when the session ended, and large crowds were present. Visiting commit¬ tees of examiners asked questions of the pupils in the presence of admiring yet anxious friends and relatives. The schoolroom was decorated for such an occasion, and often students and guests, led by the teachers, examiners, speakers, and a brass band, formed a procession to it from a nearby church or store. One or two days were devoted to these public examinations; the evenings being given to picnic suppers, addresses, dialogues, concerts. There were, in the years before the war, academies at Gowans- ville, New Prospect, Fort Prince, Fingerville, Vernonsville, Campo- bello, Cedar Spring, Cherokee Springs, Cross Anchor, Glenn Springs, Limestone Springs, Poplar Springs, Hurricane Shoals, Bethel, and elsewhere. In some schools board cost as little as $4 per month, including lights, wood, and washing; and $12 per month was a very high rate of board. Tuition ranged from $5 to $25 per term. Board was higher in the schools for girls, and there were many extras in tuition. The Limestone The Limestone Springs Hotel property was bought Springs Female j n 1345 by t h e Reverend Thomas Curtis, a Baptist High School minister of Charleston, and his son, the Reverend William Curtis of Columbia; and they established the Limestone Springs Female High School, an institution which attracted patron¬ age from many states. While the owners of the school were Baptist clergymen, they stressed the fact that their school was non-sectarian. In their first catalog, the principals wrote: “The State and its neighborhood must contain many who would feel gratified in be¬ holding the Tavern-bar and its company displaced by the piano, guitar, and the accompanying young voices of quite happy groups; the spacious Ball-room converted into a well-filled school-room; the Billiard-room of the lounger or the dissipated, into the Chapel of Divine Worship.” The school opened November 6 , 1845, with a faculty of seven members and an enrollment of sixty-seven pupils. These numbers increased each year, and the high standards of the school were widely recognized. Graduations were held in July and December. The only vacation was in December and January. Board cost $50 per 98 A History of Spartanburg County term, and included washing, fuel, and lights. Tuition in the pri¬ mary department cost $20, and in other departments $25. Tuition in piano, including vocal music, cost $25; guitar lessons, French, drawing and painting, cost $20 each. The enrollment in 1859 was one hundred and fifty-one, and the faculty numbered thirteen. The Curtises were cultured and highly educated Englishmen. Of Dr. Thomas Curtis, James H. Carlisle wrote: ... It was a pleasure to meet here, in a small town of upper Carolina, a man who had known Coleridge, Robert Hall, John Foster, Adam Clarke, William Wilberforce, Richard Watson, and other leading men of their day. . . For several years the rural congregations of our county had the rare privilege of listening to sermons such as city churches would gladly buy at a great price. The quality of instruction offered under the guidance of such men as the Curtises was of the best, so that throughout its long history Limestone Springs High School was the pride of the dis¬ trict. Its carefully guarded young ladies were met by President Curtis at Savannah, Charleston, Columbia, and Union, and escorted to the Limestone Springs Female High School, where they pursued the English and classical studies as well as such “ornamental extras” as painting, embroidering, singing and piano playing. When exami¬ nation time came, these young ladies stood up in public and bravely and creditably answered hard questions; but when the time came for the audience to hear their graduation essays, President Curtis read them, sparing the modesty of the graduates. The School for the In 1849 the Reverend Newton Pinckney Walk- Deaf and the Blind er bought a boarding house at Cedar Spring and opened a school for deaf children. This school began with five pupils, but it filled a genuine need and grew steadily. In 1855 the plan of the school was expanded to care for the blind, and in 1857 the State purchased it and established it as a part of the State educational system, employing the founder as superintendent. Suit¬ able buildings were erected and the school proceeded upon a career of usefulness and honor. Spartans take a just pride in having given the State two outstanding pioneers in philanthropy — the “Father of the Asylum” and the founder of the School for the Deaf and the Blind. Schools and Learning 99 Male and Female The people of the Nazareth congregation, in Schools at Reidville 1857, founded the Reidville Male and Female High Schools, “the former intended to prepare boys for college and life-work, the latter to graduate and confer degrees upon girls.” These schools were chartered, with a board of trustees numbering thirty members, two-thirds of whom should be Presbyterians. Later the number of trustees was reduced to fifteen. The land on which these schools were built was given by James and Anthony Wake¬ field and James N. Gaston. It had on it “Wakefield’s Powder Spring”—one of the many mineral springs of the district. The organization of the Reidville schools was the result of a New Year’s sermon, on the importance of education, preached at Nazareth by the Reverend R. H. Reid in 1857. Doctor Reid was chosen by the incorporators as president of the board of trustees and of the schools; in this joint capacity he served more than forty years, often delegating his offices to others, but retaining the direc¬ tion of the two schools. He had a familiarity with school manage¬ ment, for he had been, during his last year as a student at Columbia Theological Seminary, chaplain of the famed Barhamville School. A small village was laid out and named Reidville, and the two schools were placed, less than two-thirds of a mile apart, at the ends of its main street. On the first day of October, 1857, the cor¬ nerstone of the male high school was laid, with Masonic ceremonies. An elaborate program was followed by a picnic. This school was conducted as a mixed school for two years. In 1859 the other school, which was eventually called Reidville Female College, opened. Public From the year 1811, when an act to establish free schools Education throughout the State was passed by the Assembly, the peo¬ ple of Spartanburg District availed themselves of the public funds. The general opinion in the old days was that it was the responsibility of a parent to educate his children and that free tuition was only for the poor—that for a self-respecting family to have its children attend a free school was discreditable. Most important reasons for not sending children to free schools were that the terms were short, and the recompense did not command the service of good teachers. Public school maintenance increased in Spartanburg. It was no uncommon arrangement for the patrons of a community to send their children during the free term—which often lasted only three 100 A History of Spartanburg County months—and then employ the same teacher to continue teaching a private school for children who could pay tuition. A hot subject for controversy was whether education was a private or a public responsibility. Many felt that churches instead of the public treasury should assume the responsibility of educating the poor. Many objected to any public subsidizing of education. Among those who favored using tax money to support free schools were numbers who objected to a State college. James Jordan was defeated for reelection to the State legislature in 1800 because he had voted in favor of a State college. During the fifties bitter attacks were made on the State College by Joseph Wofford Tucker in letters to the Carolina Spartan signed “Viator.” Equally bitter rejoinders were made by James Farrow, using the signature “Express.” The presentments of the grand juries for this period indicate the state of public opinion. In 1850 one read: We present the free school system as grossly inadequate to the wants and necessities of the county. We recommend some action on the part of the legislature. We recommend an equal division of the free school funds among the free white population of the State. We are of the opinion that the several districts ought to be laid off in suitable beats and schools founded in the several beats. We report the large appropriation to the South Carolina College compared with the meager appropriation for general school purposes as a state grevious (sic) and an impo¬ sition which calls loudly for reform. In 1854 the grand jury urged a poll tax to support public edu¬ cation, and issued a long deliverance on the evils of the public school system as it was actually administered: the bad schools were due to bad patrons who allowed bad teachers to be imposed upon them. The grand jury urged careful placing of schools, selection of able superintendents, examination of teachers, compulsory attendance, and uniform courses of study. Many people ignorantly assume that such ideas were never presented to the attention of the people be¬ fore the Civil War. Singing There was no more popular type of school in the early days Schools t ] lan “ s i n gi n g school,” and Spartan District produced one of the most famous of the old-time singing teachers in “Singing Billy” Walker, who at the age of twenty-six published a book of which eventually more than a half million copies were sold, and Schools and Learning 101 which passed through repeated revisions. There are four distinct editions—the first in 1835, and later ones in 1847, 1849, and 1854. This book, Southern Harmony, contained altogether two hundred and nine songs and hymns, drawn from various sources. The 1835 edition contained twenty-five of Walker’s original contributions, and the edition of 1854 contained forty. Two which had appeared in the edition of 1847 were omitted from the later one. Walker pub¬ lished several other song collections, one called Christian Harmony almost rivalling the more famous Southern Harmony in popularity. Walker wrote, in the preface to his Christian Harmony: We have traveled thousands of miles in the Middle, South¬ ern, and Western States and taught a number of singing schools— all the time consulting the musical taste of the clergy, music teachers, and thousands of others who love the songs of Zion. By the year 1851 Walker had developed a distinct theory of teaching, as is shown by his advice to would-be teachers: We recommend young teachers and those who want to teach, and all others, male or female, who wish to understand the science of music thoroughly, to make Normal Schools of from thirty to one hundred pupils, employ an experienced Professor of Music, who is a master of the science, and have sessions of twenty or fifty days in a regular succession, where you can be taught. Meet early in the morning, say 9 o’clock; stay till 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon. In these schools you not only learn to sing, but how to sing properly. The author having taught many schools in the last fifteen years, and brought out more good teachers than in five times the number of common singing schools, believes therefore that he cannot commend Normal Schools too highly. Other Spartanburg singing masters or music lovers who con¬ tributed to Walker’s books were Andrew Gramling, J. G. Landrum, James Christopher, and William Golightly. Two of the songs lo¬ cally written were entitled “Pacolet” and “Cleveland.” In recent years the growing interest in musical history has led to a renewed recognition of the valuable contribution made by Walker. Walker’s own pride in his achievement is evinced by the fact that he always, in his later years, signed his name William Walker, A. S. H. (Author Southern Harmony). His name was so inscribed on his tombstone. In 1937 the Woman’s Music Club of Spartanburg undertook the restoration of his neglected grave, which is in the Magnolia Street “Village Cemetery.” The quaint tomb- 102 A History of Spartanburg County stone was re-set and was enclosed by an iron railing, which is be¬ lieved to have been made at the Hurricane Shoals Iron Works. Upon the completion of this work of restoration, a memorial service was held at the grave, March 16, 1939, as a part of the program of the annual convention of the music clubs of South Carolina, then in session in Spartanburg. New editions of Southern Harmony, one a replica, have been published in recent years. Music in The curricula of the first “female schools” show Female Schools that much emphasis was placed on music. The first faculty of Limestone Springs Female High School had seven members, two of whom devoted themselves to “Music, Piano, Guitar, Organ, Harp.” Within two years, when the faculty had increased to eleven, there were four who taught only the musical branches. Vocal music every day was required of every student. Only through chance references in old diaries or reminiscences does it become clear that most of the flourishing communities had amateur bands, and that the better academies promoted “literary associations,” “lyceums,” and the like in their territory. The musters and the public exhibitions and examinations had always bands to enliven their exercises. Much vague tradition has come down of the old-time fiddlers and singers. Organs of Public The people throughout the district read the Opinion and Culture Spartan —usually so called, although its name after 1847 or thereabouts was officially the Carolina Spartan. In the pages of this paper appeared much selected matter from other county papers—notably the Greenville Mountaineer, the Cheraw Gazette, the Camden Journal, the Abbeville Banner, the Anderson Gazette, and the Pendleton Messenger. The Spartan culled regularly from the Philadelphia Saturday Courier, Neal’s Saturday Gazette, the Columbia South Carolinian, the Charleston Courier, Evening Mercury, and News. These old-time county weeklies had much the flavor of the present-day digests and served the same end, providing people with interesting matter for thought and discussion. The only instance in the ante-bellum period of an effort to es¬ tablish a local paper outside the courthouse town was the proposed publication of the Carolina Progressionist at Cross Anchor. Ap¬ parently it never progressed beyond its prospectus and first copy, which appeared in September, 1859. What it stood for may be gathered from the editorial notice given it by the Spartan of Sep- Schools and Learning 103 tember 15, in which it was described as “long-expected, well gotten- up, and full of original matter.” The editor of the Spartan was friendly, but he could not resist the dry, caustic comment: “We warn them that their Jordan will be a hard road to travel.” The motto of the new publication ran, “He that will not reason is a bigot; he that dare not reason is a slave; and he that cannot reason is a fool.” The editors were professed believers in phrenology and spiritualism and were outspokenly “free-thinkers,” whose aim was to “unfold to readers the splendid principles of the great Law of Progress” through “Spirit-Intercourse.” They claimed indepen¬ dence and originality, and declared their intention to speak the truth on all things regardless of public opinion. No copy of the Carolina Progressionist is known to be in exist¬ ence. It presents an instance of radical and unconventional think¬ ing in Spartanburg that was exceptional. Possibly the actual hard¬ ships and difficulties which confronted Spartans in their daily lives so entirely engaged their minds as to exclude from their attention metaphysics and philosophy. CHAPTER TEN The Prosperous Fifties Community During the quarter century preceding the War of Development Secession small villages grew up around the mills at Fingerville, Bivingsville, Hurricane Shoals, and Mountain Shoals. Of all these places only Fingerville retains its original name. Biv- _ ingsville is now Glendale; Hurricane Shoals is now Converse; Moun¬ tain Shoals is now Enoree. Crossroads taverns gave their names to several settlements; for example, Cross Anchor is believed to have received its name from a tavern sign. The wide distribution of mineral springs and their influence in determining community centers is evident from the most casual study of the map. Churches often provided names for communities in which they were located; thus Philadelphia Church gave to a community its name—changed in recent years to Pauline. New Prospect owes its name to a church. In some instances leading citizens secured post offices to which they gave fanciful names; New Hope, the home of the Snoddy family, was a stagecoach stop for more than a half century and a post office on the road from Greenville to Spartanburg; Walnut Grove, the home of Captain Andrew Barry, became a post office, and eventually gave its name to the community. Many places took their names from influential families; among them, Hobbysville, Cashville, Pooles- ville, Kilgore, Earlesville, Gowansville. Sometimes a name was chosen because of physical characteristics; for example, Rich Hill, which during the forties and fifties had a considerable reputation because of its fertility and its abnormal freedom from killing frosts during a long growing season. Communications Stagecoach and mail schedules give some concep- and Travel tion of the isolation of these communities, and the difficulties the inhabitants encountered in getting together. Roads were all of dirt, worked intermittently and according to local stand¬ ards of efficiency. Nearly every rain stopped all travel by washing away bridges or making mudholes in the clayey soil, in which car¬ riages and wagons would become hopelessly stuck. Even as late as 1858 Spartanburg had mails to and from Charleston, Augusta, and the North, only three times a week. As late as May 22, 1856, the Columbia mail was held for several days at Glenn Springs be¬ cause of heavy rains for three successive days. In 1853 citizens 104 The Prosperous Fifties 105 began agitating plans for daily mails to and from Columbia; on April 10, 1858, Dr. L. C. Kennedy presided as chairman over a public meeting to move for daily mails to Greenville and Ruther- fordton; finally, July 8, 1858, The Spartan boasted, “At last daily mails from Columbia and Union.” Tri-weekly stages operated between Spartanburg Court House and the “head of Laurens railroad,” by way of Glenn Springs, leav¬ ing Spartanburg at 7:00 a. m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and leaving the head of the road “on the arrival of the cars” on Tues¬ days, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Two hotel keepers, Harvey of Spar¬ tanburg, and Sullivan of Asheville, in 1860 established a tri-weekly stage line between Spartanburg and Asheville, arranging the schedule so as to leave Asheville in time to reach the top of the Gap just at sunrise, to breakfast at “Wash Whitesides, one of the best eating- houses in the West,” and to dine at Rutherfordton. Returning, this order was reversed. These stages were drawn over the old-time dirt roads by two horses, following the route by Hickory Nut Gap, Chimney Rock and Rutherfordton, and requiring the entire day from dawn to sundown for the trip. Stages left Asheville on Mon¬ days, Wednesdays, and Fridays; and Spartanburg on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. People living in neighborhoods out of easy reach of post offices sometimes made up clubs to take turns in going for the mail to the nearest post office. The entire District went wild with the excite¬ ment at the prospect of a railroad, and every community found ex¬ cellent arguments for having a station located within its area. When the route was selected and the decisions of engineers and directors were made known, heart-burnings and resentments inevitably arose, and some disappointed and disgruntled citizens who had pledged support withdrew their subscriptions to stock. The District, as a whole, however, entered with enthusiasm into the selling of railroad bonds and securing of rights of way. Communities not included on the first road at once began making plans for other roads. Agricultural To the farmers the prospect of a railroad was Societies and Fairs a g rea t stimulus. They felt that their climate was not well adapted to the raising of cotton, and they could not advantageously plant grain for shipping without better facilities for its transportation to market. In July, 1853, a call was published for the “reorganization of 106 A History of Spartanburg County the Spartanburg Agricultural and Mechanical Society.” The called- for reorganization was effected, and in 1855 the Society held its first annual fair, Tuesday, September 30, 1856, in the Palmetto House and on the adjacent lots. The exhibits included livestock, farm and industrial products, and fancy work. Among the pro¬ ducts exhibited were home-manufactured buggies, saddles, shoes and boots, corn brooms, “Negro Cloth,” domestic wool blankets, and wrought-iron gates. During the morning an elaborate program was held, the principal address being made by Dr. J. W. Parker of Columbia; and the business was transacted. In the afternoon the judging was done; and in the evening an elaborate supper was en¬ joyed, provided by the ladies. The scope of this first fair is shown by the treasurer’s report: “Men’s department—amount received by initiation fees, $77; amount expenditures for prizes, $58; balance in Men’s department, $19. Ladies’ department—amount received by initiation fees, $7; net proceeds Ladies’ Fair and Supper, $44; by cash subscriptions for supper, $4; amount of expenditures for prizes, $50; balance in Ladies’ department, $5.40.” Each exhibitor paid an initiation fee of $1; or a lady might, if she preferred, make a donation to the supper—for which a charge was made. Officers of the Society were: Simpson Bobo, president; J. W. Miller, O. P. Earle, B. F. Kilgore, A. E. Smith, J. Winsmith, vice-presidents; T. Stobo Farrow, secretary and treasurer; A. T. Cavis, corresponding secretary. On the executive committee were Gabriel Cannon, J. C. Oeland, J. A. Anderson, Jr., T. O. P. Vernon, J. C. Zimmerman, Simpson Bobo, and T. S. Farrow. A second fair was held October 7, 1857, and was characterized by the Express as most creditable. There was a long list of premiums. In the spring of 1858 the Bethel Agricultural Society was formed with Colonel John M. Crook as president and B. F. Kilgore as sec¬ retary. It held its first fair at “Bethel Meeting House, Woodruff’s,” October 16, 1858, and had a large premium list, the awards including many silver cups. This society drew its membership from upper Laurens District and lower Spartanburg. Military A considerable increase of military enthusiasm in the Enthusiasm District may be traced to the effects of a visit made to it by the Washington Light Infantry of Charleston, in April, 1856. This famous company encamped from Saturday to Monday on the campus of St. John’s School—now the campus of Converse College— The Prosperous Fifties 107 and were guests of the town and in turn hosts to the population. They drilled and paraded, and were entertained in the evening by the citizens at the Palmetto House. On Monday morning they continued their spectacular march to the Cowpens battleground, and there, in the presence of a throng of spectators from the surround¬ ing country, they erected a monument. The ceremonies and speeches made a great impression throughout the District. Inspired by this example, the Spartans, within a month, organ¬ ized the Morgan Rifles. Later this company was presented with a flag of heavy crimson silk, measuring thirty-three by forty-two inches, and mounted on a staff made from a stout young hickory cut from the Cowpens battleground. This flag had on one side “a prettily executed painting in oil, representing one of General Mor¬ gan’s Riflemen in the act of rescuing a helpless mother and child from the ruthless attack of an Indian.” On the obverse was a pal¬ metto tree, scrolled above the branches of which were the words: “Presented to the Morgan Rifles by the Ladies of Spartanburg Court House, January 17, 1858.” Under the tree was the legend, “Ubique patriam reminisci” Elaborate ceremonies, which included a parade, a banquet, and many speeches and toasts, accompanied this presentation. Other companies were organized or revived throughout the District; military balls and dinners and tournaments were arranged ; patriotic anniversaries were celebrated with enthusiasm. The col¬ onels’ musters were well attended. The crowd at Bomar’s Old Field, July 4, 1858, consumed 1,700 pounds of barbecued meat. Varied Besides local undertakings, Spartans interested them- Activities se l V es in various matters during the decade preceding secession. They organized a Mount Vernon Association, of which J. H. Evins was secretary, and a Ladies’ Mount Vernon Memorial Association, of which Mrs. Martha Wofford was president; and through these organizations funds were raised throughout the Dis¬ trict to aid in the purchase of Mount Vernon. They raised more than their quota toward the completion of the Washington Monu¬ ment. They gave liberally for the Charleston yellow fever sufferers. The “Western Migration” is repeatedly mentioned in reminis¬ cences of the years 1845-1860. The white population of Spartan¬ burg District in 1840 was 17,980 and in 1850 it was only 18,358. The departure at one time of forty members of the Bethlehem Bap- 108 A History of Spartanburg County tist Church, with their families, presents a striking example of what this migration meant. These people gathered in the old church for a farewell service, and when the service was concluded they remained in their seats, weeping and sobbing. From Wood In the years preceding the War of Secession the little to Brick shabby town of Spartanburg became beauty-con¬ scious ; its wooden stores were torn down and replaced with brick ones—several of them with imitation brownstone or iron fronts. Rows of chinaberry trees were planted about the square and along some of the principal thoroughfares; new streets were opened, and sidewalks were laid; curbings were placed about the square and along some of the streets, and some streets were paved with brick. The merchants displayed all of the latest and most fashionable goods—hoops, bonnets, leghorn straws, mantillas. Book stores and drug stores were established. There were saddlers, upholsterers, leather manufacturers, carriage and wagon makers, as well as min¬ isters, doctors, and lawyers. New families were constantly moving in, so as to more than replace those lost by the heavy Westward migration. In 1853 the courthouse village claimed 1,800 population, and had four churches, five schools, nine lawyers, six doctors of medicine, two hotels, and eighteen stores. Elegant An idea of the homes built by prosperous Spartans in Homes this p er i 0( i may be formed from the descriptions in cur¬ rent advertisements. In 1853 T. B. Collins advertised for sale a house on Main Street with an eleven-acre tract of land. The di¬ mensions of the house were 50x90 feet, and it contained fifteen separate apartments, with seven chimneys, and ten fireplaces. It had, besides, a good detached kitchen, a good well, two springs on the place, and what Mr. Collins described as “the ordinary out¬ buildings.” This Collins was the Presbyterian elder referred to by Major Kirby as his Sunday School teacher. Having moved to town to educate his children, he now desired to retire to his plan¬ tation. A “beautiful brick Gothic Cottage,” built about 1850, on Church Street, “two hundred yards from Main Street, three hundred yards from the Courthouse” (which at that time faced the Square at the eastern corner of Magnolia Street), was described in an adver¬ tisement offering it for sale as containing four rooms 18x20, and four bedrooms, smaller but of good size. The main house was The: Prosperous Fifties 109 connected by a veranda with a good brick kitchen. On the grounds were a “smoke-house,” a “negro-house,” a stable for four horses, with a harness room, a carriage house, and a large loft. On the lot—which had an area of one acre—were a fine well, a fine flower garden in front, and a vegetable garden in the rear. In 1858 J. Wofford Tucker, “desiring to remove to the West,” offered for sale a residence “in a delightful neighborhood midway between Wofford and the Female College,” on a lot containing two and a half acres, and bordered on three sides by streets sixty feet wide. The house was of brick, and contained six rooms besides three basement rooms, and had front and rear porticos above and below. A brick building with three rooms, designed for kitchen and servants, stood in the rear; and also stables, a horse lot, a good well, and a garden. This house, much altered, stands today. Along Main Street and on Church Street today several of Spar¬ tanburg’s spacious ante-bellum homes still stand to exemplify the tastes and standards of ante-bellum Spartanburg. Gardening Ornamental gardening became so well established in the fifties that a professional gardener, Lewis Bosse, took up his abode in Spartanburg. He laid off and planted the grounds of homes along Main and Church Streets. Bosse contributed to the local press, during the late fifties, a series of articles on gardening and floriculture. Magnolia — originally Rutherford Street — is said to have been so named because of a handsome magnolia tree in front of the home of Simpson Bobo, where the courthouse now stands. Bosse may have planted this tree. Magnolia, in 1860, was the leading residential street. New Churches July 23, 1850, the Episcopalians laid the cornerstone of Stone 0 f the Church of the Advent, using brick. Bishop C. E. Gadsden presided over the ceremonies and the Reverend A. H. Cornish, rector of St. Paul’s at Pendleton, made the address. In 1853 this building was described as rapidly nearing completion, but it was not actually finished until during the war, when the Reverend J. D. McCollough had the brick removed and a granite structure erected. It was the nave of the present Church of the Ad¬ vent, which, from the start, has been one of the loveliest buildings in Spartanburg. The Methodists in 1853 replaced the modest little frame structure in which they had worshipped with one of brick, large for the period, its dimensions being 60x44. It had what was 110 A History of Spartanburg County then a new-fangled feature, a basement for Sunday School use. The Baptists, who were numerically far the strongest denomination in the town, found their church incapable of accommodating the throngs who flocked to hear the Reverend J. G. Landrum, and they also built a new church, which was dedicated the fifth Sunday in August, 1856. The Reverend Dr. Thomas Curtis preached the sermon, and the Reverend Richard Furman and the Reverend J. G. Landrum participated in the service. This church occupied a lot on the corner of North Church and Wofford Streets. It was of brick and had a slender steeple of great beauty. The old Baptist Church was sold to the Odd Fellows for use as a school. The Presbyterians had built in 1845 a brick church, which stood in an oak grove on East Main Street about midway between Liberty and Converse Streets. These were the churches of Spartanburg thirty years after its incorporation. A New In 1856 a new courthouse was begun, on the site of Courthouse the one> w hich was demolished in three weeks, beginning May 12. Efforts were made to secure the preservation of the old one as a town hall, but in vain. The contract for this third courthouse was awarded by the commissioners to Maxwell and Bost, for $13,000 and the old building. Most present-day Spartans are familiar with the appearance of this courthouse, as shown in the picture of “The Square in 1884.” The building was of brick with a brick colonnade in front, the pillars coated with white plaster. The offices were on the ground floor, and the second floor was oc¬ cupied by the court room and jury rooms. Wide stone steps with curving iron railing led from the street to each side of the upper floor. Elaborate ceremonies marked the laying of the cornerstone, July 4, 1856. Many fraternal organizations and hundreds of citizens participated. The orator of the day was the Honorable T. O. P. Vernon, and he set forth the most extreme secessionist views, as¬ serting that cotton was the nation’s greatest asset, that it could not be produced without slave labor, and that a stoppage of cotton ship¬ ments would bring the whole country to financial collapse. Major J. E. Bomar led the Masonic orders in sealing the cornerstone. In it were placed a census of the District, lists of office holders, political and civic and fraternal, copies of local publications —The Carolina Spartan, The Spartan Express, and The Literary Star —and the silver plate taken from the old courthouse. This third courthouse The Prosperous Fifties 111 was completed and occupied September 3, 1857. The venerated Judge J. B. O’Neall was the first to dispense justice in it—a fit¬ ting honor to him and to the District. Additions to The town council, possibly stimulated by the example the Square 0< f t h e Strict, bestirred itself and erected “a neat brick building” over the public well in the center of the square, and in 1858 added to it a cupola for the nine o’clock bell. A facetious letter to the Spartan, signed “Jonnidab,” remonstrated with the coun¬ cil for “hanging a nigger bell right over the public well in the middle of the town, right spang in the center of this romun metropolis.” The Palmetto House, built by Junius Thomson in 1850, was claimed to be the most elegant hotel in the State outside the Charles¬ ton Hotel. It was sold at public outcry August 11, 1853, for $17,400 —much less than its original cost. The purchasers were Alfred Tolleson, Wm. H. Trimmier, A. H. Kirby, and H. C. Poole. It contributed a large share to the “Roman” appearance of the little Up Country metropolis, and was the scene of many historic feastings and gatherings. Wofford The bequest of $100,000 by Benjamin Wofford, a Method- College p reac her of Spartanburg, “to found a college in my native district,” and the establishment of the college in Spartanburg, was by far the most important event in the cultural development of the town and district. This gift was at the time the largest ever made for the cause of education in the South, and it insured the founding of an institution of learning on a stable basis and with high standards. The citizens of Spartanburg gave the land for the campus, and the Fourth of July, 1851, was made memorable in the history of the town by the ceremonies connected with the laying of the cornerstone of Wofford College. Major Hosea Dean presented to the committee a specially pre¬ pared stone taken from his own quarries, near town. The proces¬ sion, which formed on the square to march to the scene of the cornerstone-laying, was a half-mile long, and had in it town officials, public men, civic and fraternal organizations, and private citizens, besides those church dignitaries and Masonic officers who had more immediate responsibility for the program. The principal address was made by the Reverend William M. Wightman, D.D., who was to be the first president. Worshipful Master William B. Seay laid the stone and sealed into it a leaden box containing the mementos 112 A History of Spartanburg County regarded as appropriate to the occasion. Major G. W. H. Legg, intendant of the town, was marshal of the day, and was assisted by A. G. Campbell, H. S. Poole, and “Singing Billy” Walker. The stately hall, with its unusual twin towers, was to rise rapidly and serve as one of the most cherished landmarks in the district. H. H. Thomson, one of the town’s leading citizens and largest land¬ holders, was chairman of the building committee. Today, on a spot immediately in front of the college, a simple stone marks the spot where lie the mortal remains of Benjamin Wofford and his wife. On it is the famed and suitable inscription, “Si monwnentum requiris, circumspice,” with the names and dates of birth and death of the founder and his wife. Wofford College was chartered in 1851 and opened its doors for the first session August 1, 1854. President Wightman delivered the first baccalaureate sermon in the chapel, Sunday morning, July 15, 1858, the churches of the town suspending their usual services in honor of the occasion. At night, on the same day, the Reverend J. W. Cross, D.D., preached the commencement sermon of the Female College, in the Methodist Church. Female The Spartanburg Female College was the sister of Wof- College ford; because agitation for its establishment was begun immediately upon the announcement of Wofford’s bequest. A com¬ mittee of the Methodist Conference of South Carolina recommended the establishment of a female college in Spartanburg, and the local paper burst forth: “Huzza for the Iron District;” but opposition developed, and the best Spartanburg could do was to undertake locally the erection of such an institution and depend on the support of the conference. Camden was an active contestant for the loca¬ tion of the college. One of the interesting arguments advanced by Spartans for their city was that in Camden board cost $192 a year, while just as good board could be provided in Spartanburg for $90 per year. Subscriptions were raised, land was donated, and a spa¬ cious campus was secured. The tract now forms part of the Spartan Mill village, and the only one of the buildings yet standing is used as a community center for the mill population. The Female College began with bright prospects, its construc¬ tion proceeding at the same time as that of Wofford. The street connecting the two institutions was improved and named College Street—a name which to this day serves as a reminder of a Wofford College The Baptist Church of the Fifties The Prosperous Fifties 113 chapter in the educational history of the town. J. Wofford Tucker was the first president of the Spartanburg Female College, having been for a number of years a lawyer and associate editor of the Spartan, and a representative of the District in the State Legislature. With him were associated the Reverend Charles Taylor and Miss Phoebe Paine, who came back to Spartanburg on the invitation of the trustees of the Female College. The college was never financially successful, and suffered from many changes of teachers. Tucker removed to St. Louis, and was succeeded by the Reverend Charles Taylor, who resigned the next year, and was succeeded by Reverend Joseph Cross, D.D. Professor William K. Blake accepted the pres¬ idency in 1859, coming to Spartanburg from a successful career as president of Fayetteville Seminary. He conducted the college with success until war conditions forced its temporary closing during 1863. Other Meanwhile the Spartanburg Female Seminary and the Schools Male Academy prospered. Several other schools flour¬ ished in the fifties. The Odd Fellows conducted a school for some years, and then sold or leased their building for a “select school for young ladies.” J. Forrest Gowan, a native son, who wrote poetry and fiction, was also a teacher, and advertised “classes on Friday evenings at seven o’clock for Young Gentlemen, in Elocu¬ tion, Composition, and Penmanship; and on Monday afternoons at two o’clock for Juveniles.” The Episcopalians of the vicinity manifested great vitality and educational enterprise during this period. In 1853 two of their clergymen, the Reverends John D. McCollough and T. S. Arthur, bought some property at Glenn Springs for the purpose of estab¬ lishing an Episcopal Female College. Apparently they abandoned this plan, for the next year the Reverend J. D. McCollough bought a tract of land in Spartanburg and erected on it what he called St. John’s College. This he sold to T. S. Arthur for $5,200. Arthur and William Irwin operated it for some time at a loss. Then Arthur sold his interest to Irwin, who had been in charge of the Male Academy, and he transformed the institution into a classical, scien¬ tific, and military academy, under the name “St. John’s High School.” It occupied the present site of Converse College, and operated successfully until 1862, when it was closed, and Irwin joined the Confederate Army. Spartans boasted of the beauty of the school’s grounds, the city-like air of its plant, the home-like 114 A History of Spartanburg County tone of its life, and the excellent ratings its graduates received at the South Carolina College. The Spartanburg In the spring of 1854 the Spartan found itself Express with a contemporary, the Spartanburg Express, with the mottoes, “For the Encouragement of the True, the Useful, and the Beautiful,” and “I was born free as Caesar; so were you; Shakespeare.” The new journal was published every Thursday, as was the Spartan; and both devoted themselves to the advertisement of the town and district. The Express presented many interesting articles on national affairs, and was especially remarkable for the care with which it reviewed Southern magazines and books. Working on As early as 1849 it was clear that railroads were the Railroad feasible, and a charter was secured for the Spartan- burg-Union Railroad. Meetings were held, companies formed, and stock subscribed for the construction of plank roads, as well as for railroads. Politicians declaimed, editors expounded and business men organized; but not until November, 1859, did a train pull into Spartanburg. The ten years that elapsed between the first agitation for a rail¬ road to Spartanburg and its successful culmination were filled with struggle and clashes of opinion. In June, 1853, the editor of the Spartan deplored the “sleepy condition on the subject of Plank Road improvements” that existed locally and pointed out the danger that Spartanburg might lose the Rutherford trade if she did not compete against a plan on foot to build a plank road from Cleveland, N. C., to Yorkville. Spartanburg had nearly 1,000 population, but was so inactive that Laurens was about to enter into a movement to extend her railroads to Mills Gap and thereby get the trade which should be Spartanburg’s. The editor warned Spartans that they might be left dependent for their transportation on teamsters who would still haul Spartanburg products to market and sleep by the roadside, while more alert towns enjoyed the services of iron horses and steel rails. Several stock companies were projected for the building of plank roads. The Spartan dwelt on the importance of developing at once a plank road to Hendersonville to connect with the proposed railroad from Union. While Hendersonville was distant forty-five miles from Spartanburg and only forty from Green¬ ville, yet Spartanburg was fifty miles nearer Charleston than Green¬ ville. Moreover, the road between Spartanburg and Hendersonville The Prosperous Fifties 115 was a better graded one than that between Greenville and Hender¬ sonville. The people of Spartanburg were much concerned with making it possible to import more economically through Charleston; but the Spartan editor contended that it was even more important that they should plan to build up an export trade. The rich mineral re¬ sources of the Piedmont ought to be manufactured and sent over the world from the port city of Charleston. The railroads should be extended through Tennessee to bring in coal. Spartan manufac¬ turers, through wasteful mismanagement, he declared, had almost exhausted their forests. The “Old Iron District” would soon have to import fuel for smelting ore; Tennessee could supply it. The Spartanburg Express, in 1857, boasted that its editor, John H. Evins, was in Columbia watching out for the interests of the proposed Spartanburg and Union Railroad. Many difficulties attended the building of the Spartanburg-Union Railroad. The selection of the route was not made without arousing bitter feelings among the residents of sections which could not be included. The road cost more than was expected; and even after construction was well along, the directors were pleading with the public to subscribe for additional stock to the amount of $50,000 to insure its completion. The Asheville, N. C., News advocated a railway between Asheville and Spartanburg to connect with the Spartanburg-Union road, and urged Spartans to see to it that the road under construction be well built. The News remarked that nearly every rain “washed out” the Greenville-Columbia road at some points. It frequently happened that a day would pass when the mails were not brought through, because every available train had to be used to haul rails and cross ties. In anticipation of ultimate benefits, the public was willing to exercise patience on those occasions when the railroad authorities published a card stating that the public must expect the passenger train from Columbia to Union to run as much as three hours late “because of necessary hauling of construction materials.” The Railroad Eventually the road' neared completion, and it was Barbecue possible to set a date for welcoming the first train into Spartanburg. Committees which included all of the outstand¬ ing citizens of the district were appointed—one on general arrange- 116 A History of Spartanburg County merits, one for subscriptions and provisions, and one on invitations. A “Railroad Barbecue,” to be held November 25, 1859, was planned. Papers in Spartanburg, Union, Rutherfordton, Asheville, and Hen- dersonvile were requested to publish a general invitation. The edi¬ tor of the Carolina Spartan wrote: “We want a rousification— a big-gun affair, and you must help with the explosion.” The appointed day was pleasant, and the festival brought to little Spartanburg, then a village of about twelve hundred population, throngs estimated at from eight to fifteen thousand. They arrived in every sort of vehicle over all roads—from North Carolina and Tennessee, from Columbia and Charleston. Plans had been based on the anticipated arrival of the train at eleven o’clock. It arrived at one, the delay having been occasioned by the necessity for making a second section. It brought the speak¬ ers and dignitaries, and a band from Unionville. Alongside the railroad station, in long trenches, eight thousand pounds of meat had been barbecued. There were speeches, greetings, congratula¬ tions, admonitions: Spartanburg was no longer isolated; she must, therefore, open up her mines, invite in new enterprises. She was already in the lead in the State in educational institutions, mines, mineral springs, and water power, which were now for the first time made easily accessible. All the speakers agreed that she must now develop these valuable resources. The Railroad As soon as the Spartanburg-Union Railroad was Convention completed—in fact, on November 26, 1859, the day following its opening—Spartanburg was the scene of a “Railroad Convention” attended by directors of three roads; the Cincinnati, Cumberland Gap, and Charleston Railroad; the Greenville (Tenn.) and French Broad Railroad; and the Spartanburg-Union Railroad. The object in view was to consolidate the three companies. This step was of vital importance in the development of Spartanburg. To the rank and file of citizens, the daily departure at 4 a. m. of a train bound for Columbia, the patronage in summer of boarders from the Low Country, and the possibility of freighting cotton and machinery by rail instead of laboriously hauling them to or from market, these benefits were enough. But to the builders of Spartan¬ burg this first railroad was but a step in the transformation of their town into a great center. CHAPTER ELEVEN Social Life in the Old Days Spartan Rigor The name Spartan was well chosen for a region and Compensation where the earliest social centers were block¬ houses and forts. Pushing toward the Cherokee frontier as they did, the first settlers paid the penalty of their daring by having to live for nearly a score of years under the menace of Cherokee ven¬ geance. Tradition says they devised signals and, when Indians were reported to be on the warpath, bells were rung or cow-horns blown, and the settlers, driving their household animals before them, made for. the forts. Sometimes a scalped woman was brought in and nursed to recovery. Sometimes part of a family would arrive in anguish, having seen their dearest ones scalped or dragged away into captivity. At such times the men organized expeditions into the Indian country to attempt recapture or reprisal, leaving their women and children at some fort. Yet, even in such circumstances, life was not without its joys. Courtships went along famously. Broken hearts found balm. For example, the widow of John Miller, killed by Indians, was a refugee for a time at Fort Prince, and married James Jordan, the com¬ missary in charge. He bought an ivory comb and some sugar and rice for her on one of his trading trips. There is a story that a daughter of the Bishop family got back home after seven years of captivity among the Indians, and that she reared a large family. Tradition runs that while the men of Nazareth neighborhood were at Cowpens, their womenfolk were gathered at the Steadman home waiting for Kate Barry to bring them news, and that they made the occasion into a quilting party. Work Quilting parties and cotton-pickings were frequent social Frolics diversions of pioneer women, in the days before Eli Whit¬ ney’s gin had relieved them of the drudgery of picking the seed out of the cotton by hand. Especially pleasant were those quilting parties designed to honor prospective or actual brides. Sometimes log-rollings were combined with quilting parties. A farmer desiring new land cleared, prepared in advance for the occasion by topping the trees in a selected tract and piling the tops in heaps. The neighbors invited to help divided themselves into gangs. The first gang proceeded to fell the trees. The choppers followed, whacking off the limbs, cutting the logs into convenient lengths, and placing them in piles. The next gang added the limbs 117 118 A History of Spartanburg County to the piles of dried tops already on the spot. Other gangs followed, arranging the logs on the heaped-up piles of brush. Finally each pile was set on fire and burnt to ashes. Care had to be taken that the sparks did not fly too far, and that the fires were put entirely out before the party broke up. A log-rolling at its best was com¬ bined with a house-raising. Then the choice logs were reserved and used in the construction of a new house. In the earliest days, the logs were left round and notched to fit, clay being used to chink the crevices. Corn-shuckings were jolly occasions. They occurred in the fall, and, as a rule, were free of any commercialism. The farmer issued a general invitation for such a festivity, and his neighbors came, bringing slaves and families. The housewives sometimes brought along special preserves or cakes for which they were fa¬ mous, and all the women busied themselves with their quilting or cotton-carding, or with preparing the feast which was to crown the men’s labors. The best was none too good for such an occasion. Loaded tables were spread on porches and in the yards as well as in the dining room. Often a jug of liquor was buried in the center of each pile of corn and could be passed from hand to hand only when the last ear was shucked. Usually a song-leader mounted the pile of corn and kept the shuckers busy, hand and tongue. Various quaint customs grew up in connection with corn-shuckings. On some plantations, when the last ear of corn had been tossed on the pile, the master of the plantation must run from the place and all the men must chase him. When he was caught, he was placed on the shoulders of two men and carried around and around the house, followed by the whole crowd, laughing and singing and having a good time. Then he was carried into his house. His hat was pulled off and thrown into the fire, for he must not try to raise a second crop under an old hat. Then his hair was combed, his knees crossed, and he must sit in state until all had “washed up” and were ready to eat. No sooner was the feast ended than the tables were put out of the way, fiddlers tuned up, and dancing, games, or singing began. Ante-Bellum As times grew more settled, saw-mills were set up, Houses and time an( j labor were available for house build¬ ing. Then log cabins were replaced by sturdy—and sometimes even stately—framed houses built of hewn logs, of sawed hardwood or heart pine, and hand-dressed lumber. Houses were usually weather- Social Life in the Old Days 119 boarded. Before 1800, bricks were being made on some plantations and brick chimneys were being put up, or brick was combined with stone. Plaster was early made of the white sand and clay found in many parts of the county. So far as is known, few stone houses were built in early times in what is now Spartanburg County, al¬ though there were some in Cherokee, Union, and Oconee counties. Log houses of the type built by the pioneers continued to be the typical dwellings of Negroes and very poor white people, even into the eighties. How cheaply such a house could be built was set forth by Hammond, who estimated that the cost for work and material varied throughout the State, according to locality, from $30 to $50. This estimate was made for a log cabin twenty feet square, with a wooden floor a foot or more above the ground, ten feet between joints, plastered outside with clay and ceiled inside with pine boards, with a chimney and board roof. A house like this “furnished com¬ plete protection against the vicissitudes of the seasons.” Many of the oldest dwellings, built of hewn logs, stand to this day—remodeled and enlarged. Owners of such homes delight to show visitors the sturdy workmanship of their ancestors—the hand- dressed timbers and wooden pins and pegs. Whether in town or country, and whether simple or stately, ante-bellum homes followed a somewhat definite pattern. They were spacious and were sur¬ rounded by extensive grounds. The “big house” was the dwelling of the owner, and about it were grouped other buildings necessary to the operation of the place. Usually an avenue, often curved, and planted on each side with trees, led from the “big road” to the “big house.” These terms were universally used in rural areas. The distance between house and road was sometimes considerable, and the avenue wound through a beautiful grove. If the distance from road to house was short, a “walk” led to the front door, and it was usually bordered with box-wood hedges or flowers. Some¬ times there was, in front of the house, a formal flower garden. More usually the flower garden was fenced in, and located on one side of the house. Grass lawns were exceptional, the walks and space beneath the trees being bare ground. Behind the big house was always an extensive back yard, in which stood a wood house, a wash-place, a smoke-house, and one or two cabins. A planter, doctor, or lawyer always had an office— a small building containing one or two rooms, set at some convenient spot near the house. There was always a stable with its lot. People 120 A History of Spartanburg County of moderate means combined carriage-house, stable, and barn in one building; but the well-to-do had each separate, and of a size proportionate to their needs. It was possible in a few households to offer a guest his choice of a dozen or more blooded saddle horses. On farms and big plantations the cabins of the slaves were built near each other, their community being known as the “Quarter”— and sometimes the “Quarters.” On the more prosperous plantations the slave quarter was as picturesque as the village attached to an English manor, each cabin having its flower beds and vegetable “patches,” and maybe a cow or goat. School From the pioneer days until the present, schools fur- Festivities n ished neighborhood entertainment. Spelling-bees, clos¬ ing exhibitions, picnics, public examinations, May-day exercises, com¬ mencements, concerts, tableaux, and pantomimes — from miles in every direction people flocked to attend them. May-day parties were elaborate in some of the female schools—with mythological pageantry, music, stilted speeches, and elegant refreshments. Commencements brought throngs of visitors to all the college and academy communities. In July 1858, the town of Spartanburg was so over-run with visitors for the Spartanburg Female College commencement that a local editor protested that the congestion re¬ minded him of New York. At the Palmetto House more than fifty ladies were guests, and no telling—according to the newspaper—how many men. All private homes were filled, and carriages and other vehicles crowded each other on the roads. These visitors came to hear eighteen young ladies read compositions on such subjects as “The Wanderer’s Dream,” “Life As It Appears to the Young,” and “The Toilet.” There was, as always, a concert in the evening, fol¬ lowed by a “handsome collation.” The commencement at Wofford, ten days later, gave the audience sterner stuff. The salutatorian addressed them in Latin. President Wightman delivered the diplomas, with a Latin address by way of preface. The eleven young men spoke on such subjects as “Con¬ science,” “If the Sons of Priam Slumber, Troy Must Fall,” “Conse¬ quences of Marathon,” “Crusades,” “Progress of Opinion,” “The Paths of Glory Lead But to the Grave,” “The Bible, a Crystal Palace For All Nations,” “Our Obligations to Our Predecessors and Debt to Posterity,” “Remember That Brave Resolution,” “Distinctions of Authorship.” The address of the valedictorian, said the Spartan’s Social Life in thf Old Days 121 reporter, brought from the audience tears “in pearly strings.” The Spartan’s representative did not attend the commencement party, because he was “not fortunate enough to get a ticket except under circumstances rendering its use incompatible with self-respect.” Military The militia system provided for the men a social life Ce j e ^* at, ° ns their own. All men between the ages of eighteen and torty-hve were liable for militia duty and were required to equip themselves and muster four times a year in companies, and once a year in battalion and regimental musters. •In periods of peace these organizations became farcical, being held together chiefly by men of political aspirations who found them con¬ venient machines. But the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and again the shadow of the approaching Civil War gave them added im¬ portance. The sites of many of the old muster grounds are yet pointed out in the older communities. Musters sometimes became demoralizing because of the drinking, horse racing, gander-pullings, wrestling bouts, and so on, which fol¬ lowed those formal parades which served only as excuses for the gatherings. Barbecued meat and barrels of free liquor were often provided by the candidates for office, who made speeches and built up their political fences at the musters. “Gingerbread wagons” were always at hand, with other refreshments besides gingerbread. A Spartanburg citizen wrote a spirited letter to the Spartan, September 22, 1853, demanding a reform of the militia system because of the shameful conditions attendant on musters, which he charac¬ terized as farces; not even the officers knew the manoeuvers and evolutions; brawling, drunkenness, card playing, horse racing, made the musters demoralizing; and they were money-wasting. Not always was attendance at musters confined to the men. Often, especially at the closing day of regimental or battalion mus¬ ters, ladies were guests, and there were tournaments, accompanied by the crowning of a queen of love and beauty, and followed by a ball in honor of her and her court. After the militia system was stopped during Reconstruction, tournaments continued to enjoy popularity. For a half-century before the outbreak of the Civil War, an “Old Artillery Company,” under Captain James Brannon, who served in the War of 1812, paraded at Timmons Old Field. Cap¬ tain John H. Montgomery was, as a young man, its orderly ser- 122 A History of Spartanburg County geant. The old Glenn Springs Cavalry Troop was famous for its dashing appearance and for the distinguished companies that at¬ tended its parades, picnics, and tournaments—neighboring troops, generals, brass bands, governors, and fair ladies. Horses in Some of the early settlers from Virginia and Penn- Old Times sylvania brought along with them famous “horse¬ flesh.” The type of man who today flies his own plane had his prototype in the horse-racing enthusiast. The Moores had a track on their plantation, Fredonia. There was also a “path” on the Vernon place near Wellford. The names of Sims, Gist, Beaty, Lip¬ scomb, and Gaffney are especially connected with fancy breeding and racing. Enthusiasts flocked to the Limestone Springs Course, near Gaffney’s, where Wyatt Lipscomb’s two famous stallions, Monarch and Thicketty, proved themselves, according to a newspaper account of 1857, “the cracks of our up-country.” At a race in November, 1857, Thicketty won over Traveler a purse of $3,400. The races at Gaffney’s course and on Sims’ path were famous throughout the fifties. Both of these tracks were in Union and Cherokee bounds, but drew a large following from Spartanburg. Wade Hampton raced horses on the Jockey Club turf in Charleston, which were trained by Spartan District jockeys. A typical well-to-do Spartan family on its way to church, in the fifties, made a pretty pageant. A stately, high-swung carriage, with its black driver, a small darkey on the “dickey seat,” and its let¬ down steps, drawn by a handsome pair of matched horses, conveyed the elders and the youngest children. Possibly a buggy or two, or a rockaway or a phaeton, provided for others, older or more careful of their clothes. Some of the girls and all of the young men were likely to go horse-back. Far in advance of the cavalcade would be a wagon filled with colored worshipers, who were to sit in the gal¬ lery and share with their masters in the worship. From a big plan¬ tation, another wagon usually went, filled with provisions for dinner on the grounds. People of moderate means packed baskets of food into the vehicles in which they rode. Plain people clung to primi¬ tive customs, and walked or rode horse-back, often a wife on a pillion behind her husband, maybe with one or two children tucked in somehow. Similar processions filled the roads on muster days or occasions of civic celebration—especially the Fourth of July. Gathering* Sunday School Conventions, Temperance Conventions, Social Life in the Old Days 123 Bible Society Conventions, annual target practices were occasions for parades and pageantry, speeches, brass bands, and sumptuous eating and drinking. The circus was a great annual event. On May 15, 1858, “in the beautiful grounds of St. John’s Classical and Military School,” the Morgan Rifles held a target practice. General States Rights Gist presented as first prize a silver medal. Major Govan Mills, whose plantation included that section of the city of Spartanburg known today as Converse Heights, presented as second prize a silver medal. The third prize, three ostrich plumes, was a gift of Captain G. W. H. Legg. The ladies present spread a “boun¬ tiful repast.” This was on the part of Converse College campus known as “The Forest of Arden.” Mineral Limestone Springs was a small Saratoga for several Springs years. But its inaccessibility was a fatal handicap to the hotel; it did not draw a sufficiently large patronage to justify the investment, and went into bankruptcy. Glenn Springs, on the other hand, grew steadily in fame as a mineral spring. It had a well patronized boarding house as early as 1816; and a company was incorporated to promote it in 1836. Whether because its waters were better, or it was more accessible, or because its equipment was less expensive, the Glenn Springs company enjoyed a steady prosperity, and in the fifties it was the scene of political and social gatherings of genuine brilliance. From all over South Carolina, and from other States also, its guests came— statesmen, politicians, match-making mamas, aspiring beaux, horse- traders, literati. All types thronged the place from the thirties till the outbreak of the Civil War, which for some years threw it into eclipse. Several springs of mineral waters, dancing, excellent food, fireworks, croquet, whist, drives to nearby gold mines and points of Revolutionary interest, afforded the guests plenty to do. Hotels and cabins were built at a number of other springs, which enjoyed in their day good patronage. All of them were reached by stagecoach or by “hacks” from Clinton, Spartanburg, Pacolet Depot, or Union. Spartanburg had two hotels which advertised for sum¬ mer boarders and offered hack excursions to any of the springs. Limestone and Glenn’s were both lively and gay; but Cherokee and Pacolet Springs, and the Chalybeate Springs at Campobello, besides several smaller resorts, offered no dancing or amusements, and only plain fare. They invited especially the patronage of invalids and families. All of these springs brought Spartans valuable contacts with a larger world than their own. CHAPTER TWELVE Secession and War Years Resources The outbreak of war came at a most opportune time for For War Spartanburg District; the Spartanburg-Union Railroad had just been put into operation, and this fact made possible Spartan¬ burg’s development as one of the important producing and distributing points for the Carolinas and Georgia throughout the conflict. With¬ out this means of communication and transportation the wealth of natural resources and products could not have been made available to the extent they were; nor without this means of marketing their out¬ put would farmers and manufacturers have felt encouragement to plant and develop their lands and to build and operate their mills. The excellent reputation of the schools and colleges was an important factor in bringing new residents, and in securing for these institutions throughout the war a full attendance. The demand for implements of war, food stuffs, and clothing stimulated every mill and manufac¬ turing plant in the District. The hotels at the mineral springs offered attractive refuge for many whose homes were in the vicinity of war activities. According to the 1860 census the District had a population of 26,919. Of these 18,679 were whites and 8,240 were colored. Of the Negroes, fewer than one hundred were free. There were in the District 3,386 families, and the real estate valuation amounted to more than six million dollars, and the personal property to more than ten million. The hotels at Cedar, Glenn, Limestone, and Cherokee Springs advertised in the Columbia and Charleston papers and enjoyed a considerable vogue. The District contained 34 Baptist churches, valued at $44,100, and accommodating 19,250 attendants; 22 Metho¬ dist churches, valued at $18,750, and accommodating 7,025; 3 Pres- terian churches, valued at $10,500, and accommodating 1,600; and 2 Episcopalian churches, valued at $4,000, with accommodations for 550. The schools at Reidville and Limestone Springs, not yet offi¬ cially called colleges, were well patronized, as were Wofford College and the Spartanburg Female College, and the several academies scat¬ tered over the District. Numerous corn and flour mills were in opera¬ tion, and their number increased rapidly under the war demands for flour, meal, and grits. There were at least ten cotton and wool mills, some quite small. 124 Secession and War Years 125 Vigilance Societies, During the fall of 1859, and the year following, Minute Men, military organizations were being formed and were drilling; and, throughout the District, lib¬ erty poles and flags were being raised with patriotic ceremonies. The Wofford College students, February 22, 1860, organized the “South¬ ern Guards.” Sentiment in Spartanburg for secession was intensified day by day. November 1, 1860, a meeting was called, through the Spartan, for the formation of a Vigilance Association, “in view of the present state of our political affairs and the impending crisis.” De¬ cember 1, 1860, the Minute Men of Spartanburg adopted “resolutions of thanks to Mrs. Dr. J. J. Vernon, Miss Mary Vernon and Miss Minnie Smith, for the beautiful flag which now waves from the Lib¬ erty Pole.” These Minute Men adopted as their badge the emblem worn by the Nullifiers during the controversy of 1832, a blue cockade on which was mounted a gold palmetto button. December 18, 1860, Captain William Foster of the Mount Zion community organized at Cherokee Springs the Cherokee Vigilant So¬ ciety, and a liberty pole was erected with suitable ceremonies, and was crowned with the “Palmetto Flag.” This flag was red, and had on one side a white lone star, and on the other, a white oval field on which was a gold palmetto tree. A similar flag flew from a liberty pole at Bivingsville, and at its foot was planted a real palmetto tree brought from the coast. At Bomar’s Old Field a Palmetto Flag with a pole which stood ninety-five feet high was raised in the presence of a great throng of patriotic spectators, and with lengthy speeches and military displays. The “young ladies of Limestonce Springs Female High School” appeared at one of these flag-raisings, wearing caps which bore the letters M. G., meaning Minute Girls. The greatest single demonstration in connection with a flag¬ raising was the celebration of Cowpens Day, January 17, 1861. The Reverend J. G. Landrum made a report on the Secession Convention, and other leading men made speeches. The day’s activities on the battleground began with a torchlight procession at five o’clock in the morning. At ten the Palmetto Flag was hoisted and the military evolutions and orations began. More than two thousand people were present. The fact that the flag was later secretly cut down in the night proved the existence of Unionist sentiment in the vicinity. In¬ vestigations were made by a Vigilant Committee, who punished a cul- 126 A History of Spartanburg County prit who confessed. Another, known to have helped him, escaped in spite of the offer of rewards for his capture. Steps Toward Meanwhile, in response to the proclamation of Gov- Secession ernor Gist and the action of the legislature, Spartans called mass meetings to consider the situation. On November 15, 1860, at a meeting at the Walker House, Judge T. N. Dawkins of Union, who had been the leader of the Co-operationists, made a stir¬ ring speech in favor of immediate secession. At this meeting Simpson Bobo, who had in 1832 been an outstanding Unionist, ended a moving address with the sentence: “Painful as it is to utter the word, I must say that this Union must be dissolved.” The most noted meeting of the period was held at the Palmetto House, November 24, in preparation for the election to the State Con¬ vention to be held December 17. Simpson Bobo was chairman of the committee on arrangements, which included a representative body of citizens from all over the District. The Reverend J. G. Landrum presided, and vice presidents from the various sections of the District were on the platform. The day was filled with heated speeches and resolutions, all favoring immediate separate State action. United States Senator James Chestnut, Jr., of Camden, and former Judge Magrath delivered orations, and the day’s proceedings ended with a torchlight procession of the Minute Men. The election was held De¬ cember 6, and the six delegates chosen each received more than a thousand votes: J. G. Landrum, A. B. Foster, Benjamin F. Kilgore, James H. Carlisle, Simpson Bobo, William Curtis. On December 17, 1860, these men, with others similarly chosen from all over South Carolina, met in the First Baptist Church, Columbia, and organized what is known in history as the Secession Convention. This conven¬ tion, because of the appearance of smallpox in Columbia, adjourned to Charleston, and there, December 20, signed the Ordinance of Seces¬ sion. First Call In response to Governor Gist’s November proclama- For Volunteers ti on> com p an j es had organized and drilled and were now ready to respond to call. In January, mustering officers posted the following notice in Spartanburg: Secession and War Years 127 RECRUITS WANTED Able-bodied Men Wanted for THE ARMY OF SOUTH CAROLINA To Enlist for One Year Pay $11.00 per month Rations and Clothing same as U. S. Army Non-commissioned Officers will receive pay as follows: 1st Serg’t $20.00 2nd Sergt’s 17.00 Corporal 13.00 Apply at my office, Spartanburg Court House John R. Blocker Lieut. S. C. Army Off for In spite of their elaborate preparations the volunteers were Camp taken by surprise when the call actually came to proceed to Charleston for training. Great plans had been made in Spartan¬ burg for celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Morgan Rifles, April 19, 1861, with a tournament on the St. John’s campus at eleven o’clock in the morning and a Social Party at the Palmetto House in the eve¬ ning. Prizes were to include a saddle, an ostrich plume, gilt spurs, and a plated bridle bit. Three generals, four colonels, two lieutenant colonels and other military leaders had accepted invitations to be present. But instead of tilting on prancing steeds at a rate of one hundred fifty yards in nine seconds, the prospective celebrants were, April 13, six days before the date set for this brilliant event, off for camp. The official call of the Fifth Regiment Volunteers to immediate service, which forced a cancellation of plans for the tournament, brought the people nearer to a realization of the impending conflict. Soon letters came from the coast, where the recruits were training, reporting that the soldiers had constant drill, daily prayer, and no drinking. 128 A History of Spartanburg County Off for After a few weeks of such drill the soldiers came home, Virginia M a y 28, to enjoy a seven-day furlough before proceeding to Virginia. In this body were the Pacolet Guards, the Lawson’s Fork Volunteers, the Kings Mountain Guards, the Morgan Light In¬ fantry, the Tyger Volunteers, and the Spartan Rifles—in all numbering more than 300 of the 5th Regiment’s total enrollment of 1,150 men. The Spartan Rifles enjoyed the distinction of having been the first company of volunteers enrolled from Spartanburg District. They were marched out April 10, 1861. A quiet and subdued throng of friends and relatives gathered at the train on Monday morning, June 3, to see their soldiers depart to fight “ruffian Northern mercenaries and miserable recreants”—the words of the Spartan reporter. Fore¬ boding filled the minds of the citizens, and although it was salesday, usually a day of brisk business and social activity, the crowds at the station scattered quietly to their homes, in no mood for talk or trade. Spartan Companies Before the end of the year Spartanburg had in the Field fourteen companies in the field. In the 5th Regiment, Colonel Micah H. Jenkins, were the Spartan Rifles, Cap¬ tain Joseph Walker; Morgan Infantry, Captain A. H. Foster; Law¬ son’s Fork Volunteers, Captain R. B. Seay; Limestone Springs Com¬ pany, Captain J. Q. Carpenter. In the 3d Regiment, Colonel James H. Williams, were the Blackstock Volunteers (Glenn Springs), Cap¬ tain Benjamin Kennedy; Cross Anchor Volunteers, Captain Thomas B. Ferguson. In the 9th Regiment, Colonel J. D. Blanding, were the Cowpens Guards, Captain William Foster. In the 6th Regiment, Colonel L. Linder, were the Limestone Springs Infantry, Captain W. D. Camp. In the 13th Regiment, Colonel O. E. Edwards, were the Forest Rifles, Captain D. R. Duncan; Pacolet Guards, Captain W. P. Compton; Cherokee Guards, Captain Joseph Wofford; Iron District Volunteers, Captain A. K. Smith; Brockman Guards, Cap¬ tain B. T. Brockman. In the 15th Regiment, Colonel Jones, the Enoree Rangers, Captain Niles Nesbitt. Soon cheerful letters came from Virginia, declaring that the Third and Fifth Regiments, in which at that time most of Spartan¬ burg’s soldiers were enrolled, were the best in the field. The volun¬ teers wrote enthusiastically of their camp in a clover field, with stones for tables and seats and pillows. When news came to Spartanburg that some of her sons were killed at Manassas, like true Spartans the people called for volunteers to fill their places. The first men from Secession and War Years 129 Spartanburg reported as killed in battle were H. A. McCravey and William Little. War Work Behind The actual outbreak of the War Between the the Lines States forced upon all citizens many problems of adjustment. The war must be financed; all available resources must be conserved and placed at the command of the new Confederate Gov¬ ernment ; soldiers must be equipped and sent to the front, and their families and property must be cared for in their absence. The ladies were kept busy making clothes and uniforms for the soldiers. Subscription lists were formed to pay for cloth for the uni¬ forms. Ten or twelve leading citizens “stood for” the bills, but the communities soon, through subscriptions, refunded the outlay. Cap¬ tain Benjamin Kennedy bought cloth in Columbia and had a tailor cut out for each man in his company a uniform to his measure. These were then sent home to be made. So great was the patriotic zeal of the women to do their part that there were not enough uniforms to supply all who volunteered to make them. Many flags were made and painted or embroidered. Financing l n the summer of 1861 a committee consisting of Simp- the War scm g 0 i) 0j the Reverend N. P. Walker, and James Far¬ row was appointed to sell Confederate bonds. These gentlemen met with a cordial response, and secured loyal cooperation over the entire District. Sub-committees were appointed for Cross Anchor, Wood¬ ruff’s, Fingerville, Limestone Springs, and Cedar Spring. In Decem¬ ber 1862, the Spartan boasted that the District had not only contrib¬ uted as many men as any other, but that it had also taken more Confed¬ erate bonds. In 1862 Spartanburg District paid, for the carrying on of the war, $44,467.75. In subsequent years direct taxes for conducting the war were not levied. At a public meeting held in Spartanburg on salesday, December 1863, resolutions were adopted urging the Con¬ federate Congress to levy a tax which would defray expenses from year to year, rather than continue to sell bonds. These resolutions bore the signatures of leading citizens: Simpson Bobo, J. L. Wofford, S. N. Evins, John Winsmith, Gabriel Cannon, and John E. Bomar. In 1864 the Confederate Government demanded a tithe of produce, and mills were authorized to exchange, in behalf of the government, thread and cloth for produce. Bivingsville in this way was able to supply the government during March 1864, between 8 and 10 thousand pounds of bacon, 1,000 cotton sacks, and 90 bunches of 130 A History of Spartanburg County yarn; and Hill’s Factory furnished 5,000 pounds of bacon. The gov¬ ernment claimed one-half of a mill’s output. Mills and As the war became more and more imminent, the recog- Iron Works n j zec [ poverty of the South in manufacturing was felt to threaten disaster. The Charleston Mercury, in May 1861, ad¬ monished “The Old Iron District” to develop her iron to the utmost, and thereby both serve her country and make herself rich; to “become another Springfield, giving us the best of weapons in the best of causes.” But Spartanburg had depleted the forests which furnished the charcoal for smelting and now had to pay the penalty of earlier poor management by facing a scarcity of fuel. Many a man must, at this time, have recalled with a sense of shock the wasteful methods of clearing and burning up the logs in earlier days. However, the iron manufacturers did their best. Thirty-two- pound cannonballs and eighteen-pound shells were made for the Con¬ federacy at Leo’s Foundry near Limestone Springs. The South Caro¬ lina Manufacturing Company’s large furnace near Cowpens battle¬ ground and the Rolling Mill at Hurricane Shoals were, upon the outbreak of war, devoted to supplying the needs of the Confederate Government, and turned out bolts, shot, and shell. Limited quantities of four-pound cannon were successfully cast. Small mills and smithies did their part. Householders were urged to supply as much lead as possible to be melted into bullets. Old-fashioned soapstone bullet molds were put into use. The manufacture of cotton and woolen goods was but one of many activities carried on at Bivingsville. A cupola furnace for the smelting of iron ore was operated there, as were also sawmills and mills for grinding corn and wheat. The most interesting development was the construction, about 1864, of machinery which made 600 wooden shoe soles in one day. Wooden shoe soles were widely used by that time, but, so far as is known, Bivingsville was the only place where they were made by machinery. Soldiers’ Aid and The women realized the value of organization, Relief Associations anc j J u ly 18, 1861, the Cross Anchor Military Aid Society, the first in the District, was organized. August 9, 1861, a Soldiers’ Aid and Relief Association was organized in Spartanburg, its members choosing, at first, to designate themselves as Sisters of the Confederate States. Enrollment was for the duration of the war and annual dues were $1.00. The plan was that this organization Secession and War Years 131 should be extended by the organization of local branches throughout the District. Its officers were: President, Mrs. Jefferson Choice; vice-presidents, Mrs. D. R. Duncan and Mrs. H. Bowie; correspond¬ ing secretary, Mrs. Hosea Dean; recording secretary, Miss Mary Wingo; treasurer, Miss Susan Foster. On the executive committee were Mrs. L. C. Kennedy, Mrs. Whitefoord Smith, Mrs. Joe Smith, and Mrs. O. E. Edwards. Cedar Spring, Ridgeville, Woodruff, Goucher Creek, Hobbyville, Glenn Springs, Gaffney, North Pacolet soon had branch organizations. These ladies provided gifts for the absent soldiers, ministered to their families, and cared for soldiers on' furlough. They assigned a special company to each unit of the organization, so as to avoid duplication or omission of attentions. They sent “Singing Billy” Walker to Richmond, June 10, 1862, to nurse soldiers. Mrs. Belle Lockwood was sent at the same time by the Methodist Sunday School Association. These nurses carried wines, delicacies, clothing, bedding, and other comforts. Soldiers’ Board In December, 1863, the State legislature appointed of Relief Soldiers’ Boards of Relief to care for soldiers’ fami¬ lies. On this board in Spartanburg District were: John B. Cleveland, G. W. H. Legg, Jonas Brewton, P. P. Beacham, Samuel Morgan, Aaron Cannon, Oliver Clark, J. L. Scruggs, James Petty, E. P. Brown, J. H. Whitmire, Harvey Wofford, John E. Bomar, Bryant Bomar, Henry C. Gaffney, Noah Webster, John Strobel, James Nesbitt, David C. Burton, O. P. Earle, Jared Drummond, Ibra Cannon, A. J. Daniel, J. C. Zimmerman. According to the treasurer’s reports, this organi¬ zation distributed to the families of soldiers $28,180.02, besides sup¬ plying food and clothing to 990 families consisting of 3,803 persons. In April 1864, the ladies of Spartanburg District established an orphan asylum for the care of soldiers’ orphans. In the later months of the war they established a Wayside Hospital in a house given for that purpose by Major T. Stobo Farrow. Participation of During all these disturbed times colleges and Schools and Colleges boarding schools were maintained. Tuition and board charges mounted steadily during the war. In later years some of the schools announced to their patrons that provisions were even more acceptable than cash. The pupils participated in varied patriotic activities, they gave benefit tableaux and concerts; were present at drills and rallies; and knit and sewed for the soldiers. President Cur¬ tis of Limestone Springs Female High School and President William 132 A History of Spartanburg County Kennedy Blake of the Spartanburg Female College continued to make pilgrimages to Savannah and Charleston to conduct young ladies to school. The Reverend R. H. Reid emphasized the importance of maintaining the schools; and stressed the necessity to society of pro¬ viding education for the children of soldiers by establishing scholar¬ ships and training teachers for the future. In December 1864 Reidville students and citizens gave an evening of “Tableaux” for the benefit of the Wayside Hospital in Spartanburg, the proceeds amount¬ ing to 50 pounds of flour and $306.30—in Confederate money. Wof¬ ford College was kept open, but the number of students and teachers diminished. In December 1863, President A. M. Shipp announced that generous donations had been secured from leading citizens, amounting to $51,000, and that two professors had been added to the faculty, with the purpose of educating free of charge all indigent orphans of Spartanburg and Greenville districts who might apply for such aid. Cheer and The railroad was, increasingly, a satisfaction. It facili- Gloom tated the coming and going of the soldiers, and it afforded safer and quicker transportation of supplies to them than had ever been possible before. It brought to Spartanburg welcome visitors from the coast country. Many of these war refugees purchased homes and established themselves here permanently. It was cheering that the Walker House and the Palmetto House were filled to capacity in the summer of 1862. Yet by this time the optimistic tone of public opinion had begun to change. There were wails against extortionists, speculators, dis¬ tillers, draft dodgers, and complaisant doctors too ready to grant exemptions. Criticism and sarcasm were directed at the legislature for misuse of taxpayers’ money on such things as a gun factory in Greenville, which was without iron; and ice to make ice cream for the soldiers in Columbia, when most countrymen—whose taxes paid for this luxury—had never tasted ice cream. Farmers were urged to plant grain crops for food, not for distilling, and to resist the tempta¬ tion to plant cotton for the blockade runners, who were ready to pay exorbitant prices for it. In July 1862, Bethesda Church recalled its invitation to the Broad River Baptist Association to meet with it, giving as reasons the failure of the grain crop, the state of the country, the fact that nearly every home was one of mourning, and the further fact that there were not enough able-bodied male members of the Secession and War Years 133 congregation at home to take care of the duties incidental to the As¬ sociation meeting. The Philadelphia Church, which was much larger, was not in such distress, and the Association held its meeting at that church. Premonitions Conditions the following year grew worse. Said the of Defeat editor of the Spartan: “War is now by necessity and the law of self-preservation, the occupation of the people of the Con¬ federate States.” Many preachers and doctors had decided they were more needed on the field of war than at home. The papers warned against making more cotton than was needed at home and urged the planting of more corn and the use of all of it for food. Mor¬ alists were still echoing Bishop Asbury’s denunciations of Spartans who drank rather than ate their corn. Rising prices caused alarm. The newspapers made pleas for rags, which were essential to the mak¬ ing of paper. There were two weeks in January 1863, when the Spar¬ tan did not appear because it was impossible to get paper. That which was finally secured was of such poor quality that the faded files almost crumble at a touch, and are in parts illegible. Men wrote public letters urging government confiscation of all goods and property; or de¬ manding that lists be made and action taken against all who were predicting the downfall of the Confederacy. Said one of them: “It is treason now to despair of the Confederacy . . . The cause is God’s, and it must prevail.” Frequent notices of the sale of land and of “likely negroes” may indicate that some men were less hopeful of retaining the slavery regime. Dr. R. V. Lemoine visited Spartanburg and stirred up much feeling and discussion by attacks on Jefferson Davis and his government. Deaths Death had touched many households, but not until June 24, 1863, when the body of Colonel O. E. Edwards was brought home for burial, was there a great public funeral. The whole population met the train, various organizations in regalia. The Rev¬ erend J. G. Landrum preached a funeral sermon in the Baptist Church. The Masons officiated at the burial. Every paper had its obituaries, and its pathetic notices of disabled soldiers returning home. Daily prayer meetings were held in the Methodist Church. Denunciations were heaped on profiteers; and those millers, tanners, shoemakers, blacksmiths, millwrights, and others who had secured exemption were warned that to the front must go all who made exorbitant profits on 134 A History of Spartanburg County their products. By 1864 prices rose alarmingly—to five and ten times their pre-war level. Impairment Yet that there were brighter aspects is clear from a of Morale pleasing example of patriotism and energy cited by the Spartan, September 8, 1864: “Mr. James Anderson, a planter on Tyger River, about 84 years of age, yet superintends his own plan¬ tation, and has already paid his tithe of oats, hay, and wheat for the present year, has hauled and sold to the government a considerable amount of flour, and manufactured and sold to the government two hundred gallons of molasses, at schedule prices, and promises to do a great deal more. Mr. Anderson did not wait to be called on for any of these articles, but came up nobly through a sense of duty. We commend his example to the old men (The Property Holders) of the country, and would rejoice to see them do likewise. Haul in supplies for the government and do not wait to be visited on the subject. If the liberal and patriotic spirit of Mr. Anderson should prove con¬ tagious, we would then hear no more of half rations among the sol¬ diers.” In the phrase, “half-rations among the soldiers,” the editor touched on the crux of the situation. Hungry soldiers, conscious of hungry families at home, and apprehensive of raids on them, could not main¬ tain their morale. The murmur deepened that it was “a rich man’s war, and a poor man’s fight.” Deserters Colonel J. D. Ashmore, August 1863, reported that he had a list of 502 deserters; that along a mountain frontier of one hundred fifty miles, in Spartanburg, Greenville, and Pickens Dis¬ tricts, they were collected in armed organized bands. He requested a cannon to reduce a strong blockhouse of deserters near Gowans- ville, and said these deserters were preying on the property of loyal citizens. His comments on the conditions back of this situation are interesting, for he said bluntly that the men were in many cases infuriated to their course by extortion and speculation—war profiteer- ing—practiced by the men at home. Home There had always been a disaffected element in the upper Guards sections of Greenville and Spartanburg Districts and in the mountains of North Carolina. In these sections deserters found refuge and welcome in such numbers that on June Salesday of 1863 steps were taken to organize Home Guards as a protection against Secession and War Years 135 them. Companies were formed in each community with influential leaders as organizers. The State furnished arms and equipment for the Home Guards, which in Spartanburg District was an organized regiment of mounted infantry, containing ten companies. The com¬ manding officers were B. B. Foster, G. W. H. Legg, and T. Stobo Farrow—all soldiers disabled for active service by wounds in battle, or by illness. The ranks were filled with old men and boys and those men detailed to stay at home to manage factories and mills. In No¬ vember 1864, the descent of an organized party upon the southern parts of Polk County, North Carolina, and the upper section of Spartanburg District led to the sending of a detachment of the Spar¬ tanburg Home Guards under command of Captain Warren DuPre and Lieutenant John H. Marshall against the deserters. Their camp was found, but the marauders had taken refuge in the mountains. Union Soldiers A few shocking but sporadic inroads by “bummers” in Spartanburg f rom the army or the deserters constituted the only threats of danger at home. The District was not in the path of Sherman's march, and did not suffer as did communities subjected to that ordeal. Not until after the surrender at Appomattox did a body of uniformed United States soldiers enter the county. Then, April 29, 1865, Brigadier General Palmer, in command of a detachment which was attempting to capture Jefferson Davis, stayed in the town thirty-six hours, establishing his headquarters in the home of Simpson Bobo. He knew that Davis, making for the West, was on the road between York and Abbeville, guarded by three de¬ tachments of Confederate soldiers numbering 2,500 men; and it was his plan to push on through Greenville to head off the Confederates before they could cross the Savannah River. The Unionists thought that Davis was carrying a great amount of gold from the Confed¬ erate treasury and they wished to capture this. No efforts were made in Spartanburg to interfere with Palmer’s movements, for Spartans were convinced that the war was over, and that resistance would be folly. Record of At last the soldiers came home. During the war, Spartan Soldiers Spartanburg District had furnished the Confed¬ eracy 3,484 soldiers. Of these, 608 died in service, and about 500 returned to their homes disabled. Twenty-six companies from Spar¬ tanburg were enrolled in the Confederate service from 1861 to 1865. 136 A History of Spartanburg County The Spartan Rifles was the first company from Spartanburg re¬ ceived into the Army of South Carolina. Its officers were: Captain Joseph Walker, First Lieutenant John H. Evins, Second Lieutenant T. Stobo Farrow, Third Lieutenant Dr. C. E. Fleming. Farrow was soon elected major in Colonel A. C. Garlington’s regiment, and H. H. Thomson succeeded Fleming, who succeeded Farrow. The company had more than a hundred men, and was incorporated into the Fifth Regiment, S. C .V., as Company K. In April 1862, when this regiment was organized and made a part of the Palmetto Sharp¬ shooters, under Colonel Micah Jenkins, Joseph Walker was elected lieutenant colonel. Subsequently, when Jenkins was made a brigadier general, Walker became colonel of the regiment, and as such led his men through the Virginia campaigns, and was present at Appo¬ mattox. Dr. C. E. Fleming was transferred in 1862 to the 22nd Regiment as surgeon. The Morgan Rifles, at a muster at Bomar’s Old Field, January I, 1861, divided into two parts, and formed from those who wished to volunteer immediately a company called the Morgan Light In¬ fantry, of which G. W. H. Legg was elected captain. This company drilled every two weeks until called to Columbia for active service. When the Fifth Regiment was organized, Captain Legg was elected its lieutenant colonel. Thereupon John Benson was made captain of the Morgan Light Infantry, which became Company I. It was sent to Charleston, April 13, 1861, and encamped on Sullivan’s Island for six weeks for training. This company eventually became Company D, Palmetto Sharpshooters, under Captain A. H. Foster, sharing the experiences of the Spartan Rifles in Jenkins Brigade. This com¬ pany numbered 134 in 1862, and, of these, 37 were killed in battle, 21 wounded, 20 died of disease, and between 10 and 25 surrendered at Appomattox. The Forest Rifles, organized in the summer of 1861, under Cap¬ tain Stobo Farrow, became Company C, of the 13th Regiment, S. C. V., which Colonel Oliver Evans Edwards of Spartanburg or¬ ganized. The Forest Rifles left Spartanburg August 27, 1861, for an encampment at Lightwood Knot Springs, near Columbia, and re¬ mained there in training until they were sent, in October, to the coast. They did coast duty there until the spring of 1862, when they were made a part of Gregg’s Brigade and sent to Virginia. During the war, Duncan became major and Carlisle became captain of the Secession and War Years 137 Forest Rifles, which, under him, as Company C, 13th Regiment, S. C. V., Gregg’s Brigade, Hill’s Division, Jackson’s Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, surrendered at Appomattox. Its rolls showed that it had 122 members, of whom 26 were killed in battle, 35 were wounded, an unknown number died of disease or were discharged disabled. Twenty guns were surrendered at Appomattox. Spartanburg’s Only three Spartans attained so high a rank as that Three Colonels co i one i—Oliver Edwards, Benjamin T. Brock¬ man, and Joseph Walker. Colonel Oliver Evans Edwards, who or¬ ganized the 13th Regiment, was a son of Colonel Zachary Edwards, who in the thirties had been a leader of the States’ Rights or Nulli¬ fication party in Spartanburg, and was a very popular man, elected several successive years to command the 26th Regiment, S. C. M. In 1850 the son, in his turn, was elected colonel of the same regiment; and such was his ability that he was, in 1854, made brigadier general of the Ninth Brigade, S. C. M. Two years later he was elected from Spartanburg to the legislature, and succeeded himself in 1856, receiv¬ ing the largest vote Spartans had ever, up to that time, given a can¬ didate for the legislature. While in the legislature he became chair¬ man of the committee entrusted with the reorganization of the military forces of the State and making it ready for the impending conflict. Edwards was prevented by personal obligations from joining the Spartan troops which went first to Virginia, but as soon as he could do so, he followed them and joined as a volunteer. In a few months, however, he came back to South Carolina and organized a new regi¬ ment, the 13th, and was made colonel of it. Eight of its twelve companies were made up chiefly of Spartans. Its loss during the war was 17 officers and 203 men. Colonel Edwards led his regiment through the hottest of the Virginia battles. At Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, he was mortally wounded, and he died at Goldsboro, North Carolina, June 21. His body was brought to Spartanburg and in¬ terred with all the solemnity and pomp befitting the occasion, June 24, 1863. Colonel Benjamin T. Brockman, of the Reidville community, who had fought under Colonel Edwards, succeeded to the command of the regiment. He, like his chief, died from a battle wound, received while he gallantly led a charge at Spottsylvania Courthouse, May 12, 1864. He had an arm amputated, and died of gangrene a month later, in a Richmond hospital. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery. 138 A History of Spartanburg County Colonel Joseph Walker, who left Spartanburg as captain of the Spartan Rifles, with the first volunteers, was the only one of the three Spartans who achieved a rank so high as colonel to return. He lived to command a camp of Confederate Veterans named for him, and to take a leading part in the upbuilding of Spartanburg. Later Years The armies were reorganized in 1862. Some who had of the War volunteered for a year refused to re-enlist, and returned home. Many resented the increasing severity of military regulations; and, especially, they chafed against not being allowed to elect their own officers, as had been the custom in the old militia system. The draft was generally resented. In April, and again in September, the Confederate Government had called all males between eighteen and forty-five years old. In 1864 South Carolina raised the upper age limit to fifty. Exemptions were granted clergymen, teachers, gov¬ ernment officials, and others whose services at home were of greater benefit to the government than if they remained in the army. Even¬ tually all under sixty were conscripted for duty within the State, and substitutes could not be provided. As the war went on, it took its toll of Spartans, not merely on the battlefields, but also in the hospitals, where dysentery, smallpox, and typhoid fever took many lives. Men wounded or too much weak¬ ened by disease to serve in battle returned home and served with the Home Guards, or in other capacities. Some took matters into their own hands and deserted. All through the last year of the war fre¬ quent notices appeared in the papers urging deserters to return to their posts, and assuring them that no charges would be pressed against those who returned voluntarily. When the Boys At last the war ended, and the boys began to return Came Home home. The soldiers found that life had not been all sadness and sorrow during their absence; nor had their own experi¬ ences all been harrowing. Defeat brought them no loss of self- respect, for they were conscious that theirs had been a creditable struggle against overwhelming odds. They came home to conditions that, while not normal, had not throughout the war entailed real suffering. Coffee and salt and im¬ ported goods had not been obtainable, or, if at all, only at the exorbi¬ tant prices charged by the blockade runners. But only about three thousand of its population of more than twenty-five thousand had Secession and War Years 139 gone away from Spartanburg District. Those who stayed at home had maintained a fairly normal existence; they had raised and raced horses, attended concerts and tableaux given for the benefit of absent soldiers, spread feasts for Boys in Gray at home on furlough, held conventions and camp meetings, and had worked harder than ever before in their lives. Every mill in the District had been put in order. Every woman had learned how to spin and weave and dye and con¬ trive makeshift clothing. When the soldiers on furlough were entertained at “magnificent suppers” at the Walker House or the Palmetto House, their own garments were rough and maybe patched, and their ladies probably wore homespun dresses, cornshuck or rye-straw bonnets, and wooden- soled, cloth-topped shoes; the bread maybe was of coarse brown flour or even meal, raised by mixing sour milk and clean corncob ashes; coffee was quite likely a substitute made of parched cereal and po¬ tatoes ; pudding maybe was made of home-grown molasses, cornmeal, and persimmons. But they had pork and turkey and chickens and game and fish in abundance, and home-grown fruits and vegetables, and the products of the stills, which never ceased operation in spite of stringent regulations and prohibitive licenses. These conditions continued for a time. Many who had been prosperous and who had ventured greatly for the Confederacy found themselves, upon its downfall, with their former wealth gone; some capitalists and manufacturers faced bank¬ ruptcy. Yet the District itself was here, with its rich farmlands, its well-developed manufacturing plants, and a citizenry whose past history impelled them to live up to the Spartan standards of energy, pluck, resourcefulness, and perseverance. CHAPTER THIRTEEN Political Cross-Currents—1865-1868 The Political Confederate soldiers accepted with the surrender Situation After th e j(j ea t h a t t he u n j on was indissoluble. A pro- the War clamation of President Johnson, May 29, 1865, offered pardons to ex-Confederate soldiers, with exceptions based on rank of office held and property owned, on condition that they take the oath of allegiance to the Federal government. The require¬ ment of allegiance was anticipated by the defeated South, but that selected groups of citizens should be excluded from citizenship on either of the grounds stated was not expected, and seemed to in¬ dicate that defeat and surrender were to be followed by vengeance. The Administration B. F. Perry was appointed provisional gov- of B. F. Perry ernor, and took office June 13, 1865. His first June 13, 1865- step was to reappoint to all public offices those December 21, 1865 ,,,,,,, , , , ,, who had held them under the fallen govern¬ ment. He had instructions from President Johnson to assemble a State Convention which should take immediate steps to reestablish South Carolina in the Union. Perry’s earnest desire was to insure that representative and influential citizens should be chosen as dele¬ gates to this convention. With this end in mind he secured from the President pardons for eight hundred and forty-five South Car¬ olinians excluded from citizenship by the proclamation of May 29. The Constitution The Convention met September 13, 1865, with of 1865 one hundred and sixteen delegates. Spartanburg sent to it James Farrow, J. W. Carlisle, John Winsmith, M. C. Barnett, and R. C. Poole. These men, like those from the other districts, were influential leaders, safe and sane, and were actuated by the purest patriotism. But neither this fact nor Governor Perry’s manifest eagerness to see his State again in the Union could offset the vengeful spirit of extremists among the Northern Radicals, who appeared to be on the lookout for opportunities to make trouble. The Convention ratified the Thirteenth Amendment and framed a new Constitution which “readjusted the State to the Union without sacrificing her integrity.” It evaded the subject of Negro suffrage, and provided for several reforms long desired. But it provided its enemies with a weapon by enacting a “Black Code” for the regu- 140 Political Cross-Currents —1865-1868 141 lation of the freedmen, a step which aroused the resentment of the North, where it was not realized how necessary some such action was, nor how innocent was the South Carolina Convention of intent either to affront the conquerors or to wrong the freedmen. The Convention adjourned September 27, after having provided for a special session of the legislature to be held October 25. At this special session, which lasted from October 25 to November 13, 1865, dates were set for holding fall elections, and the new Constitution was ratified. Legislative Session The legislature met in regular session November of November- 27 . Spartans, concerned with domestic affairs, took no outstanding part in politics during this period. They were resigned to the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, and were pleased with the results of the fall elections— in which James L. Orr was elected governor; B. F. Perry and John L. Manning, United States Senators; and James Farrow, Congress¬ man from the Fourth District. Spartanburg was represented in the State Senate by John Winsmith, and in the lower house of the General Assembly by J. W. Carlisle, A. B. Woodruff, D. R. Duncan, Gabriel Cannon, and Alexander Copeland. The people of Spartan¬ burg did not believe that the “Black Code” was other than a wise and essential piece of legislation, and felt outraged when D. E. Sickles, Military Administrator, declared its provisions void, and when Congress refused to seat Perry and Manning and Farrow. They approved the course of the General Assembly in its reorgani¬ zation of the State militia, a step displeasing to Northern Radicals. On December 21, 1865, Secretary of State Seward instructed B. F. Perry to relinquish the Governor’s office to James L. Orr, thus according to the election at least a partial recognition. A Military Orr, in his first proclamation, recognized the supremacy Regime 0 f military organization, by which the State was divided into military districts, and garrisons were stationed in the leading towns. Union was headquarters for the district comprising Spartanburg, Laurens, Newberry, and Union. As a concession, for the convenience of the people, two assistant provost judges were appointed to care for legal transactions in Spartanburg—G. W. H. Legg and J. M. Elford. A small garrison of Federal soldiers was stationed in Spartanburg; and its relations with the community were pleasant enough, as was shown by the comment of the Carolina Spar - 142 A History of Spartanburg County tan, in May, 1866, when the Federal soldiers were transferred to Anderson, to the effect that the garrison had been well-behaved, and if the community must have a garrison, it could not ask for a more acceptable one. Ex-Confederate soldiers and Union soldiers re¬ spected each other. The Confederates were familiar with military procedures and not inclined to resist constituted authority. The Union soldiers impressed on the freedmen that they must make and keep contracts, and hold themselves amenable to the courts; and they thus prevented a confusion that might have led to anarchy. Resentment The editor of the Carolina Spartan quoted approv- and Gloom ingly, March 8, 1866, the New York Times: “The Union is restored, and with the restored Union came back the equal¬ ity of the States and the full title of each to the privileges conferred by the Constitution.” But as the days dragged along, and the papers brought news of deepening antagonisms between the President and the several factions against him and his policies, public sentiment became bitter. In June, 1866, the editor of the Spartan described, in a long editorial, the weariness and disheartenment of the people, who would cheerfully have reentered the Union before the acts of the Congressional Investigating Committee and the Reconstruction Committee had inflamed their resentment. What Spartanburg re¬ garded as the malice and stupidity of the “iron-clad” oath was es¬ pecially galling. In June 1866, because he could not take this oath, J. A. Lee, long postmaster at Spartanburg, was replaced with a “carpet-bagger.” An editorial in the Carolina Spartan, entitled “Fourth of July,” sets forth the general feeling of the time: We regret that this day. so distinguished, brings us no com¬ fort in the contemplation of the great truths which are interwoven in the frame-work of the Government of the United States. . . Heretofore we rejoiced at the dawn of this once glorious day— listened at its booming cannon, and burned with patriotic ardor under the thrilling speeches of its inspired orators. Not so now. Today, we are excluded from the halls of representation — no voice from the sunny South is heard. . . Give us freedom—give us liberty—and we shall be glad. Deny us our rights as a free and gallant people, and the recollection of ancestral valor will hardly awaken other than feelings of sorrow on the advent of this day. The next Fourth of July was to find the editor more sad and em¬ bittered on this great day, for by its refusal to ratify the Fourteenth Political Cross-Currents —1865-1868 143 Amendment the South had precipitated the Reconstruction policy under which it was to agonize for ten years. Divisions of Opinion in Spartanburg—as, indeed, throughout the Opinion South—was divided in 1866 on a burning question: whether or not to send representatives to the National Union Party Convention, meeting in Philadelphia, August 14. The editor of the Carolina Spartan severely condemned appeals to the South to re¬ nounce the Democratic Party and participate in this Convention; he reiterated his own opinion that no decent Southern man could go to the Philadelphia Convention, despite the fact that forty in¬ fluential Senators and Representatives in Congress endorsed it as the only practical way for the Southern States to regain their rights. Dominant political sentiment differed with the Spartan in Spartan¬ burg District, which was represented at the preliminary State Con¬ vention held in Columbia, August 1, 1866. One of its delegates, James Farrow, was selected to represent South Carolina at the Na¬ tional Convention in Philadelphia. By request, Farrow made an address at the Courthouse on Sales- day in August on “The State of Public Affairs.” He justified himself for accepting the appointment to the National Unionist Con¬ vention, and announced his determination to cooperate in good faith with other delegates, ignoring past differences. He hoped such a course might quell the Radicals and hasten the restoration of their full rights to the Southern States. Gabriel Cannon, speaking in endorsement of Farrow’s position, said that he felt the honor of the State would not suffer from following a policy advocated by Hampton, McGowan, Wallace, Haskell, and others like-minded. Opponents of the policy persisted in their criticism, however. They would have Democrats suffer in silence. “Let not the Radical vil¬ lains of the North think we crawl,” exclaimed one of them in a letter which filled an entire column of the Spartan. The editor of the Spartan, commenting on the “Convention Ad¬ dress,” conceded it to be well written, and of considerable argu¬ mentative force; and he reproduced it in full; filling more than five columns. However, the editorial comment on Farrow’s report of the Convention made to his Spartanburg constituents on September Salesday, dryly repeated the advice to stand aloof. “Stay at home and be quiet and trust to events working out,” was, up to the early spring of 1867, the Spartan’s policy; but March 2, 1867, Congress 144 A History of Spartanburg County passed the first Reconstruction Act, based on the assumption that no Southern States had governments with legal status; and the Spartan said: We have hitherto been averse to any action on the part of the South . . . thought it best to do nothing and wait— The time has now come when the paramount question is what will you do ? . . . Granting negro suffrage and consenting to the disfranchisement of a portion of our best citizens appear to be the terms on which restoration is offered. . . We need not say whether we will adopt negro suffrage or not, for that is already inflicted. . . The best we can do will leave us for a time an unhappy people. We have tried resistance, in every form, and failed. We poured out Southern blood like water—we have done all that human bravery could do—we have appealed to the nations of the earth, and have humbly laid our wrongs before God, and yet we have failed. We conclude, therefore, that it would be best that our beloved State, with a hopeful eye to the future, bow to the storm now raging over her desolated fields and ruined cities, by accepting the terms offered. The conviction was slowly forced on Spartans that continued refusal to swallow the Fourteenth Amendment, which gave the freed slaves the unconditional right to vote and hold office, would result in confiscation outright, or in foreclosures and sales for taxes, that would amount to the same thing. General D. E. Sickles, military commander in control of the two Carolinas, had cooperated with Governor Orr in the so-called “Stay Law” order, and this coopera¬ tion he could stop. Many recognized this legislation as dangerous and extra-constitutional, and yet welcomed it for its immediate ben¬ efits ; but it was not unanimously approved. Its beneficial results were later to be pointed out by James L. Orr as one of his grounds for joining the Republican Party. This, to the dismay of his old friends, he did in 1868. B. F. Perry besought men, during the summer of 1867, not to sacrifice their Constitutional rights on the altar of expediency, but to withstand the Fourteenth Amendment, to register and then vote against the proposal to hold a convention to frame a new State Con¬ stitution. After what they had endured, surely Southern men could endure four more years of military despotism. In a Public Letter he said: I will never degrade myself, or my State, or surrender my constitutional rights or Republican principles to get back into the Union. I will live under a military government, no matter how Political Cross-Currents —1865-1868 145 absolute or despotic it may be, and bequeath it to my children, sooner than vote a Negro government for South Carolina, which every man will do who votes for a Convention. As for fear of confiscation, Perry pointed out that a State Convention offered far stronger threats of it than did Congress. The view expressed by B. F. Perry would have been that of the Spartan a year earlier; but now that paper argued that men must vote for a Convention and secure a share in its proceedings by send¬ ing to it the best citizens, men able to influence the freedmen, who were sure to outnumber them. Refusal to register and to vote for a. Convention would be suicidal, said the Spartan, June 13, 1867. Two weeks later the editor slashed out at former Governor Perry, urging people not to take him too seriously, even though Perry con¬ stantly pointed out that he had during the fifties predicted the dire things which had, in the sixties, come to pass; yet, this time, the editor protested, Perry’s view was not right. Nor did the Spartan endorse Wade Hampton’s view, expressed in a Public Letter. Hamp¬ ton deplored divisions of sentiment and policy. He denied the right of Congress to prescribe rules for citizenship, and repeated his for¬ mer statements that he had rather submit to the existing military rule than sanction the Fourteenth Amendment, urging refusal to vote. The nature of the political maelstrom is indicated by the revul¬ sions in policy of the Spartan, which in October, with bitter sarcasm, questioned whether its counsel had been correct, in view of what it referred to as the white man’s apathy and the Negro’s stubbornness, duplicity, and willful blindness. Furthermore, while conceding that Spartanburg had nearly 1,300 majority of white votes, and could elect white delegates to a convention, provided one were called, the editor realized that such a condition would not prevail throughout most of the State, and that even in Spartanburg the Negroes were being skillfully arrayed against the whites. Therefore, the Spartan said: “There is a great change in the public mind of the District . . . very many of our best citizens say that, if they vote at all, they will vote against a Convention.” Registrations and Much uncertainty attended the question of who Elections in 1867 had t he right to register and vote. By its Re¬ construction legislation Congress had set aside President Johnson’s action in restoring citizenship to ex-Confederates. In July, 1867, a Board of Registration was appointed for Spartanburg District: 146 A History of Spartanburg County Samuel T. Poinier, John Thompson, Javan Briant, John Anderson, J. T. Wood, Moses Wakefield, Silas Benson, Dr. J. H. Shores, B. H. Steadman. Qualifications for registering were greatly modi¬ fied from time to time by the orders of General Sickles and his suc¬ cessor, General E. S. R. Canby. Eventually the rolls showed a reg¬ istration of 2,710 white voters and 1,448 blacks. At a public meeting in the courthouse, November 5, presided over by S. N. Evins and ad¬ dressed by B. F. Perry, nominees were chosen for the State Conven¬ tion : J. W. Carlisle, J. C. Zimmerman,,S. C. Means, and S. Morgan. An effort was made to split the Democratic vote for these nomi¬ nees by playing on division in public opinion—and that at a time when unity of action among the whites was imperative. The men nomi¬ nated November 5 were denounced as representatives of “the ex¬ treme party;” and the Union League and Negroes of the other ex¬ treme. Neither of these parties, the objectors charged, were truly representative of the mass of white voters of the district, who were “earnestly conservative.” A third ticket was therefore proposed— the People’s Ticket: W. K. Blake of Spartanburg C. H., Dr. Robert Smith of Walnut Grove, O. P. McArthur of Limestone Springs, and Dr. Shores. W. K. Blake immediately published a card refus¬ ing to allow the use of his name on this ticket. The Republican Party of the District—usually called the Radi¬ cals—met at the courthouse November 13, 1867, and nominated its candidates to the State Convention: J. P. F. Camp, Coy Wingo, John S. Gentry, and Rice Foster. The election was held November 19 and 20, 1867, and results were announced in the Spartan as follows: John S. Gentry, 1,580; J. P. F. Camp, 1,557; H. H. Foster (black), 1,294; Coy Wingo (black), 762; Eliphas Rampley (repudiationist and white), 638; J. W. Carlisle, 414; J. C. Zimmerman, 392; Robert M. Smith, 138; J. H. Shores, 83; O. P. McArthur, 50; J. H. Vandike, 31; Scatter¬ ing, 125. The Spartan commented: “We don’t think it worth while to make any further analysis of this ‘nigger affair.’ If anyone can find any comfort in comparing the facts with the figures, they are welcome to do so. We can find none.” The editor estimated that, of the 2,710 whites registered, only 700 voted, and of these 510 against the Convention; and that of the 1,448 blacks registered, prob¬ ably all voted for it. Political Cross-Currents —1865-1868 147 The Constitution General Canby, December 14, 1867, called the of 1868 Constitutional Convention, chosen by the Novem¬ ber election, to assemble in Charleston, January 14, 1868. Its mem¬ bership included forty-eight whites and seventy-six Negroes, all but four of the members being Republicans. From the time of this meeting until its adjournment, March 18, the Spartan’s columns were filled with accounts of the tragi-comedy being enacted in Charleston and of the high-handed proceedings of Congress in Wash¬ ington. The spectacle of “two obscure white men and two ex-slaves” representing Spartanburg District in a Convention to frame a new Constitution overwhelmed its editor. “Oh!” he wailed, “ye gods, be ready with all your thunderbolts, and—and—and—” Words, in¬ deed, failed him for the time. His only comfort was that Spartan¬ burg’s “precious delegation” seemed passive. On February 28, 1868, at the courthouse “a large and respec¬ table meeting of citizens—residents of this town,” organized the Constitutional Club of Spartanburg, the object being to prevent the adoption of the new constitution. Simpson Bobo presided over the meeting, and W. K. Blake acted as secretary. Dr. Lionel C. Ken¬ nedy was elected president. Five vice-presidents were chosen: Joseph Foster, Dr. J. J. Boyd, John B. Cleveland, John H. Evins, and James Nesbitt. Dr. W. T. Russell was elected treasurer, and W. K. Blake, secretary. The organizers urged whites and blacks in all communities of the District to form similar clubs which would be units of the District organization. The response was enthusiastic; the Spartan was made the official organ of these clubs, and five thousand copies a week were distributed, containing detailed accounts of the progress of the movement. When the new Constitution was ready to be submitted to the voters, the Constitutional Clubs presented, in two broad columns of the Spartan, an ADDRESS TO THE REGISTERED VOTERS OF SPARTANBURG DISTRICT, prepared and signed by the appointed committee consisting of T. Stobo Farrow, John H. Evins, S. T. Poinier, and J. J. Boyd. This address analyzed the proposed constitution, pointed out its objectionable features, and urged its rejection. It also urged the voters to support, in the approaching election, April 14-16, 1868, the Conservative ticket, with Joel Foster for Senator; and Samuel Littlejohn, Robert M. Smith, Claude C. Turner, and Javan Briant, for the House of Representatives. This 148 A History of Spartanburg County ticket was elected; and the District vote went Democratic by a ma¬ jority of 549, and against the proposed constitution. Of 339 white men who voted at the courthouse box, only two cast Radical votes. About fifty of them voted for the new consti¬ tution. In the entire District about one hundred Negroes voted the Democratic ticket; about two hundred and fifty whites voted the Radi¬ cal ticket. Of registered voters, 1,100 whites and 300 Negroes failed to vote—many on account of high water on all the streams. The constitution adopted was not entirely obnoxious; on the contrary, it embodied many reforms long urged by advanced thinkers in South Carolina. But the fact that it was the product of a mili¬ tary despotism and that the mode of its adoption outraged every political principle dear to their hearts, rendered it hateful to most South Carolinians. This constitution was ratified by an overwhelm¬ ing majority of the popular vote of the State at large, and was approved by Congress June 25, 1868. This was the first time in the history of South Carolina that a constitution was ratified by a popular vote, and also the first election in which Negroes partici¬ pated. There were 133,597 registered voters; 35,551 did not vote, 27,288 voted against ratification, 70,758 in favor of the new con¬ stitution. The white Democrats sent a special commission to Washington to protest the proceedings of the military government in South Carolina, but it received no encouragement. In June Congress pro¬ claimed South Carolina readmitted to the Union under the new constitution. General Canby instructed Governor Orr, July 6, 1868, to turn his office over to Governor-elect R. K. Scott of Ohio. Thus was inaugurated South Carolina’s “Carpet-bagger Regime” —a nightmare hardly believable when described today. CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Union League and the Ku Klux Klan Shadow of the For many weeks, beginning early in 1868, the Spar- Ku Klux Klan tan was reproducing accounts of the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. The improper administration of the Freedmen’s Bureau by the Radicals, and the organization among the negroes of the Loyal League—commonly known as the Union League—explained the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as an inevitable counter-action. In the spring the Klan was operating in Spartanburg District. Buildings used by the Union League were reported mysteriously burned. Negroes and whites began to publish cards explaining that they had joined the League under misunderstanding and had now repudiated it. It was clear that these cards were written under compulsion. The League retaliated by setting fire to the property of men suspected of membership in the Klan. Federal Soldiers In the upper part of Greenville and Spartanburg Again m Counties, along the North Carolina line, a thinly set- Spartanburg ^ e( j an d semi-mountainous section was early given the appellation “The Dark Corner.” It was a refuge for lawbreakers, fugitives from justice who could defy arrest from the officers of one state or county by merely stepping across a line. It had many stills, which were operated without license, and was famous for its “moon¬ shine” whiskey. Through it passed a road from the mountains, made in pioneer days by Indian traders and drovers; and it had in it strongholds which dated back to the period of Indian warfare. Dur¬ ing the War Between the States it had been the refuge of deserters or of Union men who resisted conscription and in some instances en¬ trenched themselves in the old blockhouses. In this section, it was claimed, a Radical turned informer on some of his neighbors who were operating illicit stills, and thereby secured appointment as a United States Revenue Officer. The resistance of his neighbors to his administration of llis new office was of such a nature that he invoked military aid in enforcing his authority. This brought United States soldiers again to Spartanburg. A small com¬ pany arrived in January 1870 “to protect a loyal citizen from the repetition of outrages,” according to a sarcastic editorial note in the 149 150 A History of Spartanburg County Spartan. In a later editorial the Spartan expressed the opinion that if the revenue officer’s appointment had gone to a man who com¬ manded respect in the community no open resistance would have been offered him in the performance of his duties. Sneeringly dubbing a revenue raid, participated in by sixty United States army men, “The Second Battle of Cowpens,” the Spartan said: “The last expedition of the Spartanburg Revenue Corps, so far as we could learn, was a very dull and commonplace affair. A few stills were captured—still houses burned—distillers arrested, and some bacon, sugar, and coffee and a few horses confiscated. We would be pleased if some of the revenue officers would cite us to the law which authorizes confisca¬ tion.” The grand jury presentment at the November 1870 term of court, scathing in its denunciations of corrupt practices by officeholders and of the arming of colored men, and especially “the arming of one class of citizens whilst the state authorities refused to receive and arm companies of the other class,” cited some specific instances of the evils indicated. “We present that companies of men in disguise called the K. K. K. have been seen riding through the town in the night-time. We pledge our assistance in suppressing such unlawful bands, be¬ lieving as we do that they intend mischief.” Ku Klux November 24, 1870, the Spartan reported that from twenty Activities to fifty mounted men, “fantastically attired,” had visited the jail at two o’clock on the night of November 17, but failed to move the sheriff to admit them. The editor commented: “They left, screaming like wild men through the streets, and firing off their guns, much to the alarm of the people. This is the first time our town has been visited by these outlandish gentry and we hope it will be the last . . .” This visit was undoubtedly precipitated by the ship¬ ment to Spartanburg, September 24, 1870, of ten boxes of Winchester rifles and seven boxes of ammunition to be distributed among the three local companies of Scott’s colored militia. White companies which had formed and volunteered their services to Governor Scott had been refused, while companies of negroes had been organized and armed all over the State. To offset the alarming situation thus created, the whites privately formed “Rifle Clubs,’’ drilling without weapons or with pistols and shotguns. In December 1870, the editor of the Spartan boldly pointed out the “singular fact” that “on the eve of the last election several persons were cruelly maltreated, just The Union League and the Ku Klux Klan 151 in time to have three strong Reform boxes thrown out,” and that again a suspicious case of cruel beating by “a party of disguised per¬ sons” whom Justice Fleming professed himself unable to identify, occurred “just before the legislature decided upon a contest concern¬ ing the same election.” The grand jury in November had presented the fact that one of the election commissioners had “refused to sign the false report, and made a just and true minority report which was confirmed by the State board,” and pronounced, “His conduct commends itself to the honest voters of the county.” This man was William Irwin, from the outset of the Reconstruction period an outspoken Republican, sharing the political philosophy of James L. Orr. Irwin found him¬ self in uncongenial company in his political affiliations, as he himself made clear during his testimony before a Congressional Investigating Committee in July 1871, but he was of the opinion that only harm could come from the effort to fight fire with fire, as the Ku Klux Klan was doing. Yet he testified before this committee that he had changed his mind about the Klan a dozen times in three months. It became increasingly clear that several irresponsible bodies in the county were operating under the Ku Klux Klan disguise, and that both the Radicals and private parties were using its mystic meth¬ ods for personal ends. In December 1870, the only colored trial justice in the county, Anthony Johnston, was lured from his home and murdered. Rumor said that injured husbands and wronged prop¬ erty owners did the deed, and that it had no political significance, but the Radical press attributed the murder to the Ku Klux Klan, actuated by political motives. Within two weeks the infamous murder of Matt Stevens by Negro militiamen, in the adjoining county of Union, further inflamed public opinion. Thoughtful citizens, apprehensive of increased demoraliza¬ tion, called public meetings to pass resolutions on lawlessness and consider ways and means of checking it. Governor Scott sent Major General C. L. Anderson of the Regular Army to investigate conditions in Spartanburg County. Additional United States soldiers were sta¬ tioned here March 16, 1871, and in accordance with its policy the Spartan welcomed them, wondering, however, why they were sent. “We are certain,” ran the editorial comment, “they have never seen a more quiet place than our town has been since their arrival.” In the 152 A History or Spartanburg County same week the Honorable Gabriel Cannon, called into conference by Governor Scott, earnestly begged him to disband the Negro militia. The Case of Dr. On the night of March 22, 1871, a body of disguised John Wmsmith arm ed m en, numbering—according to varying esti¬ mates—from twenty to fifty, appeared at the country residence of Dr. John Winsmith. Winsmith, an outstanding citizen who lived a few miles from town on the Glenn Springs road, was of distin¬ guished Revolutionary ancestry and had served Spartanburg ably in the legislature for fifteen years. He was a scholar and a gentleman of high standing socially. In the reorganization of the militia in 1868 he had been made a brigadier general, having previously held a colonel’s rank in the South Carolina Militia. It was now whispered about that he had received ammunition and distributed it to Scott’s Negro militia—a charge he indignantly denied. Official reports show that Brigadier General J. C. Winsmith was allotted, September 1870, 192 rifle-muskets and 5,000 rounds of ammunition for the use of the Negro militia. The fact that the raiding party, March 22, 1871, de¬ manded the weapons and ammunition substantiates Winsmith’s claim that he did not distribute them. D. R. Duncan, in July 1871, testified before the Congressional Investigating Committee that Winsmith had told him he had never intended to distribute these supplies to the Negroes, and Duncan felt assured he never did. Winsmith had out¬ raged public sentiment by announcing that he would support Scott in his campaign for re-election rather than join what he regarded as the unwise course of supporting a fusion ticket. Sixty-eight years old at the time of the attack on him, Winsmith met it bravely. With a pistol in each hand, he ordered the mar¬ auders off his premises; and on their refusal to leave, he fired both pistols. The fire was at once returned and he received seven wounds, one very serious. He made a rapid recovery, however, and showed his vigor by entering during the ensuing summer into promotion of the Taxpayer’s Convention, and by undertaking the study of law, being admitted to practice law in August 1871. The secrecy and efficiency of the Ku Klux organization is proved by the fact that nobody was convicted of the Winsmith attack. Gossip in the county has always run that Winsmith killed one man and wounded others. A romantic story is told of a fresh grave and of unexplained dis¬ appearances following this attack on Winsmith. The Union League and the Ku Klux Kean 153 Efforts to Curb The Radicals were at this time publishing a sheet in the Ku Klux Columbia, called The Daily Union, the nature of which is indicated by “A Card” dated May 9, 1871, addressed to its editor over the signatures of G. Cannon and A. B. Woodruff. These gentlemen denied the truth of its accounts of “horrible outrages in Spartanburg” and made the claim that most of the outrages that were occurring were personal, not political. Their own statement is en¬ lightening : ... We are citizens of Spartanburg; we know that the as¬ sertions that the occurrence of one case of this kind every week, • the shooting of thirty or forty, and the whipping of hundreds is so wildly exaggerated as to make it entirely unworthy of belief. The shooting of Anthony Johnston, a colored man, near Pacolet Depot, who was killed, and of Doctor Winsmith, who we are glad to say is recovering, constitute the only cases of this kind that come within our knowledge in Spartanburg. The cases of whipping may have been more common, probably as many as one dozen, but “Senex” says hundreds. ... It looks very much as if these announcements were made for the accomplishment of party purposes and not for the promotion of the general good. The principal portion of the citizens of Spartanburg, nearly all, we might say, are peaceable, quiet, and law-abiding, . . . and we cannot consent that they should thus lie under a general charge of lawlessness because a few evil-disposed men perpetrate acts of violence to gratify personal revenge. Public meetings to check the disorders were held all over the county. The legislative delegation consisted of Joel Foster, D. R. Duncan, R. M. Smith, J. L. Wofford, and J. Bankston Lyle. They earnestly urged public measures to check the Ku Klux activities. At the courthouse, J. W. Carlisle and J. H. Evins urged resolutions condemning all forms of lawlessness. Gabriel Cannon and A. B. Woodruff addressed several meetings over the county. One espec¬ ially interesting gathering was that of the colored citizens of Fair Forest township, addressed by Isaac and R. M. Smith of Walnut Grove. The alarmed white men pointed to the fact that not a company of white militia existed in the county, and the law forbade all white men the possession and use of firearms, while to the Negroes of the county had been allotted 912 rifle-muskets and 5,000 rounds of am¬ munition. For what purpose, they asked. Such weapons as they had, they put in order, and they determined that the rifles sent for 154 A History of Spartanburg County the use of the Negro militiamen should never be so used. Nearly all of these Spartans had been in the Confederate army, or at least in the old militia, and could fight, in case of need. Yet they knew what martial law, with armed Negroes to enforce it, would mean; and in dread of such martial law, thoughtful leaders urged on their fellow- citizens all possible patience and forbearance. To the fullest extent possible they cooperated with the United States troops stationed here. About one hundred United States soldiers were already in the county, and seventy-five additional cavalry troops arrived early in April, 1871, for the purpose of helping to round up the Ku Klux Klan. By fall they had the county jail crowded and the lofts over two stores filled with Ku Klux prisoners. Some outrageous stories were told of these arrests. J. Bankston Lyle, a legislator, and teacher of the Limestone Springs Male Academy, was a reputed leader of the Ku Klux Klan. In October 1871, a squad of soldiers sent to arrest him, upon being told he was absent, broke down the doors and ate the breakfast prepared for Lyle’s pupils. Testimony elicited during the Congressional investigation makes it quite clear that in the beginning Lyle was a leader of the Klan, and that when he went to Columbia to attend the legslature he left his power in unworthy hands. Lime¬ stone Springs was a hotbed of Ku Klux activities. Lyle refused to endorse some of the later activities of the Klan, and bore a share in its suppression. The representative of the New York Herald wrote of the absurdity of suspecting a highly educated, cultured man like Lyle of having planned certain of the Ku Klux atrocities he was charged with, and suggested the probability that Lyle’s flight was not a confession of guilt, but an indication that he had no confidence in the established government. He also said bluntly that Grant’s proclamation, and his suspension of the habeas corpus had spread panic through Spartanburg County. He described the situation as being such that even a strongly democratic county like Spartanburg was unable to govern itself because the new constitution had placed power in the hands of the governor and the legislature, and both were so corrupt that the governor pardoned convicted criminals and at will withheld commissions from elected officers. In July 1871, the eyes of the whole nation were—probably for the first time in history—turned on Spartanburg. A sub-committee of the Congressional Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Con¬ dition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States arrived here July The Union League and the Ku Keux Kean 155 9, and conducted hearings until July 17. The three members of the committee were: Senator John Scott, Republican, of Ohio, chairman; Hon. Philadelph Van Trump, Democrat, of Ohio; Hon. Job E. Stevenson, Republican, of Ohio. They were accompanied by re¬ porters, and the accounts sent to the New York World and the New York Herald were especially vivid and full. Zero wrote the New York World, in July, pooh-poohing sensa¬ tionalism, and commenting, “It is said the committee are getting tired of their work, they are disgusted at the idea of being sent hundreds of miles to hear ‘Old Wives Tales,’ and to listen with gravity to long recitations of family feuds and neighborhood difficulties.” The Negroes appeared to Zero “well-satisfied with the situation,” find¬ ing it a great honor to testify. “They come out,” he said, “with smil¬ ing faces; and one showing a roll of greenbacks in his greasy fingers, said, ‘Fore God, Masser, I let the Klues whip me agin for all dis money.’ ” A letter to the New York Herald dated November 1, 1871, gives a picture of Spartanburg at that time, as the village appeared to a New York reporter: Spartanburg was once a busy, lively town, and when the pres¬ ent troubles began, was prospering. In the vicinity are numerous springs of nasty mineral waters, which restore life to the dead and perform various other miracles upon mortal men, women, and children. As a consequence the place was a great summer resort in ante-bellum times. Large hotels were constructed, which still exist in a battered and unsightly condition, and large numbers congregated within their walls to flirt, make love, dance, and play poker. This glory of Spartanburg has departed. But few persons are at the hotels, and those have nearly all been brought here by the Ku Klux Klan troubles. At the “Shebang” where I “hold forth” are some officers’ wives, who put on an enormous quantity of airs and talk a trifle too much about “we Republicans having to come down here and make rebels behave themselves.” All this sort of stuff don’t help matters much. Under the caption, “Progress of the War,” this same correspond¬ ent grew facetious, describing Spartanburg and Union as headquar¬ ters for United States soldiers, whose only military operations were “severe skirmishes with their rations every day.” After recounting some absurd tales he continued: Indeed, if it were not that this raid upon the Ku Klux was 156 A History of Spartanburg County playing the very deuce with the industrial interests of upper South Carolina, the entire movement would be a huge farce. Here we have rebellion without rebels; and insurrection without insurrec¬ tionists. Federal officials, it is true, shake their heads and assure me that I ought to have seen what it was last March. . . . Any person of ordinary education who would believe the charges should be sent to an insane asylum. ... It is grossly libellous to charge upon entire communities the filthy brutalities of a handful of illiterate, degraded scoundrels. Suspension of Spartanburg was one of nine counties in which, Oc- Habeas Corpus t 0 k er , 1871, the writ of habeas corpus was sus¬ pended under an Act of Congress passed April 20, 1871; and was one of three—York and Union being the others—in which formal organi¬ zations of the Ku Klux Klan were known to exist. Yet, so secret and flexible was the organization and so binding its solemn oaths, that no accurate story of it can be told. The Klan was most active in that part of the county later incorporated in Cherokee County. It came into being in 1868 and flared into a fevered activity in 1870 after Scott armed the Negro militia. Reliable traditions establish un¬ deniably that many earnest and patriotic men belonged to the organi¬ zation; and it is hardly, in Spartanburg, a mooted question whether the good accomplished did not outweigh the evils. The Klan was accepted by many high-minded citizens as a necessary fighting of fire with fire. No better statement concerning the Ku Klux Klan in Spar¬ tanburg County can be made than the tabulation of his conclusions with which the correspondent of the New York Herald closed his story of the Investigation here: 1. That for four months past no Ku Klux outrages have been committed in Spartanburg County—which the Federal officials admit. 2. That the Ku Klux organization was originally formed for the self-protection of its members, and not for any political pur¬ pose. 3. That men of infamous character entered the Ku Klux or¬ ganization and perpetrated a series of gross outrages upon indi¬ viduals. 4. That in many instances white and black Republicans bor¬ rowed the disguises of the Ku Klux and outraged their neighbors, knowing that the blame would not be laid on them. 5. That if the state government had not been, as it still is, in the hands of corrupt and infamous political adventurers, and had the laws of the State been fairly and impartially administered, The Union League and the Ku Keux Klan 157 public sentiment would have crushed the Ku Klux organization in its incipiency. 6. That there was not any necessity for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, because there was not at any time any disposition on the part of the citizens to resist warrants of ar¬ rest. Every man in Spartanburg County could have been ar¬ rested by a deputy marshal’s posse. 7. That the Ku Klux, while formidable in numbers, perhaps, never entertained the idea of resisting the United States Govern¬ ment. If its designs were treasonable, it could, in a single night, have overpowered and annihilated the entire military force in this county. Aftermath of the Senator Scott’s committee was in Spartanburg from Congressional J u iy g to j u jy yj an d examined seventy-two wit¬ nesses, thirty-six white and the same number col¬ ored. Only toward the end were prominent citizens called, and the committee finally found themselves unable to make a definite list of Klansmen. It was generally believed by Spartans that the actual purpose of the investigation was to find excuses for increasing the number of Federal troops and to gather material for Republican cam¬ paign literature. Most of the Spartans who had been imprisoned were dismissed on bail, but some served prison sentences in Columbia for weeks. A few more were sent to Albany, N. Y. Eventually most of these prisoners received pardons from President Grant. The Ku Klux Klan dwin¬ dled to nothingness as silently and mysteriously as it had come into being. To this day the names and numbers of its members cannot be determined. At the November 1872 term of court the grand jury stated: We take great pleasure in reporting to your Honor that so far as comes within our knowledge personally and from information received from reliable and trustworthy sources, the County of Spartanburg is now entirely free from any unlawful bands of raiders or clans or disguised men, and that we know of no recent instances of any citizen being molested or maltreated by such bands or clans of men, and that throughout the county we know of no unlawful combination of men who refuse to obey or who resist the laws of the county. CHAPTER FIFTEEN The Banner District of Democracy—1868-1876 Spartanburg in The handsome 1,300 Democratic majority in the the Democratic elections of June 2 and 3, 1868, prompted the Spartan to call Spartanburg the “Banner District” —an epithet taken up approvingly by other newspapers. When the first legislature under the new Constitution met in special session July 6, 1868, Spartanburg was one of the six districts whose delegations were Democratic, and developments soon made clear their helpless¬ ness under the “steam roller” tactics of the Radical power. The Assembly had twenty-one white and ten colored senators; and forty-six white and seventy-eight Negro members of the lower house. A large public meeting at the courthouse, August Salesday, pre¬ sided over by Dr. B. F. Kilgore, with F. M. Trimmier as secretary, endorsed the action of the recent National Democratic Conventions, which met in New York, July 4. Colonel T. Stobo Farrow, who had attended it as a delegate, made a report of its proceedings. Dr. John Winsmith spoke; and also Gabriel Cannon, who advocated representation in the State Convention which was scheduled to meet in Columbia August 6, in opposition to those who still urged the stand-off policy. At this State Convention, Cannon was elected one of the four vice presidents. A resolution was adopted to rely solely on peaceful agencies in fighting the Radical ring. August 10, 1868, the Spartanburg District Central Democratic Club, comprising twenty-three member clubs, was organized, with John Epton as temporary chairman, and W. T. Miller, secretary. Officers were unanimously elected as follows: President, W. K. Blake; vice presidents, Dr. J. Winsmith, Colonel J. H. Evins, Dr. B. F. Kilgore; secretary-treasurer, Captain F. M. Trimmier; execu¬ tive committee, John Epton, Henry Wofford, S. C. Means, T. Stobo Farrow, John Stroble, H. Dodd, D. R. Duncan, G. Cannon. One week later, August 17, the first Negro Democratic Club in Spar¬ tanburg District was organized, with thirty-five or forty members. B. Wofford was president, and D. P. Moorman, secretary. Outstanding as an example of the use made politically of old- fashioned barbecues was one presided over by General J. W. Miller at Poplar Springs, August 13, 1868. The Spartan said: “It was 158 Thu Banner District of Democracy —1868-1876 159 indeed a barbecue after the old style, and reminded us of a resurrec¬ tion of the time, when on every fourth of July we heard the Declara¬ tion of Independence and patriotic speeches and had barbecued din¬ ners, and indulged in enthusiasm and reverence for the Independence Day. But the meeting at Poplar Springs had for its object the in¬ duction of a day more desirable and more important to us than the 4th now is, or in fact has ever been— the day of the installation of Democracy in power” More than six hundred men attended the Poplar Springs barbe¬ cue, about one-third of them colored. Addresses were made by D. R. Duncan, W. K. Blake, and Simpson Bobo. Marshals then led the crowd in orderly processions—the Negroes having their own tables—to dinner. Bread, beef, mutton, pork, fowls, “in super¬ abundance and barbecued in an excellent manner,” were set before them. After dinner the stand was turned over to the Negroes; and two members of their race from Columbia, named Minor and Lee, spoke to them in favor of the Democratic Party. A Rally and The Democrats made elaborate preparations for a Fireworks rally in Spartanburg, September 10, 1868, on which occasion the platform would be formally ratified and candidates endorsed. Wade Hampton and B. F. Perry were invited to make addresses. Marshals were appointed, and also “committees on Ta¬ bles, Fireworks, Barbecue, and Reception.” All inhabitants were urged to decorate and illuminate their houses. The crowd in at¬ tendance was estimated at 6,000 or more. A procession of clubs a half mile long, formed at ten in the morning on the Public Square. The Spartanburg Colored Club which brought up the rear was a striking feature of it. The Democrats were fighting fire with fire again. In the evening there was a torchlight procession followed by extravagant fireworks depicting a sea fight between two frigates, the Horatio (for Horatio Seymour) and the Ulysses (for U. S. Grant). The fireworks presented a false prophecy, for the Horatio sank the Ulysses. Former Governor Perry and Wade Hampton were not able to accept the invitation to attend this rally, but the list of speakers and guests was a notable one, including: Hon. A. A. Aldrich, Hon. A. Burt, Governor Milledge Bonham, Colonel F. W. McMaster, Colonel J. Baxter, General A. C. Garlington, J. Cothran, Esq., Hon. W. D. Simpson, Colonel E. C. McClure. 160 A History or Spartanburg County Elections Spartanburg’s vote was Democratic in the ensuing and Results November election; which, nevertheless, resulted in Republican victory in the State. Spartanburg’s legislative delegation was as follows: Senator, Joel Foster; Representatives, Samuel Lit¬ tlejohn, Robert M. Smith, Javan Briant, C. C. Turner. A. S. Wal¬ lace, a Radical candidate, contested the election of W. D. Simpson for Congress, and representatives of a Congressional Investigating Committee spent three days in Spartanburg, March 29-31, 1869, taking testimony concerning the election, in the presence of William Choice, Intendant. Thirty-one witnesses were examined and their testimony covered seventy-five pages of legal cap paper. Following the committee’s report, Simpson was not seated, and Wallace was. This A. S. Wallace was, in 1874, accused by reputable citizens of having advised the Negroes to resort to cartridge boxes if denied access to the ballot boxes. Spartanburg remained, after the elections of 1868 demonstrated the necessity of organized united effort, a safely Democratic county, without strong Radical leadership. The presence of Federal sol¬ diers was accepted and made the best of. Few Spartans joined the Republican party. An honest Republican could say truthfully— as Dr. John Winsmith did before the Congressional Committee in 1871—“I have as many friends who are Democrats as Republicans.” Taxpayers’ Unions The corruption of the Scott administration and the growing demoralization during the ensuing years had important consequences. One was the Ku Klux Klan and the evils that grew out of it. Another, which owed its origin to the insecurity of property, was the organization of The Taxpayers’ Convention, an organization distinct from political parties. It was instituted by the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, and the first Taxpayers’ Con¬ vention met in Columbia, May 9, 1871, Gabriel Cannon and A. B. Woodruff representing Spartanburg. A second meeting of the Taxpayers’ Convention was held in Columbia, February 17, 1874, at which Spartanburg was represented by W. M. Foster and A. B. Woodruff. This convention drew up a scathing indictment of the Moses administration and created a committee of fifteen to present an “Address” to President Grant and request him to lay the South Carolina situation before Congress. This committee was insultingly received both by Grant and Congress. “The Columbia Ring” had gobbled up the Spartanburg-Union The Banner District of Democracy —1868-1876 161 Railroad, and the precariousness of all investments created much alarm. The Taxpayers’ Convention sponsored the organization of active Tax Unions in every township of every county. Leaders in Spartanburg were: W. M. Foster, A. B. Woodruff, Simpson Bobo, Joel Ballenger, S. C. Means. Simpson Bobo, president of the County Tax Union, also had a place on the State Executive Committee, and at a meeting called in Columbia, October 8, 1874, Spartanburg was represented by him. The main objective of this meeting was, since the appeal to Grant and Congress had failed, to devise some other method of ousting the corrupt Radical ring from control of the State. The plan adopted was to refrain from placing in nomi¬ nation a Democratic ticket, and to throw all the power of the “Con¬ servatives,” as they called themselves, with the “Independent” wing of the Republican Party. Support of This state-wide plan failed of complete success, Independent Re- but brought about great benefits. It got out publican Ticket th e largest vote since 1868, and cut down the lead of the ring in power to such an extent as to alarm its leaders. Their nomination of Daniel H. Chamberlain had been already a great con¬ cession to decency, since he represented the better type of “carpetbag¬ ger.” Chamberlain spoke in Spartanburg, September 28, 1874, at what the Spartan described as “the Great Republican Pow-wow.” Conforming to the plan of the Taxpayers’ Convention, former Governor Perry actively supported the candidates on the “Inde¬ pendent” ticket—Green for governor, and Delaney, who was a colored man of character and education, for lieutenant governor— because they were honest. He said: “The time has come when color cannot be considered.” He believed they could and would, if elected, clean up the government, and he frankly questioned the ability of Chamberlain to do so. The Spartan took the same posi¬ tion. When elections came, Spartanburg was still “the banner county” of democracy, with a large majority for the “Independent” ticket. The Chamberlain ticket, however, carried the State. Spar¬ tanburg again sent to the legislature a Democratic delegation: John E. Bomar, Gabriel Cannon, A. B. Woodruff, Robert M. Smith. D. R. Duncan was reelected as Senator. Democratic The Chamberlain administration proved better than Club* that 0 f Moses, but yet fell short of stability or decency. All over the State the Democrats became increasingly confident that 162 A History of Spartanburg County they could unite and overthrow the Radicals. The State Executive Democratic Committee met in Columbia, January 6, 1876, and for¬ mulated plans for organizing Democratic Clubs in all the counties. It had been a sacrifice of principle to expediency when Democrats, accepting the advice of the Taxpayers’ Convention, agreed to sup¬ port the “Independent” Republican ticket in 1874; and a large ele¬ ment of the party refused to enter into this movement to undermine the power of the Radical ring. Divided Opinions As the 1876 campaign opened, the division in sentiment was forced into the open. Should the Democrats now support Chamberlain? The News and Courier voiced the opinion of the “Fusionists,” that influential element of the party which replied to this question, Yes. The overwhelming preponderance of Negro population explained the position of the Fusionists. An opposing faction contended that compromise had been tried without successful results and that the time had come for the Dem¬ ocrats to nominate a Straight Out Democratic ticket, “from Gov¬ ernor to Coroner.” Within their own ranks the “Straight-Outs” differed as to the best methods of dealing with the perplexing Negro vote. One element wished to rule the Negro entirely out of the Democratic Party and face the race issue squarely. General Martin W. Gary, “the Bald Eagle” of Edgefield, said that to appeal to the Negro to help check Radical corruption was as absurd as “singing Psalms to a dead mule.” He urged a straight-out white man’s ticket, saying: “The failure to redeem the State and break up the Radical rule has been due to the fact that we have not appealed to the white man as a white man.” The opinion of Wade Hampton was that the Democrats must make a bid for the support and cooperation of the Negroes—that to allow the Radicals the undisputed control of the Negro vote would be to invite defeat. He realized that the only hope of peace was for native Southern white men to replace the scheming, office¬ seeking Republican interlopers as advisers and leaders of the Negroes. Wade Hampton When the Democratic Convention met, the and John H. Evms Fusionists were defeated, though by a narrow margin. The Straight-outs unanimously nominated Wade Hampton for governor, and James Conner of Charleston, a strong Fusionist, for attorney general. John H. Evins of Spartanburg, the nominee to Congress from the Fourth District, was appointed by the Execu- The Banner District of Democracy— 1868-1876 163 tive Committee to organize Spartanburg County. The Spartan re¬ printed, August 30, 1876, with additional encomiums, a comment on Evins from the News and Courier. . . . The Democratic candidate is Col. John H. Evins of Spar¬ tanburg. There is not in South Carolina a finer specimen of the liberal and accomplished gentleman. He belongs to one of the oldest and best families in the State, is a lawyer by profession, and about 43 years of age. Before the war he was a member of the State Legislature, and during the war served as Captain in Jenkins’ crack regiment, the Palmetto Sharpshooters, at Frazier’s Farm. In the seven days’ battle he was wounded and . disabled. Since the war he has been an active promoter of in¬ ternal improvements, and did much to secure the running of the Airline Railroad through Spartanburg. For some years he was director of the Spartanburg Airline Railroad. Colonel Evins is an able lawyer, and conspicuously able and upright. An elder of the Presbyterian Church, he is beloved and honored for his purity, liberality, and sincerity in every walk of life. The term of office of Colonel Evins will begin on the fourth of March. The Spartanburg Central Democratic Club was organized at the courthouse, August 5, 1876. John H. Evins was made president; J. W. Wofford, secretary and treasurer; W. P. Compton, Charles Barry, and E. S. Allen were elected vice-presidents. Steps were taken at once for the thorough organization of the county. Two Negroes were added to the list of officers as vice presidents. Plans were made to hold six grand mass meetings—October 21, at Gaff¬ ney City; October 24, at Wellford; October 25, at Pacolet; October 26, at New Prospect; October 28, at Rogers’ Bridge; November 2, at Spartanburg. The committee insisted that “every man in Spar¬ tanburg County will mount and attend this last meeting.” Evins’ Campaign Not only were these clubs organized, but the Working Clubs Spartan Rifles and other rifle clubs were re¬ organized, nominally as social clubs. Politics had been subordinated to domestic activities most of the time before 1876, but during that year all other interests were sacrificed to the promotion of the cam¬ paign to elect Hampton. White Republicans came out for the Hamp¬ ton ticket; for example, in a speech made Salesda'y of October, B. F. Bates announced that, while he was still a Republican and expected to vote for Rutherford B. Hayes, he intended to vote the Straight-out Hampton ticket in the State election. The “Evins’ Campaign Working Clubs” were tireless in their activities. T. Stobo 164 A History or Spartanburg County Farrow, editor of the Spartanburg Herald, was a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee, and his assistance in se¬ curing speakers and making plans was invaluable. Red Shirts in The campaign reached its peak of excitement when Spartanburg Wade Hampton in person visited Spartanburg. He arrived by the Spartanburg-Union Railroad at four o’clock on the afternoon of September 8, and was received with pomp and ceremony. Early the next morning the streets and all the roads were thronged with galloping horsemen arrayed in red shirts. The purpose of all these demonstrations was to overawe the Radicals and impress on the Negroes a renewed respect for the white man’s courage and power. At ten o’clock on the morning of September 9, 1876, the most spectacular procession ever formed in Spartanburg County moved from the Square. Immediately behind the Marshals was a deco¬ rated wagon drawn by six horses, in which rode the Union Band. Next, distinguished by their blue sashes, were the Evins’ Cam¬ paign Working Clubs. Behind them rode the Red Shirts Clubs from all parts of the county, including the Negro Democratic Club. The Spartanburg Band rode next in a four-horse wagon. Then came a handsome phaeton, drawn by four beautiful gray horses, in which rode General Wade Hampton, General J. D. Gordon, Colonel W. D. Simpson, and Colonel James H. Rion. Twelve ex-Con federate soldiers, clad in red shirts and blue sashes, and mounted on white horses, served as a special escort. In another handsome carriage rode Colonel John H. Evins, Colonel B. W. Ball, Colonel Samuel McGowan, Colonel T. Stobo Farrow, and E. H. Bobo. The rear guard was made up of Wade Hampton’s old cav¬ alrymen, led by Captain Niles Nesbitt. One mile and a half in length, this procession moved from the Square, north along Rutherford (now Magnolia) Street, turned east into College, south into Church, and west at Henry Street to Twitty’s Grove, a lovely picnic ground in the old days and the spot formerly used as a camp by the Yankee garrison. There a speaker’s stand had been erected and a barbecue prepared. The speakers were greeted with wild enthusiasm, and no disturbances marred the day. In the evening a torchlight procession a half-mile long, with twenty- five hundred participants carrying clever and spectacular “trans- The; Banned District of Democracy— 1868-1876 165 parencies,” was followed by a display of fireworks; and the day closed with an artillery salute. Democratic The complete absorption of the people in winning Victory the e i ec t} on j s proven by the fact that every business house in town stopped work at 4 p. m., November 6, and did not resume business until the polls closed the next day. The results of the election showed that Hampton received in Spartanburg County, 4,677 votes, and Chamberlain, 1,467; Evins received 4,671, and A. S. Wallace, 1,464; Gabriel Cannon, for state senator, received 4,478 votes, and C. C. Turner, 1,539. Returns from the Fourth Congressional District as given out by the State Board of Canvassers showed a Democratic majority of 5,804 for Evins. CHAPTER SIXTEEN Rails and Expansion Problems The war interrupted Spartanburg citizens in the midst m 1866 G f a determined effort to make of their courthouse town a railroad and trading center. Its end found them confronted with grave problems: The schools and manufacturing companies had, for the most part, invested their funds in Confederate money, and they were now facing bankruptcy. The long-continued strain on machinery and equipment had worn them out, and mills must be reconditioned or closed. There was no longer the demand for goods which had impelled their intense activity during the war, be¬ cause the people had not money with which to buy their products, and there was not a government to subsidize necessary industries. Their reserves were gone, and some way must be found to replace them. More distressing than any of these considerations was the problem of the freed Negroes, and the necessity of establishing new ways of daily living because of Emancipation. Even with return¬ ing prosperity, there was much poverty, and its pinch was felt more than at any time during the war. Loyal citizens who were suffering from consequences of their faith in the Confederate Government now took deep interest in the vain efforts of the legislature, in De¬ cember, 1865, to “scale” all debts—efforts that were eventually, but slowly, through the Stay Law, to achieve desirable results. Although under military rule and perplexed about the national status of South Carolina, Spartans began the year 1866 hopefully. The Spartan, suspended May 1, 1865, resumed publication in Feb¬ ruary, 1866. Its files from that time present a vivid picture of Spartan courage and energy, with advertisements of Charleston wholesale merchants and local merchants, plans for reconditioning the railroad, notices of establishment of tri-weekly hack service be¬ tween Spartanburg and Greenville, and accounts of community activities throughout the District. A dark shadow rested over the entire District. Fall had brought the time for sowing grain, and hundreds of the people had none to sow. Appeals had to be made to generous friends who could help them. In the midst of returning prosperity, many women had no means of securing a livelihood. Local merchants and associa¬ tions were urged to follow the example of Charleston and Columbia 166 Rails and Expansion 167 by providing sewing and fine needle-work and a market for the product of the seamstresses. News from Washington grew more and more disheartening. Talk of impeachment of the President was growing. South Caro¬ lina was still without representation in Congress. Leading citizens were without the right to hold office or even vote, except under the humiliating procedure of having been granted a “pardon” by Pres¬ ident Johnson. Prosperity As the year 1867 opened, the people, taking stock of m 1867 their resources, saw hope. Of the new crop of 1866, more than three thousand bales of cotton had left Spartanburg by wagon or train, and the largest holders had not sold. In fifteen or twenty brick stores, even though most of them had depleted stocks, merchants were enjoying good patronage. A carriage and wagon factory was doing excellent business, for the times, and anticipated expansion. Two large and prosperous saddleries, two jewelers, three colleges, and “one of the best hotels in the whole country” were among the assets of the village. As the spring advanced, the reports of trade were cheerful. Wagons in large numbers came in from the mountains, loaded with grain, bacon, apples, potatoes, “mountain dew,” and other goods. The Spartan urged visitors from “further down” to come up and trade: We can furnish them with yams and cloth from our Fac¬ tories ; iron, nails, and casting from our Rolling Mills; lime from our quarries; wagons, buggies, and carriages from our work¬ shops ; harness and saddles by fine workmen; drugs and medi¬ cines from two fine apothecary stores, besides dry goods and groceries in any quantity and of great variety. Now is the time to patronize home enterprise. With good crops and a fair supply of money for the purpose of trade, we hope to see Spartanburg the most flourishing town in the up-country. . . . There were still too many instances of destitution and misery, but general prosperity seemed to have returned. In June the farm¬ ers in all parts of the District were described as “indefatigable in their exertions to make a good crop.” Women helped with the farm work. The “freed people,” most of them, had proved themselves orderly and industrious. Many farmers were again able to buy new wagons and buggies. In the fall, streets were crowded with loaded wagons, ready for 168 A History of Spartanburg County trade and barter. Charleston wholesalers were warned by the local paper of the importance to them of holding this trade. The editorial rejoicing sounds almost Biblical: The time has once more arrived, that there is bread in the land—when the sufferings of the poor women and children can be relieved; for, such scenes of utter destitution and absolute want, as has been witnessed, within the last two years, would touch the hardest heart with sorrow and sympathy. . . . Through¬ out the whole of last winter and spring, the trade of this town was better than it has ever been before, and only the scarcity of money prevented it from being much larger. Farmers and Repeatedly throughout the year, the editor of Agricultural Affairs th e Sp\artan argued for heavy cotton planting, pointing out that cotton was always a money crop, and that corn, wheat, and peas could not be grown at a profit here. Cotton, he pronounced the one hope of the people of this section for “paying their debts, taxes, lawyers, physicians, merchants, and other de¬ mands and he scoffed at the argument that the South should plant only enough cotton for home use so as to “spite the Yankees.” Said the editor: “We don’t care now who gets the cotton or who wears it so we get its value in money—which money would go a long way to help us out of the fix we are now in.” The Spartanburg Agricultural Society, “suspended since the War,” nominated as delegates to the State Agricultural Convention, scheduled to meet in Columbia, April 28, 1869, Colonel G. Cannon, Colonel T. J. Moore, Dr. B. F. Kilgore, E. H. Bobo, Esq., John C. Zimmerman, Major William N. Foster, Captain A. Dean, Captain A. B. Woodruff, Captain A. Copeland, Colonel H. D. Floyd, J. H. Garrison, Major Harvey Wofford, Samuel Morgan, James L. Scruggs, Esq., John H. Evins, and Simpson Bobo. During the spring the Bethel Agricultural Society was revived, with a membership of more than one hundred and fifty, and manifested a special interest in the development of mechanical aids to agriculture. The agricultural societies were soon obscured by the National Grange, known as the Patrons of Husbandry, which spread over the county rapidly in the 70’s. The Republican organization fought it bitterly, denouncing it as “a trick of the Ku Klux Democracy.” Railroad While the problems of the freedmen, the shadow of Promotion confiscation, and lack of assurance as to their political future hung over the people of Spartanburg, they resumed efforts Rails and Expansion 169 to secure more railroads. The summer of 1866 found plans under discussion for the continuation of the Spartanburg-Union Railroad to Asheville, and for the promotion of a railroad from Spartanburg to Charlotte as one link in a chain from New York to New Orleans. In July, 1868, a mass-meeting was held in Spartanburg to promote the extension of the Spartanburg-Union Railroad to the Block House, a distance of twenty-four miles. Surveying parties were at work two years later trying to deter¬ mine the best route by which to link Charleston and Asheville with the West by way of Spartanburg. Communities were eargerly co¬ operating—pointing out the natural advantages of the old trails broken by the buffalo and developed by the Indian traders, the packsack peddler, the drover, and finally the colonists. In September and October, 1871, while United States soldiers were galloping through the county and filling the jails with Ku Klux prisoners, and the air was permeated with hysteria, level-headed citizens were working to secure a railroad through Laurens from Spartanburg to Augusta, which, a prospectus pointed out, “would run through the wealthiest and most productive portion of our Dis¬ trict.” The plans were set forth at a meeting held on October Sales- day, presided over by Simpson Bobo, with T. J. Moore as secretary. Speeches were made by Gabriel Cannon and John H. Evins, and a letter was read from W. D. Simpson. Evins offered a resolution, the gist of which was that Spartans were “willing to contribute of our time and our money to the extent of our ability.” On the com¬ mittee appointed to secure subscriptions to stock were: J. H. Evins, G. Cannon, John W. Carlisle, A. Tolleson, A. B. Woodruff, J. C. Winsmith, T. J. Moore, F. N. Montgomery, J. B. Davis, D. G. Finley, and Dr. B. F. Kilgore. Fourteen years were to pass before these efforts met with success; for the branch of the Port Royal and South Carolina railroad from Spartanburg to Augusta began opera¬ tions in 1885. Enthusiasm increased for securing the railroad to Charlotte, which would ultimately be a link in the proposed Airline from New York to New Orleans. Pleas were made for voters to tax them¬ selves the required $50,000, and so secure for their section this road, essential to their prosperity. Simpson Bobo, T. Stobo Farrow, Ga¬ briel Cannon, and John H. Evins were the outstanding leaders of a large group of persistent workers for railroad subscriptions. Pub- 170 A History or Spartanburg County lie meetings were held in all the populous communities. Sentiment was thoroughly aroused and educated. “We can, and must, and will have the road this way,” was the keynote of speeches made. The importance of securing both these roads and the advantage to Spartanburg of the location at their junction were demonstrated so thoroughly that the requested tax was voted unanimously. Building of When the assurance finally came that the Airline the Airline which was to connect New York and New Orleans would be run from Charlotte to Gainesville through Spartanburg, a communication to the Spartan, June 1, 1871, signed “R,” painted a vivid panorama in its analysis of the proposed route: The manufacturing interests of Spartanburg are peculiarly fortunate. The road crosses Broad River within a mile of the Cherokee Iron Works . . . passes through Limestone, with its great lime and marble quarries, mineral waters, and costly Sem¬ inary . . . passes Pacolet River just above Hurricane Shoals, with its extensive Iron Works, Rolling and Casting Mills, Nail Works, etc. . . . within a few miles of the large Cotton Factory at Bivingsville ... by White’s Mill, through the heart of Spar¬ tanburg Courthouse. . . Passing on toward Greenville, Carver’s Mills are in sight—then Benson’s Mills on Tyger, Crawfordsville Factory being four miles below and that of Messrs. Morgan and Montgomery but a mile or so above . . . On to Greenville— Batesville and Buena Vista eight miles south of the line, Valley Falls three miles North. . . The Cotton Manufacturing estab¬ lishment of the Messrs. Hill on Tyger and of the Messrs. Finger on Pacolet, the one in the extreme South and the other in the extreme North of the County, will have their nearest depot at Spartanburg Courthouse. Who knows to what proportions these enterprises may grow in the future? If they thrived in the past without facilities of communications, how much more will they prosper with this great road running by their very doors, ready to carry the products of their shops and looms to all the markets of the world. At three o’clock on the afternoon of March 31, 1873, the first train from Charlotte pulled into Spartanburg, and Simpson Bobo presided over the ceremonies and festivities which marked the oc¬ casion. The engine was immediately covered with flowers and banners by the ladies. Sixty ladies and gentlemen of Charlotte, with other guests, were entertained by the citizens of Spartanburg at the Palmetto House at a “sumptuous dinner” distinguished for its “wine and wit and stirring speeches.” Charlotte merchants be¬ gan to advertise in the Spartanburg papers. Rails and Expansion 171 September 7, 1874, a railroad mass meeting and barbecue in the town of Spartanburg celebrated the breaking of ground at the junction of the Spartanburg-Union and the Airline Railroad. The president, directors, stockholders, and honored guests formed a procession, led by the Spartanburg Silver Cornet Band. Distin¬ guished guests were present from Charleston, Atlanta, Columbia, Asheville, Hendersonville, Greenville, Laurens, and Newberry. Many newspaper reporters were present. Several thousand people stood for three hours listening to speeches. Later, without a dis¬ senting vote, a resolution was adopted authorizing Spartanburg County to subscribe $100,000 worth of railroad bonds. A ball in the evening concluded the celebration. Not until 1879 was this road continued as far as Hendersonville. The joy of the people was not even dimmed by the arrival in Spartanburg within the week of a detachment of the Second Ar¬ tillery Regiment, U.S.A., of fifty men acting as infantry, who took up winter quarters until after the election. The editor of the paper which chronicled his arrival, very dryly commented that Colonel Woodruff was reported to be a gentleman, and that Spartans, while questioning the necessity of his presence, yet extended him a wel¬ come. Progress of Cotton All during this period, factories and mills were Manufacturing being bought and sold, built and reconditioned. Joseph Walker’s Almanac for 1867 listed the cotton factories in operation in Spartanburg County as follows: Lester’s Factory at Buena Vista (now Pelham), Lawson’s Fork Factory, Valley Falls Factory, Fingerville Factory, Hill’s Factory, Cedar Hill Factory, Crawfordsville Factory, and Barksdale Factory. At the State Agricultural Fair, held in Columbia in the fall of 1869, D. E. Converse of the Bivingsville Factory was awarded a gold medal for the best bale of osnaburg; and $8 in gold each for the best bale of shirting, the best bale of sheeting, and the best bale of cotton yarn; and $3 in gold each for the best piece of tweeds and the best piece of satinet or jeans. Bivingsville After their purchase of the Bivingsville Mill, D. E. Converse, J. C. Zimmerman, John E. Bomar, A. H. Twichell, and their associates, practically rebuilt it, adding an entirely new main building and replacing all of the old worn machinery. They en¬ larged it so that in 1875 it operated 5,000 spindles and 120 looms, 172 A History of Spartanburg County and consumed 1,600 bales of cotton per year. They manufactured brown shirtings, sheetings, and yarns; and produced 6,000 yards of cloth and 500 pounds of bunched yarn per day. Some of the best weavers turned out 80 yards of cloth per day and earned from $1 to $1.25 per day. The monthly pay roll for the 175 operatives was about $3,000. The mill was operated entirely by water power, two turbine wheels with 110 horsepower being used. The village contained about 60 dwellings and had about 400 inhabitants. It had a church, in which were maintained a Sunday School, preaching services, and a Temperance Lodge. One aspect of the Bivingsville plant which distinguished the old ways from present-day methods is the fact that several distinct types of manufacturing were conducted in connection with it. The company owned and operated “a complete flouring mill with four sets of stones;” machine shops; a carpenter shop, with planes and circular saws; a circular sawmill with its own wheel; a wool-carding mill, which annually carded 12,000 pounds of wool; and two im¬ proved cotton gins, which ginned about 500 bales annually. Besides these enterprises, the company operated a large general store and a six-acre meadow scientifically managed to provide forage for the animals used in the plant. The company owned 1,600 acres of land, 250 under cultivation. Goods were shipped to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Wilmington, Atlanta, Charleston, Columbia, and many points in the two Carolinas. So successful had been the operation of this mill that it had not only earned enough to cover the purchase price, but had paid fair dividends every year since the war. At this time Bivingsville was the show place of the county. Other In 1869 the Spartan boasted that Spartanburg “ex- Enterprises hibited nothing which failed to secure a premium” at the State Agricultural Fair. Two noteworthy premiums were won by Fowler, Foster and Company—$10 for the best phaeton, and $8 for the best two-horse wagon. There were numerous suc¬ cessful flour mills in the District; and corn and grist mills were almost innumerable. Captain H. C. Robertson and his sons opened a gold mine in the North Pacolet section, about 1867, which caused some excite¬ ment. Several lots of ore in paying quantities were obtained. Pic- Rails and Expansion 173 nics were held to enable sight-seers to inspect the mine, and it had many visitors. But work on it was soon abandoned. The iron works were almost abandoned during this period, be¬ cause their machinery was worn, their supply of fuel exhausted, their markets gone, and new competition, which they could not meet, had arisen in the West Virginia and Pennsylvania iron-producing areas. Limestone was still quarried in the vicinity of Limestone Springs. Losses from During its entire existence, the progress of the Emigration District was retarded by losses of population. The chief cause of emigration before the war was the lure of cheap and desirable lands in the Southwest; letters from former Spartans who settled in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, appeared fre¬ quently in the Spartan and the Express in the years before the war. The census report for 1860 showed 41 per cent of the natives of South Carolina living in other States; and in 1870, 35 per cent had left their native State. Many Spartans had gone to Kansas in the fifties. After the war, many of the freedmen sought new homes. Some were lured away by fantastic schemes. For example, a group of fifty or more from the southern part of the county who called them¬ selves “Zion Travelers” sold all their possessions, July 1873, and set forth up the Buncombe Road to a “Promised Land,” described to them by a preacher of their race as distant a hundred and sixty miles. The ship “Azor” may have carried a few Spartanburg Negroes to Liberia. Immigration Vigorous efforts were undertaken to induce immi- Aid Societies gration. Spartanburg, Limestone Springs, Wellford, all formed Immigration Aid Societies between 1873 and 1876. An Immigration Office was opened in Spartanburg, conducted by T. H. Bomar. On one occasion, in 1874, about fifty Italians were placed in this county by this agency. Employers were required to advance a contingent fee of $10, and to promise board and a monthly wage of $10 for a year. To insure against the immigrants’ becoming lonely and discontented, a rule was made that three or more must be employed in a community. Efforts to induce English-speaking set¬ tlers to come in met with little success because of the race problem. A publication called the Southern Herald, issued from Gaffney City, was the organ of “Gaines’ Southern Immigration Agency.” This 174 A History of Spartanburg County was an organization with headquarters in New York City, which had as its announced purpose the promotion of immigration into the Piedmont. The population of the District in 1850 was 26,400; in 1860, 26,919; in 1870, 25,784. This decade from 1860 to 1870 was the only one in its entire history when the population of Spartanburg showed an actual decrease. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Social Life During Reconstruction Reaction The end of the war brought relief from suspense. In the from War j G y having the soldiers at home people gave them¬ selves over to pleasures. Within a year new churches, Masonic lodge buildings, tournaments, concerts and commencements, and series of instructive lectures were being reported in the Spartan, showing that, in the main, during the years following the war, life went on almost normally in the old Spartan'District, even with the alarming new “Militia Act,” the Reconstruction program, and the world turned upside down politically. People had weddings and sent the editor wedding cake. Ladies made lovely gardens and sent the editor sam¬ ples of roses, strawberries, first fruits and vegetables—receiving in return gallant compliments in the Spartan. The circus came and went. The Pioneer Club and the Wofford Star Club played exhibition baseball on Kirby Hill, in the spring. Social The Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fel- Diversions lows were leaders in promoting social and civic activity. St. John’s Day, December 27, 1866, was made the occasion of an old-time Masonic celebration at Glenn Springs. The day was given over to speech-making, installations, and an “elegant dinner,” and the night to “dancing in the large hall.” At the end of the year, the Spartan commented cheerfully on the increased life and animation in Spartanburg. Money was more plentiful. Merchants were more active. More country people were seen on the streets, and there was more bartering. Railroad excursions, “hot suppers,” May Day picnics, baseball games, strawberry and ice cream festivals served as meeting places for beaux and belles, and as financial bonanzas for the sewing so¬ cieties of the churches. Spartanburg took on the airs of a city by instituting an “omnibus line” with a round-trip fare of twenty cents, which connected the town with Garrett Springs—earlier known as Thomson’s Spring, and later renamed Rock Cliff—one and one-half miles from town. The omnibus ran up North Church, past Wofford College, to a junction with Rutherford (now Magnolia) Street, turned down it, passed the Magnolia Street cemetery, the Public Square, and ran along East Main and the old Cowpens Battle- 175 176 A History of Spartanburg County ground road, to the spring. At the spring were a billiard room, a bathing-room, walks, seats, a reservoir with a fountain, and an ice cream saloon. On special occasions the Spartanburg Silver Cornet Band gave concerts here. At the Hotels and The Walker House and the Palmetto House were Mineral Springs both dosed in 1865, but reopened in 1866; and, although very shabby, they were well patronized. William P. Irwin kept the Palmetto House, and his personality created about him an atmosphere of culture and distinction to which the Spartan editor frequently referred with pride. The political corruption, the business unrest, the Ku Klux disturbances, all failed to check the search for recreation. This period was marked by the increased vogue of min¬ eral springs, especially Glenn and Cherokee Springs. Tournaments Tournaments replaced the old-time regimental musters very acceptably. An especially brilliant tournament was held at Glenn Springs, May 7, 1868. Each knight paid a registration fee and appeared “on the green in front of the hotel” at nine o’clock in the morning, suitably costumed and mounted, and provided with a lance nine feet long. The track was one hundred and fifty yards long; and three rings, each two and a half inches in diameter, were sus¬ pended over it at forty-foot intervals. The riders “tilted” for these rings, coursing rapidly along the track, nine seconds being the time limit. Four prizes were awarded. The first, a handsome wreath, carried with it the privilege of choosing and crowning the Queen of Love and Beauty. Three maids of honor were selected by the next three best riders, who received as prizes a fine bridle, a mounted riding whip, and a pair of fine steel spurs. The list of judges and marshals included former governors, judges, and other stately gentlemen, thej cream of the old regime. A sumptuous dinner was followed by a brief rest period. Then, in the evening, in the “large hall” of the hotel, the Queen’s Coronation Ball was danced—a glamorous costume affair. Cross Anchor was the scene of a brilliant tournament and costume ball on Christmas Eve of the year 1869. Participating knights and ladies attended from Union, Laurens, Clinton, Enoree, Minterville, Cross Keys, Tylersville, and possibly other communities. Among the merrymakers there were, no doubt, ladies who had sewed regalia for the members of the mystic brotherhood, and knights who had At Airline Junction, September 7, 1874 The Merchants’ Hotel, Built in 1880 Social Life During Reconstruction 177 ridden hooded and shrouded, under cover of darkness, to save their imperiled social order. Yet they could dance and be merry. State Press The State Press Association was organized in Charles- Association ton j n t h e S p r j n g 0 f 1875, anc j the town of Spartanburg entertained its second convention, May 10, 1876. The meetings were held in the offices of the Herald, established in 1875 with T. Stobo Farrow as editor. The feature of the occasion was an excursion to Butt Mountain Gap to inspect the progress of the Spartanburg- Asheville Railroad. Banquets were spread at the Palmetto House and the Piedmont House, and the public address was delivered in the courthouse by the distinguished editor of the News and Courier, Captain F. W. Dawson. All of the visiting editors went home and wrote flattering pieces about Spartanburg for their papers. Religious Special exercises were held in connection with the fif- Celebrations anniversary of Cannon’s Camp Ground, beginning Friday, September 24, 1875, and continuing through the following Tuesday. Several ministers participated in the exercises, besides Mr. Mood, presiding elder, and Mr. Porter, preacher on the Cherokee Circuit. Dr. James H. Carlisle, president of Wofford College, made the outstanding address on Sunday afternoon, when between two and three thousand people gathered in the Camp. In 1861, with the news of war in the air, the Nazareth Church congregation planned and carried through successfully the “Centennial Celebration of the First Settlement on the Tygers.” In 1872, when again the county was filled with tumult and unrest, they celebrated— even more elaborately—the centennial of the formal organization of Nazareth Church. The distinguished New Orleans Presbyterian preacher, Dr. Benjamin M. Palmer, made the oration on June 15, 1872. Dr. R. H. Reid read a historical sketch of the church. Sons and daughters of the church and of the seven churches calling Naza¬ reth mother, participated in the celebration. The church had been repaired and adorned for the occasion, and surrounded with awnings and improvised seats to accommodate in comfort the large attendance expected. The Grange The Grange, officially “Patrons of Husbandry,” played an important part in organizing social life in farming communities during the decade of the seventies. Its objectives were to promote culture and improve farming methods, and to provide for a sys- 178 A History of Spartanburg County tematic exchange of ideas among farm families. It had also a policy of cooperative buying and selling of farming implements and supplies. The programs at regular Grange meetings often included debates on such subjects as “The No Fence Law,” or “The Merits of Com¬ mercial Fertilizers,” or “Immigration as a Solution of the Labor Problem.” The Grange also secured visiting speakers of distinction, and held public meetings. Social features, with entertainment and refreshments, characterized most of the Grange meetings. An im¬ portant aspect of the Grange movement was the inclusion of women in the membership. Twentieth Com- During this entire period Wofford College held its mencement at 0 wn j n S pjt e Q f t h e f ac t th e war had swept away Wofford College a p q £ en( Jowment. In 1872 a “Ladies’ Bazaar,” conducted for the purpose of repairing the steps, yielded $800. Wof¬ ford’s sophomore exhibitions and commencements and public lec¬ tures offered from time to time provided social and intellectual stim¬ ulus for the entire community and even the county. In July, 1874, an imposing array of dignitaries appeared on the twentieth com¬ mencement program; and not only the Palmetto House and the Pied¬ mont House, but all the available private homes of the village were taxed to entertain the throng of visitors. The novelty of being able to make the trip by rail—at special rates, too—and the fact that the Spartanburg Dancing Club seized the occasion for its initial “Ball,” no doubt swelled the attendance. Possibly some visitors were drawn by the Latin and Greek orations which continued, in the seventies, to have their place in every Wofford commencement program. Last Days of the Spartanburg Female College, reopened in 1866 and Female College making a valiant but vain struggle for continued existence, was characterized in 1868 by the Spartan as the “oldest female college now in operation in the State.” Early in 1870 the Rev¬ erend Dr. S. B. Jones and the Reverend James F. Smith bought from the referees in bankruptcy “the Spartanburg Female College free of encumbrances of debt.” Smith soon sold his interest to the Reverend Samuel Lander, who within a very short period sold it in turn to Jones. Lander himself removed to Williamston, where he founded a female college which later received his name. Doctor Jones held his last commencement exercises the week of November 5, 1872, at which time the announcement was made that the faculty and most of the students would go with him to Columbia Female College, of Social Life During Reconstruction 179 which he had accepted the presidency, and which would open January 1, 1873. Educational In August 1872, the Female College property was again Venture* sold—thi S time to the Reverend R. C. Oliver, to be used for the Carolina Orphans’ Home. This institution started off well. By fall Oliver was publishing The Orphans Friend, a “family newspaper designed primarily to teach the children printing.” In 1873 the buildings of the orphanage were sold to Wofford College for use as a “Fitting School.” The paper was sold, in 1875, to the founders of the Spartanburg Herald. The Theological Seminary, with a faculty of three, was located here in October 1866, by the Diocesan Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, but in less than three years was removed to Sewanee, Tennessee. In January 1873, Dr. John D. McCollough opened St. John’s Hall, a boarding school for girls. The grounds of the Seminary reverted thus to the use for which they were first acquired by McCollough twenty years earlier. Private Throughout the war period and afterwards excellent private School* sc hools were maintained. Among the teachers were Mrs. Sarah L. Butler, the Misses Harlow, Mrs. M. C. Massie, Mrs. Baker, Miss Emily K. Lee, Miss Perry, Miss W. H. Girardeau, the Misses Gamewell, Mrs. J. W. Webber, Misses Lomax and Shipp, W. L. Johnson, and J. S. Henderson. Vicissitude* of the In 1873 the State Superintendent of Education, School for the Deaf j JiHson, ordered that no distinction based and the Blind on race was to ^ ma( J e am0 ng the pupils of the School for the Deaf and the Blind at Cedar Spring, but that “whites and blacks should sleep in the same beds, eat at the same tables, and be taught in the same classes.” The faculty and staff resigned, and in the impossibility of replacing them Jillson officially closed the school, and it was not reopened until 1876. Some of the teachers and pupils continued ther work together privately during that period. Previously the school had been twice closed and reopened because of war conditions and lack of appropriations. The Reidville The Reidville Schools, founded just before the war, Schools survived and rallied surprisingly from the ordeal. The Reverend Dr. R. H. Reid, their founder, in an address at Bullock’s Creek in 1872, said of them: 180 A History of Spartanburg County The institutions received a baptism of blood at their birth. Three of their first teachers were soon lost in the war; two were killed in battle, and one died of disease. We have had pupils from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Vir¬ ginia, as well as many from the lower counties of our own State. They have done noble work in the past. They are today well officered with a full corps of teachers. One hundred and forty-five pupils were enrolled during the last scholastic year. They were founded by farmers and have been chiefly sustained by them. They were founded in faith and prayer, and I have an abiding faith in their continued prosperity. His faith was justified. His schools survived until they evolved in the nineties into public schools. Changes in the The public school system was elsewhere to absorb Limestone Springs t hg ^ aca demies and private schools. In time the two institutions at Limestone Springs lan¬ guished. The Curtis property was sold in 1871, and Doctor Curtis died in 1873, but Charles Petty continued a school there very suc¬ cessfully for a number of years. Finally, in 1880, the Limestone Springs property, mortgaged to Peter Cooper of New York, was given by him and Thomas and M. M. Bomar—who were joint owners with him—to the Spartanburg Baptist Association; and the institution, which had, since 1845, been the outstanding girls’ school of upper South Carolina, took on new life, as the Cooper-Limestone Institute. R. H. Reid and The public school system as it is organized today the Public School was t h e outgrowth of the despised Constitution of System 1868, and in its beginnings encountered resist¬ ance because of this association with the “Nigger Convention.” Very fortunately for the county, its first commissioner of education, R. H. Reid of Reidville, was a gentleman and a scholar and an experienced educator. The constructive part he played in the discharge of his duties was of a quality to command honor to his memory. In undertaking the office of the Commissioner of Education, Reid entered on a delicate task. His attitude to it and aptitude for it were soon displayed. The first County Teachers’ Convention in South Carolina was organized by him at Nazareth Church, August 5, 1870. At the second County Teachers’ Convention, held in New Prospect, August 29, 1871, Reid made a carefully organized address which in very sane and practical language explained the law and machinery of the new system. He analyzed the obstacles to its successful initia- Social Life: During Reconstruction 181 tion, and thought no one should be surprised that seven or eight dis¬ tricts had refused to vote the supplementary tax required for its local operation. The obstacles he pointed out were: first, the novelty of the scheme in this section; second, the prejudice growing out of its Yankee origin; third, the impossibility of finding for the Negroes teachers of their race capable of securing even a third grade certificate; fourth, the prejudice against white teachers for Negroes; fifth, the general contempt for women teachers. This last attitude he treated with gentle derision. In regard to the fourth, he felt that Christians should welcome the opportunity to educate the Negro. Musical “Singing Billy” Walker, A. S. H.—Author of Southern Interests Harmony —exercised a marked influence on the cultural life of Spartanburg—direct and indirect. He was especially noted for the excellence of his private library, and his familiarity with lit¬ erature. “Singing Billy” bargained with Northern publishers to give him in exchange for copies of his songbooks, an assortment of books with which he stocked the book store he maintained for a time in Spartanburg. He died in 1875, but even before his death the music teachers of the female colleges and girls’ schools had become leaders in the musical activity which was always characteristic of Spartan¬ burg society. Authorship Mrs. E. L. Herndon produced, in May 1873, an original tragi-comedy play entitled Bluebeard, which had three performances and was highly complimented in the paper. Original poems appeared in the Spartan by “Coralie Clyde of Enoree Vale” and “Harry Hope¬ ful of the Brick House” and other amateur writers. B. F. Perry, during the seventies, contributed a series of Revolutionary Incidents, the materials for which he had secured chiefly by interviewing old citizens on his rounds as a lawyer. One feature of the Spartan and the Herald during the seventies was the appearance in them of several romances—written, of course, under pen-names—by some of the county’s “gifted ladies.” While not of intrinsic literary value, one or two of these have interest because they describe contemporary scenes and customs. One story, The Fortunes of Magdalene and Miriam Walton, began in the Spartan, January 21, 1874, and con¬ tinued through nineteen chapters, closing in the issue of April 26, in a thoroughly conventional manner. Its author, “Lila Moore,” had her characters attend school at “Good Spring,” go to Greenville for “race week,” attend a “race ball,” and stay at “the hotel.” An editorial com- 182 A History of Spartanburg County ment said that this story was “a first effort” and was “written by one of the most gifted ladies in our town,” and that the papers containing it had been in demand. Certainly, in art, music, letters, social intercourse, the people of Spartanburg County found solace and enrichment of life during the decade after the war closed. Their social and spiritual growth kept even pace with their phenomenal economic and industrial expansion. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Plows and Progress Changed Conditions During the years following Reconstruction, for Farmers three things profoundly influenced the lives and activities of Spartanburg farmers—the railroads, the introduction of commercial fertilizers, and those organizations which stimulated in farmers a class consciousness. The emancipation of their slaves was of less moment to them than were those three developments, for in Spartanburg County white labor had always been usual on the farms. The Negroes in 1860 constituted only 34 per cent of the total population, and there were few if any farms in the county which had at any time depended exclusively on slave labor. Effects of Com- The use of commercial fertilizers in Spartan- mercial Fertilizers burg began about 1874. Different men have claimed the honor of introducing their use. The educational pro¬ gram of the Grange was influential in this as in many phases of farm experimentation. When commercial fertilizers made it pos¬ sible for Up-Countiy farmers to produce cotton in competition with the old cotton-producing counties, a revolution in farming methods set in. The farmers began to buy hay, bacon, even occasionally corn, shipped over the railroads from points where it could be procured at lower prices than prevailed at home. These farmers concentrated on cotton—a “money crop.” Cotton truly became King, when land was rented for so many bales of cotton, and a man's wealth was estimated by the number of bales he produced. New methods of farm finance grew out of this changed view¬ point. The merchants “carried” the farmers—that is, they extended credit for the year’s supplies, depending for their pay on the sale of the cotton crop. In Spartanburg County, many farmers had already pledged from one-third to three-fourths of their cotton be¬ fore it was even planted. Too often the merchants seemed to take advantage of the farmers’ necessity, forcing them to take all the risk of bad weather conditions and short crops. The result was class antagonism. Hammond’s Handbook Robert Mills, in 1825, in his Statistics, pro- Compared with vided the first detailed account of Spartan- Mills’ Statistics burg on record In 1880 a similar survey was made by Harry Hammond, a special agent of the United 183 184 A History or Spartanburg County States Department of Agriculture. This report, with supplementary details, was the basis of the 1883 Report of the South Carolina De¬ partment of Agriculture, which is familiarly referred to as “Ham¬ mond’s Handbook.” Hammond’s report gave the area of the county as 950 square miles, the number of acres under cultivation as 148,741. Spartanburg ranked seventh among the thirty-three counties in acreage and twelfth in production of cotton, third in corn and wheat; and it produced respectable quantities of oats and sweet potatoes. Some experimentation in rice culture was recorded—five acres with a production of 3,356 pounds. In 1880 less than ten per cent of the farm lands were planted in cotton. At this time Spartanburg was fourth in total population, second in white population, second in wealth, and first in the total value of country real estate among all the counties. Spartanburg Hammond described in detail farming conditions Farming in 1880 an d me thods in the county in 1880, naming S. C. Means as his informant from this county. The average size of farms ranged from two hundred to five hundred acres, and three- fourths of the farmers used “mixed husbandry,” only a minority buying shipped supplies of bacon, corn, and hay. One-horse plowing was usual, two-horse plows being used occasionally. Fallow lands were left uncultivated for eight or ten years, and then were often replanted to advantage. No sub-soiling was practiced, nor any systematic rotation of crops. “The washing of hill-sides does not amount to a serious evil, and it is reported as easily prevented and effectually checked by hill-side ditching when necessary,” ran one sentence in this report. Two-thirds of the field labor was performed by whites: “Even where the colored population largely preponderates a considerable amount of it is done by whites, not infrequently a much larger pro¬ portion than one would infer from the ratio between the races,” the report ran. The prevailing wages of field labor was $8 by the month, $100 by the year; and in all cases the laborer was furnished with shelter, rations, and firewood, and almost invariably with a garden, and the privilege of raising poultry and some stock—a cow or a hog. Great care and consideration were shown labor. Share¬ croppers got one-third to one-half, or more if they owned the tools they used. It was easy to rent land, but not much of it was for sale. The general valuation was $10 per acre. Plows and Progress 185 A good deal of commercial fertilizer was used, and stable manure was always used; but the basic fertilizer in 1880 was cottonseed, which had a market value of ten to fifteen cents a bushel, and was broadcast “green” on the fields for wheat and other small grain, and plowed under. For corn it was “killed” with heat and applied in each hill. It was composted with stable manure and acid phosphate— with sometimes litter and lime added—for cottonfields. Some cot¬ tonseed was fed to the stock. The best was saved for planting. In the nineties oil mills were to provide a market for cottonseed; but in 1880 Charleston had the only such mill in the State. Spartanburg in 1880 used more commercial fertilizer than any other Up-Country county, averaging $3.33 outlay per acre for it. Abbeville, with an average of 92 cents, used least, of the upper counties. The chief ad¬ vantage of commercial fertilizer was that its use hastened maturity of cotton—an important consideration in the Piedmont climate, since cotton requires a long growing season. Green manuring—pea vines plowed under—was being experimented with. Farm Hammond’s comments on the methods of farm financ- Fmanong j n g s i 10W the existence of a dangerous situation: Purchasing supplies on a credit prevails to a considerable ex¬ tent, especially among the small farmers. The exact rate at which these advances are made cannot be given, as it is not charged as interest, but is included in an increased price asked for supplies purchased on a credit. It varies from 20 to 100 per cent above the market value of the goods, according to the amount of competition among the storekeepers, who here, as elsewhere in the state, are by far the most prosperous class of the community, in proportion to the skill and capital employed. The better class of farmers do not approve of this credit system. It furnishes facilities to small farmers, encouraging them to undertake operations they cannot make remunerative to themselves; it reduces the number of laborers, and precludes high culture. The rental of land is thus increased, and land which could not be sold for $10 may be rented for $5. . . The records of the courts show that the number of liens on the growing crops is greatly on the increase, the rate of increase being 23 per cent per annum for the last two years. .... They are mostly taken from the smaller farmers, usually renters, for advances made by the landlord, or more fre¬ quently by the store-keeper. 186 A History of Spartanburg County Rise of the Town This system of farm financing was the basis Merchant Class on which a new class rose to leadership in South Carolina — the town merchants, who often made small fortunes out of their profits, and who often in¬ vested their gains in agricultural lands, or came by foreclosure into possession of lands which they rented to tenants or share-croppers. Often one-time owners became embittered tenants. The farmer was too often out of money, and forced to live on credit most of the year, while towns-people drew salaries and wages, and usually had money in their pockets, even though they might have none in the banks and quite probably owned no land or real estate. The farm¬ er’s family, limited to use of home-made products, resented the ap¬ parent luxury of the non-property-owning town family. The town family was prone to view with condescension a class deprived of comforts and pleasures which had become to it essentials. This feeling did not apply to the prosperous farmer—who in Spartanburg County was also usually a stockholder in cotton mills and railroads, and a power in county politics. Class Spartanburg has had from its very beginning a truly Feelmg democratic spirit, and the history of its influential fam¬ ilies is a history of men and women who themselves labored with their hands as readily as they directed the labor of others—whether in stores, mills, and offices, or in homes and on farms. However, out of the conditions described, class feeling did rise among the farmers, and by 1885 their growing discontent with their lot became a matter of general concern, as is indicated by a short editorial in the Carolina Spartan entitled, “Does Farming Pay?” Of course it pays, was Petty’s thesis: “If farm operations should stop for one year, banks, factories, stores and professions would all go under. The question is not whether it pays or not, but how to get larger re¬ turns for labor. . . . Farming does pay even here on the old red hills of Spartanburg. It keeps alive more than 40,000 people, and builds fine houses, and pays interest on railroad debts, and keeps up the state government, and is the grand motive power which keeps all the other wheels in motion.” Farming Outlook The Charleston News and Courier, during 1885, In 1885 published a series of “full reports as to the outlook of the farmers in 1885,” excerpts from which the Spartan Plows and Progress 187 published, with editorial comment, January 28, 1885. One article entitled “Farmers to the Front,” ran, in part, as follows: In Spartanburg there are special marks of growth and im¬ provement. The white farmers live better than formerly, dress better, and have more comfortable houses. This is a good sign. . . . The people are no longer satisfied with bare existence—bare eating and drinking . . . our farmers are learning to be more economical. Those that are accumulating a little, year by year, go in debt much more cautiously than they did a few years ago. They are also beginning to learn the value of a dollar, and many of them are now laying in their supplies for the year, while bacon, flour, and sugar are cheap. The poor unfortunate tenants, that " live from hand to mouth, and to whom good and bad crop years are about the same, are in their usual condition. They have nothing, but they pull through in some way. Our county has some of this class, and they will always be with us, though the years should be as plentiful as the seven fruitful years of Egyptian history. . . . The hireling class is very limited. There are two reasons for this: In the first place, the negro thinks it looks a little like slavery to hire out to a man for a year. It makes him feel as though he belonged to his employer. He likes to have Saturday evening to himself, and then his church and societies make de¬ mands on him, and he: does not feel as if he is free unless he can go and come when he pleases. The white boys generally work with their parents until they are able to set up for them¬ selves ; consequently there is little hiring amongst them. The other cause is that farmers, as a general thing, do not have ready money to pay hired hands at the end of each month, and it is impossible for them to work unless they are paid. A better class of employers, with ready money and provisions at cash prices and prompt settlement at the end of each month, would soon evolve a set of first-class hirelings. This would lead to a better system of farming, where all the operations would be under one head, and where the labor could be concentrated and rendered doubly effective. Our people are using better implements than they did in former days. They are buying harrows, cultivators, seed planters, reapers, mowers, and improved ploughs. The change from the old to the new is slow, but it is taking place all over the county. Our people are building better houses and buying better furni¬ ture. There are signs of comfort, and even of refinement, in many of the humble homes of our people. Of course there are many houses with unadorned walls, scanty furniture and bare rooms, but the spirit of progress is abroad in our county, and the paint brush is making its way, and flowers find a place in the 188 A History or Spartanburg County front yard and papers are found on the centre table. The culti¬ vation of small grain and orchard fruits is on the increase. There is also a social uplifting among our people. Many of the ladies, wives, and daughters of our farmers, dress with taste and style, and they are striving to be somebody. General intelligence is also increasing, and many of the boys and girls in our country homes are as well informed as those who live in the cities and towns, and the marks of good breeding are as apparent in the highways and hedges as on the street corners. . . . Many of them are dignifying their occupation and making farming as honorable as the trades and professions. . . . The Grange and In 1875 there were in South Carolina 342 the Experimental Granges with more than 10,000 members. The Station Grange joined hands with the State Agricul¬ tural and Mechanical Society in 1877 in striving to carry out a pro¬ gram of State control of the railroads and the building up of an adequate department of agriculture in the State government. At a joint meeting of the representatives of these two organiza¬ tions, in Bennettsville, August 10, 1885, B. R. Tillman made a speech and offered resolutions that were to become history. He demanded the establishment of experimental farms, the reorganization of the State Board of Agriculture, the establishment of farmers’ institutes, and the making over of South Carolina College, with the inclusion of more farmers on its board. He characterized the Board of Agriculture that had been created as merely “a sop to Cerberus, a bribe to the farmers in the legislature.” He cited the Federal Statute of 1862 which provided an appropriation of the proceeeds from the Western lands “in order to promote the liberal and prac¬ tical education of the industrial classes.” An immediate outcome was the establishment by the Assembly of experimental stations, one of which was located at Spartanburg. Plans for an Inter- Meanwhile, at the National Grange meeting in State Farmers’ Washington in 1885, J. N. Lipscomb of South Encampment Carolina had proposed to representatives from the adjoining States of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, that the five States organize an Inter-State Farmers’ En¬ campment modeled on a famous one held annually at Williams’ Grove, Pennsylvania. The plan was seconded warmly by all these States. Spartanburg was the place selected for the encampment, and the first meeting was scheduled for the week of August 12, 1887. Plows and Progress 189 While plans were going forward for the farmers’ encampment and a tract of thirty acres was acquired for it, Spartanburg was selected in July as the site for the “Up-Country Experimental Sta¬ tion” demanded by B. R. Tillman. The people of Spartanburg gave $2,000 and three hundred acres of land to secure it. Some of this land adjoined that set apart for the “Inter-State Farmers’ En¬ campment,” and the experimental station was placed under the direc¬ tion of John W. Wofford, at the time Master of the State Grange. B. R. Tillman was quoted by the News and Courier, August 6, 1887, as pronouncing the Inter-State Farmers’ Encampment “a ren¬ dezvous of all men who shut their eyes to the present and worship the past.” He further characterized it as a scheme by which “pleas¬ ure-seekers are enticed from their homes by a fanfaronade;” and its promoters—“Bourbons, doctors, lawyers, politicians”—he said lacked the intelligence to manage a farmers’ fair. Tillman declined an invitation to attend this 1887 Encampment. One of its pro¬ moters, Colonel T. J. Moore, who had distinguished himself by his intelligent experimentation in the cultivation of rice and tobacco, in stock-breeding, and in the principles of diversified agriculture, was derisively dubbed by Tillman “the Bee-keeper.” The First Inter- This first Inter-State Farmers’ Encampment State Farmers’ was, according to the Carolina Spartan, non- Encampment sectional and non-political; and, in spite of many handicaps, it was held a success by its promoters. Local poli¬ tics in North Carolina and Georgia engrossed the farmers of those States, so that fewer of them participated than was expected. Heavy rains hindered preparations, spoiled prospective exhibits, and kept away many who had planned to attend. There had not been time to get the experimental farm in operation. However, at the ap¬ pointed hour, 11 a. m. August 2, the band began to play, the horn was sounded, and exercises began as scheduled. The crowd was small. The second day was bright, and it was estimated that 6,(XX) people were on the grounds before noon. Charleston and the Low Country were well represented. Three hundred wagons were said to be on the grounds from Rutherford County, North Carolina. Spartans rejoiced at the sight of so many strange faces. There were orations, essays, baseball games, concerts, discussions. Wagons were “rattling in all day from North Carolina.” The Charleston News and Courier, Augusta Chronicle, Columbia Register, Laurensville 190 A History of Spartanburg County Herald „ Greenville Baptist Courier, Columbia Record, all had repre¬ sentatives in attendance, and all of them wrote favorable reports, making friendly excuses for inadequate preparations and other de¬ ficiencies. The Second Inter- J n 1888 things went much better. The week State Farmers’ from August 6 through August 11 was de- Encampment voted to the Encampment. The experimental farm was ready for exhibition. A day was set apart for the annual meeting of the Agricultural and Mechanical Society; two days were devoted to a Farmers’ Institute; one day was given to the State Grange meeting; the members of the Farmers’ Alliance were es¬ pecially invited to participate; three new buildings had been added to the big pavilion—a “State Exhibit Building.” a “Machinery Hall,” and a “Reception Hall.” There were pens for poultry and cattle. Entertainment features included two lectures by Sam Jones, two cantatas by the Spartanburg Musical Association, a grand ball, a balloon ascension, baseball games every afternoon, and brass bands. The railroad operated trains between the city and the encampment every half-hour, and sold tickets at special rates. The hotels and livery stables also offered special rates. This encampment had an estimated attendance of 20,000. The Last Charles Petty pointed out, April 18, 1888, that one Encampment 0 f consequences of the Clemson bequest would be the end of the Agricultural Encampment and the Experimental Farm in Spartanburg County. He was right; the encampment of 1889 was the last held. Thirty years later the Spartanburg Herald of May 11, 1919, printed entertaining reminiscences of it by J. H. ClafTy, of Orangeburg, president of the State Farmers’ Union. He referred to it as having been held “before Ben Tillman’s reform movement had taken definite shape,” and described the encamp¬ ment as “the occasion of a great rally of the farmers of the state.” “Ben Tillman, farmer Ben, made a speech,” Claffy recalled, “one of his first attempts to dynamite the air with his high explosive thoughts.” Thirty or more military companies—each with its own distinctive uniforms — held a military encampment on the same grounds; and their parades, in spite of clumsy ignorance of ma¬ noeuvres displayed, were highly spectacular. One full evening was given to a display of fireworks. The attendance was estimated at Plows and Progress 191 25,000 people, and numerous covered wagons were on the grounds, filled with apples, tobacco, and “com likker.” Fairfield Park and In April 1890 the Encampment ground was a County Fair sold t0 t h e c ity for $2,250—the sum required to clear up the obligations of the company which had sponsored it. The undertaking was pronounced “a good investment all round.” An article in the Spartan said, April 9, 1890: From that first encampment our city began to move forward. It advertised our advantages. We may not have annual en¬ campments, but the city will hold the ground as a public park. . Fairs, agricultural meetings, political meetings, religious services may all be held here. It will be a grand rallying place for the people of our County on extra occasions. The Encampment proj¬ ect was by no means a failure. This prediction was amply verified in subsequent history, for Fair- field Park, as the tract was named, was later the scene of many polit¬ ical rallies and military encampments, and in 1907 was leased to the County Fair Association. It has been the site of annual fairs ever since, except during the World War. CHAPTER NINETEEN The Tillman Era The Farmers’ The decline of the Grange before a new organization Alliance 0 f f armers had much to do with the abandonment of the Encampment. This new body was the Farmers’ Alliance, a national secret organization, membership in which was strictly lim¬ ited to rural dwellers—farmers, country preachers, country doctors, and rural teachers. Lawyers, bankers, and merchants were regarded by the Alliance with distrust, and two important points in its program were aimed at them: cooperative buying and the settlement of dis¬ putes by arbitration within the organization. The men who organized the Farmers’ Alliance in Spartanburg County laid stress on its freedom from political connections or labor union affiliations. They claimed that it was an improvement on the Grange in that it attempted no coercion of its members. “Its object is to improve the conditions of the farmers ... by our system of union and cooperation,” wrote J. W. Reid, first secretary of the Spartanburg County Alliance. This body was organized in the court¬ house, May 15, 1888, with nineteen sub-alliances, all organized within the preceding six weeks. The sub-alliances were located at Glenn Springs, Reidville, Becca, Wellford, Arlington, Holly Springs, Inman, Martinsville, Limestone, Cannon’s Camp Ground, Cowpens, Rich Hill, Macedonia, Cherokee Springs, Pacolet, Walnut Grove, Cavins, Philadelphia, Zion Hill. The county Alliance was organized with 424 members, and the first officers were: Dr. S. T. D. Lancaster, president; J. S. Hammond, vice president; J. W. Reid, secretary; James Wood, treasurer; R. V. Gowan, chaplain; W. McS. Zimmer¬ man, lecturer; A. C. Black, doorkeeper; Moses Foster, assistant door¬ keeper; E. S. Smith, sergeant at arms. At the State organization, in Florence, July 11, 1888, Chesterfield led the State with thirty sub¬ alliances ; and Spartanburg, with twenty-four sub-alliances, tied with Marion for second place. J. W. Reid was elected to the office of State Secretary, and Dr. S. T. D. Lancaster was placed on the State execu¬ tive committee. These alliances differed from the Grange in their change in em¬ phasis. Interest shifted noticeably from reports on experiments with rice, tobacco, and corn, or on methods of fertilizing, to discussions on how to force down prices on implements, seeds, and fertilizers. 192 The Tillman Era 193 The Farmers’ Alliance established itself in South Carolina without the aid of B. R. Tillman, who was organizing during the same period his “Farmers’ Movement”; but by 1890 the sub-alliances were adopt¬ ing resolutions endorsing Tillman for governor, and the anti-Tillman - ite farmers were withdrawing their membership from the Alliance. Editorial Policy of There was little spirit of class antagonism in Spar- Charles Petty tanburg County in 1888, and Charles Petty, whose editorial prestige was marked at this period, strove to check its early manifestations. For example, on May 2, he wrote in the Spartan: “It would show a better spirit on the part of certain people and news¬ papers in this State to rejoice over the prospects of a college for the farmers’ boys rather than by ridicule or apathy to oppose it.” When the Farmers’ Alliance appeared in Spartanburg County, Petty was cautious in his comments, remarking merely that, to raise the average of crop production in Spartanburg County and elsewhere, “intelli¬ gent and persistent labor must be used. The average cannot be raised by Tillman Conventions, Agricultural Colleges, or universal reso¬ lutions passed in farmers’ meetings.” So lightly did Petty estimate Tillman’s power that, August 1, 1888, he said: “Tillman has no fol¬ lowing and he is not a leader. . . . Tillman ought to quit.” On September 12, secure in the belief that Tillman’s retirement was final, he wrote: “The little tussle that Tillman has had with the adminis¬ tration has done no harm, and all good Democrats will stand shoulder to shoulder for the nomination, and the welfare of the State.” A Split in Petty attempted to minimize the split in the county County Politics Democratic ranks when, September 3, 1888, Dr. R. M. Smith threw down the gauntlet to what he called the “ring” and declared he had been “counted out,” and the senator’s office to which he had a right had been given to John W. Wofford two years before. N. F. Walker, former Chairman of the County Democratic Com¬ mittee, indignantly denied the implied charges. In October following, R. M. Smith shocked the Conservatives by winning an overwhelming victory at the polls. Two years later, Smith was a dominant figure in county politics, and an ardent supporter of the Shell plan to nominate Tillman for governor by a farmers’ caucus. A convention of farmers met in Columbia, March 27, 1890, on a call issued by G. W. Shell, President of the State Farmers’ Association, to consider their grievances and make plans for the next election campaign. It was generally under- 194 A History or Spartanburg County stood that the purpose of the meeting was to nominate a Tillman ticket and so organize forces as to ensure its being accepted at the regular Democratic Convention. This plan the Conservatives re¬ garded as high-handed. Spartanburg was the only county which sent a contested delega¬ tion to the Shell Convention, and the circumstances which attended the election of these delegations show the political situation in Spar¬ tanburg County in the spring of 1890. Upon receipt of the call to this meeting—popularly called the Shell Manifesto—J. W. Stribling, Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of Spartanburg County, complied with its request to call a mass meeting of farmers. At this meeting, called to order by Stribling, Dr. R. M. Smith stated the object of the meeting in a heated speech which dwelt on the in¬ justices suffered by farmers under the existing “ring rule.” George Dean was made president and R. A. Lancaster secretary of the meet¬ ing. Recognition was refused opponents of the proposed Shell plan, and a delegation was nominated to attend the Columbia meeting and support the Shell program. J. W. Stribling protested what he re¬ garded as “steam-roller” tactics and withdrew, calling a second meeting, which proceeded to elect an uninstructed delegation. In actuality it was understood to be opposed to the Shell plan. The Smith delegation included: E. C. Allen, N. Bennett, George Dean, John Dewberry, James W. Foster, J. B. O. Landrum, M. P. Patton, Elias S. Smith, Moses Wood, and W. C. S. Wood. Members of the Stribling delegation were: J. H. Anderson, Moses Foster, J. B. O. Landrum, J. M. Lanham, S. E. Mason, T. J. Moore, J. W. Stribling, J. J. Vernon, N. F. Walker, John W. Wofford. One name appeared on both tickets—that of J. B. O. Landrum. Several new names ap¬ peared on the final ticket. In an editorial prophecy which proved false, Petty wrote, March 5, 1890: “Mr. Shell may assume the right to call the Convention to order, and then, imitating the redoubtable Senator Smith, the little Reed of Spartanburg, rule out all delegations not in sympathy with the object of the meeting as expressed by his call . . . any ticket thus nominated would be foreordained to over¬ whelming defeat in the regular Democratic Convention.” Two Spartanburg Both the delegations presented themselves to Delegations at the credentials committee of the Shell Conven- Farmers Convention sea t e d J. W. Stribling and J. W. Wofford of the “Conservative” delegation from Spartanburg and The Tillman Era 195 eight from the other delegation as follows: James W. Foster, W. C. S. Wood, J. B. O. Landrum, M. P. Patton, H. L. Farley, R. M. Smith, L. E. Farley. The Convention proceeded to nominate a ticket for the fall election. The vote was close, and only sharp parliamentary practice enabled Shell to announce a majority in favor of making nominations. The Spartanburg delegation voted seven to three with the majority. An account of the proceedings appeared in the Spartan, April 9, 1890, with the editorial comment: The Spartanburg County Convention is a fair sample of the management of the whole affair. Good and true men were ar- • bitrarily ruled out of the convention. Three-fourths of the farm¬ ers of our county would not approve of the plans pursued by the chairman who presided that day. ... A man now living in Laurens County was wedged into the Spartanburg delegation. By such means was Tillman’s nomination carried. . . . Will the people, the farmers of the State, come up to his support? (If so) they will endorse questionable methods . . . will de¬ clare that the unfair and arbitrary ruling in the Spartanburg Con¬ vention was right. . . . The farmers are not ready for such trickery even in politics. They are fair and honest, and believe in “toting fair.” Anti-Tillman Within a month a convention of anti-Tillman farmers Sentiment held a mee ti n g in Columbia and issued a “Manifesto” protesting the Shell Convention as “factional, a spoilsman’s machine.” Twenty-one counties were represented at this meeting. Commenting on its proceedings, Petty wrote (April 30, 1890) : Of course no one claims that the Shell Convention generally represented the farmers. It was never intended to represent any¬ thing or anybody except Tillman. . . . You can get two meet¬ ings in every township, one of which will be for Tillman and the other against him. . . . The committee of twenty-one did noth¬ ing to crystallize the opposition to Tillman. Their platitudes will not draw the farmers. Tillman is a living, breathing, kicking reality that the farmers can see and touch and hear. They may not like him, for he is not the most admirable sort of man, but if nothing but platitudes and uncertainties are presented to them, they will rally round Tillman in the end and give him their sup¬ port. . . . Always Petty asserted his own allegiance to the Democratic party. Of Tillman’s campaign he remarked: “He is not our choice for gov¬ ernor. There are a hundred farmers in the State we would nomi- 196 A History or Spartanburg County nate for that office before him, but we wish to put it on record that his manner of making a campaign is fair to all and in no way subversive of Democratic principle.” Tillman in Tillman used to great advantage the county-to-county Spartanburg campaign speakings, a gesture that emphasized “the sovereignty of the people.” In the course of such a campaign, June 11, 1890, the candidates spoke in Spartanburg at the Encampment Grounds before a thousand or so people. The local authorities were painstakingly courteous. At the proper hour, decorated carriages and a decorated four-horse wagon carrying the Glendale Band were at the Merchants’ Hotel to escort the candidates to the meeting place. In the first carriage rode Mayor Henneman, B. R. Tillman, County Chairman Ralph C. Carson, and E. B. Gary. Among the candidates was a Spartanburg citizen, Hugh L. Farley, who had at the March Convention seconded the nomination of Tillman for governor, and had himself accepted a place on the ticket as candidate for the office of adjutant general. The crowd was pro-Tillman, greeting its idol with noisy demonstration. The “ladies of Glendale” presented him with a large horseshoe of flowers at the conclusion of his two-hour speech. Spartanburg was represented in the September Democratic Con¬ vention by a pro-Tillman delegation composed of Dr. S. T. D. Lan¬ caster, W. A. Parks, J. L. Ballenger, R. M. Jolly, J. W. Hawkins, T. O. Brown, J. W. Foster, E. T. Lawson, R. M. Smith; alternates, L. P. Walker, B. F. Hammet, W. J. Shelton. At this convention Tillman was nominated by a vote of 269 to 40. Under the leadership of A. C. Haskell, who issued the so-called Haskell Manifesto, September 30, the Antis bolted and held a con¬ vention October 9, 1890. This movement professed to follow the example of Wade Hampton’s campaign of 1876; the red shirt was waved, and the old name revived—The Straightout Democracy. Spartanburg’s representatives at the Haskell Convention were Ed¬ ward Bacon and Samuel McGowan, Jr. The Haskell partisans, although a small minority, were in many ways very influential through¬ out the State. Anti-Tillman Tillman’s high-handed methods, the emotional resent- E(forts m the men j- occasioned by the retirement of Wade Hampton from the Senate, and other replacements in high offices led Tillman’s foes to hope for his defeat in 1892. In the spring Spar- The Tileman Era 197 tanburg Democrats elected an anti-Tillman delegation to attend the State Democratic Convention. The chairman of the County Con¬ vention that took this definitely anti-Tillman action was T. J. Moore, and the secretary was A. B. Woodruff. Other conservative leaders were Moses Foster, C. E. Smith, B. F. Hill, Thomas Dixon, John P. Fielder, and John W. Wofford. The delegation selected was refused seats at the convention. On Saturday, August 11, 1892, the county-to-county campaign meeting of the “Democracy” was held in Spartanburg at Fairfield Park. On Friday night a preliminary rally of between five and six hundred Conservatives was held at the opera house. Their candidates were J. C. Sheppard, for Governor; James L. Orr, for Lieutenant Governor; Lawrence Youmans, for Secretary of State. Speeches of denunciation against Tillmanism were made by L. P. Murphy, James L. Orr, and Lawrence Youmans. But Saturday was the big day, and by sunrise wagons and buggies were rolling in from all directions. Special trains brought many visitors. By 10 o’clock nearly 4,000 people were surging about the pavilion—which had 1,100 seats. The candidates all spoke, but the crowd heeded only Tillman, who spoke characteristically, saying in part: Two' years ago Earle and Bratton spoke here and I thought I was in a camp-meeting. . . . You Haskellites . . . are beaten and you know it, both in and out of Spartanburg. . . . You have two newspapers in this county, and you have never seen anything good about me in any of them. ... In May, when the farmers were busy planting cotton, the Antis captured the county by their hocus pocus tricks, but they can’t do it at the primary. You little gang of Haskellites can howl and howl, but it won’t do you any good. Why is it that people of the towns hurrah for Sheppard and fight me? It is because there is a prin¬ ciple back of me, and the people now rule, and because the Al¬ liance has formed stores which take away the trade and ill-gotten gains of town shop-keepers. . . . Tillman, bitterly opposed to Cleveland, who was a popular favorite in Spartanburg, sneeringly called this county “that Republican County of Spartanburg.” Newspaper The Spartan characterized “Tillmanism in 1892” as a Opposition ver y different thing from what it had been in 1888, to i man charging that it now definitely stood for office-grab- 198 A History of Spartanburg County bing, a three-dollar poll tax, a constitutional convention, war on all professions and middle-men, and an attempt to array class against class—the rich against the poor, the tenant against the landowner, the hireling against the employer, the country against the town. In an editorial, August 31, 1892, Petty said: Never in the history of a Democratic campaign has this county been so excited as it is today. Never have men yielded so to partisan politics. . . . The old county has come to a nice pass. If the shades of the good and true men who served her in the past could return they would hang their heads in shame when they viewed the bitterness, malignity, and class hatred engendered by the campaign of the last four years. . . . What is to be the end of all this hate and dishonest partisanship? The elections brought Tillman an overwhelming victory. He won in thirty-five counties. The vote in Spartanburg County for Tillman delegates was 3,695, and for Sheppard 2,638. Analysis of the vote by precints showed definitely a line of cleavage between town and country. A Tillman Organ: About 1892 the Tillman forces of the State, to the Piedmont offset the handicap of having only one daily paper Headlight on their side, acquired the Columbia Register and employed as its editor T. Larry Gantt, then editor of the Banner, published in Athens, Georgia. Gantt had established a reputation as an advocate of the policies of the Farmers’ Alliance, and he was to be Tillman’s right-hand man in holding the farmers in line and in the launching of a State Dispensary system for selling liquor. Francis B. Simkins wrote: “Endowed with all the prejudices and doctrines of the agrarian agitators of his day, possessed of a spirited and direct style, violently partisan but never bitter, Gantt was the very man to arouse the farmers against the townsmen.” A severe illness forced Gantt to resign the editorship of the Reg¬ ister; and he was later induced to undertake the publication in Spar¬ tanburg of a pro-Tillman organ, the Piedmont Headlight, a weekly paper organized by Stanyarne Wilson, J. D. Leonard, Lamar Wil¬ liams, and others. Gantt took over the paper on a lease, stipulating that he was to have entire control of its policies; and he gradually acquired ownership of the Headlight —the Lighthead, his opponents called it. The Tillman Era 199 Gantt’s Idyllic Gantt lived outside town, on a place he named Pictures Of Rural “Hungry Hill.” One weekly feature of his paper was the Hungry Hill Letter. A policy of his was to visit over the county and write, in an idyllic strain, detailed first¬ hand accounts of what he saw and learned, with the definite purpose of deepening local pride. While he fought editorially for Tillman and his policies, and lost no opportunity to send shafts of ridicule through vulnerable spots in the Conservatives’ armor, he was far more valuable as a constructive agricultural leader than as a political wheelhorse. Revulsion Against In June 1901, Gantt pronounced himself sick of Tillmamsm the twelve years of wrangling that had embittered the people of the State, with no results but easy jobs for a few poli¬ ticians. With taxes higher, he criticised the facts that the farmer and the working man had not a cent more in pocket, and that the women had to toil as laboriously as before all the agitation. “All of those roseate promises,” he lamented, “have proven like Dead Sea apples, but ashes in the mouths of the people.” He also noted that the same men had been in office since 1890, in spite of their clamor for rotation in office. The county of Spartanburg was the heaviest voting county in the State, and was coveted territory for both sides during the pro¬ longed period of Tillman’s domination. Gantt’s paper continued its support of the dispensary system, even after the editor came to a realization that the men who had got into office on the Tillman wave as champions of the rights of the farmers were still in office and the farmers were still in trouble. In 1906, however, there was a revul¬ sion sufficient to sweep out the Dispensary. Spartanburg had never been strongly pro-Dispensary, and in the primary elections, September 13, 1906, gave the local option candidate, Martin Ansel, 4,095 votes, and Manning, his opponent, 1,587. Three subjects had been empha¬ sized in the campaign speeches: Dispensary, the Good Roads Move¬ ment, and Education. With the Dispensary a dead issue, the way was clear for closer cooperation in securing better roads and schools. In Popular Science Monthly, January 1904, ap¬ peared a scholarly study of the census figures of 1900 with regard to Southern agriculture, by D. D. Wallace, a citizen of Spartanburg. While this ar¬ ticle dealt with the entire Southern area, much of its illustrative D. D. Wallace’s Analysis of the 1900 Agricultural Census 200 A History of Spartanburg County material was, naturally, found at home. At the outset the writer commented: “The condition of the Southern farmer has immensely improved in the last ten years. Today he stands, for the first time since the War of Secession, in a position promising permanent bet¬ terment of his farming and of his social position.” Wallace pithily described the lien law as having come, in its beginnings, to the farmer’s assistance, but as having remained to his destruction, sometimes enabling a merchant to exact as much as 200 per cent profit on goods sold a farmer. Three Cardinal Wallace’s detailed analysis of the agricultural sit- Needs of Farmers ua tion as reflected in the census of 1900 led him to the conclusion: “The three cardinal needs of the Southern farmer today are education, diversification, and credit.” He was emphatic in his belief that nature study, science, and practical agriculture should dominate the curricula of all rural schools and agricultural colleges. Tillman in 1885 and Wallace a score of years later agreed that to improve agricultural conditions the education of the farming class must be improved; and education of the proper sort was provided— with increasing efficiency year by year—through Winthrop College, Clemson College, the extension courses and activities promoted through them, and a constantly improving public school system. Ag¬ ricultural courses were placed in the schools in 1914, and a compul¬ sory education law was passed in 1921. Tillmanites and Antis equally wanted better schools and better roads, and united effort was necessary to get them. As these benefits were more widely secured, class feeling correspondingly decreased. Exposition The Spartanburg County exhibit won the first prize Pnze-Winner 0 f ^i QOO at the South Carolina and West Indian Ex¬ position, held in Charleston in 1901-1902. This exhibit was pre¬ pared by a commission consisting of T. J. Moore, J. L. Stoppelbein, N. F. Walker, J. F. Floyd, and F. G. Harris; with Paul V. Moore agent in charge. The following description of the exhibit, prepared by T. J. Moore, appeared in the Spartanburg Almanac, 1903: The space occupied was that allotted to eight counties in the State building, 3,000 feet square in floor space and about the same on the wall in the rear. The exhibit was arranged on the floor with decorative description on the wall behind the eight principal divis¬ ions, viz: No. 1, Education and Religion; No. 2, Mineral Waters; The Tillman Era 201 No. 3, General Manufactures; No. 4, Agriculture; No. 5, For¬ estry; No. 6, Minerals; No. 7, Cotton Manufactures; No. 8, Household and Art, with artistic reception room in the center. The whole, wall surface and overhead especially, was beautifully and artistically decorated with lint cotton and hulls, yellow, white and red corn, sheafs of oats, wheat, rice, etc., the lettering on the wall being done with lint cotton on a blue background. On this wall were many beautiful legends which attracted general atten¬ tion. Many large and beautiful pictures and photographs illus¬ trative of the exhibit adorned the departments. In Division No. 1, devoted to Education and Religion, were shown elaborate exhibits by Wofford, Converse and Reidville . colleges and the city graded and county public schools. On the walls was the legend, “We will educate you morally and intel¬ lectually—225 schools, 15,000 pupils, 150 churches, 25,000 mem¬ bers.” In other departments similarly adorned were shown large quantities of granite, iron ores, building stone, gold, etc.; the products of soap, broom, cotton seed oil, apiary, reed and loom harness, fertilizers, etc.; 105 varieties of wood, and every conceiv¬ able work of woman’s hands. A large flag bearing the inscription, “Winners of first prize, $1,000,” won in competition with the other counties of the State, adorned the whole. The Pacolet Spartanburg farmers suffered from the disastrous flood Flood of June 6, 1903, as did the cotton manufacturers; yet the tax books in the fall—after the assessment of the cotton mills had been reduced $600,000—showed an increased valuation over the pre¬ ceding year of more than a million dollars. At the June term of court in 1904, the grand jury presentment said: “The agricultural interests of the county are in an excellent condition, and our county has almost recovered from the disaster of last June and now we once more take the lead in manufacture of cotton goods.” The flood of 1903 is usually called the Pacolet flood because of the heavy losses it caused in lives and property along that stream, but it caused heavy damage also in the Tyger and Enoree basins. Five days of almost constant gentle rains preceded a heavy rainfall of June 6. At midnight the machinist at Clifton Mill No. 3 noted, but not with any sense of alarm, that the Pacolet was eight feet higher than its normal level. At half-past three he became alarmed at the rapidity of the rise. By six o’clock the entire mill had been swept downstream. Shops, boilerhouses, wheel room, operatives’ cottages— all went. The stream dashed this wreckage against Clifton No. 1, and 202 A History or Spartanburg County soon it too was wrecked. Many operatives refused to heed the warn¬ ing to leave their homes, and as the water spread over the valley in which many of them lived, harrowing scenes were enacted. More than fifty persons were drowned, most of them women and children. Numbers of people escaped by floating down on the debris or taking refuge in trees, as they were carried close to them by the flood. Bales of cloth, masses of machinery, trees, timbers, animals, people—all were swept along, and the horror-stricken bystanders were helpless. The loss of property—but not of life—was nearly as heavy at the Pacolet Mills Nos. 1, 2, and 3. No other mills suffered to such an extent as Clifton and Pacolet. Bridges on railways and highways were washed away, traffic was interrupted, and many industries had to be suspended. Wires and communications were out. Congressman J. T. Johnson set out on foot to establish communications with the country and ask for relief. The monetary loss alone to mill owners, farmers, and public carriers was estimated at three and a half mil¬ lion dollars. “Facts About In September 1906, the Spartanburg Journal issued Spartanburg” an “Industrial Edition,” in which were tabulated “facts” culled from recent census reports, such as: “The assessed valuation of Spartanburg County farm lands was the largest of the counties of the State; its eleven cotton seed mills gave it first place in this industry in the entire United States, and the county as a whole was second in wealth only to Charleston. With 165 school buildings, 301 teachers, and 16,232 pupils in the public schools of the county, Spartanburg County led the State on all three counts.” In 1910 the county had 2,657 farm owners, and their lands were valued at more than $21,000,000. However, in that year there were 5,076 tenant farmers. Of the more than 7,000 farms in the county, there were eleven of three acres or less, 232 of from three to nine acres, 1,186 of from ten to nineteen acres. More than half—4,033 to be exact—contained from twenty to forty-nine acres. The number of farms containing from fifty through ninety-nine acres was 1,966. Fifty-six farms contained from 260 to 499 acres. Eleven had from 500 to 999 acres. There were three farms of a thousand or more acres in the county. Restored Thirty years after the accession of B. R. Tillman to his Harmony position of agrarian leadership, these improved conditions and an increasing realization of the mutual interdependence of farm- The Tillman Era 203 ing, manufacturing, commercial, and cultural agencies had smoothed away most of the antagonisms fanned into flame in the nineties. Men in Spartanburg were still of different opinions: one school of thought held that the movement initiated in 1869 for improved agricultural education would have gone steadily forward and achieved without friction essentially the same results as had come; the other claimed that to the Tillman leadership the State owed Clemson, Winthrop, an improved public school system, home demonstration and county agents, Four-H Clubs, and all their concomitant benefits. There was no difference of opinion as to whether farm life was improved, and with it the prosperity of the county. The sore problem of the shift' ing tenant farmer and the shiftless laborer remained to vex the thrifty rural and urban citizen equally, and to challenge society for many years to follow. CHAPTER TWENTY ‘Spartanburg, City of Success A City Today it may provoke a smile that in 1880, with a popu- Charter lation of 3,253, the little town of Spartanburg applied for a charter as a city. Possibly its citizens were intoxicated by their own phenomenal growth, for in the decade from 1870 to 1880 the population a little more than trebled itself, something which had not before happened and which has never happened again. Spartanburg in the Seventies During this decade of growth, rapid changes took place. For a time after the war the trains were stopped, and even in the seventies there were only three trains a week each way between Spartanburg and Columbia. All of this time, after 1863, Spartanburg had telegraphic communication with the rest of the world. Although there were, by 1870, ordinances prohibiting such goings-on, letters in the paper from irate or sar¬ castic citizens indicate that hogs, cows, and goats roamed the streets freely, and that garbage remained on the sidewalks until these scav¬ engers disposed of it. In January 1870, the rows of chinaberry trees which bordered the square and some of the streets leading from it were cut down, to make the coming “railroad city” more like a city. Hitching posts were placed along the streets. The public well in the middle of the square was filled, and the well house, with its curfew bell, removed. The first street lights were installed — kerosene lamps along the square and part of Main Street—in Feb¬ ruary 1872. Ten years later they were replaced by gas lamps. The town had its first banks in 1871, the National Bank in June, and the Citizens’ the following October. In 1872 the Express ceased publication, and in 1875 the Spartanburg Herald was established, edited by T. Stobo Farrow. “Homespun ice” was brought from Columbia by trains and described as a wonder in the Spartan of September 8, 1870. In 1882 Captain W. B. Hallett began to man¬ ufacture ice in Spartanburg and to deliver it from door to door, a great marvel. “Before the war not a wheel was turned by steam within the town limits. By 1874 there were six establishments run entirely by steam—one planing, sash and blind factory; two carriage and wagon factories; one steam saw-mill; one cotton ginning and packing establishment. . .” recorded the Carolina Spartan, July 23, 1874. 204 Manufacturing and Business Progress Spartanburg, City of Success” 205 In 1880 Spartanburg had about seventy-five business houses of various types, including four drug stores, one bank, one bookstore, two hotels, and two weekly newspapers. Yet it was still essentially a country town; its public square was a picturesque spot, especially on salesdays and Saturdays; sometimes a hundred wagons loaded with cotton or other farm produce were in it. The statue of Daniel Morgan was soon to give the square a new name and a new pride. A Board of A Board of Trade was organized September 15, Trade Bulletin 1885, and Charles H. Carlisle was accorded credit for its inception. The first officers were: George Cofield, president; Dr. C. E. Fleming, vice president; Charles H. Carlisle, secretary. Ninety-one active members were enrolled and monthly meetings were held in the Kennedy Library Building. This body promoted all sorts of civic enterprises, developed a cooperative spirit, invited distinguished guests to the town, and procured desirable publicity. The Board of Trade issued, in 1888, a pamphlet entitled “City and County of Spartanburg. Their wonderful attractions and mar¬ velous advantages as a place of Settlement, and for the profitable Investment of Capital. Please read carefully and hand to a friend.” The pamphlet, illustrated with quaint cuts, was printed in Spartan¬ burg by Cofield, Petty & Company, and its sponsors were: Joseph Walker, Mayor; George Cofield, President of the Board of Trade; and Charles P. Barry, Chairman of the County Commissioners. It set forth in detail the advantages of Spartanburg, boasting of its twenty passenger trains and thirty-five freight trains daily. A small map pictured Spartanburg as a hub with spokes radiating in various directions. Between Spartanburg and Union were stations called Glendale (later Cedar Springs, and later still Delmar), Rich Hill (later Rich, today Whitestone), and Pacolet. On the road to Char¬ lotte were Clifton, Mount Zion, Cowpens, Thicketty, and Gaffney City (after 1904 Gaffney). In the direction of Atlanta were sta¬ tions at Airline Junction, Fairforest, Wellford, Vernonsville (later Duncan), and Greer. Stations on the Asheville road were Airline Junction (later Hayne), Campton, Inman, Campobello, Landrum. On the road to Augusta were Becca (later Roebuck), Moore, Switzer, Kilgore, Woodruff, Hillsville, and Enoree. The United States census report of 1880 showed that Spartanburg County had 23 of the 36 towns in the Piedmont region of South Carolina. The combined population of these 23 towns was 30,999. 206 A History of Spartanburg County The location and size of Spartanburg made it the hub about which the life and activities of the other towns revolved. Its population of 3,253 had increased to 5,544 by 1890; and in 1900 was 11,395. Within the first year after Spartanburg became a city, more than fifty new residences were built, some of them “stylish and hand¬ some.” A company of nine merchants erected a beautiful hotel and named it the Merchants’ Hotel. Each of the nine merchants had a store on the ground floor. There were ninety rooms on the two upper floors. The hotel was equipped with gas, and Spartans pro¬ claimed it the handsomest in the Up Country. The newly-created city erected a town hall, calling it “The Opera House.” On the ground floor were the guardhouse and offices for the city government, and the second floor was leased for entertainments. The Cowpen* Preparations for an event of national interest occu- Centenmal pied Spartanburg in 1880. The Washington Light Infantry of Charleston, in January 1880, made the proposal to Spar¬ tans that it be permitted to join with them in a centennial celebra¬ tion of the Battle of Cowpens. Of this battle the reliable British historian, Stedman, wrote: “The defeat of his Majesty’s troops at the Cowpens formed a very principal link in the chain of circum¬ stances which led to the independence of America.” Now, a hun¬ dred years later, the Hon. W. A. Courtenay, Mayor of Charleston, had the inspiration to propose the centennial of this battle as a “very principal link” for use in reuniting the alienated sections by drawing the Federal Government and the Original Thirteen States into a joint celebration of Cowpens. The Spartanburg response to the Charleston overtures was en¬ thusiastic. Spartanburg agreed to cooperate in every possible way with the Washington Light Infantry in executing their plans. The committee appointed to carry out this resolution consisted of W. K. Blake, Dr. H. E. Heinitsh, Charles Petty, General J. C. Anderson, Colonel T. Stobo Farrow, Dr. J. B. O. Landrum, Captain S. S. Ross. A delegation of this committee visited Charleston as guests of the Washington Light Infantry. By July the Spartan Rifles had been reorganized in anticipation of the expected celebration, assurances of participation by contributions and delegations had been received from the Federal Government, Tennessee, and each of the Original Thirteen States. John H. Evins of Spartanburg represented “Spartanburg, City of Success’ 207 the Fourth District in Congress and he exerted himself to enlist the interest of the National Government in the undertaking. The Battle of Cowpens was fought January 17, 1781, but, be¬ cause weather conditions at that time of year would be unfavorable, the celebration was set forward into the spring. W. K. Blake, point¬ ing out the inaccessibility of the battle ground, proposed that Spar¬ tanburg request the honor of erecting the proposed monument “in the center of her public ground” and assume the responsibility of providing a suitable base. This suggestion was adopted, and the city council appropriated $500 for the purpose. Committees were ap¬ pointed to care for all necessary arrangements. The cornerstone was laid with elaborate Masonic ceremonies, October 7, 1880, many of the participants having just come from the Kings Mountain Cen¬ tennial Celebration held that day. To insure their presence, the ceremonies were conducted in the evening. Courtenay devoted himself unstintedly to the centennial prepa¬ rations—from January 1880, when he accepted the chairmanship of the committee on arrangements, until May 11, 1881, the day on which the Cowpens monument was unveiled. On that day Spartanburg entertained a crowd that the lowest estimates placed at 18,000, while one reporter said it numbered 25,000. The President of the United States, James A. Garfield, after accepting an invitation to be present, had been forced by the illness of his wife to cancel the engagement. The chief orator of the day was South Carolina’s former Governor, Senator Wade Hampton, who personally con¬ veyed the President’s regrets at his absence. T. W. Higginson of Massachusetts, who had commanded a Negro regiment in the Union Army, made an eloquent address. Descendants of the commanding officers at Cowpens had conspicuous parts in the ceremonies. The invited guests included delegations from Congress, descendants of the commanders at the Battle of Cowpens, military organizations, and thousands of private citizens. The square, later named Mor¬ gan Square, was gorgeously decorated with bunting and flags and evergreen garlands and lined on all sides with tiers of seats. Mag¬ nificent floral tributes were sent from many places. Significance of the The Morgan monument commemorates not Morgan Monument alone the Revolutionary valor of early Spar¬ tans at Cowpens; it was the fruit of the first cooperative effort of all the Thirteen Original States and the Federal Government after 208 A History or Spartanburg County City Utilities: Waterworks a bloody civil war; and its erection was an expression of the fra¬ ternal spirit that united Up Country and Charleston. The base was the gift of Spartanburg, town and county, as was the labor of erec¬ tion. The shaft of granite and the bronze tablets were the gifts of the fourteen participating States. The superb heroic bronze statue of Daniel Morgan, commanding officer at Cowpens, was the work of the eminent sculptor, J. Q. A. Ward, and was the tribute, by unanimous vote of Congress, of the United States Government, which appropriated for it $23,000. The adequate safeguarding of the growing town against fires and the demand for a purer and more convenient water supply required the development of a waterworks system. Water for use in case of fire was provided during the sev¬ enties by building large cisterns at two or three places in the town and piping into them the rain water from the roofs of the stores, or fitting them with pumps. In 1888 Spartanburg granted a fran¬ chise to the Home Water Supply Company, and made a contract for fifty hydrants and four public drinking fountains for man and beast. A standpipe 100 feet high and with a capacity of 216,000 gallons was erected on North Church Street. In 1907 the city pur¬ chased the franchise, and since that time has owned and operated its waterworks. The first legislative act authorizing a system of sewerage in Spar¬ tanburg was passed December 24, 1890. In 1908 the city created a Water Works Commission to administer its water and sewerage system, and this plan has operated ever since. The twentieth century found Spartanburg owning a waterworks plant, situated twelve miles from the city, on South Pacolet River, which supplied the city itself and several industrial plants in the county with an unlimited supply of filtered water; a metropolitan sewerage system to safeguard the health of the city and its suburbs; and two standpipes with a capacity of more than two million gallons of water to insure an abundance of water under high pressure in case of fire. Besides these there is a reservoir holding three million gallons between the city and the plant. In the seventies a municipal ordinance required every family to keep at hand a ladder in case of fires. In 1867 suggestions were offered for a steam fire engine, but in vain. The fire department grew slowly, beginning with a volunteer hook Fire Protection oo 00 & X £ c X w the Eighth Firemen and Policemen of The County Jail, Built in 1823 Sold to the City in the Nineties, and Replaced by the City Hall, Below lillillillfirt “Spartanburg, City of Success” 209 and ladder company in 1873, adding two Negro companies in 1875, and, in 1882, getting the long desired engine. It was named The Spartan. May 24, 1882, Moses Greenewald was elected captain, and B. B. Bishop was elected secretary and treasurer of the Spartan Fire En¬ gine Company, a group of public-spirited young men who paid dues of twenty-five cents a month for the privilege of risking their lives to save the lives and property of their fellow-citizens. B. B. Bishop furnished the following roster of the original company, of which he was the last surviving member: E. M. Anderson, G. G. Avant, R. Bain, Jr., S. J. Bivings, J. A. Blowers, R. E. Brewton, B. B. Bishop, A. S. Cheek, T. E. Evins, W. M. Floyd, Mose Greene¬ wald, William A. Law, B. M. Lee, C. H. Lenser, J. H. Land, J. M. Nicholls, D. T. Pope, O. S. Roberts, R. A. Roberson, J. K. Stuckey, C. R. Smith, P. J. O. Smith, J. T. Thompson, J. E. Vernon. Old-time members of the early fire companies recall, with chuckles, that membership in them was a social and civic honor, and their members paid dues and supplied themselves with black breeches and boots and red shirts worn for drills and parades. The city furnished regulation firemen’s helmets. The chief was paid $100 a year, in 1886, and his assistant $50. After ten years there were three paid firemen, who lived in the reel house and received $30 a month each. At that time the fire station was a two-room, dirt-floor frame building, and the chief duties of the paid men were to care for the horses and equipment. Not until after the World War were volunteer companies disbanded and the department organized on a salaried basis. On June 16, 1916, Spartanburg entertained the State Firemen’s Convention consisting of 200 delegates. By that time Spartanburg had a motor truck; a hook and ladder apparatus, drawn by two horses; and two hose wagons, each with three horses. The first motor truck was bought in 1912, and the horses were given up entirely in 1923. Bright Lights, On April 23, 1890, the Spartan gloated: “Electric Better Streets lights blazed brilliantly forth April 17. Gas lamps look now like poor affairs.” A body of citizens serenaded the con¬ tractor, Alexander Leftwich, at the Merchants’ Hotel, as an ex¬ pression of their gratification. There were fifty arc lights on the streets, and within a few weeks fifty additional arc lights at an an¬ nual cost of $80 each had been contracted for by the city council. 210 A History or Spartanburg County For many years the muddy streets and roads occasioned discus¬ sion and ridicule. During rainy seasons in winter, traffic was almost suspended. In the seventies there were times when men in high-top boots could scarcely make their way across Main Street. Wagons and carriages stuck in the gummy mud and sometimes remained un¬ moved for two weeks. Tradition persists in perpetuating the story that, during the late seventies, a mule drowned in the “Red Sea” which was Main Street between Church and Liberty Streets. In 1882 the city was very proud of its one mile of paving. The city budget for 1890 and 1891 indicates the great stress then placed on street work. In 1894 the city charter was amended, one important section providing for an enlargement of the powers of city council “to close in, pave, widen, repair, open streets and sidewalks.” In 1901 the city issued what were designated as “Street Improvement Bonds,” with a face value of $50,000, and bearing interest at A T / 2 per cent. By 1908 Spartanburg claimed to have the “best paved streets in the South,” and as having expended within the preceding ten years $300,000 on street improvements. In 1909 Dr. T. H. Law pronounced Spartanburg “the most beautifully and thoroughly paved city in all this region.” All of the chief thoroughfares were macadamized and the sidewalks paved with cement. Main, Church, and Magnolia Streets had been straightened and widened and graded before being given a hard-surface treatment. The Herald of June 12, 1912, said: But a few years ago Morgan Square was the assembly ground for the wagon trains from North Carolina and other distant points, and nightly the neighborhood was illuminated by camp fires and lanterns. Today the Square is a paved court, having for its center a handsome fountain and park in which flowers spell the words, “Spartanburg, City of Success. . .” In 1919 the city contracted for a paving program which resulted in the hard-surfacing of Howard and Union Streets and of Morgan Square. Traffic and I n 1884 Tanner’s and Gentry’s livery stables pro- Transportation v ided those who did not have their own horses and vehicles with public transportation to Glenn Springs or Garrett Springs, later called Rock Cliff, or to any desired destination. In 1890 Blowers’ livery stable advertised, for Converse College stu¬ dents, a special bus service “from the city reservoir, along Church “Spartanburg, City of Success” 211 and Main Streets,” guaranteeing safe transportation at the same prices street cars would charge. In 1892 the Spartanburg Gas and Electric Light and Power Company, chartered by Alexander Leftwich, Andrew E. Moore, and H. E. Heinitsh, initiated a street railway system, and the Spar¬ tan, June 15, 1892, chronicled the appearance of the first street car, which ran from the railroad crossing on Main Street to Pine Street, presumably drawn by a mule, for a week later the same paper an¬ nounced the arrival of a dummy engine and an open coach to super¬ sede the “solemn-looking mule.” On August 3 the paper contained caustic comments on the dummy engine which, after distressing smoke and sputtering, had blown up Sunday afternoon on Magnolia Street. Two weeks later the dummy was reported still “laid up for repairs,” with no prospect for a new one. Meanwhile, the Spartanburg Belt Electric Railway and Trans¬ portation Company had been chartered by D. E. Converse, John H. Montgomery, Joseph Walker, T. C. Duncan, M. W. Coleman, in December 1891, “with the purpose of building electric railways from some point on the North Carolina line toward Forest City and Rutherfordton to Glendale and Clifton, to Cedar Springs, Paco- let Mills, to Glenn Springs ; and to connect at convenient points with the Lockhart Shoals Railway, the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway, and to consolidate with other railroad companies.” After controversy, criticism, and compromises in connection with the electric railway, eventually the Spartanburg Railway, Gas and Electric Company built a road extending to Glendale, Clifton, and Saxon, and with tracks in Spartanburg passing through Main Street from the railway station to Pine Street, and along Church Street throughout its extent. In 1906 this company had fifteen miles of track and ten trolley cars; and amusement parks at Glendale and Rock Cliff provided objectives for picnics and pleasure rides. Nothing affords a clearer view of the sudden spurt in the city’s growth and the range of its undertakings during this period than a comparison of its treasurer’s reports for 1890 and 1891. The actual expenditures for the fiscal year ending October 20, 1890, amounted to $19,754.22. The next year the amount was $35,815.03. A Fourth The State legislature passed an act, December 23, Courthouse 1889, authorizing the Spartanburg County Commis¬ sioners to purchase a new site, condemn lands if necessary, and erect 212 A History of Spartanburg County a new courthouse, and to issue bonds, to be known as “Court House Bonds,” up to $50,000. The commissioners were authorized to sell “the present courthouse” and appropriate the proceeds to the new one, retaining use of the old until the new was completed. They were further permitted, at their discretion, to levy a tax instead of issuing bonds, if in their judgment such a course seemed better. This they did. On February 3, 1891, the old courthouse was sold for $15,150 to the T. C. Duncan syndicate, a group which had already purchased the old Palmetto House at the corner of East Main and North Church Streets, and which had replaced the hotel with a block of stores known as the Palmetto Building. The courthouse was in due time replaced by a building named the Duncan Building. To make way for this building, one of the loveliest specimens of architecture Spartanburg ever had was destroyed. The new courthouse was built on Magnolia Street, on the former home places of Simpson Bobo and T. O. P. Vernon. May 22, 1891, the cornerstone was laid with proper ceremony, and in March 1892, the building was turned over to the county commissioners, who pro¬ nounced it “an ornament and honor to its people.” Formation of In the midst of prosperity the county received a Cherokee County severe blow when Cherokee County was created, with Gaffney City as its seat of government. Gaffney City was in¬ corporated in 1875, on the site of Michael Gaffney’s trading post and racing path, less than two miles from Limestone Springs. It was the largest town in Spartanburg County. In 1868 William Jefferies, Esq., and Dr. John G. Black led an unsuccessful effort to organize a new county of which Gaffney’s, as it was then known, should be the seat of government. In the seventies, eighties, and nineties, other efforts were made, until finally, in 1897, Cherokee County was created—with a large and richly historic section of Spartanburg and smaller segments of Union and York counties combined to make up its area of 373 square miles. Public Buildings In 1903 the city council ordered the destruction of m Spartanburg th e Opera House, the pride of the city for more than twenty years. This was done to make possible the widening of Main Street for paving. The building was not sold until 1906 and brought $12,123, the city reserving the clock and bell, which were installed in the courthouse tower. The lot on which the Opera House “Spartanburg, City of Success” 213 stood was sold to the Masonic Temple Corporation, chartered in 1907, but it was 1928 before the Masonic Temple now occupying the lot was erected. The new City Hall was built in 1914. To make way for it, the picturesque county jail, built in 1823 of soapstone and field rocks from quarries in the Tyger River area, was destroyed. A new jail was erected on a lot adjoining the new courthouse. Jail Street was renamed Wall Street. Spartanburg had its first Federal building in 1906, at Walnut and North Church streets, built at a cost of $75,000. The Harris Theater, on North Church Street, with a seating capacity of 1,500, was built in 1907 to fill the place of the opera house. A Young Men’s Christian Association building was erected on Magnolia Street in 1907. The building on East Main Street was put up in 1914. The Kennedy In October 1882, a deed of gift to the city of Spartan- Library burg was executed by Mrs. Helen F. Kennedy, widow of Dr. Lionel C. Kennedy, for a thirty-foot lot facing what is now Kennedy Place, and was conditioned on the city’s building on it within five years a suitable library room to be called the Kennedy Library. The donor named as trustees P. F. Stevens, James H. Car¬ lisle, Daniel A. DuPre, T. Sumter Means, C. E. Fleming, and John Earle Bomar. The lot thus donated had been the site of Doctor Ken¬ nedy’s office. Mrs. Kennedy also donated to the library her hus¬ band’s valuable collection of books. A two-story library building was erected, and a large, handsomely furnished room in it soon be¬ came a popular meeting place for small organizations. In 1903 the city council made an agreement with the agents of Andrew Carnegie, in compliance with which the council pledged to make the library an annual appropriation of $1,500, and bought, for $7,000, the Blake lot on Magnolia Street as a site for a new building for the Kennedy Library. Carnegie donated $15,000 for the con¬ struction of this building, which was completed in 1906. Hospitals The first steps toward a public hospital were taken in 1904, when the city council voted an appropriation of $50 a month for six months to aid the Spartanburg Hospital. In 1905 the Spar¬ tanburg Hospital was incorporated with a capital stock of $5,000, the incorporators being H. R. Black, J. L. Jefferies, and George W. Heinitsh. In 1907 the capital was increased to $25,000 and a building was erected at 162 North Dean Street. That building, after the 214 A History of Spartanburg County erection in 1920 of a county hospital, became the Georgia Cleveland Home. Other hospitals were being privately operated in the city. The Good Samaritan Hospital was opened in 1907 on Forest Street, in a building erected in 1854 for the Spartanburg Female College. In 1914 this building was taken over by the United States Public Health Service for use in the first pellagra investigations conducted under its auspices. The Good Samaritan Hospital was moved to the large brick house at College and Magnolia Streets, originally built as the residence of Joseph Wofford Tucker, the first president of the Spar¬ tanburg Female College. In 1916 the Steedly Hospital Company was incorporated with a capital of $50,000, and erected at 320 East Main Street the building later bought by the Young Women’s Chris¬ tian Association and afterwards converted into an apartment hotel, the Wellington. Two hospitals for Negroes were operated in privately owned buildings, the People’s Hospital on South Liberty Street and the John-Nina Hospital on North Dean Street. New Many new churches were erected during this period. The Churches Roman Catholics, in 1883, built St. Paul’s on North Dean Street, a replica in miniature of St. Patrick’s in Charleston. In the late eighties the congregation of Central Methodist Church erected a brick building at a cost of $14,000. The Presbyterians built at East Main and Liberty Streets a brick church costing over $10,000. The Baptists, in 1902, sold for business purposes their brick church of the seventies with its “towering white steeple,” and at a cost of $60,000 built a pressed brick structure at East Main and Dean streets. Under the leadership of Dr. S. T. Hallman, the Lutheran de¬ nomination, September 28, 1902, organized a church in Spartanburg with seventeen charter members. In 1907 the Woman’s Memorial Lutheran Church was completed at a cost of about $8,000 and dedi¬ cated October 20. May 1, 1905, the Associate Reformed Presby¬ terians organized a church here with twenty charter members, and the following year paid $3,250 for a lot at East Main and Advent Streets, building on it in 1909. In 1911 the Greek Orthodox church was built, at the time said to be the only church of that faith between New York and Atlanta. In 1917, at Union and South Dean Streets, the Jewish Synagogue, B’nai Israel, was erected. All of the older denominations built on the outskirts new churches or missions, sev¬ eral of which were to become strong churches. “Spartanburg, City of Success” 215 The most spectacular church ever built in Spartanburg was El Bethel Methodist Church, erected in one day, May 1, 1912, at South Church and Logan Streets. At the time this building attracted nation¬ wide publicity. A moving picture feature was made of it. Hundreds of spectators watched the operations, which began on a cleared space at seven o’clock in the morning and ended the same evening with a religious service in the building—completed even to a coat of paint. Although the church has since been added to and altered, it is always spoken of as the “One-Day Church” and is popularly regarded as a landmark. Building and The city of Spartanburg was almost rebuilt in the last Business years of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. The week of October 8, 1890, was designated as “A Gala Business Week,” and was marked by important land sales and a “Business Carnival” in the Opera House. During this week eight building lots on Fairview Avenue were sold at prices ranging from $208 to $975. A tract, beginning on Chinquapin Creek, and known as the “old shooting-ground field,” was sub-divided along Oakland Avenue and several lots on it were sold at prices running from $154 to $404. Six lots in what had been the “Dean Grove,” east of North Dean Street, brought from $404 to $520. All of these lots were sold by the front foot. Four lots, each containing more than one and a third acres, “opposite Mr. Converse’s new residence,” on Pine Street, brought more than $800 each. The spectacular entertainment called “A Business Carnival” was given in the opera house, the seating capacity of which was 600. After an audience of more than 800 had been jammed into it, many were turned away. To enumerate the sponsors and their representa¬ tives would be to catalogue all of those socially or financially great or near-great in the Spartanburg of the period. Mrs. C. E. Means was general manager. The variety program was characterized by brilliant costumes, gay music, and catchy or timely verses written for the firms represented. At this period Spartanburg experienced a transformation of resi¬ dential into business areas. Magnolia street had become, in the fifties, a leading residential street on which stood stately homes surrounded by beautifully planted grounds. One by one, beginning about 1890, they were replaced by public institutions or office buildings. The Mag¬ nolia Street School (1889), the new courthouse (1892), the new 216 A History or Spartanburg County Carnegie building for the Kennedy Library (1905)—these three led the van. Some of the loveliest homes the city ever had succumbed to this march of progress. Before many years Magnolia Street had become entirely a business street from Morgan Square to the railway station. On Church Street, also, business began to encroach on the dwellings of older citizens. Elegant new residences went up along East Main Street, Pine Street, and some of the newer short streets, which were being opened up or extended over the city. In 1906 the farming area that is now Converse Heights was opened for resi¬ dential development. During the period many privately owned mercantile buildings and warehouses were erected. The Southern Railway built a new pas¬ senger station costing $25,000. The long-dreamed-of railroad, which was to connect Charleston and Cincinnati, became, in 1909, a reality, and, October 29, its first trains brought in guests and excursionists and occasioned speeches, banquets, and barbecues. Later trains were to bring it what was of greater importance—coal from the fields of Kentucky and West Virginia. The Confederate On January 5, 1910, the contract was let to erect a Monument Confederate monument at the intersection of South Church and Henry Streets. Funds for its erection came from the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Sons of Confederate Vet¬ erans, newspapers, the city council, and school children. The corner¬ stone was laid August 17, 1910, in the presence of more than three thousand persons. Colonel T. J. Moore acted as master of ceremonies on behalf of Mrs. C. E. Fleming, president of the Spartan Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy. Captain Charles W. Carlisle, at that time ranking officer of the Confederate veterans of Spartan¬ burg, delivered an address. Mrs. Charles Petty deposited in the cornerstone the following: lists of members of the Spartan Chapter and of the Children of the Confederacy; a copy of “The Confederate Veterans’ Edition” of the Herald, August 17, 1910; two copies of the Journal of the same date; and some coins. The monument, com¬ pleted January 21, 1911, is forty feet in height and is surmounted with the figure of a Confederate soldier. The granite column that supports the statue was originally intended to be used in the building of the capitol at Columbia, and was given to Spartanburg by an act of the State Legislature. Every year on the 10th of May brief exer¬ cises are held at the monument, when some outstanding citizen delivers Spartanburg, City of Success” 217 a brief eulogy on the Confederate dead. The women place laurel wreaths at the base of the shaft, and the school children scatter about it flowers. A Confederate Spartanburg entertained the Annual Reunion of the Reunion Confederate Veterans of South Carolina, August 17- 19, 1910. The Veterans in attendance numbered about 2,500, besides the many Sons of Veterans present. The meetings were held in the Harris Theater on North Church Street, at that time the largest auditorium in the city, with a seating capacity of 1,500, and it was filled to overflowing at all the exercises. Three welcoming addresses and responses were made: on behalf of Camp Joseph Walker, Charles Petty welcomed the visitors, and was responded to by State Com¬ mander General B. B. Teague of Aiken; H. B. Carlisle represented Camp Oliver Edwards, Sons of Veterans, and A. L. Gaston, of Chester, responded for the visiting sons; Colonel T. J. Moore wel¬ comed the Red Shirt Men of Seventy-Six, and the response was made by J. C. Stribling of Pendleton. Colonel U. R. Brooks of Columbia was the orator of the day at the opening joint meeting of these three organizations. The city and the local organizations were hosts at a dinner on the courthouse lawn. Mrs. C. E. Fleming, president of the Spartan Chapter, U. D. C., threw open her house for a reception to visiting ladies on the second day of the Reunion. On that day addresses were made by W. C. Pritchard, a former commander of the Virginia Division, U. C. V., and George B. Timmerman, a former commander of the South Carolina Division. In the evening an enter¬ tainment in the Converse College auditorium was provided for all the visitors. Polk Miller was the attraction offered. The same evening a ball was given in Ravadson Hall by the Oliver Edwards Camp, Sons of Veterans. This ended the entertainment provided officially for the visitors, but on August 19, a railroad excursion to Altapass at nominal rates enabled those who wished a trip to the mountains to gratify their desires. Cotton An especially important step taken by Spartanburg citizens Mll,s was the organization of two companies to erect cotton mills within the city limits. The Spartan Mills, of which Captain John H. Montgomery was made president and treasurer, was organized in 1888 by local capitalists with a capital stock of $150,000. Soon, however, the original plans were modified and Northern capitalists were enlisted in the enterprise, the capital stock being increased to 218 A History of Spartanburg County $500,000. The list of directors included W. E. Burnett, A. H. Twichell, J. B. Cleveland, D. R. Duncan, among others. All the brick used in building Spartan Mills, nearly five million, were made in Spartanburg The company acquired sixty acres of ground and erected one hundred and fifty neat four-room cottages. The directors named the village “Montgomeryville.” The new mill was the pride of the city, having a smokestack which was the highest in the State, and believed to be the only round one in the South. This stack measured 40 feet in diameter at its base, and was 178 feet high. When it was finished, Mrs. Montgomery had a sumptuous turkey dinner served to the directors on the platform which surrounded the top. From this elevated viewpoint they were able to think of them¬ selves as seated at the very center of the Hub City, and to survey its spokes stretching in all directions. “One dreary rainy dismal day” in 1890, as Ed McKissick told it, a Spartanburg business man, J. H. Sloan, put on his rubbers, took his umbrella in hand, and set out to raise subscriptions on stock for a cotton mill that would provide additional employment for the inhabi¬ tants and would utilize the waste products of the mills already estab¬ lished by making them into ropes, bags, and cotton bats. In a few hours he secured more than the $50,000 he had set as his goal. As a result, Beaumont Mills was incorporated, with Sloan as president and treasurer, and, as directors, Joseph Walker, V. E. McBee, J. E. Reynolds, W. F. Bryant, C. E. Fleming, J. B. Cleveland, H. A. Ligon, and R. L. Cumnock After a brief period of operation this mill was enlarged and equipped as a standard cotton mill. T. H. Law in the Spartanburg Herald of August 22, 1909, made the statement: “Spartanburg city with its numerous resident mill pres¬ idents has become a center of cotton manufacturing larger in its opera¬ tions than that centering in any other single city in the South.” There were then in the city limits, or on its outskirts, the following mills: Arkwright, Beaumont, Crescent, Spartan, Drayton, Glendale, Clifton, Whitney, Saxon Mills. The presidents of these and several other mills in the county resided in Spartanburg. Boasts June 25, 1912, the Herald issued a “Booster’s Edition,” which was also something of a boaster’s edition, enumerating and describing Spartanburg’s six banks, four hospitals, one theater, one vaudeville house, four motion picture houses, six building and loan associations, twenty-four passenger trains daily, twenty-five churches, Spartanburg, City of Success 1 219 nine public schools, three parks, a country club, and 414 automobiles. The paper gloated over the annual production of 75,000 bales of cotton in the county, and over the county’s being the State’s leading mule market, with an annual business of a half-million dollars. In the fall of 1912 the Chamber of Commerce instituted a drive for $15,000 for civic improvement. This campaign brought to public attention various appellations given the town by Spartans themselves or their friends: The City of Smokestacks and Education, the Hub City of the Piedmont, the Lowell of the South, the Athens of South Carolina, the City of Wideawakes, the City of Success. This last phrase was, during a long period, accorded a semi-official status. There was a park in Morgan Square with the words, “Spartanburg, the City of Success,” in floral design on its green sward. The Herald used the tag at the end of its editorial column every day. The Cham¬ ber of Commerce printed the legend on its stationery. When, in 1916, the Chapman Building—today the Andrews Building—rose into the air eight stories, Spartans pointed proudly to “The Skyscraper” as one more evidence that theirs was a City of Success. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Education and the Arts Educational Undaunted by the loss of the Spartanburg Female Leadership College and the removal of the Episcopal Theological Seminary, the people of Spartanburg pressed forward in their pro¬ motion of educational activities. They entertained the first State Teachers’ Institute; they supported Wofford College Lyceum As¬ sociation ; they encouraged the founding of a new female school— Piedmont Seminary; they instituted an excellent graded school sys¬ tem ; they founded Converse College; they promoted and supported the South Atlantic States Music Festival; they furnished the pio¬ neers in two forms of adult education, night schools for illiterates and the Textile Industrial Institute. First State In welcoming to Spartanburg and Wofford Teachers’ Institute College the members of the first “Normal In¬ stitute” held in South Carolina, James H. Carlisle said: “This is the first time in the history of our State that one hundred and fifty teachers have met under the same roof.” This meeting came about through the active cooperation of the faculty and trustees of Wof¬ ford College, State Superintendent of Education Hugh S. Thomp¬ son, and the trustees of the Peabody Fund for the Promotion of Education. The enrollment reached two hundred, half the counties of the State being represented. This teachers’ institute lasted from August 3 to August 27, 1880, and was directed by Professor Louis Soldan, of St. Louis, a grad¬ uate of the University of Berlin. The faculty included A. T. Peete of Spartanburg, E. W. Riemann of Lexington, R. M. Davis of Winnsboro, and H. P. Archer of Charleston. Classes were held daily at Wofford College for three or four hours. In the evenings lectures were given in the courthouse, and were open to the public free of charge. The lecturers included, besides the regular staff, Professor G. J. Orr, State Commissioner of Education of Georgia; Professor S. P. Sanford, of Mercer University; President Kemp Battle, of the University of North Carolina; and Professor E. S. Joynes, of the University of Tennessee. Local citizens extended the visitors many courtesies, the most important being an excursion to Hendersonville as guests of the city council. 220 Education and the Arts 221 The Graded The first session of the Spartanburg graded school School System began October 6, 1884, and ended June 1885. The year’s enrollment was 222 white and 175 colored pupils. On the board of trustees were: C. E. Fleming, President; Charles Petty, Chairman; John B. Cleveland, Clerk; George Cofield; and W. E. Harris. The first superintendent was William S. Morrison, previous¬ ly principal of the Well ford high school, who received a monthly salary of $75. The other white teachers were Misses Sallie Carson and M. H. Girardeau and Mrs. E. E. Evins. R. M. Alexander taught the colored school. No records were preserved for the first two years, but the “First Annual Report of the City Superintendent of Public Schools,” pre¬ pared by Lyman H. Ford, appeared June 14, 1887. Ford reported four schools: Carlisle school, with six teachers, for white pupils; Silver Hill, with three teachers, for Negroes; Grant and Lincoln, each with two teachers, for Negroes. These schools enrolled 338 white and 491 colored pupils. The total amount of the salaries of the thirteen teachers was $3,398.25 for a session beginning Septem¬ ber 27, 1886, and closing June 10, 1887. The operating expenses— janitor’s pay, brooms, chalk, report blanks, repairs—amounted to $157.80, and were provided for by charging each pupil a “contingent fee” of ten cents. The entire cost per pupil enrolled was $3.76. Ford complained that no school building had sufficient seating ca¬ pacity for the children enrolled. He protested that seven grades were insufficient, and urged the trustees to raise the curriculum at once to ten grades and to set their ultimate goal as twelve grades. He also requested additional blackboards and furniture. He reported his introduction into the course of study of physiology, industrial drawing, and vocal music. He also urged the board to appeal to the legislature for permission to extend the scholastic age beyond sixteen years. In 1889 the city erected a modern school building on the lot ad¬ joining the present site of the Kennedy Library, and it was occupied April 7, 1890. The buildings previously used had been rented, and the historian Landrum recorded as a fact that this was “the first building erected specifically for graded school purposes in the State outside Charleston.” It was of brick, three stories high, with an auditorium on the third floor, and five large class rooms on each of the other floors. There were offices, and large playgrounds. 222 A History of Spartanburg County The first white class was graduated from the city schools in 1896, and the first Negroes in 1898. The white children then had two schools, on Converse and Magnolia Streets; and the colored children had one, on Dean Street. From that time progress and improvement in the city school system proceeded steadily. Converse Converse College grew out of the civic pride of Spartans College an( j t j ie j r desire to keep their daughters at home while, at the same time, providing them with the best possible educational facilities. Similar motives had actuated the founders of the Spar¬ tanburg Female College, with the removal of which a chapter in the educational history of Spartanburg closed. However, it had a sequel, which began March 22, 1889, when a group of citizens organized a corporation for the purpose of building a “higher girls’ school” in Spartanburg. The incorporators were D. E. Converse, J. B. Cleve¬ land, Charles H. Carlisle, W. E. Burnett, H. E. Ravenel, George Cofield, George R. Dean, D. R. Duncan, H. E. Heinitsh, Bishop A. Coke Smith, Joseph Walker, and B. F. Wilson. H. E. Ravenel was secretary, and was the last survivor of this group. These men pro¬ ceeded as they would in launching any business enterprise, by agree¬ ing to issue one thousand shares of stock at $25 each. These sub¬ scriptions were made with no expectations of financial returns on the investment. After the success of the undertaking was assured a board of directors was chosen: D. E. Converse, President; D. R. Duncan, C. E. Fleming, Joseph Walker, John H. Montgomery, J. B. Cleve¬ land, N. F. Walker, W. E. Burnett, W. S. Manning, Secretary and Treasurer. The St. John’s School property, a small group of brick buildings on a campus of forty-four acres, was bought; a new building was erected; the institution was given the name Converse College; and the first session began October 1, 1890. The first faculty included: B. F. Wilson, A. B., President; D. A. DuPre, A. M., of Wofford College; A. Coke Smith, A. M., D. D., of Wofford College; T. D. Bratton, A. B.; George Heinitsh, M. D.; Carl S. Gaertner, Music Director; the Misses Nannie Gary Black- well, A. B., A. M.; Mattie B. Gamewell; Fannie A. Camp, A. B.; Mary V. Woodward; Eleanor L, Long, Art; and Cora Steele, Pri¬ mary Department; Mrs. Lula Butler Thompson, Matron. W. K. Blake, at one time president of the Spartanburg Female College, pre¬ sided over the opening exercises, and President James H. Carlisle, of Wofford College, made the principal address. Charles Petty, editor Education and the Arts 223 of the Spartan, wrote: “Never in the history of the State has any institution for boys or girls been started with so many favorable sur¬ roundings.” An unusual, and most fortunate, arrangement was made by which the board of directors leased the new institution for five years to D. E. Converse and B. F. Wilson. These two men had vision and courage. A friend, E. E. Bomar, remonstrated with Converse that the new building and its appointments were too elegant. His reply was: “If we make the best appointments, even though they seem costly, the people will patronize them. The American people always want the best.” When the end of each year rolled around, D. E. Converse made up from his private purse all deficits in the operating expenses of the college. Other trustees made additional gifts from time to time. B. F. Wilson, president for the first twelve years, set before the institution as its ultimate goal a standard equal to that of any woman’s college in the country, and every act of his administra¬ tion was determined by that goal. In 1896 the original subscribers surrendered their stock and Con¬ verse College was incorporated with a self-perpetuating board of trustees, the act of incorporation including the following names: D. Edgar Converse, John B. Cleveland, Joseph Walker, John H. Mont¬ gomery, David R. Duncan, Newton F. Walker, William S. Manning, Wilbur E. Burnett, Albert H. Twichell, John Earle Bomar, H. Ar¬ thur Ligon, Benjamin F. Wilson. The endowment of the college grew steadily, the bequest of D. E. Converse in 1899 adding to it $600,000. In 1902, after twelve years of service, B. F. Wilson resigned the presidency of Converse College, and was succeeded by Robert P. Pell, whose presidency continued through thirty years of constantly increasing prosperity. President Pell’s ideal, like that of Wilson, was to build up a college second to none in academic character and prestige. In 1908 the entrance re¬ quirements were raised from eight to twelve units, and the curriculum was greatly enriched. This was the year, too, when self-government was instituted. During the succeeding years Converse College achieved a position among the leading colleges of the country, building up its plant and endowment through the efforts of its alumnae and trustees, and with the assistance of the General Education Board and Andrew Carnegie, to a degree that secured for it membership in all the leading educational associations, literary and musical. 224 A History of Spartanburg County Pioneer Work in The Textile Industrial Institute and the classes for Adult Education ac j u it illiterates organized by Miss Julia Selden were the first undertakings of their sort in the State, their especial purpose being to provide educational advantages for those classes whom isola¬ tion or labor conditions had deprived of normal opportunities. Sep¬ tember 5, 1911, David English Camak, a Methodist preacher, opened “an elementary school for disadvantaged young people of the South.” Several mill presidents gave Camak hearty cooperation in his plan that every student should work two weeks in a mill to earn his ex¬ penses, and devote an alternative two weeks to school. The students were thus enrolled in pairs, and exchanged places with each other in mill and school at the end of each two weeks. Twenty-five years later this school, begun in 1911 with a loan of $100 and a single stu¬ dent, reported “an enrollment of 352 young men and women from rural, urban, industrial, and mountain areas of eleven Southern States.” The institution had become “a standard junior college where every student earns all, or approximately one-half of his or her ex¬ penses.” The earnings of these students in 1937-38 amounted to $43,560. The school today has a campus of thirty-five acres and four stone buildings, besides several wooden structures. In 1913 Miss Julia Selden of Spartanburg, recognizing the need for adult education, organized, with the cooperation of mill authori¬ ties and teachers, a number of night schools in mill villages. Teachers were paid $1.00 per night, and the expenses of these schools were defrayed by the mills. The next year other counties followed this example, and soon the State Federation of Women’s Clubs asked the legislature to appoint an Illiteracy Commission. In 1918 Wil Lou Gray was employed by this commission, and she eventually created South Carolina’s widely known Department of Adult Education. Musical From the days of Singing Billy Walker and his “Normal History Schools,” music was a dominant interest in Spartanburg life. The plain folk had their singing associations, the female schools stressed vocal and instrumental music, there were neighborhood bands in various communities, music was an essential feature of every public program. Christmas caroling was customary, and May Day was celebrated most usually with elaborate musical entertainments. Mus¬ ters and picnics always had bands. After the railroads were built the musicians of Spartanburg, Gaffney, and Union cooperated in The Kennedy Free Library, 1906 Wieson Building, Converse College, 1892 Textile Institute, 1913 Education and the: Arts 225 ambitious presentations, and sometimes operated excursions to enable the music-lovers of one place to enjoy the production of another. Esther and The Presbyterian choir, under the direction of A. H. Other Oratorios Twichell and Dr. Wm. T. Russell, who served re¬ spectively as organist and choir director for many years, seems to have been the first organization to present the popular oratorio, Esther, the Beautiful Queen, to a Spartanburg audience. The first rendition was made by “a choir of twelve ladies and gentlemen, ac¬ companied by the solemn notes of a fine organ presided over by a master hand,” July 11, 1867, and was repeated in a few days, in response to popular demand. This oratorio probably had more ren¬ ditions in Spartanburg than any other musical work of equal length except The Messiah. The first and second presentations were made for the organ fund. In November the same choir repeated Esther for the “church bell fund.” In 1872 Esther was again sung for the benefit of a fund being raised to repair the steps of Wofford College. All of these performances took place in the courthouse, and the organ was moved each time. In June 1879, Esther was again presented, this time under the auspices of the Spartanburg Choral Union, with guest artists. This performance was so successful that it was repeated in Union two weeks later. By this time the number of performers had greatly increased, and rich oriental costumes, choruses, and appro¬ priate scenery were utilized to enhance the pleasure of auditors. The solos were rendered by outstanding musical amateurs from Green¬ ville, Spartanburg, Union, Limestone Springs, and Glendale. On June 2, 1880, a Greenville group presented Esther in the new Spar¬ tanburg Opera House for the benefit of the building fund of the Pres¬ byterian Church in Greenville. As late as November 30, 1893, the news columns of the Carolina Spartan reported that a Spartanburg group was to render the cantata Esther in Greenville. Other oratorios and cantatas sung by local musicians in the eighties and nineties included Joseph in Bondage, Ruth, and Belshaz¬ zar. Operettas were also popular, for example Laila, Tzvo Blind Beg¬ gars, and Little Red-Riding-Hood. In the Opera House music-lovers heard Clara Kellogg, the Boston Symphony Club in a Haydn pro¬ gram, and less famous traveling artists. The Spartanburg The Carolina Spartan of August 6, 1879, recorded Choral Union the organization of the Spartanburg Choral Union. 226 A History of Spartanburg County Its first officers were: President, J. A. Gamewell; Secretary-Treas¬ urer, W. E. Burnett; Musical Director, Professor A. T. Peete. For several years this society—which was apparently exactly what its name implied, a combination of the choirs and music teachers of the town—dominated Spartanburg’s musical life. In 1882 the Spartan¬ burg Choral Union was still active, holding weekly practices on Wed¬ nesday evening at the Piedmont Seminary, under the direction of Professor William L. Johnson. Probably the burning of the Semi¬ nary, late in 1882, broke up its activity, for it seems to have disinte¬ grated about this time. If so, it was soon to spring up again with renewed vigor and a new name. The Spartanburg In March 1884, through the joint efforts of Musical Association Professor D. A. DuPre of Wofford College and Mrs. George Cofield, an organization was perfected and named the Spartanburg Musical Association. The first meeting was held in Mrs. Cofield’s home; D. A. DuPre was elected president; and W. L. Johnson was made director. The first annual concert was given in May 1885, and this was followed by another the next May. This Association had a large membership and an abundance of musical talent, and always drew very large and cultivated audiences. It made a practice of giving annual concerts and took the lead in all the town’s musical activities. The South Atlantic When Converse College was established in States Musical 1889, it entered upon a rich heritage of musical Festival culture; and no other of its contributions to the development of the city, and in fact of the whole Southeast, has sur¬ passed in importance its varied musical program. Its first music teachers and pupils formed an organization, which they named the Mozart Choral Club. The second director of music at Converse Col¬ lege, R. H. Peters, was a brilliant young Englishman, a doctor of music, Fellow of the Guild of Organists, and Associate of the Royal College of Organists, London, England. In 1895, under the guidance of this accomplished musician and with the assistance of A. H. Twichell, himself a skilled amateur organist and successful financier, an annual “Festival of Music,” the first of its kind in the Southeast, was begun. The Spartanburg Musical Association gave up its iden¬ tity, and its members united with members of the Mozart Club to form the Converse College Choral Society, which inaugurated the annual music festival on a modest basis in 1895. Education and the Arts 227 The success of such an undertaking required united community support. The business men responded cordially to the request for financial aid by forming a list of guarantors. The musicians of the town joined the Choral Society and practiced faithfully throughout the year, so that each spring Spartanburg had trained choruses of from one hundred and fifty to one thousand voices—the number vary¬ ing in different years—eager to contribute their part to the festival program. The program early took a pattern which was adhered to for thirty-two years—with two years of omission during the World War. The promoters of this ambitious project named their undertaking The South Atlantic States Music Festival, and built up, throughout the Southeast, a large patronage, which after its first few years taxed to their limit the city’s private and public facilities for hospitality. The Festival was held preferably the first week of May—sometimes earlier or later—and there were five concerts. Wednesday evening was designated as Choral Night, and the programs included such works as Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise, Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Elijah, and Messiah, or light operas, in which the solo parts were sung by professional artists and the accompaniments were played by visit¬ ing orchestras, while the locally trained choruses bore the main burden of the program. Some numbers on each year’s choral concert were largely determined by local preferences, often influenced by world¬ wide musical interest in special celebrations. Thursday afternoon was always devoted to a symphony concert, in which one or more distinguished soloists appeared with the orchestra. Thursday evening there was an opera, which was rendered without stage effects, but with Metropolitan soloists and full orchestral and choral accompani¬ ment. Friday afternoon, in the early years, was given over to a popular concert mainly for children, and became, from 1913, a concert in which the Spartanburg Children’s Festival Chorus was the out¬ standing feature. The climax of the Festival was reached in the Friday night concert—Artists’ Night—when such preeminent artists as Homer, Schumann-Heink, Mary Garden, Farrar, Tetrazzini, Gadski, Hempel, Gigli, Nordica, Ponselle, Bonelli, Case, Braslau, Bori, Alda, Martinelli, and Easton appeared on the programs. The usual practice was to employ for each season an orchestra of national reputation and ten or more professional artists of high rank as soloists, and to train local singers and performers to partici- 228 A History of Spartanburg County pate in choral parts of the programs. After some years the festival became known as the Spartanburg Music Festival. Its last program after the old pattern was presented May 4, 5, 6, 1927; for the under¬ current of financial strain, the competition from other cities which were emulating Spartanburg’s musical activities, and the increasing number of conflicting interests, all led in 1928 to a modification of the usual routine. The Changed Probably the determining factor in bringing about Festival of 1928 a c hange in the nature of the Festival was the de¬ sire of the entire community to give first place in the 1928 program to a fit celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the presidency of Robert Paine Pell, of Converse College. President Pell was un¬ willing that the Festival be abandoned, and he suggested combining it with the special commencement program, eliminating one of the concerts. This suggestion was adopted, and the Festival in its thirty- third year was an especially brilliant one. The Festival of 1930 brought a thrill to the community because on its programs appeared as a professional artist Lily Strickland, who was one of the alumnae of Converse College. With that year an era in Spartanburg’s history ended, for that was the last Festival of its kind. Spartanburg’s social world had for thirty years shaped its plans and activities about “Festival Week.’’ Hotels, boarding houses, pri¬ vate homes, were all crowded with music-lovers—invited kin, social visitors, paying guests. Plans for luncheons, dinners, suppers, dances, costumes absorbed fashionable attention for weeks beforehand. Nothing in Spartanburg’s community life has replaced that brilliant Festival Week. The New In 1939 Dean Ernst Bacon of the Converse School of Festival Music, with the approval and cooperation of President Edward M. Gwathmey, undertook a “New Festival,” which appeals to music-lovers from a new angle. Instead of transporting to Spar¬ tanburg the leading artists of the world, as was the old goal, the New Festival presents local artists and provides music-lovers an oppor¬ tunity to present and hear compositions of local origin. Another phase of the New Festival is the integration of dramatic and other esthetic elements in its programs. The programs include a chamber music concert, a musical drama or opera, and a concert made up of piano, vocal, and symphony numbers. Education and the Arts 229 In certain aspects, this undertaking is a more ambitious one than was its prototype, but the Converse School of Music today is more nearly adequate to such an undertaking and the local talent available is more encouraging than in the earlier days; for this institution has attained a position of commanding influence in the musical world and now gives the bachelor’s and the master’s degree in music. The compositions of Dean-Emeritus N. Irving Hyatt are known and used in many schools of music, as are also the songs of Lily Strick¬ land. Converse graduates command recognition from the best of the great musical foundations, and many of them have been awarded valuable scholarships. The monthly student recitals are enjoyable, and the occasional faculty recitals have the technical and artistic ex¬ cellence of professional performances. Music in the Sight-singing was a part of the grammar grade Spartanburg Schools curriculum in the city schools from 1886, and for many years the high school pupils had glee clubs and orchestras among their extra-curricular activities. The Children’s Chorus was organized by Miss Carrie McMakin, supervisor of music in the Spar¬ tanburg City Schools, in 1913, and from that time sang in every Fes¬ tival. When the Festival was abandoned, the Children’s Chorus continued, and still gives an annual concert, which always crowds to capacity the largest auditorium available. In the superintendent’s annual report for 1925-1926, mention is made of a seventh grade boys’ chorus, a band, a high school glee club, and a violin class. In 1937 music was introduced into the high school curriculum as an accredited subject. Vernon Bouknight, the first supervisor of music in the Spartanburg High Schools, presented his pupils in their first concert November 10, 1937. On November 10, 1938, the music department gave its first anniversary concert, participated in by the two hundred and fifty students who had elected music as a subject for credit. Two choruses, two orchestras, and two bands took part in the program, which was so balanced as to offer something that appealed to every taste. Already the crimson-and-black-uniformed Spartanburg High School Band is an essential feature in every civic celebration, and the annual concert of the high school music department vies in popular favor with that of the Children’s Chorus, which is made up of pupils from the grammar schools. Musical Directly traceable to the influence of the Festival are Organizations three vigorous organizations: the Woman’s Music 230 A History of Spartanburg County Club, founded in 1905; the Spartanburg Children’s Chorus, founded in 1913; the Male Chorus, organized in 1932. The Woman’s Music Club was formed almost entirely of gradu¬ ates from the Converse School of Music. Their main objective was self-improvement, and they took two very definite means of achieving their goal: by undertaking systematic study courses and programs, and by cooperating with Converse College in establishing a series of winter concerts, which were designed to supplement the festival. So successful was this organization that others similar to it were formed, and now there are in Spartanburg many cooperating music clubs, besides a number of junior clubs, which are under the guidance and sponsorship of committees appointed by the older music clubs. The Male Chorus, founded by Wilson Price in 1932 and directed by him ever since, has won an enviable reputation and has given con¬ certs in many Carolina towns besides Spartanburg. Wilson Price lays stress on developing and fostering public appreciation of, and participation in, group singing. The Male Chorus has led to the dis¬ covery and development of several solo voices of concert quality. In 1936 a group of civic-minded music-lovers organized a Civic Music Association, with the purpose of reviving some at least of the values lost by the discontinuance of the Festival. Public support has justified this undertaking. Craftsmanship Music has been of more importance in the life of m Spartanburg Spartanburg than any other of the fine arts. While there are examples of good architecture and of artistic landscape gardening, there has not been the community concentration of interest in either which has been so marked a characteristic of the town’s musical history. Probably the iron products of the old iron works were utilitarian and conventional, although a wrought-iron gate made in the district was awarded a silver cup at the District Fair in 1856. No potteries or groups of weavers within the county have commanded attention. Weaving was, however, practiced as a household art from the pioneer days, and treasured hand-woven coverlets and counter¬ panes are to be found in the possession of old families. The designing and weaving of these necessities provided workers a means of artistic self-expression. Hill’s factory sold in the fifties seamless pictorial counterpanes that were probably the work of artistic weavers. The carved wood-work and panelings and frescoed plaster ceilings in many of the ante-bellum homes which still stand show artistry in the Education and the Arts 231 house-building crafts. Examples of the art of skilled cabinetmakers are to be found in many private homes in the county. But no sys¬ tematic account can be given today of any of these earlier craftsmen. The fact that Spartanburg early became a leading manufacturing section possibly checked tendencies toward individual self-expression through the arts. Portrait Portrait painters found patronage in Spartanburg as early Painters as ig42 } when W. K. Barclay of Charleston, a student of Sulky’s, spent three seasons here previous to his early death. He painted Benjamin Wofford and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. James Ed¬ ward Henry, two children of Simpson Bobo, and possibly other por¬ traits of the same period. An especially interesting example of Bar¬ clay’s work is his portrait of Simpson Bobo. This picture, owned by H. B. Carlisle, hangs in his library, as does another portrait of the same subject done nearly forty years later by Albert Capers Guerry. Guerry’s earliest connection with Spartanburg was as a student at St. John’s College. He began to paint very early, for the Preston Literary Society owns a portrait of William C. Preston painted by him at the age of fourteen. He resided in Spartanburg at intervals only, but had a large following here. His works hang in the Wofford College Chapel and literary society halls, in the Kennedy Library, and in many private homes. Among his most successful efforts are his portraits of Robert E. Lee, Lionel C. Kennedy, John G. Landrum, James H. Carlisle. The first two hang in the Kennedy Library; the Landrum portrait is in Mount Zion Church, a copy hanging in the First Baptist Church of Spartanburg; and the Carlisle portrait has the place of honor in the Wofford College Chapel. Other portraits by Guerry include those of Joseph Walker, J. S. R. Thompson, Robert E. Cleveland, and Donald Fleming. His Calhoun, in the State House, has been pronounced “a magnificent portrait.” In more recent years Mrs. B. King Couper, Margaret Law, Grace DuPre, Irma Cook, and August Cook have done portraits of interest and merit. All these artists are still alive and at work. Art Teaching and Margaret M. Law, after extensive study in Amer- Production Today j ca anc [ abroad, and a number of years of teaching experience in the Bryn Mawr School of Baltimore, Maryland, re¬ turned to her home town in 1936 as supervisor of art in the city schools. She is a disciple of the modern school of Cizek, which 232 A History of Spartanburg County stresses spontaneity in self-expression as the foundation of art-train¬ ing, and her work has had a marked influence on the art development of the community. Grace DuPre, who maintains a private studio in Spartanburg, has the unique distinction of being equally at home with the brush or the violin, and equally alert as a teacher or a creative artist. August Cook is head of the art department of Converse College; and his wife, Irma Howard Cook, besides conducting a private class, executes com¬ missions in oil portraits and water color landscapes. All of these artists exhibit frequently, and specimens of the work of all three, and of Mrs. B. King Couper, are to be found in museums, and in public and private collections. Mrs. Couper has in recent years lived in Charleston. Spartanburg In 1923 Mrs. B. King Couper organized in Spartanburg Art Club an Arts an( j c ra ft s Club which later became the Spar¬ tanburg Art Club. This group, from its formation, became active in stimulating popular interest in art by securing public lecturers and exhibitions, by arranging study courses, and by maintaining a club room. An especially valuable activity has been a survey and listing of works of art privately owned in the city, and in some cases securing the loan of these for exhibits. The Art Club was instrumental in bringing to Spartanburg, in April 1931, the convention of the South¬ eastern Arts Association, which held its sessions at Converse College and in the Educational building of the First Baptist Church. The Art Club has acquired several valuable paintings, etchings, pieces of pottery, prints, and busts; and it owns a small reference library. This club often holds exhibitions. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Preparations for War A Strange The years 1917, 1918, and 1919, formed a strange in¬ interlude terlude in the history of Spartanburg. These years broke into the steady slow progress of an Up Country town with a dynamic energy which startled and transformed the tempo of life in that town, and expanded its horizon to the uttermost parts of the earth. Within the first months of those years, Spartanburg saw a city rise on its borders with a population larger than its own—all of them engaged in learning how to meet and inflict death in battle— and three years later saw it disappear like a mirage. Always people carried about in their hearts a consciousness that their own boys were in other training camps or facing death on European battle¬ fields ; yet twenty years afterwards, the memory of these things had become to most Spartans as fantastic and unreal as a dream, and only a few memorials remained to preserve in memory the strenuous activities of those years. Early in March 1917 Spartanburg began preparations for war service. When, on April 6, 1917, war with Germany was officially declared, Spartanburg was already mobilizing her forces; and on April 11, when the War Department called into service regiments of National Guard from Maine to Florida, Spartan soldiers were ready for the call. The Red Cross Society was alert; Wofford Col¬ lege announced plans to begin military training; Converse set up training classes for its students in Red Cross nursing and hospital service. Company Two In January the Spartanburg company of the Coast Artillery Coast Artillery received an official visit from Major Phillip R. Ward, Federal Inspector. From the date of his visit this company met regularly in the armory in Ravadson Hall and drilled on Morgan Square. In July they entered the Federal service and were ordered to make an encampment. They secured the use of part of Fairfield Park for their camp, which they named Camp Hearon in honor of Charles O. Hearon, editor of the Spar¬ tanburg Herald. This company left on less than a day’s notice, on the morning of August 9, 1917. Members of the Women’s Auxil¬ iary of the Young Men’s Christian Association were on hand with lunches and goodies when the soldiers boarded a special train and 233 234 A History of Spartanburg County set out for Fort Moultrie. The company numbered 116: 101 privates, five commissioned officers, two non-commissioned officers, and eight members of the sanitary detachment. The officers were Captain James M. Wallace, First Lieutenants J. Hertz Brown and Dr. J. O. Wrightson, Second Lieutenants John N. Wright and Jackson S. Burnett of the Battalion staff, and Battalion Adjutant Charles Lindsay. Leaving Spartanburg as Company Two, Coast Artillery, South Carolina National Guard, these men were soon reorganized as Company Seven, Coast Defense of Charleston. One after another, most of its original members left the company to enter officers’ training camps at Fort Oglethorpe and Fort Monroe, and other places. In June 1918, many of them went overseas with Batteiy B or the Headquarters Company of the Sixty-first Regi¬ ment, Coast Artillery Corps, A. E. F. The company was recruited from drafted men and remained on the South Carolina coast through¬ out the war. The Hampton The Hampton Guards—officially Company F, Guards Company F First South Carolina Infantry—had seen active service on the Mexican border. They had left Spartanburg for Camp Styx, Columbia, in June 1916, and had gone from there to Fort Bliss at El Paso, Texas, remaining in service until the following December. On April 11, they were called out to do guard duty on the railroads and bridges, and departed with even less warning than the Coast Artillery Company. Three months later, Company F was one of four companies assigned to guard duty at Camp Jackson, Columbia, then under construction. At midnight, August 5, 1917, in accordance with a proclamation by President Wilson, all the State Guards became Federal Troops. In October Company F went to Camp Sevier at Greenville, where men from the two Carolinas and Tennessee were to be fused into the Thirtieth Division. The Hampton Guards became Company F, 118th Infantry, Thirtieth Division, United States Army, and left Camp Sevier for France May 4, 1918. The Hampton Guards left Spartanburg with ninety men and three officers: Captain B. T. Justice, First Lieutenant James A. Schwing, and Second Lieutenant Grantland C. Green. As was true throughout the army, replacements and reorganizations resulted in frequent changes of officers and men. Lieutenant James A. Schwing was the only Spartanburg officer to serve with the company overseas. Preparations For War 235 Company C Early in the spring Governor Manning author¬ ing Engineers i ze d j Monroe Johnson of Marion to organize a battalion of engineers. Johnson in turn asked B. M. English, an employee of the Southern Railway in Spartanburg, to recruit a com¬ pany here. English was made first lieutenant of the company, which was organized May 5, 1917. This, the last of Spartanburg’s volun¬ teer companies to be organized, was the first to go overseas, spend¬ ing a brief training period at Camp Jackson, Columbia. Then, as Company C, 117th Engineers, it was incorporated in the Forty-second Division—the Rainbow Division—and went across in October 1917. Other Thirty-seven Spartans, graduated from the first Offi- Volunteers ce rs’ Training Gass at Fort Oglethorpe, were hon¬ ored, August 23, 1917, with a public banquet at the Hotel Cleveland, before reporting to camp. When Thanksgiving drew near, the cit¬ izens of Spartanburg sent to Company Seven Coast Artillery, sta¬ tioned at Fort Moultrie, and the Hampton Guards at Camp Sevier, checks, each for $100, for the purchase of turkeys. The Engineers were already in France and had to do without American turkey dinners. Besides three volunteer companies, Spartanburg had numbers of young men who had volunteered individually to fight with the Allies, or who belonged to the Marines or to units of the Regular Army that had gone to France in May. Letters from some of these boys appeared in local papers. The Draft Meanwhile Congress had passed May 19, 1917, a se¬ lective service law, which, as subsequently amended, mobilized all the manpower of the Nation from the ages of 18 to 45 inclusive. The first registration, June 5, 1917, covered the ages from 21 to 31. A second registration was to be made June 5 and August 24, 1918, of those who had reached the age of 21 since the first registration. On September 12, 1918, those under 21 or over 31 years old were to be registered. Spartanburg’s first enrollment, of June 5, 1917, included 7,346 names. From these, local registration boards drew 882 names. The men selected were examined, and as soon as the quota of 441 men had been secured from among them, the draft was stopped until further calls were received for replacements of men rejected at the camps. Of the 441 drafted men, the western part of the county was required to supply 176, the eastern part 160, and the city 105. 236 A History or Spartanburg County On September 5, 1917, this first body of drafted men from Spartan¬ burg went to Camp Jackson. Establishment of When, in the spring, it was announced that a Training Camp American soldiers were to be sent to France and that training camps would be established to get them ready to go, Spartanburg requested that a camp be located on its outskirts. John F. Floyd, Mayor; Ben Hill Brown, President, and Paul V. Moore, Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce; John B. Cleveland, Chairman of the Cantonment Committee; Sam J. Nicholls, Member of Congress and resident of Spartanburg; Charles O. Hearon, editor of the Herald —all of these and other interested citizens cooperated in gathering data concerning available camp sites to be presented for the consideration of the War Department. They also raised a guarantor’s fund of $200,000. On May 29 news leaked out that the inspectors sent here by General Leonard Wood had made a fa¬ vorable report. Spartanburg was intensely excited, but not until June 21 did her citizens receive definite assurance of success. Then General Wood made a visit of personal inspection, which was im¬ mediately followed by an official announcement from the War De¬ partment that Spartanburg had been selected as one of the sixteen sites for camps. On July 6, 1917, Mayor Floyd affixed his official signature to the document putting the United States Government in possession of a tract of approximately two thousand acres, described as “be¬ tween three and four miles west of the city.” The site selected for the camp was skirted on its western side by the historic old Blackstock Road, between Disputanta (since renamed Westview) and Fairforest, and this road was almost impassable. From Wof¬ ford Street, the Snake Road led to the campground. This dirt road was utterly unfit for the transportation of soldiers and military sup¬ plies, and one of the first official acts of General O’Ryan was to have it straightened and paved. The other road leading to the camp was a national highway, which twenty years later when Highway 29 was built, became known as “the old Greenville road.” A shorter, more direct road into the camp was a necessity, and eventually the road so made became a part of the National Highway No. 29. The Southern and the Piedmont & Northern Railway Com¬ panies both began at once to lay sidetracks and spur tracks to the camp. A track parallel to the Southern’s main line was laid between Preparations For War 237 Fairforest station and the creek of the same name for entraining and detraining soldiers. Spur tracks were laid from Fairforest station to the store house and quartermasters’ depots. Two weeks after the signing of the lease, the Spartanburg Water Works Commission had laid nine miles of twelve-inch main from its pumping station on Chinquapin Creek to the camp, em¬ ploying more than eight hundred men on the job. The contract for putting up the necessary buildings was awarded by the government to the Fiske-Carter Construction Company, and by the middle of July four hundred carpenters were at work on twelve mess halls. Name of The board of officers from the War College Division the Camp charged with the selection of a name announced in July that the camp at Spartanburg was to be called “Camp Wads¬ worth” in honor of Brigadier General James S. Wadsworth, U.S.V., a native of New York who had served with distinction in the War of Secession, and whose grandson represented New York State in the United States Senate. The name of a New Yorker was chosen because the New York men were to be sent to this camp for training. New York had enough men in its National Guard to form a di¬ vision—as did Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois. The Camp Major General John F. O’Ryan commanded the Commander and New York National Guard, and on July 21 the Hi* Staff announcement was made that he would be in command of the Twenty-seventh Division at Camp Wadsworth. In private life O’Ryan was a lawyer, and he had from youth been an enthusiastic National Guard man, having joined the Seventh Regiment Infantry as a private before he was of age. He was one of the few officers of high rank who had risen step by step from the ranks, and was the only National Guard man who had gradu¬ ated from the War College at Washington. He had commanded the Sixth Division along the Mexican border. At the time of his appointment to Camp Wadsworth he was the youngest major general in the United States Army, and he was to win distinction as the only general from the National Guard who retained his rank and commanded throughout the World War. On Major General O’Ryan’s staff were Colonel H. H. Bandholtz, Chief of Staff; Brig¬ adier Generals R. W. Michie, Fifty-third Infantry Brigade; Henry D. W. Hamilton, Fifty-fourth Infantry Brigade; James W. Lester, 238 A History of Spartanburg County Fifty-second Depot Brigade, and C. L. Phillips, Fifty-second Field Artillery Brigade. Arrival of the On July 17 Lieutenant Colonel John D. Kil- Quartermaster’s patrick of the Quartermaster’s Corps, New York Staff National Guard, and his staff arrived to super¬ vise and assist in the construction. He stated that six hundred buildings and warehouses of wood must be provided as soon as pos¬ sible; the soldiers might begin to arrive within two weeks. The speed with which the work went forward, the enormous quantities of materials needed, the number of laborers required, and the as¬ tonishing weekly pay rolls were beyond any local anticipation. Col¬ onel Kilpatrick’s plans provided for the ultimate care of forty thou¬ sand soldiers. The contractor had to erect 779 buildings of wood— warehouses, mess halls, and bath houses. The excellence of his work at Camp Wadsworth led, within a year, to Kilpatrick’s appointment as a major in the Regular Army. The citizens of Spartanburg, with whom he became very popular, presented him, on his departure, with a silver loving cup. The North Carolina On July 27, 1917, the First Battalion : j> % \. °Wmp: „Cr - • 1 ' * 4 c (, % <£> WV . t»• a\ „,. 0 O ^ jO *0 ^%*^ w ° 9 ^°° _ ^ WT?^ A 0° ^ ^Pv ■*£*?, ^ * ,t ’ •‘X. • • :v ^> 9 * ^ *f ? «fc %/ :]Si& \X AKfc ?♦ & X -M’ A *«SSP*