A chronicle of Grindal Shoals

-notable pioneer community on the Pacolet River, Union/Cherokee Counties, South Carolina.
Remains of Christies Tavern as they appeared in 2012.

Remains of Christie’s Tavern as they appeared in 2012.

Whatever your interest in the history of this place or the families who made a living here, welcome to Grindal Shoals.

27 Comments

  1. Donna Jasper Goff
    Apr 16, 2015 @ 15:24:42

    First I want to commend you for your gallant efforts in trying to bring clarity to the Jasper ancestry. I have learned a lot from the materials you have collected and documented.

    I have been researching my Kentucky Jasper ancestry over the past 40+ years. My line goes to Abraham Jasper and Betsy Baker, which many have connected to Nicholas Jasper. I am still looking for a will, marriage record or something that actually verifies this.

    Today, I came across something problematic. Online genealogy records state that Nicholas Jasper and Elizabeth Wyatt were married in Wytheville, Virginia in 1767. The problem is that Wythe County was created from Montgomery County in 1790, and land donated for the town in May 1790 to create a town and county seat which was originally called Evansham. The town did not get its present name until after March 1839. The county court house was built after 1790 and was called the Wythe Court House, but clearly, neither the county, court house, nor town exist for the first 23 years of Nicholas and Elizabeth’s marriage. I will beginning my search in Montgomery county, the parent count. But it is clear this Jasper ancestry of mine is a tangled mess.

    Mahalo, Donna

    Reply

  2. Miriam miller
    Jun 26, 2015 @ 16:44:26

    Hi,

    I am developing lineage for Micajah Paulk and sarah stearns. Micajah Paulk was a primative baptist minister in GA. You sited Hume on your site. Can you give me the source of your information?

    Reply

  3. Pelham Lyles
    Jul 15, 2015 @ 03:00:04

    Great site. Robert Coleman appeared with the Tories defending Mobley’s Meeting House in western Fairfield County in June, 1780.

    Reply

    • Kenneth Shelton
      Oct 04, 2016 @ 23:25:06

      Pelham — this Robert Coleman is actually “our” Robert Coleman’s cousin. This group of Colemans — also Tory — were different from, but related to, the Fairfield Colemans.

      Reply

  4. M. Mille
    Aug 24, 2015 @ 16:39:22

    Hi,

    I am researching jonathan Paulk Micajah Paulk and related Stearns lines. You had a great deal of information in your primitive preachers article. do you have the documentation for the information. If so would you share?

    M

    Reply

    • B Potts
      Jul 21, 2018 @ 02:26:42

      I am also researching Paulk and Stearns. Mr. Ivey filled in a lot of gaps, especially on Jonathan Paulk. Micajah received a land grant from King George the third in 1774 in Richmond (now Columbia) County, GA adjacent Daniel Marshall. I think the 1884 date that Mr. Ivey mentioned was the beginning of the American records on the same property. There is controversy about whether Micijah Sr. or Jr. was the revolutionary soldier and which was the preacher. I wish I could find documentation. Thanks for any help.

      Reply

  5. Keith Isom
    Sep 06, 2015 @ 21:45:25

    Hello and thanks for your terrific site.

    I have a question: what is your source for the marriage of John Eison and Mary Swink Isom?

    Thank you

    Reply

  6. Tisha White
    Oct 15, 2015 @ 01:36:31

    I love the information on your site. I am a descendant of John White and Sarah Mims(?), that I believe is the brother of Isaac White. My 5 x’s great grandfather William married first Elizabeth Nixon. Do you have any more information on this branch of the family?

    Thanks for all you do!

    Reply

  7. Roy Wells
    Dec 24, 2015 @ 16:17:47

    I really enjoyed your web site. I am attempting to visit as many Revolutionary war sites as possible to take photos of them as they are “today”. My wife and I visited over 600 Civil War sites (Over 8 years) doing this and we are now starting on the Revolution. This is done just for our information and enjoyment — there is no commercialism involved. I am specifically asking you if you can provide me with the location of the remains of Christies Tavern. I have looked everywhere I can find for the specific location. Thank you. Roy Wells

    Reply

    • admin
      Sep 18, 2016 @ 00:15:48

      Hello, sorry its taken so long to reply. If you are still needing the location, we will be re-visiting it in October and I can send you detailed directions then.

      Reply

    • Donald Smith
      Jul 02, 2017 @ 12:58:39

      If you’re still looking for this you may contact me at dgsmith@spart7.org
      I live near the old tavern and I will be glad to show you where it once stood.

      Reply

  8. Elizabeth Easterwood Sykes
    Jul 05, 2016 @ 00:57:24

    I am researching the Easterwood Family, Lawrence, John, William, David etc who lived in the area and may be the original owners of Easterwood Schoals. Lawrence is my great, great, great great grandfather. He lived in the area in 1785 and before and after.

    Reply

  9. Gigi Tanksley
    Aug 22, 2016 @ 23:13:46

    I am descended from Christopher Coleman. Would it be possible to use a copy of your picture for my web page for him?

    Reply

    • admin
      Nov 06, 2016 @ 04:16:53

      Yes, a credit to grindalshoalsgazette.com would be appreciated.

      Reply

      • Elaine Russell
        Feb 25, 2023 @ 22:43:48

        Hi! I am researching the Turner, Headen and Beaver families for a DAR application. Do you have any sources you can share with me?

        Reply

  10. Donna Gene Jasper Goff
    Mar 22, 2017 @ 04:10:12

    I discovered today that Thomas Jasper who married Sarah Taylor was not a Jasper , but was named Thomas Jesper. His son John Jesper had 4 children, the oldest two are in the church records of in North Farnham Parish, Richmond, Virginia.
    Ann JESPER b: 30 SEP 1755 in North Farnham Parish, Richmond, Virginia
    Thomas JESPER b: 4 NOV 1757 in North Farnham Parish, Richmond, Virginia
    Sally JESPER
    JESPER b: ABT 1756 in , Richmond, Virginia

    This is the John Jesper so many people think is John Andrew Jasper. However, John Jesper’s will was probated 3 September 1764. I have looked a few generations of descendants and they are Jespers and are not related to John Andrew Jasper. John Andrew Jasper’s will was probated 1 Oct 1799.He had 10 children that we know of with Mary Herrington. I believe the elusive son Abraham, who was said to have been a Tory, who was born in Wales, was the son of a mother who may have died before Abraham migrated. As all the traditions say he came with his father, no mention of his mother. I have followed most of the descendants of John Andrew Jasper and there is nothing in common with the descendants of John Jesper. At this point I am positive that John Andrew Jasper is NOT the son of Sarah Taylor and Thomas Jesper.

    Now to find the ancestral home of John Andrew Jasper. Whether he was from Carmarthen Bay, South Wales is an area with a port. He could have traveled from anywhere and left at that port, or been from Carmarthen, which was the most populous area of Wales at the time.

    Reply

  11. Alex Tucker
    Sep 17, 2017 @ 17:16:45

    Thanks for posting the photos of Christie’s Tavern & the history of the Family Of Robert Coleman Sr..

    Robert Coleman Sr., (1710–1782) was my 6th great grandfather.

    Reply

  12. Judy Lennon
    Oct 09, 2017 @ 19:32:52

    Any more Mcwhirter/ Mcwhorter also Widow Eleanor Mcwhirter that came from VA and settled on both sides of the Pacolet river. Do you have any info on her maiden name Brevard? Thanks I enjoy this blog so much.

    Reply

  13. videohub
    Dec 13, 2019 @ 10:34:40

    There is a marvelous resource about the early Grindal Shoals community in South Carolina a blog called Grindal Shoals Gazette, published by Robert A. Ivey.  Visit this site to get a map of the community location and to read a marvelous history of the Gilead Church  and more.

    Reply

  14. Lynne Morrey
    Jan 27, 2022 @ 22:41:27

    I am writing a family history book about my ancestors in Union County during the Revolution. May I have permission to use this picture of Christie Tavern Remains? Was this tavern used as a gathering place during the Revolution?

    Reply

    • admin
      Feb 08, 2022 @ 00:30:26

      You certainly may. Please credit Greg Foster – Grindalshoalsgazette.
      We would also love to see your work when you are ready to share/make it available. Its a fascinating place and time.

      Reply

  15. Jane Waters
    Jan 17, 2023 @ 22:39:31

    Where was the Austell Mill located? I think somewhere on Thicketty Creek. Property was near Nucholls and Smith farms. We have a cornerstone dated 1700s.

    Reply

  16. Rick Meehan
    Jan 31, 2023 @ 21:15:02

    I walked the ruins at Christie’s Tavern in January 2022. To Lynne Morrey – I researched the tavern extensively so I could describe it in my latest Revolutionary War novel, Ford the Pacholet, about Grindal Shoals and Daniel Morgan. In the Appendix, I gave all the information about the tavern I could dig up. You may obtain my book from Barnes and Noble, Hub City Books, Cowpens National Battleground bookstore, Ace Hardware – Eastside in Spartanburg, SC – or from most online booksellers. Thanks much!

    Reply

    • Beach Granny
      Sep 05, 2023 @ 02:54:39

      Picked up the book at Cross Keys Revolutionary War re-enactment Oct. 2022. Was fun and interesting to read about my great great etc. grandfather Christopher Coleman’s tavern as well as all the other history. Also hiked in to the ruins to take my own family photos. Thanks for a good time.

      Reply

  17. Elaine Russell
    Feb 27, 2023 @ 16:44:37

    Hi!
    I need some sources/ references for a Grindal Shoals article that states,” Tamar (Tamer) Headen was born in 1775, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District. She married Henry Turner,son of George Henry Turner and his wife, Ann Anderson Turner, in 1792. Henry was born in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District in 1764.

    Reply

  18. JAMES MICHAEL COLEMAN
    Apr 02, 2023 @ 21:11:14

    The American Odyssey of the Coleman brothers, all from England, began in 1637 with the arrival of Robert Coleman. Robert was named as one of forty headrights of Colonel William Farrar II. This odyssey is described in three volumes, “Robert Coleman of Charles City Shire”.

    While some 1,932 descendants and related family members of Robert Coleman are included in the three volume book, those in the states of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina are particularly highlighted.

    Additional information can be found at: https://robertcolemancharlescity.com

    Reply

  19. Beach Granny
    Dec 20, 2023 @ 12:42:17

    Bought your book at the re-enactment site of the Revolutionary War SE of Union Oct.2022. Really enjoyed reading about my great x 6 grandfather’s tavern. Thanks. A gentleman in a vehicle stopped by the pullout where you said to park to tell us where to find the actual path to the ruins. And to sing loudly since it was hunting season! We enjoyed the search, as well as finding the ruins.

    Reply

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