MARY MUSGROVE AND HER FATHER, EDWARD MUSGROVE’S FAMILY
This is a study in process that must be read, corrected and re-examined especially in years to come. The author offers his special thanks to the individuals who have made an effort to preserve the memory of this family’s earthly pilgrimage.
By ROBERT A. IVEY
Cuthbert and Dorothy ? Musgrove were Edward’s grandparents. Cuthbert, son of William and Dorothy ?, was a mariner in England and a tobacco farmer in Maryland.
Cuthbert’s father was born in 1629, in Brooksdale Close, Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, and died in Broomfield, Somerset, England, in 1664. His mother, Dorothy, was born in 1614, in England, and died there in 1664.
Cuthbert was born in Crooksdale County, Cumberland, England, June 1, 1644. He died in Prince George County, Maryland, in 1687, at age 43.
John I was their oldest child and was born in 1683, in Prince George County, Maryland. He inherited his father’s property. He appeared in 1701, on a Militia List in Stafford County, Virginia. He died in 1746, in Fairfax County, Virginia. At least one source states that his wife was a Parendler, born in 1686.
John had sisters: Anne, Mary and Dorothy Musgrove.
Edward Musgrove and his brother-in-law, Donald Moseley, were executors of John’s estate in 1746.
CHILDREN OF JOHN MUSGROVE I AND WIFE
(1). Edward Musgrove was the oldest child. Edward Musgrove was born circa 1716, in Fairfax County, Virginia. John I willed his father’s property to Edward who sold it.
(2). John Musgrove II, a noted Tory Colonel, lived in Berkley County, South Carolina. It became Ninety Six District in 1769, and Newberry County in 1785.
John Belton O’Neall, in his Annals of Newberry, wrote: “At his place, the Regulators and Scofelites, in 1764, met in battle array; happily however, no actual battle occurred; flags were exchanged, and they agreed to separate, and petition the governor to redress their grievances. This was done, and the result was, that after the great delay of five years the Circuit Court act of 1769 was passed.”
John was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, circa 1718. He brought wild horse stock with him from Virginia, when he moved to South Carolina. He was a horse breeder and trader.
His wife’s name was Araminta (Minty). She was born circa 1730. Several sources state that she was a Gordon. They lived where the Bush River flows into the Saluda River near the Philemon Waters plantation.
He and his wife had three sons and one daughter. Two of his sons, John and William Trapnel, fought as teenagers with the Ninety Six Brigade of Loyalists. Jane was born circa 1768. She married Charles Lester. Philip, born circa 1777, was too young to fight in the war. The name of Philip’s wife is unknown.
John was born circa 1763. He moved to Baker County, Georgia, where he served as a volunteer soldier in the militia in 1791-1792. He was attached to Cpl. Lewis Company in the 1st Regiment and also served under Lt. Col. Darke. He died there circa 1842. The name of his wife is unknown. They had two children: Larkin C. and William W. Musgrove.
William Trapnel was born circa 1765. He married Nancy Tate and first moved to Georgia, then to Tennessee, and finally to Blount County, Alabama, where he died in 1850. They had four sons and three daughters. He was the father of John Tate Musgrove and grandfather of Philip M. Musgrove.
Ann S. Grainger of Huntsville, Alabama, wrote: “In the late 1790’s, William T. Musgrove and family moved to Hancock County, Georgia. He is on the Tax Lists, etc. In 1801, he and his brother-in-law, Nathan Tate, had been sentenced to hang in that county for forgery. They managed to escape the jail, and the Sheriff was advertising a reward for their recapture.
His older brother, John Musgrove III, was in Warren & Jefferson County, Georgia, at the time and his younger brother, Phillip Musgrove, was believed to be in Emanuel County, Georgia. They probably helped in the escape. William T. Musgrove and family fled back to South Carolina, and then to Cocke County, Tennessee, where they stayed for a few years.”
He was one of Walker County, Alabama’s first Court Clerks, and his name is on records issuing liquor licenses, etc.
One of William T. Musgrove’s children was born in Georgia, two in Tennessee and the rest in South Carolina.
Col. Philemon Waters once took John Musgrove’s plantation at the point of a gun.
John Musgrove II was a refugee to Charleston, S. C., and died there in September 1781. The state legislature confiscated his estate in 1782, but in 1783, his legatees appealed, and the decision was overturned. The land was returned to his wife, Minty.
Araminta had remarried a Wilson by 1784, when she was appointed administrator of her husband’s estate. A sale was held June 10, 1784, and she and her sons, John and William, purchased all of the items except one, which was purchased by Thomas Waters.
John Musgrove III sold 150 acres of his father’s land to Philemon Waters, Sr. on the north side of the Saluda River on July 2, 1785. John II had received a grant for this acreage on August 26, 1772. John III was heir at law of John Musgrove II, deceased. Waters paid 100 pounds in South Carolina money for the purchase.
Araminta’s second husband was deceased before the U. S. Census was taken in 1790. She was living in Newberry County beside her son, William and his family, at this time. She died after the census of 1790, at their farm in Newberry County. The land they owned is now under the waters of Lake Greenwood.
O’Neal wrote: “For many years after the revolution, a large number of horses called ‘heretics’ were wild in the Stone Hills and were said to be the issue of his (John’s) stock, turned lose in the range.”
(3). Mary Musgrove was born circa 1720. “She had a liason with a man by the name of Jackson circa 1746, and had a daughter with him called ‘Rachel Jackson’. She married Christopher Columbus Cunningham circa 1750, and was his second wife.”
(4). Ann Musgrove was born circa 1722. She married Donald Moseley circa 1740, and they had two sons and a daughter. Her father left her the plantation on which he lived, a Negro girl named Judy and some cows, horses and sheep in his will.
(5). Margaret Musgrove was born circa 1724. There is no record of her marriage.
(6). William Musgrove was born circa 1726. He married Verlinda, born circa 1728. He died in 1778, in Loudon County, Virginia. One source states that he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The writer has no confirmation of this. They had two sons and one daughter.
(7). Cuthbert Musgrove was born circa 1728. His father left him two plantations: Serido River Plantation and Wilson’s Plantation. Cuthbert had a riding horse, stabled at his father’s farm, and was given possession of the horse “Shaver” in his father’s will. He was also given one half of his father’s stock of horses and cattle. Cuthbert died in Frederick County, Virginia, and had at least one son, Samuel.
REMOVAL TO SOUTH CAROLINE
Edward and his brother, John II, moved to Berkley County circa 1754, in what later became the Ninety Six District of South Carolina, and were among the early settlers in the Backcountry.
Abraham Beeks Jr., son of Abraham and Susannah ? Beeks, and his wife, Sarah ? , traveled with the Musgroves. He was the brother of Edward Musgrove’s wife.
Abraham Pennington petitioned for land on Indian Creek, a branch of the Enoree River in South Carolina, on February 4, 1752, and may have joined the Musgroves on their trip south.
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 6, 1694, and was an Indian Trader on Catoctin Creek near Brunswick, Maryland. He was issued a land patent in Orange County, Virginia, in 1734. He lost his first wife, Katrina, in the early 1740s and was married to Catherine Williams by 1743.
He brought his family to the area of Indian Creek and was living there when he wrote his will in Berkley County, S. C., on July 21, 1755. He mentions sons: Isaac, Jacob, Abraham and John in his will. He also had a daughter, Abigail, and referred to a boy, Thomas Laragent, “which I brought up.” His will was probated on May 29, 1756.
Isaac Pennington, Abraham and Katarina Weister Pennington’s oldest son was executor of his father’s estate. He married Mary Williams on December 8, 1733, in Cecil County, Maryland. She was born circa 1717.
He and his wife, Mary Williams, brought their seven daughters and two sons with them to the Enoree settlement.
Isaac was born in Maryland on May 16, 1715. He was a captain in the militia and died at their Enoree River settlement in 1760. He wrote his will on March 3, 1760, which was proved before John Pearson by virtue of Peter Lewis Dedimus on September 17, 1760. His wife served as executrix of his estate.
Charles King, son of Jacob and Keziah Butler King, and his wife, Charity Pennington, daughter of Isaac and Mary Pennington, traveled with her parents to the Enoree settlement. They were married in Virginia in 1752. He was born circa 1720, in Maryland, and she was born circa 1734.
When her father died, he left her the 350 acres of land on which they resided. They had eight daughters and three sons.
Charles King and Isaac Pennington petitioned for land near the Santee River as new settlers in South Carolina on April 1, 1754. Charles King was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served as a captain under Colonel John Lindsay. He went on an expedition against the Cherokee Indians during 1775.
Charity died circa 1786, in Newberry District, and Charles died there January 21, 1789.
Another family that was among the early Enoree River settlers was the John Cannon family. He was born in 1712, in Kent County, Dover, England. He married Ann Mary Ellison, circa 1730. She was born circa 1714.
He attended the Quaker meetings at Bush River in Newberry District.
They had four daughters and three sons.
Ann Mary died after 1758, and John died October 4, 1762, in South Carolina. In his will he also named, but did not call them daughters: Susannah, who married John Dalrymple, and Elizabeth, who married John McClure.
Samuel Cannon, son of John and Ann Mary Ellison Cannon, married Lydia Pennington, daughter of Isaac and Mary Williams Pennington. He was born in 1735, and she was born circa 1740. They had four daughters and four sons. He died before 1790, for his wife, Lydia, was listed as head of the household in the 1790 census of Newberry District, and she died there between 1793 and 1800.
His son, John Cannon, married Rebecca Musgrove, daughter of Edward and Rebecca Beeks Musgrove, and his sister, Mary Cannon, married Jacob Pennington, son of Abraham and Katrina Weister Pennington.
John H. Logan, in his History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, wrote the following biography of Edward Musgrove:
“He had been bred to the law; was a man of education and fine abilities; was famous for hospitality and benevolence. He was the surveyor and counselor of law to all the surrounding country before the war (Revolutionary War) and in these departments was exceedingly useful.
His personal appearance was remarkable, a little above the ordinary size. He was a little above the medium height, slender, venerably gray even at 30, and possessed a magnificent head. He was in character, of great firmness and decision. As counselor and magistrate, he married a great number of the old settlers. He bore the title of Major.”
Edward built Musgrove’s Fort in the 1750s for protection against the Indians. He was a militia captain during the Cherokee War and served as commander of Fort William Henry Lyttelton on the Enoree.
He was a deputy surveyor and in 1762, became a justice of the peace, his commission being renewed in 1765 and 1767. He was tax inquirer and collector for the north side of Broad River and a commissioner for the Cannon’s Creek-Gordon’s Fort road in 1765.
Robert Stevens wrote:
“In 1768, he was granted land, which became the site of Musgrove’s Mill. William Berry first obtained a warrant for the land and held it until Edward could act on it. The land was surveyed by William Gist, his brother-in-law.
He borrowed the money from his brother, John Musgrove, and Charles King with which to build the mill and constructed it in 1769. He defaulted on the loan, so was sued in Charleston by John and Charles, who won the verdict and a lien was placed on the mill property. He managed to pay the debt and nullify the mortgage.”
Thomas H. Pope wrote:
“His brother, John, was the object of special hatred by some of the Regulators and was roughly handled by them and driven from his home in the winter of 1769. Edward took his brother’s side and was himself then indicted as a ‘very bad person, and encourager and conniver of thieves and robbers.’”
He had Tory leanings during the first part of the Revolutionary War, but did not participate in the conflict. He wrote a letter to William Henry Drayton on October 14, 1775, indicating his neutrality. In 1778-79, he was on the grand jury list for Ninety Six District.
The writer of an article in The Piedmont Headlight, Spartanburg, S. C., December 10, 1897, pages 3 & 6, stated:
“The original Musgrove house did not stand on the hill, but on an incline near the valley.” An unpublished source states that the first Musgrove house was burned by the Tories after Edward and his son, Beeks, joined with the Patriots. The family was forced to find resting places with their friends until Edward could have the house rebuilt.
Lyman C. Draper in his book, King’s Mountain and its Heroes, stated:
“He had passed the period of active life when the Revolutionary war commenced, and was then living with his third wife—too old to take any part in the bloody strife; but with trembling lips, he plead each night for a speedy return of peace and good will among men. He lived to see his prayers answered, dying in 1792, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and was buried in the little graveyard, just behind the site of his house, near the old mill.”
The Battle of Musgrove’s Mill was fought in parts of present day Union and Spartanburg counties. The left and center of the patriot line was in Union County. The battle took place on August 19, 1780, just across the river from Edward Musgrove’s plantation.
Patriots assumed a defensive position on the north side of the Enoree River. Colonel Elijah Clark’s command was on the left, Col. James Williams command was placed in the center and Col. Isaac Shelby’s command was on the right. A flanking party of twenty-four men under the direction of Josiah Culbertson was sent from Shelby’s command.
P. M. Waters wrote:
“The British officers, Col. Cruger and Major Innis, called a council of war in the house of Edward Musgrove, in the presence of his family. Their headquarters was in one of the rooms of the house.”
At his request, Capt. Shadrach Inman, with sixteen mounted marksmen, skirmished with the Loyalists and provoked them to cross the ford.
Waters wrote:
“Williams and Shelby ordered that not a gun should be fired till they were within a few yards, in full exposure to the American riflemen. At this point, just before the American fire was delivered Inman wheeled to take his position in the center between the two wings, when a musket ball through the forehead laid him dead, near the root of a Spanish oak that stood a few paces above the point where the new road now leaves the old mill road.”
The patriots repelled an assault by the Loyalist under Col. Alexander Innes, whose troops forded the river and charged with fixed bayonets. After exchanging several musket volleys Innes’ troops were forced back with heavy losses. Col. Innes was shot from his horse but survived. He was shot in the neck and “left with a stiffness”.
In his Encyclopedia of The American Revolution, Mark M. Boatner III wrote:
“They repulsed an attack in which 63 Loyalists were killed, 90 wounded and 70 captured. Only four rebels were killed and eight wounded.” The Loyalists had 300 more men in the engagement than the Patriots.
Philemon M. Waters, Edward Musgrove’s grandson, later purchased property between the ford and battleground.
In his History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, John H. Logan quotes from Capt. P. M. Waters article on The Battle of Musgrove’s Mill:
“Sixteen Tories are said to have been buried in one pit near the mouth of the creek (Cedar Shoals). Others were buried in a grave-yard just below Musgrove’s house. Several graves are still discernible on the spot where the Tories fell in such numbers at the first fire. The spot is a stone’s throw below George Gordon’s house, on the west-side of the old road.”
Logan wrote:
“Many were buried in the yard of Capt. Philemon Waters (grandson of Edward Musgrove and son of Landon), who lived midway between the Ford and the battleground. The table, on which the dead were laid out, was preserved by the family of Capt. Waters.”
It appears that Edward died in 1790, instead of 1792, Lyman C. Draper’s death date. Edward made his will August 25, 1790, and probably died shortly after this. Ann was listed as head of the household in the 1790 U. S. Census of Laurens District. She received two grants of land in 1791, one for 65 acres and the other for 75 acres.
In his will, he left his son, Edward Beeks, fifty pounds sterling; his son, William, a dwelling and land; his daughter, Rebecca, twenty pounds sterling; his daughter, Mary, twenty pounds sterling; his wife, Ann, his plantation and mill “with the profits during her life to raise and maintain herself and her children”.
He gave Ann his slaves: Tom, Phillis, Judy, Kizey, Matt during her lifetime and “after her decease the slaves are to be divided among her children: William, Margaret, Ann, Hannah, Leah, Rachel, Liney”.
He appointed his wife and Thomas Crosby executors of his estate. Thomas was possibly the nephew of Nancy Ann, his third wife. Benjamin Adair was one of the appraisers of his estate and George Gordon was a witness to the will.
I. HE WAS FIRST MARRIED TO REBECCA BEEKS.
Robert Stevens wrote:
“She was the daughter of Abraham and Susannah ? Beakes of Philadelphia. She was born in July of 1728 and her only sibling, Abraham Beakes, Jr., was born in January of 1732. Their father died the year of his son’s birth.
On May 30, 1734, Susannah Beeks remarried Edward Southwood of Bristol, Pennsylvania. He became the guardian of her two children and moved the family to Frederick County, Virginia. He died in 1749 and Rebecca and her brother petitioned the Orphans Court of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for permission to choose new guardians. They selected William Biles and Thomas Yeardly. Susannah was a widow in 1755, but later married ? Roberts.
Edward Musgrove owned and operated a gristmill at what is now Harper’s Ferry and married Rebecca in the early 1750’s. She was listed as Edward’s wife on a Frederick County, Virginia, deed on July 27, 1754.
In 1754, they moved to South Carolina, accompanied by her brother, Abraham and his wife. Abraham had an infant son, Samuel, and bought 100 acres of land from Margaret Reinger (widow) on the Tyger River in what is now Union County, S. C., on March 9, 1758.
On November 7, 1759, he applied for a grant of 150 acres, but the transaction was never consummated. Here his history ends. Abraham, his wife and sister, Rebecca, simply vanished. I can only guess that they became victims of a Cherokee Indian attack.
Edward took little Samuel and made him a part of his family. He continued to pay the quit rent on the land inherited by Samuel until he reached maturity. The land was originally granted to Margaret Reinger so a memorial had to be paid annually.
Samuel, born circa 1752, in Frederick County, Virginia, died in November of 1816, in Laurens County, S. C. His wife, Sarah Davenport, was born in 1764, and died August 1, 1844. She was buried in the Poplar Springs Baptist Church cemetery, Laurens County, S. C.”
Judy Douglas, in Footprints In Time, states that Samuel Beeks mother was Sary ? (Sarah).
Samuel’s wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Francis Davenport and his wife, Ann Wyley. They had six children: two sons and four daughters. Their son, Abraham Beakes, born 1782, moved to Aberdeen, Monroe County, Mississippi. They also had a son, Francis Marion Beeks (1786-1861), who married Mary Neal (1787-1861). He died in Laurens County, S. C.
Samuel Beeks served as a Patriot soldier in Col. Andrew Pickens Brigade during the American Revolutionary War.
EDWARD AND REBECCA BEEKS MUSGROVE’S CHILDREN
1. Abraham Musgrove. He was probably a child of Edward and Rebecca and was born circa 1753, in Virginia. He signed a legal document with Edward and Hannah Musgrove on August 17, 1767. No further records exist on him.
2. Edward Beeks Musgrove.
Robert Stevens wrote:
“He was born circa 1755. In early adulthood he frequently lived with his Uncle John Musgrove. Before and during the Revolutionary War he spent a great deal of time there. He apparently was closer to him than his own father. This accounts for Beeks involvement with the Tories or Loyalists for John was a British sympathizer and held the rank of Colonel in their army.”
Inspired by the Cunninghams and Col. Ferguson, Beeks first joined with the Loyalists.
John H. Logan, in his History of The Upper Country of South Carolina, wrote:
“Mrs. Sims (Sybella, wife of Capt. Charles) continued to reproach and remonstrate with Lee for his villainy, in order to detain them as long as possible from the attack on her friends higher up the creek. While this was going on, B. Musgrove, one of Lee’s men, went up to the bed on which Mrs. McDaniel’s (Nancy, daughter of Capt. Charles) children were sleeping and took from it one of the two blankets that covered them. It was an exceedingly cold evening and raining.
As Musgrove went out of the door with the blanket, Mrs. McDaniel said to him: ‘Beeks Musgrove, you will answer for that at the day of judgment.’ ‘By D—d, Madame,’ he replied, ‘if I am to have that long credit, I’ll take the other.’ And returning to the bed took that also.”
Paddy Carr, an Indian trader on the frontier, was a member of Col. Elijah Clark’s Regiment and was very much incensed that Beeks Musgrove had joined with the Tories and swore that he would kill him on sight.
John H. Logan, in his History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, wrote:
“Paddy Carr, once hunting for Beeks, caught him in his father’s house at the mill. He had come in to change his clothing, and get some refreshment; Mary was preparing him a meal; he had leaned his sword against the door lintel. Paddy came suddenly upon him, and took him before he could think of escape.
Paddy said: ‘Are you Beeks Musgrove?’ ‘I am, sir.’ ‘You are the man, sir, I have long sought.’ Mary seeing the drawn sword of her brother in Carr’s hand, said: ‘Are you Paddy Carr?’ ‘I am Mary Musgrove, Mr. Carr; and you must not kill my brother,’ at the time throwing herself between them.
An interview now took place between Carr and Musgrove. Carr was struck with his manly beauty, and said: ‘Musgrove, you look like a man that would fight.’ ‘Yes, said Musgrove, ‘there are circumstances under which I would fight.’ ‘If I had come upon you alone,’ said Carr, ‘in possession of your arms, would you have fought me?’ ‘Yes, sword in hand.’
Carr was so taken with Musgrove that he proposed to him to become a member of his scout and go with him on the spot, and swear never to bear arms against the American cause.
His men had been stationed in the cedars some distance from the house, and had by this time come up to the scene.
Mary seeing her brother disposed to accede to Carr’s proposition, her fears for his safety being still awake, challenged Carr for his motives. ‘Mr. Carr,’ she said, ‘you do not design to persuade my brother to leave me, and then, when the presence of his sisters is no longer a restraint, butcher him in cold blood; pledge me, sir, that such is not your design.’ ‘I’ll swear it,’ said Carr.
Musgrove joined his party, continued some time with them still gaining upon the confidence of Carr, and never afterwards bore arms against his country.”
In his book, Roster of South Carolina Patriots, Bobby G. Moss stated:
“Edward B. Musgrove served as a horseman in the militia.”
He was listed in the Index Book of Revolutionary Claims in South Carolina between August 20, 1783, and August 31, 1786.
The 1790 U. S. Census for Laurens County, South Carolina, listed him with a wife, two sons and two daughters. He married Sarah Waters, daughter of Bordroyne Waters and his first wife (name unknown) circa 1782. She was born circa 1765.
He purchased property in Laurens County, South Carolina, from Robert Ellison of Fairfield on February 29, 1792. Their living children were: Elizabeth, John C., Loveberry, Monsieur and Edward W. Musgrove. He had a disagreement with his father and moved into the Duncan Creek area of Laurens County, S. C.
He was one of Capt. Bill Lee’s men and was involved in the killing of a patriot while serving with the Loyalists during the Revolutionary War. They killed Colonel Joseph Hughes’ father, Thomas, in 1779.
John H. Logan wrote:
“He was murdered by the Tories while in search of his hogs. His body was pierced by seven wounds. He lived on the road from Unionville to Chesterville at McCool’s Ferry on Broad River. Joseph (Hughes) after looking at the mangled corpse of his father, raised his gun, and swore he would kill every Tory he met.”
Robert Stevens wrote:
“After the war Hughes tracked down and killed about seven of Lee’s men.”
Beeks Musgrove was murdered by Col. Hughes, possibly in early 1800. He was deceased when the 1800 U. S. Census was taken for his wife, Sarah, was listed as head of the household. She had twin sons born in 1800.
John H. Logan wrote:
“Some time after the war, a case was pending in Chester Court in which it became necessary to ascertain whether a certain notorious marauding Tory by the name of M——e (Beeks Musgrove) was dead or alive; and if dead, at what time did he die.
It being supposed that Hughes (Col. Joseph) knew something of him, he was examined on commission, when he fearlessly acknowledged that he had shot the said M——e since the war as one of the miscreants against whom he had sworn eternal vengeance. He later in life removed with his family and son-in-law, Jack Mabry, to the western edge of Alabama.”
Beeks Musgrove’s widow, Sarah, moved from the Duncan’s Creek settlement to Cross Anchor, S. C. She lived with her daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Mordecai Chandler, after her husband’s death. About 1816, she moved with the Chandler’s from Spartanburg County to Union County and died at their residence on Cook’s Bridge Road.
She wrote her will on September 21, 1839, and it was recorded September 4, 1841, in Union County. She left her son, Loveberry, “one feather bed and furniture and the rest to be divided between all my children with the exception of John C. Musgrove for he has had more of my estate than his part.” She named her son, Loveberry, as executor.
Revis Leonard wrote:
“Edward W. was made administrator of his mother’s will after Loveberry refused to serve. He then disposed of all the property, took the proceeds and left South Carolina.”
Sarah was buried in the New Hope Baptist Church cemetery in Cross Anchor, S. C.
(1). Elizabeth, her daughter, was born circa 1783, and married Mordecai Chandler, son of Robert and Sarah Chandler. He was born May 1, 1762, in Culpepper, Virginia.
While residing in Newberry District, he served under Capt. James Liles and Col. John Liles. He was taken prisoner and sent to Ninety Six and thereafter put on a prison ship.
Next, he joined Capt. James Williams. He was in the battles of Cedar Springs, Musgrove’s Mill and Stono.
At one time, he served under Capt. Benjamin Roebuck and Cols. John Thomas, Philemon Waters and Thomas Brandon.
Robert Stevens wrote:
“Mordecai was a close personal friend of the Reverend Spencer Bobo. They were members of the Padgett’s Creek Baptist Church. In 1784, Spencer sold Chandler 84 acres on Cedar Shoals Creek so they could live side-by-side. He helped the Reverend Bobo establish the New Hope Baptist Church at Cross Anchor in 1804.
After the death of the Rev. Spencer Bobo in 1816, Mordecai moved to the 112 acres of land on Cook’s Bridge Road in Union County, willed to him by his father, and there helped to establish the Hebron Baptist Church.”
Mordecai married the granddaughter of Edward Musgrove, and Spencer and Judith Foster Bobo’s son, Absalom, married the daughter of Edward.
Mordecai and Elizabeth had two sons and three daughters. He died May 23, 1846, and she died May 11, 1852. They were buried in the New Hope Baptist Church cemetery, Cross Anchor, S. C.
(2). John H. Logan wrote: “He had a son, a Baptist preacher, who displayed much of the eccentricity and acuteness of Lorenzo Dow.”
Mary Ann Strickland Granger of Huntsville, Alabama, has researched and written much about the Reverend Edward William Musgrove and recorded it on the Internet. The author is indebted to her for her contributions to this article.
He was born circa 1785, in Laurens County, South Carolina. “His military service included fighting with Andrew Jackson on the Coosa River in Alabama. He later served as a substitute for someone else.”
“He married at least four times if not more. It appears he abandoned all of them and was likely a bigamist.
He first married Nancy Stout on June 12, 1819, in Roane County, Tennessee. She is the only wife he ever acknowledged both in his application for a land grant and in a request for a War of 1812 pension, when he stated that his military papers were lost in a house fire.
He married Nancy Daniels on February 12, 1825, in Roane County, Tennessee. He apparently had several children by her.
He attended a small academy in Tennessee for a semester between marriages to the Nancys.”
He returned to South Carolina, in 1841, when his mother, Sarah, died, served as administrator of her estate, sold her land and left with the proceeds.”
He moved to Anderson County, S. C., and attended the Big Creek Baptist Church. Brian Scott of Greenville, S. C., has written a sketch of the church in which he states:
“In September 1842, one Edward W. Musgrove, a hard-shell Baptist preacher, came into the neighborhood and was frequently invited to occupy the pulpit (Big Creek Baptist Church).
In August 1843, he was received by letter into the church. He had already succeeded in sowing the seeds of discord, which were so soon to yield an abundant harvest of bitter fruit. At the next meeting, after being admitted to membership, he objected to a missionary deacon serving the church (Miles Ellison).
The storm, which had been gathering force, now burst upon the church in all its fury. The meeting broke up in confusion. This was in September (1843). There was no meeting held after this until January 1844, when confusion and disorder still prevailed.
The crash came, and the church was torn into fragments. The Musgrove party withdrew and shortly afterward held a meeting and called Elder Nathaniel Gaines to preach for them. This party took the name Big Creek Primitive Church.”
He was next married to Nancy Johnson, daughter of Reuben Johnson and Nancy Carolina Greenless Johnson, on September 3, 1844, by John Harper, Esquire in Anderson County, S. C. She was born in Pendleton District.
The Reverend E. W. Musgrove performed the marriage ceremony for Baylis Kelly and Jane, daughter of Mrs. Sarah Wilson, on the same date of his marriage.
He and his wife moved from Anderson County, S. C., to Gwinnett County, Georgia, ‘where he received a land grant for his War of 1812 service, but lost the land, which was sold by the Sheriff circa 1854, to cover a debt.’
After this, he left Nancy Johnson in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and she was remarried to Major Warbinger.
He reappeared in Giles County, Tennessee, in 1870, although his age was shown as much younger. He married fourthly, Sarah Kelly, on April 15, 1870, in the above county.
Shortly afterwards, he appeared in Winston County, Alabama, where he applied for a War of 1812 pension, without Sarah, repeating much of the information he provided when he applied for a land grant from Gwinnett County, Georgia. He stated that his wife was Nancy Stout (his first marriage) and did not indicate that she was deceased or provide any mention of his other wives.
He moved to Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama, and from there to Madison County, Alabama, near the Tennessee line where his last address was in care of a store in Tennessee just across the State Line.
He wrote an irate letter to the President of the United States because the New Orleans office, who paid the pension, was slow in getting his address changed.”
In his booklet, A Brief Sketch of the Musgrove Brothers and Their Descendants, Philip M. Musgrove wrote:
“He was married in his early years to a young lady named Stout but there were no children that our branch of the family have ever heard of. I had the honor of entertaining him at my home soon after the Civil War. He was then eighty years old, was a classically educated man, spoke a number of languages, and prided himself on his thorough knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages.
He was a member of the Anti-Missionary Baptist order, and while at my home in Blountsville, Alabama, he delivered several sermons. So excellent and profound was his knowledge that it was a delight to listen to his discourses.
Ten years later, I read in a newspaper the notice of the death of a very aged preacher in West Tennessee by the name of Musgrove, but no particulars were given and I was never able to trace for certainty that he was the Edward Musgrove, whom I had once entertained. One of his idiosyncrasies was to travel on foot and preach.”
*This Philip M. Musgrove was a son of John Tate and Penelope McCarty Musgrove and a great grandson of John and Araminta Musgrove. He was a farmer, a teacher, a Southern Baptist preacher and missionary, a physician, a druggist, a lawyer and a Captain of Co. C, 12th Battalion in the Alabama Calvary during the War Between the States. He married Louisa White.
(3). John C. Musgrove was born in 1787, and married circa 1830. His wife was deceased before 1840, and her name is unknown. He had moved to another state before his mother died and was listed in the 1850 Census of Dekalb County, Alabama, with children David, Rebecca and Beeks.
(4). Loveberry Musgrove was born circa 1800. He never married and was living with his sister, Elizabeth Chandler, in 1850, according to the Census of Union County, S. C.
Robert Stevens wrote:
“They lived near Hebron Baptist Church until she died in 1752. He then lived with his niece, Margaret Ann Frances Chandler James (Mrs. William Walton) in the town of Union, S. C. He was a carpenter and was associated with W. W. James. They built some of the finer houses in the city of Union. His partner, William Walton James, died in 1864, in Madison, Florida, in the CSA (Orderly Sgt., Co. A, 18th SCV).
William W. James (1821-1864) was born in Wilkes County, N. C., a son of Joseph Warren and Hylie James. He married Margaret Chandler in 1845.”
Loveberry was buried in the James plot in the Presbyterian cemetery, and his grave marker states that he was a member of 1st SC Inf., Co. E, CSA.
Robert Stevens wrote:
“He served as a Confederate soldier but was sent home for being too old. He joined another company but was again discharged because of his age. He died in 1864, at the home of his niece, Margaret Chandler James.”
(5). Monsieur Nowell Musgrove was born circa 1800. He married Nancy Cooksey, daughter of William Cooksey, in 1824. She was born in 1806. Her father, William, was a miller at the Gordon Mills. Her father was born circa 1788, and died after 1850. Name of her mother is not known.
He and his wife lived on the old Thomas Waters tract on Elisha Creek, waters of the Enoree River. He sold a tract of land “containing 37 and 1/5 acres on the waters of Elisha Creek, where I now live” to Philemon W. Head (Spartanburg District) in January 1832. His plantation was in the corner of Union, Spartanburg and Laurens counties.
Robert Stevens wrote:
“He was named for his father’s Frenchman friend, Noel, who lived close to John Musgrove.”
They were listed in the 1850 Census of Union County, South Carolina, and in the 1860 Census of Neshoba County, Mississippi. They had three sons and seven daughters. She died in Neshoba County, Mississippi, in September of 1870, and he died there in 1880.
3. Rebecca Musgrove. She was born circa 1757, and married John Cannon, son of Samuel Cannon and Lydia Pennington Cannon. He was born in 1755. They sold 100 acres of land on the north side of Enoree River to Thomas Springfield of Laurens County on February 6, 1792.
This included the dwelling where they were living. Rebecca and her husband, John, received this property from her father, Edward. They sold 50 acres of land on the north side of Enoree River to Benjamin Couch of Spartanburg County on November 8, 1798. It was part of a tract that Cannon purchased from Adam Garman. The land was bounded by Edward Lynch’s spring branch.
They had three sons and two daughters. He died July 7, 1828, in Newberry District. Date of Rebecca’s death is unknown to this writer.
She was still living in the early 1800s.
II. EDWARD MUSGROVE’S SECOND WIFE, HANNAH FINCHER, AND THEIR CHILDREN.
They were married circa 1761. She was a daughter of Francis and Hannah Shewin Fincher, and a granddaughter of John and Martha Taylor Fincher and William Shewin of Chester County, Pennsylvania. The Fincher’s came to this country from England.
Her father and mother were married at London Grove Friends Meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania on May 31, 1731. Francis, her father, sold 150 acres on Armel’s Branch of Tyger River to his son, John, on October 4, 1784. His granddaughter, Mary Musgrove, witnessed the transaction. He sold 100 acres to his son, John, on Fincher’s Branch on the same date, and Mary was also a witness to this sale.
On March 24, 1786, Aaron Fincher and his wife, Mary Parker, sold 100 acres on a small branch of Fairforest to Moses Collins, and Mary Musgrove, niece of Aaron, was a witness.
Hannah Fincher Musgrove’s sister, Sarah Frances, married William Gist on February 28, 1774. He was a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War.
Francis Fincher was still living in Union County, S. C. in 1786, and called “an old man” by Margaret Cook, a Quaker Minister, in her journal.
EDWARD MUSGROVE AND HIS WIFE, HANNAH, WERE PARENTS OF MARY AND SUSAN.
Edward was Deputy Surveyor of Berkley County, when he purchased 100 acres on Rocky Creek, branch of Broad River, in Craven County from Jacob Cannamore on December 22, 1761. Francis Fincher and his wife, Hannah, witnessed the transaction.
He and his wife, Hannah, of Berkley County, sold 200 acres of land at Fish Dam Farm on Sandy River to Thomas Fletchall of Craven County for 100 pounds currency. This transaction took place on February 13, 1764.
In the book, Petitions For Land From The South Carolina Council Journals, edited by Brent H. Holcomb, the minutes of the Council state:
“The clerk read the petition of Edward Musgrove in behalf of Francis Fincher setting forth that the said Francis Fincher was disabled from traveling by a fall from his horse and praying for a Warrant for 150 acres of Land on the Fork of Broad and Saludy Rivers.” This meeting took place Tuesday, March 5, 1765.
4. Mary Musgrove. She was born circa 1763, and named for her father’s sister. She has been immortalized by the pen of John Pendleton Kennedy in his book, Horseshoe Robinson. “Mary Musgrove’s name is high on the list of the immortal names of women of South Carolina, whose fame was won by daring and devotion to the cause of American Independence.”
“Like many brave girls of ’76 and with all the tenderness of a woman she ministered to the sick, the wounded and fed the hungry, and like the beautiful young heroine of France, Joan of Arc, knew no fear in her heart. The ‘miller’s pretty daughter’ as she was often called did many brave and noble things and would always say she was for ‘General Washington and the Congress’.
Logan wrote: “Mary Musgrove was not only a woman of rare beauty, but of extraordinary mind and energy.”
John Kennedy wrote that while Mary was visiting with her father’s sister-in-law, Peggy Crosby Adair, in what is now Cherokee County, she warned Horseshoe Robinson and Major Butler not to go by Dogwood Springs (owned by Vardey McBee, Sr. at the time and now known as Limestone Springs) because of impending danger from the Tories.
Mary referred to Peggy (may not have been her real first name) as her aunt. She was her father’s third wife’s sister. According to Kennedy, Horseshoe and Major Butler were captured at Grindal’s Ford.
Traditional accounts state that after Horseshoe escaped from Christie’s Tavern, Mary hid him in the cavern to the left of the falls of Cedar Shoals Creek, feeding him and furnishing him with information concerning the activities of the Tories. She may not have hidden him in the cavern, but undoubtedly did hid him for his protection from the Tories.
The book, Horseshoe Robinson, states that Mary was engaged to John Ramsay, who lost his life at the hands of the British for the part he played in the successful escape of Major Arthur Butler.
When Kennedy lacked information about the name of a character in his book, he gave them a name. He referred to Edward Musgrove as Allen Musgrove and to James (Horseshoe) Robertson as Galbraith Roberson.
In The Laurens County Sketchbook, Edna Riddle Foy wrote:
“Mary Musgrove made possible the escape of two Whigs who were imprisoned in her home, which was used at intervals as headquarters for the British maneuvers.
At a time when the prisoners’ captors were having their evening meal, the two men were helped through a window above the first floor roof from which they hoisted themselves into the branches of a huge oak tree. One man was slightly injured in a fall to the ground, but the two managed to join a rescue party on the other side of Enoree River, which had signaled by flares the hour for the escape.”
“Mention is made of war casualties being carried to the Musgrove house during and after the Battle of Musgrove’s Mill in August 1780. A Doctor Ross (George) was in attendance and Mary Musgrove helped to nurse the sick and wounded men from both sides.”
John H. Logan in A History Of The Upper Country Of South Carolina, wrote:
“Among the American wounded left at Musgrove’s was one named Miller—shoe through the body, and believed to be mortal, and had to draw a silk handkerchief through his body to cleanse the wound; his parents were from the lower part of Laurens, and got a physician, old Dr. (George) Ross, to attend to him, though it is believed the British surgeons were quite attentive. He recovered.”
After the war, Mary married George Berry circa 1788. George was the son of William and Usley Berry. One source states that his father, William, sold the mill site to Edward Musgrove.
GEORGE AND MARY HAD CHILDREN: a. Rebecca; b. Lurana Phillips; c. Elizabeth; d. William; e. Mary Musgrove; and f. Robert Goodloe Harper Berry. Mary died circa 1803, following the birth of Robert.
After Mary’s death, George married Edith Ligon, daughter of Robert and Edith Watkins Ligon. George and Edith had one child, Edith, who was listed as deceased by 1806, the year that her father died. John Hutchinson, husband of George and Mary’s daughter, REBECCA, was administrator of George Berry’s estate.
The Laurens County Guardian Returns indicate that Edith Berry was appointed guardian for Polly M. and Robert G. H. Berry and filed a return on April 25, 1812. She filed her final return on June 5, 1815.
Edith married Andrew Wray after George’s death. They moved to the Cherokee Springs area of South Carolina, and took Mary’s two youngest children with them.
They lived near James and Margaret Headen Turner. James father, George, had moved his family from the Thicketty Creek area of present day Cherokee County to Pacolet River near Coulter’s Ford in Spartanburg County circa 1788, about the year that James married Margaret Headen. James was the brother-in-law of James (Horseshoe) Robertson.
These families attended the Buck Creek Baptist church, where James served as deacon.
MARY MUSGROVE BERRY, daughter of George and Mary Musgrove Berry, married Henry Hines, son of William and Sarah Whitney Hines, and her brother, ROBERT, married Nancy Hines, her husband’s sister.
In the 1850 Census of Spartanburg County, Robert and his wife, Nancy, had three sons and five daughters living with them. They were listed in the 1860 Census of Spartanburg County with three of their daughters. Two of their daughters were named MARY and EDITH.
Henry Hines was born in 1790, and died April 6, 1861, and Mary Musgrove Berry Hines was born in 1801, and died September 27, 1861. Mary and her husband, Henry, had five boys and two girls. They were buried in the Turner-Hines family cemetery about four miles from Cherokee Springs.
Their daughter, Edith, married James Turner, Jr., son of James and Margaret Headen Turner. James Turner Jr. was born March 11, 1811, and died September 7, 1858. Edith was born in 1814, and died June 2, 1888. They were married September 7, 1828, when he was seventeen and she was fourteen.
They had ten girls and four boys. James and Edith were also buried in the Turner-Hines cemetery, but Edith’s grave was not marked.
Edith was the granddaughter of George and Mary Musgrove Berry and James Turner Jr. was the nephew of James (Horseshoe) Robertson.
George and Mary Musgrove Berry’s daughter, Rebecca, married John Hutcheson and their daughter, Lurana Phillips Berry married John Brown.
5. Susan Musgrove. She was born circa 1765. John H. Logan has Mary confused with her sister, Susan. It was Susan who died early and not Mary.
Logan wrote:
“The following incident occurred at her death: She requested that Mary Farrow, Mary Puckett, Sarah Musgrove, and a Miss George, should be her pall-bearers. The body being very light, they bore it to the grave on silk handkerchiefs.
Just as they were lowering it into the grave, a kind-hearted old lady present, but who was the wife of a Tory, came forward to assist, when a member of the family interposed and prevented it.”
Both Mary and Susan were devoted Whigs in principle. Susan died circa 1784 of consumption.
Hannah Fincher Musgrove was still living on August 17, 1767, when she witnessed a transaction to sell land in Virginia. Her husband, Edward, and Abraham Musgrove, possible son of Edward by his first wife, also signed the document.
III. ACCORDING TO JOHN H. LOGAN, EDWARD MUSGROVE’S THIRD WIFE WAS NANCY ANN CROSBY.
Logan wrote:
“His third wife was alive when the battle of the mills was fought—her name was Nancy Crosby, from near the Fish Dam Ford of Broad River. She survived till 1824, to a very advanced age—the grandmother of Capt. P. M. Waters and Dr. E. M. Bobo.” Edward’s third marriage took place circa 1768.
In the book, Horseshoe Robinson, Horseshoe refers to Peggy Crosby Adair and to her mother as Mrs. Crosby. Mrs. Crosby was supposed to be about 80 years of age. Her name has not been recorded. Edward Musgrove had owned a farm near the Crosbys, which he called Fish Dam Farm, and he was well acquainted with this family. He sold the farm after he married Hannah Fincher.
Nancy Ann, Peggy (may not have been her real first name), Dennis and William Crosby were possible brothers and sisters. They grew up in the Fish Dam Ford area.
They were possible children of William Crosby and his wife, ? ? Crosby. Their mother is listed in the databases as having been born in 1700. That is the year that the book, Horse Shoe Robinson, gives for “old Mrs. Crosby’s birth date”.
Mrs. Crosoby and her husband, William, were married circa 1722/1723. William was born in 1696, in Berkley County, S. C. Thomas is listed as the father of William.
Dennis Crosby, possible brother of Nancy Ann, was born December 11, 1724. He married Hannah Revels in 1748. She was born in 1728. They had four sons and two daughters.
He was granted 300 acres of land on Thicketty Creek on August 18, 1763, in what later became Ninety Six District. Dennis died October 11, 1771. Hannah furnished supplies for the Continental and Militia use during the American Revolutionary War. She died August 12, 1785.
Richard Crosby, son of Dennis and Hannah Revels Crosby, was born in 1749. He married Rhoda Davis. She was born in 1756. They had four sons and four daughters. He furnished materials for the use of the militia in 1780, 1781, 1782, and 1783. He died in 1798.
Thomas Crosby, son of Dennis and Hannah Revels Crosby, was born in 1751, in what was then called Berkley County, S. C. He married Margaret Davis in 1770. She was born on December 17, 1751.
He was a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary War and served under General Andrew Pickens, after the fall of Charleston, S. C. They had six sons and two daughters. He died March 7, 1791, and his wife died February 18, 1825.
William Crosby was the son of Dennis and Hannah Revels and was born in 1755. He married Mary Polly Davis in 1778, in Camden District. She was born in 1758. He served in the militia as a sergeant on horseback and on foot from 1779 to 1783.
The skirmish at Fish Dam was fought in Camden District (later Chester County) in the flat on Broad River, between the ford and the ferry according to John H. Logan. The battle took place on the plantation of William and Polly Crosby. Mrs. Crosby reported as many as twenty (British) killed and many others wounded. She nursed some of the wounded and buried two of the dead British soldiers on the hill near her house.
William and Polly had two sons and three daughters. He died in 1797, and she died on February 27, 1824. Just before her death she sold 70 acres to Joseph Crosby that included the house where she lived.
The three Davis girls who married Crosby brothers were probably sisters.
William Crosby, possible brother of Dennis, married Susannah Benton. A grant of 600 acres on Silver Springs made circa October 2, 1767, was probably his land.
He was a patriot soldier during the Revolutionary War and served as a Continental soldier under Capt. Robert Maysfield and Col. John Thomas. He served from February 1779 to July 1783 under Capt. William Baskin and General Andrew Pickens.
Edward Musgrove listed Thomas Crosby, son of Dennis, as one of the executors of his will. Thomas died in 1791, and was unable to fulfill his responsibilities as administrator of Edward’s estate.
Before the ending of the Revolutionary War, Edward gave up his position of neutrality and become a supporter in the fight for independence. He was possibly influenced by his third wife, Nancy Ann, for she came from a very patriotic family.
Traditional accounts state that Edward’s house was burned after the family switched their allegiance.
CHILDREN OF EDWARD AND ANN CROSBY MUSGROVE WERE: WILLIAM, MARGARET, LEAH, ANN, RACHEL, LINEY AND HANNAH.
He and his wife, Ann, sold 100 acres of land in Union County, S. C., to Robert Crenshaw of Union County, S. C., on February 17, 1787, for 50 pounds sterling. This land had been granted to Edward on August 13, 1766.
6. Margaret Musgrove. According to Logan, Margaret was 12 years old when the Battle of Musgrove’s Mill was fought. This means that she was born circa 1768 or 1769.
P. M. Waters wrote about his mother’s perceptions of the battle:
“Margaret said that it was the grandest sight she ever saw as they came at full speed down the steep hill along which the old road ran to the east of the present house occupied by Dr. Bobo—their uniforms and rake ? blades flashing in the sun just risen in full splendor above the lofty hill under which her father’s house stood.
They dashed up and the commanding officer (Loyalist) asked what had happened. The account of the battle was given him in a few words, on which rising in his stirrups and uttering several deep and loud imprecations, he commanded his men to cross the river.
They dashed at full speed into the water, which Margaret told afterwards played in rainbows around their horses. The enemy, however, were far out of their reach, and they were left nothing but the melancholy duty of burying the dead, and conveying the wounded to the hospital at Musgrove’s.”
She married Landon Waters in 1792. He was the son of Bordroyne and his wife, Elizabeth. He was the grandson of Philemon and Sarah Bordroyne Waters. Landon was born in 1764.
The Waters came to South Carolina from Prince William County, Virginia.
Robert Stevens wrote:
“The Waters who came to South Carolina were: Col. Philemon Waters (m. Mary Berry), Capt. Bordroyne Waters, Rosannah Waters Farrow (m. John), Sarah Waters Head (m. John) and Col. Thomas Waters, the notorious Tory active in South Carolina and Georgia.”
Bordroyne was the brother of Col. Philemon Waters and served as captain under him.
P. M. Waters (son of Landon) wrote:
“Bordroyne Waters had occasion to go down to Dutch Ford on business, after times became troublesome; and on his return found to his surprise one of his neighbors, together with the grocery keeper and two others—who were in favor of the King.
This neighbor, under the influence of liquor, insisted on B. Waters subscribing an oath of allegiance to the King, which he refused to do, upon which they came to words. Waters in the act of starting for home walked out of the grocery, when this neighbor seized a loaded rifle, which stood in the corner of the grocery, and pursued Waters, and presenting the gun, saying: ‘I will kill you unless you subscribe to the oath.’
Waters then commenced parleying with him, and by stratagem snatched the gun from him, and turned it upon him. When the fellow seized a stick and turned upon Waters, who gave back and bid him stand off or he would kill him, and finally shot him and he died immediately.
Consulting with his brother, Col. Phil Waters, B. Waters, surrendered himself to the civil authorities, and was put in Ninety Six jail. Not long after, Col. P. Waters and friends liberated him by cutting down the door in a dark night, upon which B. Waters left immediately and took refuge in the North, and there joined the American army, and returning South with Green, fought at Eutau Springs.”
Robert Stevens wrote:
“The man that Capt. Bordroyne Waters killed was Benjamin Morrow. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to be hung at Charleston. Proof of this is in Union County Deed Book SS, pages 318-319. It contains the record of a pardon granted to Capt. Waters by South Carolina Governor John Rutledge on December 15, 1779.”
Bordroyne was killed by Ned Turner, a Loyalist associated with Bloody Bill Cunningham, on September 15, 1782. He was trying to rescue his son, Landon, and John Clark, captives of Turner. John Clark was a brother of Col. Elijah Clark.
After killing him, Turner released Landon to bury his father. He buried him near the place where he was killed and four years later moved him to the Bush River Baptist Church cemetery. His grave was not marked.
Bordroyne’s brother, Thomas, was a Colonel and fought with the Loyalists. Thomas and his wife, Mary, traveled from South Carolina to Georgia with Elijah Clark in 1773.
Bordroyne’s sister, Rosanna, was the twin sister of Philemon and married John Thomas Farrow. They had at least four sons who fought with the patriots during the Revolutionary War. In 1776, John was stricken with smallpox after a business trip to Virginia, and died in North Carolina.
During the war, Rosanna heard news of the capture of three of her sons and that they were scheduled to be executed. Col. Cruger offered to trade them for six British soldiers so she went to Col. James Williams’ camp and carried six of his prisoners to Ninety Six and exchanged them for her sons. Her parting words to Col. Cruger were: “I have given you two for one, but understand that I consider it the best trade I have ever made for rest assured that hereafter the Farrow boys will whip you four to one.”
Her son Samuel served as a captain under Col. James Williams at the Battle of Musgrove’s Mill and was wounded in the face by a saber.
Landon served in the Patriot militia under Capt. Philemon Waters (later Col. Waters) from June 5 through September 15, 1781.
He died in 1822, and his wife died in 1824. They were parents of five sons and two daughters. Landon M. Waters and Philemon M. Waters were their sons. Landon M. owned property on the Tyger River adjacent to land once owned by Golden Tinsley and William Blackstock.
7. Ann Musgrove. She was born May 25, 1773, and married Absalom Bobo August 1, 1790. He was the son of Simpson and Judith Foster Bobo and was born in Virginia, March 13, 1765. He was drafted during February or March 1781, while residing in Ninety Six District and served in the Revolutionary War under Col. Benjamin Roebuck and Capt. George Roebuck. He guarded prisoners at the Orangeburg jail.
Ann and Absalom Bobo had the following children: Edward Musgrove Bobo; Jane Bobo; Levinia Bobo; and Sampson Bobo. Ann died circa 1807, after the birth of her son Sampson. They were living in Cross Anchor, S. C., at this time. Most of their children grew up on Two Mile Creek, near Woodruff, S. C.
Edward Musgrove Bobo was born on December 22, 1792, and married Elizabeth Murphy in 1816. She was born on November 21, 1796. He died October 15, 1858, and her death occurred on May 17, 1862. They were buried in the Presbyterian cemetery in Union, S. C.
He was a physician, and he and his wife had two boys and two girls. William Musgrove, his mother’s brother, in 1848, left him 443 acres of land in his will, which included the Musgrove house and mills. In the August freshet of 1852, he lost the grist and saw mills.
His daughter, Susan Jane, married the wealthy Richard Austin Springs of Springsteen Plantation in York County. Edward Musgrove Bobo owned a great deal of real estate in Union County.
In 1859, Lewis Lawrence purchased 500 acres from his estate, which included the Musgrove house and mills tract.
Jane Bobo was born December 8, 1798, and married Alfred Dean, son of Joel and Mary Brockman Dean, in 1842. Joel Dean was a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary War and fought in North Carolina under General Griffith Rutherford in his Rowan County Brigade.
Alfred was born September 19, 1798. They had four boys and three girls. He died May 7, 1877, and she died October 8, 1884. They were members of the Abner Creek Baptist Church. She moved her membership from the Bethel Baptist Church in Woodruff, S. C., to Abner Creek. Their sons, Alvin and Dean, were both Confederate soldiers and attained the rank of captain in the War Between the States.
Levinia Bobo was born in 1804, and married Amos P. Woodruff, son of Samuel H. and Nancy Pilgrim Woodruff, circa 1824. He was born in 1801. They had seven boys and five girls. He died circa 1882, and she died in 1889. They were living in Lamar County, Texas, when they died.
Sampson Bobo was born in 1807, and married Rebecca Woodruff, daughter of Samuel and Nancy Pilgrim Woodruff, in 1825. She was born September 10, 1806, and died January 19, 1846. They had four girls and two boys. Their son, Biram, died December 21, 1845, in the second year of his age.
Biram and his mother are buried in Bethel Baptist Cemetery, Woodruff, S. C. After Rebecca’s death, Sampson married Elizabeth Pearson on September 14, 1848. She was born August 2, 1814. They moved to Panola County, Mississippi, where he died on December 2, 1884, and she died there on September 3, 1899.
Absalom Bobo’s second wife was Mary (Polly) Bobo, his first cousin. She was the daughter of Sampson and Sarah
Simpson Bobo and was born May 25, 1773. They married circa 1808, and lived on Two Mile Creek near Woodruff, S. C.
Her father, Sampson Bobo, while residing in Ninety Six District, served in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon.
Two children were born to this couple: Aseneath Bobo, born April 24, 1810, and George Washington Bobo, born November 5, 1812.
By 1825, or before, Absalom Bobo acquired some of Edward and Ann Musgrove’s slaves possibly from their daughter, Hannah, or from the will of Edward and gave them to his son, Edward M. and daughter Jane Dean, children of his first wife, Ann Musgrove. Ann was deceased at this time.
George Washington Bobo married Permelia Frances Todd, daughter of James and Elizabeth Jane Spencer Todd in 1839. She was born March 21, 1819. He and his wife were members of the Bethel Baptist Church in Woodruff, S. C., and had two sons.
George died August 20, 1848, and his widow moved her membership to the Lower Fairforest Baptist Church in Union County, September 20, 1848. She later married a Hartsfield and moved to Panola County, Mississippi, where she died on January 28, 1878.
Aseneath Bobo married William Winder Hitch, son of John and Katherine Hanna Hitch. She was his second wife. They were married September 2, 1847. They had two sons and a daughter and moved to Mississippi, in November of 1860. He died in Panola County, Mississippi, on June 9, 1870, and she died there December 14, 1887.
Absalom Bobo died December 1, 1846. Mary (Polly), his widow, was living with her daughter, Aseneath and son-in-law, William Hitch, in 1850, and died November 10, 1857, while residing in their house. He and his 2nd wife and George were buried in the Bethel Baptist Church cemetery in Woodruff, S. C., and their graves have inscribed stones.
8. Leah Musgrove. One source states that she married a Glenn.
9. Rachel Musgrove. On June 1, 1800, she married George Ross Adair, son of James and Rebecca Montgomery Adair, and grandson of Joseph Alexander and Sarah Lafferty Adair. He was born December 15, 1779.
His father was a patriot soldier and served under General Francis Marion in 1780 and 1781. His grandfather was also a patriot soldier and a commissary of the Little River Regiment under Col. Levi Casey. He also served under Col. William Washington.
James Adair was named for his uncle, James, who received a tract of land from King George II on Duncan’s Creek in Laurens County, S. C., and had his father and brothers move from Pennsylvania to South Carolina to settle on this land.
He was an Indian trader and published a book on a History of the American Indians. He attempted to trace the descent of the Indians from the Jews based upon resemblances between the customs of the two races. When he went to London, England, in 1775, to have his book published, he appealed to members of the British Cabinet to reconcile with the American Colonies and settle matters peacefully.
George Ross and Rachel had two sons and a daughter. Their son, Isaac, born in 1807, and died in 1866, married Nancy Farrow, daughter of William and Rhoda Waters Farrow. They belonged to Hurricane Shoals Baptist Church in Laurens County, S. C. They moved to Indiana, but returned to Laurens County within a year.
George moved with his second wife, Anna Kay, to Gwinnett County, Georgia. They named their Georgia settlement “Maryville”. His third wife was Mary Keziah Bennett. He died September 30, 1850, in Russell County, Alabama.
10. Liney Musgrove. One source states that she married a West.
11. Hannah Musgrove. Her mother, Ann Crosby Musgrove Smith, and her step-father, David Smith, sold three slaves, beds, pots and tables to her on July 4, 1794, for 30 pounds sterling. She was not married at this time.
12. William Musgrove. In 1790, his father’s will left him the dwelling, land and mill after his mother’s death. After he became of age, the court gave him back his father’s land. While living in Laurens District, S. C., he purchased 114 acres of land for $700.00 on November 1833, from Thomas and Isabella Fraser of Spartanburg District. He died in 1848, and left the mill and Musgrove house to his nephew, Dr. Edward Musgrove Bobo. There was an inscribed stone over his grave, but it has been removed.
*Nancy Ann Crosby Musgrove married David Smith of Union County, S. C., after the death of her husband, Edward Musgrove. They lived in the Padgett’s Creek community.
Robert Stevens and Linda Stevens Crissinger in their article, The Founding of a South Carolina Backcountry Society Union County, Historical and Genealogical, wrote:
“On May 20, 1794, David Smith, Sr., sold to David Smith Jr., a set of blacksmith tools. At the same time, he sold all of his furniture and cattle to his daughter, Mary Smith. On July 4, 1794, David Smith Sr. and wife, Ann, of Union County, sold her life estate share of three slaves to her daughter, Hannah Musgrove. On the same day, they sold another slave to Landon Waters, husband of her daughter, Margaret, who lived just across the Enoree River in Spartanburg County.”
Due to her debts, Ann lost two grants she had received in 1791, totaling 140 acres and also one of her slaves.
Robert Stevens and Linda Crissinger wrote:
“If Ann Musgrove Smith had collected any of the more than five hundred pounds due the estate of her late husband, she certainly hadn’t acknowledged it to the Laurens County Probate Court. In 1795, Charles Sims sued the estate of Edward Musgrove for a debt. The case went to District Court in Ninety Six and Sims was awarded a judgment. Musgrove’s Mill, including the 150 acres was seized and sold at public auction to George Gordon for twenty-seven pounds to satisfy the debt.”
Hannah, who was living in her father’s house, had to vacate the property. Ann had a right under the law to demand at least a one-third share of her husband’s estate for her dower. Her right of dower was not included in the property sold by the court.
In the book, Some South Carolina Genealogical Records, compiled by Janie Revill, was found a record of the following transaction:
“David Smith and his wife, Ann, formerly wife of Edward Musgrove, sold her land (right of dower) on the Enoree known as Musgrove’s Mill, a tract of 150 acres to Thomas Lee on January 13, 1796. Both parties were residents of Union County at this time.” George Gordon found himself with an unwanted partner in the mill operation.
William S. Glenn, in his article, The Battle of Musgrove’s Mill, published in The Spartanburg Herald on April 18, 1926, wrote:
“William Musgrove, Ann’s son, to whom the mill and property had been willed after her death, sued and reclaimed the property after he had reached maturity.”
In 1811, Ann was sued for the debts of her husband, David Smith. She died circa 1824.
**David Smith, son of William and Mercy Croasdale Smith, was born on April 25, 1736, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His first wife was Hannah Hibbs. She was the daughter of Jeremiah and Hannah Jones Hibbs. Her mother probably died in childbirth for she was raised by Sarah Hibbs Cooper.
They married on April 11, 1761, at Dutch Reformed church of North and South Hampton, at what is now Churchville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She agreed to become a Quaker after her marriage. They were parents of six boys and five girls. He moved to South Carolina with the Quakers in 1768. He was a member of Bush River MM.
Quaker records indicate that he was a patriot soldier the latter part of the Revolutionary War (1783). He was disowned by his church for his participation, but was later restored to fellowship.
Ralph Smith, who served under Gen. Thomas Sumter, was his brother. Ralph married Mary Penquite.
David and Hannah’s son, George, born January 21, 1777, was a Methodist minister in Indianapolis, Indiana. He married Sarah Kennedy on January 1, 1797, in Union County, S. C.
David’s first wife died in 1785. He died in 1801, and left Ann Crosby Musgrove Smith, a widow again. He was buried in the Quaker cemetery at Sedalia, S. C.
SOURCES CONSULTED
The Annals of Newberry by John Belton O’Neall; Roster of South Carolina Patriots by Bobby Gilmer Moss; Encyclopedia of the American Revolution by Mark M. Boatner III; Some South Carolina Genealogical Records by Janie Revill; A History Of The Upper Country Of South Carolina by John H. Logan;
Will of Absalom Bobo, Will Book D, Box 3, Package 19, page 124, Spartanburg County Courthouse, Spartanburg County, S. C.; Laurens County newspaper, 1852;
Spartanburg County Cemetery Survey, Vols. I & II, Bethel Baptist Church cemetery, Woodruff, S. C., & Hines and Turner cemetery near Cherokee Springs, S. C.; Records from Pinckney District Chapter of S. C. Genealogical Society; The History of Newberry County, Vol. I, 1749-1860, by Thomas H. Pope;
Fincher In The USA, 1683-1900, by Evelyn Davis Fincher and Ann Wilson Fincher; Abstracts of Early Records of Laurens County, 1765-1820 by Sara M. Nash; Bobo Cousins By The Dozens by Robert M. Newell, Jr. and Jeanie Patterson Newell; Kings Mountain And Its Heroes by Lyman C. Draper; Laurens County South Carolina Wills by Colleen Ellliott;
The History Of South Carolina In The Revolution by Edward McCrady; Petitions For Land from The South Carolina Council Journals, Vol. VI, 1766-1770, Vol. VII, 1771-1774, by Brent H. Holcomb; Union County, South Carolina Minutes Of The County Court, 1785-1799, by Brent H. Holcomb;
South Carolina’s Distinguished Women Of Laurens County by Marguerite Tolbert, Irene Dillard Elliott and Dr. Wil Lou Gray; Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia And Other States by Mrs. Howard H. McCall;
Women Of The Revolution, Piedmont Headlight, Spartanburg, South Carolina, December 10, 1897, Vol. V., pgs. 3 & 6; Carolyn Waters’ Application For Membership To The National Society Of The Children Of The American Revolution;
Letter from Lorene Barnett; Letter from Myra Lake Howell; Documentary History Of The American Revolution by R. W. Gibbes; 1810 Equity Petitions of Laurens County, S. C., Package 8, Box 27;
Musgrove’s Mill by Sam P. Manning; Laurens and Newberry Counties South Carolina: Saluda and Little River Settlements, 1749-1775, by Jesse Hogan Motes III and Margaret Peckham Motes; Laurens County Advertiser Articles on September 3rd & 8th by Jim Kluttz and Tom Priddy; Unpublished Manuscript on Philemon Waters Family; South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1719-1772, Vol. III, by Clara A. Langley;
Petitions For Land From The South Carolina Council Journals, Vol. V, 1757-1765, by Brent H. Holcomb; Will of Edward Musgrove, Recorded in Book A, Pg. 28, Laurens County Courthouse; Andrews Almanac for 1765;
The Jury Lists Of South Carolina for 96 District in 1778-1779, by Ge Lee Corley Hendrix and Morn McKoy Lindsay; Spartanburg County South Carolina Minutes Of The County Court, 1785-1799, by Brent H. Holcomb;
Union County, South Carolina, Will Abstracts by Brent H. Holcomb; South Carolina Marriages, 1749-1867, Implied In South Carolina Equity Reports by Barbara R. Langdon; South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1773-1778, Books F-4 through X-4—Books I-5 through Z-5 by Brent H. Holcomb;
Marriage And Death Notices From The Up-Country Of South Carolina, 1826-1863, by Brent H. Holcomb; Internet—Musgrove Genealogy Family Forum;
Pinckney District, South Carolina, Common Pleas Minute Book, 1792-1794, by Lucille Hendrick Gardner; Genealogical Articles on the Families from rootsweb.com and from gencircles.com; Adair History and Genealogy by James Barnett Adair, M. D.; Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts Vols. 1-4 by Brent H. Holcomb;
Bessie Poole Lamb’s Files on the Musgrove Family; Spartanburg County Deed Abstracts, Vols. 1-4; U. S. Census records; Memoirs of Major Joseph McJunkin by Rev. James Hodge Saye; Touring South Carolina’s Revolutionary War Sites by Daniel W. Barefoot; Emails from Brian L. Robson, Interpretive Ranger of Musgrove Mill State Park; Emails from Robert J. Stevens, 415 N. Main St., 6-E Darlington, S. C., 29532-2245;
A Brief Sketch of the Musgrove Brothers and their Descendants by Phillip M. Musgrove; South Carolina State Plats (Charleston Series) Vol. 27, pg. 496; Vol. 28, pg. 25; Laurens County Deed Books, Vol. D, pgs. 452-453; Vol. DB C, pgs. 35-36; DB E, pgs. 7-8; DB G, pg. 570; Vol. E. pg. 308-309; Vol. F, pgs. 57-58; 109-110; Vol. K, pg. 19; Vol. Q, pgs. 307-308;
South Carolina State Plats (Columbia Series) Vol. 52, pg. 410; Laurens Estate Papers, Box 104, pkg. 1;
Abstracts of Old Ninety-Six and Abbeville District Wills and Bonds compiled by Willie Pauline Young. The Founding of a South Carolina Backcountry Society, Union County, Historical and Genealogical by
Robert J. Stevens and Linda Stevens Crissinger; “The Battle of Musgrove’s Mill” by William S. Glenn, published in Spartanburg Herald, April 18, 1926; Union County, S. C. Deed Book SS, pgs. 318-319.
Articles on Internet by Mary Ann Strickland Grainger, 3301 Ohara Road, Huntsville, Alabama, 35801; William Musgrove Descendants In England, Tennessee and Alabama by J. T. Smith, Internet.)