By Robert Ivey

Land now known as Cherokee and Spartanburg counties was primarily hunting grounds for the Cherokee Indians in South Carolina. It was part of Cherokee Territory until 1761, when the last treaties were signed.

The Cherokee Indians had lived here long before white men and the settlers, who staked their claims here in the 1750s, and called the territory, “The Cherokee Area.”

“In the 1750s, the settlement of South Carolina lands above the Fall Line (the backcountry) began in earnest. These new settlers began to spill over onto the Cherokee hunting grounds, thereby causing much agitation with that Nation.”

NATHANIEL JEFFERIES was one of the early settlers in upper South Carolina, and lived for awhile in the Brown’s Creek area of what is now Union County, S. C. He moved to the vicinity of the present El Bethel Baptist Church and built a cabin.

In 1757, because of the Indian conflict, Nathaniel moved his family to a location near Camden, S. C. (Jefferies Creek). His son, John and a daughter, Elizabeth, were born while they lived here. They came back to their upstate cabin in 1763.

“In 1755, the Province of South Carolina made a new treaty with the Cherokees, but this peace was short lived. Clashes between the settlers and the Indians continued and increased to the point that the Cherokees launched a full scale war with the colonists in 1760.”

“The Royal Government sent several military expeditions to the South Carolina Piedmont and laid waste to many Cherokee villages. In 1761, the Cherokees sued for peace and agreed to cede most of their lands in South Carolina. Only the northwestern part of the Colony remained under Cherokee control.”

Before the 1750s, there were Indian traders, who squatted on some of the Indian lands. To be an Indian trader one had to be married to an Indian maiden. Then the Indians would not disturb the traders.

One of the well-known Indian traders in the area was FRANCIS WARD, who had married an Indian by the name of Tame Doe. She had a son and daughter with Francis.

Their well-known daughter, Nanye’hi (Nancy), was sometimes called “War Woman” and later, “Beloved Woman” because of her leadership within the Cherokee Nation. Others called her “the famous Indian woman, Nancy Ward.” Over a dozen books have been written about Nancy.

Later, Francis Ward, had children by a caucasian wife. His son, James Ward and his wife, Susannah Rich, had a son, Nathaniel Ward who married Susannah Trail.

Nathaniel and his family lived in the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina. Their son, Absalom, married Nancy Ann Coleman, daughter of Robert and Trecy Smith Coleman.

An Indian trader, THOMAS BROWN SR, lived fairly close to the Pacolet River at the present Pacolet Quarry. He was married to an Indian maiden and had two children by her: Thomas and John. The writer’s wife is related to Thomas Brown Sr. He and his children were members of the Goucher Baptist Church when it was located in Grindal Shoals.

The first wave of settlers came to the CARROLL SHOALS area in the 1750s.

On April 1, 1752, RICHARD CARROLL, was granted 600 acres, “On the south side of Broad River on a great creek including a place, where a cabbin was built on the south side of Pacolet River.” The shoals was called “Carroll Shoals” for twenty one years.

HONAS BALM had a 400 acre tract surveyed on the south side of Broad River on Thickety Creek below McPeter’s land on May 11, 1753, surveyed by Matt Rowan. This land was purchased by David Robertson, father of James (Horseshoe) Robertson, on October 25, 1770.

JOHN HOWARD had a 300 acre tract surveyed for himself on a branch of Broad River called Thickety Creek on May 11, 1753, surveyed by Matt Rowan. This land was adjacent to the Honas Balm’s tract. John was the writer’s great, great, great, great grandfather.

John Howard went back to Granville County, North Carolina, and married Avis ? circa 1759. On his return trip, they were attacked by Indians and many of the settlers were killed.

“Avis was scalped, but the Indian, in pulling her long hair, cut only the hair and the skin of the scalp, and did not break the skull. She lived, but always had a bald spot on the top of her head, which she covered with a cap.”

JAMES GLEN, the Royal Governor of South Carolina, November 24, 1753, made a treaty with the Cherokee Indians by which he purchased from them all the lands now embraced in the counties of Edgefield, Laurens, Newberry, Union, Spartanburg, York, Chester and Fairfield.

JOHN CLARK had an 800 acre tract surveyed on Pacolet River, including the place, where he now lives. Samuel Young was the Dept. Sur. It was issued March 28, 1755.

John Clark also had a Grist Mill contructed on a nearby creek, which was called Clark’s Mill Creek. Today the creek’s name is Mill Creek. Clark moved to this grant after he had married his third wife, Martha Pickens, widow of John Pickens, in 1755. He died here in 1764.

His Grist Mill was sold to Joab Mitchell, and then purchased by David Robertson.

John Clark’s land was willed to his son, Elijah Clark, of Revolutionary fame. Elijah and his family lived here for a couple of years in the early 1770s.

Henry Fernandis, who married Elizabeth (Betsy) Henderson, the daughter of John Henderson and his wife, Sarah Alston, later purchased the Clark land and the Grist Mill.

The second wave of settlers came to the Carroll Shoals area in the 1760s.

JOHN GRINDLE II on April 25, 1767, applied for two different grants in the Carroll Shoals area. One of the grants was for 150 acres on both sides of the Pacolet River between the Swift Shoal and Carroll Shoals.

The other grant was for 250 acres on both sides of Pacolet River adjacent James Heweths at Carroll Shoals. Wiliam Tryon surveyed both plats.

John Grindal II was born in 1730, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. His father was John Grindal I and was born in 1700, and died in 1776. His wife was Esther Cook, born in 1740, and still living in 1790.

The name of the shoals was CARROLL SHOALS for 21 years, but in 1773, it was changed to GRINDAL SHOALS and has been known by that name to this day.

William Hodge’s plantation was burned by Tarleton just before the Battle of Cowpens, and William lost his deed in the fire. In 1784, John Grindle and John Hodge were witnesses to the transaction when William Hodge first purchased the 400 acres of land from John Beckham in 1775 or 1776.

The house that burned was built by John Beckham. The walled cemetery, near where the old Hodge house stood contains the remains of a portion of John Beckham’s family.

John Grindle II was living in Pendleton District, S. C., when the 1790 census was taken. On May 11, 1790, Esther (Cook) Grindle, wife of John Grindle II, quit claimed and renounced her dower in a tract sold by John Grindle to John Watson and Adam Chisholm.

Adam was the brother of John Chisholm. Family records state that John Grindle II died in Pendleton District in 1794.

There were at least three children of John and Esther in family records, but probably not all of their children, for the 1790 census of Pendleton Dist., S. C. seems to indicate more.

James (Rollicin) Grindle was one of their children. He was born in 1755, in Princess Anne County, Virginia. He married Nancy Easter, daughter of Richard and Mary Chisolm Easter. She was born 1769, in Georgia. She was the second wife of James Grindle. One source states that she died in 1769.

James died in 1859, in Lumpkin County, Georgia, and was buried in the Phillippi Baptist Church cemetery. Nancy died in 1865, in Lumpkin County, Georgia. Four of their children were: James (Possum Trot) Grindle (1792-1867), Nancy Thomason (1796-), Matilda Grindal (1807-1891), and Easter Grindle (1808-1895).

John Grindle III was another child of John and Esther Grindle. He was born in 1761, in Princess Anne County, Virginia. He married Rachel Henson, daughter of James and Catherine McAlister Henson. Rachel was born in Chesterfield District, S. C., in 1767.

John and Rachel had a son, John Grindle IV (1798-1867). John Grindle III died in 1840, in Dahlonega, Lumpkin County, Georgia. Date of the death of Rachel has not been left in family records. She died in Lumpkin County, Georgia.

John Grindle and Esther had a son, Hugh, but no information on this child can be found in family records.

ZACHARIAH BULLOCK was a son of Richard Henry and Anne Henley Bullock, and was born in 1738. He had more than a dozen siblings. He never married.

His father, Richard, was born in 1690, in Hanover County, Virginia. Richard was the son of Edward and Sarah ? Bullock. His wife, Anne Henley Bullock, was the daughter of Leonard Henley and Elizabeth Richardson Henley. Anne was born in James City, in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1699. They were married in December of 1710, in Hanover County.

Richard disposed of his plantation, mercantile business and other property in Hanover County, Virginia, on August 28, 1753, and he and other Bullock families moved to various North Carolina locations during this period. He and his personal family settled in the Nutbush District of Granville County, North Carolina, in 1753.

Richard Bullock died on October 27, 1764, in Granville County, North Carolina, and Anne Henley Bullock died in Oxford, Granville County, North Carolina, in October of 1766.

Zachariah Bullock applied for grants of 3,975 acres of land in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in 1766, 1767 and 1768. This land became a part of South Carolina, when the line was redrawn.

Zachariah Bullock was a land surveyor and surveyed many of the other grants. He also was a Justice of the Peace later.

In 1766, he settled on a part of his land about three and one-half miles above the Grindal Shoals crossing. Angelica Mitchell Nott in her “Traditions of the Revolutionary War” states: “The place on which Zachariah Bullock settled was first settled by one Pacolet, after whom the river was named.” He was a member of the Colonial Assembly before the Revolutionary War.

Zachariah was first a Captain in the Revolutionary War. The known Regiments that he was associated with and was known as a Captain: Spartan Regiment 1776-1777; 2nd Spartan Regiment 1777-1778; 1st Spartan Regiment 1778-1780; Kershaw Regiment 1782.

Known Battles or Skirmishes: Seneca Town–Aug. 1, 1776; Cherokee Towns–Aug. 8-11, 1776; Tamassee–Aug. 12, 1776; Coweecho River (NC)–Sept. 19, 1776; Stono Ferry–Jun. 20, 1779.

Dr. Bobby Moss’ Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution: “Zachariah Bullock served as a captain and major in the militia under Col. Benjamin Roebuck from 1778-1782. Prior to this, he repaired Earle’s Fort and stayed there several months during late 1777. At some time, he was under Col. Thomas Brandon.”

Angelica Nott and the Reverend James D. Bailey have the wrong age for his service. He was only 38 years old when he became a Patriot soldier in 1776.

An abstract of the will of Zachariah Bullock of Union County, S. C. reads: “Will of Zachariah Bullock of Union County, to my brother Len Henly Bullocks’ four youngest daughters Fanny Lyne, Lucy, Agnes, and Nancy Bullocks, 50 pounds sterling.

To my loving brother, Len Henley Bullock of Warren County, N. C., all the residue of my estate. Len Henley Bullock, James Lyne of Granville (NC), and my nephew Richard Bullock, son of Len Henley Bullock, exrs…February 10, 1791. Zachariah Bullock. Wit.: Adam Potter, John Lipscomb, and William Lipscomb Jr. Recorded 5 Sept. 1791.

Major Zachariah Bullock was approximately 51 years old when he died. John Nuckolls married his sister, Agatha Bullock.

JOHN NUCHOLLS was the son of James Pounce Nucholls III (1695-1751), and his wife, Elizabeth Nuchols Duke (1705-1770). He was born in Dinwiddie County, later Louisa County, Virginia, on October 23, 1731.

He married Agatha Bullock, daughter of Richard Henry and Anne Henley Bullock, on September 2, 1755. They came to South Carolina, in 1767, and settled in the Carroll Shoals area.

John Nucholls received a grant of 400 acres on both sides of the Thickety on August 8, 1767, and it was issued on April 28, 1768. His grant was near property owned by Stephen Jones and David Robertson. Zachariah Bullock, Joab Mitchell and Stephen Jones were chain bearers.

John Nucholls was appointed an under-sheriff for Tryon County, North Carolina, in July of 1770. Capt. John Nucholls and Lt. William Marchbanks responded to an order from the commanding officer of Tryon County, North Carolina, to march against the Cherokee Indians on February 9, 1771. He served nine days.

In March of 1772, John Nucholls was arrested by John Mayfield, a constable of Craven County, South Carolina, on the orders of a Craven County, S. C., Justice of the Peace, Thomas Fletchall. In February of 1773, Nucholls brought suit against Mayfield and Fletchall in Charles Town, claiming a wrongful arrest.

He built a fine plantation house, the ruins of which were still seen with the old chimneys in 1925. He named his plantation Whig Hill.

John Nucholls purchased an additional 200 acres on the ridge between Thickety and Broad River from John Davidson on July 27, 1774.

John Nucholls was an ardent Patriot and played a prominent part in the Revolutionary War. In a file of Nathan Grimes, he was listed as furnishing supplies and had a receipt for those supplies by Col. Thomas Brandon.

Another receipt was signed by John Nucholls on April 9, 1779. Nucholls wrote: “I received of Nathan Grimes three hundred six pounds of flower, one bushel and a half of corn and a half of corn & four days of rations for Public Use.”

This seems to indicate that John Nucholls held some sort of office for procuring supplies for the use of the American troops. Nathan Grimes lived some ten miles down river from John Nuckolls.

John Nucholls went on an expedition to McKown’s Mill, taking his young son, John Nuckolls Jr. In those days the millers had rooms for overnight stays because of the distances traveled.

McKown’s Mill was owned by William McKown, an ardent Patriot, who served under Col. Thomas Brandon. However, his miller was his brother, George McKown, who was a loyalist and relayed the information that John Nucholls, a Patriot, was staying at the mill.

A band of Tories surrounded the mill and John Nuckolls was shot and killed by a man named Davis. His young son survived. Some months afterwards his bones were discovered, and he was buried at Whig Hill.

The monument contains the following inscription: “In memory of John Nucholls Sr., who was murdered by the Tories for his devotion to liberty, the 11th day of December, 1780, in the 49th year of his age.”

A list of John and Agatha Bullock Nucholls’ sixteen children is given as follows: Richard N. Nucholls (1757-1780); Elizabeth Nucholls (1760-1760); Zachariah Nucholls (1760-1760); Frances Frankie Nucholls (1763-1832); James Nucholls (1765-); Ann Nancy Nucholls (1766-1766) Elizabeth Nucholls (1766-); Susannah Nucholls (1767-1858);

John Nucholls Jr. (1769-1801); Agnes Agatha Goudelock (1771-1840); Agatha Bullock Nucholls (1771-1840); Sarah Nucholls (1773-1834); Mary Nucholls (1774-1861); William Nucholls (1775-1798); Catherine Nucholls (1775-1777); Nancy Ann Dawkins (1776-1861).

Joshua Petty was the administrator of John Nucholls estate.

Mrs. Agatha Bullock Nucholls was married again to Joshua Petty between 1782-1785. Joshua Petty was the son of James Petty and Martha Clanton Petty. He greatly assisted in raising her childen, but there was no children of their own.

Agatha Bullock Nucholls Petty and Joshua Petty were both buried in the Whig Hill cemetery. In his will, Joshua Petty, gave to his step daughter Sally Murray, a yellow girl named Lucinda, who is to have her schooled and to set her free at 21 years of age, and a boy, Randol.

“All the rest of his real, personal and mixed estate was to be divided between his stepdaughters: Francis Morgan, Agnes Goudelock, Sally Murray, Nancy Dawkins and the children of Susannah Littlejohn. Elijah Dawkins and William Goudelock were to serve as executors of Joshua’s estate.”

RICHARD HENDERSON

Richard was born April 20, 1735, in Hanover County, Virginia. His parents were Samuel and Elizabeth Williams Henderson. His father, Samuel, son of Richard and Mary Polly Washer Henderson, was born March 17, 1700, in Hanover County, Virginia.

His mother, Elizabeth Williams, daughter of Jonathan and Mary Ann Keeling Williams, was born November 14, 1714, in Hanover County, Virginia. They were married in 1732, in Hanover County, Virginia. They had seven sons and four daughters. Five of their sons: Richard, John, William, Thomas and Pleasant were Patriot officers during the Revolutionary War. Two of their sons: William and John and three of their daughters: Mary (Joab Mitchell), Elizabeth (John Beckham) and Ann (Daniel Williams) lived at least briefly in the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina.

His father, Samuel, died in 1784, in Williamsboro, Vance County, North Carolina, and his mother, Elizabeth, died September 5, 1790, in Oxford, Granville County, North Carolina.

During the early 1740s, his family moved to Granville County, North Carolina, where his father became sheriff. Richard’s paternal grandparents came from Scotland and his maternal grandparents came from Wales.

Richard moved with his father to North Carolina about 1745, and acquired his education without instructors. Under his mother’s watchful eye, he was educated by a private tutor who directed his energies towards a career in law.

Richard served as constable, and later, as deputy to his father. After studying law for a year, he passed the bar examination in 1763, and married Elizabeth Keeling, daughter of George and Agnes Bullock Keeling, on December 28, 1763, in Granville County, N. C.

Elizabeth Keeling Henderson was born in Cane Creek, Orange County, North Carolina, in 1742. They had four sons and two daughters. She was the step-daughter of his mother’s cousin, John Williams, under whom Richard Henderson read law.

Perhaps with the encouragement of Zachariah Bullock, Richard Henderson began to apply for grants in the Carroll Shoals (later Grindle Shoals) area of South Carolina.

He first applied for 600 acres on the northfork of the Pacolet on August 15, 1767. It was surveyed by Zachariah Bullock, with Jonathan Chisholm and William Monrupty as chain bearers.

In 1767-1768, Richard Henderson was granted a total of 1200 acres of land in the Carroll Shoals (Grindal Shoals) area of South Carolina. By 1769, William Henderson had purchased the 1200 acres from his brother, Richard.

In 1764, Richard Henderson organized the Richard Henderson and Company to take advantage of opportunities for land and profit in the West.

Because of his family position and his legal training, Richard was appointed an associate justice of the Superior Court of North Carolina in 1769 by Gov. Tryon. But his judgeship brought considerable difficulties, thus, when his term expired he returned to western land speculation.

In 1774, Richard formed the Louisa Company, consisting of six prominent citizens, including John Williams. The association determined to purchase from the Indians a sizable tract of land.

The following year the proprietors signed a treaty with the Cherokee Indians at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River, thereby gaining title to an immense tract of land consisting of present day Kentucky and a large section of Tennessee.

The Louisa Company commissioned Daniel Boone to travel west and begin a settlement, which was soon called Boonesborough.

The company was beset with troubles from the beginning. The governors of North Carolina and Virginia both issued proclamations denouncing Henderson and the company and invalidating any agreement with the Indians.

Eventually North Carolina and Virginia each granted the company 200,000 acres as compensation for its expense and services in the undertaking.

But Richard Henderson was far from finished with land speculation. In 1779-1780, he spearheaded another group of settlers into the Cumberland Valley in Tennessee and founded French Lick (present-day Nashville).

Henderson, with the coming of the Revolutionary War, became an ardent supporter of the American cause and maintained an active role throughout the war. As a militia colonel, Richard Henderson assisted in recruitment and the procurement of supplies.

With peace restored, Granville County elected Richard Henderson to the state legislature in 1781. He served on the Council of State from 1782 to 1783.

He was an Anglican and a vestryman in the Parish of Granville. His children were educated by Henry Patillo, an eminent Presbyterian clergyman.

Richard Henderson was always interested in education, and played a key role in the establishment of Granville Hall, an academy begun in 1779.

His life was cut short by death at the age of forty-nine. He died on January 30, 1785, and was buried on his farm, where his house still stands near Williamsboro on Nutbush Creek. His wife, Elizabeth Keeling Henderson, died April 26, 1788, in Granville County, North Carolina.

THE COOK AND HODGE FAMILIES

(Due to the number of different dates
from varied sources, there may be errors in some dates.)

John Cook, son of John Cook and Jane Saddon Cook, was born in 1715, in Dunclug, County Antrim, Ireland. John Cook was one of several foreigners who took an oath and was naturalized in Pennsylvania. He died in 1767, in York County, Pennsylvania.

His wife, Sarah Fulton Cook, daughter of John Fulton (1698-1810) and Sarah Wright Fulton (1700-1799), was born July 30, 1724, in Dunclug, County Antrim, Ireland. She married John Cook in 1738, in Boston, Massachusetts.

After the death of her husband, Sarah moved her family from York County, Pennsylvania, to the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina.

By 1772, Sarah had moved her family to within five miles of the Pacolet River. Her land was on Goucher Creek in present Cherokee County, S. C.

She died in 1783, in the Grindal Shoals area. The three hundred acres of ‘Widow’ Sarah Cook, on one of the ‘Irish’ reserves, lay on the north side of Pacolet River and was bounded by lands belonging to James Campbell and Thomas Cook.

In her will, dated May 4, 1783, she left her house and 100 acres of land in Ninety-Six District to her grandsons, George and John Cook.

John and Sarah’s children were: James Cook (1738-1738); Elizabeth Cook (1740-1803); John Cook (1743-); Nancy Cook (1746-1746); Sarah Cook (1750-1788); Hugh Cook (1752-1793); Thomas Cook (1750-1820); Robert Olef Cook (1752-1806); Edward Netty Cook (1760-1843); Archibald Cook (1760-1843); David Cook (1762-1830); Joseph Cook (unknown).

Elizabeth Cook married William Hodge (1732-1820) son of William (1700-1767) and Margaret Hollowell (1704-1789) Hodge. Sarah Cook married Charles Brandon (1750-1838); Thomas Cook married Ann Raines Cook (1748-1830); Hugh Cook married Mary Shields; Robert Olef Cook married Olive Reed (1750-1840).

John and his brother, Hugh, were both Loyalist soldiers during the American Revolutionary War. The brothers were a part of the Fair Forest Regiment of Loyalist Militia under Major Daniel Plummer and Capt. Shadrack Lantrey.

John Cook was imprisoned for refusing to take an oath to the patriots and wipped severly. As a loyalist he was in the battles of Kings Mountain, Wofford’s Iron Works, Blackstock’s Plantation, and Cowpens. Having left home in 1780, to serve with the loyalists he never saw his property again.

John had his estate confiscated and had to leave the country. He lost 370 acres of land situated on Goucher Creek, a branch of Pacolet River.

This property included his dwelling house, his blacksmith shop and other buildings. In addition he lost 150 acres with a dwelling house on Cook’s Creek. He went to the British Isles, when Charles Town was evacuated.

Hugh Cook, a cousin of Capt. Alexander Chesney, resided near Thickety Creek in present Cherokee County, S. C. Cook served as a loyalist in the Fairforest Regiment. He was in the battle of Kings Mountain.

Hugh Cook, Alexander Chesney, and Charles Brandon hid in a cave for a time following the battle of Kings Mountain. He evacuated Fort Ninety-Six with Lt. John H. Cruger. He did not lose his property.

Hugh and his wife, Mary Shields, had a son, George Cook. When George lost his father, in 1793, he came to the Union County Courthouse in S. C., on January 1, 1794, and made choice of Thomas Cook to act as his guardian.

Thomas Cook served as a Patriot soldier in the militia under Cols. Thomas Brandon and Benjamin Roebuck after the fall of Charleston, S. C. Most of the Cooks, still living in the Cherokee County area of S. C., can trace their ancestry back to Thomas Cook.

Thomas and Ann Raines Cook had the following children: William Joseph Cook (1770-1849); John Cook (1770-1850); Robert Cook (1772-1806); Thomas Cook Jr. (1782-1850); Sampson Cook (1783-1830); Hugh Cook (1784-1841); Elizabeth Ann Cook (1789-1827); and George Cook (1792-1880).

Robert and Elizabeth Cook had the following children: Ailsey Cook; John Cook; and Silas Cook.

WILLIAM HODGE II

William Hodge II, born 1732, and his wife, Elizabeth Cook, born 1740, came to Grindal Shoals, S. C., with Widow Sarah Cook, and lived with her for about three years. They had lived for a while in York County, Pennsylvania, where most or all of their children were born.

Following his father’s death, William Hodge Jr., removed his family to Union District, S. C.

William Hodge II purchased the house and 400 acre plantation of John Beckham circa 1775. In the Union County Miscellaneous Record Book 1 & 2 is stated the following:

“Personally appeared John Hodge and John Grindal Senr., before J. Thompson, J. P., and state that they saw John Beckham of Ninety Six District in the year 1775 or 1776 deliver to William Hodge of Pacolate River and said district, a lease and release for 400 acres, being the plantation whereon the said William Hodge now lives, adjacent Robert Coleman and Thomas Draper, 27 Aug. 1784.”

This declaration became necessary because his original deed was burned when Tarleton and his men burned his house.

“While residing on the Pacolet River in the Ninety-Six District, S. C., he was described as ‘a peaceable citizen,’ who had enlisted during 1778, under Capt. John Hayes in a partisan force.”

“In 1780, he continued to support the Patriots by serving under Capt. John Thompson and Col. William Farr. After the Battle of Blackstock’s Plantation (November 20, 1780), he was taken prisoner by Tarleton and forced to witness the killing of all his stock and see his house destroyed by fire.”

He was taken to the Camden jail with Daniel McJunkin and several others. These men escaped in April of 1781, by cutting the grating out of the prison windows.

William’s imprisonment kept him from fighting with his three sons at the Battle of Cowpens. For the rest of the Revolutionary War, William Hodge II, John, Samuel and William III all continued to serve under Col. Thomas Brandon, Col. William Farr, Major Samuel Otterson and Capt. John Thompson.

William and Elizabeth Cook Hodge had four sons and three daughters. (1). Margaret Hodge (1759-1781); (2). William Tobias Hodge (1762-1836); (3). John Hodge (1763-1835) (4). Jannett Hodge (1765-1740); (5). Samuel Hodge (1766-1854); (6). Rev. James Hodge Sr.; (7). Sarah ‘Sallie’ Hodge (1770-1811).

(1). Margaret Hodge married Alexander Chesney (1756-1843), son of Robert Chesney (1737-1818) and Elizabeth Purdy (1741-1818).

Robert Chesney was the son of Alexander Chesney and his wife, Jane Fulton, and Elizabeth was the daughter of William Purdy (1715-1765) and Martha Peden (1719-1780). They married in 1754.

Alexander Chesney was born in Antrim County, Ireland, on September 12, 1756, when his father, Robert, was just 19 years old. He married Margaret Hodge on January 3, 1780. Her father was a Patriot soldier, but her husband was a Loyalist. After marrying they were only allowed domestic life for a short time.

“Upon the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the Chesney family often aided loyalists by harboring refugees and guiding them to safety.” Alexander was arrested and imprisoned for a few days and given a choice between a trial or joining a Patriot Militia.

Alexander joined with the patriots for awhile, in the hope of protecting his kindred. He served the Patriot cause as a private from April of 1776, in campaigns against the Creek and Cherokee Indians and was at Augusta, Georgia, with them the summer of 1779.

When the British troops captured Charleston on May 12, 1780, and General Henry Clinton issued a proclamation summoning the king’s friends to embody, Alexander Chesney, rejoined the Loyalists and became a lieutenant.

“On August 9, 1780, he was appointed a captain. He was in the defeat and surrender of Major Patrick Ferguson’s force at King’s Mountain. Soon after this Alexander escaped and reached home, on October 31, 1780.” Margaret had given birth to their son, William, on October 20, 1780.

“There he remained for the next three weeks, concealing himself in a cave part of the time and staying with his father-in-law at intervals.”

He went with Tarleton, when the latter came to that neighborhood, and was with him in the defeat and dispersion of the force at the Cowpens. The writer has often wondered how Alexander felt about Tarleton burning his father-in-law’s house.

He again retired to his home, only to find it despoiled of all his personal effects, except two horses, with which he was able to bring his wife and child to Edisto, and from there to Charleston, where Margaret died of ague, a fever of malarial character, in November of 1781, at James Island. Margaret was only twenty-two years of age.

As things grew worse, Alexander sent his child, William, to his grandfather, William Hodge’s, and sailed from Charleston, April 5, 1782, landing at Castel Haven, Ireland, on May 19, 1782.

Alexander Chesney’s estate in this country was confiscated. His land was near his father, Robert’s, and very close to the Grindal Shoals crossing.

Alexander married his second wife, in Belfast, Ireland, on March 1, 1783. She was born April 3, 1763, in Birney Hill in the Parish of Skerry near Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. She was the daughter of John Wilson (1719-1789) and Elizabeth Kirkpatrick Wilson (1720-1829).

Alexander and Jane had twelve children: Elizabeth (1785-1822); Jane (1787-1822); Francis Rawdon General (1789-1872); Charles Cornwallis (1791-1830); Marianne (1794-1858); Charlotte (1795-1857); Matilda (1798-1814); Alexander (1801-1832); John (1803-1824); Robert (1806-1829); Thomas Crafter (1808-1825); and George (1811- unknown).

“In February of 1818, Alexander Chesney was greatly surprised at receiving a letter from his eldest son, William, of whose survival he was not even aware, stating that he was living in the state of Tennessee, but was not in flourishing circumstances. The letter also referred to his grandfather, Robert Chesney, as being still alive.”

Susan Naves in an article in the Spartanburg Journal on November 30, 1954, wrote: “Alexander Chesney with his memories of the new, fertile land prior to the advent of war led him to construct a home in County Down, Northern Ireland, which he named Packolet. The home, constructed circa 1820, still stands.”

“Not only was Alexander Chesney’s record of thirty-five years in the Irish Customs highly creditable to him, as affirmed by the surveyor-general and the board of Customs in Ireland, but so also was Chesney’s concern for the welfare of his children, including his son, William, from whom he had been so long separated.”

“In the closing sentences of the Journal, Alexander Chesney notes that he has authorized William to draw on Mr. Crafer and thinks it better that he should receive his portion of his father’s estate and ‘turn it to account where he is,’ than spending money coming to Ireland, where he would find most things unsuited to him.”

William Chesney, Alexander’s eldest son, married Mourning Hewitt, daughter of Percell Hewitt and Mary Copeland Hewitt in Perry County, Alabama on July 31, 1821. He was forty years old when they married. She was born May 14, 1804, in Georgia.

William and Mouring Chesney had the following children: John Chesney (1821-); William Alexander Chesney (1828-1864); Mary Ann Chesney (1831-); Anderson P. Chesney (1834-1863); James Francis Chesney (1835-1902); and Samuel Oliver Chesney (1837-1913). Most of their children were born in Perry County, Alabama.

William, Alexander’s son, died on January 12, 1846, in Holmes, Mississippi, He was buried in Sproles Cemetery in Holmes.

Mourning Hewett Chesney died August 18, 1880, in Spring Creek, Yell, Arkansas.

Alexander Chesney died January 12, 1845, in Packolet, Ballyardle, Down, Northern Ireland, and Jane Wilson, Alexander Chesney’s second wife died June 13, 1882, in Kilkeel, Down, Northern Ireland.

As a student of Furman University, the writer discovered that the Ohio State Library had published the Journal of Alexander Chesney, and later with the help of Dr. Robert Tucker, Librarian, the writer secured a copy of this journal.

The writer then lent his copy to A-Press, Inc. of Greenville, S. C., where they reprinted it. Later, he gave a copy to Dr. Bobby Moss, who reprinted it again. The writer assisted Dr. Moss with his footnotes.

(2). William Tobias Hodge III was born April 1, 1762. He volunteer as a Patriot soldier at the age of 16, about the month of May in 1778, and marched under the command of Capt. John Hails in South Carolina, before the surrender of Charleston. He marched to near Charleston at Bacon’s bridge on Edisto River.

On October 6th or 7th in 1780, he served another tour as a volunteer under Col. Thomas Brandon, Col. William Farr and Capt. John Thompson. In the winter he was encamped with General Daniel Morgan at Grindal Shoals, S. C. and fought in the Battle at Hammond’s Store under Col. William Washington and Lt. Robert Lusk Jr.

He fought with General Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens and was slightly wounded. His brothers, John and Samuel Hodge, also fought at Cowpens.

He was with Col. William Washington in the chase of Tarleton that ended at Adam Goudelocks. In Battle of Thompson’s Fort and Battle of Orangeburg.

Rejoined at the Battle of Eutaw Springs. “In the Spring, deponent volunteered and marched toward Charleston. He joined with forces under Gen. William Henderson. From thence he was sent to Gen. Isaac Huger to be his life guard and was there wounded by a musket ball to his shoulder that was not removed.”

“Afterwards was discharged by General Isaac Huger after having served in all upwards of two years and six months.”

William married Anne Saye, daughter of Richard Saye and Mary Hodge Saye, March of 1790. He applied for a pension at Clarke County, Georgia, while living in Madison County, Georgia. He received a pension of $80.00 per annum commencing March 4, 1831, for two and one half years service as a private in the South Carolina Militia.

William died December 19, 1836, and Ann, his widow, 72, applied for a widow’s pension on July 24, 1839. James Thompson Sr. gave testimony that he was present at the marriage of William Hodge to Ann Saye, which took place in South Carolina. Ann died May 25, 1840.

William and Anne Saye Hodge had the following children: John Hodge (1790-1887); James Hodge (1792-1840); Mary Hodge (1795-1863); Elizabeth Hodge (1797-1855); Katherine Hodge (1799-1870); William Hodge IV (1802-1870); Richard S. Hodge (1804-1870); Allen Hodge (1807-1868); Madison Montgomery Hodge (1809-1870); and Sara Anne Hodge (1815-1820).

(3). John Hodge was born in 1763, in York County, Pennsylvania. John entered into service as a Patriot soldier, a volunteer under Capt. Zachariah Bullock and General Andrew Williamson and was stationed about 3 or 4 week near the Grindal Shoals, where he was employed in building and guarding a Fort (Fort Pacolet).

Soon after the Battle of Kings Mountain he again entered the service as a volunteer in October of 1780, under the command of Capt. John Thomson, Lt. Francis Latimore, Col. Thomas Brandon, and Lt. Col. William Farr.

He was afterwards united with General Thomas Sumter’s army and was engaged in the Battle of Blackstock’s Plantation on Tyger River, where Sumter was wounded in the shoulder, and he helped to carry him to the Broad River.

Next he joined with General Daniel Morgan’s troops at the Grindal Shoals, and was with the dragoons under the command of Col. Thomas Brandon and Col. William Washington.

While stationed here he was engaged in the Battle of Hammond’s Store and then in the Battle of Cowpens. On April 14th, 1781, he entered the service again under Capt. John Thomson and served for three months mostly guarding prisoners at the Block House.

It is difficult to uncover information on John’s two wives. The writer’s speculations may not be correct. Ancestry.com lists Francis Fannie Berry as one of his wives and since their son, Benjamin, is sometimes listed as Benjamin Berry, it is the writer’s assumption that Francis is the first wife. Her dates are listed as 1767-1796.

Francis Fannie Berry was the daughter of John Berry (1731-1814) and Betty Hamer Berry (1733-1794).

Another wife is listed as Lucretia with the same above dates. Since his daughter by a second wife, Cynthia, has a daughter named Lucretia, it is the writer’s supposition that the second wife may have been Lucretia with different dates.

John Hodge applied for a pension for his Patriot services in Union District, S. C., on July 17, 1833. He was pensioned at the rate of $23.33, commencing March 4th, 1831, as a private in the South Carolina Militia.

John Hodge’s children by his first wife were: Samuel Hodge (1794-1865) and Benjamin Hodge (1796-1860). His child by a second wife was Cynthia Hodge (1813-1899). John Hodge died in 1835, in Union District, S. C.

(1). Samuel Hodge was born July 26, 1794. He married Susannah Wilson, daughter of Josiah and Sarah Wilson, on April 8, 1814, in Union District, S. C. She was born in Union District, S. C., November 13, 1795.

When his son, William Madison Hodge, was born in 1827, his family was living in Alabama. When his daughter, Martha, was born in 1829, his family was living in Tennessee. They had moved to Mississippi by 1840.

“Samuel and Susannah’s children were: John Hodge (1816-); Nancy Jane Hodge (1817-1880); Sarah Hodge (1819-); Mary Dee Hodge (1825-1859); Dee Missouri Hodge (1825-); William J. Madison Hodge (1827-1852).”

“Martha Elizabeth Hodge (1829-1870); Josiah Marion Hodge (1832-1858); Mary S. Hodge (1836-1859); Samuel F. Hodge (1838-1896); Emily Jane Hodge (1840-1853); Rebecca Hodge (1842-1858); and Elizabeth Hodge.

Samuel Hodge died in Paris, Lafayette, Mississippi, on February 27, 1865. Susannah Hodge, his wife, died September 5, 1884, in Paris, Lafayette, Mississippi.

(2). Benjamin Berry Hodge was born in 1794, and his mother, Francis Fannie Berry, appears to have died shortly after his birth.

He married Dorcas Moseley, daughter of James Thomas and Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley. She was born in 1796, in Union District, S. C, and they were married circa 1812, in the same district, when she was 16 years old.

In the 1820 census of Union District, S. C., Benjamin Hodge is listed with 3 free white males to 10; 2 free white females to 10.

In the 1830 census of Union District, S. C., Benjamin Hodge is listed with 2 males 5 under 10; 1 male 10 under 15; 1 male 15 under 20; and 3 females under 5. Most of these children were with Dorcas.

Before the 1830 census was taken, Dorcas Moseley Hodge, had moved to Bradley County, Tennessee, with Jared Foster.

Jared’s parents were John and Mary McElfresh Foster. His parents may have moved to Union District during the Revolutionary War.

It is possible that John was a Patriot soldier. According to Ancestry, John was the son of John Foster Jr. (1719-1764) and Averilla Haskew (1725-1799).

John’s wife, Mary McElfresh Foster, was the daughter of Richard McElfresh (1724-1808) and Susannah Green (1723-1810) of Maryland.

Jared served with Major Lauderdale’s Tennessee Volunteers in an action against native Americans, in the second Seminole War.

Jared was previously married, but his wife’s name is unknown to this writer. They had three children: Danis Garrett Foster; Mary Foster (1822-1857); and John Foster (1823-1870).

(a). Jared’s son, Danis Garrett Foster, joined the Union Army in East Tennessee, during the War Between the States.

(b). Jared’s daughter, Mary Foster, was born in 1822, in Union District, S. C. She married Andrew Hooper in Bradley County, Tennessee. He was born September 23, 1805, in Eureka, Bradley County, Tennessee.

Mary and Andrew had three sons and one daughter. Mary died in 1857, in Eureka, Bradley County, Tennessee, and Andrew died on June 5, 1866, in Eureka, Bradley County, Tennessee.

(c). Jared’s son, John, was born in 1823, in Union District, S. C. He married Jane (unknown) circa 1846, in Jasper County, Missouri. They had three sons and three daughters.

Jane was deceased circa 1856, and John was remarried to Mrs. Julia Ann Margraves Coffelt (1825-1869), widow of Thomas Coffelt, on February 20, 1860, in Jasper County, Missouri.

Julia Ann and Thomas Coffelt had two sons and three daughters. She had one son, John, in 1861, with John Foster. Julia Ann died in 1869, in Jasper County, Missouri, and John Foster died in this county after 1870.

*Benjamin and Dorcas Hodge had a daughter, Sarah, born in 1826. She was just several months old, when Dorcas and Jared Foster left South Carolina, and did not go with them.

It appears to this writer that Sarah was raised by Benjamin’s sister, Cynthia Hodge Reeves.

Sarah Hodge, daughter of Benjamin and Dorcas, is supposed to have married Isaac Haile, son of John and Rachel Harris Haile, and grandson of Capt. John and Ruth Mitchell Haile.

On September 8, 1858, Isaac Haile gave 50 acres of land to Zachariah Sr. and Cynthia Hodge Reeves, possibly for his appreciation for their care of Sarah Hodge.

After the Reeves couple’s death the land was to be given to their children. Zachariah Reeves Jr. purchased the land from his sisters in the early 1900s.

Sarah Hodge may have been Isaac’s first wife, and Sarah Garner his second, since he did not marry Sarah Garner until he was 29 years old.

“Dorcas and Jared Foster had the following children: (1). Lucinda J. Foster, (1828-) born in Bradley County, Tennessee; (2). Sarah Foster, (1830-) born in Bradley County, Tennessee; (3). Martha E. Foster, (1836-1903) born in Bradley County, Tennessee; (4). Elizabeth Foster (1840-1902) born in Bradley County, Tennessee.”

“(5). Andrew Jackson Foster, (Feb. 1842–Dec. 22, 1928), was born in McMinn County, Tennessee, and died in Tacma Pierce, Washington. (6). Francis Marion Foster, (January 9, 1846–Feb. 7, 1928), was born in Prairie County, Arkansas, and died in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri.”

(a). Lucinda J. Foster was born in Bradley County, Tennessee, in 1828. She was listed with her family as 22 years old and single during the 1850 census in Jackson Township, Jasper County, Missouri. She was not listed in her father’s census records in 1860. Her possible marriage and death records are unknown to this writer.

(b). Sarah Foster was born in Bradley County, Tennessee, in 1830. She was listed with her family as 20 years old and single during the 1850, Jasper County, Missouri, census. She was not listed in her father’s census records in 1860. Her possible marriage and death records are unknown to this writer.
(c). Martha E. Foster was born in Bradley County, Tennessee, in July of 1837. She married James McIntyre Hornback (1796-1877), son of James and Mary Elizabeth McIntyre Hornback (1802-1869) on July 2, 1854, while her family lived in Jasper County, Missouri.
Martha and James Hornback had seven daughters and two sons. Martha died July 4, 1903, in Eagleville, Modoc County, California, and James died March 7, 1904, in Eagleville, Modoc, California.

(d). Elizabeth E. Foster was born in November of 1840, in Bradley County, Tennessee. She married John David Jones (1827-1870), son of Lewis (1795-1849) and Milly Catherine Spence Jones (1802-1875), on December 20, 1860, in Jasper County, Missouri.

Elizabeth and John had three sons and one daughter. John David Jones died September 28, 1870, in Jasper County, Missouri.

Andrew J. Ady (1842-1900)—with one son; William H. Spencer (1817-1888)—with one son and twin girls; and William W. Berman (1829-1902)–are all listed as her spouses.

She died on June 22, 1902, in Washington, Daviess County, Indiana.

(e). Andrew Jackson Foster was born February 15, 1842, in McMinn County, Tennessee.

Jared Foster and his family moved to Marmaton, Kansas, in 1861, at the beginning of the War Between the States. Andrew J. Foster enlisted in the Union Army, 2nd Kansas Battery of Light Artillery on September 10, 1862. He was mustered out on August 11, 1865.

He was first married to Amanda Chester. She died giving birth to her daughter, Sarah. Sarah was raised by neighbors, and later moved with her husband to live near her father and half siblings in the state of Washington.

Andrew Jackson Foster married Hannah Catherine (Anna Kate) Morgan, daughter of Thomas Hamilton Morgan (1817-1898) and Elizabeth C. Noble (1822-1896) in Montgomery County, Kansas, on April 19, 1874. Hannah was born November 1, 1854, in Madison County, Indiana.

They had five sons and one daughter. They were living in Laramie, Wyoming, in 1880; in Bellview, Idaho, in 1882; in Ione, Oregon, in 1889; and in North Bend, Washington, in 1892.

“Andrew Jackson Foster lived out the end of his life at the State Soldiers Home in Orting, Washington, and signed to enter the Old Soldier’s Home, listing as his father, Jared Foster, and as his mother, Dorcas Moseley.”

“By this time (1905) five sons: (Duke, Roscoe, Ewell, Oscar and Cloyd) and his estranged wife, Hannah Catherine Morgan Foster, had established themselves in Alberta, Canada.” Duke and Roscoe returned to Washington State.

William Cloyd and Dorothy Margaret Tarplee Foster were parents of Lawrence Cloyd Foster and grandparents of Dale Foster and Gregory Lawrence Foster.

Andrew Jackson Foster died on December 24, 1928, in Tacoma, Pierce, Washington. He was buried at the Washington Soldiers Home Cemetery in Orting, Pierce, Washington, USA. His wife, Hannah Catherine, died in 1942, in Manola, Barrhead, Alberta, Canada.

(f). Francis Marion Foster was born in Prairie Grove County, Arkansas, on January 9, 1846.

He married Emily Jane Coffelt, daughter of Thomas W. (1818-1857) and Julia Ann Margrave (1825-1869), on August 5, 1866, in Jasper County, Missouri. She was born on September 13, 1846, in Missouri.

Francis and Emily had three daughters and one son. Emily died on December 21, 1886, in Coffeyville, Montgomery, Kansas. She was only 40 years old.

Francis was then married a second time to Mary A. Fox, daughter of James (1840-1880) and Sarah E. Johnson Fox (1840-1918), on February 16, 1888, in Coffeyville, Montgomery, Kansas. They had four daughters and one son.

Francis Marion Foster died on February 7, 1928, in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri. Mary Fox Foster was born in August of 1864, and died on June 20, 1958.

*The residence of Jared and Dorcas on July 18, 1870, was in Westralia, Montgomery County, Kansas.

*Jared and Dorcas sons, Andrew Jackson Foster, and Francis Marion Foster, were also living in Kansas at this time.

*“Dorcas died in Kansas in 1870. A newspaper article concerning the death of Jared Foster states: “At the residence of his son, east of Coffeyville, the 9th of August A. D. 1876, Mr. Jared Foster died, aged 83 years.”

*Jared died in Montgomery County, Kansas, where he was buried.” He and Dorcas had six children.

EPHRAIM FOWLER was born in 1765, and was the son of Henry Ellis and Mary Catherine Puckett Fowler. He was probably born in Virginia, and died in 1822, in Union District, S. C.

It appears to this writer that Ephraim’s grandparents were Godfrey Fowler III and Mary ? Fowler. His great grandparents were Mark and Majory ? Fowler.

His first wife was Nancy Keziah Moseley, daughter of John and Ann Abernathy Moseley, and a sister of James Thomas (High Key) Moseley. Nancy was born in 1769, married in 1788, and died in 1802, according to Heritage Family Trees.

There is a mistake in their report. It states that she was the sister of James (High Key) Moseley, which was true. But it also states that she was the daughter of John and Ann Williams Moseley, which was not true. John and Ann Williams Moseley never left North Carolina.

Nancy Keziah Moseley’s parents, John and Anne Abernathy Moseley, settled in Union District, S. C. John Moseley, father of Nancy Keziah, was born before 1738, possibly in Brunswick County, Virginia.

John died after 1776, in Union County, S. C. His wife, Anne Abernathy Moseley, was born in 1739, and died in Union County, S. C., after 1797.

Nancy Keziah Moseley was the first wife of Ephraim Fowler. They had the following children: Jasper Fowler (1784-); Lydia Fowler (1786-1852); John Fowler (1790-1849); Sarah Fowler (1791); Mary Polly Fowler (1794-); Stephen Fowler (1798-1866); Melinda Fowler (1800-1894); and Catherine Fowler (1802-1822).

Lydia Fowler was not the child of Nancy Moseley, the daughter of James Thomas (High Key) Moseley and Nancy Anna Jasper. Lydia was born in 1786, the same year that Nancy Moseley, daughter of James (High Key) Moseley was born.

Lydia was the daughter of Nancy Keziah Moseley and Ephraim Fowler. She was married to Charles Hames, and among their children was a daughter named Nancy.

Ephraim Fowler’s second wife was Nancy Moseley, the daughter of James Thomas (High Key) and Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley. Nancy (the second wife) married Ephraim Fowler, possibly in 1803. She was his first wife’s niece.

Nancy Moseley Fowler was born in 1786, in Union District, S. C., and died in Missouri in 1854. Her age was not 50 to 59 in 1830, and she was not living with Lydia Hames, a stepdaughter, in 1850.

In 1830, Nancy Moseley Fowler was still living in Ephraim’s house on the west side of Fanning’s Creek with her son, Ellis, and his wife, Sarah Mabry Fowler, and their children.

Their house was next to one that belonged to the Zachariah Reeves Sr.’s family. Zachariah Sr. was the brother-in-law of Benjamin Berry Hodge.

Ellis Fowler (1803-) and Elizabeth Betty Fowler (1805-) were born to Ephraim, and Nancy Moseley Fowler, his second wife.

BENJAMIN HODGE and NANCY MOSELEY FOWLER, widow of Ephraim Fowler, had a common law marriage. They were not living together, when the 1830 census was taken, but according to Ancestry they had a daughter, Lucinda, born in 1828, and a son, Jasper, born in 1831, in Union District, S. C.

Ancestry refers to the parents of both Lucinda and Jasper as daughters of Benjamin Hodge and Nancy Fowler. By the age of 19, Jasper was living in Ozark County, Missouri, with his parents.

According to Ancestry, Lucinda Hodge married Jasper Kissee (1825-). They had seven children and lived in Missouri. Several of their children were born in Douglas County, Missouri. Lucinda died in Lawrence, Arkansas, on November 15, 1924.

Benjamin and Nancy’s daughter, Lucinda, and son, Jasper, were both born in Union District, S. C. They moved to Bradley County, Tennessee, and were living there in 1840 or before.

Benjamin and Nancy were living in Ozark County, Missouri, with their son, Jasper, in 1850. Their daughter, Lucinda, was already married.

Nancy Moseley Fowler died in Ozark County, Missouri, in 1854, and Benjamin Berry Hodge died, in Douglas County, Missouri, in 1860.

(3). Cynthia “Syntha” Hodge. She was the daughter of John Hodge, and was born April 7, 1813, in Union District, S. C. Cynthia married Zachariah “Zack” Reeves Sr. (1800-1891), son of John Reeves (1750-1814) and Mary (unknown) Reeves, in Union District, S. C., in 1829.

John Reeves was the son of Jonathan Deardon Reeves (1698-1755) and Sarah Thompson Reeves (1699-1793), and the grandson of William Reeves (1680-1751), and his wife, Margaret Frances Burgess Reeves (1678-1751).

Zachariah Reeves Sr. and Cynthia Hodge Reeves had the following children: E. Carolina Reeves (1831-1895); Mary Reeves (1833-1895); Lucretia Tracey Reeves (1837-1900); William Thomas Reeves (1839-1863); John Reeves (1841-1865); Zachariah Reeves (1844-1935); Susan Reeves (1845-1932); Nancy C. Reeves (1849-1939); Cynthia Ann Reeves (1853-1924).

Their son, Zachariah Reeves Jr. was a soldier in the War Between the States and enlisted on August 29, 1861, in Co. F, Reg. 15, S. C. Volunteers. He was wounded in the Battle of Strausburg, Virginia, on October 11, 1864.

Zachariah Reeves Sr. died in Union County, S. C., February 22, 1891, and Cynthia Hodge Reeves died November 25, 1899, in Union County. They were buried in marked graves in the Gilead Baptist Church cemetery.

Zachariah Sr. and Cynthia were the great, great, grandparents of the writer’s wife, Elizabeth Reeves Ivey.

JOHN BECKHAM

A plat of 178 acres was surveyed for Joab Mitchell on both sides of the Pacolet River on June 2, 1767. It was joined by the Hughes line and the Beckhams line. Zachariah Bullock was the surveyor and John Beckham and John Hail were chain bearers.

John Beckham was already living on his grant of 400 acres and had built a cabin. When William Henderson moved to Carroll (Grindal) Shoals in 1769, he stayed for several years with his sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, John. William was not married at this time. Beckham’s place was approximately three miles above Carroll (Grindal) Shoals.

After several years William Henderson built a house on his property and allowed the Beckhams to live in a cabin already constructed on his land. It was a part of the Henderson grant on Sandy Run. About 1775, Beckham sold his house and land to William Hodge. It was the house that Tarleton and his troops destroyed by fire.

Beckham operated the store that William Henderson built in Grindal Shoals. No deed was given by William Henderson to the land the Beckhams lived on, but when William died, his brother, John, as administrator of William’s estate, had the 200 acres and cabin deeded to Beckham’s daughters.

John Beckham was a “spy” in the Revolutionary War period and was a trainer of horses. Wade Hampton’s parents were killed by Indians, and Wade, their son, and John, his brother, spent a great deal of time with the Beckhams, when they were not serving as Patriot soldiers.

After the war Wade Hampton, who had spent much time at Beckham’s house, gave Beckham employment as a trainer of race horses.

John (Jack) Beckham Sr. died in Santuc, in Union District, S. C., in July of 1789. “He died before he could apply for a Revolutionary war pension, leaving a widow and several daughters.”

He was buried in the Beckham plot at the Hodge place, and his grave was not marked. Elizabeth (Betsy) Henderson died in the Grindal Shoals area of Union District, S. C., on August 17, 1831, and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Beckham plot beside her husband and son. Eight of their children were buried in the Beckham plot.

GENERAL WILLIAM HENDERSON

William was born in Granville County, North Carolina, on March 3, 1748. His parents were Samuel Henderson, sometimes called Sheriff Henderson, and his wife, Elizabeth Williams, both formerly of Hanover County, Virginia.

In the absence of proper schools for the education of children, Samuel employed a tutor. William Henderson acquired 1200 acres of land in the Carroll (Grindal) Shoals area of upper South Carolina, circa 1769. He purchased these grants from his brother, Richard Henderson.

William’s sisters: Ruth (Mitchell), Ann (Williams) and Elizabeth (Beckham) were already living in Carroll Shoals. In 1769, William had to move to this area to oversee his property, but had no house of his own so his sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, John Beckham, let him stay with them.

For several years he lived with his sister until he constructed his own cabin. He allowed the Beckham’s to settled on his land just off Sandy Run Creek in possibly a cabin that had already been built by “squatters”.

William Henderson, in his will, gave the land (200 acres) to the Beckhams and his brother, John, an executor of the estate deeded the land to the daughters of Beckham.

William was a prosperous planter, who was sufficiently influential in his community, and elected as a delegate to the second Provincial Congress in August of 1775.

“When the SC 6th Regiment was established in February of 1776, William Henderson was commissioned as its first Major under Lt. Col. Thomas Sumter on Feb. 29, 1776. He was promoted in September 16, 1776, to Lt. Colonel.”

“His regiment was a part of the army on the campaign into Georgia in 1778. Henderson’s regiment was present at the Battle of Stono Ferry, June 20, 1779, and he commanded one flank of the American army.”

“Joseph Buffington sold his ironworks to William Henderson on August 18-19, 1779. The deed included the 600 acres, 50 acres and 1,000 acres. Consideration was one-hundred-thousand pounds of South Carolina money.”

“In less than a month, on September 4, 1779, William Henderson petitioned the House of Representatives stating he had purchased the ironworks from Buffington and needed 2,924 acres for trees as fuel. He admitted the Buffington debt was still due.”

“On April 24, 1788, about three months, after the death of Henderson, an advertisement appeared in the Columbia Herald (Charleston) for a public auction of the ironworks. It listed the total acreage to be offered as 4,574 acres.”

“William Henderson was commander of the SC 6th Regiment until it was disbanded in February of 1780, due to low enlistments. In February of 1780, he was transferred to the SC 3rd Regiment (Rangers) under Col. William Thomson.”

“On February 19, 1780, Lt. Col. William Henderson relieved Lt. Col. Francis Marion of duty at the post in Dorchester, but his command was withdrawn into Charles Town as soon as that city was attacked by the British.”

“During the siege, April 24, 1780, a party of two hundred men detailed from the Virginia and South Carolina troops under Lt. Col. Henderson sallied out at daylight and completely surprised the enemy in their trenches. About fifteen British soldiers were killed by the bayonet and twelve prisoners were brought in, seven of whom were wounded.”

“Upon the receipt of the British summons to surrender the city, a council of war was held on May 8th, and it was decided that further resistance was useless. William Henderson was one of
eleven officers who voted against surrender.” After the surrender he was held a prisoner of war at Haddrell’s Point until exchanged.”

Anthony Allaire of Ferguson’s command states in his journal: “Marched eight miles to Col. (William) Henderson’s plantation, Pacolet River. Henderson is prisoner in Charleston, he has a pretty plantation with near two hundred acres of Indian corn growing.”

“Lt. Col. William Henderson became a prisoner at the Fall of Charleston on May 12, 1780, and was exchanged in November of 1780.

He joined Brigadier General Thomas Sumter and was once again Sumter’s second in command. Henderson was promoted to full Colonel on September 30, 1781, when Sumter resigned.”

“Having reported for duty Henderson was put in command of General Sumter’s Brigade, the latter being then incapacitated by a wound.”

“At Eutaw Springs, September 8, 1781, Col. Henderson commanded the advance guard of General Green’s army in the movement on the British troops, and the left of the line of battle during the attack. This happened to be the most exposed position on the field of battle, and his troops were exposed to an oblique fire, which was very demoralizing.”

“He asked General Greene for permission to charge the enemy to relieve the situation, but General Greene thought the risk of a defeated charge was too great, as it would expose the flanks of the artillery and militia.”

“While thus impatiently waiting an opportunity for action Col. Henderson was severely wounded, and his troops momentarily demoralized, but Col. Wade Hampton, who succeeded to the command, soon restored confidence.”

“Continental Army Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Greene convinced Thomas Sumter to return in November of 1781, but he again resigned in January of 1782, to pursue his political aspirations at the Jacksonborough assembly.

In February of 1782, with Charleston occupied by the British, the South Carolina General Assembly met in Jacksonboro, which became the Provisional Capital of South Carolina for a short duration.

In January of 1782, William Henderson was commissioned as Brigadier General and given command of the brigade of state troops/militia formerly led by Brigadier General Thomas Sumter. He continued to lead this brigade until the end of the war in 1783.”

A marker was erected at the intersection of Gervais Street, and Henderson Street, on the right when traveling east on Gergais Street. The marker has the following inscription: “This street is named for Brig. General William Henderson who was in the Third S. C. Regiment at the fall of Charleston in 1780.

In 1781, he was wounded, while commanding a brigade at the Battle of Eutaw Springs. When General Sumter resigned in 1782, Henderson was named Brigadier General of State Troops, a post
he held until 1783. He served in the Second Provincial Congress (1775-76) and in the S. C. House.”

“When the war was over he married, sold his estate to his brother, John, and moved to and settled on the Santee River.”

General Thomas Sumter lived close to Nelson’s Ferry over the Santee. Jared Nelson was the owner of the Ferry. “A skirmish was fought there on December 14, 1780. Col. Francis Marion was the Patriot commander. Lt. Col. Balfour ordered that boats on the Santee stay below Murry’s Ferry.

“However, one boat, which did not receive the directive in time, was captured. Although a detachment of the 64th Regiment of Foot was posted at Nelson’s Ferry at the time of the raid, their numbers were not sufficient to pursue Col. Francis Marion’s large number of men.”

“The Patriots swarmed aboard the seized vessel and removed all stores, sails, hardware and everything of military value, then they applied the torch.”

“Four days later, Major John Campbell, the newly appointed commander of the 64th Regiment of Foot, reported to Lord Rawdon that Col. Francis Marion and his army still lay at Nelson’s Ferry. For the next several days, the two enemies lay watching each other, both sides seemingly content with the occasional random shot at the other side.”

Jared Nelson, owner of the Ferry, was deceased at this time.

Jared, son of George and Eleanor Howe Nelson, was born in 1733, in Williamsburg County, S. C., and died in 1780. His son, Tyne Nelson, and grandson, William Nelson, operated the ferry after he died.

Names of his first wife or wives are unknown to this writer. Jared and Letitia had a daughter, Hannah (born 1775 and died in 1850).

An interesting letter was sent from Maj. Andrew A. Maxwell to Capt. Abraham DePeyster after Jared died.

It reads: “The situation of Nielson I always thought an unpleasing one but it must be doubly so to my friend who has always shined in the circles of the fair. Mrs. Neilson, I suppose you spend a few leisure hours with, pray is not she a well informed woman & give me leave to tell you she has a considerable fortune.”

“I had once some thoughts of making love to her but unfortunately for me we had a terrible quarrel. After that I never could prevail upon her to listen to the soft tales of love. I hope you will be more successful.”

General Sumter introduced Letitia Davis Nelson to General William Henderson. She was born in 1756, to John Davis (1725-1780) and Dorothy Lenora Ransom (1735-1790) in Cleveland County, North Carolina. John Davis was killed in North Carolina, during the Revolutionary War.

Wiliam Ransom Davis (1765-1832) was Letitia’s brother, and Ann Davis (1757-1847), Nancy Davis (1763-1832), and Elizabeth Davis (1767-1844) were her sisters.

William Henderson and Letitia Davis Nelson agreed to a marriage settlement on December 4, 1782, and were married on December 24, 1782, in St. Matthew’s Parish in South Carolina. They had a daughter, Eliza Maria Henderson, born in 1784.

The State Gazette of South Carolina on Monday, February 11, 1788, contains the following notice: “Died on Tuesday the 29th at his plantation, Gen. William Henderson. He was a brave and intrepid officer, and much beloved and respected for his many virtues.”

His brother, John, and General Thomas Sumter were executors of his estate. He left his daughter and wife tracts of land and the residue of the estate. Apparently, Letitia had a son, William, who was mentioned in his will. He gave to him “all the property mentioned in the marriage settlement.” John Henderson saw that the 200 acres promised to the Beckhams was given to his daughters.

Letitia Davis Nelson Henderson, William Henderson’s wife, died in 1792, at their plantation near the Santee.

The daughter of William and Letitia, Eliza Maria, was the second wife of Simon Taylor, son of Capt. John Taylor Jr. (1746-1781) and his wife, Sarah Hirons (1751-1782). Eliza and Simon were married in 1806.

Simon married Mary Talman about 1795, and they had two sons, Sumter and Edward William. Mary died within ten years of the marriage, and then Simon married Eliza Maria Henderson.

Simon was elected to the South Carolina Legislature for 1800-1804. He had lived in the Richland District of South Carolina, for most of his life. In 1818, he moved his family to Opelousas, Louisiana.

“Simon’s father, John, migrated south from Amelia County, Virginia, to South Carolina, in the late 1840s. He served as a Captain in the South Carolina Line of the Continental Army under General Thomas Sumter. He died in 1781, from smallpox that infected him, while a Prisoner of War.”

“At the time of his father’s death, Simon was only 8 years old. He and his young siblings were well cared for by their mother, Sarah Hirons Taylor, and their paternal uncle, Col. Thomas Taylor, who became a prominent man in the military, and the government of South Carolina, during the Revolutionary War. Thomas was known historically as the founder of Columbia, S. C.”

The children of Simon and Eliza were: Henderson Taylor (born 1805); Emma Taylor (born 1807); John James Taylor (born 1808); Martha Partridge Taylor (born 1810); Ellen Claudia Taylor (born 1815).

“Following the Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and the victorious War of 1812, the Taylor family migrated south to Louisiana, where they settled in St. Landrey Parish by 1817/18.”

Eliza and Simon Taylor lived out their lives here with their children. They were both buried in Opelousas, Louisiana, in Myrtle Grove Cemetery. Simon died in 1820, and Eliza died in 1838.

The third wave of settlers came to the Grindal Shoals area in the 1770s.

JOHN “BLIND” CHISHOLM

John was born January 1, 1756, in Hanover County, Virginia. He was the son of David and Ann Griffin Chisholm, and the grandson of Adam John and Sarah Griffin Chisholm.

Adam John Chisholm was born in Roxburghshire, Scotland, in 1695, and died August 12, 1756, in Hanover County, Virginia. Sarah Griffin was born in 1697.

David Chisholm, Adam’s son, was born in 1728, in Hanover County, Virginia, and died in 1809, in Louisa County, Virginia. In 1749, in married Ann Griffin, daughter of Richard (1700-1766) and Mary Greene Griffin (1703-Sept. 22, 1766).

Ann was born in 1728, in Hanover County, Virginia, and died in December of 1800, in Louisa County, Virginia. They had the following children:

Mary Lewis Chisholm (1752-1818); Adam Chisholm Jr. (1753-1817); John “Blind John” Chisholm (1756-1829); Thomas Chisholm (1760-1825); David Chisholm Jr. (1766-1815); Ann Chisholm (1770-1800); and James Lee Chisholm (1772-).

John “Blind John” Chisholm moved from Virginia to Charleston, S. C. in 1769. He married Sarah Campbell Harris, daughter of Jonathan and Margaret Harris in 1774. She was born in Spartanburg County, S. C., in 1756.

John probably built his large house in the early 1770s. His tract of land included a large spring called the Chisholm Spring. He also built a racetrack on the level field directly in front of his residence. Later, Major Starke Sims built his house on the opposite side of the road in front of the racetrack.

“Blind John” was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He served under Capt. John Taylor, Col. John Thomas and General Francis Pickens and General Nathaniel Greene.

He served under Col. Benjamin Roebuck before and after the fall of Charleston. “His name came from wounds received in the service of Col. Benjamin Roebuck’s regiment of mounted spies during the Battle of Charleston, S. C.” He lost his sight appoximately 25 years before his death due to an injury received in the Revolutionary War.

When Abram Nott, a New England lawyer came to Grindal Shoals, he opened a law office in Chisholm’s house. David Johnson and William Henderson were two of his pupils.

David Johnson was enamored with the charms of John Chisholm’s daughter, Nancy. But Nancy was poor so she married a rich suitor, William Fisher, and “David was the best man at the wedding, and led the ‘wild ride for the bottle’”.

William Fisher was born in Rutherford County, North Carolina, in 1783, and died in White County, Tennessee, in 1831. He and Nancy’s homestead was at the base of Hickory Nut Mountain. They raised nine children here.

John “Blind John” died in Madison County, Alabama, June 15, 1829, and Sarah died August 30, 1848, in White County, Tennessee. His brothers, David and Thomas, died in Chester County, S. C., and his brother, Adam, and Adam’s son, David, died in Union District, S. C.

John and Sarah’s children were: 1. William Chishom was born in 1775, and died in August of 1809; 2. Polly Chisholm was born circa 1778, and died 1855; 3. John “Hickory” Chisholm was born November 30, 1779, and died 1855.

4. Rachel Chisholm was born in 1782, and died in 1855; 5. Betsy Elizabeth Chisholm was born in 1782, and died in 1855; 6. Elisha Chisholm was born in 1774, and died in 1835.
5. Elijah M. Chisholm was born in 1784, and died in 1832. 8. Gatewood Chisholm was born in 1785, and died April 17, 1819; 9. Mary Chisholm was born in 1786; 10. Francis Chisholm was born in 1787, and died in 1855;
6. Sarah Ann “Sallie” Chisholm was born in 1788, and died in 1860, in White County, Tennessee; 12. Nancy Chisholm was born in 1790, and died in December of 1858; 13. James Chisholm was born in 1792, and died in 1822; 14. Preston A. Chisholm was born in 1796; 15. Overton Deweese Chisholm was born in 1798, and died in 1883.

JOHN LAWSON HENDERSON

John was born on October 24, 1744, in Granville County, North Carolina, and was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Williams Henderson.

John married Solomon Alston’s widow, Sarah Hillard Alston, on
June 4, 1772, in Granville County, North Carolina. Sarah Hillard was the daughter of John Hillard (1703-1748) and Mary Bridges Hillard (-1750).

Sarah Hillard was first married to Solomon Alston, son of Solomon Alston (1709-1784) and Ann Nancy Hinton (1714-1780), in Chowan County, North Carolina, in 1753.

Solomon Alston was born October 24, 1733, in Chowan County, N. C., and died in Granville County, N. C., in August of 1771.

Sarah and Solomon had four children: Robert Lewis Alston (1758); Lemuel James Alston (1760-1836); Henry Alston (1762-1839); and Elizabeth Charity Alston (1764-1811). None of these children had reached maturity, when John and Sarah married, but they remained in Granville County, N. C., with their mother and step-father.

Henry Alston was born in 1762, in Chowan County, North Carolina. He married Sarah Hill (1764-), daughter of Thomas Hill. They had four children: Fannie Foster Alston (1775-1835); Willis Alston (1783-); Thomas Alston (1787-); and Sally Alston (1789-). Henry died in 1839 in Marengo County, Alabama.

Elizabeth Charity Alston was born in 1764, in Chowan County, North Carolina. She married Ransom Sutherland (1750-1823), son of John and Sarah Ladd Sutherland, on April 5, 1778, in Granville County, North Carolina. They had five sons and four daughters.

Elizabeth Christy Alston Sutherland died in June of 1811, in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Ransom Sutherland died August 21, 1823, in Wake Forest.

During the American Revolutionary War, Sheriff Samuel Henderson had five sons who fought with the Patriots: Richard, William, John, Pleasant and Thomas. They were all officers.

John Henderson and his brother, Richard, first joined the Granville, North Carolina, County Regiment of Militia in 1775. They both held the rank of Major.

Their Regiment fought at the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge on February 27, 1776; the Battle of Briar Creek in Georgia on March 3, 1779; The Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779; and the Battle of the Siege of Charleston 3/28-5/12/1780.

John perhaps moved to South Carolina, after his brother, William, was imprisoned in May of 1780, to take care of his farming operations. William had 1200 acres of land.

John joined a South Carolina Regiment after moving to this state. He and his brother, William, were both in the Battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781, and both sustained battle injuries. William was a full colonel, and John was a lieutenant colonel in this battle.

John Lawson Henderson and Sarah Hillard Alston Henderson had three children: William Henderson (1772-); Sarah “Sallie” Henderson (1774-1831); and Elizabeth “Betsy” Henderson (1776-1844).

After the Revolutionary War, John’s brother, William, decided to move his interests to the low state and sold John Henderson his 1200 acres near Grindal Shoals, S. C.

Two hundred of these acres had been committed to the Beckham family, and when John became executor of his brother’s estate, he had this property recorded in the Beckham girls’ names.

The Reverend James Bailey wrote: “John Henderson was much beloved by his neighbors, being a very fine character jolly, jovial and good natured. He was fond of the dance, and he with Miss Sallie Goudelock, arrayed in famous ‘blue silk and diamond necklace’ would lead off in the stately minuets of the times.”

Adam Potter signed the bond for John Henderson, when he was appointed sheriff in Union County, S. C., on April 7, 1795. John served through 1799. When John Henderson was elected sheriff, he appointed Henry Fernandis as his deputy. He was also a member of the State Legislature.

John Henderson was always referred to as “Major Henderson”,
but should have been called “Colonel Henderson” for this was the last rank he had achieved just before the Battle of Eutaw Springs.

John’s son, William, was one of Abraham Nott’s law pupils, while Nott had a law office at “Blind Chisholm’s”. William passed the bar and practiced law briefly in the city of Greenville, S. C., where his half-brother, Lemuel Alston, lived.

His father’s health became a problem, and William moved back to Union District, S. C., to manage his father’s property.

The Reverend J. D. Bailey wrote: “It was William’s custom on the ‘laying by of the crop’ to summon his retainers to assemble at ‘Chisholm’s Spring, a famous place in a dense wood, on his domain, where they would hold high carnival for a week or more, indulging in ‘green corn’ dances, and all manner of extravagances.”

Lemuel Alston, son of Solomon and Sarah Hillard Alston, and John’s step-son, was a student at William and Mary in Virginia, during a portion of the Revolutionary War years. He graduated in 1780, and moved to the Grindal Shoals area to be near his mother.

In 1786, Lemuel Alston received at least one grant of 418 acres of land in the vicinity of Green’s Mill from South Carolina Governor William Moultrie. Within a short period of time he had acquired several other tracts of land, securing the most extensive landholdings in the area.

Lemuel married Elizabeth Catherine Williams, daughter of Joseph John Williams Sr. and Elizabeth Matilda Alston, in 1787. Elizabeth had six sons and two daughters. She died February 15, 1816.

Lemuel studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Greenville, S. C. He served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1789 to 1790.

In 1797, Lemuel used his land holdings to establish a village called Pleasantburg, where he also built a stately mansion. The writer has a picture of his mansion.

As a lawyer and one of the area’s leading citizens, he won election to the U. S. House of Representatives and reelection two years later.

At the age of fifty-five in 1815, Lemuel sold his 11,027 acres in Greenville, S. C., to Vardry McBee Jr. for $27,557.00 and moved to Clarke County, Alabama, and settled on the Tombigbee River, opposite St. Stephens. Here he presided over the orphan’s court and the county court from November 1816 until May 1821.

He married his second wife, Elizabeth “Betsey” Norfleet Hunter Williams, daughter of Elisha Williams and Sarah Josey Williams, on February 3, 1818. She was his first wife’s half-sister and lived in Halifax County, North Carolina.

Betsey was born March 6, 1778, in Halifax and was the widow of John Joseph Williams. She returned with Lemuel to his plantation in Clarke County, Alabama, and after his death at Alston Place, in 1836, returned to North Carolina, where she died on January 31, 1864.

SARAH HILLARD ALSTON, John Henderson’s wife, died May 8, 1823.

When John Henderson died before April 5, 1824, he bequeathed to his son, William, all the land that he was “possessed of excepting thirty or forty acres more or less.” This land he willed to his daughter, Elizabeth Farnandis.

Sarah “Sallie”, John Henderson’s daughter was born in 1774, in Granville County, North Carolina. She married Benjamin Haile, son of Capt. John Haile and Ruth Mitchell, in 1796. He was born October 23, 1774, in Hawkins County, Tennessee.

Sarah and Benjamin had five sons and one daughter. Benjamin Haile died in October of 1813, in Columbia, S. C., and Sarah died August 18, 1823, in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.

Sarah “Sallie” Henderson Haile received one shilling from her father, John Henderson’s estate. She married her father’s sister, Mary’s, grandson.

Elizabeth Henderson, John’s daughter, was born in 1776, in Granville County, North Carolina, before her father moved the family to South Carolina.

She married Henry Farnandis, son of Peter Farnandis III, and his wife, Elizabeth Vetlada Grant, in 1798, in South Carolina. Henry was born in 1769, in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland.

They had five sons and three daughters. Henry Farnandis died on October 15, 1823, in Grindal Shoals, S. C., and Elizabeth Farnandis died there on July 28, 1844.

John also left his son, William, “one negro man named Bob, together with my stock of horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, household and kitchen furniture.” William was the executor of his father’s estate. Unfortunately, this writer has not been able to discover William’s death date.

In circa 1981, this writer with David Smith visited Ed Eison, who pointed out the location of the Sally Norris house, where General Daniel Morgan was encamped before the Battle of Cowpens. He also showed us the ruins of his grandfather Poly Eison’s store.

Ed Eison took us by the John Henderson house (built by his brother, William). It was extant then but demolished later.

Several years ago with Greg Foster of Canada, we visited the Henderson gravesite. There were three graves all marked with fieldstones. They were the graves of Col. John Henderson, Sarah Hillard Alston Henderson, and William Henderson, their son.

SIMS AND FOWLER FAMILIES

“Charles Sims was the son of Matthew ‘James River Mat’ Sims and his wife, Jemima Glenn Sims, who were married on November 2, 1736. Charles was evidently the first child of this marriage, since he was born in 1737.”
“Matthew came to Virginia early in the Eighteenth Century from Somerset, England, and settled on James River, either in Henrico or Gooch-land counties. He and his wife had seven sons and four daughters.”

“Matthew Sims came to South Carolina, after the close of the Revolutionary War, settled on Tinker Creek, a tributary of the Tyger River. William, his grandson, said: ‘He was a very good man, I never heard aught against him. Had there been anything I surely would have head it.’”

He lived to an advanced age and was killed by the fall of a limb from a burning tree, as he stopped to light his pipe in passing through new ground.”

“Charles Sims married Sybella (Isabella) Bowles (1740-1818), daughter of John Knight Bowles (1703-1779) and Sarah Lewis Rice Bowles (1705-1807) of Hanover County, Virginia. She was a woman of high courage, of firm, true principles, suffered all the distress and privations incident to the time.”

“Deed Book C, Amherst County, Virginia, pages 537-40 records the purchase of a tract of land by Charles Sims of Albemarle County, Virginia, from John Reid of Amherst County, Virginia, for 75 pounds on May 3, 1773.

In the year 1774, Charles Sims and his family removed to the Ninety Six District of South Carolina, and settled on Tyger River at the mouth of Tinker Creek.” He was a land surveyor.

“When the war was declared with England he returned to Virginia and raised a company, was mustered into service at Albemarle Court House, and received his commission as a captain from Patrick Henry, dated 1777. He was sent back to South Carolina to engage in partisan warfare.”

Deed Book E, Amherst County, Virginia, page 101, gives the record of the sale of 487 acres of land by Charles Sims of the County of Albemarle to Lee Harris of Amherst County, for One Thousand Pounds of current money of Virginia, on February 8, 1779.

“The marauding Tories robbed them of everything they could carry off, servants, stock, clothes and bedding. The only horse they had left was an old mare called ‘Knotty Head,’ from an immense swelling on the side of her head.”

“The old lady would mount ‘Knotty’ with her bundle of medicines and bandages, with her young son, Billy, to trot behind to switch Knotty’s legs, when she heard of an engagement with the enemy, and be on hand to administer to the wounded and dying.”

“My father went into N. C., and left us at home. “Bloody Bill Cunningham came with a party to our house and called out my mother and ordered her to leave the place before he came back, as he would burn the house down upon our heads.”

“Finally the Tories burnt the house, and they were left without shelter, goods or clothing in the bitter winter weather. We went to old ‘Mr. Gregory’s’. My father heard of the situation and came for us.”

“He got some horses and carried us to the house of Rev. J. Alexander, York District. Here the old Parson inoculated us all with the small pox (vaccination). When we recovered my father put us in a wagon.”

“In some way Capt. Sims managed to convey us to Virginia under the escort of Lieutenant Ellis Fowler as far as ‘Roanoke Mats,’ where we were received with the warmest sympathy, fed and clothed and afterward sent on to the James River.”

“With his trusted rifle on his shoulder, Ellis Fowler walked back to Virginia with Mrs. Sims and her family. Having successfully completed his mission, Ellis returned to his company and did faithful service until the end of the war.” (Rev. James D. Bailey’s account)
“Charles Sims’ son, William, states: “My father was not at Brandon’s Defeat (June 1781) but hearing of that affair, went out and buried the dead. My mother attended to the wounded at that time (with her green salve). She had a recipe for making ‘green salve’ by the application of which she performed some wonderful cures.”
“Some time after this Charles Sims and John Johnson were taken prisoners at the ‘Siege of Charleston’ (1780). The Tory leader condemned them both to be hanged.”
“Johnson had already been executed and Capt. Charles Sims was standing with the rope around his neck, and the cap over his head, when he heard the galloping of a horse and a voice ring out, ‘Who have you got there?’ The answer was ‘Charles Sims’.”

‘Take him down and wait until I return.’ In a short time the soldier returned with a pardon on parole.” The British officer who rescued him was a Capt. David George of the British Army, an old schoolmate and friend.”

Charles went directly back to Virginia, took up arms and served to the end of the war.

In a Biographical Sketch of Charles Sims by Phil Norfleet, the Draper Manuscripts (Interview with William Sims), Union County Gee Family and the Reverend J. D. Bailey’s article on Lieutenant Ellis Fowler, there seems to be some differences.

Dr. Bobby Moss in his book, South Carolina Patriots, states: “Charles Sims was a captain of foot in the militia under Col. Philemon Waters from February 8 to April 7, 1779, and from June 3, 1780, to December 10, 1781.” This may have been a different Charles Sims.”

Charles Sims and his wife, Isabella, had four children: Elizabeth married Joseph Shelton; Nancy married Thomas McDaniel; Mary married Warren Hall; and William married Betsey Shelton.

“After the Revolutionary War, Charles Sims and his family settled on the west side of Broad River, six miles below Lockhart Shoals in an area that, in 1785, became Union District, S. C. Here he built a comfortable old Virginia farm house and added to his acres from year to year, until he owned a large acreage of fine land.”

Charles was a devoted adherent of the Church of England. He had seats under the oaks at the old place, where on Sundays, his negroes assembled to be catechised and hear the reading of the church service.

One after another of Charles’ old kin left the church, and went over to the Methodists. His devoted wife, on a visit to the settlement, was induced to attend a meeting and she too became a converted Methodist.

“He held the place of tobacco inspector for the state for years, and would spend six months of the year in Charleston.”

In 1788, Charles Sims was a delegate to the South Carolina Convention to Ratify the United States Constitution. Charles was one of five delegates from the Spartan District. The final vote on ratification was taken on May 23, 1788. Interestingly, Charles Sims and his four compatriots from Spartan District all voted against ratification.”

“Their efforts were in vain. The South Carolina Convention voted to ratify the United States Convention by a margin of 140 votes in favor of ratification with 73 against.”

“Charles Sims remained in Union District, S. C., until his death in 1827, at the age of ninety. He retained his eyesight to the last, killed a fine buck at a distance of a hundred yards not six months before his death, and died with every tooth perfectly sound in his head.”

GODFREY FOWLER III was born circa 1730, in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, the son of Mark and Margory Peebles Fowler. Godfrey was the father of Henry Ellis Fowler. Name of his wife is unknown to this writer. Godfrey died in 1808, in Virginia.

Henry Ellis Fowler married Catherine Puckett, daughter of Ephraim and Hannah ? Puckett, in Albemarle County, Virginia, before leaving Virginia. She was born in 1743. She named a son, Womack, after her grandfather, Womack Puckett.

Her father, Ephraim, son of Womack Puckett and Mabel Waltall, was born on January 24, 1820, in Lunenburg County, Virginia. He died in January of 1800, in Union District, S. C. His wife, Hannah, was born in Lunenburg County in 1725, and died in 1800, in Union District.

Henry Ellis Fowler was born in 1746, in Albemarle County, Virginia. There may be errors in the dates of his children, all born to his first wife.

Ephraim Fowler (1765-1822); Ellis Fowler (1770-1860) Godfrey Fowler (1773-1851); Henrietta ‘Rita’ Fowler (1775-1840); John ‘Hatter’ Fowler (1777-1833); Mark Fowler (1780-1853). Their first six children were born in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Right after the Revolutionary War, Henry Ellis Fowler left his Virginia home, moved to South Carolina, and settled on Sandy Run in Union District, S. C., not Pea Ridge, as the Reverend James Bailey has stated.

His first land grant in South Carolina was for 614 acres on Sandy Run. This land was near the present Gilead Baptist Church and largely became the property of his children.

His other children, born in South Carolina, were: Womack Fowler (1785-1849); William Fowler (1787-1812); Nancy Keziah Fowler (1789-1849); and Mary Jane Fowler (1791-1850). They were born, while the family lived on Sandy Run in Union District, S. C.

He moved to Pea Ridge near Kelly’s Station after the births of his children. Henry Ellis Fowler’s wife, Catherine Puckett Fowler, died in 1795.

He then married his wife’s sister, Mary Puckett, in 1803, in Union District, S. C. She died after 1809, before 1837, after moving to another state.

He died February 22, 1808, in Union District, S. C., and was buried in an unmarked gave beside his first wife in the Joseph Kelly cemetery.

In his will he left his wife, Mary, “one third of the tract of land where he now lives.” After her death or remarriage this land is to be given to William and Womack Fowler. He left his son, Ellis Fowler, the tract of land where he now lives.

Mark Fowler received one hundred acres of land around where he was living. He gave lands to sons, Ephraim, John, and Godfrey Fowler and to his daughter, Nancy Kiger.

He gave to his son-in-law, John Baxter Moseley, the value of a tract of land, where Thomas Haney now lives. The will was recorded February 22, 1808.

There is no doubt that Henry Ellis Fowler was living very close to the James Moseley family in Sandy Run for a number of years.

Ephraim Fowler’s second wife was Nancy Moseley; Henrietta Fowler and her sister, Mary Jane Fowler, both were married to John Baxter Moseley; Mark Fowler was married to Catherine Moseley; and Womack Fowler was married to Mary Susannah Moseley.

Ephraim Fowler died in 1822, and his second wife, Nancy Moseley Fowler, daughter of James Moseley and Anna Susannah Jasper Moseley, became the common law wife of Benjamin Hodge, after his wife, Dorcas Moseley, moved to Tennessee in 1827-1828, with Jared Foster as her common law husband. Benjamin and Nancy had a son, Jasper Hodge, born in 1831. They also moved to Tennessee.

Nancy died in Ozark County, Tennessee, in 1854, and Benjamin died in Douglas County, Missouri, in the 1860s.

ANN AND HANNAH STOCKTON AND THEIR FAMILIES.

They were the daughters of Davis and (?) Sarah Stockton. Their father, Davis, was born circa 1685, in England.

Davis Stockton was one of the first settlers in the Ivy Creek and Mechum’s River area in what is now Albemarle County, Virginia. The first mention of Davis Stockton is on a June 10, 1737, deed. He first patented 800 acres of land on both forks of Mechum’s River in 1741.

Davis and his wife had four sons and four daughters. He died in Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1761.

Their daughter Martha Ann, was born December 29, 1732, and married Dr. Francis Whelchel, a native of Germany. He was born on September 6, 1720. They settled in the Gilkey Creek area of what is now Cherokee County, S. C.

Four of their sons: Davis Whelchel (1752-1833); Francis Whelchel (1754-1816); John Whelchel (1756-1837); and William D. Whelchel (1758-1796) were Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War.

Davis Whelchel served as a private, spy, lieutenant and major under Capts. William McMullen, Nathaniel Jeffers, Nimrod Terrell, John Thompson and Cols. Thomas Neel, Thomas Farr, James Steen and Thomas Brandon.

Francis Whelchel Jr. served under Col. Thomas Brandon and was in the Battle of Cowpens with his brothers, John and William Whelchel.

Their father, Dr. Francis Whelchel, attended the sick and wounded during the Revolutionary war and was in the battles of Kings Mountain and Cowpens.

His son, John Whelchel, sustained numerous cuts and several stabs to his body at the Battle of Cowpens. Dr. Whelchel found him and treated him by melting down silver coins and making a plate for his wounded skull.

John recovered well enough to fight again in the Battle of Eutaw Springs. He fought in at least six battles.

Dr. Francis Whelchel died August 7, 1796, in what is now Cherokee County, S. C. His wife, Martha Ann, died in the same county on January 4, 1816. Her older sister, Hannah Goudelock, died in 1795.

HARRIET HANNAH STOCKTON, a daughter of Davis Stockton and his wife, ? Sarah, married ADAM SAFFOLD GOUDELOCK of Albemarle County, Virginia. It appears that Adam and Hannah were married in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Adam Goudelock had a 182 acre plat surveyed on Spring Branch on March 12, 1749.

Capt. James Nevill, Samuel Stockton, Adam Goudelock, William Whiteside, Henry Brenton and Michael Woods Jr. were among the 56 men mentioned as members of the Albemarle Company of Militia for the defense and protection of the frontier against the Indians in September of 1758.

Adam Goudelock was a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, in Albemarle County, Virginia, and his pastor was the Reverend Samuel Black.

Adam owned 1400 acres of land in Albemarle County, Virginia, and sold the last of his Virginia property in September of 1764.

On January of 1767, two identical plats (400) acres were surveyed for Adam Goudelock by William Tryon. The land was adjacent to Joseph Jolly’s land in Carroll Shoals, S. C. Adam was on a list of Petit-Jury Men.

Adam Goudelock was born in Virginia in 1712. He died in 1796, in Union District, S. C. Hannah was born in 1716, in Virginia, and died in 1795, in Union District, S. C.

Hannah and Adam had the following children:

1. Hannah Goudelock (1730-1800). Married Fields Blakley and had six children. Fields Blakley was born in 1730. This couple both died in Georgia.
2. Elizabeth Goudelock was born in 1732, in Virginia. She married a Johnston.
3. Dorothy was born in 1738, in Virginia. She married Henry Crockett Tidmore circa 1756, in Virginia. He was born in 1730, in Frankfort, Germany.

She was a Revolutionary Patriot who furnished beef to the Continental Troops during the Revolutionary War. On March 3, 1788, she received an indented certificate from the Commissions of the Treasury Office in Charleston, S. C.

Their children were: John Henry Tidmore (1756-1843); Martha Dietmar Tidmore (1759-); Adam Tidmore (1760-1808); Henry Middleton Tidmore (1761-1753).

Dorothy died May 21, 1814, in Newberry County, S. C.

5. Prudence “Fanny” Goudelock (1742-). She was born in 1750, in Albemarle County, Virginia, and married Thomas Stockton Jr., son of Samuel and Prudence Stockton, circa 1767. He was born in Virginia, in 1747, and was her first cousin. They married circa 1762, in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Thomas was a Justice of the Peace in Rutherford County, N. C. After her husband died in Rutherford County, N. C., in 1805, Prudence moved to Knox County, Tennessee, where several of their children were living.

Their children were: Thomas Stockton (1764-); Hannah Stockton (1765-); Rachel Stockton (1769-1851); and William Stockton (1780-1820).

4. Susannah Goudelock (1749-). Never married.
5. Ann Goudelock (1754). She married Isham William Saffold, son of William Saffold and Temperance Tempy Shore Saffold. He was born in 1739, in Virginia, and died in Georgia in 1792.

They had five sons and one daughter: John Saffold (1774-1841); James Saffold (1780-1840); Isham H. Saffold (1780-1861); Adam Goudelock Saffold (1784-1850); Martha Saffold (1786-); Seaborn Jones Saffold (1789-1859).

7. Sarah “Sallie” Goudelock (1755-1852). She was born in Virginia and died in Union County, S. C. She married Thomas Murray. Her death occurred on January 10, 1852.
8. Davis Goudelock (1764-1838). He was born December 25, 1764, in Amherst County, Virginia.

He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War. Dr. Bobby Moss wrote: “While residing in Union District, he enlisted on February 20, 1781, under Capt. John Thomson and Col. Thomas Brandon.”

His pension application reads: “Shortly after he was drafted he went on a tour of duty to Mudlick Creek near Camden, South Carolina. The Tories at that time had possession of Camden and the object of the expedition was principally to prevent an accumulation of the enemy’s forces at that place.”

“Davis Goudelock left the service on May 25, 1781, and was again a drafted soldier on February 5, 1782, in Capt. Thomason’s company commanded by Lieutenant Nicholas Jasper, which company was still attached to Colonel Thomas Brandon’s Regiment. We remained at Orangeburg, S. C., until May 15, 1782, when we were relieved by Col. Benjamin Roebuck’s Regiment. I was drafted for three months and served as above stated.”

“Sarah Murray gave a supporting affidavit regarding her recollection of the applicant going into service and returnng home to her father’s house. She is the sister of the applicant.”

“Elias Mitchell, a clergyman, and William Moorhead gave the standard affidavit.”

Davis Goudelock married Milly Wilkins, daughter of William (1746-1807) and Elizabeth Terrell Wilkins (1756-1820), on December 8, 1791.

The children of Davis and Milly were: 1. Elizabeth Goudelock, b. January 26, 1793; d. September 1872. 2. Hannah Goudelock, b. October 27, 1794; d. March 16, 1854; married William McCullough, Mar. 1812. 3. Adam Saffold Goudelock, b. September 12, 1796; d. October 26, 1886. 4. Nancy Goudelock, b. August 12, 1798; d. 1800.

5. Narcissa Goudelock, b. June 11, 1800, died in infancy. 6. William Wilkins Goudelock, b. September 19, 1802; died October 15, 1809. 7. John Wilkins Goudelock, b. January 26, 1805; d. April 8, 1855.
6. James Terrell Goudelock, b. April 27, 1808; d. October 1, 1809. 9. Sarah (Sallie) Goudelock, b. February 28, 1811; d. May 23, 1844. 10. Millie Goudelock, b. January 12, 1813; died April 20, 1845; married William Jeffries, February 28, 1832.

“Davis Goudelock was pensioned at the rate of $21.11 per annum commencing March 4, 1831, for service as a private for 6 1/3 months in the South Carolina Militia.”

Davis Goudelock died September 17, 1838, and Milly died December 4, 1855, aged 82 years and 9 months. They were buried in the Goudelock Family Cemetery.

9. William Goudelock (1776-1857). He was born December 13, 1776, in Union District, S. C. He married Agnes Agatha Nucholls, daughter of John (1731-1840) and Agatha Bullock Nucholls (1741-1815) in 1803, in Union District. She was born February 10, 1771.

Their children were: Rev. Newton Goudelock (1794-1845); John Bullock Goudelock (1801-1873); Dr. Hamlet Goudelock (1803-1863); Frances Goudelock (1805-1842);

Davis Goudelock (1807-1868; James Goudelock (1810-1899); Agnes Goudelock (1812-1867); Milton Goudelock (1815-1875); and Sarah F. Goudelock (1826-1828).

Agnes Agatha Nucholls died May 25, 1840, in what is now Cherokee County, S. C., and William Goudelock died January 18, 1857, in the same county.

Their palatial house is still standing at Timber Ridge in Cherokee County, S. C.

Adam’s historic cabin was moved in recent years from its original location near the cemetery on Splawn Road. The cabin can be found today beside the Elijah Dawkins house. Jim Poole is now the owner of the Dawkins house and the Goudelock cabin.

Three historic events took place at the Goudelock cabin in its original location: (1). After the Battle of Blackstock on November 20, 1780, the wounded General Thomas Sumter was taken to the Adam Goudelock cabin at Grindal Shoals, S. C., where a physician gave him a sedative and dressed his shoulder.

(2). The Reverend J. D. Bailey wrote: “Sally Goudelock visited General Daniel Morgan at his camp at Grindal Ford, in company with her father (Adam Goudelock) and sister (Ann Goudelock), and was escorted back to the cabin by Col. William Washington and Col. John Eager Howard.”

The sisters (Ann and Sallie) nor the officers, were married so one can imagine that the officers and girls had a good time at the old Goudelock cabin.

(3). In Tarleton’s flight from his defeat at the Battle of Cowpens his men decided that they needed a guide. They stopped at the Goudelock cabin and kidnapped Adam Goudelock. He assisted their escape by acting as a guide to the Hamilton’s Ford Crossing of Pacolet River.

When Col. Washington rode up in pursuit of Tarleton, Hannah gave him wrong directions as to their flight.

Because of the fear she had for her husband’s safety, Tarleton escaped.

Adam Goudelock’s will was recorded on April 4, 1796, at Union County Courthouse in Union, S. C. Thus we know that he was deceased in 1796, just before the will was recorded and that his wife had already died in 1795.

He left his two sons, Davis and William, all the lands that belonged to him to be equally divided between them. “He gave a negro girl named ‘Dinah’ to his son, Davis.” “He gave a negro girl named ‘Balander’ to his daughter, Sarah.” He gave two slaves to his son, William.”

“He requested that his executors, Adam Potter, and Thomas Stockton, purchase four Bibles at Charleston. “One of the Bibles was to be given to his daughter, Ann Saffold; one to his daughter, Elizabeth Johnson; one to his daughter, Prudence Stockton; and one to his daughter, Hannah Blakely.”

The Fourth Wave of Settlers came to the Grindal Shoals area in the 1780s and 1790s.

ABRAHAM NOTT was born on February 5, 1768, in Saybrook, Connecticut. His parents were: Deacon Josiah Nott and Zerviah Clark Nott. He was a twin brother of Josiah Nott (1768-1849).

Josiah Nott was born in 1733, in Saybrook, Connecticut, and died December 17, 1814. He was the son of Abraham Nott (1797-1756) and Phoebe Tapping (1699-1745).

Josiah was in the French and Indian War and fought with Capt. Harris’ Company. He was buried in River View Cemetery in Essex, Middlesex County, Connecticut.

Abraham Nott was named for his grandfather, Abaraham Nott, who was ordained to the ministry in 1725, and was pastor of the Second Congregational Church for 33 years.

His mother, Zerviah Clark Nott, was born in 1719, and died December 1, 1816. She was the daughter of John Clark 4th (1689-1777) and Sarah Jones (1680-1756).

Abraham Nott was educated in early life by a private tutor.
He graduated from Yale College in 1787, and was first a private tutor in McIntosh County Georgia, in 1788. He relocated to South Carolina in 1789, moving to Camden, S. C. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1791.

He had a law office in the house of John “Blind” Chisholm in the Grindal Shoals area. Here he taught students David Johnson, William Henderson and others.

While living here, he met Angelica Mitchell, daughter of Joab and
Mary Henderson Mitchell. Angelica was raised by her mother’s sister, Ann Henderson, who was first married to Daniel Williams Jr. Ann and Daniel, son of Daniel Williams and Ursula Clark Henderson, were married July 30, 1765, in Granville County, N. C.

Daniel was a Patriot soldier and probably died in 1781, of small pox. Ann next married Adam Potter.

Abraham Nott married Angelica in August of 1791, and began his legal practice in Union District, S. C. He and David Johnson were law partners in the city of Union.

Adam Potter built a beautiful plantation for his wife, Ann, in 1792. She received Adam Potter’s property, when he died in 1801, and sold it to Abraham Nott. Ann then moved to live with her children and died in 1831, at the age of 93 years and six months.

Abraham Nott was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1796 to 1797, and was elected as a Federalist to the Sixth United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1799, to March 3, 1801.

After leaving Congress, Abraham Nott, resumed practicing law in Columbia, in 1804, and was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina, in 1805. He was Intendant (mayor) of Columbia in 1807.

He was elected judge of the South Carolina Circuit Court in 1810. He was president of the South Carolina Court of Appeals in 1824, and continued serving as a judge until his death in Fairfield County, South Carolina, June 19, 1830, at the age of 62. He was buried in the First Presbyterian Churchyard in Columbia, S. C.

Angelica and her family moved to Columbia, S. C., with her husband in 1804, and lived there until he died. She then moved to their farm in Grindal Shoals, where she remained until circa 1847.

Her son, Dr. William Nott, helped her purchase the small house and lot at the corner of O’neal and Thomason Streets in Limestone Springs, S. C., that had originally been constructed by Gov. William Henry Gist. She died June 27, 1849, in Limestone Springs, S. C.

Angelica Nott was buried in the Old Fairforest Presbyterian Church cemetery near Jonesville, S. C. On her tombstone was the words: “Her long life was marked by the full performance of its duties. Which she brought a pure heart and high intellect.” She was 78 years of age.

Vandalism has affected her monument, and it is now in pieces. The writer has visited this cemetery several times.

Judge Abraham Nott and Angelica Mitchell Nott had ten children. Five of these children were medical doctors: Dr. William Blackston Nott; Dr. Josiah Clark Nott; Dr. James Eliphalet Nott; Dr. Rufus Abram Nott; and Dr. Gustavus Adolphus Nott.

A complete list of the children is given as follows:

William Blackstone Nott (1795-1864); Henry Junius Nott (1797-1837); Sophonisba Nott (1800-1862); Josiah Clark Nott (1804-1873); Selina Nott (died in infancy) Sarah Cellina Nott (1806-1824; Maria Eliza Nott (1808-) James Eliphalet Nott (1810-1857); Rufus Abram Nott (1814-1887) and Gustavus Adolphus Nott (1816-1867).

GOVERNOR DAVID JOHNSON. David was born October 3, 1782, in Louisa County, Virginia, the son of Christopher Columbus and Elizabeth Dabney Johnson. Christopher was born June 19, 1759, in Hanover County, Virginia.

Christopher’s parents were: David Johnson (1729-1788) and Mary Berryman Johnson (1733-1762).

There is an interesting story recorded in “The Writings of the Late John Leland including some events in his life.” On page 25 is the following: “I had met Mr. Harris (Samuel) on the banks of James river and accompanied him at his meetings through Goochland, Fluvanna and Louisa to Orange.”

“At a meeting in Goochland, after preaching was over, Mr. Harris (Samuel) went into the yard, and down in the shade, while the people were weeping in the meeting-house, and telling what God had done for them, in order to be baptized.”

“A gentle woman addressed Mr. Harris (Samuel) as follows: ‘Mr Harris, what do you think all this weeping is for? Are not all those tears like the tears of a crocodile? I believe I could cry as well as any of them, if I choose to act the hypocrite.’

“On this address, Mr. Harris (Samuel) drew a dollar out of his pocket and replied, ‘Good woman, I will give you this dollar for a tear, and repeat it ten times;’ but the woman shed no tears.”

“Among the seven that were baptized at that time, was a Mrs. Johnson, daughter of Col. James Dabney, of whom I take the following account:”

“Col. Johnson’s son, Christopher paid attention to the young lady, and gained her good will, but could not obtain the consent of her father; on which Miss Betsy agreed to elope with young Johnson, and from her chamber window, on a ladder, she descended in the night, and was conducted by her lover to the house of his father.”

“In the morning Col. Dabney missed his daughter, and suspecting where she was gone, he armed himself with sword, and pistol, and steered his course to Col. Johnson’s.”

‘When he got within call, he demanded if his daughter, Betsy, was there? Being answered in the affirmative, he gave orders for her to meet him on the risk of her life.”

“Betsy’s affections in no ways accorded with the demand of her father, and seeing him there armed, she was greatly distressed. Col. Anderson, being at the house, seeing what was passing said,
‘Come, Betsy, don’t be discouraged, I’ll effect a reconciliation.”

“With that he armed himself with sword and pistol, and marched into the field to meet Dabney, with his arm stretched out, holding his glittering sword, and Betsy walking under it.”

“When he got near Dabney, he exclaimed, ‘Col. Dabney, here is your daughter, Betsy, who wishes for a reconciliation. I have undertaken to protect her, and shall defend her with the last drop of my blood.’

“Betsy fell upon her knees—Dabney softened—a reconciliation was effected—the young couple were married.”

“And at the meeting just spoke of, she was baptized; nor was it long before her husband followed her example.”

“This event has led my mind to reflect on an incident, infinitely more important. The guilty runaway sinner is pursued by the holy, fiery law, and threatened with eternal death; but the Mediator appears to interpose, and when the sinner is humbled by grace, a reconciliation is obtained.”

Christopher Johnson and Elizabeth Dabney were married February 22, 1777, in Hanover, Louisa County, Virginia. Her parents were James Dabney and Judith Anderson Dabney.

Her father, James, was Captain in a company of Louisa County, Virginia, Minute Men.

Christopher was listed in the Louisa personal property tax lists from 1782 to 1784; and from 1787 to 1789.

In November of 1789, Christopher sold the 700 acres that he had inherited from his father, David, in 1789, and moved to South Carolina. In the 1790 census, he and his family were living in Chester County, S. C., with two sons, two daughters and one slave.

In 1791, Christopher organized and sent to the legislature a petition that a public ferry be established across the Broad River in Chester County. When he sold a slave and her child in 1795, he was living in Union District, S. C. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace by the legislature in January of 1795.

He was a representative of the 51 member Fairforest Baptist Church to the Annual Baptist Associational meeting in 1800.

When he made a deed of trust in 1802, to a Charleston Merchant Firm to secure a debt of $1,269.00, he was still living in Union District, S. C.

He moved to a neighboring farm in Spartanburg District in S. C., and on July 30th of 1803, he joined with other members of the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Spartanburg District and other nearby churches to constitute the Philadelphia Baptist Church.

In the November meeting of 1803, church records state: “Brother Alexander McDougal from Kentucky on Saturday preached from these words: ‘O my love thou art like a company of horses in Pharoh’s Chariott.”

Before he left for Kentucky, Alexander McDougal had been Christpher Johnson’s pastor, while he lived in Union District, S. C. This was McDougal’s first trip back to this state.

In February of 1804, Christopher sold his 200 acre farm in Union District to one of his younger sons, James Dabney Johnson.

Christopher Johnson was set apart by the church for ordination in October of 1804. Church records state: “The Eldership of Bethlehem and Cedar Spring attended agreeable to our request and set as a Presbytery. Brother Johnson was examined by them in respect to his call to the ministry and of his principals.”

“Satisfaction being obtained respecting his call to the ministry and Qualifications on Sunday, the next day, accordingly ordained him to the ministry of the gospel. Jorial Barnett, David Golightly and Augustine Clayton were the ministers by whom he was ordained.”

“Christopher Johnson informed the Philadelphia church in May of 1805, that he had received a communication from the Masonic Society asking that he preach for them on June the 24th.”

“The matter was considered and referred to a special called meeting. Johnson was directed to preach to the Masons under the following conditions: ‘He was neither to eat, drink, or march with them.’ The Masons, hearing of such conditions, refused Johnson’s services saying, ‘they wanted not a muzzled ox.”

Christopher Johnson became the second pastor of the Philadelphia Baptist Church in Pauline, S. C., in August of 1805, and served in this capacity until his death in September of 1809.

His son, Thomas, was recognized in October of 1805, as possessing special gifts. The church records state: “Agreed that Bro. Thomas Johnson have liberty to exercise a publick gift by singing, praying and exhorting in the bounds of this church—also neighbor churches—Friendship, Cedar Spring, Bethlehem.”

“Thomas Johnson resigned as church clerk in February of 1807, to go off to school.” He died before completing his course at school.”

In 1808, Christopher Johnson gave a lot of 1 ¾ acres to the church, which was three and one half miles northwest of Glenn Springs. Also, in 1808, his children: David, James D., Thomas and John Murrell (husband of his daughter, Ann) gave him power of attorney to claim legacies left them in the will of their grandfather, Col. James Dabney.

One writer states that Johnson “was noted for his effective fireside preaching.” John G. Landrum has written the following: “Christopher Johnson was an educated man and a good preacher. His elegant penmanship and plain and simple diction show that he was a man of intelligence far above the most of men of his day.”

Christopher Johnson once owned the celebrated Glenn Spring and considerable adjacent land. “His son, David, stated that his father sold the tract of land on, which the spring was situated, nearly a thousand acres, and sold the land for three hundred dollars, and felt that he had made a good trade.”

Christopher died on September 19, 1809, in Spartanburg District, S. C. The will of Christopher Johnson was recorded at Spartanburg Courthouse on November 8, 1810. He left all of his property to his wife, Elizabeth, with provisions for his son, Thomas, and his education.

When this writer was constructing a History of the Philadelphia Baptist Church in 1961, he learned that the graves of Christopher, his wife, Elizabeth, and their son, Thomas, were on land owned at the time by Jess Johnson and J. C. Morrow.

He brought this to the attention of their pastor, the Reverend Dwitt Clyde, and provisions were made to move the bodies of Christopher and his wife, Elizabeth, to the church cemetery. I suppose that they forgot Thomas.

Descendants Edwin Wallace Johnson and George Dean Johnson had a large monument erected in the church cemetery, which reads:

“To the glory of God and in memory of two charter members of this church, Christopher, one of its founders, it’s second pastor (1805-1809). Donated a tract of land the church still owns. They were the parents of David Johnson the first governor of South Carolina from the Piedmont Section. Christopher and his wife.”

One of the prized possessions of this writer is a paper with Christopher Johnson’s signature.

In the 1810 census, Elizabeth was living with three sons 10-15; and a son and daughter 0-9. Her second marriage was to Sims Brown of Newberry County, S. C., before April of 1816.

Sims Brown was born in Newberry County, S. C. on October 5, 1760, the son of John Brown and Sarah Sims Brown.

“When he was about the age of 15 years the Revolutionary War then being in progress, his father took him to Snow Hill, between Kings Creek and Yennerly’s, and placed him under the care of an old man named Murphy, as a scout in the war.”

“On one occasion while Murphy was absent, the little fellow made his way into an old Tory orchard nearby, and partook of peaches to his satisfaction.”

“When Murphy returned, and found that his sentinel had left his post, and stolen peaches besides, he gave him a gentle reminder of his duty as a soldier in the form of a slight flogging with his cane.”

Sims served in the militia under Col. Philemon Waters after the fall of Charleston.

He was first married to Mary Baldrick, daughter of Richard Baldrick, in 1783. She was born January 20, 1762, at St. Matthews Parish, Orangeburg, S. C.

He was quite wealthy, and Sims and Mary had six sons and one daughter. Sims was appointed Magistrate in early life, and held that honorable and important position for a great number of years. Afterwards he was always known and honored as Squire Brown.

“Sarah, the only daughter of Sims Brown ran away from home at the age of 12 years and married Frank Wilson of this county. Squire Brown was very angry with Wilson.”

“After awhile Squire met Wilson at a barbeque and began to abuse him for stealing his daughter and being too poor to support her. Frank replied by saying he had as many horses, as many sheep, as many cows, and as many negros as the Squire had. ‘All right’, said the Squire, ‘that settles it.’”

Sims wife, Mary, died November 7, 1810, in Newberry County, S. C.

Elizabeth Dabney Johnson and Sims Brown, after their marriage, lived in Newberry County, S. C., until his death on October 25, 1822, at Kings Creek.

In the 1830 census, Elizabeth was living in Union County. She died November 20, 1836, in Spartanburg County, S. C., and was buried beside her husband, Christopher. Their remains were moved to the Philadelphia Baptist church cemetery in the 1960s.

Christopher and Elizabeth’s children were: Ann Anderson Johnson (1780-1806); David Johnson (1782-1855); James Dabney Johnson (1784-1818); and Thomas Johnson (1786-1815).

Their son, DAVID JOHNSON, was educated in the old field schools, and the classic grammar school of the Reverend Joseph Alexander of York County, S. C.

He began his legal studies in 1799, and boarded with John “Blind” Chisholm in Grindal Shoals, S. C., where he studied law under Abraham Nott.

After admission to the bar in December of 1803, Johnson entered a four-year partnership with Abram Nott in the city of Union, S. C., later taking over the practice.

“His public service in the judiciary began on February 16, 1805, with his appointment as commissioner in equity for the western circuit, a position he held for two years.”
He married Barbara Courtney Asbury Herndon on June 2, 1807, in South Carolina. She was born January 10, 1788, on Horseshoe Plantation, Wilkes County, North Carolina, to Lt. Col. Benjamin Herndon and Sarah E. Pines.

BENJAMIN HERNDON, son of Joseph and Mary Boswell Herndon, was born in Caroline County, Virginia, on December 10, 1749.

He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and fought in the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge and Colson’s Mill. He was promoted to full colonel in the Wilkes County Regiment in 1781, taking the place of Colonel Benjamin Cleveland.

After the war, he served twice as a senator of the North Carolina General Assembly. The Herndon family left Wilkes County, N. C., after 1790, and traveled to the banks of Enoree River in South Carolina to their 1,000 acre farm in Ninety-Six District, Newberry County.

He built his house, called ‘Mollihon’ with slave labor. His house was still standing in 1957. His wife, Sarah, died in 1798, and Benjamin married a second time to Patience Terry. He died at Mollihon, Whitmire, S. C., on December 30, 1819, and Patience died in 1823.

DAVID and BARBARA Johnson’s children were: Edward Coke Johnson (1808-1882); Benjamin Herndon Johnson (1810-1839); Cornelia Clementine Johnson (1812-1812); Cornelia Caroline Johnson (1813-1817); David William Johnson (1815-1855); Christopher Columbus Johnson III (1817-1842).

Langdon Cheves Johnson (1819-1868); Abraham Knott Johnson (1822-1822); Cornelia Minerva Johnson (1824-1826); Sarah Elizabeth Johnson (1826-1826); and Eliza Penelope Johnson (1827-1876).

“Elected to the State House of Representatives in 1810, DAVID JOHNSON resigned the seat upon his election as solicitor of the middle circuit on December 4, 1811.”

“In December of 1815, Johnson was elected circuit judge, and in 1824, he was elevated to the Court of Appeals, serving as presiding judge from 1830 to 1835.”

“A Canal was built in 1826, around Lockhart Shoals on the Broad River and part of its route went through David Johnson’s plantation.”

“The lock-keeper was paid a salary for maintaining the lock, and Johnson was paid this salary although one of his slaves did the work. David Johnson was absent most of the time so he left his son, Edward Coke Johnson, in charge of running the place.”

“On June 2, 1834, Johnson with Judge John Belton O’Neal concurring, rendered his most famous decision. He was a staunch Unionist, during the nullification crisis, and ruled as unconstitutional the militia test oath, a part of the Force Bill that implemented the nullification ordinance.”

“A Unionist would not become Governor again until the end of the War Between the States when Benjamin Franklin Perry was appointed by President Andrew Johnson.”

“Infuriated over the decision, the nullifier majority abolished the court in December of 1835. Johnson was then transferred to the Court of Equity and the Court of Appeals in Equity. His wife, Barbara, died at their Lockhart Shoals plantation in Union County, S. C., on August 16, 1837.”

“David Johnson served as presiding judge of the Appeals in Equity Court from circa 1838 to 1846.”

“David Johnson was unanimously elected governor of the state on December 8, 1846. His governorship was dominated by the Mexican War and the efforts required for and provisioning the Palmetto Regiment. John C. Calhoun and David Johnson believed that volunteers were unfit for service in Mexico.”

“As governor, Johnson called for the establishment of a permanent executive office and believing that pardons usurped the judicial process, granted only one during his entire term. Although adhering to the right of secession, Johnson opposed separate state action on the part of South Carolina.”

“David Johnson attributed his statue as a jurist as based on “a well founded knowledge of the general principles of law, and a sound discretionary judgment in their application with the honest purpose of attaining the truth.”

After finishing his term as governor, he purchased the James Madison house on a four acre tract in Nesbitt’s Village on Thomson’s Street in Limestone Springs, S. C. The house was a three story dwelling with a ballroom on the top floor and an avenue of cedars leading to the front entrance. It was located, next to a house owned by William Norris.

Rosalie Roos in her book, Travels in American (1851-1855) tells of visiting David Johnson’s house: “Directly opposite the hotel there is a little white house with green shutters and a flower garden outside. It belongs to one of the state’s former governors who is still called Governor Johnson.”

“He has been away all winter, did not return until spring. I have been on a visit to his house together with Miss Crittenden and Hulda. He is a venerable old fellow with long, gray locks, but so huge, that old man Gren would look small and insignificant next to him. He is a widower, and a mulatto, Dorinda, looks after him like a daughter, seems indeed to be the mistress of the house.”

“He has a married daughter who has gone off to Texas to live there with her mother-in-law since her husband, who was twenty-one years old, when they were married, has not yet completed his studies.”

GOV. DAVID JOHNSON died at Limestone Springs on January 7, 1855.

The funeral sermon was delivered at Limestone Springs Institution by Dr. Thomas Curtis who said: “He encouraged us to begin; he cheered us on from year to year, with his presence and his noble smile. He spoke for us. He wrote for us. He counseled with us. He examined our compositions, and awarded our honors, and presided at our Commencements, with a ready mind, a full heart, and a happy dignity.”

“Our Sabbath worship he attended so long as he was in health; at
his table we were young and old, always welcome. On an errand of hospitality for us, he ventured out into the dark night, and incurred a serious personal injury, which he carried with him to the grave. Long shall we miss him from the accustomed hill of his residence.” He was buried in the Presbyterian cemetery in Union, S. C., beside his wife.

At Union S. C., April 28, 1855, an eulogy was delivered by Col. T. N. Dawkins who said: “A rival he never had; without envy or malice, he was always ready to accord to his brethren the full meed of praise to which they were entitled. There never was a kinder neighbor or more hospitable man.”

HENRY FERNANDEZ, SON OF PETER AND ELIZABETH GRANT FERNANDIS III was born circa 1769, in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland. His grandparents were: Peter Fernandez (1700-1775) and his wife, Benedictor McAtee (1727-1783).

Peter Fernandez III was born in 1740, and died in 1790, in Charles County, Maryland. Elizabeth Vetiada Grant, his wife, was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Brawner Grant. Peter’s wife, was born in Charles County, Maryland, in 1740, and died in Charles County in 1780.

Peter and Elizabeth were married in 1763, in Charles County, Maryland.

Peter Fernandez was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and was a First Lieutenant in the Militia, 26th Battalion, under Capt. Richard Bennet’s Mitchell’s Company on July 27, 1776. Rendered Patriotic service by providing wheat for the use of the military in December of 1782, and May of 1783.

Peter and Elizabeth had five children: Elizabeth (1764-); Jane (1768-1846; Henry (1769-1823); Peter (1772-) James (1784-1843).

Peter and Elizabeth’s daughter, Jane, married John Norris (1726-1762), son of John (1726-1762) and Sarah Derrick Norris (1722-1793).

John and Jane’s children were: James Norris Sr. (1792-1846); John Norris (1794-1811); William Norris (1796-1868); Nancy Norris (1799-1877); Leonora G. Norris (1800-1850); Richard Henry Norris (1803-1860); Benjamin Norris (1806-1889); and Elizabeth Norris (18i09-1874).

JAMES NORRIS SR. was born in 1792, in Loudoun County, Virginia, and married Sarah Hillard Fernandez. They had two sons and two daughters. He operated the American Hotel at the bend of King’s Street in Charleston, S. C., and died in the early 1840s, just before retiring. He was buried in Charleston, S. C.

Their son, James Jr., was a soldier in the Civil War and was killed at the Battle of Hilton Head. He was in Capt. Charles Boyd’s Company. He was born in 1839, in Union County, S. C., and was married, but the writer has been unable to discover the widow’s name. He died on November 8th , 1861.

After James death, Sarah Fernandez Norris, his widow, returned to Grindal Shoals, where they had property and superintended and even assisted in cutting and hauling the logs from which her dwelling was built. The writer has a letter written by her daughter, Jane, to Kerr Boyce, one of the richest men in the state.

In a trip to Grindal Shoals with Ed Eison in the early 1980s, the writer, with Ed’s help, found a sprig from the magnolia tree she had planted. This was the location of General Daniel Morgan’s tent, where they were encamped before the Battle of Cowpens.

Jack Norris, a slave of James Norris, was purchased by him as a cook for their hotel. Jimmy, James’ son, carried Jack with him, when he entered the Confederate service, to serve as their cook.

After Jimmy’s death, Jack remained with Capt. Charles W. Boyd in the 15th Regiment. Capt. Boyd was killed in Virginia, and Jack remained with the Regiment until the end of the war. Jack was over 90 years of age, when he died in 1911, and had quite a war record.

Jane Elizabeth Norris was born in 1825, and died in 1860. She never married. Sarah C. Norris was born August 2, 1831, in Union County, S. C., and died October 31, 1866. She was the second wife of Frederic William Eison, but did not live long enough to have children.

John Henry Norris was born in 1835, in Union County, S. C., and died before 1930. His wife was Elizabeth ? , and they had five daughters. She was born in 1835. The writer has no record of a death date for her.

SARAH HILLIARD FERNANDEZ NORRIS died at her house in Grindal Shoals, S. C., on April 4, 1880.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM NORRIS married Melissa Nuckolls, daughter of John Nuckolls and Ann “Nancy” Ragland Thompson, and they had two sons and two daughters.

They had a plantation in Grindal Shoals, S. C., and a second house in Limestone Springs, S. C., next to the David Johnson house.

Major John Nuckols Norris was their son. He was born in 1826, in Union County, S. C., and settled less than two miles south of the village of Detroit in 1858, where he died in 1902.

William T. Norris, their son, died unmarried of wounds received in the Battle of Seven Pines, while in the Confederate service.

The writer has an envelope addressed to Miss Julia E. Norris from a Confederate soldier by the name of Lt. B. D. Gregory. It has two Confederate stamps.

Also, there is in the writer’s collection an envelope addressed to Miss Susan Norris, whose address was Limestone Springs, S. C.

Susan Norris married Capt. Frank Anderson, and Miss Julia E. died in Canes County, Texas, in 1908.

HENRY FERNANDEZ, son of Peter and Elizabeth, had moved to Grindal Shoals, S. C., by the early 1790s. He purchased one of the earliest plantations in Grindal Shoals, S. C., the one built by John Clark. Soon after his arrival in South Carolina, Henry began teaching school.

HENRY FERNANDEZ married Elizabeth Betsy Henderson, daughter of John Henderson circa 1798.

For several years he served as a deputy Sheriff to his father-in-law, John Henderson.

Alexander McBeth set him up in the mercantile business, but difficult economic times caused him to fail. For several years he was a prosperous farmer. As the economy improved he opened a store at the Shoals.

John Clark built a gristmill on Clark’s Mill Creek, which was later purchased by Joab Mitchell. Joab sold the mill to David Robertson, father of James (Horseshoe Robertson).

Eventually, the mill was sold to Henry Fernandez. Thus Henry owned the first gristmill, and first store building constructed at Grindal Shoals, S. C.

THE CHILDREN OF HENRY AND ELIZABETH HENDERSON WERE:

(1). John Henderson Fernandez (1799-1831). He was born December 15, 1799, in Union District, S. C., and died in 1831, in Mississippi City, Harrison, Mississippi. He never married.

(2). Sarah Elizabeth Fernandez was born May 17, 1799, in Union District, S. C., and died April 4, 1880, in Union County, S. C. She married Major James Norris Sr. (1792-1839), son of John and Jane Fernandez Norris, in 1823, in Union County. They had two sons and two daughters.

(3). Lemuel Alston Fernandez was born September 1803, in Union District, S. C. He married Sarah A. Shelton, daughter of Samuel Shelton II (1761-1822) and Sarah Sims (1764-1822). She was born in 1804, in Union District, S. C. Date of her death is unknown to this writer. He died November 12, 1863, in Union County.

(4). Jane Emily Fernandez was born November 7, 1805, in Union District, S. C. She married Joseph Starke Sims, son of William (1768-1853) and Elizabeth Shelton Sims (1767-1837), daughter of David and Lucy Shelton. They were married March 27, 1823, in Union District.

William and Elizabeth Sims were both natives of Virginia. He was born November 13, 1801, in Union District, S. C. Joseph Sims life spanned the nullification crisis, secession, war and part of reconstruction. He graduated from South Carolina College on December 6, 1819.

“He began the study of law in Union, S. C., and read law until November 29, 1822, and was admitted to the South Carolina bar, beginning the practice of law in the city of Union, S. C.”

“Prior to his marriage, Sims had been elected to the legislature as Commissioner in Equity for Union District, for the term of four years, beginning January 30, 1823.”

“A little less than a year after they married, their first child, William Henry Sims, was born on January 12, 1824. This was the beginning of a family of ten children.”

“Sims held the rank of Major in the South Carolina Militia, an honor bestowed upon him by Governor Richard I. Manning in 1825. He served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1826-1828.”

“When John Pendleton Kennedy was gathering material for his book, ‘Horseshoe Robinson’, he was the guest of Sims.”

“Sims liked to hunt and fish. On one hunt he shot and killed three deer, a feat, which made him the envy of his hunting companions. On another occasion, he shot a wild turkey that weighed 20 pounds and had a beard 10 and ½ inches long.”

Sims practiced law for a few years, but soon turned his attention to planting.

“With a two-thirds majority of nullifers elected in 1832, a state convention was called, and Sims was elected a delegate, representing Union District.”

“The convention convened in Columbia on November 24th and passed an ordinance that declared the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 to be unconstitutional and null and void in South Carolina after February 1, 1833.”

“On January 7, 1833, Governor Robert Y. Hayne commissioned and appointed Joseph Sims a captain of a volunteer company of rifleman in the north battalion of the 34th Regiment and 9th Brigade.”

“The company was known as the “Pacolet Blues” and consisted of sixty-five members.” Sims, and members of these minutemen, vowed to repair to any part of the state at a moments warning armed with a musket, rifle or shotgun and ammunition.”

“In the 1830s, Joseph Sims built a large two-story white house with large chimneys at each end. The surrounding grounds were landscaped and planted with flowers, hedges and shrubbery. On each side of the road leading to the house Sims planted blue cedars.”

The house was set back about a quarter of a mile from the road and was in front of the Chisholm Race Track. Greg Foster (native of Canada) visited the Grindal Shoals area with the writer several years ago, and we discovered the foundation of Sims’
slave quarters.

In 1838, Sims father, William, came to live with him until his death in 1853. Joseph S. Sim’s plantation in 1860, had grown to over fifteen hundred acres, with seventy-six slaves.

In 1846, their post office name was changed from Hancockville to Pacolet Mills with John Littlejohn as postmaster. It was moved from the Elijah Dawkins store to the store at the shoals run by Littlejohn.

There was a Fernandez grist mill (run by Walter Fernandez) on one side of Pacolet River and a Littlejohn grist mill (run by John Littlejohn) on the other, and thus the post office became the Pacolet Mills post office in 1846, and remained by that name until 1866, when it was moved to the Jonesville, South Carolina, post office.

In 1848, Joseph Sims was invited by one of the founders of Limestone Springs Female High School, Dr. Thomas Curtis, to attend the examinations, as an official visitor of the school.

“The invitation was an honor for Sims. He was further asked to deliver an address to the young ladies during the examination session. Curtis informed Sims that, ‘Your field will be as wide as the advantages of a superior Education to daughters’ for ‘no one can speak more expertly on the subject than yourself.’”

“Religion was a subject of high priority with Sims. He was a devout Presbyterian, and although it seemed his faith was tested an unusually high number of times, it nevertheless remained firm.”

In 1859, Joseph Sims gave land to the Presbyterian Church of Grindal Shoals for the construction of a new church building. He gave the church two and one-half acres of land.

Sims contributed one hundred dollars toward the construction of the building and was named a trustee of Grindal Shoals Presbyterian Church, after its constitution.

In the early 1850s, Joseph Sims built a building for cotton and wool manufacturing. He chose to locate his factories on the southside of Pacolet River, just above the ford at Grindal Shoals.

Sims purchased from Lemuel Hames, a tract of land containing two hundred and twenty-five acres. Within a year of purchasing the land, Sims had built a ‘factory house’. It was a wooden structure and was constructed by G. W. Goforth for $283.00.

John Simpson, of Bivingsville, purchased machinery for Sims that was used in the carding of wool into rolls and spinning cotton into yarn. The mill was destroyed by a flood in 1885, and never rebuilt.

“One of Sims’ young slaves stated: “Marse’ Starke wuz a rich man. He had in de Quarter what was know’d as a chilluns house. A nurse stayed in it all the time to care for the plantation chilluns. My granny ‘Kissy’ acted as nurs’ dar some. Aunt Peggy and aunt Ciller wuz two mo’.”

“All these helped to nurse me. They fed us on milk, plenty of it. Honey and lasses and lots of good things. When I was a little bit-a-boy I had a big bowl to eat out of. And us chilluns et’ like hogs and got fat. We allus had fine food.”

“My master gave me a biscuit sometime from his plate, and I would not take 25 cents for it. He allus put butter in it or ham and gravy. He would say, ‘dats de doctrine, be kind.’ Nobody never got no ‘borious beatin’ from our master’s hand.”

“The unfair tariffs had prompted South Carolina to threaten secession from the Union. First, the South was forced to pay higher prices on goods that the region did not produce, and secondly, the reduced importation of British goods made it difficult for the British to pay for cotton imported from the South. The South was forced to pay more for goods, and to face reduced income from sales of raw materials.”

“Sims condemned the Compromise of 1850 as ‘a one-sided deal from which the South had not gained one thing.’”

Sims was engaged in the signing of the Ordinance of Secession, and visited certain battle sites in and around the city of Richmond, Virginia, during early Civil War times.

“When the war ended, Sims was near bankruptcy, with most of his money tied up in now worthless Confederate bonds, and a majority of his cotton crop gone, having been pledged to the Confederate government in the final days of the war.”

“On September 29, 1865, the Federal government granted Joseph Sims a full pardon and amnesty.” Sims continued to farm for the remainder of his life. Many Negroes remained at their jobs on Sims’ plantation.”

“1871, November 13, birthday 70. I pray to God to make me a better man and save the state from Despots and Thieves.”

“On February 21, 1875, Joseph Starke Sims died quietly in the presence of those he loved and cared for. He was buried in the old Sims and Fernandez family graveyard, which overlooks the Pacolet River.”

“In the words of a friend, Sims had ‘gone where property and lands and negroes and wars won’t bother him now, the happy hunting grounds I hope.’”

When Sally Norris died in Grindal Shoals in 1880, the area in which she lived was called Glandyburg Mills, probably so named for the Joseph Sims mills.

Joseph Starke Sims’ beloved wife, Jane Emily Fernandez, died December 13, 1888, at their plantation in Grindal Shoals, S. C. She was buried beside her husband.

They had five sons and four daughters: William H. Sims (1824-1893); Joseph Starke Sims (1831-1891); J. Edward Sims (1833-1855); Henry Fernandez Sims (1836-1857); Charles A. Sims (1848-1929).

Caroline Sims (1827-1903); Sarah Adeline Sims (1828-1905); Mary Elmore Sims ( 1851-1827); and Virginia Sims (1857-).

William married Maria Darnell. He was a Confederate soldier. Joe married Lydia Wallace and lived at the Abraham Nott plantation until his death in 1891. Ed Never married and Henry never married.

Charles (medical doctor) married Marietta Mitchell and lived at the John Chisholm plantation until he moved to Cowpens to practice medicine.

Sarah Adaline never married. She wrote a History of Grindal Shoals, S. C., and Caroline married Edward Elmore.

Mary married Robert W. Hamilton. “Mrs. Mary Hamilton was owner of the Joseph Starke Sims property and lived in the Sims house until the death of her husband after World War I.”

“Joe, Charles and Mary were the last of the Henderson descendents to live in Grindal Shoals, S. C.”

(5). Caroline Harriet Fernandez was born August 27, 1806, in Union District, S. C. She married Davis Goudelock, son of William (1776-1857) and Agnes Nuckolls Goudelock (1771-1840). Davis Goudelock was born March 8, 1807, in Union District, S. C. They had three daughters.

Judge Davis died February 27, 1868, and Caroline died August 27, 1886.

(6). Henry Fernandez Jr. was born in 1808. He never married. Date of death is unknown to this writer.

(7). Walter Fernandez was born January 17, 1812, in Union District, S. C. He married Catherine Quay Gore, daughter of George Washington Gore and Ann Henry Quay, on February 4, 1840. Catherine was born October 7, 1823, in Abbeville County, S. C.

She and Walter had five sons and three daughters. Walter operated his father’s gristmill for awhile.

Walter died on July 28, 1870, in College Hill, Lafayette, Mississippi, and Catherine died there on January 24, 1877.

(8). James Grant Fernandez was born in 1814, in Union District, S. C. He married Elizabeth Long. She was born in 1816, in Union District, S. C. They had five daughters. Dates of deaths of this couple and their children are unknown to this writer.