BY ROBERT A. IVEY

In the Crozier Manuscript, Edwards wrote: “At Thickety, Richard Kelley.  Thickety and Enoree will soon be constituted.  This there state in 1772.”   It appears that the Thickety Baptist Church became an “arm” of the Fairforest Baptist Church in 1770, and was constituted in 1772. 

Leah Townsend wrote: “Here in 1772, Richard Kelley preached as Rev. Philip Mulkey’s assistant, and was soon to be ordained.”

The Thickety Baptist Church was established in the William Sims and William Marchbanks Meetinghouse.  The Meetinghouse is shown on the Mills Atlas of Union District just above the Hancockville Post Office or Elijah Dawkin’s Store.  

Where the Asbury Road intersects highway 18, and about .5 of a mile toward Gaffney, S. C., on the right, was the Sims-Marchbanks Meeting House.   

Richard Wright Kelley was the first pastor of the Thickety Baptist Church. The story is told that Richard Kelley recovered from a fever the very hour of being anointed by the Reverend Philip Mulkey.  He  was soon to be ordained.  He had moved to South Carolina circa 1755, from Virginia.

Richard had two surveys, one for 150 acres on Enoree (Collins) River in 1756, and the other for 350 acres on Padgett’s Creek in 1769.  Paul Townsend presented Richard Kelley’s 1767 Memorial on April 30,1770, in Charleston, S. C.  He operated a gristmill on his tract of land on the Enoree River.

Minutes of the Spartanburg County Court (1785-1799), by Brent Holcomb state: “Ordered that James Turner, Alexander Walker, Micheal Miller and John Redman are to view the nearest and best way for a road from Kelley’s Mill on Enoree to or near the forks of the Pacolet extending to Bridges Ferry on Broad River and report thereon to the next Court on April 10, 1798.”

Richard Kelley was born in Virginia, in 1736.  He married Susannah Hoyt in 1755.  She was born in 1740, and died in 1790.  He died in  Union District, S. C., circa 1800.  He and his wife had four sons and two daughters.  He was the father of Joel and William Kelly.  His son, William Kelly was a Patriot soldier in the Revolutionary War.

William was born July 11, 1758, and married Elizabeth Singleton on November 1, 1782.  “While a resident of Union District, he enlisted during the spring of 1775, and served six months under Capt. James Steen and Col. John Thomas.  He was in two engagements with Indians.  Thereafter, he enlisted during the summer or fall of 1776, and served one month and ten days in the same unit.  

In the spring of 1779, he re-enlisted in the same unit (then under Col. Thomas Brandon) and served three months and ten days and was in the Battle of Stono Ferry.  During 1780, he served under Capt. William Wood and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.” 

He moved to North Carolina, and enlisted in a unit there and moved back to South Carolina.  He then moved to Tennessee and finally to Cass County, Georgia, where he died December 27, 1837.

Richard’s brother, Matthew, first lived next to him in the Padgett’s Creek area.  Matthew’s son, John Kelley, was a Patriot soldier in the Revolutionary war and was in the battles at Kings Mountain, Cowpens and Eutaw Springs.  

Since there were no written records of this church preserved for a number of years, we are left to engage in some historical conjectures. 

Two significant families were added to the Thickety Baptist Church in 1774, the Wilkins family and the Littlejohn family.  This is probably the time frame for the church’s removal to the present day Mike Daniel plantation, and the name changed to the Gosher Baptist Church.  A small log structured building was constructed on land that did not then belong to the church. 

The second Baptist church established in the Grindal Shoals area was the Gilead Baptist Church, constituted in 1804.  When this writer wrote the early history of this church, the traditional account stated that the first members were all dismissed from the Fairforest Baptist Church. 

After further study of the History of Gilead and the surrounding community, the writer now believes that the Goucher Creek Baptist Church had significant involvement in Gilead’s beginning days and was probably the sponsoring church. 

 

BAPTIST FAMILIES LIVING IN THE GREATER GRINDAL SHOALS AREA IN THE 1760S AND 1770S

1. Thomas Brown Sr. was an Indian trader and had married an Indian maiden in the 1730s.  They lived, where the present quarry is located at Pacolet, S. C.  Two sons were born to this union: Thomas Jr. and John. 

Thomas Brown Sr. was still living in September of 1787, when he gave to his sons “all goods, chattels, and household stuff’ he owned.  He may have been a member of the Gosher church, but proof is lacking. 

Thomas Jr. married Hannah  ?  and they had a son, James, born circa 1760.  He may have been a member of Gosher church for his son, James, and his wife, Sarah Peterson, daughter of Paul Peterson, were members, and his son, Thomas and his wife, Susannah, were members.   

Affidavit—Cherokee Nation—Indian Territory

“Be it remembered that on this 4 day of October 1893, personally appeared before me John Ross, who is a reliable and creditable citizen of Flint District, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory and after being by me duly sworn according to the law deposeth and says that he is a resident of Flint District, Cherokee Nation Indian Territory, that his age is 71 years and his occupation that of a farmer,

That he was well and personally acquainted with James Brown in the Old Cherokee Nation, State of South Carolina, and the said James Brown was a Cherokee Indian by blood, about one quarter Cherokee by blood.

Affiant makes his sworn statement from his own personal knowledge and acquaintance with the aforesaid James Brown family of South Carolina, and affiant further states that he is not directly interested in the prosecution of the heirs of said James Brown, deceased for Citizenship in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory.

Sworn and subscribed to before me, John Ross, on this 4 day of Oct—1893 B. G. Fletcher—Clerk, Flint I.T.”

James’ son, James Jr., was disciplined several times by the Goucher Creek Baptist Church for drunkenness. 

James’ daughter, Susannah Brown, married Jacob Sparks, son of Leonard Sparks and Margaret Eliza James Sparks.  Leonard and Margaret may have attended Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Margaret’s parents were Daniel and Lucy Wood James.      

Jacob was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in 1780.  Susannah was born circa 1783, in what became Spartanburg District, S. C.  They were married circa 1810, and both were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  They had five sons and two daughters.

After the death of Susannah’s father, James Brown in 1843, they moved to Carrollten in Pickens County, Alabama, where Jacob died on October 28, 1850.  Susannah died after 1850, in Alabama.   

Their son, Shelton Sparks, was born circa 1810, in Union District, S. C.  He married Rebecca Stotts, possible daughter of Jacob Stotts, circa 1826.  She was born circa 1811.  They attended Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Shelton was murdered at his house in Timber Ridge, S. C., by Samuel Jefferies on March 1, 1864.  Rebecca Stotts Sparks died March 29, 1894.

James Brown’s will lists his wife, Sarah, and children: Susan Sparks, William Brown, James Brown, Isaac Brown and Eleanor Smith (son-in-law, George Smith).  He died in August of 1843. 

James Brown’s brother, Thomas and his wife, Susannah, petitioned the Goucher Creek Baptist Church for letters of dismission to join the Cedar Spring Baptist Church and received their letters October 2, 1819.    

Thomas and his wife were the parents of Fulton Brown, born February 9, 1811.  Fulton attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church until his parents moved their letters. 

Fulton married Nancy Caroline Bryant, daughter of William Tolleson (Grey Buck) Bryant and Lucinda Kirby.  She was born January 23, 1823.   They married in 1840. 

They had seven sons and seven daughters.  He died February 13, 1884, and his wife died November 20, 1903.  They were buried in the Brown Cemetery on what is now Pacolet Quarry land.   

This writer believes that John Brown, born 1780, was the son of John Brown, son of Thomas Brown Sr., the Indian trader.  He was orphaned at about the age of 10 to 12.  There are several traditional stories, but they are difficult to believe. 

Living near the Browns was William (Tailor) Poole, a faithful member of the Gosher Baptist Church since 1784.  He took John Brown into his home in the early 1790s and kept him until he married his daughter, Elizabeth (Polly) Poole, in 1800. 

This couple attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  They had three sons and three daughters.  Elizabeth was born May 26, 1768, and was approximately 12 years older than John Brown. 

Their son, George Washington Brown, gave the land for the establishment of the Brown’s Chapel Baptist Church in 1870.  This church is still a viable church in Pacolet, S. C.

After the death of his first wife, Elizabeth Poole Brown, on October 4, 1839, he married a second time to Barthena ? , born 1794, and died June 24, 1849. 

His third wife was Jane ? .  She was born circa 1798, and died April 19, 1856. 

John Brown died March 24, 1857.  He was interred in the Brown Cemetery No. 1, near the Hammett’s Grove Baptist Church.  He is buried in the center of his three wives’ graves.     

2. Timothy Toney was born April 1, 1725, in St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent County, Virginia, and was the son of Edmond and Elizabeth Gilliam Toney.  He married Elizabeth Freeman on March 15, 1751, in New Kent County, Virginia.  She was born in St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent County, Virginia, in 1730.

According to databases their son, Benjamin, was born in 1763, in South Carolina.  They were living in what later became Spartanburg District at this time. 

They probably attended the Thickety Baptist (later Gosher) Baptist Church, where their son, Abraham, met Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Lucy Coleman Draper.  Sarah and Abraham were later married. 

Timothy was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  He received 30 lbs., 10 shillings, and 1 pence for service rendered in Capt. William Smith’s Company in Ninety Six District.  He also lost a black horse in January of 1779, and received pay for his loss.  His sons, Charles, Drury and Abraham also served as Patriot soldiers. 

Timothy and Elizabeth Freeman Toney had the following children:

(a). Mary Toney was born in Virginia.

(b). Charles Toney was born in Virginia, circa 1753.  There is no marriage record.  Charles was a Patriot soldier and served in the militia under Col. Benjamin Roebuck.  He died right after the war prior to September 1786. 

(c). Elizabeth Toney was born on December 16, 1755, in Virginia.  She married Daniel Bush, son of Daniel and Bridget Braxton Bush circa 1773, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  Daniel was born circa 1739, in Orange County, Virginia.  They were living in Franklin County, Georgia, in 1774, when their daughter, Sarah, was born. 

They had three sons and four daughters all born in Franklin County, Georgia.  Daniel died in Franklin County, Georgia, on February 26, 180l, and Elizabeth died in Franklin County on August 29, 1829. 

A Traditional story states that “Elizabeth Toney Bush had quite an independent spirit, showing her daring by getting on her horse and riding into Tennessee, where some of her children had moved.” 

(d). Drury Toney was born in Virginia, circa 1756.  There is no marriage record. 

Drury was a Patriot soldier and served in the light dragoons under Capt. William Smith, Lt. Col. John Thomas Jr., and General Thomas Sumter during 1781.  He previously served under Col. Benjamin Roebuck.  He died during or right after the war.

(e). John Toney was born circa 1757, in Virginia..

(f). Abraham Toney was born circa 1758, in Virginia.  He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served under Capts. Edward Hampton and William Smith and Cols. John Thomas
Jr., James Williams, Benjamin Roebuck, Henry White, Thomas Brandon, Hugh Middleton and Gens. Daniel Morgan, Francis Pickens, Nathaniel Green and Thomas Sumter. 

He fought in the battles of Wofford’s Iron Works, Musgrove’s Mill, Kings Mountain, Blackstock’s Plantation, Cowpens, Siege of Ninety-Six and Eutaw Springs. 

He probably met his first wife, Sarah Draper, daughter of Thomas and Lucy Coleman Draper, at the Gosher Baptist Church.  Sarah was born in Virginia, October 6, 1758. 

They were married circa 1783, or before and lived in Union
District, S. C.  They had two children: William and Elizabeth.  William was born circa 1784, and Elizabeth was born circa 1786.   Abraham was the administrator of the estates of his brothers: Charles and Drury. 

Sarah, his first wife, was deceased before December of 1788, when Abraham married his second wife, Elizabeth Gibson.  Some databases list Walter and Judah Johnson Gibson as Elizabeth’s parents.  They first lived in Union District, S. C., and then moved to Spartanburg District, S. C.

Abraham and Elizabeth Gibson Toney had three children: Judith born circa 1791; Abraham Toney Jr. born circa 1797; and Nancy Toney born circa 1805.  Abraham and his wife, Elizabeth, and possibly their children, were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  

Abraham’s son, William, by his first wife, Sarah Draper, married Sarah Pettit, daughter of Henry and Mary Ann Poole Pettit.  The Pettits and Pooles were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  William and his wife, Sarah, were also members of this church. 

Sarah is mentioned in records of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church on July 18, 1812.  Shortly after this, William and Sarah moved to Rutherford, N. C.  William and Sarah joined the Broad River Baptist Church of Rutherford County, N. C., by letters from the Goucher Creek church. 

William and Sarah’s first three children were born in Spartanburg District, S. C., and their remaining children were born in Rutherford County, N. C.  They had eight sons and four daughters.  William died in Rutherford County in 1855, leaving all of his estate to his wife, Sarah.  She died after 1855. 

In 1822, Abraham Toney Sr., member of the Goucher Creek church, made a request to the Broad River Baptist Church, Rutherford County, N. C., for the letters of Herod and Judith ? Stovall.  The letters were granted January 19, 1822, and they rejoined the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Judith was the daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Gibson Toney.  Herod (born 1795) was the son of Bartholomew and Keziah ? Stovall. 

Abraham Toney Jr. married Elizabeth ?  .  She was born in 1802.  They moved to Rutherford County, N. C., where all of their children were born (three sons and three daughters).   Elizabeth died in 1833, in Rutherford County, N. C., and Abraham Jr. married Sarah Petty circa 1836.  They had two sons and two daughters, all born in Rutherford County, N. C.  After their children were born, they moved to Jackson County, Alabama.  

Nancy Toney married Gabriel Rainwater, son of Levi and Elizabeth? Rainwater, and grandson of John and Susannah Bobo Rainwater, on June 17, 1829, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  Their first three children were born in Spartanburg District. 

On September 27, 1832, Abraham Toney, a resident of Spartanburg District, made a formal pension request for services rendered during the American Revolutionary War.   Judge John B. O’Neall was the presiding Judge and the Reverend Joshua Richards (his pastor), Capt. William Smith (his commanding officer) and Samuel Smith (brother of Capt. William Smith) were his witnesses.  He received a pension.

After Abraham Toney Sr. died on March 8, 1837, in Spartanburg District, S. C., his wife, Elizabeth Gibson Toney, moved with her daughter, Nancy, and son-in-law, Gabriel Rainwater, to Cherokee County, Georgia.  Four of Nancy and Gabriel’s children were born in Cherokee County, Georgia.  They had four daughters and three sons born in Spartanburg District, S. C., and Cherokee County, Ga. 

Elizabeth Gibson Toney died December 23, 1844, in Cherokee County, Georgia.  Nancy Toney Rainwater and Gabriel Rainwater, according to databases, both died in Blount County, Alabama, in 1890. 

(g). Alexander Toney was born in North Carolina, or Virginia, circa 1760.  He married Ann Ashlin.  She was born circa 1755.  They had a son, Elijah Toney, born circa 1785.

(h). Benjamin Toney was born circa 1763, in what later became Spartanburg District, S. C. 

(i). William Toney was born circa 1770, in South Carolina (later Spartanburg District, S. C. 

(j). Timothy Toney Jr. was born circa 1772, in South Carolina (later Spartanburg District, S. C.)  He first married Sarah Head.  They had at least five children: three sons and two daughters. 

He and his wife, Sarah, were living in Pendleton District, S. C., when the 1800, and 1810, federal censuses were taken.  They were living in Orangeburg County, S. C., when the 1830, federal census was taken.  His wife, Sarah, died in the early 1830s, and he was married a second time to Penelope Williamson in 1835. 

They signed a premarital agreement: “When Penny Williamson, soon to become Mrs. Timothy Toney, dies, her lands, money and slaves shall revert to her heirs.  When Timothy Toney dies, his lands, money and slaves shall revert to his heirs.”  

Timothy Toney died in 1838, and his son, William, was administrator of his estate.  He owned a plantation of 1500 acres on the forks of the Edisto River.     

3. William Buis was born on May 23, 1740, in New Amsterdam, Duchess, New York.  He was the son of Johannes Buis (1718-1759) and Eitje (Ebbie) Lassing (1722-1766).  He was baptized on May 27, 1740, in the Germantown Reformed Church. 

He and his brother, Abraham, moved to South Carolina before 1763.  He married Sarah Mendenhall, daughter of James Joseph Mendenhall and Martha Griffith, circa 1762, in Spartanburg District, S. C. 

Their children were: Abraham (1763-1833), Enoch (1765-1851), John (1769-1813), Jonathan (1771-1845), Elijah (1773-1840), Elisha Isaac (1775-1822), David (1779-1854), Noah (1782-1854), and Lydia (1784-(1832), all Biblical names.  Sarah Mendenhall Buis was born in 1743. 

William was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served as a lieutenant of horse under Capt. Vardry McBee and Col. Benjamin Roebuck from June 1780 to July 1781, alternately.

William owned land in Spartanburg District, S. C., on either side of the Thickety Creek, at one time holding 735 acres.

His brother, Abraham, was born May 9, 1759.  He also was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served under Capt. John Mapp and Col. Benjamin Roebuck in 1782. 

His son, Abraham, was born June 11, 1763, and died May 1, 1833.   

Abraham’s wife’s name was Mary Elizabeth ? .

William died in Spartanburg District, S. C. on September 2, 1800, and Sarah died in Spartanburg District on May 20, 1832.

William and Sarah Fletcher Mendenhall Buis’ son, David, married Martha Patsy Griffin (1779-1853).  They had eight sons and four daughters. 

Their son, William M. Buis (1804-1887), married Mary Ann Mathis (1804-1880), daughter of John and Susan Poole Mathis and granddaughter of William (Taylor) Poole.  

These families were connected to the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  John and Susan Poole Mathis were buried in the Goucher Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, but the writer has been unable to locate this cemetery.

4. “George Henry Turner had lost his beloved mate, Hannah Middleton Turner.  He decided to leave the scenes of sad memories and migrate to South Carolina.  Accompanying him in 1765, was his only son, James, 12 years old, having been born in 1753.”

George Henry Turner was born June 3, 1731, in St. Stephen’s Parish, Northumberland County, Virginia.  He first married, Hannah Middleton, daughter of Thomas Middleton, circa 1752.  She was born in 1730, in Virginia.  James, their only son, was born March 5, 1753.  Hannah died in Virginia in 1760. 

After moving to the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, South Carolina, he married Ann Anderson in 1771.   Her family also lived in the same area.  Some sources state that her father was David Anderson, but the writer has been unable to prove this assertion. 

There was a David Anderson who first built a fort for protection against the Indians in the area.  Later, it was called Fort Thickety.

George Henry Turner and his son, James, were Baptists and probably members of the Thickety Creek Baptist Church, when it was an “arm” of the Fairforest Baptist Church and met in the William Marchbanks and Williams Sims Meeting House.   The only Baptist church for George Henry Turner and his family to attend before this was the Fairforest Baptist Church.

Dr. Bobby Moss in his book, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, page 942, wrote: “On June 17, 1775, George Turner became a second lieutenant in the First Regiment and on May 16, 1776, was a first lieutenant.  He became a captain on April 18, 1777, and was taken prisoner at the Fall of Charleston (1780).

Before being exchanged he served as an aide-de-camp and deputy commissary of prisoners.  On September 1783, he became a brevet-major.  He was in the storming of Savannah with Gabriel Tutt.”

George Turner was listed in the book, American Revolution Roster, Fort Sullivan, 1776-1780, Battle of Fort Sullivan, page 293: He fought in this battle as a member of the First Regiment under Col. Charles Pinckney. 

George was living in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C., in 1765, and must have known his neighbors, members of the Jasper family, six in number who came to the Carroll Shoals area in 1771.  William Jasper was one of the group. 

William probably joined the Elijah Clark wagon train to Georgia, a couple of years later.   He was recruited from Georgia to come to South Carolina, and serve in the Second Regiment under Col. Francis Marion.  

George was at the Battle of Fort Sullivan and witnessed the heroic deed of Sgt. William Jasper’s rescue of the flag.

James, son of George, had reached the age of manhood when the American Revolutionary War began.  His home was in the Thickety Creek section of Ninety-Six District, where his father had originally settled.  

Dr. J. B. O. Landrum in his book, History of Spartanburg County, pages 496 and 497, wrote:

“It was here during the bloody scenes of the Revolution that (James Turner) crept into his log cabin one night to get a good rest, but dreamed during the night that ‘there was danger about.’  So he got up and secreted himself in a plum nursery near by, and soon a Tory appeared with his gun, when James commenced pelting him with rocks and ran him off through a cow-mire.

At another time he was taken prisoner by a band of Tories, who were preparing to kill him at once; but as fortune would have it, one of the Tories said, ‘The first man that hurts Jimmie Turner I will kill him.’  Turner had done this Tory a kindness heretofore, and so his life was saved.”

Dr. Bobby Moss in his book, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, wrote: “James Turner served one hundred thirty-four days in the militia during 1779, 1781 and 1782 under Capt. Turner (George) and Col. Winn (Richard).  After the fall of Charleston (1780), he was under Col. Brandon (Thomas).” 

The night before the Battle of Cowpens, James Turner butchered beef for the hungry troops.  This was the last night of Daniel Morgan’s encampment at Grindal Shoals.  Dr. Moss, in his Patriots at the Cowpens, lists James Turner as a participant in that battle.

James’ half-brother, Henry, was also a Patriot soldier.  Dr. Moss wrote: “He served as a horseman in the militia under Capt. Moses Wood and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.” 

Two of George Turner’s sons, James and Henry, married daughters of William Headen Sr. and Jane Beavers Headen. 

James Turner married Margaret Headen, daughter of William and Jane Beavers Headen, in 1787.  She was born in 1760, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  They had five sons and five daughters. 

He was a brother-in-law to James (Horse Shoe) Robertson, the hero of John Pendleton Kennedy’s book, Horse Shoe Robinson.   Both of these men were scouts in the Revolutionary War. 

James Turner Jr., son of James and Margaret Headen Turner, married Edith Hines.  Edith was the granddaughter of George and Mary Musgrove Berry.  James Jr. was the nephew of James (Horse Shoe) Robertson. 

Dr. Landrum wrote: “Some time after the close of the Revolution James Turner, accompanied by his little son, Samuel, visited Horse Shoe Robertson (James), who resided in what was then Pendleton District, S. C.  It is stated that they sat up all night discussing their ups and downs, but that Mrs. Robertson made them lie down while she was preparing breakfast.” 

James Turner Sr. was a pious and consecrated Christian, and for many years served as a deacon in the Buck Creek Baptist Church.  He died in the Coulter Ford area of Spartanburg County, S. C., in 1825.  Margaret died in 1850 in the same area. 

James half-brother, Henry, married Tamer, daughter of William and Jane Beavers Headen, in 1793, after his family had moved from the Thickety Creek lands to Coulter’s Ford near Pacolet River.  They had four sons and four daughters. 

George Henry Turner and his wife, Ann Anderson Turner, had three sons and three daughters: Henry, Richard, Samuel, Phebe (Mrs. Solomon Abbott), Sallie (Mrs. Ephraim Potter) and Betty (Mrs. William Garrett).

Five of their children were born while they lived in the Thickety Creek area.  Their last child, Betty Turner, was born in 1787, and could have been born either at Thickety or Coulter’s Ford.  

George Turner and Susannah Hollaway sold 100 acres on Gotes Creek of Thickety Creek to John Headen November 14, 1786. 

On December 25, 1786, George Turner and his wife, Nancy sold 200 acres of land on Thickety Creek to Milly Austell.  George sold 100 acres of land on both sides of Thickety Creek to William Wilkins on January 25, 1787.

After selling all of his lands on Thickety Creek, George Henry Turner moved his family to a grant of land on Coulter’s Ford, Pacolet River, sometime in 1787.  After moving to this area, his family joined the Buck Creek Baptist Church near Mayo, S. C.

William Garrett, son of William and Sarah ? Garrett, married Elizabeth Turner, daughter of George and Ann Turner, in 1792.  Rufus Ephraim Potter, son of Ephraim and Sarah Correy, married Sarah (Sally) Turner, daughter of George and Ann Turner, in 1798. 

Rufus Ephraim Potter bought 147 acres on the Pacolet River from Ezekiel Wyatt in 1799, next to George Turner’s family on the mouth of Buck Creek.  His brother-in-law, William Garrett’s land bordered his land on the other side. 

Rufus Ephraim Potter and his sons were skilled at masonry and cut many millstones from Island Creek and other creeks.  They set up several gristmills on Cudd’s Creek, Maple Creek, Long Branch, Cassey Creek and Island Creek.  He was the nephew of Adam Potter of Grindal Shoals. 

George Turner died March 16, 1804, in Spartanburg County, and his wife, Ann Anderson Turner, died several years later.  One source states that she died March 27, 1831. 

5. The Thomas Draper Sr. family moved with his wife’s father, Robert Coleman’s family, from Lunenburg County, Virginia, to the vicinity of (Clark’s) Mill Creek, a branch of Pacolet River, in Craven County (now Union County), S. C., circa 1765. 

He was the son of Thomas Draper Sr. and his wife, Sarah ?  .  He was born September 2, 1733, in N. Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia. Thomas traveled with his sister, Mary Ann, and her husband, Parmenus Palmer, to Lunenburg (Mecklenburg) County, Virginia, about 1754.   

He married Lucy Coleman, the daughter of Robert Coleman and his wife, Ann Hinton, in Lunenburg County, Virginia, in 1757.   She was born before 1740, in Amelia County, Virginia. 

Thomas received a land grant of 451 acres on (Clark’s) Mill Creek in Craven County, S. C., on September 9, 1774, and purchased a 300 acre tract in Ninety Six District (later Union District) on Clark’s Mill Creek, S. C., from Joab Mitchell on July 18-19, 1775.

The writer believes that the Thomas Draper family attended the Thickety Baptist Church later Gosher Baptist Church in the early days.  Whether they were members or not remains uncertain. 

They had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters.  Sarah, William and Anne were born in Lunenburg County, Virginia.  The other children were born in what later became Union District, S. C.

CHILDREN OF THOMAS SR. AND LUCY COLEMAN DRAPER

(a). Sarah Draper was born October 6, 1758, in Virginia.  She married Abraham Toney, son of Timothy and Elizabeth Freeman Toney.  They had two children, a son and daughter.  She died before December 1788, and he was married a second time to Elizabeth Gibson.  Sarah did not marry Edward Stubblefield.  Sarah and Abraham were members of the Gosher Baptist Church.  Their son, William, was one of the purchasers at his grandfather, Thomas Draper’s estate.

(b). William Draper was born on April 6, 1761, in Virginia, and died in 1770, in S. C.

(c). Anne Draper was born on August 26, 1763, in Virginia.  She married Thomas Dean, son of John and Keziah Smith Dean, on September 12, 1776, in Ninety Six District, S. C.  He was born in 1759.

Thomas Dean probably met Anne at the Gosher Baptist Church.

John Dean was the son of Edward and Rebecca Abney Dean.  Keziah Smith was a daughter of Gideon and Eleanor Elizabeth Echols Smith. 

John Dean, Thomas’ father, was living in South Carolina, September 26, 1772, when he sold the twenty acres he inherited from his father, Edward, to William Wilson Holmes.  John was still living in South Carolina, when he deeded 150 acres, which had belonged to his father, Edward, and was willed to him by his brother, Edward, to Joseph Collins March 14, 1774.  His mother, Rebecca, and his wife, Keziah, relinquished their dower rights to the land.

Dr. Bobby Moss, in his Roster of South Carolina Patriots, wrote: “Thomas Dean enlisted on January 1, 1778, and served under Capts. Richard Brown, John C. Smith and Col. William Thomson in the Third South Carolina Continental Ranger Regiment.  In addition to being in the Battle of Stono, he was taken prisoner in the Siege of Charleston, and was exchanged two years later (at a prisoner exchange in Jamestown, Virginia).”   

Thomas and Anne Draper Dean had six daughters and three sons.   

Anne Draper Dean died after the birth of her son, Henry, in 1810, in South Carolina.  Thomas Dean was listed in the will of Thomas Draper Sr., in 1812, and was then living in Edgefield District, S. C.  He was married a second time to Sarah Linn on December 24, 1812, in Edgefield.  Sarah was born circa 1788.

Thomas Dean applied for and received a pension for his service as a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War on June 2, 1818, in Edgefield District, S. C.  His pension number was W27602.  

Thomas Dean died May 10, 1827, in Edgefield District, S. C.

Sarah Linn Dean, his second wife, applied for a widow’s pension in October 17, 1853, in Benton County, Alabama.  She moved in January 1, 1861, to Calhoun County, Alabama.  This county was divided in 1863, and she was then considered a resident of Cleborne County, Alabama, where she died on October 17, 1871.  She lived in Edwardsville.  No children are listed in the databases for Thomas and Sarah Linn Dean.

(d). James Draper was born February 5, 1766, in Craven County, S. C. (later Union District).  He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  He served in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon after the Fall of Charleston, S. C. 

 He married Margaret ? , in S. C.  They had twelve children, eight sons and four daughters.  He and his wife had moved to Smith County, Tennessee, by 1802.  Their first six children were born in S. C.  James died in Columbus, Arkansas, in March of 1837.      

(e). Thomas Draper was born September 15, 1768, in S. C.  He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  He fought with his brother, James, in the militia and served under Col. Thomas Brandon, after the Fall of Charleston, S. C.  He joined as a Patriot soldier when he was 13-14 years old.

He married Sarah Lyles, daughter of Maher Shallal Hasbaz Lyle and his wife, Elizabeth Gibson, on August 9, 1787.

They had twelve children, six sons and six daughters.   Their first seven children were born in Union District, S. C., and their last five children were born in Jackson County, Tennessee. 

They moved to Tennessee circa 1800.  He was a Pioneer settler of Jackson County, Tennessee.  He engaged in farming and was a livestock dealer.

Thomas died August 20, 1840, in Bagdad, Jackson County, Tennessee, and Sarah died September 22, 1844, in Bagdad.     

(f). Philip Draper was born June 14, 1771, in South Carolina.  Name of his first wife, according to some databases, was Elizabeth Davidson.  They had one daughter.   

His second wife was Sarah Anderson.  They married circa 1795, in Union District, S. C.  They had four sons.  Three of their sons were born in Union District, S. C.  They had a daughter born in 1800, in Smith County, Tennessee, and a son born after the daughter in Smith County.

Philip married Peggy Curtis circa 1804.  They were living in Chesnut Mound, Smith County, Tennessee, at this time and had one son.

His fourth wife was Sara Pate.  He married her circa 1805-6 in Smith County, Tennessee.  They had three daughters and two sons, Philip Jr. and James.  

He sent a letter to his son, Philip Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth, on August 18, 1844, in which he wrote: “Grandmother is much like she has been for a greatwhile.  Sometimes better and sometimes worse, but never in her rightmind.  She don’t think herself at home at no time.”   He was a tobacco farmer.

Sarah Pate Draper probably died in the 1840s.  Her husband, Philip, died in Smith County, Tennessee, in 1856. 

(g). Catherine Draper was born January 27, 1774, in South Carolina.  She married John Burgess in Union District, S. C.   John was born circa 1770, in South Carolina.  They attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Catherine (Caty) received a slave, Hannah, from her father’s estate.   

They had three children: Thomas Burgess, Spartanburg District, S. C. (1790-1870); William P. Burgess, Pickens County, Alabama (1798-1861); and Lucinda Burgess, wife of David Easterwood, Pickens and Calhoun counties, Alabama, (1805-1875).  Lucinda received her mother’s slave, Hannah, when her father died.

Catherine died before 1830, and John married a second wife, Sarah ? .  The writer has no record of his children by Sarah or further information about her.  

John Burgess left over 50 slaves in his estate to be divided among his heirs.  He died April 1, 1859, in Union District, S. C.  “He started to Unionville with a load of cotton and was stricken on the road and died very suddenly.  He was a remarkable man for his age and never  had any sickness in his life.”

(h). Daniel Draper was born April 1, 1776, in South Carolina.   He married Susanne Phillipe Gibbs, daughter of Zacharias and Frances Coleman Gibbs on February 13, 1798, in Union District, S. C.  They probably attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church in their early marriage. 

Her father was a Loyalist soldier during the American Revolutionary War and had to flee, first to Charleston, S. C., where his wife, Frances Coleman Gibbs, died, and then to Nova Scotia.

Daniel and Susanne had seven sons and three daughters.  They moved to Smith County, Tennessee, prior to 1811, and from there to Lincoln County, Missouri, in 1816.  They were living in Smith County in 1802, when their son, Henry, was born. 

Susanne was sent by her father from Charleston, S. C., to live with the David and Mary Gibbs Cook family after her mother died of small pox in Charleston, S. C., in 1781.  Mary was her father’s sister. 

She ran away at age 14 to her Aunt Lucy Coleman Draper’s and stayed with her until she married her first cousin, Daniel Draper, and her aunt’s son.  

They kept an Inn in Missouri and farmed.  Susanne died on October 23, 1832, while living in Lincoln County, Missouri.   

Daniel married Mary Orr, daughter of James and Agnes Jane Walker Orr, on June 12, 1834, in Pike County, Missouri.  She was his second wife and was born on January 28, 1780, in Caswell County, North Carolina.  Mary moved to Pike County, Missouri, with the Samuel Orr family in 1826.

Mary died in Lincoln County, Missouri, in 1850. Daniel died June 22, 1856, in Lincoln County. 

(i). Travis Draper was born October 16, 1778, in South Carolina.  He married Margaret White in December of 1789, in Union District, S. C.  She was born circa 1780, in what later became Union District, S. C.

They were living in Jackson County, Tennessee, when their son, Joshua, was born in 1805.  They had two other sons: William and Harvey.  Margaret died before 1840, in Jackson County.  Travis died September 25, 1857, in Jackson County, Tennessee.

Originally, Travis and his wife, Margaret, and their son, William, and his wife, Amelia, were buried on Travis’ farm in Jackson County.  They were later disinterred and moved to the Rob Draper Cemetery, when the Cordell Hull Dam was built.     

(j). William Draper was born on August 28, 1781, in South Carolina.  He married Jemima (Jenny) Kirby, daughter of John Thomas Kirby Jr. and his wife, Jemima Bolling Kirby.  She was born in 1773, in Halifax County, Virginia. 

William moved his family from S. C., to Randolph County, N. C., to Tennessee and then to Illinois.  He died in Jersey City, Illinois, in February of 1841. 

(k). Joshua Draper was born on June 11, 1784, in South Carolina.  He met Nancy Wilkins, daughter of William and Ann Elizabeth Terrell, at the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and married her on  February 8, 1803, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She was born in Spartanburg District on March 17, 1784. 

They lived in Union District, S. C., for a number of years and were living in Spartanburg District in 1817, when their son, Daniel, was born.  All of their children were born in Union or Spartanburg Districts.  They had four sons and seven daughters.

He moved his family to Calhoun County, Alabama, in 1845.  Nancy died May 1, 1847, in Calhoun County, Alabama.  Joshua was married a second time to a widow, Temperance Jane Bullard Woodley.   She was born in North Carolina in 1800.  Joshua died August 15, 1857, in Calhoun County, Alabama, and Tempy Woodley died in Calhoun County in 1884.

He and his wife, Nancy, were buried in Wellington, Calhoun County, Alabama, on his farm near an old lead mine.  His second wife, Tempy, was also buried in Wellington on his farm. 

Joshua and his first wife, Nancy, were members of the Goucher
Creek Baptist Church before moving to Alabama.  Most of their children were also members of this church. 

Lucy Coleman Draper died after 1803, but before the death of her husband, Thomas Draper Sr.  He died in Union District, S. C., in January of 1812.

6. Laurence Easterwood was born in England circa 1740.  The first land records of Laurence are found in Anson County, North Carolina.  He married Susannah ?  circa 1760.  She was born in 1742. 

Their first three children were born in North Carolina.  According to databases their son, Simeon, was born in Ninety Six District (later Union District) in 1767. 

He owned property on the Pacolet River called Easterwood Shoals.  There was a ford here that was considered the upper limit of navigation of the Pacolet River.  It was here that the British Army led by Col. Banastre Tarleton crossed on their way to the Battle of Cowpens.   Its location has been rediscovered by George Fields and his group. 

Laurence Easterwood was a Patriot soldier during the American Revolutionary War.  Records on file at the South Carolina Archives indicate that he was paid for: (a). Sixty days duty as a private horseman under Capt. John Thompson in Col. Thomas Brandon’s Regiment; (b). 72 bushels of corn for Continental use in 1781; (c). 195 days of militia duty in 1780 and 1781, as a member of the Spartan Regiment.   

John H. Logan in his History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, wrote:  “John Beckham, the noted scout, was sitting on his horse, eating breakfast from a window (at William Hodge’s) when Tarleton came up.” 

When closely pressed by the Light Horse of Tarleton (Col. Banastre), he plunged headlong down a fearful bank into the river and made his escape. 

A comrade named Easterwood (Laurence) from whom the shoals take their name, was with him in the race.  Easterwood rode a big clumsy horse and was big and heavy himself.  His horse striking his foot on a log, Easterwood fell sprawling, and was made a prisoner.”  Just how long he remained a prisoner is not recorded.

Laurence and Susannah ? were probably members of the Gosher Baptist Church (Goucher Creek).  His son, William, and his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, were listed on the extant membership rolls of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  

CHILDREN OF LAURENCE AND SUSANNAH ? EASTERWOOD

(1). Patsy Easterwood was born in Ninety Six District (later Union District, S. C.) circa 1761, in Anson County, North Carolina.  She married John Harvey.  He was born in 1750.  Patsy died in 1851.   No further information is available on this couple. 

(2). Female Easterwood was born in Anson County, N. C, circa 1763.  No further information is given on this child in the databases. 

(3). John Easterwood was born in 1766, in Anson County, North Carolina.  He married Nancy Kirby, daughter of John and Jemima Bolling Kirby.  Nancy was born circa 1776, in Halifax County, Virginia. 

On November 22, 1788, Adam Potter sold 500 acres on the south side of Pacolet River “in the counties of Union and Spartanburg” to John and William Easterwood.  John sold his half of the above purchase to his brother, William, on October 6, 1809.  

John Easterwood mortgaged a tract of 200 acres in Union District, S. C., on the south side of Pacolet River to John Tolleson on May 19, 1809.  It included the plantation where his father, Laurence, formerly lived. 

John Easterwood purchased 100 acres on waters of  (Clark’s) Mill Creek from Richard Kirby of Spartanburg District, S. C., on September 4, 1809.  This land was part of a 600 acre grant to Angelica Mitchell, daughter of Joab and Mary Henderson Mitchell, at Easterwood’s Mill Pond.     

John and Nancy had six sons and three daughters, all born in Union District. S. C.  John moved his family to Georgia in 1827, taking his brother, Laurence Jr., with him.

He and his family were living in Gibson County, Tennessee, when the 1830 federal census was taken. 

John died in Gibson County, Tennessee, on May 4, 1841, and Nancy died in Gibson County, Tennessee, on August 11, 1846.

(4). Simeon Easterwood was born in Ninety Six District, S. C., (later Union District, S. C.) in 1767.  He had moved to Clark County, Georgia, in the early 1790s and married Nancy Holloway in 1795, in Georgia.  She was born in 1776, in Alabama.

They had four sons and one daughter while living in Georgia.  By 1830, they were living in Gibson County, Tennessee. 

He died on May 9, 1841, in Gibson County, Tennessee, and Nancy died in the same county on October 10, 1846.    

(5). William Easterwood was born in Ninety Six District, S. C. (later Union District, S. C.) on March 2, 1768.  He married Elizabeth Cunningham circa 1792, in Union District, S. C. 

William Easterwood purchased 289 acres of land on (Clark’s) Mill Creek adjacent to Thomas Draper’s land on January 24, 1807, from William Chisholme.  This land was originally granted to John Haile. 

William and Elizabeth were listed on the extant records of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church of which they were members.  They had six sons and seven daughters all born in Union District, S. C.

By 1830, they were living in Pickens County, Alabama.  Census records show that they were living on Coal Fire River, where the family owned a gristmill. 

William died in Pickens County on March 25, 1834, and his wife, Elizabeth, died in the same county before 1850.  They were buried near the location of the old gristmill.

(6). Gideon Easterwood was born in Ninety Six District, S. C., (later Union District, S. C.) in 1772.   He may have moved to Georgia with his brother, Simeon.  Gideon married Mary Rosanna ?  in Georgia.  She was born circa 1792, in N. C. 

They had six children born in Carroll County, Georgia, and had three children born in Gibson County, Tennessee.  Four sons and five daughters were born to this couple.

Gideon died in 1843, in Gibson County, Tennessee, and Mary Rosanna ? died in this county in 1855. 

(7). Laurence Easterwood Jr. was born in Ninety Six District (later Union District, S. C., in 1774.  Name of his wife is unknown to this writer.  They possibly had at least three sons.  He moved his family to Georgia in 1827, with his brother, John Easterwood.

7. The William Headen Sr. family moved to South Carolina from Virginia, on or before 1770. They lived in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District. 

William and his family could have been involved in the establishment of the “arm” of Fairforest Baptist Church at the William Marchbanks and William Sims Meeting House, and the constitution there of the Thickety Baptist Church in 1772.

William Headen, son of John and Phebe Brooks Headen, was born circa 1740, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  He married Jane Beavers, daughter of Thomas and Martha Cargile Beavers, circa 1758, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  She was born in Loudoun County in 1743.  

Thomas Beavers was born in Bethlehem Township, Hunterdon, New Jersey, and his wife, Martha Cargile, was born in Loudoun County, Virginia. 

Dr. Moss wrote: “William Headen served eighty-nine days as a horseman in the militia under Capt. Joseph Dickson and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.” 

He was listed in the 1790 census records of Spartanburg District, S. C.

William moved his family to Jackson County, Georgia, and was living there when his daughter, Priscilla, married, a near relative, Allen Headen, in 1792.

 William Headen Sr.’s will was probated in Jackson County, Georgia, on April 1, 1808.  He mentioned his son-in-laws: William L. Braziel, James Robertson (Horseshoe), David Robertson, William Shed, James Turner, Henry Turner and Allen Headen and left them a part of the money from the sale of his estate. 

He left his sons, William, George, Eli and Jesse a part of the money from his estate and left money for George and William to be disposed of as they see fit for the use of his son, Robert, and his daughter, Prissy Headen (Allen’s wife).   

He left his wife, Jane, two slaves, Sam and Sary, his bay horse and the use of his plantation during the remainder of her life.  He left his deceased son’s wife, Elizabeth, and her daughter, Sally Terrell, five shillings each. 

Children of William and Jane Beavers Headen:

(1). John Headen was born in 1759, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  After his family had moved to the Thickety Creek area in Ninety Six District, he married Elizabeth Littlejohn, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Coffer Littlejohn, in 1779.   She was born in 1761, in Fairfax County, Virginia.  

He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  Dr. Moss wrote: “He served as a horseman in the militia under Capt. Anthony Colter and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.”  

He was listed as a trustee of the Gosher Baptist Church when they purchased land from Philemon Martin on August 6, 1789.  He served as a messenger from the Gosher church to the Bethel Baptist Associational meetings in 1796 and 1797. 

John and his wife, Elizabeth, had at least three children: one son and two daughters.

Their daughter, Sarah, married Terrell Wilkins, son of William and Elizabeth Terrell Wilkins.  

John Headen died in 1805, in the Thickety Creek area, and Elizabeth, his wife, died there in 1843.  

(2). Margaret Headen was born in 1760 in Loudoun County, Virginia.

*See information on Margaret and her husband, James Turner, under the George Henry Turner family.

(3). William Headen Jr. was born December 14, 1760, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  He moved with his father and his father’s family to the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District in 1769-1770. 

He married Susannah Robertson, in 1781, in Ninety Six District.  She was born circa 1762, in Virginia. 

Dr. Bobby Moss wrote: “While residing in Ninety Six District, he enlisted under Capt. Vardry McBee.  From the fall of 1779 or early 1780, he served at various times under Captains: Vardry McBee, Jeremiah Dixon, John Mapp and Colonels: John Thomas, Benjamin Roebuck and William Farr. 

He was at the house of his father (about seven miles from Cowpens)  and volunteered at the time of the battle, but did not reach there in time for the action.  At one time, he served as a captain.  Often he served as a scout and was sent against the Cherokee Indians once.  He served until 1783.”

He and his wife, Susannah, moved with his father to Jackson County, Georgia, before 1792.  They left Georgia in 1811, and settled in Louisiana in 1812. 

On November 14, 1833, William personally appeared before Open Court in the Eighth District Court in Louisiana now sitting in the Parish of St. Tammany and applied for a pension for his services rendered during the American Revolutionary War.  

Susannah died in the St. Tammany Parish, in Louisiana, before 1839, and her husband, William, died there after August 29, 1839.

They had five sons and seven daughters.     

(4). Elizabeth Headen was born in 1761, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  She married William Shedd, son of James Thompson and Martha Herd Shedd, in 1778, while they lived in the Thickety Creek area (later Spartanburg District, S. C).

William’s father, James, and his father’s brother, William, were kidnapped and shipped from Aberdeen, Scotland to Norfolk, Virginia, on the Queen in 1740, and sold to John Graham on Quantico Creek, Virginia.  

William Shedd was born in Loudoun County, Virginia.  He sold their land in Spartanburg Distirct in 1806, and he and his wife moved to Pendleton District, South Carolina, joining Elizabeth’s two sisters: Sarah Robertson and Jane Robertson and their families.

William and Elizabeth joined the Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Oconee County, S. C.  William was once “cited” to come before the church and defend himself for “non-attendance”.  He “mended his trifling ways” and in later years was a pillar of the church, representing it in Associational meetings and elsewhere.

They remained in Oconee County, S. C. until 1840, where he operated Shedd’s Mill.  Elizabeth died in Oconee County, S. C., in 1834. 

William moved to Coffee County, Tennessee, to live with his son, James and his wife, Sibbel Robertson Shedd.  He died there in 1849.  They had two sons and one daughter. 

(5). Sarah Morris Headen (twin) was born July 17, 1763, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  She married James (Horse Shoe) Robertson, son of David and Frances Burchfield Robertson, on June 3, 1782.  Her sister, Jane, married his brother, David. 

Sarah was probably a member of the Gosher Baptist Church before moving to Pendleton District, S. C.  She joined the Shoal Creek Baptist Church in this District. 

James  (Horseshoe) Robertson does not appear to be a member of the Gosher church or the Shoal Creek church, but after moving to Alabama, he and his wife joined the Grants Creek Baptist Church, where he was a very faithful member.

*See the article on James (Horse Shoe) Robertson in the Grindal Shoals Gazette.   

 (6). Jane Headen (twin) was born July 17, 1763, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  She married David Robertson Jr., son of David and Frances Burchfield Robertson, in 1780, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District. 

David was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served in the militia before and after the fall of Charleston under Colonel Thomas Brandon, while living in the Thickety Creek area.

David and his wife, Jane, sold their 190 acre tract on Polecat Creek, a branch of Thickety Creek, in September of 1790, and moved to Pendleton District, S. C., with his brother, James, and his wife’s twin sister, Sarah.  

David and his wife, Jane, were members of the Gosher Baptist Church, and when they moved to Pendleton District, S. C., they joined the Shoal Creek Baptist Church, in Oconee County, S. C.  Jane’s sister, Sarah, was also a member.  David and Jane moved their letters in 1811. 

They moved to Jackson County, Georgia, and from there to
 Louisiana.  David claimed land in Tangipahoa (then Washington Parish) in Louisiana in 1808.  David and Jane moved their letters from Shoal Creek Baptist Church in 1811, and joined the Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Tangipahoa in 1813, as charter members.

David died in St. Tammany Parish in August of 1824, and his wife, Jane Headen Robertson, died there after August of 1850.  They had six sons and five daughters.  

 (7). Eli Headen was born in 1765, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  No other information is available on this son. 

(8). Jesse Headen was born in 1767, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  He first married Rosanna ?  .  He married Elizabeth Reed on February 20, 1827, in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.  

(9). Robert Headen was born in 1769, in Loudoun County, Virginia.

He married Elizabeth ? .  No other information is available on this son.                                               

(10). Priscilla (Prissy) Headen was born in 1772, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District.  She married her cousin, Allen Headen, in 1792, in Jackson County, Georgia.   

She and her husband were living in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, when she divorced him on January 22, 1819.  He was a veteran of the War of 1812.

Priscilla married F. J. Bomby in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, in 1833. 

 (11). Tamar (Tamer) Headen was born in 1775, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District.   She married Henry Turner, son of George Henry Turner and his wife, Ann Anderson Turner, in 1792.  Henry was born in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District in 1764.  

Henry Turner was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served as a horseman in the militia under Capt. Moses Wood and Col. Benjamin Roebuck. 

Henry was a Justice of the Peace and later a Justice of the Quo- rum. He presided over the taking of oaths and processing of real estate deeds in excess of fifty transactions.  Most of these were located along the Pacolet, Lawsons Fork, Buck Creek and Island Creek waterways in the north central part of Spartanburg District.     

He and his wife lived and died in the area of Coulter’s Ford.  They had four sons and four daughters. 

Sarah Turner, their oldest child, married Robert Coleman Poole, son of John and Mary Coleman Poole, and grandson of William (Tailor) Poole.  Mary Coleman was the daughter of Robert Coleman and Elizabeth Tracy Smith Coleman. 

Fielden Turner, their son, married Alice Putman, daughter of the Reverend John Putman and his wife, Sarah Howard Putman.  Sarah Howard was the daughter of Nehemiah and Edith Smith Howard.

Henry made his will on June 26, 1832.  In the will he “gave his wife her choice of two Negroes out of five, the names of the Negroes: Henney, Harriett, Hannah, Ned and Daniel.”   He gave his daughter,

Jane Cantrell a Negroe girl by the name of Nancy, and to his daughter, Sarah Turner Poole, a Negroe girl by the name of “Manda”.     

Henry died in 1841, and his wife, Tamar, died in 1846. 

 (12). George Headen was born in 1779, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District.  He died October 18, 1829, in Jackson County, Georgia.  He never married.  

In his will, probated January 5, 1830, he left his nephews: John M. Brazeal, George R. Brazeal, William Brazeal and Headen Brazeal “all my landed estate, also all my farming utensils and waggons and gear to be equally divided among them.”

“I will that the balance of my estate at my death shall be divided as follows: one ninth part to my brother, William Headen, or his heirs; one ninth part to my brother-in-law, David Robertson, or his heirs; one ninth part to William Shed, or his heirs; one ninth part to my brother-in-law, James Turner, or his heirs; one ninth part to my brother-in-law, Henry Turner, or his heirs; one ninth part to be placed in the hands of John M. Brazeal for the use of Jesse Headen;

One ninth part to be paid to James Robertson in money; one ninth part to Eli Headen, or his heirs in money; one ninth part to be divided among the six heirs of William L.  Brazeal, in the following manner: Sally Brazeal to have out of said ninth part one bed and furniture, the balance of the said ninth part to be divided unto two equal parts and Polley Brazeal to have one of those parts, and the other to be equally divided between the four boys.”  

(13). Martha Headen was born April 3, 1780, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety-Six District.  She married William L. Braziel, son of
George Braziel, in 1795.   He was born on February 27, 1776, in South Carolina.   They had four sons and two daughters. 

William died in Jackson County, Georgia, on May 7, 1809, and Martha died in 1850, in Georgia.  They had six sons and seven daughters.  

8. David and Frances Burchfield Robertson moved into the Thickety Creek area of South Carolina in what was then Ninety Six District. 

David was the son of Israel and Sarah Williams Robertson and grandson of Nicholas and Sarah Marks Robertson and great-grandson of Matthew Marks. 

Matthew Marks (1640-1719) and Nicholas Robertson (1665-1718), assisted in establishing the first Baptist Church in Virginia, in what is now Prince George County, Virginia. 

Matthew Marks was the one who sent to England requesting a Baptist minister in 1714.  The first minister, Robert Norden, arrived in 1715, and at the next court term on July 12, 1715, the following entry was place in the records: “On motion of Nicholas Robertson, it is ordered that his house be recorded as a publick meeting house for the Sext of Anabaptists.”

Nicholas was born in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia, on August 12, 1665. He married Sarah Marks, daughter of Matthew Marks, in 1784.  His wife, Sarah, was born in Folkstone, Kent County, England in 1675.  They had six sons all born in Prince George County, Virginia.  Sarah died in 1716, in Prince George County, and Nicholas died there in 1718.   

Their son, Israel Robertson, was born in 1698, in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia.  His wife, Sarah Williams, daughter of John Williams and Anne Watkins Williams, was also born in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia.  They had eight sons and two daughters, all were born in Prince George County. 

Israel Robertson in 1744, sold 225 aces of Edgecombe County land and his own land.  He moved to Granville County, N. C. 

Israel served as an ensign in the Granville County, N. C. Militia in  the General Muster of October 8, 1754.  Col. Willliam Eaton was the Regimental Commander.  Israel’s sons, Matthew, Israel Jr., Nicholas and John Robertson, also served in the same company.  Richard Coleman was captain of their company.    

Israel died in 1759, in Granville County, N. C., and Sarah died there in 1760.

David, son of Israel, was born on August 19, 1729, in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia.  He married Frances Burchfield in 1748.  Databases state that she was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 13, 1732, the daughter of Adam and Mary ? Burchfield.   

His father, Israel, was living in Lunenburg County, N. C., at the time of their marriage so they could have married in this county.

David received a grant of land in Lunenburg County, Virginia, in 1749, and lived here with his family until he moved to South Carolina, in 1766.  Their property in what later became South Carolina, was on the north side of Broad River and on waters of Turkey Creek.     

He moved to the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District in S. C., in 1769.  David and Frances Burchfield Robertson were likely Baptists by virtue of their ancestral connection.   The Burchfields were also Baptists.  

Frances Burchfield Robertson’s brother, Adam, served as a sergeant in the company that Capt. John Nuckolls formed on February 9, 1771, to protect the settlers from the Cherokee Indians.  Adam Burchfield also signed as a witness to David Robertson’s will, written on July 8, 1771. 

Adam had a 200 acre tract on waters of Thickety Creek in 1773.   He was also a Patriot solider during the American Revolutionary War and served under Capts. Vardry McBee, John Mapp and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.  

Samuel Burchfield, grandfather of Frances Burchfield Robertson, arrived in Maryland in 1662.  Francis Riggs (first banker in Maryland) paid for his voyage to this country.  Samuel was an indentured servant for five years, after which he claimed land in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. 

Frances Burchfield Robertson was the daughter of Samuel’s son, Adam Burchfield, and his wife, Mary.   Her first cousins, John, Joseph and James Burchfield, sons of Thomas (son of Samuel) and Mary Johnson Burchfield, also had grants of land in the Thickety Creek area of old Ninety Six District. 

Joseph Burchfield received a grant of 250 acres in 1768, and a 250 acre tract in 1761.  He acquired other lands.  John received a 400 acre tract in 1771.  James was a Chain Bearer in reference to John Butler who had a 300 acre tract on the north side of Pacolet River granted to him in 1767. 

Frances’ cousins must have settled in the Thickety Creek area before her husband, David, had moved his family to the area. 

James Burchfield served as a sergeant under Capt. John Mapp and Col. Benjamin Roebuck. 

It is possible that the Burchfields and Robertsons were early members of the Thickety Creek Baptist Church (later Gosher Baptist Church).

It is certain that Frances Burchfield Robertson encouraged her children to attend the Gosher church for it was here that two of her sons, David and James, met and married daughters of William Headen and Jane Beavers, who were members of this church. 

Information is not available in the databases on all of the children of David and Frances Burchfield Robertson, but the writer has included what was available on this family.

CHILDREN OF DAVID AND FRANCES BURCHFIELD ROBERTSON

(1). Matthew Robertson was born in 1749, in Lunenburg County, Virginia.  He was the oldest child.  When his father died in 1771, his will was disallowed by the court.  The law of primogeniture was then applied to Matthew.  He immediately received a two-thirds ownership in his father’s 400 acres on both sides of the Thickety Creek.  

He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War. Dr. Bobby Moss wrote:  “He served as a blacksmith in the militia and provided corn for the Continental Line.  He lost a wagon and team in service during 1779.  He served in the militia after the fall of Charleston.”  “He served under Capt. Vardry McBee and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.”

Matthew sold his two-thirds interest in this father’s land to William Safold on February 7-8, 1779.  His mother, Frances, gave her one-third interest in the land (133 1/3 acres) to her son, Matthew, and he and his wife, Susannah, sold it to John Waters March 10-11, 1786. 

According to most databases he married Susannah Hogan, daughter of John and Tabitha ? Hogan in 1784.  She was born in 1762, in Amherst County, Virginia. 

Her father received a North Carolina grant from Gov. John Martin for 179 ½ acres on May 15, 1772.  His family either attended or were members of the Gosher Baptist Church where, Susannah and Matthew met.  Susannah was a member.  

Matthew sold a tract of land to James Thompson, son of John Thompson, Jr. on August 3, 1790. 

He and his wife, Susannah Hogan Robertson, sold 62 ½ acres of land on Thickety Creek to Joshua Petty on January 12, 1792. 

Matthew Robertson was still living in the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina, when he witnessed a land transaction between Nathaniel Jefferies and Elias Drake on April 1, 1796. 

He moved his family to Louisiana in 1802.  They had five sons and eight daughters.  It was recorded in St. Tammany census of 1812, that Matthew had a farm north of Amie, Louisiana. 

His wife, Susannah, was a charter member of Mt. Nebo Baptist Church in Lousiana.  Her brother, William Hogan and his wife, Narcisssa Goza Hogan, were also charter members of this church as was their mother, Tabitha Hogan. 

Tabitha Robertson, daughter of Matthew and Susannah Robertson amd Nancy Hogan, daughter of William and Narcissa Goza Hogan were also charter members of Mt. Nobo. 

The writer is not certain about the membership of Matthew, but know that he was of the Baptist persuasion.   

Matthew died in Washington Parish, Louisiana, in September of 1826, and Susannah, died in Washington Parish of Louisiana, October 8,1846.

(2). Mary (Molly) Robertson was born circa 1751, probably in Lunenburg County, Virginia.  She married Irby Dewberry, son of Giles and Anna ?  Dewberry, in 1768, while her family lived on the north side of Broad River on Turkey Creek.   He was born in St. Andrews Parish, Brunswick County, Virginia, in 1748.  

Thomas Nathaniel Dewberry and Mary Irby Dewberry, were his grandparents. 

Irby Dewberry, son-in-law of David Robertson, was listed as an executor of David’s will in 1771.  He was not a Patriot soldier during the American Revolutionary War, though he had at least five brother-in-laws who fought for the liberty of their country.

One source states that his father, Giles, and brother, Thomas, were Loyalists and were serving with a Tory unit, which accompanied the British Army on the field at the Battle of Cowpens.  Both men were killed according to information submitted by Patriot Officer, Col. Benjamin Roebuck.  

Irby Dewberry moved his family to Warren County, Georgia, in 1789.  He left a will in Warren County, Georgia, dated January 8, 1816.  He died in Warren County, August 28, 1816.   Mary died in 1820, in Warren County.  They had four sons and four daughters. 

(3). Israel Robertson was born circa 1753, in probably Lunenburg County, Virginia.  There is no record of a marriage.  He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War in South Carolina.

Dr. Bobby Moss wrote: “Israel served as a private and lieutenant in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon.  In addition, he served in the light dragoons under Captain William McKenzie, Colonel William Hill and General Thomas Sumter.”

Israel died in June of 1786, in the Thickety Creek area of Union District, S. C.  James Terrell, his stepfather, posted an administration bond for the estate of Israel Robertson in April of 1791.

(4). Isaac Robertson was born circa 1755, in probably Lunenburg County, Viriginia.  There is no record of a marriage.  He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War in South Carolina

Dr. Bobby Moss wrote: “He enlisted in the First Regiment on November 27, 1775, and was discharged on December 1, 1778.  He also appears on the February roll.  He served fifty days as a horseman under Capt. Vardry McBee and Col. Benjamin Roebuck during 1780 and 1781.  At sometime he was under Col. Thomas Brandon.”

He died in June of 1786, in the Thickety Creek area of Union District, S. C. 

(5). Isham Robertson was born circa 1757, in probably Lunenburg County, Virginia.  There is no further record of this son.

(6). James Robertson was born October 12, 1759, probably in Granville County, North Carolina.  He moved with his family from Turkey Creek in present day Chester County, S. C., in 1769, to the Thickety Creek area of present day Union County, S. C. 

He was a Patriot soldier and a book was written about him in the 1830s called, HorseShoe Robinson.  After moving to Pendleton District, S. C., he was called by this nickname. 

James possibly did not join the Gosher church, but attended this church, where he met his future wife, Sarah Morris Headen.  She was a member of this church and later a member of the Shoals Creek Baptist Church in Pendleton District, S. C. 

Later, after moving to Alabama, they both became very faithful members of the Grants Creek Baptist Church.    

*For more information on this son, the reader can find it by reading the article on James (HorseShoe Robinson) in the Grindal Shoals Gazette. 

(7). David Robertson was born circa 1761, probably in Granville County, N. C.  He married Jane Headen, twin sister of his brother James’s wife, Sarah Morris Headen. 

He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  He and his wife, Jane, were members of the Gosher Baptist Church.

*For additional information about this couple read about them under the William Headen family in this same article.  

(8). Abner Robertson was born circa 1764, probably in Granville, N. C. 

He and John Robertson witnessed a deed transaction between James Terrell and Moses Quals on December 17, 1785.

He and his stepfather, James Terrell, witnessed a land transaction between William Smith and William Lockhart on July 7, 1786.

No further information on Abner is available.

(9). Sally Robertson was born circa 1766, probably in what later became Chester County, S. C.

No further information on Sally is available.

(10). John B. Robertson was born circa 1768, probably in what later became Chester County, S. C.   Name of his wife is unknown.

He and his wife ? had at least four children: Dicy, born December 3, 1800; Dio Cleason, born February 7, 1804; Noah, born 1812; and John, born circa 1812.   He had five brothers who fought with the Patriots during the Ameican Revolutionary War.  

John Robertson died in Newberry County, S. C., in 1816.   Apparently, his wife was already deceased.

According to family tradition Dio Cleason Robertson was orphaned at an early age and was bonded though the courts in South Carolina to Robert Coleman.  Dio Cleason was to stay with Coleman until age 21, at which time Coleman was obligated to give him a horse, saddle, bridle and $21.00.  

Robert Coleman, son of Christopher Coleman, and a Patriot soldier, died when Dio Cleason Robertson was 19, which may have prompted Dio Cleason to leave, thus prompting the “stole the horse and ran off” story.  The writer does not believe this traditional account. 

*The reader can learn more about Robert Coleman and the Coleman family by reading the article in the Grindal Shoals Gazette on the Coleman Family. 

Dio had a sister and two other brothers.  Dio Cleason traveled to Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1823, apparently accompanied by an older sister, Dicy, and two younger brothers, John and Noah.  

We do not have information about the care facilities for the remainder of the family after their father and mother’s deaths.  They could have been raised by the Robert Coleman family or some family near by.

Dicy Robertson married Hubbard Cares in Sevier County, Tennessee.  They had four sons and seven daughters.  She died in Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1878. 

Dio Cleason Robertson first married Elizabeth Carr.  They had six sons and seven daughters.  He had two sons and a son-in-law who served in the Union Army during the War Between the States.  After the death of Elizabeth, he married Martha Ferguson in Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1862.  He died in Sevier County, Tennssee, in 1891. 

John Robertson Jr. was an employee of the Union Army Quartermaster Department and was killed in the War Between the States in 1864. 

Noah Robertson was married three times:

His first wife was Rhoda Emert.  They had four sons and two daughters.  All but one of their children were born in Sevier County, Tennessee.  The sixth child was born in Ray County, Missouri. 

The second wife was Elizabeth Richey.  They had three daughters all born in Ray County, Missouri.

His third wife was Mary Hatfield.  They had three sons and one daughter.  They lived in Ray and Caldwell Counties in Missouri. 

He enrolled and was ordered into service as a private in Co. G. on August 19, 1862, at Richmond, Virginia. He died in 1870, in Ray County, Missouri. 

(11). Betty Robertson was born in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District circa 1770.  No additional information is available on Betty. 

After her husband, David Robertson’s death in 1771, Frances met and married James Terrell, son of James and Margaret Watkins Terrell.  His father was born in 1698, in St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent County, Virginia, and his mother was born in 1700, in Caroline County, Virginia.

James was born in Caroline County, Virginia, in 1723.   One source states that he was first married to Judith ? .  “It is reported that James and Judith had at least six children.” Judith was born circa 1735.  Their children were: Susannah, Elizabeth H., Mary (Polly), Ann (Nancy), William and John.     

Frances probably met James at the Gosher Baptist Church.  Both were Baptists.

It is known that Timothy and Mary Martin Terrell’s children: Mary Terrell, wife of Philemon Martin, and Betsy Terrell, wife of William Wilkins, were members of the Gosher church.   Their father and the father of James Terrell were brothers. They were first cousins of James Terrell. 

Their grandparents were: William (Richmond) Terrell, son of Richmond and Elizabeth Waters, and Susannah Waters, daughter of Edward and Grace O’Neil Waters.

Nimrod Terrell, son of Timothy and Mary Martin, also lived in the Thickety Creek area and was probably a member of the Gosher church.   He was born in Orange County, N. C., circa 1757, and died in Franklin County, Georgia, after 1827. 

Nimrod was a Patriot Soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served as a captain in the militia, while living in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District.

Frances Robertson Terrell and her husband, James Terrell, were probably members of the Gosher church. 

James Terrell was a Patriot Soldier during the American Revolutionary War and according to Dr. Bobby Moss, served as a lieutenant under Col. Lemuel Benton and General Francis Marion.  He was later a captain and wounded during 1780.   He served as a captain in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon before the fall of Charleston and, at sometime was under Colonel John Purvis.”   

James and Frances sold their lands in 1792, in the Gilkie Creek area of what is now Cherokee County, and moved to Pendleton District, S. C.  James died in 1793. 

9. Joshua Pettit Jr. was born in Essex County, New Jersey, circa 1734, and was the son of Joshua Pettit Sr. and Sarah Carpenter .  He married Rachel Valentine, daughter of Ichobod and Hannah ? Valentine in 1760, in Essex County, New Jersey.  She was born in 1736, in Essex County.  Her parents were members of Scotch Plains Baptist Church. 

She was previously married to  ?  Monroe.  Their first four children were born in Essex County, New Jersey.  According to databases, their fifth child, Nathan, was born in what later became Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1771.  They were joined by the Crocker family a year later and lived near the area that today is called Poole’s Bend.  They were members of the Gosher Baptist Church.

Joshua Pettit Jr. was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served in the militia under Col. Benjamin Roebuck before and after the Fall of Charleston. 

CHILDREN OF JOSHUA AND RACHEL VALENTINE MONROE PETTIT

(1). Henry Pettit was born January 22, 1763, in Essex County, New Jersey.  He married Mary Ann (Anna) Poole, daughter of William (Tailor) Poole and Elizabeth Stovall Poole on February 7, 1783, in what later became Spartanburg District, S. C.  She was born on February 22, 1763, in Granville County, N. C.

Henry was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  Dr. Bobby Moss wrote: “While residing in Ninety Six District, he enlisted on June 1, 1776, and served at various times under Capts. James Wood, James Smith, Dennis Tramell, Jeremiah Dickson, William Smith, William Wofford Jr.; Cols. John Thomas Jr., Henry White, Edward Lacey, Charles Myddeleton, Benjamin Roebuck; and Generals Thomas Sumter and Daniel Morgan.

He was in the battles at Musgrove’s Mill, Blackstock’s Plantation, and Cowpens.  He was wounded in the thigh at Cowpens.  He was also in many skirmishes and on many scouting parties.”

Henry and Mary Ann had three sons and three daughters.  Their first son, William, was born April 21, 1784, in what became Spartanburg District.  All of their children were born in this district.  Henry and Mary Ann were members of the Gosher Baptist Church (Goucher Creek Baptist Church). 

They later moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina.  They joined the Bill’s Creek Baptist Church.  Henry died in this county on October 12, 1838, and was buried in the Bill’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. 

Mary Ann moved to Gilmer County, Georgia, with her daughter, Elizabeth, and her son-in-law, Solomon Mooney, son of David and Mary Monroe Mooney.  She died September 6, 1845, in Gilmer County. 

(2). Hannah Pettit was born July 1, 1765, in Essex County, New Jersey.  She married Joel Hembree, son of James and Sarah Bird Hembree, circa 1774, in what later became Spartanburg District, S. C. 

He was born circa 1755, in Lunenburg County, Virginia.  He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War, serving from what later became Spartanburg District, S. C.

They had seven sons and four daughters all born in what later became Spartanburg District, S. C.  They probably attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church while living in Spartanburg District.

They moved to East Tennessee after 1808.   In 1808, Joel Hembree was a taxpayer in Capt Roger’s Company.  He died in Roane County, Tennessee, on February 16, 1825, and Hannah died in the same county between October 11, 1836-37.  Burial was in the Hembree Cemetery, Cardiff, Roane County, Tennessee.

(3). Mary Pettit was born in Essex County, New Jersey, on May 20, 1767, and died in the same county on February 8, 1769.

(4). Benjamin Pettit was born July 20, 1769, in Essex County, New Jersey.  He first married Lucinda ?  circa 1789.  They had one child: Elijah Pettit born in 1790.  He next married Elizabeth P. Hindman circa 1791.  Elizabeth was born on June 20, 1771.

Benjamin and Elizabeth had seven sons and four daughters.  Benjamin died in 1837, possibly in Enoree, S. C., and Elizabeth died October 21, 1843, in Enoree.  

(5). Nathan Pettit was born September 2, 1771, in South Carolina, in what was later called Spartanburg District, S. C.  He died May 20, 1808, in Spartanburg District.

(6). Joshua Pettit III was born in what later became Spartanburg District, S. C., on September 12, 1773.  He married Judith Poole, daughter of William (Tailor) Poole and Elizabeth Stovall Poole in Spartanburg District in 1790.  She was born in Guilford County, N. C., on December 6, 1766.  

They had five sons and four daughters all born in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He and Judith were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

He was set apart to the office of Deacon on August 13, 1813, and appointed to attend the associational meeting. 

“On April 16, 1814, Brother Joshua Pettit received by the presbytery: William Lancaster, William Underwood from Cedar Springs, Zachariah Blackwell from State Line, Joshua Richards, Hugh Moore, John H.  Jones (from Goucher) and was ordained a Deacon on Sunday 17 day of April 1814 with the Laying on of hands of Zachariah Blackwell, William Lancaster, William Underwood, Joshua Richards, Hugh Moore and John H. Jones.”

He made a contribution for associational minutes as a member of Goucher Creek Baptist Church on September 16, 1815.  He and his wife remained members of Goucher Creek until their deaths.

He left a mill and mill seat in his will to his wife, Judith, and then to sons John and Joshua. John was his miller.  John was a member of the Goucher Creek church. 

Joshua Pettit III died in Spartanburg District, S. C., on August 20, 1827.  Judith died December 29, 1842, in Spartanburg District.  Joshua Pettit III and his wife, Judith Poole Pettit were both buried in the Pettit Family Cemetery.

 (7). Abraham Pettit was born August 29, 1776, in what later became Spartanburg District, S. C.   The Commissioners of the Poor called him a “poor foolish lad”.   He was born retarded and was cared for by his brother, Joshua.  He died May 20, 1808. 

(8). Rachel Pettit was born in what later became Spartanburg District, S. C., on April 11, 1779.  No further information is given in the databases. 

JOSHUA PETTIT JR. died September 15, 1786.  He was buried in the Pettit Family Cemetery.  RACHEL VALENTINE MONROE PETTIT died in 1786, and was buried in the Pettit Family Cemetery.  Their grandson, Aaron Pettit, was buried in the Pettit Family Cemetery on May 10, 1833. 

**A Nancy Pettit is mentioned in the 1810 and 1811 records of Goucher Creek Baptist Church and was probably a member of the above family, but this writer has been unable to make a connection.

10. Arthur Crocker Sr. received a Colonial Grant of 650 acres on Lawson’s Fork Creek on September 29, 1772, and moved his family to this area of S. C., in 1772.  Arthur was born in Granville County, N. C., in 1730.    

Their father, Anthony Crocker, was born circa 1710, in Isle of Wight County, in Virginia.    He married Darcas ? in Granville County, N. C., circa 1729.  She was also born in 1710.  Their five sons were born in Granville County. 

Darcas ? , died in 1750, in Granville County, N. C., and Anthony died in the same county on July 29, 1754.     

Arthur and his brother, Jacob, fought with the British during the French and Indian War and as Patriot soldiers against the British during the American Revollutionary War. 

JACOB CROCKER
BROTHER OF ARTHUR CROCKER AND SON OF ANTHONY

The reason for including data on the Reverend Jacob Crocker is to show the closeness of the two brothers and their Baptist views.  The Rev. Crocker’s son, grandson and great grandson were all Baptist pastors.   

Jacob was born circa 1733, in Granville County, N. C., and married Mary  ?  circa 1770, in Granville County.  She was born in Granville County, N. C., circa 1750.  They had four sons and two daughters. 

He assisted in the constitution of the Roger’s Cross Roads Baptist Church in Wake County, N. C., in 1792, and was pastor of Haywood’s Baptist Church in Franklin County, N. C., in 1798. 

The Reverend Jacob Crocker died in Franklin County, N. C., on  December 10, 1804, and his wife, Mary  ?  , died after 1800. 

Their son, Jacob Crocker Jr., was also a Baptist pastor.   He was born in Wake County, N. C., circa 1772.  He was a licentiate at Roger’s Cross Roads Baptist Church, N. C., in 1792. 

He married Patience Higdon in 1794.  Patience was born in N. C., in 1794.  He and his wife, Patience, had a son, Amos, born in 1795, in Franklin County, N. C. and a son Higdon, born in Franklin County in 1797.  He was a licentiate at Haywood Baptist Church, N. C., in 1798. 

In 1799, Jacob Crocker Jr. was ordained to the gospel ministry by the State Line Baptist Church in present day Cherokee County, S. C.  He first served the Sandy Creek Baptist Church located in Franklin County, N. C.

He next moved to Union District, S. C., where as pastor of El Bethel and Pacolet (Scull Shoals) Baptist churches, he rendered valuable service and was long remembered for his piety, ability and zeal. 

Jacob Jr. first moved his letter from State Line to El Bethel.  He and his wife, Patience, joined the Pacolet (Scull) Shoals Baptist Church in March of 1811. 

Minutes of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church on September 16, 1816, state: “ In conference the Church has agreed to leave their Case with Hugh Moore to five Brethren to Wit: Jacob Crocker, Drury Dobbins, Berriman Hicks, Daniel Gold and William Lancaster.”

Minutes on February 14, 1817, state: “Brother Hugh Moore’’s case with the Church, nothing was done in it as Brother Moore failed to attend to his appointment.  Two of the Brethren that was sent for attended and they were Brother Jacob Crocker and Brother Lancaster.”

Minutes on November 14, 1818, state:  “In conference the Eldership from Providence Church, Scull Shoal Church & from Cedar Spring Church met agreeable to appointment and examined the two Brethren that was set part in Goucher Creek Church and do believe that they are Qualified for deacons, Jonathan Buice & John Lipscomb.

They were Ordained on Sunday the 15^th of November by laying on of the Hands of Joshua Richards, Jacob Crocker, William Lancaster and Joshua Pettit.”

Minutes on July 15, 1820, “After singing and prayer by Brother Jacob Crocker, he preached a Sermon.”  He was the first cousin of Solomon Crocker, member of Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

The Reverend Jacob Crocker and his wife, Patience, had four sons and two daughters.  Four of their children were born in Union District, S. C. 

He moved a part of his family to Pickens County, Alabama, in 1823, where he was pastor of churches in Pickens County, Alabama, and Pickens County, Mississippi.  Patience died after December 1823, in Alabama, and Jacob died in Mississippi in 1833, at the home of John Halbert.

Jacob and Patience’s son, Amos Crocker, born circa 1795, in Franklin County, N. C., was a Baptist pastor in Alabama.  He married Delilah Pridmore, daughter of John Pridmore Sr. and Mary Polly George, in Union District, S. C., in 1819. 

Delilah was born in Union District on July 31, 1797.  They had four sons and one daughter.  He died before 1840, in Pickens County, Alabama, and his wife, Delilah, died in Calhoun County, Mississippi, in 1851.

Amos and Delilah’s son, Elijah Amos Crocker, was born on August 20, 1820, in Union District, S. C.  He married Arminta (Minta) Murphree, daughter of Ransom Murphree and Mary Walker, in Walker County, Mississippi, in 1841.  She was born September 18, 1823, in Walker County.   He was a Baptist pastor.  

Elijah and Minta had four sons and six daughters, all born in Calhoun County, Mississippi.  He served in the Mount Moriah Baptist Church, which is located about 8 miles northeast of Pittsboro.  He died in Calhoun County on November 18, 1880, and his wife, Minta, died in the same county on May 30, 1885.  

ARTHUR CROCKER
Brother of Jacob

He and his wife, Mary Ann  ?  were members of the Thickety Baptist Church after moving to Lawson’s Fork in 1772.   Some databases state that she was a Bryant.

It is possible that all but one of their children were born in Wake (Franklin) County, North Carolina. He was a carpenter as was his father, Anthony.

CHILDREN OF ARTHUR CROCKER AND MARY ANN

(1). William Crocker was born in Wake (Franklin) County, N. C., in 1753.   He moved to South Carolina with his father in 1772.  He attended the Thickety Baptist Church in the Grindal Shoals area with his family. 

He and his brothers, Solomon and Anthony, were Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War.  He was a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

He served in the militia under Col. Benjamin Roebuck before and after the Fall of Charleston, S. C.

He married Nancy Ann Burkes, daughter of John and Elizabeth Betty Farley Burkes, in Spartanburg District, S. C., circa 1782.  She was born in 1755. They had four sons and two daughters. 

He was a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and “was cited to attend our next September meeting and Brother Solomon Crocker is appointed to cite him for non-attendance of his Church Meetings.” – August 12, 1812—

He did not apply for a pension for his services as Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.

William died in Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1840.  Date of Nancy’s demise is unknown.

(2). Elizabeth Crocker was born in Wake (Franklin) County, N. C., in 1755.   She died in Wake (Franklin) County in 1769.

(3).  Solomon Crocker was born in Wake (Franklin) County, N. C., in  February of 1757.  He moved with his father, Arthur, to his plantation on Lawsons’ Fork, S. C., in 1772.  He assisted his father and brothers in their farming and gristmill operations, before the American Revolutionary War.

He and two of his brothers were Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, William and Anthony. 

Dr. Bobby Moss in his book, The Patriots at the Cowpens, page 57, wrote: “Solomon Crocker enlisted on March 29, 1776, under Capt. Frank Prince and Col. Hugher.  He served at Prince’s Fort in Spartanburg District and was on the Snow Campaign.  He was sent to Charleston, South Carolina, to assist in repelling Clinton and was stationed at Fort Johnson.  Crocker was in the Battle at Fort Moultrie (Fort Sullivan). 

He was sent under Col. Benjamin Roebuck to help construct Fort Seneca.  Shortly thereafter, he re-entered service under Capt. Robert McWhorter (McWhirter) and was in the Battle at Watkins’ Fort. He was under Capt. Dennis Trammell with Solomon Abbott during the winter of Tarleton’s Defeat.  Solomon Crocker served with his brother, Anthony, and was in the Battle of Cowpens.” 

On February 14, 1780, he married Susannah Tolleson, at the plantation of Col. John Thomas Sr.  Col. Thomas performed the ceremony.

Susannah was born December 19, 1762.  Databases state that Susannah was a child of John and Jane ?  Tolleson.  She was a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

Solomon Crocker was a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and was appointed to cite James Brown Jr. to the church for a disciplinary matter.– April 20, 1811— He was  appointed to cite Mary Ann Mathis to attend church meeting to give the church reason why she did not attend her church meetings.—May  9, 1811–

Solomon Crocker was chosen moderator of the business sessions on February 18, 1826, and November 18, 1826.  Two of his daughters, Rhoda and Mary Ann, were mentioned in the church records as members, and probably all of the other children were members.  For over fifty years Solomon attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  He was a devoted member of this church.

He applied for a pension and gave a resume of his services as a Patriot soldier, during the American Revolutionary War.  His application Number was W9398 and made in Spartanburg District, S. C., on September 19, 1832.  Judge J. B. O’Neal was the presiding judge and Joshua Richards, Clergyman, and Henry H. Thomson gave supporting affidavits. 

J. D. Bailey in his History of Bethesda Baptist Church wrote: “Tradition says that William Gore gave the first land on which to build the church and that is why it is often called Gore’s.  This land was given to William and his wife, Rhoda, by Solomon Crocker. 

Solomon’s daughter, Rhoda, married William Gore, son of James Manning and Sarah D. Solomon Gore, in 1803.  She and her husband both died in Alabama. 

On August 15, 1832, Solomon Crocker “for and in consideration of one dollar, granted and sold unto James Brown, William Pool, Thomas Willis, Sam Elsworth and Elisha Pool, their heirs and asignes, a certain tract or parcel of land containing two acres to have and to hold for the purpose of erecting a church and for no other purpose.” 

There are no records to indicate that Solomon Crocker ever moved his membership from Goucher Creek Baptist Church to the Bethesda Baptist Church.  

Solomon and his wife, Susannah, had four sons and seven daughters.   All of their children attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

Their son, Arthur, and his wife, Lucinda Bagwell, were the parents of Rufus Marion Crocker, a Confederate veteran.  Rufus was five years old when his grandfather, Solomon, died. 

Rufus and his wife, Isabel Bisaner Crocker, were the parents of William Elwyn Crocker.  William and his first wife, Bessie Blanche Thackston, were the first missionaries sent out by the Broad River Baptist Association at its session in 1899, at the Draytonville Baptist Church.   They were stationed in Chinkiang, China. 

Bessie died several days after giving birth to her daughter, Bessie Thackston Crocker.  William brought his little daughter back to this country, and she was raised in Gaffney, S. C., by her grandmother, Isabel.  

Solomon’s son, John Crocker, was born July 9, 1803.  He married Clora, born June 21, 1804, circa 1820.  Some databases state that she was a Woodruff.  Other databases state that the last name of his wife is unknown.  

John and Clora had six sons who fought with the Confederate Army: Miles; John Anderson; James; Thomas; Henry; and Matterson.    James Crocker was killed at the Battle of Kingston, N. C., and John Anderson Crocker was killed at the Battle of Gaines Mill. 

John’s house is still standing on land that had belonged to his father, Solomon.  He and his wife are buried in the Bethesda Baptist Church Cemetery. 

Solomon died September 11, 1843, and Susannah died October 10, 1849.  They both died in Spartanburg District, S. C., and were buried in the Crocker cemetery near Poole’s Bend.  No graves are marked in this cemetery.  There is a government grave marker in the Bethseda Baptist Church Cemetery for Solomon, but he is not buried there.

(4). Anthony Crocker was born in April of 1759, in Wake (Franklin) County, North Carolina.  He moved with his father and family to his plantation on Lawson’s Fork, S. C., in 1772.

Dr. Bobby Moss, in his book, The Patriots of the Cowpens, page 56, wrote:  “While residing in Spartanburg District, South Carolina, Anthony Crocker served during 1778, under Lt. John Goudelock, Capt. Robert McWhorter, and Col. John Thomas against the Indians.  On February 13, 1779, he volunteered under Adjutant James Lusk, Capt. John Thomas, Col. John Thomas, and Col. Benjamin Roebuck. 

He was in the Battle of Stono.  Shortly, after the Battle of Kings Mountain, Anthony entered the service under Col. Henry White.  He was in the Siege of Augusta, the Battle of Cowpens, the Siege of Ninety Six, and the fight at Watkins’s Fort.”   He fought with his brother, Solomon, at the Battle of Cowpens.

He married Mary Emeline White circa 1780.  She was born circa 1762.  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

James Crocker, son of Anthony and Mary Emeline White Crocker married his first cousin, Mary Ann Crocker, daughter of Solomon and Susannah Tolleson Crocker. 

Nancy Crocker, daughter of Anthony and Mary Emeline Crocker, married William Brown, son of James and Sarah Peterson Brown.

James Brown and his wife, Sarah, were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church so Nancy and William probably met each other at church.

Emeline Crocker, daughter of Anthony and Mary Emeline White Crocker, married James Gore, son of William Gore and Dorcas Crocker Gore.  She, too, probably met her husband James, at the Goucher church.

In September of 1821, Anthony and his wife, Mary, were constitutional members of the Bethesda Baptist Church.  Anthony was ordained as one of the first deacons of this church.

Cedar Spring Baptist Church gets the credit for the establishment of the Bethseda Baptist Church, but perhaps half or more of the constitutional members were from the Goucher Creek Baptist Church such as: Pooles, Pettits, Crockers, Hammetts, Mathises, Sparks, Quinns, Weathers and Stovals.

Goucher Creek church records on July 8, 1821, state: “Read a request from Lindsey (Bethesda) for and in Constituting a Church and ordaining Deacons, the Request granted.  The Eldership directed to attend her, to attend the Friday before the third Sunday in August next.”  The reader will see that there was a closeness between the two churches.    

Anthony Crocker’s Penson Application No. was S9267.  He applied in Spartanburg District, S. C., on September 29, 1832.  Presiding judge was Judge J. B. O”Neal and Supporting Affidavits were: the Reverend Joshua Richards and Daniel White. 

His brother, Solomon, testified before Thomas Trimmier, JQ that he and the deponent served on a tour of eight months.  Anthony stated that his father was illiterate and kept no records.

He was pensioned at the rate of $44.33 per annum commencing on March 4, 1831, for 13 months service as a private in the South Carolina Militia. 

They had four sons and two daughters.  Mary died circa 1840, and Anthony died in October of 1847, in Spartanburg District, S. C. 

(5). Hopkins Crocker was born in Wake (Franklin) County, N. C., in 1764.  He traveled with his father and family to Lawson’s Fork, S. C., in 1772. 

Hopkins was too young to fight during the American Revolutionary War. “There is an affidavit on file in the S. C., Archives in Columbia, S. C., by Hopkins Crocker.  This affidavit states that during the time of the revolution he was in the District of Spartanburg in the company of Anthony Crocker (his brother), when three members of the Tory Party violently took Anthony’s rifle gun from him.”

He undoubtedly attended the Gosher Baptist Church during his younger years with his family. 

Hopkins apparently married in the latter 1780s.  He was listed in the 1790 federal census as a resident of Union District, S. C.  Name of his wife is unknown. 

Two sons are listed in the databases for Hopkins Crocker and his unknown wife.  They are Stewart W. Crocker, born circa 1791, in Union District, S. C., and Aaron Crocker, born circa 1793, in Union District, S. C.

(a). Stewart and his first wife, unknown, had five sons and five daughters.  He was living in Union District, S. C. in 1830, and in Alabama in 1850.  His second wife was Anaminda Montgomery.  They had four sons and three daughters.  

Stewart died on February 23,1868, in Irondale, Jefferson County, Alabama, and Anaminda died on March 5,1881, in the same county.

They were both buried in the Bass Cemetery. 

(b). Aaron Crocker married Ruth ? .  She was born circa 1799.  They had three sons and three daughters.  James Johnson Crocker, born March 27, 1816, was their son. 

There are at least three pastors who are descendants of Hopkins Crocker.  Two Baptist pastors from Union, S. C., now deceased are: Dr. James Crocker and his brother, Bobby Crocker. Both were friends of this writer. 

Aaron died March 17, 1858, and was buried in the Cane Creek Quaker—Presbyterian Cemetery.  The date of Ruth’s death and her burial site are unknown.  

(6). Arthur Crocker was born circa 1765, in Wake (Franklin) County, North Carolina.  He moved with his father and family to Lawson’s Fork, S. C., in 1772.  He attended the Gosher Baptist Church with his mother and father. 

He married Dorcas Poole, daughter of William (Tailor) Poole and his wife, Elizabeth Stovall Poole.  She was born November 3, 1770, in Granville County, N. C.  They had three sons and four daughters.  They attended the Gosher Baptist Church.  

Their daughter, Lydia, married James Moseley Jr., son of James Moseley Sr. and his wife, Nancy Susan Jasper, sister of Sgt. William Jasper.  James Jr. probably met Lydia while attending the Gosher Baptist Church.      

Arthur died circa 1792, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  His widow, Dorcas Poole Crocker, married John Thomas Stovall, son of Thomas and Prudence Lewis Stovall, in 1793, in Spartanburg District, S. C. He was her first cousin. 

John Stovall was born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, in 1767. They were first members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and became constitutional members of the Gilead Baptist Church in 1804, while living in Union District.

They were living in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 1820 or before.  John died in Jefferson County on August 13, 1831, and Dorcas died in this county in 1833. 

(7). John Crocker was born circa 1766, in Wake (Franklin) County, N. C.  He moved to Lawson’s Fork, South Carolina, with his father and family.    He attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church in his younger years.  One database states that he married Nicey  (Eunice)   ?  .  She was born circa 1765. 

It was John Crocker who in 1794, verified that William Crocker was the bonded Administrator of his father, Arthur Crocker’s estate.  No further information is available on this son.  

(8). Susannah Crocker was born circa 1766, in Wake (Franklin) County, North Carolina.  She moved with her family to Lawson’s, Fork, S. C., in 1772.  She attended the Gosher Baptist Church.  Susannah died circa 1780. 

Clarence Crocker wrote: “Family legend states that Arthur Crocker Sr. had a fourteen year old daughter, who was killed by a British soldier.  She had gone to the spring for water, when a British soldier killed her lest she should tell others about their whereabouts.  She was the first Crocker to be buried in the original Crocker’s family cemetery, located a short distance south of Richland Creek on S. C. highway #108.  Some twelve or more graves are still visible.”

(9). Mary Ann Crocker was born in 1776, after her father and mother, Arthur and Mary Ann, had moved the family to Lawson’s Fork, S. C., in 1772.  She attended Gosher Baptist Church before her marriage. 

She married James Bounds, son of John Bounds and his wife, Mary Allen Bounds, in 1795, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He was born in 1766, in Rockingham, Richmond County, North Carolina. 

According to databases, they had a son and daughter born to their union, while living in South Carolina.  They had another son and daughter, while living in Anderson, Tennessee, and their last two children (daughters) were born in Claiborne, Mississippi.

James died circa 1835, in Jasper, Mississippi, and Mary Ann died after 1860 in Jasper, Mississippi.  She was buried in the Shady  Grove Cemetery in Jasper. 

ARTHUR SR. AND MARY ANN CROCKER

Arthur served in the French and Indian War, and he and Mary Ann sent three sons to fight for our liberty in the American Revolutionary War.  They lost their precious daughter, Susannah, who was killed by a British soldier’s bullet.  No one could deny their special love for their country and for liberty. 

11. William Wilkins was born on May 14, 1746, in Culpeper, Virginia, and was the son of John Wilkins and Elizabeth Hayne. 

John Wilkins was born in Glouster, Virginia, and his wife, Elizabeth Hayne, was born in Culpeper, Virginia.  They had five sons and four daughters. 

William married Elizabeth Terrell, daughter of Timothy and Mary Martin Terrell, in 1768, in Orange County, N. C.  She was born in Orange County, N. C., on June 10, 1756.  He was twenty-two, and she was 12 to 13, when they married.  Traditional accounts state that because of her age they ran off and got married.   

William purchased a 200 acre tract of land in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District of South Carolina in 1774, and moved his family from Orange County, North Carolina, to South Carolina.  Their land was on the banks of Gosher Creek and faced the old Green River road.  He later purchased an additional 1000 acres.

The old cemetery, where a number of his family members are buried, is near the location of his plantation.  The old plantation house was still standing until several years ago.  The old road crossed Gosher Creek on a covered bridge.

Their first three children were born in Orange County, N. C., and thirteen of their sixteen children were born in the Thickety Creek area of South Carolina.  

Timothy Terrell, son of William Terrell and Susannah Waters, was born in New Kent County, Virginia.  He married Mary Martin, daughter of Zachariah Martin Sr. and his wife, Ann ?  .  Both Timothy and his brother, John, entered tracts of land on April 9, 1745, in Bladen County, North Carolina.  This county became Orange County.  Timothy was appointed Justice of the Peace. 

Timothy and his wife, Mary, were married circa 1731, in Caroline County, Virginia.  She was born in Caroline County, on October 24, 1715.  They had nine sons and four daughters.   Timothy died in Orange County, N. C., in February of 1763, and Mary died in Orange County, N. C., after 1768.   

Timothy and Mary’s daughters: Elizabeth Terrell Wilkins, wife of William Terrell; Mary (Molly) Terrell Martin, wife of Philemon Martin; and Amelia (Millie) Terrell Austell, wife of William Austell; lived in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District and attended the Gosher Baptist Church with their families.  His son, Aaron Terrell, also lived in this area briefly. 

All of William and Elizabeth’s children attended the Gosher Baptist Church and a number of them were members.  William Wilkins was a messenger to the Bethel Baptist Associational meeting in 1795 from Gosher Baptist Church. 

The clerk or clerks of the association misread the name Gosher and began to call the church “Goshen” from 1794, the date of the entrance of the Gosher Baptist Church into the Bethel Baptist Association.  The clerks continued to call the church “Goshen” through 1799, but the true name of the church at this time was the Gosher Baptist Church.

When the church joined the Broad River Baptist Association as a constitutional member in 1800, the church was called the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

(1). Mary Wilkins was born November 17, 1767, in Orange County, North Carolina.  She married Thomas Gillenwaters, son of Thomas Gillenwaters and Martha ?  on August 5, 1794, in Spartanburg District, S. C. 

CHILDREN OF WILLIAM WILKINS AND ELIZABETH TERRELL

He was born February 3, 1771, in Amherst, Virginia. They had four sons and seven daughters.   Thomas died in Rogersville, Hawkins County, Tennessee, on April 1, 1841, and Mary died in Rogersville, Hawkins County, Tennessee, on June 30, 1855.  

(2). Elizabeth Wilkins was born August 11, 1771, in Orange County, N. C.  She married William Cantrell, son of John Miller Cantrell and Jane Hannah Brittain Cantrell, in 1788, in Spartanburg District, S. C. 

He was born in Rockingham, North Carolina, in 1766.  They had three sons and five daughters.  Elizabeth died January 9, 1833, in
Spartanburg District, S. C., and her husband died in the same district circa 1840.

(3). Mildred Wilkins was born March 5, 1773, in Orange County, N. C.  She married Davis Goudelock, son of Adam Saffold and Hannah Stockton Goudelock on December 8, 1791, in Spartanburg District, S. C. 

He was born in Amherst, Virginia, on December 25, 1764.  He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War, and enlisted in what later became Union District, S. C., on February 20, 1781, under Capt. John Thompson and Col. Thomas Brandon. 

Mildred and Davis had four sons and six daughters.   He was a Justice of the Peace.

He died in Union District, S. C., on September 17, 1838, and Mildred (Milly) died in Union District on December 4, 1855. 

(4). James Terrell Wilkins was born in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C., on February 2, 1775.  He married Sarah Headen, daughter of John and Elizabeth Littlejohn Headen, on March 25, 1800, in Spartanburg District, S. C.   

Sarah’s father, John, and grandfather William Headen, were both Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War.  Sarah was born in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C., on October 22, 1780.   They had four sons and three daughters.

James Terrell Wilkins died on May 4, 1844, in Rutherford County, N. C., and Sarah Headen Wilkins died in this county on August 17, 1858. 

(5). Robert Wilkins was born December 5, 1776, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C.  He married Sarah Littlejohn, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Coffer Littlejohn, in 1798. 

Sarah was born in 1776, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C.  Her father, Samuel, was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and was a first lieutenant.  

Sarah died in Spartanburg District, S. C., on October 10, 1829.  James Russell Wilkins, born May 28, 1810, was her son. 

Databases state that Robert Wilkins married Tempe Gordan after the death of his wife, Sarah.  Tempe Gordan was born in 1780 and died in 1847.  He died in Harrison’s Shoals, in Spartanburg District, S. C., on September 28, 1848. 

(6). Jane Wilkins was born August 4, 1778, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C., and she married William Austell Jr., son of William Sr. and Amelia (Millie) Terrell Austell, on March 22,1807, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  They were first cousins.

Amelia (Millie) Terrell Austell was the daughter of Timothy and Mary Martin Terrell.  William Austell Jr. was born May 20, 1777, in Orange County, N. C.  Jane and William Austell moved to Jefferson County, Tennessee, circa 1810.  They had four sons and two daughters.

William Austell Jr. died December 20, 1842, and Jane Wilkins Austell died on May 27, 1851.  They both died in Dandridge, Jefferson County, Tennessee.

(7). Sarah Wilkins was born July 28, 1780, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C.   She was the second wife of Joseph LaFayette Davis, son of John and Mary Henderson Davis.  He was born March 20, 1776, in Mecklenburg, N. C.  They married in 1809, and had two sons and three daughters. 

Joseph LaFayette Davis was first married to Nancy Terrell, daughter of Aaron and Hannah Steel Terrell in 1798.  Nancy was the granddaughter of Timothy and Mary Martin Terrell, and was born in 1785.  She and Joseph married in 1798, and had two sons and three daughters.  Nancy died in August of 1807, following the birth of her daughter, Mary.  

Nancy’s father, Aaron, was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  He served in Captain Turner’s Company under the command of Col. McDowell, while living in North Carolina.  Aaron was living in Pendleton District, S.C., in 1790.  He was a brother of  Elizabeth Terrell, wife of William Wilkins.  

Joseph LaFayette Davis was the grandson of David Davis.  David Davis and Samuel Davis were brothers.  Samuel Davis was the father of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy.

Joseph Davis died in Jackson County, Georgia, in 1852.  Sarah Wilkins Davis died in 1866.      

(8). William Wilkins Jr. was born July 18, 1782, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C.  He first married Martha (Patsy) Jackson in 1816.  She was born in 1787, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  They lived in New Prospect, S. C., where he and his wife, Martha, were members of he New Prospect Baptist Church. 

She died in 1826, following the birth of her son, Robert Decatur Wilkins.  William Terrell Wilkins, born in 1818, was also her son.   William Terrell was in the mercantile business in New Prospect and was a Confederate soldier. 

William Wilkins Jr. was married a second time circa 1826 to Frances (Frankie) Foster, daughter of William Foster and Nancy Young Foster.  Frances was born September 22, 1808.  John C. Wilkins born in 1846, was their son. 

William died on February 13, 1856, and his second wife, Frances, died June 1, 1887.  He and his two wives were buried in the New Prospect Baptist Church Cemetery.     

(9). Nancy Wilkins was born February 17, 1784, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C.  She married Joshua Draper, son of Thomas Draper and his wife, Lucy Coleman Draper. 

Joshua was born June 11, 1774.  They married February 8, 1803, in Spartanburg District, S.C.  They had three sons and seven daughters, all born in Union District, S. C. 

Their son, Daniel Davis Draper, married Caroline Matilda Wood, daughter of William Wood and his wife, Nancy Lipscomb Wood.   Daniel and his father, Joshua, moved their families to Alabama in the winter of 1845. 

Nancy Wilkins Draper died on May 1,1847, in Alexandria, Calhoun County, Alabama, and Joshua Draper died in Alexandria, Calhoun County, Alabama, on August 15, 1857.

(10). Moses Wilkins was born November 21, 1785, in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C.  He first married Sallie Lipscomb, daughter of John and Sarah Smith Lipscomb, on October 17, 1811.  She was born July 31, 1795.  They had three sons and six daughters.  Sallie died July 14, 1829. 

His second marriage was to Jane Jenny Moore on February 2, 1832.  They had three sons and one daughter.   Jane was born June 30, 1797. 

He died November 10, 1845, and Jane died February 26, 1875, at White Plains, S. C.

(11). Aaron Wilkins was born November 21, 1785, in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C.   He and Moses were twins.

He married Eleanor Jefferies, daughter of John and Sarah Barnett Jefferies.  Eleanor was born in 1790.  Mary Jane Wilkins was their daughter.

Aaron died on February 25, 1847.   Wilkinsville, S. C., was named for Aaron.  

(12).  Kesiah Wilkins was born November 29, 1787, in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C.   She married Stephen Tolleson, son of John and Mary (Polly) Smith Tolleson, before 1814. 

Stephen Tolleson was born in 1782, in Spartanburg District, S. C.

They had two sons and two daughters in Spartanburg District.  Kesiah died in 1852, and Stephen died in September of 1853. 

(13). John Wilkins was born June 1, 1789, in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C.  Married Mary (Polly) Lipscomb, daughter of John and Sarah Smith Lipscomb, in 1817, in Spartanburg District, S.C.   Mary was born June 1, 1799, in Spartanburg District. 

They had three sons and seven daughters.   Mary died November 18, 1866, and John Wilkins died August 19, 1872.  

(14). George Wilkins was born July 13, 1791, in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C.  He married Elizabeth Martin, daughter of Hannah ? Martin, on January 23, 1814.  She was born April 1, 1797.  

They had seven daughters and three sons.  George died in 1840, and Elizabeth died October 7, 1870.    

(15). Ruth Wilkins was born February 2, 1794, in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C.  She died January 12, 1805.

(16). Rachel Wilkins was born January 26, 1797, in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C.  She died January 16, 1805.

William Wilkins died in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C., on April 2, 1807, and his wife, Elizabeth Terrell Wilkins died in this area on December 25, 1820.

12. Samuel Littlejohn was born in in 1733, in Prince George County, Maryland, the son of Marcellus and Elizabeth Moore Littlejohn. 

Marcellus, son of Oliver and Marinless ? , and Elizabeth Moore Littlejohn, daughter of Henry and Sarah Smallwood Moore, were married in 1727, in Stafford, Stafford County, Virginia.  He moved from Stafford County, Virginia, to Prince George County, Maryland, in 1737.  They had three sons and one daughter.  

Samuel Littlejohn was mentioned in his father’s will.  “Samuel Littlejohn at the time of his father’s death in 1741, was living in Prince George County, Maryland.  He moved to Fairfax County, Virginia, where he married his near kinswoman, Sarah Coffer, daughter of Thomas Withers and Mary Ferguson Coffer, in 1765, in Falls Church,

Fairfax County, Virginia. 

Thomas Coffer and Mary Ferguson were married in King and Queen County, Virginia, in 1730.  They had three sons and one daughter.  Their son, Francis, was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War from Virginia, and rose to the rank of captain.

The Truro Vestry (Anglican) arranged for regular services in the tobacco barn on the plantation of Samuel Littlejohn in 1765. 

Samuel and his wife, Sarah, sold their tract of 300 acres in Fairfax County, Virginia, on May 18, 1774, to Samuel Talbert.  He and his wife, Sarah, moved to South Carolina, to what later became Union District, S. C., in 1774. 

His two brothers, Charles and Henry; his sister, Mary Littlejohn, and his mother, Elizabeth Moore Littlejohn, moved to South Carolina, with Samuel in 1774. 

“They settled on Thickety Creek, Ninety Six District, S. C., near what latter became the Samuel Lipscomb house on Green River Road.”  Elizabeth Moore Littlejohn, widow of Marcellus Littlejohn, died in Ninety Six District, S. C., after 1774.   

Charles Littlejohn, son of Marcellus and Elizabeth, was born in 1728, in Stafford, Stafford County, Va.  He married Jemima Stacy in Prince George County, Maryland.  She was born in 1732, in Stafford, Stafford County, Va.  They had three sons: Ignatius, Charles and Henry (Big Yatt) Littlejohn. 

Charles died in 1813, in Union District, S. C., and Jemima died on August 7, 1816, in Union District, S. C.

Henry Littlejohn, son of Marcelllus and Elizabeth, was born in Stafford, Stafford County, Va., in 1734.  He married Mary ? .  Their son, Charles Henry Littlejohn was born, in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1757.  He married Mary (Polly) Littlejohn, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Coffer Littlejohn, his first cousin. 

Henry and Mary’s son, Silas Littlejohn was born June 25, 1766, in Fairfax County, Va.   He married Elizabeth Ellis, daughter of Edmund and Mary ?  Ellis, on July 3, 1794.  She was born on December 7, 1776, in the Thickety Creek Area of Ninety Six District. 

They were living in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1800, and then  moved to Lauderdale County, Alabama, where they lived in the 1820s.  They finally moved to McNairy County, Tennessee. 

Silas and his wife, Elizabeth were living in Lincoln County, Kentucky, the same time as his brother, Henry, and his wife, Polly, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Cofer Littlejohn, in the early 1800s.  Silas and Elizabeth had three sons and five daughters.  

Their grandson, William Jasper Littlejohn, was born in McNairy County, Tennessee, in 1835, the son of Charles Scott and Mary Kimbrell Littlejohn. 

Silas died in McNairy County, Tennessee, in 1834, and Elizabeth died before 1850, in the same county.

Henry, son of Marcellus and Elizabeth Littlejohn, died in Union District, S. C., in 1809.

Mary (Polly) Littlejohn, daughter of Marcellus and Elizabeth, was born in Prince George County, Maryland, in 1738, and died in Ninety Six District, (later Union District) after 1774.

Samuel and Sarah’s son, Thomas, was eight years old; Charles was five years old; and Polly was three years old at the time of their removal to South Carolina.

Samuel Littlejohn, his son, Thomas Littlejohn, and his brother-in-law, Francis Coffer, were all patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War.  

Dr. Bobby Moss wrote: “Samuel Littlejohn served as a private and as a lieutenant during 1779, 1781 and 1782.  He was under Capt. Lewis Pope at the Forks of Edisto River during 1782.”

This writer has in his possession the “calling horn” of Lieutenant Samuel Littlejohn.

Samuel’s son, Thomas Littlejohn, “served in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon after the fall of Charleston.”

On August 12, 1812, Samuel Littlejohn of Union District, S. C., was listed as a legatee of the Estate of Joshua Coffer (his brother-in-law).  He and his wife, Sarah, were probably members of the Gosher Baptist Church. 

CHILDREN OF SAMUEL AND SARAH COFFER LITTLEJOHN

(1). Elizabeth Littlejohn was born circa 1761, in Fairfax County, Virginia.  She married John Headen, son of William and Jane Beavers Headen, in 1779, in the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District.  He was born in 1759, in Loudoun County, Virginia.   

He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  Dr. Bobby Moss wrote: “He served as a horseman in the militia under Capt. Anthony Colter and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.” 

He was listed as a trustee of the Gosher Baptist Church, when they purchased land from Philemon Martin on August 6, 1789.  He served as a messenger from the Gosher church to the Bethel Baptist Associational meetings in 1796 and 1797.  John and Elizabeth were members of the Gosher Baptist Church. 

John and Elizabeth had at least three children: one son and two daughters. 

Their daughter, Sarah, married Terrell Wilkins, son of William and Elizabeth Terrell Wilkins.  John Headen died in 1805, in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C., and Elizabeth died in the same district in 1843.

 (2). Thomas M. Littlejohn was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1764. 

Thomas was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon after the Fall of Charleston.

He married Mary (Molly) Lipscomb, daughter of William and Sarah Smith Lipscomb, circa 1793, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  Mary was born December 28, 1766, in Louisa County, Virginia.  They were probably members of the Gosher Baptist Church.  

Her father, William, moved his family to Spartanburg District, S. C., from Louisa County, Virginia, in 1784.

Thomas and Mary had seven children.  They had a son, William, who married Emeline Lucinda Wood, daughter of William and Ann Elizabeth Nancy Lipscomb Wood.  She was a granddaughter of William and Elizabeth Ragland Lipscomb. 

They had a daughter, Polly, who married Adam Saffold Goudelock, son of Davis and Milly Wilkins Goudelock. 

They had a son, Samuel (Corn Sam), who first married Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Holman Smith and Elizabeth Willis.  His second wife was Rachel Lucinda Macomson. 

They had a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Dr. Felix Walker Littlejohn, son of Charles and Susannah Nuckolls Littlejohn.  He was her first cousin.  Dr. Felix Walker Littlejohn was ordained to the gospel ministry by the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and served as pastor of this church for several years.

Molly Lipscomb Littlejohn died in December 31, 1823, age 58 years and Thomas Littlejohn died on April 1, 1842, age 76 years.  They were buried at their home place—called—Quarter Place.  Their son, Nathan, and their daughter, Catherine, were also buried in this cemetery. 

This cemetery is about a mile South East of the Marcellus Littlejohn Cemetery.  The Marcellus Littlejohn Cemetery is on highway 29, perhaps a mile North of Big Thickety Bridge. 

 (3). Charles Littlejohn Sr. was born October 6, 1769, in Fairfax County, Virginia.  He married Susannah Nuckolls, daughter of John and Agatha Bullock.  She was born December 30, 1767, at Kings Mountain as her family was traveling to the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, South Carolina.   

Her father, John Nuckolls was killed, after he went with his son, John Jr. to a mill about 18 miles from his house to have some grain ground.  Davis, a Tory, killed him while he was praying.  This occurred circa 1780. 

Agatha’s brother, Zachariah Bullock, was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  Dr. Bobby Moss wrote: “He served as a captain and major in the militia under Col. Benjamin Roebuck from 1778 to 1782.  Prior to this he repaired Earl’e Fort and stayed there several months during 1777.  At some time he was under Col. Thomas Brandon.” 

On August 6, 1789, when the Gosher Baptist Church purchased an acre of land from Philemon Martin, Charles Littlejohn was listed as a trustee of the Gosher church. 

Their son, John (Major Jack) Littlejohn was born September 3, 1794, in the Thickety Creek area of Union District, S. C. 

When a young man, Jack Littlejohn, was in business with General Elijah Dawkins.  He hauled supplies from Charleston, S. C., at least by the age of 20 or before.   

On one trip Jack met an old man, Dr. Thomas Hancock, walking near Charleston, S. C., with a bundle tied up in a large handkerchief.  He had been shipwrecked as he was returning from England.   Jack brought him back with him.  Dr. Hancock had returned to England to take care of a family estate matter.

Dr. Thomas Hancock moved to Grindal Shoals, S. C., from London, England, in 1792.  He had completed his medical education in England, and was a doctor on the slave ship, Tarter, on his initial trip to America.  He was one of the early doctors in the Grindal Shoals area.  

He was born on April 10, 1861, in England.  He married Agnes Johnson, daughter of James and Sophia ? Johnson.  She was born in 1790.  They had three sons and five daughters: Thomas James, Elizabeth, Sophia, Agnes, Caroline, Jane, John and William.  

He delivered a son for Henry and his wife, Sarah D. Lawrence Littlejohn, in 1807, and they named him, Thomas Hancock Littlejohn, for the doctor.  Thomas Hancock Littlejohn was a grandson of Samuel and Sarah Cofer Littlejohn. 

For several years Dr. Thomas Hancock ran the Dawkins store and was made postmaster.  The post office was called Hancocksville from January 22, 1814, to November 8, 1842.   He owned a great deal of real estate and some slaves.  So in addition to being a doctor and postmaster, he was also a farmer. 

He died in Union District, S. C., on March 24, 1845, and was buried in the Hancock-Vinson Cemetery, two miles north of Union, S. C.   His wife, Agnes, died after 1860, in Union District, S. C.

Their son, Thomas James Hancock, was a Confederate soldier and died of rheumatic fever at Mount Jackson General Hospital in Shenandoah County, Virginia, August 29, 1864. 

Elijah Dawkins Jr. replaced Dr. Hancock as postmaster on November 9, 1842, and remained in this position until March 1, 1846.  It was called Hancockville after Elijah Dawkins Jr. became postmaster.    

Jack Littlejohn established his own store at Grindal Shoals.  He built a small mill on the now Cherokee County side of the Pacolet River. 

He became postmaster of the Pacolet Mills post office (replacing the Hancockville post office) on March 2, 1846.  He apparently was still postmaster of the Pacolet Mills post office through and after the War Between the States. 

After Jack’s bankruptcy in the latter 1860s, the Jonesville post office took over the area that the Pacolet Mills post office had covered.   

The writer has a bill-head from the Pacolet Mills store.  Miss M. O. Dawkins, daughter of James Dawkins, bought items from the store in December of 1857.  The bill was signed by John Littlejohn.   

Jack Beckham operated a store at Grindal before the American Revolutionary War began.  The store was later operated by his son, Jack Beckham Jr. 

The mercantile business was kept up by one after another, almost continuously, at Grindal until about 1905.  Napoleon Bonaparte Eison operated the store for several years after the bankruptcy of Jack Littlejohn.     

In August of 1852, there was the heaviest freshet ever known on the Pacolet River up to that time.  It is said that Littlejohn’s mill was tied with ropes to adjacent trees to keep it from washing away. 

Leroy McArthur, one of the most noted mill wrights of his day, built for Littlejohn a large merchant mill consisting of four sets of burrs, two for grinding wheat, two for grinding corn and a saw mill.  McArthur also built bridges.  Leroy McArthur and a partner later leased the Littlejohn mill. 

Jack built and lived in a house on White Hills’ farm known as the Mabry or Mitchell place.  The road from his house at the Mitchell place to Grindal Shoals ran down near Pacolet River and a good part of it can be traced through the woods.

He gave land and labor to build a Chapel for Asbury Methodist Church in 1854.  The Methodist Church was the last church to leave the old log meeting house built by William Marchbanks and William Sims.  The little log church gave way to a magnificently planned one.

Jack’s mother, Susannah Nuckolls Littlejohn, and his brother, James, belonged to this church.  The church was moved a mile and a half further down the Asbury road and three and a half miles from Grindal Shoals. 

He took Medora (Dr. Tom’s daughter) on one of his trips to Columbia.  She was born on December 17, 1846.  He bought her a beautiful silk dress, which in those days was a very rare garment. 

He made several business trips to New York.  On one of these trips he bought seven silk beaver hats at $9.00 each and gave one to each of his brothers.

Jack was a man of considerable wealth, consisting of about 2700 acres of land and 100 slaves. While in business he went to Columbia several times to buy Confederate Bonds.    He lost some of his property during the Confederate War and all of his slaves after the war.

He signed papers for Stark Sims, and later making good this obligation caused him to go bankrupt.  The auctioneers sold everything Jack had.  He was sitting in a split bottom chair watching.  When they had finished all, he took off his hat and said, “Gentleman, here is my hat.” 

Jack contributed five acres of land to the black Methodist Church, called Mulberry, so oral accounts maintain.  But before he made a deed for the land to the congregation, the land must have been a part of his holdings that were auctioned.  The church purchased land in 1876, from the Dawkins and Tench families for $200.00.

Later, when he was an old man he used to come to Jonesville and liked to sit about town and talk.  One day, he was behind the railroad station talking, while waiting for the train.  As the train pulled out he rushed out to catch the rear coach and fell.  This came near ending his life. 

John (Jack) Littlejohn died on February 9, 1872, and was buried in the Littlejohn Rock Cemetery.

Their son, James Littlejohn, was born July 22, 1801, in Union District, S. C.  He first married Joanna Reid, daughter of William and Ellender Norton Reid, on January 18, 1829.  She was born February 23, 1809.  They had four sons and two daughters.  Thomas Durbin Littlejohn was their son.  Thomas Durbin and his wife, Rachel Jefferies, lived in the Elijah Dawkins house.  Joanna died December 29, 1843, and was buried in the Littlejohn Rock Cemetery. 

James next married Agnes Goudelock, daughter of William and Agatha (Agnes) Nuckles Goudelock, on January 9, 1845.  She was born October 12, 1812.  They had four sons and three daughters.  Agnes died June 1, 1867, and was buried in the Littlejohn Rock Cemetery. 

James died January 25, 1874, and was buried in the Littlejohn Rock Cemetery.  He was the first male member of the Asberry Methodist Church. 

Their son, Felix Walker Littlejohn, was born October 26, 1806, in Union District, S. C.  He married his first cousin, Elizabeth (Betsy) Littlejohn, daughter of Thomas and Molly Lipscomb Littlejohn, circa 1829.  She was born March 12, 1811.  

Dr. Felix Littlejohn was both a physician and minister of the gospel.  He was a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and appeared in the Broad River Baptist Association as a licensed preacher and delegate from Goucher Creek church in 1840, at the session held at Concord Baptist Church, Rutherford County, N. C.  

He was ordained in 1841, to the full work of the ministry by the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and represented this church at the sessions of the Broad River Baptist Church almost continually until 1855. 

He served the following Baptist churches: Goucher Creek, Providence, El Bethel, Macedonia, Gilead and Corinth.  He was pastor of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church from 1842-1855.

His health failed in 1855, and he did not afterwards attend the sessions of the association as formerly, nor serve as pastor of a church.  Unfortunately, there is no record of his medical training available.  It is known that he assisted in the delivery of several children. 

They had eight sons and four daughters.  He died of apoplexy on October 10, 1860.  His wife, Elizabeth, died March 29, 1890.

Their son, Thomas Russell Littlejohn, was born December 8, 1808.  He first married Minerva Wilkins, daughter of James Terrrell Wilkins and his wife, Sarah Headen Wilkins, on December 10, 1832.  She was born on September 29, 1813.   

James Terrell Wilkins was the son of William and Elizabeth Terrell Wilkins.  James’ wife, Sarah Headen Wilkins, was the daughter of John Headen and Elizabeth Littlejohn.  James and his wife, Sarah, were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

John Headen and Elizabeth Littlejohn were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

Thomas was a medical doctor and practiced in the Grindal Shoals area.  Unfortunately, information is lost concerned his medical education.

His first wife, Minerva, died circa 1833.  No children are listed in the databases.  She died in Union District, S. C. 

His second wife was Susan Elvira Reid, daughter of William and Ellender Norton Reid.  They were married circa 1834.  She was born circa 1812.  They had two sons and four daughters.  Elvira died circa 1844, in Union District, S. C. 

His third wife was Elizabeth Cooper, daughter of James William Cooper and Lucy King Cooper.  They were married circa 1845.   She was born August 23, 1825.  They had four sons and two daughters.  They son, Kenneth, remained unmarried and was a medical doctor, practicing in the Jonesville area.  Elizabeth died September 5, 1855, in Union District, S. C. 

His fourth wife was Louisa K. Cooper, daughter of James William Cooper and Lucy King Cooper.  She was the sister of his wife, Elizabeth Cooper.  She was born January 27, 1819.  They were married April 15, 1856.  They had two sons and one daughter.   Louisa died April 10, 1899, in Union District, S. C.

Dr. Thomas Russell Littlejohn died July 13, 1877, in Union District, S. C.  He and his wives were buried in the Littlejohn Rock Cemetery.

He and his wives were probably members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  It is certain that he and his family attended this church.   

(4). Mary (Polly) Littlejohn was born January 4, 1771, in Fairfax County, Virginia.  She married Charles Henry Littlejohn, son of Henry and Mary ? Littlejohn, March 1784, in Union District, S. C.  Charles’ father was the brother of Samuel Littlejohn. 

Charles Henry was born in 1757, in Virginia.  This was his second marriage.  He had a son, Samuel, born August 1, 1776.  Name of his first wife has not been preserved.  He and Polly Littlejohn moved to Pulaski County, Kentucky, in 1800.  Their last three children were born in Kentucky.  They had six daughters and four sons.

Charles Henry died in Pulaski County, Kentucky, on June 3, 1822, and his wife, Polly, died in 1867, in Owen County, Indiana. 

(5). Henry Littlejohn was born in 1774, probably in Ninety Six District, S. C.  He married Sarah D. Lawrence, daughter of James Lawrence Jr. and his wife, Frances Hunter, in 1803.  She was born in August of 1784, in Union District, S. C.

They had five sons and three daughters.  Henry died in Union District on January 19, 1849, and Sarah died in the same district on February 4, 1849.   They were probably members of Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  

(6). Francis Frank Littlejohn was born in 1776, in Ninety Six District, S. C.  He married Elizabeth Lipscomb, daughter of John Lipscomb Sr. and his wife, Sarah Smith, in 1811, in Union District, S. C.  She was born on December 28, 1786, in Spartanburg District, S. C.

They had three sons and three daughters.  Elizabeth died on December 31, 1823, in Spartanburg District, S. C., and Francis Frank Littlejohn died on February 4, 1852, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  They were probably members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

 (7). Sarah Littlejohn was born in Ninety Six District, S. C., in 1777.  She married Robert Wilkins, son of William and Elizabeth Terrell Wilkins, in 1798.  He was born December 5, 1776, in Ninety Six District.

Sarah died October 10, 1829, at Harrison Shoals in Spartanburg District, S. C.  Robert and Sarah were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

James Russell Wilkins was their son.  James Russell Wilkins married Elizabeth Smith Lipscomb, daughter of Thomas S. and Agnes R. Lipscomb, and their son, Robert Russell, Wilkins married Lura Dean Gaffney, daughter of Henry Green Gaffney and Elizabeth Logan Gaffney. 

Lura Dean Gaffney Wilkins was the mother of Harry Russell Wilkins the noted poet.

Robert Wilkins married Tempe Gordon after the death of his first wife, Sarah.  She was born in 1780, and died in 1847.  Robert died September 27, 1848, in Spartanburg District. 

(8). Nancy Littlejohn was born in 1779, in Ninety Six District, S. C.  She married Joseph Austell, son of William and Amelia Millie Terrell Austell, in 1798.  He was born circa 1770, in Orange County, N. C.  William Austell’s wife, Amelia Millie Terrell, was the daughter of Timothy Terrell and Mary Martin Terrell.

Nancy and Joseph had three sons and five daughters.  He died October 14, 1823, and his wife, Nancy, died sometime after the death of her husband.   Joseph and Nancy were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.   

13. William Austell was born on April 4, 1744, in Northampton County, Virginia.  He moved to Yadkin County, North Carolina, and married Amelia Millie Terrell, daughter of Timothy and Mary Martin Terrell, on June 4, 1764.  She was born in Orange County, North Carolina, on April 7, 1747.

William Austell was the son of George William Austell who was born in Northampton County, Virginia, on October 1, 1710.  George Austell died in Yadkin County, North Carolina, on June 2, 1762.  Name of George’s wife has not been preserved. 

William and Amelia Millie Austell probably moved to the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C., circa 1774, with Millie’s sister, Elizabeth Terrell Wilkins and her husband, William Wilkins.

William and Amelia Austell lived close to the William Wilkins.   William died August 1, 1781, in Ninety Six District, S. C., and his wife, Amelia, died December 25, 1820, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  They were members of the Gosher Baptist Church. 

William and Amelia Millie Terrell Austell had four children (possibly five):

(1). Sarah (Sally) Austell, daughter of William and Millie, was born in 1765, probably in Orange County, N. C.   She married Robert Stacy, son of John Stacy and Mary Anne Abernathy Stacy, in 1784, in Ninety Six District, S. C.  He was born in Albemarle Parish, Surry County, Virginia, on March 25, 1757.  

According to Dr. Bobby Moss, Robert Stacy was a Patriot soldier in
the American Revolutionary War and served sixty-six days as a horseman under Capt. John Mapp and Col. Benjamin Roebuck in 1782. 

They had six sons and six daughters, all born in Spartanburg District, S. C.  Robert Stacy’s mother, Mary Anne Abernathy Stacy, traveled with her son to the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C., and died there after the mid to latter 1770s.  Anne’s husband, John, died in Charles Parish, York County, Virginia, on January 2, 1770.   

Their daughter, Nancy, married John (Jackie) Quinn, and they moved to Bibb County, Alabama.  They had five sons and five daughters.  John and Nancy died in Sturgis, Mississippi.

Their daughter, Deliah, married James Lockhart and moved with him to Bibb County, Alabama.  They had two sons, and Deliah and James both died in Bibb County.

Most, if not all, of their children lived in other states. 

Sarah (Sallie) died in Spartanburg District, S. C., on December 18, 1828, and Robert died in this district on February 6, 1849.  They were probably members of the Gosher Baptist Church. 

(2). Joseph Austell, son of William and Milllie, was born in 1770, probably in Orange County, North Carolina.  He married Nancy Littlejohn, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Coffee Littllejohn in 1798.  She was born in 1779, in Ninety Six District, S. C. 

They were both members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  On May 11, 1807, Joseph purchased 200 acres of land on Miller’s fork of Thickety Creek from Dr. Thomas Hancock. 

The land had originally belonged to Capt. Vardry McBee Sr.  On this land McBee had built a dam and utilized its power for grinding corn.  He also erected an iron foundry in the latter 1770s.  He took bankruptcy and lost his holdings in the 1780s, after the American Revolutionary War had ended. 

Joseph continued the operation of the gristmill until August 11, 1821, when he sold the 200 acres on Lime Kiln Creek to his son, William Gilkey Austell.

Joseph died October 14, 1823, and his wife, Nancy, died sometime after her husband.  

They had three sons and five daughters.

(a). William Gilkey Austell was born May 26, 1799, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He married Catherine Lipscomb, daughter of David and Katherine Smith Lipscomb, on December 3, 1829.  Catherine was born January 24, 1812. 

They had four sons and three daughters.  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church, where William served as a deacon. 

They lived next to the present day Limestone-Central Elementary School.

 William Austell continued the operation of the gristmill, but sold 191 acres to Dr. Samuel Otterson, William Norris and Dr. William B.  Nott, partners in the Nott gold mine, for $1,098.00 on September 23, 1836.  He excepted a mill shoal “on Limestone Creek and the right to raise a pond above said shoal”.   

During the operation of David Delamar Rosa’s Limestone Springs
English and Classical School, William Austell boarded some of the students. 

William Austell rented his iron foundry (originally built by Capt. Vardry McBee) to Christopher Frederick Leo, in the latter 1850s and early 1860s. 

In the Carolina Spartan in 1861, is found the following:“Specimens of Bomb and Ball may be seen in the store of Merssrs. Twitty, manufactured by Mr. Leo, who has a Foundry near Limestone Springs.  The cannon ball weighs 32 pounds, the bomb shell 18 pounds.” 

William and Catherine’s daughter, Nancy C., married William Ragland Lipscomb, son of William and Mary Wood LIpscomb (as his first wife).  She died July 26, 1854, and was buried in the Austell Family Cemetery.  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

Their daughter, Mary Austell, married William Lipscomb Wood, son of William Wood and his wife, Nancy Lipscomb.  William was born October 5, 1819, at Easterwood Shoals, S. C.  Mary was born in Spartanburg County, S. C., on February 20, 1834.  They married January 6, 1847.  William Wood was a Confederate soldier.

They had three sons and two daughters.  Samuel Sylvannus Wood was their son.  William died June 13, 1903, and was buried in the Pacolet Methodist Church Cemetery, and Mary died February 18, 1917, and was also buried in the Pacolet Methodist Cemetery.

William and Catherine’s daughter, Catherine, born in 1836, died at the age of two.

William and Catherine’s sons: Joseph Hopson, Samuel S. and William Gilkey, were all Confederate soldiers.  Joseph H. was in the Horse Artillery and served in the 5^th & 6^th Infantry.  Samuel S. served in the 6^th Infantry.  William G. was in the 5^th & 6^th Infantry.

 William G. was wounded in the breast, and Samuel died August 25, 1861.  Samuel was buried in the Austell Family Cemetery.

William Gilkey Austell Sr. died December 26, 1871, and his wife, Catherine died July 21, 1895.  They were buried in the Austell Family Cemetery. 

William Austell Sr. gave or sold the milling operation to his son, William Jr. 

In the Gaffney Ledger of April 20, 1906, the following account of William G. Jr. is given: “We found him somewhat under the weather from the effect of an old wound in his breast.  However, he is putting up a new mill on Limestone Creek, a little more than a mile below the celebrated Limestone Springs.

Messrs. S. R. Thackston and his son, Stewart, are putting the mill race and ground in readiness for the house and machinery.  The dam is already built and from its construction, and the timbers used it looks as if it would defy the floods.  Just as soon as the mill race and wheel pile are finished they will put in the machinery. 

Mr. Austell will spare neither pains nor money in making the entire outfit up-to-date in every particular.  The height of the dam and the shape of the ground will give an immense water power—sufficient in every respect to drive the machinery. 

The contract for digging the race was awarded to Uncle Bob Walker, an old-time slavery darky, and he has made a good job of it.  Mr. Thackston is using a considerable amount of dynamite in clearing the rock out of the way.”

The Gaffney Ledger of April 28, 1908, states: “The Austell mill, just west of the city is in daily operation.  Mr. W. B. Hill is the miller in charge, and he is capable, efficient and obliging, the consequence being that the mill has a large clientele of pleased patrons.”   

 William Austell Jr. died October 15, 1908.  He and his wife, Susan Borders, were buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Gaffney, S. C.

(b). Elizabeth Austell married ? Lovett.

(c). Milly Austell was born May 6, 1795, in Spartanburg District.  She married Walker W. Gilkey, son of Samuel and Elizabeth ? Gilkey, on November 8, 1812.  He was born August 14, 1794.  They had five sons and five daughters.  Their children were born in Union District, S. C.

Walter W. Gilkey died June 22, 1837, and Milly died December 8, 1841.

(d). Nancy Austell.

(e). Sarah Austell was born February  6, 1803, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She married Green Alexander Pinnix, son of Overton and Malinda (Milly) Gibson Pinnix, circa 1821, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  Green was born on March 4, 1797, in Rowan County, N. C.

They had three sons and four daughters.  Their last two sons were born in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.  Sarah died in Tuscaloosa County on February 19, 1836. 

Green Pinnix then married Martha Ann McCafferty, daughter of Thomas and Hannah Reed McCafferty, in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, circa 1837.  She was born April 18, 1820, in Union District, S. C.  They were living in Choctaw County, Mississippi, in 1842, when their first child was born.

They had five sons and four daughters.  Green Pinnix died in Choctaw County, Mississippi, on April 6, 1870, and Martha Ann died there in 1873.     

(f). Catherine Austell was born circa 1804, in Spartanburg District.  She married Johnson Shippey, son of Samuel Shippey and his wife, Sarah Johnston Shippey, circa 1830.  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  They had two sons and one daughter. 

He died in Louisiana in 1863, and Catherine died in Louisiana in 1871.

(g). Samuel Austell was born in 1809, in Spartanburg District, South Carolina.  He married Caroline Mabel Wofford, daughter of Isaac Wofford and his wife, Mabel Drummond.  She was born in 1819, in Spartanburg District, S. C. 

Isaac was the son of Capt. James Wofford and his wife, Anna Katherine Hoppaugh Wofford.  The Reverend Benjamin Wofford, son of Capt. Joseph Wofford, was the first cousin of Isaac Wofford.   James and Joseph were both Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. 

Mabel Drummond was the daughter of Ephraim Drummond Jr. and his second wife, Catherine Castleberry, daughter of Henry Castleberry and Elizabeth Wofford Castleberry.  Ephraim Drummond Jr. was the son of Ephraim Drummond Sr. and his wife, Mary (Polly) Johnston Drummond.  Ephraim Sr. was also a Patriot soldier in the America Revolutionary War. 

Samuel Austell and Mabel Drummond were married in Carrollton, Pickens County, Alabama. 

“Samuel L. Austell came to Pickens County, Alabama, in 1837, from Spartanburg District, South Carolina, and located in Carrollton, Alabama.  He formed a legal co-partnership with Gov. Samuel B. Moore, which continued until 1845, when they dissolved the partnership, and Samuel Austell and Lemuel A. Gilkey  (son of Walter and Milly Austell Gilkey) entered into a partnership in the practice of law.

In the latter part of 1845, Samuel left Pickens County, Alabama, and moved to the state of Arkansas, St. Francis County.  He was twice elected State Senator for the districts composed of his county and several counties surrounding. 

When he lived in Pickens County, Alabama, he was a candidate for the Legislature in 1843, but lost the election by a very few votes.  He was a Democrat in Pickens County, but became a member of the American Party in Arkansas.

Samuel Austell was the brother-in-law of Walter W. Gilkey, having married his sister (Milly), and was the uncle of Lemuel A. Gilkey, one of the former Probate Judges of Pickens County, Alabama.”  (J. F. Clanahan, “The History of Pickens County, Alabama, 1540-1920”.) 

They had four sons and two daughters.  The writer does not know whether an additional child, Babe Austell, was a boy or girl.

Samuel Austell died in Wittburg, St. Francis County, Arkansas, in 1866, and Caroline Mabel Wofford Austell died in Wittburg, Arkansas, in 1870.

(h). Richard Joseph Austell was born circa 1814, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He married Frances Ann Lovett in the early 1830s.  She was born circa 1817, in South Carolina.

They had five children in South Carolina, two sons and three daughters.  Joseph and Frances had seven children in Cross County, Arkansas, six sons and one daughter. 

Richard Joseph Austell died in Cross County, Arkansas, on April 9, 1874, and Frances Ann Lovett Austell died April 11, 1877, in Cross County. 

(i). Daughter ? .  She married James Austell.  She was deceased  when her father, Joseph, wrote his will on October 5, 1823.  Placing her ninth does not reflect the order of her birth.

(3). Amos Austell, son of William and Millie, was born in 1775, in Spartanburg District, S. C. He married Lucy Bostick, daughter of William and Nancy Ann Rice Bostick in 1808.  She was born in 1789, in York County, S. C.

They had three sons and four daughters, all born in Spartanburg District, S. C.  In the early 1830s, Amos moved his family to Coffee, Tennessee.  Amos and his wife, Lucy, were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church before their removal from the state. 

Samuel Austell, their son, married Sarah Katherine Camp, daughter of James Pinckney and Margaret Quinn Camp in Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1831. They had four sons and six daughters, all born in Coffee, Tennessee.

Amos wife, Lucy, died in Coffee in May of 1836, and he died in Coffee in 1855. 

(4). William Austell Jr., son of William and Amelia, was born May 20, 1777, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He married Jane W. Wilkins, daughter of William and Elizabeth Terrell Willkins, on March 22, 1807.  She was his first cousin. 

Jane was born in the Thickety Creek Area of Ninety Six District on August 4, 1778.  They were members of Goucher Creek Baptist Church before their removal from the state.

In 1810, Williiam and Jane moved their family to Dandridge, Jefferson County, Tennessee.  They had four sons and two daughters.

Their son, Samuel, and their youngest son, Alfred, left their father’s farm in Tennessee, around 1830, and moved to Spartanburg, S. C., where they opened a dry goods store, which failed. 

Samuel was born in 1809, in Spartanburg District, S. C., before his father moved to Tennessee.  Alfred was born in 1814, in Tennessee.  William was married.  Name of his wife has not been preserved. 

In 1835, they moved to Douglas County, Georgia.  William had three young children, and tragically died at the age of 27, in 1840.  Alfred cared for his brother’s three children, even though their mother remarried soon after his brother’s death. 

Alfred opened a small bank in Douglasville.  The bank was successful and allowed him to acquire real estate in the fledging city of
Atlanta.  

In 1853, Alfred married Francina Cameron, daughter of James Hawthorn and Emily Castleberry Cameron, in Troup County, Georgia.  She had attended LaGrange Female Institute.  They had six children, three sons and three daughters.  Two of their children died in infancy. 

Alfred moved his family from Campbeliton to Altanta, Georgia, in 1858, and lived in a house located on Marietta Street.

Alfred was a Brigadier-General in the Georgia State Militia during the War Between the States.  His wife, Fancina, worked with the Atlanta Ladies Hospital Association attending patients at Wayside Hospital. 

He served as a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta’s finance committee. 

Alfred was a merchant, banker, financier and railroad builder who organized the Atlanta National Bank and was one of the countries largest cotton dealers.  He built railroads in several southern states. The city of Austell, Georgia, is named for him. 

When he died in 1881, the Atlanta Constitution wrote “that he was one of the wealthiest men in the state.”

Alfred died on December 7, 1881, and his wife, Francina, died April 17, 1917.  Both were buried in the Oakland Cemetery in the Austell Mausoleum in Fulton County. (Find a Grave Memorial,
Gen. Alfred Austell (1814-1881), Find a Grave Memorial, Francina
Cameron Austell (1833-1917), Southern Etiquette, New Georgia
Encyclopedia)

William Austell, Alfred’s father, died on December 20, 1840, in Dandridge, Jefferson County, Tennessee, and Jane, his mother, died August 4, 1778, in Henry County, Georgia.

(5).  John Austell was a possible son of William and Amelia Austell.  He was a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Records of this church on September 19, 1817, state: “John Austell appeared and gave satisfaction to the church.” 

14. William Shedd (Sheid) was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, in 1756, the son of James and Martha Herd Shedd. 

His father, James Thompson, son of Thomas and Katherine Thompson Shedd, was born March 23, 1708, in Edinburg, Midlothian, Scotland, and his mother, Martha Herd Shedd, daughter of William and Janet Stirk Herd, was born in 1713, in Ceres, Fifeshire, Scotland. Both of his parents died in Loudoun County, Virginia.

William moved to the Thickety Creek area of Ninety Six District, S. C. (later Spartanburg District, S. C.) circa 1777. 

He married Elizabeth Headen, daughter of William Headen and Jane Beavers Headen, circa 1778.  She was born circa 1761, in Loudoun County, Virginia.  Their first child, James, was born May 22, 1779, in Ninety Six District, S. C. (later Spartanburg District, S. C.)

According to Dr. Bobby Moss’ book, South Carolina Patriots, William Shedd served thirty-one days as a footman under Capt. John Mapp and sixty-six days under Capt. Vardry McBee and Col. Benjamin Roebuck from July 2, 1781, to June 1, 1782.”

In 1782, William Shedd received an original grant from the State of South Carolina on “Case’s Creek” in present Spartanburg County, and he and his family lived there until November of 1806. 

CHILDREN OF WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH HEADEN SHEDD (SHEID)

(1). James Sheid Sr. was born in what later became Spartanburg District, S. C., on May 22, 1779.  He married Sibbel Robertson, daughter of William Ross Robertson and his wife, Nancy Hawley Robertson in 1805, in Spartanburg District.  She was born November 26, 1779, in Ninety Six District, S. C. 

Their first five children were born in South Carolina, and their last child was born in Franklin County, Tennessee, on January 27, 1827.  They had five sons and one daughter. 

James owned slaves: Bicca, Dick, Millia and Sarah.  He made his will on January 19, 1853, and died in Coffee County, Tennessee, on April 18, 1856.  He was buried in the Sheid Family Cemetery in Hillsboro, Tennessee.  His wife, Sibbel, died on August 29, 1867, in Coffee County, Tennessee, and was buried in the Sheid Family Cemetery.    

(2). George Sheid was born circa 1783, in what became Spartanburg District, S. C.  He married Rhoda ? circa 1809, in Pendleton District, S. C.  She was born in South Carolina in 1793.  They had four sons and four daughters, all born in Coffee County, Tennessee, except Hayden L. Sheid who was born in Pendleton District, S. C.

George Sheid died on December 31, 1870, in Izard County, Arkansas, and his wife, Rhoda, died January 7, 1872, in Izard County, Arkansas. 

(3). Anna Sheid was born circa 1785, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She married John Harris in Spartanburg District.  The writer has no further information on Anna.  

William Shedd (Sheid) and his wife, Elizabeth Headen, were members of the Gosher (Goucher Creek Baptist Church).  In November of 1806, they removed to Pendleton District, S. C., and placed their letters in the Shoal Creek (Chauga) Baptist Church in what is now Oconee County, S. C.

He was deeded a tract of land on Chauga Creek in Pendleton District, S. C., later a part of Pickens County and now Oconee County. William operated a gristmill for years in the Oconee, S. C., area.  He apparently acquired more than 2,000 acres of land in the Chauga Creek section.

He was a delegate from Chauga Baptist Church of Pendleton District and attended a convention at Poplar Springs Baptist Church in Franklin County, Georgia, on September 18, 1818, when the Tugaloo Baptist Association was organized.

His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1834, and he remained in the area until 1840, when he moved to Coffee County, Tennessee, and lived with his son, James.  He died in Coffee County in 1849.   

15. John Shippey was born in Virginia in 1731.  He married Judith ? in 1756.  Judith was born circa 1735.   He moved his family to South Carolina, in what later became Spartanburg District in the 1770s.  John and Judith were probably members of the Gosher Baptist Church.

They had at least two sons and possibly several daughters.  Only one child’s name has been preserved.  They had a son, whose name was Samuel.   

Samuel served in the militia after the fall of Charleston under Col. Thomas Brandon and served fifty-six days as a horseman under Capt. John Mapp and Col. Benjamin Roebuck from June 6, to October 25, 1782. 

Samuel Shippey was born in 1763.  He married Sarah Johnston in 1784, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She was born in 1764. 

John Shippey was listed in the 1790 federal census of Spartanburg County, S. C.  He died in 1798, in Spartanburg District, S. C., and his wife, Judith, died in 1811, in the same district.

Samuel and his wife, Sarah, were both members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  They had six sons and three daughters.  The writer discovered Sarah’s name in some Goucher Creek Baptist Church records.  

CHILDREN OF SAMUEL AND SARAH JOHNSTON SHIPPEY

(1). John Shippey was born April 1, 1785, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He married Polley ? circa 1810.  She was born circa 1789.

(2). Judah Shippey was born June 10, 1787, in Spartanburg District.  She married John Duncan.  He was born circa 1785.  They were married in Spartanburg District.  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

They were living in Pickens County, Alabama, when the 1840 federal census of this county was taken.  They had four sons and four daughters listed in this census. 

Accrding to the 1850 federal census of Pickens County, Alabama, John and Judah’s daughter, Mary, was born in Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1817, and their son, Nathaniel J., was born circa 1824-25, in Spartanburg District.  Mary and Nathaniel were living with their parents in 1850, and were unmarried at this time. 

Nathaniel married Mary Elizabeth Christopher, daughter of Lewis Christopher and his wife, Elizabeth Cox Christopher, in Pickens County, Alabama, in 1852/53.  He was a school teacher.  Nathaniel was a lieutenant in the Confederate army and became ill and was sent home from the hospital to recover.  He died October 16, 1863.  

Names of other children of John and Judah Shippey Duncan have not been preserved. 

Judah died March 3, 1860, and was buried in Mineral Springs Baptist Cemetery near McShan, Pickens County, Alabama.  John was listed in the 1860 federal census of Pickens County, Alabama.

(3). Samuel Shippey was born March 7, 1790, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He died in 1816, in Spartanburg District, unmarried.

(4). Elizabeth Shippey was born in April of 1792, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She met Davidson Mitchell at the Goucher Creek Baptist Church when his father, the Reverend Elias Mitchell, was supplying the pulpit at Goucher. 

They married circa 1820, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  Davidson Mitchell, son of the Reverend Elias and Permilia Mildred Hill Mitchell, was born circa 1795, in Union District, S. C. 

They lived in Union District, S. C., and had three sons and two daughters.  He died in Union County, S. C., on March 29, 1862, and Elizabeth died in 1871, in Union County, S. C.  They were buried in the Mitchell Family Cemetery several miles north ofJonesville, S. C.

(5). William Shippey was born October 5, 1794, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He married Lovinia ? circa 1821.  She was born circa 1792.  He died in 1859, in Texas.  Date and place of her death has not been recorded. 

(6). Joseph Shippey was born July 27, 1797, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He married Elizabeth Thomson in 1824, in Gwinnett County, Georgia.  She was born March 15, 1803, in South Carolina.  They had three sons and four daughters.  Elizabeth died August 29, 1842, in Muscogee County, Georgia, and was buried in the Shippey Cemetery. 

Joseph married Elizabeth Johnson on March 4, 1843, in Harris County, Georgia.  She was born in March of 1811, in Randolph County, Georgia.  They had one son and two daughters.  Joseph died on July 2, 1849, and was buried in the Shippey Cemetery in Muscogee County, Georgia.  Elizabeth died on May 5, 1875, and was buried in the Shippey Cemetery.  

(7). Sarah Shippey was born on September 7, 1799, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She married Green Berry Mitchell, son of the Reverend Elias Mitchell on November 2, 1820.  She met Green Berry when his father, Elias Mitchell, supplied the pulpit at Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

They remained as members of the Goucher church until their deaths.  Melissa N. A. Mitchell was their daughter.  She was born in 1825, and married ? Chalk.

Green Berry died in 1888, and his wife, Sarah, died May 12, 189l.  They were buried in the Goucher Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. 

(8). Johnson Shippey was born in Spartanburg District, S. C., circa 1803.  He married Catherine Austell, daughter of Joseph and Nancy Lipscomb Austell, circa 1830.  She was born circa 1804, in Spartanburg District, S. C.   

They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Their children were : Elijah, Adolphus and Cornilia.  Elijah was born in August of 1832, in Spartanburg District.  Their next two children were born in Alabama. 

Johnson died in 1863, in Louisiana, and Catherine died in 1871, in Lafayette Township, Quachita, Arkansas.

(9). Elijah Shippey was born in Spartanburg District, S. C., on September 17, 1806.  He married Jeanette Brown circa 1836.  They had seven sons and four daughers.  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

Elijah died August 1, 1857, in Spartanburg District, S. C., and Jeanette died August 11, 1867.  They were buried in the Shippey Family Cemetery in Spartanburg District, now on Burnt Gin Road in Cherokee County, S. .C.

16. William Lipscomb Sr., son of Thomas and Sarah McGehee Lipscomb, was born in Hanover County, Virginia, on March 28, 1731.  He married Virginia Elizabeth Smith, daughter of David and Elizabeth Ragland Smith, on November 18, 1752, in Louisa County, Virginia.

His wife, Elizabeth, was born December 12, 1736, in Louisa County, Virginia.  They had six sons and two daughters, all born in Louisa County, Virginia. 

William purchased his first 224 acres of land in 1758, and sold this land on February 9, 1763.  On October 6, 1763, he purchased 2,789 acres of land in Hanover County, Virginia. 

He was a member of the Committee of Safety of Louisa County, Virginia, in 1775 and 1776.  Later, he furnished supplies for the Virginia Patriot troops during the American Revolutionary War.   He was listed in the Louisa County, Virginia, Order Book, 1774-1784, for providing provisions for the Virginia Militia: “410 lbs. of bacon, 50 lbs. of beef and corn and fodder for the Dragoons.”

He sold his lands in Virginia, and moved his family to Ninety Six District, S. C. (later Spartanburg District, S. C.) from Louisa County, Virginia, in 1784.  Among those who accompanied him on the trip were two of his brother Thomas’s sons, Joel and Nathan.  They settled in Ninety Six District (later Abbeville District, S. C.). 

He obtained large grants of land on Thickety and Gosher creeks.  He was the largest slave owner in Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1790, and was the owner of approximately 45 slaves when he died.  He was the owner of a large tract of land (1400 acres) on Muddy Creek in Madison County, Kentucky, in 1790.  (See Lipscomb, 300 Years in America, 1679-1979, by Dorothy Garr Helmer, page 212)

Capt. Vardry McBee Sr. mortgaged his 300 acres with the limestone quarry, and the land was sold on September 5, 1796, by William Bratton, Sheriff of (Pinckney District).  William Lipscomb Sr. purchased the land, reserved 20 acres, and sold the remaining 280 acres to Francis Bremar of Charleston, S. C.

In his will, William Lipscomb Sr. wrote: “I have three tracts in partnership with William (Gentleman) Thomson known by the (name) Lime Kiln tracts; one conveyed by William Bratton, Sheriff (twenty acres); one by Capt. James Martin, the other we have said Martin’s bond for a right to.” 

“William Thomson is to have half that is recovered if all or any to pay half the profits and have half the profits, which land will be sold at the discretion of my Executors.” 

In his will, William (Gentleman) Thomson  wrote:  “The land in partnership with William Lipscomb, deceased, that he willed to me with lime on it, both tracts in Spartanburg District and one tract of land in the State of Virginia, in Amherst County, and the money arising from the sale to be equally divided between all of my grandchildren at the death of my son, Richard Thomson.”

William (Gentleman) Thomson had a road cut through the Lime Kiln tracts, which became known as Thomson Street and is now the oldest street in the city of Gaffney, S. C.

CHILDREN OF WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH SMITH LIPSCOMB

(1). Thomas Lipscomb was born in Louisa County, Virginia, on August 19, 1753.   He died in his youth. 

(2). William Lipscomb Jr. was born on February 12, 1756, in Louisa County, Virginia.  He married Elizabeth Ragland Hall, daughter of John Tandy Hall and his wife, Ann Lipscomb, in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1779.  She was born April 20, 1767, in Louisa County, Virginia.

William served as a Patriot soldier during the American Revolutionary War.  He was a Fife Major in the 8^th Virginia Regiment.  They had five sons and three daughters, all born in Spartanburg District, S. C.

William’s children received four slaves: Hannah, Dick, Bartlett, and Cuz from their grandfather’s estate. 

William Jr.’s son, David, received three hundred dollars from his grandfather’s estate, and he was to receive three hundred dollars from his father, William’s part of the estate.  The money was to be left in the Executors’ hands “to educate him at the Latin schools.” 

This Latin School was probably the first school in the area of what later became known as Limestone Springs, S. C.  David was born September 16, 1793, and died March 31, 1853.   

William Jr. died on November 12, 1802, in Spartanburg District, S. C., and Elizabeth, his wife, died October 31, 1843, in the same district. 

(3). David Lipscomb was born on May 14, 1759, in Louisa County, Virginia.  He married Katherine Smith, daughter of Edward and Sarah Rice Smith, circa 1790, in Spartanburg District, S. C.

She was born circa 1772, in Louisa County, Virginia.  Her parents had moved to Spartanburg District, S. C., in the 1780s.  They attended the Gosher Baptist Church, where their daughter met David Lipscomb.

David received eight of his father’s slaves: James, Jacob, Salley, Ann, Samuel, Annare and Peg.   He also received a tract of land where “Thomas Littlejohn now lives”. 

They had two sons and eight daughters.  David died in Spartanburg District, S. C., on June 3, 1816, and his wife, Katherine, died in December of 1851, in Spartanburg District.

(4). John Lipscomb was born October 31, 1761, in Louisa County, Virginia.  He served in the Virginia Line during the American Revolutionary War.  

He married Sarah (Sally) Smith, daughter of Edward and Sarah (Sally) Rice Smith, on December 18, 1783, in Louisa County, Virginia.  She was born November 4, 1768, in Louisa County, Virginia.

They had five sons and eight daughters, all born in Spartanburg District, S. C.  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

His grandson, William Ragland Lipscomb, son of William and Mary Wood Lipscomb, was author of a History of Limestone
Springs, S. C., and a personal friend of Thomas and William Curtis.

John’s father, William, had already given him land. 

John was the church clerk for the Goucher Creek Baptist Church from the early 1800s until July of 1827.  Robert Wilkins replaced him as clerk in August of 1827. 

John died October 27, 1827, in Spartanburg District, S. C.

His wife, Sarah (Sally) Smith Lipscomb married  ? Waters after the death of her husband, John Lipscomb.   She died in Spartanburg District on March 28, 1860.  She was 92 years of age at her death. 

(5). Mary (Molly) Lipscomb was born on December 28, 1766, in Louisa County, Virginia.

She married Thomas Littlejohn, son of Samuel and Sarah Cofer Littlejohn, in 1792, in Union District, S. C.  Thomas Littlejohn was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1766. 

Thomas Littlejohn was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary war and served under Col. Thomas Brandon after the Fall of Charleston, S.  C. 

They had four sons and three daughters all born in Union District, S. C.   Mary (Molly) died on December 31, 1823, in Union District, and Thomas died April 1, 1841, in Union District.

(6). Ann Elizabeth (Nancy) Lipscomb was born on November 17, 1768, in Louisa County, Virginia.  She was married to James Wood, son of David and Mary Watson Wood, on September 9, 1783, by the Reverend William Douglas in Louisa County, Virginia. 

They moved to Ninety Six District, S. C. (later Spartanburg District, S. C.) with her father, William and his family, in 1784. 

They had five sons and two daughters, all born in Spartanburg District, S. C.   

Nancy received six slaves from her father’s will: Judah, Mike, Harry, Daniel, Samuel and Adam.  He also left her two tracts of land.

James died on June 10, 1799, in Spartanburg District, S. C., and Ann Elizabeth Nancy Lipscomb Wood died on August 3, 1846, in Spartanburg District. 

(7). Nathan Lipscomb was born December 15, 1770, in Louisa County, Virginia.  He married Nancy Gentry, daughter of Martin and Mary Timberlane Gentry, on December 25, 1800, in Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky.  She was born on July 15, 1783, in Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia.

They had five sons and four daughters, all born in Boonesboro, Madison County, Kentucky.  He was a Major in the Militia. 

He farmed his father’s land and was willed four hundred acres of that land from his father’s large tract on Muddy Creek in Kentucky.  His father willed Nathan seven slaves: Viney and two children, Nelly, Tom, George and Asa.

Nathan died in Madison County, Kentucky, on October 16, 1843.  His will was dated October of 1843, in Madison County, and proved December 4, 1843.

His wife, Nancy, died in 1851, in Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky.

(8). Smith Judge Lipscomb was born in Louisa County, Virginia, on November 10, 1772.  He married Agnes Smith on December 12, 1800, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  Agnes was born in Louisa County, Virginia, on August 24, 1776. 

His father, William, left him five slaves: Ginney, Nancy, Garland, Milley and America.

Smith and Agnes had six children: four sons and two daughters.  Agnes died April 14, 1816, in Spartanburg District, S. C.   Their son, Wyatt, was the owner of fine race horses.

Smith married Elizabeth Jones on September 18, 1833, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She was born May 1, 1801.  They had no children.  Elizabeth Jones died June 9, 1838. 

Smith Lipscomb died April 25, 1851, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  Smith and his two wives were buried in Lipscomb Family Cemetery No. 4. 

WILLIAM LIPSCOMB SR. died in Spartanburg District, S. C., on March 13, 1810.  In his will, William left his wife, Elizabeth, “the land whereon I live, the East side of Main Thickety” and six choice slaves.  His wife was to live with their son, Smith.  

ELIZABETH LIPSCOMB, wife of William, died in Spartanburg District on September 10, 1820. 

Both were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Their children were either members or attended this church. 

William and Elizabeth Lipscomb were buried in the Lipscomb Cemetery near Pacolet, S. C., seven miles from present day Gaffney, S. C. 

17. Moses Mathis Sr. was born in 1725, in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.  He was the son of James Ezekiel Mathis (1670-1738) and Mary Elizabeth Boddie (1687-1740).  He married Sarah Findley, daughter of Robert and Frances ?  Finley, in 1748, in Halifax County, Virginia.  She was born in 1730 in Virginia.   

By the time of the American Revolutionary War, he had moved his family to Camden District, South Carolina, in that part, which later became Fairfield County, S. C.  Moses Mathis had a gun shop in Winnsboro of Fairfield, where he repaired guns for General Thomas Sumter’s South Carolina troops. 

With the burning of Fairfield County, S. C., in 1779, Moses house and shop were destroyed by the Tories. 

He moved to the Grindal Shoals section of Spatanburg District in South Carolina, and lived in this section for several years before moving to Georgia.  They were members of the Gosher Baptist Church. 

Their children were: Phillip Mathis (1752-1845); William Mathis (1755-1819); Rev. James Newton Mathis (1755-1828); Sally Mathis (1757-1741); Philip Mathis (1760-1847); Moses Mathis (1762-1845); Rebecca (1762-1842); Jesse Mathis (1764-1866); Sarah Mathis (1766-1847); Mary Martha Mathis (1768-1847); Lewis Mathis (1773- 1809); Jessie Mathis (1776-1860); and John Mathis (1765-1850).

Moses Mathis died in 1806, in Lincoln County, Georgia, and Sarah Finley also died in this county in 1806. 

In 1782, the Reverend Alexander McDougal began preaching at the Gosher Baptist Church, carrying his son, Hezekiah, with him, and this is how his son met and married Martha Mathis, daughter of Moses and Mary Elizabeth Boddie Mathis.

“Alexander McDougal was born in Dublin, Ireland, on May 12, 1738. In 1762, he sailed to the United States and in August of 1762, he landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he lived three and one-half years.  His next move was to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he resided seven years and six months.

He married Hannah Marie Doane, daughter of Hezekiah Doane and Thankful Bickford Doane, in Wilmington, N. C., in 1770. She was born in 1747, in North Carolina. 

He and his wife moved to South Carolina and resided in what later became Union District.  Here he was drafted in the Army for two months in 1778, in which, William Farr was Colonel and Thomas Blessingham was Captain.  He states that he was drafted several times from 1777 to 1782. 

For two years he held the commission of Lieutenant in the Militia.  His commission was signed by Thomas Pinckney, then Governor of South Carolina.  He also fought under Col. Thomas Brandon. 

He was in the defense of Charleston against Commodore Parker.  Later, he was in pursuit of the notorious Tory called Bill Cunningham, who had committed murders and burned two iron works on Pacolet River. 

He became pastor of the Fairforest Baptist Church in 1775, which had been vacated, when the Reverend Philip Mulkey, a Tory, had to flee to Tennessee.  He moved to Kentucky in 1801, and continued his ministry there as pastor of the Nolynn Baptist Church in Larue County. 

His wife, Hannah, died in Larue County, Kentucky, in 1830, and Alexander died in this county on November 3, 1841, at the age of 103 years. They were buried in the Nolynn Baptist Church Cemetery.”

Their children were: Hezekiah, Alexander, Sarah, Nelly, Hannah, Martha, Mary, Elizabeth, Robert, John, Isabelle, and Darcas.  

Moses Mathis, his wife, and a part of his family were living in Wilks County, Georgia, in 1794, when he sold 100 acres of their Fairfield County property to William McGraw.  This area would eventually become Lincoln County, Georgia.  He received a grant of land in this county after the war for his Patriot services.  

While living in the Spartanburg District, S. C. area, Moses daughter, Martha, married Hezekiah McDougal, son of the Reverend Alexander and Hannah Doane McDougal, on August 22, 1782.  She was a member of the Gosher Baptist Church.  The Reverend Alexander McDougal performed the marriage ceremony. 

Hezekiah and Martha Mathis McDougal had the following children: Alexander (1783-1841); Moses McDougal (1787-1860); Isabella McDougal (1790-1843); Ann Amy McDougal (1795-1857); William Mathis McDougal (1795-1857); Thomas (1800); John McDougal (1802-); Jonathan McDougal (1802-); Elizabeth Mary McDougal (1808-1825); Eleanor Nelly McDougal (1808-1876).

Hezekiah McDougal was pastor of Fairforest Baptist Church from 1801 through 1820.  The Reverend Willis Walker served this church jointly with Hezekiah McDougal at times.

Hezekiah joined the Gilead Baptist Church in 1820, and was the second pastor of the Gilead church from 1823 through 1825.  He served the church jointly with the Reverend Elias Mitchell. 

He was pastor of the Cedar Spring Baptist Church several times: 1814-1815; 1822-1823; and 1825-1829; and was pastor of Goucher Creek Baptist Church in 1829-1830.

Hezikiah was also a blacksmith and did a great deal of work for neighbors, members and friends.   

Martha Mathis McDougal died September 2, 1847, and was buried in the Goucher Creek Baptist Cemetery.  The writer has been unable to find her place of burial.  Hezekiah McDougal, after visiting one of his children, died in Tennessee, shortly after his wife’s death.  He died in the town of Gibson, Gibson County, Tennessee, on November 23, 1847.  

18. Thomas Mathis was born on June 9, 1756, in Halifax County, North Carolina.  His wife was Mary Ann Rutherford, daughter of Robert Rutherford and Dorothy Ann Brooks.  She was born May 5, 1758, in North Carolina. 

They lived in the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina for several years, but moved back to North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. They moved back to South Carolina and then to Baldwin, Hancock County, Georgia. 

Their children were: Priscilla (1757-1788); John (1775-1833); Sarah (1777-1835); Charles (1782-1818); Nancy (185-1860); Gabriel Throckmorton (1786-1887); John Rutherford (1787-1833); Mary Polly (1789-1876); Dorothy Brooks (1792-1851); Elizabeth Rutherford (1794- 1845); and Littleton (1801-1883).

Their son, John Mathis, remained in South Carolina and married Susan (Susanna) Poole, daughter of William (Taylor) Poole (1739-1817) and his wife, Elizabeth Stovall Poole (1738-1827).  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

John Mathis was born in 1775, and died on January 14, 1833, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  His wife, Susan, was born in 1777, in Granville County, North Carolina, and died in Spartanburg District, S. C. on January 14, 1831.  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church when they died. 

Their children were: Sarah (1802-1880); Henry (1802-); Mary Ann (1804-1887); Balis (1806-1899); Dorcas Stovall (1808); Thomas (1810-); James (1814-1879); Elinor (1827-1880); and Adeline (1827-1910).  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

Their daughter, Mary Ann Mathis, was born January 11, 1804, and died December 12, 1880, in Cumming, Forsyth County, Georgia.  She married William M. Buis (Buice).  He was born April 23, 1804, and died on January 26, 1887, in Big Creek, Forsyth County, Georgia.  They were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church before moving to Georgia.

William Buice’s parents were David and Martha Patsy Buis (Buice) and his grandparents were William A. Buis (Buice) and Sarah Fletcher Mendenhall Buis (Buice). They had connections to the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.     

19. William (Tailor) Poole was born June 22, 1739, probably in England.  There is a traditional story found in a History of Hart County, Georgia, published in 1931, taken from a Diary written by William Roach Poole, a grandson of William (Tailor) Poole, which gives the following account of his birth: “William (Tailor) Poole was born in England, and his father was a ship’s captain. 

The father brought William to the United States and was returning to England for the rest of the family, when his ship was lost at sea.  No one in the family knows William (Tailor) Poole’s father’s name.”

It is possible that William (Tailor) Poole first came to the colonies circa 1754, as a young apprentice. 

William (Tailor) Poole married Elizabeth Stovall, daughter of John and Dorcas Drury Stovall, on December 16, 1760, in Granville County, North Carolina.  She was born February 10, 1739, in Goochland County, Virginia.

Elizabeth’s parents moved to Granville County, North Carolina, in 1750.  Her father, John, and brothers: John Jr. and Bartholomew Stovall were on the Muster Roll of the Granville County Militia in Col. William Easton’s 8^th Regiment in October of 1754.  They were in Capt. John Sallis’s Company.

Her brothers: Josiah, Drury, John and William were Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War and served in Col. Richard Henderson’s Regiment.

William (Tailor) Poole received a grant of 354 acres of land in North Carolina from Lord Granville on July 22, 1761.  This grant of land was in Johnson County, on Neuse River, and included “Pool’s improvement”. 

Early North Carolina records include a document containing the names of men who made an oath of allegiance to the American cause at the time of the Revolutionary War: William (Tailor) Poole; Thomas Stovall (Elizabeth’s father); John Stovall (Elizabeth’s brother) and other Stovall family members.   

He apparently moved his family to the Pacolet River area in 1784, after the birth of his son, John, for he was chosen to serve on the Spartanburg District, S. C. Jury in 1785.  He purchased 150 acres of land north of the Pacolet River on December 5, 1786, from Laurens Reddy.  He received a state grant of 777 acres on the Pacolet River and “branches of Thicketty Creek, on September 25, 1801.   

He built a block-house for defense, a common style of eighteenth century construction.  The property on which William (Tailor) Poole’s house stood contained springs referred to in deeds as “Healing Springs”. 

His house was a stagecoach stop in 1790, on the route from Yorkville, S. C., to Spartanburg, S.C.  John Drayton mentioned this stop in 1802. 

There was a store here that contained a post office of which William (Tailor) Poole was postmaster.

By 1790, the springs was called “Pacolet Mineral Springs”.  A grandson, Robert Coleman Poole, later built a hotel near the springs.  

William (Tailor) Poole served on a number of Court Juries from 1785-1795.  He owned a large amount of land on the Pacolet River.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

William Poole was called William (Tailor) Poole because he was a tailor by trade.  This was to distinguish him from William (Iron Master) Poole who lived north of his property.  

This William (Tailor) Poole tailored a suit for one of the presidents securing the wool from England at $30.00 per yard. 

William (Tailor) Poole was a member of the Gosher Baptist Church, later the (Goucher Creek Baptist Church).  Existing minutes of the church dating from 1795 to 1800, refer to William (Tailor) Poole as a church clerk and later as a church elder, assisting neighboring churches in their work.  His family attended this church.

CHILDREN OF WILLIAM (TAILOR) POOLE AND HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH STOVALL POOLE

(1). James Poole Sr. was born in Granville County, North Carolina, on April 5, 1762. 

He married Rebecca Stovall, daughter of Thomas and Prudence Lewis Stovall.  Thomas was the brother of his mother, Elizabeth Stovall Poole.  Thus, they were first cousins.  Rebecca was born in 1764, in Granville County, N. C. 

They had at lest four children: James, Elijah, Elisha and David L.  Poole.  Elijah married Mary Ann Pettit, daughter of Henry Pettit and his wife, Mary Ann Poole Pettit.

Marion Poole, constitutional member of the Bethesda Baptist Church, may have been a son of James and Rebecca Poole.

Elisha married Harriet Wells, daughter of Thomas Wells.  Thomas Wells was a Patriot soldier in the America Revolutionary War and was a captain.  Elisha was a soldier in the War of 1812, in the South Carolina Militia and served as a private in Capt. White’s Company in the Means Regiment. 

Elisha was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and later joined the Bethesda Baptist Church.  His wife, Harriet, was born circa 1795, and was baptized as a member of the Cedar Springs Baptist Church in 1847.  Elisha may have joined this church with his wife.  They had four sons and one daughter.

Elisha died before Harriet.  She died on March 16, 1871.

James and Rebecca Stovall Poole were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Rebecca was a constitutional member of the Bethesda Baptist Church.

James Poole Sr. died in Spartanburg District, S. C., after 1830, and his wife, Rebecca, died in Spartanburg District. 

(2).  Mary Anna Poole was born February 22, 1763, in Granville County, N. C.  She married Henry Pettit, son of Joshua and Rachel Valentine Monroe Pettit, on February 7, 1783.  He was born January 22, 1763, in Essex County, New Jersey. 

Henry Pettit was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  Henry and Mary Anna had three sons and three daughters, all born in old Spartanburg District, S. C. 

Henry and Mary Ann were members of the Gosher Baptist Church (Goucher Creek Baptist Church).  They later moved to Rutherford County, N. C., and joined the Bill’s Creek Baptist Church near Lake Lure, N. C.  Henry died October 12, 1838, in the Bill’s Creek community and was buried in the Bill’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

Mary Ann moved to Gilmer County, Georgia, with her daughter, Elizabeth, and her son-in-law, Solomon Mooney, son of
David and Mary Monroe Mooney.  She died September 6, 1845, in Gillmer County.

(3). George Poole was born June 14, 1764, in Granville County, N. C.  He married Elizabeth Eison, daughter of John Eison Sr., in the latter 1780s in Union District, S. C.  Elizabeth was born circa 1767.  Her father, John Eison Sr., was born circa 1737. 

They had a son, James, born circa 1790.  George died April 28, 1834, in Burke County, N. C.  Databases do not list death date of Elizabeth.

(4). Stovall Poole was born July 1, 1765, in Granville County, N. C. He married Mary Tatum, daughter of Absolom Abel and Milly Harris Tatum, in 1803, in Wilkes County, Georgia.  Mary was born in 1782, in Granville County, N. C. 

Their children were: Bonita, William J., Alfred C., Eliza Ann and John Stovall Poole, all born in Wilkes County, Georgia. 

Stovall died February 21, 1837, in Wilkes County, Georgia, and Mary died before 1841, in Wilkes County.

(5). Judith Poole was born December 6, 1766, in Granville County, N. C.  She married Joshua Pettit, son of Joshua and Rachel Monroe Valentine Pettit, circa 1790, in Spartanburg District, S. C.

Joshua was born September 12, 1771, in Essex County, New Jersey.  He and Judith had five sons and four daughters. 

He and Judith were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church, where Joshua served as a deacon. 

He died in Spartanburg District, S. C., on August 20, 1827.  He left his mill and mill seat to his wife, Judith.  She died December 29, 1842, in Spartanburg District, S. C. 

(6). Elizabeth Poole was born May 26, 1768, in Granville County, N. C.  She appears to have had a daughter, Elizabeth, born March 8, 1791, out of wedlock.  This daughter was raised by her grandparents, William and Elizabeth Stovall Poole.

Elizabeth, granddaughter of William and Elizabeth Stovall Poole,  married Bartley Coleman, son of Robert and Elizabeth Smith Coleman.  They first attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and joined the Gilead Baptist Church, after it was established in 1804. 

The writer has a different view of the possible parents of John Brown, who married Elizabeth Poole circa 1800.  She was twelve years older than John.  

The Brown family lived near the present Pacolet Quarry at Pacolet, S. C.   John Brown, son of Thomas Brown Sr., the Indian Trader, and his wife died in the early 1790s.  They had an orphaned son, John.

William (Tailor) Poole took John into his home and raised him.  In 1800, John married Elizabeth, daughter of William (Tailor) and Elizabeth Stovall Poole.

John Brown and Elizabeth Poole Brown had three sons and three daughters.  Their son, George Washington Brown gave the land for  the establishment of the Brown’s Chapel Baptist Church at Pacolet, S. C. 

Elizabeth Poole Brown died on October 4, 1839, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She was buried in the Brown Cemetery near the old Hammett’s Grove Baptist Church building. 

After the death of Elizabeth, John Brown married Barthena ?, born 1794.  She died June 24, 1849.  His third wife was Jane ?  .  She was born circa 1798, and died April 19, 1856.  John Brown died March 24, 1857, and was buried in the center of his three wives in the Brown Family Cemetery. 

They had early connections to the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

(7). William Abijah Poole was born October 10, 1769, in Granville County, N. C.  He moved with his family to the Lawson’s Fork area of Pacolet River in S. C., and several years later moved to Franklin County, Georgia.

He married Frances Martha Hardman, daughter of William John Hardman and Zillah Jackson Harman, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, circa 1791.  She was born in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, March 20, 1777. 

They had five sons and four daughters all born in Franklin County, Georgia.  She died September 17, 1825, in Franklin County.

He married Keziah Clarkson, daughter of John and Sarah Lucinda Bookout Clarkson, on February 15, 1826, in Banks County, Georgia.  She was born June 1, 1796, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia.

They had four sons and three daughters.  He died May 28, 1858, in Banks County, Georgia.  His second wife, Keziah, died March 16, 1868, in Banks County.

(8). Dorcas Abigail Poole was born November 3, 1770, in Granville County, N. C. 

She married John Stovall, son of Thomas and Prudence Lewis Stovall, in 1793, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  John had purchased two tracts of land on Mill Creek on the south side of Pacolet River August 7, 1786, from Thomas Draper.   This land was in Union District, S. C.  

John was born in 1767, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia.  His parents both died in 1771, and his aunt, Elizabeth Stovall Poole, took him in 1771, and raised him in her home.  He married Dorcas Abigail Poole, his first cousin, and Elizabeth Stovall’s daughter in Spartanburg District.

They had five sons and one daughter.  Benjamin and William Poole Stovall were born while they lived in Spartanburg District, S. C.  They moved to Union District in 1803, and their sons: Thomas and James were born in this district.  They moved to Greenville District and their daughter, Elizabeth, and their son, John, were born in this district. 

They were first members of the Gosher Baptist Church (later Goucher Creek Baptist Church).  John and Dorcas were constitutional members of the Gilead Baptist Church in Union District, S. C., in 1804.

They were living in Jefferson County, Alabama, when John died on August 13, 1831.  Dorcas Abigail died in this county in 1832. 

(9). Morgan Poole was born in Granville County, N. C., on January 22, 1772.  He died in Spartanburg District, S. C., on January 2, 1848, unmarried.

(10).  John Poole was born in Granville County, N. C., on January 28, 1774.   He married Mary Polly Coleman, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Trecy) Smith Coleman, circa 1800.  Mary was born August 16, 1783. 

They first lived in Union District, S. C., in the neighborhood of Asbury Chapel, and were probably living there when their son, Robert Coleman Poole, was born. 

They then settled in the area of Pacolet Springs, where their children grew to maturity.  They had five sons and five daughters.  In their early married years they were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

They joined the “arm” of Cedar Springs Baptist Church called “Lindseys” in 1820.  In September of 1821, the “arm” was duly constituted and became known as the Bethesda Baptist Church.  The word “Bethesda” means “House of Mercy”.  John and his wife, Mary, were constitutional members of Bethesda. 

This church joined the Broad River Baptist Association, which met at Zion Baptist Church in Cleveland County, N. C.  Elder Thomas Weathers, John Poole and James Haynes were delegates.

John and Mary’s son, Robert Coleman Poole, was born May 13, 1802.  At a young age he was made captain of his beat company and rose in rank until he was made colonel of the regiment. 

Robert first joined the church at Lindsey’s in 1820, and was a constitutional member of the Bethesda Baptist Church in 1821.  He was one of this new church’s first deacons.   He was elected the church clerk when the church was constituted and resigned his position in July of 1870.         

He married Sarah (Sibby) Turner, daughter of Henry Turner and Tamar Headen Turner, in 1821.  She was born April 1, 1802, while her family lived near Coulter’s Ford.  She was a constitutional member of the Bethesda Baptist Church. 

Her parents had originally lived in the Thickety Creek area, where the Turners and Headens were members of the Gosher Baptist Church.  Henry and Tamar moved to Coulter’s Ford after the Headen family moved to Georgia, and settled near his parents, George and Ann Anderson Turner.  They were members of the Buck Creek Baptist Church.

 In 1834, Robert Coleman Poole was elected sheriff of Spartanburg District, and until the latter part of 1868, held some office of trust and honor in Spartanburg County. 

He built the Mansion House in the city of Spartanburg and the hotel at Pacolet Springs (called the Poole Springs before 1825).  “He was operating his hotel at the springs for forty to sixty boarders in 1855.  He advertised a number of common summer log cabins for rent and stated that these springs had been resorted to for the last century or more for those afflicted with most kinds of diseases.” 

He was one of the most popular men in Spartanburg District, S. C., in his time.

Apparently, William Poole and George Poole, sons of John and Mary Coleman Poole, were constitutional members of the Bethesda Baptist Church.

John Poole died on January 2, 1849, in Spartanburg District, near Pacolet Springs and Mary Ann Coleman Poole died in Pacolet Township, Spartanburg District, on July 30, 1870.      

(11). Sarah Poole was born in 1776, in Granville County, North Carolina.  She married Thomas Gore Jr., son of Thomas Sr. and Elizabeth Allison Gore.  He was born in Prince George County, Maryland, in 1750.  One database lists his birthdate as 1773, which this writer believes is inaccurate.  

Thomas died in 1805, and his father-in-law, William (Tailor) Poole, was administrator of the estate.  Papers on the estate were published in the Goucher Creek Baptist Church on November 16, 1805, by the Reverend Joshua Richards.

Sarah married Littleberry Quinn in 1814.  He was born in 1776.  Sarah died on February 3, 1832, and her husband, Littleberry, died in 1836.  She is supposed to have had two sons by the two husbands. 

(12). Susannah Poole was born in 1777, in Granville County, North Carolina.  She married John Mathis, son of Moses Mathis, circa 1798.  He was born circa 1775, and was the brother of Martha Mathis McDougal. 

They had five sons and three daughters. They were both members of the Gouchrer Creek church as were some or all of their children.

Susannah and John received letters of dismission from the Goucher Creek Baptist Church on August 26, 1820. 

John died January 14, 1833, and Susannah died in 1834.  They were buried in a cemetery near the old Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

(13). John Benjamin Poole was born in Granville County, North Carolina, on December 3, 1779.  He married Matilda  ?  .  She was born circa 1784, in Virginia.  She was a constitutional member of the Bethesda Baptist Church.

They had at least four children: three sons and one daughter.  Matilda ? Poole died in Jackson County, Georgia, after November 13, 1850, and John Benjamin Poole died in Jackson County on April 20, 1853. 

WILLIAM (TAILOR) POOLE died October 13, 1817, and his wife, MARY ELIZABETH STOVALL, died February 3, 1837.  They were buried in the Poole Family Cemetery.  The cemetery location is given as follows: “From Bethesda Road S-42-680 turn onto Stevens Road S-42-354.  Go to the end of the road, and the cemetery is about half a mile into the woods from the road.”

There are markers for this couple in the Bethesda Baptist Church Cemetery, which have been placed there recently. 

**Bartholomew Stovall and his wife, Keziah Manley Stovall, moved to South Carolina from North Carolina and first lived in the area, where the William (Tailor) Poole family had settled.  He was the son of Bartholomew Stovall Sr. and his wife, Susannah Wilkins Stovall. 

He was born in Granville County, N. C., on April 25, 1763, and  Keziah Manley Stovall was born in 1769, in Amelia County, Virginia.  They had several children: Nancy, Herod, Celia, Susannah, Armenta,  and L. S. Stovall.

He, his wife, and children were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Bartholomew and his wife, Keziah, received a letter of dismission from the Goucher church on July 14, 1838, and joined the Gilead Baptist Church in Union District, S. C.  He was elected clerk of the Gilead church in 1838. 

He died in Union District, South Carolina, in 1845, and Keziah died in Pickens County, South Carolina, before 1860.    

20. Obediah Watson Trimmier was born in Louisa County, Virginia, on November 1, 1759.  He was the son of William and Lucy Watson Trimmier.  Obediah lost his father at the age of 14.   

His father, WilliamTrimmier was born in 1735, in St. Botolph, Billinsgate, London, England, and his mother, Lucy Watson Trimmier, was born in 1737, in Scotland. 

William died in Louisa County, Virgnia, in 1773.  He wrote his will on July 26, 1773, and it was recorded in Louisa County on October 11, 1773.  John Watson, Richard Phillips Jr. and his wife, Lucy Watson Trimmier, were listed as executors of his estate.

After the death of his wife, Lucy, his son, Obediah Watson Trimmier, was to receive the land and plantation, where he lived.   He left his son, John, a tract of land containing 400 acres in Louisa County on the Three Notcht Road.    

His mother died shortly after the death of her husband in Louisa County, Virginia.  Her death date has not been recorded.

John Trimmier, Ann Trimmier, Elizabeth Trimmier and Mary Trimmier were Obediah’s brother and sisters.  His sisters were to benefit from the sale of their father’s slaves. 

Obediah was a member of the Louisa County Militia in Virginia, and was appointed Ensign February 12, 1781.  He took the Oath for Ensign on March 12, 1781.  He had participated in the Battles of King’s Mountain and Cowpens, S.C.   (Historical Record of Virginians in the Revolution by John Gwathmey, page 782)

Obediah was registered to pay taxes in Louisa County, in 1782, Poll 1, slaves 2 (Virginia Tax Payers 1782-1787).  He moved with other members of his family to South Carolina in 1784.  This included his brother, John, and his sisters, Ann, Elizabeth and Mary. 

The John Watson Sr. & Jr. and the Obediah Watson listed in the Spartanburg District, S. C., records were probably related to Obediah Watson Trimmier.

Obediah’s brother, John, first married Elizabeth Southerland and they had at least two children: Rufus Trimmier and Fendall Trimmier.

In 1800, John married Sarah ? Ross, widow of John Ross.

Sarah ? married her first husband, John Ross, in 1785, in Spartanburg District, S. C. Her husband, John Ross, died in Spartanburg District, in 1798.

John Ross, son of John and Sarah ?  Ross, was born in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1736.  He was a Constable in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1764.  He was living in Spartanburg District, S. C., when his son, John, was born in 1786.  They also had another son, William, and daughter, Mary.

 John Trimmier and Sarah ? Ross had a son, Obediah (Devil Obe).  John Trimmier was born in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1760, and died in Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1809.  Sarah died in Spartanburg District, on June 7, 1818.

Obediah Watson Trimmier married Lucy Stribling, daughter of Thomas Stribling II and Nancy Ann Kinchloe Stribling, on November 24, 1785.  She was born on November 25, 1769, in Prince William County, Virginia. 

LUCY’S STRIBLING FAMILY

Her father, Thomas Stribling II, son of Thomas Stribling I, and Elizabeth Taliaferro Stribling, was born on June 19, 1733, in Prince William County, Virginia.  Her mother, Nancy Ann Kinchloe, daughter of John and Elizabeth Canterbury Kinchloe, was born in Prince William County, Virginia, in 1734. 

Thomas and Nancy Stribling had land in the Brown’s Creek area of Union District, S. C., but were living on the eastside of the Sandy Run area in Union District, S. C., when Obediah and Lucy were married.  They probably attended the Gosher Baptist Church or were members when Obediah met their daughter, Lucy.  It is known that they were Baptists.

Thomas II and his wife, Nancy, probably moved to Pendleton District, S. C., when their son, Thomas III, moved there in 1796.  Thomas II died in Pendleton District, S. C., on March 17, 1819.  He wrote his will on September 14, 1818, and it was probated in 1819.  His son, Thomas Stribling III, was executor of his estate. 

His wife, Nancy, died in Pendleton District, S. C., at the home of her son, Jesse, on December 2, 1822, at the age of 91.  They were both buried in unmarked graves in the Andersonville Baptist Church Cemetery.  They had nine children, four sons and five daughters.

Lucy’s sister, Frances, was born in Prince William County, Virginia, July 15, 1756.  She married William Haynie Buchanan in 1777, in Prince William County.  He was born in 1752, in St. Stephens, Northamberland County, Virginia, son of John and Elizabeth Haynie Buchanan. 

Frances and William had ten children, five sons and five daughters, all born in Union District, S. C., but the first two.  After all of their children were born, they moved to Lawrence, Giles County, Tennessee.  She died September 14, 1818, in Giles County, and he died in the same county in 1820.  

Lucy’s sister, Elizabeth Taliaferro Stribling, was born in 1760, in Prince William County, Virginia.  She was the second wife of Col. William Farr of Union District, S. C.  She married William Farr, son of Richard Farr and Hannah Green Farr, October 4, 1779, in Union District.  They had four sons and three daughters. 

William was born at New River, Onslow County, North Carolina, March 16, 1748.  He moved to Ninety Six District, S. C., later Union District, S. C., in 1764.  He first married widow, Eleanor Black Jeter, daughter of William and Eleanor Thomas Black, circa 1766.  They had three sons and two daughters.  Eleanor was first married to James Jeter, and they had one child, Elizabeth (Betsy) Jeter.  Eleanor died circa 1777.   

 “At the outbreak of fighting in the Revolutionary War, William Farr joined the Patriot forces under the command of Colonel John Thomas.  His unit was the Spartan Regiment.  William was given the rank of Captain of Horse (Calvary).  He served continuously throughout the war, rising to the rank of Colonel.”

“An incident occurred during the Revolutionary War when the Whigs had been driven from the westside of Broad River and were encamped on the eastern side.  Colonel Farr decided to visit his home and Major Joseph McJunkin, Captain William Giles, Adam Skain and Thomas Wood volunteered to go with him.

Upon arrival they discovered a band of Tories at the house.  They cautiously approached the house and surrounded the house.  When the Tories learned of this, they attempted to flee, but at the door Colonel Farr killed one with his sword and the party gave chase to the others.  The group soon returned and nothing was ever heard of this particular group of Tories again.”

“The List of known battles that William Farr fought in is impressive: Battle of Briar Creek, Georgia (3 March 1779); Battle of Stono Ferry, S. C. (20 June 1779); Battle of Ramsour’s Mill (10 June 1780); Battle of Rocky Mount, S. C. (1 August 1780); Battle of Hanging Rock (6 August 1780); Battle of Musgrove Mill, S. C. (18 August 1780); Battle of Kings Mountain (7 October 1780); Battle of Blackstork’s Plantation, S. C. (20 November 1780).

He commanded a regiment at the Battle of Cowpens, S. C. (17 January 1781).  It was upon Col. Farr’s orders that the first shot was fired in the battle, and the man who fired it, was another later resident of Union District, S. C., John Savage.

“At the Cowpens as the British approached, one gaily dressed officer, made himself particularly noticeable to the troops and word was passed along the line, ‘who can bring him down?’ 

John Savage, noted for his marksmanship, looked at Colonel Farr and received the word to go ahead.  Savage darted a few yards to the front, laid his rifle against a sapling, and the sharp crack of a rifle broke the stillness.  Needless to say he was successful in his effort, and the Battle of Cowpens was on, in which the forces of freedom gained a significant victory.” 

William Farr commanded a regiment at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, S. C. (8 September 1781).”

“In 1782, William served as a member of the Jacksonborough legislature and was a justice in the District Court.  He was one of three men selected by the legislature to pick the location for the court- house at Pinckneyville. 

Colonel William Farr, Colonel Edward Lacey of Chester, S. C., and Baylis Earl of Spartanburg selected the location of Pinckneyville.  It was named in honor of Charles C. Pinckney.    

He was the first sheriff of Union District, S. C., and in 1790, represented the Pinckney District in the S. C. General Assembly.”  He was sheriff in 1785 to 1787, and in 1789 to 1790.”

Col. William Farr died at Fish Dam Ford, Carlisle, Union District, S. C. on March 3, 1794.  He was buried in the graveyard on the Scaife place, some 13 miles from Union, S. C.

His wife, Elizabeth, was pregnant with their son, Robert Goodloe Harper Farr, when he died.  Elizabeth died June 9, 1844, at Fish Dam Ford, and was buried beside her husband.

Lucy’s brother, James Clayton Stribling, moved with his family from Prince William County, Virginia to South Carolina, circa 1778.  He enlisted on February 3, 1779, and served as a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War on February 3, 1779.  He served under Captains Joseph Palmer, Benjamin Jolly, Joseph Hughes and Col. Thomas Brandon.  He was at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

According to family legend, Clayton was scalped by Tories, pretending to be Indians.  His future wife, Mary Beckham, swam with a slave to rescue Clayton and brought him back to her house and nursed him back to health.

James Clayton Stribling married Mary Beckham, daughter of John (Jack) Beckham and Elizabeth Henderson Beckham on November 11, 1787.  He and his wife, Mary, had ten children, five sons and five daughters all born in Union District, S. C.  They lived on his father’s land in the Brown’s Creek area of Union District, S. C.

He applied for a pension in Union District, S. C., on December 5, 1828, and referred to “an engagement near Stidhouse Mill at Brandon’s Defeat, where he was wounded in the head by a ball. The said wound deprived him of his senses for a considerable time and destroyed the organ of hearing in his ear from that day to the present moment.” 

He did not receive a pension, but his wife, Mary, did receive a widow’s pension.  He died in Union District, S. C., on March 11, 1831, and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Brown’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

After several years his widow, Mary, moved to Neshoba County, Mississippi, with her daughter, Mary Leah, circa 1840-1841.  She died August 26, 1859, in Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Mississippi.

She was buried in the New Harmony Baptist Church Cemetery.  Her grave was marked.     She had been a member of a Baptist Church for 57 years, probably Brown’s Creek Baptist Church in Union District, S. C., and New Harmony Baptist Church in Neshoba County, Mississippi.

Lucy’s brother, Thomas Stribling, III, was also a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.   He served in the militia from April 1, to 19^th of June 1782, under Captain Joseph Hughes and Col. Thomas Brandon.   

He married Elizabeth Haile, daughter of John and Ruth Mitchell Haile, in 1788, in Union District.  He was sheriff of Union District, S. C., from 1791 to 1795. 

He and his wife, Elizabeth, were living in Pendleton District, S. C., on January 7, 1797, when they sold 540 acres of land to the firm of Macbeth and Company in Union District.  It included the plantation, where the Reverend Christopher Johnson was presently living. 

Their son, Corenelius Stribling, was born in Pendleton District, S. C., on September 22, 1796.  He was the 2^nd Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.  He attained the rank of Rear Admiral.

Thomas III and Elizabeth settled on an eight hundred acre tract of land on Deep Creek near the Seneca River in Pendleton District, S. C.  His wife, Elizabeth, died on April 29, 1807, and he was remarried a second time to Catherine Hamilton, daughter of James and Catherine ?  Hamilton, on March 15, 1810.  Obediah Trimmier performed the marriage ceremony for Thomas and Catherine. 

Thomas Stribling III, James Clayton Stribling and Lucy Stribling Trimmier were third cousins of President James Madison.

When Thomas Stribling III’s father, Thomas Stribling II, died in 1819, Thomas III served as executor of the estate.  Thomas Stribling III died April 8, 1825, and his son, Mark Mitchell Stribling, stayed with his stepmother, Catherine, until circa 1836, to be sure that she did not abuse the younger children.    

Obediah Watson Trimmier was appointed Justice of the Peace in Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1786, and married a number of couples in the area.  On October 27, 1788, he sold his sister, who also lived in Spartanburg District, a negro girl slave.  The transaction was witnessed by his brother, John, and by Henry Wells. 

Obediah Trimmier was listed with a group of men chosen as Grand Jurors for the December 1785 term of Court in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He was listed with several other men to serve as Justices for the September 1786 term of Court.  They met on January 19, 1787, and agreed to serve.

Obediah Trimmier witnessed the land transaction between Philip Martin and trustees of the Gosher Baptist Church on August 6, 1789, witnessing the oath of Charles Littlejohn in his position as a Justice of the Peace.  Obediah belonged to the Gosher church.

Obediah and Lucy’s first child, Nancy, was born in Spartanburg District, S. C., on August 27, 1787.  Their children: John, William, Thomas, Mary, Elizabeth and Arsina (Arrina) were all born in Spartanburg District.

He was listed as the head of a family in the 1790 Federal Census in Spartanburg District, S. C.   He served as Lieutenant Colonel of the 10^th Regiment, 3^rd Brigade, 1^st Division of the South Carolina Militia, commencing in 1792.  He was elected Spartanburg representative to the South Carolina General Assembly in 1792.

Obediah Watson Trimmier purchased 174 acres of land from John Watson on May 3, 1792.  It was part of a 350 acre tract granted to Vardry McBee Sr. by Gov. William Bull in December 1774.

Obediah was elected State Representative from Spartanburg District, S. C., in the South Carolina General Assembly during 1794.

He moved his residence from Spartanburg District, S. C., to Pendleton District, S. C., in 1800.  His oldest child, Nancy, was twelve or thirteen when the family moved to Pendleton District. 

He was elected as the Pendleton District State Representative in 1814.  He was elected to the Senate from Pendleton District, S. C., in 1816, and served in the 21^st South Carolina General Assembly.  He served on the banking, religion, roads, bridges, ferries and military committees. 

In his introduction to his book, Horseshoe Robinson, John P. Kennedy tells of an incident that occured at the home of Obediah Trimmier.  He states that the incident occurred in the winter of 1818 or 1819.  He calls Obediah Trimmier, Colonel T.

Obediah had been commissioned a Colonel in the militia, while living in Spartanburg District, S. C.  In traveling about the area on his horse, John Pendleton Kennedy came upon a son of Obediah, whose horse had “run off with him, thrown him, and dislocated, as it aferwards appeared, his shoulder-joint.”

The boy thrown from the horse was Thomas Trimmier.  Kennedy helped Obediah carry the boy into his house. 

Obediah sent for James (HorseShoe) Robertson who came and helped to reset Thomas’ shoulder.  For a complete accounting of this incident the reader is invited to review the story in the article on James (HorseShoe) Robertson in the Grindal Shoals Gazette.

James (HorseShoe) Robertson and Obediah Trimmier had become friends when they both lived in the Thickety Creek area of old Ninety Six District and attended the Gosher Baptist Church.  They lived fairly close to each other in Pendleton District. 

It was at the home of Obediah Trimmier that HorseShoe related some of his war experiences to Kennedy, who later incorporated them into his book, HorseShoe Robinson. 

James (Horse Shoe) Robertson and Obediah Trimmier both lived in what later became Oconee County, S. C., after Pendleton District, S. C., was divided in 1826.  The house that Robertson constructed is still standing in Oconee County.

Obediah was reelected to the Senate from Pendleton District in 1818, and served on the rules committee.  

He died on January 22, 1829, in Oconee District, S.C., at the age of 69 years.  He was buried in the Toxaway Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, which was in Oconee County near Westminister. 

The cemetery is now called the Poole Cemetery.  A dedication marker for Obediah Trimmier, Revolutionay soldier, was erected in the Poole Cemetery on October 15, 1987, by the Walhalla Chaper of the DAR.

His wife, Lucy Stribling Trimmier, died in Oconee District, S. C., in 1844, and was probably buried in an unmarked grave beside her husband.

Lucy was the 4^th great grandmother of Joanne Woodward (movie actress).

CHILDREN OF OBEDIAH WATSON AND LUCY STRIBLING TRIMMIER

(1). Nancy Ann Trimmier was born August 27, 1787, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She married David McCurdy Sloan Jr., son of David and Susan Majors Sloan, in 1809, in old Pendleton District, S. C.  David was born May 19, 1787, in Old Pendleton District.  He was a captain in the S. C. state militia.  He operated a gristmill.

David and Nancy Ann had five sons and four daughters.  Their son, Thomas Jefferson Sloan was a lieutenant in the CSA.

David died in Anderson District, S. C., on October 29, 1834, and Nancy Ann died in this district on October 13, 1851.

(2). John Trimmier was born March 7, 1789, in Spartanburg District, S. C., and died in this district in 1796.

(3). William Sloan Trimmier was born May 7, 1791, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He was the violin boy in John Pendleton Kennedy’s story.

William moved from Pendleton District, S. C., to Spartanburg District, S. C., where he married Margaret Hampton Rowland, daughter of George and Nancy Ramey Rowland, on February 15, 1822.  She was born in 1809. 

He was a lawyer and judge in the city of Spartanburg, S. C. and resided on Magnolia Street.  He and his wife belonged to the Presbyterian Church in the city of Spartanburg.  He was first a Baptist.  They had six sons and one daughter. 

Colonel Theodore Gillard Trimmier was their son.  He married Mary Letitia Thomson, daughter of Dr. Matthew Augustus Thomson and his wife, Arabella Keys on January 15, 1850.  “He was numbered among the distinguished heroes that offered up their lives in defense of their country in the great civil war between the states.” 

Col. Trimmier died on April 7, 1865, in the Battle of Five Forks in Petersburg, Virginia.  Theodore and Letitia’s son, Thomas R. Trimmier, was clerk of court in Spartanburg, S. C.

Francis Marion Trimmier was also their son.  He was a captain in Co. I, 13^th Regiment, S. C. V.  He was later owner of the Carolina Spartan newspaper, and also clerk of court in Spartanburg County, S. C.

William Sloan Trimmier died in June of 1844, and was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Spartanburg, S. C.  Margaret died on October 17, 1889, and was also buried in Oakwood.

(4). Thomas Stribling Trimmier was born on May 15, 1793, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He was the boy who dislocated his shoulder in John Pendleton Kennedy’s story.

He married Martha Greenwood, daughter of Beverly and Nancy Hales Greenwood on January 22, 1815, in Spartnaburg District, S. C.  Martha was born in Spartanburg District, S. C. on March 22, 1793. 

The migration of this family was from South Carolina, to Alabama, to Independence, Washington County, Texas.

Martha and Thomas were two of the founding members of the Baptist Church organized at Independence, Texas, in September of 1839.  Thomas was the first clerk of this church. 

“Thomas Stribling Trimmier was a private and 1^st Sergeant in Captain Sam Bogart’s Company, 1^st Regiment of the Sothwestern Army of the Republic of Texas.  He went on the Somerville and Vasquez expeditions.  He was appointed a land commissioner for 12 days to look into the fraudent land certificates in Washington County. 

In Bell County, Texas, he was a presiding officer for an election in 1850, a County Comissioner in 1854, and a ‘reviewer’ of roads.

Thomas and Martha had five sons and nine daughters. 

Martha died on December 21, 1860, in Bell County, Texas, and Thomas died August 26, 1867, in Bell County.  They were buried in the Trimmier Family Cemetery at Moffat, Bell County, Texas. 

 (5). Mary Trimmier was born on April 22, 1795, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She married Starret Dodson on November 8, 1 812. Starret was born in 1792.  No other data can be found on this couple in the databases.

(6). Elizabeth Trimmier was born April 20, 1797, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She married Oliver Clark, son of Oliver and Lucy Watson Clark, in 1815, in Pendleton District, S. C.  He was born in 1794.  Elizabeth was the mother of fourteen children.

Elizabeth died November 29, 1869, in Denton County, Texas, and Oliver, her husband, also died there in 1869.  They were buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Denton, Denton County, Texas. 

(7). Arsina Trimmier was born on September 22, 1799, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  She married James Blair Jr., son of James Hays Blair Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Powell Blair, on January 26, 1819, in Pendleton District, S. C.  He was born in Pendleton District, S. C., on February 17, 1796.

“James Blair Sr. served in the Revolutionary War as an Orderly Sergeant, Ensign and Indian spy.  He was an express rider alerting troops concerning the coming battle of King’s Mountain.  He was wounded during his ride, but completed it and served with Col. Benjamin Cleveland during the battle.  A poem was written about the ride, and he was refered to as ‘Paul Revere of the South’.”

He originally enlisted during 1778, and served in a North Carolina unit.  While residing in Pendleton District, S. C., he served as a captain under General Francis Pickens.

James Blair Jr. and his wife, Arsina, moved from South Carolina, to Georgia, to Pickens County, Alabama, to Winston County, Mississippi, and thence to Louisana.  They had six sons and five daughters.

James died in Louisiana on March 9, 1859, and Arsina died in 1880, in Denton, Texas. 

(8). Lucy Watson Trimmier was born December 12, 1802, in Pendleton District, S. C.  She married Henry Jefferson Rowland, son of George and Nancy Ramey Rowland in 1825, probably in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He was born in 1802, in Spartanburg District. 

They had one son and six daughters.  Their son, Marcus Obediah Rowland, was a medical doctor and was in the CSA.

Henry died in Inman, Spartanburg County, S. C., in 1859, and Lucy Watson Trimmier died in 1885, in Inman, S. C.  They were buried in the Rowland Family Cemetery in Inman, Spartanburg County, S. C. 

(9). Salina Trimmier was born on April 5, 1804, in Pendleton District, S. C.  She married James Eddins circa 1832.  Her father was deceased when she married.  James was born May 12, 1802.  They had two sons and five daughters all born in Pickens County, Alabama, except their first child, Josiah. 

They moved to Alabama after 1834.  In 1860, James and Salina were living in Yorkville, Pickens County, Alabama.  James died in Pickens County, Alabama, on December 22, 1877, and Salina died in Pickens County in 1882.  They were buried in Old Mount Moriah Cemetery in Pickens County, Alabama.

(10). Frances Maria Trimmier was born April 16, 1807, in Pendleton District, S. C.  She married George Blair, son of James Hays and Mary Elizabeth Powell Blair. 

He was the younger brother of James Blair Jr.  He was born in 1806, in Franklin County, Georgia.  

George and Frances had seven sons and one daughter.  He died on October 25, 1839, in Attala, Mississippi, and Frances died in 1860, in Attala, at fifty-three years of age.     

(11). Obediah Watson Trimmier Jr. was born on October 9, 1809, in Pendleton District, S. C.  He was one of the two small boys mentioned in John Pendleton Kennedy’s story. 

He married Catherine Newland Ballew, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Goggan Ballew, on Jauuary 1, 1835, Anderson County, S. C.  She was born in Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina, in 1818. 

They had eleven children, six daughters and five sons.  After the birth of their son, William T. Trimmier, in Pickens District, in 1846, they moved to Ringgold, Catoosa County, Georgia.  Their daughter, Rose, was born in Ringgold. 

Obediah Watson Trimmier Jr. became Clerk of the Court in Ringgold County, Georgia. 

He was mentioned by Theodore G.Trimmier (Lt. Col., 41^st Ala. Inf.) in a letter to Mary Letitia, his wife.  On May 12, 1863, T. G. reported that:

“While at Ringold yesterday I met with your uncle, O. W. Trimmier, though I had very little conversation with him.  He is Clerk of the Superior Court, which was in session, and he was very busy.  I went up and took dinner with the family and remained there a couple of hours.  I promised to call on them again before I returned to the Regiment.

He has two sons in the service, Robert and William.  Robert is now at Fort Gains.  William, after service of twelve months, returned home, being too young (DT note: he was 15 years old).  They enlisted in the first regiment that went out from this state.”

Robert was a lieutenant in the CSA.  He married Laura Hunt and died in Catoosa County, Georgia, on August 9, 1913.  His brother, William T. Trimmier, died in Catoosa County on October 28, 1908.

Obediah was also a carpenter.  His wife, Catherine, died circa 1880, in Ringgold, Georgia, and Obediah died in Ringgold, Georgia, on October 18, 1882.  They were buried in unmarked graves in Old Ringgold Cemetery, in Catoosa County, Georgia.

(12). Marcus Tullias Trimmier was born in Pendleton District, S. C., on July 1, 1812.  He was one of the two small boys mentioned in John Pendlton Kennedy’s story.

He married Rachel Caroline Pulliam, daughter of John and Mary Alexander Pulliam, on February 12, 1835.  She was born in 1816, in Murray County, Georgia. 

They had three children, two sons and one unnamed daughter.  Their son, John, was a Confederate soldier and died near Richmond, Virginia, at the age of 24.

Rachel died in Murray County, Georgia, on April 12, 1865, aged 49 years, 2 months and 8 days.  She was buried in Amazing Grace Cemetery beside her parents, John and Mary Alexander Pulliam. 

Marcus died on January 30, 1886, in Murray County, Georgia, and was buried in the Old Summerout Cemetery in Murray County, Ga.

21. Thomas Sparks was born in 1711, in the state of Maryland. It was during the American Revolution, in 1778, to be exact, that the Sparks settled in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.  Prior to this time the family had made its home in Maryland, in the counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Prince George. 

The family appears to have resided near the town of Upper Marlboro, which lies about fifteen miles southeast of Washington, D. C., and about the same distance southwest of Annapolis, Maryland.

Probate records for Anne Arundel County, Maryland, show that a Thomas Sparks (1689-1727) died in intestate in that county in or near the year 1727.  He was the father of Thomas Sparks (1711-1786).  His wife was Elizabeth Mocquet Smith (1689-1761), daughter of John and Martha Golding Smith.  They had eight sons and one daughter.

Thomas Sparks, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth Smith Sparks, was also married to an Elizabeth ? . They had twelve children, but there is not a complete list of all these children.  Six of their children appear to have moved to the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina, after the death of their father, Thomas, who died in 1786.

Matthew Sparks, John Sparks, Samuel Sparks, Leonard Sparks, Josiah Sparks, and Truelove Sparks, all removed from Pittsylvania County, Virgina, to the Grindal Shoals area of Upper South Carolina.  They and their families were all members of the Gosher Baptist Church.

Matthew and his brother, Samuel, moved to the land North of the Pacolet River in Spartanburg District, S. C., and joined the Gosher Baptist Church circa 1789.  

Gosher Baptist Church was a member of the Bethel Baptist Association in 1794, or earlier.  Matthew Sparks and William Pool were messengers to the Bethel Association from Gosher in 1798.  

Matthew Sparks and his brother, Samuel Sparks, were messengers from Gosher to the Bethel Baptist Association in 1800.  This meeting was held at the Bethlehem Baptist Church near Roebuck, S. C.

The name, Gosher Baptist Church, was changed to Goucher Creek Baptist Church in 1800, when the church became a constituent member of the Broad River Baptist Association.  The 1802 session of this association met with the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  The Reverend Joshua Richards, then pastor of Goucher Creek, attended this session of the association. 

Matthew Sparks was born in Prince George County of Maryland in 1749, and married his wife, Margery, circa 1765.  He purchased 300 acres of land from James Turner, Jr. shortly after moving to South Carolina.  This land was orginally granted to James Butler, Esq. who sold the land to James Turner Sr.  James Turner Sr. sold the land to his son, Thomas Turner Jr. 

This land was located above the Easterwood fish trap near lands owned by Zachariah Bullock, David Smith, Jacob Green, Thomas Norton, Jesse Austin and Nehemiah Norton.  Nehemiah Norton and his brother, Thomas, and their families were members of the Gosher Baptist Church.

On January 8, 1791, Matthew Sparks and his brother, John Sparks, witnessed a land transaction between David Smith (Spartanburg District, S. C.) and Nehemiah Norton (Union District, S. C.).  On June 3, 1808, Capt. William Read (Reid) purchased the land where David Smith formerly lived, which bordered Matthew Sparks’ land. 

On March 15, 1819, Matthew Sparks (Spartanburg District) sold his 300 acres of land on the North side of Pacolet River to Reuben Briant (Bryant) for $400.00.  He does not appear in the 1820 Federal Census of Spartanburg District and probably moved to another state between 1819 and 1820.  He and Margery had one son and two daughters and perhaps other children.

John Sparks, Matthew’s brother, also moved to South Carolina.  John was born circa 1750, in St. Anne’s Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

On July 4, 1815, John Sparks sold to James and Nathaniel Tracy 50 acres of land on the north side of the Pacolet River for $100.00.  The land was bounded by land on Doctor’s Branch and on lands belonging to R. Hammett and Charles Hammett.  Samuel and Francis Parks witnessed the transaction.

In the 1830 Federal Census of Spartanburg District, S. C., John was listed with 1 male under 5 years of age; 1 male 30 to 40; and 1 male 60 to 70.  He also had 1 female 5 to 10; 1 female 10 to 15; and 1 female 30 to 40 years of age.

On March 12, 1830, Moses Wilkins (Spartanburg District) sold 62 acres of land to John Sparks for $150.00. This land was on the waters of the Pacolet River and Thickety Creek and bounded by lands owned by Moses Wilkins, John Kirby and Henry Littlejohn.  

On March 26, 1835, John Kirby (Spartanburg District, S. C.) sold 139 acres of land on the north side of the Pacolet River to John Sparks for $528.00.  William Wood and Tollison Kirby were witnesses to this transaction.  John was “to have the privilege of using water from the spring now being used by Washington Shaw.”

John Sparks Jr. was one of the sons of John Sparks Sr.  John Sr. died in Spartanburg District before 1840.  Name of his wife and other children are unknown to this writer.

Samuel Sparks was born in 1755, in Prince George County of Maryland.  Samuel sold 600 acres of land at the head of Scott’s Creek of Broad River to Isaac Hill for $500.00 on June 4, 1808.  Witnesses to this transaction were: Thomas Hill and Lou Ann Sparks (possibly a daughter of Samuel). 

Isaac Hill and his wife, Betsy, (Spartanburg District, SC) sold 250 acres of land on the waters of Pacolet River to Samuel Sparks for $300.00 on June 11, 1808.  This land purchased by Samuel was orginally granted to John Hammett Sr. 

Samuel Sparks and his wife, Rachel, sold 250 acres of land to John Hammett on waters of Pacolet River for $200.00 on December 30, 1809.

Witnesses to this transaction were Bartholomew Stovall, Nehemiah Norton and Benjamin Hammett.  Samuel Sparks was not in the 1810 Federal Census and probably left the state of South Carolina after selling his land on the Pacolet River in 1809. 

Samuel and his wife, Rachel, had at least four sons and five daughters.  The earliest surviving record of Goucher Creek church was dated June 16, 1810, and stated: “Samuel Sparks received his church letter of dismission.”  

He and his family, and his son, Richard Sparks and his family, had moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina, by 1810.  The 1820 Federal Census stated that Samuel owned five slaves and Richard owned seven. 

Rachel, Samuel’s wife, died in Rutherford County by 1820, and he died there in 1825. 

Leonard Sparks, Samuel’s brother, also moved to the Grindal Shoals, S. C., area of Spartanburg District, S. C.  He was born in 1760, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

He married Margaret Eliza James, daughter of Daniel and Lucy Wood James in 1779.  She was born in 1764, in Frederick County, Maryland.  They had seven sons. 

Leonard Sparks moved to South Carolina after the 1790 Federal Census was taken.  He sold 75 acres of land in Spartanburg District on January 6, 1791, to Samuel Wilkins for 40 Ponds Sterling.  This land was located on the north side of the Pacolet River above the  mouth of the Tumbling Shoals Branch. 

He then moved back to Pittsylvania County, Virginia, after selling his South Carolina land.  He probably moved to Jefferson County, Tennessee, in the mid-1790s.  Several of his children remained in Tennessee and two were married there in 1806 and 1816.   

Leonard returned to South Carolina in the latter 1790s and purcased 100 acres of land on January 7, 1804, from Patterson Thompson, described as part of a land grant to Patterson from Governor John Drayton.  This transaction was witnessed by Henry Littlejohn Sr. and Jr.  He purchased 196 acres in Spartanburg District on March 14, 1808, from Solomon Garrison for $200.00. 

Leonard Sparks sold 275 acres of land to Samuel Littlejohn on April 7, 1820.  He stated that this was the land on which he was presently living.  A part of Littlejohn’s property was from an old survey granted to Samuel and Josiah Sparks. 

Although Leonard owned property in Spartanburg District and Union District, S. C., he was living in Union District, where he died just before the 1840 Federal Census was taken.  His wife, Margaret, also died in Union District in the 1840s.  They had at least ten sons.                                                                                                   

His son, Jacob Sparks, born in 1780, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, was a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and married Susannah Brown, daughter of James and Sarah Peterson Brown. 

After his father-in-law, James Brown, died in 1843, he moved his family to Carrollton, Pickens County, Alabama, where he died October 28, 1850.  They were parents of Shelton Sparks of Timber Ridge.

Josiah Sparks was born in Prince George County, Maryland, on August 26, 1761.  He was one of the first Sparks brothers to move to the Grindal Shoals area of Spartanburg District, S. C. 

He married Lydia Tollison, daughter of Major John and Anna Barbara Muse Tolleson circa 1785.  She was born in Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1771.  Her parents were living in “Buzzard’s Roost” now Pacolet, S. C.

He and his wife, Lydia, moved back to Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in 1790, and did not come back to South Carolina, until 1797 or 1798.

Samuel Sparks “laid to Josiah Sparks” a part of his grant of 417 acres from Governor John Draper on February 26, 1800. 

On August 29, 1801, Josiah Sparks witnessed a land transaction between James Brown and Peter Peterson.  James Brown sold 250 acres of land on waters of the Pacolet River to Peter Peterson for $100.00. 

John Tolleson (Spartanburg District, S. C.) sold 350 acres of land on the South Side of Pacolet River to Richard Kelly for $500.00 on August 3, 1807.  This land was bounded by Josiah Sparks’ Spring Branch.  This Richard was a relative of Richard Kelly, the first pastor of Gosher. 

Josiah Sparks witnessed a land transaction between Leven Sparks (Spartanburg District, S. C.) and William Quinn Jr. on October 11, 1814.

On August 16, 1842, Josiah Sparks Sr. sold 6 acres of land to Jesse Griffin for $30.00.  This land was bounded by lands belonging to James Littlejohn, Jesse Griffin and Josiah Sparks Sr.  Witnesses to the transaction were John Littlejohn and J. Griffin. 

The 1850 U. S. Census of Union County, S. C., lists Josiah Sparks as age 89; his wife, Lydia, as 79, and his daughter, Abigail as 46. 

Josiah Sparks died in Union County, S. C., circa 1853.  He left his entire estate to his wife, Lydia, and after her death to their children.  They had six sons and eight daughters.

Truelove Sparks, son of Thomas and Elizabeth, was born on July 21, 1764.  He married Jane Sparks in Pittsylvania, Virginia, on October 4, 1788, the daughter of Martha ?  Sparks.  This couple received their marriage bond from Pittsylvania County, Virginia.  

They had two sons and one female in the 1800 Federal Census of Spartanburg District, S. C. 

Truelove Sparks was not listed in the 1810 Federal Census of Spartanburg, S. C., and probably had moved to another state when the  U. S. Census of Spartanburg, S. C., was taken.  He died in 1823.

(22).  Nehemiah Norton, son of John William Norton (1692-1780) and Jane Ann Humphreys Norton (1712-1810), was born on May 2, 1733, in Queen Anne Parish, Prince George County, Maryland.  He married Elizabeth Kennett on October 20, 1765, in Anne Arundel, Maryland.  She was born in 1736, in Maryland.  Names of her parents are unknown.

They had several children: Matthew Norton (1770-1835); Fielder Norton (1773-1853); Mary Norton (1774-1790); Nehemiah Norton (1775-1835) and Ellender Norton (1780-1840). 

Nehemiah Norton died in 1805, in Spartanburg District, S. C., and Elizabeth Kennett Norton died in 1820, in Spartanburg District, S. C.

Thomas Norton, his brother, came with Nehemiah Norton and his family to the Grindal Shoals area of Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1789.  Thomas Norton was born circa 1744, in Prince George County, Maryland. 

Thomas married Katherine McClain, daughter of John and Priscilla Grooms McClain.  She was born in 1747, in Maryland.  She was married in Prince George County, Maryland, before 1774.  Margery Norton (1774-) and Eleanor Norton (1776-) were their daughters.

The Nortons and Sparks were excellent family friends and came to South Carolina together.  The Nortons lived on the Pacolet side of Pacolet River and the Sparks lived on the other side.  They all attended the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.            

(23).  Rev. Thomas Burgess Jr., son of Thomas and Mary Warren Burgess, was born in 1754, in Orange County, Virginia.  His father was a large landowner in Virginia.  He participated in the sale of his father’s land holdings in the 1790s and early 1800s. 

He moved to Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1792, and purchased 114 acres of land on the Pacolet River from Edward Stubblefield in 1795, and an additional 486 acres of land on the south side of the Pacolet River from Stubblefield in 1799. 

He assisted in the re-constitution of the Boiling Springs Baptist Church in 1792, and served as pastor of this church through 1801. 

He was one of two ordained ministers serving the Buck Creek Baptist Church from 1793-1794 and again from 1796-1797.  He was pastor of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church in 1794-1795. 

The Cedar Spring Baptist Church requested the Goucher Creek Baptist Church to share Thomas Burgess ministerial services, but the church wrote: “We are cramp’d in the same place that you are.  Our Minister has his appointments laid out so as to fill up every Saturday in each month, and cannot alter his monthly meetings at present.” 

The Reverend Thomas Burgess was pastor of the Green Creek Baptist Church in 1801-1802, and the New Salem Baptist Church in 1803.  Both of these churches are in North Carolina. 

The Broad River Baptist Association met in 1801, in the Green River Baptist Church, and the Reverend Thomas Burgess was elected Moderator and was probably Moderator when the assocation was organized in 1800.  

The association requested the Reverend Thomas Burgess, to write  a circular letter that could be sent to all the churches, and he wrote on “Intemperance: A Prevailing Vice”.

At the 1803 Broad River Baptist Association, which met at New Salem Baptist Church in Rutherford County, N. C., “The introductory sermon was delivered by Elder Thomas Burgess of Boiling Springs.” 

Burgess was formerly dismissed from the Boiling Springs Baptist Church with a letter of recommendation in 1806, indicating that he would depart shortly.  He moved his family to Warren County, Tennessee in 1807. 

On 5 February 1807, Thomas Burgess filed a power of attorney to Samuel Gilbert in Spartanburg District to “rent or sell his land”.  He established one or more churches in Warren County, Tennessee.  In 1824, Burgess was noted as being a slave owner in Warren County. 

The Rev. Thomas Burgess and his wife, Elizabeth ? , had five sons and four daughters.  Their son, John Thomas Burgess, married Catherine Draper Burgess, and remained in Union County, South Carolina.  John Thomas Burgess and his wife had a son, Daniel Burgess.

The Reverend Thomas Burgess’ wife, Elizabeth, died in Warren County, Tennessee, circa 1824, and Thomas died on November 15, 1828, in the same county.

Their great-grandson, John Elexander Burgess, son of Daniel and Jane Sparks Burgess, was a Baptist preacher in upper South Carolina.  John E. Burgess was born May 24, 1854, in S. C.  He married Margaret Caroline (Carrie) Green, daughter of Linsberry and Mary M. Kirby Green.  His wife was born November 11, 1858. 

John E. Burgess was ordained to the Gospel Ministry in 1876. Presbytery was composed of the Reverends J. G. Carter and Lud Vaughn.   He was the first pastor of the Trough Shoals (Pacolet Mills) Baptist Church. 

During the fifteen years of his pastoral service the Reverend John
E. Burgess preached in twelve churches, all with one exception within the bounds of the Broad River Baptist Association.  He served one of these churches, Gilead Baptist Church, for eleven years in succession. 

At the time of his death on August 10, 1891, he was serving two churches—Zion Hill and Brown’s Chapel Baptist churches.  He was buried in the Goucher Baptist Church cemetery.  His wife, Carrie, died on December 30, 1942, and was buried beside her husband in Goucher cemetery.   

(25).  Edmund E. Ellis was born in 1741, in Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1741.   One source states that his parents were: Warren Gordon Ellis (1704-1761) and Mary Jane Clarke (1707-1781).  However, the writer cannot confirm this parentage.

He married Mary Tocke, daughter of John Tocke (1710-) and Mary Orton (1710-1766) in 1759, in North Carolina.  Mary was born in 1735, probably in North Carolina.  They lived in close proximity to Gosher church, but in Union District, S. C.

Edmund and Mary were members of the Gosher Baptist Church.  Edmund Ellis was a messenger from the Gosher church to Bethel Baptist Associational meetings in 1794, 1795, 1796 and 1799. 

Their son, Peter, married Nancy Cook, a member of the Gosher church.  They later moved to Kentucky.

Edmund died in 1801, at his home in Union District, S. C. and Mary died in 1820, at their home in Union District.

Their children were: Peter Ellis (1760-1837); Mary Ellis (1761-); Sally Ellis (1763-1830); Martha Patsy Ellis (1760-1838); William Ellis (1775-1878); Joshua Ellis (1780-); Jonathan Ellis (1782-1839); and Edmund Ellis (1784-1852).

 (26). Joshua Richards, son of George and Tabitha Hudson Richards, was born on March 9, 1760, in Franklin County, North Carolina. His father, George Richards, son of John George Richards and Jane Dean Richards, was born in December of 1727, in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, and died July 27, 1818, in Louisburg, Franklin County, North Carolina.  

His mother, Tabitha Hudson Richards, daughter of Robert and Martha Hancock Hudson, was born in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia, July 28, 1728, and died in Franklin County, in 1809. 

“George Richards Sr. served in the Royal Navy in his youth.  He fought in the French and Indian Wars and was with George Washington at ‘Braddock’s Defeat’ in 1755, in Pennsylvania.  He was a Revolutionary War soldier.  He had six sons who were also Partiot soldiers: William Richards; John H. Richards; James Richards; Joshua Richards; Stephen Richards and George Richards. 

George’s son, JOHN RICHARDS, was born in 1745, in Rockingham County, Virginia.  He married Mary (Polly) Perry, daughter of John Frances Perry and Mary Penelope Ruffin.  She was born in Franklin County, N. C., on March 20, 1750.  They were married in Franklin County, N. C., and had five sons and five daughters.

“When the youngest children come of age, the slaves, Amy, Mink, Hame and Cole, are to be sold.”   John died after 1798, and Mary Frances died May 20, 1817, in Wake County, N. C.       

George’s daughter, MARTHA (PATSEY) RICHARDS Richards was born in 1748 and died in 1764. 

George’s son, JAMES RICHARDS was born circa 1750, in Franklin County, North Carolina.  Capt. James Richards, and Capt. Benjamin Eaves fought with swords and Capt. Eaves cut off the right hand of Capt. Richards. 

Stephen Richards, also a Patriot soldier and Capt. James brother, waited on and attended Capt. Richards.  Apparently, Capt. Richards died from his wounds in 1781, and was never married.

George’s son, WILLIAM RICHARDS, was born in Franklin County, N. C., in 1754.  He married Charity Sherrod, daughter of Col. Thomas and Jane Rouseau Sherrod.  She was born in 1763, in Northampton, North Carolina.

He later joined the White Plains Baptist Church, White Plains, Greene County, Georgia, by letter.  He was a charter member of this church and a trustee.  William lived next to his brothers George Richards Jr., Thomas Cupples Richards, and Stephen Richards in Greene County, Georgia.  William died in Putnam County, Georgia, December 16, 1826, and Charity died in Chambers County, Alabama in 1850.

George’s son, GEORGE RICHARDS JR., was born in Franklin County, N. C., in 1759.  He married Lydia Vinson, daughter of David and Hannah Vinson on October 24, 1789.  She was born in Franklin
County, N. C., in 1772.  They lived in the Shoulderbone Creek area of Green County, Georgia.  He was a Patriot soldier in the Revolutionary war and died in Green County before 1818. 

Lydia (Libby) Vinson Richards was received by experience into the fellowship of White Plains Baptist Church in November of 1823.  She left the church on November 17, 1827, to go to Armaggalon, Pike County, Georgia, but returned to the White Plains church in April of 1828.  She died in 1830, in Green County, Georgia.   

George’s son, STEPHEN RICHARDS, was born on December 8, 1765, in Franklin County, N. C.  He entered the service as a Patriot soldier under Capt. James Richards and Col. Benjamin Seawell.  Soon after the Revolutionary War he moved to Greene County, Georgia.  After living there thirteen years, he moved back to Franklin County, N. C., and remained there for about ten years. 

He then moved to Gibson County, Tennessee, where he applied for a pension.  He was living in Gibson County in 1830, and died in this county in 1850. Stephen’s wife’s name was Elizabeth (unknown). 

They had a daughter, Camelia, and a son, Stephen Richards Jr., who was an Indian interpreter and served as interpreter for Andrew Jackson for Florida Indian treaties.  Stephen Jr. named one of his sons, Andrew Jackson Richards. 

George’s daughter, MARTHA (PATTY) RICHARDS, was born circa 1772, in Franklin County, North Carolina.  She received the name, Martha, in remembrance of the deceased daughter, Martha, who died in 1764. She married Micajah Davis Jr., son of Micajah Davis Sr. and his wife, Mary Johnson.  He was born in 1760, in North Carolina.   

The marriage bond was signed by her bothers: George and Rev. Joshua Richards.  Her father opposed the marriage.  The Reverend Jacob Crocker married Micajah and Martha on February 21, 1787, in Franklin County, N. C.  Jacob Crocker’s brother, Arthur, and his wife, Mary Ann, were members of the Thicketty Baptist Church (Goucher Creek Baptist Church).

Micajah Davis was enlisted in the Patriot Army by Capt. Lemuel Ely about 1777 or 1778.  His wife, Martha, applied for a widow’s pension on September 10, 1839, in Franklin County, N. C.  “She stated that her husband was a drummer and fifer in the service of the Revolutionary War. 

Martha Richards Davis further stated that he was in the battles of Brandwine (11 September 1777); Monmouth Court House (28 June 1778); Guilford Court House (15 March 1781); Eutaw Springs (8 September 1781); and several others.”   John Bartholomew stated that He was with Micajah in the Encampment at Valley Forge. 

His wife indicated that Micajah Davis Jr. died March 4, 1802, in Franklin County, N. C.  She died in this county in 1844.   They had five sons and three daughters.

George’s son, THOMAS CUPPLES RICHARDS, was born May 12, 1774, in Franklin County, North Carolina.  He married Elizabeth M. Hogg, daughter of William Hogg, in 1795, in Beaufort, North Carolina.  She was born August 8, 1772, in Hyde, North Carolina. They had six sons and two daughters. 

“Thomas Cupples Richards and his family were among the first group of white settlers along the Apalachicola River in Florida, north of present day Blountown.  In 1821, Thomas’ family along with other relatives and families, migrated by covered wagons to Ocheesee Landing, Spanish Florida.

It is not known when Thomas and his wife, Elizabeth, left their home place in Ocheesee and moved south about 20 miles to a settlement near the river, on the dead lakes called Wewahitchka.  Thomas and his sons built a log fort on the riverbank for protection against unfriendly Indians. 

On the night of January 14, 1838, a band of hostile Indians came up the river by canoe, made a surprise attack on the fort, and the battle lasted through the night.  Thomas Cupples Richards was killed in the attack.” 

Elizabeth Hogg Richards, Thomas’ wife, died in Wewahitchka, Calhoun, Florida, on August 21, 1855.    

George’s daughter, JANE (JENNIE) RICHARDS, was born circa 1776, in Franklin County, North Carolina.  She married John Matthew Hogue, son of James M. and Agnes Crawford Hogue, in Greene County, Georgia, before 1796. 

Their sons, Jeter and John, were mentioned in her father’s will.  She died in 1806, in Greene County, Georgia.  John Matthew Hogue married Lucy Read and Nancy Preston as his second and third wives.  He died November 24, 1840, in Greene County, Alabama.

“Seventeen of George Richard’s grandchildren fought in the War of 1812. He was a planter and FreeMason and was over 90 years of age when he died.  The Raleigh newspapers carred his obituary on July 31, 1818.” 

In his will, GEORGE gave his Negro woman, HICKSEY, to his son, JOSHUA, with the intention of her being set free, but JOSHUA did not follow the wishes of his father. 

Early in life Joshua Richards’ made a considerable fortune trading in slaves.  Very little information is available concerning the years that he lived in Franklin County, N. C.  He purchased 186 acres of land in Franklin County on waters of Gilles Creek from Thomas Huckby on August 29, 1780.

Joshua Richards was ordained to the gospel ministry several years before moving to South Carolina.  He was an ordained minister, when he signed the marriage bond for his sister, Martha, in 1787, while living in Franklin County, N. C. 

In the 1790 United States Federal Census, Joshua Richards lived in Franklin County, N. C., and had: 3 males under sixteen; one male 16 and over; and 4 females.

In the 1800 United States Federal Census Joshua Richards lived in Louisburg, Franklin County, N. C., and had: 1 male under 10; 1 male 10 through 15; 1 male 16 through 25; 1 male 26 through 44; 1 male 45 and over; 4 females under 10; 1 female 10 through 15; 1 female 16 through 25; 1 female 26 through 44; and 1 slave living with him.

The Reverend Joshua Richards moved his family to Spartanburg District, S. C., in 1801, joined the Goucher Creek Baptist Church by letter, and assumed the pastorate of this church, continuing as their pastor through 1811.  His first visit to the Broad River Baptist Associatonal meetings was in 1802.

Joshua Richards had two children from the 1790s, Susannah, born in 1794, and Mary Frances, born in 1795, who moved with their father to South Carolina. 

He and his wife (name unknown) had a son, Joshua Richards Jr., born in 1803, after they moved to South Carolina.  Apparently, his first wife died shortly after the birth of Joshua Jr. 

The Reverend Joshua Richards led the Goucher Creek Baptist Church to give Hugh Moore license to preach in 1803, and the church had ordained him to the gospel ministry by 1804. 

John R. Richards, born in 1805, was the first child by a second wife, whose first name was Mary.

Joshua Richards Sr. was given land in Franklin County, N. C., on February 13, 1809, by his father.

In the 1810 United States Federal Census Joshua Richards lived in Spartanburg District, S. C., and had 3 males under 10; 3 males 10 through 15; 1 male 45 and over; 3 females 10 through 15; 1 female 16 through 25; 1 female 45 and over.

In the 1810, United States Federal Census, Joshua Richards had twelve white members in his household, and in the 1820 census he had eight white members in his household and eight slaves. 

All of the children, mentioned in the censuses, could not possibly have all been Joshua’s children.  He was a Justice of the Peace in Spartanburg County, S. C., in 1810, and a Justice of the Quorum in 1811.

In 1812, the Reverend Joshua Richards Sr. became pastor of the Providence Baptist Church and continued as their pastor through  1839.

On December 19, 1812, James Richards Sr. sold to his nephew,  James Richards Jr. (Providence of E. Florida), for love and affection and $1.00 four Negroes: Esau, Burges, Milly and Debaro.  Witnesses to this transaction were: Joshua Gordan, Joseph Richards and George Wood.

Utilizing information from Roots Web.com., Ancestry.com and Spartanburg Deed Abstracts, the following are known to be children of Joshua Richards: Susan Richards; Mary Frances Richards; Joshua Richards Jr.; John R. Richards; Evan Richards; Noah Richards; James Richards; Joseph Richards; Simpson Richards; Smith Richards; and Elizabeth D. Richards.

On August 19, 1814, Joshua Richards was dismissed by letter from Goucher Creek Baptist Church to join the Providence Baptist Church “as he lives in the bounds of that church”. 

Records of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church state: “Friday the 14^th day of February 1815—This day called brother Richards for a supply this year as a Minister of the Gospel & Right to Providence Church for their approbation on the third Sunday & Saturday before.”

Joshua Richards again became pastor of Goucher in 1831, and served through 1833.     

Richards was pastor of Bethesda Baptist Church from 1832 through 1834, and from 1839 through 1844.  This church was constituted in 1821, and was composed of a number of members from the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  John Poole was a constitutional member of Bethesda and had been a member of the Goucher church for a number of years.  

Elder Barnett wrote: “He (Joshua Richards) was a very plain man in his manners, and a very efficient minister in his day.  I remember that he used to delight in singing his favorite song: ‘Lead me to the rock that is higher than I’, and when he would come to that part of the song, he would through up both hands and say with great emphasis: ‘Lead me to the rock that is higher than I’.”

John R. Logan wrote: “Elder Richards was a very large man—not corpulent, but very course features and possessing great physical strength.  He was very useful all his life as a minister, and as a neighbor and citizen he was highly esteemed and beloved.  

Though he possessed a considerable amount of property, and kept good horses, he did the most of his traveling on foot.  He used to tell in an amusing way, that the horse he rode (alluding to his walking stick) never scared or stumbled. 

He said that he rode that horse all the way to Florida and back, and the horse never ate nor drank during the time, as he knew of. Moreover, he was a very faithful horse in another respect—he would carry him into any man’s yard, and if the dogs came at him he would commence kicking, and never stop until every dog was gone.”

J. B. O. Landrum wrote: “A meeting of the leaders of the Union party was convened, and the result was the whole county formed  into a celebration at Spartanburg on the Fourth of July (1832).  Joshua Richards, a Baptist preacher and a soldier of the Revolution, was the president of the meeting.”  Richards wore his old Revolutionary War uniform to this celebration.

Joshua’s children:

(1). Susannah (Susan) Richards was born in 1794, in Franklin County, North Carolina.  She married Charles Amos, son of Daniel Amos Sr. and his wife, Orphah Cooper, in 1820.  They married in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.  She was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.   

Two of their children were daughters, Caroline and Benson Tempy Amos.  She died circa 1843, before four of her sons were killed or died in the War Between the States.  

Susan and Charles had five sons: (a). “George Franklin Amos was the eldest and was a soldier in the Mexican War.  He served as commissary agent for the Confederate Army.” 

He was born December 15, 1826, and married Margaret Emaline Satterfield.  They had seven sons and two daughters.  “Franklin died July 3, 1911, at Duck Springs, Short Creek, Etowah, Alabama.”

(b). John Ross Amos was born in 1824, and “was killed in the Battle of Seven Pines, Virginia, in 1862”. 

(c). Benjamin Franklin Amos was born in 1826, and “was a member of the 5^th S. C. Regiment.  He had moved to the state of Georgia and died in service in 1864.” 

(d). John Rufus Amos was born on July 4, 1828, and married Nancy Frances Buford.  They had four sons and two daughters.  “Rufus was in a Georgia Regiment and was promoted to the rank of captain.  He was killed at Baker’s Creek, Champion Hill, Mississippi, on May 16, 1863.” 

(e). James Amos was born in 1830, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  “He was a member of Captain Cleary’s company, 13^th Regiment, S. C. V.  He was killed on July 30, 1864, in the Mine Explosion at Petersburg, Virginia.”  

J. B. O. Landrum wrote: “Charles Amos served as a soldier in the War of 1812.  “He did business for Michael Gaffney at Gaffney’s old field (now Gaffney City), for several years, and built the first mercantile house in that place. 

After this he was employed as manager for the Cowpens Iron Furnace Company, which business he continued in for twenty-five years.”  Charles married Mary Elizabeth McElreath, daughter of John McElreath, following the death of his first wife, Susan.  They had three daughters and two sons.  He died December 4, 1874, in Inman, S. C.  

(2). Mary Frances Richards was born in 1795, in Franklin County, North Carolina.  She was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Mary Frances married Joshua James Byars, son of William Byars and Elizabeth Bedford Byars, in 1818.  They moved to the state of Georgia soon after they married and had four sons and three daughters.  They had one still-born child.  Mary was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

James Byars died circa 1865, and Mary Frances died in 1875.  He was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

They both died in Calhoun County, Mississippi, and were buried in the Macedonia Baptist Church cemetery.  Her tombstone states that she was “founder of Macedonia Baptist Church”.   

(3). Joshua Richards Jr. was born in 1803, after his father had moved the family to Spartanburg District, S. C.  His mother (name unknown) died shortly after his birth.  He was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

He married Malinda or Milly (last name unknown).  Milly was born in 1816.  They had two sons and four daughters.  He lived in White Plains, Spartanburg County, S. C., in 1870. He died of a heart condition in February of 1880, in Limestone Springs, S. C.

(4). John R. Richards was born circa 1805, to the Reverend Joshua Richards and his second wife, Mary (last name unknown).  He was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  He married Molly (last name unknown).  She was born in 1811.

John and Molly were listed in the 1870 federal census of Spartanburg County, South Carolina.  John and his wife, Molly, were living in White Plains, Spartanburg County, S. C., at this time. They had a daughter, Sallie, born in 1846.  Sallie was listed in the 1870 census as single and 24 years of age.  John died in the 1870s. 

(5). Evan Richards was born in 1807, in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.  He was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and married Sarah Smith, daughter of William Smith.  She was born in Virginia, in 1810.  They had a daughter, Cordilia, born in 1825.

He died in Henry County, Georgia, circa 1825.  Sarah died in Polk County, North Carolina, in 1856, and Cordelia died in 1912. 

(6). Noah Richards was born circa 1807.  The writer does not know whether he was a twin of Evan or born later.  He was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  He married Lenora Burns who was also born in 1807.  They had two daughters and a son. 

He and his wife, Hanna Lenora, were living in East Amuchee, Walker County, Georgia, in 1860.  He died in the 1860s, and his wife, Lenora, died in 1880, in District 4, McMinn County, Tennessee.

(7). James P. Richards was born on May 23, 1809, in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.  He was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and married Elizabeth Cooper, born August 1, 1812, in South Carolina.  

They had two daughters and one son.  He died in November of 1849, in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, and she died in Spartanburg County on July 2, 1903. 

(8). Joseph Richards was born circa 1813, in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.  He married Nancy Waters, on October 13, 1835, in Spartanburg County. 

She was the daughter of William Waters Sr. and Sally Smith Waters, and was born April 26, 1817, in Spartanburg County. There are no children listed for this couple.

Joseph died in 1838, and Nancy died July 7, 1847, in Spartanburg County, S. C. 

(9). Simpson Richards was born circa 1824, in Spartanburg County, S. C.  He married Elizabeth (last name unknown).  She was born in 1822. 

He was living in McDowell County, N. C., in 1860.  They had three sons and one daughter.  He probably died in the 1860s.  Death of his wife, Eliza, is unknown.

(10). Smith Richards was born May 11, 1825, in Spartanburg County, S. C.  He married Sarah Elizabeth Webb of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, in 1846.  She was born circa 1824. 

They had eight daughters and five sons.  They were living in Marion, McDowell County, N. C., when the 1850 census was taken and continued to live in Marion through 1870.  

Smith enlisted as a Confederate soldier in Marion, N. C., on September 11, 1861.  He was with the Thirty-Fifth Infantry and attained the rank of corporal.  

Sarah Webb Richards died in 1870, in Marion, N. C.  

Smith Richards married Emily Bailey, daughter of William and Phoebia Miles Bailey, in 1872, in South Carolina.  She was born in North Carolina in 1853.  The lived in Limestone Springs, South Carolina in 1880. 

They had five daughters and three sons.  Smith died in Enoree, Spartanburg County, S. C., on July 4, 1899.  Emily lived in Cross Anchor, Spartanburg County, S. C., in 1900, and died there on May 24, 1917.

(11). Elizabeth D. Richards was born after 1825, in Spartanburg County, S. C.  She was Joshua and Mary’s last child.  She married an unknown Guinn and died after 1866, in Spartanburg County, S. C.   

Joshua Richards Sr. applied for a pension in Spartanburg District, S. C., on September 28, 1832.  He was seventy-two, when he made application for a pension. 

“He stated that he entered the service of the United States as a volunteer in Franklin County, N. C. in 1779, in the 2^nd Regiment of the North Carolina Militia commanded by Colonel Lowry and Colonel Shepherd.” 

He marched to Georgetown, South Carolina, thence to Moncks Corner, thence to Bacons’ Bridge, and finally to Charleston, S. C., where he joined General Lincoln’s Army.  He remained under General Lincoln’s command until he ws discharged on the 12^th day of April 1780. 

In September 1780, he became a substitute for Thomas Huckaby and served as an orderly sergeant under Captain Jenkins Devaney in the 2^nd Regiment of the North Carolina Militia. He served under General Allen Jones.  He was discharged at the Waxhaws in December of 1780, after serving three months.    

In 1781, he served in the Calvary under Col. Youngblood from Duplin County and was discharged the 11^th of July of 1781, after serving three months. 

The first of September 1781, he volunteered under Colonel Benjamin Seawell and continued as a lifeguard of the Council of War in Granville County, N. C., until the cessation of hostilies in 1783.

He received a pension for the services he rendered to his country during the American Revolutionary War.  

Benjamin Markley sold Abraham Markley’s tract of land on Thickety Creek, containing 250 acres, lying west of Quinn’s Fork on Thickety Creek and a parcel of land sold to Abraham Markley by John Byars.

Mrs. Mary Richards purchased the 250 acres of land for $250.00 on November 9^th, 1836.  The land was recovered by Benjamin Markley, from Joshua Richards Jr. and Joseph Richards.

Also, on November 9, 1836, Mary Richards and her sons: Noah, James, Joshua and Joseph sold to the South Carolina Manufacturing Company (William Walker, Hugh Bailey, S. N. Evins, John Bomar Jr., Simpson Bobo—President & Directors of said company) 269 acres of land on Thickety Creek.  Mary Richards executed the deed to the above company on February 10, 1837. 

Dower rights were relinquished by: Hanna Richards; Elizabeth Richards; and Nancy Richards; wives of: Noah Richards, James Richards and Joseph Richards. Joseph Camp, J. Q. witnessed the transaction. 

Joshua Richards Sr. “For the good will and affection that I have for the lawful heirs of my son, Joseph Richards, deceased, I have given them all that tract of land whereon the widow now lives containing 100 acres.” 

“No division shall be made until the youngest child comes of age, and then to be equally divided.”  This gift was witnessed by: Saul A. Camp and John R. Richards.

On November 18, 1839, Joshua Richards Sr. gave to his son, Col. John R. Richards, “for the love and good will I have for him, the whole Tract of Land, whereon I now live, together with all my Household Furniture, Kitchen Furniture, my Plantation Tools and Stock of all Kinds”. 

Joshua Richards Sr. also gave to John his negroe slaves: Jim, Sam, Gabe, Charles, Job, Doctor & Lease.  Witnesses to the transaction were: John Byars, George Horten, and James Richards.  

On December 21, 1843, Mary Richards sold the 250 acres purchased from Benjamn Markly “whereon I now live” to John Linder of Spartanburg District, S. C., for $100.00.

On December 24, 1846, Joshua Richards, son of Mary Richards, paid his mother $160.00 for one sorrell mare & colt, two beds and furniture and all other household and kitchen furniture.  Her sons: Noah Richards and Col. John R. Richards witnessed the transaction.

For $12.00, Simpson Richards on January 19, 1847, sold to Joshua Richards Jr. all his interest in the real Estate of Joseph Richards, deceased. (Joseph died in 1838.)

In 1854, Margaret Richards filed for a widow’s pension stating that she was the widow of Joshua Richards, a pensioner of the United States. 

She was the daughter of Hugh White and Margaret Trail White, and the widow of William West Jr., son of William West Sr. and Anne Anderson.  William West and Margaret White West had two sons and four daughters.

She was the second wife of William West Jr., who died March 15, 1841.  In her pension application she stated that she was married to the Reverend Joshua Richards on June 13, 1843, by Nathaniel Fray, Esquire, and that her husband, Joshua, had died July 17, 1845.

According to court records Joshua Richards Sr.’s second wife, Mary  ?  , sold real estate June 26, 1843, after Margaret West stated that she had married Joshua Richards on June 13, 1843.  She purchased real estate on December 21, 1843, and sold items to her son, Joshua Jr., December 24, 1846. 

The writer has no explanation for this discrepancy of dates. It is possible that the dates are not accurate. 

In writing a History of the Gilead Baptist Church, the writer mistakenly made the statement that the constitutional members were from the Fairforest Baptist Church.  After further research it now appears that the Gilead church was first begun during the ministry of the Reverend Joshua Richards and was a mission of this church. 

Since the Gilead church was begun by the Goucher Creek Baptist Church, and since the first pastor was from Goucher, it is reasonable to assume that the constitutional members of Gilead were first members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.

CONSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS OF GILEAD BAPTIST CHURCH, ARM OF GOUCHER CREEK

These constitutional members of the Gilead church were first members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

(1). Robert Coleman, son of Christopher and Mary Marshall Coleman, was a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  He was born in 1760, in Lunenberg County, Virginia.  His father operated the famous “Christie’s Tavern” in Grindal Shoals.

He married Elizabeth Treasy Smith, daughter of Thomas Smith and
Elizabeth Mercer Smith.  She was born in 1765, in North Carolina, and was first a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Robert Coleman was elected first church clerk of the Gilead church.

Robert and Treasy had six sons and six daughters.  After the death of her husband, Robert, in 1823, Treasy married James Robert McWhorter in 1828.  She was his second wife, and died July 15, 1838, in Union County, S. C. 

(2). James Robert McWhirter, son of Robert and Sarah ? McWhirter, was born in Albemarle County, Rockfish Creek, Virginia, in 1760.  James served as a Patriot soldier while residing in Union District.  He was in the Battle of Blackstock’s Plantation, and during 1782, served as a sergeant under Col. William Farr in the Indian Nation.   

James first married Winfred Hames, daughter of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames.  She was born April 9, 1762, and died April 3, 1828, in Union County, S. C.  James and Winfred had four sons and five daughters and were members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  James Robert McWhirter married Treasy Smith Coleman, widow of Robert Coleman, in 1828. They had no children.   Treasy died July 15, 1838, in Union County, S. C.  

James McWhirter died October 23, 1842, and funeral services were held on January 7, 1843, at the Gilead Baptist Church.  “The Reverend Elijah Ray, brother of Ambrose Ray (pastor of Gilead), preached the funeral sermon to a large collection of people.”  He was the last living member of the church to serve as a Patriot soldier in the Revolutionary War. 

(3). John Gibson, son of John and Elizabeth Call Gibson, was born in Frederick County, Virginia, November 28, 1748.  He married Mary Stevenson, daughter of Cornell and Mary Hedger Stevenson, in 1772, in Virginia.  His wife, Mary, died circa 1785.  They had at least six sons. 

John moved to Union District, S. C., after the death of his wife, in 1785, and received a land grant for his service as a Patriot Soldier in Virginia.  He was a member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  His death occurred on September 16, 1837, in Union District, S. C. 

 (4). Shadrack Sherod James moved to the Grindal Shoals area after the American Revolutionary War.  He was in the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applicaton Files.  Pension year was 1849.  Pensioner was Pheny James.

The Reverend J. D. Bailey, in his book, History of Grindal Shoals, states that Sherod James served as a Patriot Soldier, while residing in North Carolina.

He was the son of Sherwood and Martha Holiday James and was born in Virginia in 1744.  He married Mary Polly Johnson, daughter

of James Johnson and Elizabeth Susannah (Sukey) Gerrard, in Union District, S. C., in 1786. 

Mary Polly Johnson was born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, on November 18, 1766.  She and Sherod had eight sons and one daughter.  He and Polly were first members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Sherod was ordained to serve as one of the first deacons of the Gilead church. 

Sherod and Mary seemed to have alternated their membership between Gilead Baptist Church and Pacolet (Scull Shoals) Baptist Church through the years.  They were members of the Gilead Baptist Church at least three times and the Pacolet church at least twice. 

He and Mary had a son, Jessie (Buck) James, who married Susan Hodge, daughter of Samuel and Martha Wright Hodge.  Jessie James belonged to Major Elijah Dawkins command and served at Charleston, S. C., during the War of 1812.

Polly died in the 1830s, and Sherod was married a second time to Parthenia (Pheny) ? .  She was born in 1800, in North Carolina.

Sherod and Pheny had a child who died on April 5, 1845.  The funeral of their child was conducted by Dr. F. W. Littlejohn at the El Bethel Baptist Church.  They had a child, Martha, born in 1841.  Sherod was 97 years old when Martha was born.  Martha was still living in 1850.

Shadrack Sherod James died on April 27, 1852, at the age of 108, and was buried in the Gilead Baptist Church cemetery in a marked grave.  His tombstone states that he was born in 1744, and served in the North Carolina Militia during the Revolutionary War.  Parthenia ? James died on February 15, 1859.

(5). Abner Coleman, son of Robert and Ann Hinton Coleman, was born in 1755, in Amelia County, Virginia.  He married Susannah (Sukey) ?  in 1771.  She was born in 1752.  They were first members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. They had three sons.

Abner served first with the British Loyalists and then joined the American Patriots during the American Revolutionary War.  Abner was ordained to serve as one of the first deacons of Gilead.

Abner and Sukey sold their lands in the Grindal Shoals area and were living in the Gwinnett County area of Georgia before 1820.  Susannah died there in 1818, and Abner died there in 1825.

(6). John Hames, son of Randolph and Faithful Coleman Hames, was born October 31, 1767, in what later became Union District, S. C.  His father was a Patriot Soldier under Col. Thomas Brandon, but switched sides and became a British Loyalist in 1779.  He was executed by the Patriots. 

There is no record of John Hames having fought as a soldier on either side.  His mother was a daughter of Robert Coleman Sr.  John Hames married Sarah Liles, daughter of Jesse and Susan Belue Liles.  She was born October 28, 1745. 

They were at first members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  He was appointed first treasurer of Gilead Baptist Church.

John and Sarah Hames had one child, Susannah, who married John Eison.  John died March 1, 1844, and his funeral was conducted at Gilead church by the Reverends Ambrose Ray and John Kendrick.

Sarah died October 24, 1845, and was buried beside her husband, and the two are buried in the Gilead Baptist Church cemetery in marked graves.

(7). John Coleman was the son of Christopher and Mary Marshall Coleman and was born in 1760.  He married Elizabeth Betsy Ward, daughter of James Ward and Susannah Rich Ward.  This couple was first members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church.  Elizabeth was born in 1770. 

John Coleman served as a Patriot soldier in the South Carolina Milita during 1782.  Robert Coleman and his brother, John, were delegates from the Gilead church to the 1809 Bethel Baptist Association.

John and Elizabeth had two sons and two daughters: Mary, Christopher, David and Anne Coleman.

John’s wife, Elizabeth (Betsy) Ward, died in 1811, in Union District, S. C.  She was a granddaughter of Francis Ward. 

Francis Ward was first married to Tame Doe, an Indian.  Their daughter was Nancy, the Prophetess and Beloved Woman of the Cherokees. 

Pat Alderman in his book, The Overmountain Men, wrote: “Without the timely warning by Nancy Ward, most of the settlers of the Watauga, Holston, and Carter’s Valleys could have been surprised by the Indians and killed.  Without these settlements there would have been no Overmountain Men’s Army to defeat Ferguson at King’s Mountain.  Without that victory the story of America could have been different.”

Elizabeth Betsy Ward Coleman was directly related to Francis Ward through his unknown second wife.  The writer is directly related to Francis Ward through his last wife, Nancy March.

John Coleman was still living in Union District, when the 1820 Federal Census was taken on August 7, 1820. 

John and Betty’s son, Christopher, and his wife, Margaret Baird, moved to Indiana in 1811.  John joined them after 1820, and married Margaret Hart on June 18, 1825, in Daviess County, Indiana. 

John Coleman died shortly after his marriage to Margaret on August 11, 1825. 

(8). John Stovall, son of Thomas and Prudence Lewis Stovall, was born in 1767, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia.  He married Dorcas Abigail Poole, daughter of William Abijah (Taylor) Poole and Mary Elizabeth Stovall, in 1793, in Spartanburg District, S. C. 

Dorcas was born in Granville County, North Carolina, on November 3, 1770, and was probably her husband’s first cousin.  They definitely were first members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church. 

John and Dorcas had six sons and two daughters.  The family was living in St. Clair, Alabama, in 1820, and in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 1830.  John Thomas Stovall Sr. died in Jefferson County, on August 13, 1831, and his wife, Dorcas, died in Jefferson County the same year.  

Robert Coleman, Sherod James, James McWhirter, John Gibson, John Coleman, and Abner Coleman were Patriot soldiers in the Revolutionary War. 

Robert Coleman’s father, Christopher, and grandfather, Robert Coleman, Sr., first fought under Col. Thomas Brandon with the Patriots until 1779.  They then joined the Loyalists and fought with them until they were forced to refugee to Charleston, S. C.  Robert Coleman, Sr. died there of smallpox in 1781. 

Christopher Coleman and his wife, Mary Marshall Coleman, returned to his Christie’s Tavern, located about two and one-half miles northeast of Jonesville, S. C., near what is still known as “Coleman’s Branch”.  His wife recovered the gold she had buried before their trip to Charleston, S. C.  Christopher died at his tavern in 1784, and Mary died there in 1800.  

                                   HUGH MOORE FIRST PASTOR OF GILEAD

Hugh Moore, member of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church, led in the establishment of the Gilead Baptist Church and was the first pastor in 1804.  He was the son of Patrick and Anne ? Moore. 

Patrick Moore, a Loyalist, was born in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1754.  He was the son of Joseph and Ruth Foster Moore.  His father was born in 1715, in Ulster Providence, Antrim County, Ireland, and his mother was born in 1719, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. 

Joseph, father of Patrick, married Ruth Foster, daughter of Hatherly Foster and Bathshua Turner, in 1840, in Virginia.  They were living in Halifax County, Virginia, when their sons, Patrick, Hugh and Burt were born.

In Burt Moore’s request for a pension he mentions that his father and mother moved their family between 1764-1766, from Halifax County, Virginia, to what was later called Spartanburg District, S. C.  They had six sons and one daughter.

When the American Revolutionary War started in 1775, two of Joseph’s sons, Hugh and Patrick, became Loyalists and his son, Bert, joined the Patriots.      

Joseph, born 1715, and Ruth, born 1719, both died in Ninety Six District, South Carolina, in 1785.

Patrick and Anne ? were married in 1771, in South Carolina.  Their children were: Hugh, Betsy, Patsy and Polly Moore.  Names of the parents of his wife, Anne, are unknown. 

Patrick Moore and Hugh Moore, brothers, lived in the Thickety Creek area of Spartanburg District, S. C. 

Patrick and his wife, Anne ?  had a son, Hugh, and Hugh and his wife, Sarah ? , had a son, Patrick. 

Hugh and Patrick lived with their families in present day Cherokee County, S. C.  They were of Irish descent and natives of Halifax County, Virginia.  Hugh, Patrick’s brother, was born in 1750.

Patrick Moore’s first military service was as an ensign under Lt. William Marchbanks and Capt. John Nuckolls.  This unit responded to an order from the commanding officer of Tryon County, N. C. to march against the Cherokee Indians on February 9, 1771. 

On the expedition Patrick served nine days, as did many of his neighbors. The Hugh Moore who fought with them was not his brother, Hugh.

Captain Patrick Moore was a noted officer with the Loyalists during the Revolutionary War and was in charge of Fort Anderson (later called Fort Thicketty).  His brother, Hugh, was also a captain.

The fort was originally built by David Anderson to protect the settlers from the Indians in the 1750s and 1760s. 

“The fort, surrounded by a strong abatis and other vigorous defences, could be entered only through an opening which was so small that one had to craw to enter.  One man, or a woman, could stand guard inside the entrance with a club and prevent any army from capturing the fort.”

Anderson Fort (Thicketty Fort) was located a quarter of a mile north of Goucher Creek; and two and a half miles above the mouth of that small stream where it empties into Thicketty Creek.  The fort, after the fall of Charles Town, was used by the Loyalists as a base, from which to conduct their pillage raids.

John Jefferies, Esq. in his, Reminiscences of the Revolutionary War, states: “Patrick Moore’s Tory bands went out and plundered Whig families in every direction, stole horeses and everything else they could & desired.  They plundered my father’s house, stole his horse, drove off his cattle, built up a fire on the door, and abused my mother as the meanest of all rebels.”

Col. Charles McDowell detached Col. Isaac Shelby (NC), Col. Andrew Hamilon (NC), Col. Elijah Clark (GA) and Lt. Col. William Cocke to demand the surrender of Fort Anderson (Thickety) and along the way they met with two companies of the SC 1st Spartan Regiment of Militia.

“They took up their line of march about sunset on the evening of the 25^th of July 1780, and surrounded the fort the next morning at daybreak. Col. Shelby sent in Col. William Cooke to make a peremptory demand for the surrender of the garrison.  Moore replied that he would defend the place to the last extremity.

Shelby then drew his lines within musket shot of the enemy and made a second demand of Moore to surrender.  Shelby’s gallant “six hundred” presented such a formidable array that Moore relented. 

Capt. Patrick Moore agreed to surrender the fort on condition that the garrison be paroled, not to serve again during the war unless exchanged; which was agreed to very willingly on the part of the Americans, as they did not care to be encombered with prisoners. 

Moore surrendered ninety-three Loyalists and one British Sargent-Major, who had been sent to this place to drill and discipline them.  Not a gun was fired. 

Among the trophies of victory were two hundred stands of arms, all loaded with ball and buckshot and so arranged at the potholes that they could have resisted double their number.  Moore was censured by the British authorities for not defending Thickety Fort.” 

“Capt. Patrick Moore subsequently was supposed to have been killed by his captors near Ninety Six, S. C., as his remains were afterwards found and recognized by his great height—six feet and seven inches.  His death probably occurred in July of 1781.  

He left a wife, who survived many years, a son and three daughters, and his descendants in South Carolina and Georgia were very worthy people.” 

Tradition states that Capt. Patrick Moore’s remains were re-interred in a church cemetery in Ninety-Six, South Carolina.  Inventory on his estate was made June 20, 1783, by William Thomson, David Allen and George Taylor.  Anne Moore, his wife, and William Tate were administrators of the estate. 

Capt. Patrick Moore and his wife, Anne, had one son, Hugh, and three daughters: Polly, Betsy and Patsy Moore.

Hugh Moore, son of Patrick and Anne ? , was born January 31, 1775, in Spartanburg District, S. C.  He married Elizabeth Betsey Lowe, daughter of John Lowe Sr. and Nancy Jane Moury Lowe.  She was born on July 12, 1773, in Tryon County, North Carolina. 

John Lowe Sr., son of John and Anne ? Lowe, was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  He entered the service in Caswell County, North Carolina, for the term of eighteen months.  

He served as a 2^nd Lieutenant under Capt. James Wilson in the Continental Service.  He was in the 10^th Regiment commanded by Colonel Abraham Shepherd and resigned in the fall of 1778.

He was pensioned at the rate of $20.00 per month to commence on April 5^th, 1819, for one year.  He died on June 8, 1826, in the Thickety Creek area of what became Cherokee County, South Carolina, and Nancy Jane Moury, his wife, also died in 1826.  They had two sons and six daughters.   

Hugh and Elizabeth Lowe Moore had the following children: Patrick Moore (1796-1885); Jennie Moore (1797); John Moore (1800-1881); Robert Moore (1802); Hugh Asylum Moore (1804); David Moore (1808-1875); William Moore (1811); Betsy Moore (1812). 

Hugh Moore was ordained to the gospel ministry by the Goucher Creek Baptist Church circa 1803, while the Reverend Joshua Richards was pastor.  Hugh was pastor of the Gilead Baptist Church from 1804 through 1810.  He became pastor of the Goucher Creek chuch in 1820, and served in this position until the fall of 1822.  He and his family lived on waters of Goucher Creek.  

Hugh Moore had the Reverend Joshua Richards arrested by a constable the latter part of October 1822, charging him with “publishing and sending a false scandalous letter to him.”  He also had Jane Lowe, Dicea Sherbet and Nancy Lowe, members of the Macedonia Baptist Church, indicted, charging them with the writing of the letter known by the name “the Sinner’s Letter”. 

On November 16, 1822, the Reverend Joshua Richards, in a church business session, cited the above circumstances to members of the Goucher Creek Baptist Church and brought charges against the Reverend Hugh Moore.  Richards also accused the Reverend Moore of taking a pair of overalls from Thomas Betterton for “swearing against Moore.” 

Churches in the early day did not look favorably upon Christians taking Christians to law, but the Reverend Hugh Moore would not rescind his charges against Richards and the ladies from the Macedonia church.   

The Goucher Creek Baptist Church tried the Reverend Moore and determined that he was guilty of acting improperly in this matter.  He was excommunicated from their fellowship in November of 1822.  Abraham Hembree was appointed to visit Moore and request him to give up his preaching credentials, but Hugh Moore refused to surrender them.

Hugh Moore made a contribution of $2.00 to the Goucher Creek Baptist Church in 1829, and his son, John Moore, was excluded from the fellowship of Goucher in 1830. 

From August 22, 1828, to June 4, 1832, the Reverend Hugh Moore was engaged in suits and counter suits with John Lowe, Sr. until Lowe died and then with Jane Lowe, wife of John and her family.  He was engaged in the forgery of Revolutionary War Pension Statements. 

The federal government indicted Hugh Moore for this forgery in 1831.  Tennessee Prison Records, RG, Roll No. 97, states: “Hugh Moore was received in the Penitentiary the Sixteenth of September eighteen hundred and thirty one.  He is Six feet, 2 and ½ inches high, weighs one hundred & Sixty one pounds, but is now in bad health.  His common weight is two hundred and twenty pounds. Grey hair, blue eyes, fair skin, thin beard, a small mole on the chin, no scars perceivable.”

“Born and raised in Spartanburg district, South Carolina, on Thicketty creek waters of Broad River, ten miles from the Court House & three miles from Pacolet Springs, where his family now lives consisting of a wife, five sons and two daughters.  Also a son Married lives in the same neighborhood.  He is fifty-eight years old. 

He has no trade but is a farmer and has preached for thirty years of the Baptist persuasion.  Found guilty of forgery at the Circuit Court of the United States at Nashville for the district of West Tennessee, and sentenced to five years imprisonment in the jail and Penitentiary house of the State of Tennessee.  Hugh Moore died of Cholera on the 15^th day of June 1833.”

A relative later viewed his grave that was marked in the Prison Cemetery.  He was not pastor of a church for thirty years, but kept his credentials and preached at times during these years. 

Patrick Moore was administrator of the Reverend Hugh Moore’s estate, and his bond was dated March 12, 1835.  John Moore was attorney for the administrator.  A sale was conducted on May 13, 1837, and the purchaser was Elizabeth Moore, his wife.  Patrick and John Moore were children of the Reverend Hugh Moore and Elizabeth.  Other children were Jenny, Robert, Hugh, Davis, William and Elizabeth (Betsy).

Limited information is given on Capt. Patrick Moore’s brother, Capt. Hugh Moore, also a Loyalist. On August 13, 1791, Patrick Moore, son of Hugh, his wife, Betsy, and his mother, Sarah, sold 300 acres in two tracts of land that had been granted to his father on both sides of Bullock’s Creek of Thicketty Creek to William (Gentleman) Thomson. 

The first tract of 200 acres was granted to Hugh Moore by Governor William Tryon on December 2, 1767, and the second tract of  100 acres was granted to Hugh Moore by Governor Martin on November 25, 1771. 

This transaction indicates that Capt. Hugh Moore was deceased at this time.  There is, however, no record of his being killed, while serving as a Loyalist, and his place of burial is unknown.

Robert Burton (Burt) Moore, son of Joseph and Ruth, was born in 1756, in Halifax County, Virginia.  Dr. Bobby Moss wrote: “Burt Moore voluntered, while residing on the Pacolet River, as a spy against the Indians and was placed under Capt. James Hamilton and Col. James Woods. 

He later served under Capt. Major Parson and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.  He was in the Battle of Musgrove’s Mill.  When Ferguson overran the upcountry, he crossed the mountains and joined Colonels Sevier and Shelby.  He was in the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Afterwards, he served with Capt. Parson again and then joined Capt. Samuel Earle.  He was in numerous skirmishes with Tories while under Earle.  At sometime, he was under Capt. Edward Hampton.” 

He lived in Spartanburg District till the peace of 1783.  He then moved to Pickens, S. C., where he remained until his death.  He married Mary Bruce, daughter of James and Mary Smith Bruce, in 1777.  They had four sons and one daughter.  Mary died before 1797.

He then married Mary Polly Glenn, daughter of William Glenn, on February 1, 1797.  They had three sons and two daughters.  He was pensioned at the rate of $80.00 per annum commencing March 1, 1831.  Burt died April 23, 1836. 

He and his first wife were buried in the Stewart Cemetery in Pickens County, S. C.  His second wife, Mary Glenn, died May 28, 1866, in Gilmer County, Georgia.