Historical Events 11
Of Union County B
*_ si
(Continued from page two)
enjoyed the old-time religion, id replaced
it with towering steeples of y
which they are justly proud.
We are told that in ancient times v
Jonesville, like all other towns in its n
early history had rowdy amusements. n
But now, since the churches were ^
coming into play, the evil gave away a
to the better. a
Soon the First Methodist church c
was planned and in 1878 was erected. e
With T. L. Hames, W. H. S. Harris ?
and Josiah Foster as stewards, and 8
Rev. J. B. Wilson as pastor, this build- 0
ing was small, having a seating capacity
of about three hundred, this t
being used about thirty-six years, I
when the congregation and Pastor F
Cood decided to honor the Lord with I
a now house of worship, so they re- ^
placed it with an up-to-date brick s
building. 1
The Pirst Presbyterian church was v
erected a few years later and its be- I
loved pastor, Rev. A. A. Jones served s
almost as long as the church. He *
died one year before the small, but 1
faithful congregation decided to give 1
unto tbe Lord a new house of worship, 1
which is a credit to them. *
The negroes have two neat churches t
in this town. <
Jonesville's first school-house was 1
located on the Baptist church lot, it
being a very crude structure, with a 1
seating capacity of about twenty-five, <
it was stripped up with rough plank; (
left unceiled or plastered, small stove 1
flue in middle of top. Sam Bagwell '
being the first teacher of this house '
of learning. After a number of edu- '
cators had instructed in this insignifi- 1
cant room, their pupils grew to be
men and women that had learned the
necessity of better educational facilities,
so they built a large two- i
story wooden building on the Metho- :
dist church lot, which was used for 1
twenty years, when it was burned, but
as soon as arrangements could be
made a large, up-to-date brick structure
was under way, which when com
pieiuu uuueu iiiuun lvj uvhcotiiic a interest,
and now the mill village has a
well attended school.
In 1897 R. A. Whitlock organized a
knitting mill, also a modern ginnery
plant, which was a great asset to the
business side of the town.
About three years later J. J. iJittlejohn
organized the Jonesville Manufacture
Co. which also has been a
great advantage to the commercial interest
of";the town. The McWhirter
ginnery as well since cotton raising is
an important feature of that section,
although corn, peas, potatoes and
hogs have the -upper-most place in
Jonesville farmers minds, as well as
most others these war times.
It is said the quinces of antebellum
times were most abundant in ths section,
but now all sorts of fruits and
vegetables from coon collards to the
finest nursery fruit grows luxuriantly
here.
The first appearance of any municipal
organization was formed in 1878.
The povernment was vested in a town
council, four aldermen and intendant,
often called Mayor, Gen. B. B. Foster
hemp their first intendant.
Here the excellence of the characters
of the Confederate soldiers is attested
by a beautiful monument to
their memory, by John Hames U. I).
C., erected in 1907, in the center of the
street near Hotel Jonesville. On this
towering shaft are contributed the appropriate
words:
The arms are stacked,
The flaps are furled,
The sound of battle no lonper falls
But our soldiers showed to a waitinp
world
How to answer when duty calls.
This chapter was organized with
Mrs. J. L. McWhirter president and
twenty-six charter members. Since
their organization they have done
noble work, they have contributed liberally
of their brave sons to this
world-wide strupple, of these patriotic
women's sons the Jonesville Coast
Artillery was formed about three
years apo, with T. M. Ellerbe as captain.
These women were more heroic
than the old Quaker woman said ir
time of farmers wars. "Why were
men so foolish and even wicked as tc
po to war and kill one another, il
they would only be let alone, thej
would die of themselves.
But now their arms they have shoul
dered
The flags are unfurled
The sounds of battle these days dotl
fall
And now our soldiers are showing t<
a waiting world
How to answer when their duty calls
COL. JOSEPH GIST
(By Mrs. Julia Rainey Farr, read b;
Mrs. Agnes Rice Peake.)
Joseph Gist was born 12th of Jan
uary, 1775 near the mouth of Fai
Forest river, in Union District. II
was thirteen years of age when h
removed to Charleston, where he wen
to school. He finally graduated i
ic Charleston College, of which
isliop Smith was the president. He
tudied law with that emminent at>rney,
Robert Harper. After his adlission
to the bar, in 1790 he came
# #
,o the country and was married in the
ear 1800, to Sarah S. McDaniel and ar
jcated himself at Pinckneyville, .
rhich was originally a point desig- ,n
ated for the Circuit Court for Pinckey
District, consisting then of Union,
Spartanburg, York and Chester, and
lthough the court was soon abolished,
nd courts established for each of the
ounties, which were afterwards call- **c
d Districts, yet the central character
f the location made it a very desirible
location, one for the practice
f the law. P(
Col. Gist served as the representa- ^
ive of Union eighteen years in the
louse. He participated largely in the
>assage of the general suffrage bill.
Ie was the leading member of the ^
ipper country. Indeed, when I first
aw the House of Representatives, in
811 I think he and Caleh Clark, Esq., W
m
vere the only lawyers who were mem- .
>ers above Columbia. I remember his ^
peech for Judge Grinke, and his note
igainst the impeachment. This was an ^
mpopular note in the upper country, ^
md especially in Union, hut I never
leard that it had the slightest effect
igainst Col. Gist. How he got the .
;itle of Colonel was as an aide to one
C!
)f the governors, when such an ap- ^
lointmcnt was some distinction. In ^
December 1809, he was elected a
w
nember of the Board of Trustees of
CI
;he South Carolina College and was n
continued by successive elections un- ^
;il he either declined, in 1821, or had
<1
been elected to Congress. My recollection
is he was elected to that body
in 1820, and took his seat in 1821. If
c
this be so, he was a member of the j
House of Representatives from 1802. ^
He was six years in Congress, and ^
in consequence of ill health declined ^
any further service. He died on the ,
8th of March, 1880 in the 01st year ^
of his age, leaving his widow and an .
only son John, surviving him. His
??? /Ua/1 lm^Arn him IT ic
ftUII. I* 1111 Ci III VUCM ....... ...?
s
son John, after a short life of benevo- ^
lence and usefulness, also died suddenly,
leaving no children. His widow, j
Sarah, and his mother, still survive .
him.
Joseph Gist, as a lawyer, had the j
singular good fortune to have a large
practice, almost from his beginning,
and to retain it to the last. His services
were so much desired that they
were often sought by both parties.
An incident of two men of wealth and j
standing in adjoining districts after a
hard run, meeting at his gate to employ
him in an important case is remembered
by his brother. This is not J
wonderful for he was indeed the law- (
yer of the four districts in which he ]
practiced. His influence with the jur- )
ies was almost unresistible, and was (
very great with the judges. He was
a good lawyer, and understood the
few books of his day, and applied them
well. His style of argument was
plain and clear. In the House of Representatives
he was listened to with
great attention. His speeches were
short and to the point. He was a man
or business and discharged a great
deal of duty on the different committees.
In 1815 he could have been
elected a judge, but declined the office,
and placed in nomination a gettleman,
then little known, Daniel
Johnson, ami by his influence elected
him. This was evidence of his high
""'i onnpiHMfltinn of an associate.
cum jugi "Kl'*v --
For no man in the State ever filled
the judicial office with more honor to
himself and benefit to the people, than
David Johnson. Col. Cist took pleasure
in advancing the interests of
young lawyers. Of those who studied
with him, and they were many all
experienced in a greater or less degree,
his kindness, many of them
were his partners. Of that number,
Nathaniel R. Graves, Esq., of Chester.
I had occasion more than once to experience
his favorable notice. In 1810,
he caused me to he employed in the
great equity case of Reid vs. Normnn,
and in 1820 induced his friend, ColChalmers
to employ me in the eon,
tested election for St. Andrews between
Colonel Cattell and himself. It
was a fine trait in his character. That
i he envied no one in the race for legal
s distinction. He was a member of the
, Baptist church for several years be>
fore his death, and adorned his profesr
sion by a talk and conversation which
showed to all men that "he had passed
from death unto life." I regret
that this notice of a great and good
lawyer, and of a useful, good man,
1 should he so meager, but few memorials
of the past are kept by relatives
^ and friends. The dead are mourned
for a time and then their lives (with a
few prominent incidents excepted) are
forgotten. The only records, especially
in the country, are the short
inscriptions on the stones placed over
y their graves. This is sad! hut it is
the fulfillment of the Scripture, that
l" 'the place that knew them, shall know
1 them no more forever." Page 219 of
c the Biographical Sketches of th(
t Bench and Bar of South Carolina, b>
n John Bolton O'Neal, L. L. I).
K ELTON
(By Mrs. Mary Hunter Young)
For much information in this paper
am indebted to Mr. Joe Chambers,
rs. B. G. Clifford, Miss Eliza Garner
id others.
About ten miles northeast of Union,
the Pea Ridge section of this eounis
the village of Kelton.
Formerly this was the poorest part
the county?and was called Pea
idge in derision.
In the year 1845, which was known
i the "dry year" so little rain fell
int crops were a failure, but an
>undant crop of peas was made in ;
lis section, and it has been called
?a Ridge ever since.
For many years Kelton and the enre
Pea Ridge country was rough and
ihh The men would collect in
owds at certain places, run horse
ices, gamble and invariably wind up
ith several fist fiphts. A well known
inister once said that whenever he
ent to Pea Ridpe to fill an appointent
be expected t? be invited to join
i a horse race or enpape in a fipht
afore RettinR away. There is a wonarful
ReoloRical rock-formation at
Helton, which covers about 2 acres,
nd is known as Raid Rock.
This little villape has about a dozen
jsidenees a few stores a nice school
uildinp, and several churches the oldst
of which is Flat Rock Methodist
hureh, which was built soon after the
'evolution. The oripinal structure
ras of rouph hewn Iors, the boards
averinp the roof were rived in the
ear-by woods and lump on the roof
y wooden peps made by hand?it was
lmost impossible then to pet nails.
About 1861 this old lop house was
orn down and in its place was erectd
a neat frame buildinp, principally
y the efforts and penerosity of Mr.
nd Mrs. .Tosiah Foster, who were af'ectionately
referred to by their
leiphbors and friends as Uncle Si and
tunt Sibbie?these two pood people
vere also the movinp spirits in buildnp
another of Kelton's best churches
?Foster's Chapel, a splendid brick
tructure?Bethlehem is also of the
flethodist persuasion?it was tiurnen
.bout 2 years ago, but was immediatey
rebuilt. Mt. Joy is a flourishing
iaptist church. It is said that once
ifter a heated discussion or church
'uss at Mt. Joy, a devout old deacon
.itting high in the Amen comer, took
lp his hat and walking stick and anlounced
to the congregation that he
vas going to do for that church what
,hc devil had never done, leave it and
nobbled down the aisle and out of
:he door. For many years camp
neetings were held at Flat Rock every
summer after the crops were laid by?
;he preaching was done under a large
;ent and many families would come
niles and occupy tents during the
meetings. It was a custom to blow a
trumpet after the dinner intermission
to recall the congregation* to the tent
for other services. There are two
churches for colored people at Kelton
that are a credit to the race?
good frame buildings neatly painted?
Ilethel Baptist church had its beginning
under a brush arbor on Mr. I). M.
Going's plantation.
Ebeneezer is a Methodist church and
for many years Jackson Foster, a
worthy colored preacher directed the
spiritual life of this congregation.
In a little grave yard about 2 miles
from Kelton is buried the Revolutionary
soldier Ellis Fowler, the Fail
Forest chapter has secured a government
marker for his grave but it has
not yet arrived?Ellis Fowler was 1st
Lieutenant in Capt. Chas. Sims' Co.
of Pickens Command?their commis
sions were issued them by Patricl
Henry when be was Governor of Vir
ginia?and Lrieutenant Fowler was
mustered into service at Albemarle
C. H., Va., in 1777, when only 17 year:
old. The will of Ellis Fowler is 01
record in the Probate Judge's office a
Union and bears date Feb. 22nd, 1808
After Capt. Sims was captured am
imprisoned by the Tories Fowler wa
made Captain of the Company and i
fell to his lot to accompany Mrs. Sim
back to ber home in Virginia.
Wm. and Chas. Gault, two soldier
of the war of 1812 are buried at Fla
Rock church at Kelton. Governmen
markers have been secured for thes
two graves and were erected by
descendant, Geo. T. Gault about on
year ago. Williams Gault was call
ed "Drummer Gault." The Pea Ridg
Volunteers was formed by voluntar
enlistment Jan. 5th, 18G1 with 90 me
and the following officers: Capt. W.
T. Glenn. 1st. Lieut. Chas W. Scot
2nd Lieut. Anthony Haney, 3rd Liei
Ed. J. McKissick, Orderly Sergeai
Jas. B. Steadnian of Union. This con
pany was well drilled at the old mu
ter ground at Gault's Spring and hr
reached a high state of efficiency wh<
it was mustered into service, beir
attached to the 5th Regiment Soul
Carolina Volunteers. .
A modern graded school now staiv
on the site of this old muster grou
Aunt Judy Griffin a famous ca'
maker of those times, would alwa
, come on muster days with a wagi
land of ginger cakes to sell to the me
The flag of the Pea Ridge Volu
' teers was placed in our Carnegie 1
brary in 1904, a gift of Mrs. I.
Union S(
a
DR. A
Representing
America,
AT BUFFALO,
/
At B<
The congregat
Baptist Churc
D
is a great lead
ance. He hi
Come, Hear
No Chai
McKissick?this hap: had been a treasured
relic of her son, the lote Ed. P.
McKissick, who prized it especially
t^CMuae ii, nad covered the body of
his uncle, Lieut. Ed J. McKissick,
when it was sent home from the battle J
of Seven Pines. There is also in the Library
a famous scrap of the battle
(lap: of the 5th Repriment. This llapr
was not surrendered at Appamattox,
H., out was cut in pieces the niirht
before Lee's surrender by some of
the men who prathered themselves top'ether
in a fence corner?cut up the
(lap: with their knives and divided the
small pieces amonp: themselves. This
scrap was brought home after the war
I and carefully preserved by Thos. N.
Kelly of the Pea Ridjre Volunteers?
his widow p:ivinpr it to Mrs. Clifford,
some time after his death.
It was at Kelton in 1801 that Prof.
. Low landed in a balloon, havinjr start.
ed at Cincinnatti?the day before
;: some of the folks took him for Xorthl-M
ti? \VJ1?
ern spy, wnne umci bnvu^>.v ..v.
an embassary of the devil, great ex.
citement prevailed, and he was about
:! to be killed when he pave the Masonic
. siprn for help and protection?immed,
iately several Masons went to his relief,
and brought him to Union, where
, he hurriedly took a train for his
, northern home.
t Kelton enjoys an enviable and
unique position because the first vvoI
man suffragist in South Carolina
s hails from her borders?for more than
t 30 years she has espoused the cause
s of woman and ably fought for her
eights and she is to bo congratulated
s that she lives to see the success of
t her efforts?I refer to the brilliant
t and esteemed Miss Eliza Garner.
( Speaking rrf Russia's peace, the
u kaiser says "it's a moment when wc
e may admire the hand of God." Al
other moments, Rill is probably dis
e nioncrvl with God.?Chattanoogi
y News.
n ? ?
I. The rich profiteer and the striking
t, worker are two of a kind.?Wilming
it ton Star.
it ?
COOPER FURNITURE EXCHAN6E
ld 27 Main Si. UNION, S. C.
?n Buy, Sell and Exchange Everything
th in Furniture
Very Low Prices 011 Rebuilt Furniture
Is
id. - ?
E E. F. KELLY & BRO.
on
REAL ESTATE
na
Union, Soutli Carolina
o.|l
irvice At
. H. CLA!
the Anti-Saloon
will deliver an ,
WEDNESDAY, A
it 7:30 O'clock
iptist Ch
ions of the M(
:h will unite in
R. CLAFLIN
ler in the cause
is a strong mess
Him Wednesd
rges For Adm
Let Us
Your
< We have installed one of
mills in the county and ar
your corn at any time. W
the best service |)ossible. )
driven by a thirty-five hor
W. Cooper will be in charg
reputation of being one o
State. We will make every
? ask you to give us a chair
I what we can do. After giv
that you will become one of
We will also buy your <
you the market price. Ar
of corn to he ground at one
arrangements with you. <
rear of the C. E. Lipscoml
Hames Gr
X%\WN\\\V\NN\\\\\N\\\\N^
; 1 Are Good Value
! I $749.00 Dclivere
ij. Everything that gives va
| CHEVROLET, and it dot
? one. It costs very little
:ji
' I LET US
I W. E. GREEN, D
C. N. ALEXANDER, D
Buffalo!
^LIN
League of
address
IARCH 20th
urch
3thodist and
this service.
I
of Temperage
for you.
(
ay Evening
ission
M II I III ????
Grind
Corn
the largest and best corn
o now prepared to grind
'e guarantee to give you
rVe have a large rock mill
se power motor. Mr. W.
;e of our mill and has the
f the best millers in the
' effort to plea: e you, and
cc to demonstrate to you
ing us a trial- we feel sure
our regular customers,
corn, pay cash, and give
iv one having a quantity
time, we can make special
Our mill is located in the
) building near our store.
ocery Co.
CHEVROLET |
I CARS
J
For The Money
d At Your Home. j
I
1 n<" to a Car you find in the 5
s not cost a fortune to own j
to operate one. !
SHOW YOU!
Baler, Union, S. C.
iealer,Jonesville,S.C. >