The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1901-1982, June 10, 1921, Page PAGE TWO, Image 2
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
WRITTEN BY FORMER CITIZEN
(Continued from first page)
peated in Pennsylvania and again in
this State, bear witness to the love
for the names in the old country.
as later colonists from our State to
the distant West have carried to
Louisiana and Texas the name of
Winnsboro.
A diary of one of these early set
tIers in this spot would be full of in
terest now. Their daily round of du
ties, their engagements and recrea
tions, their labors and pastimes
would seem strange to us, their de
scendants. The historian describes
their dress as follows: Hunting
shirt, leggins and moccasins adorned
with buckles and beads. The hair
was clubbed and tied up in a deerskin
or silk bag. Or, at times, the fash
ion was to shave off the hair and wear
white linen caps with ruffles around.
The women's dress was long eared
caps, Virginia sunbonnets, short and
long gowns, stays, quilted petticoats,
and high wooden heels. It was com
mon for the men to attend church in
shirt sleeves.
One important and profitable busi
ness was cow-driving. The uplands
afforded excellent pasturage for stock.
These were sometimes killed for their
skin, but most usually were driven to
Charleston, or, in some cases, to New
York. Another business full of ex
citement and profit was hunting.
Many a drove of pack mules has gone
from this region down to Charleston
laden with buffalo tongues. or skins
of the beaver, panther or bear. After
breadstuffs one of the first articles
to repay the labor of the farm was
tobacco. Far down in to the present
century hogsheads of tobacco were
carried down to . Columbia or Char
leston. Each hogshead was on a
truck, or rather each was made into
a truck by putting wheels to it and
a single horse was hitched to it.
Two fairs were held annually for
many years, in May and October.
from Tuesday until Friday, for the
sale of horses, cattle, grain, hemp,
flax, tobacco and indigo. In that I
simple age these fairs answered in
place of daily paper, arrival of cars
and public days. No historian was
there to record it, so that we are left
to: fancy the different currents of
business, politics, friendship, love and
gossip, news from "home," which met
on this spot, when the dwellers came
together with the gathered curiosity
and excitement of a half year. Here
all the passions which elevate or de
grade, refine or corrupt our nature
-found the'ir excitement and gratifica
tion.
"The thought we are thinking, they
too would think,
From the death we are shrinking
from, they too would shrink,
To the life we are clinging to, they
too would cling,
But it sped from their grasp, like a
bird on the wing."
It may be feared that these fairs
were often a faithful imitation of the
Irish original, the glass of grog and
the sheialah not excepted. These
fairs came down in some form to the
memory of some now living, but afte
the organization of county courts,
court week and salesdays gradually
Gibbesgran
Do4
"EveryIf it do<
for 11
Job Is
Guaranteed" Cao
Gibbi
;upplanted them. In the country
places the transition stage was lung
marked by the itinerant peddler, that
very necessary character in . a cer
tain stage in the history of civiliza
.ion. The population here was not
lo homogeneous as in some of the
djoining districts as York and
hester. Whig and Tory were more
qually divided. The bloody scout
ever came east of the Broad river,
mut the dwellers On these hills took
lifferent views of interest and du
;y when the great question of al
egiance came to the last decisive
:est.
Communities, and famiies even,
vere divided. Whig and Tory were
iext door neighbors, using, in some
nstances, the same spring, watching
nd even laywaying each other. This
rave se to many inci 'lnts of per
;onal daring and suffering. But these
livisions were not as lasting after the
var as might have been expected.
here were noble spirits on the con
luering side who rose t' the height
'rom which they could say .to the
eaker party, "We have disarmed
7ou by force, we will now conquer by
dindness." Many of the last surviv
)rs of these times refused to tell the
-ounger generatiop the name of those
vho had taken the wrong side. In
-any cases the children of those who
ad fought each other formed alli
inces of business, friendship, or even
.ove, thus sympathies and affection
lowed together again like "sister
treams which some rude interpos
g rock had spit." This is doubt
ess one reason why so many incidents
)f the Revolution have perished, or,
:orn from the details of time, person
d place, which alone give an in
:idcnt a definite existence or a vivid
>lace on the historic page. have lost
ill local interest. Some may lament,
>thers may affect to despise or be
ishamed of this trait of our nature,
)ut, if you call it a weakness it is
not without its alleviations and its
!ompensations. It would be sad in
leed, and would go farther to make
;ociety intolerable, if the intense
passions of war should be handed
down, uncalmed, through years of
peace.
Cornwallis' Headquarters
Our district is not so rich in Rev
utionary incidents and associations
as either one of our neighbars, York
Chester, Lancaster or Kershaw. Nc
battle was fought in this county,
After the fall of Charleston the firsi
ray of light in the general gloom
which followed (June 1779) was from
a gallant little affair planned ir
Winnsboro by Bratton, Winn and Me.
Clure, and carried out at Mobley's
meeting house, 12 miles west of this
where the Tories had a little garri
son The- gallant Sumter alluded tc
this exploit with pride many years
after in Congress. The chief ass3.
eiation that binds Winnsboro to the
Revolution arises from a short resi.
dence of Cornwallis after the battle
of Kings Mountain, which took place
Oct. 7, 1780, After the fall o:
Charleston, in the spring of that year
the State was considered a conquere
province, and. Cornwallis, then chie:
commander in the south, had begur
his northern march to finish the wvorl<
But when the success at Kings Moun,
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tam (October) revived the hopes of I
the colonists, he fell back from Char
lotte to this place in order to take
his position betweeen Green at Che
raw and Morgan at Ninety-six, Ab
beville. He left Charlotte Oct. 14,
1780, and reached here Oct. 29. The
tradition in Chester is that his lord
ship, a few miles below that place,
turned aside to his left, either for c
water, forage or safety and opened t
the road which, coming by Hopewell t
efurch on Rocky Creek, joins the main c
road again at Cockrell's, eight miles 9
above this place. He stayed here v
until early in January, 1781. His a
hospital was over the branch beyond s
the Presbyterian church. The small- I
pox was among his troops during r
their stay here and some graves can s
I be seen there within the memory of
those now living. Traditions still s
linger among us about an attemnt to y
shoot the general on one of his daily t
rides down the Camden road. John d
and Minor Winn wera th- nersons
who formed the daring plot. They r
were arrested, tried and sentenced to t
death, but pardoned.
The Rock spring, east of the freizht
depot, supnlied the camp. His lord- t
ship's quarters,are said to have boon
at the intersection of Washington
and Walnut streets. Sumter was
hovering around him while here and A
once or twice came within a few miles p
of the camp. At last Cornwqllis sent
Wenyss to surprise Sumter. then on
the banks of Broad river, near Fish
dam ford. In this attempt the brave _
but unfbrtunate British officer signal
ly failed. I have heard the venerable
Benjamin Hart of Columbia, say that S
he was at school on Little River at
the time, and on th first of January
he came into Winnsboro and saw his i
lordship review his troops. Extracts g
from Tarleton's Memoirs, after min- a
ute inquiries and examinations: S
"Wynnesbourg presented the most t
numerous advantages. Its spacious l
plantations yielded a tolerable post,
its central location between the
Broad river and Wateree afforded r
protection to Ninety-six and Camden, t
and its vicinity to the Dutch Fork and ti
a rich country in the rear promised e
abundant supplies of flour, forage q
and cattle."
About the people-"the friends 1
hereabout are so tinid and so stupid 'i
that I can get no intelligence." Let
ter to Tarleton, dated Wynnesbor- S
ough, Nov. 23, 8 p. m.-.'I have no V
doubt your victory will be attended o
with good consequencesat oug affai t
as it is with honor and credit to your- V
self. I shall be glad to hear that o
Sumter can give us no further trou- 9
ble. He'certainly has been our great- n
est plague in the country." Dec.4- ii
"Rugely will not be made a briga- c
Cornwallis left this camp on the s
7th or 8th of January and was at I
Turkey creek, 25 miles distant, when
the battle of Cowpens (Jan. 17, 18)
took place. Tarletoni says: "Fergu
son's fall at King's Mountain put a
period to the first expedition into
North Carolina and the affair at Cow
pen overshadowed the commencement
of the second."
No one has fully done for Fairfield
what Judge O'Neale did for Newberry I
or Daniel Stinson for Chester. There S
are at least two instances to show the
d angers of postponing the work E
f collecting and printing these chron
icles. We allude to the history of
Fairfield, especially the western part
'of it, by Phillip Edmund Pearson.,~
and the history of Mount Zion by
Col. W. McCreight. It would be a
work worthy of the best committee
the citizens could appoint to see if
these manuscripr~ are still in exis
ter.ee and to place them beyond the
casualties to which single copies of
manuscript are erposed. There are1
facts in each which can scarcely be
rplaced by any living man or exist
ing books. Col. Pearson left Win is
boro in 1838, before many present
were born, and after spending the
closing years of his life in the wilds
of Texas, recalling the scenes of his
youth and recollections of the facts
and incidents he had heard from older
men, Some present can recall him
as he used to walk from his office. on
the spot where one of the .stores in
George McMaster's large brick build
ing stands, to his -dwelling, now own
ed by Maj. J. R. Aikent. Perhips
more. than one present may. have re..
Icalled his first idea of a large librarv
"from the wvell filled .shelves of his
law office." as we passedl it daily to
school. Col. Pearson was fond of
historical and antiquarian researches.j
He wrote the article on Fairfield dis-r
trict in Mills' Statistics, a book per
haps little known, as copies are
scarce. It was published in 1826. T
Perhaps the list of its Fairfield sub- I
scribers even may be of interest. The
names are: James Barclay, ThomasI
Means, David Aiken, Caleb Clarke,
Joseph Campbell, James Campbell, I.
NOTICE OF ELECTION.
itate of South Caroina,
County of Fairfield.
Whereas petitions signed by a le
:al number of the qualified eleccors
.nd freeholders residing in Palmet
o School District No. 31, Fairfield
ounty, S. C., asking for an election
pon a proposed 9 mill special school
ax in addition to the .... mills now
arried, for school purposes. making
total of .... mills, have been filed
ith the County Board of Education, i
n election is hereby ordered upon 4
aid question, said election to be held 4
'riday, June 24th, 1921, at the Pal
ietto school house, the trustees of
aid district being the managers.
Those favoring the additional tax
hall vote a ballot containing the
rord "YES" written or printed 4
hereon, and those against the ad- 4
itionja! shall vote a ballot con- e
aining the word "NO" written or
rinted thereon. Polls shall open at
le hour of 9 o'clock in the forenoon
nd shall remain open till the hour
f five o'clock in the afternoon when
ey shall b, closed and the ballots
unted.
The tristpe shall report th0 re
alt of the election to the County
uditor and Secretary of the County
nord within ten days thereafter.
By order of the County oBard.
J. L. Brice, Co. Sunt..
Secretary.
NOTICE OF ELECTION.
tate of South Carolina,
County of Fai- : 1.
Whereas petitions signed by a le
al number of the qualified electors
nd freeholders regiding in Avon
chool district No. 7 Fairfield coun.
, S. C., asking for an election u-on
proposed 8 mill special school tax,
addition to the .. mills now car
ed, for school purposes, making a
>tal of .. mills, have been filed with
le County Board of Education, an
lection is hereby ordered upon said
uestion, said election to be held at
7. L. Reid's store, Saturday, June
, 1921, Trustees of said district be
ig the managers.
Those favoring the additioial tax
hall vote a ballot containing the
ord "YES"written or printed there
n, and those against the additional
xx -shall te a ballot containing the
rord "NO written or printed there.
n. Polls shall open at the hour of
o'cock in the forenoon and shall re
iain open till the hour of five o'clock
i the afternoon, when they shall be
[osed and the ballots counted.
The Trustees shall report the re..
alt of the election to the County
oard within ten days thereafter.
By order of the County Board.
J. L. Brice, Co. Supt., Sect'y.
NOTICE OF ELECTION.
tate of South Carolina,
County of Fairfield.
Whereas petitions signed by a le
'al number of the qualified electors
nd freeholders residing in Black
tock School district No. 34, Fair
.eld county, S. C., 'asking for an
lection upon a proposed 8 mill spe..
ial school tax in addition to the .
nills now carried, for school pur-.
oses making a total of .. mills
ave been filed with the County
oard of Education, an election is
Lereby ordered upon said question,
aid election to be held Friday, June
7th, 1921, at Blaine's store, Trustees
i sad district being the managers.
Those favoring the additional tax.
hall vote a ballot containing the
v'ord "YES" written or printed'
hereon, and those against the ad
itional tax shall vote a ballot con
aining the word "NO" written or
rinted thereon. Polls shall open at
.he hour of 9 o'clock in the forenoon
Lnd shall remain open till the hour
if five o'cock in the afternoon, when
hey shall be closed and the ballots
ounted.
The trustees shall report the re
ult of the electin to the Couney
uditor and Secretary ,of the County,
3oard within ten days thereafter.
By order of the County Board.
J. L. Brice3, Co. Supt., Sect'y.
FINAL DISCHARGE.
Notice is hereby given that John
V. Catcart, administrator of the es.*
ate of Mrs. N. A. Dickey, deceased
.as this day made application unto '
ne for a final discharge as such ad
inistrator; and that the 12th day
f June, 1921, at 10 o'clock A.M. at
iy office, has been appoisted for the .
earing of said petition.
W. L. Holley, 9
Judge of Probate, Fairfield Co., S. C..
May 12, 1921. 1'
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