Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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JUDGE ARTHUR SIMKINS. (Continued from page One) .were the men under Ferguson, Green, also Sumter and Pickens who drove Cornwallis from the South and made possible his final surrender at York town. These were the soldiers that followed immortal Washington as he marched onward to victory and to glory and started the buildirtg of a nation which now leads the world. It should never be forgotten, as the writer has said by the children of Revolutionary sires that there were foremothers as well as forefathers who should be honored. Did time per mit, I would love to recount the self sacrifice and heroism of the women of the Revolution. Elizabeth Ellett in her "Women of the Revolution" says that the first foot which "pressed the snow clad rock of Plymouth was that of a fair young maiden, and that the last survivor of those heroic pioneers was also a woman who lived to see the planting of twelve out of the Thirteen Colonies which formed the nucleus of the United States. I might tell you of the self-sacrifice of Rebec ca Motte, of the romantic and daring ride of Emily Geiger as she carried the order from General Green to General Sumter; of Sabina and Ann Elliott, born in the old City by the Sea; of Behethland Foot Butler, an cestor of the late lamented General M. C. Butler and of cur distinguished friend now present, General M. L. Bonham. She was the mother of sev en sons, among them Andrew Pickens Butler, for many years a distinguish ed member of the judiciary of South Carolina and United States senator, and another of them being Andrew Pierce Mason Butler who fell at the head of the Palmetto Regiment in Mexico. There were a host of others, who, like our noble women of the 1 present day, "kept the home fires burning," and with splendid patriot- ' ism served their country in all her wars. But this is not the matter ex- . pected of me today, but to tell of one j. who was among the first settlers of Edgefield District and who, upon the ' commencement of the Revolutionary ; War immediately relinquished all purposes of self aggrandizement and . with the true spirit of a patriot, de- ? voted his energies to the service of ] his country. I am decidedly democrat- j i,c in word, thought and deed; not a j genealogist, nor very much given to j matters of that kind, but I am proud ? of my people and the record they , have made. I sometimes fear that , ; s'?me have false ideas of the mattet of ? recording and preserving the history , of families. Such a one is apt to be , thought a crank with undesirable ? aristocratic tendencies; for my part , I believe everyone should have a his- , tory of their family and preserve it as a legacy. Away back yonder, Peter the Her- j mit, addressing the Crusaders to the , Holy Land said: "Brave knights, re member the deeds of your ancestors." j It was written by the Roman historian . Sallust: "Often have T '..eard that Quintal Maximus, Publius Scipio and other renowned men of our common- ^ wealth used to say that when they t beheld the images of their ancestors, ~( they felt their minds vehemently ex- j cited by virtue, and recollections of j their great actions kindled a gener ous flame in their breasts, not to be quelled till they, also by virtue, had 1 acquired fame and glory." Edmund j Burke, in his great speech on Recon- j ciliation with America, gave expres sion to this lofty sentiment: "They , who care nothing for the deeds of j their ancestors need not look for- . c ward to the doings of their posterity." Shall we not, then, commemorate f the heroic days of old and the men -v of the past, for the emulation of our \ youth, and the inspiration of our c manhood? v The first of original Simkins as ( in recorded in Lenox Library, New a York, (where by the way, is record- r ed the genealogicol tables of most of I the Northern and New England fam- z ilies) came over from the port of \ London on the 10th of August 1635,4 1 'in the ship Safety, John Grant being s Master. He was twenty-three years r of age and came over in company 1 with a hundred others as colonists, t The next notice seen of Ralph Sim- t kins is that in 1659 he and his wife, t Susanna sell to Sam Finn his planta- e tion in Bruton Parish, except two i acres which he gave to a church. This i Ralph was the grandfather of William ( Simkins from whom the present fam- t ily derive their descent. The record v records that during the Revolution- t ary War the Committee of ?Safety 1 for Hampton County where the fam- ] ily resided, elected in December -\ 1774, consisted of fifteen members s and among them was William Sim- I kins. This William was born in Ac- 1 comae County, Virginia, married s Sabra - in 1734; of this mar- c riage three children were born, Will- s iam, who married Ann Dunton and ( lived and died in North Hampton > County, Va.; Covington and Arthu the latter born in l?42, married Ma garet Dalby in i'/61 and this is tl early pioneer w). -se memory we ai here to perp?tu?e and who settle this spot and cic&j*d the origin forests. In 1772 he moved fruin Vi ginia to South Carolina, settling fil on the Congaree River near our beai tiful Capital City and in Decembi of that year moved to Cedar Fiel? in Edgefield District. When he le: Virginia he had three children, Joh: William and Nancy and the younge; son, Eldred, seeing the light of da at Cedar Fields, and in this buryin ground a streak of sunlight touch? the marble shaft erected to Eldre Simkins, bom in the "stirring year c 1775 and who died in 1831; a splei did lawyer, a promoter of educatio and religious activity, a member c Congress and law partner of Georg McDuffie, who was one of the cour try's greatest orators. The old site c Cedar Fields is still recognizable, a avenue of very ancient and bare lool ing cedars leading to a cabin now o< cupied by negroes, the original mar sion having been torn down and th timber used to" help build thc Tomp kins residence at Centre Springs an che residence on the Edgewood es tate. These cedars tell the story o the past in their bleak and gloom; appearance, for they have been lef these many years as sentinels to hoi in secret the history of this once hap py and handsome home. True, th storms of centuries have marrei their beauty and symmetry, and the; are different now from the day when Judge Simkins rode ben ea tl their shadow to the brightness am beauty and joy of this home to whicl they led. They have heard the merr: prattle of little children, the bustli of plantation life, with the hundred: of slaves. There groups of merry children play ed, There youths and maidens, dreaming strayed, All are scattered now and dead, And when I ask with throbs of pain When shall they all meet again? The ancient cedars make reply: Never here, forever there, When all this parting, pain and care And death and time shall disappear. These silent sentinels witnessed the frappy marriage celebrations, and saw time after time the sad procession as it wended its way to the family bury ing ground where one by one they all passed and are sleeping their ,last sleep, undisturbed, because in this secludeid spot there is an atmosphere of pathos and solemnity that slack ens the cread and hushes all the rude sound. The iron gate has rusted and fallen from its hinges but this matters not for marauders and ghouls never mter here. Judge O'Neal in his "B<mch and Bar of South Carolina" says: "Ar ;hur Simkins was of the most respec /able class from the Eastern shores )f Virginia, and emigrated early in ife to Edgefield District. He came irst to the Congaree, but being solely lissatisfied with that locality, passed inward to the more distant and less 'requented forests of the Savannah ;ide of the state. After several years )f observation he ultimately settled a ine body of land on the waters of l?og Creek, in Edgefield District, a jlantation still remembered by many ts the "Cedar Fields." Here he lived md died. He was County Court fudge under the old system and was ooked up to as a standard of worth ind probity by all who lived within he sphere of his influence. When the levolutionary War broke out, he of lourse sided for independence of the .olonies and served his country faith fully and with a hero's devotion. He i vas a member of the General Assem )ly of South Carolina after the Rev ?lutionary War and also of the con tention which adopted the Federal Constitution. He voted against the tdoption of the Constitution, as did learly all the delegates from the Ninety Six District. General Sumter md Governor Pickens were both op josed to its adoption upon the ground hat it took too much power from the eparate states and consolidated too nuch in the general Government, and >oth of the sections of the State vo ed unanimously against the call of he convention to ratify the consti ution. Arthur Simkins was not an ?xception to this statement. Sound in )rinciples, and conscientious in pol tics, he remained a member of the General Assembly for many (perhaps wenty) consecutive years and was miversally respected for his* snfl- ' dicity, truthfulness and sagacity of ^ lis life and character. He died in ' 1826 leaving a large property. He : vas a Baptist in his religion, and was 1 ?eldom missing from his place in the ' iouse of God, even in the years of 1 lis extreme old age. His youngest ' ion was Eldred and from the delicacy 1 )f his constitution as also his great sprightliness of temperament, and 1 luickness of mind he became the fa- < rorite of his father." In Moultrie's Revolution, page 1 we read : "Arthur Simkins was an i telligent, active and brave officer, staunch friend to his country ai zealous in-her cause." It is recorded in Judge O'Neal Annals of Newberry County that 1783 an ordinance was passed a pointing Commissioners to divide tl Districts of Charleston, Georgetow Beaufort, Cheraw, Camden, Nine Six and Orangeburg into Counties i convenient size. In Ninety -Six tl Commissioners were "Andrew Pic ens, Richard Anderson, Thomas Bra don, Levy Casey, Philemon, Wate and Arthur Simkins." Judge Simkins was not only a gre? patriot but a very devoted Christia; having been an active and consiste] member ?f the Edgefield Bapti Church towards the erection of whic he contributed largely. He was pr vious to that time a member of Ste1 ens Creek Church, bringing his lett? from that church on the organizatio of the Edgefield church in 1823. : was through the influence of his soi Eldred, who was a devoted friend t Dr. Basil Manly and a fellow studer in the South Carolina College, ths the Edgefield Baptist Church was e? tablished, as may be seen in the his tory of the church. Judge Simkin was the first moderator of the churc and acted in that capacity until hi death September 29, 1826. The fol lowing inscription on his tombston partly tells the story of his usefu and eventful life. "He was an arden patriot, having served his countr; for about forty years in various sei vices without reproach and withou reward." Eldred James Simkins, late a ver: distinguished citizen of the grea State of Texas, State senator an< judge of Supreme Court of Crimina appeals and author of the present Ap pellate System of Texas, a deseen dant of John Simkins, in a letter t< Dr. F. W. P. Butler says: "I was fre quently at Cousin Arthur's hom< (the Editor of the Advertiser) anc remember his placing before me ar old portrait that hung over the fin place in the sitting room, and saying 'This is our grandfather Eldred, anc he was a most remarkable old man, and he told me about him, his great age, his honesty and the high respect he had won by his life. I have often thought of that conversation but somehow I understood Cousin Arthur to say he was a member of the House of Burgesses in Virginia before he came to South Carolina." It is near ly forty years since I saw it? And in this letter Mr.' Simkins spealre df the great kindness shown him by Gov ernor Bonham, Chancellors Wardlaw and Carroll, Professor LaBorde, splendid representatives of some of the best families of Edgefield. Two descendants of Arthur Simkins mar ried the two war governors of South Carolina, Governors Pickans and Bonham. Wills are generally valua ble contributions to the history of families, and the will of Judge Sim kins is no exception to the rule. It reads : "In the name of God Amen; I, Ar thur Simkins, Sr., of the District of Edgefield and State of South Caroli na, do make and ordain this, my last ?viii and testament. "1st. I give and bequeath unto my son, John Simkins all that tract and parcel of land lying eastwardly of the /illage of Edgefield, left of lands now )ccupied and claimed by Mrs. Tutt ind bounded by land of Benjamin Frazier which tract I purchased of Peter Youngblood. To the said John Simkins and his heirs forever, the "ollowing negroes:" (Naming about ifteen.) This John was the eldest ?on of Arthur and when the survey )f the county was made by Thomas Anderson in 1817 he was living not :ar from Cedar Fields near the road eading to Meeting Street. His home md the dot indicating his house ap )ear on the map. He was ordinary of Sdgefield County from 1803 to 1833, vhen he died at the age of seventy >ne. His wife was a Miss James of Virginia, daughter of Hezikiah and Sabra James. This name, Sabra, has >een handed down. John had nine :hildren. Some died young. One son, Tesse, a daughter, Behethland Brooks, sabra^ a daughter married John speed Jeter who was solicitor of the southern District and served as a nember of the House of Representa res and State Senator. Another narried a Mr. Harris who built the >riginal house on the same spot now jccupied by the Hon. J. L. Mims. Mr. reter lived at the" place now owned )y Mr. Ransom Padgett. Another laughter of John Simkins, Elizabeth, narried John S. Glascock, a distin guished lawyer of Edgefield and state Senator and Major General of ;he 1st Division of South Carolina Militia. It is said that he was a won lerfully genial and popular man. Continuing the will of Arthur Sim ons: "To Arthur Simkins, Jr., a son )f John, a house. 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