USA > South Carolina > Marion County > A history of Marion county, South Carolina, from its earliest times to the present, 1901 > Part 38
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According to the chart of the Bethea family in all its branches, including the Nansemond County, Va., Betheas, the Cape Fear, N. C., Betheas, the "Buck Swamp set," and the "Sweat Swamp set," Captain Elisha C. Bethea "takes the cake" for having and raising the greatest number of sons, eleven ; while Dr. J. F. Bethea stands next, with eight. Not much dan- ger of extinction. Colonel James R. Bethea, the second and youngest son of old man Philip Bethea, who has been men- tioned in several places herein before in connection with other matters, married, rather late in life (thirty-four or thirty-five years old), to Miss Mary McLeod, of Marlborough, one of the best and most devotedly pious women I ever met; and should
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A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
any of her children turn out badly in the future, it cannot be charged to any fault in the mother's training, either by precept or example; they had and raised (Jessie, the oldest, was near grown when he died) six sons and three daughters; the sons were Jessie, James D., Philip Y., Elisha, D. McLeod and Robert Lucien; the daughters were Kate, Clara and M. Isa- bella. Of the sons, Jessie died when about grown. James D., the second son, married Miss Flora Fore, daughter of the late Stephen Fore; she is dead. Of James D.'s family, mention has already been made in or among the Fore family. Philip Y., the third son, now in Marion, a first class business man; has been County Auditor, and is now and has been for ten or more years cashier of the Bank of Marion; married Miss Florence Johnson, of Charleston, a distant relative of his-his father and Florence's grand-mother, Sallie Strobel, were first cousins; they have had six sons (one, Philip Y., dead), Eugene, Arthur, Johnson, Stewart, Philip Y. and Markley, and three daugh- ters, Eloise, Edith and Mary McLeod-none of whom are mar- ried. Eugene, the eldest, is in the Philippines or China, in the United States army, an officer, a promising young man, and may rise to greater distinction. The other children are all at home-Eloise and Arthur are grown. Philip Y. has a very interesting family ; his wife is a superior woman, and well fitted by education and early training to raise a family. Elisha, the fourth son of Colonel J. R. Bethea, was quite a promising young man, but the fates decreed that he should not live, and he died when twenty-five or six years of age, unmarried. D. McLeod Bethea, the fifth son of Colonel J. R. Bethea, a first class man, an excellent and successful farmer, married Miss Florence Fore, daughter of the late Stephen Fore, and who, with his family, have already been mentioned herein in or among the Fore family. Robert Lucien, the sixth son of Colonel Bethea, has married twice; first, a Miss Shaw, of Bishopville; by her he had one child, a daughter, Leona, who is now nearly grown. The first wife died, and he married, a second time, to Miss Rosa Carnes, of Bishopville, and by her has some three or four children ; names and sex unknown ; they are yet children. Robert Lucien lives in Bishopville, and runs
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a hotel .* Of the daughters of Colonel J. R. Bethea, the eldest, Kate, married Gibson G. Crawford; both of whom and their family have already been noticed herein among the Betheas above. The second daughter of Colonel Bethea, Clara, mar- ried Holland Manning, who lives on her patrimony, and are doing well-in fact, Clara is an extra smart and sensible woman ; they have two children, daughters, both children, Mary Belle and Hope. Holland Manning was a widower with five children, three of whom are married ; he has a place of his own in extreme upper Marion, which he rents. Colonel James R. Bethea died in 1878, at sixty-nine years of age, and his widow, Mary, some years afterward. The youngest daughter, Isa- bella, or Belle, has never married ; she has a good farm, which she rents ; she also teaches school, and when not thus engaged she stays with her sister, Clara Manning.
Colonel James R. Bethea, when young, imbibed a military spirit, and manifested a strong ambition to attain to high hon- ors in the militia of the State. Starting as a private in his local beat company (Cross Roads), he soon obtained a Lieutenancy ; and from that to the Captaincy of the company ; and from that to Major of the upper battalion ; and by seniority soon became Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment ; and from that by election to the Colonelcy of the Thirty-second Regiment, which position he held at the time of his marriage, in March, 1844, and con- tinued to hold that position for three or four years afterward- and in the meantime declined to be a candidate for Brigadier General, to which place he could have been elected, perhaps, without opposition. He was an efficient officer, and was popu- lar as such. It was very expensive, and as he had a growing family he wisely chose to abandon the further pursuit of mili- tary honors (empty as they were), and devote his means to the support and education of his fast-growing family. He re- signed his commission as Colonel, and Elly Godbold or John J. George was elected in his place. They both were successive Colonels, but do not remember which of the two were first elected. Afterwards Colonel Bethea was elected as a Repre- sentative from the district in the State Legislature (1848 to 1850).
*He is now at Dillon in the same business.
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A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Of the daughters of Philip Bethea, a son of old "Buck Swamp John," Clarissa, the eldest, never married, and died in 1861, at the age of fifty-eight. The second daughter, Marga- ret, married Willis Finklea, called Arter Willis ; in a short while Finklea moved to Alabama; there they had several children, five of whom were raised. Willis Finklea was a drinking man and treated his wife badly, so much so that she could not stand it; they separated, and her father, in 1841, went to Alabama, Monroe County, in a wagon, and brought her and her five chil- dren back to Marion County ; Finklea soon after died; her chil- dren were raised mainly by her father; there were two sons, James C. and William ; the daughters were Lucinda, Sallie and Margaret Agnes. James C. Finklea is now one of our fellow- citizens, known as Captain Finklea, in Wahee Township, and, in fact, all over the county. Captain Finklea volunteered in Captain C. J. Fladger's Company E; 23d South Carolina Regi- ment, in the Confederate War; went off as a Sergeant in that company. Captain Fladger in a few months resigned, and Harris Covington, First Lieutenant, became Captain, the other Lieutenants went up, and Captain Finklea was elected Third Lieutenant, made vacant. Some time after Covington re- signed, and the company was reorganized by orders from the proper authorities, and Captain Finklea was elected Captain of the company, and served gallantly until the latter part of 1864 -having fought through all the campaigns from Virginia to Mississippi. At that time Captain Finklea was the senior Cap- tain in the regiment, when by the casualties of war the Major's office became vacant, and according to rules of promotion, Cap- tain Finklea was entitled to the place; but a Junior Captain was promoted, by appointment, not by election, to the Majoralty over him; when Captain Finklea resigned and came home, and did not return to the service. It was said he was a good and brave Captain; that his men all loved and respected him, but he was not popular with the higher officers, because he always associated with his men and not with them. Captain Finklea is known as a modest, retiring man; not self-asserting. Had the vacancy for Major been left to his company, he would have gotten the vote of every man; he sympathized with his men, fared as they fared, and assumed no superiority over them on
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account of his position. As an evidence of Captain Finklea's popularity, when he was first elected County Commissioner, a few years ago (he was twice elected), he received every vote at Berry's Cross Roads, something over 200. He is a man of good sense, a good and safe manager of his farm and home af- fairs, unostentatious and unassuming, rather avoids company- unfortunately, of late years, his habits are not good. After the war he went, first, to Alabama and then to Texas, where he married a Miss Kyle; she had one child for him, a son, who died in infancy, and the mother died; he then came back to South Carolina, and married the widow of Dr. William H. God- bold, a most excellent and cultured woman ; by her he had one son, named for his first wife, a very promising boy, but he died at the age of four or five years. William Finklea, the young- est brother, died when about grown. Lucinda, the oldest daughter, married John T. Kinney, of Marlborough, and emi- grated to Texas, where they raised a family ; both are dead, and nothing is known further of them. Sallie, the second daugh- ter, married Cyrus B. Haselden ; they had and raised five chil- dren, two sons, John and Frank, and three daughters, Lucy, Maggie and Fannie. Cyrus B. Haselden and wife, Sallie, and family, have already been noticed in or among the Haseldens. Margaret Agnes, the youngest daughter of Willis Finklea and wife, Margaret, never married, and died of cancer on the breast, at the age of forty, in March, 1882. A noble girl she was. Martha Ann Bethea, the third and youngest daughter of old man Philip Bethea, married W. W. Sellers, the writer, Ioth January, 1847, and died 2d February, 1893; they had seven children, four sons, John C., William W., Benjamin Morgan and Philip B .; of these, Benjamin Morgan died a little under two years of age; three daughters, Anna Jane, Rachel C. and Mary O. Of the sons, John C. is a graduate of the South Carolina College, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1870, was elected to the Legislature in 1870, practiced law only one year, and retired on the farm where he now lives ; his first wife was Miss Maggie E. Mace, daughter of the late John Mace; she had seven children, three sons, Benjamin B., John M. and Wallace Duncan; of these, John M. died under one year old; there were four daughters, Lucy B., Annie R., Maggie Leila
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and Maggie Ellen (called Pearl). Benjamin B. Sellers is a graduate of Wofford College; married Miss Norma Watson, youngest daughter of the late William Watson ; they have two children, Harry and Margaret Ellen; he is farming. Wallace Duncan's education is not completed. Of the daughters, Lucy B. is a graduate of the Columbia Female College; she married D. Maxcy Watson; they have no children. Annie R. went to the Female College for more than a year, but did not graduate; is unmarried. Maggie Leila is near grown, is going to school. Maggie E., called Pearl, was only three days old when her mother died; her Aunt Rachel Norton took her and has so far raised her; she is near thirteen years of age. W. W. Sellers, Jr., married Miss Harriet J. McPherson, daughter of C. Ervin McPherson, of West Marion; they have had seven or eight children, only three of whom are living-two daughters, Rachel Elise and Etta; the son is Marvin McSwain-none of them grown. W. W. Sellers, Jr., is one of the Chiefs in the present State Constabulary, and has been for several years; he resides at Latta. Philip B. Sellers is a graduate of Wofford College; studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1884 (May) ; he married Miss M. Sue DuBois, daughter of J. T. DuBois, of Marion, in December, 1886; they have five children, three sons, John DuBois, Philip Bruce and William Maynard, and two daughters, Agnes Leona and Mildred Eugenia-all children, none grown ; he resides at Dillon, and is actively engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, with apparent success. Of the daughters of the writer and his wife, Anna Jane, the eldest daughter married her cousin, D. N. Bethea ; he and Anna Jane and their family have been already noticed in the same connec- tion, Betheas. The second daughter of W. W. Sellers and wife married Hon. James Norton, of Mullins; they had but two children, sons, Evan Lewis and William Fitzroy. Evan Lewis, the eldest, died when four or five years of age. Wil- liam Fitzroy grew up to manhood; first went to Wofford Col- lege, and after two years spent there, he went to the law depart- ment of the South Carolina College for two years, graduated in law, and ipso facto became a lawyer-he does not practice, however; he married Miss Florence Smith, daughter of B. Gause Smith, at Mullins; they reside at Mullins, and have no
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children. Mary O. Sellers, youngest daughter of W. W. Sel- lers, married Thomas N. Godbold, a son of Dr. W. H. God- bold; they have only three children living, Thomas Carroll, Anna and Bessie. Thomas N. Godbold is in the railroad ser- vice, on the "Plant System" between Charleston and Savannah. This family has already been noticed in or among the Goldbold family. Recurring back a few lines: John C. Sellers, after living about ten years a widower, married, a second time, to Miss Jaquiline Oliver, of North Carolina, 2d February, 1898- a most excellent woman ; they have had two children, boys, who are both dead. Elisha Bethea, fourth son of old "Buck Swamp John," known as old Colonel Elisha, never married. It is said of him that he was a very handsome man in his young days ; he was born in 1787, and was Captain of a company in the war of 1812-14; he was better educated than any of his brothers-in fact, better than most men of his day. His father left him a fine property, his homestead and a large number of negroes; few men of that time had such a prospect. He was very popular and had more natural politeness than any Bethea I ever saw. But, alas ! the demon of intemperance ruined him ; he died poor in 1854, at the age of sixty-seven years. After the war of 1812, he became Colonel of the militia. He was true to his friends and true to his country. It seemed to be his delight to make others pleasant, happy and comfortable even at the ex- pense of his own convenience. This was the man after he became poor, which proved it to be natural with him. His bearing and appearance in poverty and old age was that of a nobleman, of a cavalier. Parker Bethea, the youngest son of old "Buck Swamp John," was born in 1790, and was given his mother's maiden name, Parker ; he settled opposite the head of Catfish, at the Cross Roads on the Marlborough line, twenty- two miles above Marion, and died there, St. John the Evangel- ist Day, 27th December, 1867; he married Elizabeth Harllee, daughter of old Thomas Harllee; they raised two sons, Harllee and Benjamin Parker, and four or five daughters. Harllee had one son, Reddin, and Benj. P. had one named Charles. Harllee moved to Florida many years ago; his wife was a Miss Roberts-Benj. P.'s wife was a Miss Woolvin; he moved just after the war to Pender or Onslow County, N. C., thirty miles
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on the coast above Wilmington. These families have already been noticed in or among the Roberts family and the Harllee family.
One more remark about these old Betheas, sons of "Buck Swamp John." They all loved liquor and, except old Philip, drank it to excess, till after middle life, when they tapered off, and by the time of old age became perfectly abstemious, and this was specially the case with William, James and Parker. They were all good men and excellent citizens, and did much in starting the development of the resources of the county. The first gin house built in the county was built by old "Buck Swamp John;" it stood on what has ever since been called the "Gin House Branch," near the Cross Roads, at John C. Be- thea's plantation ; a good part of that gin house is still in use. After the death of old "Buck Swamp John," in 1821, the plan- tation fell to old Colonel Elisha, and he in his financial extremi- ties years afterwards sold the gin house to Cross Roads Henry Berry ; he pulled it down and hauled it to Berry's Cross Roads, and it stands there now, the property of James Berry, between his (James Berry's) dwelling and the storehouse. It has been there, to the writer's knowledge, more than sixty years.
Of the grand-sons of old "English John," John settled on Buck Swamp, as already stated, and William settled on Sweat Swamp; he married, and had four sons, John, Goodman, Philip and Jessie. Of these, John, the man who, after the Revolution, hung the Tory, Snowden, married, and he had and raised four sons, William, Tristram, John and Cade-the latter, no doubt, is remembered by many now living in upper Marion and else- where in the county. Goodman Bethea married and had two sons, Philip and Jessie. Philip, the brother of Goodman, never married, or if he did, he had no children. Jessie, the fourth son of old "Sweat Swamp William," had Hugh Goodman, Wil- liam, Henry and Tristram. 'According to the Bethea chart none of these latter five had any posterity. Supposed they emigrated to parts unknown or died in youth. William, the grand-son of "Sweat Swamp William," had seven sons, John, Tristram, Philip, Jessie, William, Thomas C. and Cade. Of these latter, John, William, Thomas C. and Cade had no off-
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spring. Cade is in upper Marion now an old man .* Of the other three, Tristram had one son, named William; Philip had four sons, Jessie, William, Tristram and Philip+-these last four seem to have had no offspring. Jessie, the great-grand-son of old "Sweat Swamp William," had five sons, John, William, Charles, Farquehard and Holden; their mother was a Miss Bethune; she had some daughters, one the wife (now dead) of Patrick Finagan. By the Bethea chart now lying before me, none of these five latter Betheas have any offspring, but the writer knows to the contrary. John has twelve or thirteen children, boys and girls. Holden married Miss Alice Rogers, daughter of Jessie Rogers, and has some children. The Be- thune wife of Jessie Bethea had a daughter other than Mrs. Finagan, who was the wife of the late Edward C. Shrewsberry. Tristram, the grand-son of old "Sweat Swamp William," mar- ried and had one son, Philip, who was a lawyer, but did not practice much here, and soon went to Alabama, and his father soon after moved himself there; father and son have been lost sight of-suppose both are long since dead. John, another grand-son of "Sweat Swamp William," married Miss Hannah Walker; by the marriage four sons, William W., Alfred W., David W. and John B., were had and raised, and five daugh- ters, Sophia, Mary Ann, Charlotte, Sallie and Hannah. Of the sons, William W. married, first, Mary Bethea, a grand- daughter of "Buck Swamp John;" they had three sons, John F., Dallas and William; don't know of any daughters by Wil- liam W.'s first marriage ; he married, a second time, Miss Mary Platt, a daughter of old Daniel Platt; by his (Platt's) second marriage with Polly Lane, a daughter of old James C. Lane, who was a son of old Osborne Lane, I know of but two chil- dren; by William W. Bethea's second marriage, two daugh- ters-Hettie, the wife of John C. Bethea, of Dillon, who has already been mentioned; the other daughter married a Mr. Floyd, a son of Judge Floyd, of Alabama or Mississippi. J. F. Bethea (our Dr. Frank Bethea) married his first cousin, Hannah Jane, daughter and only child of Dr. Alfred W. Be- thea ; by this marriage eight sons, Alfred, Preston L., Tristram, William, Frank, Charles, Archie and Victor, and, I think, three
*Died recently.
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daughters, Flora and two others whose names are not known, have been born. Alfred (I think) died about the time of his majority. Preston L. married a Miss Weatherby, daughter of Colon W. Weatherby, of Bennettsville, and resides at Dillon. Tristram married a Miss McRae, daughter of Hon. James McRae, of Albriton, in extreme upper Marion; he resides at Dillon. Frank married a Miss Smith, of Alabama or Georgia, and is now a resident of one of those States. William recently married a Miss McLeod, of Robeson County, N. C. The other three sons are yet with their father, Dr. Frank, I suppose, not grown. Of the daughters of Dr. J. F. Bethea, the eldest, Flora, married Tristram Thompson; she was a most excellent lady, loved and respected by all who knew her. The Doctor's two other daughters are minors and still with him. Dr. J. F. Be- thea is a successful man every way ; as a farmer, he is a man of affairs, a turpentine and saw mill man, is merchandizing at Dil- lon, he and his sons (don't know how many or which), under the firm name of J. F. Bethea & Co .; he has once represented the county in the State Legislature. Dallas Bethea, brother of Dr. J. F. Bethea, is in Mississippi ; he has three sons, William, Preston and Franklin. Alfred W., another great-grand-son of "Sweat Swamp William," married Flora Bethea, a daughter of Tristram Bethea, of Floral College, who was one of the "Cape Fear set," and by her had only one child, a daughter, Hannah Jane, who married Dr. J. F. Bethea, with the results above stated. Dr. Alfred W. Bethea was no ordinary man; he was eminent as a physician, a good farmer, a well-informed man and of sound practical sense and judgment ; he was a member of the Secession Convention of 1860; he was waylaid, shot and killed by the deserters in the last months of the war, much re- gretted by all who knew him; he lived where Dr. J. F. Bethea now lives ; the widow, who survived him, is now dead. David W. Bethea, another great-grand-son of "Sweat Swamp Wil- liam," married, first, Miss Sarah Jane Manning, daughter of Mealy Manning, of Marlborough ; by her he had two sons, Le- Roy and David W., they are both married. LeRoy has two sons, Henry and Leon-these have already been mentioned in or among the Mannings and Easterlings, to which reference is made. David W., Jr., has lately married, I think, a Miss
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A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Townsend, of North Carolina; gives promise of becoming a useful man-is already so; if like his mother he cannot be otherwise, as she was one of the best of women. D. W. Be- thea, Sr., represented the county one time in the Legislature, 1860-1862; he was a good citizen ; he married, a second time, a Miss Brunson, of Darlington, who yet survives; no offspring. John B. Bethea (the youngest), another great-grand-son of "Sweat Swamp William," married Elizabeth A. Bethea, a daughter of Captain Elisha C., of the "Buck Swamp set ;" they had four sons, as already mentioned among the "Buck Swamp set," to which reference is made. Of the daughters of John Bethea, the grand-son of "Sweat Swamp William," as given herein above, Sophia, the eldest, married Robert B. Platt, and in a few weeks or months after her marriage she was acciden- tally burned to death, and, of course, died childless. Mary Ann, the second daughter, married Levi Bethea, of the "Buck Swamp set," and has already been herein noticed in the "Buck Swamp set," to which reference is made. Charlotte and Sallie, the third and fourth daughters; both married the same even- ing-Charlotte to Zack Fulmore and Sallie to Dr. John K. Alford, both of North Carolina, where they thereafter lived and died; know but little of the family of either. Hannah, the fifth and youngest daughter, married Alexander Fulmore, of North Carolina; they moved to Alabama; know nothing of them. Cade Bethea, the youngest grand-son of old "William of Sweat Swamp," through his son, John, married Kittie Be- thea, a sister of "Floral College Tristram," and a great-grand- daughter of Tristram, the son of "English John," who settled on Cape Fear River, N. C .- her father being Jessee and her grand-father was Jessee, whose father was Tristram, the settler on Cape Fear, whose father was old "English John." This I get from the chart now lying before me. Cade Bethea and Kittie had and raised five sons and three daughters; the sons were John W., Evander R., William C., Calvin and Henry ; the daughters were Caroline, Harriet and Mary Ann. Cade Be- thea settled on Sweat Swamp, north side, just opposite the mouth of Beaver Dam, on the south side, where he lived and died; I think the place now belongs to Hon. D. W. McLaurin. There was but one Cade Bethea in regard to character; he was
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an incessant talker, and in his latter days was always on the go, around among his kinsfolk and friends ; was a great complainer and murmurer, and to hear him tell it, he was going to come to nothing-going to perish to death. An illustration of his char- acter in this regard may be here related : On one occasion, his nephew, Creek Jessie Bethea, went to see his Uncle Cade, in the month of July or August; the old gentleman was in his piazza -it was a very hot day ; the old man was complaining and mur- muring as usual, that his crop was a complete failure, that he was not going to make anything, and he and his family would all perish in a pile. After a while, Jessie, his nephew, proposed that they would go out and look around his crop; the old man did not want to go; said he did not want to see it-it made him sick to look at it; they, however, went, and after looking around and seeing it all, Jessie remarked to him, "Well, Uncle Cade, your crop is ruined-you won't make anything. I thought my crop was hurt pretty badly, but not near as bad as yours ; I de- clare you will not make bread and you will have to go to the poor house." The old man Cade replied, "You are a liar, sir ; my crop is as good as yours, and I am not going to the poor house either." This is not all that was said, but is the pith of it, and shows pretty clearly what the old man was in this re- spect. Jessie knew him, and said what he did just to bring the old man out, and to hush up his complaints. John W. Bethea, the eldest son of old man Cade, married a Miss McLaurin ; they had and raised four sons, Jessie, Laurin, Festus and Alonzo, and one daughter, at least, who became the second wife of Robert A. Brunson; they moved to North Carolina. Jessee, the oldest son of John W., married an Alabama lady ; he died four or five years ago, at Dillon, and left his widow, two sons, Jessie and John, and two small daughters, Bessie and Lucile. John W. Bethea and wife are both dead. Evander R. Bethea, the second son of old Cade, married Mary Ann Stackhouse, and had one son, Jasper, and three daughters, Josephine, Carrie and Nannie, all of whom have already been noticed in or among the Stackhouse family. Laurin Bethea, the second son of John W. Bethea, married a Miss McLaurin, as I think; he is a farmer, and lives on Buck Swamp; know nothing of his family. "Fet" Bethea, the third son, married a Miss Stackhouse, daugh-
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