USA > South Carolina > Marion County > A history of Marion county, South Carolina, from its earliest times to the present, 1901 > Part 47
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A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
between Co-operation and Secession, or Separate State action, in 1851. The contest was exciting and bitter-every nerve was strained and every legitimate means used by each party. The county was carried by the Co-operation party by only thirty- five majority, and the success of the party in Marion County was attributed mainly to the eloquent appeals to the fears of the people by Colonel Mullins; he was a natural born orator, and having a mind well stored with general knowledge of affairs, and especially with the knowledge of governmental science, his stump speeches were overwhelmingly effective. The State was also carried my a safe majority for Co-operation, and thus pre- vented, for the time, the final issue between the North and the South. The Secession party believed then, as it is most gene- rally believed now, if the State had then ( 1851) seceded, there would have been no attempt on the part of the Federal Govern- ment to coerce the seceding State or States, as the case might be; that the fanaticism of the North had not been worked up to the point of war as it was in the next nine or ten years, and the South would have been allowed to depart in peace. Whe- ther that would or would not have been better for us, need not and cannot be discussed here. Thus was Colonel Mullins in- troduced to the people (publicly) of Marion, and initiated into South Carolina politics ; he filled a large place in the confidence of the people, it may be said, to the end of his useful life. In . 1852, there was a general election for Senators and Represen- tatives in the Legislature, and the contest in that election was about as lively as it had been the year before-each party had its candidates. The result was that Dr. Harllee (Secession) was elected Senator by 171 majority, and Dr. W. R. Johnson (Secession) and W. S. Mullins and Colonel W. W. Durant (Co-operation) were elected members of the lower Houses by small majorities. Colonel Mullins was then successively elected to the lower House from that time to 1868, when Reconstruc- tion put him out, with all other Democratic white people. Colonel Mullins at once took a high stand in the Legislature-a strong and successful debater, was one of the then several leaders in that body. During his career as a member of that body he was run for Speaker against (now) Judge C. H. Si- monton, and was beaten only by three votes. There were
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strong men then in that body-such men as James Simmons, B. F. Perry, C. H. Simonton and many others. To be Speaker of that House was no little honor or attainment. William S. Mul- lins was no ordinary man-hence so much space (much needed) in this book is devoted to him. He was brilliant, quick and always ready, and had a reputation as orator and leg- islator of which his adopted people and his family, descendants may justly be proud. Colonel Mullins was President of the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad Company for one or two years ; he was also elected Senator to the Legislature in 1872, but was counted out, as all other Democrats elected that year were by the Radical election officials then in power. As already stated, he married Miss Hodges, and they raised to be grown six sons, William L., Frank, Charles, Edward, Henry and Guerry, and three daughters, Mary, Lizzie and Julia. Of the sons, Frank and Charles died young men and unmarried. Wil- liam L. is yet unmarried. Edward married a Miss Shaffer, lives in Marion and, I think, has two daughters, not grown ; he was so unfortunate as to be accidentally shot on Thanksgiving Day, a few years ago, by which he became paralyzed and lost both his eyes. Henry married a Miss Norwood, daughter of Geo. A. Norwood, of Greenville, and is one of the leading mer- chants of Marion ; has two or three children (small) ; he was a graduate of the South Carolina College; studied law and entered upon its practice with flattering prospects of success, but after two or three years abandoned it altogether, engaged in merchan- dising, and is now following it, in partnership with his brother- in-law, Samuel A. Norwood, at Marion-apparently doing a large business. Guerry Mullins, the youngest son of Colonel Mullins, married, first, Maggie McKerall, daughter of the late W. J. McKerall, Esq., who died childless, in about a year after marriage ; he married, a second time, Miss Emily Price, daugh- ter of the late Dr. D. S. Price, of Marion; think he has by her one or two children ( small) ; he is engaged in buying cotton at Marion. The eldest daughter, Mary, married Joseph McIn- tyre, of Marion; they live at Mullins, and own and cultivate the old homestead of her father, W. S. Mullins ; they have several children, some of them grown, names unknown to the writer. Lizzie, the second daughter, married Dr. Archie McIntyre, of
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Marion, within the last year; they live in Marion. Julia, the youngest daughter, is unmarried. Dr. James C. Mullins, the second importation from North Carolina, after graduating in medicine, came to South Carolina for the practice of his profes- sion, about 1851, and located first near Parnassus, in Marl- borough County ; he married there Miss Artemissia DeBerry, a daughter of old Henry DeBerry ; he moved to Marion just be- fore the war, and settled in the town for the practice of his chosen profession, and at once obtained a good and lucrative practice; he had three children, sons, Benjamin R., Henry and Johnson ; he went to the war as an army surgeon, and remained therein till the end at Appomattox; his wife, Artemissia, died during the war-I think, in 1863 or 1864; he came home from the war, and remained a widow until 17th May, 1871, when he married again, Miss Florence Moody, daughter of E. J. Moody; by this marriage he had three sons, R. Randolph, Frank K. and Charles Woods, and one daughter, Florence. Of these, Frank died unmarried, a young man. Randolph and Wood are both single. Of the children of his first wife, Henry, a very promising young man, died in Bennettsville, where he was engaged in a profitable business, some ten or more years ago. B. R. Mullins, his oldest son by first marriage, married a daughter of Dr. Dixon Evans, of Marion, and has several chil- dren; he is a capital business man and is now Sheriff of the county, and promises well in that important position. Johnson, the youngest son by his first marriage, went West some years ago. R. Randolph, the oldest son by the second marriage, is in business (druggist) in Greenville. The Doctor died some five or six years ago; his widow, with her two youngest children, Woods and Florence, live in Marion. Dr. Mullins was an ex- cellent physician ; up to a short time before his death, he did an immense practice and had the confidence of the entire commu- nity ; for the last year or two of his life, there seemed to be a failure of his mind-his mental powers gave way. Colonel W. S. Mullins and Dr. J. C. Mullins, it was said, had a brother, named Henry, who was more talented than either of his bro- thers ; he went into the war as Captain of a company in a North Carolina Regiment, and was killed in battle in Virginia. The Mullins were loyal to their section.
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GREGG .- Robert J. Gregg, formerly of West Marion, and one of the numerous and respectable family by that name, came over on the east side in 1818, and married a Miss Evans, a daughter of old Nathan Evans, and sister of the late Thomas Evans, Sr., and ever after lived and died, in 1874, in the town of Marion ; he had and raised two sons, William Wesley and Rob- ert Evans Gregg, and several daughters. Of the daughters, one, Serena, became the wife of William C. Foxworth, who raised a family, now among us as fellow-citizens. Another, Ann, married John Woodberry, of West Marion, and she raised, I think, two sons (names not remembered). Another married the late William J. Dickson ; she had and raised quite a family-four sons, James J., Bonna (both dead, unmarried), Wesley and Maxcy, our present County Auditor. Wesley married in Darlington and resides there. Maxcy is unmarried (he and a maiden sister live together) ; and, I think, four daughters. The eldest, Ida, married Dr. D. S. Price, and is now a widow, with some children. Two other daughters mar- ried George C. Walsh, and he and the latter wife have gone West. Of the two sons of old man R. J. Gregg, William Wes- ley married a Miss Wayne, of Georgetown; they had a family of the three sons-William, who was killed in the war, Wesley and Robert James; and three daughters, Nannette, who mar- ried a Mr. Carter, and have gone elsewhere, and Anna and Lizzie-the two latter are unmarried. Our fellow-citizen, Wesley L. Gregg, married a Miss Bell, of Columbia, an excel- lent lady ; they have, I think, three sons (names unknown), all grown, and one daughter, whose name, I think, is Belle. None of the sons of Wesley nor the daughters are married. Wesley is a cotton buyer of Marion. Robert James Gregg, the younger brother of Wesley, married a lady, I think, of Wilmington, N. C., her maiden name not known ; they have a considerable fam- ily ; sex and number not known, some of them are grown ; he is merchandising at Marion. The father, William Wesley Gregg, was killed or died of disease in the war; his widow still sur- vives and is now well advanced in years-an excellent old lady. Robert Evans Gregg, the younger son of old R. J. Gregg, mar- ried a Miss Shaw, sister of the late Judge Shaw ; they had sev- eral children, don't know how many. A son, Robert E., Jr.,
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who married a Miss Miller, in Marion; he died last year-don't know whether he left any child or not. Another son, Thomas, who is unmarried and lives at Dillon, superintends the Emerson Hotel in that town, and is a worthy young man. Another son, who died some four or five years ago, not grown. The eldest daughter, Nannie, married Henry E. Gasque; she is a very smart woman-they have one or two children; and another daughter, Lena, grown and unmarried. If there are other chil- dren, they are unknown to the writer. Robert Evans Gregg died two or three years ago, at about seventy-five years of age; was an industrious and harmless man, honest to the core. The old man, Robert J. Gregg, the progenitor of all the Greggs herein mentioned, was one of the best of men-"the salt of the earth;" he was Tax Collector for the county in ante-bellum days for more than thirty years-was first elected in 1838, and was elected every two years consecutively thereafter till the war. The Tax Collector in those days took the tax returns, which the Auditor now does, and then collected the taxes, and made his returns to and paid over the moneys collected to the Treasurer of the Lower Division, in Charleston. And the old gentleman, often before the day of railroads, walked to Charles- ton and carried his returns and money, paid it over to the Trea- surer, and bring home a clear receipt. On one occasion, he and General William Evans were in Charleston together-old man Gregg a foot and the General in a sulky ; they both left Charles- ton on the same morning, a three days' travel from home. Sometimes one would be ahead on the road and sometimes the other, and so they had it, and on the evening of the third day, old man Gregg arrived in Marion about half an hour ahead of the General. This was fifty years ago or more. Great im- provements have been made since that time-the facilities for travel and communication with Charleston and with the world generally have been greatly multiplied; but while these great improvements have been made, the morals of the county has greatly deteriorated. No Tax Collector or County Treasurer would now dare take such a trip with his thousands of money in his pocket ; he would be killed and robbed on the road, as was Treasurer Copes a few years ago, in Orangeburg County. No doubt, old Uncle "Jimmy Gregg" felt as safe on the road then
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as he did at home-if he had felt otherwise, he would not have ventured the trip. During the long service of old "Uncle Jimmy Gregg," as he was affectionately and familiarly called in that office, there were never any shortages, as now-a-days- not the least breath of suspicion of wrong-doing, be it said to his credit in memory of him. It is a legacy to his descendants to be prized higher than wealth, more precious and lasting than gold. Wealth may take to itself wings and fly away, but char- acter never. R. J. Gregg was one of the extensive family of Greggs in West Marion, but to which branch of that family the writer knows not.
COLLINS .- Of this scattered and extensive family the writer has not been able to gather sufficient data from which to con- nect them and to trace their genealogy satisfactorily. The first now known of them were two brothers, a hundred or more years ago-the two brothers were Thomas and Jonah. Thomas was the progenitor of the Collins about Maiden Down and Mul- lins. The writer saw old man Thomas seventy years ago; he lived and died on Maiden Down and Martin Swamp, right at the junction of the latter with the former; he was then past middle life, and, I think, was a Justice of Peace or Magistrate away back in the 30's-a prominent man in his day ; he had a family, but do not know who his wife was; he was the great- grand-father of the late Sheriff Robert Collins. He had a son, named Thomas (and perhaps others), who was the father of John, Solomon and Samuel, and probably four daughters. Solomon and John married sisters-the sisters of old Captain John Rogers, of the "Fork" section; and their father, Thomas Collins, Jr., married, for a second or third wife, another sister ; thus it appears that the father's wife and the wives of his two sons, Solomon and John, were sisters-and if they all had off- spring by the respective marriages, it would be difficult to tell what relation the children would be to each other. John Col- lins, the grand-son of old Thomas, was the father of the late Sheriff Robert Collins, and of his brothers, the late Stephen T. Collins and Samuel Collins ; John may have had other sons and, perhaps, daughters, not known to the writer. Don't know who Samuel Collins married ; or anything of the children (if he had
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any) of Solomon Collins. There are two very respectable, good citizens now in the Mullins section, by the name of John and Owen Collins-they, perhaps, are sons of Solomon Collins or Samuel; they both have families. Owen has a son, married, who is called "Romney"-that his true name is Deuteronomy, a name taken from the Pentateuch, one of the five books of Moses. Stephen T. Collins, brother of Sheriff Collins (older), married Miss Margaret Smith, daughter of Hugh Godbold Smith ; he raised a family, how many and of what sex is not known; he had a son, Hugh Collins, living on the road to Mul- lins just above Gapway Church, who seems to be doing well, and has a family ; he also had a daughter, who married E. B. Owens, already noticed among the Owens family. Stephen T. Collins may have had other children but they are not known to the writer ; he was deputy for his brother, Robert, while Sheriff, and was very efficient ; he died a few years ago. Robert Col- lins, the Sheriff, married a Miss Powell, of North Carolina, and had and raised a family of three sons and, perhaps, daughters. Of the three sons, Barney, the eldest, married a Miss Wall, sis- ter of George Wall, of Marion; they have a family, already mentioned among the Walls. John, the next son, died a young man, at Marion, whilst his father was Sheriff. Sydney, the youngest son, married some one to the writer unknown, and has gone out of sight-don't know what has become of him. Sheriff Collins, the father, died some years ago. The writer will here relate the circumstances under which he became Sheriff : In May, 1867, during the Reconstruction period, Neill C. McDuffie, who was then Sheriff, resigned the office, and the fact of his resignation was not known in Marion to the public for two weeks, when it became known in the following manner : The writer one day received a letter from Governor James L. Orr, announcing the fact, and saying that if we could get some man who could take the "iron-clad oath," that was suited to the office, that he thought he could get General Canby to appoint him, and urged that we attend to it at once, lest General Canby might appoint some objectionable negro or some carpet-bagger. I immediately showed the letter to Hon. A. Q. McDuffie, Judge Wilcox and others. It was agreed among us that Robert Col- lins was the man-that he was fit for the office, having been a
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deputy for several years, and that he could take the required oath, as it was known to us that he was opposed to the war. I saw Mr. Collins that evening and opened the matter to him; he said he could take the oath and would accept the office if he could give the required bond, and asked me to wait a reply to the Governor until the next day, when he would let me know whether he would accept or not. The next day he saw me and said he could give the bond and would accept the position. I immediately replied accordingly to the Governor, and in a few days the appointment came from General Canby through the Governor; and thus Robert Collins was made and became ยท Sheriff of the county. At the first general election after the Constitution of 1868, Collins was a candidate for Sheriff, and was elected for four years more, and served until his term ex- pired; he made an excellent Sheriff, and especially in those troublesome times, but was not "Radical" enough to get the nomination of the dominant party for a second term. Daniel F. Berry received the Radical nomination, and General Elly Godbold, the Democratic nomination, in 1872. The latter was elected, but was counted out, and Berry was counted in, as was the case with all others at that election. Of the two brothers, old Collins, Thomas and Jonah, the latter became the progenitor of the Collins below Marion and the Pee Dee Island Collins; don't know much about them. There were two or three bro- thers, descendants of old Jonah, to wit: William, James and Jonah-these were either sons of old Jonah or grand-sons. Wil- liam Collins was the father of Mrs. Valentine Rowell; he may have had other daughters and sons, of whom nothing is known. James Collins was the mediate or immediate progenitor of Ben- jamin Collins, of the Pee Dee Islands ; he may have had other descendants. The late Shadrach Collins, of Pee Dee Islands, the great fisherman-the man that in late years supplied the Marion market with Little Pee Dee bream and other fish, be- longed to this branch of the Collins family. Shadrach ac- quired the distinction or sobriquet of being president of the ugly club; he was not a handsome man, but a genial, good-natured one; always pleasant and in a good humor; ambitious only to live and to let live, did not want much of this world's goods. In the contest for the presidency of the ugly club, some twenty-
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five or thirty years ago, Shadrach was beaten by a man by the name of Powell, of West Marion; but Powell did not live long, and upon his demise Shadrach came in without opposition, and enjoyed his honors till his death, a few years ago. Under an unseemly exterior was a kind, good heart; he thought no evil and did none, and was respected by all who knew him.
Another family of Collins, not related, as I am informed, to those mentioned above, is that of the late John J. Collins, of the Ariel section; know nothing of his ancestry or where he came from ; he was, before the war, a very substantial man and citi- zen ; lived on a very poor place, yet he amassed a considerable fortune-did so mainly by raising young negroes. He was married, I think, three times-married, first, a Miss Wheeler, sister of General E. B. Wheeler ; she had one son, John E., and perhaps other children. John E. Collins married a Miss Davis, sister of B. F. and J. P. Davis, of Marion. John E. Collins had some children, about whom nothing is known ; he died, and his widow married a Mr. Floyd in Horry ; the Wheeler wife died, and old man John J. Collins marired a Miss Howard, aunt of Colonel R. G. Howard, of West Marion; by the Howard wife he had sons, J. Burt and Edward Collins, and may be others, and a daughter, who married McRae, the father of our late County Supervisor, John A. McRae; she also had another son, Malcolm D. McRae, and daughters unknown to the writer. Edward C. Collins married a Miss Legette, daughter of Colo- nel Levi Legette, and by her had five or six sons and two daughters. 'One of the daughters married Frank Fuller, and resides at Florence. Think the other daughter died unmarried. One of the sons (Woodson) died in youth; the other sons are scattered-some in this county and some in Florence. Mrs. Collins, the mother, died, and her husband, Ed. C. Collins, went to Florida. J. Burt Collins married Miss Prudence Harrel- son, daughter of old Hugh H. Harrelson, on the Buck Swamp, near Ariel; he was killed or died in the war; his widow sur- vived him, and two daughters; the widow married again to A. P. Johnson ; and the daughters married-one a Mr. Vaught and the other James Turbeville. The war and its results seemed to baffle and to paralyze the efforts of old man John J. Collins ; he could not adapt himself to the changed conditions and did not
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survive the war long-he died in June, 1871, broken in spirit and in fortune; a good citizen in his day. This account of the Collins families may not be correct in some particulars, but it is given according to my knowledge and information-it is not satisfactory to the writer, but is inserted as it is.
WIGGINS, OF WAHEE-The writer has not been able to ob- tain the genealogy of this family any further back than to old Micajah Wiggins, the father of the late Baker Wiggins. Old Micajah married (don't know who), and had and raised sons, Elias, Daniel, Micajah, Jr., Stephen, Benjamin and Baker, and one daughter, who married the late Thomas Shaw, and raised a family, who will be noticed further on. Baker Wiggins mar- ried Judah Foxworth, a daughter (I think) of old Job Fox- worth-if not a daughter, a descendant ; they raised three sons and two daughters, to wit: Charles, Henry Houston and Fran- cis Marion, and Virginia and Martha Ann. Charles died un- married. Henry Houston married Miss Florence Johnson, a daughter of the late William Johnson, of Wahee; they have seven children-one son, Harman, grown, the others not grown. Francis Marion, a merchant at Marion, unmarried, but ought to be. Of the daughters, Virginia married Corde Whiteheart; they have four children; reside at Florence. Martha Ann married Yancy Thomas, not long since, of whom nothing further is known. Baker Wiggins, the immediate pro- genitor of the above, was a first-rate man and excellent citizen ; unfortunately for him, he had no early opportunities for educa- tion; he could not write his name, yet he was genteel and very courtly in his bearing and manners; in these respects he was excelled by but few ; he was a well-rounded man and reliable in his dealings with his fellow-man. Elias Wiggins, brother of Baker, married, and had a family, how many is unknown-one son, Jasper Wiggins, and two daughters, Eliza and Susan. The son is unmarried. Of the daughters, Eliza married Joseph Powers; they have one or two children. The other daughter, Susan, is unmarried. Daniel Wiggins died, unmarried. Micajah, Jr., married a Miss Tanner, and removed to George- town. Stephen Wiggins married Elizabeth Powell; they had a daughter, who married Jerry Holden, a capital man and good
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citizen, in Wahee Township. Another daughter in Florida or Georgia-Susan (I think) ; don't know whether she is married or not. Benjamin Wiggins disappeared in the war-may have been killed.
There were in the early part of the nineteenth century some other Wiggins on the Pee Dee, who gave name to the "Wiggins. Landing," on Great Pee Dee; they figured and were prominent previous to 1820. They are referred to as relatives of old Mason Lee, in his (Lee's) will, which gave rise to the cele- brated will case of Mason Lee, as found in one of McCord's (second volume, I believe) Reports. Lee was a Marlborough man, and one of the most remarkable men I ever read of. He was wealthy, and gave all his property to the two States of South Carolina and Tennessee. He was never married. If he had died without a will, the Wiggins would have inherited his property. He had two illegitimate sons, twins ; one of them he acknowledged to be his, the other he would not acknowledge, and gave as a reason that in crossing a staked and ridered fence, that one of the boys went over the rider and the other went under it. He stated in his will that he did not want any of the Wiggins to have any of his property, and authorized his execu- tors to employ the best counsel in the State to defend his will against the Wiggins from the lower Courts to the highest Court. He further said that he would have given his property to the Penniwells, his two bastard sons, or the one he acknow- ledged, but he was afraid they did not have sense enough to successfuly contend with the Wiggins; and, therefore, he gave his property to the two States of South Carolina and Tennessee, who might be able to cope with the Wiggins. The will was attacked by the Wiggins, and it was carried by appeal from the Court of Ordinary to the Court of Appeals; the will was sus- tained, and the Wiggins were worsted. One of them was named Baker, and from that fact and the circumstances of their living near Wiggins' Landing, near the present location of the Wiggins family hereinabove mentioned, the writer draws the inference that the now existing family of Wiggins on Great Pee Dee are of the same stock as those related to old Mason Lee, and against whom old Mason had such strong aversion-this is only conjecture.
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