USA > South Carolina > Spartanburg County > A history of Spartanburg county > Part 16
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN Rails and Expansion
Problems The war interrupted Spartanburg citizens in the midst in 1866 of a determined effort to make of their courthouse town a railroad and trading center. Its end found them confronted with grave problems: The schools and manufacturing companies had, for the most part, invested their funds in Confederate money, and they were now facing bankruptcy. The long-continued strain on machinery and equipment had worn them out, and mills must be reconditioned or closed. There was no longer the demand for goods which had impelled their intense activity during the war, be- cause the people had not money with which to buy their products, and there was not a government to subsidize necessary industries. Their reserves were gone, and some way must be found to replace them. More distressing than any of these considerations was the problem of the freed Negroes, and the necessity of establishing new ways of daily living because of Emancipation. Even with return- ing prosperity, there was much poverty, and its pinch was felt more than at any time during the war. Loyal citizens who were suffering from consequences of their faith in the Confederate Government now took deep interest in the vain efforts of the legislature, in De- cember, 1865, to "scale" all debts-efforts that were eventually, but slowly, through the Stay Law, to achieve desirable results.
Although under military rule and perplexed about the national status of South Carolina, Spartans began the year 1866 hopefully. ยท The Spartan, suspended May 1, 1865, resumed publication in Feb- ruary, 1866. Its files from that time present a vivid picture of Spartan courage and energy, with advertisements of Charleston wholesale merchants and local merchants, plans for reconditioning the railroad, notices of establishment of tri-weekly hack service be- tween Spartanburg and Greenville, and accounts of community activities throughout the District.
A dark shadow rested over the entire District. Fall had brought the time for sowing grain, and hundreds of the people had none to sow. Appeals had to be made to generous friends who could help them. In the midst of returning prosperity, many women had no means of securing a livelihood. Local merchants and associa- tions were urged to follow the example of Charleston and Columbia 166
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by providing sewing and fine needle-work and a market for the product of the seamstresses.
News from Washington grew more and more disheartening. Talk of impeachment of the President was growing. South Caro- lina was still without representation in Congress. Leading citizens were without the right to hold office or even vote, except under the humiliating procedure of having been granted a "pardon" by Pres- ident Johnson.
Prosperity As the year 1867 opened, the people, taking stock of
in 1867 their resources, saw hope. Of the new crop of 1866, more than three thousand bales of cotton had left Spartanburg by wagon or train, and the largest holders had not sold. In fifteen or twenty brick stores, even though most of them had depleted stocks, merchants were enjoying good patronage. A carriage and wagon factory was doing excellent business, for the times, and anticipated expansion. Two large and prosperous saddleries, two jewelers, three colleges, and "one of the best hotels in the whole country" were among the assets of the village.
As the spring advanced, the reports of trade were cheerful. Wagons in large numbers came in from the mountains, loaded with grain, bacon, apples, potatoes, "mountain dew," and other goods. The Spartan urged visitors from "further down" to come up and trade :
We can furnish them with yarns and cloth from our Fac- tories ; iron, nails, and casting from our Rolling Mills ; lime from our quarries; wagons, buggies, and carriages from our work- shops ; harness and saddles by fine workmen; drugs and medi- cines from two fine apothecary stores, besides dry goods and groceries in any quantity and of great variety. Now is the time to patronize home enterprise. With good crops and a fair supply of money for the purpose of trade, we hope to see Spartanburg the most flourishing town in the up-country. .
There were still too many instances of destitution and misery, but general prosperity seemed to have returned. In June the farm- ers in all parts of the District were described as "indefatigable in their exertions to make a good crop." Women helped with the farm work. The "freed people," most of them, had proved themselves orderly and industrious. Many farmers were again able to buy new wagons and buggies.
In the fall, streets were crowded with loaded wagons, ready for
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trade and barter. Charleston wholesalers were warned by the local paper of the importance to them of holding this trade. The editorial rejoicing sounds almost Biblical :
The time has once more arrived, that there is bread in the land-when the sufferings of the poor women and children can be relieved; for, such scenes of utter destitution and absolute want, as has been witnessed, within the last two years, would touch the hardest heart with sorrow and sympathy. . .. Through- out the whole of last winter and spring, the trade of this town was better than it has ever been before, and only the scarcity of money prevented it from being much larger.
Farmers and Agricultural Affairs
Repeatedly throughout the year, the editor of the Spartan argued for heavy cotton planting, pointing out that cotton was always a money crop, and that corn, wheat, and peas could not be grown at a profit here. Cotton, he pronounced the one hope of the people of this section for "paying their debts, taxes, lawyers, physicians, merchants, and other de- mands ;" and he scoffed at the argument that the South should plant only enough cotton for home use so as to "spite the Yankees." Said the editor : "We don't care now who gets the cotton or who wears it so we get its value in money-which money would go a long way to help us out of the fix we are now in."
The Spartanburg Agricultural Society, "suspended since the War," nominated as delegates to the State Agricultural Convention, scheduled to meet in Columbia, April 28, 1869, Colonel G. Cannon, Colonel T. J. Moore, Dr. B. F. Kilgore, E. H. Bobo, Esq., John C. Zimmerman, Major William N. Foster, Captain A. Dean, Captain A. B. Woodruff, Captain A. Copeland, Colonel H. D. Floyd, J. H. Garrison, Major Harvey Wofford, Samuel Morgan, James L. Scruggs, Esq., John H. Evins, and Simpson Bobo. During the spring the Bethel Agricultural Society was revived, with a membership of more than one hundred and fifty, and manifested a special interest in the development of mechanical aids to agriculture.
The agricultural societies were soon obscured by the National Grange, known as the Patrons of Husbandry, which spread over the county rapidly in the '70's. The Republican organization fought it bitterly, denouncing it as "a trick of the Ku Klux Democracy."
Railroad While the problems of the freedmen, the shadow of Promotion confiscation, and lack of assurance as to their political future hung over the people of Spartanburg, they resumed efforts
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to secure more railroads. The summer of 1866 found plans under discussion for the continuation of the Spartanburg-Union Railroad to Asheville, and for the promotion of a railroad from Spartanburg to Charlotte as one link in a chain from New York to New Orleans. In July, 1868, a mass-meeting was held in Spartanburg to promote the extension of the Spartanburg-Union Railroad to the Block House, a distance of twenty-four miles.
Surveying parties were at work two years later trying to deter- mine the best route by which to link Charleston and Asheville with the West by way of Spartanburg. Communities were eargerly co- operating-pointing out the natural advantages of the old trails broken by the buffalo and developed by the Indian traders, the packsack peddler, the drover, and finally the colonists.
In September and October, 1871, while United States soldiers were galloping through the county and filling the jails with Ku Klux prisoners, and the air was permeated with hysteria, level-headed citizens were working to secure a railroad through Laurens from Spartanburg to Augusta, which, a prospectus pointed out, "would run through the wealthiest and most productive portion of our Dis- trict." The plans were set forth at a meeting held on October Sales- day, presided over by Simpson Bobo, with T. J. Moore as secretary. Speeches were made by Gabriel Cannon and John H. Evins, and a letter was read from W. D. Simpson. Evins offered a resolution, the gist of which was that Spartans were "willing to contribute of our time and our money to the extent of our ability." On the com- mittee appointed to secure subscriptions to stock were: J. H. Evins, G. Cannon, John W. Carlisle, A. Tolleson, A. B. Woodruff, J. C. Winsmith, T. J. Moore, F. N. Montgomery, J. B. Davis, D. G. Finley, and Dr. B. F. Kilgore. Fourteen years were to pass before these efforts met with success; for the branch of the Port Royal and South Carolina railroad from Spartanburg to Augusta began opera- tions in 1885.
Enthusiasm increased for securing the railroad to Charlotte, which would ultimately be a link in the proposed Airline from New York to New Orleans. Pleas were made for voters to tax them- selves the required $50,000, and so secure for their section this road, essential to their prosperity. Simpson Bobo, T. Stobo Farrow, Ga- briel Cannon, and John H. Evins were the outstanding leaders of a large group of persistent workers for railroad subscriptions. Pub-
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lic meetings were held in all the populous communities. Sentiment was thoroughly aroused and educated. "We can, and must, and will have the road this way," was the keynote of speeches made. The importance of securing both these roads and the advantage to Spartanburg of the location at their junction were demonstrated so thoroughly that the requested tax was voted unanimously.
When the assurance finally came that the Airline
Building of the Airline which was to connect New York and New Orleans would be run from Charlotte to Gainesville through Spartanburg, a communication to the Spartan, June 1, 1871, signed "R," painted a vivid panorama in its analysis of the proposed route :
The manufacturing interests of Spartanburg are peculiarly fortunate. The road crosses Broad River within a mile of the Cherokee Iron Works ... passes through Limestone, with its great lime and marble quarries, mineral waters, and costly Sem- inary . . . passes Pacolet River just above Hurricane Shoals, with its extensive Iron Works, Rolling and Casting Mills, Nail Works, etc. ... within a few miles of the large Cotton Factory at Bivingsville ... by White's Mill, through the heart of Spar- tanburg Courthouse. . . Passing on toward Greenville, Carver's Mills are in sight-then Benson's Mills on Tyger, Crawfordsville Factory being four miles below and that of Messrs. Morgan and Montgomery but a mile or so above . . . On to Greenville- Batesville and Buena Vista eight miles south of the line, Valley Falls three miles North. .. The Cotton Manufacturing estab- lishment of the Messrs. Hill on Tyger and of the Messrs. Finger on Pacolet, the one in the extreme South and the other in the extreme North of the County, will have their nearest depot at Spartanburg Courthouse. Who knows to what proportions these enterprises may grow in the future? If they thrived in the past without facilities of communications, how much more will they prosper with this great road running by their very doors, ready to carry the products of their shops and looms to all the markets of the world.
At three o'clock on the afternoon of March 31, 1873, the first train from Charlotte pulled into Spartanburg, and Simpson Bobo presided over the ceremonies and festivities which marked the oc- casion. The engine was immediately covered with flowers and banners by the ladies. Sixty ladies and gentlemen of Charlotte, with other guests, were entertained by the citizens of Spartanburg at the Palmetto House at a "sumptuous dinner" distinguished for its "wine and wit and stirring speeches." Charlotte merchants be- gan to advertise in the Spartanburg papers.
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September 7, 1874, a railroad mass meeting and barbecue in the town of Spartanburg celebrated the breaking of ground at the junction of the Spartanburg-Union and the Airline Railroad. The president, directors, stockholders, and honored guests formed a procession, led by the Spartanburg Silver Cornet Band. Distin- guished guests were present from Charleston, Atlanta, Columbia, Asheville, Hendersonville, Greenville, Laurens, and Newberry. Many newspaper reporters were present. Several thousand people stood for three hours listening to speeches. Later, without a dis- senting vote, a resolution was adopted authorizing Spartanburg County to subscribe $100,000 worth of railroad bonds. A ball in the evening concluded the celebration. Not until 1879 was this road continued as far as Hendersonville.
The joy of the people was not even dimmed by the arrival in Spartanburg within the week of a detachment of the Second Ar- tillery Regiment, U.S.A., of fifty men acting as infantry, who took up winter quarters until after the election. The editor of the paper which chronicled his arrival, very dryly commented that Colonel Woodruff was reported to be a gentleman, and that Spartans, while questioning the necessity of his presence, yet extended him a wel- come.
Progress of Cotton All during this period, factories and mills were Manufacturing being bought and sold, built and reconditioned. Joseph Walker's Almanac for 1867 listed the cotton factories in operation in Spartanburg County as follows: Lester's Factory at Buena Vista (now Pelham), Lawson's Fork Factory, Valley Falls Factory, Fingerville Factory, Hill's Factory, Cedar Hill Factory, Crawfordsville Factory, and Barksdale Factory.
At the State Agricultural Fair, held in Columbia in the fall of 1869, D. E. Converse of the Bivingsville Factory was awarded a gold medal for the best bale of osnaburg; and $8 in gold each for the best bale of shirting, the best bale of sheeting, and the best bale of cotton yarn; and $3 in gold each for the best piece of tweeds and the best piece of satinet or jeans.
Bivingsville After their purchase of the Bivingsville Mill, D. E. Converse, J. C. Zimmerman, John E. Bomar, A. H. Twichell, and their associates, practically rebuilt it, adding an entirely new main building and replacing all of the old worn machinery. They en- larged it so that in 1875 it operated 5,000 spindles and 120 looms,
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and consumed 1,600 bales of cotton per year. They manufactured brown shirtings, sheetings, and yarns; and produced 6,000 yards of cloth and 500 pounds of bunched yarn per day. Some of the best weavers turned out 80 yards of cloth per day and earned from $1 to $1.25 per day. The monthly pay roll for the 175 operatives was about $3,000. The mill was operated entirely by water power, two turbine wheels with 110 horsepower being used. The village contained about 60 dwellings and had about 400 inhabitants. It had a church, in which were maintained a Sunday School, preaching services, and a Temperance Lodge.
One aspect of the Bivingsville plant which distinguished the old ways from present-day methods is the fact that several distinct types of manufacturing were conducted in connection with it. The company owned and operated "a complete flouring mill with four sets of stones ;" machine shops; a carpenter shop, with planes and circular saws ; a circular sawmill with its own wheel; a wool-carding mill, which annually carded 12,000 pounds of wool; and two im- proved cotton gins, which ginned about 500 bales annually.
Besides these enterprises, the company operated a large general store and a six-acre meadow scientifically managed to provide forage for the animals used in the plant. The company owned 1,600 acres of land, 250 under cultivation. Goods were shipped to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Wilmington, Atlanta, Charleston, Columbia, and many points in the two Carolinas. So successful had been the operation of this mill that it had not only earned enough to cover the purchase price, but had paid fair dividends every year since the war. At this time Bivingsville was the show place of the county.
Other
In 1869 the Spartan boasted that Spartanburg "ex-
Enterprises hibited nothing which failed to secure a premium" at the State Agricultural Fair. Two noteworthy premiums were won by Fowler, Foster and Company-$10 for the best phaeton, and $8 for the best two-horse wagon. There were numerous suc- cessful flour mills in the District; and corn and grist mills were almost innumerable.
Captain H. C. Robertson and his sons opened a gold mine in the North Pacolet section, about 1867, which caused some excite- ment. Several lots of ore in paying quantities were obtained. Pic-
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nics were held to enable sight-seers to inspect the mine, and it had many visitors. But work on it was soon abandoned.
The iron works were almost abandoned during this period, be- cause their machinery was worn, their supply of fuel exhausted, their markets gone, and new competition, which they could not meet, had arisen in the West Virginia and Pennsylvania iron-producing areas. Limestone was still quarried in the vicinity of Limestone Springs.
Losses from During its entire existence, the progress of the
Emigration District was retarded by losses of population. The chief cause of emigration before the war was the lure of cheap and desirable lands in the Southwest; letters from former Spartans who settled in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, appeared fre- quently in the Spartan and the Express in the years before the war. The census report for 1860 showed 41 per cent of the natives of South Carolina living in other States; and in 1870, 35 per cent had left their native State. Many Spartans had gone to Kansas in the fifties.
After the war, many of the freedmen sought new homes. Some were lured away by fantastic schemes. For example, a group of fifty or more from the southern part of the county who called them- selves "Zion Travelers" sold all their possessions, July 1873, and set forth up the Buncombe Road to a "Promised Land," described to them by a preacher of their race as distant a hundred and sixty miles. The ship "Azor" may have carried a few Spartanburg Negroes to Liberia.
Immigration Vigorous efforts were undertaken to induce immi-
Aid Societies gration. Spartanburg, Limestone Springs, Wellford, all formed Immigration Aid Societies between 1873 and 1876. An Immigration Office was opened in Spartanburg, conducted by T. H. Bomar. On one occasion, in 1874, about fifty Italians were placed in this county by this agency. Employers were required to advance a contingent fee of $10, and to promise board and a monthly wage of $10 for a year. To insure against the immigrants' becoming lonely and discontented, a rule was made that three or more must be employed in a community. Efforts to induce English-speaking set- tlers to come in met with little success because of the race problem. A publication called the Southern Herald, issued from Gaffney City, was the organ of "Gaines' Southern Immigration Agency." This
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was an organization with headquarters in New York City, which had as its announced purpose the promotion of immigration into the Piedmont.
The population of the District in 1850 was 26,400; in 1860, 26,919; in 1870, 25,784. This decade from 1860 to 1870 was the only one in its entire history when the population of Spartanburg showed an actual decrease.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Social Life During Reconstruction
Reaction The end of the war brought relief from suspense. In the
from War joy of having the soldiers at home people gave them- selves over to pleasures. Within a year new churches, Masonic lodge buildings, tournaments, concerts and commencements, and series of instructive lectures were being reported in the Spartan, showing that, in the main, during the years following the war, life went on almost normally in the old Spartan 'District, even with the alarming new "Militia Act," the Reconstruction program, and the world turned upside down politically. People had weddings and sent the editor wedding cake. Ladies made lovely gardens and sent the editor sam- ples of roses, strawberries, first fruits and vegetables-receiving in return gallant compliments in the Spartan. The circus came and went. The Pioneer Club and the Wofford Star Club played exhibition baseball on Kirby Hill, in the spring.
The Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
Social Diversions lows were leaders in promoting social and civic activity. St. John's Day, December 27, 1866, was made the occasion of an old-time Masonic celebration at Glenn Springs. The day was given over to speech-making, installations, and an "elegant dinner," and the night to "dancing in the large hall." At the end of the year, the Spartan commented cheerfully on the increased life and animation in Spartanburg. Money was more plentiful. Merchants were more active. More country people were seen on the streets, and there was more bartering.
Railroad excursions, "hot suppers," May Day picnics, baseball games, strawberry and ice cream festivals served as meeting places for beaux and belles, and as financial bonanzas for the sewing so- cieties of the churches. Spartanburg took on the airs of a city by instituting an "omnibus line" with a round-trip fare of twenty cents, which connected the town with Garrett Springs-earlier known as Thomson's Spring, and later renamed Rock Cliff-one and one-half miles from town. The omnibus ran up North Church, past Wofford College, to a junction with Rutherford (now Magnolia) Street, turned down it, passed the Magnolia Street cemetery, the Public Square, and ran along East Main and the old Cowpens Battle-
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ground road, to the spring. At the spring were a billiard room, a bathing-room, walks, seats, a reservoir with a fountain, and an ice cream saloon. On special occasions the Spartanburg Silver Cornet Band gave concerts here.
At the Hotels and The Walker House and the Palmetto House were Mineral Springs both closed in 1865, but reopened in 1866; and, although very shabby, they were well patronized. William P. Irwin kept the Palmetto House, and his personality created about him an atmosphere of culture and distinction to which the Spartan editor frequently referred with pride. The political corruption, the business unrest, the Ku Klux disturbances, all failed to check the search for recreation. This period was marked by the increased vogue of min- eral springs, especially Glenn and Cherokee Springs.
Tournaments Tournaments replaced the old-time regimental musters very acceptably. An especially brilliant tournament was held at Glenn Springs, May 7, 1868. Each knight paid a registration fee and appeared "on the green in front of the hotel" at nine o'clock in the morning, suitably costumed and mounted, and provided with a lance nine feet long. The track was one hundred and fifty yards long ; and three rings, each two and a half inches in diameter, were sus- pended over it at forty-foot intervals. The riders "tilted" for these rings, coursing rapidly along the track, nine seconds being the time limit. Four prizes were awarded. The first, a handsome wreath, carried with it the privilege of choosing and crowning the Queen of Love and Beauty. Three maids of honor were selected by the next three best riders, who received as prizes a fine bridle, a mounted riding whip, and a pair of fine steel spurs. The list of judges and marshals included former governors, judges, and other stately gentlemen, the cream of the old regime. A sumptuous dinner was followed by a brief rest period. Then, in the evening, in the "large hall" of the hotel, the Queen's Coronation Ball was danced-a glamorous costume affair.
Cross Anchor was the scene of a brilliant tournament and costume ball on Christmas Eve of the year 1869. Participating knights and ladies attended from Union, Laurens, Clinton, Enoree, Minterville, Cross Keys, Tylersville, and possibly other communities. Among the merrymakers there were, no doubt, ladies who had sewed regalia for the members of the mystic brotherhood, and knights who had
1
AT AIRLINE JUNCTION, SEPTEMBER 7. 1874
THE MERCHANTS' HOTEL, BUILT IN 1880
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SOCIAL LIFE DURING RECONSTRUCTION
ridden hooded and shrouded, under cover of darkness, to save their imperiled social order. Yet they could dance and be merry.
State Press The State Press Association was organized in Charles-
Association ton in the spring of 1875, and the town of Spartanburg entertained its second convention, May 10, 1876. The meetings were held in the offices of the Herald, established in 1875 with T. Stobo Farrow as editor. The feature of the occasion was an excursion to Butt Mountain Gap to inspect the progress of the Spartanburg- Asheville Railroad. Banquets were spread at the Palmetto House and the Piedmont House, and the public address was delivered in the courthouse by the distinguished editor of the News and Courier, Captain F. W. Dawson. All of the visiting editors went home and wrote flattering pieces about Spartanburg for their papers.
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