USA > South Carolina > Oconee County > The Old Stone Church, Oconee County, South Carolina; > Part 11
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Lossing, in his Field Book of the Revolution, in his ac- count of Cowpens, gives portraits of Morgan, Howard and Washington, and pictures of their medals and inscriptions, but no portrait of Pickens and picture of his sword is there
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published. In scanning Lossing's Index, not a tithe of his military services are recorded. The Committee has es- teemed it an honor to present a good likeness of General Pickens, and for the first time publish an accurate picture of the sword voted by Congress,* which was worn by his great-grand-son, Colonel S. B. Pickens, on the military pa- rade at the Centennial. It was photographed from the original, now in the keeping of Mrs. Governor F. W. Pick- ens, a widow of a grand-son of the General. General Pick- ens never drew a cent of pay for his Revolutionary services, as the pay-rolls in the Comptroller's office will prove. Love of country was reward enough for him. His was a lofty patriotism. After the war he held the first County Court that sat under the new laws, near Abbeville Court House, and his son, afterwards Governor Andrew Pickens (1816-'18), then a boy five years old, drew the first jury. He ran the line between North Carolina and Tennessee; was also appointed to make the Treaty of Milledgville, like- wise at Natchez, and, indeed, almost all the treaties made with the Southern Indians. Peace being restored, the voice of his country called him to serve her in various capacities. He was a member of the Legislature, and afterwards of the Convention which formed the State Constitution; was elected a member under the new Constitution, until 1794, when he became a member of Congress, which then sat in Philadelphia. At that time there were neither railroads nor stage coaches-all travel was done on horseback. Pic- ture to yourself a man who was approaching his three-score years, of martial figure and dignified demeanor, mounted on a spirited milk white Andalusian steed, whip in hand, and hostlers filled with a brace of pistols, the silver mountings of which glittered in the sunlight; a three-cornered hat, from beneath the silvery gray hair, put smoothly back, and tied in a queue, and undress military coat, ruffled shirt, fair top boots, with handsome silver spurs; following at a little
* "Congress to Col. Pickens, March 9th, 1781-Cowpens, January 17th."
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distance, on a stout draft horse, is his African attendant, Pompey, in livery of blue, with scarlet facings, carrying a portmanteau, with a consequential and dignified air, show- ing in every movement the pride of a body-servant to his revered master. Paint this in your mind's eye, and you have before you a gentleman of the Eighteenth Century, with his servant, on his way to Congress; such was General An- drew Pickens, as he passed through to Philadelphia in 1794. Declining a re-election to Congress, he was again returned a member to the Legislature, in which he continued until 1811. In 1794, determining to enjoy that serenity and tranquility which he had so greatly contributed in estab- lishing, he retired from the busy scenes of life to his moun- tain home, "Tomassee." At this place, in 1779, he fought the most desperate battle he ever engaged in, with the Chero- kees. But so completely subdued were they, and under his control, at this time, it was a safe and delightful retreat. The Indians, in their devotion to him, called him the Great Sky Augusta, and would bring their first offerings to him, adorned in the highest style of Indian costume. This place was peculiarly interesting to him; he devoted himself to domestic pleasures and pursuits, revered and beloved by all. His hospitable home, though remote from the more fre- quented parts of the State, was still the resort of numerous friends, relatives and guests, from a distance. Such was the gentle current of his latter years ; still of earthly objects his country was prominent in his affections. He viewed with great interest the struggle of 1812-'15, and the causes which produced it, distinctly perceiving that in its conse- quences, the prosperity, independence and glory of his coun- try were deeply involved; he was alive to its various inci- dents. In this hour of danger, the eyes of his fellow-citi- z.ens were again turned to their tried servant. Without his knowledge he was again called by their spontaneous voice into public service. Confidence thus expressed could not be disregarded. He accepted a seat in the Legislature in
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1812, and was pressed to serve as Governor, at this eventful crisis, which he declined. He thought such high duties should be left to more youthful hands. His wife, Miss Re- becca Calhoun, was one of the most gifted and educated ladies of her day, and a patriotic daughter of Revolutionary fame. She was born November 18th, 1745, and died De- cember 19th, 1814. They left five daughters and three sons. Of the character of General Andrew Pickens little need be said, for among its strongest features, were sim- plicity, without contrariety or change; from youth to age he was ever noted for a punctual performance of all the duties of life. He was from early life a firm believer in the Christian religion, and an influential member of the Presby- terian Church. Strong points of his character were de- cision and prudence, accompanied, especially in youth, with remarkable taciturnity. He was of middle stature, active and robust, and enjoyed in consequence of the natural strength of his constitution and his temperate and active life, almost uninterrupted health to the last moments of his life. He retained much of his strength and nearly all his mental vigor in perfection, and died not in consequence of the ex- haustion of nature, or previous sickness, for the stroke of death fell suddenly, and while his personal acquaintances were anticipating the addition of many years to his life. He died August 11th, 1817, at his mountain home, Tomas- see. He lies in the cemetery of the historic Old Stone Church, of which he was one of the founders. It was there. war-worn patriots met to worship at their "Bethel," after the din of war and the fierce struggle was over, and their efforts blessed by victory. Their hearts filled with grati- tude and praise, their "aspirations winged their upward flight to the Throne of the living God."
A simple tombstone in the Cemetery of the Old Stone Church, on the road between Pendleton and Fort Hill, bears this simple inscription : "General Andrew Pickens was born 13th September, 1739, and died 11th August, 1817. He
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was a Christian, a Patriot and Soldier. His character and actions are incorporated with the history of his country. Filial affection and respect raises this stone to his memory."
(From Cowpens Centennial, 1781-1881. Published by the Cowpens Centennial Committee, Charleston, S. C., 1896.)
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ROBERT ANDERSON.
General Robert Anderson, of Pendleton, South Carolina, was born in 1741, in what is now Augusta County, Virginia, on his father's farm, on Middle River, near where the valley turnpike and the valley railroad now cross the river, about five and a half miles from Staunton, and a mile and a half from the historic Old Stone Church. He was the second son and the fifth child of John and Jane Anderson. John Ander- son, on the twenty-second day of May, 1740, in the Court of Orange County, which then included all the valley, proved the importation, from Ireland by way of Philadelphia, of himself, his wife, Jane, and his daughters, Esther, Mary and Margaret. On the first of September, of the same year, he was granted one of the earliest patents for lands taken in that section, conveying to him 270 acres of land. The chil- dren born to him in Virginia were : John, who went to Madi- son County, Kentucky, in 1778, and was a member of George Rogers Clarke's immortal expedition against Vincennes ; Robert, the subject of this sketch; Jane, who married Lieu- tenant Hugh Allen and afterwards William Craig, and whose descendants are numerous; James, who served as a Captain in the Revolution and afterwards removed to upper South Carolina, where his descendants are many; Andrew, who remained in Virginia and has there a large family of descendants, having also served as a Captain in the Revolu- tion; and finally William, another Revolutionary Captain, ancestor of a large and influential family in Kentucky.
Robert Anderson was baptized at the Old Stone Church, November 15, 1741, by the Rev. John Craig. Mr. Craig came to the valley in 1740 and was the pastor of the Old Stone Church until his death in 1774. Of Robert Ander- son's youth in Virginia we know nothing further, beyond his marriage, November 4, 1765, to Ann Thompson, daughter of one of the pioneers of Augusta County. His father's will was made in 1779 and probated in 1787. In the former year the sons, James and Andrew, are still with him, and receive
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large bequests of land, but William had in that very year located and taken lands in Jessamine County, Kentucky, and Robert was winning a military reputation as a partisan leader in South Carolina, where he had settled, apparently just be- fore the outbreak of the Revolution, on the frontier near Ninety-Six, in Abbeville District, alongside of his chosen friend and chief, Andrew Pickens. The will, previously mentioned, grants to the oldest son-"my beloved son, Ro- bert Anderson, the sum of ten pounds, Virginia Currency," more as a remembrance, apparently, than for value.
A return of the militia and volunteers on duty in the forti- fied camp at Ninety-Six, the nineteenth of November, 1775, under the command of Major Andrew Williamson, made by order of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, notes Company Number 2, under Captain Andrew Pickens, with forty men, and Company Number 12, under Captain Robert Anderson, with eleven men. From this time on the fortunes of these two men are closely identified. When, in January, 1779, Colonel Pickens, with 500 men from the Ninety-Six District, attacked and dispersed Colonel Boyd's band of North Carolina Loyalists on their way to Georgia, Robert Anderson was one of his Captains. He was with him ap- parently in the attack upon Stono, under General Lincoln's plan of campaign, on the twentieth of June in that year, and shared his mortification early in July, when, the immediate purpose for which the militia had turned out being accom- plished, they were clamoring to return home to protect their own families, and, as General McCrady writes: "Colonel Pickens' men went off in a body." When, early in 1780, Sir Henry Clinton had bottled up General Lincoln's army in Charleston, and the militia wisely refusing to enter the same trap, they were brought by Williamson and Pickens to hang upon the flank of the British reinforcing column from Sa- vannah and harass and impede its progress, Captain Ander- son was with his neighbors. Sharing their fortunes, he marched, under Pickens' command and Williamson's instruc-
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tions, on a raid about Savannah, and after the fall of Charles- ton in May, was with his Colonel near Ninety-Six, when Williamson held his famous conference with the up-country leaders. Williamson's bolder counsels for still further re- sistance, and for even temporary withdrawal into North Carolina, did not appeal to the South Carolina patriots, who thought of their defenseless homes. Only Governor Rut- ledge escaped into North Carolina. Williamson and Pick- ens, Charles Pinckney and Daniel Huger, came in and gave their paroles to the Governor. It may be assumed that Cap- tain Anderson went with his comrades and did likewise.
Had the British leaders been wise and foreseeing, no more would have been heard of the patriot leaders, and South Carolina would probably have remained in the power of the British Government. But the shameful violation of the pledges made to the paroled vanquished, exhibited in planta- tions plundered, families insulted, and even life put in jeopardy, aroused the still unconquered spirit of the prostrate State. The unscrupulous conduct of such British leaders as Major Dunlap made it impossible for the up-country patriots longer to endure. After six months of submission they rose toward the end of the year 1780, under the leadership of Colonel Pickens, joined themselves to the larger force under the command of General Morgan, and on January 17, 1781, rendered invaluable service at the battle of Cowpens, fighting in the front line. General McCrady, in his History of South Carolina, says: "The distinguishing feature of the battle of Cowpens upon the American side was undoubtedly the effect- ive work of Pickens' marksmen."
Captain Anderson was with his leader in this campaign, and when Colonel Pickens, for his good service at Cowpens, was promoted by Governor Rutledge to the rank of Brigadier General, Captain Anderson was promoted to that of Colonel. It was his regiment with which General Pickens held the line between Ninety-Six and Augusta, Georgia, in the spring of 1781, and so prevented Colonel Crueger of the former post
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from going to the assistance of Colonel Brown at Augusta. Later, this command, in union with that of "Light Horse Harry" Lee, captured Augusta, and then hanging on the out- skirts of the British operations against Greene, materially contributed to their failure to make decisive head against the American forces.
When operations began again, after the heats of the sum- mer, in 1781, Pickens' brigade once more in the front line did valiant service on the American left in the battle of Eutaw Springs, although victory was not to be theirs. The war in the South was practically over, and its decisive results were already being obtained by Washington's army in another State. While both British and Americans in South Carolina rested on their arms in the winter of 1781-82, Governor Rut- ledge issued a call to the Brigadiers for an election for a Legislature, to be held at Jacksonborough, on January 18, 1782. The delegates from the up-country were largely of- ficers of the patriot army, and Ninety-Six District returned General Pickens and Colonel Robert Anderson to the lower House. But already their command had gone to the North- western frontier, in what is now Oconee County, to chastise the Cherokee Indians, who had aided the British, and thirteen of their towns were burned. The same officers conducted a similar expedition in the following September against the Cherokees on Chattahoochee, in Georgia, as the result of which that tribe ceded its lands east of the river.
The war over, Colonel Anderson settled in the newly-ac- quired Cherokee lands on the Seneca River, in "old Pendle- ton District," in that portion which was afterwards named for himself, Anderson County. Here he spent the remainder of his days, engaged in the ordinary life of an up-country planter, on an estate which at the time of his death amounted to 2,100 acres. Of these acres, 460 were his bounty lands.
Here he brought up his family, four daughters and one son ; the latter bearing his own name. From this District he was sent to the State Legislature, and once, in 1800, he was a
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Presidential Elector on the ticket for Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Toward the close of his life he was chosen Brigadier General of the State militia.
His first wife, who was the mother of his children, having died, he was married again, after 1790, to Mrs. Samuel Maverick, the widow of a prominent merchant of Charleston, of the lineage of the founders. This second wife died in 1803, after his daughter, Elizabeth, had been given in mar- riage to Mrs. Maverick's son, Samuel. Again General An- derson was married-this time to Mrs. Jane Reese, formerly Miss Jane Harris, widow of the distinguished clergyman, Rev. Thomas Reese, D. D., who was the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church in the district around Pendleton Court House. General Anderson was one of the founder Elders of this church.
In 1806 the third Mrs. Anderson died, and after her death, Robert Anderson, the younger, who had left his father's home at the time of his father's third marriage and of his own marriage, came back to the ancestral roof. Here Gene- ral Anderson died, in the very beginning of 1813, and his will is entered of probate on January 9th in that year. This is an unusual document. In minute detail he makes provision for the welfare of his slaves, reiterating the intention that they shall never be sold from the place, "unless they should turn out to be thieves, and unless they cannot be restrained by good treatment, friendly cautions, admonitions, and a merci- ful use of the rod of correction. If by all these means they cannot be reclaimed, then it is my will that they should be sold." Disposing of two negroes belonging to Mrs. Reese in her own right when he married her, he says : "Those negroes and their increase are the legal right of myself and my heirs. But Mrs. Reese had children no better provided for than mine are. And whereas my own children are well enough off as to the things of this world, if they make a prudent use of what they have got; if not they have too much already, there-
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fore-" and so he bequeaths the two negroes to Mrs. Reese's heirs.
In another place he says : "Whereas I traded for Jeffe, the husband of Hannah, at a considerable disadvantage, on ac- count of his great attachment to his wife and children, and although they have differed and are now apart, yet if they should compromise their differences, and desire to be to- gether, it is my will that Mr. Reese buy Jeffe from Robert, or Robert buy Hannah and her two children from Mr. Reese."
He closes with these words: "And now, my blessed Re- deemer ! do, I, with a lively faith, lay hold of thy meritorious Death and Sufferings, hoping to be washed clear by the pre- cious Blood from all my Sins. In this hope I rest and wait thy Call."
Mrs. Warren R. Davis, of Seneca, S. C., a great-grand- daughter of Mrs. Reese, contributes the following: "It is told of Mrs. Reese that when the General proposed to her she said, 'Why, General Anderson, you surprise me very much ; I never thought of such a thing.' General Anderson, who had much native Irish wit, replied, 'O yes, Mrs. Reese, you have thought a great deal about it, for when Dr. Reese lived, you always stopped at my pew every Sunday morn- ing to inquire after my family ; but since his death you never stop ; you have been quite shy of me.'"
Election Manifesto Issued in 1804.
PENDLETON DISTRICT, 16th August, 1804.
At a meeting of citizens from different quarters of this District, publicly assembled in the Court House, on this day, to consult, propose and agree on three proper persons to represent the said District in the State Legislature, GENERAL PICKENS and GENERAL ANDERSON were nomi- nated, and pressingly solicited to consent to serve the people on that occasion, if elected. A third candidate was neither named nor proposed.
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General Pickens, in a short but animated and pointed ad- dress, very politely and obligingly declared, that if he was elected by the free and voluntary voice of the people, he would serve them.
General Anderson, in a speech characteristically bold, energetic and independent, spoke as follows :
Friends and Fellow-Citizens: When citizens are tired with the political services of a man, it is high time for him to withdraw himself from public duties ; such was the appear- ance of things at the close of the last election, and such were the sentiments I was then impressed with. Political false- hoods cannot rest easy on the mind of any man : the time they are current they have their effect; but like a shadow they pass away : such was my idea, and such I have been led to believe has been the result as to myself. That I was previous to the last election, the subject of much political slander, I had reason to know and to feel. I feel, gentle- men, because those political scandals then in general circu- lation throughout the District, had a tendency to betray, delude and mislead many of my worthy and innocent fellow- citizens, and to rob me, for a time, of that confidence I had long held amongst them ; a confidence I had earned by my best and honest endeavors to serve them from the first set- tling of the District, directed by the soundest dictates of my understanding, capacity and integrity ; and I am perfectly correct in saying that every public action of my life was intended for the good of my country : I never had any per- sonal or private views of my own, abstracted from the real advantage of our common country. I have sought no office of profit for myself, family or friends. I have in no in- stance exalted, aggrandized, or benefited myself beyond the poorest of my fellow-citizens. My greatest zeal and exer- tions have been employed to promote the honor, credit and respectability of this District, and for the advancement of your best political interests, in common with the rest of our fellow-citizens. I have been its faithful guardian over the
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political rights of the poor planter, and always struggled to lessen his burthens. What I say in this address I vouch and testify also for General Pickens, and yet our public con- duct, by designing men, has been reproached, and the subject of calumny. Perfection in war is not to be looked for or expected ; and from my slight opportunities of acquiring depth in, or any extent of political knowledge, any claim on my part is little indeed : therefore, I make no doubt I may have often erred in judgment; but in being convinced of that error, I have been ever ready to retract; and I with truth assert, that under the late cloud of political defama- tion and slander, the rectitude of my intentions in every act has operated as a balsam to my mind, and that the patriotic regard and attachment which I have always entertained, possessed and exercised for the good of our common coun- try, has been disinterested, undissembled and sincere. I have no personal ambition, gentlemen, for a public life: I had much rather be left to enjoy a pleasant retirement at my own home; my services have never been offered from a desire to be in any public situation ; but only in compliance with the will of the people. I had made up my mind, in fact, to decline it altogether, and it was with great reluctance I attended here on this day. It is true, I have had pressing solicitations made by men living in different parts of the District, personally, and by letters (and from men, too, I will always feel a pleasure to oblige), requesting me to con- sent that my name shall be used as a candidate; but I never have assented thereto until this moment. The importunity and applications of my fellow-citizens have prevailed over my own wishes : and with a respectful compliance to theirs I now declare, that if I am elected by the free, voluntary and uninfluenced votes of my fellow-citizens at large, that I will once more endeavor to serve them as well as I can. I will not use words of recrimination to the defamers of my past public conduct. Most of my fellow-citizens now know, or will ere long know, that their reports were untrue, con-
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trived and circulated for electioneering purposes : but I take this opportunity in person, and in this public manner, to contradict and deny them in the whole. The report of my wishing to establish the Presbyterian religion, in exclusion of all other religious societies, was a monstrous and artful insinuation, fabricated to withdraw the confidence of that respectable body of people, the Baptists, from me. I now solemnly declare, gentlemen, that I would have been amongst the first men in the country that would have op- posed such a proposition. I am in principle, averse to any such establishment. I am for all mankind, the poor equal with the rich, enjoying equal rights in every respect, both civil and religious. I am a friend to the free toleration of every sect of religious professors. I respect truly religious societies of every denomination, and wish them to hold, exercise and enjoy the same freedom, power, benefit and advantage, according to their different professions or insti- tutions. The upright, honest and virtuous Baptist or Metho- dist, is valued and esteemed by me in society equal with the Presbyterian or Churchman. I know no difference in them as men, citizens, or members of society : I never have made, neither will I ever make, sanction or patronize any differ- ence or distinction either in public or private character : and I hope hereafter my principles and sentiments on this sub- ject will be correctly known and understood. After this address, and after this compliance with your wishes, I ex- pect that new rumors will be made, artful inventions and insinuations used, and other jealousies created to alarm your fears, again to confound and destroy the freedom of elec- tion. If this should be the case, I caution all my fellow- citizens to beware of them, to mark the authors, to discredit every malicious report, and to stamp the attempts as founded on electioneering craft, fraud and imposition. Gentlemen, as far as respects myself, I repeat, I am entirely indifferent : I shall be perfectly satisfied with the result of your election. I render you my best thanks for your confidence in me, and
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