USA > South Carolina > Orangeburg County > The history of Orangeburg County, South Carolina : from its first settlement to the close of the Revolutionary War > Part 15
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(104) On Sunday Novm 25 died after a few days Ill- ness and the day after was interred in the Church yard of Orangeburgh the Body of Henry Wurtzer a native of Switzerland and a settler in Orangeburgh since 1735 aged 55 years & some months
1760
Register of Buryings Orangebg T. Ship
(105) On Friday Jany 11th 1760 died and one day after his return from the Cherokee Expedition and the day after was interred on the plantation of the Late John Whetstone Senr deceased the Body of John Whetstone Junr son of the above aged about
(106) On Tuesday Jany 15 died and the day after was enterred in the Church yard of Orangeburgh the Body of Elizabeth Daughter of Adam Snell and his wife deceased aged almost 10 years-
(107) On Friday Feby 1st died in Child Bed and the day after was interred in the Church yard of Orange- burgh the Body of Magdalene, wife of Benedict Koller aged --- years
(108) On Tuesday Feby 5th died and the day after was interred in the church yard of Orangeburgh the Body of John Ulrick son of Benedict Koller & Magda- lene his wife deceased Aged 7 days
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
(109) On Thursday Feby 14th died & the day after was interred in the Church yard of Orangeburgh the Body Henry Horguer Senr a native of Switzerland Aged about 89 years --
(110) On Monday Feby 25th died & the day after was interred in the Church yard of Orangeburgh the Body of Magdalene wife of Henry Sally Junr aged
Register of Buryings Orangeburgh T. S.
1760
(111) On Tuesday Feby 26th died of a pleuritic dis- order & the day after was interred in the Church yard of Orangeburgh the Body of George Ulrick aged about 28 years
(112) On Wednesday Feby 27th died & the day after was interred on the plantation of Casper Foust in Orangeburgh the Body of wife of Fred- erick Purly Shoemaker aged -- years
(113) On Thursday March 6 died after nine days Ill- ness & the day after was interred on his own planta- tion in Orangeburgh the Body of Henry Haym, a na- tive of Switzerland aged about 60 years
(114) On Friday March 7th died after a pleuritic dis- order of 8 days & the day after was interred on the plantation of Ulrick Oth the Body of Francis Kooner Aged 35 years
(115) On Tuesday March 11 died after Five days Ill- ness, and the day after was enterred on his own plan- tation in Orangeburgh the Body of Kilian Gussert aged ---- years
(116) On Wednesday March 12th died after 9 days Illness and the day after was interred in the planta- tion of John Ulrick Oth the Body of Catharine wife of Jacob Kooner aged -- years
(117) On Thursday March 13th died & the day after was interred in the above plantation the Body of
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THE HISTORY OF
John, son of Johannes & Elizabeth Wolf aged 15 years 3 months and 13 days, was sick 11 days
Register of Buryings Orangeburgh Township 1760
(140)* On Saturday June 21st died of the small pox; and the day after was interred in Church yard of Orangeburgh the Body of Mary Magdalene. Daughter of Jacob & Anna Wannenmaker, aged 2 years & 8 months
(141) On Thursday June 26th died of the small pox and the day after was interred in the Church yard of Orangeburgh The body of Anna, daughter of the above Wannenmaker and Anna his wife aged 3 months 3 weeks
(142) On Thursday July 29 died and the day af- ter was enterred in the church yard of Orangeburgh the Body of Regina Daughter of Jacob and A Wolf aged 10 months
(143) On Friday August 1st died
was interred in the Church
the Body
A List of Persons Deceased and Buryed in the Churchyard of Orangeburgh ---- 1760
·No **
144
(145) On Wednesday Octo 15th died & the day after was interred on the Plantation of Ulrick Brunner in Orangeburgh Township the Body of John, son of the said Ulrick Brunner and Eva Maria his wife aged 2 months 11 days
(146) On Saturday Octo 18th died & the day after
*From No. 117 to No. 140 in record lost.
tThat there was any difference of opinion as to whether this was small pox or "aggravated chicken pox", the record saith not.
#Other words torn off. : ** The entry torn off.
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
was interred on the plantation of Lewis Roth in Orangeburgh Township the Body of Catharina Eliza- beth daughter of said Lewis Roth and Mary Barbara his wife aged 22 months
(147) On Sunday Octo 19th died the day after was interred on the plantation of Capt William Seawright at Beaver Creek the Body of the said William Sea- wright aged between 50 and 60 years
(148) Novr 7 died and the day after
was interred in the Church Yard* .
The subsequent burial records are missing, but there could not have been many numbers after 148, as Rev. John Giessendanner died early in 1761. ì
The following is the record as to communions, kept by Rev. John Giessendanner after his return from England:
The number of all those who have received The Holly Communion on Easter and Monday in the Church of Orangeburgh according to the Form and use of the Church of England .;
On Sunday April 15 the following
1 Michael Christopher Row
3 John Futchman and his wife
4 Mary Margareth Shnyder
5 Barbara Jennings
6 Agnes Giessendanner
8 Wenner Ulmer, and his wife
10 John Frederick & George Lewis Ulmer
12 Nicholas Durr & His wife
14 George Giessendanner Sent & wife
16 Hans Fryding Junt & his wife
18 Hans George Hessey and his wife
*The part of the page containing the balance of this record is torn off and lost.
+The year of this record is not given, but 1750 was undoubtedly the date.
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19 Verona Wurtzer
20 Miss Catharina Diel
22 Henry Heym, and his wife
23 Magdalene Hug
24 Ann Negely widow
25 Magdalene Imdorff
27 Hans and Joseph Huber
28 Hans Amacker
29 Elizabeth Hessy widow.
30 Ann Mary Faust widow
31 Miss, Ursula Giessendanner
33 Jacob & Regina Kuhnen
35 Hans Inabnet and his wife
37 Caspar Nagely George Shuler
38 Henry Rickenbacker
40 Henry Stranman and His wife
42 John Chevillette and his wife
43 Elizabeth Roth - widow~
44 Veronica Anding
45 Ann Barbara Snell
46 Mary Stehely Jr
47 Barbara Giessendanner
49 Felix Morff and His wife
51 Francis Kuhner, and old Jennings 52 Jacob Stauber
On Monday April 16th the following
Hans Imdorff and Mary Inabnet
Ann Barbara Ernst and Ann Rumph
Apollonia and Zibilla Wolf
Miss Barbara Kryter
Susanna Huber
Hans Fridig Sent and his wife
Mary Stehely Sen
On Easter 1753 Had 107. one hundred and seven communicants all from Germany-Michael Larry- provided the wine for the Sacrament for Easter 1753.
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
Note :-- George Giessendanner provided the Sacre- ment Wine for Whitsuntide
Received on Whitsunday June 3d the following new Communicants after proper instruction viz
John Nicholas Herter
John Barr, Ann Margret Myer
John Dentzler,
Anna,, Catharina Mell
Isaac Hottow,
Anna Barbara Young
Jacob Foust, Agnes Huber
Henry Stroman,
Christina Hossleiter
Conrad Kryter,
Elizabeth Kays
John Faust, Eva Elizbth Hertzog
Henry Dentzler, Mary Elizabeth Stroman
Anna Barbara wife of Henry Dentzler
Margaret wife of Jacob Hottow .
Mary Tshudy (In all 20)
On Easterday 1758 the following children were con- firmed and admitted to the Lord's Ch.
1 Nicolas Dill
8 Anna Koller
2 Ottinaries Dantzler
9 Mary Robinson
3 Rachel Rowe ~ 10 Barbara Ulmer
4 Maria Inabinet
5 Veronica Hirsch
6 Maria Magdalena Shnell
7 Anna Weigne
The following is a rather unique piece of latinizing, by the reverend old gentleman: "1748 Sept. 25, Bap- tizetus est born Sept. Sth. H. H. & Marie Elizabethe uxaris urgis Suscept: Jacob Giessendanner. & Jacob & Louisa Horger."*
The following bit of humor is also culled from the pages of the Giessendanner book: "Information: Put a Miller, a Weaver and a Taylor in a bag and shake
*Meant for the record of baptism of a son of Hans Henry and Mary Elizabeth Felder.
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them and the first that Comes out will be a thief or an honest man."
The Rev. John Giessendanner's will is dated March 5th, 1761, and was proved July 24th, 1761,* so that he must have died sometime between those dates.
*See page 124, Judge of Probate's book, Charleston County, for that year.
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
CHAPTER III.
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
Section 1. Pioneer Life in Orangeburgh .*
The early settlers of that section of South Carolina that was erected into Orangeburgh District in 1768, had many trials and hardships to undergo, such as all settlers in a new and unbroken country have to con- tend with. The country was infested with wild beasts, birds, and reptiles that were a constant men- ace either to the settlers or their agricultural inter- ests; savage Indians were all about them, and fre- quently gave them much trouble; and, the seat of all government being at Charlestown, no officers of the law resided among them save the Rangers and a few justices of the peace, and from the number of adver- tisements that appeared in the South Carolina Gazette from time to time, it would seem that the chief duty of the justices of the peace in those early days was the advertising of stray animals picked up.+ There were
*Or, Roughing it on the Edisto.
+South Carolina Gazette, March 26, 1753: "A Stray'd bay inare near 14 hands high, with some saddle spots, branded on the mount- ing shoulder 3 M in one, and on the mounting buttock AS, taken up by Joseph Wood below Orangeburgh. The owner may have her again, making proper application to
"Christian Minnick, J. P."
In the Gazette of April 11, to 18, 1768, "Lewis Golsay" (Golsan), "J. P.", advertises: "John Staley informs of a yellow bay gelding" &c., and "Elizabeth Golsin, of a small pyde heffer" &c .; and on May 9, 1768, "Lewis Golsan, J. P.", advertises a stray horse picked up by Adam Whetstone. Again in the Gazette of July 4, 1768, "Lewis Gol- san, J. P.", advertises "a stray horse picked up by John Amacker; two bull stags picked up by Jacob Kooney", and "a stray horse picked up
218
THE HISTORY OF
no courts of law in that section, but criminals had to be carried to Charlestown for trial, and the result of this was that few criminals were brought to trial for crimes committed in that section. But, fortunate- ly, these people were a quiet, industrious people and crimes among them were few. This lack of proper criminal courts of trial led to what is known as "Reg- ulation", in the upper country of South Carolina, in the period just prior to the Revolution, but there is no evidence to show that "Regulation" played any con-
by James Newton".
In the Gazette of Monday, July 11, 1768, Moses Thomson, J. P., ad- vertised "a stray mare picked up by Moses Curtis".
In the Gazette of Monday, August 8, 1768, several stray horses are advertised by "William Thomson, J. P., Amelia, July 28, 1768", as "picked up" by John Switman, Richard Switman, Ebenbard Steven- tir, and Major Lloyd.
In the Gazette of Monday, Sept. 5, 1768, "Lewis Gonsan, J. P.", advertised strays "picked up" by Adam Brickel, Peter Imboden, John Starley, and Valentine Cronich. Golsan also advertised strays "picked up" by Joseph Cook and Henry Boshard, in the Gazette of Oct. 10, 1768.
In the Gazette of Thursday, January 26, 1769, Jacob Rumph adver- tised two hogs that he had taken up at Orangeburgh, and John Fair- child advertised a stray horse that had been "picked up" by Solomon Wood of the "Forks of the Edisto".
In the Gazette of March 23, 1769, William Thomson, T. M., of Amelia, advertised stray horses "picked up" by Henry Whetstone and George Kubler.
In the S. C. Gazette and Country Journal of June 13, 1769, Philip Pearson, J. P., of Saxe-Gotha, gives notice of a number of stray ani- mals "picked up".
From the South Carolina and American General Gazette for Fri- day, May 12th, to Friday, May 19th 1775, page 2: [Charleston Li- brary.]
"John Salley, senr. informs me of a bright bay Gelding, twelve hands high, five years old, a star on his forehead, branded on the mounting buttock S [], a trotter; also a bay Mare, near twelve hands high, four years old, branded on the mounting shoulder I 3, a trotter; also a strawberry roan Mare, near thirteen hands high, six years old, branded on the mounting shoulder and buttock B. R. The owners may prove their property within six months, at Orangeburgh, before
"Samuel Rowe."
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
siderable part in Orangeburgh District; though we do find the following notice in the South Carolina Gazette of March 16th, 1769:
"In Council, 13th March 1769. It having appeared to his Excellency, and the Board, that Benjamin Farrar, and Barnabas Arthur, Eqrs. Justices of the Peace for this Province, had been instrumental in for- menting and increasing the Disorders that prevailed among the People who stiled themselves REGULA- TORS in the Back Country: His Excellency, by the Advice of the Council was pleased to strike their Names out of the Commission of the Peace." Farrar and Arthur were both prominent citizens of Saxe- Gotha Township. While the chief seat of "Regula- tion" was higher up in the State, still there were some disturbances in Saxe-Gotha and Amelia Townships, hardly in Orangeburgh Township, or the section be- tween the North Edisto and Savannah rivers.
The condition of the country embraced by the pres- ent county of Barnwell is given by Tarleton Brown in his "Memoirs". About the same conditions existed in the other parts of Orangeburgh District, so some ex- tracts from the "Memoirs" will be given here. After stating that he had moved to South Carolina from Virginia with his parents and settled on Brier Creek, opposite to Burton's Ferry, in 1769, he goes on thus: "Having cleared a piece of land, we planted, and found the soil to be exceedingly fertile in the river swamp, producing abundant crops. The country was literally infested with wild beasts, which were very annoying to the inhabitants-killing the stock and de- stroying the crops-and were so bold, daring, and ravenous, that they would come into our yards, and before our doors take our sheep and poultry. Indeed, it was dangerous to venture out at night beyond the precincts of our yards unarmed. We used every de-
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THE HISTORY OF
vice to exterminate them, and ultimately effected our object by setting traps and poisoned bait.
"The forest abounded with all kinds of game, par- ticularly deer and turkeys-the former were almost as gentle as cattle. I have seen fifty together, in a day's ride in the woods. The latter were innumera- ble, and so very fat that I have often run them down on horseback. The range for cattle was excellent; it was a very common thing to see two hundred in a gang in the large ponds. In any month in the year beeves in the finest order for butchering might be ob- tained from the forest. It was customary then to have large pens or enclosures for cattle under the particular charge or direction of some person or per- sons; I was informed by one of those who kept a pen at King Creek, that there had been marked that spring seven hundred calves. Our produce for mar- ket was beef, pork, staves, and shingles. There was but little corn planted in that section then; and, in- deed, there was scarcely any inducement to plant more than sufficed for our own consumption, there being but few mills in the country, and consequently very little demand for the article.
"From the fact of the new and unsettled state of the country, it may readily be inferred that the roads were very inferior; in truth, they were not much bet- ter than common bridle paths: and I feel confident in asserting that there were not, in the whole Barnwell District,* any conveyances superior to carts of com- mon wood slides. There were a great many wild horses running at large in the forest when we first settled in the district, a number of which were caught and sold by various individuals. who pursued exclu- sively the business for a livelihood."
*It was not Barnwell District at that time, but a part of Orange- burgh District.
221
ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
The writer tells us of the cow-pens, situated in vari- ous parts of the district. One of these pens was situ- ated upon the present Middlepen creek, and was the middle pen of the cattle raisers for a certain territory, and hence the name of the stream. Another of these pens was owned by Capt. John Salley, the writer's great great grand-father, but the family tradition has always been that it was his own pen, as he had thousands of acres of land and many cattle; and Mr. Brown speaks of it* as "Capt. Salley's 'Cowpens'"-doubtless a col- lection of pens at one spot. It is said that the spot on Dean Swamp whereon this pen stood is still so fertile as to show a marked difference between the crops planted there and those all around.
What Mr. Brown has said about the wild beasts in this section is confirmed by the traditions of many old people hereabouts. One old gentleman of this county relates that his elders have often told him of the troubles the early settlers had with beasts of prey. The settlers had to build their cow-pens and sheep folds and poultry houses very near their dwelling houses, and had to keep their firearms constantly loaded and primed in order to protect their stock. The same old gentleman tells of an old wolf trap that was built in the Limestone section before the Revolu- tion, and which was still to be seen ten or fifteen years ago, though there are now no traces of it left. It was built by digging a large, grave-shaped hole in the ground about ten or twelve feet deep. Then the walls of this pit were secured by means of a snug fit- ting pen of notched poles built from the bottom of the pit to a level with the surface, so as to prevent a wolf from scratching his way out. A board was then nicely balanced lengthwise over the pit, and a piece
*"Memoirs", page 12.
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of fresh meat suspended over one end of the board, so that if a wolf walked out on the board to try to get the meat he was dumped into the pit, from which he was unable to escape, and where he was killed by the hunters soon thereafter. It was usually the custom to drag a piece of fresh meat about through the woods for several miles, and finally to drag it to the wolf trap, so that wolves might follow the trail and be led into the snare. The same old gentleman remembers going to the trap when quite small and seeing some of his neighbors kill a wolf .*
Bear were also plentiful in this section in the days of the pioneer, and occasionally one is to be met with to-day in the Edisto river swamp. Mr. Benjamin Cul- ler,; grand-father of Mr. W. W. Culler of this county. once killed a large bear in a hand to hand encounter. It was near his home in the Limestone section. He was stooping over a spring when suddenly a little dog he had with him sprang, apparently much frightened. into the spring beside him and splashed the water all over him. This caused Mr. Culler to straighten up suddenly, and just as he did so a large bear clasped the little dog in his embrace. Quick as thought Mr. Culler grabbed old bruin by the long hair on the back of his head, and drawing his hunting knife, gave him
*He was also present at the killing of the last wolf killed in this se(- tion, which was about 1839 or 1840. It was killed by William Robin- son on the plantation of his father, Joseph Robinson, on Limestone. He shot it twice and broke both of its fore legs, but in spite of its crip- pled condition it managed to turn back every dog that came within reach of it. A short time before that a lone wolf had made its ap- pearance on Great Branch, and "Jack" McMichael got a shot at it and wounded it, but did not bag it. But as it was never seen in that section afterwards, it was supposed that it died of its wounds. In each of these instances the wolf had played havoc with the sheep about it before being brought to earth.
+Or Collar, as it was then spelled.
223
ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
a few swift stabs under the foreshoulder and laid him low. He weighed 370 or 380 pounds.
The early settlers of Orangeburgh doubtless found some buffaloes roaming the forests about them, for there are old salt licks to be seen in this section to-day that are still called "buffalo licks." It is doubtful though if there were ever many buffaloes in this sec- tion of South Carolina, as the topography of the coun- try was not suited to them, and it is more than likely that deer, bear, wild horses and the small animals did most of the licking at the salt licks of this section, not- withstanding the fact that the buffalo has received the credit of producing these mosquito farms of to-day.
The beaver was also to be found in this section in the days of our first settlers, and, although it has been long over a century since he passed out of our terri- tory, he has left his impress* behind him. There were one or more Beaver creeks and Beaver dams in the old District of Orangeburgh.
Mr. W. W. Culler also gives a description of a very unique dwelling house that was built about 1750, or earlier, by his great grand-father, Benedict Köller, on the lands that had been granted him by the govern- ment, and which lands are still in possession of the Culler family. The last wall of this house was torn down by Mr. Culler himself about 1835, and he remem- bers perfectly well how it was constructed. It was about 16 x 20 feet. The sides were built by putting up in line eight fat lightwood posts, with eight or nine feet clear the ground, about two feet apart. Each post had a groove cut in the sides facing the neighboring posts. These grooves ran the entire length of the posts. The spaces between the posts were filled in by sliding into these grooves a wicker
*And perhaps his imprint.
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THE HISTORY OF
work of small twigs made somewhat as stick baskets are made. The ends of the house were built up in the same manner, save that a space was left for a door. The outside wall was then plastered over with a plas- ter made of red clay and the inside was quite smooth and nice looking when plastered with a plaster made of native lime. The floor was made by hewing small logs flat on the upper and under sides and laying them together as a floor is laid, and then putting on a finishing touch with an adz. The roof was made of the same material and then sodded. The door was made of the same sort of boards joined together by wrought nails which Köller himself had made by hand at his own forge. The hinges were made of dogwood. and very ingeniously arranged so that the door might swing on them, very much as our modern iron gates revolve on an iron rod. Beneath this structure was a cellar, which has only been filed up in the last decade. With such a house as that the settler could defy the elements, the wild beasts and the savage Indians.
A number of notes, extracted from the Statutes of South Carolina, the columns of the old Gazettes, and other authorities, that bear on matters and people in the section embraced within this work, will be repro- duced here, as they give some insight into the condi- tion of affairs in this section in colonial days, and fa- miliarize us with the names of many of the families then living here:
The Statutes of South Carolina* show that on April 21, 1753, the Provincial legislature appointed commis- sioners "To build a Bridge over the pond in the Four Holes Swamp, commonly called Gibbe's pond, and to lay out, make and keep in repair, a road from the said bridge, as convenient as may be, into the Orangeburgh
*Vol. IV, page 5.
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
old road, from the head of the path leading from Dor- chester to Izard's Cow-pen."* The "old road" here spoken of was opened in 1737+ by an act of the Coun- cil establishing "a road from the head of the path that leads from Dorchester to Capt. Izard's Cowpens to the Township of Orangeburgh."
The follow described plautation was offered for sale in the South Carolina Gazette of June 18, 1753: "A Plantation at Orangeburgh, containing 250 acres, es- teemed the best Land in that Township, on which one Lary now dwells, bounding N. E. on said Lary's Land, S. E. on Hans Spring's and Henry Fousts; and a Town-Lot in the said Township, No. 32."}
On May 11, 1754, an Act was passed "for vesting the Ferry over Savanna river, at the Garrison of Fort Moore, in New Windsor, in John Stewart of New Windsor, his executors, administrators and assigns, for the term therein mentioned; and for establishing a Ferry over Santee river, in the township of Saxe- Gotha, from the land of Martin Fridig, on the South side, to the opposite landing on the North side, of the said river, and for vesting the same in the said Martin Fridig. his executors, administrators and assigns, for the term therein mentioned."*
*On April 7, 1770, an Act was passed "for repealing an Act entitled 'An Act for appointing Commissioners to build a Bridge over the Pond in the Four Hole Swamp, commonly called Gibbes' Pond, and to lay out and make and keep in repair a road to and from the said bridge, as convenient as may be, into the Orangeburgh old road, from the head of the said path leading from Dorchester to Izard's Cow- pen'; and for authorizing and empowering the Board of Commission- ers of the Roads for the parish of St. George Dorchester, to lay out and make and keep in repair the road mentioned in the said Act" .- Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, page 322.
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