USA > South Carolina > Orangeburg County > The history of Orangeburg County, South Carolina : from its first settlement to the close of the Revolutionary War > Part 16
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+The "Old Charleston Road." ¿Lot No. 32 on the original plan of Orangeburgh was a lot near the river. ** Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, page 13.
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THE HISTORY OF
The South Carolina Gazette of May 21st, 1754, con- tains a notice from William and Thomas Sabb, of Amelia Township; and the Gazette of May 28th, 1754, advertises 1700 acres of land "on Edisto opposite Orangeburgh Township."
On April 13th, 1756, the Legislature passed "An Act for laying out, making and keeping in repair a Road from the bridge commonly called Minnick's bridge, to the 15 mile post on the road leading from Orange- burgh township to Charlestowu, and for rebuilding the said bridge and keeping the same in repair."*
On the schedule of provincial expenses for the year 1758+ the following items concerned citizens of Orange- burgh:
"To Henry Gallman, on several or- ders for provisions and carriage of stores, # 3292 12 09
"To John and Henry Gallman, for provisions, 361 13 06
"To William Seawright, for carriage of stores, £30; and on an order of Philip Puhl's, for provisions, £180 210 00 00
"To Barnard Snell, on Lewis Cole- son's order, for horse hire, 10 00 00
"To Isham Clayton, for driving cattle, 6 00 00
"To John Geissendanner, for slaves executed,
200 00 00
"To Jacob Rumph," [ constable, for fees on trial of slaves ] “9 07 06
"Elizabeth Mercier," [provisions] "26 05 00"
On the schedule for 1760 ** the following items con- cern us:
*Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, page 30. +Stats, of S. C., Vol. IV, page
63. ¿To frontier forts. ** Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, page 137 et seq.
227
ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
"To Henry Gallman, on an order of John Conrade Geiger, for the car- riage of stores to the Congrees, 27 00 00
"To Henry Gallman, for the carriage of stores to Fort Prince George, 670 00 00
Christopher Rowe, Henry Gallman, Conrade Hol- man and Gavin Pou were all paid for carrying pres- ents to the Indians, while John Fairchild received compensation for entertaining Indians.
On the schedule of expenses from January 1st, 1762, to December 31st, 1763,* the following items are of in- terest:
"Moses Thomson", [ for holding an in- quest ] "15 00 00
"Henry Gallman", [for entertainment of Indians] "59 05 03
"Conrad Hallman, ditto,
19 03 04
"To Elias Houser, Cherokee keeper,
57 00 00
"William Thompson," [for conveying prisoners to jail] "10 00 10"
On the schedule for 1764+ we find:
"To Godfrey Dreyer, for sundries sup- plied Fort William Henry and other Forts, 295 04 10
"Peter Bull, or Phul, for flour, for the Orangeburg militia, £6 00 00
"Christian Minnick, for a steer, 10 00 00
"Jacob Wolf, for two hogs, 8 00 00
"Henry Richenbacer, for carrying on a hue and cry,± 4 07 06"
From the schedule for 1766 ** we cull:
"William Thomson," [ for repairs to Fort Prince George] "16 10 00
*Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, page 198 et seq. +Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, page 223 et seq. ¿ Doubtless as a warning of the approach of hostile Indians. ** Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, page 248 et seq.
228
THE HISTORY OF
"John Fairchild, for surveying 20,000 acres of land for the Chickesaw Indians, 184 03 04
"To Christopher Rowe, for provisions for a scout, £21 17 06
"Henry Gussendenner, for constable's fees, 25 00 00"
On April 12th, 1768, the Legislature passed "An Act for establishing and making public a road to lead from Orangeburgh to Saludy, and from thence to Bush and Rayburu's Creeks, and for appointing Com- missioners for the same; and also for establishing and making public a Ferry over Saludy river, and vesting the same in Samuel Kelly and John Millhouse, their Executors, Administrators and Assignees, for the term therein mentioned" .*
From the Gazette of May 9, 1768, we extract: "The Grand Jurors of the body of the province of South Carolina presents" * * "as a grievance that Thomas Bond, a J. P. of Amelia Township, is a person unworthy of that dignity; on information of Moses Kirkland. When these presentments were ta- ken into consideration process was issued requiring Bond to come in, plead to, and answer the present- ment." The same paper, mentioning the prisoners at the Charles-Town Court, remarks: "Thomas Owen, Jun. convicted of wilfully burning the house of An- thony Distoe, pleaded his Majesty's pardon." Distoe. . or Duesto, was of Orangeburgh District .;
The Gazette of Monday, July 11th, 176S, contains this notice:
"I do hereby forwarn all persons not to credit my
*Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, page 302. S. C. Gazette, April 11, to 18, 1768. +See O'Neall's Bench and Bar, Vol. II, page 343.
229
ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
Wife,* or any other person, on my account, without a written order from under my hand.
"Christopher Wise. "St. Matthew's Parish, July 2d, 1768."
The Gazette of July 18th, 1768, contains the follow- ing advertisement: "A Plantation or Tract of Land, containing 187 acres, situate in Amelia Township"
"late the property of Robert Stewart, and sold under execution by
"ROGER PINCKNEY, Provost-Marshal."
On April 7th, 1770, an Act was passed by the Legis- lature,; for establishing a road "from Orangeburgh Bridge to Indian Head.t
On the same day an Act was passed "for stamping and issuing the sum of Seventy Thousand Pounds, for defraying the expence of building the several Court Houses and Goals appointed to be built in the several Districts in this Province", under the Act of 1768, cre- ating the seven Districts, or Precincts. The late Judge T. W. Glover stated, in some notes prepared by him, that the Orangeburgh District jail was built in the vil- lage of Orangeburgh in 1772; and Dr. Joseph Johnson, in his "Traditions of the Revolution", says that Col. William Thomson was the first Sheriff of the District, and that he assumed the duties of the office in June 1772.
The following notice is taken from the South Caro- lina Gazette of January 23rd, 1775:
"South Carolina.
"November Assizes, 1774.
"Whereas at a Court of General Sessions of the
=
*Not very complimentary to his wife. +Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, page 318. ¿ The Ninety-Six Road.
230
THE HISTORY OF
Peace, Oyer and Terminer, Assize, and General Goal- Delivery, begun and holden at Orangeburgh, for the District of Orangeburgh, on Saturday the 5th Day of November, 1774,
Charles Heatley. George Hales, James Baldrick Thomas Newman, and Daniel Kelly,
Being duly summoned, and returned, to serve as Grand Jurors; and John Newman, Melchior Smith. Gersham Kelly, Peter Corbin, Sadrick Parler, George Robinson, and Richard Barklow, As Petit Jurors, made Default, and were noted for Non Appearance:
This is to give notice.
That the former will be fined in the Sum of Ten Pounds and the latter in the Sum of Five Pounds Proclamation-Money of America, each, unless they shall make good and sufficient Excuses, upon Oath. for ther Non Appearance, by the third Tuesday in May next.
"James Caldwell,* D. C. C. & P."
The following similar notice also appeared in the Gazette during February 1775:
"South Carolina,
"Orangeburgh District.
"Whereas at a Court of Common Pleas, begun and holden at Orangeburgh, on Tuesday the Sth Day of November 1774, William Tucker, Wm Heatley, Sen., George Hales, Henry Young, and George Freeman. Sen., Being duly summoned and returned to serve as Jurors at the said Court, made Default, and were no- ted for Non-Appearance.
*James Caldwell was, it seems, at that time acting as District Clerk for both Orangeburgh and Ninety-Six Districts.
231
ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
"This is to give notice.
"That they will be fined in the Sum of Five Pounds, Proclamation-money of America each, unless they shall make good and sufficient Excuses upon Oath, for their Non-Appearance, and transmit the same to the Pleas-Office, in Charles Town. on or before the First Tuesday in April next.
"Peter Bonnetheau* C. C. & P."
From the Gazette of April 3rd, 1775, the following notice is taken:
"South Carolina,
"In the Court of Common Pleas. "February Term
"Their Honours the Judges, Chose their Circuits, which are as follows; viz. April Assizes, Southern Circuit: Justices Honorable the Chief Justice Mr. Justice Cossett. Orangeburgh District. at Orangeburgh, Wednesday April 5th. Clerk - Peter Bonnetheau.
Section 2. Indian Troubles.
In the South Carolina Gazette of April 14th, 1748, Gov- ernor Glen published a proclamation announcing that "George Haig, Justice of the Peace," had been carried off+ by "French Indians from the Congarees or new township of Saxa-Gotha"; and in consequence there-
*Peter Bonnetheau was Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas at Charlestown and civil processes for all the districts were returned at Charlestown.
+They captured Haig and his servant, but the servant escaped.
¿In the South Carolina Gazette of January 8, 1754, Mrs. Elizabeth Mercier advertised as "Executor of George Haig", and stated that she was "late" his wife. In the Gazette of July 2, 1753, Patrick Brown and Thomas Corker, "who survived George Haig", advertised for James Gill.
232
THE HISTORY OF
of he recommended that Council provide for two small troops of horse and for building a fort "at the Con- garees." From this it would seem that the fort es- tablished at the Congarees in 1718 had long since been abandoned. It is quite likely that after the fears of Yemassee incursions had blown over that the fort was abandoned, and that Captain Russell and his men were employed as rangers, for in the "Contingency" account for 1734* the following item appears: "To the Rangers under Captain Russell, four hundred and five pounds seventeen shillings, 405 17 00." Captain Russell died in 1737, and by his death his rangers were probably broken up. At any rate it appears that a fort called St. John's was built near the site of the old fort at the Congarees, and that troops were organ- ized in this section in accordance with Governor Glen's suggestion, and that in the course of ten years there were several regiments instead of two troops. Col. Moses Thomson was, about 1750, commander of the "Township battalion", that is, the provincial forces of the region southwest of the Santee, and outside of the old parishes. William Thomson was a captain of Rangers,+ 175 .. - 1759. For his services in the Chero- kee war, 1759, he was promoted major, and the Assem- bly, in the Act of July 31st, 1760, voted him £275. He is spoken of by Hewatt as "Major Thomson," ** and the South Carolina Gazette of September 27th, 1760, says: "Our 7 companies of Rangers are to be completed to full numbers and Wm. Thomson, Esq., being appointed Ma- jor Commandant of the whole, they will soon be equal to a Regiment of Light Horse." He afterwards com- manded the "Township battalion", and was made col-
*Statutes of S. C., Vol. III, page 391. +Frontier mounted police. ¿Carroll's Historical Collections of South Carolina, Vol. I, page 465. ** Also Statutes of S. C., Vol. IV, page 127.
233
ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
onel in 1765 .* Tacitus Gaillard was also a colonel,} but his commission was revoked by the Governor in 1769. Peter Mercier, whose will was made in 1754, and proved in 1755, declares himself thereint to have been "Lieutenant in one of the three Independent compa- nies." John Chevillette, the same who had been an officer under Prince Frederick of Prussia, commanded a battalion of provincial malitia, ** and Wm. Gilmore Simms says, in "The Forayers," p. 264, that Christo- pher Rowe was commissioned captain,++ in 1755, in "Colonel John Chevillette's regiment of foot", and that his commission was then (1855) extant.## Captain Christian Minnick is mentioned in the South Carolina Gazette of March 23rd, 1752; John Lloyd is called Cap- tain by Giessendanner and Major in the Gazette of August 8th, 1768, and James Tilly, Jacob Giessendan- ner and Christopher Rowe are all spoken of as captains by Giessendanner.
These malitia officers and rangers were kept quite busy from about the time of the carrying off of Haig, until the close of the Cherokee war in 1761, for, says Logan,§ "from 1749, to the close of Col. Grant's cam- paign, in 1761, embracing a period of more than ten years, there was not a settlement in this portion of the province that was not exposed to the inroads of hostile savages, and at their hands became the not unfrequent scene of bloody tragedies and domestic ruin."
About 1750, Herman Gieger, who has already been mentioned as one of the first settlers of Saxe-Gotha
*S. C. Gazette and Country Journal, July 12, 1774; S. C. Gazette, Jan. 23, 1775; S. C. G. & C. J., Jan. 17, 1775; Moultrie's Momoirs, Vol. I, page 17. ¡ S. C. Gazette Feb. 23, 1769. ¿ See book for that year, page 290, office of Probate Judge, Charleston. ** Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, pages 118 and 127. ++See also Statutes of S. C., Vol. IV, page 299. ¿¿ In Simms's possession. ¿ History of the Upper Country of South Carolina.
234
THE HISTORY OF
Township, was living at the Congarees and carrying on trade with the Indians.
"On one occasion," says Logan, p. 302, "he had been employed, it seems, by the provincial authorities in Charleston, to go, in company with a member of the Board of Indian Trade, to the Cherokee Nation, in search of the precious metals, which were supposed to exist in inexhaustible abundance in that mountainous region. Having set out, and reached in safety one of the middle towns, they there discovered several of their friendly settlement Indians in the hands of a par- ty of hostile Canadian savages, who had captured them near Charleston, and were carrying them pris- oners to their towns in the north."
Gieger's pity was aroused, and, at the head of a body of traders, he succeeded in rescuing the friendly Indians, but this act of kindness afterwards cost him his life.
The following summer, having set out for the Ca- tawba Nation, in company with a half-breed, they were intercepted and captured by several of the very party of Canada Indians from whom Geiger had res- cued the friendly Indians a year before, by whom he was carried toward the Great Lakes, and finally mur- dered .*
On the 7th day of May, 1751, Mrs. Mary Gould, or Cloud, appeared at the house of Martin Friday, at the Congarees, severely wounded, and reported to Capt. Daniel Sellider, of the Saxe-Gotha company, that on Saturday, the fourth, two Savannah Indians had come to her house, situated about half way between the Congarees and Savannah Town, and, after partaking of her husband's hospitality, had suddenly arisen in
*In the South Carolina Gazette of June 18th, 1753, John and Henry Gallman advertised for the creditors of "Herman Geiger, of Saxe- Gotha, deceased".
235
ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
the dead of night and murdered her husband, and her two children, and a young white man who was living with them, and had dangerously wounded her and left her for dead. It is also recorded that Mrs. Gould died of her wounds soon after.
About the same time Stephen Crell, of Saxe-Gotha, informed Governor Glen that a gang of Indians had been killing "horses, mares, and cattle" at the Con- garees, and in the more northern settlements, after which they went to the house of John Gieger, and carried off his negro boy. Two women, who were the only members of the family at home at the time, tried to save the boy, but were threatened with death by the savages.
In 1754 the Cherokees of the up-country committed several murders, and sacked several stores; whereupon the frontier settlers hastily assembled, and fortified themselves at Ninety-Six, the Congarees and other convenient points. But it was not until 1759 that the Cherokees made any serious outbreak.
Shortly after the breaking out of Cherokee hostili- ties in 1759, Dr. Hewat says :* "The Governor+ set out for Congarees, the place of general rendezvous for the militia, and about one hundred and forty miles dis- tant from Charlestown, where he mustered in all about one thousand four hundred men." From the Congarees Governor Lyttleton marched his little army against the Cherokees in the Northwestern part of the province, but before shedding much blood he suc- ceeded in arranging terms of peace with them.
The rejoicings on account of the peace were scarce- ly over when the news arrived of a fresh outbreak of hostilities. General Amherst, the British Command-
*History of South Carolina, pages 445 and 446 of Carroll's Collec- tions, Vol. I. +Lyttleton.
236
THE HISTORY OF
er-in-Chief in America, was then appealed to, and he sent a battalion of Highlanders, and four companies of the Royal Scots, under command of Colonel Mont- gomery, afterwards Earl of Eglinton, to South Caroli- na, where he landed in April, 1760; but as the con- quest of Canada was the grand object of the year's campaign in America, he had orders to strike a sud- den blow for the relief of Carolina, and return to head-quarters at Albany without loss of time. Hewat says, p. 455: "Several gentlemen of fortune, excited by a laudable zeal for the safety of their country. formed themselves into a company of volunteers, and joined the army. The whole force of the province was collected, and ordered to rendezvous at Congarees". * * * *
"A few weeks after his arrival Colonel Montgomery marched to the Congarees, where he was joined by the internal strength of the province, and immediate- ly set out for the Cherokee country." In this expedi- tion the Indians were defeated, but not quelled, and so soon as Colonel Montgomery retired from their country they immediately resumed hostilities. They captured and killed most of the garrison at Fort Lou- don, and had designs on Fort Prince George. "In con- sequence of which", says Hewat, p. 465, "orders were given to Major Thompson, who commanded the mili- tia on the frontier, to throw in provisions for ten weeks into that fort, and warn the commanding offi- cer of his danger."
The British authorities next sent Col. Grant to the aid of South Carolina, and he, with the assistance of the provincial malitia under Colonel Arthur Middle- ton, succeeded in finally defeating and overthrowing the Indians; but the chief glory in this last expedi- tion belonged to the provincial malitia. and it is great- ly to be regretted that the names of the militia men
237
ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
from the townships of Amelia, Saxe-Gotha and Orangeburgh cannot be here given. Some of them are known, but the majority are not.
The people of Orangeburgh Township had, at least, some of the scare of the Indian warfare of this period, for from the Giessendanner record we learn that sev- eral forts* existed in the Township, and from the wording of the record we are led to believe that the inhabitants assembled in these forts with their families in times of Indian troubles.
On the Schedule, of the expenses of the Indian war- fare the following items concern us: William Thom- son, a cart; Conrad Holman, corn and straw; "To the following persons, for Colonel John Chevillette's bat- talion", &c; Michael Snyder, flour; Elizabeth Mercier, English peas, and corn; Michael Lightner, hire of a mnare; Rev. Mr. John Giessendanner, for hire of a horse 7 days; Christopher Minnick, for cattle; Henry "Rinchenbackor," flour, peas and hogs; "Nicholas Shooler", for a steer; Godfrey Dreyer, flour; "Conrad Holman, for entertaining the Governor and several others, . .. 55 00 00;" Michael Christopher Rowe, 30 13 00; Moses Thomson, for a steer; Jacob Rumph, cart hire; Christopher Rowe, for cattle; Jacob Fridig; David Fridig; and Henry Whetstone, wagon hire; "To pay the battalion of Colonel John Chevil- lette, (as the muster roll of the said battalion was set- tled by a committee of the Assembly,) 13,109 12 08"; "To Major William Thompson, a gratuity for his ser- vices, 275 00 00". Other Orangeburgh names are on the statement, as having furnished provisions, hired wagons, pastured cattle and rendered various other services for which they received pay from the public treasurer. +
* "Block houses", no doubt. Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV, July 31, 1760.
238
THE HISTORY OF
Section 3. Heresy in the "Dutch Fork".
In the section devoted to the settling of Saxe-Gotha Township some mention has been made of the Weber, or Weaver, "heresy." The following interesting ac- count of that trouble, which culminated in 1760, is ta- ken from Dr. Bernheim's history, p. 195 et seq .:
"In Saxe-Gotha Township, Lexington County, South Carolina, and 'in the neighborhood of what is now called Younginer's Ferry', there originated a sect among the Swiss and German settlers, who were called Weberites. Their heresy was of so revolting a nature, that it would be desirable to pass it by in silence, if it could be done without doing injustice to a faithful and correct narration of historical facts.
"Rev. Dr. Hazelius give us a brief sketch of the do- ings of these Weberites in his American Lutheran Church, p. 103; and the Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg has also furnished us a more extended account of them in his journal, translated and published in vol. i of the Evangelical Review, dating their transactions as hav- ing occurred in the year 1760; nevertheless, the origin of this sect must have taken place some time before, as that is the date of the culmination of their heresy into the crime, which brought their leader to suffer the just penalty of the law.
"Dr. Muhlenberg's account is as follows: 'Mr. Stro- bel, the son-in-law of Rev. Mr. Martin, a wealthy tan- ner, sent for me in a chaise, to convey me out of town to dine with him. He told me, among other things, a remarkable history of an abominable sect, which had arisen among the Germans in South Carolina, A. D. 1760-1, and had some similarity with Knipperdolling and Jan Van Leiden. They committed murders, on which account one of them, named Jacob Weber, who
239
ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
called himself a god, and slew a person, was hanged. Their founder is said to have been Peter Schmidt. The sect originated at Saluda Fork, about one hun- dred miles from Charleston (125 or 130 miles).
"'Jacob Weber was a Swiss. He first became an exhorter, then he advanced himself still farther, but before his end he came to his senses, and saw his error.
"'The people in the country, in general, grew up without schools and instruction. Occasionally a self- taught (auto-didacter) minister may labor for awhile amongst them, yet it continues only a short time. The people are wild, and continue to grow wilder, for what does it profit them to hear a sermon every four, six, or twelve weeks, if in early youth the foundation of Divine Truth had not been laid? The aforesaid sect had so far obtained the supremacy that several families united with it for fear of their lives; numbers of both sexes went about uncovered and naked, and practiced the most abominable wantonness. One of them pretended to be God the Father, another the Son, and a third the Holy Spirit; and the pretended Father, having quarrelled with the Son, repudiated the pretended Son, chained him in the forest, declared him to be Satan, and finally gathered his gang, who beat and trampled on the poor man until he died; he is reported also to have killed the pretended Holy Ghost in bed. A report of these circumstances having reached the authorities in Charleston, the malitia were ordered to arrest the pretended deity, when he was tried, condemned, and executed upon the gallows.
"'The English inhabitants scoffed about it, and said the Germans had nothing to fear, their Devil having been killed, and their God having been hanged. Such are the fruits of not inculcating the doctrine of Divine Truth early in youth, and of leaving man to himself. Rom. I: 21-32. This sect spread from South to North
240
THE HISTORY OF
Carolina, thence to Maryland and Virginia, among the German and English population, and has likewise left some seed of this heresy in Charleston. Upon this gross Satanic tragedy a more subtle temptation fol- lowed. Quakers, Anabaptists, &c., spread themselves in the country regions around, and appear to be better suited to the circumstances of the land at this time.
"'October 9th. To-day I received the original copy of a letter dictated by Jacob Weber in prison before his death, for the benefit of his children, which reads as follows:
"""Jacob Weber's Confession.
"'"April 16th, 1761, being imprisoned and ironed, it occurred to me and the jailor to transmit to my be- loved children a sketch of my mournful life. I, Jacob Weber, was born in Switzerland, in Canton Zurich, in the county of Knomauer, in the parish of Stiffer- schweil, and was raised and educated in the Reformed Church. In the fourteenth year of my age I journeyed with my brother to South Carolina, leaving my pa- rents; and soon after my arrival I lost my brother by death. Thus I was forsaken of man, and without father or mother. But God had compassion on me amid much trouble and sorrow. He planted the fear of the Lord in my heart, so that I had more pleasure in the Lord, in godliness, and the Word of God, than in the world. I was often troubled about my salva- tion when I reflected how strict an account God would require, that I must enter into judgment, and know not how it would result. Although God drew me with his grace, I found also the reverse in my corrupt nature, which was excited with the love of the world. viz., of riches, honors, and an easy life.
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