USA > South Carolina > Orangeburg County > The history of Orangeburg County, South Carolina : from its first settlement to the close of the Revolutionary War > Part 2
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"TI. And be it further enacted by the authority afore- said, That the inhabitants of St. Matthew's Parish. be- ing qualified as by law directed. shall choose three members to represent them in General Assembly: and
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
the inhabitants of Orange Parish, qualified as afore- said, shall choose three members to represent them in the General Assembly; and that writs for the election of members for the General Assembly shall be issued in the same manner and at the same time as writs have been and shall be issued for the other parishes and districts in this State.
"III. And be it further enacted by the authority afore- said, That Thomas Wild, John Robinson, Henry Rick- inbacker, James Carmichael, Jacob Woolf, Jr., Henry Felder, Jr., Andrew Frederick, John Clayton and Pe- ter Moorer, Sr. be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners for keeping in repair the Public Road from the above said north-west boundary line of Orangeburgh township to the place where the said road crosses Charlestown district line, and that they shall have the same powers and authorities as any other commissioners of the high roads in this State may or can exercise and enjoy; and in case any of the said commissioners shall die or refuse to act, the re- maining commissioners shall from time to time choose one or more commissioner or commissioners, in the room of him or them so dying or refusing to act, and he or they so chosen, shall have the same power and authority as the other commissioners have; any law, usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.
"HUGH RUTLEDGE, Speaker of the Legislative Council.
"THOMAS BEE, Speaker of the General Assembly.
"In the Council Chamber. the 16th day of March, 1778. "Assented to: RAWLINS LOWNDES."
The Constitution of 1778 provided that the whole State should, as soon as possible, be divided into dis-
The road referred to in the last section of the above Act is the road now known as the Bull Swamp road above Orangeburg, as Brough- ton Street in the city of Orangeburg, and as the old Charleston road below Orangeburg.
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THE HISTORY OF
tricts and counties, and that County Courts should be established. Accordingly in 1783 (March 16th.) the Legislature, concluding that it was "necessary to di- vide this State into counties of a convenient size. in order to the establishment of courts of inferior juris- diction",* passed "An Ordinance for appointing Com- missioners in each of the Circuit Court Districts, for dividing the same into Counties". Under the Ordi- nance commissioners were appointed in each of the several districts and "empowered and directed to lay off and divide" their respective districts "into counties of a convenient size, of not more than forty miles square, unless where the number of inhabitants and situation of the lands" required some deviation: were required to "recommend a proper place as nearly cen- tral as possible in each of the said counties, for erect- ing court houses and goals", and were required to "make report thereof to the first session of the Gener- al Assembly", held after the last day of December fol- lowing. The following were the commissioners ap- pointed to divide Orangeburgh District: William Ar- thur, George Robinson, William Thomson, John Park- inson, George Rennarson, Charles Middleton and Uriah Goodwyn. They were "authorized and impowered at the public expense to employ surveyors". where they deemed it "absolutely necessary", "to fix and ascertain the boundary lines of each district or county respect- ively". (Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV .. p. 561.)
Following this Ordinance. the Legislature. on March 12th, 1785. passed "An Act for laying off the several Counties therein mentioned, and appointing Commis- sioners to erect the Public Buildings". The following clause of the Act concerns Orangeburgh District: "The
"To be held once in every three months in each of the counties, to be presided over by seven Justices of the Peace. A Clerk and a Sher- iff' was allowed to each county.
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
district of Orangeburgh shall be divided into four counties, viz: beginning at the boundary line of Charleston district, in Four Hole swamp, thence along the main branch to the head, from thence northwest 25° to Beaver creek, and thence along the same to the Congaree, thence down Santee to Neilson's ferry, thence along Charleston district line to the beginning, and shall be called by the name of Lewisburgh coun- ty; one other county, beginning at the corner of Lew- isburgh county line, in the Four Hole swamp, thence along the said line to Beaver creek, thence southwest 54° to the road leading from Orangeburgh to Ninety- Six, in the fork of Edisto river, thence south to the head of Little Saltketcher, thence down the said Salt- ketcher to the district line, thence to the beginning, and shall be called by the name of Orange county; one other county, beginning at the mouth of Beaver creek, thence along the line of Orange county, thence southwest 54° to the road leading from Orangeburgh to Ninety-Six, thence along the road to the district line, thence along the said line to Saluda river, thence along Union county* line to Broad river, thence down the same and Congaree river to the beginning, and be called by the name of Lexington county; one other county, beginning on the Little Saltketcher swamp, at the corner of Orange county line, thence along the district line to Savannah river, thence up the same to the district line, thence along the said line to the south branch of Edisto, thence down the same to Tyler's ferry, thence a direct line to the Saltketchers, where the line of Beaufort district intersects, to Orange county line, thence south to the head of Little Saltketcher, thence down the same to the beginning, and shall be called Winton county". The justices of
*Of Ninety-Six District.
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THE HISTORY OF
the several counties were authorized to erect and keep in good repair, within each of their respective counties. and at the charge of such county, "one good and con- venient court-house, with necessary jury rooms, and one good and sufficient county gaol, of such materials. workmanship, size and dimensions", as they should order and appoint, "together with a pillory, whipping post and stocks". The justices were empowed "to purchase, or receive by donation, two acres of land whereon to erect the said county buildings, for the use of such county, and for no other use whatsoever". A failure on the part of the justices of the county to have erected and kept in good and sufficient repair, "a court house, prison. pillory and stocks" would subject every justice so failing to a fine of two hundred pounds. to be recovered by action of debt, one half to go to the treasurers for the time being, for the use of the county, and the other half to the person who should inform and sue for the same in the Court of Common Pleas. The justices were given full power "to levy and assess an annual tax on the taxable property of the several inhabitants within the respective coun- ties, for building the court houses, prisons, pillories. whipping posts and stocks", and they were required to put the public buildings in the most convenient part of each county. (Stats. of S. C., Vol. IV .. p. 661. et seq.)
In 1790 a convention of the people of South Caroli- na met in Columbia to establish a constitution for the government of the State conformably to the principles of the Constitution of the United States. The Consti- tution of 1790 was the work of that Convention. "It constituted the organic law of the State until 1865. It vested legislative authority in a Senate and a House of Representatives. Representation in the General Assembly was accorded to certain sub-divisions, which
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
were called 'Election Districts.' These election dis- tricts comprised nearly all of the old parishes and many of the counties which had been laid off in 1785 for the County Court establishment. Those parts of the State in which County Courts had not been estab- lished retained for the most part their parish divisions for representative purposes, and in the other parts of the State the election districts corresponded in name and territory, in most instances, with the counties." The County of Lexington, however, was the Election District of Saxe-Gotha until 1852 when it was changed to the Election District of Lexington, and, in the course of time, the Election District of Winton be- came known as the Election District of Barnwell.
"When the Constitution of 1790 was adopted, it pro- vided that the judicial power of the State should be vested in such Superior and Inferior Courts as the Legislature might establish. Accordingly, in 1791, an Act was passed to amend the Acts regulating the Cir- cuit Courts in the State. This Act created two new Judicial Districts, namely: Pinckney and Washing- ton, making in all nine districts, instead of seven as formerly. The Districts were laid off anew." Orange- burgh District "included all places between the Sa- vannah, Santee, Congaree and Broad Rivers, the said line from Nelson's Ferry to Matthew's Bluff, and di- rect line to be run from Silver Bluff, on the Savannah River, to the mouth of Rocky Creek on Saluda River, and thence in the same courses to Broad River." It will be noticed that the district remained exactly the same as when first laid off in 1768.
"In 1798, an Act was passed to establish a uniform and more convenient system of judicature. This Act provided for the holding of District or Circuit Courts in many of the Counties of the State, and in those Districts of the State wherein County Courts had not
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THE HISTORY OF
been established. and provided for the arrangement of those Courts into several circuits or ridings. The twenty-four Districts created by this Act were known as Judicial Districts, in contradistinction to the Elec- tion Districts of the State. These Judicial Districts, in some instances, covered the same territory as the Election District." In others they differed. In Orange- burgh they differed. In some instances, although the Judicial and Election Districts were identical in territory, yet they had different names. Lexington District, for instance, was for many years represented in the Legislature as Saxe-Gotha. One of the Judicial Districts so created was Barnwell, which included "that part of the former District of Orangeburg as is included between South Edisto and Savannah Rivers". Orangeburgh District included all of the former Dis- trict save Barnwell.
In 1804 Lexington County was cut off from Orange- burgh District and erected into Lexington District.
"The next changes to be noted were made by the Constitution of 1865. There had always been a strug- gle in the State to make the Judicial and Election Districts the same in fact as well as in name. and, as has been mentioned, the names of some of the Elec- tion Districts were changed to correspond with the Judicial Districts. The Constitution of 1865 nearly ended the contest, for by its provisions every Judicial District in the State. with one exception, was made an Election District". (This exception was in the case of the District of Charleston, the provision for that District being that it should "consist of two Election Districts, one comprising the Parishes of St. Philip's and St. Michael's, to be known as the Election District of Charleston, the other comprising the remainder of the Judicial District, to be known as the Election Dis- trict of Berkeley.") "Under the authority of this Con-
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THE HISTORY OF
been established. and provided for the arrangement of those Courts into several circuits or ridings. The twenty-four Districts created by this Act were known as Judicial Districts, in contradistinction to the Elec- tion Districts of the State. These Judicial Districts, in some instances, covered the same territory as the Election District." In others they differed. In Orange- burgh they differed. In some instances, although the Judicial and Election Districts were identical in territory, yet they had different names. Lexington District, for instance, was for many years represented in the Legislature as Saxe-Gotha. One of the Judicial Districts so created was Barnwell, which included "that part of the former District of Orangeburg as is included between South Edisto and Savannah Rivers". Orangeburgh District included all of the former Dis- trict save Barnwell.
In 1804 Lexington County was cut off from Orange- burgh District and erected into Lexington District.
"The next changes to be noted were made by the Constitution of 1865. There had always been a strug- gle in the State to make the Judicial and Election Districts the same in fact as well as in name. and, as has been mentioned, the names of some of the Elec- tion Districts were changed to correspond with the Judicial Districts. The Constitution of 1865 nearly ended the contest, for by its provisions every Judicial District in the State. with one exception, was made an Election District". (This exception was in the case of the District of Charleston. the provision for that District being that it should "consist of two Election Districts, one comprising the Parishes of St. Philip's and St. Michael's, to be known as the Election District of Charleston, the other comprising the remainder of the Judicial District, to be known as the Election Dis- trict of Berkeley.") "Under the authority of this Con-
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
stitution, District Courts for each District were estab- lished with a certain limited jurisdiction. They last- ed until the Constitution of 1868 was adopted. The number of Representatives, and the method of ap- pointment, prescribed by the Constitution of 1865 were the same as provided in the Constitution of 1790 and in the amendments thereto. Until an apportion- ment should be made upon a new enumeration, it was provided that the representation of the several Elec- tion Districts should continue as heretofore.
"The Constitution of 1868 made all Judicial Dis- tricts Counties. and declared each County an Election District." (The old Election District of Berkeley was absorbed into Charleston County.)
In 1871 Aiken County was formed out of parts of the counties of Orangeburg, Edgefield, Lexington and Barnwell.
Having discussed the various political divisions and sub-divisions of Orangeburg County from the earliest. time, next, we discuss the history of the people of that County. But before proceeding, a word as to spelling. It will be observed that the apostrophe before the pos- sessive "s" has been dropped in late years from the. name St. Matthew's, and it is now written St. Mat- thews. The "h" has also been dropped from Orange- burgh in late years. For our purposes we shall use the "h" up to the year 1868 when the Districts were abolished and Counties established in their stead. Charleston will be spelt "Charlestown" whenever its Colonialior Revolutionary history is mentioned, as it was so spelt in Colonial and Revolutionary days. The spelling. capitalization. abbreviation and punctuation of all quoted matters will be given as in the original.
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THE HIST RY OF
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST SETTLERS.
Section 1. Who they were, and where they came from.
Probably the first settlement made by a white per- son in the territory now embraced by the County of Orangeburg was made on what is now known as Ly- ons Creek, in 1704, by Henry Sterling. who is supposed to have been an Indian trader. Prior to 1735 but few white inhabitants had settled in this section, and these were mostly English, Scotch and Irish.
Dr. Alexander Hewat, in his History of South Caro- lina, (Carroll's Historical Collections of S. C., Vol. I .. p. 207.) says that in 1716, as a precaution against the incursions of the Yemassee Indians, a small fort was erected on the Congaree in Berkeley County; and the Journal of Council of January 20, 1720, says: "Since the Indian war have been obliged to maintain the fol- lowing Garrisons-viz: at the Congarees 130 miles N from Charles Town a captain and 20 men" &c., &c. This fort was a little below the present site of Colum- bia, but on the opposite side of the river, as is shown by a map in the first volume of Carroll's Historical Collections of South Carolina.
In the tenth chapter of Logan's History of Upper South Carolina the following account is given of the establishment of this fort: "No direct mention is made in the State records of a traffic with the Chero- kees, previous to the assumption of the management of the peltry trade by the public authorities of the province in 1716. In that year it is stated that goods had been sent up by order of the Assembly for their
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
use. This was done in compliance with a sort of commercial treaty, formed at this period, with the Cherokees through the diplomacy, on the one side, of Col. James Moore, and of Charite Hayge, a distin- guished conjurer and friend of the English, on the other. It was stipulated that there should be a regu- lar exchange of goods and peltries between Charleston and the Nation ..
"It was also agreed that a trading house and fort should be built the approaching fall, at a place known as the Congarees, the Conjurer promising to repair thither, at that time, with eighty warriors- one half of whom were to assist in cutting logs for the fort, and the other to carry the goods, expected to be brought up by the English that far, the remainder of the distance to the Cherokee towns.
"Though Fort Moore, and the one beyond the Sa- vannah, were built in 1716, that at the Congarees, con- trary to the agreement with Charite Hayge, was not erected till two years later. The reason assigned by the Board for deferring the work was, that the trading house and garrison at Savannah Town were sufficient for the trade until the Cherokees had concluded the war they were at that time waging with a branch of the Muscogees.
"Hewit remarks of this fort that with the others it was erected for the special purpose of defence and against the same dangers. If the records must be credited, however, it would appear that the Cherokees themselves requested that it should be built in view of their increasing traffic with the English; and it was in compliance with that request, and the enlarged de- mands of the trade. that in the summer of 1718 a body of men was sent up from Charleston to be employed in its construction.
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THE HISTORY OF
"In August of that year, Capt. Charles Russell .* who, at the recommendation of the Board, had been appointed by the governor the first commandant of the fort, was ordered to proceed to the country, and there enlist the men who were to constitute its garri- son as soon as it should be completed. Among those who were thus enlisted for this service, were Ralph Dayton, John Evans, and Edward Darlsley, the first soldiers who ever did duty in the old fort at the Con- garees.
"We have before us an extract from the instructions given by the Board to one Dauge, an assistant agent among the Cherokees, in relation to the public work at Congarees:
"'You are to proceed at once to the Cherokee Na- tion, and, on your arrival, inform the Conjurer and other head-men that, in a month or six weeks, we shall have a settlement at the Congarees, to which place they may resort, and procure whatever goods they may need; that we would have built the fort earlier than this, if some of our people had not run away with the boat which had been prepared to carry up the men and implements necessary for its construc- tion. Inform the Conjurer also, that we expect him to hasten down in order to meet at the Congarees with a supply of provisions, the train of pack horses. which is now on its way with the men and tools to be employed on the fort, and with a quantity of ammu- nition for the Cherokees.'
"In the fall of the previous year, 1717, the Board had said to a trader just setting off for the Nation: .Acquainst Charite Hayge that our new Governor Johnson has arrived, and we will speedily fix a garri-
*A native of Massachusetts, but born of English parents who had settled in that province.
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
son and factory at the Congarees, whence the Chero- kees may be supplied with arms and ammunition.'
"Samuel Kinsman was the head carpenter, who ex- ecuted the work, and was paid nine pounds per month for his services. As this fortress was designed simply as a safeguard for the goods and other property be- longing to the trade, accumulated here, it was of no more formidable construction than a common stock- ade inclosure.
"The name was derived from the Congaree Indians, in whose settlement it had been built. It stood on or near the site occupied, in after-years, by old Fort St. John's, a short distance above the mouth of Congaree Creek, near the present City of Columbia. Here was once the great centre of trade for the Catawbas, and Middle and Lower Cherokees. The Over-hills traded chiefly at Savannah Town. *
"At this period, Savannah Town and the Congarees often presented scenes more boisterous and busy than many a commercial town of the present, with far more pretention in situation and trade. On their out- skirts are encamped numerous caravans of pack-trains, with their roistering drivers, who are mostly mischiev- ous boys. The smoke from a hundred camp-fires curl above the thick tops of the trees, and the woods re- sound with the neighing of horses, and the barking and howling of hungry Indian dogs. A large supply of goods has arrived from Charleston. and every pack- saddle came down from the Nation loaded with skins and furs, and these being now displayed to the best advantage, the work of barter begins.
"In the open air and in the trading-house are con- gregated a motley assembly of pack-horsemen. trad- ers, hunters, squaws. children, soldiers, and stately In- dian warriors-some silent and grave, seemingly unin-
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THE HISTORY OF
terested in the scene; but the greater number loudly huxtering, and obstinately contending over their res- pective commodities in trade, in many barbarous tongues.
"The hunters from distant wilds want a supply of powder and ball, each squaw fancies some bright-col- ored fabric for a new petticoat or dress, while the warriors and old men eagerly demand guns, ammuni- tion and blankets.
"The clamor begins, however, presently to subside, and at length the last bargain has been struck, and the goods and peltries have alike changed hands. The packs are once more made up; the goods for the In- dian towns, and the skins for the market on the sea- board, and everything is again ready for the trail. The boys crack their whips, and with shouts and hal- loos that make the forests ring, the trains enter the narrow paths, and are soon far on their way, leaving the garrisons and agents of the posts to the dull mo- notony of the wilderness till their next visit."
About 1719 Richard Heatly, "of Berkley County planter," and his wife Mary,* moved from Cooper river to Santee, (within the present County of Orange- burg) and their son William is said to have been the first white child born in this section. Richard Heatly died a few years later, and his widow married Captain Charles Russell, J. P., commandant of the Congaree garrison. Captain Russell's family. together with the families of other members of the garrison, became permanent settlers in this section. Captain Russell died in 1737. He is mentioned in the Statutes of South Carolina for 1734 (Vol. III .. p. 391) as captain of rangers. from which we infer that the fort had been
*They were married in the parish of St. Thomas and St. Denis in 1714.
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ORANGEBURG COUNTY.
abolished and rangers substituted in its stead. We find. as an item of the expenditures of the Province in 1736-7: "Mary Russell. widow, in full for her hus- band's services as agent, &c. 124 00 00"; from which we take it that from an Indian fighter Captain Rus- sell became an Indian agent, and the following item on the same account probably refers also to him: "To so much allowed for the payment of two men who went up with Major Russell, to be lodged in the hands of the Treasurer, to be paid on proper application, at the rate of £20 per month each." On April 13, 1739, a grant of land was made to Mrs. Mary Russell, "wife of Charles Russell," in trust for her children. The land was situated at or near McCord's Ferry, between the Congaree and Wateree rivers, in Craven County, "over the Congaree" from Amelia Township. It was sur- veyed Decr. 10, 1741, by George Haig, Deputy Survey- or-General. Mrs. Russell died Jan. 5, 1754, and was buried at her plantation, and the Rev. John Giessen- danner in recording her burial states that she had lived in the township (Amelia) twenty-six years.
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