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Erwin Family Research Errors Numerous York County family history researchers, many of whom did not care for history while in school, are now busily "uncovering" their ancestors. Most are fascinated by the process of discovery. Unfortunately, the newcomers to genealogy frequently accept, without question, whatever they find. Among other things, newcomers to research need to be aware that, variant spellings of early names and places were common; the records are usually incomplete at best and never all in one place; and, that records may be filed (or misfiled) in unexpected locations. A good case example is that of the Erwin/Irwin; Ervin/Irvin; Erving/Irving, Earwin, etc., family of York County. The variant spellings may mean that Arthur Erwin and Arthur Irvin are the same person. Arthur, himself, may have spelled his name differently on different occasions. Before the 1830s, when Noah Webster helped standardize spelling, people didn't seem to attach much importance to how a name was spelled. In the case of the Erwin family, Irwin seems to have been the most frequent early spelling with a shift to Erwin in the third generation. Genealogists who ignore all but the current spelling of the name are making a big mistake. Most of the Erwin family histories state that the first Erwin in York County was Nathaniel Erwin, supposedly born in 1713, son of Mathew Erwin, and then give a listing of Nathaniel Erwin's children. The list of children is headed by "son" William (1735-1814). Someone must have assumed that Nathaniel, born about 1743, was the father of William Erwin (1735-1814). In reality, William, born 1735, was Nathaniel's eldest brother, not his son. The error may have happened because Nathaniel had a son named William. The assumption that Nathaniel was the forefather of all of the York County Erwins was published at least as early as 1918 in a book, History of the McDowells, Erwins, Irwins and Connections by Hon. John Hugh McDowell, published in Memphis, Tenn. McDowell's book was a compilation and cited Lawrence S. Holt, Jr. as the source of information for York County Erwins. Holt's misconstrued information was copied and has subsequently appeared in many other books. How has the error been corrected? Nathaniel's will was probated in 1814 and included his son, William. Recently, an Erwin descendant accidentally stumbled upon the guardianship record of two minor sons of Nathaniel in the York County Courthouse. The paper had been misfiled in a wrong folder. The misfiled document was dated February 13, 1796 and shows that Jonathan Sutton, a cousin by marriage, was appointed the guardian of William Erwin, minor. Arthur Erwin, a cousin, was made the guardian of James Erwin, minor, the brother of William Erwin, minor. It certainly seems unlikely that a man supposedly born in 1713 had children who werestill minors at the dawn of the 19th century. Recently, it was found, too, that one of the York County first-generation Erwin brothers was simply omitted by the earlier genealogists. Why James Irwin/Erwin (ca. 1737-1761) was not considered to be of that family is not known for sure, but it might be because his marriage to Margaret Chesnut (of the Camden Chesnuts) is recorded in Anson County (N.C.) Courthouse, a considerable distance from York County. Apparently, James Irwin's family tree was dismissed as "meaningless" or "unconnected" by Erwin researchers until the descendant pursued the matter after noting that James Irwin's daughter married Capt. Jonathan Sutton of York County, who, it turned out, was the same Jonathan Sutton who served as guardian to William Erwin, the minor. Such a discovery will often open up new avenues of research. Unfortunately, the errors are not only in books. Some are in stone. Out-of-state descendants, some years ago, decided to honor their Erwin ancestor with a monument placed in York County's Bethesda Presbyterian Church cemetery (the original tombstone at the church's first site having been appropriated as a building foundation stone). The descendants, using the old books as their sources, placed incorrect information on the monument. Again, error is perpetuated. Early Methodism in York District While it is true that Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were the dominant group in early York District, the Presbyterian dominance was diminished by the effects of the revival movement known as the Great Awakening which was at its height in 1800-1802. The older well-established churches found some of their members joining many who had never known the "benefit of clergy," in open-air week-long marathon meetings There is no record of such a revival in York District but no doubt many people from York attended the large revival at Old Waxhaw in Lancaster County and took part in the protracted meetings in neighboring counties in North Carolina. As the Presbyterians wrangled over whether to allow only psalm-singing or not, the more open churches gained numbers. In York District, the Baptists were major gainers. It would be a quarter of a century before Methodism would make any inroads in the District. Yorkville's first Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1824 by Rev. William Gassaway and Rev. Joseph Holmes, according to church history. The first congregation consisted of nine members: James Jeffries, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Jeffries, Col. Thomas W. Williams, Dr. John E. Jennings, John Chambers, Mrs. Margaret Chambers, Mrs. Sarah Beaty, and Mrs. Tabitha Wilkerson. The first church building was erected on College Street in Yorkville in 1826. It was described as a plain wooden structure. Until 1852, there were only three church buildings in York District. Even the official histories of the Methodist Church are uncertain about a precise date for the establishment of Methodism in the District outside of the village of Yorkville. The date 1828 is most often mentioned because the minutes of the Lincolnton, North Carolina circuit listed Joseph Holmes as the minister in charge of York District. For many years most of York District was served out of North Carolina and most of the Methodist activity centered on the area from Yorkville to Kings Mountain. Rev. A. M. Chreitzberg, author of Early Methodism in the Carolinas, seems to support an earlier date--around 1824--based on statements made by an early minister who believed that his father-in-law, John Chambers, was preaching in the Philadelphia community at that time. . By 1831 there were 15 "preaching places" listed in the Quarterly Conference minutes. These were: Yorkville, Zion, Bethel, Walnut Grove, Schoolhouse, Unity, Siloam, Sardis, Prospect, Mrs. Howell's, Captain Jameson's, Ed Feamster's, Cove Spring, Mount Hebron, and Cross Roads. All of these were in the circuit ministered to by Joseph Holmes. Joseph Holmes, and other Methodist preachers like him, rode their large circuits on horseback, carrying their sermons, bibles, and a change of clothes in their saddlebags. They were housed and fed by the Methodist brotherhood who lived along the circuit. The Methodist minister's stipend was not known as a salary but was divided into traveling expenses, family expenses, and quarterage. As Dr. Chreitzberg described the three phases of the stipend: "the first seen at once, the second far off, and the third only in rarest instances seen at all." When Holmes' successor, James J. Richardson, 28 years of age, died in his first year of his ministry, his widow received $10.62. Money was scarce. Early Methodists were generally characterized as poor in worldly goods. The same could be said for their meeting houses. The land was generally donated and the first buildings were small and drafty, often with no way to heat them. More often than not, the services were held in homes or in the open. Few records survive to document the pre-Civil War history of York District Methodists. We cannot know, for instance, how many blacks in York District were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church Across the state of South Carolina, the black membership outnumbered the white but York had a smaller proportion of blacks than lowcountry counties. It can be assumed that blacks attended the Methodist services with the whites just as they did at Flint Hill Baptist Church. The largest number of Methodists recorded in York District during the pre-Civil War period was 408 in 1844. Early York County Will The early York County estate records have been preserved on microfilm. Legal papers such as wills, estate inventories (records of those who did not devise wills) and sheriff's auction records make interesting reading, especially those papers recorded in the early years of the county. Most of the writers of wills were husbands and fathers. They recorded the wills in order that their estates be distributed in the manner that they wished them to be but, no matter what the wishes were, if their were debts, the estate assets would be auctioned at a public sale and the proceeds would be applied against the debts with the remainder going to the nearest of kin. As a general rule, in any family where there was a widow and adult children, the adult sons received the land. The "mansion house" would be reserved for the widow as long as she lived--if she remained in a "state of widowhood." The furniture, tools, animals, and personal possessions were often distributed among the daughters and younger sons. In 1788 Matthew Bigger, who apparently had no children, left all of his property to his widow except that at her death or remarriage all of the estate to go to "James Bigger my brother Moses' son." Oliver Wallace, Jr. was more generous. In his 1789 will he stipulated: "I give and bequeath to my wife Judith Wallace my oldest Bay Mare, with a woman's Saddle & Bridle also a Feather Bed and Furniture with all her wearing apparel, and equal part with my 3 daughters in my household furniture, which I allow to be her use and disposal forever." The son, Oliver Barry Wallace, received the 100 acre plantation but Wallace stated that he wished his wife to "have as comfortable and Genteel a living off of the Plantation I now live on as the same will admit of together with service of by Negro Boy Snow...." James Ferguson's will written in January 1793 clearly intended to allow his widow to have use of the land only if she did not remarry: "My beloved wife Arnaretta full possession of the dwelling house I now live in, with what household plenishing she thinks proper to keep, with two Cows & Calves with one Plough and two pairs of Gears and Tacklings with two work Horses, and my Negro man Sandy, and my Negro wench Rachel, with full power to use the above articles to Till what of the Land she shall need for her sustenance during her Natural Life (if she remain a Widow) and at her death or marriage, whatever of the above articles is then in being...[to be distributed to the children]." Nathaniel Henderson's wife Ellanah (Eleanor) had been married previously and brought property into the marriage. Nathaniel stated in his will that Ellenah was to keep those items she brought into the marriage. He listed these as: "a bright bay mare, sorrel horse colt, a grown cow, bed & bedstead and furniture compleat, household and kitchen furniture" and then added that she was to have the services of two servants "until her Death or Change of Station." Nathaniel Henderson continued, "I allow my said wife as Comfortable and Plentiful a living off of the Plantation I now live on as the same will admit for four years after my decease and the use of one Barr shear [a type of plow] and one shovel plough with common trimmings... and if it is amicably agreed on between my Sd. wife and my family connections, whom it may immediately concern for her my Sd. wife to continue to carry on the Plantation business in conjunction with my sons Nathaniel and Robert, it would be agreeable to my Desire, but if the same is objected against...the survey of the land I now live on being by Estimation 640 acres is to [be] divided among my sons Nathaniel, Daniel, James, Robert, Samuel & Thomas." Stephen Miller "lent" his estate to his wife Hannah until their children were 21 years or age or married. His son James Miller was to get the Catawba Indian Land plantation after the death of his mother. It is interesting that a majority of the deceased did not leave wills. There were far more estate inventories recorded than there were wills recorded. "Beautiful Mary" of Ebenezer The story of "Beautiful Mary" of Ebenezer is a favorite one of this area. Her full name was Mary America Avery Toland and she was said to be the most beautiful woman in South Carolina. Born ca. 1818, she was one of seven children of Col. Edward and Mary Elizabeth Vaughn Avery, residents of the small village of Ebenezerville, now a part of Rock Hill. Colonel Avery, a Virginia native, was well-to-do and could afford the best for his lovely daughter. The breathtaking beauty made her debut in 1849 at the annual State House Ball held at the governor's mansion. It was the social event of the year. At the ball, Mary's dark blue eyes and long black lashes set in a perfectly shaped oval face attracted the attention of Dr. Huger H. Toland, a wealthy and prominent citizen of Columbia. Dr. Toland told a friend that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and that he intended to marry her. They were married after a short courtship. Apparently Mary had some health problems. Dr. Toland, decided that she needed a change of climate and that they would go to California. The recent discovery of gold had brought California much attention as the "land of milk and honey." Dr. Toland outfitted a caravan for the long, overland trip. Mary's mother was frightened at the prospect of her delicate daughter making such an arduous journey. Toland promised her that if anything should happen to Mary that he would bring her back to Ebenezer cemetery. Dr. Edward T. Avery, Mary's brother, accompanied the Tolands on the long trip through unsettled country. It took six months to reach the west coast. They camped on the outskirts of San Francisco. The first night in the camp Mary contracted cholera. She died three days later, September 22, 1852. Dr. Toland took Mary's body into San Francisco and had her embalmed. Then he ordered the construction of a vault for her body. Some old accounts say that Toland kept her casket in his office; others say it was kept in his home. In any case, it is certain that the body was not interred while in California. For 25 years Toland built a thriving medical practice. He founded San Francisco's Toland University. He also remarried and had a son, Arthur Toland, who became a famous actor. In 1877, 25 years after the death of Mary, Dr. Toland decided to keep the promise he had made to Mary's mother to return her body to Ebenezer. By that time both of her parents were dead; the mother died in 1862 and the father a year later. In the 25 years since Mary Toland's departure in a covered wagon many changes had improved American transportation. Transcontinental railroad lines were in place. The body was shipped by train to Ebenezer, placed in "seven coffins." Dr. Toland and his second wife accompanied the body. Dr. Toland said that Mary was "as beautiful as on the day she died." He composed the inscription for her tombstone: "No one so beautiful as she, Fairest of form and face, A queenly mien with modesty, Crowned every other grace." In 1971, the late U. S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, a relative of Toland, came to Ebenezer and visited the grave of the "most beautiful woman in South Carolina." Buster Boyd Bridge On January 9, 1923, Buster Boyd bridge, named for W. M. Boyd, a Mecklenburg County farmer who owned the access land, was open to automobile traffic between York County, S. C. and Mecklenburg County, N. C. The bridge link across the Catawba River cut out about 35 miles formerly required to get from Rock Hill to Charlotte. Before Buster Boyd bridge was built, automobile traffic from Rock Hill to Charlotte had to go through Gastonia, N.C. The bridge building was a joint project of the two counties. The original estimated cost was $120,000 with Mecklenburg agreeing to pay two-thirds of that amount. The engineering plans called for a bridge 1,378 ft. long in 10 spans. The substructure was concrete supporting a two-lane plank flooring covered by asphalt. The estimated time for construction was six months. The construction took much longer than planned. Delays were caused by bad weather and by unexpected quicksand. York County, when faced with the additional costs, refused to levy any more taxes. Mecklenburg County hard-surfaced its side from the bridge into Charlotte. York County had originally planned to build a $35,000 sand-clay road from Rock Hill to the bridge. When the bridge was completed there were only three miles built. The rest of the road was in "fearful condition." The fact that the road on the York County side was impassable did not keep Mecklenburg County from planning a big celebration for August 17, 1923. In July the general public was informed of the plans. The governors of the two states, the two state highway commissioners, and various county officials were to participate. Community bands and scout bands would furnish the music. Local farmers were contributing free barbecue. Cold drink stands and picnic tables would be set up. When the great day came there was an estimated 10,000 people present. Automobiles lined the road for more than two miles. Forty acres was cleared for a parking lot. The orderly crowd covered a hillside that formed a natural amphitheater. The speaker's stand was situated on a dry creek bed. The North Carolina governor was Cameron Morrison, a native of the Charlotte area who had won the governorship on a platform calling for "good roads." Cam Morrison was followed by a succession of speakers who extolled good roads as the key to progress. Farm to market roads were expected to benefit the farmer more than any other segment of the population but every traveler dreamed of being freed from decades of battling mud alternating with choking dust. The crowd, almost all of it having arrived by automobile, was truly appreciative. Various dignitaries came with their individual versions of how and why the governor of North Carolina said to the governor of South Carolina, "Governor, it has been a long time between drinks." The Pathe and International motion picture companies filmed the celebration for distribution throughout the nation. Many people were on the bridge when the first airplane appeared. Two young men from Charlotte, P. R. Redfern and B. F. Withers, Jr., flying a Curtis plane, swooped beneath the bridge. The "trucks of the plane," according to eye-witnesses, "tossed up a spray of water as they touched the surface." Contention Over the Estate of Eleanor Grier Sometime in the year 1791, Eleanor “Nelly” Mitchell landed at the port of Charleston accompanied by her brother, James Mitchell. Eleanor had separated from her husband, James Gault, in Larne, County Antrim, Ireland. Her son, James Gault, Jr., stayed with his father in Ireland. Not long after arriving in South Carolina, Eleanor Mitchell married Robert Grier in York District. When Robert Grier died in 1818 or 1819, Eleanor inherited half of his estate. Grier’s nieces and nephews inherited the other half. Eleanor Grier’s pleading letters to her son James in Ireland increased. Finally, James relented, sold his cottage, a dozen acres, two cows and a horse, and brought his wife, Betty Gingles, and their children to the United States. James and Betty Gingles Gault brought with them a married daughter, Barbara, and her husband, William Wham, as well as their younger children — John, James, Joseph, and Elinor Gault. They arrived at Baltimore in 1820 and were met by a Mr. Bell of Chester District, who drove a wagon to Baltimore. Mrs. Grier had hired Bell for $130. She gave Bell $30 to start the trip and $100 when he returned with her family. Bell found the family but before they got out of Baltimore, James Gault, Jr. died. In 1824, his widow, Betty Gingles, died. This left the children in the care of their grandmother Grier. In 1831 Eleanor Grier died without leaving a will. A grandson of Eleanor’s brother, “Capt. Jimmy” Mitchell, James M. Love, was made administrator of Eleanor Grier’s estate. Love decided that the Gault children were not legitimate heirs to Mrs. Grier’s estate. He contended that Eleanor Mitchell had never married James Gault, Sr. This denial of the Gault children’s claim prompted the suit “William Wham and Barbara his wife, et al, vs. James M. Love, et al” in the York District Equity Court. Love’s case rested on the hope that the marriage of Eleanor Mitchell and James Gault, Sr. could not be proved. Love also charged that the complainants were foreigners and aliens — a point that got little attention. The Whams were able to assemble a number of witnesses who had known the Gaults and Eleanor Mitchell in Ireland. John Gault, Sr’s younger sister, Nancy Woodside, of Greenville District, was too “aged and infirm” to travel to Yorkville but dictated a statement that her family in Ireland considered John Gault, Jr. to be legitimate — that he inherited “in exclusion of all other kindred a large property” from his grandfather Gault. Fourteen citizens vouched for Nancy Woodside’s “virtue, discretion and veracity.” Witness after witness testified that “females in my time always were called by their maiden names.” For Eleanor to be known as Mitchell while married to Gault, they each said was common. They also knew Eleanor in Ireland as either Nelly or Ellen. All witnesses for the Gaults agreed that Eleanor left John Gault, Sr. because of differences with Gault’s mother. Some witnessed that many lawful marriages were never recorded in the parish books. Samuel Snoddy testified that he was present the day the earth bank of a quarry caved in on John Gault, Sr. Snoddy visited Eleanor Grier soon after he arrived in America and informed her of her former husband’s untimely death. Snoddy testified that Eleanor wept. The testimony given by witnesses Mary McNinch, James Ford, Henrietta Hemingway, William W. Coker, James Alexander, Robert Meek and William Wilson allows the reader of the court records to piece together the evidence. It is revealed that Eleanor had an earlier husband than Gault, named only as “Mr. Knox.” And, her second husband, John Gault, Sr., lived with Jane McCracken after Eleanor came to America. The witnesses traveled great distances. William Wilson traveled 474 miles round trip and spent 23 days in Yorkville. Robert Meek traveled 192 miles and spent 17 days. Each witness received a dollar a day, and three cents a mile for his trouble. October 13, 1836, Judge John B. O’Neall endorsed the decision of the jury that the Gault children were the rightful heirs of Eleanor Grier. And so ended five years of contention over whether of not Eleanor Mitchell was legally the mother of James Gault, Jr. Gold Mining in York County Since the 1830s there have been, at various times, at least 48 gold mines in operation in York County. Perhaps as many as 30 of the mines cluster around the Smyrna area. The second most productive group have been around Kings Mountain. M. Tuomey, geologist, made the first report on South Carolina gold mining in 1848. Tuomey found that York County (or York District as it called before the Civil War) had two distinct, but parallel, ranges where gold was likely. Tuomey referred to one of the gold ranges as the King's Mountain to Fair Forest. In that range the gold was associated with iron and limestone The other range extended through Chesterfield County and Lancaster County with one extremity ending in York District near the Catawba River and is associated with granite. The last crossed the Catawba River near Turkey Point, the old site of the Catawba Indian's chief village on the Lancaster County side of the river. According to Tuomey, this range only extended a few miles into the southeast corner of York District on the plantation of a man named Sitgreaves. Tuomey began his investigation in Yorkville and described the neighboring mines as "highly interesting." On King's Creek, the first mine of the King's Mountain range he visited, he found gold mixed with iron ore and quartz in a vein about three feet thick. Tuomey did not report it but probably York District's largest and most productive mine was Martin Mine on Wolf's Creek near York. It was originally worked in 1836 by Daniel Smith and Dawkins. They had a 99-year lease from Martin. The lease changed hands many times. The largest recorded nugget found weighted 17 ounces. A 9 and 1/2 ounce nugget was also found at the same location. Nuggets the size of a pin head were said to be common. The site was being worked as late as 1952. Oscar Lieber, state geologist, toured the area in 1858. Lieber reported on a number of mines, including Wylie's, Smith's, Wilson's, Sutton's, Martin's, Dover's, and Mary Mine. Wylie's Mine was near T. G. Wylie's store at Hickory Grove. There, Lieber witnessed three or four hands separating gold with a "rocker and little drag mill." Crystalline quartz yielded 10 to 15 pennyweights of gold a day. Smith's mine, a mile and a half west of Wylie's mine had been dug to a depth of a hundred feet. It had a vein that had extended from two feet wide to nine feet, with an average width of seven feet. The promising vein was abandoned when the miners reached 20 feet below water level. Lieber also reported the Clawson Mine, four miles northwest of Fort Mill where gold was "abundant" and associated with pyrite. A later geologist reported in 1908 that the same mine, then called the Sutton Mine, showed a vein outcrop for 1,200 feet He assayed the gold content at $27 a ton. The main shaft was 50 to 60 feet deep. This was the only mine operated in Fort Mill District. There was a "Carolina Gold Rush" that lasted until the Civil War. A second period of activity began about 1880 and lasted until around 1910. The price of gold made it profitable to reopen the old mines and some new ones were discovered and put into production. During the late Depression years, around 1935 until 1942, unemployed men dug for gold in the old shafts and panned the streams hoping for a bonanza. Several mines were larger operations. Bob Ward of the Evening Herald wrote a story in 1938 about two mines he visited on "the old John Smith place" near Hickory Grove. The mines, called the Schlegel-Milch and the Dorothy, were shipping about 20 to 25 tons of ore daily. The best ore went to Perth Amboy, N. J. and the cheaper grades to Knoxville, Tenn. Another mining outfit, Southern Gold, located about two miles from Smyrna, was the largest in operation during the Depression era. They closed down in 1940. Unfortunately, today there is little hope that enough high grade gold ore can be found to make a profitable gold mining operation in York County. Enoch Gilmer, King's Mountain Spy On October 5, 1780 a small band of Revolutionary patriots gathered at Cowpens to deliberate the course to follow in their pursuit of Colonel Patrick Ferguson of the King's 71st Regiment. Ferguson was believed to be somewhere between them and Lord Cornwallis to the east. The first intelligence of Ferguson's location was gained on October 6 by Joseph Kerr, a crippled boy in Col. James Williams' company. Kerr found Ferguson's men camped at Peter Quinn's home about five or six miles from Kings Mountain. Kerr pretended to be a Loyalist and entered the camp where he estimated that Ferguson had about 1500 men. Then, hardly noticed, Kerr left to report to the patriot officers. Next, Major Chronicle recommended a South Fork lad, Enoch Gilmer, to scout the enemy. About Gilmer it was later written: "Gilmer can assume any character that occasion may require; he could cry and laugh in the same breath, and all who saw it would believe he was in earnest; that he could act the part of a lunatic so well that no one could discover him; above all, he was a stranger to fear." Gilmer planned to stop every few miles to see what the local people knew about Ferguson's movements. The first stop was at the home of a Tory where Gilmer posed as a sympathetic loyalist who needed to find Ferguson's headquarters. Gilmer got so much detail on Ferguson's plans and his communication with Cornwallis that he immediately returned to report to Gen. William Campbell who had assumed the role of chief officer. Campbell had about ll00 troops --the estimates running at 666 North Carolinians, 200 from South Carolina, 200 from Virginia and 30 from Georgia. Again, Enoch Gilmer was sent ahead to reconnoiter. The army crossed the Cherokee Ford on the Broad River. They became concerned when Gilmer did not return but soon across a valley they recognized the voice of Gilmer singing an old English tune, "Barney Linn." The song signaled that the way was clear. "Gilmer's heart was so glad that the chase was nearly over and the game almost in sight, that he had given vent to his soul in a mirthful song." Beef found at Cowpens fed the troops at the site of an abandoned Tory camp. The rain poured and the men took their blankets from their shoulders to wrap their guns and powder as they marched. Again Gilmer went forward. At the home of a family named Beason he was informed that Ferguson's camp was nine miles away. As the troops left, a girl came out and told Col. Campbell that Ferguson and his men were on Kings Mountain. Campbell went three miles more and stopped at another cabin. Inside he found Gilmer "partaking of the best of the house and hurrahing for King George." An old woman and her granddaughters had fed Gilmer well. Campbell could not resist having fun with Gilmer. He ordered a rope put around his neck and marched him out, presumably to be hung. The girls' cried and begged for Gilmer's life. Campbell told them he would hang Gilmer out of sight of their home so that they would not be upset. As soon as the patriots were on the road again, Gilmer gave his latest intelligence to Campbell. Plans were laid for the impending battle. Luck was with the patriot forces. Not only had they had the valuable information secured by Joseph Kerr, the crippled boy, and Enoch Gilmer, the consummate actor, but, in sight of the foot of the mountain, they captured a young Tory carrying a dispatch from Ferguson to Cornwallis. Col. Frederick Hambright had recognized John Ponder, a Tory in disguise. Then, within a mile of Ferguson's camp, they found a Whig, Henry Watkins, just released by Ferguson, who gave them all of the information they needed for setting up their lines for battle. The battle of Kings Mountain lasted only 50 minutes but now is recognized as the patriot victory that "turned the tide" of the Revolution in favor of the Americans. Richard Gillespie's Civil War Experiences Richard Gillespie had finished Ebenezer Academy and was planning to attend the University of Virginia when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted on April 9, 1865, three days before the firing on Fort Sumter. As a member of Co. E, 5th SC Regiment under Gen. Micah Jenkins, one of the founders of the Kings Mountain Academy, he arrived in Virginia on July 4th. The first land battle of the Civil War, First Manassas, was just ending when Gillespie’s company arrived. He didn’t fire a gun but toured the battlefield. Gillespie’s first battle was at Drainsville, about 15 miles from Washington. The battle was considered a draw. Shortly afterward, Gillespie witnessed his first execution. A Zouave from New Orleans cursed his officer, was tied to a stake and shot by his own company. After the war, when Gillespie wrote his reminiscences for the S. D. Barron Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, he reported numerous battles. A typical short account told what happened at the battle of Seven Pines, “. . we surprised the Yankees preparing dinner. We put them to flight, ate the dinner and captured stores, shot up the whiskey barrels, and helped ourselves.” He wrote of being on the sick list and going to Richmond to recuperate along with his cousin, Brown Garrison. Their landlady had a beautiful daughter and an equally beautiful niece. The boys had a “splendid time.” Richard Gillespie had a body servant named Sandy Gillespie with him. At Franklin, Virginia the man disappeared and Richard never saw him again. Two of the company deserted and went home. “They were ignorant men, and did not know the dangers of desertion.” The brigade commander found that the men had returned to their York county homes and sent a detail of soldiers to arrest them and take them back to Virginia. A military court tried the deserters and condemned them to be shot. A short time later the brigade was marched into an open field and lined up. The condemned men were made to march up and down in front of their company while carrying their own coffins. They were tied to two stakes. A dozen men were selected. Half of them were handed guns with bullets; half without. No one knew who did the killing. In the fall of 1863 the brigade was ordered to Chattanooga, Tennessee. At Look Out Mountain Gillespie received his only wound of the war. “A spent ball struck my ear and fell into my hands.” In Tennessee, as in Virginia, when rations got scarce the boys went foraging for chickens, geese, fruit or anything that was handy. They never hesitated to take what they wanted from civilians. At Fredericksburg Gillespie did picket duty along the river. Union and Confederate troops agreed not to fire at each other. The soldiers talked across the river and exchanged jokes. “Some of our boys would make little pine bark boats and send tobacco across and receive coffee in return.” At Petersburg, Company E was given the task of building breastworks. A single shot was fired from some distance away. The shot hit and killed Gillespie’s mess mate. Gillespie said that in the battle of Seven Pines, the slain soldier had shot, in cold blood, a Yankee who had surrendered. Gillespie said it was no accident and , “I always felt that the stray bullet, apparently from out of space, was a judgment sent upon my friend.” Gillespie was at Appomattox when Lee surrendered. The date was April 9, 1865, four years to the day from his enlistment. Company E marched to Danville where Gillespie and Dr. Joe Miller, also of Ebenezer, climbed on top a freight car and rode to Charlotte. Relatives gave them a good dinner but their condition was such they declined to sleep in the offered beds and instead slept under a chinquapin bush on the outskirts of town. The next day they walked to Rock Hill. Reverend Oliver Johnson In 1938 when Rev. Oliver Johnson, an A.R.P. minister, was asked how public opinion differed from that of 50 years before he replied that he saw the greatest change in the people’s attitude about public health. The S. C. legislature had just appropriated what was considered a large sum of money to establish the State Board of Health and money for county boards of health. In 1888 there had been no board of health, towns did not have sewerage systems nor did they have a county medical officer. “It was regarded as an invasion of personal rights to even require vaccination of the children.” In 1938 county nurses came to the schools to vaccinate children against smallpox and typhoid fever. That would not have happened 50 years before. Reverend Johnson continued, “Individual privies were generally constructed behind merchants’ stores in town, and hog pens were within the town limit.” From 1894 to 1908 the minister served Neely’s Creek ARP church near Rock Hill. It was during that time period that Dr. Gill Wylie (for whom Lake Wylie is named) regularly visited Rock Hill and lectured the town fathers severely for their failure to develop a water system for the whole town. Dr. Wylie maintained that the open wells were the town’s main source of diphtheria and typhoid fever. Reverend Johnson recalled that “grocery stores were unsavory places. The vendor had no regard for screens over meats, molasses and other food stuffs. Flies hummed over and lit on these commodities, but today, by a change of public opinion, rules of boards of health have been enacted, regulating the conduct of these places.” Although Johnson’s father supported his family by farming, they had lived in the small college town of Due West. The attraction for living in town was that the Johnson children would be able to attend a primary school operated by Erskine College. In 1871 a 28-year-old Civil War veteran, Dr. William Moffatt Grier was elected president of Erskine. He was vigorous and considered a great teacher of “mental and moral science.” Johnson recalled Dr. Grier as “gentle, firm, considerate, and just,” all characteristics that others were to see in Johnson himself. While at Erskine College, Johnson won medals for being the best all around student of the preparatory school, another in oratory and, in his senior year, a medal for the best essay. In his youth Reverend Johnson had taught school at Lewisville in Chester county. The school was supported by subscription by individual families. It was not a graded school. The students ranged in age from 6 to 22. Teacher pay was so low that in 1938 Johnson calculated that teachers were getting 100 times as much pay as had teachers 50 years before. In 1891, Johnson left teaching to go to the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J. He stayed there 3 years and obtained the degree of doctor of divinity. In October 1894 he was installed as pastor at Neely’s Creek Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, just south of Rock Hill in the community of Lesslie. During his 14-year tenure, Johnson led a drive for the building a new church. He left Neely’s Creek in 1908 for a church in Winnsboro, where he pastored for 37 years. Johnson had married Tirzah Christine Elliott in 1901. The people of Winnsboro, her home town, called her “Tiny” or “Miss Tiny.” The couple had 9 children, 5 girls and 4 boys. Johnson remembered that a half century before the farmers could only think of growing cotton and more cotton. “There was no diversification and no thought was given to the conservation of the soil.” In spite of the efforts of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and colleges like Clemson, the farmer paid no attention. Farmers simply wore out the cotton lands and then cut down fine hardwood forests, selling the wood to townspeople for their fireplaces and planting more cotton between the stumps. Johnson felt South Carolina farmers in 1938 were learning how to farm. He felt that farmers would get more for their crops when they diversified and the Increased income would result in improved housing. When the interviewer asked Johnson about how young people differed over a 50-year period, Johnson said that human nature would always be basically the same, “Youth has more freedom now than then, but it is my firm belief that the boys and girls of today are just as good, maybe a little better, than they were in 1880. [But] I would not exchange the comradeship of parent and child of today for that of the parent toward the child of a half century ago.” |
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