The Annals of Newberry in Two Parts: Part First by John Belton O’Neall, Part Second by John A. Chapman.
Updated November 25, 2022
Overview:
The Annals of Newberry is a work of enormous magnitude, touching on perhaps 20,000 persons from the time of the colonial settlement through the Revolution, the Civil War, and beyond. Here can be found the names of all who took part in the development of the county, as well as such other matter—biographical, historical, anecdotal. The book identifies settlers and residents, mainly Germans, Irish, Quakers, Baptists, and Presbyterians, from as early as the late 18th century, when Newberry was formed from Ninety-Six District, through the War with Mexico and the Civil War.
The Caldwells and the family of Maj. Robert Gillam are well documented.
Pages 14-15
The Act of 1785 (ratified 22d of March) commonly called the County Court Act, and drawn, as is generally understood by Judge Pendleton, provides for a court to be held in every county, once in three months, by seven Justices of the Peace, to hold their commissions during good behavior, and to be elected, first, by a joint nomination by the Senate and House of Representatives; vacancies among them, afterwards occurring, were to be filled by themselves; any three of the said Justices were a quorum to hold the said courts. The number of Justices was increased two by the Act of 10th of March, 1780, and by the Act of 17th March, 1787, was further increased to eleven.
The Justices of the Peace first appointed to hold the County Courts for Newberry, wore, as appears from the records of 1785 and 1780, Robert Rutherford, Robert GILLAM, George Ruff, Levi Casey, John Lindsey, Philemon Waters and Levi Manning. The first County Court was held at the house of Col. Robert Rutherford, 5th of September, 1785. The Justices present were Robert Rutherford, Robert GILLAM, Geo. Ruff and Levi Casey. The Clerk and Sheriff were, by the County Court Act, to be appointed by a majority of the County Court Judges. From the entry made in the records, it appears that Thomas Gordon had been appointed by the Justices before their meeting as a court, Sheriff of Newberry, and commissioned by the Governor, William Moultrie, for two years, the term of Sheriff’s office according to the Constitution of 1777. At the first meeting, William Malone was appointed Clerk, and held his commission during good behavior. He continued Clerk, and discharged the duties of his office by his deputies, Thomas Brooks Rutherford, Major Frederick Nance and William Satterwhite, to May term, 1704, when, on his resignation, Major Frederick Nance was appointed in his stead.
It appears that at the September court, 1790, held at the house of Colonel Robert Rutherford, (Justices present, Robert GILLAM, Robert Rutherford, Philemon Waters, Levi Casey, John Lindsey, and William Caldwell,) the following entry in relation to the court house was made: “Pursuant to law the Justices proceed to situate the court house of this county at John Coate’s, (little) or within one mile and a half of that place, as future circumstances may direct, pointing out the most advantage that may be derived to the publick in situating the same.” It is to be observed that this is the first time that William Caldwell appeared on the bench as one of the County Judges.
This was the first step to the settlement of the controversy about the location of the court house. The court was, notwithstanding the order of September, ‘80, held March term, 1787, at Colonel Rutherford’s. At June term the court assembled at the same place on the 4th of the month. present Robert Rutherford, Levi Casey, Philemon Waters, George Ruff, John Means, William Caldwell and Robert GILLAM, Justices. They adjourned to meet the next day, “at John Coate’s, on the north side of Bush River, agreeable to the order of September, 1780.” At this court, Robert GILLAM, who had been previously appointed, produced his commission and assumed the duties of Sheriff.
Page 57
The settlement, in the fork, between Little River and Saluda, furnished three of the members of the first Provincial Congress, John Caldwell, John Satterwhite and James Williams; two of these, Caldwell and Williams, were distinguished officers in the Revolution, and sealed their devotion of liberty with their blood. It furnished also many other noble soldiers of liberty; among them will be found Maj. Robert GILLAM, Robert GILLIAM, Jr., Joseph Goodman, John Wallace, William and James Caldwell. In it too lived Robert Cunningham, a general in the British army. His residence was Peach Hill. He was mistaken in his duty; but never have I heard it alleged or supposed that he did any act which reflected on his character as a man or an officer. I am promised materials, which I hope will enable me in a subsequent number to give biographical sketches of John, William and James Caldwell, of the two Robert GILLAMs, father and son, and of the wife of the latter, the venerable lady, Mrs. Elizabeth GILLAM, of Joseph Goodman, and of John Satterwhite, the elder. I shall avail myself speedily in some number of the opportunity to republish a memoir of Col. James Williams. I, too, would gladly, if I could avail myself of the materials, do justice to General Cunningham, by giving some account of him. I hope, too, to be able to do some sort of justice to the memory of Dr. Jacob Roberts Brown. For the present, I confine myself to sketches brief, as may be expected from general knowledge and tradition, of two of the inhabitants who have passed away.
Page 73
Charles Strong, immediately after his graduation, took charge of the Newberry Academy, and there taught until the summer of 1812, with great ability and success. His school was a large one, and beyond all doubt fully remunerated him for his labors. No better teacher could then have been found, his pupils showed then and since that they had been well taught. Gen. James GILLIAM, Judge O’Neall, and F. B. Higgins, Esq., are three of his surviving pupils.
Page 91
Sheriff Speake was succeeded by P. B. Waters, the son of Col. Philemon Waters, of revolutionary memory, who was elected December, 1804, and entered on the duties of Sheriff in 1805. He married shortly before, or soon after he was elected, Sarah, the daughter of Robert and Elizabeth GILLAM. He and his wife lived in the house herein before described, built by Daniel Brooks, Esq. He removed from his plantation on Bush River to the house now owned and occupied by Major John B. McMorries, but did not live to complete it.
Page 199
No. 16
Having indulged very much in attempting to rescue from oblivion the names of some of the worthy men of Newberry, I propose to-day to present one of the women of Newberry, over whose head near ninety-three years have fulfilled their course; and still she is here, one of the children of life.
Elizabeth GILLAM was born in Charlotte County, Va., about the 15th of October, 1757. Her parents, William Caldwell and Rebecca, his wife, were immigrants from Ireland. They first located themselves in Pennsylvania, thence the tide of emigration setting southwardly, carried them to Virginia, where they arrived about 1749; they settled on a very unclassically named creek; indeed, one the name of which I hope has long since been changed or lost in the lapse of time. Their residence, however, was on Louse Creek, Charlotte County, and there Elizabeth was born.
I am informed that the ancestors of Mr. Caldwell were of French origin; that they were Huguenots, who fled from France in 1085, at the revocation of the edict of Nantes; part settled in Scotland, another part in Ireland. William Caldwell, the father of Elizabeth GILLAM, died in Virginia, leaving nine children—four sons and five daughters, John, William, James and David, Margaret, Martha, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Rebecca and Sarah. In 1770, the widow, Mrs. Rebecca Caldwell, and her numerous family, removed to and settled on Mill Creek, in Newberry District. This emigration was induced by her eldest son John, who was an active, enterprising man, and a distinguished surveyor. It is possible, as is suggested by a member of the family, that Patrick Calhoun had previously married Martha Caldwell, and had settled in Abbeville, and that to visit them, first induced John Caldwell to leave Virginia. But I fear there is some mistake here; for none of the Calhoun’s children of Patrick and Martha, with whom I have been acquainted, would be now (1850) eighty years old. The probability is, nil the family came to South Carolina together, and that John Caldwell’s previous exploration of the country led to their removal. It is a very remarkable fact, that this numerous family were reared to be men and women, and all lived to marry, and, with the exception of John, all had children. Of the sons, John, William and James, I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. David was a mere boy in the Revolution, and was so deaf as to be, in a great degree, incapacitated for the active duties of life. He, however, lived to be an old man, and had a numerous family. The daughters, Margaret married John Ritchie, Martha married Patrick Calhoun, (and was the mother of John C. Calhoun,) Eleanor married John Moore, Elizabeth married Robert GILLAM, Rebecca married Josiah East, and Sarah married Dr. Martin. Their numerous descendants are scattered over South Carolina and the Southwest. They themselves, with the exception of Mrs. GILLAM, in 1850, have passed away, and the place which once knew them shall know them no more forever!
Mrs. GILLAM was a girl living with her mother during the Revolution, and had of course to submit to many of its privations, and to undergo many of its trials. In November, 1781, Cunningham’s celebrated foray, known as the “bloody scout,” took place. He and his men were, no doubt, led on to the horrible butcheries which they committed, by corresponding deeds of violence committed by some of the Whigs; and especially by the sufferings of the wives and children of the Tories, who, under Gov. Rutledge’s orders, had been forced from their homes, and sent down to the British lines at Charleston. Cunningham, as I am now informed, crossed Saluda at Anderson’s mills, now in the plantation owned by Cooper Boazeman. He then passed up the river by Daniel Dyson’s, William Burgess’, John Wallace and Robert GILLAM’s, to John Caldwell’s, burning every house on the way, and plundering every thing which could be found. At Ensley’s shop, he or his party, killed Oliver Towles and two others. Mrs. GILLAM, alone, visited the shop soon after they left, to discover what consequences had followed from the report of the gun. She found the lifeless bodies of Towles and two others; one of the bodies, as in mockery, was regularly stretched, or laid out, on the vice-bench. She was the first of her family at the smoking ruins of her brother’s house; his body was lying on the face in the yard! The widow was frantic with grief, walking around the smouldering ruins of their once happy home, and uttering such cries and lamentations as none but the bereaved widow can be justified in uttering. The account of this bloody transaction, us remembered by the surviving relatives of Major Caldwell, is that given by his widow. She saw the party before they arrived at the house, and persuaded her husband to make his escape. His reply was, that he had done them no harm, and he, therefore, had nothing to fear. The party halted at the gate, and hailed: Caldwell walked out, and when within a few paces, Cunningham drew a pistol and shot him dead! If this be correct, it constitutes a still heavier load of infamy to be placed upon the name of “bloody Bill Cunningham.” But I confess that I think either Mrs. Caldwell was mistaken as to the person perpetrating the deed, or that in the lapse of years, some inaccuracy has crept into the recollection of it. The account taken from the lips of one who knew John Caldwell well, and who also had full opportunities of hearing the true version, and who certainly never failed to remember correctly, will be found at p. 42, 4th vol. Southern Literary Register. I extract it as follows:
On his (Cunningham’s) march to Edgehill’s, Col. Hays’ station, he passed the house of his old commander, John Caldwell. Two of his men, Hal Foster and Bill Elmore, were his videttes [sic] in advance. They found Major Caldwell walking in his garden, shot him down, and charged their horses in and out of the garden in fiend-like sport. When Cunningham arrived, he affected to deplore the bloody deed—he protested, with tears, he would as soon have seen his own father shot as Major Caldwell. Yet, in the next instant, his house, by his orders, was in flames, and his widow left with no other covering than the heavens, seated by the side of her murdered husband.”
His account is confirmed by that given in Curwin’s Memoirs, p. 644, in which it is said:
“On their way to Hays’ station, some of the men, led on by one “Elmore,” seizing the opportunity of Cunningham being at a considerable distance behind, proceeded to Capt. Caldwell’s house, and finding him at home, they killed him and burned his house. When Cunningham came up, he regretted what his men had done; but it seems doubtful whether he could have restrained them, bearing as they did, such determined hatred towards their victim.”
In the following incident Mrs. GILLAM bore a part: In the years ‘81 or ‘82, (probably the latter,) a lad, James Creswell, afterwards Colonel Creswell, remarkable for his active hostility to the Tories, was at Mrs. Caldwell’s, (Mrs. GILLAM’s mother.) A negro gave the alarm that Tories were approaching; in an instant the old lady directed her daughter Betsey (Mrs. GILLAM) to hide herself, and Creswell to dress himself in clothes of her daughter, which she furnished. This being done, as the Tories were approaching the house, she ordered her own horse and that of her daughter Betsey’s to be saddled, as she was compelled to visit Mrs. Neely. No sooner said than ‘done; Sambo had the horses at the door. The old lady called Betsey—“come along,” said she, “I am in a hurry.” Out walked Creswell in Betsey’s toggery, [sic] her bonnet slouched over his face covered his features; he and the old lady mounted in the presence of the Tories, and away they went to visit Mrs. Neely, while the Tories set about searching for Jimmy Creswell; but they searched in vain; they found the true Betsey, and then became aware that Creswell had escaped; they soothed themselves by sweeping pretty much all Mrs. Caldwell’s household goods. One of them swore he thought Betsey took mighty long steps, as she went to her horse.
At the close of the Revolution, Elizabeth Caldwell married Robert GILLAM, the son of a Revolutionary officer, and himself a gallant soldier of the same stormy period. The Revolution had stripped them of all their property. Robert GILLAM’s account of his commencement in the world, in his own words, is well worth preserving: “After I was married,” said he, “my father gave me land for a settlement. I took my axe and went out into the woods about a mile from his residence to select a place for a house, leaving my wife to prepare my breakfast and bring it to me. I found a spring, and chose a place to set my house—cut down a tree for the first log, measured it, and began to think on the prospect before me. In my soliloquy, I said to myself: I am here without means, without help, and about to commence to provide for a family, without a thing to stand on. What shall I do? I have been so long in camp, I am not used to work. I think I had bettor quit the job, and run away. While thus musing, 1 saw my wife coming in search of me with my breakfast. When she came up we sat down together on the log, I to cat my breakfast and to talk, and she to look on and hear; I stated to her my plan for the house, but at the same time told her the prospect of living was bad; the difficulties great, and I could not see how I could get along and overcome them—and finally, that I did not know what to do. (The notion about running away, I kept to myself.) She, woman-like, listened to my doubts and fears; cheered me by pointing to others around us worse off than we were; and finally encouraged me to go on to work, and try to do the best I could. My meal (said Mr. GILLAM,) was finished; I mounted the log, cut it off. and thought no more about running away.” By honest, untiring industry, he and his wife overcame their early difficulties and obtained a competence. Mrs. GILLAM was the mother of six children; three died in infancy.—Her oldest child, Sarah, married Philemon B. Waters, Sheriff of Newberry District; his early death in 1807, left her a young widow. She married a second husband, William T. Sheppard, by whom she had several children; both he and she are dead. Mrs. GILLAM’s two other children, sons, William and James, are alive. William lives at Pilot Mountain, N. C. Gen’l. James GILLAM is a well known and highly respected citizen of Abbeville; with him his aged mother now lives, and of her he has most justly remarked, that “she and all the other members of the Caldwell family were Presbyterians, and hence she was strict in the instruction of her children. She strove to rear them up in the way in which they should go, so that when they should be old, they should not depart from it; and whatever pretensions I may have to a moral or religious character. I must mainly (under God) attribute it to her. I still remember many of her early maxims and pious trainings; and although I have often abused them and have wandered far from them, yet they have been indelibly impressed on my memory. Her own education was very limited—she enjoyed few advantages and facilities for her task, yet she did the best which she could, and for which I hope ever to be grateful.” She was baptized in infancy, by the Rev. Patrick Henry, uncle of Virginia’s celebrated orator. She was long a member of Little River Church, near Belfast, Laurens; but when Aveleigh Church, near Newberry, was organized, she became a member of it. A year ago, I was permitted to see this venerable lady, then in her ninety-second year; she was then walking about, having lost the sight of one eye, and very much her memory; still her health was good, and I should not be surprised if she should attain her mother’s great age of ninety-nine years. (In 1807 Mrs. Rebecca Caldwell died on Mill Creek, at the great age just mentioned.) Mrs. GILLAM is under the middle size; she never could have been called beautiful, yet she had, and has yet, that kind, honest face which makes one always forget the absence of beauty. She possessed a strong, vigorous mind, untiring industry, cheerful, good humor and great love of social intercourse. She has long been a widow, and has borne a widow’s lot with the same cheerful resignation to her mighty Master’s will, with which she has passed through life. She is eminently pious. That her duties as a wife and mother were well fulfilled, needs no other proof than her husband’s account of how she strengthened him to begin life, and her son’s account of the rearing of her children. Of, and to her, may we not say, in the language of scripture, “many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."
Page 205
No. 17
I am about to speak of a gentleman, one of the earliest settlers of the district, a leading Whig, a well known man in the stormy period of the Revolution, John Caldwell; and yet, notwithstanding all this, it is with difficulty that a meagre account can be given of his life. His father and mother have already been spoken of in the life of his sister, Mrs. GILLAM.
Page 210
In November, 1781, Major Caldwell was killed in his own yard, or garden, in the manner which was described in the memoirs of his sister, Mrs. GILLAM.
Page 229
We, to-day, propose to call up the name of William Caldwell from the sleep of thirty-nine years; and, as far as possible to give his life to the people.
He was born, in March, 1748, in the State of Pennsylvania, in the next year the family removed to Virginia, where they remained till they emigrated to South Carolina, about the year 1770; this is supposed to be correct, as it is compiled from an account furnished by Gen. James GILLAM, the son of Elizabeth GILLAM, whose memoir has been heretofore published. After his removal to this State, he spent two years at his brother-in-law’s, Patrick Calhoun, in Abbeville and then returned to Newberry, and with his brother learned surveying theoretically and practically.
Page 231
Be this as it may, it is very certain that he was not in any of the actions, which followed, until the battle of Cowpens, in January, 1781. Before that time he had been engaged in scouting, bearing expresses, and other duties. When Tarleton’s command lay at Chandler’s and Brooks’, before ho changed his route for Pacolet, and the pursuit, as he called it, of Morgan, Wm. Caldwell, Robert GILLAM, and John Satterwhite were constantly in the neighborhood, observing the motions of the enemy. Shortly before his death, he pointed out the rock, on the right of the road to Belfast, and where the road to Mount Zion turns off, as that on which they fed their horses with shelled corn carried in their saddle-bags. When Tarleton turned the head of his column by the Tea-Table rock in Newberry District, in the direction of Morgan’s camp.
Pages 235-236
Before he was discharged they (the Whigs,) determined he should not escape. Love was an Irishman. He was one of Cunningham’s men in the bloody scout. He was, I presume, present at the massacre at Turner’s Station. What part he bore in it has never been known. He was at Hays’ defeat, and the bloody orgies there enacted. He was never charged with, there, killing any one. After the fatal massacre of the ring, in which every one placed in it, with the exception of Major William Dunlap and John Cummins (the two Tinsleys were not in the ring,) were dispatched, Love passed over the bloody ground, and plunged his sword into the reeking bodies, to ascertain if life remained in any of them. For these offences the Whigs, the relatives and friends of the slain, determined he should die. The names of the party have descended to the present time. They are General William Butler, Captain James Caldwell, Colonel Zach S. Brooks, William Brooks. John Satterwhite, Bartlett Satterwhite, Robert GILLAM, James Atwood Williams. Captain James Caldwell (not General Butler,) was placed at the head. The latter was too prominent a man to be selected as the leader. Captain Caldwell, pistol in hand, marched into the court-house, took the prisoner from the bar. He was taken to the door, and thrown upon a horse, held by James Atwood Williams. He was thence conducted to a stooping oak, at or near the spring, and hanged. Judge Burke, amazed at the outrage, as it began, ordered the sheriff to quell the riot. “It is more than my life or yours is worth to attempt it,” was the reply. The Judge instantly adjourned the court, and called to his servant, “Kit Kit, get the horses.” They were soon got, and he left the town, and paused not till he was under the friendly roof of his countryman, Samuel Kelly, at Springfield. In his hurried journey he dropped his razors. They were brought to him, at Springfield, by Caleb Gilbert, whom the judge, in his racy Irish, declared to be “an honest fellow.”
Page 242-ff
No. 23
Men exist in scorn of wrong;
Sons of the truth of things;
True heart’s, brothers, brave and strong,
Fed from life’s perennial springs.
“Self-devoted, self-denying,
For a world in sorrow lying,
Glorious is your God-like aim;
Glorious be your deathless fame.”
Father and son are now to be sketched; both belong to that glorious army of suffering, but conquering patriots, who held aloft the standard of liberty during the dark and gloomy period of the American Revolution.
Major Robert GILLAM, (the father,) removed from Granville County, N. C., (where he was born) to Page’s Creek, Newberry District, before the Revolution began. Before the war reached the interior of the State, he was major of militia, and in that rank went out against the Cherokees, under the command of General “Williamson, called by the Indians the cow driver.
This service began, probably, before the 15th of July, ‘70; for on that day an engagement took place between the Indians and Tories, and a detachment from General Williamson’s little army of five hundred men, commanded by the late Major Jonathan Downs, of Laurens. The Indians and Tories were defeated, and thirteen of their number being taken, were found to be white men, painted like Indians.
Just about that period, intelligence of the repulse of the British at Sullivan’s Island, on the 28th of June, reached the back country. People of ‘54, think of the vast advantage you now enjoy over your ancestors of ‘70; twenty days brought them the news of victory and safety at Charleston—twenty-four hours now bring to you the most trifling events at the same place!
The glorious result of the battle at Fort Moultrie intimidated the Tories, and sent recruits, six hundred strong, to Williamson’s little host. With three hundred and fifty horsemen, Ramsay says he advanced to attack a party of Tories and Indians, who were encamped at Occnone Creek. He must have had with him also a party of infantry; for it seems he fell into an ambuscade, his horse was shot under him, and Salvadore, the proprietor of the Jew’s land, Abbeville District, was killed and scalped by his side, and defeat seemed to be inevitable. At this critical moment, Leroy Hammond, who commanded a company, rallied twenty of his men, and directing them to reserve their fire, marched rapidly with them to the fence behind which the Indians and their allies were posted, fired upon them, and immediately jumped over and charged. The Indians fled from the approaching bayonet, and the fortune of the day was saved.
Williamson pursued his advantage; burned the town east of the Keowee; but his men could not be induced to pass the river until Captain Hammond volunteered, in place of the officer designated for that duty, crossed at their head, and destroyed all the houses and provisions which they could find. Williamson returned to his main body and advanced with them to Eighteen Mile Creek, where he encamped 2nd August. As he advanced he sent out detachments to lay waste the Indian towns. This cruel, but perhaps necessary duty, was performed, and by the 15th the destruction of the lower towns was completed.
On the 13th of September, with an army of two thousand men, partly regulars and partly militia, Williamson marched into the country of the Cherokees; he again fell into an ambuscade. Ramsay says, in his History of South Carolina, vol. i. p. 281: “They (the army) entered a narrow valley, enclosed on each side by mountains. Twelve hundred Indians occupied these heights, and from them poured in a constant and well-directed fire. Detachments were ordered to file off and gain the eminences above the Indians, and turn their flanks. Others, whose guns were loaded, received orders from Lieut. Hampton (Henry Hampton) to advance, and after discharging, to fall down and load.” Johnson, in his Traditions of the Revolution, calls him Captain Hampton, and says, “his orders were to his company to fire in platoons, and then fall to the ground to reload, while the rest advanced in their smoke. He thus led them to the charge, advancing in the smoke, then firing, and reloading on their backs. When he came near enough, he charged bayonet, and the enemy fled.”
The army proceeded further without interruption, and on the 23d of September arrived in the valleys, and the sword and torch carried death and destruction to the poor, deceived Cherokees, and their habitations east of the Apalachian [sic] mountains. Williamson’s army returned, and was disbanded by the 13th of October.
In this harassing, dangerous, and well-executed campaign, Major GILLAM performed his part well and faithfully. Particular incidents attending it cannot now be obtained.
A circumstance which occurred during the Revolution shows what Major GILLAM dared to do. He was on some business at Turners, better known as Long’s Bridge, on Little River. He was sitting on the fence cleaning his nails with a small pen knife; an athletic Tory, well armed, rode near to him, using daring and insolent expressions; GILLAM sprang like a tiger at him, seized him by the breast, dragged him oft his horse, and took him prisoner. His age and a large family kept him from that active duty which devolved on younger men, after the fall of Charleston, in May, 1780. He, however, met with the usual share of suffering and loss which fell to the Whigs of that time. In Cunningham’s bloody foray, October, 1781, his house and provisions were destroyed; he and his family, generally, had sought safety in a removal to Broad River. After the war, to wit, in 1785, he was appointed one of the justices of the county court for Newberry. In September, 1786, he entered upon the duties of Sheriff of the county. He served out faithfully his term of two years, and from that time to the close of his life, in 1795, he spent his days in the bosom of his family, in a peaceful retirement. He died at his original settlement on Page’s Creek.
He is described by his grandson, General GILLAM, as “tall and slim, erect in person, active and sprightly, having a clear head, discriminating mind, and remarkable for great goodness of heart and suavity of disposition”; but when aroused by injury, or impelled to act by duty, he was “violent, impetuous,” and brave. Such was the father.
We turn now to the son, Robert GILLAM, Jr. He was born in Granville County, North Carolina, 11th January, 1760. He removed with his father, being then a mere boy, to Page’s Creek, Newberry District.
He was one of the expedition against the Cherokees in ‘70, under the command of his father; he was then a little more than sixteen. He was in the battle of Stono, 20th June, 1780; Musgrove’s Mill, 18th August, 1780; Blackstock’s, 20th November, 1780; and Cowpens, on the 17th January, 1781.
The battle of the Cowpens closed his active military services. He narrowly escaped, however, in October, 1781, the vengeance of Cunningham’s bloody partisans.
After Green raised the siege of Ninety-Six, his father, with most of the family, had removed to Broad River, to escape the violence of the Tories. Mrs. Susan Finley, a widowed daughter of Major GILLAM, occupied the place. Robert GILLAM, Jr., had just finished hauling in the crop of corn, and had left for Broad River, when Cunningham’s party reached the place, and applied the torch to the dwelling house, corn-crib, and out-houses generally. Mrs. Finley, knowing many of the party, begged one of them to save a bed for her, which he did, and put it in the smoke house, the only building left standing on the premises. The subject of this, memoir, ignorant of that which had taken place in his rear, was moving leisurely on his journey; when he arrived at Ben Collier’s, on Mudlick, he, although a Tory, loved his neighbor, hailed GILLAM, told him of Cunningham’s movements: of the murder of John Caldwell, and pointed to the smoking ruins of his house, and bade him to fly for his life. He obeyed the friendly warning, and before the morning sun arose upon him, he was in safety.
After the war he married Elizabeth Caldwell. (Her memoir is given in No. 10.) After it was written, at the great age of ninety-five or ninety-six, she was gathered to her fathers. They had two sons and four daughters; of them, the sons, William and General James GILLAM, alone remain. Robert GILLAM was for many years a magistrate of the district; this office he filled with dignity and intelligence. In all other respects, his life was one of “retired happiness.” His wife, children, and friends, with home, sweet home, were his enjoyments. He died at his residence on Page’s Creek, in Newberry. A recollection of his person, as seen from 1808 to 1813, shadows him forth as very much of the same size as his son, ‘William, perhaps a little stouter and more grey than when I last saw him.
His son, General GILLIAM, says “he was a man of great suavity and good nature; honest and upright in all his dealings.” This short, but good character, he richly merited. No man better deserved the name of an honest, good man. He was, I presume, a member of the Presbyterian Church, Little River.
Thus have been presented two soldiers of the old time citizens of Newberry. Seldom does it happen that the father and son serve together in the glorious cause of liberty, and are transmitted on the same page to posterity. But so it has happened in the GILLAM family, and to their memories Newberry points as two of the stars on her crown of glory.
Page 374
Such was the brief, though plain, direct and positive Ordinance by which the momentous act of Secession was consummated. There was not a single dissenting voice. When the Ordinance was engrossed the members from Newberry, with all the other members of the Convention, affixed their signatures.
The young people of this time, when everything is so calm and quiet, and when all the excitement attending the Presidential election and others is a mere ripple upon the surface of the political sea, and is a subject of mirth rather than of apprehension, are little able to realize the intense feeling of anxiety that prevailed for years before Secession was an accomplished fact, and filled the minds of many persons with an awful sense of some impending and dreadful evil. As an instance, it is well to give hero a brief notice of a public meeting held at Beth Eden on the 31st of October, 1800, of which Dr. Glenn was President and John P. Kinard Secretary. The object of the meeting was explained by the president, which was to form an association for the purpose of assisting our fellow-citizens throughout the State, and of giving additional security to the county against the incendiary attempts of the Abolitionists. He referred to the present state of affairs; the designs of the Black Republican party—their threats—and showed the necessity of union among all classes and parties of men at the South. The necessity of vigilance, caution and prudence. Suitable resolutions were passed, all looking to the preservation of quiet and good order. The following named gentlemen were elected officers of the Association: Dr. George W. Glenn, President; James Caldwell, P. W. GILLIAM, Jos. Y. Hunter, James Spence, H. H. Folk, Vice-Presidents; John P. Kinard, Secretary.
Page 419
Roll of Company G, Holcombe Legion, SCV
Privates—Hampton Abrams, dead. James Abrams, wounded at Suponey Church; discharged at Point Lookout. Jas. Ashford, Fairfield, wounded at Second Manassas; discharged at Point Lookout. Richard Anderson, Abbeville, discharged at Point Lookout, Thomas H. Alewine. Thomas H. Adams, wounded at Rappahannock, Kinston, Suponey Church and Petersburg; discharged from prison in New York. Melvin Adams, discharged at Point Lookout. David Blair, killed at Goldsboro. George Beam, Fairfield, transferred to 17th S. C. Regiment. John Boozer, discharged at Point Lookout. John Barksdale, Laurens, discharged at Point Lookout. Martin Butler. J. H. P. Cromer, wounded at Second Manassas; disabled and discharged. James C. Clary, discharged at Point Lookout. Samuel Cohen, wounded at Suponey Church; discharged at Point Lookout; living in New Jersey. George S. Cannon, discharged at Point Lookout. Franklin H. Cromer, died at Adams Run, June 30, 1862. Stephen Cromer, killed at Second Manassas. Ivy Cromer, discharged from prison in New York. Robert Cromer, discharged at Point Lookout; dead. Franklin Cromor, discharged at Point Lookout. William Chapman, killed at Petersburg. George Cromer, discharged at Point Lookout; dead. “Whitfield Cromer. killed at Petersburg. Frederick J. Cromor, discharged at Point Lookout; dead. Drayton S. Chandler; living in Greenville County. Marion Dickert, discharged disabled. E. P. Davis, discharged disabled. John Davenport, discharged at Point Lookout. Jacob W. Felker, wounded at Suponey Church; discharged at Point Lookout. Adam F. Felker, discharged at Petersburg. Thomas Felkman, discharged at Point Lookout. D. B. Glymph, Abbeville. John Gibson, Abbeville, discharged at Point Lookout. Jefferson Gregory, Union, discharged over age. Newt. F. GILLIAM, killed at Kinston. A. Y. W. Glymph, discharged on detached service. J. H. Hayes, discharged at Point Lookout; dead. Elijah Hipp, mortally wounded at Second Manassas. George Harvey, wounded at Second Manassas; disabled and discharged. Wm. Hoyle, Fairfield, died of disease in service. Thomas D. Hogg, killed at Second Manassas. John N. Hendrix, killed at Second Manassas. John H. Harmon, discharged at Point Lookout. Simeon Johnson, wounded at Petersburg and discharged from hospital. Wm. P. Jackson, Union. Wm. Kersey. Ivy Ropp, died of disease, not known where. M. W. Longshore, killed at Petersburg. Levi F. Longshore, discharged at Petersburg. Madison Longshore, discharged at Point Lookout. Young Longshore, discharged at Point Lookout. Jacob Lietzsey, died in prison at Point Lookout John Reeder, discharged at Point Lookout. Hilliary Mangum, discharged at Point Lookout. James Morris, died of disease at home. Robert McClung, died, place and time unknown. J. J. McAfee, Kentucky, transferred to Kentucky Cavalry. Abner Reeder, wounded at Suponey Church. John Oxner, discharged at Point Lookout; dead. Uriah Oxner, wounded at Suponey Church; discharged at home, Isaac Roebuck, died at home on furlough. John Pitts, discharged at Point Lookout. Jonathan Pitts, discharged at Point Lookout. Joe Pitts, discharged at Point Lookout. William Rutherford, discharged at Point Lookout. E. W. Reese, discharged at Petersburg. John Thomas Suber, discharged disabled. David F. Suber, discharged at Point Lookout. Edward Stokes. Thomas Stokes, dead. Jacob Smith, discharged over age. Richard S. Satterwhite, discharged at Point Lookout. Simpson Sligh, discharged at Point Lookout. James Singley, killed at Petersburg. William Senn, wounded at Petersburg. James Turner, Union, died of disease at Adam’s Run. Press Thompson, died of disease in hospital at Richmond. Arnold Thomasson, lest near Gordonsville, Va. Samuel Wicker, wounded at Second Manassas and Kinston; discharged at Point Lookout. B. F. Williams, Greenville, killed in battle, time and place not known. Walker Willingham, wounded at Second Manassas; discharged at Point Lookout.
Page 430
Company C, Holcombe Legion
Privates—Thomas H. Adams. Aaron D. Burton, wounded at Cold Harbor. John P. Buzhardt. Henry D. Boozer. John C. Chalmers, died of disease in Virginia. William Y. Cradock. Wm. L. Davis. Jno. M. Davenport, died of disease in Virginia. James A. Davis, wounded at Cold Harbor. Thomas J. Denson, discharged, over age. Richard J. Dean. James J. Denson. Napoleon B. Davenport. Thomas Floyd. David Garrett, died of measles at Adam’s Run, March 9, 1802. William G. Glenn, wounded at Cold Harbor. Elijah M. Lake, wounded by shell at Adam’s Run, February 8, 1802; died. Samuel W. Spearman. James K. P. Spearman, died of measles at Adam’s Run. John F. Spearman, died of disease at home February 10, 1802. Jacob Smith. John M. Pennington. Henry Willen, died of disease in Virginia. Seth Williams. William It. Spearman, discharged to Arsenal Academy. Harry P. Wadlington. John C. Whitman. R. G. GILLIAM. William Boozer. W. A. Clark. R. C. Davis. J. C. Davis. R. Julius Dean. Thomas Hatton. G. W. Johnson. Miller Johnson. Abe Johnson. Wash. Johnson. Warren H. Jones. George P. Lake, died of measles at Adam’s Run. William Dean. G. Pope Mangum. John W. Miller. Wash Monroe, wounded at Drill Ground, Va. Drayton Pitts. John W. Satterwhite. Thomas P. Slider. E. P. Stillwell. J. Davis Taylor, wounded at Darbytown, Va.
Page 440
Company C, Ninth Regiment, State Troops
There seems to be no roll in the archives in Columbia of Company C, Ninth Regiment of State Troops. From other sources I have obtained the names given herewith of those who were members from Newberry. They entered the service in the fall of 1802 and were stationed on the South Carolina coast for State defense: Jas. H. Williams, Colonel. Benj. Mathis, Captain. Reuben Davidson, 1st Lieutenant. Joseph Duckett, 2nd Lieutenant G. B. Boozer, 3d Lieutenant Privates—A. G. Maybin, John Satterwhite, Milton Spence, Levi Williams, Archie Sloan, James Adams, L. J. Jones, Melvin Adams, Pettus GILLIAM, John Lyles, John C. Boozer, T. N. Boozer, Thomas Murtishaw, Hardy Suber, A. W. T. Simmons, W. Y. Fair. In the fall of 1803 Thomas Crooks was Captain and Thomas Alewine 1st Sergeant, and the following were added to the company: T. B. Chalmers, J. H. Gordon, David Murphy, Geo. A. Sligh. Jesse Senn, Johnson Pitts, Ed. Campbell, Mitchell Suber, Alf. Reeder.
Page 526
James S. GILLIAM lived on the left of the Kinard’s Ferry road and nearly opposite Henry Cooper’s. I do not know who first settled his place, but it must have been done in the olden time when everybody built on a branch or stream of water so as to be close to a spring. Mr. GILLIAM was a plain, unostentatious gentleman and always spoke his mind without reserve. He lived to be very old and always stuck to the old time hospitality of setting out his bottle when a friend called; and in doing so he never failed to take the first drink, to show, as he said, that it was not poison. If he called on a friend he adhered to the same rule—the host must drink first or he would not drink at all. His aged widow still survives and resides with her brother, our old faithful public servant, E. P. Lake. “
Page 576
Andrew Turner died the last year of the war at his residence, “Forest Hill,” at the age of three-score and ten, on the 5th of October, 1804. He left an only child, Mary Elizabeth, who in 1853 married William Clement GILLIAM. a member of an old Virginia family of English descent. Mr. GILLIAM died shortly after their marriage, on August 9, 1854, much beloved by his neighbors, leaving an only son, William Clement, who is now a practicing physician in New York City.
Page 576
DR. JACOB F. GILLIAM and his wife, Mary Massey, were residents of Newberry District. They had three children to survive them: William Clement, Drucilla Ann and Pettis Wales.
Mary Massey was the only child of her parents. Her mother was a Miss Duncan and married Mr. Massey. They were both Virginians. Dr. GILLIAM’s mother was Miss Sims. He died in his forty-eighth year: his wife died soon afterwards in her forty second year. Their daughter, Drucilla Ann, married James B. Wilson, the only brother of six sisters. Their residence, “Ingleside,” was six miles northeast of the town of Newberry. They had six children born unto them, three daughters and three sons. They were a most lovely, lovable and cultured family. In seven years the whole family died, father, mother and six children, from August, 1857, to October, 1804. The oldest was nineteen years old. The names of the children were Mary Rosalie; Sarah Caroline (after her aunt, Mrs. Wilson Caldwell.): William Clement (named for his uncle), killed on the 13th of October, 1804, in Virginia: William Sims, one of General Ripley’s couriers, who died of yellow fever; Josephine Caldwell and Pettus Wales. They all sleep side by side in Tranquil Cemetery, net far from the old homestead, there to await the first resurrection.
Page 577
PETTUS WALES GILLIAM Married Harriet Caldwell Wilson, sister to James B. Wilson, both natives of Newberry; resided at “White Oak,” seven miles north of the town of Newberry. They had one son, who was named for his uncle, William Clement GILLIAM. During the war he and his son, who was then in his sixteenth year, were both in the Southern army. At the close of the war, the following autumn of 1800, he with his wife and son, Roscius Atwood and his family, removed to Arkansas, where two daughters were born unto them, Colin Murchison and Mary Elizabeth. His wife died in Arkansas. He did not survive her many years. They both were buried in their adopted State.
Page 577
ROBERT GLENN GILLIAM, Brother of Dr. Jacob F. GILLIAM, married Eusebia Blackburn. They resided on Indian Creek in Newberry District. They had one daughter who survived her parents. She is now Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Hinson. Some years ago she lost both her lovely little daughters Mary and Mattie; each had arrived at the age of eleven years. Mary, the eldest, died of diptheria. In two and a half years Mattie died of measles.
Page 578
Zaccheus Wright and ROBERT GLENN GILLIAM. In a short sketch (and these that I give are of necessity compelled to be very short) justice cannot be done to the memory of the many good men and women mentioned. Amongst these is Zaccheus Wright, the father of Captain Robert H. Wright, of the town of Newberry, and mentioned lovingly by the one who gives me these sketches as “my sainted uncle.” He and Robert Glenn GILLIAM were near neighbors, and were truly some of the “salt of the earth.” They worshiped together in the same church, “Tranquil,” for many years. They both are asleep in Jesus, “blessed sleep.” Their bodies are interred in the same cemetery, close by the church, where in life they were so fond of attending, there to await the first resurrection. Rest in peace—with all the faithful in Christ. Amen.
Page 579
Afterwards Stephen Blackburn lived there. He was a brother of Mrs. Robert Glenn GILLIAM married and Elizabeth Gary, sister to Martin and Hillary Gary. They had one daughter born to them, Mary Caroline, and she is now Mrs. Dr. F. F. Gary, of Abbeville. Stephen Blackburn died at Rich Hill. His widow afterwards married Dr. Rook.
Pages 701-702
Tranquil was first built in 1799, and the first members were Wrights, Shells, Browns, and Seymore families, from Virginia, who had become Methodists in their native State. In 1832 the old log church gave way to a frame church, and in 1859 this second building was superseded by a beautiful church, which building continued to be used until 1890, when it was taken down and moved to Jalapa, still retaining the old name of Tranquil. The once large membership of such choice material, having passed away by death and removal, only a very few remain. For over fifty years this church was a leading one in Newberry District. Among the many excellent members of this church, special mention should be made of Zaccheus Wright, (father of Capt. R. H. Wright), and Robt. G. GILLIAM (father of Mrs. Lizzie Hinson). These two noble souls, though diverse in temperament, were one in the work of Christ’s kingdom. To this church and community belongs the honor of organizing the first Sabbath-school in Newberry County—in 1827—conducted by Zaccheus Wright and Absalom Glasgow, (Presbyterian).
Tabernacle was organized in 1842. John B. Richie was the leading spirit in its beginning, and continued one of its main supports until his death. The first building was succeeded by a comfortable one in 1850, on land donated by Nathan Johnson, a leading Baptist in the community. Zaccheus Wright and Robert G. GILLIAM, from Tranquil, greatly aided in building these houses of worship, and otherwise developing the church. Mrs. Bettie GILLIAM, the Oxners, Bishops, Davises, find others are names connected with this church’s history.
Sources