HISTORIC OCONEE COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA
Subject: OCONEE COUNTY

Version 1.0, 15-Dec-2002, H-14.txt 


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Paul M Kankula - nn8nn
Seneca, SC, USA
Oconee County SC GenWeb Coordinator
 
Oconee County SC GenWeb Homestead
http://www.rootsweb.com/~scoconee/oconee.html
 
Oconee County SC GenWeb Tombstone Project
http://www.rootsweb.com/~scoconee/cemeteries.html
http://www.usgwtombstones.org/southcarolina/oconee.html

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DATAFILE INPUT . : Paul M. Kankula at kankula1@innova.net in Dec-2002

DATAFILE LAYOUT  : Paul M. Kankula at kankula1@innova.net in Dec-2002

HISTORY WRITE-UP : Mary Cherry Doyle, Clemson, SC in Jan-1935
                   Dedicated To: Dr Edgar Clay Doyle 

FOREWORD

In presenting these fragmentary facts
that have come to my knowledge, it is my
hope that they may prove helpful in preserv-
ing the history of Oconee county for the
youth of the land and all who are interested
in the history of Oconee county for South
Carolina. With knowledge there will follow
a fuller appreciation of the great heritage
that is ours.

I wish to acknowledge a great debt of
gratitude to Dr. J. Walter Daniel, an author-
ity on Indians of the South.

We are indebted to members of the
Wizard of Tamassee Chapter S. C. D. A. R.
and many other friends.

MARY CHERRY DOYLE.
January, 1935.


OCONEE COUNTY

WASHINGTON DISTRICT

An early writer said of this section that it was the most
beautiful country he had ever seen, with its wooded hills and
clear streams. Peas grew as high as a horse's back. The
country abounded in deer and turkey, and the streams were
teeming with fish. This section was visited by De Soto and
Daniel Boone. Boone Creek is named for him.

In 1768 South Carolina was divided into seven judicial
districts: Charleston, Beaufort, Camden, Georgetown,
Orangeburg, Cheraw and Ninety-Six. All except the last
were well defined, but Ninety-Six was described to contain
all of the territory not included in the others.

As the country became more populous it was thought
advisable to divide Ninety-Six district into an upper and
lower section. In 1791 in the year of Washington's Southern
tour, Charles Pinckney being Governor of South Carolina,
the district was divided. The upper part received the name
of our first president and the lower section the name of our
then governor. The capitol of Washington District was at
Pickensville, near the present town of Easley. Washington
District comprised the counties of Greenville, Anderson,
Pickens and Oconee.

In 1798 the District was again divided into Greenville
and Pendleton Districts. The latter included Anderson,
Pickens and Oconee counties. The county seat of Pendleton
was at Pendleton. The latter being named for Judge Henry
Pendleton, of Virginia, who fought for American Independ-
ence in South Carolina. He died in Greenville county in the
39th year of his age. Again in 1826, Pendleton was divided
into the judicial districts of Pickens and Anderson, named
in honor of Andrew Pickens and Robert Anderson, Revolu-
tionary heroes of this section. The county seat of the former
was at Old Pickens.

Again in 1868, Pickens was divided into Pickens and
Oconee. The name being changed from districts to counties
to conform with other states. The members of the convention
from Oconee county section had the boundary lines run so
as to retain the home of John C. Calhoun within its territory,
but the county was named for a small tribe of Indians and
means the "Place of Springs".

CLEMSON COLLEGE

Clemson College was established in 1893 by the State
of South Carolina as the State Agricultural and Mechanical
College in compliance with the will of Thomas G. Clemson,
son-in-law of John C. Calhoun.

Mr. Clemson had long seen the need of a more scientific
knowledge of agriculture in the South and in order that
the young men of the state might have this instruction at
a minimun cost, he left his home and fortune.

Clemson College is one of the best known institutions
in the South and has a high rank among the Agricultural
Colleges of the nation.

Be sure to visit this College when you are in its vicinity.

SENECA

Seneca is situated on a paved highway from Washington
to Atlanta. In fact the county is traversed by splendid roads
and others are under construction.

Seneca was named for Seneca, the Indian town, located
on the river of the same name. Seneca was established in
1874, at which time the town map was drawn and lots were
sold off by Norton, 0. M. Doyle, Thompson, Sage and Easley.

This was the time when the Piedmont Air Line or as
is was then called the Richmond and Danville Railway was
built. The road was completed in 1873. This was the junction
point with the Blue Ridge Railway begun in 1852, but not
completed until after the War Between the States. U. S.
Senator Hayne advocated that the Blue Ridge be built
through Spartanburg but was overruled by Senator John C.
Calhoun, who advocated its present location. The town was
first called Seneca City but the "City" was soon dropped.

Mr. Alfred W. Thompson was the first Intendant, as
the Mayor was then called. The town has two cotton mills,
Lonsdale and the Courtenay Manufacturing Company.

Mrs. Ruskin Anderson was the first white child born in
the town.

It was here that the South Carolina Federation of
Women's Clubs was formed by a Seneca woman in 1897.
Seneca is a thriving town and her slogan is: "The Town of
Opportunity."

WEST UNION

Col. Joseph Greshim lived in Pickens District near High
Falls. He was a Baptist minister and very much opposed
to whiskey. Here he formed a temperance union and when
he moved his residence he formed another temperance union
which he called West Union because it was west of the
first temperance union. Later he formed still another tem-
perance union, south of West Union, so he called that South
Union. He built a Baptist church where the Neville home
now stands. His own commodious house was built of logs
weather boarded over and was for long years the home of
Mr. W. A. Strother. The house is still standing and in good
condition, although it is fast approaching the century mark.

From this home an elaborate wedding took place when
a daughter of the Greshim home was married to Joseph E.
Brown, Georgia's famous war governor.

A portrait of Joseph Greshim, the great temperance
leader, may be seen in the home of Mrs. W. L. Verner of
Walhalla, one of his descendents.

West Union was for some time the northern terminal
of the Blue Ridge Railway.

WALHALLA

The commissioners who selected the site of the county
seat of Oconee County were Wesley Pitchford, Dr. 0. M.
Doyle, Bry Fretwell, Col. Holcombe and W. E. Mitchell.

Walhalla was founded by John A. Wagener and his
German co-laborers in 1850.

Its beautiful location was no doubt the reason for the
selection of its name, Walhalla, the Garden of the Gods.

Walhalla was for a short time the seat of Adger College.
It contains the Walhalla and Kenneth Mills. The Hon. Ex-

Gov. Martin F. Ansel is a native of Walhalla. The apples
grown in this section are of excellent quality.

WESTMINSTER

Westminster was named from the Westminster Union
church.

It is about the age of Seneca and grew up along the
railroad.

The Oconee Mills is located here and the town once
contained a shuttle factory. The people are progressive.
On the Westminster-Clayton highway is located the Long
Creek Academy, owned and maintained by the Baptist
denomination.

A group of Presbyterians who settled around what is
known as the First Baptist Church organized a Presbyterian
Church and called it Westminster church. Mr. Ollie Green
was probably the leader in establishing the church. The
town seems to have been named for this church.

The first train passed over what was then known as
the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad in 1873. The
station was located and called Westminster about this time.

Mr. Albert Zimmerman was one of the first settlers.
He built the first store, was the first depot agent and the
first postmaster.

Major B. H. Cross taught the first school.

Miss Selma Burns was the first child born in Westmin-
ster.

Col. Robert E. Mason organized the first bank in West-
minster. H. B. Zimmerman had the first drug store. Stone-
cypher Drug Co. was the second drug store. The Cheswell
Cotton mill was built in 1899. Westminster Oil and Fer-
tilizer Co. was organized in 1903.

During the War Between The States there was an
armory at Shelor's mill on Choestoe Creek, Pickens District
(now Oconee Co.) The armory was closed in 1863. The
armory and a tannery was located on William Harris Shel-
don's place.

Warren Webb Stribling who died Dec. 14, 1872 was
the first person buried in the cemetery at the Richland
Presbyterian church.

M. S. Stribling was president, J. H. Stonecypher, vice
president of the South Carolina branch of the Piedmont
Highway Association. For many years these two men work-
ed for highway improvement and did much toward securing
our present highway system.

From a paper prepared by Mrs. Anna Hall for an an-
niversary program of our Sunday School.

Westminster Presbyterian Church was organized July
15, 1882 with 22 members. Rev. Hugh Strong was called as
stated supply. A church building was erected and occupied
for the first time Aug. 29, 1884.

PERRYVILLE

A few miles from Seneca, S. C. on the Blue Ridge Rail-
road there was a station called Perryville, now only a few
rocks remain on the south side of the track to mark the
spot. There was a bar-room where, doubtless many regailed
themselves. One man who lived nearby would light his pipe
with a one dollar bill. Let us hope he never regretted what
had gone up in smoke.

A family who lived across the road were fine business
men, and their sons established the Tate Marble works of
Elberton, Georgia. They were very successful in their en-
terprise and one of them built a large home of pink marble
which was a show place in that vicinity.

A few miles down the Railroad, established many year
ago, and recently enlarged, is Shiloh cut where Mr. Calhoun
Clemson, only son of Thomas G. Clemson and his wife,
Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson, was killed on the Railroad.

He was said to be an unusually handsome man with
a promising future.

The Blue Ridge was called the Old Blunder Bus in those
days and the people seemed not to realize the importance
and the great future of the railroads.

The Blue Ridge was the bearer of the last shipment of
Confederate gold, and the seal of state was said to have been
thrown into the Savannah river.

At Pendleton, during the War Between the States, the
people eagerly gathered around the station when the train
came to hear the news read, especially the Casualty List
in which all were vitally interested.

THE TUNNEL

The tunnel only a few miles from Walhalla, was begun
in 1851 or '52 and is about one and one-third miles long.
It was cut through Stump House Mountain and was intended
as a link in the Blue Ridge Railway from Knoxville, Tenn.,
to Charleston, S.C., for the purpose of transporting the coal
of the Tennessee mountains to the sea. While the work was
in progress that was a town of about 2000 at this point. When
the. tunnel was about two-thirds finished, the war came
on and the work was never finished. Two or more men lost
their lives during its construction.

PICKET POST

This was a post where soldiers were kept to keep back
the Indians. It is believed to have been established before
the Revolution. Near here is Bethel Presbyterian Church
established in 1805. General Andrew Pickens was one of
its first elders and the moving spirit in the establishment
of the church.

WOLF STAKE

This was a place where stakes were driven up with a
pit on the inside of the stakes in order to capture wolves
when they climbed over.

BACHELOR'S RETREAT

This was the home of a number of bachelors, the
Verner's, Dr. Miller and a number of others. From these
gentlement who enjoyed single bliss, the place received its
name.

NEWRY

Newry was named for Newry, Ireland, the ancestral
home of the late Capt. W. A. Courtenay. It has a curfew
bell that rings each night.

RETURN

A church was built here, then the people moved away,
but later came back and called the Church Return.

BOUNTY LAND

Bounty Land received its name from Bounty Lands
granted Revolutionary Soldiers in that section. Four hun-
dred acres of the Shanklin place was granted to one Simeon
Theus of Charleston. It was purchased by Mr. Robertson,
who built the house now standing.

RICHLAND

Mr. W. H. Hughs tells me he thinks was named from
Richland Creek. Richland Church is over 100 years old.
The Jas. Hogan Dendy homestead was called Richland and
was purchased by Mr. Dendy from Mr. Matthew McDonald
early in 1800.

FAIR PLAY

Fair Play is a very old settlement and is only a few
miles from the Georgia state line. While a muster was being
held at that site, two men engaged in a fight. There was
a cry of fair play from the onlookers and the place became
known as Fair Play.

TOWNVILLE

Only the upper edge of which is in this county; was
once a popular trading point and was called Brownsville.
It is much older than Anderson.

SHILOH

Shiloh Church celebrated her centennial some years ago.
The first church was of logs.

CHAUGA CREEK

B. F. Perry, who was appointed Governor of South
Carolina by President Andrew Johnson, was born on Chauga
Creek.

Coneross means the place where the duck fell off.
Chauga means the high, lifted up river.
Chattooga means rocky water.
Tugaloo means two.

Oconee is the only county in South Carolina that touches
two other States. It contains 750 square miles. Cotton, corn
and small grain are its chief crops. Oconee is pronounced
Oco'-nee.

OLD PICKENS

Situated in what is now Oconee county is the site of
Old Pickens, which from 1828-1868 was the seat of govern-
ment for Pickens District. Col. Kilpatrick, Major Lewis
and Thomas Garvin were appointed commissioners to run
the dividing line between Anderson and Pickens Districts.
Andrew Hamilton, R. H. Briggs, J. C. Kilpatrick, William
Beavert and Jabez Stone being the commissioners to buy
the land and lay out the village of Pickens.

The following story of how the site was selected is
told by Col. Jaynes. "The commissioners rode horseback in
the search of a suitable location. Arriving at a spot about
noon, they dismounted for lunch and were so impressed
with their surroundings that they drove a stake right there
and said 'Here it shall be'. In referring to the location it
was said that it was more favorably situated than Rome-
in that, while Rome was situated on seven hills with the
Tiber flowing by, Pickens was all hills, with the Keowee,
a more beautiful river, flowing by."

The village built up rapidly and many prominent fam-
ilies moved to the new village and its vicinity. Col. Elliott
M. Keith established the Keowee Courier at this place in
1849 and selected for its motto: "To thine own self be true:
and it must follow as the night the day: Thou canst not
then be false to any man." Maj. W. L. Keith was the first
clerk of the court, followed by James Hagood. This was
the home of the Nortons, the Carys, Ramseys, Lawrences
and many well known names in Oconee and Pickens.

The old church and a few buildings is all that is left
of the once flourishing village.

In 1930, a homecoming was held at the Old Church and
Col. R. T. Jaynes delivered the historical address. Judges
Ansel and Mauldin spoke of the old days and Mrs. Flora
Keith Overman told interesting instances. A large number
of interested friends were present on this occasion, and
among them were Mrs. Marietta Garvin and Mrs. Martha
Ramsay, both well past the four score and ten milestone.
Mrs. Ramsay being the last surviving member of the old
church.