“A prosperous farmer witnesses Chester County’s history and growth from his hilltop plantation.”
1515 Stringfellow Road
City Directories and History: In 1852, Robert H. Stringfellow hired the construction of the home that his descendants still own in 2012. The big house was built on a hill overlooking his fertile cotton farm as well as the newly constructed Charlotte and South Carolina railroad line that ran along the edge of his eastern property. At the middle of the 19th century the Stringfellow plantation consisted of 1,132 acres or more. The 1850 census shows Mr. Stringfellow, a very prosperous planter worth some, $6,000. was 38 years of age.
With the coming of the railroad, Mr. Stringfellow had access to construction materials such as finished doors, mantels, windows, and more from

R.H. Stringfellow – 1850 Census Chester, SC
the Columbia markets and beyond. Routinely the house was built by a local contractor using architectural plans derived from pattern books and farm publications that offered suggestions of style and costs. Though local artisans were available to built fine homes and others to produce finished architectural parts, more and more planters began selecting items from firms such as Charles Beck or Eli Killian’s firms that each offered sash, door, flooring, tiles and even brick for delivery. This doesn’t mean however that Mr. Stringfellow didn’t get them from a local firm in Chester, just that his options had been widened with the new availability of the railroad stop within a mile of his home at Lewis Turnout.

The Stringfellow family were supporters of the Guernsey Festival and in 1946 won the prize for their livestock. Courtesy of the Pettus Archives at Winthrop University – 2014. See further images of the Guernsey Festival Parade this page!
IMAGES OF THE 1953 GUERNSEY PARADE IN CHESTER SC
Please help ID images and individuals, comment below.
- Images of the 1953 Guernsey Festival Parade on York Street in downtown Chester, S.C. Courtesy of the JMG Collection – 2019
- Images courtesy of the JMG Collection – 2019 Please help ID those in the photographs.
Witness to History: It has been reported, that from the naval storehouse in Charlotte, N.C., Mrs. Jefferson Davis’s escort procured large quantities of coffee, sugar, bacon, and flour, we started in the cars with the treasure and arrived at Chester, S. C. This was, I think, about the 12th of April. We here packed the money and papers in wagons and formed a train. (If this statement is accurate, it would have been here that the party would have left the train from Charlotte and begun their wagon trip across S.C. This is plausible in that the train trestle over the Catawba River at Nations Ford crossing was still intact at that time, not destroyed by Stoneman’s Confederate troops until later in the month.) The statements goes on to say…. “We started the same day for Newberry, S. C. Mrs. Davis and family were provided by General Preston with an ambulance. Several ladies in our party–wives of officers–were in army wagons; the rest of the command were on foot…..” Wm. H. Parker, Author – https://southernsentinel.wordpress.com/the-lost-confederate-treasure/
***If this is accurate data, which R&R can not verify at this time, Mrs. Davis’s troop train would have passed in front of the Stringfellow’s plantation before arriving in Chester.
WYLIE FAMILY HISTORY – A LINK
Within a short distance of the Stringfellow home, Peter Wylie’s Home (Peter Wylie, II), also once stood on the Saluda Road. Due to neglect, the house disappeared in the late 1980s. It was originally a large two story home thought to have been erected in the late 19th century. Several generations of the Wylie family resided here and it is widely believed that both Dr. A.P. Wylie and perhaps even his son, Dr. W. Gill Wylie resided here. Dr. Gill Wylie was a prominent South Carolinian, physician and surgeon, who moved to New York City and founded the Bellevue School of Nursing. He was also instrumental in starting hydro-electric development of the region along the Catawba River – The Southern Power Company. In circa 1905, one of his wealthy patients, Mr. James B. Duke, purchased an interest in what would become the Lake Wylie hydroelectric plant outside of Rock Hill. Twenty years later the company changed its name to Duke Power.

Dr. Gill Wylie and his family in N.Y. Image courtesy of the Strait – Wylie Collection, 2015 (Peter Wylie. Born 1787. Died 1855. He was for many years ordinary of Chester District. (This officer is known today as judge of probate.) Married Anna Evans. Born 1782. Died 1859. Buried in Fishing Creek Presbyterian Churchyard. Issue:
а. Alexander Pearson Wylie, M.D. Born Mar. 17, 1816, in the Rocky Creek neighborhood of Chester Disk, S.C. Married Juliet Agnes Gill. One of their children was the renowned physician of New York City Dr. Walker Gill Wylie, for whom Lake Wylie on the Catawba River is named. – Above)

Judge Peter Wylie of Chester, SC – Image courtesy of the Strait – Wylie Collection, 2015

Mrs. Anna Evans – Wylie, the mother of Gill and Robt. Wylie. She was the daughter of Richard Evans of Chester & Chesterfield Co’s., S.C. – Images in this group courtesy of the Wm. F. Strait Collection – 2015 Also see the McCarter – Evans trunk@ Lewisville Academy page of R&R.
Informative link: W. Gill Wylie
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OVERLOOKING THE PHILADELPHIA WAGON ROAD

The historic wagon road led past the Stringfellow Plantation, to the east, within a few hundred yards of the house, passed the Wylie’s old home-place and then on into what became Chester, S.C.
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