City Directories and History: This was the home of Isaac Means, the brother of Gov. and Gen. John H. Means, of whom esteemed writer and historian, Chalmers Davidson writes about below. Local historian Steve White is researching this family and any additional information furnished R&R on this home or family will be shared with those interested in learning more of the Means family and their homes.
Historian C.G. Davidson wrote in his, The Last Foray – “Means, Gen. John Hugh of “Oaklands” plantation. Born Aug. 18, 1812 (S.C.); married Jan. 24, 1833, Sarah Rebecca Stark (1814-Oct. 5, 1862); died Sept. 1, 1862 (Battle of Manassas), Education: College of S.C., A.B. 1832. Church Presbyterian. 1860: Brig. Gen, 6th S.C. Militia Division. Slaves: 127 (Fairfield District)”
Pelham Lyle wrote on 5/20/14 – Val Green and I live at Salem Cross Roads on #215 just down the street from Salem Presbyterian. Val inherited the property through his Aiken and Crowder grandparents and it is the site of Rev. Robert Means plantation, the brother of S.C. Gov. John H. Means who was killed at Manassas. We have the old pecan and cedar tree-lined allee as our main entrance. Val has rebuilt (replicated) the old plantation kitchen on the footprint of the original exterior kitchen. The cellar hole for the original (ca. 1820s) house stands in front in testament to Val’s dreams to reconstruct a similar “mosquito cottage” style raised cottage on its foundations. He and I live in a little 1910 bungalow farm house nearer #215 that his great uncle James Crowder built. Remains of his cotton gin house and the old store that stood at the crossroads (moved back onto the farm land sometime in the mid 1900s) are part of our house seat property. We have scouted out the other Means family houses or sites of the houses up and down the stretch of #215 and #18 Ashford Ferry Rd.
Highway 34, once known as Ashford Ferry Road, crosses this bridge and connects Winnsboro with the town of Newberry. One of the earliest cowpens in Fairfield. County was on a small branch known as Cowpen Branch and was owned by William and Martha Howell of lower Richland County. Martha Howell, widow of William Howell, had 150 acres surveyed for her on Cowpen Branch of Little River on January 10, 1759, but it is probable that William and Martha Howell had land here much earlier. Ashford Ferry Road crossed Broad River on Ashford’s Ferry. Mill’s map shows this as J. Ashford’s Ferry. Near the present bridge over Broad River for S. C. Highway 34 is the old Ashford Cemetery. James Ashford, who died on March 13, 1833, at the age of fifty-six years, lies buried here. His family ran the ferry.
See link for Means Family, as well as an additional image of the Means tenant house under More Information – PDF.
Mr. Val (Greene) found this in the files of the Sumter National Forestry office. “It was razed when the U.S. Forestry Dept., bought up all the lands around here in the 1930’s. Isaac was the son of Thomas, the first Means to come from Massachusetts in 1807, and the brother of Gov. John H. Means, killed at Manassas. We have walked over the ground where this house was …about 2 miles from Val’s house off of Highway 34 West”. – Pelham Lyles, 2.15.14
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