Fairfield County History

The Fairfield News and Herald of Nov. 1, 1882 reported, “Mrs. J.F. McMaster has been appointed agent for Fairfield County of the S.C. Monumental Association and she will receive any contributions to the fund now being raised to repair the Confederate monument in Columbia. The ladies have already given out the contract.”

The Rock Hill Herald reported on Nov. 1, 1888 – “Ashford, a station on the GC and N Railroad on the lands of Mr. J.C. Dicky, is becoming a place of importance.  A store has been established there, a cotton buyer is there, and a telegraph office should be open soon.”

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Located in the upper Piedmont region of South Carolina, Fairfield County, with its rolling hills and fertile valleys, is well-known for its picturesque scenery. Known for “pines, ponds and pastures,” it is a place for people to enjoy living in a serene country atmosphere. Steeped in history and populated by people proud of their heritage, the county retains many historical buildings, churches and homes of the previous three centuries. A few featured here are monuments and memories that speak of the unique traditions and culture of the Upcountry.

Situated between the Broad River on the west and the Wateree River (now Lake Wateree) on the east, the area was hunting ground for several Indian tribes. Arrowheads and shards of Indian pottery can still be found on the banks of these bodies of water.

One of the first settlements in the area belonged to Thomas Nightingale of Charleston. In the late 1740s he established a “cow-pen” establishment about five miles south of where the village of Winnsboro would develop in the 1770s. At about the same time, English families coming by way of Virginia and Swiss German families coming from Pennsylvania and through the port of Charleston settled early along the Broad River and other tributaries of both major rivers. Another large 18th century group was the Scotch-Irish, a proud, religious people with a strong belief in education. Among the early settlers was also a sprinkling of French Huguenot families.

The Revolutionary War was said to be South Carolina’s first civil war, as many of the inhabitants had not joined in early sentiments against King George until the actual front came to the back country. As early as 1778, the cause for Independence was drawing prominent family men, but brothers were divided against brothers. However, by the summer of 1780, after Charleston had fallen to the British, the Back Country began to join the Patriot cause in earnest. There were several skirmishes in the area, notably the Battle of Mobley’s Meeting House, Rocky Mount, and Dutchman’s Creek.

MOBLEY MEETING HOUSE
This site is interesting because of a battle or skirmish that was fought here during the Revolutionary war in 1780. British officers and troops were displaced in marauding parties to punish every Whig with utmost rigor and to call on the loyalists and Tories to aid in the work of raping, plunder, and murder. A body of these mixed troops and vandals assembled at Mobley Meeting House in Fairfield County were attacked and defeated in June 1780 by a party of Whigs under command of Colonel Bratton, Major Winn, and Captain McLure. (History of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775-1780, Ellet’s Women of the Revolution, vol. 1, pages 238-240). The question arises just where was this Mobley church or Meeting House situated in order to mark the historical spot. From all available material we decide that it was on Popular Ridge, ten miles west of Winnsboro on the east side of Beaver Creek. Edward Mobley with his family settled there in 1758, built a house of worship and all denominations congregated there to worship God in the Christian faith.

Old sign from Ridgeway, S.C., photo courtesy of photographer Ann L. Helms – 2018

William White, who was in the battle, says Captain McLure surrounded three sides of the house. An old map Major T. W. Woodward had placed the House on the west of the South east fork of Little River on a public road leading from Buckhead to the residence of Isaac Mean. The map was drawn by John Allen Tharpy, who lived on the Ashford Ferry road, date of the map, 1812. Captain H. A. Gaillard once showed me an old map locating the battle site on the same spot as the Tharpy map. Mr. S. S. Douglas, who was a careful man in research work, put his ability on locating the exact spot. He drew into his aid, Captain R. Wade Brice, of Woodward. They established the fact that a school house on the Billy Yongue place was made from lumber in the gable end of the old Mobley Meeting House and Mr. R. W. Brice and Honorable T. S. Brice related that bullet holes were in some of the lumber made during the engagement.

Mr. A. B. Douglas found that the site was on a tract granted to Mobley in 1700. Mr. Douglas’ mother was a daughter of John Simmonton who lived near the Meeting House. Some of her brothers were in the battle. Mr. Douglas, painstakingly (characteristic of him) traces the land from the Mobleys to Frances Coleman, from him to John Means, from the estate of John Means to William (Billy) Yongue. From where his father left off Mr. W. D. Douglas kindly pursues the chain of this from Billy Yongue to W. C. Simmonton then to W. J. Burley and the present owner a Negro, James Hopkins. T. J. Douglas says he can point out the spot of the house because, his father, the late Dr. T. J. Douglas and the late A. S. Douglas, Esq., went out and located the spot, he a boy accompanying them. Editor’s note: The material in this article was compiled by W. W. Dixon as a Federal Writer’s Project.—From the CHESTER REPORTER, March 25, 1937

In October of 1780 General Lord Charles Cornwallis came to Winnsboro to spend a few months in winter camp after the British defeat at Kings Mountain. By the time he departed the following February, the Partisan cause had swelled its ranks in Fairfield District, many joining General Greene’s siege forces at Ninety-Six which pointed the way to Cornwallis’s capitulation in October at Yorktown.

“Winnsborough,” settled on land owned by the Winn family, had about 20 houses when it was occupied by Lord Cornwallis. The British camped and quartered in the town and on the campus of Mt. Zion Academy. Mount Zion in Winnsboro was one of the first schools to be chartered in the South Carolina Upcountry in 1777, started in Charleston by a benevolent group who saw need to improve cultural and educational conditions in the frontier area. Mt. Zion gained prominence in the early decades of the nineteenth century as a college preparing young men for further advanced university studies.

Upland cotton gained an early role in large slave operated plantations of the 1800s. By 1850 Fairfield was shown in the census statistics to contain some of the wealthiest land holders in the state. By 1865, however, its male population had been decimated in the War Between the States, and prosperity never returned to the “scorched” earth left after General William T. Sherman’s army burned its way through the county in February of 1865.

History of Winnsboro

The first village settlement (around the 1770s) was known as Winnsborough for one of its prominent families and famous Revolutionary War General Richard Winn. Several years before the Revolution, Richard Winn from Virginia moved to what is now called Fairfield County. His lands covered the present site of Winnsboro, and as early as 1777 the settlement had become known as “Winnsborough”. John, Richard, and Minor Winn all served in the American militia and army. Richard is said to have fought in more battles than any Whig in South Carolina. John was a Colonel.

During the 1780-81 winter stay of Lord Cornwallis, Colonel John Winn and Minor Winn attempted to ambush and kill his Lordship, but they were frustrated. They were captured and condemned to the gallows, but Cornwallis pardoned and released them at the pleading of a local Tory John Phillips who was responsible for protecting many of his neighbors in that situation.

Richard Winn, John Winn and John Vanderhorst led “Winnsborough” to be chartered and laid out in 1785 and later made the seat of justice for the Fairfield District. The name of the town was changed to “Winnsboro” and the town was incorporated in 1832 to be governed by an intendant and wardens.

Ebenezer Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church

This house of worship was erected by the people of the Little River section of Fairfield County in 1788. The simplicity of its design reflects the earnest spirit of the Scotch Irish whose love for their religion was always uppermost.

The small church began making history when its pastor, Reverend James Rogers, moderated the organization of the Associate Reformed Synod of the Carolinas in 1803 from his humble pulpit. Late in February 1865 this historic little church, located not far from the banks of the wide flowing Little River, became the locale of some swift moving action as units of Kilpatrick’s Union Cavalry attempted to cross the river.

Finding the Confederates had destroyed the bridge to deter them, troops tore out part of the flooring and woodwork of the church to construct a bridge to allow the soldiers and heavy equipment to cross. A soldier’s written apology to the congregation is penciled on the wall of the church.

Town Clock

In 1785, the General Assembly of South Carolina authorized the establishment of a public market in the town of Winnsborough, Corner and Washington Streets. This market house was a square, wooden building, painted yellow, and was topped with a belfry.

Some years later, probably between 1820 and 1830, this market house was sold to Robert Cathcart for a goodly sum. Mr. Cathcart, at the same time, donated to the town his old duck-pond, a small piece of land in the middle of Washington Street, as a site for a new market house. The town council accepted the land and petitioned the legislature in due time for authority to erect the new market-house and town clock. The legislature gave this authority, “Provided the building be no more than 30 feet in width.” So the erection of our town clock was begun soon after this, probably as early as 1822.

The works for the new clock were ordered from Alsace, France by Colonel William McCreight, intendant (mayor) of the town in 1837. They were imported to Charleston by sailboat, and hauled to Winnsboro in wagons. Varied and interesting, if not authentic, are the reports of the journey from Charleston. A freedman Adam Blake declared that it took 50 wagons to do the hauling! The earliest structural clock works are wooden and still extant. The market tower clock has been documented to be the longest continually used town clock in America.

The town clock bell was French-made also, and is said to have had silver in its composition. This bell did good service until 1895. During a fire that year two young men were ringing it so vigorously that it cracked and was sent to Philadelphia for repairs. When after some delay it was returned and sounded for the first time, the tone was so different from the old tone that doubt was expressed immediately as to its being the original bell.

In 1875 it was found necessary to repair the clock tower, and an internal reinforcing wooden structure was erected. The carpentry work was done by an African American carpenter of Winnsboro, John Smart.

The old public market occupied the ground floor of the town clock and had a bell of its own. Its tone was not so silvery as that of the clock, but was a very welcome one when its ringing proclaimed to the villagers and salivating neighborhood dogs that fresh meat was to be had at the market. When the curfew law prevailed the old market bell tolled the curfew at 9 o’clock every evening.

County Courthouse

Fairfield County’s Court House was built in 1823, Robert Mills being the architect. It is perhaps one of the oldest court houses in the upper part of the State, embodying Mills’s penchant for the Palladian design principals of balance and simplicity. It was remodeled in the mid 1800s and then again in 1939, retaining the Mills design. The original building had no portico across the facade nor was it overcast or plastered on the outside, as it is today. The sweeping circular steps were added during President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration years of the late 1930s.

County records were preserved from Union Army ransackers in February of 1865 by Sheriff Elijah Ollever. He hid most of the records and books in remote places near his home in the Longtown section of the county. Loose papers were sewn into cloth bags with drawstrings and fastened securely around the waists of the women and girls in his household, concealed under theier full skirts and petticoats. When he carried the jail records to the Wateree swamp, he was almost captured by troops and had to swim across the swollen icy stream while soldiers showered bullets around and over him. Thanks to his heroism, many of Fairfield County’s earliest records have been preserved.

In another later incident, the courthouse was the scene of a bloody lynching and riot in which several people were wounded and killed, including Sheriff Adam Hood. Many high profile court cases have been held here throughout almost two centuries of history. The courthouse is a source of pride and reverence for the people of Fairfield.

Historical Museum

Monday: Closed

Tuesday – Friday: 10:00 am-5:00 pm (closed for lunch)

Saturday: 10:00 am-3:00 pm

fairfieldmus@truvista.net

Museum Web Link

 

The Fairfield County Museum is housed in an elegantly simple Federal style house built for Richard Cathcart in the early 19th century.

A three-story brick structure, the house retains its original heart pine floors and hand-carved woodwork.

In 1852, artist George Ladd and his wife Catherine acquired the building to operate a girls’ school. Enrollment reached 100 young ladies before the school was forced to close by the War Between the States.

Priscilla Ketchin and her family made their home here from the l870′s until Mrs. Ketchin’s death in 1911. Subsequently, the building became rental property, a public school, a hotel and a boarding house.

In 1969, the property was deeded to Fairfield County to be restored. Restoration was completed in 1974 under the auspices of the Fairfield County Historical Commission and Fairfield County Historical Society, using government and private funds. The landmark Cathcart-Ketchin building. opened its doors on March 15, 1976, as the Fairfield County Museum.

The main floor of the museum is maintained as an historic house with antique furnishings in period rooms. Other floors exhibit collections related to Fairfield County history. Museum collections include 19th century clothing and quilts, bibles and documents, Victorian accessories, toys, Indian and military artifacts, tools, kitchen and sewing implements, banking and commerce displays.

Genealogy is an important museum activity. Volunteers maintain an extensive library of wills, estate papers on microfilm, cemetery records, histories of area families and land grant information. Visitors and letters come from across the United States seeking information. The genealogy staff conducts constant correspondence to satisfy these inquiries. Volunteer genealogy assistants are in the research rooms during most of the museum’s open hours. Contact fairfieldgenealogy@truvista.net for research information or to volunteer.

Traditional events at the museum include the Candlelight Open House in December. Special exhibitions and programs fill out the museum calendar each year.

Century House

The CENTURY HOUSE is one of the most imposing buildings in the town of Ridgeway. It is a massive, well-proportioned, brick house located almost in the center of the town. The ancient trees on the grounds give it a distinctive beauty and dignity.

The house was built in 1853 by James Buchanan Coleman, an extensive landowner. On locating in Ridgeway some time before 1842, he purchased the Rosborough home from his friend, James Thomas Rosborough, M.D., who had moved to Texas. The older Coleman children were born in the Rosborough house before Mr. Coleman built the BRICK HOUSE. The Colemans were hospitable and fond of company and entertaining; this is evidenced by the large and gracious home that they erected, now called the Century House.

Situated on the new Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad (built in 1856), the Colemans’ commanding brick house became the center of social and business life in the newly developing community of Ridgeway.

With the coming of the War Between the States, the BRICK HOUSE entertained many visitors and travelers passing through Ridgeway. Refugees from the low country of South Carolina and Georgia as well as others from Virginia and North Carolina became almost daily visitors in the Colemans’ hospitable and well-provisioned home. In advance of General W.T. Sherman’s marching federal army moving northward after having burned the state capital of Columbia, Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard established a temporary headquarters in the building.  [Courtesy of Winnsboro Chamber of Commerce]

Moses Ashford’s Ferry is identified in Mills’ Atlas as being on the Broad River just below the Fairfield District-Chester District line. Moses Ashford’s Ferry does not appear to have been chartered by the legislature. Moses Ashford, the older brother of James Ashford of Ashford’s Ferry (Strother), was enumerated in the 1810 Federal Census of Union District and appears to have operated the ferry from the Union District side of the river. Moses Ashford’s Ferry may have operated as a successor to Clark’s Ferry, operated by James Clark one mile below the mouth of the Sandy River on the Broad River, which had been chartered for 14 years in 1810 but does not appear as a ferry in Mills’.

(Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC)

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