Along the Jefferson Davis Trail
City Directories and History: The Wallace-Brice-McCarter Place was built circa 1845 by the mechanic named, Hafner for Alexander Stewart Wallace who later
became a U.S. congressman. The contractor, attributed to Andy Hafner, was a well known builder of fine homes in the region. In 1903, James McCasland Brice purchased the property from the estate of A. S. Wallace. The property passed into the hands of the McCarter family during the depression.
It is a Greek Revival influenced Carolina I-House style with a full-facade, shed porch. The porch has pillars with a balustrade and slat balusters. Also seen are paneled door surrounds, boxed cornice returns, and pilasters. A log corn crib is among the supporting dependencies. The Wallace-Brice-McCarter Place is located on Old Pinckney Road southwest of York, S.C. [Historical Properties of York County, SC – 1995]
It is highly likely, that after leaving the home of Dr. Rufus Bratton in York, President Jefferson’s route took him directly in front of the antebellum Wallace house, as he was proceeding to make his daily travel quota to the Pinckneyville Ferry crossing on the Broad River. Note the house on the Walker map of 1910 states, J.W. Brice lived at that location.
From Yorkville to Little Bighorn and Back by James Young – 2019
Custer stood on the peak known as the Crow’s Nest and peered through his binoculars but couldn’t find what his scouts assured him was ahead: the largest Indian village they had ever seen. Nevertheless, Custer decided to attack immediately instead of waiting for the reinforcements that were on their way. He was afraid the Indians were running away. They were not! It was the morning of June 25, 1876 and it was to be the worst day in Custer’s life, but for Lt. George Wallace of Yorkville, South Carolina, it would, by a strange twist of fate, be his luckiest.
George Daniel Wallace started his journey on this earth on June 29, 1849 in a house that is still standing at 1632 Old Pinckneyville Rd. In York, (then Yorkville) South Carolina, Wallace’s parents were Alexander Stewart (A.S.) Wallace and Nancy Lee Ratchford. A.S. was a state legislator who opposed secession. A position that made him unpopular with some of his neighbors. When South Carolina seceded, A.S. returned home to the farm.
George Daniel was too young to serve in the Civil War, but his older brother Robert M. Wallace went to Texas and joined the cavalry known as Terry’s Texas Rangers. His first cousin, James Wylie Ratchford, was an Adjunct to General D.H. Hill CSA. As Yorkville was located near major river crossings, there is no doubt that the young Wallace would have seen troop movements during the war, the most spectacular of which occurred in spring of 1865 as Jefferson Davis, accompanied by 3,000 cavalry troops, passed through town on his flight from Richmond. We can only imagine what it was like for a 15 year old boy to stand on his porch and watch the procession of riders taking hours to pass. Surely, these things contributed to George Wallace’s desire to enter the service himself.
After the war, A.S. returned to the state legislature and in 1868 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In September of that same year, the first one the U.S. Military Academy accepted candidates from the re-admitted southern states, George Daniel Wallace reported to West Point. His roommate there was Charles Varnum, a serendipitous assignment that would later save Wallace’s life. Upon graduation in 1872, Wallace was appointed as a 2nd Lt. In the Seventh Cavalry, and reported for duty to Laurens, South Carolina where the 7th was enforcing Martial Law……. READ MORE VIA THE R&R LINK THIS PAGE
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