1669 BARRINGER ROAD
City Directories and History: A home was built on this site about 1850 by Ebenezer Gettys (1822-1864) and his wife Matilda Boyd Gettys (1823-1910). It was located in the Santuc community of eastern York County. A modern home at 1669 Barringer Road is located on or near the site of the Gettys house, which was demolished in the 1960s.
Ebenezer Gettys was born in the Waxhaws section of northern Lancaster County in 1822, the youngest child of the immigrant John Gettys and his second wife Ann Thompson. Following the death of their parents, Ebenezer and his brother Ralph Erskine Gettys sold the 350-acre family farm in the Waxhaws in 1849. Ralph moved to the Sharon area of York County and Ebenezer moved close to his wife’s family near the Neely’s Creek Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The Boyd family had arrived from Northern Ireland in 1826, when Matilda was a young child. Ebenezer and Matilda purchased a farm of 168 acres from William S. Daniel in 1849. They farmed the land and raised a large family. During the Civil War, Ebenezer served in the home guards and later in Company H of the 12th South Carolina Regiment. In May 1864, he was wounded at the “Bloody Angle” at the Battle of Spottsylvania and died a few days later in Richmond, where he is buried in Hollywood Cemetery. After being wounded, Ebenezer was accompanied by his brother-in-law William Boyd, who also lost an arm in the same battle and who was present at Ebenezer’s death. Matilda was left to raise a large family. The couple had twelve children, two of whom died in infancy. One son, Thomas E. Gettys, (1847-1865) died of disease while serving in the Confederate Army. Following the death of her husband and son in the war, Matilda was left with nine children, aged 16 to infancy (youngest son David Taylor Gettys was born shortly before his father died in Virginia).
Based on census records, family tradition, and church records, it is known that Ebenezer had at least one slave, named Tom, who moved with the family from Lancaster County. He is recorded as joining Neely’s Creek Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church with the family when they moved to York County. Following emancipation, Tom adopted the surname Gettys and was able to become a landowner in the Santuc community. He joined Mt. Calvary AME Zion Church, which was created by African-American members of Neely’s Creek, and is buried there. Tom married Harriet Dunlap, and they had ten children.
CHILDREN OF EBENEZER AND MATILDA BOYD GETTYS
- Thomas E. Gettys (09/27/1847 – 03/04/1865)
- Mary A. E. Gettys (05/06/1849 – 08/04/1851)
- James Robert Gettys (09/23/1950 – 06/09/1930) married Martha Ann Roddey
- Gillom Alexander Gettys (02/21/1852 – 05/28/1945) married Sarah Lavinia Roddey
- Margaret Gettys (08/21/1853 – 09/29/1915) married John J. Edwards
- George Boyd Gettys (10/01/1855 – 01/05/1931) married Mary Jane Spencer
- Agnes N. Gettys (02/25/1857 – 01/30/1858)
- Mary Ann (Molly) Gettys (12/09/1858 – 04/03/1931) married Joseph T. Nunn
- Harriett Elizabeth (Hettie) Gettys (12/09/1858 – 03/12/1940) married James S. Nunn
- Ebenezer M. Gettys (11/26/1860 – 01/21/1861)
- William E. Gettys (09/01/1862 – 11/14/1937) married Alice Rosina Hogue
- David Taylor Gettys (05/21/1864 – 06/28/1954) married Mary Allen
Family tradition holds that the house was constructed from heart pine logged on the property and planed by Ebenezer Gettys, perhaps with labor from Tom, the slave. Mamie Gettys Atkinson (age 96 in 2017) received descriptions of the construction from her father, David Taylor Gettys, who was born in the house in 1864. The photos of the house were taken by Mamie Gettys Atkinson in the early 1960s. The house was demolished shortly afterward. The farm has now been subdivided. Mamie was able to salvage enough pine from the house to have a piece of furniture made. Also remaining is a small table, which is of heart pine and is thought to have been made by Ebenezer Gettys around the same time he built the home.
A concept of the farming being done by the widow Matilda Gettys shortly after the Civil War can be formed from the United States Census of Agriculture for 1868. She is listed as owner of the farm with 60 acres under cultivation. The following crops were planted in that year: cotton (14 acres with 2,000 pounds yield); corn (25 acres with 175 bushels yield); wheat (5 acres with 18 bushels yield); oats (15 acres with 30 bushels yield); potatoes (1 acre with 5 bushels Irish potatoes and 20 bushels sweet potatoes). The farm had one horse, one mule, and 14 sheep. The older sons were probably helping with labor on the farm. (Researched and written for R&R.com by Paul Gettys – 5.15.17)
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