City Directories and History: About Flint Hill Baptist: The church is on the old road from Charlotte to Columbia and at an altitude of 700 ft. is on the highest point between the two cities. The church was founded in 1792 under the name Sugar Creek Church. The oldest tombstone was 1795. Blackstock Church was founded about the same time with its oldest tombstone also erected in 1795. ‘Two and one-half miles southwest of the juncture of Mecklenburg, York and Lancaster [Counties] on the Epps place is the site of a skirmish between Morgan’s men and Indians and Tories. Seventeen Indians and two stones are buried there.” Meacham’s Mill was mentioned in a lease from the Indians that was signed by the Catawbas Gen. Newriver, Col. John Paris [?], Maj. John Brown and Capt. Peter to Elizabeth Davies, dated 1797. ‘The lease mentions on the land comers, ‘Knox’s Road to Meacham’s Mill.* This land comer is on Steel Creek near where Mr. Ed Bailes now lives and James Knox lived a mile or so west of said comer near where J. R. Boyd now lives. This fact gives the ‘Knox Road’ leading east from the Knox home to Meacham’s Mill. Which Mr. W. B. Meacham, Sr., says is where U. S. Highway #21 crosses Sugar Creek, which was recently known as Cooks, Downs, and Rhea’s Mill near Pineville [NC]. Three miles north of here near Mineral Spring on Sugar Creek, lived John Dinkins, first deacon of Flint Hill Church.” John Dinkins is credited with going to Virginia in a wagon and bringing back with him, the Rev. John Rooker who is known as the pastor and founder of Flint Hill Baptist Church. “John Harris and wife Eleanor Reynolds of Ireland were married by then Dr. Clark while in prison for refusing to take the state oath and kissing the Bible. A few months later they sailed for America, landing 1754. The Rev. Dr. Clark was liberated and came to America. Ten years later, John Harris settled south in 1767 or 1768 on Goose Creek (in Union or Mecklenburg). Then in the community on a place commonly known as the Bums place one-half-mile from the church North on Nations[sic: Nation] Ford Road in 1776 he built the jug factory and acquired all the Indian’s land west to Steel Creek, including the McClellands, Edwards’s, Robt. Harris and Dark Harris’ place and more. The John Harris ‘Bums Place,* went to Dannels [Darnell?], Smith, Bums, Bailes (now Bost). The jug factory 162 acres went to Caldwell, William Boyce and others. The John and Jim Harris place to Spencer, Niven, Coltharp and Boyce. The F. C. Harris place to McClelland. Other lands to the Edwards. John Harris moving leaving his son Hugh at the Bums place, and built a home half way between the Clark Harris place and Robert Harris place on the left of the road, then built a new home at the present site of the Clark Harris place now owned by Clark Harris’ daughter, Mrs. M. A. Miller. He died there at the age of 81 and was buried at big Steel Creek church. One of his sons, Hugh, Jr., built near Steel Creek below where the Robert Harris house now stands now owned by the Cathcarts. ‘There was another big landowner—James Knox, elder in Blackstock church and his tomb is the oldest in Blackstock’s cemetery dated 1795. He is said to have owned the lands from Steel Creek opposite the Harris place around the present farms of J. R. Boyd, Wm. Boyd, Epps, Wilsons and others. He had two daughters who married the Pettus boys. [Major Boyce is in error in die two previous sentences. It was James’ brother, Samuel Knox, who owned the land described and it was Samuel whose two daughters (Jane and Mary) married Capt. George L. Pettus and his brother, William Pettus.] The old Pettus cemetery lies south-east of Mr. Ed Bailes, one and one-half miles from Flint Hill.19 (These lands were later possessed by Edward Smith, William Smith, etc.) One mile south the S. Pettus Blankenship place was owned by Meacham, Rev. Peter
Nicholson, S. P. Blankenship, now Hall. The J. T. Garrison place one-half mile south was owned by Rev. Rollins, Pastor of Flint Hill in 1850, by Rev. Peter Nickelson [Nicholson] pastor of Flint Hill who trained students for the ministry—Baxter Garrison, J. H. Potts (now Mrs. J. T. Garrison). Two miles southeast the Gilson place owned first by Martin Kee. “The Gilsons came from Ireland, bringing their nephew W. S. McClellan, Sr., just a lad who when grown married a Stewart on Haglars Branch and established the aforementioned McClelland home. The Glovers built a home one-fourth of a mile south of Hint Hill on west side of Nations Ford road afterwards as granted in 1848 and moved about one-fourth of a mile east of the church. The estate is practically all still in the family. The Elms place occupied by Charles Elms, then James Elms, now J. R. Miller (no dates obtainable). The Moss place (no dates), Ruddock, Wm. Moss, Mrs. Mollie Coltharp, now owned by Gilmer Glover, ‘Spring Hill,’ now owned by Alexander Scott probably 1785, lived first about one-fourth of a mile north-east of Hint Hill. In 1805 he built the present house one-half mile of Hint Hill. “In 1846 William Boyce, commissioned by Spring Hill, S. C., a stage post office. [There is] a letter in my possession dated Feb. 5, 1851, to my father Wm. Boyce, concerning a change of the stage schedule between Charlotte and Chester …” A U. S. Ford (?) map was found in the possession of Miss Horence Glover dated 1841 but does not give Nations Ford route …. “Isaac Withers, born 1744, died 1814, aged 70. Settled one mile east of Hint Hill. His will designated his three sons, Benjamin, Edmund and William as executors of his last will and testament dated 1804. Well established tradition says that one of Isaac Withers’ slave saved the boy James K. Polk 20 from drowning after he had gone down the second time in Sugar Creek nearby.” (The remainder of Major Boyce’s speech was a general description of log cabin building, corn shucking, dances, schooling, etc. that would be typical of any pioneer community.]
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SPRING HILL POST OFFICE: Harvey S. Teal’s S.C. Postal History Book, 1989 states: Benjamin Person was the postmaster at Spring Hill Post Office which operated from 1828 – 1852.
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Daryl says
The above article appears to be a compilation of information but not entirely focused on Flint Hill Church. None the less, there is good information throughout the document.
There is one bit of information high is confusing and that is in the 10th line where it says Highway 21 crosses Sugar Creek. This highway does not cross Sugar Creek . I suspect the highway is 51 which is in the area of Downs who owned land there north of highway 51 from Sugar Creek on the East and going westward to McCulloch Creek approximately.