[skip to page of family tree links: Shaw, Brown, Kolb, Pringle, Williamson, Rembert, etc]
Matthew 6:33 implores us, and has done so since written in about 80 AD., to seek first the Kingdom of God: look and work first toward the things of ETERNAL security. [quickly check out God's great good news for mankind] And, Hebrews 11:6, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
The story of the Shaw family is "Scotch-Irish" (as we heard our elders say when I was growing up...but, correctly: Scots-Irish) and traces from the age-old struggle to do the above: the struggle for religious freedom. This was preceded by the Scottish development of just the notion of freedom34.
Can you imagine the disappointment and desperation of the times, and
the faith required, to lead to a decision in 1772 to cross an ocean in a small
crowded boat? These people depended on God and put their faith in God. Who or
what would their descendants of the next ten generations depend on? What do...who do...YOU depend on ?
What
Made Them Leave Northern Ireland?
Scotland Origins
Scotland was born into a hardened and resolute people beginning with their
resistance to Roman rule, and a thousand years later, their resistance to
English rule...the battle of Bannockburn culminating with the rout of the
English by Robert the Bruce at Stirling Castle in AD1314. Scotland is two cultures, The Highlands and the Lowlands, Lowlands being lands
south of a line from the Firth of Clyde & Glasgow in the extreme west to
just north of Carlisle and 73-mile-long, Roman-built Hadrian's Wall across to Edinburgh and
Berwick-on-Tweed in the east26. Over the earliest/ancient generations,
occasional Scottish people left the southwest "Lowlands of Scotland",
crossed 20-plus miles southwestwardly over St. Patrick's North Channel of the
Irish Sea, and settled on the North-east coast of Ireland...a point visible from
the shores of Scotland. As time passed in later
generations, descendants of some went back and forth to Scotland.
Economic
problems & Religious Persecution
Under Pope Gregory I, following the
over-running of the northwestern European areas of the Roman Empire by the
"barbarians", England converted to Roman Catholic Christianity, soon
to include neighboring Scotland (Caledonia) and Ireland, Ireland having been
given to England in about 1150 AD by Pope Adrian IV (the only English Pope) 8.
Under James I, England (in about 1605...also to be known as James VI of Scotland) was a colonizer who (created the colony of Jamestown in America) wanted to focus on a deliberate English civilization of at least northeastern Ireland. This would provide an added buffer against Irish invasion of England. Northeast Ireland (the Belfast area) being closest by sea to the northwest tip of the "Lowlands of Scotland", inducements were given by 1610 to Scots to move to Ireland and to settle what was known as the Ulster Plantation in northern Ireland; and, many Scots came to Ireland thereby.
The Protestant Reformation came to Germany via Martin Luther in 1520, was championed by John Knox ("he who feared the face of no man") in Scotland beginning in 1559. Knox adopted the religious creed of Geneva's John Calvin, and he struck lethally at the roots of Popery and the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly believed that political power was ordained of God and was to the people rather than to Kings, nobles, or the clergy26...the doctrine of popular sovereignty. And (100 years later) there began conflict between the Scottish Presbyterian church "ways" and those of the Anglican, Episcopalian Church of England. This lead to the Scottish Covenant, division between the underground Scottish Covenanter Presbyterian "Kirk" and the England state-approved, Bishops-controlled Scottish Presbyterian "Kirk", and the desire of the Church of England to dominate in Scotland. By late 1638, events were leading into "The Bishop's War of 1639-41...the Killing Time being somewhere between then and 1700. Beginning in 1695, there was a series of famines in Scotland until 1702 (producing "the lean years" 1697-1703)...deaths within the tens of thousands26. Ironically, 1696 was the year of an act to begin parish schools...Scotland stood for Kirk and school (if you couldn't read, you could not exercise your right and duty to study holy Scripture)...this happening 80 years after Knox had called for a national system of popular education in his 1560 Book of Discipline26.
On 14 January 1707, England and Scotland united and became Great Britain.
Further inducements were made in the mid to late 1600s to move Irish to Barbados as slave labor on the sugar cane plantations...these white slaves being transported in slave ships and treated harshly as forerunners to black African slaves (England was attempting to meet the escalating world demand for sugar)25. Many South Carolina Irish-stock settlers came from Barbados.
Within 100 years (early 1700s), the Scotch-Irish descendants
of Scottish Presbyterian immigrants in Ulster were suffering their own severe economic
troubles (the destruction of the woolen/linen trade in Ireland...only raw
production for marketing, not finished goods, was allowed by England; linen
trade collapsed in 1771-7216) along with some degree of religious
persecution (Presbyterians couldn't hold office, etc.), the ruling Church of
England being Episcopalian and the native Catholic Irish being to the west and
south. Building upon this foundation of adverse pressure, the land leases of the Earl of
Donegal's (northern Ireland) County Antrim Estates expired in 1770 (remember:
"people" couldn't own property in those times) and created
disturbances and evictions resulting from the actions taken to raise large sums
of money (via "rack rents") in connection with the renewal of those
leases 9, 16.
South Carolina "pulls":
South Carolina's capitol city was Charleston, and Charleston was one of the most important port cities in the new world. The landed gentry and colonial officials (always seeking protective buffering from surrounding Indians, lawbreakers, and foreign enemies) devised a series of schemes to populate the backwoods interior with loyal citizens.
In the Township Act of 1730, eight townships were established by Gov. Robert Johnson in SC. They were all within 60 miles of the coast & all related to the state's river systems & consisted of between 10,000 to 20,000 acres each. Protestants were lured from various European areas with the promise of 100 acres per head of household and 50 acres for wife and each child above maybe 12 years of age...plus a town lot...plus tools & provisions for first year: [a wonderful map of townships] from this source.
By 1761, the above had proliferated into the Bounty Act of 1861 which continued land grants to all who properly appeared before the Council of the Commons House of Assembly. John Shaw got 100 acres under this Bounty Act.
Back to Irish-British "pushing":
In a committee report before the British House
of Commons investigating the breakdown in the linen trade from Ireland, it was
stated that almost every one of the 30,000 people who left Ireland between 1772
and 1773 were linen workers (or they left for reasons of the Anglican vs..
Presbyterian religious conflict; and food had become scarce and expensive)(p78)9.
The
First Scotch-Irish to America
And
The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road
Those factors led to some families fleeing
early to America, with the first Scotch-Irish settlement being formed in
Maryland in 1680. In colonial times they were called "Irish" (until
about the 1830's-1840's). Afterward and into the late 1700's, the ports of
Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Boston Mass., New Castle Delaware, and Charleston
S.C. beckoned. Those arriving at the northern ports tended to push westward with
heavy settlement in Pennsylvania; later, many would migrate southward [see map] from
Pennsylvania along the inland Shenandoah Valley "Wagon Road" to the
inland Carolina's, helping to "fill" the interior of the Carolinas. It
largely followed an ancient Indian path, The Occaneechi Trail, which ran from
Virginia to Augusta Georgia, crossing a natural ford of the Catawba River,
Nations Ford, 10 miles south of Charlotte N. C. This "Great Philadelphia
Wagon Road" proceeded west across Chester and Lancaster counties and turned
southwest at Harris' Ferry (present-day Harrisburg) where it crossed the
Susquehanna River. It passed through York and Adams counties, traversed the
western neck of Maryland, headed down Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, crossed
North Carolina's central plateau, and terminated in South Carolina between
Camden and Lancaster16. The "backcountry" of South Carolina
was staunchly Presbyterian, especially the Catawba River valley..."The
Waxhaws"...area between Lancaster, S. C. & Charlotte, N. C and from the
Catawba River in S. C. to Monroe, N. C.22. They
were reaching South Carolina by the 1760's via this route16.
Scotch-Irish left Ireland in great numbers in 5 great pulses; a group of them
was solicited into South Carolina in 1732 for the founding of Williamsburg
(Kingstree) by the availability of the free "bounty" land grants.
Land
and Wealth
By 40 years later, with the truth of the news
of land ownership and indigo wealth, a fifth great pulse brought many into South
Carolina between 1771 and 1775. Our ancestor, John Shaw, 22 years of age,
arrived in Charleston Harbor on board the Hopewell 22 December 1772. So, there
appears to have been a mix of immigration "push" and "pull" reasons/factors
leading to John's immigration from Belfast. The group was from
surrounding Counties Down and Antrim (the father of Pres. Andrew Jackson, Jr.
was from County Antrim). By the time of the
American Revolution of 1776, the S. C. backcountry had a population of 80,000
with the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians being the largest group...possibly even a
majority16.
Why
A Family History?
The defining of a genealogy or family tree is
a worthwhile endeavor for the sake of a family realizing its continuity,
connectedness, and history. It is certainly no legitimate basis for puffed up
pride as pointing toward some sort of "big shot" ancestor multiple
generations back. Present day family members have had any such ancestry diluted
out over multiple generations by all the other inflowing lines of ancestry.
Besides, the actual truth in our family histories, good or bad, has value to
later generations. Exodus 20:5-6 attests to one angle, however, of a lasting
effect of a parent, particularly the father, on generations to come, for both
good and bad. This passage of traits/habits/ways was very strong up to and
through the early 1900's. Radio, TV, and (since 1950) the powerful outside
non-family influences on children have greatly altered (but not eliminated) such
passage, mostly for the worse.
A family historian who was writing his family
history was dismayed to find that an ancestor had been publicly hanged. In a
moment of inspiration he wrote, "He died during a public ceremony when the
platform upon which he was standing collapsed beneath him." Another family
historian, finding that a relative had been sent to the "chair",
wrote, "At the time of his death, he occupied a chair of Applied
Electricity at one of our most famous institutions". An untrue
"spin" can be placed on any story.
However, present day psychologists will
confirm the fact that certain strong family tendencies can be passed down for
multiple generations. For a people (or even a family) to understand itself and
"belong", it helps to know its history...its "roots". Unfortunately, most of these
early and colorful stories and descriptions and facets and traits of families
are lost in the haste to document correct dates of birth, death, and marriage. I
certainly fell prey to that tendency, early on.
Family
Tree Search: Inciting Incident
In about 1961, a man purporting to be a
genealogist, B. Otis Prince of Columbia, came around to many of the Sumter
relatives pre-selling the production of a Shaw family history at about
$25.00/family (a fairly hefty sum in 1961). He never produced the history. I found out about this and was
incensed at the "injustice"...possibly even outright scam...and finally found the man in Columbia and visited
him. It was
obvious that he had never done much, and I felt that he never intended to
complete the effort. So, I took on the task (during college...about 1963) thinking it would
be a fairly easy six-month effort.
Family
Tree Search: The Start
My study of the Shaw family began in a very
haphazard manner in about 1963; a first typescript was made in 1971, as an
outline. By then, a number of early (1700's, not necessarily kin) Shaws in South
Carolina had been identified; and I found myself in a great deal of confusion as
to which one of the several John Shaws was our actual immigrant ancestor. It
would be 25 years later (in 1996) before I became fully satisfied of the proof
of the proper one .
Summary
Genealogy Context
Some authorities feel that Adam and Eve were
born in approximately the year 4,000 BC. How are we connected? Humans lived to
an age of approximately 150 years (or much more) before the Great Flood of Noah.
The typical fertility period was probably unchanged so that generations have
averaged about 18-25 years per generation. It, then, appears that my
present generation might be #283 since Adam and Eve. The Bible suggests that
the ancestry of Europeans was by way of Noah's (2400 BC.) son Japheth and his
descendants, the Japheth branch beginning about 207 generations prior to John
Shaw, our immigrant. Today's 20 year olds (my children, generation #284) would
seem to be America's
21st generation, the "baby
busters" born between 1961-1983. Beginning with John Shaw, our immigrant
ancestor, I am in his Shaw Family's 7th generation in America. For those of us
who are Christians, we additionally have a spiritual ancestry leading down from
Noah through his son Shem to Abraham, to David, to Jesse, to Mary, and to the
ultimate birth of Jesus Christ (the son of God, all born-again Christians being
children of God).
Anthro-genealogy...Genetic Roots
It is now possible to check certain types of genetic family tree information through mitochondrial DNA passed from the mother's line and "y" chromosome DNA from the father's line. This web source explains how it works [here]. Two sources for such testing are Family Tree DNA & African DNA. I have not had any such testing on myself.
Common
Life in the 1700's in South Carolina
The
Ervin Story...1732
What was life like in South Carolina at the
time of the first Scotch-Irish settlement (1732) in Williamsburg (present-day
Kingstree, S.C.), 40 years prior to our ancestor's arrival? Handed down within
the Ervin family of South Carolina was a Bible said to have belonged to Colonel
John Ervin (1754-1810). Included on some blank pages was written a short sketch
of the "Irvin family" (Col. Ervin's last entry dated 1798; but this
describes the situation as his grand-father James Ervin arrived in 1732),
exactly transcribed, as spelled in the manuscript, as follows:
"Deeming it a privilege and duty, I
hereby set down what I know of our family history and divers facts adjudged
important for posterity to cherish"..."The Irvines, being Protestants,
left the old Nation
[Scotland] during the period of religious upheaval and settled in North
Ireland. Howsoever soon conditions became intolerable and being of courageous
and pioneering spirit, they decided to seek a better land in America on the
Southern Frontier. My grandfather [James Irvin] was a man of huge statue with
piercing dark eyes, fearless, of commanding presence, and various abilities.
Through his veins coursed the blood of centuries of warriors and of his Scottish
sires who patrolled the borders of their land repelling many invaders. It was
destined that he would be a leader in rounding up the first band of colonists
for the proposed settlement on Black River in the state of South Carolina. His
family were amongst those who in 1732 blazed the trail for other footsteps to
follow. This colony of some dozen families, under command of Roger Gordon,
sailed from Belfast and endured the hazardous passage of over two months across
the ocean, beset by tempest, perils and untold suffering and sickness. One
Irvine son perished and was consigned to the bosom of the deep. My grandfather's
family was large, being"..."Great was their sorrow when most of these
passed in the tragedy of a great mortality
[a probable flu epidemic]. On the
voyage across the family was sorely ill and on safe arrival in Charles Towne it
was necessary to tarry until health was restored. Subsequently, the sons Robert
and John, last name being only a lad, with a sister, being of hardihood and
daring hearts, were in the vanguard that opened up the trail from Charles Towne
to the Kings Tree. Also of this company were our kinsmen, the Jameses and
Wilsons. Some two years later came our kinsmen the Weatherspoons and
others."
"The lad John Ervin was my father and he
later married with Elizabeth daughter to Robert Ellison, Esq. In South Carolina,
our name soon became to be spelled Ervin. Oft have I heard my father tell of
this pioneering enterprise, of how their small vessel crept cautiously up the
dark torturous reaches of the Black River, bordered with thickly forested swamps
that shut out the daylight. The apprehension for safety increased when oft the
silence was shattered by hideous and unearthly screams of wild things. On
reaching the Kings Tree, great was their surprise to find nothing but primeval
wilderness. Notwithstanding the company scattered to select home sites near
streams or springs. The Irvines chose a bluff about a mile distant and set to
work to fell the mighty trees and clear away undergrowth. A crude shelter was
erected tight on the sides of the prevailing winds. Later when joined by the
balance of the family, a large cabin was built with thatched roof and mud
chimneys."
"My father
[John Ervin] was one of the few forthright and outspoken patriots of our District at commencement of the struggle for Independence. His business oft carried him to George Towne and Charles Towne so he remained better posted and saw the future more clearly than most of his neighbors. From the first he cast his lot with America and influenced many others in those early days.""One of the first cares of this pious colony (for they were mostly, if not all, members of the Presbyterian Church) was to build a house to the Lord. They were content to dwell themselves in shanties not more comfortable than potato cellars, while their labors were more specially given to the erection of a house of worship, and a manse or parsonage for their minister, according to their custom in their native land."2
[author: most were Covenanter (see below) Presbyterians as founders of Williamsburg Presbyterian Church of Kingstree, S. C.]"Ervin"
as a Shaw given name
Miss Janie Revill, a Sumter professional
genealogist until about 1970, did some extensive research for then Sumter Mayor,
Miss Priscilla Shaw, and thought she had found evidence of a connection to the
Ervin family...possibly through the sister of our immigrant, John Shaw. Or maybe
there was a connection through John Shaw's first wife (whose identity is
unknown). This given name has appeared strongly in the Shaw branch in Sumter and
very strongly in the branch in Mississippi...both branches coming from David
Shaw, son of John Shaw's first wife.
The
Witherspoon Chronicles...1734
Another version of the first-settlement times was by way of the "Witherspoon Chronicles", thought to have been written by Robert Witherspoon, the grandson of John and Janet Witherspoon, in the year 1780, exactly transcribed, as spelled, as follows:
"...until the year 1734 when he moved with his family to South Carolina. We went on ship board 14 of September and lay wind bound in the Lough at Belfast 14 days. The second day of our sail my grandmother died and was interred in the region Ocean which was an affective sight to her offspring. We were sorely tossed at sea with storm which caused our ship to spring a leak. Our pumps were kept furiously at work day and night. For many days our mariners seemed many a time at their wits end but it pleased God to bring us all safe to land, which was about the first of December
[1734]."..."As I said, we landed in Charleston three weeks before Christmas. We found the inhabitants very kind. We stayed in town until after Christmas and we put on board of an open boat, with tools and one year's provisions, and one still mill. They allowed each hand upwards of 14 [years old] one ax, one broad hoe, and one narrow hoe. Our provisions were Indian corn, rice, wheaten flours, beef, pork, rum and salt. We were much distressed in this part of our passage and as it was the dead of winter, we were exposed to the inclemency of the weather day and night and which added to the grief of all pious persons on board the atheistical and blasphemous mouths of our patrons and their hands.""They brought us up as far as Potatou Ferry
[over Black River...probably having come up the coastal ocean waters from Charleston to Winyah Bay, Georgetown, S. C., to enter and move inland on the Black River]. It turned us on shore, where we lay in Samuel Commander barn for some time and the boat wrought her way up to the Kings Tree with the goods and provisions, which I believe was the first boat to ever come up so high before. Whilst we lay at Mr. Commander's, our men camped up in order to get dirt houses or rather like potato houses, to take their families too. They brought some few horses with them, what help they could get from the few inhabitants, in order to carry children, and other necessaries up, as the woods were full of water and most severe fronts, it was very severe of women and children. We set out in the morning, and got no farther that day than Mr. McDonald's and some as far as Mr. Plowdens, some to James Armstrongs and some to Uncle William James. Their little cabins were as full that night as they could hold and the next day everyone made the best they could to their own place, which was the first day of February."..."It was the first of February when we came to the Bluff. My mother and us children were still in expectation that we were coming to an agreeable place, but when we arrived and saw nothing but a wilderness and instead of a fine timbered house, nothing but a very mean dirt house, our spirits quite sunk, and what added to our troubles, our pilot we had with us from Uncle James left us when he came in sight of the place. My father gave us all the comfort he could by telling us we would get all these trees cut down and in a short time they would be plenty of inhabitants, that we could see from house to house. Whilst we were at this, our fire we brought from Bog Swamp went out. Father had heard that up the river swamp was the Kings Tree, although they was no path, neither did we know the distance, yet he followed up the swamp until he came to the branch and by that found Roger Gordons. We watched him as far as trees would let us see and returned into our dolorus hut, expecting never to see him or any human person more, but after sometime he returned and brought fire. We were somewhat comforted but evening coming on, the wolves had began to howl on all sides, we then feared being devoured by wild beasts, having neither gun or dog, or any door to our house. Howbeit we set to and gathered fewel and made on a good fire and so passed the first night. The next day being a clear warm morning, we began to stir about. About mid-day there arose a great cloud southwest, attended with high wind, thunder and lightening. The rain quickly penetrated through between the powls and brought down the sand that covered over, which seemed to threaten to cover us alive. The lightening and claps of thunder were very awful and lasted a good space of time. I do not remember to have seen a much severer gust than that was. I believe we sincerely wished ourselves again at Belfast but this fright was soon over and the evening cleared up comfortabel and warm. The boat that brought up the goods arrived at the KingsTree. People were much opprest in bringing their things as there was no other way but to carry them on their backs, which consisted of their bed clothing, chist provisions, pots, and tools, since at that time there were few or no roads. Every family had to travel the best way they could which was here double distance to some, for they had to follow swamps and branches for their guides, for some time. And after some time some men got such a knowledge of the woods as to blaze paths, so the people soon found out to follow blazes from place to place. As the winter was far advanced the time to prepare land for planting was very short, yet people was very strong and healthy. All that could wrought diligently and continued clearing and planting as long as the season would admit, so that they made provisions for the ensuring year. As they but few beasts, a little served them and food was good, they had no need of feeding creatures for some years. I remember that amongst the first thing my father brought from the boat was his gun, which was one of Queen Ann's muskets"...."another alarming circumstance was the Indians. When they came to hunt in the spring they were in great numbers and in all places like the Egyptians Locusts but they were not hurtful. We had a great deal of trouble and hardships in our first settling but the few inhabitants continued yet in health and strength. Yet we were still oppresst with fears on divers accounts, especially being massacred by the Indians or bit by the snakes or torn by wild beasts or being lost or perished in the woods. Of the lost there was three persons and so forth."3JOHN SHAW ARRIVES ON THE HOPEWELL:
Being one of 5 ships of the
Covenanter
Presbyterian congregation of "seceders"36 ( but not
all of the 5 shiploads of voyagers were likely to have been in his own
party...some percentage were fill-in passengers) of Rev. William Martin, The
Hopewell arrived in Charleston 22 Dec. 1772. It was not an easy story or voyage.
Descriptions of the sometimes devious attempts
of land merchants and shippers are detailed 9, and one of the worst
examples was that of the Hopewell: "...but one of the worst cases of
misrepresentation of the date of departure was that of the Hopewell which was
advertised to sail from Belfast to Charleston on 15 August 1772. The sailing was
thoughtfully delayed, 'at the request of several passengers', until 28 August,
the vessel in the meantime being 'daily expected' from Baltimore and England.
After a further delay until 15 September, the vessel arrived from Norway. The
transatlantic voyage started in the third week of October after the appearance
of two further 'final' notices stating that the vessel would leave on 1 Oct. and
5 Oct." (Pg. 204) 9 Though the sea voyage was 9 weeks, from the
muster at Belfast to the arrival in Charleston was about 17 weeks...over
one-third of a year!!!
A study of some 38 voyages between 1771 and
1775 showed that the average trip was 7 weeks and 4 days with trips to
Charleston and Savannah averaging 9 weeks; the shortest voyage was 27 days and
the longest was 17 weeks. Provisions tended to be adequate, and accounts of
starvation were related only to excessively prolonged voyages. The space per
voyager was such that there tended to be 1 to 2 voyagers per ton of ship.
However, the tonnage was often inaccurately advertised. Berth spaces were 18
inches wide by 6 feet long with about 2 feet of overhead between berth layers.
These berths were for an adult; and, if people were 14 years old or under, 2 per
birth. Beneath the deck of the ship, there was an average of four feet nine
inches between decks.9
The Hopewell arrived in Charleston 22 December
1772 with approximately 191 persons on board. I estimate that the deck top had
about as much square footage as a present-day double-wide mobile home!
On leaving Charleston, the Hopewell went to
New York and, on the return to Newry, lost all sails but did arrive. The
Hopewell had been in service since at least 1766 at which time sailing
advertisements indicated that it was 250 tons; but an analysis in the U.S.
indicated that it was 100 tons. Studies have been done comparing the northern
Ireland advertisements of ship tonnage to those recorded in ports of arrival in
America. It was thought that the ships were relatively packed during the peak
years of 1771 to 1773. In our own modern times, please reflect on all of the
current deception and dishonesty in advertising even with laws against such in
the United States. There was no such regulation of advertising in the Old World
of the 1700"s.9
The
names of the area they went to
Rev. Martin and many of those on the five
boats of his party obtained grants in the Catawba River valley area from Lancaster to
Charlotte, concentrating at Rocky Creek where he became pastor of
"Catholic Presbyterian Church"
in 1773
(in present Chester Co.35, S. C. & "catholic" in this case
meaning a church of multiple Presbyterian factions36...it was
burned by the British)22. The area was also known as The Waxhaws. By 1808, a number had left for the Ohio
frontier; and Historic
Hopewell Church stands as a present day testament in Ohio...one example. Our
family's original immigrant John Shaw's initial land grant fell into the Shiloh area of
present-day Sumter County, S. C., but subsequent grants at I-95 and South Brick
Church Road (highway #527...which is now Clarendon Co., and had been in Sumter
District). They and their friends and neighbors
tended to populate the lands on either side of the Black River (river originates
in swamps near Bishopville & Camden) between Kingstree
and Bishopville. That area ran through Sumter County, between the Santee River
and Lynches River; the interior from about present-day I-95 inward became known
as St. Mark's Parish (1757), and downstream to below Kingstree, as Prince
Frederick's Parish (1754). The near coastal (Georgetown) zone was the southern
3rd of Prince George Parish (1721). The area has otherwise variously been known
as:
| 1526: Lucas Vasquez de Allyon founded a short-lived Spanish colony at "Waccamaw Neck", Georgetown, S. C. |
| 1662-63: Charles II of England grants Carolina to The Lord's Proprietors. |
| 1670: Charles Town founded by English peoples on the Ashley River. |
| Before 1710: As above, N. C. & S. C. were called Carolina (and the royal charter actually indicated lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific, a situation later resolved sometime following the USA having its own functioning constitution28). Then split into N. C. & S. C. |
|
1682-1705: Craven County |
| 1706: Parish system (of the Anglican Church) began, and Prince George, Winyah created in 1721 & straddled the Black River. From the church near Georgetown & SW to the Santee River & NE to the N. C. line. It included present-day Sumter County. In 1734 it was divided into Prince Frederick's Parish Church remaining on Black River & Prince George, Winyah, encompassing the new town (1729), Georgetown, on the Sampit River. |
|
1757:inland Prince Frederick's designated as St. Mark's
Parish, in Craven Co. |
| 1769-1782: Royal Province then divided for formation of seven state circuit court judicial districts (when John Shaw arrived and got land grant)...Camden District (included present-day Sumter, Lee, Clarendon) composed of York, Chester, Fairfield, Richland, Lancaster, Claremont, and Clarendon counties. |
|
1783-1789: Each District Court area divided into counties in 1783
and a county court system utilizing lay magistrates put into place by 1785.
Magistrate system replaced by lay county court judges in 1791 and in 1792
Salem county was formed from part of Claremont County ("Upper
Salem") and part from Clarendon County ("Lower Salem"). |
|
1798-1800: The old county court system was abolished 1 Jan. 1800 and
S. C. divided into judicial districts, Sumter District formed from Claremont (toward the Wateree), Clarendon
(south-east), and Salem (between Black River and Lynches River) counties and
justice administered through a circuit court system.. |
| 1855: present-day Sumter and Clarendon counties devolved from Sumter District. |
| 1898: part of Sumter Co. into Lee Co. when Lee was formed. |
| check more detail at Southeastern Genealogy On-line county formation maps...scroll down and click on the appropriate date. |
Transportation:
Rivers (Black River), Roads, & Railroads
All of the government of South Carolina was centered in Charleston, S.C. until 1785. It was not until the 1900's that there were more than fairly simple dirt roads allowing any kind of decent and expeditious travel. In fact, Paul Hook noted to me that Lexington county hardly had any paving until after WWII. So, 1700-1900's travel was difficult, by way of very primitive wagon trails, paths, and most significantly by waterway. Scott speaks glowingly of the new bridge built over Black River before the civil war by commissioner of roads, Matthew E. Muldrow18...to this day referred to as Muldrow's Crossing. The waterway of greatest importance to our Shaw ancestors was the Black River. However, the channels being fairly narrow, it was constantly subject to obstruction by huge, fallen trees (they didn't have chain-saws back then). It was probably not navigable for such as 100-bale cotton barges or even shallow draft boats but from Georgetown to a few miles upriver from Kingstree21. The legislature was approached in the early 1800's about making efforts to make the north fork of Black River more navigable (toward Mayesville). Lynches Creek to the north was navigable further inland, and it is possible that it was a way to transport goods down to Georgetown. The Road along the north side of Black River went from Mayesville to Kingstree, passing by the old John Shaw place (see below). And the road on the south side came from Camden, which was to the west (present-day Brewington Road, state secondary road #81 ), passing through Shaw's Crossroads (#81 & hwy 76) on eastward (becoming state road #50). Both #81 and #50 encountered a road angling southeastward from Lynchburg (a town on Lynches Creek). The road from Lynchburg went to the then state capitol of Charleston and is well noted on a 1779 map, crossing Black River at about the present-day Sardinia & Gable area, then proceeding to Murray Crossing on the Santee River, thence to Charleston.
Stage coaches tended to run on the same narrow travel roads that ordinary people used on foot, horseback or wagon and that originated on Indian trails. By 175030, a coach trail linked Boston to Charleston & became the basis for the King's Highway (US 17). The Upper Road branched off of King's Highway in Virginia & ended up through Charlotte in Spartanburg & Greenville, S. C. There was a road from Augusta through Columbia & to Camden and on to Charlotte. The old Cherokee Path from east to west from Charleston to the Smokey Mountains west of Spartanburg and Greenville headed west. Other short routes tended to follow rivers and branch to various towns.
Railroads arrived in 1842 with the opening of the rail from
Charleston to Columbia. It branched to Camden in 1848, over toward Sumter in
January 1852, 3 months later over to Mayesville15, Mayesville being
available to the Shaws and their kin from the Shaws' Crossroads area (which
David Shaw founded beginning in 1829). Dr. Gregorie's book has a chapter on
railroad evolution in the area. 20
JOHN
SHAW SETTLES
Where?
He initially settled in early 1773 in a
geographic area west of present day Kingstree, south of Lynches River, north of
Black River, and east of Mayesville...known as Salem (section known as Lower Salem). The area is in part of the
present-day Pee Dee Basin river drainage system, Black River being the main
river within that Salem area. It was a six-day horseback ride from Charleston.
In that area, in the late 1600's, there were only a few settlers who are thought
to have been mostly cattle raisers. The forest country in that area had huge
stands of long leaf yellow pine trees with both the forests (pines) and the
swamps (huge cypress trees) having such canopy cover that there was very little
underbrush14.
Actual
land-grant site
John Shaw and descendants settled in Sumter,
Lee, and Clarendon counties of South Carolina, at the headwaters of the Black
River. John Shaw's original land grant home site [HERE] on Hope Swamp (present-day
Sumter Co., S. C.)...site of his original
land-grant of 100 acres...was finally professionally located by me (by Don
Johnson's expert interpretation of records and some good luck) in the fall
of 1998 (the land went to his son, David Shaw...HERE). The subsequent John Shaw
grants & general family home place on Jackson's Branch (about 5 miles eastward), on the
north bluff of the Black River at present-day I-95 and SC #527 had been roughly
determined by me since about 1996.
Money
For most people, there wasn't a lot of money.
People who marketed to this highly agrarian society had to be able to carry
accounts on credit until crops were harvested and sold. Until the Bank of the
State of S. C. was opened in Dec. 1812, Spanish silver coin was the monetary
medium of exchange18 for crop and livestock sales, crops being hauled
by wagon (and livestock driven) to Charleston (or, as noted above...possibly by
boat to Georgetown via Lynches River). Promissory notes and barter took care of
most of the rest of value exchanging. Such transport tended to be in groups or
gangs of neighbors so that there was safety in numbers for the return trip home
with the money.18
The
money crops
Trading with Indians flourished into the early 1700s. Prior to, and after the influx of Scotch-Irish
following 1732, hogs and cattle were raised along with corn. Indigo began about
1729 & was raised
inland as far as the Salem area19, significantly by 175021,
supported by the bounty for production of products sold to England. Many in
Kingstree became indigo-wealthy. I suspect that these stories got back to
kinsmen in Northern Ireland and helped nudge ("pull") our John Shaw,
at age 22, to head to America in 1772. Early indigo wealth corresponded with the
importation of slaves, and slaves began to be bought for expansion of this crop21.
The onset of the Revolutionary War knocked the indigo export-to-England
business out, and cotton began to take over inland; rice began to be big on the
coast. By 1840, Georgetown District produced nearly 50% of the USA rice crop! With the introduction of the cotton
gin in the 1790's, cotton became a big crop in the Salem area (rice in the more
coastal areas). Ginning markedly amplified the slave productivity (previously
hand-picking seeds from cotton at a rate of processing one pound of cotton per
hour...the early gin could clean out seeds at 6-10 pounds per hour28).
As large plantations were assembled by buying out smaller farmers, those smaller
farmers often left for the vast fertile black lands of Alabama and Mississippi,
some going to Florida. By the 1820's, the success of cotton production in those
distant states had driven the price of cotton down from about 30¢ a pound to
maybe 8¢ a pound; and cotton planters fell on harder times...a cotton
depression. Such depressions recurred between 1812-1860; and the fertility of
the land began to play out (commercial fertilizer had not been invented)...all
leading to more local and distant westward migration20. Both cotton and indigo could be
profitable within families who did not own slaves...until war or capacity for
overproduction drove the price too low.
Clearing
the "new ground" to produce more money.
This was done in stages. The pines were
girdled so as to kill them within a year and rot them within 2 or 3. Underbrush
was cleared by cutting and burning and hardwood cut for lumber (any saw-milling
was done with portable equipment up through the 1930's) and put up for fire
wood. Log-rolling contests were held on the clearing as slaves from the host and
neighboring plantations had much enjoyment competing in front of the females to
move logs off of the "new ground"19
John G. Shaw branch, Mississippi:
An especially bad cotton depression hit the
Sumter area from 1841-1844.20 John Shaw's eldest grandson, John G. Shaw,
left during this period. It may have been that, at least with the financial
backing of his father, David Shaw, he and another man took a cotton load
westward with hopes of selling at a much better price (or maybe just selling and
starting over in that area) in New Orleans. They were
robbed near the Mississippi River, and JGS was left for dead (played possum?).
Having no money at all, he got down stream and eastward on the Gulf Coast a
little ways over to Pass Christian, (west) Mississippi. Carlos Ladner had a
sheep and wool business and hired JGS as a shearer. Before he could save much
money to return home, he fell in love with Anna Ladner (daughter of Carlos). Our
Shaw line was ever after established in coastal western Mississippi.
Labor-wise, the Industrial Revolution exerted
its effects on America beginning between 1780-1830, but with little effect on
common families until 1900.
For Christians, in good times and hard times,
community life tended to revolve around the church. In the area of the county
called Salem, a church was started which is still present today (see below).
Salem
Black River Presbyterian Church
On the north side of Black River, Salem Black
River [Brick Church] Presbyterian Church was founded about 1759; David Anderson
gave a plot of land on Taylor's Swamp (later known as Meeting House Branch) to
the Salem Congregation. A log building was erected in 1760, replaced by a
frame one and then by a brick building in 1804; 42 years later the present
building was built. Thomas Reese was the Pastor from 1773 to 1792, then left
for Pendleton District and was designated in the session records as "Our
ever memorable Pastor". Our David Shaw was asked to build the study house in 1808.
Samuel and James Bradley were members of Williamsburg Church (Kingstree) who
settled in Salem and planted Salem church there. The story of Rev. John Cousar5
gives further interesting information about church life, marriages, and even
"camp meetings". When I was a cadet at The Citadel taking a
"History of The Old South" course, Col. Lee liked to joke that more
souls were created than saved at those old camp meetings!
American
Revolution of 1776
While the Scotch-Irish...especially the Covenanter Presbyterians...had plenty of anti-British antagonism, it did not necessarily translate into Revolutionary War service. I have never found any record or indication of military service by John Shaw the immigrant. John Adams maintained that about a third of Americans supported the Revolution, a third were against it, and a third tried to be neutral. In South Carolina, there was somewhat of a notion among the interior Scotch-Irish that the Charleston elite were behind the war; many did not care to be in the service of these elites22. Then, especially among the very recent Scotch-Irish immigrants (John Shaw arrived 12/1772...40% of the total came in the 1770's), many had not yet really put down their "colonial roots"; others feared losing their new grants if they openly backed the American rebels16. Rev. Martin was a "warm Whig" favoring independence; but it was after 1776 that he finally preached to his congregation, "My hearers, talk and angry words will do no good. We must fight22!"
James Bradley, a founder (see
above) of John Shaw's church east of Sumter, suffered great cruelty inflicted on
him on the orders of British General Tarleton. Tarleton dressed himself in the
uniform of an American Officer and, visiting James Bradley in this disguise
saying he was Gen. George Washington, drew much information from Bradley. Then,
he requested that Bradley guide him through the swamps to Camden. On reaching
his camp, he ordered Bradley to be put in prison bound with irons and repeatedly
carted to the gallows to witness the hanging of his compatriots. Bradley wore
the marks of these irons to the grave. He was a very old man when thus treated
(according to Wallace's history)2
Water
and Refrigeration
It was always an advantage to be near a stream, spring, or artesian (free-flowing at the ground's surface) well. If water was not "pure," it had to be filtered through cloth or straw and maybe boiled. Livestock, outhouse toilets ("privies"), and garbage piles needed to be kept away from (or downstream of) the water source. In the absence of a free-flowing artesian well or other nearby surface water source, a well had to be hand-dug down below the water table (probably no more than 10-30 feet where John Shaw settled). Buckets were lowered and water pulled up. In parts of S. C. where pond cypress grew, the hollow trunks (of pond cypress...swamp cypress trunks were not hollow) could be used as sleeves to "curb" the well so that the top edges didn't fall in18. Water taken from below ground was always cooler in non-winter months than air temperature. Water seeping downhill under a storehouse or smokehouse caused some cooling due to evaporation. I'm not sure when; but, where the water table was much deeper, it became possible to drill something like 8 inch pipe down to the water 100 or more feet deep. By 1920, such wells utilized a narrow bucket within the pipe. A large water trough was kept by the well; excess water was poured over into the trough and used to "refrigerate" cooked meat kept in heavy stone "meat pots" with lids (had to keep bugs and animals out of it), butter in butter jars, and milk. In this type of set-up, excess trough water and house water flowed out into a pipe or narrow, open aqueduct-like trough/conduit downhill to the livestock water trough17. Rainwater could be collected off of roofs and channeled into storage cisterns.
When I was
a boy (1940's), I remember farms having hand pumps attached to a well pipe
drilled down into deep well water. Such wells required "priming water"
to be poured down the hand pump in order to seal the line and allow the
hand-pumping action to create the suction of the well water up the pipe. You had to
remember to refill the "priming" container before you stopped getting
your water. City
folks had running city water from the 1920's on. My grandfather, R. T. Brown,
had the first electric home refrigerator in Sumter installed in his home in the
1920's. A prominent member of our church, Murray Seay, noted to me that his home
in Lexington county did not get electricity until 1946 (he was 24). And, as a boy in the 1940s, I remember the ice man delivering big blocks of ice to
non-electric home refrigerators (insulated boxes).
Food
and food Preservation
We moderns have refrigerators, freezers, convenience foods, and "eating out". Prior to the harnessing of fire by primitive man, humans killed animals or picked foods and ate on the spot. They gorged themselves on food until it ran out or spoiled. The next meal, therefore, was whenever they could find it. Cooked meat was found to last a few days to maybe two weeks before it spoiled, especially if it could be "refrigerated". In time, the preservative powers of smoke (contains formaldehyde), salt, sugar/honey, vinegar, and drying were discovered. With time, people learned to do more than just cook meats and whole grains. Grain milling between hand stones produced flour of various types. And people put imagination into creating recipes and meals which were more tasty and had a more "high class" presentation...going beyond just the satisfaction of stomach hunger. Glass jar heat storage ("canning") methods began in France between 1810-1830.
Our ancestors in South Carolina widely and commonly used such old
preservative methods in daily life up through the 1950's (dried corn, peanuts, and grains,
canned cooked meat and vegetables, salt-cured and/or smoke-cured pork hams and
pork bacon; pickled fruits and vegetables; pickled eggs). Rural families tended
to have a small smoke-house or food storage shed near the home. Long-term
preserved meat was hung in this shed. Beef was more difficult to store long-term
(too thick for smoke penetration) by individual families (a big animal takes too much time to process). So,
crossroads communities formed such as "beef clubs" (and there were a
few "pig clubs")17,19.
Sixteen families would go together into a cooperative arrangement. Every two
weeks17 (in some areas, every Saturday)19, a family in
turn contributed a cow which was killed and butchered into 16
"shares". The butcher or someone else kept strict "books" on
the poundage divided out, and the butcher also had right of first refusal on the
beef liver. At the end of a year, families providing less
butchered pounds paid money back into a pool which was then accounted back out
to the club members. On receipt of a family's "share" for the two
weeks, the meat was usually cooked and then stored in meat pots (see above)
using whatever "refrigeration" was available17. Chickens,
goats, wild game (rabbits, squirrel, turkey, and deer), and fish (Black River
was noted to have a fine fish population21) were added to the diet as
needed. A year-round vegetable garden was maintained. Sweet and white potatoes
were grown and, over the cold months, stored in outdoor "potato hills"
(dirt mounds onto which the potatoes were carefully stacked and then covered
with straw which was then covered by dirt carefully sloped so that rainwater ran
off and didn't really soak into the mound) in areas of S. C. which were low and flat, with a
high water table. In other areas a deep, cool, and dry "root cellar"
was dug and potatoes and other root-like vegetables stored. The aging of the
sweet potatoes for several weeks made them sweeter (today, the aged sweet potato
can be called a "yam"). Corn and wheat (and maybe some other dried
grains) were harvested and dried and milled into grits, meal, or flour at
numerous area grist mills located on flowing creeks (but, some people had small
"hand mills"). John Shaw's son, David, may
have had a mill on Alligator Creek (there were an average of 40 mills per S. C.
county before 186024). Some inlanders grew "upland
rice"...my father remembered it on part of their Sumter Co. farm (part of
David Shaw's former land at "Shaw's Crossroad"). Sugar cane was grown and harvested (and
aged a bit) and crushed/squeezed in numerous area small sorghum mills; the juice
was cooked down into cane syrup and further cooked down into "black strap
molasses". People scheduled their times at grist (for major jobs) and cane
mills (all jobs) so that the difficult hauling trips would not result in too
many showing up at the same time17. Chickens on the place were a
constant source of fresh eggs if you kept the chicken snakes away. One or two milk cows (about one cow per 4 adults)
supplied milk and cream, and the cream was hand-churned into butter (my wife has
one of her mother's small quart-sized glass butter churns). Salt might
be bought in tightly woven 100 pound bags. Only by about 1900 was processed
granular sugar readily bought in a large barrel. My father fondly remembered
being a boy enjoying the
custom on their farm (1920's) of the newly arrived sugar barrel being opened and
all children (of farm owners, farm hands, black and white) being allowed to eat
as much sugar as they wanted at the time of the opening.
"Baby food" was made by mixing "pot liquor" (the juices and sediment left in pots after cooking meats and vegetables) and mashed potatoes, beans, corn or grits. In more modern times, mashing cooked foods and/or blending in "blenders" has been a method.
In those bygone times, all members of the family were
indispensable to family survival in every respect...emotionally, chore-wise,
work-wise, and economically. Routine, significant physical work required big
meals of concentrated energy (high protein and fat content) so that the daily
calorie requirement might be two to four times what our modern requirements are.
My father recalled in 1989 (age 78) the way they ate on the farm at the time of
the Great Depression, compared to modern times: he considered that Americans
have never since eaten better food than in those bygone days of the 1920-30s.
Marriage
In long-ago, bygone days, the options for marriage were pretty much limited to one's ability to travel. As already noted above, roads were poor until paving was invented; and railroads did not exist prior to the 1800s nor air travel until 1950s or later. Consequently, people tended to marry within the community or around the cross-roads or within the church congregation (or at least that denomination) or even from within the family (first-cousin marriages were not very uncommon even at the start of the 20th century). Sometimes whole families inter-married less for love than for common convenience and survival33.
Schools
To insure some quality growth and community
creation as an inland perimeter buffer to Charleston, several educational institutions were begun
inland...a supplement to local personal educators/tutors (public schools were
yet far off in the future). The one closest to our immigrant ancestor's family
home was Mt. Zion Institute (founded about 1790) in Winnsboro, S.C., Winnsboro
also being a summer retreat area (50-60 miles further westward/inland). There
may have been a little community school at Salem Black River Presbyterian
Church18 or 19; 20. Small communities sent children to innumerable
private schools owned and run by the teacher (s), or by "societies" of
cooperating parents who employed a teacher. Education of children was a parental
responsibility in early times, and when parents were too poor or indifferent,
the children were illiterate. The Clarendon (County) Orphan Academy was started
about 1798 to meet this need for free. A S. C. free school law for the poor was
enacted in 1811; and, by 1857, there were 52 free schools in Sumter District20.
A school which prepared students for college might be called a "high
school". A girls' finishing school might be called a seminary. The most
favored name for schools was so-and-so "academy"20. Among
some of the names in the Sumter area were: The Sandville Academy, Lodebar
Academy, Mt. Clio Academy, Bishopville Academy, William T. Capers School, Coit's
High School, Swimming Pens School, Plowden Mills School, St. Paul's Academy,
Friendship Academy, Summerton Academy, Claremont Academy, Dr. John M. Robert's
Academy (predecessor to Furman University), Woodville Academy, Edgehill Academy
near Stateburg, Thornton Academy, Rafton Creek Academy, The Hawthorndean
Seminary, Sumterville Academy, Mrs. Campbell's School, The Rev. R. W. Bailey
School, Orange Grove School, Bradford Springs Female Academy Harmony Female
College, "Sumter Military, Gymnastic, and Classical School", Young
Ladies Seminary, Theus's Academy, The Sumterville Female Academy, the
Sumterville Academy, Sumter Collegiate Institute, and Zoar Academy20.
Education was a big deal to the Presbyterians
who demanded not only an educated clergy but education for all so that each
person could read the Bible. In fact Protestant (Presbyterian) Scotland was the
first civilized nation to pass a law for public schools (1696 "Act for
Setting Schools"). The College of New Jersey (later Princeton) was
founded in 1736, Hampden-Sydney in Virginia in 1776, and Dickinson College in
Pennsylvania in 1783.
Medical Care
Until 1824, there was no medical school in S. C. Until late in the 1800s, "medical school" consisted of a couple of years of post high school training...in one "up North", the two years were 20 weeks each31. In 1889, Johns Hopkins school instituted the internship year for the first year after the granting of the M. D. degree. People must have (even as is still partially done today) used various "home remedies" when no doctor was available. Some of the early medical doctors in the Sumter area were: H. L. Shaw, T. M. Shaw, W. J. Pringle, J. S. Hughson, S. C. Baker, C. R. F. Baker, A. C. Dick, I. M. Woods, J. A. Mayes, F. J. Mayes, W. M. Bradley, J. W. Hudson, C. E. King, J. H. Mills, E. M. Davis, H. C. Corbett, S. P. Oliver, W. Cheyne, J. J. Bossard, A. China, and M. D. Murray and others. Bacteria as the source of infectious disease was not known until the 1800s. The realization of the spread of disease through dirty water and subsequent efforts toward clean water (and public hygiene) gained ground in the 1800s & intensified in the early 1900s. Smallpox vaccination was invented in 1798 but with widespread use much later; other vaccines to prevent lethal disease came gradually after the 1920s. "Child bed fever" killed many a wife, as there were no antibiotics readily available until "sulfa drugs" and penicillin in the 1940s-50s. When you see men with multiple wives prior to the 1950s, it was almost never due to divorce. Newborns died so regularly that almost no family was spared the death of at least one child before the age of one year...often experiencing the deaths of many children between the newborn phase and age 21. Dr. J. A. Mood opened the very small Mood Infirmary in Sumter in 1894, the small Bossard-Baker-Dick Infirmary having been opened shortly before. One of the most devastating epidemics in human history occurred during the 20th century: the 1918 influenza pandemic that resulted in 20 million deaths, including 500,000 in the United States, in less than 1 year--more than have died in as short a time during any war or famine in the world (as of 2005). My mother-in-law, Lallah Lindler Drafts, told me in about 2000 of her being told that she was given the first doses of penicillin in Columbia, S. C. to save her from a terrible episode of extended ear infection (mastoiditis). And my nurse mother recollects clearly in 2009 the first dose of penicillin given in Sumter, S. C. was in a case of gonorrhea.
But, until the 1950s, there was not really much that medical care could do to effect real change in the course of a potentially fatal disease.
What
Money Could Buy
To give an idea of the cost of things in the
early 1800's, a trustee's accounting of annual church donations for 1827 showed
that John Shaw gave $10.00, Lillis Shaw gave $5.00, and David Shaw gave $5.00.
The parsonage rent for the year was $91.50. On December 24, 1833, pledges were
made to the Salem Union Auxiliary (to be paid by May of 1834), with David Shaw
pledging $4.5013
Disasters
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Small pox: The first case appeared in 1697, coming from Virginia, & 200-300 Charlestonians died in 1698. The ship London Frigate landed in Charleston in 1738, & a few slaves passed through quarantine. Almost half of the Cherokee Indian nation died as a result! An outbreak in 1759 sickened 75% of the population of Charleston and killed over 700 (9% of that city's population). The last case in S. C. was in 1947 & the last in the U. S. in 1949. |
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Yellow fever: 1698-1700 A disastrous 1+ years for Charleston. Added to the above small pox, yellow fever caused "at least 160 deaths." In addition a fire destroys one-third of the city, a hurricane hits in the autumn of 1700, and an earthquake rocks the city. |
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Fires: Example, the above Charleston fire. |
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Other infectious epidemics: Whooping cough and influenza. Diphtheria tended to wipe out children; and 50% of children in a part of Lexington Co., S. C. died in one sweeping epidemic32. |
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Earthquake: The Great Charleston Earthquake is estimated to have been 7.3 on the Richter scale & occurred at 9:51 PM on 31 August 1886. It is one of the stronger quakes ever known in the eastern USA. |
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Hurricanes: These storms regularly batter S. C., and there have been a few to rival Hugo of 1989 (Hazel Oct. 14-16, 1954 land-falling in S. C. and Camille, the most intense storm of any kind to hit the USA in modern history, land-falling at Pass Christian, western coastal Mississippi 17 August 1969)...Hugo barreling inland to the Charlotte, N. C. area! Katrina in 2005 was maybe the greatest natural disaster in USA history in terms of displaced citizens and property damage. |
The
Fevers
Prior to the 1790's, coastal (and for 30 or so
miles inland) South Carolina consisted of well-drained estuary and lowland
swamps mixed with higher ground. By 1790, impoundments for growing rice had
become so prevalent that summer fevers...mosquito-borne (such as dengue fever
and malaria)...caused summer living in the lowlands to become hazardous. Many
retreated to inland homes and retreats.
SLAVERY
The first slaves in the West were the white Irish; this was followed later by black Africans selling other black Africans to Muslims who sold to Europeans as slaves.
Slavery began in ancient times as an alternative to just slaughtering captives of war. As with all social inventions initially done for good, evil enters in and corruption happens to bring bad features to that invention.
By reading the wills and estate settlements,
one will find that essentially all of the Sumter, Lee, and Clarendon County, S.
C. Shaws were slave owners. No one in my family ever knew of any family lore
about slavery & certainly none about mistreatment of slaves. So, I expect that slavery within the Shaw family
was along the lines written by Rev. Lowery (the Frierson Plantation was in the
same general area of the early John and David Shaw places)...see on-line manuscript19
In the meantime, Sadie Allen from Texas has been in contact with me since late 2003 and is pretty sure that her male ancestor, Carolina Shaw [her website], was a slave from one or our Shaw-line's Shaw plantations in the Swimming Pens section of old Sumter District. In 10/04, I was able to read Ernest Shaw's excellent full-page article in the Kingstree, S. C. newspaper (The News, 29 Sept. 2004) about his ancestral connection to a slave of Henry Daves Shaw (1796-1853) of the Kingstree area, Williamsburg County (so far, our Sumter Co. Shaw family does not seem to connect with this Shaw line). In late May 2008, Sharon Johnson Styles contacted me, also a descendant of the above Carolina Shaw (she sent a copy of her story in the 15 April 2008 issue of the Waco Tribune Herald).
We took "The Gullah Tour" in Charleston in April 2005 and were surprised to learn from Alphonso Brown that Sullivan's Island, S. C. is considered to be the Ellis Island for African Americans in that some 40% or more of the slaves coming to America passed through quarantine on this island! See the website initiated by the Drayton Family (plantations in Barbados, S. C., Ga., Fla., and Texas) as to on-line resources [here].
Ironically, rather than favoring government "reparations" for blacks (and certainly not mentioned in defense of slavery), one can look at slavery as an American national activity that transferred Africans to a land within which their descendants would have opportunity and benefits greater than 10 times beyond those currently available to the African population in Africa! In early 2007, I saw a special on ETV about the Simms family of Charleston, S. C. who held a reunion of white descendants and slave descendants. Near the end, an interview with a black teenager really startled me. He had studied hard and played basketball seriously and would now have a college scholarship. He told the interviewer that his slave ancestor had begun a family tradition of emphasis on getting an education as insurance against enslavement. And, as to getting in trouble and going to jail, this young man said that it had occurred to him that going to prison was going into slavery and that he intended that it'd never happen to him! What insight!
RECONSTRUCTION,
SEGREGATION, INTEGRATION
These periods in the family history of slavery
and the century after it ended have been
difficult to review and reconcile and impossible for "outsiders" to
understand. I have been fascinated by the intimate relationships between blacks
and whites in a great number of southern families. I will explore this in some
real detail at a future date, including the documentation of the mixed neighborhood of
Shaw's Crossroads, rural Sumter County, S. C....typical of racially mixed
neighborhoods throughout the south in formerly slaveholding regions where
relations had been civil.
Upon the defeat of the South and the release of all slaves, crops could not be harvested (the labor force was now suddenly freed); and the farms and plantations failed. As the freed slaves sought work for food or pay, there was none. The "carpetbaggers" from the North (constituting a civilian invasion) came and took advantage of the depression in the South...which was a devastated land recently militarily invaded by the federal government whose Gen. Sherman laid waste to a large area. The social reversals and upheavals lead to such means as the Ku Klux Klan who attempted to regain order. Blacks were placed into some positions of authority without benefit of any real social, political, or managerial training...probably a galling picture to most of the crushed white population.
As the white southern locals returned to power with scarce resources, I suppose they "naturally" looked upon the freed slaves as "lesser" and came up with the concept of segregation and the subsequent divided efforts of the government (more for whites and less for blacks) and society. "Integration" began in Sumter the year after I had graduated from high school (1962), and I hated the way it was forced onto the South. Among many federal rules forced on us, we had to bus children (it was quite upsetting to our black families) to schools; but no such disturbance of lives was required in the North. In time, things evolved and feelings changed.
To survive, white land-owning farmers and blacks had to work some system of cooperation out. Sharecropping evolved, and here is a July 2004 interview with a 109 year old black sharecropper in Sumter County, S. C.
Sharecropping, as with slavery, evolved a bad name outside of the South. I saw a TV special about 23 October 2005 about famed baseball player Jackie Robinson's son, David. Jackie broke the racial barrier in major league baseball, being the son of a sharecropper and the descendant of a slave. David broke the color barrier in his first grade class in Connecticut and suffered for it. Now David lives in the Rift Valley of Africa and grows expensive coffee beans as a landowner who sharecrops with locals...however, David is allowed to say that he runs a co-operative. He provides the capital; they provide the labor.
Growing up in the still-segregated South, it is hard for me to now believe that segregation existed! But, it just goes to show that the social evolution of mankind results in adaptations that, generations later, make the former things seem wrong.
In 1983, as I worked to bring a partner from Chicago into our practice, I had an apologetic attitude about the South's reputation "up North" as to race. My partner (from Nebraska), quite a historian and with much interest in things Southern, finally said, "Ervin, don't be so self-conscious about racism. You've never seen racism until you see the racism in the big northern cities...and its not just black-white racism!" Note a 2008 reminder of Northern racist communities & lynchings [HERE]. In 1989, our doctor group was the first in central S. C. to hire a woman pathologist; in 2008, the first to hire African American pathologists (2). By 2000, it seems to me that blacks are returning to the South in search of a better life...including finding much warmer black-white relations than they find in the North.
In 1900:23
The average USA life expectancy in 1900, the time of my great grandfather, was 47 years, only 14% of homes had a bath tub, 8% of homes had a telephone, the average worker made between $200-400 per year (at an average wage of 22 cents per hour), and a 3 minute phone call from Denver to New York cost $11. [Only a rare automobile was seen in only a few of the biggest US cities.] More than 95% of all births were at home, and 95% of all physicians attended medical schools without prior college education. Sugar cost 4 cents per pound, and eggs cost 14 cents per dozen. Most women washed their hair once per month. Antibiotics and insulin had not been discovered. Only men could vote; women & blacks could not. There was no air conditioning or refrigerators. And there were only 230 murders per year in the entire USA!
By 2000, the average life expectancy of those born in 2000 is 77 (a 30 year increase in a century).
*********************************
SCOTCH,
SCOTCH-IRISH BACKGROUND and WAYS
A Divided Scotland
The term "Scotch" is an adjective,
so that proper terminology is as follows: the first generation of any Scots
(noun) who settled in northern Ireland were best referred to as
"Scots-Irish". Any child beyond the immigrant generation would be
Scotch (adjective) -Irish, meaning Irish of Scottish descent. The
"Highlands of Scotland" is the rocky, soil-poor territory north of the river Clyde
(north of a line between Glasgow and Edinburgh) wherein dwelt small clans,
fiercely independent, who hated agents of government and sometimes raided the
Lowlander Scots; most vastly predominately of Celtic origin and spoke Celtic.
At least culturally, they were Catholic. Lowlanders were south of the river Clyde, despised Highlanders as lawless and
war-like, spoke Gaelic and English and had mixed Celtic, Dane, Saxon, Flemish, and Angle blood. The
southern and eastern parts of the "Lowlands of Scotland" form a
funnel-shaped land mass with the narrow northwestern end jutting out into the
north channel of the Irish Sea, as close as 20 miles to the shore of north
Ireland, at Belfast...visible from Ireland. Southward of Lowland Scotland were the upcountry English. The
Lowlanders, especially, were a restless people due to trying circumstances8.
In the United States, in 1790, studies have calculated that about 9% of the U.S.
population was Scotch-Irish and 24% so in South Carolina8.
[SAINT PATRICK: Credited with bringing Roman
Catholic Christianity to pagan Ireland in about 389-461...Patron Saint of
Ireland. Born in about 385 AD in Britain (what is now Wales?) with the birth
name of Maewyn Succat.]
Food
In the 1600's, the main non-meat staple of
native Scottish Lowlanders (meat was mutton, pork, and fish...when they could get
any meat) was a monotonous high-roughage diet of oatmeal and barley26. They arose
between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. and ate breakfast at 8:00 a.m., consisting of oaten
cakes. There was a mid-day meal of oaten cakes and some ale. The key meal of the
day was supper which included oats, sometimes some meat and quantities of ale8.
These lowland Scots grubbed out a miserable
living in a land with few trees, few minerals, and a very thin existence. They
therefore developed into very tight and conservative peoples who seldom threw
anything away. Interestingly, they believed that it was unlucky to wash a butter
churn; and, for warmth on colder nights, animals came into the dwellings...the
people slept with the animals! And, so, the consistency of their butter was
determined by the number of hairs within (both human and animal). With the
exception of a very small number of wealthy people, living conditions were
dreadful8.
Religion
On 31 October 1517, the German, Martin Luther, started the Protestant Reformation by the posting of his 95 theses...intending to just reform the Catholic Church...the Lutheran Church began. In 1567, 50 years later, Presbyterianism triumphed in Scotland by way of the Protestant Reformer, John Knox, whose key doctrine was the infallibility of scripture. A key Protestant belief was the priesthood of the individual believer, requiring an actual break away from the Catholic Church. He also declared that all political power derived from God to people who then chose leaders (popular sovereignty). Therefore, the Scottish Presbyterians placed a high premium on education in order that each person might be able to read scripture. Hence, the tremendous importance of "Kirk and schools" (Kirk = church).
Ulster, A Northern Ireland buffer for England
In order to act as a
buffer against invasion of the Irish into Scotland and then into England, the
English first began placing Lowland Scots into Ireland in the 12th century; and this
continued over the centuries. However, with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in
1588, England began to boldly look outward toward the rest of the world. This
view into the distance led to major efforts to colonize the New World in
Jamestown (1607), predominately for economic reasons; into Ulster (north of
Ireland) for economic and religious reasons (the Lowland Scots had become
greatly enthused by the Protestant Reformation and took seriously the Great
Commission of Matthew 28:19 to go forth and spread the gospel). The Ulster
Plantation scheme of England started in about 1610. The Ulster Plantation
consisted of six counties of north-eastern Ireland, with Donegal and Tyrone turning out to be mostly
of Scottish people8.
In 1610, James I devised The Oath of Supremacy which, if a Scotsman would
take it, resulted in his obtaining land in Ulster...being the first of the great
Scottish diaspora that was to change the rest of the world26. In 1641, under King Charles, Ulster Scots
(Scotch-Irish, mostly Presbyterian) were required to take the "Black
Oath" of loyalty to both the King of England and the Anglican Church.
Thousands of Scotch-Irish later decided to head for America (see above,
"Arrival on the Hopewell" and the link about Covenanter Presbyterians)8.
Scots to Ireland
As the Scots had moved into Ireland, they
displaced the Irish much as immigrants in America tended to displace the
Indians. These native Irish were (at least culturally) Roman Catholics, and the Scotch were
Protestants. The native Irish tended not to be congregated in communities, were
unorganized, and were displaceable. Nevertheless, they were a constant source of
distress to the Scotch-Irish immigrants and fell into two categories: the
"wild Irish" were those who continued to live in rural areas (not in
towns), while the "tame Irish" were those who tended to live in towns.
Because of the religious divisions and the constant hatred over displacement and
other differences, there tended not to be much intermarriage between native
Irish and Ulster Scots8.
Irish rise against the Scotch-Irish in 1641
In 1641, there was an Irish rebellion in which
the native Irish invaded Ulster and would have wiped out the Scotch-Irish
entirely except for a Scottish Army raised by Lt. Gen. George Monroe. This
rebellion appeared to represent a massive outward "summation response"
type of culmination of years of intense pent-up hatred between native Irish
Catholics and the immigrant Scotch-Irish Protestants (Presbyterians) and their descendants
(native Irish displaced; Scotch-Irish in to evangelize the Irish pagans; and the
native Irish pecking away at the Scotch-Irish inhabitants). Some have calculated
that one-third of the Protestants in Ireland were killed in the above conflict.
There were continued uprisings which finally ended in 16528.
Scotch-Irish consolidate 1652-1670
Between 1652 and 1670 in Ulster were years of
consolidating peace for the Scotch-Irish, clearly establishing them in the north
of Ireland. Some of the Scotch-Irish characteristics were: 1) the Protestant
work ethic: Puritans and Scotch-Irish considered it a sin to waste time; every
waking minute should be in productive work, 2) since everything comes from God,
man is obligated to serve Him8. There of course were many interesting
happenings in the north of Ireland subsequently and one might refer to several
sources8.
Ulster rack rents of about 1764
Beginning at about 12 years prior to the
American Revolution, new high lease rents ("rack rents") became a
burden to those in northern Ireland, being placed on top of many other burdens.
The news of free and cheap land (and the American Indians being more pacified)
began anew to stir emigration. To the Scotch-Irish, there was little more
important than owning (not leasing) land8.
Scotch-Irish archetype & 1770s migration
"Oppression commercially, politically and
religiously in Ulster Ireland prepared those who emigrated to the colonies to enter
the city school....Their rugged life fitted them to endure camp and march; and
their inborn hostility toward England led them to forge to the front in the
early weeks of the year 1775 when many good men of the old English race wavered
in the face of war with Great Britain.
"The Episcopalians, all powerful in
government, and the Roman Catholics, strong in numbers, pressed in upon every
side, and forced the Presbyterians to an exercise of their loyalty and patience,
while the spirit of proselytizing which existed everywhere in Ulster sharpened
their wits. Under a century of these social and religious influences, the Scotch
character must have changed."
"The Scotch-Irish have never claimed that
they brought literature or art to these shores [USA]. They knew little of the
former and nothing of aesthetics. Diaries and letters of the migration period do
not exist and perhaps never did exist. Let us speak frankly. Every race brings
to our Western Civilization a gift of its own. These people from Ulster cared
very little for the beautiful, with the single exception of the wonderful and
beautiful Bible story. Even the New Testament they handled as a laborer might
touch a Serves vase -- reverently but rudely."
"The Scotch-Irish could not see that the
severe lines of a cabin are softened by a sumac against the south wall or a
creeper at the corner. They did not trim the edge of the roadway that led to the
front door. In short, utility required nothing of these things and utility was
their law. For the same reasons, if the soles of their feet were tough, they saw
small need of shoes in summer. Their bare feet, however, gave something of a
shock to century-old New England"10
The
Name "SHAW"
"Though found in the other provinces of
Ireland, Shaw is common only in Ulster, particularly in counties Antrim and
Down. Though it can be of English origin, from Old English "sceaga"
denoting a "dweller by the woods", most in Ulster will be of Scottish
stock."
"In the lowlands of Scotland, the name
Shaw is of territorial origin from different places of the name and was most
common in Kirkcudbrightshire, Ayrshire, around Greenock in Renfrewshire, and in
Stirlingshire. The Highland Shaws are no connection with these families."
"Though the name has been on record in the Ulster region from the 16th century, it only became common after the [Ulster] Plantation. Shaws were among the first settlers brought to the Ards Peninsula in County Down by Sir Hugh Montgomery, but the name is not now found there. In mid-19th century Antrim, the name was most concentrated in the Barony of Upper Belfast and in Down, in the Barony of Upper Castlereagh, particularly in the Parish of Saintfield. Ballygally Castle, near Larne, County Antrim, now a Hotel, was built by a Scottish family of Shaws in 1625"11.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
History of Williamsburg Church by Wallace..."has to do with the 1732
arrival of the Scotch-Irish in Kingstree."
2.
History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina since 1850 by
Jones and Mills published in 1926, pg. 823.
3.
Williamsburg Presbyterian Church from 1736 to 1981 by Witherspoon, Davis,
and Cooper in 1981. (S.C. Archives)
4.
Scotch-Irish Migration to South Carolina, 1772, Jean Stephenson,
1971.(S.C. Archives)
5.
Down the Waxhaw Road, James English Cousar, Jr., 1953.
6.
S.C. Land Grant Policies, Robert H. Ackerman, 1977 (S.C. Archives).
7.
Scottish Contributions to the Making of America, 1951, Pamphlet of U.S.
Information Service. (Located in the Thomas Cooper Library at USC).
Note: Ulster Scots is a term synonymous with Scotch Irish; the Ulster Province,
planted with Scots by James VI of England, "the Scottish Nation in the
north of Ireland."
8.
A Social History of The Scotch Irish, Carlton Jackson. (Located in the
Thomas Cooper Library at USC).
9.
Ulster Emigration to Colonial America 1718 Through 1775, R. J. Dickson.
1966. (Thomas Cooper Library at USC).
10.
Scotch-Irish Pioneers In Ulster and America, Charles Knowles Bolton,
1910.
11.
The Book of Ulster Surnames, Robert Bell, 1988.
12.
Salem Black River Presbyterian Church Bicentennial 1759-1959 by Samuel
Eugene McIntosh, 11/8/59 (in Sumter Genealogical Research Center).
13.
Lois Dosher Collection, Black River Church file, (in Sumter Genealogical
Research Center).
14.
A speech to the Sumter Historical Society, James McBride Dabbs. (in Sumter
Genealogical Research Center).
15.
Reflections , complied by James E. Morgan, Published by The Sumter County
Historical Commission, Sumter, S. C. 1986 "Railroads of Sumter District and
Sumter County" (by Ross McKenzie...Oct. 1972).
16.
Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American
Life, Roger Daniels, 1990, Harper Collins Publishers, 450 pages. (in Thomas
Cooper Library at USC, Columbia, S. C.)
17.
interviews with Lallah Drafts Lindler, 1999, my mother-in-law.
18.
Random Recollections of a Long Life, 1806-1876, Edwin J. Scott, Columbia,
1884. (in South Carolinianna Library at USC, Columbia, SC) [author grew up in
Sumter County and lived and traveled around Columbia and Lexington County, SC]
19.
Life on the Old Plantation in Antebellum Days, Rev. Irving E. Lowery,
1911. Born in 1850 to a slave family on the plantation of John Frierson of
Pudding Swamp (the neighborhood of the early Shaws), Sumter Co., S.C., the author paints a picture that is
almost the opposite of what we moderns imagine slavery to have been like. This
on-line item discovered and brought to my attention by Charles Dibble (the book
in South
Carolinianna Library at USC, Columbia, SC; on-line
here at
UNC).
20.
History of Sumter County, Anne King Gregory, Sumter, 1954.
21.
History of Williamsburg [1705-1923], William Willis Boddie, 1923.
22.
Partisans & Redcoats [a history of the Rev. War in the backcountry of
South Carolina], Walter Edgar, 2001.
23. The Carolina Herald and Newsletter (official publication of the S. C. Genealogical Society), vol. XXX, number 3, page 11, July/August/Sept. 2002.
24. from a member of Society for Preservation of Old Mills [SPOOM], Oct. 2002.
25. Nettles, James A., "Early Irish Origins of the Cantey Family", The Sumter Black River Watchman, Dec. 2003, p. 84.
26. Herman, Arthur, How The Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It, 2001.
27. Shaw, Ernest, "Gathering Pieces of the Shaw Family Story", The News, 29 Sept. 2004 page 16.
28.Larry Schweikart & Michael Allen, A Patriot's History of the United States..., Penguin Books, 2004.
29. Alphonso Brown, Gullah Tours, March 2005. (http://www.gullahtours.com/index.html).
30. Beverly Whitaker's "Early American Roads and Trails". website with maps.
31. Herrick, M. D., James B., Memories of Eighty Years, 270 pages, U. of Chicago Press, 1949.
32. Caughman, J. Ansel, History of Cedar Grove Community...
33. Smith, Lettie Mae, explaining about her elderly (1895-) mother's (Leila Backman Shull) marital times in Lexington County, S. C. around 1914, "110 Years in Lexington County", by Ron Aiken, Lexington County Chronicle & Dispatch News, 16 March 2006, page 18A.
34. Webb, James, Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America, 369 pages, 2004.
35. Website about passengers on Earle of Donegal ship, Belfast to S. C. & links to how to analyze such lists for info about the passengers. ( http://www.geocities.com/earlofdonegal/?200921)
36. Hugh McGough's website about Presbyterians from Ulster to the USA. (http://www.magoo.com/hugh/cahans.html)
Interested in stuff about South Carolina? Check out: The South Carolina Information Highway,
Sumter County Genealogical Society, and also the Sumter County's GenWeb site & e-mail (sumtergensoc@aol.com). And the Sumter Co. Museum.
Here's how to tap into genealogy/historical/family tree topics online...state-to-state and some foreign countries.
check
out this web site's site index
(drafted 1994...numerous revisions; posted 4 March 1999; latest addition 1 May 2009)