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Bennettsville
Source: A History of Marlboro County: With
Traditions and Sketches of Numerous Families,
1897
On December 14, 1819, an act was passed by the
Legislature of South Carolina, Robeson Carlos and James
Gil-lespie representing Marlboro, authorizing the erection of a "new
brick court-house and jail." The court-house at
that time was situated a mile or so from Pee Dee River, and not many
miles from the mouth of Crooked Creek; but on account of the
unhealthfulness of the place and its inaccessibility, it was thought
best to move nearer to the center of the district; and hence the
present site was selected by a State engineer and is said to be very
nearly the exact geographical center of the
county. The place chosen was "upon thegreat road
leading from Society Hill to Fayette-ville in or near an old apple
orchard on the land of John S. Thomas." Three acres of
land for the court-house and jail and public square was accordingly
deeded by John S. Thomas, and the deed was recorded by
Wm. Bristow, clerk, April 4, 1820. John S. Thomas
lived on the road already mentioned and not more than fifty yards
from where the Presbyterian church now stands. *He is the maternal
great-grandfather of Messrs. L. D., C. T., and John Hamer, at
Tatum. James Cook, the grandfather of Misses
Olivia and Sallie Cook, and Mrs. J. L. Breeden, and Mrs. Jno. S.
Moore was a near neighbor to Thomas, and principally upon land that
belonged to them, Bennettsville stands to-day.
Bennettsville
was named in honor of the Governor of the State. Governor Bennett
was Governor at the time of the passage of the act authorizing the
removal of the court-house and doubtless signed the bill. No one
knew him, but that made no difference, for men in high places at
that day were not only respectable, but respected.
There was
some delay in the completion of the courthouse and it was not
finished till 1824. People at that time did not understand the
modern process of "booming new towns," and the town did not grow
rapidly. It was before the day of railroads and electricity. Atlanta
and Chicago had not been thought of, and the first settlers in
Bennettsville doubtless thought it best to go slow. The nearest
saw-mill was Vining's, now McDaniel's, and a road had to be opened
before they could get there; so that material for building purposes
was scarce and hard to get-Circular saws and steam power had not
then found a lodg. ment in the unbroken forests of virgin pine. One
or more of the first houses were built of material brought from the
"old court-house." The Peter McColl house that was burnt a few years
ago was built by Alex. R. Brown, largely from material brought from
there. Also the house so long known as the Marlboro Hotel, but
popularly called the "Buck Horn," from the pair of large antlers
nailed for a long time in the front piazza.
Among the first
settlers may be mentioned Wm. Mun-nerlyn, Joseph D. Massey and Amos
A. Galpin. Galpin had a store about where Grace's barber shop
stands. Munnerlyn, who was a stepson of John S. Thomas, had a store
on the corner now occupied by R. L. Kirkwood. He began on a very
small scale, but, by close and judicious attention to business, soon
became one of the two leading merchants. He built a large store on
the corner now occupied by J. M. Jackson; another where C. M.
Weath-erly is now doing business, and still another on the corner
below the post-office. He was associated in business with his
half-brother, Horace B. Thomas, and might have been a very wealthy
man, but the seductive andofttimes treacherous cotton business
finally swamped him. He was the father of the late Chas. T.
Munnerlyn, who was favorably known here, but moved to Alabama and
died a few years ago. Joseph D. Massey had a store on the corner
where the Rowe Bros, are now doing business. Massey came originally
from Lancaster, but did not make money. He, in in common with all
the storekeepers at that day, sold liquor.
As far back as
1826, besides the names already mentioned, the male population of
Bennettsville consisted of Dr. Edward W. Jones, Dr. Wm. Crosland,
John McCol-lum, George Dudley, William Dudley, Horace B.Thomas,
Alex. R. Brown. Gen. John McQueen settled in Bennettsville in 1827,
and built a law office on the corner now occupied by C. S. McCall's
mammoth store. Dr. Jones built the house and lived where Douglas
Jennings now lives. He removed to Mississippi in 1834. Dr. Crosland,
the father of William, Charles, George, Edward and Throop, had an
office about where the building owned by James E. Coxe now stands on
Depot street. He built him a bachelor's hall where J. J. Rowe lived,
now occupied by Strauss' livery stable, in which he and Mr. Wm.
Dudley lived until the Doctor married and settled at the place since
occupied by the family. He enjoyed a very lucrative practice and
made money.
John McCollum's store stood on the west side of
the Public Square, where the post-office now stands. Originally it
had a piazza the whole length of the front of the building. Indeed,
all of the stores then had them, and benches thereon for the
customers to sit upon after coming in from a ride or walk, and after
having taken a drink—one or more. His dwelling house stood where
Capt. P. L. Breeden now lives. He was an upright, good citizen, and
commanded the universal respect of the people. Capt. Joshua David
built a house on the east side of the Public Square on the corner.
He doubtless lived in it awhile, for he filled the office of Sheriff
and Clerk, and for a number of years was Ordinary for the District.
The house was afterwards known as the Tavern, and kept for years by
Philip Miller.
The bakery and candy shop stood immediately on
the corner, and the hotel was a little further back. On the
block where the bank now stands, but on the corner, and quite near
to the street, the Masons erected the Marlboro Hotel, removing it
from the old court-house, it being the first house erected in
Bennettsville. It had, no doubt, been greatly improved and enlarged
since those days, but like most of the old landmarks, it came to be
an eyesore to the fastidious tastes of the modern Bennettsvillian,
and was removed some years ago, and quite recently has been entirely
demolished and a handsome new hotel built on the spot.
One of
the early settlers, Harvey J. Baldwin, a Northerner, built a house
on the lot formerly occupied by S. J. Townsend, but now owned by
Mrs. Adams, and known far and wide as the Adams House. Another, Dr.
Benjamin by name, owned the lot and partly completed a house on the
lot now owned by H. W. Carroll. He sold out to Wm. Munnerlyn and
went to Marion. Amos Galpin, who has already been mentioned, bought
land from John S. Thomas lying on both sides of the street leading
towards Cheraw. The east side of the street, the block next the
Public Square, he sold to Henry Covington, who in turn sold to
Horace Thomas. The west side was purchased from Galpin by Robeson A.
Carloss, who sold to Gen. McQueen, and Col. C. W. Dudley. The house
now occupied by F. M. Emanuel was built by Rev. Thomas Cook, who
once merchandised in Bennettsville, on the corner below where the
post-office now stands.
This sketch of the first settlers,
their homes and places of business, shows that the little town began
gradually to assume shape and to make its mark upon the geography of
the country. Town lots were laid off, and it is fair, to presume
that James Cook and John S. Thomas felt themselves in great luck
that the town decided to stake down at their very doors, and perhaps
spread out all around them. The line dividing
their land ran perhaps between
Judge Hudson's law office and the
Adams House to the run of the creek, and south towards the Crosland
residence. One of the first lots purchased was the Marlboro Hotel
lot, which was purchased by Mrs. Dudley, the grandmother of T. E.
Dudley. It is perfectly safe to say that not one of the original
purchasers are alive to-day. It would be interesting and instructive
to note the changes that have taken place in the ownership of the
land lying around the Public .Square. It would be a revelation to be
able to note changes that have taken place in the market value of
the land contiguous to the Square since 1826 and up to
date.
The land lying to the west of John S. Thomas was owned
by Hartwell Ayer, the father of the late Mrs. J. B. Breeden. The
dividing line between Thomas and Ayer was about the gully just west
of T. E. Dudley's residence. Col. C. W. Dudley purchased two tracts
of land from Mr. Ayer, one of seventy acres on the south side of the
Society Hill road, and another of one hundred and nine ,acres tc the
north of the same road. When the new courthouse was being erected,
from 1819 to 1824, the land upon which East Bennettsville now stands
was doubtless owned by Nathan B. Thomas, the grandfather of the late
H. P. Johnson. He was one of the commissioners appointed to
supervise the erection of the court-house, and perhaps made the
brick for the building.
We have told of the first early years
of the history of Bennettsville and something of the early settlers
of the town. Those early settlers may have been disappointed at the
slow growth of the young town. A few stayed awhile and then moved on
to seek their fortunes elsewhere; others remained to aid in the
development and growth of the town. At the beginning of the war, say
thirty-five years from its birth, Bennettsville was still quite a
small place. A few houses were scattered irregularly along the Main
street from where Knox Livingston lives down to where T. M. Bolton's
residence now stands. Col. Dudley lived still farther
on. A little off from the Main street and looking
south, could be seen Mrs. Long's and Mr. Alexander Southerland's and
the Taylor place;a little further on and looking east was the
Presbyterian church, the J. J. Rowe place and Dr. Crosland's, and
yet still further eastward was the Methodist parsonage; Judge
Hudson's house, and last of all Col. W. J. Cook's, who was living at
his father's place, which was there before Bennettsville was
founded. This Cook residence is the oldest dwelling in Bennettsville
or vicinity. Not long after the Revolution it was
erected by William Hodge, a brother-in-law of Loudon Harwell;
afterwards he sold the place to James Cook and moved West.
Those mentioned, with the residences along the
Main street, made up a
village of about thirty residences, besides three churches,
Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian; two lodges, Masonic and
Temperance; about six stores lying around the Square, several
offices and one or more blacksmith and wood shops.
The middle-aged people will be able to call to mind
Townsend & Douglas, C. S. & M. I. Henagan, John McCollum,
and Wm. Murchison as the principal
merchants. W. D. Johnson, S. J. Townsend, J.
H. Hudson, C. P. Townsend and T. E. Dudley were the attorneys.
Alexander Southerland was the postmaster and druggist. J. J. Rowe,
the shoemaker; Robt. W. Little, the tailor. J. B. and J. T.
Jennings, W. J. David and Wm. D. Wallace did the medical
practice for the town and community. Bennettsville then
had no barber or undertaker. The men
must have known how to shave themselves, and if anybody happened to
die the coffin was made of pine-boards at the
shop. The town boasted of two
good schools, a male and female academy, under the management of
first-class teachers.
Then came the war, when merchants,
lawyers, teachers and doctors gave up their business and
volunteered in
defense of their country and a principle they held
dear. The farmers left their homes and firesides in the care of
their wives and servants, and, side by side with the professional
man, bravely battled for a cause they thought was just. A few old
men and the women, children and servants were left in charge of the
town. The war closed, and brave men came home. Alas ! many returned
not, to face demoralization, desolation and poverty. They
courageously took up the burden of life again, and with no capital
save brains and pluck, began the battle against poverty; and the
battle has been successful. To-day Bennettsville bears no
resemblance to the town of thirty years ago. She has lengthened her
cords and spread out east, south and west; new streets have been
opened, houses built, and either east or west Bennettsville has more
inhabitants now than the whole town had in 1866. What changes have
taken place in thirty years! There are six houses in the center of
the town that have not changed location or in appearance since 1866.
The jail, Masonic Hall, Presbyterian church, and the dwellings of
Throop Crosland, Douglas Jennings and J. G. W. Cobb have the same
appearance as they did thirty years ago. The dwellings of F. M.
Emanuel, A. E. Bristow, the Cook residence and the C. W. Dudley
place have not changed.
Everything else is new or has been
so changed and remodeled as to look new. Where dilapidated stores,
shops and small offices stood around the public square, handsome
brick stores and elegant blocks of brick buildings now stand.
Handsome residences now thickly dot the ground upon which crops of
cotton and corn were cultivated. Besides the erection of handsome
stores and beautiful residences, other and marked improvements have
been made. The merchants no longer haul freight to and from Society
Hill and Gardner's Bluff. Bennettsville is now in communication with
the outside world. Two railway lines offer transportation for
freight and passage north and south. Cotton is sold to the local
buyer, who ships it by rail, and pays for it with a check on the
Bank of Marlboro. Fine graded schools, for both white and colored
children, having good buildings and a full corps of experienced
teachers, are in full blast, and may be said to be the pride of the
town. Good churches, good schools, good stores and dwellings, and
good people make a good town; and Bennettsville, having all these
good things, is a good town. In Bennettsville fortunes have been
made and successes won. What has been may be, and those who are
toiling for success in their calling must toil on hoping and working
for success.
Since the close of the war in April, 1865, the
town of Bennettsville, which was partly burned by Sherman's
soldiers, has enjoyed a steady growth. The leading merchants have
been James B. Breeden, Wm. Murchison, John D. Murchison, Capt. P. L.
Breeden, C. S. McCall, A. J. Rowe, J. N. Weatherly, C. M. Weatherly,
J. M. Jackson, Rowe Bros., Simon Strauss, H. W. Carroll and R. Lee
Kirkwood. Others are doing business on a smaller scale. All above
named have succeeded and most of them remarkably well. Perhaps in no
town of its size in South Carolina have so many substantial
fortunes, in the space of thirty years, been accumulated by
merchants as in Bennettsville; and this not by speculation, but by
straightforward methods. In the forefront of those who have amassed
property in this line of business are J. B. Breeden, Wm. Murchison,
John D. Murchison, who died, leaving large estates, and Capt. P. L.
Breeden and C. S. McCall, still living. The first has retired from
mercantile life and devotes himself to planting on a large scale,
whilst McCall still successfully conducts a large mercantile as well
as large planting business with marked success in both. He is the
largest holder of real estate in the town. It is a noteworthy fact
that all these successful men were farmers' sons and began life with
little or no capital. They have been the
architects of their own fortunes. The same may be said of D D.
McColl, president of the Bank of Marlboro, who, though not a
merchant, has, by strict attention to business, professional and
financial, kept apace with the foremost of them in the accumulation
of wealth. With much satisfaction it is to be remarked that the
places of these veterans in mercantile and financial affairs will be
taken by worthy young men who are making headway in business, and
will maintain the steady and wholesome growth of the
town.
Some few family names of the original first settlers of
Bennettsville are yet to be found in the town or immediate vicinity.
Joel Emanuel, the grandfather of the Messrs. W. P., P. C. and Joel
Emanuel and P. A. Hodges lived first at the "old court-house," and
when Bennettsville was founded, moved to the new county seat and for
a number of years lived in the town and was engaged in the
mercantile business, and afterwards lived on his farm north of the
town, where he died a number of years ago. He was the brother of
Simon Emanuel, of Brownsville, who was the father of Mrs. A. E.
Bristow. The grandparents of T. E. Dudley also lived at the "old
courthouse," and followed on after the new court-house. Mrs. Dudley
was the first person to undertake the hotel business in
Bennettsville. Samuel Sparks lived at the "old court-house," but
never resided in Bennettsville. He was the father of the late Capt.
Alex D. Sparks, whose widow lives near Blenheim. Mrs. Keitt, the
daughter of Samuel Sparks, married Lawrence M. Keitt, who
represented the State in the provisional Confederate Congress which
met at Montgomery, Alabama, February 4th, 1861.
The names now
found in Bennettsville that were here at, or very soon after the
town was founded, are the Eman-uels named, the Dudleys, Croslands,
Bristows, Cooks and Mrs. Miller. There may be others or descendants
of others, but they are not remembered, except in the descendants of
Hartwell Ayer, in the children of the late John Harroll, and the
descendants of Nathan B. Thomas, in H. P. Johnson and children, and
Hope Newton, Jr.
In the preparation of this chapter the writer
had access to a file of old papers kindly furnished him by Editor S.
A. Brown, containing a "History of Bennettsville," written by the
late Col. C. W. Dudley when he was the editor of the
paper.
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