|
Brightsville
Source: A History of Marlboro County: With
Traditions and Sketches of Numerous Families,
1897
Brightsville, one of the
upper townships in Marlboro, takes its name from Chas. Bright, who
was the maternal grandfather of the late E. W.
Goodwin. Mr..Bright emigrated to this county trom
Granville County, North Carolina, in the year
1796. "It is thought he was a Revolutionary
soldier. He was filled with the true spirit of
patriotism and ardent love of country which characterized the men of
his day." Mr. Bright was married when he
came to Marlboro, having a wife and five children. He first settled
on Crooked Creek, near Bruton's Fork Church, then lived awhile on
the stage road, near where Jackson Stubbs now lives, and in 1827
moved to what is now known as Goodwin's Mill. He purchased the mill
and a large body of land from Drury Robertson in
1808. He was a man of indomitable
energy. When he reached the place now bearing his
name he had little or no money. When he died in 1830, at the
advanced age of seventy years, he was the owner of thousands of
acres of land and more than fifty slaves. Samuel
Goodwin, the father of E. W. Goodwin, married the
daughter of Chas. Bright. E. W. Goodwin, like his grandfather, was a
man of great energy and perseverance. In addition
to his mill and large farming interests, he successfully
conducted a large mercantile business, and amassed a considerable
fortune He died a few years ago lamented, respected and loved by all
who knew him. He represented the county in the
Secession Convention.
Seventy years ago people did not board
a train at their doors and travel at the rate of forty miles per
hour. Railroad travel was then unknown and unthought
of. Transportation from place to place was by
means of stage coaches drawn by horses. The stage line from New
Orleans to New York used to pass through this county, and the road
from Cheraw to Laurel Hill, by Goodwin's Mill, was a part of the
route. About fifty years ago some railroads had been built, but a
gap from Camden, South Carolina, to Warsaw, North Carolina, had
still to be traveled by stage; and thus it is seen that the "stage
road" had some importance attached to it at that day, and doubtless
Charles Bright thought himself lucky in making a purchase of land
lying alongside the "stage road." The stage road was established
here about 1822, having been moved from the road running through
Adamsville.
Soon after the Revolutionary War two Odom
brothers came to Marlboro from Virginia, James and Sion. The former
settled on the place where a grandson, H. K. Odom, now lives, and
was the father of a large family. The descendant of this old man are
found in various parts of the county, while a goodly number yet
remain in the old neighborhood. James, Theophilus, William, Daniel,
Abram, Godfrey, Tristram and John, were the sons of the first James,
all of whom (Tristram being the last, who died in 1896) have gone to
the grave. Chloe, the daughter of James, married Tandy Vance and
moved to Missouri; Nancy married Isham Turner, lived first in North
Carolina and moved thence to Missouri; Betsy married Allen Wicker,
lived first in North Carolina and moved to Marlboro; Jennie first
married a man named Smith, and then married Barnabas Wallace, and
became the mother of Stephen Wallace, Col. John W., Dr. Murray C,
Evander and William. Her daughters, Matilda and Mary, married B. F.
and James Parrott, in Darlington; Lizzie married Peter Bowyer;
Miranda, Duncan Barentine, and Martha married Cornelius D. Newton,
All the Wallace name above mentioned are dead except William, who
lives in Camden.
Sion Odom settled near the stage road, not far
from where Durant Odom, a grandson, now lives. From him is descended
a numerous progeny through Philip, Sion and Sam, as well as others
of other names. Many of the respected citizens of the Brightsville
and Smithville town" ships have in their veins the blood of one or
the other of these old patriarchs. Another of the name who also came
from Virginia, after he was discharged from service in the patriot
army, seems to have settled first in Marion County and if he did not
come himself to Marlboro, his sons, it is said, did come; and one of
these married Miss Dorcas Stubbs'and left a daughter, who became the
first wife of the late S. J. Strickland.
Another prominent
member of these pioneer settlers in Brightsville was Herbert Smith,
the father of Dr. T. C. Smith, Frank Smith; Miss Betsy Smith, Mrs.
Ann Adams and Mrs. S. J. Adams, of Bennettsville. He first settled
on the stage road near where D. D. Stubbs now lives. He was born in
1790, lived at that place only a few years, when he exchanged places
with Handy Stanton and moved to the old Telegraph Road, where he
resided for sixty-five years. He died in 1883 atthe
advanced age of 93.
Joel Hall was born in Chesterfield
County, South Carolina, in 1807. His father moved from Chesterfield
in his latter years, and settled just across the State line not more
than two miles from the home of Joel Hall. On December 1,1833, he
married Esther Steen. They had seven children, all are now dead
except three sons. His wife died in 1874, and his son, John, was
killed the same year by lightning. Mr. Hall died only a year or two
ago, approaching 90 years of age. In the year 1836, as told by Mr.
Hall, a wagoner from the up-country brought a case of smallpox into
that section and died at Bennie Quick's, and was buried near by. The
sign of his lonely grave, a few years ago, was yet visible. He was
nursed principally by Herbert and William Smith and William Hall,
the father
of Joel Hall. "The awful disease spread rapidly in the
Sand Hills; there were some sixty-five cases, but, strange to say,
not more than five or six deaths." Mr. Hall could .remember when not
more than four or five bales of cotton were made in that entire Sand
Hill country: now a public gin turns out four or five hundred bales
annually. As a rule the people did not work much in his young days.
What a change from the old to the new!
Among the first
settlers in the Brightsville section may be mentioned Barney
Wallace, who lived and reared a large family on Crooked Creek, near
where T, P. Stubbs now lives. Thomas Barrington settled and lived
one mile north of Boykin Church, where his son Goodwin lives.
Younger Newton, the grandfather of Ira Newton, lived on the same
plantation now owned by Ira. John Stubbs, the father of Jackson,
Alexander and the late John W., lived where Gus O'Tuall now lives,
the home of A. J. Stanton, the old Tax Collector of Marlboro
County.
Bishop Gregg, in his ''History of the Old Cheraws,"
mentions the name of John Stubbs, and says of him "that in November,
1753, he took up a grant of land on Catfiish Creek in Marion, and
was doubtless the ancestor of the large connection of that name in
Marlboro." John had a brother named William, for Mr. William F.
Stubbs, of An-son County, North Carolina, who is now entering his
92d year, says: "My grandfather informed me that his father, John or
William, came from England before the Revolutionary War and settled
in Marlboro County," and further says, "He was a small man, a weaver
by trade, and married Miss Rebecca Conner, a very large lady, who
became the mother of five sons; Lewis, James, Thomas, William, John
and doubtless also Peter. Of these, Lewis, the first mentioned,
settled where Mrs. Mastin Stubbs now lives, and was the father of
Rev. Campbell Stubbs, John J. and Lewis E.; James settled where B.
I. Liles now lives and was the father of John,
David, Alexander and Silas.
Jackson and
the late John W. were the sons of this John and grandsons of James.
The daughters of James were Elizabeth, who married Holden Liles, and
became the t mother of Jas. S., B. I. and Joseph R. Liles; and Mrs.
Pearson, Mrs, John M. Miller, and Celia, who married George Bristow,
the father of Capt. A. E. Bristow, of Bennettsville; Thomas, the
third brother above mentioned, settled where the late Wm. Webster
lived. His sons were Benjamin, Thomas, and John. Of his daughters,
Lucy married E. W. Goodwin, as elsewhere stated; Rebecca married
Peter Hubbardand moved to Mississippi; Feribe married Wm. Hubbard.
William, the fourth brother, settled on what has been known as the
Brazier place, on the Cheraw road. His sons were James (called "Big
Jim"), Peter and William F. This William F. Stubbs, already
mentioned as being 92 years of age, says "his mother moved to
Marlboro County in 1823, and that he was present at the first term
of court that was held at Bennettsville, the spring term of 1824."
He was then 19 years of age. He left the county and moved to his
present home, McFarland, North Carolina, in 1855. His grandfather
was a Revolutionary patriot.
It is proper to follow the
Stubbs family with a sketch of the Moore family; for they are
descendants on the mother's side, from them. Benjamin Moore, Sr.,
son of James and Drucilla Moore, was born in Richmond County, North
Carolina, in 1769. He was orphaned at an early age, and came to
Marlboro in his early manhood. His wife was Francis Stubbs, the
daughter of Wm. Stubbs and Elizabeth Hubbard. In the year 1816 he
purchased the farm upon which J. Alexander W. Moore lives, paying
$1.94 per acre, which he thought was a high price for the land. It
was bought of Major Drury Robertson, who owned a territory of land
reaching from Goodwin's Mill to Pipkin's Mill. The Major valued the
land principally on account of the virgin timber, which was
then found in unbroken profusion, and perhaps inserted a timber
reservation clause in some of the deeds. The grandsons of Benjamin
Moore, Sr., value the land because from it they produce a bale of
cotton per acre and provision crops in like
proportion.
Benjamin Moore, Sr., died in 1846 and left a
large family of sons and daughters. Rebecca Moore, his daughter,
married Rev. Pleasant Brazier and moved to Alabama before the late
war. Drucilla married Wm. Odom and settled in Tennessee; Nancy Moore
married Abram Odom; Catharine was the wife of Theophilus Odom ; Mary
Moore married Wm. Easterling and settled in Mississippi, and
Parmilia Moore was the wife of the late Stephen Wallace, father of
Thos. G. and Barney Wallace.
William Moore, the eldest son of
Benjamin, married Mary Adams and settled in Adamsville. The sons of
William Moore were Thomas B., John R., B. F., and W. A.; Mrs. Davis
an only daughter, who, after Rev. Mr. Davis death, married Capt. E.
L. Pearce. James Moore first married Widow Jones, a daughter of the
late Henry Easterling, and after her death married Sarah, daughter
of Samuel Bethea, of Marion County. James Moore, of Latta, is the
fruit of that marriage. Alfred Y. Moore married Mary A. Jones,
daughter of Rev. John Jones. His second wife was Elizabeth, the
daughter of Philip Odom. Mr. Moore yet lives and is an active man,
considering he carries the weight of four-score years. Benjamin
Moore married Mintie Easterling, and A. W. Moore, lately deceased,
was the son by this marriage. His second wife was Elizabeth Pearson,
daughter of the late John Pearson, who is the mother of the Messrs.
B. E., P. B. and Carey Moore, and who, after the death of Mr. Moore
married Willis Turlington.
Duncan W. Moore, youngest son of
Benjamin Moore, Sr., was born November 25, 1819. He married Martha
Spears, the daughter of James Spears and Deborah
Bethea. The four sons, M. A. J., J.
D., C. F., and J. Alex., live at or near by the spot where their
father was born and died, and where their grandfather lived and
died. Mrs. Frank R. Gibson, of Gibson, North Carolina, and Mrs.
E.W.Goodwin, Jr., are daughters of Duncan W. Moore. He was a man of
large frame and large heart, and was known far and near as an
industrious, successful farmer. Wherever known the Moores are noted
as careful, thrifty, money-making farmers, and honest, law-abiding
citizens.
North of the "old stage road" and two miles from
Goodwin's Mills, lived A. C. Mclnnis. He was born on the Isle of
Jura, Scotland, in 1816. His father, Angus, came to America in 1820;
Mr. Mclnnis was then only four years old, but his recollection of
the voyage across the water and the landing on the friendly shores
of the New World was perfect and fresh. They intended landing at New
York, but adverse winds drove them further north and the landing was
made on the coast of Canada. The sail vessels of that day could not
successfully buffet the winds and waves, as do the monster iron
steamers of the present, and the voyage was long and tedious. Mr.
Mclnnis had been taught to "believe that Satan was black, which he
firmly believed." When the vessel anchored and the health officer
came aboard, he brought his servant, a negro man, with him Mr.
Mclnnis and a crowd of boys were upon the deck, and when they saw
the negro coming on deck they thought he was the devil sure enough,
and all hands incontinently cleared the deck and fled below. Mr.
Mclnnis' parents settled in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and
he came to Marlboro in 1833 and located at Parnassus, remaining
there six years in business with Meekin Townsend, the father of
Judge C. P. Townsend, for whom he cherished the most tender feelings
of friendship and gratitude. He then moved to Bennettsville, where
he lived eighteen years, engaged in the carriage-making
business.
As already told in a previous chapter, he married
Miss Flora McCall in 1844. S. J., James A., and Archie, now in
Mississippi, were of this marriage. After leaving Ben-nettsville he
lived near "the burnt factory," and in 1866 removed to Brightsville.
Mr. Mclnnis was trial justice for a number of years, and, with the
exception of a few years, had been a magistrate since 1852 and hence
he was entitled to be called "Squire" Mclnnis. He was an
honorable, intelligent Christian gentleman.
We have
been writing about Brightsville and some of the Brightsville
families, but we will step across the "old stage road," and enter
Adamsville township, and not quite a mile south from Boykin Church
is where the late Capt. Thomas W. Huckabee lived and
died. He died only a very few years ago, having
reached four-score years. He died where his father
settled soon after the Revolutionary War, having never lived
anywhere else. He was the son of Thomas Huckabee,
who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and served under General
Francis Marion. His father was a Virginian by birth, and married
Nancy McCall, a native of Scotland, she having come to America
in 1790, at the age of eighteen.
Captain Huckabee was born in 1811, and had a brother,
Allen, who moved West in 1854 and died in
Arkansas in 1881. Captain Huckabee was a
soldier in the Florida War against the unfriendly Seminole
Indians. He served under General W. W. Harllee and
Captain James W. Blakeny. He assisted in the
erection of Fort Harllee, and was away from home several
months. They were disbanded April, 1837. He arrived at
home in May, having walked all the way from Charleston.
During the first year of the war between the States he was elected
Captain of the "Home Guards' and thus obtained the title of
Captain.
He was undemonstrative and quiet, yet true as steel.
He never sought public notoriety, but might have filled any position
acceptably. He taught school for quite a number of years, and
spared not the rod to the injury of the student.
Capt.
Huckabee first married Penelope Pate, youngest sister of Willis
Pate, of Clio. Only one child was born to this marriage, who is the
wife of Mr. Tally Huckabee. His second wife was Mrs. Fannie
Covington, who was the widow of Noah Covington. A son, Thomas, and
two daughters, all grown, are the fruit of this marriage.
A file
of papers furnished by J. P. Gibson made it possible for the writer
to complete this chapter.
|
|
This is a FREE website.
If you were
directed here through a link for which you paid $ for, you can
access much more FREE data via our South Carolina index page
at http://www.genealogytrails.com/scar/index.html
Also make
sure to visit our main Genealogy Trails History Group website
at http://genealogytrails.com for much more nationwide
historical/genealogical data and access to other state/county
data
|
Copyright ©
Genealogy Trails 2008
All Rights Reserved with Full Rights Reserved for Original
Contributor
|
