Marlboro County ScArchives History - Books .....Chapter IV Other Early Settlers 1897
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Book Title: A History Of Marlboro County

CHAPTER IV.
OTHER EARLY SETTLERS.

  In 1743, a name appears among the early grantees of land in the Welsh Neck
which was destined to be prominent in the history of Marlboro—Nicholas Rogers, a
Welshman. He died in 1759, but left a son Benjamin, who lived on the west side
of the Pee Dee, a few miles below Cheraw—an ardent Whig, of excellent character,
and held in high esteem by his neighbors. Of his sons, mention may be made of
two as prominent citizens of Marlboro. Of a third, Nicholas, we have heard, but
know nothing. A daughter married a Mr. Pearson, and lived some miles above
Cheraw. John Rogers, a son of the first Ben, married Miss Mary Griffin, and
lived and died at what is now known as the Dr. McLeod place. He was a member the
Legislature, 1808-1809. The fruit of this marriage was three sons, and as many
daughters. The first of these daughters married Dr. Francis Lee, and went West.
Another was the first wife of Gen. McQueen, who was a lawyer at Bennettsville,
and a member of Congress for several terms, and resigned his seat when the State
seceded from the Union. A third daughter, Miss Martha, a lady of splendid form,
fine character, and superior intellect, became the first wife of Dr. Alexander
McLeod, a native of North Carolina, a successful popular physician, a member of
the Secession Convention, the father of several sons, and a daughter who became
the wife of Capt. C. M. Weatherly. The sons of Mr. Rogers were John M., Benjamin
and Robert. John was talented and popular; elected to the Legislature in 1828,
but in the midst of his career of promise he was stricken in death. Robert,
also, was a noble, brilliant young man, just grown, when, by an accidental shot
from his own gun, he was instantly killed. Hardly any young man in the community
was more beloved, or could have been more sincerely mourned. The other son, B.
N. Rogers, married Miss McQueen, of Chesterfield.

  The good man left a family of sons and daughters to mourn his departure to a
better state.

  Another son of the first Benjamin Rogers was Col. Ben, who resided in
Brownsville. By his first marriage he became the father of nine daughters, and
nine sons were given him as the fruit of a second marriage with Mrs. Wickam, who
also had a daughter by her first marriage. This daughter first married John C.
Ellerbe, of Marion, and after his death she became the second wife of Dr. B. K.
Henagan. Most fondly does the writer remember the manly form of Col. Ben Rogers,
as the neighbor of his father and a friend to all the boys; universally
respected, full of energy and push, even in his old age. He was an early sheriff
of Marlboro, a Colonel of Militia, a State Senator, a patron of schools, a
friend of the churches, and beloved by his servants. He was young in years when
the struggle with the mother country came on, but with the ardor of youth and
the enthusiasm of an impulsive spirit he drew his sword in the cause of liberty,
and to his dying day his face beamed and his eye kindled with an ardent devotion
to his country's weal. He was killed at last by a falling tree, the felling of
which he was himself directing for plantation purposes. Noble, polite, generous,
public spirited, grand old man, we saw him buried, and it is a sad, yet precious
privilege, occasionally, to visit his tomb at old Brownsville, where he sleeps
between the bodies of the two women whom he loved with the tenderness and
devotion that was the admiration of all who knew him in his hospitable home.

  His first born son, whom we called "Major Ben," sleeps in that same
consecrated plat of ground. He was for awhile in command of the "Lower
Battalion" of Marlboro militia. A man of calm, cool temperament, highly
respected by his neighbors, they induced him to stand for a seat in the State
Legislature in 1846, and he was elected and served; but he would consent no more
to ask his countrymen to send him to Columbia, preferring the enjoyments of his
own comfortable, hospitable home to the turmoil and excitement of political
life. B. B. Rogers, courteous friend, successful planter, his death made a sad
void in the community. "Where are the nine?" One only at this writing remains
above the earth, Col. John Rogers, of Florence. His silken hair of snowy white
proclaims him an old man. Like most of his brothers, he is remembered as a
splendid specimen of manhood, the pride of his parents, the soul of politeness,
the life of his circle. When he shall rest in the tomb the last of his
generation will have gone. But another generation is already upon the scene,
doing credit to the name they bear. The present Sheriff of Marlboro (1890)
bearing the family name, Ben, is the first born of Maj. B. B. Rogers and Miss
Elizabeth Allison, a beautiful woman, the youngest of four sisters, The others
were Eliza, who became the second wife of Maj. Rogers; Catharine, who first
married John Irby, and after his early death, became the wife of John G. Bethea;
Caroline, who married Charles Brown, and became the mother of Mrs. T. L.
Crosland. Mrs. Allison was Miss Betsy Whittington, and first married a Mr.
Mc-Tier and had two sons, William and Robert, and a daughter, Mrs. Henry
DeBerry, who, for a long time, lived at Parnassus. Both McTier and Allison are
extinct names in Marlboro. There was a young son, Tom Allison, whose death in
his brilliant boyhood profoundly grieved the hearts of his comrades and kinsmen.

  The Sparks name is to be set down as one of the earliest in this region. Four
brothers, Daniel, Charles, Samuel and Harry, are said to have come from Virginia
to the Pee Dee. Harry, a noted Whig, was killed by a band of Tories in the
swamps of Three Creeks. Daniel, the eldest brother, settled at first not far
from and on the east side from Bennettsville,but afterwards moved to Red Hill.
He married Miss Martha Pearce, a lady of fine character, who lived to old age,
retaining both her mental and physical vigor in a marked degree. Full of good
works, she ultimately sank into the grave lamented by all. Three sons and four
daughters blessed the lot of this pair.

  Samuel, who spent his four-score years and more in Marlboro, first married
Miss Allison, and had a son, Charles, who died young. His second wife was Miss
Ann Harry. Two children were born to them, the late Capt. A. D. Sparks, and Mrs.
Keitt, whose brave husband, L. M. Keitt, poured out his life's blood upon the
red soil of Virginia in the late war.

  One sister of Mr. Sparks married John Crosland of Marlboro. Another (Lucy)
first married Alex Stubbs and afterwards Thomas Stubbs, and a daughter, Mrs. E.
W. Goodwin, was the fruit of the latter union. A third sister married William
Pouncy, as stated elsewhere in these pages. Martha, the other sister, died
unmarried.

  The Crosland family is another of those which dates back to near the middle of
the last century. Edward Crosland, an djphan boy, of Virginia, thrown upon his
own resources, devoloped [sic] an enterprising, adventurous spirit. He came to
Carolina about 1760, and united himself with a party of kindred spirits in the
central part of the province, and traveled extensively in North Carolina, went
across the mountains into Kentucky, from thence to the Ohio river, down that
stream to the Mississippi and thence to New Orleans. Returning to North Carolina
Mr. Crosland married a daughter of Samuel Snead, and settled near the boundary
line. Subsequently he came to Marlboro and settled not far from Gardner's Bluff
and reared a large family. His sons were John, Samuel, Daniel M., Israel, David,
George, Philip and Dr. William and several daughters. A number of his
descendants are now numbered among the respected citizens of the County, while
many more have yielded to the inexorable law of destiny, and have gone to people
other more western States and build up other communities towards the setting sun.

  Another name no longer found in Marlboro is entitled to mention, not only
because of the part the family bore in the early history of the country, but
because the blood has coursed in veins that have borne other names and made
honorable records on history's page. In 1758 Thomas Ayer came to Pee Dee. A
native of Ireland, he spent some time in Virginia before coming to Carolina. It
is said that he settled on the east side of Pee $ee river a little below Hunt's
Bluff, set up a trading establishment and made money. An ardent Whig, he risked
life and fortune in the cause of liberty. Lewis Malone, the father of the late
Gen. L. M. Ayer, of Anderson, and of Mrs. Judge A. P. Aldrich, was a son of the
grand old Irish patriot. So also was the venerable Hartwell Ayer, who lived at
the place where J. B. Breeden recently died. Hartwell Ayer had a son, William,
who left a family near Fayetteville, N. C, and three daughters, Mrs. Long of
sainted memory, Mrs. J. B. Breeden and Mrs. Marshall; noble women of noble
deeds, farewell!

  There were a number of other families that settled on the Pee Dee about the
middle of the eighteenth century, who contributed their full quota to the
civilization and opening up of the country, and have left their impress upon its
welfare, but in most instances the names have become extinct, although in some
cases the blood flows in their descendants of other names in Marlboro; in other
instances the names no longer known here are honorably borne in adjoining
counties or distant States. Bishop Gregg has done a good work in recording them
in his history. His name, among them, is worthy of enduring remembrance,
alongside such as Murphy, Hicks, Wilson, Lide, Robertson, Allison, Bedgegood,
Lewis, Luke and others as worthy of mention. Pioneers in a new land, they lived
in troublous times, and the hardships of subduing an unbroken forest to
cultivation, opening roads, building bridges, erecting churches and
school-houses, and preparing the way for liberty, prosperity, education and
religion to take root and thrive in the new world as it had never done in the
old—is never to be forgotten by a grateful posterity.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

A HISTORY OF MARLBORO COUNTY,
WITH
TRADITIONS AND SKETCHES OF NUMEROUS FAMILIES.

REV. J. A. W. THOMAS, AUTHOR.

A wonderful stream is the river Time
  As it runs through the realms of tears 
With a faultless rhythm and a musical rhyme,
And a broader sweep and a surge sublime
  As it blends with the ocean of years.
                        —TENNYSON.

ATLANTA, GA.:
THE FOOTE & DAVIES COMPANY,
Printers and Binders.
1897.


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