Marlboro County ScArchives History - Books .....Chapter XXVI Bennettsville 1897
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Book Title: A History Of Marlboro County

CHAPTER XXVI.
BENNETTSVILLE.

  On December 14, 1819, an act was passed by the Legislature of South Carolina,
Robeson Carlos and James Gillespie 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 the great road leading from Society Hill to Fayetteville 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 lodgment 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. Munnerlyn, 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. Weatherly 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 and
ofttimes 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 [sic] 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
McCollum, 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 to 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 Emanuels 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.


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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