MAXWELL TOXAWAY PLANTATION CEMETERY, Oconee County, SC A.K.A. Long Creek & Westminster, SC Version 2.3, 3-Aug-2002, C084.TXT, C84 **************************************************************** REPRODUCING NOTICE: ------------------- These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, or presentation by any other organization, or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Paul M Kankula - nn8nn Seneca, SC, USA Oconee County SC GenWeb Coordinator Oconee County SC GenWeb Homestead http://www.rootsweb.com/~scoconee/oconee.html Oconee County SC GenWeb Tombstone Project http://www.rootsweb.com/~scoconee/cemeteries.html http://www.usgwtombstones.org/southcarolina/oconee.html **************************************************************** DATAFILE INPUT . : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Jul-2002 DATAFILE LAYOUT : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Jul-2002 G.P.S. MAPPING . : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Jul-2002 HISTORY WRITE-UP : Pat Pritchard at ppritchard@wesleyancollege.edu in 1997 Dr W.J. Megginson at Clemson University in 1997 Blake Lehane in 1997 IMAGES ......... : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Jul-2002 LOCATION WRITE-UP: Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Jul-2002 TRANSCRIPTION .. : Pat Pritchard at ppritchard@wesleyancollege.edu in 1997 CEMETERY LOCATION: ------------------ Locate intersection of Highways 76 & 123. Drive 4.9 miles W on Highway 76. Turn left on Welcome Church Road and drive 1.3 miles NW. Turn right on Wilderness Trail and drive 0.3 miles W. Camp Office is at the end of this road. There is a cemetery path to the left of the office as you face it. There is a dirt road on the left just before you come to the office. You MUST USE a 4x4 vehicle when driving down this road! Drive 0.3 miles until you come to a intersecting dirt road on the right. Cemetery is on a hill to the right of this intersection. Latitude N 34 40.948 x Longitude W 83 11.604 (This is not an exact cemetery GPS reading - it will take you to the camp office) CHURCH/CEMETERY HISTORY: ------------------------ INTRODUCTION: Although few people recently knew his name until the autumn of 1997, Tenus Maxwell during his lifetime must have been widely known to all who lived for miles around. He possessed blacksmithing and carpentry skills and an income which set him apart from his peers. For a man free less than ten years to buy $1600 worth of land was incredibly remarkable. He, along with seventy-three others who completed a labor agreement in September 1865, evidently had been slaves of Samuel E. Maxwell, the land owner. Collectively many of them had preserved African traditions of naming by days or months (Wednesday Keels, October Goodine) when births occurred, and "Tenus" had African origins as well. The Maxwells, early settlers of Pendleton District before 1800, were one of the largest slave-owning families of the area. With his skills Tenus may have been relatively privileged and was one of the few to take the Maxwell surname. In 1874, Maxwell bought 817 acres that had once belonged to his former master, S.E. Maxwell. In 1880 Tenus Maxwell had the highest valued land of all Oconee County black men. He farmed diverse crops with help from his large family. Better known as a minister, Rev. Maxwell was among the first freed men registering to vote in October 1867. He ran for election as county commissioner in 1874, gathering 437 votes but not enough to win. The 1880 census reported him able to read and write (although he signed a work agreement in 1865 and a deed of sale in 1874 with an X). "For 20 Yrs a Baptist Preacher" after freedom, Tenus Maxwell, probably without any formal training, served a wide area. There seem to have been no churches near his home until 1876 (Travelers Rest) Tenus perhaps held services in a brush arbor that according to oral tradition used to stand near the old cemetery. Reportedly he helped organize St. Mark Baptist Church, and he probably was a founding member of the Seneca River Missionary Baptist Association in 1879. Although Rev. Tenus Maxwell's household included nine nieces and nephews in 1880, most of his adult children had moved into Georgia. At his 1885 death, surely the whole community mourned him. The court-appointed administrator of the estate sold the land to three other white men for much less than Maxwell had paid ten years earlier. His widow Mary got very little from the estate and presumably had to move elsewhere. His marker is one of a handful of "store-bought" tombstones in the cemetery. Most of the other graves were marked with field stones, some lovingly and agonizingly carved with initials and dates. The cemetery may have been used before 1865, and the 1 865 M PRST" stone likely is the earliest surviving post- emancipation tombstone in upper South Carolina. Over 100 graves have been identified, and all legible surviving markers range from 1865 through the I 880s or 1 890s. The burials equal one-third of the township's black population in 1 870. Oral tradition tells of processions, accompanied by spirited singing, going up the hill to the cemetery. Prior to available funeral homes, burials almost always occurred with a day or two. The whole cemetery, secluded in the woods and reached only by a long, steep climb, has survived incredibly well; far better than most other isolated cemeteries in the area. There are probably few if any rivals in the State for an African American cemetery of the late nineteenth century, especially one not attached to a church, to still be in such good condition. The site deserves much more attention and research. There is no oral tradition of a church on the property, so this cemetery evidently served the local community not only during the short eleven years it was black-owned land, but earlier during S.E. Maxwell's life and after Tenus Maxwell died. Why it ceased to be used as a cemetery by 1900 is a mystery waiting to be solved. The Frontiersmen group of Fair Play Camp School should be commended for their endeavors. They have carefully cleaned the cemetery, identified and mapped the graves, learned much about life an death, and made connections with other people, living and long since dead. Comments by many of the Frontiersmen during the cemetery rededication celebration demonstrated these valuable lessons. They also have many new friends, including the Goodine family, Rev. George Sloan and other members of nearby New Promiseland Baptist Church. These school boys have helped to reclaim part of the community's heritage. Equally enthusiastic support and cooperation for the project have come from both white and black neighbors and professionals. While too many are busily exploiting racism for their own advantage even today, the boys have been busy building bridges. The cemetery and its surrounding property have many stories still to unfold. Paraphrasing the scriptures, "these stones shall be a witness unto us," and perhaps yet "these very stones would cry out" their messages and remembrances. (Dr. W.J. Megginson for nearly a decade has been studying African American heritage in Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens counties from 1780 through 1920. He is completing a book on the subject. In 1989-90 he served as project director for 'Black Heritage in the Upper Piedmont, 1865-1920"project, which was funded in part by the South Carolina Humanities Council. Megginson is an adjunct assistant professor in the Clemson University History Department, and may be contacted at P0 Box 1217, Clemson, SC, 29633.) Dr. W.J. Megginson WHAT IS KNOWN: We do not know if the burial ground that we have chosen to call The Old Maxwell Cemetery ever had a proper name. My students and I chose to give it that name because, after our project it just seemed the logical choice. In Oconee County, South Carolina Cemetery Survey, Vol.2 (Roach & Roach, 1984) this cemetery is referred to as Cemetery Hill. The name appears to have no historical precedent This reference lists only sketchy observations and non- researched assumptions. The cemetery first came to my attention in the summer of 1992.1 did some cursory investigation at the Oconee County courthouse deed room and the Oconee County Historical Library at the Walhalla Public Library and found that Tenos* Maxwell, who occupies a prominent place and has an impressive professionally designed tombstone, was a black man and a land owner. I didn't discover any more documents relating to the graveyard until the summer of 1997 when my students and I started our project. I did do a rough but logical estimation of the number of graves and came up with a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 160. We identified 118 graves. A positive final count awaits later investigation with the aid of a penetrometer, a device that measures ground pressure. We assume that this cemetery contains the remains of African Americans only, and that for the most part they are associated with the Maxwell Toxaway Plantation. In Margaret Seaborn's book Andre Michaux's Journeys in Oconee County)(1976) it is stated that a Robert Maxwell may have been the first owner of this property, which was part of the Moultrie Tract. The site of the ancient Cherokee village of Echay is only a stones throw from the cemetery, also on the Maxwell property. This plantation was owned by Samuel B. Maxwell during the Civil War and shortly after its conclusion. The plantation was put up for sale in 1873. Facsimile documents relating to his ownership and later sale of this property are included in this publication. It appears that Tenos Maxwell had been a slave of Samuel E. Maxwell's. He then became a share cropper on the property after the Civil War. in 1874 he purchased 817 acres of his former place of servitude from a G. Keels Maxwell. As is noted on his tombstone, Tenos Maxwell was a Baptist preacher for 20 years, that is, 1865-1885. It is not known if his congregation had a name although the nearest kno~vn black Baptist church from that time period is Travelers Rest, about three miles away. Immediately after Tenos Maxwell's death all of his personal property was sold at probate auction. The reason for this is obscure. What is clear is that he held substantial property (See Appraise and Sale Bills of Yenos Maxwell's Estate Deceased in this booklet). In the end, more is known about the cemetery's most famous inhabitant than is know about the cemetery in general. There seems to be a profusion of documents concerning Tenos Maxwell and virtually none concerning any other known persons buried there. Local lore concerning the cemetery is sparse and contradictory. It seems that few persons still alive know anything for sure about this amazing site. Mrs. Laxenia Simpson, an older woman who lives nearby tells of an old black man named Primus who befriended her father, Dillard Carter, when he was just a child. She related that her father said that Primus was a preacher and one of the "best men that ever lived." He is buried in the Old Maxwell Cemetery. She is fairly certain that Primus was Tenos Maxwell, but her father was not born until 1887, two years after Tenos Maxwell's passing. Either her father was inadvertently mistaking stories he had heard for his own memories, or Primus was someone else. Another local woman, Mrs. Annie Canupp, related a story that her grandfather, a confederate veteran had told her about the cemetery. He said that when there was a funeral procession on its way to a burial there that all the workers black and white alike who were in the nearby fields would stop their work and stand in reverence as the singing procession of mourners passed. Her grandfather told her that the singing was "really something to hear." Perhaps with the publication of this booklet individuals will come forward who can provide a clearer picture of the history of the Old Maxwell Cemetery. Tenos Maxwell's given name is alternately spelled Tenos, Tenus and possibly Tenell. By: Pat Pritchard, editor. THE DEDICATION: To prepare for the celebration the Frontiersmen group went up to the graveyard and pulled weeds, raked leaves and removed anything that people could trip on. Then they threw straw all over the tractor road where the people would be sitting. They strategically placed chairs and hay bales where people could see the front. At about 2:15pm people started to arrive in the big parking lot for the rededication service. Blake and Allen helped people get situated in Chief Mark's truck, Chief Tom's jeep or the tractor wagon. when everyone got up to the graveyard they signed a guest register. Some of the people who signed were Gresham Barrett, our state representative and Jim Megginson, a professor at Hines Community College. Dr. Megginson gave us a lot of information on people up in the graveyard. The Reverend George Sloan also came. He would be bringing the day's message. At about 2:45 or closer to 3pm we started the service. Chief Pat started by introducing a few people such as Curtis Goodine, a deacon at the nearby New Promiseland Church. He led the song 0'1 Want to See Him. After that the Frontiersmen sang a special song, Together in Heaven. When they were done singing, the Goodine family sang a song for everyone. Then it was time for the preaching. Chief Pat introduced Pastor Sloan who preached on burial places in the Bible. He said there were burial places for Abraham, Jacob, Lazarus and others. He said that Tenos Maxwell, the freed slave who donated the land for the graveyard, was an exceptional man because he wanted a burial place for his people, just like Abraharn. After that a few of the Frontiersmen led the entire crowd into the graveyard for the actual rededication. We got in a double circle around nine of the graves adorning the Toxaway Valley. Mrs. Simpson, an older neighbor lady was given a bouquet of flowers to put on Tenos Maxwell's grave. Since Mrs. Simpson is the only living person with a story to tell about the graveyard she was picked to do this. Then everyone started to sing Amazing Grace and eight people, whoever wanted to, placed bouquets on the other eight graves in the circle. Mr. Willi Lyles, another old friend then prayed a closing prayer. Chief Pat cautioned everyone to be careful as they walked around the graveyard that they don't trip and fall. He then invited everyone down to the chuckwagon for a good hot meal of stew and cornbread. I often think about all the people that have long been gone that are buried up in the graveyard. As I sit here across the Toxaway Creek I look around and I can see old trees, but none of them are as old as the memories that the Frontiersmen coaxed from the rough hewn stones up on the hill. By: Blake Lehane NOTE: ----- The above information was taken from Dr. Pat Prichard's (doctoral thesis) booklet titled "If These Stones Could Talk." A copy of it is located at the Walhalla Public Library and contains 80% more information that what is published here. TOMBSTONE TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: ------------------------------ a. = age at death b. = date-of-birth d. = date-of-death h. = husband m. = married p. = parents w. = wife Total Graves: 118 Reference the booklet "If These Stones Could Talk" for sketches of these grave markers and the graves length. Each grave has a numbered permanent stainless steel metal marker. ?, David, #41 C., J.M., d. 1-feb-1885, #92 C., T.K., d. jan-188?, #96 H.D.S.K., d. 1885, #25 K., E.D., #60 L., A., d. 1871, #56 M., H.D., d. 1888, #76 MAXWELL, Liza, a. 54y, h. samuel maxwell, #101 MAXWELL, Tenos (Rev), b. 1818, d. 1-may-1885, baptist preacher for 20y, #90 P., T.N., d. 1879, #28 S., L.I., 24-sep-????, #75 S., P.S., d. 18?5, #66 T., H.E., d. 18??, #80a THOMPSON, Dover, b. c1830, d. 30-sep-1870, a. 40y, #5 W., H.T., d. 1865, #15 W., J.M., d. 1865, #55 W., N.E., d. 1865, #16