Walnut Grove Plantation to Hold Colonial Gardening Day on July 24.

Roebuck, SC, July 19 — The corn fields, wheat fields, and vegetable gardens of 18th-century Backcountry farms and plantations served as crucial food sources for settlers. Walnut Grove Plantation’s Colonial Gardening Day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 24 relives the days when frontier farmers and aspiring planters had to grow their own food! Tim Foster, Walnut Grove’s gardener, and his assistant gardeners will share plants, techniques, and tastes of the colonial-era garden.

A plantation’s gardens and fields fed others besides settlers, however. During the American Revolution, both Patriot and Loyalist
militia frequently foraged for food on farms and plantations like Walnut Grove. Explore 18th-century military survival techniques with
local reenactors from the South Carolina Rangers. See camp food preparation techniques and learn about fire making and other frontier survival skills. Militia drills and weapons demonstrations will occur as well.

Blacksmith Bruce Mills will be making tools for the garden and plantation at Walnut Grove’s forge. Janet Pyatt of Pyatt’s Herbs and
More will be on site to share the history and uses of herds in colonial times. Jackson Dye will demonstrate pewter-casting. You can even learn how to preserve beans by stringing them together to dry in what were called “leather britches.” We’ll have cute little farm animals too! Tours of the plantation’s historic buildings are available all day. Picnics welcome!

Charles and Mary Moore established Walnut Grove Plantation after receiving a 550-acre grant of land in the South Carolina Backcountry. The Moores, who were Scots Irish immigrants, raised ten children in the house they built about 1765 and lived in for the next 40 years. Revolutionary War heroine Kate Moore Barry, who served as a scout for Gen. Daniel Morgan prior to the Battle of Cowpens, numbered among those ten sons and daughters. In late 1781, Loyalist William Cunningham, called “Bloody Bill” by the Patriots, killed three Patriot soldiers at the plantation and sparked a small skirmish with local militia, which is reenacted each year in early October.

Along with the house, the site preserves Rocky Spring Academy, one of the first schools in the area; a separate kitchen; a blacksmith’s forge; a smoke house; a barn sheltering a Conestoga-type wagon; a well house with its dry cooling-cellar; and the reconstructed office of Dr. Andrew Barry Moore, the county’s first college-trained physician. The original family cemetery is on-site as well as a nature trail.

Tours of the restored historic buildings and special events on the plantation grounds offer visitors a glimpse into the daily lives of
the people–both free and enslaved–who settled the South Carolina Backcountry, engaged British and Loyalist forces in the American Revolution, and played an important role in shaping the new nation.

Walnut Grove Plantation is operated by the Spartanburg County Historical Association, which explores and preserves our region’s
history by collecting and sharing the stories and artifacts of the people who shaped that history. In addition to Walnut Grove, the
Historical Association operates the Spartanburg Regional History Museum, the Seay House, and Historic Price House. SCHA activities and events are supported in part by The Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg and its donors, the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives funding from The National Endowment for the Arts, the City and County of Spartanburg, and by corporate and individual partners.

For additional information, phone 864-576-6546 or email walnutgrove@spartanburghistory.org. You can also visit our website at
www.spartanburghistory.org, see photos from our special events on Flickr at flickr.com/spartanburghistory, and even “Like” us on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/spartanburghistory.

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Contact: Zac Cunningham, Director
Walnut Grove Plantation & Historic Price House
864-576-6546 (o), 864-576-4058 (f)
walnutgrove@spartanburghistory.org

We are pleased to share with the History Hub the following article introducing Heather Morrow, new Executive Director of the Preservation Trust of Spartanburg. Their website is www.preservespartanburg.org

There is a full writeup at the Herald-Journal.

Congratulations to Heather Morrow and the Preservation Trust of Spartanburg!

Cedar Spring Baptist Church invites you to our remembrance of the 230th Anniversary of the 1st Battle of Cedar Spring. The celebration is planned for Sunday, July 11, 2010, during the 11:00 am worship service. A covered dish luncheon will follow the service. For more information, call the church at 585-5526.

The next item on the list is the voting for the Biltmore Estates Holiday wine label. It seems a Spartanburg native is in the running to have her design chosen (online voting – her design is currently in the lead!)

Tina Steenerson is the Spartanburg artist who designs the Regional History Museum’s historic stained glass ornament series featuring historic structures in Spartanburg County. We have always loved her work and it looks like the folks at Biltmore do, too. Please take a moment to click on the link below to vote for her “Sunset Snow Scene” wine label design. It’s beautiful and it would also be wonderful for a Spartanburg artist to win the contest.

Here’s the message she passed along:

Hi!

I just received notification that I am a finalist in the Biltmore Christmas Wine Label Design contest! Please go to :

http://www.biltmore.com/our_wine/labelvoting.asp

and vote for “Sunset Snow Scene”.

Thanks!

Tina Steenerson

Through the Looking Glass Stained Glass Commemoratives

Congratulations and good luck!

The third item is Peach History Day, July 17th:

The Greenville Chapter, National Railway Historical Society; The Convention and Visitors Bureau; The Spartanburg County Historical Association; and Main Street Trolley, Inc., are sponsoring “Peach History Day” on Saturday, July 17, 2010. Featured events will be a tour of the Inman and Gramling peach growing areas. A presentation will be made, en route, on the role railroads played in the development and growth of the peach-growing industry. As an added treat, peach ice cream will be served on the tour. Main Street Trolley will be providing the transportation. Fares will be $15 for adults and $8 for children under 12. Various farm implements will be on display at the Farmers Market and Hub City Railroad Museum on Magnolia Street, Spartanburg, from 8AM till noon. The Main Street Trolley Peach tours will depart from the depot at 9 am and 11:30 am.

Sounds like a fun tour!

That much said, if you see any broken or missing links or know of a resource to suggest, please make use of the Contact Us form. The only request that I make is that due to the forms eccentricity it doesn’t like links that have http://www.somesite.com because it tries to protect me from huge amounts of spam. So, if you have a link to suggest or correct please just substitute the // with xx so it would read http:xxwww.somesite.com – from my testing that makes it past the filter.

We will hold our next Southern Campaigns Roundtable in Charleston, SC at the beautiful Old Exchange Building “OXB” (http://www.oldexchange.com) in the historic district on Saturday, June 26th. Our hosts are Mike Coker and Doug MacIntyre. This is a public invited event so send this email on to your fiends and colleagues. We will have plenty of space in the upstairs ballroom. Plan on joining us to start promptly at 10:00 am and we should wrap-up by 4:00 pm – we’ll stop at noon for a “Dutch Treat” lunch. Remember our Round Table is a participatory sport; you are invited to bring your research interest, questions, and show and tell for no-more than a 10 minute presentation. Each attendee will pay the normal OXB entrance fee of $8.00.

Doug MacIntyre is working on interpretative signage for a new Revolutionary War park on Sullivan’s Island at Breach Inlet. He is anxious to show us his research and get help and suggestions from our fellows.

All interested will meet on the Isle of Palms (historic Long Island) at the Boathouse at Breach Inlet, located at 101 Palm Blvd. (http://www.boathouserestaurants.com), on the deck overlooking the Inlet from Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Charles Cornwallis’ prospective and get the feel of the site about 6:00 pm on Friday evening. Sounds like a plan to me!

For more information, please contact:

Mike Coker

michaeldcoker@comcast.net

Doug MacIntyre

dougmac@mindspring.com

Mobile 843-860-9173

Home 843-577-1098

Charles B. Baxley

cbbaxley@truvista.net

Event Logistics:

OXB Parking: There are some metered parking spaces around the OXB which you may use. Also, there is a public parking garage about two blocks away from the OXB.

Hotels: Here are some relatively inexpensive, recognizable brand hotels to consider for the SCAR Roundtable weekend. These are not on the downtown Charleston (expensive) peninsula, but all are located about 20 minutes from the Old Exchange Building. Amounts quoted are AAA rates for check in on June 26 and check out on June 27. Folks may be able to find better rates online. All currently have availability, but some have only a few rooms left.

· Comfort Suites West of the Ashley, 2080 Savannah Hwy., Charleston, off US17 at the end of I-526. New hotel in West Ashley with all suites/breakfast/perks/24 hr indoor pool, in a busy location – request a room in the quiet area overlooking the parking lot. $125. 843-769-9850.

· Hampton Inn West Ashley, 678 Citadel Haven Dr., Charleston, off US17 at the end of I-526. Breakfast/perks/outdoor pool. $141. 843-573-1200.

· Holiday Inn Express Mt. Pleasant, 350 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., off US17 just across the Cooper River bridge from downtown. New hotel with breakfast/perks/outdoor pool. $144. 843-375-2600.

· Sheraton North Charleston, 4770 Goer Dr, off I-26 exit 213b Montague Ave. Restaurant with room service/shuttle to downtown Visitors Center/indoor & outdoor pools. $189. 843-747-1900.

Those interested in staying in downtown Charleston or seeing more options may find this site helpful: http://www.sciway.net/hotels/charleston.html.

Annual Carolina Day Festivities: Roundtable attendees who can stay longer may enjoy the annual Carolina Day festivities. Carolina Day will be celebrated in Charleston on Monday afternoon, June 28 on the 234th anniversary of the Battle of Sullivan’s Island. Activities will include a service at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, dedication of memorials, a reception, a parade/walk from Washington Park to White Point Garden, and speeches at White Point Garden on the battery.

“Faith of Our Fathers”

The formal rededication of the grave of General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, “One of the Founders of the Republic” is planned for Carolina Day, Monday, June 28th. Bishop FitzSimons Allison, XII Episcopal Bishop of South Carolina will lead the service and dedication. The Order of Morning Prayer according to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer will be held at St. Michael’s Church at 1:00 pm followed by the Charles Cotesworth Pinckney memorial dedication. After the dedication, a reception will be held in the Parish Hall just before the parade line up in Washington Park at 3:00 pm. Bishop Allison will also be the featured speaker at the Carolina Day ceremony in White Point Garden. A reception after the celebrations will reconvene at the Parish Hall. All SCAR Roundtable members along with all SAR members and families are most cordially invited to attend.

A few years ago, at St. Michael’s Church it was determined that the tombstones in the Pinckney-Rutledge plot were in disarray and the grave of General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney needed attention and restoration. Our consultant, Dr. Robert Russell of the College of Charleston’s Preservation Program recommended that we reposition several stones that had been haphazardly attached to the wall when the sacristy was added. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney’s grave is a frequent stop for visitors and tour guides to the Churchyard because of his prominence as a founding father. His memorial inside the church on the south isle is a testimony to his patriotic and civic leadership. The committee decided to place the same memorial at his grave site on a new stone, matching those of his relations. In addition, a new sign citing his accomplishments will be placed above on the panel box. The cost was underwritten by many of the patriotic societies and his descendants. The William Moultrie Chapter Sons of the American Revolution made a significant contribution to this effort. His descendants are numerous and actively serve God and his Church at St. Michaels in a variety of lay ministries, foreign missions and leadership positions.

But how is Charles Cotesworth Pinckney relevant today as a Christian role model from those centuries ago? Pinckney’s 1825 memorial says, “He combined the virtues of the patriot and the piety of the Christian”. On closer investigation we find that Pinckney believed in tolerance of all Christian faiths and actively campaigned to outlaw dueling.

He was the First President of the Charleston Bible Society founded in 1810. Modeled on the British and Foreign Bible Society, the organizing goal of the society was and is today to have a wide distribution, circulation and study of Holy Scripture. The founding clergy represented perhaps the first major ecumenical effort in Charleston. They included, the Reverends Isaac S. Keith, Pastor of the Circular Congregational Church, William Percy, who established St. Paul’s, the third Episcopal church in Charleston, Richard Furman, the fiery Baptist minister who later founded Furman University, and Simon Felix Gallagher, long-time pastor of St. Mary’s Church. (Gallagher was considered a brilliant wit and a friendly drinking companion who actions helped cause a schism in the local Catholic Church that existed until the arrival of John England who became the first Catholic Bishop of Charleston.) Over the past two hundred years, the society has had a fascinating history including massive distribution of Bibles to soldiers of the Confederate Army, the Spanish American War, merchant seamen, orphanages, churches, jails, immigrants, homeless shelters, foreign mission teams, the blind and military personnel. As the Charleston Bible Society celebrates its 200th Anniversary this year, Pinckney’s Christian legacy lives on, making a difference in the lives of many. Still collecting and distributing Bibles, the Society’s watch words are “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path” Psalms 119:105. For more information on the Charleston Bible Society, please visit www.charlestonbiblesociety.org. May he Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory.

Vic Brandt, Past President SCSSAR and Churchyard Committee Chairman.

June 25, 2010

12:30-1:30 pm

Spartanburg Regional History Museum presents Dr. Lawrence Allen Heavrin: An Autobiography – A model for setting down the records of one’s life

In this presentation, Lawrence Heavrin, physician and author, presents an impressive model of how to record the experiences of one’s life. Larry Heavrin’s massive two-volume work documents the varied experience of an American physician. His military service in the U.S. Navy took him from the Great Lakes to Charleston, South Carolina, where he also attended medical school. In pursuit of his career as a family doctor, he traveled far and wide, from North Carolina to Alaska, finally settling in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Come hear secrets pertaining to valuable family history and how to go about setting down your own family records. In volume one are vivid accounts of his life and work in the several small towns and cities where he practiced. Of special interest are the accounts of his Charleston and Alaska sojourns, as well as the stories and vignettes of various patients, colleagues and friends he met in the course of his long career. Both volumes are enlivened by the inclusion of numerous photographs. They also contain valuable finding aids which make them useful and accessible to a wide reading public.

$5.00 apiece

Lunches Welcome

Limited seating – Call 596-3501 or email njefferies@spartanburghistory.org to reserve your space.

Chapman Cultural Center

Moseley Building 1st Floor Meeting Room

200 East St. John Street

Spartanburg, S.C. 29306

First up is a Walnut Grove Plantation event that looks at law and order on the frontier:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Zac Cunningham, Director

Walnut Grove Plantation & Historic Price House

864-576-6546 (o), 864-576-4058 (f)

walnutgrove@spartanburghistory.org

Special Event at Walnut Grove Plantation to Explore Frontier Law & Order

Roebuck, SC, June 1, 2010 — In the 1760s, gangs of outlaws marauded over the South Carolina Backcountry rustling cattle, stealing horses, raiding plantations, robbing travelers, torturing citizens, and breaking into homes. With no local law enforcement and a colonial government in Charles Town initially unable to protect faraway frontier residents, Backcountry citizens took matters into their own hands. Known as Regulators, these residents formed militias of well-armed Rangers to confront lawlessness and disorder. Many in the colony felt this Regulator Movement to be a great success while others despised it as vigilantism of the worst sort. Its consequences would later help fuel the region’s brutal partisan warfare during the American Revolution.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, 2010, come to Walnut Grove Plantation to learn more about this first attempt at creating law and order on the South Carolina frontier. Reenactors from the South Carolina Rangers will portray Regulators and will demonstrate the weapons and tactics used to tame the region. Tours of the plantation house, kitchen and academy available throughout the day. Visitors can also see the Moore family cemetery, walk the site’s nature trail, and see the plantation’s outbuildings. Picnics welcome!

Admission: adults $6.00; ages 6-17 $3.00; ages 5 & under free. This event is rain or shine. For more information, call 864-576-6546 or email walnutgrove@spartanburghistory.org

Charles and Mary Moore began Walnut Grove Plantation after receiving a land grant for the property from King George III. The Moores, who were Scots Irish immigrants, raised ten children in the house they built about 1765. Revolutionary War heroine “Kate” Barry numbered among those ten. Descendants owned the plantation house and surrounding acreage until 1961 when they donated the property to the Spartanburg County Historical Association, which operates the site today. Tours of the restored historic buildings and special events on the plantation grounds offer visitors a glimpse into the lives of the people—both free and enslaved—who settled the Backcountry, engaged British and Loyalist forces in the American Revolution, and played an important role in shaping the new nation.

Walnut Grove Plantation is funded in part by The Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg and its donors, by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives funding from The National Endowment for the Arts, by the City and County of Spartanburg, and by corporate and individual partners.

Founded in 1957, the Spartanburg County Historical Association explores and preserves our region’s history by collecting and sharing the stories and artifacts of the people who shaped that history. In addition to Walnut Grove Plantation, the Historical Association operates the Seay House, the Historic Price House, and the Spartanburg Regional History Museum.

For additional information, phone 864-576-6546 or email walnutgrove@spartanburghistory.org. You can also visit our website at www.spartanburghistory.org and even become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/spartanburghistory.

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The other big event on the 19th is at the Seay House. It’s Spartanburgs’ oldest home and will be open to the public from 11am to 5PM ont he 19th:

PRESS RELEASE
Saturday at The Seay House
June 19, 2010
11:00-5:00

Join us this Saturday at The Seay House, Spartanburg’s oldest home. Located at 106 Darby Road just off Crescent Avenue, this home showcases the dwelling of a local farmstead managed and maintained by three maiden Seay sisters in the late 1800s. Come relax for an hour or two on this historic property! Visit www.spartanburghistory.org, email seayhouse@spartanburghistory.org, or call 864-596-3501 for more information.

The Seay House is open by appointment year-round and on the 3rd Saturday of the summer months except July. Sponsors allow us to open at no charge to the public, though visitor donations help us maintain the property. Special thanks to Mrs. Sandra Parker for sponsoring June’s Saturday at the Seay House. The Seay House is one of 3 historic homes maintained by the Spartanburg County Historical Association.

General Information:
The Seay House is the oldest house in the city limits of Spartanburg. Although a definite construction date for the log portion has not been established, evidence indicates that it was built prior to 1850. Two of the frame additions made to the home in the late 19th century still remain. The oldest portion of the house is a typical Scots-Irish, one room, one-and-a-half story, log house. The logs are hand-hewn, and the foundation is fieldstone. The pipestem chimney, also made of fieldstone, is a style commonly found in Virginia but unusual for upstate South Carolina.

The Seay House is a modest home and reflects the kind of life that the majority of the settlers in Spartanburg County and the Carolina Backcountry lived. Interpretation at the Seay House focuses on the lives of women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a farmstead, and the three daughters of Kinsman Seay – Ruthy, Patsy, and Sarah – who lived in this house up to the times of their deaths lived a simple farm life. While today this home is largely surrounded by a modern neighborhood, when you step onto the grounds you can begin to imagine what it must have been like to live without electricity or running water, to grow and raise your own food, and to make your own clothing.

New 317 page book on the Brice Family of Fairfield County, SC who came over
from Ireland ca 1785 and related families: Boyce, Brice, Caldwell, Clowney,
Douglass, Gaston, Simonton, Strong, etc. Genealogy goes back to Robert the
Bruce 1065 in Scotland. Many pictures in color with history of Brice’s
Crossroads Civil War Battle.

Available in printed form, soft cover with spiral binding: $35.00
postpaid.
CD $20.00 in PDF format (Adobe Reader) postpaid.

Betty J. Carson
368 Sease Hill Road
Lexington, SC 29073
bcarson1@sc.rr.com