A STORIED PAST…
Visitors to Laurens County will find quintessential Southern flavor sewn into the very fabric of our story. Walk the tree-canopied streets of our small towns and step back in history to an era of sweet tea and front porch conversations, cotton fields and dinner on the grounds, from the struggle for independence to states’ rights to equal rights. History was written here; and we invite you to come explore its many chapters.
Our natural beauty and abundance of wildlife first attracted the Cherokee Indians to Laurens County thousands of years ago. These same attractions greeted the first European settlers in the 1750s and continue to draw visitors today to experience our rivers and lakes, hiking trails, and exceptional deer and turkey hunting.
From those first rough hewn cabins of the early settlers came fine manor homes as fortunes were made off the fertile soils of the rolling Piedmont hills. Today, these homes, dating back to 1785, dot our landscape and tell the story of a by-gone time. With the coming of the railroads and cotton mills in the 1800s, our small towns experienced tremendous growth and prosperity. Many fine homes were built during these years offering a range of architectural styles that rival many much larger cities. Five distinct mill villages are located within the county with homes dating back more than a century.
As the winds of war swept across South Carolina in the 1770s, the men and women of Laurens County answered the call for independence. Names like Jonathan Downs, Mary Musgrove, James Williams, William Blakely, and Dicey Langston are etched into the pages of our history. Although loyalty to the British crown remained strong among many of the first generation Americans of the backcountry, by war’s end most were solidly behind the patriot cause. Nine Revolutionary War battles and skirmishes were fought within the county including Fort Lindley on July 15, 1776, Hayes Station Massacre, Hammond’s Store, and Musgrove’s Mill on August 17, 1780. Musgrove Mill State Historic Site in Clinton, part of South Carolina’s state park system, opened in 2003 at the site of this pivotal battle. Part of “The Cradle of Democracy” project, the park chronicles the more than 180 Revolutionary battles fought in South Carolina.
In 1785, the South Carolina General Assembly decided to break up the large Ninety Six District into smaller counties, thus a large part of the land between the Enoree and Saluda Rivers became Laurens County. Area residents wanted to name their new county in honor of Major Jonathan Downs, a local hero of the Revolutionary War, but Downs insisted the new county be named in honor of his good friend, Henry Laurens. Laurens (1724-1792) was a successful Charleston merchant who served with Downs in the first Provincial Congress in Charleston in 1775. Henry Laurens was elected a member of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Hancock as president. He was sent as minister to Holland in 1779 and later captured by the British and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Exchanged for Lord Cornwallis, Henry Laurens negotiated the treaty of peace in Paris with John Jay, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams that officially ended the Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain.
By 1790, a court house site had been selected in what would become the city of Laurens. Over the next several decades the court house square became a center of commerce and by 1820 had acquired a reputation as a center for tailor-made clothes. In 1824, a young runaway apprentice by the name of Andrew Johnson arrived in Laurens with his brother. They worked as tailors in Laurens for the next two years. After returning to his native North Carolina, Johnson moved with his family to Greeneville, Tennessee. It was here that the successful tailor launched his political career. Serving as a member of the United States Congress for ten years, Johnson was elected Governor of Tennessee in 1853. In 1857, he was elected to the United States Senate. Having remained loyal to the union at the outbreak of war in 1861, he was appointed Military Governor of Tennessee by President Abraham Lincoln. In 1864, Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson as his vice-presidential running mate. Upon the assassination of Lincoln on April 15, 1865, Johnson became the 17th President of the United States.
As the county continued to grow, so did the need for higher education for her citizens. The Laurensville Female Academy was founded in Laurens in 1843 and became the Laurensville Female College in 1858. The college continued to operate until 1892. In 1880, Presbyterian College was founded in Clinton by the Rev. William Plumer Jacobs.
Laurens County can rightfully boast that the national historic preservation movement was born within her borders. Prompted by a letter from her mother describing the deplorable conditions of Mount Vernon, home of George Washington, Ann Pamela Cunningham began a letter writing campaign in 1853 that eventually lead to the preservation of the historic shrine. Miss Cunningham (1816-1875) lived at her family’s plantation, Rosemont, on the banks of the Saluda River between Cross Hill and Waterloo. She organized the first meeting of the Mount Vernon Liberty Spring Association at Liberty Spring Presbyterian Church in Cross Hill on February 22, 1854 where the first money was raised for the purchase and preservation of Washington’s home and burial place. The movement grew and eventually became the first national preservation effort. The Virginia Legislature enacted a bill on March 19, 1856 to charter “The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union”, which gave the campaign legal status. By 1858, the association was successful in purchasing the estate from Washington family members and preserving it for visitors to enjoy for generations to come.
When the thunder claps of war rumbled across Laurens County once again, the grandsons of Revolutionary War patriots took up arms to defend their homeland in the War Between the States. The blood of Laurens County Confederate soldiers stains the battlefields of Bull Run, Seven Pines, Richmond, Gaines’ Mill, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and many more. In April 1865, Laurens County found herself at the crossroads of history. Just days after former Laurens resident Andrew Johnson because President of the United States, the county played host to Confederate president Jefferson Davis as he made his escape from Richmond after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
President Davis and his entourage entered Laurens County on April 30, 1865, stopping to water their horses at the Riser Brick House near Whitmire. Traveling through Martin’s Depot (present-day Joanna), they made their way to the home of Lafayette “Fate” Young in the Milton Community. There, President Davis spent the night while members of his military escort made camp in the Young’s peach orchard. At nine o’clock the next morning, Davis made a brief speech to local residents gathered at the home of Captain Griffin Williams in Mountville. The retreating Confederates crossed the Saluda River at Puckett’s Ferry at noon on May 1st on their way to Cokesbury in present-day Greenwood County. Davis was captured by Federal troops ten days later in Irwin County, Georgia. Each site associated with Davis’s escape through Laurens County is still standing today and visitors can easily retrace his steps by automobile.
Laurens County’s political past is not limited to national figures as many of her native sons have served with distinction in federal and state positions. From the day John Hunter entered the United States Senate in 1796 to modern times, more than a dozen men have served in Congress including Senator John Laurens Manning Irby (1891-1897) and Senator Nathaniel Barksdale Dial (1918-1925). Starling Tucker served seven terms in Congress before his death in 1834. Colonel Beaufort T. Watts served as minister to Russia under President Franklin Pierce. Hilary Abner Herbert was born in Laurens County and later moved to Alabama. He was Secretary of the Navy in President Grover Cleveland’s cabinet. Confederate General Samuel McGowan served as an associate justice on the South Carolina Supreme Court beginning in 1879. Three Laurens residents have served in the executive branch of state government. James H. Irby was Lieutenant Governor from 1852 to 1854. He lost the Governor’s race of 1858 to W.H. Gist by only one vote in the days when the governor was chosen by the state Senate. William Dunlap Simpson was elected Lieutenant Governor under Governor Wade Hampton in 1876 and became governor in 1879 when Hampton resigned to take a seat in the United States Senate. In 1880, Simpson was appointed Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Robert A. Cooper served as governor from 1919-1922 and was appointed a federal judge in Puerto Rico in 1934 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The historic homes of Irby (Todd Avenue), Simpson (West Main Street) and Cooper (South Harper Street) still stand in the city of Laurens.
The construction of railroads through Laurens County in the latter half of the nineteenth century brought the prospect of tourism to the area for the first time. The opening of Harris Lithia Springs Hotel in 1896 heralded an entirely new industry for the county. The spring water contained “Lithia”, a mineral prescribed by doctors of the day as a natural treatment for kidney ailments. The 200 room hotel, located between Cross Hill and Waterloo, attracted visitors from up and down the eastern seaboard. The resort flourished until 1932 when the hotel was destroyed by fire. Today, the site is home to the Harris Springs Sportsman’s Preserve, the 2008 Orvis Wing-Shooting Lodge of the Year, and now welcomes visitors from around the world. The Clinton House Plantation, located just off Interstates 26 and 385, is also an outstanding sportsman’s preserve that caters to outdoor enthusiasts from across the country.
Laurens County has produced some outstanding musical artist and actors. “Blind” Gary Davis and “Pink” Anderson, both born in Laurens County, were influential blues guitarists of the 20th century. “Pink” Anderson has the distinction of being the namesake of the band Pink Floyd. James “JT” Taylor is a Laurens native who was lead singer for the band Kool and the Gang for more than a decade and now enjoys a successful solo career. The first decade of the 21st century saw the emergence of the pop-punk band, Eleventyseven, which is enjoying enormous success in Japan. The band is made up of Laurens natives Matt Langston, Jonathan Stephens and Caleb Satterfield. Carl Payne, II, a successful actor on such hit shows as The Cosby Show and Martin was born in Clinton. The arts continue to be celebrated locally through the Presbyterian College Performing Arts Series, the Laurens County Community Theater, the Artist’s Cooperative, the Laurens County Chorale, and a number of other organizations.
History has certainly painted a wonderful canvas in Laurens County. Contact us today to begin your journey through time.