The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-05-27
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
Upper South Carolina During the Reyo'
luton.
From the Columbia State.

From the Columbia State.
The following is the prize essay
written by Miss Mary Earle Lyles,
daughter of Mr.. VIM. H. Lyles, of
this city, which captured for the fair
author the beautiful gold medal offer
ed by the Columbia chapter Of the
Daughters Of the Revolution for the
best historical sketch presented. The
award was made on Friday evening at
the opera house:
Upper South Carolina, "embraced,'
say Logan, Sin the modern districts
Of Abbeville, Anderson, Edgefeld,
Greenville, Pickens, Newberry, Lau-
rens, Union, ~Spartanburg, Fairfield,
Chester, Lancaster, York and Rich
land, the classic ground of the Ameri-
can Revolution"
That it was a country Of surprising
beauty and fertility is %abundantly
shown by the testimony of the writers
of that period. Lord CORVALLIS said
of Fairfield, a typical country: II can
conceive of no fairer region, taking in
to consideration it's fertile soil. mild
climate, its long drawn, beautiful val
legs and glorious highlands The
forests have been described as pecul-
iarly grand and imposing, and through
their open depths could be seen
stretches of the country for miles
around. Extensive plains were filled
with waving masses of cane; gushing
springs dubbed out from the sides Of
the hills, and flowers of every hue
blossomed in the green valleys and or
namented the tops Of the mountains.
Abundance Of game was found in the
woodlands, and the streams were filed
with fish of the choicest varieties.
In this new and salubrious region
our fathers of the Revolution had
built their cabins and were telling the
primeval forests and c%ultivating the
virgin soil. But, though nature was
here seen in her "kindest prodigality,
and the simple wants of the pioneers
were easily supplied from her we'll
filled store house, they found many
difficulties and dangers in the way of
their advancement. The country vas
already inhabited by a race of Indians,
who would not tamely yield to stran-
gers the possession of their rich pas
ture lands and ideal hunting grounds.
Step by step the red men retarded the
progress of the settlers and subjected
them for many long years to all the
horrors of savage warfare. Wild
beasts, disturbed in their native fast
nesses, frequently prowled around the
cabins Of the pioneers, prepared to
spring upon the unwary occupants.
So sparcely settled was the country
that there could be little concert of
action in cases of danger, but every
man relied for safety upon the fertili-
ty of his own and the
strength of his good right arm. Thus.
accustomed to danger and Injured to
exposure, these "sons of the soil
were prepared to win the hard fought
battles of the Revolution.
Remote from the sea coast and cut
off from all commercial centres by al
most impossible roads and streams,
rendered still more dangerous by bands
of hostile Indians, our settlers held
little intercourse with the outside
world. Their interests were wholly
agricultural, and their trade was prac-
tically confined to the towns of
Charleston and Augusta. Therefore
the oppressive measure of taxation,
which fell with so much force upon
the shipping of the inhabitants of the
coast, had little effect upon the peo-
pie Of the up-country, and they took
no active part in the opening scenes
of the Revolution.
But Charleston, realizing that it
would be impossible to defend her
coast with a disaffected country in her
rear, in June, ITS, despatched two
commissioners, Col. Brayton and Rev.
William Tennent, into the interior to
explain to the people the cause of the
dissatisfaction and to endeavor to en-
list their cooperation. Owing to the
violent opposition of the loyalist
leaders these gentlemen met with lit
tie immediate success.
It was difficult for a population so
heterogeneous in character as that Of
the up-country to arrive at unanimity
of opinion. They had no substantial
cause for revolt against England, to
whom many Of them were sincerely at
tached, and who had, up to this time,
exerted herself to protect the infant
colony; neither had they any inclina-
ton to cspouse the quarrel of their
brothers on the coast, who had allowed
them small representation in the as
sembly and had treated their public
men with but little respect. But:
among men trained to the exercise of
independence of thought and action
by lives of hardship in a new and IN
tried region, there were those who
clearly perceived the dangers that lay
in the principle of taxation without
representation
There were many, too, among
their number who had come across the
seas seeking a country where they
might worship God after the dictates
of their own conscience and where
they might enjoy the right of every
man to be a freeman. Men, such as
these, were not to be lulled into Sc
curity by the enjoyment of a present
prosperity. They united with the pa
triot forces already collected and were
known as the Wings. Among them
no man exerted a wider influence than
Gen. Andrew Pickens, the Revolu-
tionary hero "par excellence" of the
up.country. His courage and ability
had been already displayed in the war
with the Cherokees, and these quail
ties, added to his modesty, greatly
endeared him to his countrymen.
Those among the inhabitants who
adhered to the king were called Tories.
They were, in many instances, men of
honest convictions and sincere loyalty;
it was their misfortune that the disaf-
fected, the idle aud the vicious were
drawn into their ranks by British en-
issaries. Fierce and bloody was the
conflict waged between these two par
ties in upper South Carolina during