The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-08-12
Concluded on Third Page.
CONCISE SKETCH OF LAURENS COUNTY
WRITTEN BY MR.. W. W. KENNEDY.
The Organization of the County i'm the Eigh-
tenth Century and it's Progress
Into the Twentieth.

In peace their combined wisdom ana energy nave
advanced education and industry, and strengthened our
system of self-government, while i'll war ',eir matchless
courage has combined i'll achievements tho. have dazzled
the world, and their priceless blood has mingled to stain
every battle field OH which American arms have contended.
The people we have to-day are the descendants of those
Wings and of those Tories and of their kin who have
come across the ocean since the war, and a better people
than they do not live under the sun-true Anglo-Saxons all
of them.
The principal settlements within the limits of Laurens
County, during the era of the Revolution, were OIL Little
River, southeast, OIL Reedy River, near Tunbling Shoals,
and on Duncans Greek, northeast of the present town of
Laureirs. The most prominent names o%btainable to-day of
those who lived i'll these settlements are Thomas, Downs,
Ridgeway, Cowan, Hamilton, Arnold, Martin, Pyles, At
kins, I,indley, James, Langston, Williams and Duncan.
AT the close of the Revolution this territory was al
most entirely covered with dense forests, i'll which game
abounded, and even beasts of prey, such as the bear, the
pantna and the wolf were found.
The first courthouse was built of logs, OH the right of
the Tunbling Shoals road, just three II les west of the
present town of Laurens, and the Jail is supposed to have
been of the same style of architecture, and situated near
the hall of justice. The law was administered by three
gentlemen justices, a combination intended to supply the
dignity and ability of a Circuit Judge. This location of
the public buildings was only temporary, and soon a COM
mission was appointed to select a permanent county seat.
According to tradition the members of this commission set
out one bright August morning in quest of the desired To-
cation, and after much riding and a critical examination of
every spring and every brook found i'll their jour1ieyings,
they found themselves at noon by a bold, cool spring i'll the
immediate vicinity of a %still-house and a lot of bee gums.
Still-house, bee gums, a nice spring! What a suggestive
combination to come before these tired and hungry and
thirsty wanderers. Soon every dry throat was refreshed
with a draught that cheered IT, soul and made the world
new. With renewed hopes and strong appetites they re-
paired to the dense shade of the chinquepins and chestnuts
that stood where Lou Robertson's stable now stands, and
after dining from the contents of their ample wallets lay
down to sleep. On waking some time late in the afternoon
they seemed to be moved by one impulse, and as soon as
some one could propose it, it was determined, without a
dissenting voice, that no better place than this spot, with
good water, brandy and honey within easy reach Of each
other, could be found for the County seat, and so the town
was located here, just four miles north of the geographic
center of the County which is at Joe Jerry's.
The first courthouse i'll the town was erected on stills,
like an oldfashioned gin house, northeast of the present
one, almost in front of the banking office of Owings &
Bobo. The present courthouse is the third one built OH
the square, and is the second one OH the same spot, having
replaced its immediate predecessor between 1856 and 1860.
From 1885 to 1860, a period of seventy-ive years, the
County increased steadily i'll population and prosperity
The growth of population consisted of natural increase and
Immigration combined. Some of the immigrants came
from Virginia, but the larger proportion from Scotland and
the north of Ireland, as the great number of Scotch names
to be found in every section of the County will indicate.
Transportation facilities, both public and private,
were, UP to fifty years ago, quite meager. Private travel
ling facilities consisted almost entirely of saddle horses and
gigs (two-wheeled vehicles with tops and with seating for
twol carriages and buggTes being very rare. Good home
raised horses abounded, and young men trained them to
"tote DOUBLE" so that they could take the girls behind
them to church, party or picnic.
In the early part of the century just passed tobacco
was the main money crop of the up country, just as it is
now becoming of the eastern low country. 1t was packed
III large hogsheads, shafts attached, as to a roller, and then
the package was drawn by one horse to Augusta, Ham
burg or Charleston. 1t was not till the twenties that wag-
ons became common.
Before the building Of railroads in the UP country pas
sengers aud mails were transported i'll stage coaches,
coaches and horses being owned by companies. There
were relay stations, ususually about ten miles apart, where
fresh horses were harnessed awaiting the arrival of the
stage so that the change could be made with the minimum
of delay.
In those days neither envelopes nor postage stamps
were used for letters. The 1etter rs were folded, so that the
writing would all be OH the inside, and then secured with
a wafer. The ordinary letter, postage was twenty-five
cents, payable either at the starting point or at destination.
The few MERCHANTS went fo Charleston in their oios RI