The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-06-15
HISTORIC PLACES IN CLARENDON COUNTY
An Essay by Miss Matte Applet, Written for
tbe Moses Levi Memorial Institute.

It is indeed difficult to locate
accurately the historic places il
this county, SO meagre the infor
nation obtainable.
Clarendon, not unlike many
other counties in the South, suf
fered loss of property and rec
ords by the invasion of the foe
during the war between the
States, in the sixties, and what
records had been preserved prio1
to them, We're either consumed
by the torch, in the hands of the
of the enemy, or stolen by then
and carried away. Hence we
are solely dependent upon oul
seniors for information.
This county was named for the
Earl of Clarendon, an English
essayist and diplomat, vino held
high place in the mother country
and finally fell a victim to politi,
cal dissension.
Before the legislature made
Clarendon an independent coun'
ty. it was one of three counties,
Claremont, Salem and Clarendon
the subdivisions, comprising
Sumter district, and the separa
ton, it is said, did not have
altogether for it's motive the
peoples convenience, su h
as having the court house
more centrally located, shorten.
ing of distances and general
progress, etc., but we are told
it was largely attributable to a
tragedy which was enacted in
the Sand Hills, or Fulton sec
tons in the early ffties.
There lived at Fulton a young
bachelor by the name of Richard
Manning Dyson, a lawyer by
profession, handsome, highly
connected and a social fayorlte,
another, by the name of Kit
Gavle. who was of moderate
means, and possessed of a large
dependent family. Gayle had
business transactions with the
father of Dyson, who by the way,
was the founder of cotton mill
operated by water power about
two miles south of Fulton, and
which is now obsolete. Gayle
demanded of the elder Dyson
money which he claimed was
due him, and the younger Dyson
proud and high-strung, regarded
the manner of Gayle's conduct
towards his father insulting,
went to the humble home OF
Gayle and shot him down in the
presence of his family.
DYSON was related to the most
wealthy and influential families
of Sumter district, who naturally
to save their kinsmen from an
ignominous punishment, and
thereby cast a shadow upon their
family pride, employed the whole
Sumter Bar for Dyson's defence:
Sumter at that time had one OF
the strongest if not the strongest
Bar in South Carolina. Politi-
cal and social influence combined
in those days was not different
from the present. and Dyson was
acquitted.
The lawyers who defended
him, on account Of the refusal OF
Dyson's friends to pay the fees
demanded, brought suit in the
courts for payment, and this &C,
ton on their part so angered
Dyson's friends that they deter
mined to sever their political re.
lations with Sumter, and in 1880
they succeeded in obtaining from
the General Assembly, an act
making Clarendon an indepen,
dent county. Dyson, it is said
became an aimless wanderer
over the country, burdened down
with a sorrow brought upon
him by taking from his fellow
man that which he could not re-
turn. and while tramping his way
honoeward sickered and died
near the brick church in Salem.
It is not our intention to refer
to these unpleasant traditions
for the purpose Of narrowing the
feelings Of any who are related
to the parties referred to; but our
reference is only for the purpose
of pointing out what are said to
be the incidents connected with
Clarendon's birth.
Near the spot where the Dyson
Gayle tragedy was enacted, an
other blood curdling circum-
stance is embedded in silent ira
dition. Pinckney Stark, a highly
educated man, a surveyor by
profession, and a hign reputation
as an orator, became so reduced
by excessive drinking, while
crazed with liquor, murdered his
wife and children, and then at
tempted suicide. While in the
act of striking with an AK the
different members of his family,
his youngest child, a beautiful
girl about two years old, think
ing her papa was playing, ran
up to him with her tiny hands
outstretched towards him, ex-
claimed in lisping accents me
too papa," and she too was felled
before the sound Of her baby
words had died away. Stark
was tried in Sumter, convicted
a.. l,