Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-11-16

One object the British and Tories
had in securing the country was to de-
stroy such institutions as Hills irol
Many things prevented the completion
of this design, longer than might bt
supposed. The British were in &
strange and at the same time hostile
country. 1t was not safe for the
friends Of King George to make distant
excursions into the interior. The dis
tance from Camden was considerable
and the country was inhabited BY
Wings, bold and defiant
Some time in the summer or early
fall Of 1880, party of Tories and Brit
ish was organized for the special pur-
pose of burning Hills iron works
Who was the commander Of this party
when 1t was organized or on what
particular day or month 1t perpetrated
the deed, are facts which we are un-
able so far to ferret out. The impress
sion is on our mind that Captain Will
liam McGill said that Hills iron works
Il
the battle of Kings Mountain was
fought. At present we must be satis-
fed to know that Hills iron works
were burned and burned by the Brit
ish and Tories.
This was regarded by the whole
surrounding region as a sore calamity.
AS an evidence Of this, 1t is related
that some time during the year 1881.
the people in portion Of Rutherford
county, N. c., were assembled togeth-
er, when one John Miller, an Irishman
by birth, a Whig by every instinct OF
his nature and an elder in the Presby-
terian church, was called upon to lead
the assembly in prayer. Tradition has
They are as follows: Good Lord, our
| God that art in heaven, we have great
reason to thank thee for the favors we
have received at thy hands-the many
battles we have won. There is great
and glorious battle of Kings Noun
tain, where we killed the great General
Ferguson and took his whole arnyi
and the great battles at Ramsour's and
at Williamson's; and the ever memoir
able battle Of the Coopens (Cowpens)
where we made the proud Gen. Tar
Teton run down the road helter-skelter;
and good Lord If thee had ma suffered
the cruel Tories to burn Billy Hill's
iron works, we would ma have asked
any mair favors at thy hands. Amen"
Whether good old John Miller ever
offered up this prayer or not, we dare
not assert. All that we say Is that
tradition has preserved 1t and that the
last sentence shows the estimate
which was put upon Hills iron works.
On their way to the iron works, the
British and Tories-at least part OF
them-passed by the place where
John Barron, Jr., now lives. James
Simril at that time lived in the field
only a few hundred yards from the
present site Of John Barron's house.
This James Simril was a lover Of fine
stock and somewhat addicted to horse
racing. He had on his plantation race
paths, traces Of which are to be seen
today. The stables and barn Of Simril
were burned by the British and Tories
but 1t does not appear that any horses
were burned. Some time after the
Revolutionary war. another James
Simril or perhaps the same, had his
barn, stable and four horses burned
1ot hn q
private enemy. These two events are
often confounded.
Leaving James Simril's. the next
deed which the burning party executed
was the scalping of John Forbes. Mr..
Forbes was a true Whig and lived at
that time on Rocky Allison, near where
Spratt Wright now lives. 1t seems
that there were two Forbes brothers,
both living in the same locality. When
the British and Tories approached
their dwelling both ran in the direction
of Catawba river. BY some means one
of the brothers made good his escape.
1t is said that on arriving at Charlotte,
he was wholly unable to tell where or
how he crossed the river. Unfortu-
nately the other brother was captured
after running only a short distance
and being scalped, was left as was sup
posed dead or dying. In this condi-
ton he lay unconscious for several
days. BY accident, young girl by
the name Of Prudy Hall, in looking for
bxy hn a.
covered him. His head was awfully
mangled and alive with maggots. He
was removed and finally recovered, and
lived to be an old man. The bones
which were cut off his head are still
preserved by his descendants.
The burning party were now within
two miles of the iron works. They had
captured a man by the name Of Hen
derson, and forced him to conduct them
to the ford Of the creek below the iron
works.
Colonel Hill was in the army. His
sons were at home. The two Oldest
Robert and Andrew-had received
some intimation that the British and
| WSIS 1hCy ib0 PAS
pared a small cannon and having
mounted 1t upon a stump, stood with
match in hand waiting until the party
would come in sight The hill on which
they had their cannon mounted, over
looked the whole adjacent country to
the south-the direction in which the
boys supposed the party would come
To their utter astonishment, before
they were aware of it, party Of Brit
ish came upon them from the east
Their cannon was pointing in the
wrong direction Without inflicting
any injury upon the brave but out
generated boys. their cannon was TAX
en- from them and carried to the foot
of the hill and thrown into the creek.
Here it lay for years. The din OF
war had died away and the country
was enjoying peace and prosperity
The little cannon was forgotten. One
day Mr.. Garvin, the miller was engag-