Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-03-05


lot on west side of congress street and
north side Of John McCaw's lot (frst
conveyed to John Gee), known In the
plan of the town as lot No. IT." This
deed Is dated February 18th, 1795.
I have an old plat Of the town Of
Yorkyille which shows lot No. 16 as
being the property of Robert McCaw
and this lot is still in the possession Of
Mr.. McCaw's descendants. All Of the
lots in the village Of York Vile were
originally laid off with a frontage Of
exception Of the eight lots which lie on
Liberty and Congress streets, at their
intersection, these latter lots being
each 10 poles in length on Liberty
street and 8 poles in depth. 1t will
thus be seen that they have twice the
frontage on Congress street and one
half the length Of the other lots. These
eight lots are the lots on which are
now located the Wilson building, Latta
Bros. Cotton warehouse, the Yorkville
Banking and Mercantile Co.'s cotton
platform and building, the Witherspoon
building, the First Presbyterian
church, the court house and the side
lot of Mr.. ]. ]. Hunter. The Wither-
spoon lot was first conveyed to John
Brown for a consideration Of $1.00.
This deed is dated April Sth, 1901.
The lot on the opposite corner was
first conveyed to Alexander Love, Jr.
The Witherspoon lot Is referred to In
the old plan Of the town as the Mar
ket House lot" and the YorkvilIe B. &
M. Co.'s store lot, as the Church lot"
This latter lot was conveyed to Love
in 1893. The lot Immediately in the
rear of this was also conveyed to Love
and these two lots were, subsequently,
conveyed to James Ross, Sr., in 1891,
and 1t Is his name that find on the
plat.
find no deed for the court house lot
nor the jail lot (Wilson building), but
It Is only reasonable to infer that, when
the town was laid out, the jail and
court house lots were given to the
county or state and that it was the
intention of Hill or Hayne to donate
the Witherspoon building as Market
House lot' and the Nichols building
as a Church lot" For some reason
this plan, as to the Church lot" and
Market House lot" was never carried
into effect, but we do find later that
Hayne executes "Quit Claim" to the
lot on a part Of which Mr.. Nicely now
resides, for a Presbyterian church and
in the deed uses this expression: Be
ing under the impression that / have
previously conveyed this lot for the
purpose Of a male academy" On this
old plat the court house lot and jail lot
(Wilson lot) are each marked Court
House" and "Gaol"
I find the following names as being
some Of the first purchasers Of land In
the town of Yorkville: John Gee, Elijah
Bayley, Joseph Atkinson, John Keown,
Alexander Love, John Bates, Joseph
Kerr, Christopher Thompson, John
McCaw, John Eggleston, Robert La
than, John Feemster, Johnathan Beat
ty, James Ross, Samuel Wright, John
Carson, DR.. Josiah Moore, George NC
Knight, James Latta, William Smith,
John Mccall, Alexander Quay, Arthur
Falconer, Joseph Boggs, Egerich John
Adickes, Robert Clendenning, Samuel
Chambers, Andrew McWhorter, James
Armstrong White, Levi Welch, Aaron
Williams, Moses Meek, Francis Myack
Nash, James Tate, Thomas B. Hoover,
Tinas William McNeel, Margaret
Lyons, John E. B. Lyons, Samuel Zim-
norman.
The lot, as originally owned by Rob-
ert Clendenning, is the present Dr.
Bratton property.
York county was organized in 1885
and find, in the general statutes, from
an act entitled, "An Act for the laying
off Of several counties and so forth"
mentioning and appointing commits
sioners to erect the public buildings
and in this act it prescribes for "one
county, commonly called the new ac-
quisltion, shall be known by the name
Of York county" Seven counties were
laid out in the district of Camden,
viz: Clarendon, Richland, Fairfield,
Claremont, Lancaster, York and Ches-
ter. had always been Of the opinion
that York county was q part OF Pinck-
ney district. This act goes on to say:
BE It enacted, further, that the justices
of the said several counties shall have
power to erect or cause to be erected
and kept in good repair, within each OF
their respective counties and at the
charge Of such county, one good and
convenient court house, with necessa-
ry jury rooms, and one good and suf-
ficient county gaol Of such dimensions
as such justices shall order and ap-
point, together with pillory, whipping
post and stocks, ETC." find in Vol s,
page 260, dated December 18th, 1924,
an appropriation for Andrew Giles for
work done on the gaol and York court
house, in the sum Of $9SS.39, with inter-
est thereon from the 1st day of Decem-
ber, 1922, at which time the contract
was completed and the money became
due" I find, in 1924, an appropriation
Of $4,000 to Thomas B. Hoover for
work done on York court house and
materials found, under his contract
with the superintendent Of public
buildings, not heretofore provided for"
Also, an appropriation in 1924 Of $500,
For an iron railing for the steps Of
York court house." I find an appro-
priation, made on December 20, 1S20,
to Dennis Smith, sheriff Of Williams
burg district, for carrying q prisoner
from that gaol to the gaol In York dis
trict," in the sum Of $169.2S. l mo,
also, an appropriation OF $4,000 LOT
repairing court house and gaol IN YORK
district. From this infer that, short
ly after 1855, there must have been
erected two wooden buildings for gaol
and court house in York and that the
present court house and old jail, that
is now the Wilson building, were erect
ed and completed only a snort time
prior to 1924.
find that, in 1855, a commission was
appointed to Purchase or receive by
donation two acres Of land whereon TO
erect the said county buildings for the
use OF SUCH county and for no other
use whatever" If this commission
acted promptly, the court house lot and
Jail in Yorkville must have been OBJ
tanned from William and John Fergus
or w llllam ttlll. SO ldT do lily SAdhi-
.nalIun went, 1 am convinced tnat Jonn
mcCaW was the nrst clerk o1 the court
Tor York district. nave heard II ire
uuently stated tnat Hayne was the nrst
snerln. Tnls must be an error for 1
une a deed from adam Meek, Esquire,
snerin OF YORK county" to Jonn NC
cav, dateu fepruary 8, 1893. l also
nna another deed from Richard sad
dIer, Esquire, snerirt of YORK county,
to Jonn McCaw, ESQUIRE, dated rep
ruary 3, 1893, but l do not md Hayne
mentioned as sheriff until 1909. You
viii understand that DO not vouch Tor
the accuracy of these statements,
having only jotted them down IN the
course Of an examination Of the court
mouse property.
1 noticed, while examining the rec
ords in Mr.. Salley's office, secretary OF
the South Carolina Historical Commits
sion, that Hayne qualified as senator
from the New Acquisition York) In
1893. Mr.. Salley informs me that
Hayne was the first senator from YORK
county and first qualihed about 17S5.
From what have stated 1t will be
seen that the land whereon the
the town Of Yorkville Is now located
was first owned by John Miller, next,