The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1910-03-16

midway between Belfast and Milton
settlements, may be found the ruins
of small and unpretentious monu-
meht, erected to the memory of four
teen patriots, who were massacred at
Hays Station in October, 1881. near
the close of the Revolutionary war
This monument which was erected in
May, 1855, is now in dilapitated con-
dition, the result of vandalism during
Radical days. At least, it is the COM
mon opinion that band of negroes
under the impression that the monu-
ment was erected to the memory of
soldiers of the Confederacy, sought
vengeance in this manner of destruc-
ton 1t is said by some that the mon
ument was struck by lightning, but
this seems impossible since the iron
fence, enclosing the spot, remains in
tact and apparently uninjured even by
the passage of time
Hays Station was so-called because
1t was somewhat the nature of a fort.
place Of rendezvous for the Wings
of that section, and at the same time
the residence of Col. Joseph Hays, who
had retired from active service i'm
the war, after the battle of Kings
Mountain. 1t was at. his home and in
this quasi-fort that Col Hays, togeth,
er with thirteen fellow Wings were so
brutally murdered by Bloody Bill"
Cunningham on one of his notorious
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and murder. The burning OF this fort
and the murder of these patriots, who
surrendered only after faithful assur-
ance that they were to be treated as
prisoners of war, became known as the
Massacre tHays' Station" 1t was
but one of the many such, occasioned
by the conflict between neighbors;
Tory against Whig, Loyalist against
Patriot. The Piedmont section of the
state suffered much from this course,
particularly toward the close of the
war, after many of the American troops
had returned from Charleston.
Bloody Bill Cunningham.
In connection with the massacre of
Hays Station it might be we'll to state
that Bloody Bill" Cunningham, as he
was known, because of his many hor-
rible deeds of vengeance and the blood
shed he caused, was not a common bri-
gand or rufIian. He was a good eXtrac-
ton, member of an excellent family
of proud people, whose holdings were
along the Saluda River in the old
Ninety Six district, of which Laurens
county was part. AT the beginning
of the war, William Cunningham, then
an enthusiastic patriot, and a promis-
ing young man, enlisted in Capt. John
Caldwell's company. This was in Ju-
ly 1775. During the following spring
Caldwell's company was ordered to
Charleston, and while there, for some
cause, left his command and became
violent Tory. The story is that Cum
ingham had enlisted in Caldwell's COM
pany on the promise that he would not
be forced to go tothe low county, that
when he was ordered there in 1916, he
claimed release under the promise
made him; that, instead, he was put in
chains, tried by a court martial He
was acquitted, however, and left the
company, returning later to his home
county
Another account of Cuningham's de-
sertion is from Random Recollections
of the Revolution" which has it that
on account of some small offence Cum
ingham was not promoted to the lieu
tenantcy, that for this offence he was
sentenced to be whipped and actually
did suffer this indignity, which caused
him to desert his companions in arms
and join the Tories.
be stated definitely. Anyhow. there are
a great many good people who have
declared that William Cunningham had
been outrageously maltreated and that
his works of pilage and murder were
but retributive vengeance OH those who
had wronged him, particularly Capt.
John Caldwell, his former command
der, who was slain by some of his
band, just short while before the
massacre at Hays Station. In fact.
it is said that on the day when Cald-
well was murdered and his house burn
ed, his younger brother, William Cald-
we'll, warned Col, Joseph Hays, that it
was Bloody Bill" Cuninghams work,
and that he had better flee or be on