Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1916-06-07
FOUR DECADES OF
EARLY EDGEFIELD HISTORY
Essay Written by Miss Lale Peak in D. A. R.
Contest Won $500 in Gold.

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splendid orator, but possessed odd
characteristics. He always seemed
to be in haste. When be reached the
court house if window was nearer
than door, he would leap into the
window and Immediately after he
had delivered his message, he would
exit in the same manner. Joseph
Moore was a famous Methodist
minister here at this time Richard
Tutt built the first house in Edge
field in 1885. 1t stood where the
residence of Mr.. alter Adams
now stands. He was also one of the
first clerks of court. In the four
decades there were three besides
Tutt namely, Stanmore Butler, NJ.
Minis and Daniel Byrd. One of the
earliest of Edgefeld's records re-
corded in the clerks office is this:
Joseph Doolittle, state of South
Carolina Eigefeld district. Person
ally appeared who being duly sworn
deposeth and saith that on Satur-
day the fifteenth of this instant in
an affray with Daniel Holsonback
in the said affray he this deponent
bit off the soft end of the said Hol-
sonback's right ear. Sworn to Goth
of March 1906 before me, Charles
Hammond. Joseph Doolittle. Re-
corded March 96, 1906" At this
period horse thief was branded
by slash on the ear And this rec
ord is to vindicate this man from
disgrace.
In the war of 1912! there, were
many heroes sent from Edgefeld,
the most prominent being Gen.
William Butler, Samuel Mays and
Captain Allen Addison. In the year
IIIsl4 George Nc Dufie was a dis
ling Ting sisi ssss q .ffsasWyer here ie was
first made a legislator from Edge
field, next he was elected governor
of South Carolina, and next he was
sent to the United States Senate.
Geo. McDutfie deserves to be long
remembered as a hero of early
Edgefeld, and it is in his honor that
our literary eociety is named
Edmund Bacon, familiarly known
to US as Med Brace" was bril-
liant lawyer In Edgefeld as early as
1922. To read Georgia Scenes" is
but to love Med Brace" At the
age of fifteen he was given the hon
or of delivering the welcome ad-
dress to President Washington at
Augusta when he made his southern
tour. Edmund Bacon is buried in
willow Brook" cemetery. In wan
dering there I found his grave with
this epitaph inscribed:
"Within this grave wrapt in last long
sleep
Lies one whose doom wife and chill
dren weep
Whose many friends with anxious sighs
regret
The loss of virtue they can 'er forget
The loss of virtue! no the mortal
form
May waste beneath and feed the hun
cry worm"
The head that keenly felt another's
woe
The voice of eloquence with joyous
flow
May fade away or rest within the
gloom
Of deaths dominion this cold and mar
row tomb
But the bright mind on wings of bliss
shall rse
To dwell immortal in its native skies.
The churches established in early
Edgefeld were Methodist and Bap-
tist. The first church in Edgefeld
village was Methodist. 1t stood in
the grove near where the residence
of Mr.. J. L. Minis now stands. The
records of this church have become
extinct. and it was only through the
kindness of an elderly friend that l
obtained this knowledge. / obtained
information of the organization and
building of the first Baptist church
of Edgefield through records left
by Stanmore Butler Griffin, K. ID,
and M. H. Minis. This church
was built on the same site on which
the church stands to-day. On Sun
day morning April 90, 1923, Mat
thew Minis and Alexander Nc
| Whorter were ordained deacons and
Rev. Basil Manly, the first pastor,
preached the dedication sermon.
The first Sunday school held in the
upper part of the state was held IN
this church. 1t was organized by
Miss Eliza Johnston Dry sdale. The
first prayer meeting was held IN
this church July 1925. To furnish