Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1916-06-07
The strife of war is DER
And the battle of peace begun,
But Edgefeld shall weep no more,
For her liberty forever is won.

And the battle of peace begun.
But Edgefeld shall weep no more,
For her liberty forever is won.
Edgefeld, we love you, for in the
very beginning there was ensender.
ed in your loyal heart that element
of refinement and aristocracy that
years nor the root of evil can efface.
This historic county until the
year 1885 was part of Ninety Six
district. In this year vast area of
that district formed the county of
which we now boast. Edgetield
county was much larger than it is
now. The Savannah river separated
it from Georgia. 1t was bounded on
the south west by the districts of
Orangeburg, Barnwell and part
of Lexington; it was bounded on
the north by Newberry, and Abbe.
Vile served as its north western
boundary. 1t was forty-six miles
long and thirty-seven miles wide
containing l,Os9,2sO acres. Our
county was settled almost altogether
by immigrants from Virginia and
North Carolina.
1t contained several varieties of
soil; the sandy along the leaf pine
lands and a deep red soil along the
oak and hickory land. The main pro-
ductions were peas, sweet potatoes,
beans, Indian corn, tobacco, wheat,
hemp and a small amount of cotton.
In the year 1885 the present site
was selected for the county seat of
justice. This picturesque site was
selected because of its healthful To-
cation and It's beautiful springs of
sparkling water; for springs in those
days were nEdgefeld's CHEF water
supply In the begssning of tlS
.o;; 4, the he:tsess
Edge6eld town were very scattered,
numbering between forty and fifty.
There were about thirty-eight fami-
lies living here then, and the popu-
lation amounted to three hundred.
Just a mile north of Edgefeld
court house at the fork of the Block
er and Ninety Six roads was the
little town of Pottersville, which
was founded by the ingenious Alb
ner Laundrum. This little town was
supported by the manufacture of
stoneware, which was begun and
carried out by the scientific discov-
cries of Landrum. This stoneware
was made cheaper and proved bet
ter than any ware Of the kind manu-
factured by Europe or America.
Pottersville contained sixteen or
seventeen houses with as many faml-
lies; it supported regular acade-
my with three teachers. There was
also a millinery shop there. These
people manufactured stage coaches
and meat packing was a great in
dustry. At this time the people of
Edgefeld were almost wholly de-
pendent on the people of Potters,
vile, especially for old corn and
rye
Arthur Simkins, az eminent
Revolutionary soldier and citizen,
came to South Carolina from Eir,
ginia and settled at Cedar Field, u
near the county seat of Edge
field. The historic home of Arthur
Simkins with its terraced walks
and gardens, its fountains and con,
servatories, it's winding walks
among roses and lilacs, its fragrant
bowers of English honeysucl<le has
crumbled into dust. The fine or
chards have been converted into
prosaic cotton fields. A relic of the
past may be seen in cedar trees. The
storms of centuries have failed to
mar their beauty and symmetry.
Arthur Simkins donated to the
Baptists the property on which their
church now stands, and also the
lot that forms a part of beautiful
"Willow Brook" cemetery. Eldrel
Simkins was the son of Arthur. Had
| it not been for Eldred and Provi'
dence the people of early Edgeheld
would never have had the great
minister Basil Manly in their midst
These men were intimately assoclat,
ed at the university of South Caro-
lima. When Slmkins came home dur
ing vacation he invited Manly to
preach in the Edgefeld court house.
His first sermon was ia connection
with young man who was to be
executed for committing murder.
This sermon was preached at the
request Of the prisoner himself. An
other interesting character was Lo-