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The map drawn below shows eleven colonial plats surveyed at the head of Four Hole Swamp over a period of thirty-two years. I have inserted the modern names of two roads to help viewers orient themselves to this location. What is now called the Belleville Road was actually shown as a “broad path” on several of these early surveys (plats 6, 7, 8, and 9). There is actually also a hint of what is now US Highway 176 shown as a path on plat 10.

Bruck, Faure, Haigler, Lockwood, Miller, Myers, Smith, Tenison, Till

From the time these lands were granted until the first federal census in 1790 much of this property changed hands through various methods such as sales, marriages and inheritance. Most of the records that would detail these events were lost in the destruction of the courthouse records of Orangeburgh District. A few records have survived, though, because they were filed in Charleston or are still held in private collections. Some of those records can give us an idea of who lived in this vicinity at the time of that first enumeration.

On May 3, 1764, Joshua Lockwood, watchmaker of Charleston, sold the two tracts (plats 2 and 3) that his father, Joshua Lockwood had acquired in 1736. In one of the deeds, Joshua the watchmaker refers to his father as a trader of Orangeburgh Township. Given the location of one of the elder Lockwood’s plats (number 2) on the broad path (that led from Orangeburgh Township to Amelia Township), this would make sense. Joshua sold this plat to Melchior Smith, who already owned plat number 7 at the time and would later acquire plat number 11. [3]

On the same day Joshua sold his father’s other tract (plat number 3) to Martin Zimmerman. [4] Martin died before July 14, 1770 when his eldest son John sold 100 acres of this tract to Nicholas Shuler. (This 100 acres is shown as plat 3A on the next map.) [5]

Melchior Smith had 300 acres surveyed in April 1767 (plat 11) but waited until June 5, 1770 to get his grant for it. Shortly thereafter, Melchior sold 200 acres of this tract to Barnard Smith. Barnard’s wife, Sovia Buckert, sold this same 200 acres on September 27, 1770 to Adam Buckert. [6] On October 9, 1770 Melchior sold the other 100 acres of this tract to Paul Shirer. [7]

In 1784 Jacob Moorer purchased the Bruck tract (plat number 6) from Jacob Bruck’s son, William. [8] On December 24, 1785 Daniel Kemmerlin had a survey done for 150 acres in this same area (but not shown on this map). [9]

By the time the census enumerator came through this area some of the property boundaries had changed from the initial surveys because of changes in ownership. There are also no  known documentary clues that indicate where the various home sites were located. With what records are available though, we can at least approximate where two of the households may have been located in 1790.

Bookhart, Keller, Kemmerlin, Moorer, Rush, Switzer, Whetstone, Zimmerman

Daniel Kemmerlin had several plats surveyed in this area before 1790 but I have not mapped all of them yet. If any of my readers are aware of any connections between the Sovia Buckert (who married Melchior Smith), the Adam Buckert to whom she sold the land and the John Burchard of this census, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Sources:

[3] Clara A. Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1719-1772, 4 volumes (Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1983-1984), 3: 365.

[4] Martin Zimmerman memorial, 1768, Memorial Books (Copy Series), 1731-1778, volume 9, page 464, item 1; Auditor General’s Office Series S111001; South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia.

[5] John Zimmerman to Nicholas Shuler, Release, 14 July 1770; original, family copy, Jackson Family Papers; photographed by Margaret Waters, May 2011.

[6] Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1719-1772, 4: 170.

[7] Brent H. Holcomb, South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1773-1778 (Columbia: SCMAR, 1993), page 62.

[8] Jacob and Polly Moorer to Henry Moorer, Title to Land, 22 August 1808; original, family copy, Jackson Family Papers; photographed by Margaret Waters, May 2011. This deed explains how Jacob’s father, Jacob, acquired the land from the Bruck family.

[9] Daniel Kimmerlin plat, 24 December 1785, State Plat Books (Charleston Series), 1784-1860, volume 16, page 319, item 1; Surveyor General’s Office Series S213190; SCDAH, Columbia.

[10] Lynn S. Teague, “The Early Moorers: Part 1,” Orangeburgh German-Swiss Newsletter 14 (Fall 2011), 91.

[11] Carolyn Luttrell, Honoring Adair K. Whetstone, M.D., Citizen, Physician, Humanitarian, Christian (privately published, 1953), page 77. Luttrell gives the source of this information as loose papers from a family Bible owned by an elderly Whetstone descendant.

In my work with the colonial plats in the Orangeburgh District area of South Carolina it has been rare to come across a plat drawing that shows a house location. Today’s cluster of plats at Cattle Creek and Sandy Run  included one that indicates approximately where William Hart’s house was located below Orangeburgh Township.

Berry, Clark, Funchess (Fonteus), Grew, Hart, Lambright, Staley, Wood

These eleven tracts (numbers 5 and 10 were for the same land) were surveyed over a nineteen year period by three different surveyors. George Strother did the last six plats and included some details about paths (indicated by red arrows) and the location of “Mr. Hart’s House.”

The path shown on plats 7, 8, and 9 corresponds well with what is currently known as Banbury Drive. The path shown on plat 6, leading to “Mr. Hart’s House,” does not seem to exist in any modern form. The house was drawn just off the edge of the tract on plat 6 and is shown on the drawing above in an approximate location. (Note: Bowman Branch Highway did not exist until the 20th century but is labeled on the map above to help identify the area.)

Plat number 5 was surveyed for Henry Wood in April 1767 by John Mitchell. George Strother resurveyed the same tract eighteen months later for William Hart (plat number 10). Strother indicated in the text of the plat drawing that it was the same land surveyed for Wood.

Plat number 7 was first surveyed in July 1767 for Philip Lambright. He probably never took out the grant for the land as it was certified twenty years later for Peter Stalley in September 1787. Both of the Berry plats (numbers 8 and 9) reference Lambright as the adjoining owner.

While looking at some later maps of this area, I noticed an interesting name. The 1913 soil survey map of the eastern portion of Orangeburgh District shows a community called Lambrick  in this vicinity. While recently re-reading David Gavin’s diary, I noticed that he frequently referred to tracts of land by their original owners, regardless of who may have currently owned them. Is Lambrick perhaps a corrupted reference to Lambright? Do any of my readers have any other information on the name Lambrick in this vicinity?

As an interesting aside, notice that this soil survey map did not show the configuration of Cattle Creek and Sandy Run as accurately as the topographic map does. On the topographic map notice that after Sandy Run flows west for a short distance it then runs parallel to Cattle Creek briefly before flowing into Cattle Creek. Google Earth will confirm that the topographic map is more accurate.

Back to Mr. Hart, the owner of the house … William Hart first appeared in the Giessendanner Records when he married Sarah Young on October 3, 1750. He was described as “of the Congarees” by Rev. John Giessendanner but apparently settled below Orangeburgh Township after his marriage. Two of his children were baptized by Rev. Giessendanner in the 1750s. His daughter Grace married John Wood. In 1785 John and Grace sold 250 acres of her father’s land to Sebastian Funchess. [1]  The tract they sold was the one labeled number 3 on my map above and probably was the location of “Mr. Hart’s House.”

[1] Brent Holcomb, South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1783-1788 (Columbia: SCMAR, 1996), page 340.

For a PDF copy of the plat drawing click this link:

Colonial Plats at Cattle Creek and Sandy Run

One of the plats that I’ve included in this blog entry has intrigued me since I first came across it several years ago. It is the one for 756 acres surveyed on September 4, 1822 for Bennett Kittrell on Robert Swamp and the South Edisto River. The tract appears to be part of 1200 acres (represented by the dashed lines on the drawing at the end of this post) that was originally surveyed for Obediah Allen in April 1737.

This area along the South Fork of the Edisto River was being used for cattle raising as early as the 1730s as indicated by the one adjoining property noted on the Allen plat. John Hearn’s cowpen was located on the southeastern boundary of the Allen tract. As the cattlemen left the area when more of the land was claimed, timbering became another economic activity in river swamps like this.

Benjamin Curry was the surveyor for the Kittrell plat. Curry’s drawing shows the outlines of several fields in addition to Robert Swamp and the river. He also showed a road and a path. The road, which seems to be similar to what is today Cleckley Road, looks like it might be labeled “limbe” or “timbe” road, possibly for lumber or timber road. (Note: I have not checked with the archives to see if there is an original plat that may be more legible with regards to this term.) There is a path shown on the plat as coming into the “Old Field” but I’ve not found evidence of this path on any modern map of the area.

The railroad came across this land in the late 1800s. The 1913 soil map of the area shows a small cluster of buildings in the area of the “Old Field” along the rail line. Notice how the area of the Old Field corresponds rather well with the Rs soil type on the map. Did whoever first develop that field recognize the better soil or did the soil surveyor trace the boundaries of the field?

Now, back to the thing I find most interesting on the Kittrell plat, the set of parallel dashed lines marked “Race Ground.” Since surveying was not extremely accurate in the early 1800s, the Race Ground was probably located on the slightly higher ground just above the swampy area. What type of racing was done here?

I have an ancestor, Adam Davis Hare (1825–1895) who is said to have been very fond of horse-racing. He was actually expelled from Two Mile Swamp Baptist Church in 1849 for such activity, among other things. This church is located about eight miles from this site. Is this where my ancestor spent his time horse racing? Does anyone else have any family stories or traditions about horse racing in this part of Orangeburgh District? If you do, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Allen, Coalter, Hearn, Jennings, Kittrell, Valentine