| Chesterfield, many million years ago,
during the later Cretaceous era, was the bottom of an ancient sea. The
Sand Hills, which are all around Chesterfield, prove this fact.
As the ages passed, the waters divided;
land appeared. South Carolina, of which Chesterfield is a part, came
into existence. Large prehistoric animals may have roamed. the fossils
of elephants, mastadons, animals resembling camels, a giant sloth, and
other such fossils have been found in what is now South Carolina.
Time marched forward. The large animals
gradually became extinct. Indians began to inhabit the vast wilderness.
Indian Creek, which is the southern boundary for the Chesterfield city
limits, was always supposed to be a favorite camping spot for the
Indians. Legend also tells that where the present Chesterfield Post
Office now stands, Indians lived and camped.
No records have ever been found that show
any white settlement in what is now Chesterfield County until about
1730. Up to that time, Chesterfield was part of a large section of land
that was called Craven County.
Craven County was created in 1682. In
1731, the Bristish Government ordered that the Township of Queensborough
be marked out. An Assortment of tempting bounties was offered to induce
rapid settlement.
The bounties soon attracted Welsh
Baptists in Delaware, The first of these Baptists came into Chesterfield
County in 1736. The bounties were continued until 1743. By then, the
number of settlers had greatly increased, most of them still being
Welsh. Soon, other settlers of English, Scottish, and Irish descent
began to come into the area.
Chesterfield, with an elevation of 290
feet, is located on a long ridge, running in a generally
easterly-westerly direction. This ridge for years was known as "Healthy
Ridge." Chesterfield was never affected by any serious epidemics of
typhoid fever or smallpox. Many people believed that this was true
because of Chesterfield being located on "Healthy Ridge,"
Chesterfield, in its early days, even had
its share of witchcraft. Probably the last witch trial in America was
held in Lancaster, South Carolina in 1813, before Judge David Johnson,
who later became governor.
Barbara Powers, an old woman of
Chesterfield, was accused of maltreating by diabolical arts a girl from
Lancaster. The girl testified, "being fatigued one evening . . . I lay
down to rest; Barbara Powers . . . choked me with great violence. After
this, she raised me up, converted me into a horse and rode me to
Lancaster.
"At Lancaster, she went through the
keyhole into several shops, brought our goods of great value, loaded me
with them and rode me into Chesterfield with her booty."
"Then she rode me to Cheraw . . . and
then rode me back to her residence."
Mill's Atlas, published in 1825, shows
the "Stage and Main Post Road." passing only a few miles south of
Chesterfield. This road, built about two decades earlier, provided a
north-south road for stagecoaches running from New York to New Orleans.
Later, the telegraph lines of the Postal Telegraph Company followed its
route. Thus, it came to be known as the "Old Wire Road."
By 1826, Chesterfield had become a busy
village having about one hundred inhabitants, twelve houses, and two
stores. The year 1845 brought a memorable famine to this area. Almost
nothing was raised on the farms. The farmers did not raise nearly enough
to feed the people and the stock; so, the Chesterfieldians sent sent
everything that could walk or crawl to Virginia, where there was plenty.
On Sept. 3, 1925, an article in The
Chesterfield Advertiser described W.D. Craig's first visit to
Chesterfield during that time. It is reprinted herewith:
"My first visit to Chesterfield was made
November 12, 1845, the memorable famine year of this section of the 19th
century. There was almost nothing made on the farms. they could get
supplies enough for people and stock on account of the roads and
vehicles for transportation so they sent everything that could walk or
crawl to Virginia, where they had plenty, until time to plough the next
spring. I could not walk or crawl so I extended my visit here.
"The village contained about 50 whites
and 250 negroes. It was a manufacturing community, making nearly
everything that was used by the surrounding country - all the farming
implements, cotton gins, leather, shoes, harness, fur hats, wagons,
buggies, carts, as well as all the cotton and linen clothing the
community used.
"When I first found myself I was stopping
at the place now known as the Dr. Lucas house. It was then occupied by
W. E. Craig and his Irish wife, Margaret P. Craig coming out in
front of the house was a wide road then known as the Chatham
Highway - at the time the front street of the town. On the opposite side
of the road was General Hanna's residence. Coming on down the street to
where S. M. Jackson now lives, we came to a big grove and an imposing
two-story building, 40 by 50 feet, which was the village schoolhouse.
"Next came the iron foundry a building
200 by 100 feet on the G. K. Laney lot, where I stopped sometimes to see
melted iron running like a branch of water into the mould that changed
the melted iron into waterwheels, plows, and irons and so forth.
"Coming on down a little farther, about
where Redfearn and Rivers' store now stands I could hear a number of
wheels in motion, which was always attractive to me. When I went in, I
found the house full of men and machinery making cotton gins complete
except the saws. Just opposite this place was a fur hat factory and
blacksmith shop. The latter made anything out of irons you called for.
"Back of the courthouse was a large
cabinet shop that made any and everything in that line. There is hardly
house in this community that cannot show even today something which was
made in that shop. Behind the old Craig house was a tannery, shoe and
harness shop where all the hides were tanned and the shoes and harness
made.
"Just below T. P. Craig's residence were
several big buildings, known as the Chapman Wheelwright Shop. There they
made anything that ran on wheels from wheelbarrow to a fine carriage.
"A good flour mill, grist mill and
sawmill could be found where Craig's now stands and a ginnery, which
took care of all the cotton made in this part of the country, stood
where Porter's stables now are. When we sum up these industries we can
see there was as much in the way of energy and enterprise displayed in
our town between 1845 and 1850 as there had been at any time since."
Chesterfield had become industrial by
1845. Local industry supplied almost all of the material needs of her
citizens. Chesterfield could proudly boast of having her own iron
foundry, where farm implements and irons, water wheels, and so forth
were made out of the molten iron; fur hat factory; blacksmith shop;
cabinet and furniture shop; harness and shoe shop, where all the shoes
and harness for the town were made; wheelwright shop, that made anything
that ran on wheels; and flour, grits, and sawmill.
As one can see, a great deal of energy
displayed in this small town of fifty whites and two hundred and fifty
negroes.
During the 1850's the difference gap
between the North and South grew wider and wider. The two geographical
sections had very little in common. Neither, I think actually understood
the other. The word secession was spoken in whispers among the people.
Finally, action was taken.
On April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired
upon. the War Between The States, as it was called in the South, begun.
Chesterfield sent many of her men to fight for the Confederate cause -
many never returned. Chesterfieldians were among those losing their
lives at the famous Battle of Gettysburg.
General W. T. Sherman, on his notorious
"match to the sea," came to Chesterfield. Entering on March 2, 1865,
Sherman and his men skirmished with Butler's Cavalry, which was soon
defeated.
While in Chesterfield, General Sherman
chose the "Craig House" (then occupied by W. E. Craig) as his
headquarters. When told by one of Sherman's men that the General would
like to see the lady of the house, Margaret Parke Craig replied that she
"would like to speak to the gentleman."
She consented that her home could be used
as headquarters; but, it is reported that she informed him that she had
always been a lady and she would expect to be treated like one both by
Sherman and his men. Each time Mrs. Craig started to leave the house
with her baby, an orderly appeared to carry the child for her!
Sherman and his men put the torch to many
of the buildings of Chesterfield. Chesterfield County Courthouse, the
place of the first secession meeting, was burned to the ground. All of
the records were destroyed.
Sherman's men entered the G. K. Laney
house, then under construction and started a fire in the middle of the
room. A faithful slave put the fire out. The scars from the fire still
remain to be seen in the old house.
The people of Chesterfield buried their
silver and other valuables to keep the Northern forces from stealing
them. One family buried their silver in the horse stable where the
horses dug it up many years later.
Sherman marched out of Chesterfield on
March 3, 1865. He and his men forded Thompson Creek, asked a negro boy
directions, and then marched on toward Cheraw. When Sherman left, he
left the people with nothing. They destroyed almost everything. People
lived on the corn that was dropped when the Yankee soldiers fed their
horses. One Chesterfield family lived for weeks on apples!
During the Reconstruction Period a new
courthouse was built. Many of the houses were built back; but, the
Southern way of life had been completely ruined. Nothing would ever be
the same . . .
With the coming of the twentieth century
came the new and modern inventions. First automobile in Chesterfield was
owned by Dr. W. J. Perry, who, in his chain-driven Reo, got many stares
from the curious and amazed bystanders.
Later, electric lights came along.
Chesterfield had its own power plant that furnished electricity for the
town. The electricity came on only at dusk and was turned off before
midnight. It was then turned on early in the morning so that the
townspeople might see to cook breakfast. On Thursday afternoons, the
electricity was turned on so that women could make use of their
new-fangled electric irons.
A house with quite a history is the West
Main Street residence of Mr. and Mrs. David Jackson.
The house was built of native lumber in
1834 to serve as early Chesterfield's Methodist Church. The Methodist
congregation used the house until 1865.
On March 2, 1865, General Sherman, on his
notorious "march to the sea," entered Chesterfield. While in town, he ad
his men set fire to many of the town's buildings - among them the
Chesterfield County Courthouse.
During the Reconstruction Period,
immediately following the War Between the States, the need for a place
to carry on the country's business and store the county's records arose.
After much careful planning, the "Old Methodist Church" was chosen to
serve as a temporary courthouse. The building served as courthouse until
1885.
At this time, a group of Baptists, headed
by R. A. White, were looking for a place to establish a permanent
church. Since this building was no longer being used as the courthouse,
the Baptists bought the building in January, 1886, for four-hundred
dollars. Thus, the Chesterfield Baptist Church was formed.
Sometime between 1886 and the turn of the
century, the Baptists decided to erect a new church. The former church
was sold and moved to its present day site.
After being used as two churches and a
courthouse, it served as Chesterfield's school. Among the teachers at
this school were: Mrs. Madge Curtis , Hon. G. K. Laney, Mrs. Pearl
Lucas, Tom Eddins, and Mr. Barbee was principal.
At mid-semester of 1909, the teachers and
their pupils crossed the street to the new school, and the old
schoolhouse was sold to S. M. Jackson.
As one can easily see, Chesterfield has
come a long way since it was only a settlement of two families. The town
now has several industries of its own. It offers an educational program
by maintaining both elementary and high schools. Chesterfield offers the
tranquil peacefulness of a small town, but it is only a few miles away
from several large cities.
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