Our Infamous History
A quick glance at the key events in shaping Edgefield, from 20,000 BC until World War II:
20,000-8,000 BC
The earliest Indians inhabited present-day South Carolina
1540
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto passed through the South Carolina backcountry
1670
The English colony of Charles Town was established
1671
The first slaves brought to South Carolina came with a colony from Barbados
Circa 1685
White Indian traders established a trading post at Savannah Town near present day Beech Island
1700
The population of South Carolina was 5,000, most living within a few miles of Charleston.
1704-1706
The colony is divided into parishes
1715-1716
The Yemassee Indian War broke out in the lowcountry killing approximately 100 white settlers
1715
Stevens Creek is named after a cow drover by the name of John Stevens
1716
Fort Moore was erected at Savannah Town to guard the frontier
1729
Royal government is established when the Lord Proprietors relinquish their interest in the province to the Crown and the area is divided into North and South Carolina
1730
Governor Johnson created a township plan whereby the towns of New Windsor, Saxe Gotha, Purrysburg, and Amelia townships were established to attract more settlers into the backcountry
1732
Colony of Georgia established
1735
Augusta, Georgia is founded
Late 1730s
Settlers first trickled into the area of what was to become the Old Ninety Six District
1754
French and Indian War: A large migration begins from northern colonies down the Great Wagon Road into South Carolina.
1755
The Cherokees ceded an estimated forty thousand acres to South Carolina
1760s
The Cherokee War terrorized the sparsely settled backcountry and four new townships were established: Boonesborough, Hillsborough, Londonborough and Belfast
1767-69
The Regulator Movement began in order to suppress lawlessness in the backcountry
1769
The District of Ninety Six is created and a Circuit Court system established.
1776-1783
American Revolution. Royal grants ceased.
1785
Counties of Edgefield, Abbeville, Newberry, Laurens, Union and Spartanburg were carved out of the Old Ninety Six District
1786
Columbia becomes the seat of government for South Carolina
1791
President George Washington travels through South Carolina
1793
Invention of the Cotton Gin
1810
Migration out of South Carolina began to rise as new territories in the west opened up
1812
The War of 1812 pushed the Native Americans even further westward, opening up the land that would become Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana
1820’s
Westward migration accelerated due to a downturn in the cotton economy and eroding of lands as a result of over-planting
1835-1837
War for Texas Independence: A number of men from this Region died in the Alamo, including William Barret Travis and James Butler Bonham.
1835-1842
Second Seminole War: Large numbers from this Region were sent to fight.
1838
16,000 Cherokee Indians were forced to leave their eastern homeland to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. On this “Trail of Tears,” at least 2,000 died.
1846-1848
The Mexican War: The Palmetto Regiment from Edgefield joined this conflict.
1860-1865
South Carolina urged southern states to secede from the Union, and the Confederate States of America was formed. Civil war raged for four terrible years.
1865
African-Americans were freed from the bonds of slavery
1865-1875
A great influx from the North of federal troops, “carpetbaggers,” and opportune seekers arrived in South Carolina
1866-1876
Reconstruction and the Red Shirt Movement
1880s
Coming of the Railroad and the beginning of a new age of mobility
1890s
Benjamin Ryan Tillman of Edgefield became Governor and led the state in easing the struggle of small farmers
1900s
The coming of the automobile
1914-1918
World War I
1921-1923
The Boll Weevil arrived in this Region and caused widespread devastation. Huge migrations of African Americans move to northern towns to work in factories
Late 1920s-1930s
The Great American Depression
1940-1945
World War II