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A NATION’S BEGINNINGS – Charles Baxley, chairman of the state-level 250th Sestercentennial Fee, recommended Laurens County historians for his or her work to inform tales of the county’s individuals and locations throughout the Battle for Independence. Photograph by Judith Brown
Laurens County, S.C. – In 2026 the nation will have a good time the 250th anniversary of its independence, and historians all through the state are working to inform the tales of South Carolinians who lived by means of that point.
“We need to inform the tales of South Carolina. We need to inform them from factors of view that we’ve by no means been advised earlier than,” stated Charles Baxley, the chairman of the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Fee, which just lately met with native committee members on the Laurens County Museum.
“No one a lot has talked concerning the ladies and kids that have been right here who suffered significantly,” Baxley stated, including that amongst educated residents, these loyal to England have been about equal in quantity as those that weren’t. “Nobody a lot has talked concerning the African People who have been enslaved and the Native People who have been right here. The Catawba Indians allied with South Carolina, the Cherokee allied with the British. We need to uncover these tales and inform them precisely.”
Baxley was in Laurens for the quarterly assembly of the state-level American Revolution Sestercentennial Fee, which incorporates Diane Culbertson of Grey Courtroom. It met on the Laurens County Museum with the Laurens County Sestercentennial Committee, which has been tasked with growing and selling the native angle for the upcoming 250th anniversary of the nation’s independence.
Over subsequent two to 3 years, the county committee needs to make use of grant funds to develop a driving path, with signage marking the particular websites that are identified to have had Revolutionary Battle significance inside the state.
“There have been 14 websites of significance decided to have taken place in Laurens County,” stated Ernie Segars, the Laurens County Sestercentennial Committee’s chairman. “The websites are all around the county, from close to Joanna to Cross Hill to the Greenville County line.”
They embrace some that are extra acquainted, such because the battle of Musgrove Mill on the web site historic web site, and Hays Station which has a marker in place not removed from the Newberry County line.
Others are identified by the overall location the place they occurred, akin to close to Langston Baptist Church outdoors Clinton, the place a younger lady named Dicey Langston acted as a spy to achieve info from the British and report it to Patriot militia.
One other location is Hammonds Retailer close to Greenplain Street outdoors Clinton, and it is without doubt one of the Revolutionary Battle websites the committee hopes may be developed.
“There are most likely a half dozen websites which we will spend cash to develop past only a easy signal,” Segars stated, “however we hope to have the interactive expertise linked to all 14 of the signage and the websites even when we don’t know the precise location.
“We have now grant funds to work with and we now have about three years to develop a number of of those websites and the signage.”
