OUR HERITAGE

In the early days the Waxhaw:seeinpd to be a .sort of cradle of
Remus, fnr no other section wielded
.so Kreat an influence or furnished
os many notable men. Here were
A potpourri of information a boat
the Jacksons. the Calhouns. and
Union County and it* people
the Pickenses. Andrew Jackson wa.
compiled by John Foster
born here. Patrick Calhoun for ;i
Chapter D. A. R.
time lived there and belonsed to the;
Old Waxhaw Church. Here Gen-j
e.ral Andrew Picken.s grew up ann '
THE WAX HAWS
.
Carolina, and thus pre.scn.-ed Wash- , here he married Rebecca Calhoun
(Continued from January 22i
|
Ington in the Jerseys from an atta.-l: j Here in the Waxhaws grew up Wil
Before tlic Revolutionary War rhc by Cornwallls until the French fleet ! liam R. Daviy" the dLstiiiRuished
partisan leader in the War of the
entire territory which lu»cl been the. Was ready to cooperate with Wash
Governor of Nor t h
ion.
Revelut
hunting ground,-, of the Waxh.r.v ington,
j
Indian*, and which is no\v Union
In the Waxhaw*;. on the bunks nf j Carolina, one of the framer.s of the
county, had become partially set Waxhaw Creek, near the old home 1 Constitution of the United States.'
tled throughout. However, except place of Col. William Walknp wa-J Minister to Prance in the time of
in Waxhaw Settlement, churches fought the Battle of the Waxlutw.,. 1 Napoleon, and founder of the Uni
and .schools were still not MarUM. or the Battle of Waurmb's Mill. I versity of North Carolina at Cha
It was only after the Revolution This was the real Battle of the pel Hill. N C William H. Crawthat churches and schools were Waxhaws, but it was the commoii ford, thr. great Georgian, went from
established among these people. So. error df almost all historians lr» the Waxhaws. So. from these peo
the religious and educntum.il train epeak. of the Battle of the Waxhaws ple went three of the greatest men
ing of the children of tlwe early as being the Massacre of Buford": of their times Jackson. Calhoun
pioneers were left (o the pa rente in Men by TarlUm. at tin- place ln- nnd Crawford, men who directed
cally called "The Bufrml Batll-.-j the. politics of the nation, and whoM'
the homes.
No marker .show* the iieki I antagonisms became the untauonGround".
Among the.se .st-i tiers HUT th.il
the Battle of the Wax- 1 i-ms of the nation's people. The
whereon
part of the country wore the follow
Smi'.h.
ing: John Belie. Esq.. from Middles- haws wn.s fought although it is one | Waxhaws produced William
Senato:
States
United
and
judge
;t
1
Rp.voluthe
of
battlefields
the
of
borough. England; Siephcn Billew,
and one in which there were .1 in South Carolina. Dr. John Brown.
Thomjw Cocnran.. James Doster,,
and I one of the early professors in the
killed
Jajor John Faster. Juhn Ford, one I" umber of .soldiers
ol the signer* ol the Mecklenburg wounded, and m which battle Cant i University ot South Carolina, W:LS
reaivd in the Waxhaws, and was :i
Declaration of Independence. Rich- James Walkup iWauhab*. and .sev
school-mate ol Jack.son. and with
commanders
American
other
eral
&rd Griffln. Henry H.irgett from
him when they were boys in their;
founiit
defeated,
ultimately
although
Germany; George Helms and Till,
man Helms from Pennsylvania: for a Ions time bnu-ely and well teens rotle under Da vie at Hanging
went
Waxhaws
the
From
Rock.
numbers
.superior
against
James and William Houston from
Among the many soldiers of thu Stephen D. JUIller, once Governor
Virginia; Aaron Howie. John an:(
a Sen
William Lejnmonci from Ireland: county in the Revolutionary War of South Carolina, and once
ator in an at;e of great men. From
Col
W.-Hthah.
Jume.s
Capt.
were:
George Lmey from Germany: Wil
the Waxhaws. too. went Dr. J. Ma
liam McRae, Hugh McCain, George Wm. R. Davin. Major Jnlin Fosti?:rion Simm.s a .surgeon of world
CuthbertJohn
rapt.
Polk.
CharKs
McWhorter, Henry McNeelfc', John
wide famr, and one who in his de
Relk,
John
A-hi.raft.
Thuma.1
eon.
McCorkle, David Mrx>re, Charles
has never been surpa.->sed.
Montgomery. Capt. Charles Polk, parting Belk. Jeremiah Clout/, Geo partment
iitii i i i"i»j"BHIitJMIII.Ll
- - i
" William Pyron. William Osborn<\|CaITiker lklHed». John Ewimv And many another notabif man in
James Boss. John Stilwoll. Je^se {William Houston. John Lemmoml. the early days claimed 'the W.ixStilwcll. William Simpsoii. Jacob [William Lnnmond. David Moore haws for his home.
^
Secret, Emanuel Stephens «Stev- fWJlllam Mi-CVun. Junii-* McCain.
In the neighborhood of the Wax- !
ens), Matthew Stewart. John Hugh McCain Jr. Hi'iir>' McNe-rlv. haws were many ::ir-p .siavy IioMers.;
Thompson, John Wentz and other,. George McWhorter, James Ro^. the people had commodious old.
Edward Richardson. Willhim SimpWhen the Revolutionary War eon, Emanuel Stephens <SU'vens» ante-bellum homes, and tAcv were
far removed from the line; uf traf
came, these people with the excenJohn Thompson. Phillip Wolfe. .uri fic, they were a reflned and splendid
lion of u few who participated ri
the Meiklenb'irrf Declaration affair. numerous other.-, w-hose names we people, and exerted coonhiderable
exerc;sed theniselvfs but little about do not have. Nearly every man in Influence in both of the Carolina*.
the war until about the time of the the. territory, which u* no*,v Union When the national military acad
Battle of camden. Tarlon's tJlti- county, bclnneed to some military emy was about to be established,
.c.acre of Buford's men. some fifteen company, and almost all of them the, community of the Waxhaws wa.s
miles southeast of the Waxhav went nut and did .service for the influential enough to come within
Church, over In South Carolina, American caufce
But the names one vote of getting it at Great Falls
turned these people from an at'.i- of all who did .ierviee are not ob on the Catawba River, instead of
tude of almost indifference to the tainable, the rosters not having been at West Point. N. Y.
struggle to a determined and ftercf kept, and many of them being too
One of the wealthiest and best of
participation in it.
patriotic to apply for pay, thus the the PresbyLensLas in the old WaxIn th Waxhaws the minister was failing to cet their names on the haws was Major Jo£ui Foster, one of
Insulted, his home and books burn- payrolls. The Britton Belk men the brave.st of the Revolutionary
td, and thi- BiitUh soldiers declared tioned as having served in the Rev soldiers. He was buried on the
against all Biblcs which contained olution was killed in the war. He south side of Waxhaw Creek, near
the Scotch version of the Psalms. was one of the crowd present at the where his fine, old ante-bellum home
It wa-s this conduct by the BrltUh adoption of the Mecklenburg Decla once stood. His grave is marked
that fired the people of this sec
ration of Independence. He took by a granite slab on which is this
tion, and refilled Sumter's ranks. with him his ten-year old son, inscription:
iiiid furnished many heroes of James Belk. and 100 yeans later, it,
"Major John Foster, who departHanging RcK-k. King's Mountain. tin- Centennial Celebration of the ed thla life Jan. 33. 1820 A. D.. aged
Cowpens. Wauhab's Mill, or the aforesaid Declaration, this same 72 years. He immigrated from Ire
Battle of the Waxhaws. Euta\\ James BeJk. at the age of 110 year,* land 1765. and wa.s Capt. of a'*IY<*op
was present, wa.s introduced to the of Horsemen in the Revolutionary
Springs and Blackstock.s.
It wa.s the rising of these people- iTrent gathering by Oov. Z. B. Vance. VVar, in which he distinguished
which opened the way for Marion's and hr told the people present of hi thyself in several engagements, as
fimous partisan warfare from the I his recollection of the affair, and of an : ctivc and brave officer. Grain
vamps of the Pee Dee nnd the how the men threw their hats in hid if* «fte earth repays the peasjfiantee. which recalled Cornwallls the air when Col Polk finished ant's care, and evening sun but seta
and delayed him in upper South reading the paper which declared to rise more fair. He ha* left his
lolto independent.
The
OUR HERITAGE
\\IM-, tlic ji-.;, the pious, and tin.'
brave live in their deaths and flour
ish from the grave."
The Scotch-Irish, who made the
Waxhaw Settlement, built the first
Presbyterian church here, soon alter
1hf settlement was made in 1751.