Spartanburg County, South Carolina - Chapter 12: Colonel John Thomas, Sr, 1900

In presenting to the reader the name of this patriot of the Revolution, we desire to say in the outset that full justice to his memory, and vahiable services to his country in one of its most critical periods, has never been done by the historians of the past, and we believe the impartial reader will so decide after following us through this narrative, which is but a brief outline of his character and of the prominent part he took at the beginning of hostilities between the colonies and the mother country.

From the best information that can be gained, John Thomas, Sr., was born in Wales, but was reared in Chester county, Pennsylvania. Of his early education and training we know but little ; but from his marriage to a -a lady of high culture and from the reading of his manuscript letters, still in existence, it is to be presumed that he possessed advantages and opportunities equal to other youths of his day and time.

John Thomas married in 1740 to Miss Jane Black, who was a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and the sister of the Rev. John Black of Carlisle, the first president of Dickinson College. An interesting sketch of the life of Jane Thomas is presented in Mrs. Ellet's "Women of the Revolution" (Vol. i, p. 250), to which the reader is referred for an extended account of her character and heroic service to her countr}\

Some ten or fifteen years after this marriage, Mr. Thomas, with his family, removed to South Carolina. His residence for some time was on Fishing Creek, in Chester district. About the year 1762 he removed to the territory now embraced in the county of Spartanburg. His homestead residence, which can yet be pointed out, was in the vicinity of Rich Hill.

We would here state, by way of digression, that by reason of the treaty of Gov. Glen with the Cherokee Indians in 1755, the particulars of which we have given in another volume,* the upper portion of South Carolina, embracing the counties of Edgefield, Abbeville, Laurens, Newberry, Union, Spartanburg, York, Chester, Fairfield, and Richland, were thrown open to settlement. As we have shown in the volume referred to the settlements in what is now Spartanburg county did not begin earlier than 1755, and it will be seen that John Thomas, in removing to said region (1762), was only a few years behind the advance settlers.

The particulars of the breaking out of the Revolution we have given elsewhere, and have not time or space to go over the ground again ; but we will say that prior to 1775 all the country between the Broad and Saluda rivers belonged to one regimental district, commanded by Col. Thomas Fletchall, whose home was on Fair Forest, in the present county of Union. These regimental commanders swayed a wide influence in controlling the political sentiment of their surroundings, and as Thomas Fletchall proved to be a Tory of the worst type to the patriot cause, it can be easily imagined the extent of the unwholesome influence which he spread over the region of the country which he commanded. The Council of Safety at Charleston resolved that an association was necessary, to be composed of all those who sided with the patriot cause, or the cause of the colony against the mother country. There was left now no alternative but a mean submission or a manly resistance. The ques- tion before the people was, " Shall we live slaves or die freemen?" The instrument, or Articles of the Associatio7i were first signed by Henry Laurens, president, and members of the Provincial Congress, and then copies of the same were afterwards transmitted to the inhabitants of the State (or Province^ as it was then called) through the different regfimental commanders of the several military districts. The Provincial militia of South Carolina, in the early part of 1775, consisted of twelve regiments. The copy of the instrument of the association which was transmitted through Colonel Fletchall was not by him submitted to the inhabitants of his district, but in lieu of this, through the assistance of his conferes, he drew up another instrument of writing to be submitted to the people, which he claimed was suited to their wishes and the conditions which surrounded them, and which was generally signed by the people from the Broad to Savannah rivers. It may be truly said here that the up-country of South Carolina was in a peculiar and distracted condition. Lord William Campbell, of England, who had arrived about this time, holding under the authority of Great Britain a commission as governor of South Carolina, was unremitting in his efforts to persuade the uninformed of the back-settlers that the power of Great Britain could never be effectually resisted by the American colonies ; that the whole dispute was about a trifling tax on tea, which they were not in the habit of using, and the matter was of little or no interest to them. Through his well-paid emissaries he insisted that the gentlemen of the seacoast, in order to obtain their tea free, were willing to involve the people of the whole of the back country in a quarrel that would deprive them of salt and other imported necessaries, and that the expenses of an insignificant tax on tea was nothing compared to the expenses of a war with the mother country, and that the instrument which had been prepared by the association for their signatures was intended only to dragoon them into submission. These harangues naturally aroused in the bosoms of many a spirit of resistance and independence, and they openly declared their unwillingness to concur in the measures recommended by the Provincial Congress.

The conduct of Fletchall and the distracted condition of the minds of the people in the up-country gave great uneasiness to the Council of Safety. An effort was made to induce Fletchall to join the common cause or to make known his sentiments on the situation of affairs. He was written to by the Council of Safety on the 14th day of June, 1775. In his reply, on the 24th of the same month, he claimed that man}'- reports had been maliciously circulated against him, which he could prove to be false ; he expressed great concern that he was looked upon as an enemy to his country, and thought the government had greater cause to complain of some who were less suspected than himself. Upon the main subject upon which Fletchall had been approached by the Council of Safety, he declared that he would not take up arms against his king until it became his duty to do so and he was convinced of the propriety of the measure.

The Council of Safety, feeling the necessity of a full explanation to the people of South Carolina of the nature of the controversy between the colonies and the mother country, sent to the country between the Broad and Saluda rivers the Hon. William Henry Drayton and Rev. William Tennant. The mission of these gentlemen was to pacify the inhabitants and to bring them into cooperation with the Council of Safety and General Committee, which had been appointed by the Provincial Congress. They set out on their journey in August ; but as we have already, in the first chapter of this work, related the

Not long after the departure of Mr. Drayton and Mr. Tennant a regiment was organized, made up of inhabitants comprising the sections of what was afterwards the counties of Union and Spartanburg. A leader to command the newly formed regiment had to be selected, which resulted in the choice of John Thomas^ Sr.^ the subject of this narrative. Colonel Thomas had been for many years a magistrate and captain of militia, but had resigned both of these positions. He had now arrived at an age beyond the average of the ordinary soldier, but he was a man of wide-spread influence and popularity, and was the man to inspire .the people and overawe the evil influences that were being promulgated by Fletchall and his associates.

The regiment as organized was called The Spartan Regiment, which name was doubtless conferred by Mr. Drayton, intending the same as a compliment, and comparing the material that composed it to the Greek Spartans, The number of men who comprised it we are unable now to determine, but as the up-country of South Carolina was yet sparsely settled, we suppose it was small, containing, perhaps, not more than two or three hundred.

It was only a few months until the Spartan Regiment commanded by Colonel Thomas was called into active service. In December of the same year (1775) occurred the famous snow campaign,^ a full account of which we have presented in another volume. f

* For a more extended account of the visit of Messrs. Drayton and Tennant to the iip-country the reader is referred to "Colonial and Revolutionary History of South Carolina," pp. 44-62.

The troops in this campaign were commanded by Colonel Richard Richardson, an officer of distingnished ability, and who, with his command, performed on this occasion important and signal service to his conntry and to the common cause by putting a stop to the late alarming and dangerous insurrections which the enemies to the American cause had excited in the interior part of the colony of South Carolina.

The Provincial Congress of South Carolina met in February, 1776, soon after the expedition of Colonel Richardson. After the accounts of the campaign were audited and arranged, that body voted thanks to Colonel Richardson and to the officers and men under his command for the signal and patriotic service rendered to their country under the most trying circumstances and conditions. It was at this session of the Provincial Congress that this body resolved, "as well for the convenience of electors of members of Congress, as on account of the happy influence which it may have upon the peace and union of the inhabitants," to divide the district heretofore spoken of as under Colonel FletchalPs command (embracing the country between the Broad and Saluda rivers) into three election districts or regimental divisions. The Lower or Dutch Fork, comprehending one, the country below Little River another, and the Upper or Spartan District the third.*

By this new formation of regimental districts. Colonel John Thomas became commander of the territory comprising the Upper or Spartan District, which comprised the original county of Spartanburg and almost all of the present county of Union.

okee Indians on the other, ready at any time to swoop down upon the white settlements with tomahawk or scalping-knife, we can readily appreciate the duties and responsibilities resting upon Colonel John Thomas in his effort to preserve the peace and good order of his district.

From the sketch of Mrs. Jane Thomas, already referred to, we learn that Colonel John Thomas furnished his quota of men from his regiment to repel the invasion and massacres of the Cherokee Indians in 1776,* and shared the privations and dangers connected with the expedition under General Andrew Williamson into the heart of the Indian Nation, in the autumn of that year.

We have scarcely time here to refer to the Indian outrages of 1776. It was at the very beginning of hostilities that these people, under tempting bribes from British emissaries or agents, were instigated to commit their outrages and massacres upon the innocent of the frontier settlements. But for these they might otherwise have remained quiet. As an argument to induce them to side with Great Britain, they were told of her great power in armies, fleets, resources, etc. Principal among those who figured among them at this time was John Stuart, superintendent, and Alexander Cameron, deputy superintendent of the Cherokee Nation. These were acting under the authority and direction of Lord William Campbell, governor, who clothed them with royal authority. It is said that Cameron, under the influence of Stuart, was a bad and dangerous man. He held a meeting in the early part of 1776 with the Cherokee warriors, about four hundred in number, in which he exhorted them that the people of America had used the king very ill, and had killed a considerable number of his army ; that the king was to send out more soldiers to suppress them ; that they (the Indians) ought not to turn against their father, the king, but that they should join the army against the people of America; that firearms and ammunition would be furnished them, and, in short, he did everything in his power to induce the Indians to join the king's forces against the organized forces in upper South Carolina, of which Colonel Thomas's regiment formed a part.

At the conclusion of his remarks the Indians turned their backs upon him and discharged their arms. The whole assembly set up the war-whoop, which was a signal that they approved of his discourse. (See Drayton's Memoirs, Vol. i, p. 414.)

It was not long after this until the Cherokees began their invasions and massacres upon the defenceless white settlements along the borders of upper South Carolina. Some of these we have recorded in another volume, including the "Hampton Massacre" and the "Hannon Massacre" ; but their barbarities to a great extent have faded in tradition. Prompt and decisive measures had to be resorted to to quell these people, which was successfully done by the expedition of General Williamson, already referred to, assisted by Colonel Griffith Rutherford and his command from North Carolina. The combined forces consisted of about two thousand. After several serious encounters the Indians were finally put to flight. Williamson's command continued the work of devastation, destroying the Indian towns and their growing crops in the beautiful valleys. The poor deluded Indians soon sued for peace, and a treaty was made with them by which they ceded all of their lands southeast of the mountains of Unacaya. By this treaty the present counties of Greenville, Anderson, and Pickens (the last two named once forming old Pendleton District) were gained and added to the territory of South Carolina. That portion which the Indians reserved to themselves embraces for the most part the present county of Oconee,* which was purchased from them not long after the close of the Revolution.

Peace having been again declared with the Cherokees the commands of Williams and Rutherford returned to their respective States, and Colonel John Thomas again assumed command of the upper or Spartan District. A long line of frontier was entrusted to him. With diligence, fidelity and zeal he performed this duty for several years and retained his command until the fall of Charleston, which was in May, lySo.f South Carolina was now practically at the mercy of the British soldiery and the Tory element of the colony. The British believed that the colony was thoroughly conquered. Subsequent events, however, proved that they had conquered the territory only and not the people. The proud spirits of the Whigs of upper South Carolina determined not to submit without making a manly resistance. Cornwallis, who had received the surrender of Lincoln at Charleston, determined, to follow up the success already attained and to press the conquest into the neighboring province of North Carolina, and also into Georgia. To accomplish this end three expeditions were formed and sent out. The first w^as towards the river Savannah, in Georgia. The second was placed under the command of Colonel Tarleton, who was ordered to scour the country between the Cooper and Santee rivers. In this expedition Tarleton encountered a body of Whigs under the command of Colonel Buford, who had been marching to the succor of General Lincoln in Charleston, but having heard of

* See map frontispiece Ramsey's History South Carolina, t See account of particulars of this surrender "Colonial and Revolutionary History of Upper South Carolina," pp. loo to 104.

his surrender, were now retreating by forced marches. He fell upon them and the carnage was dreadful. He butchered many who offered to surrender. This horrible massacre gave a bloody turn to the war, and the Americans everywhere ever afterwards remembered this engagement with horror, and from that time it became a proverbial mode of expressing the cruelties of a barbarous enemy to call them TarletoiCs Quarter. The third expedition was that of Colonel Patrick Ferguson, who was sent to the District of Ninety-six, and whose wicked career after seventeen months ended at King's Mountain.

As soon as the news of the surrender of Lincoln at Charleston reached the up-country of South Carolina, measures were concerted between the commanders of the scattered Whig forces, Colonels Brandon, Thomas and Lyles, for the concentration of their forces with tVe view of resisting the invasions from the low country. Their plans were frustrated by the devices of Colonel Fletchall, who had remained at his home since his release from imprisonment a few years before. Having discovered their intentions, he gave notice to Ferguson's forces, who had recently marched into the vicinity of his home, and to a body of Tory cavalry thirty miles away. These were brought together and surprised the force collected by Brandon at the point designated as the rendezvous before the others had time to arrive. The country was now seemingly overawed and subdued, and almost every Whig between the Broad and Saluda rivers was compelled to abandon the country or accept British protection. By the latter course they hoped to secure permission to remain at home unmolested with their families. Colonel Thomas, then advanced in life, with Andrew Williamson, Isaac Huger, Andrew Pickens, Isaac Hayne and others took protection, while others preferred to remain in open partizan warfare, among whom were Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, the Hamptons, Williams and others. But in the supposition of those who had taken British protection, that they were to remain at home unmolested, they were lamentably mistaken. They could not quietly remain at home and witness the scenes of plunder, robbery and murder which surrounded them, without lifting their voices in protest. The Tories who had espoused the Royal cause were men of no moral or political principle, their greatest ambition being plunder and robbery. It was the policy of Cornwallis to compel submission by the severest measures. The bloody slaughter of Buford's command by Tarleton, just narrated , was but a foretaste of what those who ventured resistance might expect. This course was pursued with unscrupulous cruelty, and the unfortunate patriots were made to feel the vengeance of an exasperated tyranny. Cornwallis, through his emissaries, Ferguson and others, hoped "thus eventually," says a writer, " to crush and extinguish the spirit still struggling and flashing forth, like hidden fire among the people whom the arm of power had for a season brought under subjection."

But the oppressor, though he might overawe for a time, could not subdue the spirit of a gallant and outraged people. The proud spirits of John Thomas, Sr., Andrew Pickens and others resolved to again take the field. They fought through the remainder of the war, says Johnson, "with halters around their necks." Some were made to pay the penalty of this bold resolve, and there is no brighter example on record than the execution of Colonel Isaac Hayne of Charleston.

Colonel Thomas having determined to cast aside the pretended protection, was taking steps to organize a regiment in the Fair Forest region when he was arrested and sent to prison at Ninety-six. From thence he was conveyed to Charleston, where he remained in dnrance till the end of the war. The regiment referred to was called the Fair Forest regiment, and was commanded by Colonel John Thomas, Jr. (son of John Thomas, Sr.), and was encamped at Cedar Spring when the first engagement there took place.

After the close of the war Colonel Thomas returned to his home on Fair Forest, but soon afterwards removed to Greenville District, where he and his wife resided until their death.

Colonel and Mrs. Thomas had nine children, and their sons and sons-in-law were active in the American service. John, the eldest son, rose during the war from the rank of captain till he succeeded his father to the colonelcy of the regiment, called by Draper the Fair Forest regiment, and by the biographer of Mrs. Jane Thomas, in Mrs. Ellet's works Spartan regiment.* Robert, another son, was killed in Roebuck's defeat, mentioned elsewhere. Abram, who was wounded at Ninety-six, and taken prisoner, died in the enemy's hands. William, a youth who assisted in defending his home, the circumstance of which we will mention later, took part in other actions. Martha, one of the daughters, married Josiah Culbertson, a noted scout, who will receive further attention. Ann, another daughter, married Joseph Mcjunkin, a soldier of the Revolution, whose gallant services will be recorded later. Jane, the third daughter, married to Captain Joseph McCool, and Letitia, another daughter, was the wife. of Major James Lusk. The last two mentioned were efficient patriots, but the scenes of their exploits and the valuable service they rendered their country are remembered now in tradition only, ex-

* This was undoubtedly a new regiment organized in ijSr. It had been six years (1775) since the original Spartan regiment had been organized.

cept the sketch in connection with Mrs. Jane Thomas in Mrs. Ellet's works. It is unfortunate now that history is silent of so many that deserve the gratitude of their country. It appears that every member of this family had a personal interest in the cause of their country.

It is related in the pages of history that Mrs. Thomas, wife of Colonel Thomas, was not only distinguished for her indomitable perseverance and ardent spirit of patriotism, but also for her eminent piety, discretion and industry. She is described as rather below the ordinary stature, with brown eyes and hair, rounded and pleasing features, fair complexion, and countenance sprightly and expressive. The daughters also exhibited the same loveliness of character and beauty of person, which they inherited from their mother. Mrs. Culbertson is represented as being a woman of great beauty ; and her sister Ann is said to have been little inferior to her in personal appearance. More will be said of Mrs. Jane Thomas in in another place.

We have already stated that Colonel Thomas removed to Greenville District soon after the close of the Revolution. Few of his descendants now remain in the section of country where he and his family resided, being now scattered over the regions of the great West.

Let it be the pride of the coming generations to preserve and perpetuate the name of John Thomas, Sr. At the outbreak of the great Revolution he appears to have been the right man in the right place to assume a leadership to counteract the dangerous and unwholesome influences which had been spread by others in authority who had preceded him ; and the responsibility for the preservation and perpetuation of his memory, his lofty patriotism, his bold leadership and gallant deeds belong to the people of Spartanburg and the generations that come after.