https://johnsonvilleschistory.org/files/original/d2088dbc3ea4551c372bb11103e15d92.pdf bc305761c8015c5e695ba67633473e04 PDF Text Text • T ll E WF.EKLY OBSER\' ER , Jle mingway , S. C., Thursday, De«mber 18, 197J-Page ; Our Human Heritage • By E. Y. EADDY sefore the railroad appeared in 1912 and a bridge spanned Lynches f?iver about two years later, most roads led to a ferry . A strategic ferry in the northeastern area of Williamsburg was Witherspoon's , vested in John Witherspoon in 1801 and remaining in his charge until his death in 1815. According to the terms of John Witherspoon 's will, the ferry was then vested in J . D. Witherspoon, executor, for a term of 14 years, "in trust for and having the sole enefit of the incorporated Presbyterian Church at Aimwell on the Pee Dee River. " William Johnson, Jr., born 1787 succeeded J. D. Witherspoon at the ferry on a plantation purchased in 1825 from the Witherspoon estate. The 1850 census of Williamsburg County shows William Johnson, a man of considerable wealth for his time and place, living just below where e American Legion home now ands in Johnsonville. Enumerated in the household are his wife the former Sarah Crosby; son ' James H., age 23 ; daughter Sarah , 21 ; and the following lodgers: Joseph Costellen, a fisherman from Italy ; John C. Dye, a merchant from North Carolin who witnessed William Johnson's will; and Herman Zadix, a merchant from Austria. Johnson's Ferry was the point at which the stage coach driver stopped to change horses. As the stage coach passed east over Lynches River on the ferry, a Johnson slave in charge of the erry mules announced the mber of passengers with blasts Ill a fox horn--one blast for each ssenger, thus informing Mrs. ohnson of the number of places at should be set for dinner . The ssengers ate during the change ~orses, and then proceeded to nion for the next stop. The Johnsons' closest "ghbors were their ·daughter argaret and son-in-law Thomas thmahler Grier, and Henry ddy, a large land owner who ~ 110 opera tea a cotton gin near the erry. Joh - . . •• • • • nsonv1lle had received its name about six years earlier· in 1843, from the action of the above named Capt. Johnson who had settled at Witherspoon's Ferry, which soon took the name Johnson 's Ferry . Dr. Samuel McGill wrote of the event in Reminiscences of Williamsburg County. ''At the solicitation of Capt. William Johnson and A. W. Dozier of Pee Dee River, Dr. McGill settled at the Ferry House. ''For the first few months Capt. Johnson and family resided in the old ferry house situated on the bluff of Lynches River , but soon we all moved down into his new house situated at the junction of the Indiantown and Stage Coach Road. The family was very kind and Mrs . Johnson the most motherly of women. Thomas R. Grier, who had married their eldest daughter, was living with them at the time. Their eldest son· Nicholas F. Johnson lived at the Captain's new house which was lat~r owned by Mr. Grier. He was the farming boy and a great confort to the young doctor. ''About this time Old Mr. Henry Eaddy (1778-1855) was settling the place where his son, ·Hon. H. E . Eaddy (1839-1912), now resides, and he and Capt. Johnson requested the young doctor to assist in writing a petition to the Post-Master General at Washington for a post office to be established here, and Mr. John Gerard appointed its postmaster. The petition was granted and its name became Johnsonville. Mr. Eaddy and Dr. McGill were securities to the bond of Mr. Gerard. Soon this section of the country took the name Johnsonville, after the man who was responsible for securing a post office at this place. The stage coach stopped at Capt. Johnson's house. All the mail for the surrounding communities was left in Capt. Johnson's care. This provided excellent reasons for him. to request a post office be granted.'' In more than 200 years'· association with the Johnsonville and later the Hemingway area,.the Johnson family has not only given its name to a town, but land on which an early church was built, and a number of doctors. William Johnson, Sr., father of William Johnson of the ferry , was born 1760 and died March 16, 1825: He married Celia, last name unknown , born 1765, died Sept. 16, 1825. They are buried on a bluff on the north side of Lynches River about three miles from Johnsonville on the Johnson plantation. It was later owned by a grandson, William J. Johnson, who gave four acres of land from this plantation for Trinity Methodist Church. The tract is described in the deed as ''situate and lying in Marion District ... on the Southwest side of the Great Pee Dee one mile from Johnson's Ferry on the Lynches Creek on the Stage Road leading from Georgetown , to Cheraw.'' Trinity Methodist Church was built on this site. Remodeled and modernized several items, this church still occupies its original building. The beautiful chancel furniture that graces the sanctuary was made by Brig. Gen. John Henry Woodberry, great-grandson of Henry Eaddy and son of Johnsonville's only woman mayor, Bell (Eaddy> Woodberry Bickson. Almost moribund after the Civil War, Johnsonvill~ was kept alive by the turpentine business, and about the only people who · accumulated any property were those who worked in pine timber and related industry. The early turpentine dealers and workers migrated into Williamsburg before the War began. Amon the dealers in naval stores and pine products who made fortunes in this part of the country were J. F. Carraway, R. H. Kimball, and F. Rhem and Sons. Johnsonville and the ferry were busy places for a season. Despite their inborn aversion to working for anyone except themselves, many young farmers engaged in part-time ' ' ''turpentining'' or cut and floated their 9wn timber to market, riding the logs down Lynches and Pee Dee River to Georgetown, walking the long distance back home. • By theiturn of the century, this industry had begun to decline here, and tobacco was introduced as a money crop. Brig . Gen . Woodberry described the Johnsonville of that period. ''Johnsonville, where I was born and lived in my youth , had a post office, a general store, and not much more . The settlement centered around the crossroads that went west to Lake City and Florence. The nearest railroad was 23 miles away (at Lake City) and roads leading thereto were sandy and rutty. Mail came in by road cart, usually daily. The Lynches River, two miles away, was used for floating timber to market, but .was not suitable for power boats. The Great Pee Dee River , into which the Lynches flows nearby, boasted at that time a weekly steamboat (The Fa1·n1er and later The Merchant ) that brought bulk supplies from Georgetown. The nearest landing was Allison, some five miles across the Lynches River. Neither rivers had bridges at that time. Hand propelled flats were used for crossing. ''Outside of the general store, there was a cotton gin, a grits mill, and a blacksmith shop. The old turpentine still and the rice hulling mill, along with the barrel factory and the stage stables were visible but abandoned structures. The general. store was not only the grocery store, but the supplier of credit for fertilizer, labor costs, and far111 suppli'es of every nature. In my early days it was operated by Gerogetown people, who controlled the steamboat. 'H. Kaminski, King of the Jews, humpback britches and brogan shoes' was a popular ditty back then. ''Meat, other than butts meat, was largely from hogs raised locally , and in our case, in the Pee Dee swamp, !'liarion County side. The rivers supplied ftSh and the swamps wildlife. Hog meat was cured by immersing in brine or smoking in the family s111okehouse, or both. ''Fresh beef came in occasionally, when a Mr. Britton came around in his wagon, hauling a freshly killed cow resting sanitarily on a bed of fresh pine needles. When his delivered price went up from five cents to six cents a pound, there was a general bowl, but it was the only beef that could be bought. There being no ice available except occasionally in the winter months, the aver.ige fa1111er hesitated to kill his ow11 cov.·s. ''Schools operated when youngsters were not required for fa1111 work, usually from October to ~arch . Kids walked from two to five miles daily. Books were what • one could get. There were no classes or grades. In about 1903, a graded school COid Johnsrn:Jville> V.'as established at Ard 's Cross Roads , three miles from both Johnsonville and Heming~'lly." That is another story, to be continued. •• i' .. • • OPEN All � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Weekly Observer Description An account of the resource The Weekly Observer was published out of Hemingway, SC from 1973 until printing ceased in 2012. The paper continues as an e newpaper on scnow.com Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-2012 Subject The topic of the resource Local Newspaper covering the Johnsonville and Hemingway communities. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Weekly Observer Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Johnsons Give Johnsonville Its Name, 12-18-1975 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Weekly Observer Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 12-18-1975 News Newspaper Weekly Observer