SALLY REED CEMETERY, Anderson County, SC A.K.A. Version 2.3, 13-Feb-2005, A235.TXT, A235 **************************************************************** REPRODUCING NOTICE: ------------------- These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, or presentation by any other organization, or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Paul M Kankula Seneca, SC, USA Anderson County SC GenWeb Coordinator Anderson County SC GenWeb Homestead http://www.rootsweb.com/~scanderson2/ **************************************************************** DATAFILE INPUT . : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Dec-2003 DATAFILE LAYOUT : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Dec-2003 G.P.S. MAPPING . : ____________ at ____________ in _______ HISTORY WRITE-UP : ____________ at ____________ in _______ IMAGES ......... : ____________ at ____________ in _______ LOCATION WRITE-UP: ____________ at ____________ in _______ TRANSCRIPTION .. : Tim Latham at tim_latham@hotmail.com **************************************************************** CEMETERY LOCATION: ------------------ > Latitude N x Longitude W CHURCH/CEMETERY HISTORY: ------------------------ > TOMBSTONE TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: ------------------------------ a. = age at death b. = date-of-birth d. = date-of-death h. = husband m. = married p. = parents w. = wife TIM LATHAM: I VISITED THIS SITE AND MADE SOME PICTURES. THERE IS A LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE TO THE PICTURES. THE FOLLING ARTICLE ON THE SALLY REED CEMETERY APPEARED IN THE JAN. 16 1955 GREENVILLE NEWS. 15 VICTIMS OF INDIANS BURIED by JEANNE HORTON BELTON, Jan 15. - Hidden away in a thicket of scrub oak and hickory, lies an ancient deserted graveyard, known to the older inhabitants of Shady Grove community as the Sally Reed Graveyard. Peaceful as it seem now, it was once the scene of one of the bloodiest massacres by Indians of White settlers in these parts. Only a hand carved rock, half buried in the earth, marks the spot where 15 members of the Kemp family lie buried, scalped and mutilated by a roving band of murderous Indians. From rubbings taken from the gravestone, the words, "Here Lies The Body of 15 Kemp(sci)" and the dates "Oct 1786 and died Oct. 5, 1792" can be read. According to stories and conjectures of families in this district, the dates refer to the six years the Kemp family lived here. Stories about the Kemps have been handed down from generation to generation. several different versions exist, but from stories told by Carl Ragsdale, on whose land the the graveyard is found; "Mr. Jim" Cox of the Shady Grove community and Fred D. Cox Sr. of the Cooley's Bridge section, the main story emerges. The Kemps apparently of fairly well-to-do Scotch-Irish stock, emigrated to this section from Virginia. The family brought slaves with them to help build a new home in the wilderness of the old Pendleton District. Following the Indian Trail, they decided to settle at a fork in the Trail, on the land where the graveyard now stands. The land had two important features, accessibility to a trail road, and accessibility to water, from a large spring near the graveyard. Log cabins were erected, and the family began to prosper. Several years passed when an adopted son of the Kemps declared his desire to marry one of the Kemp daughters. The union was looked upon favorably by the parents, and the boy dispatched to Long Cane, the nearest community, to return with a preacher. The two, preacher of the Gospel, and eager bridegroom, covered the miles of forest trail on foot. As they approached their destination, they saw smoke boiling above the trees of the forest. Breaking into a run, they pushed forward and came upon a scene of undescribable horror. Mutilated and scalped bodies of the Kemps and their slaves lay where they had fallen, victims of the scalping knives of a band of Indians. The log cabin and store houses were burned to the ground. Only one member of the group escaped (and on this point all stories agree), a small Negro boy who sought refuge in a tree, and thus lived to tell the of the dreadful events of that day. When far away neighbors gathered at the scene, the 15 bodies were buried in a common grave, behind the Kemp home place. At one time, the large stone from the Kemp hearth could be seen, but it has been either buried, broken, or moved. In one day, the Indians completely wiped out the work and happiness of the Kemp's six years stay. It is interesting to note that both J.A. Cox and Fred D. Cox Sr., whose ancestors were among the original settlers of this region, are quick to refute the fact that the murderous Indians belonged to the friendly Cherokee tribe who camped near the Saluda River. They believe that the massacre was the work of a roaming group of Indians. Grandparents of both Mr. Coxes left behind pleasent memories of the Old Cherokee Chief Toney, who gave his name to Toney's Creek. His braves traded peacefully for tobacco with the settlers and raced their ponies along the Trail Road on quiet Sunday mornings. Gradually other settlers began to use the land around the graves of the ill- fated Kemps as a cemetery. The Land passed into the hands of Sally Reed, who in 1833 was one of the charter members of the Shady Grove Church. The ford lying at the edge of the graveyard also bears her name. Her home according to Mr. Ragsdale, was on a knoll overlooking the burial ground. According to local sources, over 150 graves, or sunken places where graves once were have been located in the Sally Reed Graveyard. An attempt at a formal plot is seen in the rectangle formed by a wall of field rocks. This wall, at one time, was around five or six feet tall. Mr. Ragsdale remembers climbing on it as a small boy. Inside the plot are some imposing stones. One tall shaft bearing the name Harkins, has fallen from its base. Near this plot, close to a giant, hollow, sourwood tree, long a haven of fleeing rabbits, lies a grave stone bearing the inscription "Joseph Brown, January 1731- October 5, 1815". He was the grandfather of Joseph Brown, governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, and U.S. Senator for 12 years prior to his death. Elaborate tombstones mark the graves of several Telfords and Harrises. Some of the more modern design were no doubt placed there by descendants of the families. Other graves are marked by rough field stones, whose hand carved inscriptions have worn away. One head stone laying in pieces bears this inscription: John M Harris Born June 27,1833 Died January 29, 1859 and a poem barely legible; This lonely place friends often weeps When they visit (the) spot where he quietly sleeps Here in the grave where the wild fleurs bloom He requested to be when put in the tomb, Here lies his body, mouldering in the dust, His soul is with his God we trust Although his friends for him doth (grieve) Death from sorrow will soon (relieve). Though the verses may not meet the exacting standards of modern critics, they have all the appealing charm of early American portraiture. Judging by the majority of the legible tombstones in the Sally Reed Graveyard; longevity would be thought common among those early settlers. Life during that period was cruel, with only the strong surviving the hardships. Infant mortality was unbelievably high. Those who survived past childhood, often lived past their thre score years and ten. Bearing this out is the tombstone of Mrs Isabela Stirratt Telford, which showed that she was several months past 80 years of age when she died. William Telford's headstone relates that he was born in 1801 and was "80 years, 1 month and 12 da'ys" when he succumbed. A Mrs. Sarah Harkins born in 1789 is listed on her tombstone as being of "74 years, 6 mons., and 26 d'ys." Joseph Brown previously referred to in this article, was 84 years of age at the time of his death. According to Carl Ragsdale, his father, who died in 1904 at the age of 36, assisted with the last burial to be held in the Sally Reed Graveyard. Mr. Ragsdale remembers his mother often recounting the event during his childhood. It was a bitterly cold evening with a heavy snow covering the ground. His father had been asked to lead his wagon and "matched" horses to haul the coffin. When he returned to the house "his feet were os frozen that they had to be immersed in cold water before they began to thaw." Since that day, the graveyard became a thing of the past, visited occasionally by decendant's of those buried there, or by people interested in old legends. However, the Sally Reed Graveyard bears a mute testimonial to the courage and preseverance of the early settlers who colonized the region. END OF ARTICLE THERE WAS SEVERAL PICTURES ALONG WITH THIS ARTICLE, BUT DUE TO THE CONDITION OF THE MICROFILM I COULD NOT GET CLEAR COPIES OF THEM. ONE OF THE PICTURES WAS OF CHARLES HORTON OF BELTON WITH THE BROKEN TOMBSTONE OF JOSEPH BROWN, ONE OF HIS ANCESTORS. THE INSCRIPTION STATES JOSEPH BROWN WAS BORN JANUARY 1731, DIED OCT. 15 1815. THERE WAS ALSO A PICTURE OF THE MARKERS OF ROBERT AND ISABELLA TELFORD, AND JOHN HARKINS b.1787 d.1875. THE TELFORD'S LISTED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE MY ANCESTORS. WILLIAM IS MY GGG GRANDFATHER. ROBERT AND ISABELLA ARE HIS PARENTS. I HAVE GATHERED SOME NAMES OF THOSE BURIED IN THIS CEMETERY. THIS INFORMATION COMES FROM DIFFERENT RESOURCES INCLUDING CEMETERY BOOK LISTINGS, AND FAMILY WEB SITES. BROWN TELFORD, Artimesia, b.11/16/1791 BROWN, James, b.11/26/1763 d.1/18/1830 BROWN, James, b. jan-1731, d. 5-oct-1815 BROWN, Joseph, b.1/1731(IRELAND) d.10/5/1815 BURDINE, Nancy, b.1770 d.2/10/1849 HAWKINS, James HARKINS, John, b.5/7/1787 d.9/27/1875 HARKINS, Sarah, b.3/7/1785, d. 2-oct-1859 HARRIS, John M., b.6/27/1833 d.1/29/1859 JEFFERSON, Samuel, b.12/8/1850, a. 11m-24d, f. lewis jefferson PORTER BROWN, Mary, b.7/26/1737(IRELAND) d.2/12/1824 STANTON TELFORD, Maliza, b.1814 STARRET, James, b. 16-may-1789, d. 26-dec-1857 STIRRART TELFORD, Isabella, b.12/27/1767 d.2/13/1847, Isabella Starret? TELFORD, James, b.5/16/1789 d.12/26/1857 TELFORD, Robert, b.4/28/1762, d. 28-apr-1762? TELFORD, William, b.12/1/1801 d.2/13/1882 THIS IS ONLY 14 NAMES OF APROX 150 PEOPLE BURIED THERE IF YOU KNOW OF ANYMORE NAMES SEND THEM TO ME AND I WILL ADD THEM. I HAVE ALSO FOUND ANOTHER STORY ABOUT THE MASSACRE. IT WAS POSTED AS PART OF A WEB PAGE BY STEVE BROYLES. IT IS AS FOLLOWS. "About 14 miles from the city of Anderson in the neighborhood of old Calhoun, occurred in the early days a brutal Indian massacre of a white family.... the Indians, instigated by a notorious Tory of the locality, whose name was Vaughn, surprised the family and killed all of them except one small Negro boy who escaped in the dark and climbed a tree in the adjacent swamp, clasping to his breast a pet dog.... The story of the boy has been handed down, and it was said that the Indians, knowing how many were in the family, missed the lad and spent several hours looking for him. The poor little fellow told when next day he reached Long Cane that sometimes the savages stopped under the very tree he had climbed, and that his little dog would bristle up as though he intended to growl, but never did, just cowered in the boy's arms in silence. "Mr. O.E. Horton, of Atlanta, tells the story as he heard it from his grandfather, Major Aaron Broyles, who knew the people, and lived as near them as any one did. He calls the people Kemp,... says there were five in the family, and that the story of the little Negro and his dog is true. The house was burned, the bodies mutilated and left lying where they fell. The sorrowing neighbors took them up and buried them just back of where the house stood. There a neighborhood graveyard afterwards grew up." by Steve Broyles ---------- "In the old Sally Reed burying ground near Calhoun, lie the unfortunate Kemp family. The most pretentious graves in that cemetery are those of the Harkness family. One tall handsome shaft on a substantial pedestal has fallen flat, the pedestal is turned over, and the shaft is half buried in the earth. The sinking of the grave caused the overthrow. There are several other graves inside the rock fence which enclosed that family plot, most of the stones are badly broken and defaced. It is told that one of the graves was broken open by a sacrilegious hunter who was chasing an opossum. There are several Telford graves in very good condition. About one hundred and fifty graves have been counted in the cemetery, locating them either by the depressions, or by the rough pieces of rock which marked so many early resting places of Anderson County dead. A stream runs through the cemetery, and on one side of it is a great mysterious looking cave. The whole place is wild and overgrown, a forgotten spot, and all who sleep there are forgotten too." History of Anderson County by Louise Ayer Vandiver