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Travelers Rest, South Carolina, was once two towns, Travelers Rest and Athens. Both had mayors, police and jails. Only Travelers Rest had a post office and survived to absorb Athens.
The Travelers Rest Post Office was established in October of 1808, the date used for establishment of the town. A series of events have been planned to celebrate the Bicentennial of Travelers Rest. This was the first of those programs and was billed as Hometown History and Heroes.
The Travelers Rest Library meeting room was filled to capacity and overflowing Saturday afternoon when former Travelers Rest Mayor Mann Batson and Dr. Stanley Coleman, MD began to speak about the history and early settlers of the town that had been home for several generations of their ancestors.
Batson and Coleman, well known to all except a few newcomers, were introduced by Dr. Judith Bainbridge of Furman University.
Cherokee Indians were the first residents of what has become known as Travelers Rest. The Indians began evacuating the areas following the signing of the Treaty of Dewitts Corner in 1777.Batson reported that most of the Indians left the area during the 1780s. The area was opened up to land grants in 1784. The area became part of Greenville County, March 22, 1786.
Prior to the War for Southern Independence, occupation by Union troops and Reconstruction, the political subdivisions within Greenville District (County) were those of “militia regiments.” Citizens of the newly formed republic were afraid of standing armies due to their problems with the British and, therefore, had a militia rather than an army. The Greenville District had two militia regiments, the 17th or “Upper Regiment” and the 15th or “Lower Regiment.” Each regiment was divided into two battalions and each battalion was divided into four beat companies. All of the subdivisions had boundaries. The Saluda Battalion was to the west of Travelers Rest and the Tyger Battalion was to the east. They were named for the rivers. The militia musters were a large part of the social functions in the community.
The Reconstruction government replaced the militia districts with subdivisions called “townships.”
A US Post Office was established with Thomas Edwards as postmaster in 1808 and he apparently chose the name Travelers Rest, because it was a favorite spot for travelers to rest a while before heading up the long climb through the mountains to Hendersonville or Asheville and also for travelers coming down the mountain headed for Greenville, Abbeville or Charleston.
Batson is quite a storyteller and the author of several volumes of local history, including the 634 page: A History of the Upper Part of Greenville County, South Carolina.
Mann Batson has studied the life of Capt. Edwards, a colorful historical figure who fired the first shot in the Revolutionary War Battle of Camden, served as a judge in the Washington District and was a member of the South Carolina General Assembly, in addition to being the first Travelers Rest Postmaster. Batson knows so much about Judge Edwards that he feels like he knew the man who lived two centuries ago.
One day an acquaintance of Judge Edwards rose to speak on the House floor, Batson recalled. The House member said: “I can’t tell you all I know, but Judge Edwards can tell you all he knows and more.”
With regard to local “heroes”, Batson talked about Dicey Langston Springfield, the Revolutionary War heroine, who moved from Laurens County to the Travelers Rest community and is buried just east of the town in a family cemetery, and a monument in her honor is located in the same area.
Dr. Stanley Coleman, whose father and uncle operated a hospital in Travelers Rest for many years, talked about the practice of medicine in the early days of Travelers Rest when most babies were delivered by midwives and blacksmiths pulled teeth.
The early doctors in the area were frequently paid with hams or chickens, because local farmers had very little money.
Dr. Coleman said the men in his family don’t get married early in life. And they don’t go far from home. If they do, they come back. His father was born in 1906, his grandfather was born in 1852, his great grandfather was born in 1819 and served in the 16th Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers during the War for Southern Independence and his great, great grandfather served in the military during the War of 1812.
His father told him that, “You don’t need a doctor at all or you need the best one you can find.”
Illness was treated with herbs in the early days and some doctors were educated through correspondence courses.
Sandy Flat was a community where a lot of doctors resided. Apparently it was a place where some successful farmers lived who had money to pay doctors.
Dr. Benjamin Few lived in Sandy Flat and had a number of successful children, including one who became the president of Duke.
The next program in the Bicentennial series will be held at the same location March 8th, 2008 at 2:30 and will feature Judge Sam Stilwell and Gregg Coleman, both successful members of longtime Travelers Rest families.
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