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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
833 02263 6333
Gc 929.2 B46495S
Sellers , W . W . 1818-1 902 .
The Bethea family of Marion
County 7 South Carolina
V.
The BETHEA Family
of
Marion County,
South Carolina
A HISTORY
OF
MARION COUNTY,
SOUTH CAROLINA,
From Its Earliest Times to the Present, J 90 1.
By W. W. SELLERS, Esq.,
of the Marton Bar.
COLCMBtA. S. C.
The R. L, Bryan Company.
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 395
Bethea. — The Ikthea family will next be noticed. This
very large and extensive family, both in name and in its vast
network of connections, all sprang from one common stock,
John Bethea, who emigrated from England to Virginia, at what
precise time is not known, but supposed to be in the latter part
of the seventeenth or early part of the eighteenth century.
The name was originally spelled Berthier, and is supposed to
be of French origin. The writer has been furnished, by Philip
Y. Bethea, of Marion, with a family tree, and chart of the fam-
ily from old "English John" up to date — at least, so far as
Marion County is concerned, and I suppose generally, so far
as can be ascertained. This chart only gives the names of
males, no females — for the reason that they generally lost their
identity by marriage: yet Che females transmit the blood just
as much as the males do — whence the writer will hereinafter
notice the females as well as the males, in everv instance where
896 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
they are known. Old "English John" had two sons, John and
Tristram. John settled in Nansemond County, Virginia, and
Tristram settled on Cape Fear River, in North Carolina, as is
supposed, in the early part of the eighteenth century. John,
the second, had two sons, John, third, and William. John,
third, emigrated to South Carolina, about the middle of the
eighteenth century, or a little later, and settled on Buck Swamp,
about two miles above the present town of Latta. His brother,
William, about the same time, came to South Carolina (or they
may have come together), and settled on Sweat Swamp, three
or four miles above Harlleesville. These were the progenitors
of all the Betheas and their numerous connections in Marion
County, and, I suppose, throughout the Western States. Here-
inafter these two families will be referred to as the "Buck
Swamp family or set," and the "Sweat Swamp family or set."
The wife of "Buck Swamp John" was Absala Parker, hence
their youngest son was named "Parker." "Buck Swamp
John" settled on the plantation now owned by one of his de-
scendants, John C. Bethea, of Dillon ; he was a prosperous
man — took up and owned at the time of his death, in 182 1, six
or eight thousand acres of land around him and in near by
parts, the most of which is now owned by some one or another
of his descendants ; he farmed and raised stock, drove it to
Charleston ; had and raised large orchards, raised fruit ; made
cider and brandy, and sold it, in his day, without let or hin-
drance; he accumulated a large estate for his day and time,
which he gave almost entirely to his five sons, William, James,
Philip, Elisha and Parker — giving nothing, comparatively, to
his four daughters, Sallie, Pattie, Mollie and Absala (I think,
was the name of the latter). Sallie married Levi Odom, of
Revolutionary fame ; two of them, Absala and Mollie, married
a Mr. Owens; and Pattie married another Mr. Owens. None
of them except Pattie have descendants in this State — as Sallie
and Absala died childless, and Mollie and her Mr. Owens emi-
grated to Natchez, Miss. The five sons all settled, lived and
died in Mafion County. William, the eldest, married, first, a
Miss Crawford; had one child, a son, John C. Bethea; his
second wife was Mary (Polly) Sheckelford ; the fruits of the
marriage were five sons, Levi, Willam S., Frank, George J.
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 397
and Evander S. Bethea; the daughters were Rebecca, Absala,
Mary, Catharine and Sarah Ann. Levi married Miss Mary
Ann Bethea, a daughter of John Bethea, of the "Sweat Swamp
set," and had two sons, Henry L. (who died in youth), and
George, and four daug"hters, Sophia, Hannah Jane, Louisa and
Charlotte. Of these, Sophia married WiUiam H. Smith, on
Buck Swamp, and had and raised sons, Samuel O. Smith,
Wm. B., Henry E. K. and John B. Smith, and two daughters,
the wife of B. S. Ellis (first cousins), and Hamilton Edwards'
wife. Hannah Jane Bethea married John C. Bass, and died
childless. Louisa Bethea married James F. Galloway, and has
a family of two sons, Henry and James, and four daughters,
Sallie, Rebecca, Mary and Rachel. Charlotte Bethea married
John E. Henry, who lives on the old William Bethea home-
stead, and has already been noticed in or among the Henry
family. George Bethea, son of Levi, married a Miss Camp-
bell, daughter of the late Edward Campbell, and has five sons,
Edwin, Henry, Gary, Robert and Chalmers. Think Edwin
lately married a Miss Smith, daughter of Marcus L. Smith.
William S. Bethea, second son of William Bethea by his Sheck-
elford wife, married Miss Sarah Ann DeBerry, of Marl-
borough ; by her be had two children, a daughter, Missouri,
and a son, William Henry. Missouri became the first wife of
John H. Hamer ; she died, leaving one child, a son, Missouri
Robert Hamer, who has already been noticed in or among the
Hamer family. The son, William Henry Bethea, married,
first, a Miss Wilson, of Wilmington, N. C, and by her he had
two daughters, Adaline and Ella, both single, and two sons,
Wilson and Henry (twins) ; Henry died in 1899; Wilson sur-
vives, and is unmarried. William Henry's first wife died, and
he married, a second time. Miss Ellie Sherwood ; she has one
son, Evander S., a boy nearly grown. William Henry Bethea
died in 1891 or 1892, a felo de se. Frank Bethea married, late
in life. Miss Rebecca Manning, daughter of Woodward Man-
ning; had one child, a son; father and son (an infant) both
died the same year ; the widow, Rebecca, married twice after
that, and has already been mentioned among the Manning fam-
ily. George J. Bethea married Miss Irena Page, daughter of
Captain William Page ; they had and raised two sons, William
398 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
A. and John D., and several daughters, Amanda, Ellen, Mary,
Kittle and Belle. William A. married a Miss Floyd and
moved to North Carolina. John D. married Miss Sallie Man-
ning, daughter of Woodward Manning. Of the daughters,
Amanda married William B. Ellen ; Kittie married Joseph Wat-
son, her first cousin ; don't know who the others married.
William A. has a son, named Jasper, and John D. has a son,
named Herbert. Evander S. Bethea, the youngest son of old
Buck Swamp William, never married. The oldest son of Buck
Swamp William, by his Crawford wife, was named John C,
born in 1798, and died January, 1863; married, first, a Widow
Irby, whose maiden name was Allison ; she had one child, a
daughter, Elizabeth, when he married her, who grew up and
married Henry Rogers, of Marlborough ; they raised a large
family of sons and daughters, and among the daughters is Hen-
rietta, who is now the widow of the late Governor W. H. El-
lerbe ; by 'his marriage with the Widow Irby, he had and raised
one son, Edwin Allison, when she died ; and he afterwards
married Sarah Ann Davis, and by her had and raised one son,
John C, now of Dillon. Edwin A. married Ann Eliza God-
bold, youngest daughter of Asa Godbold, Sr. ; they live at
Latta, and have a family of several sons and daughters; the
sons are Asa, John C, Edwin and Reed Walker, and several
daughters. One daughter married to W. C. McMillan, and is
in Columbia, S. C. Asa has gone West; others all here.
John C. Bethea, of Dillon, married Miss Hettie Bethea, daugh-
ter of W. W. Bethea, of Mississippi, and of the "Sweat Swamp
family ;" they have two sons. Horace and John C, and five
daughters, all small. Of the sons of Buck Swamp William,
there was one noticeable peculiarity — they all, except old John
C, drank liquor excessively, and when intoxicated or drinking
were perfectly quiet and harmless — much more so than when
sober, except, p>erhaps, Evander S. ; they were all capital men,
energetic and progressive citizens. Of the daughters of old
William Bethea (Buck Swamp), Rebecca married Colin Mc-
Lellan, who has already been noticed in or among the McLel-
lans. Absala married Hugh Campbell, already mentioned in
or among the Campbells. Mary married William W. Bethea,
of the "Sweat Swamp set," who will be noticed further on.
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Catharine married Averitt N. Nance, of North Carolina, and
raised one son, Daniel, and several daughters. Sarah Ann
married a Mr. Folk, of North Carolina, and raised a family of
two sons and two daughters, names unknown. All the sons
and daugthters of Buck Swamp William are dead ; he himself
died 13th June, 1840. James Bethea, the second son of old
"Buck Swamp John," married Miss Margaret Cockrane, a
daughter of Thomas Cockrane, of Marlborough County, and
settled in the fork of Big and Little Reedy Creeks ; they had
and raised to be grown twelve children, five sons and seven
daughters; the sons were Thomas C, Samuel J., John R.,
David and Claudius ; the daughters were Nancy, Deborah,
Sallie, Rachel, Lucinda, Lucretia and Jane. Thomas C. mar-
ried Miss Miranza Rogers, a daughter of old Timothy Rogers,
and emigrated to Mississippi. Samuel J. married Miss Mary
Rogers, another daughter of old Timothy Rogers ; he was a
local Methodist preacher for more than forty years, a man of
high character and a most excellent citizen; he died in 1877;
he married, a second time. Miss Elizabeth Bass, daughter of
old man Joseph R. Bass; by. his first marriage he had and
raised to be grown eleven children — sons, James, Andrew J.
and David N. ; daughters, Sarah, Margaret, Harriet, Flora J.,
Louisa, Lucinda, Charlotte and Cattie; and by his last wife,
one son, Samuel J., Jr. Of the sons, James died unmarried,
just on arriving at manhood. Andrew J. was a practicing
physician, and married Anna Maria Allen, daughter of Rev.
Joel Allen, settled in the "Free State" section, and died in
1881, leaving his widow and five children — all now grown —
three sons, Herbert, Percy and Andrew, and two daughters,
Mrs. Rev. Pearce Kilgo, who has five children, and Mrs. Wil-
liam T. Bethea, who has three children, sons, James Earle,
William Thaddeus, Jr., and Philip Osborne. The next son of
Rev. S. J. Bethea, David N., who died last week, married, first,
Anna J. Sellers, daughter of the writer, and settled in the "Free
State" section ; they had eight (Children, three of whom are
dead, also the mother; of the eight, five were sons and three
daughters; the sons were William T., Samuel Stoll, David A.,
Swinton Legare and Andrew Pearce ; the daughters were
Cattie May, Lillian and Anna Laval. Of these, Samuel Stoll,
400 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
David A. and Cattie May are dead — died before majority.
William Thaddeus married his cousin, Georgia Bethea, as
above stated and children as above stated ; he is railroad agent
at Dillon and has been for more than ten years, and Mayor of
the town for three years. By the second marriage of Rev. S.
J. Bethea, he had one son, Samuel J., Jr., who is and has been
for ten years or more a traveling Methodist preacher in the
South Carolina Conference; he married Miss Nannie Bethea,
of the '"Sweat Swamp" family, and have only one Child, a son,
Samuel J., Jr. Of the daughters of Rev. S. J. Bethea, three,
Lucinda, Cattie and Charlotte, all grown young ladies, died
unmarried. Sarah married James Moore, of Marlborough
County ; they had only one child, a son, James B. Moore, of
Latta ; the father died when James B. was an infant ; the widow
never married again, and died a few years ago. The son,
James B. Moore, married Miss Mollie Godbold, daughter of
Asa Godbold, Jr. ; they have three children living, two sons,
Clancy and LaCoste, and a daughter, Lorena (small). Mar-
garet, the next daughter of Rev. S. J. Bethea, married John
W. Tart ; they had and raised three sons, James, John and An-
drew ; the father and mother are both dead. James went to
Savannah, married a Miss Fuller, of Waycross, Ga., and when
last heard of was said to be doing well. John married a Miss
Bethea, daughter of Elisha Bethea, Jr., of Latta; they have
some family, how many and of what sex is not known. An-
drew Tart married a Miss Hays, daughter of Hamilton R.
Hays, and lives near Kirby's Cross Roads ; suppose they have
some family, how many and of what sex is unknown. Of the
daughters of John W. Tart and wife, two or three of them died
unmarried, after maturity. One married Samuel O. Smith, of
Buck Swamp ; they have a large family. Their oldest, a son,
Stephen Lane Smith, lives at Latta, and lately married a Miss
Edwards, a daughter of Austin Edwards. Another daughter
married C. C. Gaillard, and has three children — a daughter,
Maggie, and a son, Luther, and another name unknown ; they
now live at Dillon; their children are grown. Another
daughter married James Johnson, a nephew of Chancellor W.
D. Johnson, called "Black Jim," to distinguish him from J. W.
Johnson, Esq., another nephew and son-in-law of the Chancel-
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 401
lor ; they live at Fair Bluff, N. C. ; they have some children,
how many and of what sex is unknown. Another and young-
est daughter of John W. Tart and his wife, Margaret, married
Solon Lewis, of Latta ; she died some months ago, and left two
children, a daughter and a son, I think. The next daughter
of Rev. S. J. Bethea, Harriet, and the only survivor of his
eleven first children, has never married, and is sixty-one or two
years old. Flora, the next daughter, married the late Stephen
D. Lane ; both are dead, and died childless. Louisa, the next
daughter, married Newton Owens, of North Carolina; they
moved to Texas several years ago ; she is dead, leaving several
children, sons and daughters — perhaps, all grown. John R.
Bethea, the third son of old James Bethea, married Miss Har-
riet Bass, daughter of old Joseph R. Bass. I think this family
has been already noticed in or among the Bass family. The
fourth son of old James Bethea, David, died a young man,
unmarried, in 1843. Claudius Bethea, the fifth and youngest
son of old James Bethea, married, late in life. Miss Mary Ann
Miles, daughter of Charles Miles, of the "Free State" section;
he and his wife are both dead, childless. Of the daughters of
old James Bethea, the eldest, Nancy, married Salathel Moody,
an older brother of old Barfield Moody ; they had several chil-
dren, sons and daughters, some grown, when they broke up
and moved West. Deborah, the second daughter, married
James Spears, a very successful man in Marlborough ; they had
and raised a large family — ^two sons, Andrew J. and Edwin A.,
and six or seven daughters ; they have descendants, grand-sons,
in Marion County now, in the persons of Dr. J. H. David and
Frank B. David,* enterprising, progressive men, with their
families. They have many descendants in Marlborough
County. The two sons, Andrew J. and Edwin A., died child-
less ; Edwin married. Lucinda, the fifth daugtiter of old James
Bethea, married Colonel Wilie Bridges, of Marlborough, and
emigrated West. Sallie, the third daughter, married Willis
Crawford, from whom sprang several sons and two daughters;
the sons were James, Hardy, Thomas C, Willis, William and
Gibson G. Crawford, now of Latta ; the daughters were Rhoda
and Margaret. Of the sons, James died when about grown,
♦Frank B. David died recently.
402 A HISTORY Of MARION COUNTY.
unmarried. Hardy married a Miss Piatt, and went West.
Thomas C. married twice, is well known in the county ; mar-
ried, the last time, a Miss McPherson, in West Marion, and has
resided there for more than thirty years ; his wife died a short
time ago, childless ; he is a most excellent man and a good citi-
zen.* Willis Crawford was a physician; married a lady in
Charleston, and was soon after accidentally killed in a fox
drive by his own gun — verifying the adage, "That more people
are killed or hurt at play than at work." William died, a sin-
gle man, after having gone through the war and came out un-
hurt. G. G. Crawford married Miss Kate Bethea, daughter of
Colonel James R. Bethea ; they had and raised two sons, James
C. and Samuel B., and two daughters, Jessie and Mary; his
wife is dead ; he has not remarried. James G. has lately mar-
ried a Miss Evans, of Society Hill. Jessie married, two or
three years ago, William Ellis Bethea ; no offspring. Samuel
B. and Mary are yet single. The oldest daughter of Willis and
Sallie Crawford, Rhoda, married Henry Easterling, and has
already been noticed among the Easterlings. Margaret, the
youngest daughter, never married, and is dead. Rachel, the
fourth daughter of old James Bethea, married Enoch Meekins,
of Marlborougli ; he, however, settled and lived many years
near Harlleesville, and raised a considerable family of sons and
daughters, and finally moved to North Carolina, where he and
his wife both died; don't know enough about his children to
trace them. He had one son, Philip B., who married a Miss
Hays, daughter of John C. Hays ; they also moved to North
Carolina, and are lost sight of. One daughter married John R.
Carmichael ; he died, and left two sons, Alexander and McCoy,
and one daughter, Johny; the mother still lives. Another
daughter married James McGirt ; they went to North Carolina.
Lucretia, the sixth daughter, first married Aaron Meekins, of
Marlborough, brother of Enoch, w^o had married Rachel;
Aaron Meekins lived but a short time, and died childless; the
widow afterwards married Wesley Stackhouse, who has already
been noticed among the Stackhouse family. Jant , the young-
est daughter, married Tristram Easterling. who has already
been noticed in or am ong the Easterling family. Philip Be-
Thomas C. Crawford has recently died.
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 403
thea, the third son of old "Buck Swamp John," married, in
1801, Rachel Cochrane, daughter of old Thomas Cochrane, of
Marlborough, and sister of his brother James' wife. (As to
Thomas Cochrane — ^he was a Vermonter, ran away from his
parents in Vermont when a mere lad, and married a Miss Coun-
cil, and settled on Great Pee Dee, just above the mouth of
Crooked Creek ; raised a family ; married three times ; the two
Bethea's wives above mentioned were daughters of the first
wife, together with another daughter, Polly, who became the
wife of old John Hamer, and the progenitress of the large
family of that name in Marlborough and Marion, and a son,
named Robert ; he amassed a large property and lived to a
great age.) Philip Bethea settled on Catfish, where he lived
and died in 1865 ; they raised to be grown two sons, Elisha C.
and James R., and three daughters, Clarissa, Margaret and
Martha Ann. Of the sons, Elisha C. married Martha Ann
Walters, daughter of Jeremiah Walters, of upper Marion ;
Captain Elisha C. was a very successful man as a farmer and
well to do in life ; they had eleven sons and four daug'hters ; the
sons were Philip W., John J., Robert C, James A., Elisha,
Picket, Morgan, George, William W., Clarence and Julius N. ;
the daughters were Elizabeth Ann, Wilmina R., Augusta B.
and Alice. Of the sons of Elisha C, Philip W. married Miss
Anna Smith, a daughter of Rev. John L. Smith, of the "Fork"
section, and settled where he now lives ; his family has been
noted among the Lane family. The second son of Captain
Elisha C. Bethea is Dr. John J. Bethea, at Mullins ; has been
practicing medicine since 1852; he married, first, Miss Mary
Bethea, a daughter of Tristram Bethea, of Floral College, one
of the "Cape Fear set :" she had one child, a daughter, Emma,
who grew up and married Dr. William Harrel, who moved to
Georgia some years ago, and had when they left six daughters
and no son. Dr. John J. Bethea married, a second time. Miss
Jane Smith, a daughter of Rev. John L. Smith, and sister of his
Brother Philip's wife. Owing to some trouble growing out of
the war. Dr. John had to leave the county and State for fear of
the Federal garrison stationed at Marion in 1865 to 1868; he
went to Mississippi, and his family soon followed after him,
and he stayed in that State some fifteen or twenty years, when
404 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
he came back, and has been in this county ever since. His
family have been noticed in tracing the Lane family. Robert C.
Bethea, the third son of Captain Elisha C, married, some time
before the war, a Miss Legette, daughter of John C. Legette, of
West Marion ; before the war, he removed to Mississippi ; they
had some little family before leaving this county — know noth-
ing more of them ; he was also a physician, and in his adopted
home he became a local Methodist preacher. James A. Bethea,
the fourth son of Captain Elisha C, was a bright young man ;
volunteered in the early part of the war, was a Lieutenant or
rose to a Lieutenancy in Co. E, Twenty-third Regiment, S. C.
v., and remained in the war to the end, a gallant soldier. After
the war 'he went to Mississippi; and from there went to a law
school at Lebanon, Tenn. ; returned to Mississippi, was admit-
ted to the bar, but soon after took sick and died — a worthy and
promising young man ; he never married. Elisha Bethea, Jr.,
the fifth son of Captain Elisha C, married, on the 9th March,
1861 — the writer officiating at the nuptials — to Miss Sallie
Ellis, daughter of the Widow Ginsy Ellis. He also volun-
teered and went into the army, and remained in it till he was
disabled for field service, when he came home, and for some
time his friends supposed he would not survive the wounds,
but he did and lias been going on crutches ever since — the
wound being in his hip ; he yet lives, and is near Latta, an ener-
getic and successful man, a farmer. He had by his first wife
several sons and daughters. His oldest living son, William
Ellis, is now merchandising at Latta, and has been twice mar-
ried — first, a Georgia lady, who had three sons, Charles, Robert
and Dallas, and one daughter, Florence, and died ; he married,
a second time. Miss Jessie Crawford ; She has no children. Ar-
thur, his second son, has lately married a Miss Hays, of Hills-
boro Township, a daughter of William B. Hays ; he teaches
school. Morgan, his third son, is a young man, unmarried ; he
teaches school. Of his daughters by his first marriage, one,
Mattie, married John J. George, who died childless. Another,
Carrie, married John Tart; they have five children (small).
Another, Augusta, is unmarried. Another, Nellie, married
Tristram Hamilton ; she has two children, Bertha and Sallie
(small). Elisha Bethea, Jr., had another son, Benjamin, and
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 405
one named Elisha ; both died in youth. EHsha Bethea's first
wife, Sallie, died; he married again, her sister, Mary Ann,
who at the time of her marriage was the Widow Thomas ; by
this second marriage he has one son, named Power, who is now
in WofTord College, and a daughter, named Eva, and perhaps
others (small). Pickett Bethea, the sixth son of Captain
Elisha C, married Miss Carrie Honour, daughter of Rev. John
H. Honour, of Charleston, about the first of the war ; by this
marriage two sons were born. Walker and Pickett. Walker
died when a child. Pickett K. grew up and became a doctor,
and married a Miss Davis, of North Carolina, and has removed
to Socastee, in Horry County, and is there practicing medicine,
and is said to be doing well. His father, Pickett, volunteered
early in the war, and was a Lieutenant in Captain McKerall's
company, in 25th Regiment ; he was killed in one of the battles
in Virginia, in 1863. His widow married again to J. W. Saint-
clair, a school teacher ; they removed West ; she had several
children for him, and died. Morgan, the seventh son of Cap-
tain Elisha C, volunteered early in the war; he sickened and
died at home while on a furlough ; he was unmarried. George,
the eighth son, was killed, when about thirteen or fourteen
years of age, by what was called a "flying mare" — another veri-
fication of the adage "that more people are killed or hurt at play
than at work." William W. Bethea, the ninth son of Captain
Elisha C, now living in West Marion, married Miss Sallie
Morrison, a daughter of Rev. Mr. Morrison, a Presbyterian
minister, of Anson County, N. C, a very estimable and accom-
plished lady ; the fruits of this marriage are four sons, Morri-
son, Theodore, Oscar and James. Of these, Morrison is mar-
ried to a lady of Clinton (name unknown), and has two sons,
Curtis and Eugene ; there may be a daughter or two (all small).
William W. Bethea may have daughters, the writer does not
know. One of the sons, Theodore (I believe) is a graduate of
the Citadel Academy of Charleston — said to have graduated
with distinction. Clarence, the tenth son of Captain Elisha C,
died when a small boy. Julius N., the eleventh son of Captain
Elisha C, married, first. Miss Anna Shrewsberry, daughter of
the late Edward C. Shrewsberry, of the "Free State" section.
An incident of their marriage may be here related : They were
406 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
married at a school house near by her father's, in the woods on
a road not much frequented, by the Rev. Joel Allen, on Christ-
mas day, in 1871 ; he gave them a certificate of their marriage
Only one person was present at the nuptials besides themselves
and the officiating clergyman ; and at their special instance and
request, the marriage was to be kept secret until the 19th day
of April following, it being Julius' birth-day and the day of his
arrival at the age of twenty-one years. Julius carried his wife
back to her home, half a mile away, and left her there ; he went
to his father's, and said nothing until the apf)ointed time, 19th
April, 1872, when he told his father and mother about it, and
went to her father's, and their marriage was satisfactorily es-
tablished to her parents, and he took her and carried her to his
father's. A sufficient reason, satisfactory to them, may have
existed for their marriage and subsequent secrecy, but it does
not accord with the writer's views of propriety, nor with the
conduct of 999 out of 1,000. His bride was a very intellectual
and well cultivated lady — far more so than many in that re-
gion ; the fruits of the marriage were three sons, Herbert,
Ernest and Adger, and one or two daughters, one named Mat-
tie May — suppose they are all grown. Anna, his first wife,
died, and he married, a second time. Miss Carrie Sessions,
daughter of John D. Sessions, of Marion ; they reside now at
Mullins; children of the last marriage, if any, are small —
names, number and sex unknown. Of the daughters of Cap-
tain Elisha C. Bethea, the eldest, Elizabeth Ann, married John
B. Bethea, of the "Sweat Swamp" family; her mother was a
half Bethea of the same set ; he had previously gone to Missis-
sippi, and came back to her home in Marion County and mar-
ried ; the bridal trip was to be to Mississippi. She had some
negroes, which her father had given h^r, and they with their
little baggage were taken along for the trip. This was before
the war, about 1856. When the bridal party arrived at Marion
to take the train, the groom put the bride on board, and stepped
back to see to getting on the negroes — a woman and some chil-
dren, and whilst thus engaged the train pulled ofif and left him ;
of course, he ran after it and tried to stop it, but failed in his
almost frantic efforts. His bride went on to Florence (then a
small village) and stopped over for the night; the groom spent
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 407
the night in Marion and went over the next day and joined his
wife. I will leave the reader to imagine whether there was
intense disappointment or not, and whether there was any curs-
ing done by the groom. The bridal party went to Mississippi
and settled there — I think, in Smith County. John B. was a
very energetic and persevering man, a farmer ; he went into the
war, and in 1863, he died of disease, and left his wife and four
sons, Augustus B., William, Sumter and John — the latter bom
after his father's death, all then small. After John B.'s death,
Captain Elisha C. went out to Mississippi and brought the
widow and her children to this county. The widow settled on
a place given her by her father, and went to work to raise and
educate her sons ; in this she succeeded well. She was no ordi-
nary woman ; well educated herself and of fine literary taste,
and to this added her fine business qualifications and her suc-
cess, placed 'her in the front rank among women. Much more
might be said to her credit, but space will not permit a further
extended notice. Her sons grew up and one by one they went
to Birmingham, Ala., and she finally followed and, I think, yet
lives. The second daughter of Captain Elisha C, Wilmina
Rachel, has never married, and is now in the sixtieth year of
her age. The third daughter, Augusta B., married A. E. Gil-
christ, of Mullins, and has already been noticed herein among
the Gilchrist family. Alice, the fourth and youngest daughter
of Captain Elisha C, married D. Asbury Smith, who has
already been noticed among the Lane family. She, too, has
gone to Birmingham, Ala., where three of her four sons reside.
According to the chart of the Bethea family in all its
branches, including the Nansemond County, Va., Betheas, the
Cape Fear, N. C, Betheas, the "Buck Swamp set," and the
"Sweat Swamp set," Captain Elisha C. Bethea "takes the cake"
for having and raising the greatest number of sons, eleven ;
while Dr. J. F. Bethea stands next, with eight. Not much dan-
ger of extinction. Colonel James R. Bethea, the second and
youngest son of old man Philip Bethea, who has been men-
tioned in several places herein before in connection with other
matters, married, rather late in life (thirty-four or thirty-five
years old), to Miss Mary McLeod, of Marlborough, one of the
best and most devotedly pious women I ever met; and should
27
408 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
any of her children turn out badly in the future, it cannot be
charged to any fault in the mother's training, either by precept
or example; they had and raised (Jessie, the oldest, was near
grown when he died) six sons and three daughters; the sons
were Jessie, James D., Philip Y., Elisha, D. McLeod and
Robert Lucien ; the daughters were Kate, Clara and M. Isa-
bella. Of the sons, Jessie died when about grown. James D.,
the second son, married Miss Flora Fore, daughter of the late
Stephen Fore ; she is dead. Of James D.'s family, mention has
already been made in or among the Fore family. Philip Y.,
the third son, now in Marion, a first class business man ; has
been County Auditor, and is now and has been for ten or more
years cashier of the Bank of Marion ; married Miss Florence
Johnson, of Charleston, a distant relative of his — his father and
Florence's grand-mother, Sallie Strobel, were first cousins ;
they have had six sons (one, Philip Y., dead), Eugene, Arthur,
Johnson, Stewart, Philip Y. and Markley, and three daugh-
ters, Eloise, Edith and Mary McLeod — none of whom are mar-
ried. Eugene, the eldest, is in the Philippines or China, in the
United States army, an officer, a promising young man, and
may rise to greater distinction. The other children are all at
home — Eloise and Arthur are grown. Philip Y. has a very
interesting family ; his wife is a superior woman, and well fitted
by education and early training to raise a family. Elisha, the
fourth son of Colonel J. R. Bethea, was quite a promising
young man, but the fates decreed that he should not live, and
he died when twenty-five or six years of age, unmarried. D.
McLeod Bethea, the fifth son of Colonel J. R. Bethea, a first
class man, an excellent and successful farmer, married Miss
Florence Fore, daughter of the late Stephen Fore, and who,
with his family, have already been mentioned herein in or
among the Fore family. Robert Lucien, the sixth son of
Colonel Bethea, has married twice; first, a Miss Shaw, of
Bishopville ; by her he had one child, a daughter, Leona, who
is now nearly grown. The first wife died, and he married, a
second time, to Miss Rosa Cames, of Bishopville,' and by her
has some three or four children ; names and sex unknown ; they
are yet children. Robert Lucien lives in Bishopville, and runs
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 409
a hotel.* Of the daughters of Colonel J. R. Bethea, the eldest,
Kate, married Gibson G. Crawford ; both of whom and their
family have already been noticed herein among the Betheas
above. The second daughter of Colonel Bethea, Clara, mar-
ried Holland Manning, who lives on her patrimony, and are
doing well — in fact, Clara is an extra smart and sensible
woman ; they have two children, daughters, both children, Mary
Belle and Hope. Holland Manning was a widower with five
children, three of whom are married ; he has a place of his own
in extreme upper Marion, which he rents. Colonel James R.
Bethea died in 1878, at sixty-nine years of age, and his widow,
Mary, some years afterward. The youngest daughter, Isa-
bella, or Belle, has never married ; she has a good farm, which
she rents ; she also teaches school, and when not thus engaged
she stays with her sister, Clara Manning.
Colonel James R. Bethea, when young, imbibed a military
spirit, and manifested a strong ambition to attain to high hon-
ors in the militia of the State. Starting as a private in his local
beat company (Cross Roads), he soon obtained a Lieutenancy;
and from that to the Captaincy of the company ; and from that
to Major of the upper battalion ; and by seniority soon became
Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment ; and from that by election
to the Colonelcy of the Thirty-second Regiment, which position
he held at the time of his marriage, in March, 1844, and con-
tinued to hold that position for three or four years afterward —
and in the meantime declined to be a candidate for Brigadier
General, to which place he could have been elected, perhaps,
without opposition. He was an efficient officer, and was popu-
lar as such. It was very expensive, and as he had a growing
family he wisely chose to abandon the further pursuit of mili-
tary honors (empty as they were), and devote his means to the
support and education of his fast-growing family. He re-
signed his commission as Colonel, and Elly (iodbold or John J.
George was elected in his place. They both were successive
Colonels, but do not remember which of the two were first
elected. Afterwards Colonel Bethea was elected as a Repre-
sentative from the district in the State Legislature (1848 to
1850)-
*He is now at Dillon in the same business.
410 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Of the daughters of PhiHp Bethea, a son of old "Buck
Swamp John," Clarissa, the eldest, never married, and died in
1861, at the age of fifty-eigtit. The second daughter, Marga-
ret, married Willis Finklea, called Arter Willis ; in a short while
Finklea moved to Alabama ; there they had several children,
five of whom were raised. Willis Finklea was a drinking man
and treated his wife badly, so much so that she could not stand
if, they separated, and her father, in 1841, went to Alabama,
Monroe County, in a wagon, and brought her and her five chil-
dren back to Marion County ; Finklea soon after died ; her chil-
dren were raised mainly by her father; there were two sons,
James C. and William ; the daughters were Lucinda, Sallie and
Margaret Agnes. James C. Finklea is now one of our fellow-
citizens, known as Captain Finklea, in Wahee Township, and,
in fact, all over the county. Captain Finklea volunteered in
Captain C. J. Fladger's Company E, 23d South Carolina Regi-
ment, in the Confederate War ; went off as a Sergeant in that
company. Captain Fladger in a few months resigned, and
Harris Covington, First Lieutenant, became Captain, the other
Lieutenants went up, and Captain Finklea was elected Third
Lieutenant, made vacant. Some time after Covington re-
signed, and the company was reorganized by orders from the
proper authorities, and Captain Finklea was elected Captain of
the company, and served gallantly until the latter part of 1864
— having fought through all the campaigns from Virginia to
Mississippi. At that time Captain Finklea was the senior Cap-
tain in the regiment, when by the casualties of war the Major's
office became vacant, and according to rules of promotion. Cap-
tain Finklea was entitled to the place ; but a Junior Captain was
promoted, by appointment, not by election, to the Majoralty
over him ; when Captain Finklea resigned and came home, and
did not return to the service. It was said he was a good and
brave Captain ; that his men all loved and resptected him, but
he was not popular with the higher officers, because he always
associated with his men and not with them. Captain Finklea
is known as a modest, retiring man ; not self-asserting. Had
the vacancy for Major been left to his company, he would have
gotten the vote of every man ; he sympathized with his men,
fared as they fared, and assumed no superiority over them on
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 411
account of his position. As an evidence of Captain Finklea's
popularity, when he was first elected County Commissioner, a
few years ago (he was twice elected), he received every vote at
Berry's Cross Roads, something over 200. He is a man of
good sense, a good and safe manager of his farm and home af-
fairs, unostentatious and unassuming, rather avoids company —
unfortunately, of late years, his habits are not good. After the
war he went, first, to Alabama and then to Texas, where he
married a Miss Kyle ; she had one child for him, a son, who
died in infancy, and the mother died ; he then came back to
South Carolina, and married the widow of Dr. William H. God-
bold, a most excellent and cultured woman ; by her he had one
son. named for his first wife, a very promising boy, but he died
at the age of four or five years. William Finklea, the young-
est brother, died when about grown. Lucinda, the oldest
daughter, married John T. Kinney, of Marlborough, and emi-
grated to Texas, where they raised a family ; both are dead, and
nothing is known further of them. Sallie, the second daugh-
ter, married Cyrus B. Haselden ; they had and raised five chil-
dren, two sons, John and Frank, and three daughters, Lucy,
Maggie and Fannie. Cyrus B. Haselden and wife, Sallie, and
family, have already been noticed in or among the Haseldens.
Margaret .A^gnes, the youngest daughter of Willis Finklea and
wife, Margaret, never married, and died of cancer on the breast,
at the age of forty, in March, 1882. A noble girl she was.
Martha .Ann Bethea, the third and youngest daughter of old
man Philip Bethea, married W. W. Sellers, the writer, loth
January, 1847, and died 2d February, 1893; they had seven
children, four sons, John C, William W., Benjamin Morgan
and Philip B. ; of these, Benjamin Morgan died a little under
two years of age; three daughters, Anna Jane, Rachel C.
and Mary O. Of the sons, John C. is a graduate of the South
Carolina College, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1870,
was elected to the Legislature in 1870, practiced law only one
vear, and retired on the farm where he now lives ; his first wife
was Miss Maggie E. Mace, daughter of the late John Mace ;
she had seven children, three sons, Benjamin B., John M. and
Wallace Duncan; of these, John M. died under one year old;
there were four daughters, Lucy B., Annie R., Maggie Leila
412 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
and Maggie Ellen (called Pearl). Benjamin B. Sellers is a
graduate of Wofford College; married Miss Norma Watson,
youngest daughter of the late William Watson ; they have two
children, Harry and Margaret Ellen ; he is fanning. Wallace
Duncan's education is not completed. Of the daughters, Lucy
B. is a graduate of the Columbia Female College ; she married
D. Maxcy Watson ; they have no children. Annie R. went to
the Female College for more than a year, but did not graduate ;
is unmarried. • Maggie Leila is near grown, is going to school.
Maggie E., called Pearl, was only three days old when her
mother died ; her Aunt Rachel Norton took her and has so far
raised her ; she is near thirteen years of age. W. W. Sellers,
Jr., married Miss Harriet J. McPherson, daughter of C. Ervin
McPherson, of West Marion; they have had seven or eight
children, only three of whom are living — two daughters, Rachel
Elise and Etta; the son is Marvin McSwain — none of them
grown. W. W. Sellers, Jr., is one of the Chiefs in the present
State Constabulary, and has been for several years ; he resides
at Latta. Philip B. Sellers is a graduate of WoflFord College ;
studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1884 (May) ; he
married Miss M. Sue DuBois, daughter of J. T. DuBois, of
Marion, in December, 1886; they have five children, three sons,
John DuBois, Philip Bruce and William Maynard, and two
daughters, Agnes Leona and Mildred Eugenia — all children,
none grown ; he resides at Dillon, and is actiVtely engaged in the
practice of his chosen profession, with apparent success. Of
the daughters of the writer and his wife, Anna Jane, the eldest
daughter married her cousin, D. N. Bethea; he and Anna Jane
and their family have been already noticed in the same connec-
tion, Betheas. The second daughter of W. W. Sellers and
wife married Hon. James Norton, of MuUins; they had but
two children, sons, Evan Lewis and William Fitzroy. Evan
Lewis, the eldest, died when four or five years of age. Wil-
liam Fitzroy grew up to manhood ; first went to WoflFord Col-
lege, and after two years spent there, he went to the law depart-
ment of the South Carolina College for two years, graduated
in law, and ipso facto became a lawyer — he does not practice,
however; he married Miss Florence Smith, daughter of B.
Cause Smith, at Mullins ; they reside at Mullins, and have no
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 418
children. Mary O. Sellers, youngest daughter of W. W. Sel-
lers, married Thomas N. Godbold, a son of Dr. W. H. God-
bold ; they have only three children living, Thomas Carroll,
Anna and Bessie. Thomas N. Godbold is in the railroad ser-
vice, on the "Plant System" between Charleston and Sav^annah.
This family has already been noticed in or among the Goldbold
family. Recurring back a few lines : John C. Sellers, after
living about ten years a widower, married, a second time, to
Miss Jaquiline Oliver, of North Carolina, 2d February, 1898 —
a most excellent woman ; they have had two children, boys, who
are both dead. Elisha Bethea, fourth sort of old "Buck Swamp
John," known as old Colonel Elisha, never married. It is said
of him that he was a very handsome man in his young days ; he
was born in 1787, and was Captain of a company in the war of
1812-14; he was better educated than any of his brothers — in
fact, better than most men of his day. His father left him a fine
property, his homestead and a large number of negroes ; few
men of that time had such a prospect. He was very popular
and had more natural politeness than any Bethea I ever saw.
But, alas ! the demon of intemperance ruined him ; he died poor
in 1854, at the age of sixty-seven years. After the war of
1812, he became Colonel of the militia. He was true to his
friends and true to his country. It seemed to be his delight to
make others pleasant, happy and comfortable even at the ex-
pense of his own (Convenience. This was the man after he
became poor, which proved it to be natural with him. His
bearing and appearance in poverty anu old age was that of a
nobleman, of a cavalier. Parker Bethea, the youngest son of
old "Buck Swamp John," was bom in 1790, and was given his
mother's maiden name, Parker ; he settled opposite the head of
Catfish, at the Cross Roads on the Marlborough line, twenty-
two miles above Marion, and died there, St. John the Evangel-
ist Day, 27th December, 1867; he married Elizabeth Harllee,
daughter of old Thomas Harllee ; they raised two sons, Harllee
and Benjamin Parker, and four or five daughters. Harllee
had one son, Reddin, and Benj. P. had one named Charles.
Harllee moved to Florida many years ago ; his wife was a Miss
Roberts — Benj. P.'s wife was a Miss Woolvin ; he moved just
after the war to Pender or Onslow County, N. C, thirty miles
414 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
on the coast above Wilmington. These families have already
been noticed in or among the Roberts family and the Harllee
family.
One more remark about these old Betheas, sons of "Buck
Swamp John." They all loved liquor and, except old Philip,
drank it to excess, till after middle life, when they tapered off,
and by the time of old age became perfectly abstemious, and
this was specially the case with William, James and Parker.
They were all good men and excellent citizens, and did much in
starting the development of the resources of the county. The
first gin house built in the county was built by old "Buck
Swamp John ;" it stood on what has ever since been called the
"Gin House Branch," near the Cross Roads, at John C. Be-
thea's plantation ; a good part of that gin house is still in use.
After the death of old "Buck Swamp John," in 1821, the plan-
tation fell to old Colonel Elisha, and he in his financial extremi-
ties years afterwards sold the gin house to Cross Roads Henry
Berry ; he pulled it down and hauled it to Berry's Cross Roads,
and it stands there now, the property of James Berry, between
his (James Berry's) dwelling and the storehouse. It has been
there, to the writer's knowledge, more than sixty years.
Of the grand-sons of old "English John," John settled on
Buck Swamp, as already stated, and William settled on Sweat
Swamp ; he married, and had four sons, John, Goodman, Philip
and Jessie. Of these, John, the man who, after the Revolution,
hung the Tory, Snowden, married, and he had and raised four
sons, William, Tristram, John and Cade — the latter, no doubt,
is remembered by many now living in upper Marion and else-
where in the county. Goodman Bethea married and had two
sons, Philip and Jessie. Philip, the brother of Goodman, never
married, or if he did, he had no children. Jessie, the fourth
S9n of old "Sweat Swamp William," had Hugh Goodman, Wil-
liam, Henry and Tristram. According to the Bethea chart
none of these latter five had any posterity. Supposed they
emigrated to parts unknown or died in youth. William, the
grand-son of "Sweat Swamp William," had seven sons, John,
Tristram, Philip, Jessie, William, Thomas C. and Cade. Of
these latter, John, William, Thomas C. and Cade had no off-
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 415
spring. Cade is in upper Marion now an old man.* Of the
other three, Tristram had one son, named William ; Philip had
four sons, Jessie, William, Tristram and Philip — these last four
seem to have had no offspring. Jessie, the great-grand-son of
old "Sweat Swamp William," had five sons, John, William,
Charles, Farquehard and Holden ; their mother was a Miss
Bethune; she had some daughters, one the wife (now dead) of
Patrick Finagan. By the Bethea chart now lying before me,
none of these five latter Betheas have any offspring, but the
writer knows to the contrary. John has twelve or thirteen
children, boys and girls. Holden married Miss Alice Rogers,
daughter of Jessie Rogers, and has some children. The Be-
thune wife of Jessie Bethea had a daughter other than Mrs.
Finagan, who was the wife of the late Edward C. Shrewsberry.
Tristram, the grand-son of old "Sweat Swamp William," mar-
ried and had one son, Philip, who was a lawyer, but did not
practice much here, and soon went to Alabama, and his father
soon after moved himself there ; father and son have been lost
sight of — suppose both are long since deaid. John, another
grand-son of "Sweat Swamp William," married Miss Hannah
Walker; by the marriage four sons, William W., Alfred W.,
David W. and John B., were had and raised, and five daugh-
ters, Sophia, Mary Ann, Chariotte, Sallie and Hannah. Of
the sons, William W. married, first, Mary Bethea, a grand-
daug*hter of "Buck Swamp John ;" they had three sons, John
F., Dallas and William ; don't know of any daughters by Wil-
liam W.'s first marriage ; he married, a second time. Miss Mary
Piatt, a daughter of old Daniel Piatt; by his (Piatt's) second
marriage with Polly Lane, a daughter of old James C. Lane,
who was a son of old Osborne Lane, I know of but two chil-
dren; by William W. Bethea's second marriage, two daugh-
ters— Hettie, the wife of John C. Bethea, of Dillon, who has
already been mentioned ; the other daughter married a Mr.
Floyd, a son of Judge Floyd, of Alabama or Mississippi. J.
F. Bethea (our Dr. Frank Bethea) married his first cousin,
Hannah Jane, daughter and only child of Dr. Alfred W. Be-
thea ; by this marriage eight sons, Alfred, Preston L., Tristram,
William, Frank, Charles, Archie and Victor, and, I think, three
•Died recently.
416 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
daughters, Flora and two others whose names are not known,
have been born. Alfred (I think) died about the time of his
majority. Preston L. married a Miss Weatherby, daughter of
Colon W. Weatherby, of Bennettsville, and resides at Dillon.
Tristram married a Miss McRae, daughter of Hon. James
McRae, of Albriton, in extreme upper Marion ; he resides at
Dillon. Frank married a Miss Smith, of Alabama or Georgia,
and is now a resident of one of those States. William recently
married a Miss McLeod, of Robeson County, N. C. The other
three sons are yet with their father. Dr. Frank, I suppose, not
grown. Of the daughters of Dr. J. F. Bethea, the eldest, Flora,
married Tristram Thompson; she was a most excellent lady,
loved and respected by all who knew her. The Doctor's two
other daughters are minors and still with him. Dr. J. F. Be-
thea is a successful man every way ; as a farmer, he is a man of
affairs, a turpentine and saw mill man, is merchandizing at Dil-
lon, he and his sons (don't know how many or which), under
the firm name of J. F. Bethea & Co. ; he has once represented
the county in the State Legislature. Dallas Bethea, brother of
Dr. J. F. Bethea, is in Mississippi ; he has three sons, William,
Preston and Franklin. Alfred W., another great-grand-son of
"Sweat Swamp William," married Flora Bethea, a daughter of
Tristram Bethea, of Floral College, who was one of the "Cape
Fear set," and by her had only one child, a daughter, Hannah
Jane, who married Dr. J. F. Bethea, with the results above
stated. Dr. Alfred W. Bethea was no ordinary man ; he was
eminent as a physician, a good farmer, a well-informed man
and of sound practical sense and judgment ; he was a member
of the Secession Convention of i860; he was waylaid, shot and
killed by the deserters in the last months of the war, much re-
gretted by all who knew him ; he lived where Dr. J. F. Bethea
now lives ; the widow, who survived him, is now dead. David
W. Bethea, another g^eat-grand-son of "Sweat Swamp Wil-
liam," married, first. Miss Sarah Jane Manning, daughter of
Mealy Manning, of Marlborough ; by her he had two sons, Le-
Roy and David W., they are both married. LeRoy has two
sons, Henry and Leon — ^these have already been mentioned in
or among the Mannings and Easterlings, to which reference is
made. David W., Jr., has lately married, I think, a Miss
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 417
Townsend, of North Carolina ; gives promise of becoming a
useful man — is already so ; if like his mother he cannot be
otherwise, as she was one of the best of women. D. W. Be-
thea, Sr., represented the county one time in the Legislature,
1 860- 1 862 ; he was a good citizen ; he married, a second time, a
Miss Brunson, of Darlington, who yet survives; no offspring.
John B. Bethea (the youngest), another great-grand-son of
"Sweat Swamp William," married Elizabeth A. Bethea, a
daughter of Captain Elisha C, of the "Buck Swamp set ;" they
had four sons, as already mentioned among the "Buck Swamp
set," to which reference is made. Of the daughters of John
Bethea, the grand-son of "Sweat Swamp William," as given
herein above, Sophia, the eldest, married Robert B. Piatt, and
in a few weeks or months after her marriage she was acciden-
tally burned to death, and, of course, died childless. Mary
Ann, the second daughter, married Levi Bethea, of the "Buck
Swamp set," and has already been herein noticed in the "Buck
Swamp set," to which reference is made. Charlotte and Sallie,
the third and fourth daughters, 'both married the same even-
ing — Charlotte to Zack Fulmore and Sallie to Dr. John K.
Alford, both of North Carolina, where they thereafter lived
and died ; know but little of the family of either. Hannah, the
fifth and youngest daughter, married Alexander Fulmore, of
North Carolina; they moved to Alabama; know nothing of
them. Cade Bethea, the youngest grand-son of old "William
of Sweat Swamp," through his son, Jolhn, married Kittie Be-
thea, a sister of "Floral College Tristram," and a great-grand-
daughter of Tristram, the son of "English Jdhn," who settled
on Cap>e Fear River, N. C. — her father being Jessee and her
grand-father was Jessee, whose father was Tristram, the settler
on Cape Fear, whose father was old "English John." This I
get from the chart now lying before me. Cade Bethea and
Kittie had and raised five sons and three daughters ; the sons
were John W., Evander R., William C, Calvin and Henry ; the
daughters were Caroline, Harriet and Mary Ann. Cade Be-
thea settled on Sweat Swamp, north side, just opposite the
mouth of Beaver Dam, on the south side, where he lived and
died ; I think the place now belongs to Hon. D. W. McLaurin.
There was but one Cade Bethea in regard to cha .-acter ; he was
418 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
an incessant talker, and in his latter days was always on the go,
around among his kinsfolk and friends ; was a great complainer
and murmurer, and to hear him tell it, he was going to come to
nothing — going to perish to death. An illustration of his diar-
acter in this regard may be here related : On one occasion, his
nephew. Creek Jessie Bethea, went to see his Uncle Cade, in the
month of July or August ; the old gentleman was in his piazza
— it was a very hot day ; the old man was complaining and mur-
muring as usual, that his crop was a complete failure, that he
was not going to make anything, and he and his family would
all perish in a pile. After a while, Jessie, his nephew, proposed
that they would go out and look around his crop ; the old man
did not want to go ; said he did not want to see it — it made him
sick to look at it : they, however, went, and after looking around
and seeing it all, Jessie remarked to him, "Well, Uncle Cade,
your crop is ruined — you won't make anything. I thought my
crop was hurt pretty badly, but not near as bad as yours ; I de-
clare you will not make bread and you will have to go to the
poor house." The old man Cade replied, "You are :^ liar, sir;
my crop is as good as yours, and I am not going to the poor
house either." This is not all that was said, but is the pith of
it, and shows pretty clearly what the old man was in this re-
sf>ect. Jessie knew him. and said what tie did just to bring the
old man out, arfd to hush up his complaints. John W. Bethea,
the eldest son of old man Cade, married a Miss McLaurin ; they
had and raised four sons, Jessie, Laurin, Festus and Alonzo,
and one daughter, at least, who became the second wife of
Robert A. Brunson ; they moved to North Carolina. Jessee,
the oldest son of John W., married an Alabama lady ; he died
four or five years ago, at Dillon, and left his widow, two sons,
Jessie and John, and two small daughters, Bessie and Lucile.
John W. Bethea and wife are both dead. Evander R. Bethea,
the second son of old Cade, married Mary Ann Stackhouse,
and had one son, Jasper, and three daughters, Josephine, Carrie
and Nannie, all of whom have already been noticed in or among
the Stackhouse family. Laurin Bethea, the second son of John
W. Bethea, married a Miss McLaurin, as I think; he is a
farmer, and lives on Buck Swamp; know nothing of his family.
"Fet" Bethea, the third son, married a Miss Stackhouse, daugh-
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 419
ter of the late Mastin C. Stackhouse; he died, leaving his
widow with some children — the youngest of whom, a little girl,
was taken by Rev. S. J. Bethea and wife, and fhey are raising
it. Alonzo Bethea, the youngest son of John W. Bethea, is
lost sight of ; don't know whether he is living or dead, or
whether he married or not — think, however, that he has emi-
grated to other parts, or is dead. Wm. C. Bethea, the third son
of old man Cade Bethea, married Miss Virzilla Mace, a daugh-
ter of Moses and Drusilla Mace ; they had two sons, Henry and
John D., I think ; they and their children have already been
mentioned in or among the Mace family, to which reference is
made. Calvin C. Bethea, the fourth son of old man Cade, mar-
ried Miss Caroline Bethea, a daughter of "Creek Jessie;" they
had one child, a son, named Jessie; the father, Calvin, was sub-
ject to epileptic fits, and on one occasion, while crossing a
branch on Sweat Swamp, as supposed, an epileptic fit struck
him and he fell in the water and was drowned ; some years after
his death, his widow, with her son, went to Texas ; the son is
grown, and the report is that they are doing well in tihat far off
State. Henry, the fifth and youngest son of old man Cade
Bethea, never married ; he was killed or died in the war. Of
the daughters of old Cade Bethea, the eldest, Caroline, a highly
accomplished lady, as it was said, married James DuPre, of
Marlborough County ; she died childless, in about a year after
her marriage. Harriet, the second daughter, married James
McLaurin, of North Carolina ; a few years back, they bought
land on Buck Swamp and moved to it ; think they are both
dead — know nothing of their family. Mary Ann, the young-
est daughter, married T. F. Stackhouse, and is dead, leaving
him surviving; they have already been noticed in or among the
Stackhouse family, to which reference is made. Not one of
old man Cade Bethea's immediate family now survives.
Of the "Cape Fear set," Tristram, a son of old "English
John," settled on Cape Fear River, N. C. ; he had sons, James,
Jessee, Elisha and William. Of these, Jessee, had Jessee, Sim-
eon, David and Jessee (it seems two sons were named Jessee) ;
Simeon had Reddick, Jessee, William and Philip; and Jessee,
the elder, had Thomas, Tristram and John — ^this Tristram was
the "Floral College" Tristram ; and Jessee, the younger, had
420 A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
John, Tristram, David and Jessee ; and this latter Tristram had
Jessee and Noah. William, the son of old Tristram, the "Cape
Fear" settler, had John and William. Of these latter, John
had William, John L., Jessee, David and Alexander ; and Wil-
liam had David, John and Philip. The "Floral College" Tris-
tram had Jessee, Daniel, Tristram, John and Thomas. Of these
latter, all of them died without offspring. The eldest of these,
Jessee, was well known in Marion ; he was a graduate of the
South Carolina College ; studied law, settled in Marion to prac-
tice his profession, was a partner of the writer, as Sellers &
Bethea, for several years ; left Marion, abandoned the practice,
never married, and died ; he was a good lawyer, but too modest
and diffident to enter into the "rough and tumble" of the Court
House — he was a good office lawyer; after leaving Marion, he
went to Marlborough and died there. This disposes of the
"Cape Fear set" of Betheas — at least, as far as known.
Referring, again, to the "Sweat Swamp" set — old William
had four sons, John, Goodman, Philip and Jessee — I think, all
these have been noticed except, perhaps, Goodman. Goodman
had two sons, Philip and Jessee, and the latter, Philip, had
Goodman, William and Philip. Of the grand-daughters of
"Swt^;. Swamp" William, Elizabeth married Jeremiah Walters,
and raised a large family. Sarah married Timothy Rogers, a
nephew of "Buck Swamp" John, and raised a large family.
Pattie married John Braddy, and was the mother of the
Braddys and their descendants, as have been and are now
known in the county.
The writer may have inadvertently omitted some of this
numerous and extensive family as laid down on the chart kindly
furnished him, but do not think I have. From the original
stock, "Old English John," it runs down to and includes the
seventh and in one instance the eighth generation among the
males bearing the name, and it is not improbaible that among
the females (if they had been given and traced), it would ex-
tend to and include the ninth and tenth generations, as it is a
well known fact, that females generally marry younger than
males, and consequently propagate faster than through the
male line. If every family had a chart or tree like this, it
would be an acquisition to the history of our people. It is a
A HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. 421
fact, that many of our peopk are shamefully ignorant as to
their ancestry. It is a fact, that the writer has found in his
inquiries on the subject among the people of Marion County, a
few instances where the party inquired of did not know, and
could not tell, who his grand-father was, and to his great sur-
prise he has found it of men otherwise intelligent, and well
posted in other matters. A chart, like that of the Betheas, in
every family would forever dissipate such ignorance, and
would enable every man to tell, at a word, whether he descended
by natural and generic processes from his own species, or
evoluted from a tadpole or a monkey. The Bethea chart is so
constructed as to be indefinitely extended ad infinitum to the
rernotest generations.
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