Towards War
In the period between the Revolution and the Civil War, Greenville County was transformed from a frontier
settlement to the cultural and political center of Upstate South Carolina. Shortly after being
named a county, the population exploded. Between 1790 and 1800, the number of people in Greenville rose
77% due to heavy migration of Scots-Irish south along the Appalachian Mountains. It was also during
this period that the city of Greenville was established, roads were improved to
link the county with the Atlantic Ocean, newspapers were established, and religious
institutions gained a foothold. Despite this growth, representation would remain limited for the backcountry in the
State legislature. Rapid population growth remained unaccounted for in election districts until 1790 - creating
a rift between the Upstate and the Lowcountry. In 1815, Vardry McBee, a businessman from
Lincolnton, North Carolina, bought most of the land of Greenville County and would later play a
major part in the growth of Greenville. In the 1820s, Greenville became a popular
vacation spot for the coastal elite, including Joel Poinsett, former ambassador to Mexico and
the man who brought to the United States the holiday plant named for him. During the post-Revolutionary period
Greenville began to develop meager textile and musket industries. One of the more famous workers in the new industries was Andrew
Johnson, future president of the United States. During the Nullification Crisis of the
1830s, Greenville was heavily Unionist, owing to the lack of cotton production in the area.
After the 1830s, Greenville grew rapidly because of businessmen, such as Vardry McBee and
Waddy Thompson, who controlled both money and power. During the 1850s, the railroad came
to Greenville, connecting Columbia and Cincinnati via Greenville.
However, a dark cloud was on the horizon. With the national question of
slavery begging the attention of the slaveholding South, the state of South Carolina
threatened to secede from the Union should the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln,
win the election in 1860. Lincoln won and a state convention for secession was called.
Although, by 1860, fourteen percent of Greenville County families owned slaves, the county did not favor secession. Despite this
fact, prominent businessmen and other local leaders, such as McBee and Furman University
President James C. Furman, voted to secede and war began. During the war,
Greenville County sent fifteen companies to the Confederate ranks. The highest-ranking
native Grenvillian was Major General Matthew Butler. The area did not see any action
until late in the war when Union Calvary rode through the county in pursuit of the
fleeing Confederate government. With the end of the war, however, came the end of
Greenville's childhood.
1787
- South Carolina governor Thomas Pinckey authorized the creation of a regiment to fight the Creek
Indians. Although the regiment never saw any fighting, in reviewing the troops, Pinckney became the
first governor to visit Greenville County.
1788
- Lemuel J. Alston purchased over 11,000 acres of Greenville, including the present-day city, from Colonel Thomas Brandon.
- Three delegates representing Greenville County- Samuel Earle, Lemuel J. Alston, and John Thomas Jr. - all approved the
new federal Constitution. In so doing, Greenville County became one of only two counties in the Upstate, with Pendelton County, to unanimously
ratify the document despite the populous's opposition to a stronger federal government.
1790
- A new state constitution was ratified by Greenville County and provided more representation for the Upstate in
the state House of Representatives, though nothing approaching equal representation with the Lowcountry, which used tiny parishes as their basis
of representation. Greenville County, for electoral purposes, now became known as Greenville District.
1791
- Greenville County became part of the new Washington circuit Court District. Greenville would remain within the Washington District for state
legation and military purposes until 1800.
1792
- The State Legislature enlarged Greenville County to include residents of upper Laurens County in order that they be closer to
a courthouse.
1795
- The first Post Office and a new courthouse were completed.
1797
- Lemuel J. Alston chartered Greenville Courthouse, Village of Pleasantburg.
1800
- The Circuit Court Act gave every election district a circuit court, replacing inept county courts.
Greenville County is now renamed Greenville District for all purposes.
- The Santee Canal opened between the Santee and Cooper Rives near present-day Moucks Corner,
connecting the Upstate with Charelston.
1807
- Greenville Courthouse, Village of Pleasantburg was renamed Greenville.
1808
- The State Legislature agreed to compromise on apportionment, giving the Upstate more equal representation in the House and Senate.
1815
- Alston sold his land to Vardry McBee of Lincolnton, North Carolina and moved west.
1820
- Joel Poinsett supervised construction of a road over Saluda Mountain, including an arched stone bridge over Gap Creek that still stands.
1822
- A new courthouse and jail were completed.
1823
- Benjamin F. Perry, who would become a prominent ante-bellum politician, first came to Greenville to attend the Male Academy.
1825
- McBee deeded four acres of land for the First Episcopal Church in Greenville, what would become Christ Church.
1826
- The weekly newspaper Greenville Republican was first published.
1829
1830
- Benjamin Perry became editor of the Mountaineer and the newspaper became the local voice of Unionism
during the Nullification Crisis of the decade.
1831
- Greenville was incorporated as a village by an act of the South Carolina Legislature on 27 December.
- The Greenville Baptist Church was organized on land deeded by Vardry McBee on Avenue Street.
1832
- McBee deeded land to establish Greenville Methodist Episcopal Church.
1848
- The Presbyterian Church of Greenville Courthouse was formed. In 1850, Vardry McBee deeded land to them for a church on Richardson Street.
1851
- Furman University relocated from Winnsboro, South Carolina, to the corner of McBee and Main Streets in Greenville.
1853
- A railroad stop, championed by Vardry McBee, in Greenville along the line connecting Columbia to Cincinnati opened, leading to local economic prosperity.
1855
- A new courthouse was constructed.
- Greenville Baptist Female College opened with the support of McBee.
1859
- The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, created by the Southern Baptist Convention, opened in the old building of the Baptist church.
1860
- At the National Democratic Convention in Charleston, Southern delegates walked out, unable to reach a compromise over the issue of slavery.
Benjamin F. Perry was one of only two delegates from South Carolina to remain.
- Furman University President James C. Furman, William K. Easley, Perry Duncan, William Campbell, and Dr. James P. Harrison represented Greenville
District at the state secession convention all voted to leave the United States.
1861
- Refugees from the Union-controlled Port Royal area flooded into Greenville District.
1862
- Perry was appointed a Confederate District Attorney.
1865
- Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Perry a district judge.
- As Columbia burns, Governor Andrew McGrath called a special session of the Legislature to convene
in Greenville. Few congressmen showed up but the episode made Greenville the state capital temporarily.
- Major James Lawson, United States Army, led troops through Greenville in pursuit of Jefferson Davis - the only action
Greenville District saw during the war.
Source:
Huff, Archie Vernon, Jr. Greenville: The History of the City and County in the South Carolina Piedmont. University of South Carolina Press (Columbia), 1995.
© Center for the Study of Piedmont History, Furman University