A Little Bit of History

Joshua Pettit was born 25 Sep 1734, Essex, New Jersey; died 11 Sep 1786, Spartanburg, South Carolina.  He served with Colonel Roebuck's batallion against the loyalists and the British during the Revolutionary War.  Joshua's Grand Daughter Hannah, married Thomas McDaniel; their Grand Daughter Melvina, married Benjamin Mitchell, their Daughter Emma Geneva (Mitchell) Perry was my maternal Grand Mother.

Spartanburg County, South Carolina bears a proud Revolutionary War heritage. The county has more Revolutionary War engagement sites than practically any other locale in the United States. The fiercely independent upstate settlers rallied ‘round the cause' early on, with the Spartan Regiment being formed in the late summer of 1775.

As independent as they were, some could not see the sense in breaking away from the crown. Staunchly Loyalist settlers seethed beside neighbor Patriots. The first engagement seen by local troops involved not a single British soldier. That winter, the Spartan Regiment was bloodied along with other Patriot troops in a fight against regional Loyalists in the Battle of the Great Cane Break, along the Reedy River.

In July 1776, a new threat erupted. Alarmed at the news of a British fleet at Charleston, the Cherokee swept over the frontier borders in a maelstrom of violence. Whites fled to forts, but hundreds of settlers in the border areas were killed before a counterattack could be formed. In early 1777, the Spartan Regiment was split into two - the 1st Spartan Regiment and the 2nd Spartan Regiment.

Colonists all along the western frontier raised a large militia, which pursued the Indian army. As was often the case when European and Indian cultures clashed, many noncombatants suffered. The white militia destroyed scores of Cherokee villages and by mid-1777, Indian aggression collapsed. A treaty was signed in July 1777 forcing the Cherokee to relinquish most of their lands in South Carolina.

The British regained the colonists’ full attention in 1780, when they captured Charleston in May. The Redcoats began their trek inland over three main routes. Initially, the Patriots thought they were whipped. Their situation seemed hopeless, as they faced the might of the greatest military power on earth. Many laid down their arms and surrendered. Benjamin Roebuck did the opposite - he raised his own regiment - Roebuck' s Batallion of Spartan Regiment.

The war very well could have ended then, but for the British’s savage violation of their own terms of surrender. At the Waxhaws at the end of the month, a troop of Virginians were slaughtered after throwing down their arms. Homes of independence-minded Carolinians were burned; their properties seized. The Patriots’ anger rose.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was the British order, in direct violation of their own terms of surrender, that the Patriots don the red coat to serve the crown. The Rebels took the order another way, concluding that the violation of their surrender released them from their parole. The time for peace had past.

The clashes that ignited in the ensuing months in Spartanburg County sent shock waves throughout the world. The area saw six engagements in four weeks, beginning in July with the first battle of Cedar Spring. In quick succession and escalating violence, there quickly followed the battles of Gowen’s Fort, Earle’s Ford, and Fort Prince; then came the second battle of Cedar Spring and the battle of Musgrove Mill. These battles set the stage for two decisive engagements.

Nearly two months later, Patriot forces assembled from several states scored a major victory at the nearby battle of Kings Mountain. The Patriot forces suffered less than 30 killed and some 60 wounded, but the troops of the crown bled red – nearly 160 killed, about 150 wounded and a staggering 760-odd taken prisoner. Most of the crown’s casualties were American Loyalists.

Kings Mountain was a great victory, but it was a merciless one. The British had not seen fit to honor their own terms of surrender. Now 760 men looked to the Rebels for compassion, but they found only hardened hearts. The prisoners were marched to the North Carolina foothills, where the Patriots held a trial and found 36 men guilty of Loyalist atrocities. They were sentenced to hang, though all but nine were pardoned.

Three months after Kings Mountain, the conflict returned in full fury to the Spartanburg County area, when Continental General Daniel Morgan gave British Colonel Banastre Tarleton “a devil of a whipping” at a crossroads known as the Cowpens. The battle at this holding area for cattle being driven to market put the British on the road to surrender at Yorktown.

After the war, some Loyalists fled to Canada. The settlers returned to the land, having subdued both the Cherokee and British threats. More settlements grew up in the area, and the new district began to form its government. Court officers originally met at several plantations, but legislative pressure forced them to choose an official site. In January 1787, they approved the purchase of two acres of land from Thomas Williamson for five shillings. The new courthouse was smack in the middle of the county. The town of Spartanburg was born.

Early Records

From the early records of immigrants to the Virginia Colony there can be found a lot of information which results in creating the confusion of just who did what and when.  Robert Rockwell/Rockhould did, on 19 August 1637, receive a grant of two hundred fifty acres land in Norfolk, Nansemond County, Virginia Colony.  The patent is not very legible in the copy I have but it appears to be for the transportation of five (50 acres per person):  Robert himself, his wife Sarah or Hanah, daughter Mary, one Thomasin Rockwell, and Mary Sayor/Hayor (probably a servant).  This Thomasin might be a son, later called Thomas but I believe it is actually Robert’s mother and that Thomas the son was actually born in Virginia, as was Robert Jr. and John.

This patent, 19 August 1637, is the earliest known record.  Considering it is the actual grant of land and not just the authorization for the land, it may have been issued some time after the family actually arrived in Virginia.  It was not unusual for several months, even a year or so, between the arrival and the actual claim for land being made.

If you have anything before this, or some clarification of this patent I sure would like to know about it.  I have it in . PNG format and will gladly email it to you if you want to view it better than on this blog.  Or, if you have a better copy or what you believe to be a good transcript of it, let me know.