Existing comment:
1775
Ninety Six
Colonial Center in a Time of Change
The convergence of roads at Ninety Six ensured its success as a hub of commerce, center for law and order, and haven for settlers in colonial times. In 1775 the village had a dozen dwellings, a jail, and, most importantly, a courthouse, making it a seat of power in the area. Residents included blacksmiths, coopers, carpenters, field hands, and slaves. While the 1775 population is not known, a record shows 79 males living here by 1776. American colonists, recent immigrants from Europe, and slaves were among the residents. Cherokee traded here. The land was cleared for crops and animals grazed freely. Water from nearby Spring Branch was plentiful. It was remote and often dangerous in the surrounding wilderness, but inhabitants of Ninety Six achieved a fragile peace in the backcountry. That was changed with the Revolutionary War.
In Charleston, Patriot supporters formed an independent government and on September 15, 1775, the royal governor of the South Carolina colony fled to a British warship in Charleston Harbor, leaving the colony in the hands of the Americans. Confused and concerned by these events, backcountry residents split between those remaining loyal to the King and those siding with the Patriots. In Ninety Six, William Henry Drayton, a representative from the new government, successfully converted the townspeople to the Patriot cause, fortified the jail, and sent militias out to contain the Loyalist threat. But the town was too small to accommodate the garrison and Williamson's Fort was built nearby. |