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In the early 1700s SC was sparsely populated with Charles
Town being the main settlement. There were a few trappers and traders who
would venture into the back country. Conflicts with the Indians were
common. The powers to be in Charles Town were aware of the potential
Indian threat that faced the settlement. The Royal Governor, Robert Johnson, decided to establish a settlement in the interior which could possibly serve two purposes. One would be as a buffer against the Indians and the other could be to populate the area for revenue purposes. Around 1718 Charles Russell was commissioned to start a trading post below where the Saluda and Broad River joined on the south bank. A fort was built about the same time for protection from the Indians. Later around 1750 Thomas Brown operated a trading post. Indians from as far as the Ohio Valley came to trade with Brown. The name Saxe Gotha was picked for the new settlement from the same in Germany which included an area that contained portions of what is known today as Orangeburg and Lexington Counties. To entice settlement advertisements were placed in newspapers in the old countries. The first settlers were mostly Germans, Swiss, and Scot-Irish. Settlers were given fifty acres for each family member and included slaves. They also were given an acre in the township of Saxe Gotha. The settlers were only interested in the large tracts of land to be cleared that not many pursued the acre lot. Saxe Goth did not materialize as a township because of this. The settlers continue to arrive and later the name Granby was given to the settlement. This name was from the spouse of British Royalty. Each settler also were given a year’s supply of provisions which included farm implements, tools, oxen, plows, etc. No taxes were imposed for ten years. In a letter from Henri Gallman to his relatives back in the old country he relates how everyone is doing well in this new country and wishes they could join him. He informs them that there are plenty of deer, turkey, and other game. He says the grapevines grow wild in the forests reaching the tops of the trees and fruit trees growing wild in the forests. Unlike the hilly terrain back home this new land was so level you didn’t have to block the wheels on the carts and the land was fertile, boats running continuously on the river and everyone seems contented. Around 1765 James Chestnut and Joseph Kershaw built a combination store and warehouse. They were merchants from the now Camden area. They wanted a warehouse to store goods being shipped from Camden to Charles Town and also the same from Charles Town. Camden was known previously as Fredricksburg. Goods were also offered for sale to the people in Granby. This store was taken by the British during the Revolutionary War and turned into a fort being called by the British “The Post of The Congarees”. The Americans later took the fort and it was known as Ft. Granby. The settlement of Granby flourished. Crops were harvested from the rich soil and sent down the old river road to Charles Town. The court house was eventually established in Granby. The people were aware of people getting sick and dying. They attributed this to the river in the summertime. The affluent business people and plantation owners would move to the sand hills and build summer homes for protection from the “river disease”. allowing hired help to run their businesses and plantations. We know today that the disease was malaria. They would move back in the wintertime to resume control. As the new township of Lexington was emerging it was decided to move the court proceedings to the new settlement to be more centrally located. People were also moving across the river to a higher elevation to escape the disease. A new town was forming later to be Columbia. Granby was now in a declining state and eventually the population declined to just a few residents. Some Granby descendants remained and the town of New Brookland was established at a later time and even later changing the name to Cayce honoring James Cayce, an old Granby pioneer. JJH-12/01/2011 |
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