Just Plain Murder

Our other accounts of the War around Pacolet describe battles of one sort or another. However, there were other instances that were not battles at all but just plain murder.The Revolutionary War in South Carolina was as much a Civil War as it was a revolution. At the beginning, about 50% of the people in the Upstate still supported the King and the British government. As a result, the War involved brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor. Most of the stories of these bitter personal hatreds have been lost to history but the accounts of two of these murders have survived.

Whig Hill - The first concerns John Nuckolls who lived at Whig Hill in the Goucher/Asbury community. It is located about one mile west of Hwy 18, the Jonesville-Gaffney Highway, and two miles north of the Asbury Highway, Hwy 211. Nuckolls and his relations were strong Patriots, and were known for their support of the revolution. It was so well known that their farm place had begun to be called Whig Hill. Whig Hill is about six miles from the Bridge at Trough Shoals.

 Nuckolls' support of the Whig cause had angered many of the Tories. The Tories found out that John and his son, John Jr., were going to take their corn to be ground into meal at McKown's mill on Broad River and spend the night. They captured him at the mill while he slept. Without waking his son, John Jr., they took his father away and executed him.  Legend has it that shortly after that time, some of Mr. Nuckolls’s friends caught the Tories that were suspected of killing him. They caught them on Thicketty Creek just a short distance from Whig Hill. After the capture, the friends went to Mrs. Nuckolls' home to see if they might borrow some shovels. They wanted to "settle" her some new neighbors.  They guaranteed the new neighbors would be quiet. In other words, these friends had caught the Tories, quietly executed them, and needed Mrs. Nuckolls' shovels in order to bury them.

Walnut Grove Plantation - In the fall of 1781, Captain William, “Bloody Bill”, Cunningham and a band of his Tories attacked Walnut Grove Plantation which is near the present town of Roebuck. There were three Patriot soldiers at the plantation. One of the soldiers was Captain Ben (John) Steadman who was confined to bed with an illness. The Tories came into the house, went upstairs and shot Steadman to death in his bedroom. The other two Patriots tried to run away but were also shot down. 

 

The Walnut Grove Plantation House still survives and can be visited. More information is available at the website
Walnut Grove.

 

Walnut Grove is about 14 miles from our bridge at Trough Shoals.

There were many, many violent stories such as these in the Upcountry in the Revolution. Scarcely a family was not touched in some way by the bitter violence.

 

 

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This web site has been started as a public service to share the story of Pacolet.
See more information about my Pacolet connection at Gerald Teaster.