Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
I think this "camp " where they stayed after ransacking the town would be an excellent place to hunt........
Turner Hill by Lowry Wilson
Four articles have been reprinted in several issues of the Powdersville Post
during the year of 2000 about an incident that happened 9 MAY 1865 near Turner's
Hill in Pickens County, (Powdersville), SC. Each article added information about
the incident, but the final article written in 1953 by Ora H. Kirkley seems to
have two errors that gives a conflicting story.
First, William Walker Russell from Slabtown led the vigilantes involved in the
raid. There seems to be no connection between him and Cantrell's Gang. However,
it would make for good speculation and dis-information if the Yankees believed
it. The Cantrell family lived around Jones Gap in North Greenville County. I'm
told some of the family moved to Georgia.
Second, Captain Archibald Henson Ellison gave his story to his daughter who
recorded it for us to read in 1921. He states that the Yankee trial held him
responsible for the ambush and sentenced him to die. Maybe B.F.P. Turner's life
was also threatened. I know both families' homes were burned, as well as other
homes in the area. Mr. Ellison mentions B.F.P. Turner as helping him bury the
Yankee soldier, Harry Morrison, who was about 18 years old from Michigan. He was
buried in the slave graveyard on Turner's Hill for about six months until his
father reclaimed his body and took him back to Michigan.
B.F.P. (Benjamin Franklin Perry "Chuck") Turner and his parents are buried
within a fence inside the rock bordered "heart shaped" cemetery. Slaves were
probably buried outside the fence, but all readable markers were dated after
1865.
In order to understand the incident better, a time line needs to be established:
3 APR 1865 Richmond, Virginia fell to the Yankees and Jefferson Davis had moved
the Confederate Capital to Danville, Virginia.
9 APR 1865 General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General
Grant at Appomattox, Virginia.
26 APR 1865 General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered most of the Confederate Army
on the East Coast to General William T. Sherman at Durham, NC. The War was over
in the Southeast and the ex-Confederate soldiers got home the best way they
could. Most soldiers walked home.
General George Stoneman sent General Simeon B. Brown's and General Miller's
Brigades to upstate South Carolina to capture the retreating Jefferson Davis,
the Confederate Cabinet, and the Confederate Treasury. The generals lost control
and discipline over their men who began pillaging and destroying property.
1 MAY 1865 The Citadel Cadets, marching from Greenville, SC to Columbia, SC, had
a chance encounter with a Yankee Calvary unit near Williamston that resulted in
"The battle of Williamston". (The battle actually took place on Old Williamston
Road in the Powdersville Community of Mount Airy.) Both sides had wounded
soldiers, but all survived. About a week later, the Cadets disbanded at
Newberry, SC.
1 MAY 1865 A Yankee Cavalry squad left Greenville, SC for Anderson, SC and
encountered Matthew Ellison plowing his field in Pickens County. He was killed
when he refused to give up his horse which was pulling the plow.
4 MAY 1865 The Confederate Army in Alabama and Mississippi surrendered.
Jefferson Davis met with the remaining cabinet members in Washington, Georgia
and decided to temporarily dissolve the Confederate government.
8 MAY 1865 The Yankee Cavalry unit left Anderson to return to Greenville, SC.
They were pillaging, burning property, and collecting livestock along the route.
A vigilante committee of about six ex-confederate soldiers from around Slabtown
and headed by Walter Russell, prepared an ambush for the Yankees, who were
slowed down by having to herd the livestock.
9 MAY 1865 The Yankee Cavalry unit was ambushed that morning near Turner's Hill
killing Harry Morrison and wounding several other Yankees. The livestock was
recovered and eventually returned to their owners. Problems began for the
residents living on Turner's Hill when the Yankees returned.
10 MAY 1865 Jefferson Davis was captured near Irwinville, Georgia.
22 MAY 1865 Jefferson Davis was imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, Virginia.
26 MAY 1865 The last of the Confederate army surrendered at Shreveport,
Louisiana.
Published by Lowry Wilson in the POWDERSVILLE POST issue dated 31 MAY 2000.
====================================================================
Letter written by Archibald "Henson" Ellison in 1921, and in 1929 given to his
daughter, Mrs. Agnes Ellison Hutchinson of West Union, SC, age 99 (in 1977),
widow of William Hutchinson who died in 1948, members of Richland Presbyterian
Church.
"An Incident in the Life of Captain A. H. Ellison"
(Battle of Turner Hill)
About the first of May 1865, I returned from the war to my home, which was about
four miles from Easley on the Greenville Road. I had been away practically eight
years, having worked for four years for a tobacco company in North Carolina
before enlisting in the Confederate Army. Some ten days later, a company of
Northern troops composed of twenty-five or thirty men from a brigade stationed
near Anderson, SC, came into our community, ransacking the homes, taking money,
watches, silverware and other valuables from the people.
When they were ready early next morning to leave their camp which was within
one-half mile of our house, someone fired from ambush where a squad of men were
hiding and killed one of their men. The Yankees fled, not knowing who had
attacked them. I heard the firing and in a few minutes I saw them coming by my
home. They asked me to tell them the nearest way out to Easley's Bridge on the
Greenville Road, as they were to meet their comrades in Greenville. Having
received this information from me, they voluntarily told us that they had lost
one of their men. My brother, Monroe, and I promised to see that he was buried
in the Turner burying ground nearby. When we went to see Mr. Turner, he and his
son, Ben, went with us to the camp where we found the body of the soldier who
had been killed. Returning to the Turner home, we prepared as best we could his
body for burial. We buried him that same day.
That afternoon, two of those soldiers in citizen's clothes came back to
ascertain the facts about the killing and the burial. They seemed quite
satisfied for they gave me the soldier's name and regiment. I cannot now recall
the name - so that I might cut it on the marker for his grave, a service which I
gladly rendered. Having thanked us they rode away and we thought the incident
was closed.
A week later, however, my brother and I saw five soldiers ride up to our gate.
When we walked out to meet them, they told us curtly that we, with our brother,
William, and Ben Turner, were under arrest for the killing from ambush of one of
their men. They carried us to Turner's house where we found a company of
soldiers waiting for the court at which we were to be tried for this crime. All
the witnesses, except the four of us, being colored men, our evidence was taken
first. We all swore that we knew nothing of the crime. The Negroes swore that we
might have done it, one adding that he thought we did and believed that Henson
Ellison was the leader.
The Captain then called Sergeant Joseph H. Eason, detailed our four men with
him, and gave them orders to burn our house and take my life, saying, "Someone
has to pay for his life and it may as well be this one as any other."
Bewildered, I did as they told me to, setting out to lead the way to my house
and instructing them also how to find the Easley Bridge. Walking along, I gave
the Mason's sign of distress and found that Sergeant Eason, too, was a Mason as
he returned it. Although I did not discover it just then, I found that another
Mason in the group had also caught the sign I had given, for he was to befriend
me within the next few minutes. The soldiers set fire to the house and, while it
was burning, ordered me to follow them. I went with them to a plantation road
that led through a patch of woods nearby, offering the information that this
road would lead them to Easley Bridge. Almost without my realizing what was
taking place, my unknown Mason friend had said to the other three, "Let's gallop
up boys, I don't care to see this done," and off they had ridden leaving me with
Sergeant Eason.
Within a few seconds he had fired his pistol into the air, had shaken hands with
me and had said, "Goodbye and good luck to you," giving me his name and address
as Joseph M. Eason, Dayton, Ohio - a name I will never forget.
While Sergeant Eason and his men were going on their way, I returned whistling
up the old road to the burning house to join my sisters. I found that my two
brothers had been released and were with them already. All night we sat around
the smoldering ruins of what had been our home and from which we had saved
practically nothing.
The soldiers reported in Greenville that they had burned the Ellison home and
had shot Henson Ellison. On the next day, a number of my friends came over from
there to attend my funeral, only to have me greet them personally on their
arrival. A Fraternal pledge had been fulfilled; my life had been spared.
Signed: Archibald Henson Ellison
Submitted by his daughter: Mrs. Agnes Ellison Hutchinson
Born 19 May 1878, died 27 March 1981
And her husband: William Isaac Hutchinson
Born 8 September 1869, died 11 April 1948
Both buried at Richland Presbyterian Church, Oconee Co., SC.
Turner Hill by Lowry Wilson
Four articles have been reprinted in several issues of the Powdersville Post
during the year of 2000 about an incident that happened 9 MAY 1865 near Turner's
Hill in Pickens County, (Powdersville), SC. Each article added information about
the incident, but the final article written in 1953 by Ora H. Kirkley seems to
have two errors that gives a conflicting story.
First, William Walker Russell from Slabtown led the vigilantes involved in the
raid. There seems to be no connection between him and Cantrell's Gang. However,
it would make for good speculation and dis-information if the Yankees believed
it. The Cantrell family lived around Jones Gap in North Greenville County. I'm
told some of the family moved to Georgia.
Second, Captain Archibald Henson Ellison gave his story to his daughter who
recorded it for us to read in 1921. He states that the Yankee trial held him
responsible for the ambush and sentenced him to die. Maybe B.F.P. Turner's life
was also threatened. I know both families' homes were burned, as well as other
homes in the area. Mr. Ellison mentions B.F.P. Turner as helping him bury the
Yankee soldier, Harry Morrison, who was about 18 years old from Michigan. He was
buried in the slave graveyard on Turner's Hill for about six months until his
father reclaimed his body and took him back to Michigan.
B.F.P. (Benjamin Franklin Perry "Chuck") Turner and his parents are buried
within a fence inside the rock bordered "heart shaped" cemetery. Slaves were
probably buried outside the fence, but all readable markers were dated after
1865.
In order to understand the incident better, a time line needs to be established:
3 APR 1865 Richmond, Virginia fell to the Yankees and Jefferson Davis had moved
the Confederate Capital to Danville, Virginia.
9 APR 1865 General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General
Grant at Appomattox, Virginia.
26 APR 1865 General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered most of the Confederate Army
on the East Coast to General William T. Sherman at Durham, NC. The War was over
in the Southeast and the ex-Confederate soldiers got home the best way they
could. Most soldiers walked home.
General George Stoneman sent General Simeon B. Brown's and General Miller's
Brigades to upstate South Carolina to capture the retreating Jefferson Davis,
the Confederate Cabinet, and the Confederate Treasury. The generals lost control
and discipline over their men who began pillaging and destroying property.
1 MAY 1865 The Citadel Cadets, marching from Greenville, SC to Columbia, SC, had
a chance encounter with a Yankee Calvary unit near Williamston that resulted in
"The battle of Williamston". (The battle actually took place on Old Williamston
Road in the Powdersville Community of Mount Airy.) Both sides had wounded
soldiers, but all survived. About a week later, the Cadets disbanded at
Newberry, SC.
1 MAY 1865 A Yankee Cavalry squad left Greenville, SC for Anderson, SC and
encountered Matthew Ellison plowing his field in Pickens County. He was killed
when he refused to give up his horse which was pulling the plow.
4 MAY 1865 The Confederate Army in Alabama and Mississippi surrendered.
Jefferson Davis met with the remaining cabinet members in Washington, Georgia
and decided to temporarily dissolve the Confederate government.
8 MAY 1865 The Yankee Cavalry unit left Anderson to return to Greenville, SC.
They were pillaging, burning property, and collecting livestock along the route.
A vigilante committee of about six ex-confederate soldiers from around Slabtown
and headed by Walter Russell, prepared an ambush for the Yankees, who were
slowed down by having to herd the livestock.
9 MAY 1865 The Yankee Cavalry unit was ambushed that morning near Turner's Hill
killing Harry Morrison and wounding several other Yankees. The livestock was
recovered and eventually returned to their owners. Problems began for the
residents living on Turner's Hill when the Yankees returned.
10 MAY 1865 Jefferson Davis was captured near Irwinville, Georgia.
22 MAY 1865 Jefferson Davis was imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, Virginia.
26 MAY 1865 The last of the Confederate army surrendered at Shreveport,
Louisiana.
Published by Lowry Wilson in the POWDERSVILLE POST issue dated 31 MAY 2000.
====================================================================
Letter written by Archibald "Henson" Ellison in 1921, and in 1929 given to his
daughter, Mrs. Agnes Ellison Hutchinson of West Union, SC, age 99 (in 1977),
widow of William Hutchinson who died in 1948, members of Richland Presbyterian
Church.
"An Incident in the Life of Captain A. H. Ellison"
(Battle of Turner Hill)
About the first of May 1865, I returned from the war to my home, which was about
four miles from Easley on the Greenville Road. I had been away practically eight
years, having worked for four years for a tobacco company in North Carolina
before enlisting in the Confederate Army. Some ten days later, a company of
Northern troops composed of twenty-five or thirty men from a brigade stationed
near Anderson, SC, came into our community, ransacking the homes, taking money,
watches, silverware and other valuables from the people.
When they were ready early next morning to leave their camp which was within
one-half mile of our house, someone fired from ambush where a squad of men were
hiding and killed one of their men. The Yankees fled, not knowing who had
attacked them. I heard the firing and in a few minutes I saw them coming by my
home. They asked me to tell them the nearest way out to Easley's Bridge on the
Greenville Road, as they were to meet their comrades in Greenville. Having
received this information from me, they voluntarily told us that they had lost
one of their men. My brother, Monroe, and I promised to see that he was buried
in the Turner burying ground nearby. When we went to see Mr. Turner, he and his
son, Ben, went with us to the camp where we found the body of the soldier who
had been killed. Returning to the Turner home, we prepared as best we could his
body for burial. We buried him that same day.
That afternoon, two of those soldiers in citizen's clothes came back to
ascertain the facts about the killing and the burial. They seemed quite
satisfied for they gave me the soldier's name and regiment. I cannot now recall
the name - so that I might cut it on the marker for his grave, a service which I
gladly rendered. Having thanked us they rode away and we thought the incident
was closed.
A week later, however, my brother and I saw five soldiers ride up to our gate.
When we walked out to meet them, they told us curtly that we, with our brother,
William, and Ben Turner, were under arrest for the killing from ambush of one of
their men. They carried us to Turner's house where we found a company of
soldiers waiting for the court at which we were to be tried for this crime. All
the witnesses, except the four of us, being colored men, our evidence was taken
first. We all swore that we knew nothing of the crime. The Negroes swore that we
might have done it, one adding that he thought we did and believed that Henson
Ellison was the leader.
The Captain then called Sergeant Joseph H. Eason, detailed our four men with
him, and gave them orders to burn our house and take my life, saying, "Someone
has to pay for his life and it may as well be this one as any other."
Bewildered, I did as they told me to, setting out to lead the way to my house
and instructing them also how to find the Easley Bridge. Walking along, I gave
the Mason's sign of distress and found that Sergeant Eason, too, was a Mason as
he returned it. Although I did not discover it just then, I found that another
Mason in the group had also caught the sign I had given, for he was to befriend
me within the next few minutes. The soldiers set fire to the house and, while it
was burning, ordered me to follow them. I went with them to a plantation road
that led through a patch of woods nearby, offering the information that this
road would lead them to Easley Bridge. Almost without my realizing what was
taking place, my unknown Mason friend had said to the other three, "Let's gallop
up boys, I don't care to see this done," and off they had ridden leaving me with
Sergeant Eason.
Within a few seconds he had fired his pistol into the air, had shaken hands with
me and had said, "Goodbye and good luck to you," giving me his name and address
as Joseph M. Eason, Dayton, Ohio - a name I will never forget.
While Sergeant Eason and his men were going on their way, I returned whistling
up the old road to the burning house to join my sisters. I found that my two
brothers had been released and were with them already. All night we sat around
the smoldering ruins of what had been our home and from which we had saved
practically nothing.
The soldiers reported in Greenville that they had burned the Ellison home and
had shot Henson Ellison. On the next day, a number of my friends came over from
there to attend my funeral, only to have me greet them personally on their
arrival. A Fraternal pledge had been fulfilled; my life had been spared.
Signed: Archibald Henson Ellison
Submitted by his daughter: Mrs. Agnes Ellison Hutchinson
Born 19 May 1878, died 27 March 1981
And her husband: William Isaac Hutchinson
Born 8 September 1869, died 11 April 1948
Both buried at Richland Presbyterian Church, Oconee Co., SC.
