| |
|
Welcome
Chesterfield County was formed by the County Court Act
of 1785, when Cheraws District was divided in
Chesterfield, Darlington, and Marlboro counties.
Textbooks will tell you that Chesterfield County was
named after Lord Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, a
close friend of King George III; however, local
tradition states that the Craig family, who originally
inhabited the county seat, was influential in naming the
county after the county from which they came,
Chesterfield County, Virginia. Population grew slowly
with Welsh, French Huguenots, Scots-Irish, Germans, and
English moving in mostly from the other colonized areas.
On November 19, 1860, Chesterfield County held the first
secession meeting in South Carolina. The ensuing war
took its toll upon the state and the county. It is
commonly known "that Sherman expected to exact vengence
from the original secessionists, who, he said, bore a
major share of the blame for the war." This he did, and
on March 2, 1865, entered Chesterfield County with a
vengence.
In Chesterfield, the county seat, the courthouse, jail,
academy, and other buildings, were burned to the ground.
In Cheraw, the business portion, except for one house,
was also burned down. Cotton, crops, food, and livestock
were either stolen or destroyed. In a letter during
reconstruction, Thomas Powe of Cheraw to Governor Orr,
Powe brought that "every house in Chesterfield District,
with the exception of two cabins, were visited by
Sherman's soldiers and the bare mention of this fact
speaks volumes."
http://www.carolana.com/SC/Counties/chesterfield_county_sc.html
 |
|
|
|
Neighboring Counties:
Anson County,
NC, Darlington
County, SC, Kershaw County,
SC, Lancaster County,
SC, Marlboro
County, SC, Union County,
NC
|
|
|
| State Coordinator:
Jeff Kemp | Contact State Coordinator to adopt this
county! |
|
