By Liesha Wessinger-Huffstetler Who owned the land in the 1800s that is now the Timberlake area of Chapin? To answer that, let’s journey into the Connelly family history. Rufus Lewie Connelly, born in 1868, grew up during the challenging post-Civil War years, when high taxes and scarcity of food andContinue Reading
By Liesha Wessinger-Huffstetler Mrs. Francis Eleazer’s life experiences were typical of daily life in the Dutch Fork. She said they grew corn and wheat to feed their family, as well as hogs and chickens. I recall a farmer showing me seeds for white corn, yellow corn, and “hog corn.” ToContinue Reading
By Liesha Huffstetler-Wessinger Our modern culture really has no clue what real work looks like. Our forefathers in the bygone days worked harder than we can even imagine. In the old days, running water was found in a river. Water for washing, drinking, and cooking was from a hand-dug wellContinue Reading
I had the privilege of interviewing Francis Eleazer in 2017. She was born in 1926, and her parents were William Walter and Eunice Eargle Eleazer. Her memories echo the stories of many others in the Dutch Fork. She grew up in the Spring Hill area and remembered her and herContinue Reading
By Liesha Huffstetler-Wessinger How did the German immigrants get their land from King George? It was called a “Kings Land Grant, and some of us “1752 locals” know the location our ancestor’s original land grant. A rare few live on that land granted to the family 273 years later. TheyContinue Reading
By Liesha Wessinger-Huffstetler Gandy’s letter reveals some interesting information. He mentions John Wesley Lybrand, who moved to Aiken County and became rich. His granddaughter, Willa Lybrand Fulmer married Congressman Hampton Pitts Fulmer of Springfield, in Orangeburg County. When Congressman Fulmer (1875-1944) died in office in 1944, she took over hisContinue Reading
The stories passed down by the older and wiser ones create a fascinating oral history for those of us today. I have a copy of a 1980 letter by Lee Gandy, an area historian, who interviewed the older residents. I do not have a copy of his research or otherContinue Reading
By Leisha Wessinger-Hufstetler Lindler Reunion, I’m sitting in the yard, surrounded by the delicious smell of hickory-smoked BBQ cooking. The cast iron pot is bubbling with pork and chicken to make the hash. The fellowship and teamwork to make 120 pounds of Boston Butts and hash for the Lindler reunionContinue Reading
By Liesha Wessinger-Hufstetler It is an honor to write about my childhood doctor, Dr. Carroll Pinner III. I have memories of sitting in the waiting room, getting a tetanus shot for kindergarten, having my temperature checked and reading the eye chart at end of hallway. I remember the smell ofContinue Reading
By Leisha Wessinger-Hufstetler Here are some of the incredible stories in the legacy of the Pinner family. Dr. Pinner Sr had purchased, in the 1920s, red wall tires for his car. Because he parked his car across the trestle, he had a problem with items being stolen. This time, itContinue Reading
By Leisha Wessinger-Huffstetler Any history of Chapin is not complete without mentioning the Pinner Clinic in Peak. Everyone in Chapin and the surrounding areas went to the Pinner Clinic, where patients have been seen since 1917. To make things interesting, there are three Caroll Pinners: the original Dr. Caroll,Continue Reading
By Leisha Wessinger-Huffstetler It is beautiful when the past and present intersect to create current history. I sat with two beautiful, elegant, spunky ladies last week, Margaret Gates Robinson and Millie Courtney. The two best friends met in 2014 in an elevator at Mt. Horeb Lutheran Church. Mrs. Margaret wasContinue Reading
By Liesha Wessinger-Huffstetler Who owned the land in the town of Chapin in the 1750’s? Great question. It was not Martin Chapin. John Bigham, in a Chapin Times article, interviewed Mrs. Llewellyn Pearce, granddaughter of Martin Chapin. She said that Martin Chapin first moved to Columbia from New York inContinue Reading
By Liesha Wessinger-Huffstetler Let’s talk about croquet. This sport involves hitting a baseball-sized wooden ball with a wood mallet through a series of small hoops on the ground. Croquet was the “golf” of the former days. It was mostly older gentleman who played croquet in Chapin. Sonny remembers there beingContinue Reading
By Liesha Wessinger- Huffstetler Imagine being an elementary aged kid and walking more than 5 miles, with a cow on a rope leash, to your Uncle Doc Huffstetler’s house on Old Ferry Road? Uncle Doc had no sons, and you had to stay there in the summer to help on theContinue Reading