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  • Orangeburg-Calhoun County Chapter

     

    Calhoun County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, its population was 15,175. It is named for John C. Calhoun, the former U.S. Vice-President, Senator, Representative and cabinet member from South Carolina. It was formed in 1908 from portions of Lexington and Orangeburg counties. Its county seat is St. Matthews. Calhoun County is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Orangeburg County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 92,501. Its county seat is Orangeburg. It is home to Claflin University, a private college located in Orangeburg that is the oldest historically black college or university (HBCU) in the state. It is also the location of South Carolina State University, the only public HBCU in the state. Orangeburg County and its county seat, Orangeburg, were named for William IV (1711-1751), Prince of Orange, the son-in-law of King George II. The name was first used in the 1730s for a township on the Edisto River. Orangeburg District was established in 1769, and from 1785 to 1791 it included four counties: Lexington, Orange, Winton, and Lewisburg. The district was reduced in size when Barnwell (1800) and Lexington (1804) districts were formed; parts of Orangeburg also went to form Aiken (1871) and Calhoun (1908) counties. Swiss and German farmers moved into this region around 1735, and English settlers from the lowcountry followed. The battle of Eutaw Springs was fought there during the Revolutionary War on September 8, 1781; it was the last major battle of the war in South Carolina. Large plantations using slave labor were established in Orangeburg in the nineteenth century, and the county became a major producer of cotton. Railroads arrived in the area early; Branchville became the first railroad junction in the state in 1840. Union troops under General Sherman passed through Orangeburg in February 1865.

  • In 1730, Governor Robert Johnson created nine townships in the interior of the Province of South Carolina to stimulate inland settlement. One of the townships was called Edisto Township located on the banks of the North Edisto River in south-central South Carolina. When the first group of settlers arrived in 1735 they requested that the name be changed to Orangeburgh Township. Their settlement became the town of Orangeburgh, later to be shortened to Orangeburg. Many of the original nine townships did not survive long past the American Revolution, including the neighboring Amelia Township, which was established at the same time as Orangeburgh Township in 1735. In 1768, the District Act established seven new districts, with their own courts and records. The Orangeburgh District was first established as one of these seven new districts. At that time, Orangeburgh District incorporated the Amelia Township and the Saxe-Gotha Township along the Congaree River, as well as lands all the way to the Savannah River. Also in 1768, the Province established two new Parishes, and the newly-created Orangeburgh District fell into the new St. Matthew's Parish. In 1778, another new parish - Orange Parish - was created, and the town of Orangeburg and a good part of the Orangeburgh District was now in Orange Parish. This seemed to all make sense to the locals. After the American Revolution, the new state of South Carolina once again reorganized its judicial system, but essentially left the "overarching" Orangeburg District (the "h" now gone) pretty much intact. However, the Orangeburg District was carved into four "new counties" - Orange, Winton, Lexington, and Lewisburg. As with many of the "new counties" that were established in 1785, these four new counties did not take root, nor were courthouses built or justices appointed. In 1791, the state abolished the four "new counties" created in the Orangeburg District previously in 1785, however, the Orangeburg District remained intact with the same boundaries as in 1768. So, is this the "true beginning" of what we now know as Orangeburg County? Most historians seem to think so. Since South Carolina used the term "district" to mean two things - an "overarching" concept as introduced in 1768, but with no subordinate counties - and in 1785, the term "district" was used to be synonymous with "county" as used in other states at the time, however South Carolina kept the "overarching Districts" from 1785 to 1800 and some of these did include subordinate counties.

    In the case of Orangeburg, it had once been a District, with no subordinate counties from 1768 to 1785, then it became an "overarching District" from 1785 to 1791, with four subordinate counties. However, with the 1791 elimination of all four subordinate counties, was it still an "overarching District" or merely a "district" in the "county" sense of things? We'll let the historians sort that one out. In 1800, Barnwell District (county) was carved out of the large Orangeburg District (county), the first of several to follow over the next few decades. Lexington District (county) was carved out in 1894, part of Aiken County was carved out in 1871, and Calhoun County was carved out in 1908. So, the Orangeburg County that we have today has retained its current boundaries since 1908. The settlers of Orangeburgh County and town were mostly German-Swiss, who began arriving in 1735 and continued to reach the district for several years before the movement ended. According to The Gazette (July 26), about 220 who had paid their passage were going up the Edisto River at government expense with provisions for one year. Each family head was to receive a lot and fifty acres in the township for each member in the family. The lots in Orangeburgh had already been marked off and numbered and several streets had been named. In fact, there were seventeen streets including one running along the riverfront. The center was named Broughton for the Lieutenant Governor; others were named in honor of His Majesty's Council (Middleton, Broad, Wragg, Skein, Wright, Bull, and Fenwick). Amelia and Saxe-Gotha Streets were named for other townships. Russell Street was named for Capt. Charles Russell, commander of the Rangers, who protected the early settlers from both Indians and white outlaws. In 1768, the Province was divided into seven precincts of districts, the third being called the Precinct of Orangeburg. It contained three townships: Orangeburgh (Orange Parish), Amelia (Parish of St. Matthews), and Saxe-Gotha (Lexington - 1804). Originally, the district included all of the present counties of Orangeburg, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Lexington, and the larger part of Aiken. It extended from the Savannah to the Santee and from Charleston and Beaufort districts to present day Edgefield.

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