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Anderson in Anderson County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
 

Anderson County Courthouse Annex Park

 
 
Anderson County Courthouse Annex Park Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 26, 2009
1. Anderson County Courthouse Annex Park Marker
Inscription.
The location of the Anderson County Courthouse Annex on the corner of Fant and River Street has unique significance to Anderson's history. The site is the location of the 1865 federal encampment of the First Maine, 33rd Regiment, United States Colored Troops (USCT), a military unit composed of African American soldiers. The encampment included the terrain where historic McCant's Middle School now stands, continuing to the corner of Fant and River Streets. The First Marine troops, 33rd Regiment consisted of freed men under the command of white officers. The officers were housed at the Benson Hotel in town and eventually, the soldiers were garrisoned at Johnson Female University.

During a period of time directly after the ending of the Civil War, Anderson had African American troops garrisoned to maintain law and order. This era was referred to as "Presidential Reconstruction." It began with the surrender of the Confederate government and ended with the Congressional Reconstruction.

The era reflected the lawlessness of the time period when the story of Anderson County native Manse Jolly, a returning veteran of Company F, First SC Calvary, grew to be a South Carolina legend when his bold escapes of revenge against Union forces. Manse Jolly left Anderson County to start a new life in Milam County, Texas, and died
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in a flooded river.

Very few references regarding the occupation exist; however, the diaries of Andersonian Emmala Reed give a view of occupied Anderson in this period. Emmala wrote "my alma mater (Johnson University), now sold by our vile Maine garrison - as a Yankee hospital - desecrated."

Another source are the papers of Lt. Col. Charles Taylor Trowbridge, who was the commander of the First Maine, 33rd Regiment, USCT, who were stationed in Anderson on August 14, 1865. Colonel Trowbridge faced many challenges to restore order in the three counties of Pickens, Oconee, and Anderson, and survived several close encounters with Manse Jolly, who threatened to kill him. The First Maine left Anderson in September 1865.
 
Erected 2008 by Anderson County and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Manse Jolly Camp #6.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African AmericansWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Sons of Confederate Veterans/United Confederate Veterans series list. A significant historical month for this entry is September 1865.
 
Location. 34° 30.067′ N, 82° 38.667′ W. Marker is in Anderson, South Carolina, in Anderson County. Marker is at the intersection of South Fant Street (State Highway 22) and East River Street (U.S. 76),
Anderson County Courthouse Annex Park -<br>Fant Street in the Background image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 26, 2009
2. Anderson County Courthouse Annex Park -
Fant Street in the Background
on the right when traveling north on South Fant Street. Marker is located in the park located west of the courthouse annex building. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 401 East River Street, Greenville SC 29601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 10 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. William Law Watkins (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); William Bullein Johnson (approx. 0.2 miles away); A Living Tribute (approx. 0.2 miles away); St. John's Methodist Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); The First Baptist Church Bell (approx. 0.2 miles away); G. Ross Anderson Jr. Federal Building and United States Courthouse (approx. 0.2 miles away); Grace Episcopal Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); After Dark: Seeking Harmony in Music and Culture (approx. ¼ mile away); Beyond Commerce: Building a Legacy of Hard Work (approx. ¼ mile away); Masonic Temple -- 1889 (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Anderson.
 
Also see . . .
1. United States Colored Troops. The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments of the United States Army during the American Civil War that were composed of African-American soldiers. (Submitted on June 10, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 

2. United States Colored Troops: A Short History. Before Fort Sumter, South Carolina was fired upon on April 12, 1861, seven states in the deep south had
Anderson County Courthouse Annex Park and Marker -<br>River Street in the Background image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, May 26, 2009
3. Anderson County Courthouse Annex Park and Marker -
River Street in the Background
seceded from the Union, and a Convention was held in Montgomery, Alabama which adopted a Constitution and elected Jefferson Davis as President of the Confederate States of America. (Submitted on June 10, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 

3. Manson Sherrill Jolly. Articles about Manson Sherrill Jolly. (Submitted on June 10, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 

4. First South Carolina Cavalry: A Unit History. The First South Carolina Regiment of Cavalry as formed in 1861 and ordered up to Northern Virginia in the fall of 1862. (Submitted on June 10, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 

5. First South Carolina Cavalry: Company F Roster. Complete roster of Company F. (Submitted on June 10, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 
 
Additional commentary.
1. Manse Jolly
The exploits of Manse Jolly, the Confederate who never surrendered, have become legendary in the Anderson area. Jolly was the most wanted man in western South Carolina, the United States Army not only having a price on his head, but often sending out detachments from the Federal garrison in Anderson to being him back dead or alive.

Of the seven sons of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Moorhead Jolly of the
Manse Jolly image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, circa 1863
4. Manse Jolly
Lebanon community, three died in battle and one of battle wounds. Manse joined Company F, 1st Regiment, South Carolina Cavalry, on December 4, 1861, at Pickens. Last official record of his military career on file with Confederate records in Washington states he answered roll call in December 1864. When he arrived home from the battlefront after Lee's surrender, he found Anderson occupied by a Yankee garrison with troops encamped off East Boundary Street (later Fant Street, in the area which became Nardin's Field and now the site of McCants Junior High School), and officers quartered in the dormitory on University Hill. On his oath to kill five Yankees for every brother lost on the battlefield he more than made good. He and his unsurrendered Confederate companions lost no time in playing a hide-and-seek game with the commander who sent out squads when he found one of his men killed. They often encountered Jolly and lost one or two of their number. When Jolly's Spencer carbine or Colt's six shooter spoke, it meant business. Eventually more soldiers were sent to Anderson to hunt for the desperado but they never got him. When an old well in the Hopewell community was cleaned out in the early 1900s, it yielded a number of skeletons and a like number of brass belt buckles bearing the U.S.A. insignia.

When Jolly, having 23 notches on his gun handle, decided to leave for Texas,
Col. Charles T. Trowbridge<br>(d. 1907) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, circa 1863
5. Col. Charles T. Trowbridge
(d. 1907)
he did it in characteristic fashion, riding boldly into Anderson in broad daylight on Jan. 29, 1865, then dashed through the Yankee camp blazing away with six shooter in each hand. Taken by surprise and thinking he was in the vanguard of a band of raiders, the troops panicked.

On the way to Texas, it is said that Jolly killed a dozen more Yankees. But his career ended shortly thereafter; his grave is in the Little River cemetery near Cameron, Texas, the headstone bearing the Masonic emblem. The headstone states that Manse Jolly drowned in Walker's Creek, in Milam County, at the age of 29. His faithful horse, Dixie, drowned with him. (Source: Anderson County Sketches editied by Elizabeth Belser Fuller (1969).)
    — Submitted January 30, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
 
Manse Jolly House<br>Manse Jolly Road image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, January 30, 2012
6. Manse Jolly House
Manse Jolly Road
Manse Jolly House image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Evelyn Holton Melvin, Anderson County Sketches, 1969
7. Manse Jolly House
Sketch made after renovation by David J. Watson of Clemson.
Manse Jolly House Drive Post<br>Note Initials "MJ" image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, January 30, 2012
8. Manse Jolly House Drive Post
Note Initials "MJ"
Manse Jolly House Drive Entrance image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, January 30, 2012
9. Manse Jolly House Drive Entrance
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on December 11, 2019. It was originally submitted on June 10, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 3,439 times since then and 52 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on June 10, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   6, 7, 8, 9. submitted on January 30, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

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Mar. 29, 2024