Calhoun County Museum
Come and enjoy the history of Calhoun County and South Carolina presented with a personal southern touch.
Formation of Calhoun County
Formation of Calhoun County
Result of a 17 Year Effort
From: Speech by J. Skottowe Wannamaker
“In 1890, only 25 years after old St. Matthews Parish had been abolished as a political division, the citizens of this section realized that they had an ideal territory for forming a new county. Also recognizing the fact that the change to a small county would result in many advantages, efforts were made to form this county from parts of Orangeburg and Lexington counties, mainly Orangeburg. The name selected for the new county was Calhoun in honor, not only of the greatest man whom this State has ever produced, but also one of the greatest men recorded in the history of this nation. This being before the Constitutional Convention the power of forming new counties was still in the hands of the General Assembly. After a strenuous fight before this body the movement went down to defeat. It was defeated by the fight waged against it by the old county representatives.
“In 1896 the Constitution having been changed so that it would leave the formation of a new county to the people (it being required that a new county receive two-thirds of the ballots cast in the territory cut off from any old county), it was decided to make another effort to form Calhoun County. The citizens of this territory made a valiant fight; however, they were outgeneraled by the old county advocates and went down to defeat at the ballot box.
“During this campaign a barbecue was given at St. Matthews by the new county advocates and Col. Geo. Tillman was invited to deliver an address on the formation and advantages of new counties. This address was a masterpiece; it was published by the daily and weekly papers; it attracted much attention and was unanswerable. This address has doubtless contributed largely to the formation of several of the recent small counties in this State. The day of the barbecue Col. Tillman missed connections at Branchville, and the new county advocates chartered a special train at a cost of $125.00 to bring him to St. Matthews. Col. Tillman most positively refused to permit the Committee to pay for same but demanded that I, as agent of the old South Carolina Railroad at this time, refund the money to the New County Committee. He paid me the amount himself, and when I offered him a receipt for the money he placed his hand on my shoulder and said, "Young man, the only receipt I want is to have Calhoun County placed on the map of South Carolina, which will be done sooner or later. New and small counties offer many advantages, which the voters will be bound to sooner or later realize and appreciate, and new and small counties will be created. You have an ideal territory and a grand name, and your citizenship springs from fighting stock. If you lose this time just let them know that you have not started to fight, and you will live to see Calhoun County formed."
“Those words from this grand old man caused a marked impression upon me and have often rung in my ea during these years. Time has proved that lie was right."
“In March 1907. I was in the city of Orangeburg and the question of the formation of Calhoun County was brought up. An Orangeburg friend said, "Why don't you start off again as an April fool joke?"! had been giving the matter careful consideration. St. Matthews had shown marked improvements in the past few years, and the feeling between the country and town was very friendly. Other new counties had been created since we went down to defeat in 1896. After consulting several prominent citizens of this territory, as to the advisability of again taking steps to form Calhoun County we called a public meeting on May 22, 1907, and this meeting was largely attended.
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