Absalom WOFFORD

                   Name Suffix: Colonel REFN184 Family tradition says two WOFFORD brothers came from the northern part of England, Cumbe rland County, and settled in Pennsylvania, near the Maryland line. In fact, one of the birth s was in Prince George County, Maryland. But, records give the foregoing three Williams and t hen the two brothers.  ABSALOM was the father of five sons, four of whom served in the American Revolution. Amo ng these five brothers, WILLIAM WOFFORD (7th Great-grandfather of Kelsey Elizabeth Denkers) w as a man of broad enterprise. He built noted iron works on the Pacolett River and was one o f the leading citizensof that section. He served as Colonel in Williamson's Cherokee Campaig n 1776.His iron works on Lawson Falls on the Pacolett River were destroyed by Bill Cunningha m. After the American Revolution he sold his iron works. They changed twice and were late r called Berwicks and Ramsey's History of South Carolina calls them Buffington's Iron Works. He and some other families moved to Turkey Cove, on the Catawba River, where he buil t a fort for protection. He purchased 900acres of land. He also built a grist mill. He evide ntly didn't live there very long as he was not many years in Franklin COunty, Georgia. Spartanburg County, South Carolina, History by Landham says, "Colonel WILLIAM WOFFORD wa s the eldest of five brothers. He was born near Rock Creek, Maryland, about 12 miles above Wa shington D.C. on October 25, 1728, Prince George Co." Of his early lifevery little is known. Much can be conjectured as to a full-blooded bo y of thattime and conditions. It is believed that he served with the National Troops inth e French and Indian War. Many  of the families of that section of Pennsylvania feared an upri sing of the Indians and moved into North Carolina and on down the Catawba Trail to South Caro lina. In Williamson's Cherokee Campaign WILLIAM WOFFORD received the title Colonel. He wa s a man of note in the American Revolution and in the War of 1812 after he moved to Georgia. In 1779 he served under General Lincoln and was one of the group that persued the Tory P arty underColonel John Moore as they fled from North Carolina to Georgia. Georgia and Sout h Carolina suffered horrible persecutions at the hands of the Tories as wellas the British a nd Indians. Colonel WILLIAM WOFFORD was stationed at Fort Carnes (also called WOFFORD'S FORT), Frank lin County, Georgia, January 1, 1796. He built the WOFFORD Fort and the Block House, and wa s to obtain water by the digging of wells in the fort. He moved to Franklin County, Georgia, from Catawba. At that time Franklin County took i n a vast amount of land, not only the counties that were cut from her sides but three countie s in South Carolina, Pickens, Oconee, and Anderson. He owned more that 2,000 acres of land ar ound ToccoaFalls, including the Falls, to the middle fork of Broad River. At that time tha t section was unsettled except mostly Indians. Colonel WILLIAM WOFFORD was the progenitor of the WOFFORD family in Georgia and his son , Nathaniel's first son, was said to be the first white child ever born in that section of Ge orgia.Colonel WILLIAM WOFFORD had several grants of land besides many deeds. Court of Justic e of Franklin County, Georgia, requested that John Gorham, Esq. to survey 1,000 acres of lan d for WILLIAM WOFFORD. This was for the "WOFFORD SETTLEMENT." WILLIAM WOFFORD and several fam ilies formed what was known as WOFFORD'sSETTLEMENT. In 1784 when Franklin County, Georgia, was surveyed from the Savannah River to the Appal achee, the northern boundary became a dispute between thewhite settlers and the Cherokee Ind ians.  Benjamin Hawkins, agent for the Indians was directed to run or survey a new line agai n from the Currahee Mountainto the Appalachee River. This became known as the Hawkins Line , 1797. COLONELWILLIAM WOFFORD and several families who had built WOFFORD's SETTLEMENT, weresu rveyed out of their lands and homes. The north
                  

                   Name Suffix: Constable JOHN WOFFORD, another of the five brothers, was anenlisted soldier. Of this brother ve ry little is known. He was a Quaker and did not take up arms in the Revolution, but certain i t is that he was on the Whig side during the great struggle for liberty. He was the father o f 11 children. The descendants of this family are numerous in Spartanburg County today, aswe ll as in Georgia and in the West. Some have become distinguished in war andpeace, notably Co lonel Jefferson L. Wofford, Chief of Artillery on General S.D. Lee's staff, Army of Tennessee .
                  

                   Name Suffix: Captain JOSEPH,(7th great-uncle of Madison Gail Denkers) brother of Colonel WILLIAM WOFFORD, wa s Captain of a Company in the famous "SnowCampaign." He was so outspoken in behalf of the Am erican cause that it was said he was a target for the Tories and was in hiding much of the ti me.  He married Martha Lewellyn and had their family. Much of their family history is give nin the history of Spartanburg, South Carolina.  CAPTAIN JOSEPH WOFFORD, another of the five brothers, is mentioned in history.  He is the com mon ancestors of the branches of the family who meet annually in Memorial Association at Tabernacle Church. He was captain of a company which formed a part of the famous Spartan regiment , which was commanded by Colonel John Thomas, Sr., during the well-known "Snow Campaign." H e settled at first not far from the south side of Tyger River, not many hundred yards from th e graveyard, though on the oppositeside of the road, where his remains reposed for upwards o f 100 years. Going farther up the road from Hill's Bridge, and turning to the right, may be s een the spot where he built he second and last home. He was in command of a company in Charle ston before the fall of that city, and was also at Ninety-Six.  JOSEPHWOFFORD was an uncompr omising Whig, and no doubt was in active service till the end of the Revolutionary struggle . He was hated by the Tories, not only during the war but for many years afterwards. When no t in active service, on account of plundering, burning, murdering, marauding Tories, he was c ompelled to be an outlaw---that is, one who feared assassination if he should sleep at home-- -and therefore often remained in out-of-the-way places. He was the recognizedleader agains t the plundering British and Tories, and they watched his log cabin closely. Many tragic an d interesting stories of his life at this period have come down to the present day.  Nat Young, a Tory leader, who was afterwardskilled near Unity Church, a few miles above on t he river, knew the condition of CAPTAIN JOSEPH's family, andknowing that he would be very anx ious to hear from home, watched that log cabin with doubly intensified hatred. One night th ewarrior was seen to enter the house, was soon surrounded, and CAPTAIN JOE was captured ami d threats of swinging him to a limb, etc. His wife, Martha, was lying on her bed in the rea r of the room and saw and heard it all. She asked Capt. Nat to come back where she was, whic h he did and sat on the edge of her bed.She pleaded for her husband's life, saying: "Nat, i f Joe is killed tonight itwill kill me. I cannot survive the shock. So you will have to giv e an accountat the Great Day, not for the killing of Joe alone, but for two others. It ismu rder, Nat, and you know it. I plead tonight for the life of Joe, my life andfor the life o f my babe." Capt. Nat had himself once sued for her love and her hand, and he was touched b y her helpless entreaty. He said: "Nat Young pledges you his life, Mat; that not a hair of Jo e's head shall be hurt this night.While it is necessary to take him away bound tonight, he w ill return to you before daylight." True to his word, Joe was allowed to escape and returned . During that night, under such circumstances of distress and anguish, was born Benjamin Woff ord, the founder of WOFFORD COLLEGE.  Dr. Snyder says: "JOE WOFFORD was a man of valor and loved the soldier's life. He was a staun ch believer in liberty, and by his prowess did much to bring the blessings of freedom to th e State."  CAPTAIN JOSEPH WOFFORD was a noted hunter, fisherman and marksman and swordsman. The sword th at he carried during the Revolutionary War is now in possession of Capt. J.W. Wofford, Hender sonville, N.C. and is of the old English pattern, and is a very fine piece of metal. He wa s a quiet citizen, but alwaystook a firm stand for the good of his community and country. I n his later years his figure was much bent over and scars on his
                  

                   Name Suffix: Major Captain JAMES WOFFORD, another brother of WILLIAM WOFFORD, was small and infirm, but a staunc h Whig and an ardent supporter of the American cause and thus greatly hated by the Tories an d was in grave danger. Heowned 9,000 acres of land in his region. He married Miss Hoopuck an d had fourboys and four girls.
                  

                   Of the five sons of Absalom Wofford who went to South Carolina from Maryland, four wer e ardent Revolutionists. BENJAMIN was said to be a Royalist, yet he never took up arms for ei ther side.  BENJAMIN is the youngest of the five brothers. His life and movements are largely veile d in obscurity. Even the few details available are so contradictory, the historian is at a lo ss to know what to chronicle. One statement is that he did not marry in this country, but wen t back to the north of England, immediately after the close of the Revolution, and that the l ast seen of him he was standing on and out-going vessel.  Another andmuch more plausible acc ount is that he married a Miss Llewellyn, a sister tohis brother, Joseph's wife, and at th e close of the war left this State for Tennessee.  Benjamin WOFFORD, born ca 1745 in Rock Creek MD.( Now Montgomery CO.MD) married Mary LlEWELL YN, Benjamin was a torie and was stripped of his landwhen the British were defeated, A lot o f descendents do not want to admit he was a tory, as his brothers were not, but it is well do ccumented. In a letter to the assembly of SC. he ask for clemency, he said " I place myself o n the Mercy of my country, where I have lived ever since". He seem to dissappeard for severa l years, but he is found in Kentucky in Warren County in 1805. from therehe went to Madiso n County AL. He died there in Huntsville in 1815
                  

                   Name Suffix: Jr.