NSDAR Records, Washington, DC:
WEST, BENJAMIN Ancestor #: A123089
Service: SOUTH CAROLINA Rank: CAPTAIN
Birth: 1747 SOUTH CAROLINA
Death: 5-12-1780 NINETY SIX DIST SOUTH CAROLINA
Service Description: 1) PVT,SGT,COL ROEBUCK;CAPT,COL BRANDON'S
2) REGT.,MIL.
Spouse: Jane Trail
===========
Revolutionary War Service Acknowledged:
Two markers were dedicated yesterday afternoon in a little cemetery two miles southeast of Glenn Springs, on the Spartanburg-Union Highway, to the memory of two Revolutionary soldiers, Benjamin West, a private in the Spartan Regiment, South Carolina Cavalry, and Lieutenant Henry White, First Carolina Infantry. The dedication was conducted by Kate Barry Chapter, assisted by the Cowpens Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, the Spartan Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, and Benjamin Roebuck Chapter, Children of the American Revolution, with fitting ceremonies. ....
The little cemetery where the ceremony took place has not been used for years, the last burial having been made about 51 years ago. It lies between the present highway and the old location of the Union road, two miles southeast of Glenn Springs on the plantation now owned by Eddie Smith and known as the old Winnsmith place. The original grant from England's king had been given to Messrs. Brownlee and Bailey. This grant is the original with the coat-of-arms of the British crown and was in existence up until a few years ago when it was lost in a fire that destroyed the home of Mrs. Mary Emily Mayes Posey, a descendant of the Wofford family in whose possession it was at that time. According to tradition Benjamin West and Joseph Wofford came to what was then Ninety-Six District from Maryland and bought a large tract of land from Brownlee and Bailey. West settled on that part nearer the West Springs section while Wofford built his cabin northwest of West's toward Glenn Springs although not far away. West's cabin was built of logs and stood on a wedge of ground at the intersection of a branch with McEIwain Creek on the same side of the present highway and not five hundred yards from the old Winnsmith house. After the Indian trouble of 1776 had been quieted there was an interval of about four years when the pages of history seem silent concerning events which transpired in the upper portion of South Carolina. It was during this time that an effort was made to win over South Carolina to the British cause, and many of those who had been faithful and active leaders in the patriotic cause now took Royal protection and availed themselves of the proclamation, offering a full and absolute pardon to those who would return to their duty and promising that no offenses or transgressions heretofore committed in consequence of political troubles should be investigated. Others, however, preferred to brave the popular tide and remain in open partisan warfares. Col. Patrick Ferguson was dispatched to the up-country with a command of from 150 to 200 men of the provincial corps, and finally in the fall of 1780 after having occupied various encampments in Ninety-Six District, he located for about three weeks at the site now occupied by the Winnsmith house. Col. John Thomas, of the Patriots, had been designated to Cedar Springs section for recruiting purposes. The Tories, however, flocking to Colonel Ferguson's camp kept him posted as to the whereabouts of the Whig encampments. They scoured the country, plundering and robbing the people of cattle, hogs, horses, beds, wearing apparel, bee gums, grain, vegetables, and everything imaginable, even to rings, which they stripped from the hands of frightened women. Among the families that were greatly persecuted by these Tory raiders was that of Capt. William Smith, of Col. John Thomas' regiment, then encamped on the Fairforest. Capt. Smith's property had been destroyed, his life had been threatened, and he had been harassed in every known way. One day he and Benjamin West, a member of his company, left the Fairforest camp, intending to spend a few hours with their families. They parted where McEIwain Creek crossed the trail expecting to meet again shortly at an appointed place to return to camp. Cap. Smith's home was up McEIwain Creek a few yards from the road while West's was a short distance down. Mrs. West, according to the old tradition, was not at home when her husband arrived so he went into the yard and busied himself about some chores. Mrs. Smith began preparations for a hurried meal for Capt. Smith and as he was about to partake of it they heard shots in the direction of the West home. Captain Smith reached for his gun, dashed from the house, and hurried down the trail toward West's. A band of Tory raiders had got wind of West's presence in the vicinity. They had ridden into the yard and had tried to extort from him information which West refused to give. In consequence of his resistance they shot him and then scalped him. Mrs. Martha Wofford, whose husband had been West's companion on immigrating to this locality, and the mother of Benjamin Wofford, the founder of Wofford College, heard the disturbance and in true patriot spirit hurried to investigate. She bound up the bleeding scalp with her little shoulder cape, which was the only way she had of stanching the profuse flow of blood. It was not the end of the harassment. In a further act of torture, the Tories proceeded to tie a rope about West's body, and mounting their horses, drag him to a point about three miles distance where they hanged him to a tree. This point is near where Philadelphia Church now stands. At this time, according to the legend, a Miss White, who had witnessed the final act in the tragedy, intervened and succeeded in cutting the body down, hoping to find life still there. She was too late. Benjamin West had succumbed to the torture of his tormentors. Such was the scene that met Captain Smith's eyes when he arrived on the spot. Miss White had Mr. West's body placed on a sled, and accompanied by Capt. Smith, they took it to the West home and there placed it in a grave, dug by Captain Smith, in the dooryard. Two graves can be seen there today near the ruins of the old stone chimney of the West cabin. It is not altogether certain, however, whether one of the graves is that of Benjamin West, as it is the opinion of others that Mr. West was buried in the little cemetery where the marker commemorating his bravery was placed.
Lieutenant Henry White, to whose memory the second stone was placed, entered the service along about the same time as Mr. West. His home was over on the Fairforest, now belonging to some member of the Cleveland family. According to Heitman's Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army, 1775-1783, Henry White was a lieutenant in the Fifth South Carolina Infantry in 1777, resigning on the 22nd of January 1778. He again entered the service in 1779 as a colonel of the South Carolina Militia and served until his death in 1782. Although Col. White did not die in action, his death was caused from a wound. He died at his home on the Fairforest, and was buried in a corner of his garden in his uniform, the bullet still in his body. The exact location of his grave is not known as there were several other graves in the garden, all unmarked. Because of the inaccessibility of the location of the two graves, and the doubt as to their exact location, both stones were placed in the little burial plot on the Union Road. Source: The Spartanburg Herald-Journal May 14, 1933
==========