Our Very Own Dignitaries From Laurens County
....again, another work in progress

Henry Laurens 

February 24, 1724 - December 8, 1792

Cremated with his ashes buried at Mepkin

Ann Pamela Cunningham

August 15, 1816  -  May 1, 1875

First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina

​

Ann Pamela Cunningham was born on August 15, 1816 in Laurens County, South Carolina to Robert and Louisa Cunningham.  She was educated at home during her early years and later attended the South Carolina Female Collegiate Institute at Barhamville (Barhamville Institute) in Columbia.  She was born into a wealthy family and lived on the Rosemont Plantation in the Waterloo, South Carolina area. The Plantation was largely in the cotton industry.

​

Miss Cunningham learned to love and ride horses and she never married.  When in her teens, she was thrown from a horse leaving her with chronic pain for the remainder of her years. She and her mother often traveled back and forth to Philadelphia to consult with doctors about her condition. In 1853, while coming back from a doctor’s visit, her mother spoke with concern towards the deteriorating conditions of the Mount Vernon Estate. From this point on Miss Cunningham became an early leader in historic preservation and is credited with saving President George Washington’s Estate - Mount Vernon.

​

Being disabled for twenty one years and in 1853, while in her thirties, she started the campaign to preserve Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon was owned by George Washington’s great-grandnephew, John Augustine Washington, III at this time and Miss Cunningham consistently tried to convince Washington’s great-grandnephew that the home should be saved. Her persistence in him saving the property went overlooked.

​

In 1853 she sent a letter addressed to “The Ladies of the South” to raise money for the First President’s Home. Miss Cunningham along with the former Massachusetts Governor Edward Everet, Sarah C. Tracy  and a Charleston Attorney James Louis Petigru founded “The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association”. This Ladies Association sought out women leaders from each of the thirty states in the Union. Miss Cunningham served as its first regent and the Association is still in existence today.

​

At first, the Mount Vernon’s Ladies Association worked in partnership with members of Congress to raise funds for the preservation project. Following many attempts to encourage the members of Congress, the Virginia Legislature decided not to purchase the estate driving the Mount Vernon’s Lady Association to work independently to acquire the property. The organization consisted of women from thirty states who were assigned to raise money in their communities. For the next few years, people from across the country donated to the Mount Vernon’s Lady Association fund.

​

In 1858 with the nation on the brink of war, Miss Cunningham and the Mount Vernon’s Lady Association made a down payment on the estate still had a large sum of money to pay off so Cunningham continued her appeals. She started the “Mount Vernon Record,” a newsletter, which served as an outlet to inform contributors about progress. The organization was on its way to executing the first preservation project when the Civil War began. The war brought all efforts to a halt and forced Cunningham back to South Carolina. However, she requested one woman, Sarah C. Tracy, remain at Mount Vernon to protect the estate.

​

In 1874, after years of dedication, Miss Cunningham decided to step down as the Regent. In her departing notes, she expressed the importance of the Mount Vernon’s Lady Association’s work as, “Ladies, the home of Washington is in your charge. Let one spot in this grand country of ours be saved from ‘change’! Upon you rests this duty.”  The Mount Vernon Ladies Association is one of the oldest historic preservation organizations in the United States and continues to work to maintain and preserve the property and continue George Washington’s legacy.

William Dunlap Simpson

October 27, 1823 - December 26, 1890

Laurens City Cemetery

​

William Dunlap Simpson - Legislator, Judge, Governor, was born in Laurens District on October 27 1823, son of John Wells Simpson and Elizabeth Satterwhite. He married Jane Elizabeth Young on March 25, 1847 and they had eight children.  ​Simpson was educated at Laurens Male Academy and attended both the South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) and Harvard for one semester - he did not graduate from either.

 

During the 1850s, Simpson served two nonconsecutive terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives. In 1860 he was elected Senator from Laurens District and served until 1863.

 

When the war broke out, he was on the staff of General Milledge Luke Bonham and participated in the siege of Fort Sumter and the First Battle of Manassas. Returning to South Carolina, he helped organize the Fourteenth South Carolina Infantry and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He saw action at Seven Days, the Second Battle of Manassas, and Antietam.

​

While Simpson was Interested in education and agriculture, he was instrumental in the granting of University status to South Carolina College as well as the creation of the State Agricultural Commission and the Fish  Commission.

​

In 1867, Simpson was elected to Congress as a Democrat. His Republican opponent at that time challenged the election on the grounds of “fraud, force, and violence” ending with Simpson being disqualified. Despite this setback he remained active in party politics, served as a member of the executive committee of the State Democratic Party and was a friend and supporter of Wade Hampton.

 

After the Civil War he purchased land in Pettis County, Missouri and considered leaving South Carolina but stayed in Laurens and practiced law with his father-in-law, Henry Clinton Young.  In 1876 Simpson ran on the Hampton ticket and  successfully won for the position of Lieutenant Governor. 

 

Wade Hampton resigned as Governor to assume his US Senate seat allowing Simpson to now become the 78th Governor of South Carolina in February of 1879 to 1880. After less than a year in office, Simpson resigned to become Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.  He was then reelected in 1885 and served until his death on December 26, 1890. ​