Anderson County Courthouse Annex Park
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 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.
Marker is at the intersection of South Fant Street (South Carolina Route 22) and East River Street (U.S. 76), on the right when traveling north on South Fant Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
