GREER, S.C. — A 150th anniversary program — billed as “the first ‘Story of Greer’ event and titled ‘The Founding’” and unveiling shocking and spine-chilling (as well as inspiring) details of the pre-Greer-area’s history up to its 1876 incorporation as a town — was presented by local history enthusiast David Lovegrove on March 21 in the Historic Greer Depot here.

Lovegrove’s 47-minute presentation, in which he described the early formation of Greer as (among other lively adjectives) “dramatic and tumultuous,” drew about 200 people. 

Lovegrove, who grew up in the Idaho Falls, Idaho, area, has been the director and curator of the Greer Heritage Museum since 2021. Previously, from October 2019 until January 2021, he was strictly the museum’s curator. 

He also is the author of the book, “Greer: Past in Pictures” (released in January 2024), which is billed as covering — in pictures — the first 75 years of Greer’s history. The book reportedly required about four years of research by Lovegrove.

Just prior to Lovegrove’s presentation, Vanda Cecco of the Greer Centennial Lions Club presented a giant (replica) check for $250 for the Greer Heritage Museum to Lovegrove.

Lovegrove began the “Founding of Greer” program by noting that, in the 1870s, most of the residents of the area that was to become Greer suffered through hard times, “as was the case in all of the South, during and immediately after the Civil War.”

He quoted from letters by Victoria Bailey Cunningham, known as “Miss Vic,” signed “your loving sister,” dated June 25, 1861, June 5, 1863 and succeeding years.

“In this community (the area that was to become Greer), “one in four men never came home” after joining the Confederate military to defend the South in the Civil War

Lovegrove reiterated, “Greer didn’t exist yet. The tiny community of Pleasant Grove was 2 miles away (from what was to become Greer),” as were many other small communities. “In all of those, there were women and children working in fields, with husbands and sons gone (to fight in the Civil War),” he said.

To that end, Cunningham, who grew up in Pleasant Grove and had married William C. Bailey, “was in resignation...” She thought, according to Lovegrove’s research, “probably, he (her husband) is dead (from fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War). We hear nothing from him.”

In flashing back in history, Lovegrove then told of the earlier life of Bailey, whom he described as “a farmer who ran a general store” and also worked as “a postmaster and a schoolteacher” and lived near what was to become Greer.

In 1857, Bailey married Anne Wallace of nearby Spartanburg. They had a daughter, Anna, on July 13, 1860.

One day, Bailey’s wife Anne “made a comment to William — ‘I don’t feel well today’… Later that day (on Aug. 19, 1860), she died... It left William Bailey as a widower — with a baby. Then that winter (on Nov. 12, 1861), pneumonia came and baby Anna died,” Lovegrove noted.

Four years later, on Sept. 19, 1865, William Bailey, 32, and Victoria Cunningham, 23, were married. Lovegrove quipped that Bailey was “happy” with his new wife Victoria...

“So what hinders me from being perfectly happy?” Bailey pondered in his writings. 

“So perhaps it was her mother.” Lovegrove quipped, prompting laughter from the crowd.

On a more serious note, Lovegrove added that, in October 1866, “the Baileys had (their first child) a daughter, Etta,.. Then they had another girl and then twin boys. But really, life was hard....

After the Civil War, Bailey returned to his family and farm in Chick Springs Township, where he was voted in as a selectman.

‘Times were tough,” Lovegrove reiterated, noting that, in late 1860s, Victoria wrote in one letter during that period, “Mr. Bailey will not make more than one-fourth of a crop this year.”

Bailey eventually hired two (black) freedmen to help him run his farm. He gave them — as pay for the work — a house, food, firewood, land, seed and the use of his equipment — and, very generously, half of the crop.”

Next, Bailey ran an unsuccessful campaign for sheriff of nearby Greenville. 

At that time, Victoria “started boarding people at her house to make extra money,” Lovegrove noted. “She actually loved that...

“The economy was really devastated at this time. Capt. (James T.) Blakely, a neighbor, had sold his farm for $4,000, but it was in Confederate money, so the money was worthless.” (By April 1865, Confederate money had no value, often used as wallpaper or kindling, with Union currency replacing it.) 

To the audience, Lovegrove noted, “Right here, you are sitting in his (Blakley’s) neglected farm field... The George W. Blakley place (farm) was bought by James Manning Greer (a Spartanburg native and woodcutter) in 1869. 

“He (Greer) did not move here (to Greer, S.C.). He did not farm the land. Perhaps he was just looking for lumber…

“Or,” Lovegrove asked, rhetorically, “did he think the Atlanta & Richmond railroad would be coming through here” and that he could profit by selling the land to the railroad?

Lovegrove then reiterated that, in the mid-1800s, “what is now Greer was part of a large estate owned by Hugh Bailey. A 190-acre tract forming the northern part of Bailey’s estate came into the possession of James T. Blakely and was farmed by him for almost two decades. In 1863, Blakely sold that property to W.F. Thackston... Manning Greer bought the land from Thackston some time before 1871.)

“Anderson was supposed to be a key place on the route... Then they (the railroad) talked about building the depot in Greenville, but railroad officials agreed that “the city fathers there... were very hard to work with,” so they decided against it.

“If you drew a (straight) line from Greenville to Spartanburg, that route would run through farm fields,” and what is now Greer is almost exactly at the midpoint between the Upstate’s two largest cities, Lovegrove noted.”So farmers donated land. And now they had the route up to the Blakely farm...

“There was no town here — just this field. They didn’t known what to call it. They decided in ‘Greer’s Depot,’” given that the railroad had acquired their right-of-way from Manning Greer...

“Initially, they built the (first) depot right up against the tracks. But for the first time since the war, there was something like excitement — in the middle of nowhere...

“Bailey was named the conductor. They (the railroad) named it a ‘flag station.’ So the trains would not stop unless Bailey flagged or used a lantern to signal the trains to stop.”

(To that end, a research paper at the Greer Heritage Museum stated, “It’s worth noting that at that moment in time there was no town and no one lived in the area that is now Greer; it was a flag station in rural farmland, located near where the tracks crossed Old State Road. There was a single uninhabited house with barn on the property, which had been James Blakely’s.”)

Lovegrove added, “Three years later, many of Shumate’s lots were sold and a small town had sprung up. The 15 eligible voters all voted unanimously to incorporate the town, and they chose the name ‘Greer’s’ after Greer’s Depot.”

Regarding Bailey, Lovegrove asserted, “He was a really busy guy... My guess is he was doing many jobs at one time. Why did he take the job (as conductor)? Certainly, he needed the money....

“William Shumate, who thought Greer was a perfect place for a town, bought the rest of Nanny Greer’s farm. He started selling lots from there to the Blakely place.

“The depot would open for business in October (1873) — and... just at that moment... the world fell apart. Historians call it the panic of…, or the Long Depression (1873–1879). One hundred fifty-five railroads went bankrupt, including the Atlanta and Richmond.

“People backed out on their lots’ (purchases)… Without a railroad, there was no reason for a town to be here...The town was born of bankruptcy....

“Amazingly, the railroad reorganized later in 1873 as the Atlanta & Charlotte Air-Line Railway — and the depot opened on time,” Lovegrove noted. “Miss Vic was raising cows and chickens on Trade Street. They started calling their community ‘Greer’s Station.’”

On March 25, 1876, the state legislature officially chartered the community as the “Town of “Greer’s.”’ In the early 1900s, the possessive “s” began to be dropped informally from common usage. In 1915, the “s” was dropped. In 1976, the name was officially changed to the “City of Greer,” finally removing the “s” from all official records.

The town’s incorporation “marked the transition from a rail depot to a formal, self-governing town,” AI Overview noted on March 22.

Meanwhile, in his presentation, Lovegrove said, “Before even a new hotel could open in Greer’s, a disaster hit... A little girl’s dress caught fire... Estelle (a daughter of William and Victoria Bailey)… was 6 years old. The other children escaped, but Estelle died amidst the flames.

“So Vic and William buried their daughter, and the newspaper story on the fatal fire cautioned parents to keep better watch on their chilren.

“The fire burned all of the buildings in a (long) row...Yet William Bailey was elected Greer’s first mayor, just three weeks after his daughter died in the fire... The railroad even misspelled the new town’s name as ‘Griers’ on its own map,” Lovegrove noted, prompting laughter from the crowd.

Soon, “farmers from all around were hauling their cotton to Greer’s. By the time it was auctioned off, there was rarely time for them to “get back home” that night, Lovegrove noted.

“So farmers with their entire year’s profits in their wallets had to stay overnight in Greer’s -— and in 1879, there were eight houses, three saloons and four stores, all of which sold whiskey. And they were the kind of places with women (hookers) upstairs. Eight families couldn’t afford to hire a police force... There were fights... People stopped moving in.”

Eventually, the eight families living in Greer’s hired their first policeman, Willis T. “Zonk” Foster, 36. Alas, he was shot and killed while in a foot pursuit with suspected bootleggers on July 2, 1904, marking the first line-of-duty death for the Greer’s Police Department. 

Foster, serving his second year as a night policeman, was ambushed and shot twice in a wooded area near the old Wayside Inn. Although three men were charged with his murder, they were later acquitted at trial.

He reportedly is the only Greer’s police officer to have died in the line of duty.

Also, reportedly, Foster had recently bought a new uniform and had a photograph taken of himself the same day, which he intended to give to his wife as a gift before he was killed that night.

In his program, Lovegrove noted, “It was 1879 and Greer’s had had enough. It turned out that William Bailey was significantly involved in the temperance movement. So after a vote, Greer’s became the first dry town in South Carolina.

AI Overview noted, “According to local historical discussions in the Greater Greer Remembers Facebook group, Greer became one of the first ‘dry’ towns in South Carolina, aiming to control high rates of fighting, violence and shootings in the area. The town was incorporated in 1876, and its reputation for chaos led to these strict early restrictions, say Facebook, Discover Greer.”

“While the exact date of the vote is not specified in the search results, it was enacted early in its history, according to Facebook.”

Longview noted, “In 1881, the Greenville Enterprise and Mountaineer reported that Greer’s was changing to desirable place to live or visit, as shown by the building of a new Baptist Church. And a Presbyterian Church is being built... The city had a population of 500 people...”

While “previously, it was the custom of ladies not to go onto the (wild) streets,” Lovegrove stated, “Greer’s is now quiet and pleasant and cordially invites people to visit.”

Lovegrove then mused, “I can imagine William and a newspaper reporter walking up Trade Street” at that time.

Next, he asked, rhetorically, “Can you imagine being the mayor in 1879 and this town had turned the corner and he had led it there?”

Lovegrove added, “Now, with five children, a sickly William Bailey concluded his term as mayor.. Seeing what was to come, they (the family) had a portrait shot of William…. This is a man facing death. William got worse. His body was wracked with extreme pain. He said only death would relieve the pain.

“At age 49, he was gone,” as of Oct. 16, 1882,” Lovegrove noted. “So Miss Vic was a widow with five children in 1882. But Miss Vic was strong” and built a reputation as a savvy businesswoman and real estate investor. 

“Over the next decade, Miss Vic gathered an extensive portfolio of properties on the east side of Trade Street. At the same time, she gave much energy to her (Presbyterian) church.” 

In 1885, Miss Vic was diagnosed with turboculosis. She died (at age 54) on March 27, 1896.

“The Greenville newspaper wrote the following: ‘After her husband’s death, she took up the burden,’ Lovegrove stated. ‘ One of her chief traits was kindness and hospitality. She died as she lived… in a belief in Jesus Christ….’”

Rhetorically, the speaker asked the following questions:

• Why does Greer not have a street named for its first mayor, but we have one for his wife?

• What kind of town dares to be born out of war, bankruptcy, fire and blood?

In closing, Lovegrove asserted, “These are the people who decided this place was worth fighting for.”

After a brief pause, he added, “Greer’s hardest days actually were ahead... Remember what it cost them to build a town out of love….”

The crowd enthusiastically applauded his presentation, as Lovegrove responded with a smile.