The Battle of Mobley’s Meeting House

225^th Anniversary Re-enactment

The 225^th Anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Mobley’s Meeting House was presented by the Fairfield County Museum on 25-26 June 2005 on the grounds of the historic Feasterville Female Academy and Boarding House and the 1830’s Liberty Universalist Church in the Historic Feasterville Community, 7 miles north of Salem Crossroads on South Carolina Highway 215 North. This pastoral setting and buildings is about 4.5 miles as the crow flies west of the probable site of the skirmish. The church, Academy Boarding House, and old schoolrooms have been meticulously restored and are kept up by the Coleman-Feaster-Mobley Family Reunion Association which holds annual meetings on the properties. The public was invited to watch morning drills, and an encampment. A small re-enactment of the battle brought this historic event to life.

The schedule for this event was:

Saturday 25 June : 1000 am – Gates open to the public

1100 am – Dedication Ceremony hosted by the

Thomas Woodward Chapter, DAR

100 pm – Guest Speaker

200 pm – Re-enactment

500 pm – End of day’s activities

Sunday 25 June : 1000 am – Gates open to the public

1100 am – Period Service in the Liberty Church

100 pm – Guest Speaker

200 pm – Re-enactment

500 pm – End of day’s activities

For more information, please contact:

Pelham Lyles at the Fairfield County Museum

231 South Congress Street

Winnsboro, SC 29180

(803)-635-9811

fairfieldmus@chestertel.com

http://www.midnet.sc.edu/fairfieldmus/

A history of the Academy is at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/1499/academy.html

A history of Feasterville and the Academy is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~scfairfi/feastervhis.html

The small community of Feasterville is named for one of its founding families who had immigrated into Pennsylvania before moving south in the 1770s establishing homes in what would eventually become Fairfield County. The Feasters were of the German Dunker religious persuasion, but early on became the founding family for the Universalist Church in the South. Liberty Church is said to be the first congregation in America to use the term Universalism to describe their beliefs.

Nearby the Mobley family had built a meetinghouse on their land in the 1770s. It is said that it was burned sometime after the June, 1780 skirmish and its location has been lost to memory. It was definitely still in existence in 1786, but was gone by August 1820. A volunteer archaeological group has recently found evidence pointing to a possible location in an unapproachable location near Little River, a tributary of the Broad River. Efforts are ongoing to put all of the evidence together with documentary research.

Synopsis of the Battle of Mobley’s Meeting House

(From “All that Dare Oppose Them : The Whig Victory at Mobley’s Meeting House, June 1780”, by Kenneth Shelton, ashvainmo@yahoo.com, copyright 2005)

To order the book, it is available for $25 US postage paid, 164 pgs + index, softcover.

Send to Kenneth Shelton

5433 Regency Woods Manor

Imperial, MO 63052

Between 7 and 11 June, most likely 10 June 1780, a small body of Whig militia numbering between 100 and 200 in total was formed from the commands of Colonel William Bratton, Colonel (Captain) Edward Lacey, Captain (Colonel) John McClure, Colonel Samuel Watson, Colonel Cooper, and Colonel William Hill, with Majors Richard Winn and Patrick ‘Paddy’ McGriff as the Field Majors and Adjutant James ‘Jemmy’ Johns(t)on. This group was comprised in large part of the Whig forces that had a few days earlier routed and scattered a Tory gathering at Beckhamville under the command of the Tory Colonel Houseman. Colonel William Bratton was elected overall field commander for the engagement, and this group attacked a formation of Tories who were plundering the greater Fairfield District neighborhood in the aftermath of the fall of Charleston under the active encouragement of Lord Cornwallis at Camden and British Colonel Turnbull at Rocky Mount. The Tories had formed at a well-known rendezvous location called Mobley’s Meeting House in the Moberley Settlement, located on a high embankment on a branch of the Little River in Fairfield District. They were under the general command of Tory Colonel Robert Coleman of Fairfield District, Tory Colonel Joseph Fleuquinyan and Tory Captain William Nichols. This group had plundered many of the possessions of Whigs in the area, in particular members of the Hampton family and had sent John and Henry Hampton prisoner to Lord Cornwallis at Camden. Thus laden down with booty and awaiting British assistance, the Tories were hit by the combined Whig force more or less by surprise and, like at Beckhamville, scattered in retreat in short order. The attack occurred at daybreak with an assault on the Church and a nearby strong/block house or fortified building. The Whig forces attacked from three sides, leaving the fourth uncovered as it was thought that the embankment was too hazardous to climb for an attack or to descend in a retreat. However, during the confusion and panic, a number of Tories attempted just that and were injured in the process. Few casualties were noted on either side other than those resulting from falls down the embankment. Much of the plunder was recovered and restored to the owners, and a significant number of prisoners were taken and sent to North Carolina. After the battle, some of the Whigs immediately left for North Carolina while others stayed on. In the immediate aftermath, Colonel Turnbull, the regional British commander at Rocky Mount, sent the New York Provincials (the Green Coats Tories) under Captain Christian Huck in reprisal. They in turn destroyed the home and parsonage of the Reverend John Simpson and attacked the remaining Whigs at the Iron Works of Colonel William Hill. After the destruction of the Iron Works, the remaining Whigs were forced to withdraw into North Carolina and assist in Sumter’s rise and their vengeance on Huck in July.

Rosters of the Battle of Mobley’s Meeting House

(From “All that Dare Oppose Them : The Whig Victory at Mobley’s Meeting House, June 1780”, by Kenneth Shelton, ashvainmo@yahoo.com, copyright 2005)

The author is interested in information on the members of the Whig and Tory organizations, and especially any information to confirm or nor the presence of those on the “possible” lists. Those on the possible lists are documented in the companies listed, but it is not documented that they were in those organizations at the time of Mobley’s Meeting House.

	WHIGS AT MOBLEY'S MEETING HOUSE
LNAME	FNAME	RANK	COMPANY	REGIMENT
Adams	Samuel	Lt & Capt	McClure, John	Bratton
Baker	Thomas	Capt	Baker, Thomas	Cooper
Bratton	William	Col		Bratton
Brown	John	Pvt	McClure, John	Bratton
Campbell	William	1Lt	Howe, Robert	Watson
Carnahan	Thomas	Capt		Bratton
Carson	William	Fifer	Martin, James	Bratton
Clinton	James	3-Pvt, Lt, Capt	Howe, Joseph	A. Neal
Cooper	unk	Col		Cooper
Craig	John	Pvt	McClure, John
Davis	James(?)	Lt	Howe, Joseph	A. Neal
Davis	William	Lt & Pvt	Howe, Robert	Bratton
Evans	Owen	Ensign	McClure, John	Bratton
Gaston	Alexander	Pvt	McClure, John
Gaston	David	Pvt	McClure, John
Gaston	Ebenezer	Pvt	McClure, John
Gaston	Hugh	Pvt	McClure, John
Gaston	John	Doctor	McClure, John
Gaston	William	Pvt	McClure, John
Gill	George	Pvt	McClure, John
Goldsmith	John	Pvt	Baker, Thomas	Cooper
Gordon	Samuel	Pvt	Howe, Robert	A. Neal
Hampton	Henry		Prisoner
Hampton	John	Capt	Prisoner
Harbison	James	Pvt	McClure, John
Harrison		Maj		Hill
Hill	William	Col		Hill
Hood	John	Pvt & Capt		Bratton
Houston	Samuel	Pvt	McClure, John
Howe	Robert	Capt	Howe, Robert	A. Neal
Johnston	James	Adjutant	McClure, John
Johnston	John	Pvt		Lacey
Johnston	Matthew			Lacey
Johnston	Samuel	Pvt		Lacey
Kenedy	William	Pvt	Steel, John	Bratton
Knox	Hugh	Ensign & Capt	McClure, John	Lacey
Lacey	Edward	Colonel		Lacey
Lucas	Randolph	Pvt	Shannon, Thomas	Hill
McCalla	Samuel	Pvt		Lacey
McClure	Hugh	1Lt	McClure, John	Bratton
McClure	John	Capt	McClure, John	Bratton
McClurken	Thomas	Pvt		Lacey
McCormick	Robert	Pvt	McClure, John	Bratton
McGarrity	William	Pvt	McClure, John
McGriff	Patrick 'Paddy'	Maj		Watson
McKeon	Alexander	Pvt
McKeon	Samuel	Pvt
Mills	John	Pvt
Morrow	Joseph	Pvt	McClure, John
Neal	Andrew	Col		A. Neal
Nixon	John	Lt Col		Lacey
Rainey	Thomas	Pvt		Bratton
Sadler	David	Pvt		A. Neal
Shannon	Thomas	Capt	Shannon, Thomas	Hill
Simpson	John	Rev / Chaplain	McClure, John	Lacey
Steele	John	Capt	Steel, John	Bratton
Steele	Thomas	Pvt	McClure, John
Stroud	William JR	Pvt	McClure, John
Taylor	James	Capt
Taylor	Thomas	Colonel
Wade	Joseph	Pvt	McClure, John
Walker	Alexander	Pvt	McClure, John
Walker	Robert	Lt & Pvt	McClure or Mills	Lacey
Walker	Samuel	Pvt	McClure, John	Bratton
Watson	Samuel	Colonel		Watson
White	William	Pvt	McClure, John	Lacey
Winn	John	Capt
Winn	Richard	Maj		Bratton
Wylie	Francis	Pvt	McClure, John	Lacey
Wylie	James	Pvt

POSSIBLE WHIGS AT MOBLEY'S MEETING HOUSE
LNAME	FNAME	RANK	COMPANY	REGIMENT
Armstrong	William	Pvt	McClure, John	Bratton, William
Bishop	William	Pvt	McClure, John	Bratton, William
Burns	Laird	Pvt	Walker & Gabby	Lacey
Clark	William	Pvt	Miller	Neal, Andrew
Cunningham	John	Capt	Cunningham, John	Bratton, William
Cunningham	George	Pvt	Cunningham, John	Neal or Hill
Curren	John	Pvt	Faris, Alexander (Lt)	Hill
Davis	James	Pvt, Lt, Capt	Davis, Amos	Bratton, William
Davis	Amos	Capt	Davis, Amos	Bratton, William
Elliot	James	Pvt	McClure or Hugh Knox	Lacey
Gebie	John	Pvt	Faris, Alexander (Lt)	Hill, Neal or Lacey
Griffin	Ralph	Pvt	Lacey, Edward (Capt)	Patton
Hanna	William	Capt	Hanna	Bratton, William
Hawthorne	unk	Capt	Hawthorne	Bratton, William
Henderson	Thomas	Lt	Cunningham, John	Bratton, William
Howe	David	Pvt	Hawthorne	Sumter
Jordan	James	Pvt	Moffett, John	Neal or Bratton
Kincaid	John	Pvt	Hawthorne	Bratton, William
Lofton	Thomas	Capt	Howe, Joseph	Neal
Martin	James	Capt	Martin, James	Bratton, William
Martin	Edward 'Ned'	Capt	McClure, John
McCance	David	Pvt	McClure, John
McCance	William	Pvt	McClure, John
McClure	James	Capt	McClure, John
McElhaney	Stephen	Pvt	McClure	Lacey
McElhaney	Samuel	Pvt	Mills, John	Lacey, Edward
McElhaney	William	Pvt	Mills, John	Lacey, Edward
McLane	William	Lt	Adams, Samuel	Lacey
Meek	James	Capt	Wallace, James (Maj)	Bratton, William
Miller	John 'Hopping'	Adjutant	Mills, John	Lacey
Miller	Robert	Pvt	Stewart, Hugh	Lacey
Moffett	unk	Capt	Moffett	Bratton or Lacey
Morrow	Samuel	Pvt	McClure, James	Lacey
Neely	Robert	Pvt	Adams or Hanna	Bratton or Lacey
Patrick	Robert	Pvt	Hawthorne	Bratton, William
Quinton	James	Pvt		Lacey(?)
Ramsey	James	Capt		Lacey
Ratchford	Joseph	Pvt	unk	Bratton or Neal
Renick	James	Pvt		Bratton or Neal
Steele	Joseph	Lt	Hanna, William	Bratton, William
Steen	James	Lt Col
Stephenson	James	Sgt / Pvt	Crawford	Bratton or Lacey
Stephenson	David	Pvt		Neal
Story	Henry	Pvt	Crawford, James
Stuart	James	Pvt	McClure, John	Lacey, Edward
Travis	Arthur	Pvt	Miller	Neal, Andrew
Venable	James	Lt & Capt	Moffett	Bratton, William
Wallace	John	Capt, Adj, Maj		Bratton or Lacey
Watson	William	Pvt	Moffett or Hawthorne	Bratton or Lacey
Whelchel	John	Pvt	Thompson, John	Neal, Andrew
Whiteside	unk	Capt	Whiteside	Bratton, William
Williams	William	Pvt	McClure, John	Bratton, William

TORIES AT MOBLEY'S MEETING HOUSE
LNAME	FNAME	RANK	COMPANY
Alcorn	George		Coleman, Robert
Alcorn	James		Coleman, Robert
Chapman	William		Coleman, Robert
Coleman	Charles		Coleman, Robert
Coleman	Francis		Coleman, Robert
Coleman	Robert	Colonel	Coleman, Robert
Cunningham
Fuiquinnon	Joseph	Colonel
Hendricks	Moses		Coleman, Robert
Hill	John		Coleman, Robert
Meador	Job		Coleman, Robert
Moberley	Benjamin		Coleman, Robert
Moberley	Benjamin JR		Coleman, Robert
Moberley	Benjamin SR		Coleman, Robert
Moberley	Clement		Coleman, Robert
Moberley	Edward		Coleman, Robert
Moberley	Isaiah		Coleman, Robert
Moberley	William		Coleman, Robert
Netterville	William	Captain
Nichols	William	Captain
Nix	George		Coleman, Robert
Phillips	John		Coleman, Robert
Sutton	Charles		Coleman, Robert
Weir	John	Captain
Woodward	Burbage	Pvt

POSSIBLE TORIES AT MOBLEY'S MEETING HOUSE
LNAME	FNAME	RANK	COMPANY
Agniew	John		Winn's Enemies List
Armstrong	James		Bratton's Enemies List
Atkinson	John		Murdered Loyalists List
Austen	Bartholomew		Winn's Enemies List
Austen	John		Winn's Enemies List
Austen	Joseph		Winn's Enemies List
Bar	James		Bratton's Enemies List
Barton	William		Winn's Enemies List
Beams	Ezekiel		Murdered Loyalists List
Black	John		Bratton's Enemies List
Black	Joseph		Bratton's Enemies List
Black	Mathew		Bratton's Enemies List
Black	Robert		Bratton's Enemies List
Busby	Jacob		Winn's Enemies List
Campbell	Hugh		Winn's Enemies List
Chapman	John		Murdered Loyalists List
Chapman	John (2nd)		Murdered Loyalists List
Christy	Joseph		Bratton's Enemies List
Collins	Isaac		Bratton's Enemies List
Collins	Moses		Bratton's Enemies List
Covel	Samuel		Bratton's Enemies List
Daughterty	James		Winn's Enemies List
Davis	John		Bratton's Enemies List
Deason	William		Bratton's Enemies List
Delashmet	Sela		Winn's Enemies List
Delasnett	Silas	Capt	Murdered Loyalists List
Featherstone	John		Draper Manuscripts
Featherstone	Richard		Draper Manuscripts
Featherstone	William		Draper Manuscripts
Fletchell	James		Winn's Enemies List
Friday	Gabriel		Murdered Loyalists List
Funderburg	Christopher		Murdered Loyalists List
Gibson	Thomas		Murdered Loyalists List
Glover	Lowry		Bratton's Enemies List
Glover	William		Bratton's Enemies List
Gordon	John		Bratton's Enemies List
Gregg	Mathew		Bratton's Enemies List
Gregory	Samuel		Winn's Enemies List
Gwin (Qwin)	George		Murdered Loyalists List
Halsey	John		Winn's Enemies List
Harden	Henry		Winn's Enemies List
Harrison	James		Murdered Loyalists List
Harrison	Nathaniel		Bratton's Enemies List
Hill	William		Murdered Loyalists List
Hill	William (2nd)		Murdered Loyalists List
Holsey	John		Murdered Loyalists List
Humphreys	Joseph		Murdered Loyalists List
Humphreys	Joseph (2nd)		Murdered Loyalists List
Hunter	Samuel		Bratton's Enemies List
Hutchinson	John		Winn's Enemies List
Irvin	James		Bratton's Enemies List
Johns	Henry		Winn's Enemies List
Johns	John		Winn's Enemies List
Juland	Benjamin		Bratton's Enemies List
Juland	Gary		Bratton's Enemies List
Juland	Peter		Bratton's Enemies List
Juland	Peter JR		Bratton's Enemies List
Juland	William		Bratton's Enemies List
Kyrkandail	Simon		Bratton's Enemies List
Lashly	James		Bratton's Enemies List
Lavender	Robert		Winn's Enemies List
Lemmon	James		Winn's Enemies List
Love	Robert		Winn's Enemies List
Love	Robert		Murdered Loyalists List
Marlow	John	Capt	Murdered Loyalists List
Martin	James		Winn's Enemies List
Mathews	John		Winn's Enemies List
McCalaster	William		Winn's Enemies List
McCluer	William		Murdered Loyalists List
McCown	Robert		Winn's Enemies List
McCrossers	Jeremiah		Bratton's Enemies List
Miller	James		Winn's Enemies List
Moberley	John		Winn's Enemies List
Moore	4 sons of James		Murdered Loyalists List
Moore	James		Winn's Enemies List
Moore	James		Murdered Loyalists List
Moore	Patrick	Capt	Murdered Loyalists List
Morrow	James		Bratton's Enemies List
Mots	Tobias		Bratton's Enemies List
Mots	William		Bratton's Enemies List
Niel	Francis		Winn's Enemies List
Nullerville	William		Winn's Enemies List
Patterson	William		Bratton's Enemies List
Pearson	John		Murdered Loyalists List
Pearson	Thomas		Murdered Loyalists List
Peterson	Thomas		Bratton's Enemies List
Phillips	David	LT	Murdered Loyalists List
Phillips	John		Winn's Enemies List
Phillips	Laurence		Murdered Loyalists List
Phillips	Thomas		Winn's Enemies List
Ponder	Daniel		Bratton's Enemies List
Price	Richard		Bratton's Enemies List
Reagan	William		Bratton's Enemies List
Reay	Charles		Bratton's Enemies List
Reay	John		Bratton's Enemies List
Richardson	John		Winn's Enemies List
Robertson	Thomas		Winn's Enemies List
Rogers	George		Winn's Enemies List
Rogers	John		Murdered Loyalists List
Sadler	John		Winn's Enemies List
Simpson	William		Winn's Enemies List
Smith	Thomas		Winn's Enemies List
Springer	Aaron		Bratton's Enemies List
Stevenson	Samuel		Bratton's Enemies List
Terry	Stephen		Winn's Enemies List
Travours	William		Bratton's Enemies List
Turner	unknown	Doctor	Winn's Enemies List
Turner	William SR		Bratton's Enemies List
Vickery	Luke		Winn's Enemies List
Walker	William		Bratton's Enemies List
Wilson	William		Bratton's Enemies List
Womack	Josiah		Bratton's Enemies List
Woods	John		Bratton's Enemies List
Woods	Joseph		Bratton's Enemies List
Young	William		Winn's Enemies List