Dark Corner Exhibit

For internal use only: please do not distribute these notes.

FEUDS AND FELLOWSHIP: Independence, Defiance, and Community

Turning it on

Everything in this exhibit is turned on/off with a single round white push-button located behind the still.

What’s in the name?

• Dean Campbell Memorial: this exhibit is dedicated to, and in honor of, Dean Campbell, who invested his life in capturing and preserving Dark Corner heritage. Initially, this exhibit will include a full panel about Dean’s life.
• Feuds and Fellowship: Dark Corner culture is reflected in a series of paradoxes. We chose these two words to represent them all: on one hand the conflict and violence for which the area is famous, and on the other hand the close-knit community with intense loyalty for one another.
• Independence: John C. Campbell said the dominant trait of the region is “independence raised to the fourth power.” This characteristic fueled the area’s defiance of law and tax oversight, their opposition to various SC laws and movements, and their social isolation from surrounding communities.
• Defiance: an outcome of fierce independence was defiance to authority. They viewed their opposition to liquor taxation, for example, in a very similar way to the American Revolution opposition to British taxation.
• Community: Dark Corner residents had a special, close community. They supported each other in substantial ways that formed deep bonds, from barn raisings, to corn shuckings, to harvesting another man’s crops if he was sick.

Where is the Dark Corner?

The term doesn’t refer to an actual legal jurisdiction, and is used in different ways by different people. This can make it confusing.

• Famously, Dark Corner residents told anyone who asked that it’s “just a bit farther up the road.” That answer reflects a time when Dark Corner inhabitants were viewed with suspicion; it was valuable to them to be vague.
• An important aspect of the location is that, while it does reference a general geographic area, it is better defined culturally than geographically.
• Our exhibit is focused on the rugged, mountainous part of north Greenville County, centered around Glassy and Hogback Mountains. The heart of it is the area bordered by Highway 25, Highway 11, Highway 176, and the state line.
• Historically, the term refers to that area plus a corresponding area across the state line in North Carolina. Moonshiners used the state line as a way to jump jurisdictions when being pursued.
• This means that Dark Corner is not in Greer itself. They have always been closely linked, and Greer’s expanding border is now consuming the edges of Dark Corner, but they are not the same place.
• Keep in mind that South Carolina has had several different areas in the state that have been called “Dark Corner.” In particular, there was an area near Anderson that was commonly called this in the late 1800s and early 1900s. If you research “Dark Corner” in the Greenville News, you’ll find quite a few confusing stories in which it’s unclear which area they’re talking about.

The giant corner map is quite important. It shows the locations and names of every homestead in the Dark Corner area.

Name

There are several stories about where the name came from, and it’s likely that none of them were actually the original source. The most common story is that a statesman came to the area to promote Nullification (explained below) and was thrown in a mill pond; he declared this was a truly dark corner. However, there are some indications the name was in use prior to that event. In any case, by 1840 it appears in land deeds as a geographic name.

Roads

“For many decades, there was not a single public road in the area.” The SC State Archive holds a petition filed by Dark Corner residents for the creation of a public road, noting that the lack of one hurt their ability to get farm goods to market.

BEGINNINGS

Cherokee land and trading

The earliest records of white European settlers in the area were trading goods with the Cherokee, before the Revolutionary War (note that it was illegal at that time to settle in the area, as it was in the Cherokee Territory). Goods traded included beads, knives, swords, and guns to the Cherokee, mostly in trade for fur skins (primarily deer). After the Revolutionary War, land grants were given in the area to veterans.

Ethnic origins

Scots-Irish: While there are many different individual national origins, a wave of Scots-Irish moved down the frontier from Pennsylvania through West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, into the area here. That wave led to the distinctive Appalachian culture across these areas which retained linguistic, musical, and other aspects of their heritage far longer than most.

The differences between this culture and the rest of South Carolina were significant, and helped shape deep divides that persist to this day.

Nullification

One difference mentioned on the wall is Nullification. The Nullification Crisis was a national issue caused by South Carolina trying to nullify a federal law (the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832), and Dark Corner residents opposed their state’s position.

Civil War and slavery

During the Civil War, the Dark Corner was divided. However, it did become a haven for Confederate deserters to hide out. In our collection of letters from Victoria Bailey, she references the deserters coming down out of the mountains and raiding homes for supplies.

While Dark Corner took no part in plantation culture, it is wrong to say it was broadly against slavery. In fact, the Limestone interviewees talked openly about the slaves held by Dark Corner residents, typically as household and farm laborers.

Women

Women held a starkly different role than the rest of the state. There were fewer restrictions on women; women played a significant role in family sustenance; women often ran the stills.

MUSIC

As is true in most places, music wasn’t ubiquitous; it depended on the family and immediate community. Some found music to be integral, while others had little to do with it.

The fiddle

One thing to note about the fiddle is the lack of a chin rest or wear in that location. Many old-time mountain fiddlers held their violin down under their shoulder or, like in the picture of Bill Hensley, against the chest. By the way, Hensley was a fiddler from “over the line” in North Carolina.

The Ballad of Holland Howard

Unfortunately, our recording ends before the last verse, leaving the story unfinished!

They went upon Hogback Mountain to the top of Chestnut Hill;

And just beyond a little hollow they found the fatal still.

Reuben Gosnell hid behind some bushes, Todd Holland the crowd to flush;

He heard the voice of an angry man cursing, and soon the voice hushed.

He heard some shots and a call, come, Reuben, And that was all Holl said;

For when he reached the fatal distillery, poor Holland was lying dead.

Reuben called to Holland before he reached him; Holl was lying on his face and head;

Holland Pittman said, He will not answer, ’cause he’s already dead.

Reuben then drew his gun on Holland Pittman, said, Tell me, or you will die.

Holland Pittman said, It was Henry Lindsey, Lord knows it was not I.

Reuben took Holl Pittman on to jail, said, I’ll be a coming back.

He came back and got Wade Plumley to swear to Alex Pittman’s track.

They brought the Pittmans into court, it was on one Thursday morn.

Alex Pittman said, I’m an innocent man; I was at home shucking corn.

Alex Pittman wore a neat dress shoe, the color of it was tan.

Reuben Gosnell said, that’s the first fine shoe I’ve ever seen on that man.

They brought the Pittmans back to court, both father and son were there.

Judge Mauldin said, You two men will die in the electric chair.

On the twenty-seventh day of June, Nineteen hundred and twenty-four,

You will both pay the penalty for killing Holland Howard, And you’ll never still no more.

-- lyrics by Charlie Benson, son of Luther Benson

Ballad tales of momentous events were a common way to pass down oral history in the Dark Corner. Few of those have been recorded. This ballad, sung by Dean Campbell, is quite recent; the murder it references happened during Prohibition on January 1, 1924. The critical moment in the story is when Reuben Gosnell got Wade Plumley to “swear on Pittman’s track.” This means that Plumley was asked to look at a footprint, and he was willing to tell a court on his honor that the print could only belong to Alex Pittman. A descendant of Wade Plumley directly questioned this on one of the Limestone College interviews, and viewed his ancestor with disdain for doing it.

The Pittmans were tried in a case built on circumstantial evidence and found guilty on May 17, 1924. Their death sentences were upheld by the S.C. Supreme Court on Sept. 23, 1926. Death warrants were signed by Gov. Thomas G. McLeod on Oct. 11, 1926, but on Oct. 26, he commuted their death sentences to life in prison. Both men served nine and one-half years in prison and were paroled on Oct. 5, 1933, then pardoned on Jan. 12, 1935. Alex Pittman lived another four years, and Holland Pittman died on Mar. 25, 1981, at the age of 78.

COMMUNITY

Dark Corner gained a reputation of lawless, feuding, murdering moonshiners. People also assumed them to be ignorant and heathen. This was far from true. They were church-going religious people who valued education, and started schools in the mountains very early.

In 1858, Earle Seminary (commonly called Gowensville Seminary) started to train preachers.

In 1892, residents asked the Baptist Association to start a school. They created North Greenville High School, soon to become North Greenville Baptist Academy. They called their yearbook The Moonshiner, reflecting a complex relationship between religion, law, and distillation (you can see our copy of the 1924 yearbook by the still). Today, it has become North Greenville University.

DISTILLATION

Rugged terrain was not good for plantation crops. One of the best mountain crops was corn. If a farmer could carve a 1-acre field out of the mountain side (a tough task!), he could grow 75 bushels of corn. In the mid-1800s he could sell that for about $37.50.

But a farmer could distill those 75 bushels of corn into 225 gallons of whiskey, worth more than $250! Legal distillation became an economic driver of the Dark Corner; it was legal up to 1866. Some families had been in the legal distillation business for 100 years before the huge taxes arrived, driving them underground.

TAXATION

In 1862 the Confederacy put a huge tax on alcohol. In 1866, the US government made it permanent. The $2/gallon tax was so big it would destroy livelihoods. The landscape was not suitable for chattel slavery crops; there was not enough area for significant livestock production; and grain sales were difficult and with wildly varying prices. People needed the consistent income offered by alcohol, but couldn’t afford to pay the extreme taxes — and they didn’t.

Tasked with collecting this revenue, IRS agents took lawbreakers to court. Originally these “revenuers” were unarmed, could make no arrests, and could not destroy stills — they had to bring them back intact for evidence. Faced with fierce opposition these limitations changed. They started destroying stills and arresting those who used them.

IT’S WAR!

To protect their livelihood, distillers began to fight back. Thus began the Revenue Wars. Ambushes, shootouts, and killings (on both sides) were common.

The ultimate root of the violence was the desire to just be left alone, and practice self-determination free from outside influence. Internally the violence was a  self-imposed rule of law.

South Carolina established a State Dispensary in 1893. Dispensary agents joined revenue agents in attacking stills. The fight escalated into the Dispensary Wars. This was ironic, because the Dark Corner had overwhelmingly supported the gubernatorial campaign of Benjamin Tillman (to the point of tearing up votes against him!), who implemented the Dispensary.

Newspaper stories reflect the violence. A list of events over a ten-year period is on the exhibit wall, and it’s certain that this is not anywhere near a complete list; it’s just the headlines found in a quick search of newspapers!

There were revenue and dispensary agents in both Greenville and Spartanburg, but none in Greer — making it a prime distribution channel. Across SC, an underground network of “Blind Tigers” developed. These were reputable businesses which sold illicit liquor out the back door. There were many blind tigers in Greer. Our archive holds letters from the Greer police chief in 1915-16 asking private detectives and the state governor for help uncovering the 12-15 blind tigers he knew were operating in the city.

Prohibition started in 1920, further fueling illegal distillation and the network of blind tigers.

BLOOD FEUDS & VIOLENCE

Government programs incentivized distillers to turn legal, to report other stills, and even to become government agents. This caused fighting and feuding between individuals and families.

While there are many stories of inter-community violence, two hold particular importance.

August 23, 1891: Mountain Hill Church shootout

A Saturday altercation between the Howards and the Gosnells erupted at church the next morning. Reportedly, both parties had still been drinking that morning. Outside the tiny one-room log building, Joshua Howard took offense at Richard Gosnell not speaking to him, leading to a general battle between both families and their friends. Between 40 and 50 shots were fired. Luther Durham tried to arrest Gosnell, and got shot in the gut and mouth. Massena Howard was killed on the spot; Joshua Howard died the next day. In court, all parties were found not guilty.

July 8, 1899: baseball game shootout

The baseball game was part of the local Independence Day celebrations. The night before, however, Rufus Lindsey was at home when shots were fired into the house; he had reported some neighbors to the revenuers. He refused to come out of the house, and the attackers responded by cutting down three acres of his corn.

The baseball game the next day was the perfect opportunity for Rufus and two brothers to take revenge. They accused some in the crowd, who denied it; the three Lindsey’s began firing indiscriminately into the crowd. Immediately fire was returned from Rectors, Howards, McKinneys, Bartons, Harris, and Bruce. The expanding fight moved up the hillside. Each Lindsey brother was injured, at which point they fled in a buggy. The crowd chased for half a mile when the buggy broke down and the Lindseys fled into the woods on foot. The mob descended on the buggy and set it ablaze. In the end, several hundred shots were fired and a dozen or more wounded.

DUSK FALLS ON THE DARK CORNER

As more roads increased access, the region became less isolated. In 1964, liquor tax was reduced by $1.50 per gallon. Combined with growing costs for ingredients (primarily sugar), illegal distillation gradually died out. Land investors purchased large tracts of Dark Corner for high-end housing development, like the Cliffs at Glassy. The extraordinary culture of the Dark Corner became a victim of the modernization of the Piedmont, celebrated in cities like Greenville.

DEAN CAMPBELL

Greer Heritage Museum presents this exhibit in honor of Dean Campbell. He was born in the Dark Corner, the child of people with very deep roots there. In 1983, Dean became the ombudsman for a Limestone College project to collect oral history. The project, titled “Tales from the Dark Corner,” solidified his mission to preserve and share the heritage and stories of the Dark Corner — and gave a title to his newspaper editorials and books.

A newspaper writer from the Greenville News called him the “Squire of Dark Corner,” and that term stuck.

Dean dreamed of a permanent museum home to immortalize Dark Corner history. He began talking with our Museum in June 2022 about the Greer Heritage Museum hosting such an exhibit; sadly, he died before seeing the result.

The Museum made a film about Dean’s life; it can be seen in the Theatre.