RES 2023-24 Calhoun Park Improvements - AdoptedAPPENDIX A
Language for three interpretive historical panels
Panel 1:
After the Civil War, the nearby Town of Hamburg, SC became a town where free blacks and freed
slaves settled. Important local government positions were held by African-American leaders from the
Town of Hamburg. The most notable were Prince Rivers, Samuel Lee, and John Gardner.
The 1868 South Carolina elections produced the first majority black state legislature in U.S. history. A
new South Carolina constitution was drafted. Aiken County was formed from parts of Edgefield,
Lexington, Barnwell, and Orangeburg counties. It was the only county formed in South Carolina during
the Reconstruction Era (1865- 1877). March 10, 1871 is celebrated as Founders Day in Aiken County.
Panel 2:
The Hamburg Massacre occurred nearby on July 8, 1876. A gun battle occurred between about 200
men from local rifle clubs and African-Americans serving in Company A, Ninth Regiment of the South
Carolina National Guard and others barricaded in a warehouse. Seven African-Americans were killed,
four of whom were executed The Black casualties were First Lieutenant Allen Attaway, Corporal
Nelder John Parker, James Cook, David Phillips, Albert Myniart, Moses Parks, and Hampton
Stephens. The sole white casualty was Thomas McKie Meriwether.
The Hamburg Massacre was a historic event in our Nation' s history. It became a key issue in the
disputed presidential election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J Tilden. The
Electoral College votes from South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana were contested, and ultimately a
special Congressional committee awarded all the contested votes to Hayes, enough to swing the
Electoral College to him.
Known as the Compromise of 1877, this agreement led to the removal of Northern soldiers from the
South, allowing white Southerners to successfully deny African-Americans their rights. This bargain
between Southern Democrats and the Republicans brought Reconstruction to an end by ending The
Northern occupation of the South.
Panel 3:
In 1914, the S. C. Legislature passed a bill authorizing $400 for a headstone on the grave of Thomas
McKie Meriwether. A 1915 amendment authorized placing the monument within the town of North
Augusta. Local leaders chose this prominent location as the site for the monument. Private funds
supplemented the funds authorized by the S.C. Legislature. The monument was dedicated February
16, 1916.
Inscriptions on the monument reflect attitudes of people during that period. Those words do not
represent the attitudes of the people of North Augusta today. We are a community of people of different
races and ethnic backgrounds, bonded together by unity and common rights of citizenship. We choose
to learn from our past and ensure that North Augusta's future reflects a high standard for all of its
citizens. The events and legacy of Hamburg do not define us.