The Legend of William M. Hyman

William Hyman was born in 1812 in Marion County, South Carolina (Most likely Hyman, South Carolina) shorty after his parents, Eaton and Welthy Hyman moved there from Martin County, North Carolina. William was married to Elizabeth Howren from Georgetown, South Carolina, and he later had a second family with Katherine Richardson. He had a farm in Marion County but also worked as merchant in Georgetown.

William was in is late 40's when he joined the South Carolina 10th Regiment in the summer of 1861. The regiment was formed in the coastal counties to defend the port of Georgetown, South Carolina after most of the other state regiments went to Virginia. The regiment initially had many older men, like William, but they were allowed to leave the army when the regiment was moved to Mississippi in the spring of 1862 as reinforcements after the Battle of Shiloh. His brother left the regiment, while William stayed. The regiment was part of the Kentucky campaign in the autumn of 1862 and was at the Battle of Perryville. William fell ill as the army marched back south through the Cumberland Gap and entered the hospital at Tazewell, Tennessee in October 1862. He was moved to the Fairgrounds Hospital where he died about six weeks later.

Source: Find a Grave, Memorial ID: 217592930

At age forty-nine, on 19 July 1861, William M. Hyman volunteered to fight in the so called Civil War that, as of current, was raging on. On 4 August 1861, he mustered in at Whites Bridge near Ceorgetown, South Carolina, and served as a Private in the South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, 10th. Regiment, Company P.

On 16 December 1862, at the Fair Ground Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina of a cause unknown, William M. Hyman died and was buried in the close by Civil War Cemetery. At the time of his death his personal effects included $100.75, money hard earned.

The 10th S.C. was a very heroic regiment that saw much action. At the start of the war they had 1200 men, when all was said and done, at their surrender in North Carolina, they had 70 men left that could tell the story of, "war and peace".

Legend in the family tells that before William M. Hyman's death, his wife Katherine 'Kate" Richardson journeyed to Charleston to visit with him, loyal to the end, she was.

William M. Hyman departed from his life, leaving a 31 year old wife with their four children under age ten to raise. He left them on a 91 acre tract of land in Marion County, South Carolina, bordering the south side of the Great Pee Dee River, north side of Bigham's Branch, a prime location it was. The home that he left them in was a two story clap board house built of heart pine, a fine home it was, and second to none in that area.

Marion County, south of the Great Pee Dee River was considered as a land of lawlessness, and, "when a man is not present to defend his home", 'Things change".

Kate, being a very gentle person by nature, made her defenseless against aggressors, and so being, out of greed, or bigotry, Kate fell into conflict with a close family member or a close neighbor, perhaps both, the truth of, will never be known.

On a cold dark night, on a date that no one can remember, or wants too, "Kate" and William M. Hyman's four children were escorted to the Horry County line heading east and given explicit traveling instructions.

"Kate" and the children journeyed on to the Juniper' Bay area of Buck's Township, now Conway, South Carolina. Perhaps there she had family or friends, whichever. There she put down roots, and against great odds, raised their (William M. Hyman's) four children.

The home and property that "Kate" and her four children left behind, ultimately was sold for back taxes, 1 December 1874, for the token sum of $90.00.

Katherine "Kate" Richardson Hyman, lived out her life at Juniper Bay, and is buried at Juniper Bay Baptist church Cemetery, next to her son William M. Hyman II. and there may she rest in peace for all time.

Today, the property that once belonged to William M. Hyman, sits close to the now JP Stevens Plant. If this same 91 acres that sold for back taxes in the year 1874 was up for sale today, commercial value, it would probably sell for no less than a million, or more.

As fate would have it, the home that William M. Hyman built for his family, stood like a gray ghost from the past well into the later part of the twentieth century, before being torn down.

In the year 2000, William M. Hyman's descendants are many, and still bearing the legacy that he gave to them, "his name", their pride, for all time.

Source: From page 02-02 of Hymansville, South Carolina by Phillip M. Hyman, Cross S.C. and Transcribed by Donna Marie Hyman Jones