The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: The Family

Manson Jolley

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Family Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2008-06-26

Synopsis: John Weaver presents the story of Manson Jolly, a Confederate veteran who became a 'blood avenger' during Reconstruction, killing Union soldiers and collaborators who terrorized Southern civilians. Weaver frames Jolly as a biblical avenger, drawing from Deuteronomy 19 and the doctrine of divine vengeance, and uses his life to illustrate God's justice against the wicked. The sermon emphasizes courage, honor, and standing for righteousness, concluding with a call for men of character today.

[John Weaver] I want you to open your Bibles, if you would, please, to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 19. Deuteronomy chapter 19. The message tonight is on Man's Jolly, the South Carolina Avenger, and you'll understand the man's name and the title just momentarily. But if you look in Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse 11. God says, but if any man hate his neighbor and lie in wait for him and rise up against him and smite him mortally that he die and fleeth into one of these cities, then the elders of this city shall send and fetch him thence and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee.

[John Weaver] You know, there is a truth in the Bible about the biblical doctrine of vengeance. In fact, I have an entire book on the biblical truth concerning God's righteous vengeance, and one of those chapters deals with the blood avenger that is mentioned here in verse 12. Deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood. And the Avenger of Blood in the Bible was usually a family member, sometimes the closest family member, to a murdered man.

[John Weaver] And it was his responsibility to make sure that the murderer was put to death. Now, this was not vengeance. This was not vindictiveness. If you would read Joshua Chapter 20, Numbers Chapter 35, Deuteronomy Chapter 19, you'll find that God said this was to be done so that blood guiltiness would not be upon the land. It was to ensure that justice was to be done. And so who is going to be more concerned about justice than the man's family that has had their loved one murdered? Well, God also designed cities of refuge.

[John Weaver] That is, if someone kills someone the way you and I would describe it accidentally. He just fled to the city of refuge. There was a trial and it was found that he did not premeditatedly murder. Well, he just had to say the city of refuge until the high priest died. Then he could return home. But if they had the trial and they found the man was a premeditated murderer, then the elders delivered him into the hand of the Avenger of blood and the Avenger put him to death.

[John Weaver] You know, as you read through the Bible, There are plenty of times that God sent avengers in the strictest sense of the word. Do you realize the whole book of Judges is about God's divine vengeance against the wicked? You remember, it's Ehud who took a knife and stabbed Eglon, the king who was a wicked ungodly tyrant. I could tell you about Jephthah. I could tell you about Saul. I could tell you about David. And you remember, the Bible tells us that they sang about Saul and David. Saul had slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands. And do you remember when God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt?

[John Weaver] He put a sword in their hand and said, you kill all of the Amorites and the Hittites and the Jebusites and Habbites and all of those. And so vengeance belongs to God, but God does occasionally use his people. And if you'd read Psalm 149, you'll find that God does indeed, in fact, say that. And there have been times in history that God has allowed an avenger to rise.

[John Weaver] One of those, I believe, was Man's Jolly. And all I can say about Man's Jolly is what a name and what a man. Many have never heard of the name of Man's Jolly. Many have never had an idea that such an individual ever lived. I can assure you that during the war of northern aggression and afterward during the time of Reconstruction there are many Yankees who wish they had never heard the name and had never met the man. Because Manjali killed most of the Yankees that he met and especially the ones who were terrorizing southern civilians.

[John Weaver] He had no love for carpetbaggers or scalawags either. In fact, there are so many tales about Man's Jolly, it is difficult sometimes to separate fact from legend. The best way I could describe Man's Jolly is to tell you that he was a combination of Josie Wales, John Wayne, Robin Hood, and John Singleton Mosby. He was a man. Man's Jolly stood six feet four inches tall with blue eyes and red hair and a temperament to match.

[John Weaver] He did not have much schooling, but he was a very highly literate individual. He was a farmer by trade and a soldier by calling, and he did both very, very well. He was deadly serious in battle, and he used a knife or a pistol or a rifle with equal ease. He rode like an Indian, and he fought like a tiger. He was a cavalry sergeant, and he was exceedingly courageous and brave.

[John Weaver] One night, one man who was with him recalled how that on a four-way, they slept up upon a Yankee outpost, and there were three Union soldiers guarding the outpost. And man's jolly just quickly dispatched all three of them with his knife. They never even knew that he was around. companion told of one night jolly left the camp by himself and before morning he returned with a very fine horse and a very beautiful saddle of a union officer and very politely presented the horse in the saddle to his captain. He was a man that meant business Don heard who is the author of the South Carolina up country said this about man's jolly let me give you the quote just so that you can see his background. Manson Cheryl Jolly was born in the Lebanon community of Anderson district that is Anderson South Carolina in 1840 to Joseph Morehead Jolly and Anna Cole Cheryl. He was one of 11 children.

[John Weaver] During the years before the Civil War, Manson worked on the family farm. His work on the farm was interrupted only by infrequent attendance at the Lebanon Community School and Church on Sunday. Nance was taught the fundamentals at the community school, arithmetic, writing, penmanship, grammar, and reading, mostly passages from the Bible. But he also read the works of Thomas More and Walter Scott. While studying Nance, it is important to realize the culture in which he lived. In fact, the culture in Nance's day held many of those romantic ideas that existed in the literature that he was reading.

[John Weaver] I'm quoting again from Don Hurd. He says, the upcountry of South Carolina was made up of hard-working farmers. These people saw themselves as heroic, chivalrous knights ready to defend their homeland. The upcountry men of that time were puritanical, fundamental Christians, yet they hailed to the idea of a slave-based southern economy, though most people did not own slaves and those that did found slaves to be less and less profitable after 1840.

[John Weaver] Law and order were the creed of their lives. Now listen to that. Law and order were the creed of their lives, but they maintained a certain disregard for life. The slightest threat or insult, real or imagined, to their or their family's honor demanded immediate reprisals with fists and or guns. Mans grew up in this culture in which the men felt honor bound to defend family, womanhood and Mother Carolina.

[John Weaver] Let me just stop there. Would it be wonderful if we had some men today that felt honor bound to defend their family and the righteousness and the principles of truth as well as their state and their mothers. I'm continuing to quote, he said, the generation of man's jolly did not recognize a civil war as a war between people of the same country, but as a war for southern rights against tyrannical northern aggression.

[John Weaver] They believed that they were fighting for a righteous cause against an evil one. It is also important to understand that Manns, like most returning Confederate veterans, viewed the occupying Union forces as foreign invaders, as alien as you and I would recognize German or Japanese occupying forces. Therefore, one must realize that Manns was molded by the culture in which he was raised. Let me point out the fact, folks, it's very difficult for you and I to understand any of these men that lived in time past unless we understand their culture. Basically, you could say it like this. During this time in South Carolina, Manjali was the David who fought the Goliath. He was the giant killer in South Carolina.

[John Weaver] All southern states suffered immensely after the war. But I can assure you that since South Carolina was the mother of secession, the Reconstructionists made sure that South Carolina suffered greatly. You need to read the book, The Sack of Columbia, if you've never read it, just to find out what the Union people did to Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Roper was talking about Mississippi. Did you realize Mississippi was not only one of the richest states before the war, but after the war was over, most of the budget of the Mississippians, of that state of Mississippi, went to support and to buy artificial limbs for Confederate soldiers.

[John Weaver] And virgin timber was sold to carpetbaggers for as little as 10 cents an acre. I'm just simply pointing out the fact these people wanted to make sure that the South suffered. During the War of Northern Aggression, Manns distinguished himself in the Confederate Army, first in the infantry and later in the cavalry, rising to the rank of first sergeant. He was apparently in Wade Hampton's cavalry forces when Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox and headed home to Anderson, South Carolina, vowing that he would never surrender. An August 1861 furlough containing his physical description says he joined Company H of the 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment, yet newspaper accounts and statements of former comrades-in-arms listed him as a member of Company F, 1st C.C. Cavalry. Evidently, he went through the war from Manassas to Appomattox, usually as a cavalry scout. After the war was over, of course, Manns returned home to the Lebanon district of Anderson, South Carolina, where his name has basically become synonymous with heroism and a noble sense of honor and courage.

[John Weaver] In fact, many people in Anderson, South Carolina viewed Manns as the embodiment of the spirit of resistance against tyranny and injustice. And when I'm talking about tyranny and injustice, You've got to read what happened during the time of Reconstruction. He came home to Anderson, South Carolina and found it occupied by Massachusetts troops, Negroes and later a main regiment. And when I say Negroes, I'm not talking about the slaves and the people that they grew up with. I'm talking about Massachusetts blacks in federal uniform who made it a particular joy of theirs to persecute the white men, to harass them, and to rape the white women, and to steal everything that they could. Carpetbaggers, freedmen, Union troops viewed South Carolina as the soul of secession, and they were going to make it pay.

[John Weaver] And let me tell you, that explains, or at least it should explain, even the continued attitude today of most Southerners concerning the Yankee treatment because that has never, ever been forgotten. I've been preaching for about 44 years, and I remember when I first started preaching and I started traveling, we had a fella in the church in Thomasville, Georgia, and the very first trip I made up north, when I came back home The first thing he did was come to me. He put his hands on his hip and looked me in the eyes.

[John Weaver] He said, Brother Weaver, how did those Yankees treat you? I mean, he was going to be upset if I was not treated well up north. I just laughed and I said, well, they treated me very well. But you've got to understand, when Manns became an Avenger, it may not have been a choice that he made. I don't think Manns just necessarily sat around and said, I'm going to do this and this and this.

[John Weaver] I believe it was the time and the circumstances that was forced upon him, and he found himself and his family and his neighbors and his friends being wronged on every hand. Wrongs, injustices, outrages were constantly committed by those in charge. The land was stolen. The livestock was stolen. The silverware was stolen. Brother Kenneth talked about the book on Beast Butler, my collection of silverware. What he didn't tell you was Beast Butler's nickname was Spoons because he stole all the silverware. They stole everything. Not only that, if you had to pay taxes and you didn't have the money, that's fine.

[John Weaver] They took your hogs, they took your cows, they took your chickens. And they left you absolutely nothing. What could not be stolen from the South illegally was stolen legally. What do I mean by stealing legally? Well, here's what they would do. They would find a particular fruitful farm or a beautiful house and they wanted it. And so what they would do is they would continue to raise the taxes. until the person living on that farm or in that house could not pay those taxes. And then it would be confiscated by a union man for nonpayment of taxes. And the time he got it in his hands, the taxes were either written off or immediately lowered. And thus, the southern civilians had their property stolen from them.

[John Weaver] And by the way, when you went down to the provost marshal to complain, usually you were arrested. In fact, one of his friends did complain and spent six months in jail for complaining about their property being stolen. So very obviously, times were very rough. Outrage is everywhere. Manjali lost five brothers in the war. Four, James, John, Joseph, and William, were killed in battles. The fifth, Jesse, died in an army hospital, which was not much safer than a battlefield in those days. And so Manz then decided that he was going to make a vow and he was going to kill a quota of Yankees for each of his five brothers who died in the war. Now, there are various accounts as to whether Manz agreed with himself to kill five or more for each of his dead brothers.

[John Weaver] There's not an exact number, there's no agreement, and there's actually no agreement either on how many he actually killed, because it ranges from 15 to 100. It seems fairly certain that before he died, he certainly got his quota of Yankees, and that did not count the Carpetbaggers and the Scalawags. He basically went for the soldiers. There's no doubt either as to his courage and to his fortitude because the official records of the Union and Confederate Army, Series 1, Volume 35, Part 1, page 401, we read this. Lieutenant Colonel J.D.

[John Weaver] Twiggs of the South Carolina Cavalry commends Sergeant Jolly for efficient services and gallant manner in the destruction of the U.S. transport Boston at Chapman's Fort, Asheboro River, South Carolina. So he's actually commended in the official records. He was such a sought-after individual that he's also mentioned in another book, The Imprisonment and Trial of Francis Gaines Stowers, and it's quoted from the book Coldwater Community in Elbert County, Georgia, and they're talking about how they were after Jolly, and this This one officer says, there were probably other persons present who

[John Weaver] participated in the affair and who were never arrested. I tried very hard indeed to secure one of them, a notorious fellow by the name of Jolly, who escaped into Tennessee and from Finsaw here is going to Texas. He was undoubtedly one of the men who fired upon the soldiers and I have no doubt he was one of the worst. Well, certainly Jolly did not care. that much for the Yankees because they were terrorizing the people of South Carolina. Burnett P. Maybank was the governor of South Carolina in 1941, and he wrote a little guide to the Palmetto State, and he speaks about man's jolly.

[John Weaver] And here's what he says. During the Reconstruction period, when feeling ran high in the community, Anderson produced a remarkable character, Mans Jolly, whose exploits on his horse Ironsides, actually his horse's name was Dixie, are still vividly remembered. Jolly became involved, justifiably so some say, with federal military authorities soon after being mustered out of the Confederate Army. Remember now, this is the South Carolina governor riding. And he's saying that Jolly was justified, according to many, in what he did. Tradition records that a Union officer sent two mounted Negroes, which would be Federal troops. Tradition records that a Union officer sent two mounted Negroes to Jolly's farm to apprehend him, but neither ever returned. When Jolly was later observed plowing their horses, It was deemed wiser to send four Negroes.

[John Weaver] These also failed to return. A whole company of federal troopers next attempted to capture Jolly as he was attending church, but he leaped into the pulpit and fenced out the window. The following day, he walked boldly into Anderson, brandished a pistol at the colonel of the regiment, and demanded the return of his horse, which he had left behind on his hurried exit. The frightened colonel is said to have granted Jolly not only his horse, but unconditional amnesty as well.

[John Weaver] He soon got into more trouble, however, fled to Texas, bought a ranch, married, made a belated attempt to settle down, and then his career was soon ended, he goes on. But here the governor of South Carolina is saying, yes, this Jolly fellow was something else. Articles continue to be written about Man's Jolly. In fact, they continued well after the war had been over. One of these articles, had the headline of the state newspaper, August the 7th, 1932, and the headline was, Man's Jolly, Anderson Guerrilla Kept Federal Garrison in Terror. One man kept an entire federal garrison in terror. Wow. A series of articles written by Steve Bianotto appeared in the Anderson Independent Mail in April of 1981. The titles were The Legend of Man's Jolly and Man's Jolly the Man.

[John Weaver] In this last article, he tells about the incident of a stolen watch. This is how these patrols harass these people constantly. One of these Union patrols, prowling about the Jolly household one day, invaded the home and a soldier stole a watch that belonged to Manza's younger sister Mary. The next day, now remember he's stolen this watch, and the next day a Lieutenant Chase of the 25th Michigan Infantry Union Regiment quartered in Anderton was talking with Pendleton Mayor James Hunter on the Pendleton Town Square.

[John Weaver] A lone horseman slowly cantered up to them, and as he neared, Lt. Chase immediately recognized the rider as Manz Jolly. The lieutenant grabbed Manz's reins and pleaded with Hunter to help him arrest the outlaw. But Manz's revolver was out in a flash. He trained it on the Yankee officer and looked hard at Hunter, a man who owed his position to the federal appointment. Hunter declined to assist in the arrest, and the eager lieutenant soon quieted down. Mans first demanded that the northern officer supply whiskey coolers for his friends lounging in the town square. The officer cheaply complied, and then Mans said, a watch belonging to my sister was stolen from her yesterday by one of your soldiers.

[John Weaver] I mean to have it back, and it will be done. If it is not returned by tomorrow, I will come looking for you. And when I look for a man, I always find him. Man's then coolly spurred his horse Dixie without looking back and rode away to the cheers of his friends in the town square. And the next day, the watch was returned to Mary Jolly. Naturally, when someone is cool and courageous like this and When someone's not afraid of the powers that be, and he's getting a lot of attention and a lot of praise and recognition, there are some who always want to cash in on that individual's reputation. One such man began to kind of spread rumors and lie about Man's Jolly.

[John Weaver] His name was Thomas Harper. Manz at this time was not in the area. So when he heard what Thomas Harper was saying about him, he wrote his sister and he said this. Manz was not pleased when he heard the stories being told about it. In one of his letters home, Manz told his sister, I've understood since I left South Carolina that Thomas Harper has been calling me a murderer and a highway robber.

[John Weaver] He would be a little surprised if I were to ride up into Anderson and throw a lasso on him and wear him out with a Texas rawhide whip. I don't suppose he ever thinks of this. Well, he said, you know, I would take care of it, I can assure you. Well, there are many testimonies concerning Man's Jolly. One of the papers by Lieutenant Colonel Trowbridge deals with his experience with Mans Jolly, and it was a first-hand account. Now, he wrote this in 1904, but he still remembered, and here's what Lieutenant Colonel Trowbridge of the 33rd Regiment said. After I had my breakfast, I stepped out on the porch, leaving my pistol in my room, went up Road Jolly to the edge of the sidewalk, saying, My name is Man's Jolly, the man you're looking for. Now take me if you can."

[John Weaver] Then he spurred his horse and rode away. On Thursday and on the next day, a courier arrived saying that the man we wanted would be at church on Sunday at a little meeting house about 12 miles from Anderson. A description of a roan horse that he was riding when he was last seen was given. I'd once dispatched Lieutenant Searles with nine mounted men and instructed him to secret his men and horses in the cornfield that I've been told was very near to the church. So as soon as darkness came on, he moved with great care, got his men in hiding, and in the afternoon of Sunday, the rowing horse and the rider appeared. The horse was tied to a fence, and as soon as the man entered into the church, a dash was made for the horse which being secured, they made for the door of the church to capture the rider. He, however, being on the alert, jumped out of a window and made his escape into the cornfield, where all track of him was soon lost, and the lieutenant and his men returned to Anderson with the captured horse.

[John Weaver] Next morning, just as the guard had been mounted for the day and the men whose duty it was to remain at the guardhouse had stacked arms, Jolly rode up alone to the guard, saying, Tell your colonel that unless he delivers my horse that his men stole from me at the meeting house on Sunday, that I will kill him and every man in his regiment before they can get out of this country. He wheeled his horse and rode away. The sergeant of the guard commanded the men to take their weapons and fire at Jolly. Jolly lay over the neck of his horse, which was running at full speed. And of course, he got away. But the next day, the horse was returned. He did get his horse back.

[John Weaver] The Milam County, Texas Cameron Herald, and by the way, when I quote from the Texas Herald, Manns did go to Texas. And that's why there are some of this that is written about him concerning Texas. So here is an article that was written about him on March the 15th, 1934. Said when Jolly left Anderson, he had 23 notches on his gun and it was said that he killed at least a dozen Yankees on his way to Texas.

[John Weaver] He more than made good five times five. This number of slain Yankees did not include the Negroes he killed. A large number were killed in different sections of the country. He wore, that is Jolly did, Jolly wore the uniform of a federal soldier at times and this helped him at different times. Amongst the Negroes killed was one near Pendleton. He met in the road. The Negro, seeing the Yankee uniform, offered to direct Jolly to the home of some white people where he was told that he could secure jewelry and gold.

[John Weaver] In other words, I'll lead you there. You can steal them and you can kill them. Here Jolly put another notch on his gun.

[John Weaver] Now, like most Southerners of the Reconstruction, Jolly had no particular love for the freed blacks who guided Union troops or the officials to the silver, gold, horses, chickens, cows of Southern people. You got to understand something. In those days, at that time, to lose those animals meant slow starvation for you and your family. In other words, the man intended the death of the white people. And so man's had no particular good option about killing the man who was going to make the white star of the day. Man's had no mercy upon them because they had no mercy upon the southern people. You know the Bible says in James 2 in verse 13 listen carefully for he shall have judgment without mercy that had showed no mercy. So the Yankees were showing no mercy toward the southern people, and so Manns showed no mercy toward them. Several contemporary accounts mention that Manns Jolly donned Yankee uniforms, sometimes quite frequently, which would get him in close to Union soldiers.

[John Weaver] And it allowed him to capture them many times. And Manns always said, very dryly that he always turned these federal soldiers over to General Green, which was the forest. That meant he just simply took them out and killed them. At Browns Ferry, three Yankee garrison soldiers were stationed there to guard stolen cotton. And by the way, let me tell you something. When the Yankees stole the cotton, they sometimes would just take it and sometimes they would take it legally by putting the taxes so high you had to just simply give up the cotton. And so here was a whole wharf loaded of stolen cotton with three Yankees guarding it. And when man saw what was happening there at Browns Ferry, Jolly went down and killed all three. and turn the cotton over the parties to whom it was stolen from. At Bowman's blacksmith shop located near Providence Church in Rockmills Township, Jolly found two Yankees who had stolen horses from some of his relatives.

[John Weaver] He disarmed both and marched them ten miles to Sourwood Spring Schoolhouse where a singing was there in progress. Here he called for S.F. McConnell, the father of Sam and Bob McConnell of the city. After a short conversation, he left Mr. McConnell and went on to his mother's house located near where Dr. Hutchinson lives. Taking his two prisoners in the woods, he killed them and then turned the stolen horses over to those who had lost them.

[John Weaver] Now, if you think that, boy, that's bad. He killed those two Yankee soldiers for stealing those horses. You've got to remember something. In those days, If you stole a horse, you were hanged. It was the death penalty anyhow. Didn't matter who you were. And so, Manns just simply executed them. Manns was adept at killing Yankees. In fact, he was so adept, it started off with a thousand dollars reward in gold for him. and went up to $10,000 in gold for him. Not greenbacks, gold.

[John Weaver] One thing about it, there were very few willing to try to claim it. None ever did. In fact, there's one story told that just to show you the boldness The brashness, the courage of Man's Jolly and some of these men that associated with him. There was a banquet that was given by the commandant of the Yankee forces in Anderson, South Carolina. And Man's Jolly and one young fellow by the name of Simpson, who also had a thousand dollar reward on his head. So Man's and the young Simpson boy went to the banquet. and then went up to the Yankee commandant and applied for the $1,000 reward in gold.

[John Weaver] They said, we want to turn ourselves in. We want to get the money. And when the Yankee commandant began to kind of Well, you know, this really might be them. Just so happened Governor Orr was there. And then Governor Orr, knowing who they were, started laughing and telling the Commandant, these boys are making a fool out of you. They're just playing a part. Jolly. And Stetson would never come up here like this. And the Commandant turned away and Governor Orr said, if you don't get out of here and get out of danger, I'll whip you myself. And they turned around and left. And then Governor Orr said to the Commandant, He said, well, while you folks have taken everything that we've had in this day and time, at least you can't take all the good dinners we had before the war.

[John Weaver] So, a group of young men who rode with Manns called themselves the Jones Company. I don't know why they chose that name particularly. But these boys gathered together to fight the thievery and the injustices that were being perpetrated by the Yankees. And they just simply call themselves the Jones Company. The Reverend Dr. J.B. Adger in his book, My Life and Times, tells something of the Jones Company and the Yankee thieves.

[John Weaver] Now remember, here's a man that was there. He said, when old Mrs. North's carriage horses were taken from the harness and the old lady left sitting in the coach in the road, I mean, they just stole them while she was out in the wilderness, left her there. Man's Jolly and Mike Dixon and one of the Simpson boys went after the Yanks and got them. But lost them over the road by Sandy Springs than a wooded country. I just wonder how they lost them. But anyhow, it says these same Yanks took the watches and jewelry from the refugees at Bosco Bell near Pendleton, where Dr. Adger then lived and Clint Summers now lives.

[John Weaver] The leaders of the Yankees, Allison Chapman, had stolen a fine young mare, and in mounting her, his short carvings swung around, the hammer hit the pommel of the saddle, and the muzzle jabbed him under the chin, and he fell dead in the yard. And here's what the pastor said. Most of the jewelry, including the fine, handsome old watch that he now wears, was recovered because of that. In other words, the Yankee had stolen the jewelry from the good preacher. Well, Manns was so successful at killing the Yankees that there was a whole regiment looking for him. Not a company, but a whole regiment. Manns was not afraid. He was not afraid to die. But the Yankees constantly and consistently were harassing his mother and his sisters.

[John Weaver] They would stake out the farm 24 hours a day. They would raid into the house. They would steal. They would take things, whatever they wanted to take. They had no privacy.

[John Weaver] Finally, man's thought, well, to give them a little relief, I'll just get out of the country for a while. Maybe if I'm gone, They'll just leave my family alone. So, Manzin and a few of his friends decided that they were going to Texas where they could start their lives all over. There is an account of Manzin's leaving Anderson, South Carolina. It appeared in the Anderson Independent Mail in April of 1981, written by Steve Bionotto. in an article titled The Legend of Man's Jolly. And here's what he said happened before Man's left Anderson. On a Sunday, January the 29th, 1866, so the story goes, actually Man's left in September.

[John Weaver] So probably the month was wrong. But on a Sunday, January the 29th, 1866, Jolly rode quietly into Anderson on his favorite horse, Dixie. A few blocks down the street from the camp of the Union troops, he reined up. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his hat down over his red hair, put a pistol in each hand. With a traditional rebel yell piercing the calm day, he galloped pound-mel through the camp with both pistols blazing at anything that moved. The troops, understandably, were stunned into virtual statues until the yelling apparition had disappeared into the protecting woods, leaving shocked and wounded Union soldiers in his wake. Isn't that amazing?

[John Weaver] In other words, if he's going to leave, he's going to leave in style. Well, he did go to Texas, but he traveled through Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana. He had some traveling companions, one of them Walter Sargent, who had helped him harass the Yankees, F.D. Townsend, Thomas Herbert Williams, and a cousin, John M. Jolly. They settled in Milam County, Texas. Milan County, Texas was populated by a lot of southerners. When Manns arrived in Texas on his horse Dixie, he had a great deal of money that he made on the way to Texas in trading and selling horses. Undoubtedly, the horses probably belonged to some of the missing Yankee soldiers that they never found. But Jolly and his three companions were to become well-known families in the regions with lots of present-day descendants.

[John Weaver] They started a farm since he was a farmer, and they built a small farmhouse, and man's named it Bachelor's Hall because all of them were bachelors. In a letter to his sister at one time, he referred to it as Delectable Hall. These men worked hard, long hours, raising cotton, raising wheat. And man's even worked for a djinn. I mean, he was no stranger to hard work. But in April the 16th, 1867, he wrote his sister.

[John Weaver] He said, I'm more pleased with Texas, but these dang people here, he said, society is bad. They have no use for preachers out here. And again, he wrote on July 29th, he had another appraisal of the frontier of Texas. He said, the longer I stay, the better satisfied I am. But I say, darn to the most of these people, it has become a general custom among the lower class to use snuff. How distasteful it is in my sight to see them push forward a box of snuff and ask all around to dip with them.

[John Weaver] Corn is selling for fifty cents per bushel, flour ten dollars a barrel, bacon twelve and a half cents a pound, beef from one to three cents a pound. And then a letter to his sister later, he said, I'm strongly in the notion of getting married as a bachelor's wife is the most miserable of all living creatures. So he carried out his strong notion. The following year, in 1868, he married 19-year-old Elizabeth Mildred Smith. She was the daughter of Captain John Gray Smith of South Carolina. And his good friend, Walter Larget, married the other Smith daughter as well.

[John Weaver] So the friends became brother-in-laws. And on July the 12th, 1869, when all seemed to be going well, John M. Jolly, the cousin, had to write the man's mother. She had lost her husband before the war. She had lost all of her sons in the war, except man's. And now she's to lose him. So John M. Jolly writes his aunt and he says, dear aunt. It is under very sad circumstances that I write to you. It becomes my sad duty to inform you that Manson is dead.

[John Weaver] He was drowned on last Thursday evening, the 8th. The circumstances were these. We've had the highest rise of Little River that has been known for years. Manson was working on a house for himself, which was on the opposite side of a small creek from where he was living. In returning from his work in the evening, he attempted to swim the creek on his horse, and he and the horse both drowned. He had swam the creek three times the same day on the same horse. There were three men and a boy with him, but could render him no assistance. The water was 12 to 15 feet deep where he drowned, in consequence of which his body could not be gotten immediately. It was about 18 hours before the body was found. In consequence of the high water, I could not be notified until the next day.

[John Weaver] And then I had to ride 30 miles to get through as I was six and six miles when I started. He was buried on last Saturday, the 10th. John Jolly concluded the message. He says Manson and made friends since we've been here. And could he lived his future so far as human knowledge extends would have been bright. I feel as if I've lost a dear brother. Dear Aunt, I hope that you will be able to bear up under this trouble.

[John Weaver] I shall be glad to hear from you and will take pleasure in writing to you at any time. I am, as ever, your nephew, John M. Jolly.

[John Weaver] Now, the reason Manns was building the new house was because his young wife was about five months pregnant. In November of 1869, she gave birth to a daughter, Ella Manson Jolly. Ella Manson Jolly lived to be 61, mostly in Fort Worth, where she is buried. She married a banker and had a rather decent life. But here is the obituary that was taken from the Anderson County, South Carolina newspaper from 1841 to 1882. Here's the obituary that appeared in Anderson, South Carolina. The death of Manson Jolly.

[John Weaver] The news will be received with a regret by many friends of this bold and daring Confederate soldier. We learned that a private letter has been received stating that Manson Jolly was drowned on the 8th of July near his home in Texas. He was building a residence on the opposite side of the creek from where he lived and it crossed over on horseback several times during the day.

[John Weaver] The stream was greatly swollen, attempting to cross for the third or fourth time. He was carried with his horse down the creek, and in the struggle which ensued, both were drowned. Mr. Jolly had been married about one year and leaves a young wife, the daughter of a former citizen of Anderson. The thrilling exploits and adventures of Manson Jolly in this section of the country Now listen, in this section of the country, immediately after the war was closed, are fresh in the recollection of all.

[John Weaver] His name was a terror for a long time to the garrison of the United States soldiers, especially the volunteer white and colored regiments stationed in this place. Some time ago, a South Carolina man, David J. Watson, who was a retired engineer, He was not only a retired engineer, he worked at Clemson University for 31 years. He was also a leader in the area's historical society, but he bought the run-down Little Jolly Log Home near Anderson, South Carolina. Watson says that about 75 years after the war, the old well on the Jolly Farm was cleaned out. It contained numerous skeletons.

[John Weaver] Now listen, and about a peck of corroded military uniform buttons all marked U.S. You know what a peck is? A peck is eight quarts or two gallons. Two gallons of buttons? How many men did he throw in that well? He says the well apparently is one of man's golly's disposal spots for Yankee soldiers. Maybe there is something to the saying, all is well, all is well. You know, when you read about individuals like this, you can't help but say, These men were unique. These men were courageous. These men were fearless. You know what I thought about? I thought about this. You know, the Bible says you reap what you sow.

[John Weaver] And in Psalm 9, I believe it is, God said, the pit that the wicked dig, they shall fall in themselves. And God shall bring it down upon the pate of their own heads. May I tell you, Haman will be hanged from his own gallows. Those that persecute and hate the people of God will reap exactly what they sow. Inevitably, invariably, In time and history, God will send an avenger because vengeance belongs to Him. In His day, in His time, His hour, He will see that justice prevails. What did Psalm 34 say? When thou seest a wicked, fret not. Why?

[John Weaver] Because in a moment, they shall be cut off. I'm here to tell you, I'd rather be with Jesus Christ and His people and live righteously and holy than to be the richest man in the world and have all the power in the world and yet without Christ. And I can assure you, folks, The wickedness that we see in our land today shall not escape the righteous judgment of God.

[John Weaver] He shall, in His time, send His sword and destroy the wicked. I look at Atlanta, Georgia. And all I can think of, where in the world is General Sherman when you need him the most? Look at Washington, D.C. But I got news for you. God knows how to take care of the wicked, and He will do it in His time. My prayer is that God will give us men. We need to be men of courage, men of character, men of holiness, Fearless and stand for that which is right.

[John Weaver] It doesn't matter if 40 regiments are against us. We still need to stand for the truth and principles of liberty and freedom. May God bless you. Thank you. This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, You may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N Street, Suite 705, P-M-B 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406.

[John Weaver] Or give us a call at 912-925-0995.

[John Weaver] You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com

Manson Jolley

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	1217141428189
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: The Family
Genre	Sermon
Date	2008-06-26
Dictation Name
Book	Book 027: The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order — Chapter 8
Source Timed Segments	70

Formatted Transcript

Introduction to the Biblical Avenger of Blood

Weaver reads Deuteronomy 19:11-13 and explains the biblical doctrine of vengeance, where a family member was responsible to execute a murderer to remove blood guiltiness from the land.

I want you to open your Bibles, if you would, please, to the book of Deuteronomy 19. Deuteronomy 19. The message tonight is on Manson Jolly, the South Carolina Avenger, and you'll understand the man's name and the title just momentarily. But if you look in Deuteronomy 19 and verse 11, God says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 19:11-13

"But if any man hate his neighbor and lie in wait for him and rise up against him and smite him mortally that he die and fleeth into one of these cities, then the elders of this city shall send and fetch him thence and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee."

You know, there is a truth in the Bible about the biblical doctrine of vengeance. In fact, I have an entire book on the biblical truth concerning God's righteous vengeance, and one of those chapters deals with the blood avenger that is mentioned here in verse 12:

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 19:11-13

"Deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood."

And the avenger of blood in the Bible was usually a family member, sometimes the closest family member, to a murdered man.

And it was his responsibility to make sure that the murderer was put to death. Now, this was not vengeance. This was not vindictiveness. If you would read Joshua 20, Numbers 35, Deuteronomy 19, you'll find that God said this was to be done so that blood guiltiness would not be upon the land. It was to ensure that justice was to be done. And so who is going to be more concerned about justice than the man's family that has had their loved one murdered? Well, God also designed cities of refuge.

God's Use of Avengers in Scripture

Examples from Judges and Israel's conquest show God using His people as instruments of divine vengeance, establishing that vengeance belongs to God but He occasionally uses human agents.

You know, as you read through the Bible, there are plenty of times that God sent avengers in the strictest sense of the word. Do you realize the whole book of Judges is about God's divine vengeance against the wicked? You remember, it's Ehud who took a knife and stabbed Eglon, the king who was a wicked ungodly tyrant. I could tell you about Jephthah. I could tell you about Saul. I could tell you about David. And you remember, the Bible tells us that they sang about Saul and David. Saul had slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands. And do you remember when God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt?

He put a sword in their hand and said, you kill all of the Amorites and the Hittites and the Jebusites and Hivites and all of those. And so vengeance belongs to God, but God does occasionally use His people. And if you'd read Psalm 149, you'll find that God does indeed, in fact, say that. And there have been times in history that God has allowed an avenger to rise.

Manson Jolly: The South Carolina Avenger

Weaver introduces Manson Jolly as a historical avenger, describing his physical appearance, skills, and reputation as a fearless Confederate cavalryman who killed many Union soldiers.

One of those, I believe, was Manson Jolly. And all I can say about Manson Jolly is what a name and what a man. Many have never heard of the name of Manson Jolly. Many have never had an idea that such an individual ever lived. I can assure you that during the war of northern aggression and afterward during the time of Reconstruction there are many Yankees who wish they had never heard the name and had never met the man. Because Manson Jolly killed most of the Yankees that he met and especially the ones who were terrorizing southern civilians. He had no love for carpetbaggers or scalawags either. In fact, there are so many tales about Manson Jolly, it is difficult sometimes to separate fact from legend. The best way I could describe Manson Jolly is to tell you that he was a combination of Josey Wales, John Wayne, Robin Hood, and John Singleton Mosby. He was a man. Manson Jolly stood six feet four inches tall with blue eyes and red hair and a temperament to match.

He did not have much schooling, but he was a very highly literate individual. He was a farmer by trade and a soldier by calling, and he did both very, very well. He was deadly serious in battle, and he used a knife or a pistol or a rifle with equal ease. He rode like an Indian, and he fought like a tiger. He was a cavalry sergeant, and he was exceedingly courageous and brave. One night, one man who was with him recalled how that on a foray, they slipped up upon a Yankee outpost, and there were three Union soldiers guarding the outpost. And Manson Jolly just quickly dispatched all three of them with his knife. They never even knew that he was around. A companion told of one night Jolly left the camp by himself and before morning he returned with a very fine horse and a very beautiful saddle of a Union officer and very politely presented the horse and the saddle to his captain. He was a man that meant business. Don Hurd, who is the author of the South Carolina upcountry, said this about Manson Jolly. Let me give you the quote just so that you can see his background. "Manson Sherrill Jolly was born in the Lebanon community of Anderson district, that is Anderson, South Carolina, in 1840 to Joseph Morehead Jolly and Anna Cole Sherrill. He was one of 11 children."

Cultural Background and Upbringing

Quoting Don Hurd, Weaver details Jolly's upbringing in Anderson, South Carolina, emphasizing the honor-bound, chivalrous culture that shaped his view of the war as a defense against tyranny.

During the years before the Civil War, Manson worked on the family farm. His work on the farm was interrupted only by infrequent attendance at the Lebanon Community School and church on Sunday. Manson was taught the fundamentals at the community school: arithmetic, writing, penmanship, grammar, and reading, mostly passages from the Bible. But he also read the works of Thomas More and Walter Scott. While studying Manson, it is important to realize the culture in which he lived. In fact, the culture in Manson's day held many of those romantic ideas that existed in the literature that he was reading. I'm quoting again from Don Hurd. He says, "The upcountry of South Carolina was made up of hard-working farmers. These people saw themselves as heroic, chivalrous knights ready to defend their homeland. The upcountry men of that time were puritanical, fundamental Christians, yet they hailed to the idea of a slave-based southern economy, though most people did not own slaves and those that did found slaves to be less and less profitable after 1840."

"Law and order were the creed of their lives." Now listen to that. "Law and order were the creed of their lives, but they maintained a certain disregard for life. The slightest threat or insult, real or imagined, to their or their family's honor demanded immediate reprisals with fists and or guns." Manson grew up in this culture in which the men felt honor bound to defend family, womanhood, and Mother Carolina. Let me just stop there. Would it be wonderful if we had some men today that felt honor bound to defend their family and the righteousness and the principles of truth as well as their state and their mothers? I'm continuing to quote. He said, "The generation of Manson Jolly did not recognize a civil war as a war between people of the same country, but as a war for southern rights against tyrannical northern aggression."

They believed that they were fighting for a righteous cause against an evil one. It is also important to understand that Manson, like most returning Confederate veterans, viewed the occupying Union forces as foreign invaders, as alien as you and I would recognize German or Japanese occupying forces. Therefore, one must realize that Manson was molded by the culture in which he was raised. Let me point out the fact, folks, it's very difficult for you and I to understand any of these men that lived in time past unless we understand their culture. Basically, you could say it like this. During this time in South Carolina, Manson Jolly was the David who fought the Goliath. He was the giant killer in South Carolina.

Reconstruction Injustices and Jolly's Vow

Weaver describes the theft, harassment, and legalized plunder by Union forces and carpetbaggers, leading Jolly to vow to kill a quota of Yankees for his five brothers killed in the war.

All southern states suffered immensely after the war. But I can assure you that since South Carolina was the mother of secession, the Reconstructionists made sure that South Carolina suffered greatly. You need to read the book, The Sack of Columbia, if you've never read it, just to find out what the Union people did to Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Roper was talking about Mississippi. Did you realize Mississippi was not only one of the richest states before the war, but after the war was over, most of the budget of the Mississippians, of that state of Mississippi, went to support and to buy artificial limbs for Confederate soldiers. And virgin timber was sold to carpetbaggers for as little as 10 cents an acre. I'm just simply pointing out the fact these people wanted to make sure that the South suffered. During the War of Northern Aggression, Manson distinguished himself in the Confederate Army, first in the infantry and later in the cavalry, rising to the rank of first sergeant. He was apparently in Wade Hampton's cavalry forces when Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox and headed home to Anderson, South Carolina, vowing that he would never surrender. An August 1861 furlough containing his physical description says he joined Company H of the 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment, yet newspaper accounts and statements of former comrades-in-arms listed him as a member of Company F, 1st S.C. Cavalry. Evidently, he went through the war from Manassas to Appomattox, usually as a cavalry scout. After the war was over, of course, Manson returned home to the Lebanon district of Anderson, South Carolina, where his name has basically become synonymous with heroism and a noble sense of honor and courage.

In fact, many people in Anderson, South Carolina viewed Manson as the embodiment of the spirit of resistance against tyranny and injustice. And when I'm talking about tyranny and injustice, you've got to read what happened during the time of Reconstruction. He came home to Anderson, South Carolina and found it occupied by Massachusetts troops, Negroes and later a Maine regiment. And when I say Negroes, I'm not talking about the slaves and the people that they grew up with. I'm talking about Massachusetts blacks in federal uniform who made it a particular joy of theirs to persecute the white men, to harass them, and to rape the white women, and to steal everything that they could. Carpetbaggers, freedmen, Union troops viewed South Carolina as the soul of secession, and they were going to make it pay.

And let me tell you, that explains, or at least it should explain, even the continued attitude today of most Southerners concerning the Yankee treatment because that has never, ever been forgotten. I've been preaching for about 44 years, and I remember when I first started preaching and I started traveling, we had a fella in the church in Thomasville, Georgia, and the very first trip I made up north, when I came back home the first thing he did was come to me. He put his hands on his hip and looked me in the eyes. He said, "Brother Weaver, how did those Yankees treat you?" I mean, he was going to be upset if I was not treated well up north. I just laughed and I said, "Well, they treated me very well." But you've got to understand, when Manson became an avenger, it may not have been a choice that he made. I don't think Manson just necessarily sat around and said, "I'm going to do this and this and this."

I believe it was the time and the circumstances that was forced upon him, and he found himself and his family and his neighbors and his friends being wronged on every hand. Wrongs, injustices, outrages were constantly committed by those in charge. The land was stolen. The livestock was stolen. The silverware was stolen. Brother Kenneth talked about the book on Beast Butler, my collection of silverware. What he didn't tell you was Beast Butler's nickname was Spoons because he stole all the silverware. They stole everything. Not only that, if you had to pay taxes and you didn't have the money, that's fine.

They took your hogs, they took your cows, they took your chickens. And they left you absolutely nothing. What could not be stolen from the South illegally was stolen legally. What do I mean by stealing legally? Well, here's what they would do. They would find a particular fruitful farm or a beautiful house and they wanted it. And so what they would do is they would continue to raise the taxes until the person living on that farm or in that house could not pay those taxes. And then it would be confiscated by a Union man for nonpayment of taxes. And the time he got it in his hands, the taxes were either written off or immediately lowered. And thus, the southern civilians had their property stolen from them.

And by the way, when you went down to the provost marshal to complain, usually you were arrested. In fact, one of his friends did complain and spent six months in jail for complaining about their property being stolen. So very obviously, times were very rough. Outrage is everywhere. Manson Jolly lost five brothers in the war. Four—James, John, Joseph, and William—were killed in battles. The fifth, Jesse, died in an army hospital, which was not much safer than a battlefield in those days. And so Manson then decided that he was going to make a vow and he was going to kill a quota of Yankees for each of his five brothers who died in the war. Now, there are various accounts as to whether Manson agreed with himself to kill five or more for each of his dead brothers.

There's not an exact number, there's no agreement, and there's actually no agreement either on how many he actually killed, because it ranges from 15 to 100. It seems fairly certain that before he died, he certainly got his quota of Yankees, and that did not count the carpetbaggers and the scalawags. He basically went for the soldiers. There's no doubt either as to his courage and to his fortitude because the official records of the Union and Confederate Army, Series 1, Volume 35, Part 1, page 401, we read this: "Lieutenant Colonel J.D. Twiggs of the South Carolina Cavalry commends Sergeant Jolly for efficient services and gallant manner in the destruction of the U.S. transport Boston at Chapman's Fort, Asheboro River, South Carolina." So he's actually commended in the official records. He was such a sought-after individual that he's also mentioned in another book, The Imprisonment and Trial of Francis Gaines Stowers, and it's quoted from the book Coldwater Community in Elbert County, Georgia, and they're talking about how they were after Jolly, and this one officer says, "There were probably other persons present who

Exploits and Legendary Confrontations

Accounts of Jolly's bold acts: recovering his sister's stolen watch, escaping capture at church, demanding his horse back, and terrorizing federal garrisons, as recorded by Governor Maybank and others.

And here's what he says: "During the Reconstruction period, when feeling ran high in the community, Anderson produced a remarkable character, Manson Jolly, whose exploits on his horse Ironsides—actually his horse's name was Dixie—are still vividly remembered. Jolly became involved, justifiably so some say, with federal military authorities soon after being mustered out of the Confederate Army." Remember now, this is the South Carolina governor writing. And he's saying that Jolly was justified, according to many, in what he did. "Tradition records that a Union officer sent two mounted Negroes," which would be Federal troops, "to Jolly's farm to apprehend him, but neither ever returned. When Jolly was later observed plowing their horses, it was deemed wiser to send four Negroes." "These also failed to return. A whole company of federal troopers next attempted to capture Jolly as he was attending church, but he leaped into the pulpit and fenced out the window. The following day, he walked boldly into Anderson, brandished a pistol at the colonel of the regiment, and demanded the return of his horse, which he had left behind on his hurried exit. The frightened colonel is said to have granted Jolly not only his horse, but unconditional amnesty as well."

He soon got into more trouble, however, fled to Texas, bought a ranch, married, made a belated attempt to settle down, and then his career was soon ended, he goes on. But here the governor of South Carolina is saying, yes, this Jolly fellow was something else. Articles continue to be written about Manson Jolly. In fact, they continued well after the war had been over. One of these articles had the headline of the state newspaper, August the 7th, 1932, and the headline was, "Manson Jolly, Anderson Guerrilla Kept Federal Garrison in Terror." One man kept an entire federal garrison in terror. Wow. A series of articles written by Steve Bionotto appeared in the Anderson Independent Mail in April of 1981. The titles were "The Legend of Manson Jolly" and "Manson Jolly the Man."

In this last article, he tells about the incident of a stolen watch. This is how these patrols harassed these people constantly. One of these Union patrols, prowling about the Jolly household one day, invaded the home and a soldier stole a watch that belonged to Manson's younger sister Mary. The next day—now remember he's stolen this watch—and the next day a Lieutenant Chase of the 25th Michigan Infantry Union Regiment quartered in Anderson was talking with Pendleton Mayor James Hunter on the Pendleton Town Square. A lone horseman slowly cantered up to them, and as he neared, Lt. Chase immediately recognized the rider as Manson Jolly. The lieutenant grabbed Manson's reins and pleaded with Hunter to help him arrest the outlaw. But Manson's revolver was out in a flash. He trained it on the Yankee officer and looked hard at Hunter, a man who owed his position to the federal appointment. Hunter declined to assist in the arrest, and the eager lieutenant soon quieted down. Manson first demanded that the northern officer supply whiskey coolers for his friends lounging in the town square. The officer cheaply complied, and then Manson said, "A watch belonging to my sister was stolen from her yesterday by one of your soldiers.

I mean to have it back, and it will be done. If it is not returned by tomorrow, I will come looking for you. And when I look for a man, I always find him." Manson then coolly spurred his horse Dixie without looking back and rode away to the cheers of his friends in the town square. And the next day, the watch was returned to Mary Jolly. Naturally, when someone is cool and courageous like this and when someone's not afraid of the powers that be, and he's getting a lot of attention and a lot of praise and recognition, there are some who always want to cash in on that individual's reputation. One such man began to kind of spread rumors and lie about Manson Jolly. His name was Thomas Harper. Manson at this time was not in the area. So when he heard what Thomas Harper was saying about him, he wrote his sister and he said this. Manson was not pleased when he heard the stories being told about it. In one of his letters home, Manson told his sister, "I've understood since I left South Carolina that Thomas Harper has been calling me a murderer and a highway robber.

He would be a little surprised if I were to ride up into Anderson and throw a lasso on him and wear him out with a Texas rawhide whip. I don't suppose he ever thinks of this." Well, he said, you know, I would take care of it, I can assure you. Well, there are many testimonies concerning Manson Jolly. One of the papers by Lieutenant Colonel Trowbridge deals with his experience with Manson Jolly, and it was a first-hand account. Now, he wrote this in 1904, but he still remembered, and here's what Lieutenant Colonel Trowbridge of the 33rd Regiment said: "After I had my breakfast, I stepped out on the porch, leaving my pistol in my room, went up to Jolly to the edge of the sidewalk, saying, 'My name is Manson Jolly, the man you're looking for. Now take me if you can.'"

Then he spurred his horse and rode away. On Thursday and on the next day, a courier arrived saying that the man we wanted would be at church on Sunday at a little meeting house about 12 miles from Anderson. A description of a roan horse that he was riding when he was last seen was given. I'd once dispatched Lieutenant Searles with nine mounted men and instructed him to secret his men and horses in the cornfield that I've been told was very near to the church. So as soon as darkness came on, he moved with great care, got his men in hiding, and in the afternoon of Sunday, the roan horse and the rider appeared. The horse was tied to a fence, and as soon as the man entered into the church, a dash was made for the horse which being secured, they made for the door of the church to capture the rider. He, however, being on the alert, jumped out of a window and made his escape into the cornfield, where all track of him was soon lost, and the lieutenant and his men returned to Anderson with the captured horse.

Next morning, just as the guard had been mounted for the day and the men whose duty it was to remain at the guardhouse had stacked arms, Jolly rode up alone to the guard, saying, "Tell your colonel that unless he delivers my horse that his men stole from me at the meeting house on Sunday, that I will kill him and every man in his regiment before they can get out of this country." He wheeled his horse and rode away. The sergeant of the guard commanded the men to take their weapons and fire at Jolly. Jolly lay over the neck of his horse, which was running at full speed. And of course, he got away. But the next day, the horse was returned. He did get his horse back.

Jolly's Methods and the Jones Company

Jolly used disguises, killed Yankees and collaborators, and led a group called the Jones Company to fight thievery and injustice, with specific incidents like Browns Ferry and Bowman's blacksmith shop.

Now, like most Southerners of the Reconstruction, Jolly had no particular love for the freed blacks who guided Union troops or the officials to the silver, gold, horses, chickens, cows of Southern people. You got to understand something. In those days, at that time, to lose those animals meant slow starvation for you and your family. In other words, the man intended the death of the white people. And so Manson had no particular good option about killing the man who was going to make the white starve. Manson had no mercy upon them because they had no mercy upon the southern people. You know the Bible says in James 2 and verse 13, listen carefully:

Scripture Reading — James 2:13

"For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy."

So the Yankees were showing no mercy toward the southern people, and so Manson showed no mercy toward them. Several contemporary accounts mention that Manson Jolly donned Yankee uniforms, sometimes quite frequently, which would get him in close to Union soldiers.

And it allowed him to capture them many times. And Manson always said, very dryly, that he always turned these federal soldiers over to General Green, which was the forest. That meant he just simply took them out and killed them. At Browns Ferry, three Yankee garrison soldiers were stationed there to guard stolen cotton. And by the way, let me tell you something. When the Yankees stole the cotton, they sometimes would just take it and sometimes they would take it legally by putting the taxes so high you had to just simply give up the cotton. And so here was a whole wharf loaded of stolen cotton with three Yankees guarding it. And when Manson saw what was happening there at Browns Ferry, Jolly went down and killed all three and turned the cotton over to the parties to whom it was stolen from. At Bowman's blacksmith shop located near Providence Church in Rockmills Township, Jolly found two Yankees who had stolen horses from some of his relatives.

He disarmed both and marched them ten miles to Sourwood Spring Schoolhouse where a singing was there in progress. Here he called for S.F. McConnell, the father of Sam and Bob McConnell of the city. After a short conversation, he left Mr. McConnell and went on to his mother's house located near where Dr. Hutchinson lives. Taking his two prisoners in the woods, he killed them and then turned the stolen horses over to those who had lost them.

Now, if you think that, boy, that's bad. He killed those two Yankee soldiers for stealing those horses. You've got to remember something. In those days, if you stole a horse, you were hanged. It was the death penalty anyhow. Didn't matter who you were. And so, Manson just simply executed them. Manson was adept at killing Yankees. In fact, he was so adept, it started off with a thousand dollars reward in gold for him and went up to $10,000 in gold for him. Not greenbacks, gold.

One thing about it, there were very few willing to try to claim it. None ever did. In fact, there's one story told that just to show you the boldness, the brashness, the courage of Manson Jolly and some of these men that associated with him. There was a banquet that was given by the commandant of the Yankee forces in Anderson, South Carolina. And Manson Jolly and one young fellow by the name of Simpson, who also had a thousand dollar reward on his head. So Manson and the young Simpson boy went to the banquet and then went up to the Yankee commandant and applied for the $1,000 reward in gold. They said, "We want to turn ourselves in. We want to get the money." And when the Yankee commandant began to kind of—well, you know, this really might be them. Just so happened Governor Orr was there. And then Governor Orr, knowing who they were, started laughing and telling the commandant, "These boys are making a fool out of you. They're just playing a part. Jolly and Simpson would never come up here like this." And the commandant turned away and Governor Orr said, "If you don't get out of here and get out of danger, I'll whip you myself." And they turned around and left. And then Governor Orr said to the commandant, he said, "Well, while you folks have taken everything that we've had in this day and time, at least you can't take all the good dinners we had before the war."

So, a group of young men who rode with Manson called themselves the Jones Company. I don't know why they chose that name particularly. But these boys gathered together to fight the thievery and the injustices that were being perpetrated by the Yankees. And they just simply call themselves the Jones Company. The Reverend Dr. J.B. Adger in his book, My Life and Times, tells something of the Jones Company and the Yankee thieves.

Now remember, here's a man that was there. He said, "When old Mrs. North's carriage horses were taken from the harness and the old lady left sitting in the coach in the road—I mean, they just stole them while she was out in the wilderness, left her there—Manson Jolly and Mike Dixon and one of the Simpson boys went after the Yanks and got them. But lost them over the road by Sandy Springs than a wooded country." I just wonder how they lost them. But anyhow, it says these same Yanks took the watches and jewelry from the refugees at Bosco Bell near Pendleton, where Dr. Adger then lived and Clint Summers now lives. The leaders of the Yankees, Allison Chapman, had stolen a fine young mare, and in mounting her, his short carbine swung around, the hammer hit the pommel of the saddle, and the muzzle jabbed him under the chin, and he fell dead in the yard. And here's what the pastor said: "Most of the jewelry, including the fine, handsome old watch that he now wears, was recovered because of that." In other words, the Yankee had stolen the jewelry from the good preacher. Well, Manson was so successful at killing the Yankees that there was a whole regiment looking for him. Not a company, but a whole regiment. Manson was not afraid. He was not afraid to die. But the Yankees constantly and consistently were harassing his mother and his sisters.

Departure to Texas and Death

To relieve pressure on his family, Jolly moved to Texas, married, and started a farm, but drowned in a swollen creek in 1869, leaving a pregnant wife and a legacy of courage.

They would stake out the farm 24 hours a day. They would raid into the house. They would steal. They would take things, whatever they wanted to take. They had no privacy. Finally, Manson thought, well, to give them a little relief, I'll just get out of the country for a while. Maybe if I'm gone, they'll just leave my family alone. So, Manson and a few of his friends decided that they were going to Texas where they could start their lives all over. There is an account of Manson's leaving Anderson, South Carolina. It appeared in the Anderson Independent Mail in April of 1981, written by Steve Bionotto in an article titled "The Legend of Manson Jolly." And here's what he said happened before Manson left Anderson. On a Sunday, January the 29th, 1866, so the story goes—actually Manson left in September.

So probably the month was wrong. But on a Sunday, January the 29th, 1866, Jolly rode quietly into Anderson on his favorite horse, Dixie. A few blocks down the street from the camp of the Union troops, he reined up. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his hat down over his red hair, put a pistol in each hand. With a traditional rebel yell piercing the calm day, he galloped pell-mell through the camp with both pistols blazing at anything that moved. The troops, understandably, were stunned into virtual statues until the yelling apparition had disappeared into the protecting woods, leaving shocked and wounded Union soldiers in his wake. Isn't that amazing?

In other words, if he's going to leave, he's going to leave in style. Well, he did go to Texas, but he traveled through Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana. He had some traveling companions, one of them Walter Sargent, who had helped him harass the Yankees, F.D. Townsend, Thomas Herbert Williams, and a cousin, John M. Jolly. They settled in Milam County, Texas. Milam County, Texas was populated by a lot of southerners. When Manson arrived in Texas on his horse Dixie, he had a great deal of money that he made on the way to Texas in trading and selling horses. Undoubtedly, the horses probably belonged to some of the missing Yankee soldiers that they never found. But Jolly and his three companions were to become well-known families in the regions with lots of present-day descendants.

They started a farm since he was a farmer, and they built a small farmhouse, and Manson named it Bachelor's Hall because all of them were bachelors. In a letter to his sister at one time, he referred to it as Delectable Hall. These men worked hard, long hours, raising cotton, raising wheat. And Manson even worked for a gin. I mean, he was no stranger to hard work. But in April the 16th, 1867, he wrote his sister. He said, "I'm more pleased with Texas, but these dang people here," he said, "society is bad. They have no use for preachers out here." And again, he wrote on July 29th, he had another appraisal of the frontier of Texas. He said, "The longer I stay, the better satisfied I am. But I say, darn to the most of these people, it has become a general custom among the lower class to use snuff. How distasteful it is in my sight to see them push forward a box of snuff and ask all around to dip with them."

"Corn is selling for fifty cents per bushel, flour ten dollars a barrel, bacon twelve and a half cents a pound, beef from one to three cents a pound." And then a letter to his sister later, he said, "I'm strongly in the notion of getting married as a bachelor's wife is the most miserable of all living creatures." So he carried out his strong notion. The following year, in 1868, he married 19-year-old Elizabeth Mildred Smith. She was the daughter of Captain John Gray Smith of South Carolina. And his good friend, Walter Sargent, married the other Smith daughter as well.

So the friends became brothers-in-law. And on July the 12th, 1869, when all seemed to be going well, John M. Jolly, the cousin, had to write Manson's mother. She had lost her husband before the war. She had lost all of her sons in the war, except Manson. And now she's to lose him. So John M. Jolly writes his aunt and he says, "Dear Aunt, it is under very sad circumstances that I write to you. It becomes my sad duty to inform you that Manson is dead.

He was drowned on last Thursday evening, the 8th. The circumstances were these. We've had the highest rise of Little River that has been known for years. Manson was working on a house for himself, which was on the opposite side of a small creek from where he was living. In returning from his work in the evening, he attempted to swim the creek on his horse, and he and the horse both drowned. He had swam the creek three times the same day on the same horse. There were three men and a boy with him, but could render him no assistance. The water was 12 to 15 feet deep where he drowned, in consequence of which his body could not be gotten immediately. It was about 18 hours before the body was found. In consequence of the high water, I could not be notified until the next day.

And then I had to ride 30 miles to get through as I was six and six miles when I started. He was buried on last Saturday, the 10th." John Jolly concluded the message. He says, "Manson had made friends since we've been here. And could he lived his future so far as human knowledge extends would have been bright. I feel as if I've lost a dear brother. Dear Aunt, I hope that you will be able to bear up under this trouble. I shall be glad to hear from you and will take pleasure in writing to you at any time. I am, as ever, your nephew, John M. Jolly."

Legacy and Biblical Application

Weaver notes the discovery of skeletons and uniform buttons in Jolly's well, then applies the story: God will avenge the wicked, and believers should be courageous, holy men.

"His name was a terror for a long time to the garrison of the United States soldiers, especially the volunteer white and colored regiments stationed in this place." Some time ago, a South Carolina man, David J. Watson, who was a retired engineer—he was not only a retired engineer, he worked at Clemson University for 31 years—he was also a leader in the area's historical society, but he bought the run-down little Jolly log home near Anderson, South Carolina. Watson says that about 75 years after the war, the old well on the Jolly farm was cleaned out. It contained numerous skeletons.

Now listen, and about a peck of corroded military uniform buttons all marked U.S. You know what a peck is? A peck is eight quarts or two gallons. Two gallons of buttons? How many men did he throw in that well? He says the well apparently is one of Manson Jolly's disposal spots for Yankee soldiers. Maybe there is something to the saying, "All is well, all is well." You know, when you read about individuals like this, you can't help but say, these men were unique. These men were courageous. These men were fearless. You know what I thought about? I thought about this. You know, the Bible says you reap what you sow.

And in Psalm 9, I believe it is, God said, "The pit that the wicked dig, they shall fall in themselves. And God shall bring it down upon the pate of their own heads." May I tell you, Haman will be hanged from his own gallows. Those that persecute and hate the people of God will reap exactly what they sow. Inevitably, invariably, in time and history, God will send an avenger because vengeance belongs to Him. In His day, in His time, His hour, He will see that justice prevails. What did Psalm 34 say? "When thou seest a wicked, fret not." Why?

Because in a moment, they shall be cut off. I'm here to tell you, I'd rather be with Jesus Christ and His people and live righteously and holy than to be the richest man in the world and have all the power in the world and yet without Christ. And I can assure you, folks, the wickedness that we see in our land today shall not escape the righteous judgment of God. He shall, in His time, send His sword and destroy the wicked. I look at Atlanta, Georgia. And all I can think of, where in the world is General Sherman when you need him the most? Look at Washington, D.C. But I got news for you. God knows how to take care of the wicked, and He will do it in His time. My prayer is that God will give us men. We need to be men of courage, men of character, men of holiness, fearless and stand for that which is right.

It doesn't matter if 40 regiments are against us. We still need to stand for the truth and principles of liberty and freedom. May God bless you. Thank you. This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, you may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N Street, Suite 705, P-M-B 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406. Or give us a call at 912-925-0995.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Biblical Doctrine of Vengeance

Summary: God ordains vengeance to remove blood guiltiness and execute justice, sometimes using human agents as avengers.

Evidence: Weaver reads Deuteronomy 19:11-13 and explains, 'the avenger of blood in the Bible was usually a family member... to make sure that the murderer was put to death... so that blood guiltiness would not be upon the land.'

Divine Justice Against the Wicked

Summary: God will inevitably bring judgment on the wicked, often using human instruments, and the wicked reap what they sow.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Inevitably, invariably, in time and history, God will send an avenger because vengeance belongs to Him... Haman will be hanged from his own gallows.'

Courage and Honor in the Face of Tyranny

Summary: Manson Jolly exemplified fearless resistance against injustice, defending family and homeland regardless of the odds.

Evidence: Weaver describes Jolly's boldness: 'He was deadly serious in battle... He rode like an Indian, and he fought like a tiger... Manson Jolly killed most of the Yankees that he met.'

The Righteousness of the Southern Cause

Summary: The sermon portrays the Confederacy as fighting a righteous war against tyrannical Northern aggression, and Reconstruction as continued persecution.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Hurd: 'The generation of Manson Jolly did not recognize a civil war... but as a war for southern rights against tyrannical northern aggression.'

The Need for Godly Men Today

Summary: Weaver calls for modern men to emulate Jolly's courage, character, and fearlessness in standing for truth and righteousness.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'My prayer is that God will give us men. We need to be men of courage, men of character, men of holiness, fearless and stand for that which is right.'

Key Arguments

Vengeance is a biblical mandate for justice, not personal vindictiveness.

Summary: Weaver argues that the avenger of blood system was God's design to ensure justice and remove guilt from the land.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'this was not vengeance. This was not vindictiveness... God said this was to be done so that blood guiltiness would not be upon the land.'

Manson Jolly was a legitimate avenger raised up by God.

Summary: Weaver presents Jolly as a historical example of God using an avenger to execute justice on oppressors.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'One of those, I believe, was Manson Jolly... there have been times in history that God has allowed an avenger to rise.'

The South suffered unjustly under Reconstruction, justifying Jolly's actions.

Summary: Weaver details systematic theft, harassment, and legal plunder by Union forces, arguing Jolly's violence was a response to extreme injustice.

Evidence: Weaver describes, 'What could not be stolen from the South illegally was stolen legally... they would continue to raise the taxes until the person... could not pay... then it would be confiscated.'

God's judgment on the wicked is certain and often comes through human agents.

Summary: Weaver uses Psalm 9 and the story of Haman to assert that God ensures the wicked fall into their own traps.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The pit that the wicked dig, they shall fall in themselves... Haman will be hanged from his own gallows.'

Modern Christians must emulate the fearlessness of men like Jolly.

Summary: Weaver applies the story by urging believers to stand courageously for truth regardless of opposition.

Evidence: Weaver exhorts, 'It doesn't matter if 40 regiments are against us. We still need to stand for the truth and principles of liberty and freedom.'

Scripture References

Deuteronomy 19:11-13

Context: Weaver reads this passage to introduce the biblical avenger of blood and the command to execute murderers.

Joshua 20

Context: Mentioned alongside Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19 as part of the cities of refuge and avenger laws.

Numbers 35

Context: Referenced as containing the laws about the avenger of blood and cities of refuge.

Psalm 149

Context: Weaver says this psalm shows God using His people to execute vengeance.

James 2:13

Context: Quoted to justify Jolly's lack of mercy: 'For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.'

Psalm 9

Context: Weaver paraphrases: 'The pit that the wicked dig, they shall fall in themselves.'

Psalm 34

Context: Weaver quotes: 'When thou seest a wicked, fret not... in a moment, they shall be cut off.'

Historical References

Manson Sherrill Jolly (1840-1869)

Context: Confederate cavalry sergeant and Reconstruction-era avenger who killed Union soldiers and collaborators in South Carolina.

Don Hurd, author of 'The South Carolina Upcountry'

Context: Quoted for biographical and cultural background on Jolly's upbringing and the honor-bound society of upcountry South Carolina.

Governor Burnet P. Maybank of South Carolina (1941)

Context: Wrote a guide to the Palmetto State that included Jolly's exploits, noting some considered his actions justified.

Lieutenant Colonel J.D. Twiggs, South Carolina Cavalry

Context: Commended Sergeant Jolly in official records for gallant destruction of a U.S. transport.

Lieutenant Colonel Trowbridge, 33rd Regiment

Context: Provided a first-hand account of attempting to capture Jolly at church and Jolly's bold demand for his horse.

The Jones Company

Context: A group of young men who rode with Jolly to fight Yankee thievery and injustice during Reconstruction.

Reverend Dr. J.B. Adger, 'My Life and Times'

Context: Recounted incidents of Yankee theft and Jolly's recovery of stolen goods, including a watch.

Steve Bionotto, Anderson Independent Mail (1981)

Context: Wrote articles 'The Legend of Manson Jolly' and 'Manson Jolly the Man,' including the stolen watch incident and Jolly's departure.

David J. Watson, retired engineer and historical society leader

Context: Bought the Jolly log home and reported the discovery of skeletons and U.S. uniform buttons in the well.

Important Quotes

Manson Jolly killed most of the Yankees that he met and especially the ones who were terrorizing southern civilians.

Significance: Summarizes Jolly's role as an avenger targeting oppressors, central to Weaver's portrayal.

The generation of Manson Jolly did not recognize a civil war as a war between people of the same country, but as a war for southern rights against tyrannical northern aggression.

Significance: Captures the cultural perspective Weaver uses to justify the Southern cause and Jolly's actions.

What could not be stolen from the South illegally was stolen legally.

Significance: Highlights the systematic injustice of Reconstruction that Weaver argues provoked Jolly's vengeance.

For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.

Significance: Weaver uses James 2:13 to justify Jolly's merciless treatment of Yankees who showed no mercy to Southerners.

Inevitably, invariably, in time and history, God will send an avenger because vengeance belongs to Him.

Significance: Core theological point that God ensures justice through human agents like Jolly.

My prayer is that God will give us men. We need to be men of courage, men of character, men of holiness, fearless and stand for that which is right.

Significance: Concluding application calling for modern men to emulate Jolly's virtues.

Discussion Questions

How does the biblical concept of the avenger of blood in Deuteronomy 19 relate to New Testament teachings on vengeance and justice?

Context: Weaver introduces the avenger of blood as a divine institution for justice.

In what ways does the culture of honor described in Manson Jolly's upbringing challenge or affirm modern Christian views on defending family and homeland?

Context: Weaver quotes Don Hurd on the upcountry South Carolina culture of honor and chivalry.

Can the actions of Manson Jolly be reconciled with Romans 12:19 ('Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord')? Why or why not?

Context: Weaver presents Jolly as a God-sent avenger, but the New Testament emphasizes leaving vengeance to God.

How should Christians respond to systemic injustice and oppression today, in light of Weaver's portrayal of Jolly's violent resistance?

Context: Weaver details the legal and illegal theft during Reconstruction and Jolly's response.

What does the discovery of skeletons in Jolly's well suggest about the legacy of violence, and how should we evaluate such legacies as Christians?

Context: Weaver mentions the well containing skeletons and U.S. buttons as a disposal spot for Yankee soldiers.

Weaver prays for 'men of courage, character, holiness, fearless.' What does biblical fearlessness look like in a contemporary context?

Context: Weaver concludes with a call for courageous men standing for truth.

Applications

Trust God's timing for justice

Summary: Believers should not fret over the wicked because God will bring justice in His time, as seen in Psalm 34.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'When thou seest a wicked, fret not... because in a moment, they shall be cut off.'

Cultivate courage and fearlessness

Summary: Men are called to be courageous, holy, and fearless in standing for truth, regardless of opposition.

Evidence: Weaver exhorts, 'It doesn't matter if 40 regiments are against us. We still need to stand for the truth and principles of liberty and freedom.'

Recognize the certainty of divine judgment

Summary: The wicked will not escape God's judgment; they will reap what they sow, as Haman was hanged on his own gallows.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Haman will be hanged from his own gallows. Those that persecute and hate the people of God will reap exactly what they sow.'

Value righteousness over worldly power

Summary: It is better to be with Christ and live righteously than to have all the world's riches and power without Him.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I'd rather be with Jesus Christ and His people and live righteously and holy than to be the richest man in the world.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T12:45:41Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-05T22:26:10Z

Clean Transcript

Manson Jolley

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

I want you to open your Bibles, if you would, please, to the book of Deuteronomy 19. Deuteronomy 19. The message tonight is on Manson Jolly, the South Carolina Avenger, and you'll understand the man's name and the title just momentarily. But if you look in Deuteronomy 19 and verse 11, God says, "But if any man hate his neighbor and lie in wait for him and rise up against him and smite him mortally that he die and fleeth into one of these cities, then the elders of this city shall send and fetch him thence and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee."
#1 | 0:01 to 0:54 | cleaned
You know, there is a truth in the Bible about the biblical doctrine of vengeance. In fact, I have an entire book on the biblical truth concerning God's righteous vengeance, and one of those chapters deals with the blood avenger that is mentioned here in verse 12: "Deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood." And the avenger of blood in the Bible was usually a family member, sometimes the closest family member, to a murdered man.
#2 | 0:55 to 1:26 | cleaned
And it was his responsibility to make sure that the murderer was put to death. Now, this was not vengeance. This was not vindictiveness. If you would read Joshua 20, Numbers 35, Deuteronomy 19, you'll find that God said this was to be done so that blood guiltiness would not be upon the land. It was to ensure that justice was to be done. And so who is going to be more concerned about justice than the man's family that has had their loved one murdered? Well, God also designed cities of refuge.
#3 | 1:26 to 2:00 | cleaned
That is, if someone kills someone the way you and I would describe it accidentally, he just fled to the city of refuge. There was a trial and it was found that he did not premeditatedly murder. Well, he just had to stay in the city of refuge until the high priest died. Then he could return home. But if they had the trial and they found the man was a premeditated murderer, then the elders delivered him into the hand of the avenger of blood and the avenger put him to death.
#4 | 2:00 to 2:28 | cleaned
You know, as you read through the Bible, there are plenty of times that God sent avengers in the strictest sense of the word. Do you realize the whole book of Judges is about God's divine vengeance against the wicked? You remember, it's Ehud who took a knife and stabbed Eglon, the king who was a wicked ungodly tyrant. I could tell you about Jephthah. I could tell you about Saul. I could tell you about David. And you remember, the Bible tells us that they sang about Saul and David. Saul had slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands. And do you remember when God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt?
#5 | 2:30 to 3:10 | cleaned
He put a sword in their hand and said, you kill all of the Amorites and the Hittites and the Jebusites and Hivites and all of those. And so vengeance belongs to God, but God does occasionally use His people. And if you'd read Psalm 149, you'll find that God does indeed, in fact, say that. And there have been times in history that God has allowed an avenger to rise.
#6 | 3:11 to 3:36 | cleaned
One of those, I believe, was Manson Jolly. And all I can say about Manson Jolly is what a name and what a man. Many have never heard of the name of Manson Jolly. Many have never had an idea that such an individual ever lived. I can assure you that during the war of northern aggression and afterward during the time of Reconstruction there are many Yankees who wish they had never heard the name and had never met the man. Because Manson Jolly killed most of the Yankees that he met and especially the ones who were terrorizing southern civilians.
#7 | 3:40 to 4:23 | cleaned
He had no love for carpetbaggers or scalawags either. In fact, there are so many tales about Manson Jolly, it is difficult sometimes to separate fact from legend. The best way I could describe Manson Jolly is to tell you that he was a combination of Josey Wales, John Wayne, Robin Hood, and John Singleton Mosby. He was a man. Manson Jolly stood six feet four inches tall with blue eyes and red hair and a temperament to match.
#8 | 4:23 to 4:57 | cleaned
He did not have much schooling, but he was a very highly literate individual. He was a farmer by trade and a soldier by calling, and he did both very, very well. He was deadly serious in battle, and he used a knife or a pistol or a rifle with equal ease. He rode like an Indian, and he fought like a tiger. He was a cavalry sergeant, and he was exceedingly courageous and brave.
#9 | 5:00 to 5:28 | cleaned
One night, one man who was with him recalled how that on a foray, they slipped up upon a Yankee outpost, and there were three Union soldiers guarding the outpost. And Manson Jolly just quickly dispatched all three of them with his knife. They never even knew that he was around. A companion told of one night Jolly left the camp by himself and before morning he returned with a very fine horse and a very beautiful saddle of a Union officer and very politely presented the horse and the saddle to his captain. He was a man that meant business. Don Hurd, who is the author of the South Carolina upcountry, said this about Manson Jolly. Let me give you the quote just so that you can see his background. "Manson Sherrill Jolly was born in the Lebanon community of Anderson district, that is Anderson, South Carolina, in 1840 to Joseph Morehead Jolly and Anna Cole Sherrill. He was one of 11 children."
#10 | 5:29 to 6:35 | cleaned
During the years before the Civil War, Manson worked on the family farm. His work on the farm was interrupted only by infrequent attendance at the Lebanon Community School and church on Sunday. Manson was taught the fundamentals at the community school: arithmetic, writing, penmanship, grammar, and reading, mostly passages from the Bible. But he also read the works of Thomas More and Walter Scott. While studying Manson, it is important to realize the culture in which he lived. In fact, the culture in Manson's day held many of those romantic ideas that existed in the literature that he was reading.
#11 | 6:36 to 7:17 | cleaned
I'm quoting again from Don Hurd. He says, "The upcountry of South Carolina was made up of hard-working farmers. These people saw themselves as heroic, chivalrous knights ready to defend their homeland. The upcountry men of that time were puritanical, fundamental Christians, yet they hailed to the idea of a slave-based southern economy, though most people did not own slaves and those that did found slaves to be less and less profitable after 1840."
#12 | 7:18 to 7:47 | cleaned
"Law and order were the creed of their lives." Now listen to that. "Law and order were the creed of their lives, but they maintained a certain disregard for life. The slightest threat or insult, real or imagined, to their or their family's honor demanded immediate reprisals with fists and or guns." Manson grew up in this culture in which the men felt honor bound to defend family, womanhood, and Mother Carolina.
#13 | 7:48 to 8:19 | cleaned
Let me just stop there. Would it be wonderful if we had some men today that felt honor bound to defend their family and the righteousness and the principles of truth as well as their state and their mothers? I'm continuing to quote. He said, "The generation of Manson Jolly did not recognize a civil war as a war between people of the same country, but as a war for southern rights against tyrannical northern aggression."
#14 | 8:20 to 8:53 | cleaned
They believed that they were fighting for a righteous cause against an evil one. It is also important to understand that Manson, like most returning Confederate veterans, viewed the occupying Union forces as foreign invaders, as alien as you and I would recognize German or Japanese occupying forces. Therefore, one must realize that Manson was molded by the culture in which he was raised. Let me point out the fact, folks, it's very difficult for you and I to understand any of these men that lived in time past unless we understand their culture. Basically, you could say it like this. During this time in South Carolina, Manson Jolly was the David who fought the Goliath. He was the giant killer in South Carolina.
#15 | 8:54 to 9:45 | cleaned
All southern states suffered immensely after the war. But I can assure you that since South Carolina was the mother of secession, the Reconstructionists made sure that South Carolina suffered greatly. You need to read the book, The Sack of Columbia, if you've never read it, just to find out what the Union people did to Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Roper was talking about Mississippi. Did you realize Mississippi was not only one of the richest states before the war, but after the war was over, most of the budget of the Mississippians, of that state of Mississippi, went to support and to buy artificial limbs for Confederate soldiers.
#16 | 9:45 to 10:33 | cleaned
And virgin timber was sold to carpetbaggers for as little as 10 cents an acre. I'm just simply pointing out the fact these people wanted to make sure that the South suffered. During the War of Northern Aggression, Manson distinguished himself in the Confederate Army, first in the infantry and later in the cavalry, rising to the rank of first sergeant. He was apparently in Wade Hampton's cavalry forces when Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox and headed home to Anderson, South Carolina, vowing that he would never surrender. An August 1861 furlough containing his physical description says he joined Company H of the 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment, yet newspaper accounts and statements of former comrades-in-arms listed him as a member of Company F, 1st S.C. Cavalry. Evidently, he went through the war from Manassas to Appomattox, usually as a cavalry scout. After the war was over, of course, Manson returned home to the Lebanon district of Anderson, South Carolina, where his name has basically become synonymous with heroism and a noble sense of honor and courage.
#17 | 10:33 to 11:54 | cleaned
In fact, many people in Anderson, South Carolina viewed Manson as the embodiment of the spirit of resistance against tyranny and injustice. And when I'm talking about tyranny and injustice, you've got to read what happened during the time of Reconstruction. He came home to Anderson, South Carolina and found it occupied by Massachusetts troops, Negroes and later a Maine regiment. And when I say Negroes, I'm not talking about the slaves and the people that they grew up with. I'm talking about Massachusetts blacks in federal uniform who made it a particular joy of theirs to persecute the white men, to harass them, and to rape the white women, and to steal everything that they could. Carpetbaggers, freedmen, Union troops viewed South Carolina as the soul of secession, and they were going to make it pay.
#18 | 11:54 to 13:02 | cleaned
And let me tell you, that explains, or at least it should explain, even the continued attitude today of most Southerners concerning the Yankee treatment because that has never, ever been forgotten. I've been preaching for about 44 years, and I remember when I first started preaching and I started traveling, we had a fella in the church in Thomasville, Georgia, and the very first trip I made up north, when I came back home the first thing he did was come to me. He put his hands on his hip and looked me in the eyes.
#19 | 13:02 to 13:44 | cleaned
He said, "Brother Weaver, how did those Yankees treat you?" I mean, he was going to be upset if I was not treated well up north. I just laughed and I said, "Well, they treated me very well." But you've got to understand, when Manson became an avenger, it may not have been a choice that he made. I don't think Manson just necessarily sat around and said, "I'm going to do this and this and this."
#20 | 13:44 to 14:07 | cleaned
I believe it was the time and the circumstances that was forced upon him, and he found himself and his family and his neighbors and his friends being wronged on every hand. Wrongs, injustices, outrages were constantly committed by those in charge. The land was stolen. The livestock was stolen. The silverware was stolen. Brother Kenneth talked about the book on Beast Butler, my collection of silverware. What he didn't tell you was Beast Butler's nickname was Spoons because he stole all the silverware. They stole everything. Not only that, if you had to pay taxes and you didn't have the money, that's fine.
#21 | 14:08 to 15:04 | cleaned
They took your hogs, they took your cows, they took your chickens. And they left you absolutely nothing. What could not be stolen from the South illegally was stolen legally. What do I mean by stealing legally? Well, here's what they would do. They would find a particular fruitful farm or a beautiful house and they wanted it. And so what they would do is they would continue to raise the taxes until the person living on that farm or in that house could not pay those taxes. And then it would be confiscated by a Union man for nonpayment of taxes. And the time he got it in his hands, the taxes were either written off or immediately lowered. And thus, the southern civilians had their property stolen from them.
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And by the way, when you went down to the provost marshal to complain, usually you were arrested. In fact, one of his friends did complain and spent six months in jail for complaining about their property being stolen. So very obviously, times were very rough. Outrage is everywhere. Manson Jolly lost five brothers in the war. Four—James, John, Joseph, and William—were killed in battles. The fifth, Jesse, died in an army hospital, which was not much safer than a battlefield in those days. And so Manson then decided that he was going to make a vow and he was going to kill a quota of Yankees for each of his five brothers who died in the war. Now, there are various accounts as to whether Manson agreed with himself to kill five or more for each of his dead brothers.
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There's not an exact number, there's no agreement, and there's actually no agreement either on how many he actually killed, because it ranges from 15 to 100. It seems fairly certain that before he died, he certainly got his quota of Yankees, and that did not count the carpetbaggers and the scalawags. He basically went for the soldiers. There's no doubt either as to his courage and to his fortitude because the official records of the Union and Confederate Army, Series 1, Volume 35, Part 1, page 401, we read this: "Lieutenant Colonel J.D.
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Twiggs of the South Carolina Cavalry commends Sergeant Jolly for efficient services and gallant manner in the destruction of the U.S. transport Boston at Chapman's Fort, Asheboro River, South Carolina." So he's actually commended in the official records. He was such a sought-after individual that he's also mentioned in another book, The Imprisonment and Trial of Francis Gaines Stowers, and it's quoted from the book Coldwater Community in Elbert County, Georgia, and they're talking about how they were after Jolly, and this one officer says, "There were probably other persons present who
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participated in the affair and who were never arrested. I tried very hard indeed to secure one of them, a notorious fellow by the name of Jolly, who escaped into Tennessee and from thence I hear is going to Texas. He was undoubtedly one of the men who fired upon the soldiers and I have no doubt he was one of the worst." Well, certainly Jolly did not care that much for the Yankees because they were terrorizing the people of South Carolina. Burnet P. Maybank was the governor of South Carolina in 1941, and he wrote a little guide to the Palmetto State, and he speaks about Manson Jolly.
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And here's what he says: "During the Reconstruction period, when feeling ran high in the community, Anderson produced a remarkable character, Manson Jolly, whose exploits on his horse Ironsides—actually his horse's name was Dixie—are still vividly remembered. Jolly became involved, justifiably so some say, with federal military authorities soon after being mustered out of the Confederate Army." Remember now, this is the South Carolina governor writing. And he's saying that Jolly was justified, according to many, in what he did. "Tradition records that a Union officer sent two mounted Negroes," which would be Federal troops, "to Jolly's farm to apprehend him, but neither ever returned. When Jolly was later observed plowing their horses, it was deemed wiser to send four Negroes."
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"These also failed to return. A whole company of federal troopers next attempted to capture Jolly as he was attending church, but he leaped into the pulpit and fenced out the window. The following day, he walked boldly into Anderson, brandished a pistol at the colonel of the regiment, and demanded the return of his horse, which he had left behind on his hurried exit. The frightened colonel is said to have granted Jolly not only his horse, but unconditional amnesty as well."
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He soon got into more trouble, however, fled to Texas, bought a ranch, married, made a belated attempt to settle down, and then his career was soon ended, he goes on. But here the governor of South Carolina is saying, yes, this Jolly fellow was something else. Articles continue to be written about Manson Jolly. In fact, they continued well after the war had been over. One of these articles had the headline of the state newspaper, August the 7th, 1932, and the headline was, "Manson Jolly, Anderson Guerrilla Kept Federal Garrison in Terror." One man kept an entire federal garrison in terror. Wow. A series of articles written by Steve Bionotto appeared in the Anderson Independent Mail in April of 1981. The titles were "The Legend of Manson Jolly" and "Manson Jolly the Man."
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In this last article, he tells about the incident of a stolen watch. This is how these patrols harassed these people constantly. One of these Union patrols, prowling about the Jolly household one day, invaded the home and a soldier stole a watch that belonged to Manson's younger sister Mary. The next day—now remember he's stolen this watch—and the next day a Lieutenant Chase of the 25th Michigan Infantry Union Regiment quartered in Anderson was talking with Pendleton Mayor James Hunter on the Pendleton Town Square.
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A lone horseman slowly cantered up to them, and as he neared, Lt. Chase immediately recognized the rider as Manson Jolly. The lieutenant grabbed Manson's reins and pleaded with Hunter to help him arrest the outlaw. But Manson's revolver was out in a flash. He trained it on the Yankee officer and looked hard at Hunter, a man who owed his position to the federal appointment. Hunter declined to assist in the arrest, and the eager lieutenant soon quieted down. Manson first demanded that the northern officer supply whiskey coolers for his friends lounging in the town square. The officer cheaply complied, and then Manson said, "A watch belonging to my sister was stolen from her yesterday by one of your soldiers.
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I mean to have it back, and it will be done. If it is not returned by tomorrow, I will come looking for you. And when I look for a man, I always find him." Manson then coolly spurred his horse Dixie without looking back and rode away to the cheers of his friends in the town square. And the next day, the watch was returned to Mary Jolly. Naturally, when someone is cool and courageous like this and when someone's not afraid of the powers that be, and he's getting a lot of attention and a lot of praise and recognition, there are some who always want to cash in on that individual's reputation. One such man began to kind of spread rumors and lie about Manson Jolly.
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His name was Thomas Harper. Manson at this time was not in the area. So when he heard what Thomas Harper was saying about him, he wrote his sister and he said this. Manson was not pleased when he heard the stories being told about it. In one of his letters home, Manson told his sister, "I've understood since I left South Carolina that Thomas Harper has been calling me a murderer and a highway robber.
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He would be a little surprised if I were to ride up into Anderson and throw a lasso on him and wear him out with a Texas rawhide whip. I don't suppose he ever thinks of this." Well, he said, you know, I would take care of it, I can assure you. Well, there are many testimonies concerning Manson Jolly. One of the papers by Lieutenant Colonel Trowbridge deals with his experience with Manson Jolly, and it was a first-hand account. Now, he wrote this in 1904, but he still remembered, and here's what Lieutenant Colonel Trowbridge of the 33rd Regiment said: "After I had my breakfast, I stepped out on the porch, leaving my pistol in my room, went up to Jolly to the edge of the sidewalk, saying, 'My name is Manson Jolly, the man you're looking for. Now take me if you can.'"
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Then he spurred his horse and rode away. On Thursday and on the next day, a courier arrived saying that the man we wanted would be at church on Sunday at a little meeting house about 12 miles from Anderson. A description of a roan horse that he was riding when he was last seen was given. I'd once dispatched Lieutenant Searles with nine mounted men and instructed him to secret his men and horses in the cornfield that I've been told was very near to the church. So as soon as darkness came on, he moved with great care, got his men in hiding, and in the afternoon of Sunday, the roan horse and the rider appeared. The horse was tied to a fence, and as soon as the man entered into the church, a dash was made for the horse which being secured, they made for the door of the church to capture the rider. He, however, being on the alert, jumped out of a window and made his escape into the cornfield, where all track of him was soon lost, and the lieutenant and his men returned to Anderson with the captured horse.
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Next morning, just as the guard had been mounted for the day and the men whose duty it was to remain at the guardhouse had stacked arms, Jolly rode up alone to the guard, saying, "Tell your colonel that unless he delivers my horse that his men stole from me at the meeting house on Sunday, that I will kill him and every man in his regiment before they can get out of this country." He wheeled his horse and rode away. The sergeant of the guard commanded the men to take their weapons and fire at Jolly. Jolly lay over the neck of his horse, which was running at full speed. And of course, he got away. But the next day, the horse was returned. He did get his horse back.
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The Milam County, Texas Cameron Herald, and by the way, when I quote from the Texas Herald, Manson did go to Texas. And that's why there are some of this that is written about him concerning Texas. So here is an article that was written about him on March the 15th, 1934. Said when Jolly left Anderson, he had 23 notches on his gun and it was said that he killed at least a dozen Yankees on his way to Texas.
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He more than made good five times five. This number of slain Yankees did not include the Negroes he killed. A large number were killed in different sections of the country. He wore—that is Jolly did—Jolly wore the uniform of a federal soldier at times and this helped him at different times. Amongst the Negroes killed was one near Pendleton. He met in the road. The Negro, seeing the Yankee uniform, offered to direct Jolly to the home of some white people where he was told that he could secure jewelry and gold.
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In other words, "I'll lead you there. You can steal them and you can kill them." Here Jolly put another notch on his gun.
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Now, like most Southerners of the Reconstruction, Jolly had no particular love for the freed blacks who guided Union troops or the officials to the silver, gold, horses, chickens, cows of Southern people. You got to understand something. In those days, at that time, to lose those animals meant slow starvation for you and your family. In other words, the man intended the death of the white people. And so Manson had no particular good option about killing the man who was going to make the white starve. Manson had no mercy upon them because they had no mercy upon the southern people. You know the Bible says in James 2 and verse 13, listen carefully: "For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy." So the Yankees were showing no mercy toward the southern people, and so Manson showed no mercy toward them. Several contemporary accounts mention that Manson Jolly donned Yankee uniforms, sometimes quite frequently, which would get him in close to Union soldiers.
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And it allowed him to capture them many times. And Manson always said, very dryly, that he always turned these federal soldiers over to General Green, which was the forest. That meant he just simply took them out and killed them. At Browns Ferry, three Yankee garrison soldiers were stationed there to guard stolen cotton. And by the way, let me tell you something. When the Yankees stole the cotton, they sometimes would just take it and sometimes they would take it legally by putting the taxes so high you had to just simply give up the cotton. And so here was a whole wharf loaded of stolen cotton with three Yankees guarding it. And when Manson saw what was happening there at Browns Ferry, Jolly went down and killed all three and turned the cotton over to the parties to whom it was stolen from. At Bowman's blacksmith shop located near Providence Church in Rockmills Township, Jolly found two Yankees who had stolen horses from some of his relatives.
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He disarmed both and marched them ten miles to Sourwood Spring Schoolhouse where a singing was there in progress. Here he called for S.F. McConnell, the father of Sam and Bob McConnell of the city. After a short conversation, he left Mr. McConnell and went on to his mother's house located near where Dr. Hutchinson lives. Taking his two prisoners in the woods, he killed them and then turned the stolen horses over to those who had lost them.
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Now, if you think that, boy, that's bad. He killed those two Yankee soldiers for stealing those horses. You've got to remember something. In those days, if you stole a horse, you were hanged. It was the death penalty anyhow. Didn't matter who you were. And so, Manson just simply executed them. Manson was adept at killing Yankees. In fact, he was so adept, it started off with a thousand dollars reward in gold for him and went up to $10,000 in gold for him. Not greenbacks, gold.
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One thing about it, there were very few willing to try to claim it. None ever did. In fact, there's one story told that just to show you the boldness, the brashness, the courage of Manson Jolly and some of these men that associated with him. There was a banquet that was given by the commandant of the Yankee forces in Anderson, South Carolina. And Manson Jolly and one young fellow by the name of Simpson, who also had a thousand dollar reward on his head. So Manson and the young Simpson boy went to the banquet and then went up to the Yankee commandant and applied for the $1,000 reward in gold.
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They said, "We want to turn ourselves in. We want to get the money." And when the Yankee commandant began to kind of—well, you know, this really might be them. Just so happened Governor Orr was there. And then Governor Orr, knowing who they were, started laughing and telling the commandant, "These boys are making a fool out of you. They're just playing a part. Jolly and Simpson would never come up here like this." And the commandant turned away and Governor Orr said, "If you don't get out of here and get out of danger, I'll whip you myself." And they turned around and left. And then Governor Orr said to the commandant, he said, "Well, while you folks have taken everything that we've had in this day and time, at least you can't take all the good dinners we had before the war."
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So, a group of young men who rode with Manson called themselves the Jones Company. I don't know why they chose that name particularly. But these boys gathered together to fight the thievery and the injustices that were being perpetrated by the Yankees. And they just simply call themselves the Jones Company. The Reverend Dr. J.B. Adger in his book, My Life and Times, tells something of the Jones Company and the Yankee thieves.
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Now remember, here's a man that was there. He said, "When old Mrs. North's carriage horses were taken from the harness and the old lady left sitting in the coach in the road—I mean, they just stole them while she was out in the wilderness, left her there—Manson Jolly and Mike Dixon and one of the Simpson boys went after the Yanks and got them. But lost them over the road by Sandy Springs than a wooded country." I just wonder how they lost them. But anyhow, it says these same Yanks took the watches and jewelry from the refugees at Bosco Bell near Pendleton, where Dr. Adger then lived and Clint Summers now lives.
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The leaders of the Yankees, Allison Chapman, had stolen a fine young mare, and in mounting her, his short carbine swung around, the hammer hit the pommel of the saddle, and the muzzle jabbed him under the chin, and he fell dead in the yard. And here's what the pastor said: "Most of the jewelry, including the fine, handsome old watch that he now wears, was recovered because of that." In other words, the Yankee had stolen the jewelry from the good preacher. Well, Manson was so successful at killing the Yankees that there was a whole regiment looking for him. Not a company, but a whole regiment. Manson was not afraid. He was not afraid to die. But the Yankees constantly and consistently were harassing his mother and his sisters.
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They would stake out the farm 24 hours a day. They would raid into the house. They would steal. They would take things, whatever they wanted to take. They had no privacy.
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Finally, Manson thought, well, to give them a little relief, I'll just get out of the country for a while. Maybe if I'm gone, they'll just leave my family alone. So, Manson and a few of his friends decided that they were going to Texas where they could start their lives all over. There is an account of Manson's leaving Anderson, South Carolina. It appeared in the Anderson Independent Mail in April of 1981, written by Steve Bionotto in an article titled "The Legend of Manson Jolly." And here's what he said happened before Manson left Anderson. On a Sunday, January the 29th, 1866, so the story goes—actually Manson left in September.
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So probably the month was wrong. But on a Sunday, January the 29th, 1866, Jolly rode quietly into Anderson on his favorite horse, Dixie. A few blocks down the street from the camp of the Union troops, he reined up. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his hat down over his red hair, put a pistol in each hand. With a traditional rebel yell piercing the calm day, he galloped pell-mell through the camp with both pistols blazing at anything that moved. The troops, understandably, were stunned into virtual statues until the yelling apparition had disappeared into the protecting woods, leaving shocked and wounded Union soldiers in his wake. Isn't that amazing?
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In other words, if he's going to leave, he's going to leave in style. Well, he did go to Texas, but he traveled through Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana. He had some traveling companions, one of them Walter Sargent, who had helped him harass the Yankees, F.D. Townsend, Thomas Herbert Williams, and a cousin, John M. Jolly. They settled in Milam County, Texas. Milam County, Texas was populated by a lot of southerners. When Manson arrived in Texas on his horse Dixie, he had a great deal of money that he made on the way to Texas in trading and selling horses. Undoubtedly, the horses probably belonged to some of the missing Yankee soldiers that they never found. But Jolly and his three companions were to become well-known families in the regions with lots of present-day descendants.
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They started a farm since he was a farmer, and they built a small farmhouse, and Manson named it Bachelor's Hall because all of them were bachelors. In a letter to his sister at one time, he referred to it as Delectable Hall. These men worked hard, long hours, raising cotton, raising wheat. And Manson even worked for a gin. I mean, he was no stranger to hard work. But in April the 16th, 1867, he wrote his sister.
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He said, "I'm more pleased with Texas, but these dang people here," he said, "society is bad. They have no use for preachers out here." And again, he wrote on July 29th, he had another appraisal of the frontier of Texas. He said, "The longer I stay, the better satisfied I am. But I say, darn to the most of these people, it has become a general custom among the lower class to use snuff. How distasteful it is in my sight to see them push forward a box of snuff and ask all around to dip with them."
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"Corn is selling for fifty cents per bushel, flour ten dollars a barrel, bacon twelve and a half cents a pound, beef from one to three cents a pound." And then a letter to his sister later, he said, "I'm strongly in the notion of getting married as a bachelor's wife is the most miserable of all living creatures." So he carried out his strong notion. The following year, in 1868, he married 19-year-old Elizabeth Mildred Smith. She was the daughter of Captain John Gray Smith of South Carolina. And his good friend, Walter Sargent, married the other Smith daughter as well.
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So the friends became brothers-in-law. And on July the 12th, 1869, when all seemed to be going well, John M. Jolly, the cousin, had to write Manson's mother. She had lost her husband before the war. She had lost all of her sons in the war, except Manson. And now she's to lose him. So John M. Jolly writes his aunt and he says, "Dear Aunt, it is under very sad circumstances that I write to you. It becomes my sad duty to inform you that Manson is dead.
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He was drowned on last Thursday evening, the 8th. The circumstances were these. We've had the highest rise of Little River that has been known for years. Manson was working on a house for himself, which was on the opposite side of a small creek from where he was living. In returning from his work in the evening, he attempted to swim the creek on his horse, and he and the horse both drowned. He had swam the creek three times the same day on the same horse. There were three men and a boy with him, but could render him no assistance. The water was 12 to 15 feet deep where he drowned, in consequence of which his body could not be gotten immediately. It was about 18 hours before the body was found. In consequence of the high water, I could not be notified until the next day.
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And then I had to ride 30 miles to get through as I was six and six miles when I started. He was buried on last Saturday, the 10th." John Jolly concluded the message. He says, "Manson had made friends since we've been here. And could he lived his future so far as human knowledge extends would have been bright. I feel as if I've lost a dear brother. Dear Aunt, I hope that you will be able to bear up under this trouble.
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I shall be glad to hear from you and will take pleasure in writing to you at any time. I am, as ever, your nephew, John M. Jolly."
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Now, the reason Manson was building the new house was because his young wife was about five months pregnant. In November of 1869, she gave birth to a daughter, Ella Manson Jolly. Ella Manson Jolly lived to be 61, mostly in Fort Worth, where she is buried. She married a banker and had a rather decent life. But here is the obituary that was taken from the Anderson County, South Carolina newspaper from 1841 to 1882. Here's the obituary that appeared in Anderson, South Carolina: "The death of Manson Jolly.
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The news will be received with regret by many friends of this bold and daring Confederate soldier. We learned that a private letter has been received stating that Manson Jolly was drowned on the 8th of July near his home in Texas. He was building a residence on the opposite side of the creek from where he lived and it crossed over on horseback several times during the day.
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The stream was greatly swollen, attempting to cross for the third or fourth time. He was carried with his horse down the creek, and in the struggle which ensued, both were drowned. Mr. Jolly had been married about one year and leaves a young wife, the daughter of a former citizen of Anderson. The thrilling exploits and adventures of Manson Jolly in this section of the country—now listen, in this section of the country, immediately after the war was closed, are fresh in the recollection of all."
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"His name was a terror for a long time to the garrison of the United States soldiers, especially the volunteer white and colored regiments stationed in this place." Some time ago, a South Carolina man, David J. Watson, who was a retired engineer—he was not only a retired engineer, he worked at Clemson University for 31 years—he was also a leader in the area's historical society, but he bought the run-down little Jolly log home near Anderson, South Carolina. Watson says that about 75 years after the war, the old well on the Jolly farm was cleaned out. It contained numerous skeletons.
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Now listen, and about a peck of corroded military uniform buttons all marked U.S. You know what a peck is? A peck is eight quarts or two gallons. Two gallons of buttons? How many men did he throw in that well? He says the well apparently is one of Manson Jolly's disposal spots for Yankee soldiers. Maybe there is something to the saying, "All is well, all is well." You know, when you read about individuals like this, you can't help but say, these men were unique. These men were courageous. These men were fearless. You know what I thought about? I thought about this. You know, the Bible says you reap what you sow.
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And in Psalm 9, I believe it is, God said, "The pit that the wicked dig, they shall fall in themselves. And God shall bring it down upon the pate of their own heads." May I tell you, Haman will be hanged from his own gallows. Those that persecute and hate the people of God will reap exactly what they sow. Inevitably, invariably, in time and history, God will send an avenger because vengeance belongs to Him. In His day, in His time, His hour, He will see that justice prevails. What did Psalm 34 say? "When thou seest a wicked, fret not." Why?
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Because in a moment, they shall be cut off. I'm here to tell you, I'd rather be with Jesus Christ and His people and live righteously and holy than to be the richest man in the world and have all the power in the world and yet without Christ. And I can assure you, folks, the wickedness that we see in our land today shall not escape the righteous judgment of God.
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He shall, in His time, send His sword and destroy the wicked. I look at Atlanta, Georgia. And all I can think of, where in the world is General Sherman when you need him the most? Look at Washington, D.C. But I got news for you. God knows how to take care of the wicked, and He will do it in His time. My prayer is that God will give us men. We need to be men of courage, men of character, men of holiness, fearless and stand for that which is right.
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It doesn't matter if 40 regiments are against us. We still need to stand for the truth and principles of liberty and freedom. May God bless you. Thank you. This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, you may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N Street, Suite 705, P-M-B 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406.
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Or give us a call at 912-925-0995.
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You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T12:45:41Z

Manson Jolley

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver presents the story of Manson Jolly, a Confederate veteran who became a 'blood avenger' during Reconstruction, killing Union soldiers and collaborators who terrorized Southern civilians. Weaver frames Jolly as a biblical avenger, drawing from Deuteronomy 19 and the doctrine of divine vengeance, and uses his life to illustrate God's justice against the wicked. The sermon emphasizes courage, honor, and standing for righteousness, concluding with a call for men of character today.

Introduction to the Biblical Avenger of Blood

Weaver reads Deuteronomy 19:11-13 and explains the biblical doctrine of vengeance, where a family member was responsible to execute a murderer to remove blood guiltiness from the land.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 19:11-13

"But if any man hate his neighbor and lie in wait for him and rise up against him and smite him mortally that he die and fleeth into one of these cities, then the elders of this city shall send and fetch him thence and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee."

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 19:11-13

"Deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood."

And the avenger of blood in the Bible was usually a family member, sometimes the closest family member, to a murdered man.

God's Use of Avengers in Scripture

Examples from Judges and Israel's conquest show God using His people as instruments of divine vengeance, establishing that vengeance belongs to God but He occasionally uses human agents.

Manson Jolly: The South Carolina Avenger

Weaver introduces Manson Jolly as a historical avenger, describing his physical appearance, skills, and reputation as a fearless Confederate cavalryman who killed many Union soldiers.

Cultural Background and Upbringing

Quoting Don Hurd, Weaver details Jolly's upbringing in Anderson, South Carolina, emphasizing the honor-bound, chivalrous culture that shaped his view of the war as a defense against tyranny.

Reconstruction Injustices and Jolly's Vow

Weaver describes the theft, harassment, and legalized plunder by Union forces and carpetbaggers, leading Jolly to vow to kill a quota of Yankees for his five brothers killed in the war.

Exploits and Legendary Confrontations

Jolly's Methods and the Jones Company

Scripture Reading — James 2:13

"For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy."

Departure to Texas and Death

To relieve pressure on his family, Jolly moved to Texas, married, and started a farm, but drowned in a swollen creek in 1869, leaving a pregnant wife and a legacy of courage.

Legacy and Biblical Application

Weaver notes the discovery of skeletons and uniform buttons in Jolly's well, then applies the story: God will avenge the wicked, and believers should be courageous, holy men.

Manson Jolley

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	1217141428189
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: The Family
Genre	Sermon
Date	2008-06-26
Dictation Name
Book	Book 027: The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order — Chapter 8
Source Timed Segments	70

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction to the Biblical Avenger of Blood: Weaver reads Deuteronomy 19:11-13 and explains the biblical doctrine of vengeance, where a family member was responsible to execute a murderer to remove blood guiltiness from the land.
God's Use of Avengers in Scripture: Examples from Judges and Israel's conquest show God using His people as instruments of divine vengeance, establishing that vengeance belongs to God but He occasionally uses human agents.
Manson Jolly: The South Carolina Avenger: Weaver introduces Manson Jolly as a historical avenger, describing his physical appearance, skills, and reputation as a fearless Confederate cavalryman who killed many Union soldiers.
Cultural Background and Upbringing: Quoting Don Hurd, Weaver details Jolly's upbringing in Anderson, South Carolina, emphasizing the honor-bound, chivalrous culture that shaped his view of the war as a defense against tyranny.
Reconstruction Injustices and Jolly's Vow: Weaver describes the theft, harassment, and legalized plunder by Union forces and carpetbaggers, leading Jolly to vow to kill a quota of Yankees for his five brothers killed in the war.
Exploits and Legendary Confrontations: Accounts of Jolly's bold acts: recovering his sister's stolen watch, escaping capture at church, demanding his horse back, and terrorizing federal garrisons, as recorded by Governor Maybank and others.
Jolly's Methods and the Jones Company: Jolly used disguises, killed Yankees and collaborators, and led a group called the Jones Company to fight thievery and injustice, with specific incidents like Browns Ferry and Bowman's blacksmith shop.
Departure to Texas and Death: To relieve pressure on his family, Jolly moved to Texas, married, and started a farm, but drowned in a swollen creek in 1869, leaving a pregnant wife and a legacy of courage.
Legacy and Biblical Application: Weaver notes the discovery of skeletons and uniform buttons in Jolly's well, then applies the story: God will avenge the wicked, and believers should be courageous, holy men.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Vengeance is a biblical mandate for justice, not personal vindictiveness.

Weaver argues that the avenger of blood system was God's design to ensure justice and remove guilt from the land.

Weaver says, 'this was not vengeance. This was not vindictiveness... God said this was to be done so that blood guiltiness would not be upon the land.'

Manson Jolly was a legitimate avenger raised up by God.

Weaver presents Jolly as a historical example of God using an avenger to execute justice on oppressors.

Weaver states, 'One of those, I believe, was Manson Jolly... there have been times in history that God has allowed an avenger to rise.'

The South suffered unjustly under Reconstruction, justifying Jolly's actions.

Weaver details systematic theft, harassment, and legal plunder by Union forces, arguing Jolly's violence was a response to extreme injustice.

Weaver describes, 'What could not be stolen from the South illegally was stolen legally... they would continue to raise the taxes until the person... could not pay... then it would be confiscated.'

God's judgment on the wicked is certain and often comes through human agents.

Weaver uses Psalm 9 and the story of Haman to assert that God ensures the wicked fall into their own traps.

Weaver says, 'The pit that the wicked dig, they shall fall in themselves... Haman will be hanged from his own gallows.'

Modern Christians must emulate the fearlessness of men like Jolly.

Weaver applies the story by urging believers to stand courageously for truth regardless of opposition.

Weaver exhorts, 'It doesn't matter if 40 regiments are against us. We still need to stand for the truth and principles of liberty and freedom.'

Scripture References

Deuteronomy 19:11-13: Weaver reads this passage to introduce the biblical avenger of blood and the command to execute murderers.
Joshua 20: Mentioned alongside Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19 as part of the cities of refuge and avenger laws.
Numbers 35: Referenced as containing the laws about the avenger of blood and cities of refuge.
Psalm 149: Weaver says this psalm shows God using His people to execute vengeance.
James 2:13: Quoted to justify Jolly's lack of mercy: 'For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.'
Psalm 9: Weaver paraphrases: 'The pit that the wicked dig, they shall fall in themselves.'
Psalm 34: Weaver quotes: 'When thou seest a wicked, fret not... in a moment, they shall be cut off.'

Historical References

Manson Sherrill Jolly (1840-1869): Confederate cavalry sergeant and Reconstruction-era avenger who killed Union soldiers and collaborators in South Carolina.
Don Hurd, author of 'The South Carolina Upcountry': Quoted for biographical and cultural background on Jolly's upbringing and the honor-bound society of upcountry South Carolina.
Governor Burnet P. Maybank of South Carolina (1941): Wrote a guide to the Palmetto State that included Jolly's exploits, noting some considered his actions justified.
Lieutenant Colonel J.D. Twiggs, South Carolina Cavalry: Commended Sergeant Jolly in official records for gallant destruction of a U.S. transport.
Lieutenant Colonel Trowbridge, 33rd Regiment: Provided a first-hand account of attempting to capture Jolly at church and Jolly's bold demand for his horse.
The Jones Company: A group of young men who rode with Jolly to fight Yankee thievery and injustice during Reconstruction.
Reverend Dr. J.B. Adger, 'My Life and Times': Recounted incidents of Yankee theft and Jolly's recovery of stolen goods, including a watch.
Steve Bionotto, Anderson Independent Mail (1981): Wrote articles 'The Legend of Manson Jolly' and 'Manson Jolly the Man,' including the stolen watch incident and Jolly's departure.
David J. Watson, retired engineer and historical society leader: Bought the Jolly log home and reported the discovery of skeletons and U.S. uniform buttons in the well.

Important Quotes

Manson Jolly killed most of the Yankees that he met and especially the ones who were terrorizing southern civilians.

Summarizes Jolly's role as an avenger targeting oppressors, central to Weaver's portrayal.

The generation of Manson Jolly did not recognize a civil war as a war between people of the same country, but as a war for southern rights against tyrannical northern aggression.

Captures the cultural perspective Weaver uses to justify the Southern cause and Jolly's actions.

What could not be stolen from the South illegally was stolen legally.

Highlights the systematic injustice of Reconstruction that Weaver argues provoked Jolly's vengeance.

For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.

Weaver uses James 2:13 to justify Jolly's merciless treatment of Yankees who showed no mercy to Southerners.

Inevitably, invariably, in time and history, God will send an avenger because vengeance belongs to Him.

Core theological point that God ensures justice through human agents like Jolly.

My prayer is that God will give us men. We need to be men of courage, men of character, men of holiness, fearless and stand for that which is right.

Concluding application calling for modern men to emulate Jolly's virtues.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the biblical concept of the avenger of blood in Deuteronomy 19 relate to New Testament teachings on vengeance and justice?

[Context]

Weaver introduces the avenger of blood as a divine institution for justice.

[Question]

In what ways does the culture of honor described in Manson Jolly's upbringing challenge or affirm modern Christian views on defending family and homeland?

[Context]

Weaver quotes Don Hurd on the upcountry South Carolina culture of honor and chivalry.

[Question]

Can the actions of Manson Jolly be reconciled with Romans 12:19 ('Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord')? Why or why not?

[Context]

Weaver presents Jolly as a God-sent avenger, but the New Testament emphasizes leaving vengeance to God.

[Question]

How should Christians respond to systemic injustice and oppression today, in light of Weaver's portrayal of Jolly's violent resistance?

[Context]

Weaver details the legal and illegal theft during Reconstruction and Jolly's response.

[Question]

What does the discovery of skeletons in Jolly's well suggest about the legacy of violence, and how should we evaluate such legacies as Christians?

[Context]

Weaver mentions the well containing skeletons and U.S. buttons as a disposal spot for Yankee soldiers.

[Question]

Weaver prays for 'men of courage, character, holiness, fearless.' What does biblical fearlessness look like in a contemporary context?

[Context]

Weaver concludes with a call for courageous men standing for truth.

Applications

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