Fighting For Freedom

Benjamin Cleveland was an imposing man - six feet tall and over three hundred pounds, earning the nickname Old Roundabout.  He was born in Virginia, but later moved to Wilkes County, North Carolina, where he enlisted in the military.  Benjamin rose through the ranks becoming a colonel in 1777.  In 1780, Benjamin led the patriots to victory over the loyalists at Kings Mountain, which is considered a key victory in the Revolutionary War.  After the war, Benjamin moved to Oconee County, South Carolina and lived on the Tugaloo River.  He was buried there in 1806.  It is fortunate his grave site is on a ridge, because the Tugaloo River, which feeds the Savannah River, was dammed by the US Army Corps of Engineers  in 1960 and is now a part of Lake Hartwell.   His grave site is still there.  I was fortunate to work with the recent owners of the private estate where Benjamin's grave site is located.  They hired me to find the next owners for the 113 acre parcel.  I was thrilled that Pine Cove Camps in Tyler, TX chose that property for their first camp on the east coast.  Pine Cove offers summer camps for families instead of just for kids.  Instead of dropping your kids off at camp, parents get to stay, and there are activities and learning where parents and kids are both together and separate.  Pine Cove's mission is to bring families closer to Jesus, helping them to learn to fight for the freedom that is only possible through Him.  Happy Independence Day. 

 

(Photo: Benjamin Cleveland homesite on Tugaloo River prior to 1960 when Hartwell Dam was built.)