In the 1820s, Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States, worked as a tailor in Laurens. His tailor shop is thought to have been on the Square in the vicinity of the present City Hall.

Johnson was Vice President under Abraham Lincoln and became President when Lincoln was assassinated, serving from 1865 to 1869. He was the first American president to be impeached, but was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

Contents

Discovering Laurens County

A Window on the Past

Did You Know?

President Andrew Johnson
(Wikipedia Image)

Volume One of Discovering Laurens County covers the greatest time span of all the volumes because in reaches far back into pre-history to trace the geologic and climatic changes that brought about the land that is Laurens County today. From there, the volume follows the lives of the first peoples, from Clovis to Cherokee, up to the time of European settlement, then branches into conflicts and bargaining with both the Native Americans and the foreign, mostly British, occupiers of the land.

Volume Two picks up with the Revolutionary War and the struggle to create a new country. In it, we see the effects of war on the county, the division of families and friends on the side of the King or for freedom, and the building of all aspects of a constitutional government.
Throughout all of this, we continue to put a human face on the triumphs and the foibles of the men and women who built Laurens County.

Volume Two covers the period 1775 - 1840 and at 442 pages is almost twice the size of Volume One.