Wadsworthville Poor School (Laurens District, S.C.)

Institution in Laurens County, S.C., named for Thomas Wadsworth (1755-1799), who in his will left a bequest of several properties located in the upstate for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a free school for poor children living within the area of Major Dunlap's Battalion of the Saluda Regiment of the Ninety Six District. In 1805 the South Carolina legislature passed an act creating the school trustees to oversee the income derived from lands bequeathed in Thomas Wadsworth's will, which was to used for the support of all schools within the prescribed area. Some sources cite an early name of this school as: Wadsworth School for Poor Boys of Dunlaps Battalion (Milton, S.C.).