Maryville, Tennessee natives Fred Pickens and Steve Pickens, who learned that their ancestor John Pickens, a Revolutionary War patriot, was a first cousin to General Andrew Pickens, drove from their Tennessee home to Clemson to visit General Andrew Pickens’ gravesite in the cemetery of Old Stone Church, where The Pickens County Chronicle met them. The brothers also met with members of the General Andrew Pickens chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and plan to join the chapter and attend more of their meetings.

Fred Pickens is the President of the Pickens family reunion, which started 105 years ago, in 1921, and is held at Eusebia Presbyterian Church (in his native Blount County, Tennessee), where John Pickens and his wife, Letitia Hannah Pickens, are buried.

Pickens said that he and his brother had hoped to come to Old Stone Church and Hopewell Plantation on June 28, when Pickens County held the first ever Carolina Day celebration, but were unable to do so, so he searched online to possibly find stories written about Carolina Day, and he found The Pickens County Chronicle’s website. In The Pickens County Chronicle’s story about Carolina Day, he read about the General Andrew Pickens Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and contacted President Bud Starnes, and Fred and Steve were invited to the SAR chapter’s August dinner. “And, so, Steve and I drove over, had a wonderful meal, met some really wonderful people, and I told them that I’m very serious about joining their chapter and continuing having a presence over here,” he told The Chronicle the following morning before their trip back to Tennessee.

“I love to read history,” he said. “I’ve read all about General Andrew Pickens. I’ve been focused on General Andrew Pickens for several years.”