Dempsey Hammond Salley was remembered as a patriot and Christian devoted to his country, his family, and his God. He served in Hart's Battery and died loving the cause for which he fought. He was the great-great-grandson of one of the first settlers in the Orangeburg District, who received a land grant from King George II in 1735, and he was the son of John Allen Salley and Ann Catherine Hartzog. Born on his father's plantation at Johns Town Mill, he later inherited this thousand-acre home place. He was instrumental in bringing the railroad through Salley, South Carolina, and he donated land for streets, churches, schools, and cemeteries in the Salley area. He first married Emma O. Steadman in 1867, and after her death he married Ida Eloise Prothro in 1870. His children were Katrine S. Salley, Mary Elizabeth Salley, Blanch S. Rhett, Irene Salley, Dempsey Hammond Salley, Jr., Ida S. Reamer, Dr. Fitzhugh Prothro Salley, Grace S. Buie, Emma Salley, Gretchen Salley, Dorothy S. Mac Keen, and Catherine Louise Salley.