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I RECOLLECTIONS OF ~ I FIFTYYEARS AG( m There are so many things seen be I fore ami during the war, 1 scarcely B know where to begin. The first per Bj son executed in Abbeville county wa h a white man named Kitchens, charg I L ed with die theft of a horse. Th< gallows was erected just about th< I centre of where the Episcopal cerne I tery is now located. This was be I fore the war, and besides one other I, Sr.m Dinks, executed for the murdei of Thomas Shed during the veai I 1875, was the only white man evei I executed in Abbeville county. I as Int. SiSted in ine prepi.iiiiiun ?-ter innocent man for the gallows and he was a heto, as game as evei walked forth to his doom. On on* occasion he had ampie opportunitj ? ior escaping, but decided not to tak( advantage of the situation. Then were three negroes charged wit! breaking and entering tne ston house of Mr. Sam Agnew, of Du< West, and by some undiscoverec ' means contrived to sever by sawing the iron bars through the cell oJ Banks. /Through this hole they en tered the outside hall and were soor at liberty. Two of the negroes escaped by scaling the outside wall oi the building, but the -third being much larger, together with one Jerrj I^oieman, <x nc^iu unu^i cvuhvuw death for the murder of Adam Hackett, and later executed, could nol i pass through this small opening Banks was a very small man auc could have easily passed through this hole to liberty. I visited Mr. Banks next morning to survey the surroundings, and found him comfortably sitting in his cell. When asked why he refused to take advantage anc i gain his freedom, said he had made Deacc with God and did not care to gc out into the world and take tlie chances of losing his soul. The theft of a horse, mule, negro, or rebellion against the master?was punishable with death. There were three slaves charged with this last offense by their owner, Mr. Alex Connor, who resided six or sever . miles from the Court House. Thej were tried before a Mr. McClinton, I think, a trial justice, convicted, sentenced, and executed at the sever mile post, on the Snaks road, neai the place where the crime was committed, just a few months prior tc the surrender. I know of no othei instance on record in this State, where a trial justice passed the death sentence. There are very few people now living who know or remember that just a few months prior to surrender, three negroes were taken from the jail at this place by an infuriated mr number of good citizens, and carried to a point near isiana r ora ana nang / ed for the murder of an old man named McClinton. I know of only W one of them now living who witnessed J the execution. The only other lynchI ing to the credit of Abbeville County | was that of David Roberts, which occurred during the administration oi \ Sheriff DuPre. Roberts was charged with an assault upon Dr. Henry Klugh. The lynching occurred just outside of the City limits beyond Fort Pickens. This was about the year 80 or 81. Just after the war we had very little law and order. On one occasion though I remember C**Violrl in Pnnrt. HmiRft. while Mr. R. H. Wardlaw presided over another court convened in the Dendy building, now the Rosenberg . block next to Eureka Hotel. I wish some of the young ladies could have seen the hoops worn by their mothers. Imagine if yon can, your mother standing in a hogshead, Rie top of the hogshead drawn around the waist; you will lave some idea of how they in full dress. Not more thar mid walk about on our present Iks. On mere than one occahave I assisted splitting white make hoops. The splits were out pretty much as they are :e baskets, though not so wide, were very heavy and uncomfortable, and unless you had the sleight of wearing them, they woulc fly up in front as you sat down anc was often embarrassing to both young men and ladies. The slil skirt will give you some idea of th? result, should you not have the pro per sleight of sitting, though not sc shocking. Salt was very scarce. I remembei assisting in unearthing dirt in th? smoke house for the purpose of ex tracting the ooze from the drippings that had accumulated for years be^ fore. , It was in this manner. Before th< war everybody raised a supply of ba con. About from four to six week" 1 after killinpr, and packing, this meal was hung up in the smoke house tc smoke and dry. A fire was mad* underneath and smoked from day t< day until sufficiently cured. Th< salty drippings upon the ground wa RUB OUT PAIN with good oil liniment. That's the surest way to stop them. n i ii* i ^ ine Dest rubbing liniment is? MUSTANG LINIMENT 1 Good for the Ailments of y Horses, Mules, Cattle, Etc. Qoodfor your own Aches, Pains, Rheumatism, Sprains, Cuts, Burns, Etc. 25c. 50c. $1. At all Dealers. what a prcat many resorted to, to obtain salt. This salt was placed in a huge hopper, and water run through until the strength was extracted. It was then boiled sufficiently until the I remainder was once more converted 1 into salt. Soap was made pretty much in the same manner. We had no coal as now, but used principally green oak and hickory, the ashes of which were placed in a hopper and ? the lye extracted as in the case of .(the salt, boiled with any kind of s old grease and we then had the soap, .. something few of the present young , generation ever saw. All the old i dead animals were stripped of fat for | 1 this purpose, without which we would I have fared badly at that time. Such a thing as coffee was an unr known luxury to most people. I r have drunk many times, substitutes r made from rye. okia seed, corn, 1 wheat, dried irish potatoes, parched i 1 j* ? ii- _ mi_ _ ana grouna ior me purpose. ine only teas were made from sage and sassafras root, which we had in abun; dance. We had no sugar and those \ depending upon such, sweetened cof> fees and teas with sorghum syrup. J It was a very poor substitute, but [ better than nothing. The taste was ; much improved by boiling the syrup j with the coffee. [ We had very few matches?and r what few we procured, were in woodf en boxes, worth ten cents each. A box properly used might have lasted t the four years of the war?for the . last thing done before retiring was f to put a green stick of oak or hickory wood upon the fire and cover \ with ashes, next morning you had I a nice bed of coals to begin with. If | for any reason the fire went out, you ; could go to a neighbor and get it. Such a thing as an iron axle wagon j was never seen until some years af. ter the war. The only thing used . was an old wooden one, greased with tar. This tar was made from rich r pine of which there was a sufficiency. r A basin was made on the edge of a ' 1 ? ? 1-ill ftA nw* Ko ' They were all clothed alike, boys and ' girls, until they were old enough to | go to work?say 12 to 14 years of i age. All dressed in a long, heavy colored gown to the feet, shoes were | unknown to children until work age. , Sole leather became so scarce that a j resort to wood bottoms was had. I They were not so comfortable as t leather but better than nothing, u Men and women, with few exceptions, j went bare-footed during tha summer. [ If they had socks I cannot now recall, j but know they would wrap their feet in rabbit hides and old rags to protect them from the cold and wooden bottoms. : TVm*r wsrp lisimllv called to work [ guilty ur II111 SU CXI i vuc ICC V.VUIU WV, had from the bottom of the basin, I and the pitch extracted, could be , caught in something for the purpose. This hole or basin was filled with rich pine, set on fire and smothered | with dirt. It would burn for a day , or two until all the pitch had been extracted. This was used' as stated instead of grease. I have made tar I for this purpose as late as 1876. We r had tanyards and made our own leather. The hides were taken to ! the tannery and exchanged for leath! er or tanned on shares,, for there was little money with which to pay . for it. It took about six months to i convert a hide into leather, while it can be done now by an improved in civ /-lave nak hark I pi VWOO A i 4 Uiii \<MJ W? AWW -www? i was used exclusively for tanning. This bark, when dried, was ground fine in a machine for the purpose and ! the ooze extracted from this substance used for removing hair from | the hide. Slaves generally had a weekly allowance of one peck of meal three pounds of bacon and a pint of molasses, issued every Monday morning with salt. In addition they 1 could get turnips, salads, and sweet L potatoes. They did their own cooking. The r children were mostly fed on mush . and milk for breakfast and supper, ; with bread, peas, turnips and salads . for dinner. There was an old wor man usually who looked after these. ; At meal time she would go out and [ beat a tin pan, the children respond. ed in droves. From the time they could walk until 10 to 12 years of i age they were fed in this way. There was a large basin for the purpose, , and the old woman with a switch in [ hand would march them by this basin . to wash. When all hands were clean they were strung out on each side of a wooden trough where the , mush and milk had been poured and ; cooled. With hands they lapped and sopped until nothing was left, and ' the little things would go off full and ' happy, like you have seen puppies. ,l Upon the whole they fared better , than now, for they were fat and L sleek, though the meals now are ! partaken in a more decent manner. by the foreman or driver about day' light, and worked until too late to see. * Most plantations had a white overseer and a negro driver. I have ' seen the driver with a long handled - whip stand at the entrance, and the > slaves tardy were picked with this t whip from the time they got in reach > until they got out. That was not -1 often the case, for they knew what > I awaited them and were seldom late. - j The houses were mostly built of I s(logs and daubed with mud. so were I _'the chimneys. It must have been j |more healthy than now, for before' | the war I never heard of a negro having tuberculosis. ! This same Connor mentioned as the owner of the three slaves executed, had two sons, Bill and John, whom I remember well. They were the owners of the only trained negro dogs in our country, and had a | reputation far and wide. Very frequently negroes ran away and being I valuable, every effort was made to re-capture them. People in various parts of the slave owning States, * ' 1 would apply tor tnese aogs, unu seldom did a negro escape when once upon the scent of his trail. I have known of a runaway, as they were called, going into crowds of negroes at work in the fields to escape, by throwing the dogs off the trail, but of no avail, for if the dogs ever got within six to eight hours of your passing you might as well take a tree, and this they seldom failed to do, for it meant instant death if caught before the riders appeared. These dogs were very ferocious, were kept confined r.nd never allowed to ? run anything except a runaway negro. The reputation of the Connor dogs kept many unruly negroes at homo, for they preferred a life of torture in many cases, than death by being torn to pieces by blood hounds. A number of riders usually accompanied the hounds on the trail in order to be present at the capture of the game, for they knew the result should he fail to take a tree. Women seldom ran away. One Ned, be- i longing to Aunt Fannie Allen, was j the only one I can recall of success-" ! fully making a get-away, and he re- I turned after he was freed. Ned J told me he went to the Yankees. As j I stated, the penalty was death to I steal a slave. I remember a promi- j nent citizen of the county tried for i this offense and had it not been for [ the fact that a negro could not tes- [ tify, would have been convicted and [ executed. Messrs Thomson and [ Burt defended him. Often a runaway would remain [ for months on a plantation of slaves, [ edge of their owners, for they were then as now true to their colors. The Connor slaves were the only ones I ever heard of being* executed in Abbeville county, with the exception of the Joel Lites negro executed before the war, on the right hand side of the road just beyond j the 4 mile post leading to Dendy's I Bridge on Long Cane. Our individ- J ual slaves were treated humanely, i but with many it was a life of cruel j torture from the cradle to the grave, | and future generations would shud- I der had they known of the full his- j tory of slavery and the barbarity [ with which they were treated. Whole [ families were sold?separated and [ scattered upon the face of the earth, [ at the death of their owners?never f to meet again this side of the grave. [ Is it any wonder God freed them? It might interest the little boys to know that I used to begin fishing at the bridge as you go to the Cothran residence and fish to the Blue Hill branch, and could catch more horny i heads and minnows than you could j catch with a seine on Long Cane in | a day, and just below the trestle at I the S. A. L. depot, I once caught a J cat fish weighing a pound. It would i take all day to fish from the Power j House to the bridge below the cotton j mill, and you could catch more fish | than you could clean in a day, and f this with a hook made from a brass [ pin, for fish hooks were very scarce [ during the war. For hunting pur- ! " 1 ?- J* ? poses I made all my own snoi irom lead, made into long slugs, cut and rolled. Now, Mr. Editor, I think this will be my last, at least for a while. Writing of things long ago are indicative of living in the past, and further indicate that the writer might be lingering on the verge of dotage, and as I expect to limber up for this campaign I don't want it said, "Old man, you are too old." [ M. E. Hollingsworth. t TRIBUTE TO JAMES F. BRADLEY, f 5 Greenwood, S. C., Jan.*27, 1916 Editor Press and Banner:? I went to Abbeville last week on * a sad mission. While in Columbia, I read in The State that James F. 1 Bradley had died in a hospital in Chester, where he had undergone an operation for appendicitis. I cut short my business in Columbia and went to Abbeville to pay my respects to the deceased and lay a flower and drop a tear on his new made grave. It was my privilege to know the deceased from his childhood and I am pleased to say that I never knew a bigger hearted boy or nobler young man. He was always cheerful and happy and always did what he could to scatter sunshine and nappmess wherever he went. His popularity is attested by the fact that he was several times elected treasurer of Abbeville County by a handsome majority, and it would have been a pleasure to the people of his native county to have continued him in this i responsible office indefinitely. As we look around about us every day we see men who have rounded out a well spent life of more than three score years and ten and are just waiting and wishing for the Master to call them to their reward, yet they are spared and continue to battle with life's troubles and trials after being wasted and enfeebled by the infirmaties of age, and here we have a young man just in the prime of life, well prepared to serve his God and county for many years to come, is taken home while yet the bloom of youth is on his brow, we are prone to enquire why hath God dealt thus with this young man, who was so full of life and promise? "God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform." The finite! mind cannot comprehend the Infinite, and to undertake to do so would be dangerous and sinful. We know that He doeth all things well and never makes a mistake, therefore we should submit to His will without a f 1 ^1,1 | murmur ana say witu une ui uiu, "Thy Will be done." I join his many friends, his fond mother, his devoted and grief-stricken widow, the fatherless children, brothers and sisters in sorrow for the | untimely death of this useful young ; ! man and splendid citizen. May his family look forth into 1 faith, hope and confidence to the j time when they shall meet their I loved one in t'lat other and better ! world, where there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying for i the former things shall have passed away, is the prayer of the writer, who honors the memory of James F. Bradley. Jno. F. Wideman, Greenwood, S. C. BACK ON THE JOB. Miss Martha Piatt is back in Abbe ville after spending the holidays in Wedgefield with her home folks. After the holidays she went to Winthrop, where she took a complete course in Domestic Science, along with all the other Canning Club Demonstrators. Miss Piatt will have several classes in the different schools of the county in which bread making and plain cooking will be taught. ^K^51HfHfEi^5/5JBJBMSME/EJSMcL'SM5JHfSJEMSJSM5JSJBf5MSir2J5/SM51SJi w? J I NEW SPRINi ]|fi! Serge, Gaberdine and Popl |f| for Spring, 50c to $1.5* if NEW SPRINu WAISTING: |5| voils, organdies and n WHITE AND COLORED ;ili| All the new shades, Gz jfl and Corduroy, 25 to 7; || LACES, LACES===New choi m MIDDY BLOUSE?Beauti &jf 50c to $1.50. lS| WHITE GOODS for early lip have full line to select iffil sook plain, striped an |jf| long cloth 10 to 25c, \: H IX/HITC: anA Rl Ark' cni jlJFJg v* Hll 1 U teliu cw* jjS| to 35c. y HIQH=GRADE GALATEA jjfl Patterns. ffil Do your spring shopping v jfil sure to be pleasedails __ jjCg im w 1 11 11 r*i || naddon- w uson ^ ^ ra rp 150/51fg/2J3Jt/3?3?S?3JS/3JI SPRING COi I FIRST SWPMF.NT j 1 11 Ik/ 1 ?/ ? A ?? * V A 1 > I and They An Ju?l the Styles You Ha\ 1?l * (l 'J // I \\ \ j j I Come in and Let Us I Mrs. Jas. S ~ " * wpi n euanr em piFipiriwfiriF ini^i3n3i?nzn?in iiji3nHH2ii3rtiifliiifi3n?ji iIS2.tfiii.iij2. EJSf i. SMS/SJSMSJgUSJgJJ cJ^^'SJSJ^'i'gfS a GOODS I Hi; ins. All new shades |S| 5 yard. gag iffil S===Stripes and figures Iffig rndras. jlgi COTTON SUITING K iberdine, Palm Beach ini ;c yard. p| ice patterns from 5c up. ?jjj| ful new designs from ISl' spring sewing. We ?ffi| from such as Nain= id checked. English 2 yds. to the piece. IS| t finish Batiste, 12 1=2 |aj|v and Kiddie Cloth. New ||L vith us and you are Wjk; i Company l| w-hhwwfi nnrir-ipiriwnpir HJlli 111 IUIJ ULrlj ijiju^-^juji %35|k AT SUITS I JUST ARRIVED 2 Beauties oe Been Looking for | I f il Show Them to You If. jjl f ApllfOII ill ' viiviii an II