The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, February 09, 1916, Page PAGE FIVE, Image 5
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
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'J // I
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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.
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f ApllfOII ill
' viiviii an II