Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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HORSESHOE ROBINSON. | The Hero ol the Novel Wu an Oconee MUT*. Skotf h Appt?H?3 In Clemton Chronicle. Mosers Editors: There has re cent ly come to my desk a pamphlet, ??Revolutionary Soldiers Buried in Alabama, with press date Mont gomery, Ala., 1904. The author is Mrs. Patrick Hues Moll. In it aro many roferences to South Carolina. One of the sketches would grace the pages of our Chronicle, and would interest many renders within and be y. id the limits of our college home co? nt y-Oconee. May I request you to publish the artiole referred to, a copy of which I hand you herewith. Willinm S. Morrison. Clemson College, January 0, 1902. James Robertson. The following tribute to "Horse shoe Robinson" is extracted from a poem, entitled, "The Day of Free dom," by Alexander B. Meek, and delivered as an oration at Tusca loosa ou tho 4th of July, 1838 : Valorously lie boro hiaisulf, and with his youthful arms Chivalrous doods porformed, which in a land Of legendary loro had placed his naine?, Embalmed in song, besido the hallowed onoB Of Douglass and of Percy; not unsung Entirely his f ??>>'? ; Romance has wreathed With lloworiug lingers, and with wizard art That hantfs tho votivo chaplet on tho heart, His story, mid her liotions, and hath given His name and deeds to aftertimes. When last This trophied anniversary came round And called Columbia's patriot ohildron out To greet its advent, the old man was here, Serenely smiling as the autumn Bun Just dripping down the golden wost to seek His evening couch. Few months agone I saw Him in his quiet homo, with all around lt? wisheH could demand-and by his side The loved companion of his youthful years, This singuq: maidon of his boyhood's time; She who had cheored him with hor smiles when clouds Wore o'er his country's prospects; who had trod In sun and shade, life's devious path with him And whom kind Heaven bad still pre served to bless. With all tho fullness of maternal weal th, Tho mellow mg' afternoon of his decline. Whoro aro they now-the old man and his wife? Alas! tho broadening sun sets in tho night, Tho ripening shock falls on tho roapor's arm ; The lingering guest must itave tho ball at last; The music ceases when tho feast is done; Tho old man and his wife have gone from earth, Havo passed in poaco to heaven; and Bummer'? Howers, Heimat h tho light of this triumphant day, Luxurious sweets aic shedding o'or Tho m isc ii I pto red j; rave of "Horseshoe 'Robinson.' " The grave of James Robertson is in Tuscaloosa county, on the banks of the Black Warrior River, near Sandors' Ferry, in the old family burying ground. Ile was the famous "Horseshoe Robinson" of Revolution ary fame in South Carolina, and the hero of the novel of that name, written by John Pendleton Konnedy in 1835. The name "Horse.hoe" was given because of a bond in a creek in bis plantation in South Caro lina, shaped liko a horseshoe. Tho following inscription is taken from his tombstone: Major James Robertson. A native of S. C. Died April 26, 1838, aged 79 years, And was buried here. Well known as Horseshoe Robin son, he earned a just fame in tho war for independence, in which ho was eminent in courage, patriotism and suffering. Ile lived fifty-six years with bia worthy partner, useful and respected, and died in hopes of a blessed ?inmortality. His children erect thia monument ns a tribute justly due a good husband, father, neighbor, patriot and soldier. James Robertson was born in 1759, and bis epitaph states that he was a native of South Carolina. Ile was marriod in 1782, and lived fifty-six years with his worthy partner ; she died in January, 1838, and ho died April 20, 183S. The ?arno of his wife was Sarah Morris-; tra dition says her maiden name was Hayden; they left several children; ono daughter was living in Missis sippi a fow years ago. James Rob ertson was a famous scout during the Revolution, and a terror to tho Tories. After tho war ho settled in Pendleton District, and was living there when Kennedy met him in 1818. In tho profaco to Kennedy's novel of "Ilorseshoo Robinson," ho gives an aceount of the circumstances which led him to write tho story. He says that in the winter of 1818-19 he had occasion to visit the J_ i ? w?atern seotion of South Carolina. Me went from Augusta to Edgefield, /then to Abbevillet and thenoe to Pendleton, in tho old District of Ninety Six, just at the foot of the mountains. His course was still westward until he came to the Seneca river, a tributary of the Savannah. Ile describes how he happened to spend the night at tho homo of Col. T-, who lived thirty miles from Pendleton. Horseshoe Robinson caine there that night. "What a roan I saw! Tall, broad, brawny and erect. His homely dress, his free stride, his faoe radiant with kindness, tho natural gracefulness of his motions, all afforded a ready in dex to his oharaoter. It was evident he was a man to confide in." The old soldier was drawn out to rc i ?it ' sinne stories of the war. He told how he got away from Charles ton after the surrender, and how he took five Scotchmen prisoners; and these two famous passages are faith fully preserved in the narrative : "It was first published in 1835. Horseshoe Robinson was then a very old mau. Ho had removed to Ala bama and lived, I am told, noar Tus caloosa. I commissioned a friend to send him a copy of the book. The report brought mo was that the old man had listened very attentively to the reading of it, and took great in terest in it. " ?What do you say to all this.?' was the question addressed to him, after the reading was finished. His reply is a voucher, which I desire to preserve: 'It is all true and right-in its right place-excepting about them women, which I diBremember. That mought be true, too ; but ray memory is treacherous-I disremeraber.' " It is a pleasure to know that this fino old hero was a real personage, and although his exploits may have been colored in a measure by the pen of the romancer, there still remains a rich stock of adventures, which were undoubtedly true, and the pic ture of a nature frank, brave, true and yet full of modesty. Extract from Flag of thc Union, published at Tuscaloosa, January 17, 1838 : Horseshoe Robinson-Who bas not read Kennedy's delightful novel of this name, and who that has read it would not give an half day's rido to see the venerable living hero of this tale of "Tory Ascendancy," the immortal Horseshoe himself-the extermination of "Jim Curry" and Hugh Habershaw? The venerable patriot boaring the familiar soubri quet, and whose name Mr. Kennedy has made as familiar in tho mouths of American youths as household words, was visited by us in company with several friends ono day last week. We found the old gentleman on his plantation about twelve miles from this city, as comfortably situ ated with respect to this world's goods as any one could desire to havo him. It was gratifying ( to us to see him in his old age, after hav ing served through the whole war of independence, thus seated under his own vine and fig tree, with bis chil dren around bim and with the part ner of his early toils and trials still continued to bim enjoying in peace and safety the rich rewards of that arduous struggle, in the most gloomy and desponding hour of which he was found as ready, as earnest, as zealous for the cause of liberty as whoo victory perched upon her standard, and tho stars of the "Tory Ascendancy" was for awhile dimmed by defeat, and in which he continued with unshaken faith and constancy until it sank below the horizon never again to rise. The old gentleman gave us a partial history of bis Revo lutionary adventures, oontainii g many interesting facts respecting Hie domination of the Tory party in the South during the times of the Revo lution, which Mr. Kennedy has not recorded in his book. Hut it will chiefly interest our readers, or that portion of thom at least to whom the history of tho old hero's achieve ments, as recorded by Mr. Konnedy, is familiar, to bo assured that the principal incidents therein portrayed are strictly true. That of his escape from Charles ton after the capture of that city, his being entrustod with a letter to But lor, tho scone at Wat Adair's, the capture of lintier at Grindal's Ford, his subsequent escape and recapture, the death of John liamsoy, and the deteotion of the party by reason of the salute fired over his grave, his oapturingjof tho four men under the command of the younger St. Jerrayn, his attaok apon Ines' camp, and the death of Hugh Haberebaw by his own hand, und finally the death of Jim Curry, are all narrated pretty much as they ooourred, in the old veteran's own language : "There ld a heap of truth iu it, though the writer bas mightily furnished it up." That the names of Butler, Mildred Lindsay, Mary Musgrove, John Ham? sey, Hugh Hnbershaw, Jim Curry, and, in fact, almost every other used in tue book, with the exception of his own, are real and not fictitious. His own name, he informed UB, is James, and that he did not go by the familiar appellation by whioh be is now so widely known until after the war, when he acquired it from the form of bis plantation in the Horse shoe Bend of the Fair Forest Creek, whioh was bestowed upon him by thc Legislature of South Carolina in consequence of the services he had rendered during the war ; this estate, we understood him to say, he still owned. He was born, he says, in 1769, in Virginia, and entered the army in his seventeenth year. Before the close of the war, he says, he com manded a troop of horse, so that his military title is that of oaptain. Horseshoe, although in infirm h?&Hh, bears evident marks of having been a man of great personal strength and activity. He is now afflicted with a troublesome cough, whioh, in the natural course of events, must in a few years wear out his aged frame. Yet, notwithstanding his in firmities and general debility, bis eye still sparkles with the fire of youth as he recounts the stirring and thrill ing incidents of the war, and that Bly, quiet humor so well described by Kennedy, may still be seen playing around bis mouth, as one calls to his recollection any of the pranks he was wont to play upon any of thc "tory vagrants," as be vory properly styles them. Tho old gentleman received ut with warm cordiality and hospitality : and after partaking of the bounties of his board and spending a night under his hospitable roof, we tool* leave of him, sincerely wishing hin: many years of the peaceful enjoy ment of that liberty which ho fought so long and so bravely to achieve. It will not be uninteresting, we hope to ra tn ark that the old hero still con Biders himself a soldier, though th? nature of his warfare is changed ; lu is now a zealous promoter of the Re deemer's cause as he once was in se curing tho independence of hil country. Since the above was in type, w< have hoard of the death of the agec partner of this venerable patriot An obituary notice will be found ii another column. The novel, Horseshoe Robinson, ii interesting reading, even in thiscriti cal and blase twentieth oontury Judge A. B. Meek, a fine literary critic, says that "Mr. Kennedy, th? author of 'Horseshoe Robinson,' Jinn in that inimitable ?Tale of the Tor] Ascendancy' in South Carolina proved tho suitableness of American subjects for fieticious composition o: the most elevated kind. Althougl in his incidents and characters ht has done little more than presentee a faithful chronicle of facts, using throughout the veritable names o: persons and places as they wen stated to him by his hero himself yet such is the thrilling inter est of the story, the vivie pictures of scenery, manners customs and language, tho striking contrasts of characters and the per vading beauty and power of style description throughout the work, thal we think we do not err in saying that it is not inferior in any respect to thu best of the Waverly series." The home of James Robert-son, ir South Carolina, where he liveel for ? third of a century, is still standing It is in Oconee county, a few miles from Westminster. His now owneel by Mr. Cox, and travelers frequent!) viBit the place, drawn thither by the fame of "Horseshoe Robinson." A Cold, A Cough-Consumption. ? briet told history, but true, Kydalo'i Cough Elixir will prevent this happen ing to you. It will check tho progresi of a cold at once, prevent the cough ho coming deep seated, and thus ward of consumption. This modern sciontifli remedy k ills the germs that ea use. throa and lung diseases, and by its stimulating and tonio effect upon the respirator] organs helps nature speedily reston these organs to robust health. Walhall) Drug Company. Plain duties are naturally unat traotive. f TOC-COA, GA. BLA 28-iuoh Bellows 30-inoh Bellows. 32-inch Bellows, ..(l inell Bellows 30-inoh Bellows. 40-inch Bellows. Buggy and Wagon H Buggy Harness, $5.50 por set up to $1' Wagon Harness, $2.50 per sot up to $fi Collars and Collar Pads. Poultry Netting 3- foot Notting, per 150 foot roll.. 4- foot Netting, por 150 foot roll., 5- foot Nettiug, per 150 foot roll. Builders' Suppli( Our stock of Builders' Supplies ia c particular. Sash, Doors and Blinc anybody. Give us a oall. MATHESON H GROWING "HAIRY VETCH." j Prot. Benton, ol Clemton? !;;iias a Bu!!c"r, of Special Interest lo Farmers. Clemson College, February 9.-Bul letin No. 93 of the South Carolina Experiment Station bas been issued. It is a bulletin on grasses and forage orops by Prof. Harmon Benton, as sistant professor of agriculture at the college, and especial importance attaches to it as containing informa tion based upon years of praotioal experience. He therefore speaks ex cathedra. Prof. Benton's ability and valuable experience are evi denced by the fact that he has re cently been called to the service of the United States Department of Agriculture to an important work in connection with tho experiment farms now being established through out the country. In this bulletin the writer takes up for discussion some of the more im portant forage crops for the South, and below is given, somewhat con densed and abridged, /hat he has to say about the hairy, or winter, vetch (vicia villosa, Roth,) which is with us an annual, enduring the winters, but not thc bot summers : Hairy vetch wt H comparatively re cently introduced into Central Europe, and was little known in the United States until fifteen years ago. The plant forms many slender branches three to six feet long, too fine and slender to stand erect. The SEED TIME *&ie experienced farmer has learned that some grains require far differ ent soil than others ; some crops need differ ent handling than others. He knows that a great deal depends upon right planting at the right time, and that the soil must be kept enriched. No use of complaining in summer about amis take made in the spring. Decide before the seed is planted. *3i? best time to reme c? y wasting conditions in the human body is be fore the evil is too deep rooted. At the first evi dence of loss of flesh Scott's Emulsion should be taken imme diately. There is noth ing that will repair wasted tissue more quickly or replace lost fie:.h more abundantly than Scott's Emulsion. It nourishes and builds up the body when ordi nary foods absolutely fail. We :rt>tU sena you M satnplt free. Be sure that this picture in the form of a label lo on the wrapper of every bottle of Emulsion you buy. SCOTT C8? BOWNE CHBMI0T8 409 Pearl Street NEW YORK Soc. and $i ; .ll druggists OTHERS FOLLOW. -THREE STORES rV??RTiN, CA. WI CKSM.TH SUPPL, .$4 35 . 4 60 . 4 75 8 00 . 0 75 . 7 50 100-pound Cast AD UK) pound W rough 24 inch Blacksmith Solid Steel namme Solid Steel Cleaver Everything in Blac .arness. 0. Heymon Circle V Georgia Ratchet Extra No. 1 Plow ,*2 25 . 2 75 . 8 25 Bare Bain Wiro, $2.00 p Wiro Nall8,|?2.60, J It will pay you to t DS. omplote in every Is choaper than Buggy ? Hickory Buggy Rh Oak One-Home Ws Oak Two-Horse Wi lARDWARE CO., w violet blue blooms appear in early spring, making a beautiful appear ance when a 6eld is in full bloom. Each pod bears several blaok and white seed about the size of okra seed. The pods burst readily, throw ing seed some distance, making it easy for the plant to reseed itself one of its strong points. When the hay is not out at the proper time, or is not grazed too closely, the seed comes up in the autumn. I have had fine volunteer orops to come after cutting vetch hay, when the plants had stood too long for the best hay. Once I harvested four orops of oats and vetch from one seeding of vetch, besides getting a good crop of cowpeas during the summer. It grows well on any fairly well drained fertile soil, but best on riob loam soils. It may be used as a cover crop on our cotton and tobacco fields ; aa a pasture plant when sown on Bermuda Grass sod, or planted with oats, rye or barley ; or it may be made to produce a good yield of hay alone, or with oats or rye, on lands that would otherwise remain idle from September to May. Be sides being a valuable plant of itself, it possesses the property of other legumes in increasing the fertility of the soils, even if only the stubble is left. When grown for hay, sow about one-half bushel oats or ryo with the vetch to support the long, slender branobes. The seed or the soil should be inoculated on most localities. The land should be well propared 4 to 6 inches deep. Scatter 200 to 400 pounds of acid phosphate and 100 to 200 of kainit, and harrow well. If for hay, broadcast the seed at rate of 1 bushel vetch and one-half bushel oats or rye per acre ; if for pasture, J bushels rye or oats and possibly less vetch, and harrow in to depth of 1 to 3 inches. Sow from September 1 to October |15, preferably during ' September. Sown alone, or with oats or|rye, it will yield 1 to 3 tons per acre, depending on fertility of soil and condition of climate. Since vetch stems aro fibrous and not woody, most of them are eaten by animals when properly cured. When grown alone tho long tangled vines give some trouble in mowing. Sowing with oats or rye prevents this. After being cut let the bay have as little sun as possible to cure it proporly, as sun's rays whiten the plants, harden the steins and cause leaves to drop. Thc r.C7/ It CG; o o'. Ail Calendar ior 1005 is one of the most beautiful calendars ever issued. Six sheots of heavy enameled paper contain on one side six|?beautiful color designs of babies and^children, while on the reverse'sides are drawings depicting child life, with spaces for the nota- . tion of baby's "savings and doings." It is a work of art that will delight a mother's heart. Sent postpaid by thc Resinclj Chemical Company, of Baltimore, Md., for two wrap pers from Resinol Soap, or one wrapper Jand 16 cents; or for 40 cents a calendar and a cake of Resi nol soap will be sent. The store of Fitzmaurice, on Main Btreet, Columbia, waa humed with ita oontents on Saturday night, Feb ruary 4. The loss is, building 16,000, stock %8,000 ; insurance about half. D , ESTM INSTEP, S. C. ES. vi).$ 4 00 t Anvil, $8.60 to. 10 00 Tongs. 50 rs, 25o. and up. r and Hardies, 300. and up. ksmitb Supplies Plow Stocks. oot Plow stocks, OOo. Plow Stocks, 80o. Handles, 86g. per pair._ i Wire and Nails. er 100 pounds, ?eg baso, my from us. md Wagon Repairs. ns, 85o. per set. igon Kims, $l per set. agon Kims, $1.25 per Bet. ESTMINSTER, S. C. Death of Mon. Wm. H. Parker, of Abbeville. Hon. Wm. Henry Parker died in Greenville on February 7th. He had been in failing health for some time and the end came quietly while he was surrounded by those he loved. Mr. Parker was 77 years old on, ^ January 1. Last fall he deoided to> retire from aotive business life in Abbeville, and at the end of the year he moved to Greenville to live with his son, Lewis W. Parker. He wa? boru twelve milos from Abbeville and after his graduation from the South Carolina College in 1845 he bogan the praotice of law at Abbe ville. When tho war between the States was declared Mr. Parker offered his services to the Confeder ate government and fought with dis tiction. He was a member of the Legislature for several years and was for a long time mayor of Abbeville. Mr. Parker married Miss Lucia Wardlaw, of Abbeville, who died in 1897. They left five children. Foley's Honey and Tar is host for croup and whooping cough; contains no opiatos and euros quickly. Careful mot hers keep it in tho house. Sold by J. W. Bell, Walhalla; W. J. Lunney, Senooa. - Makes Farming Pay. George A. Harrison, a renter near Landruro, raised with two horses, 569 bushels of oats on 18 acres ; 155 bushels of wheat on 8 acres ; 856 bushels of corn on 17 acres ; 15 bales of cotton on 12 aores; 400 bushels of turnips ; 150 bushels sweet pota toes ; 40 bushels of Irish potatoes ; 10 bushels of white navy beans ; 20 tons of pea vine hay ; 5 tons of wheat straw; 7J tons oat straw; 1,600 pouuds of pork ; 6,000 bundles of fodder ; 400 bushels cotton seed. If his cotton was sold early in the seaHOn at 10 cents the market prioe of this crop was about $2,900. Let it be remembered this farm is in the region where the Pacolet flood was at its worst. The most reliable preparation for kid ney troubles on the market is Foley's Kidney Cure. Sold by J. W. Boll, Wal halla; W. J. Lunney, Senooa. Williamston College Sold. The buildings and grounds, for merly occupied by the Williamston Female College, wore sold at public outcry on the Court House steps this morning. They were purohased for $6,550 by Hon. Geo. E. Prince as attornoy for Mrs. L. A. Lander, of Greenwood. The premises were formerly thc property of the Wil liamston Female College company, about nine-tenths of the oapital of which is owned by Mis. Lander. Anderson Mail, February 6th. --i-. A fight took place at tho kaolin mine near Langley, Aiken county, on Saturday evening between whites and blacks, in which one negro was killed and three white raen were dangerously wounded. A young woman was attaoked by h negro on tho streets of Darlington while going home iron; hor sister's just after dark on Monday. A noise in a nearby dwelling frightened him away, but he left his finger marks on her neok. He was hunted by blood hounds, hut was not caught. This will he a sort of a bad y ?tr for Clemson if the tag tax is to be divided Just at the time that the farmers are pre paring to out off the fertiliser bil}.-Flor ence Times.