Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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INTERESTING INCIDENT CONNECTED WITH FLOOD OE 1852 AND FURMAN UNIVERSITY "The lmmersion_af Furman University," In Actual Fact, And Part Played By Mr. Philemon Huff, Father of Mr. A. Huff of Laurens. (By S. E. Boney.) There is a bit of history connected with Furman university the great Baptist institution of South Carolina, and the terrible August flood of i>.",2. that Is probably not generally known. While everybody or at least those conversant in such matters, knows that Furman university is distinctly a .. ptist institution, they may possibly not be acquainted With the fact that ? very building, the largest and or ... i al structure on the campus is truly Baptist, having been thoroughly rincised; not merely sprinkled by the many kindly showers that have fall-j en in the half century of its exist-' ? n e. hut roaly and truly immersed in 'lie waters of old Reedy river. A few of our oldest inhabitants re call the great downpour in 1S.">L'; the rains began on August L'sth, and con tinued almost incessantly until the Oth. The wind" Piedmont section of the state was Hooded and there was great loss of property, both public and rivate. Almost all the mills and dges along the streams were swept way; the old Columbia and Green ville railroad, then struggling in its infancy, sustained heavy losses, and i: was at this time that William Spt ncei Brown, chief engineer of the ?. d lost his life in an endeavor to <>ss the Congnree near Columbia aft a tour of inspection over the road. The havoc wrought by this Hood is :? 'ailed by some of Laurens county's il<>st citizen, among whom is Mr. W. I). Sullivan, who lives at Tumbling SI oals on Reedy river. Mr. Sullivan . .. however, that the (lood of last year exceeded that of is.v_*: there is an old water-mark at bis mill on the Reedy, which indicates that tin waters l'Of.'e at least ten feet higher last year than during the freshet of 1852. But about the immersion of Furman university. It is recalled that during this year of 1 sr.L*. the main building of the university was in the course of construction. The contract to furn ish all the heavy timbers for the build ing was let to Mr. WiUain ,T. West, who owned and operated a saw mill on tiie Reedy river, about thirteen miles southeast ot Greenville and three miles west of Simpsouville. All the large and heavy timbers had been cut prior to August of 1852 and were ly ing in the yards of the mill. When tho rain began swelling the stream far out over its banks, these timbers, one by one. were carried away. Dur ing the three days of the Hood and for several days afterwards they were in the waters of the Reedy some being stopped by obstructions and others being carried miles below the mill. Hut the limbers were not lost; every one. save one. was recovered and brought back to the null; they are today part of the frame-work in the main building on Furmnn campus. Baptist in fact. But what of the miss ing timber? it was never found though dillgenl search was made fori it. Was it had omen? Is there a missing factor in the construction of the greal institution: would the lost part have been the ?'Keystone of the arch"? The fifty-odd years of proud history of the university disprove the supers!) ion. Possibly there are some in Green ville today who recall this Hood. There may he many who will recognize the names appearing in the following ac count, taken from the Southern Pat riot, diite of September 2nd, 1852: "There was never before, since the settlement of the county, such a freshet as we had last week in Green ville district. The water courses were much higher than they were ever known to be before. All the bridges, and a great number of mills, have been swept away. The corn on the low grounds is distroyed, or most seriously injured. In several places the embank ments of our railroad have been de stroyed and several of the culverts carried off. ar entirely demolished. The cotton factory and paper mill of Mr. McBee, and the paper mill of I Greenville Manufacturing company, have been greatly damaged. We have not heard from the other factories In our district. All communication from the surrounding country lias been cut off, by the loss of bridges, and the difficulty of fording the creeks and rivers. "The Reedy Falls, in the village of Greenville, were <p:ite an objecj of attraction on Saturday. They were Niagara In miniature, and our citizens and the visitors, men. women and children, turned out, enmasse, to wit ness the grand spectacle pressented by the raging and foaming waters dash ing over the falls and down the preci pice. "Every day the most distressing ac counts are brought to us of the injury done by the late Hood of rains. Les ter and Kilgore's wool factory, saw mill, blacksmith shop, are all carried off, their office turned up side down, and in the cotton factory cverthing covered With mud. Their loss is esti mated at $-.000. "The factory of W. Hates & Co.. is very seriously Injured. The factory of John Weaver. Esq., injured consid erably. The Greenville Manufacturing Company have sustained several thou sand dollars damages. The mills throughout the country have been swept away." The West mill, where the timbers above mentioned were, w hile consider ably damaged, was not destroyed. It was opornted for several years after the Mood by Mr. West. When the Hood occured, Mr. Philemon Huff, father of .Mr. Augustus Huff of Lau rens. was an uncle of Mr. West, living in the neighborhood; lie helped Mr. West haul tue limbers back to the mill. The property is now owned by Mr. Paschal D. Huff, eldest brothei- of Mr. A. Huff. He still resides at the old place and takes much pleasure in telling the story of "Furninn's Immcrs sioil" handed down to bis by his fa ther. -1 flood Attractions 4 The management Opera house New berry have secured the following high class attractions for December. Wednesday, Dec. s "Knight for A Day." Friday. Dee 10. "Polly Of The Circus". Thursday. Dee. It',. "House of A Thousand Candles." Wednesday. Dec. 22. "Lena Rivers." All seats for out of town people carefully reserved. For further par ticulars write Earhardt & Baxter, Mgrs. I LOCAL AND PERSONAL MENTION. Dr. .lohn Kennedy of Bennettsvllle visited his kinsman. Mr. I.. C. Gooch during the past week. Sheriff .lohn I). Owings and family spout Thanksgiving with friends at Fountun Inn. Miss Bessie Barnett of the city schools spout tlic Thanksgiving holi day at Chnpin with relatives. Mr. and Mrs. C. Bragg visited in Spartnnburg last Thursday. Mrs. YY. a. Campbell has returned from a pleasant visit to relatives and friends near Clinton. Mrs. M. I.. Sir.it!? and little daught er are visiting in Spartnnburg. Messrs li. u, and C. B. Roper of the Hickory Tavern section were bus iness visitors to the city this week. Mr. 1.. M. Iligglns of Cray Court, lt. F. 1). was in the city Tuesday. Mr. Eugene Crisp of Clinton was in the city yesterday. Mr. Crisp leaves in a few days for Chester where he has accepted a position with the Strieker jewelry concern. Messrs Carlos Mesley and William Bruce Copelund have returned to Wof ford college after spending Thanks givng in the city. Mrs. R. F. Jones has returned from a visit to relatives in Clinton. Miss Dollic Roland has returned from a visit to Kinkstree. Mrs. .lohn R.Carllsle is visiting her mother. Mrs. Mary Roland. Mrs. Elba Ii. Cavis has returned to Spartnnburg after a visit to Mrs. II. W. Anderson. Miss Lint Jones spent last week in Spartnnburg with her sister. Mrs. U. W. Leonard. Miss Rosa Hart has returned from a visit to Cokesbury. Mrs. W. U. Riehey, Jr. has returned from a visit to Columbia. Miss Helen Goggaus of Ne wherry spent the week-end with friends in the city. Carnival Maj tome Here. A representative of the Osterling Amusement company applied to the city council last night for a license to show here during Christinas week. The council, however, declined to is sue the license, but informed the ad vance agent that if he could secure the signatures of two-thirds of the business men of the city to a petition asking for the carnival. It would be given license. Will it come? Patients Are Dolo?? Well. The latest news from the Columbia hospital is to the effect that both Mrs. Sue Mllom and Mr. William Irby of Laurens county are doing well and are on the rapid road to recovery. Mr. Irby's improvement is very slow and it will be n long time before he will be able to leave bis bed. Mrs. Mtlam's condition is encouraging. Kev. il. Kniest] Thneker. Will Move into Todd liuilding. Mr. H. Nichols, the photographer, will on January 1st. move into the Todd building on East Main street. occupying rooms on the second floor. Mr. Nichols has secured a three years lease on these quarters. It is under stood that In the near future Mr. Nich ols will also open a branch establish ment in Clinton. ??????????????????????MI I SOCIAL AND PERSONAL. Miss Mario Gray, was the charmll hostess to a number of friends, |j last Friday evening. The prlnctp feature of the evening was a eonve I sutionnl contest, in which. Miss Hell Sullivan, won the prize, a very pra^ ty box of paper. Much ninuseniei? was derived from the candidates l'<^B the "Hoots Wiii.oiM Shoes." soeietlK ."Miss Hmimi Cooper, being by far its5! most amusing in ! r efforts to mastcS lite secrets of t'.;.-> mysterious ordejjj At the conclusion of these gamoA Misses Zelene and Virginia (tray mos' efullj served blanche mange unrf cakes. Among those present were: Missr Ruth Husterby, Margeurito Simpson! Margeuritc Tolbcrt, Rebecca Dial. Mi luwee Watson, Kathleen Sullivan Shirley llix. Aleene Franks. Kvi Trlbble, .lulia Childless, Kmma Coopej I Helen Sullivan, Nelle Payne. Mnrir Phi I pot, Mary Posoy, 101 hoi Cromerl and Messrs. .lohn Terry Poole, Jamal Todd, Douglas Feat herstone. Orovei Rlchey, Moore and Hastings Dial. Juj j lilts and Ose Sitgreaves, Tom Dakei I .lohn P.olt. Charles Fleming Leon DodJ I son. Sain Molt. .1.tines McLIn, Harry! Casque, .loh Little, Richard Dunlap] FJrskinc Todd. .1. I>. Sullivan. Wllllji Nelson, Karle Owlngs, .lames MilatuTJ Harle Calne, Dick Fuller and Tonil Bennett. ooo Miss Susy Gray spent Thanksgiving! I day with friends in Greenville, y 000 j The Thanksgiving dance on Th?rs-, day evening of last week was the most I pleasant social feature of the holi-' day week, there being an unusually j large number of young people present besides a number of w elcome visitors. ] During the evening delightful refresh* incuts were served. At 12 o'clock the german was danced, led by Mr. S. It. Todd. Among the visitors present were: Misses Kuiiicc McCrary of Clin ton. Mae Kinlock of Parnwell. Kllgo of Woodruff, and Messrs Dillard. Sul livan and Owens of Clinton and W. R. Darlington of Allendale. ooo Misses Lelln Harro of Qroers, FJdna Harre of Wlelfor and Minnie Sparrow of Castonia. spent Friday and Saturday in the city the guests of Rev. and Mrs. W. 13. Marie. Miss .Mar) Smith's Thanks. On behalf of my daughter. Mary Smith, and lor my entire family. I with to thank the people of l.auren counly for the valuable aid they have given us in securing one of the prizes in The Advertiser's "Great Popularity Contest." We appreciate everything that was done to help her win. and through the columns of the paper we wish to express our appreciation. .1. M. Smith Waterloo, S. C. It Is better to make a few mistakes than to do nothing at all. DO This is the time to do your Christmas shopping and Simmons is the place to do it. We have everything you could ask for in the way of Dry Goods, Notions, Millinery, Shoes, and Ladies Ready=to=wear Coat Suits, A beautiful line of ladies Handkerchiefs and Neckwear, just the thing for Christmas Gifts. mm m m m We have only a lew Coat Suits left and to close them out before the holidays, we are making special prices. Come and get yours while this great bargain sale is going on. A word to the wise is sufficient. All $35.00 Suits, reduced to. $22.50 All 30.00 Suits, reduced to. 20.00 All 25.00 Suits, reduced to . 20.00 All 22,50 Suits, reduced to . 18.00 All 20.00 Suits, reduced to . 17.00 All 18.50 Suits, reduced to. All 15.00 Suits, reduced to. All 13.50 Suits, reduced to. All 10.00 Suits, reduced to All Ladies' Cloaks going at lA price. 15.00 12.00 11.00 8.50 m Accept this Opportunity All Ladies Cloaks Going at Half Price Get your Christmas Cards here 20 for 5 cents r