Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I Part II. EXCELLENT ^ ^"1 ADVERTISING I I MEDIUM ? I VOL. LXIV. NO. 14. MORE Fi ' M Mrs. B. Gw Clifford From Only Sui Also Receives a Communict Who Nursed Mejor Steed Old Letters From M Union Citizen Since publishing the article concerning Major Steeclman, The Times ; has been favored with a letter from his only surviving sister, Mrs. McDowell, and also with a number of letters written by Major Steedman to a friend in Union in 1861-62. 1? .i ' MfVS.B. O. CLIFFORD Mrs. Clifford has made it possible for us to get the articles upon Major Steedman's life. Mrs. Clifford is the president of Clifford Seminary and she is a leading spirit in working to ^?pR-"t;'?hSSij2isjc 1861-65. Mrs. Clifford's work in educational and philanthropic matters will live through the ages. MRS. McDOWELL'S LETTER. After receiving The Union Times of March 19, Mrs. McDowell wrote. "When I wrote my brother Kelsey tnat cutler was critically in, Kelsey wrote 'this: 'Tell the dear sufferer that as lie willed to live in 1862, so will he live now.' Leaning over the pale face I gave the message. Smn ^ ing up at me he said, 'Oh, Kelse! but this time the man wants to go!' That death scene! It was Mr. W. A. Nichloson who wrote as he dictated the whole night through?on an important case. I had been ill, Blaki; had just arrived. He would not let us share the vigil. He was autocratic, you know, and older than Blake and myself. We gave him heed in everything. When the paper was finished he said, 'Well, Nicholson, we have done a good night's work', and immediately began to sink. Calling me Mr. Nicholson said, 'If you have anything you want to tell! him say it now'. And I said, 'Bubber, | the everlasting arms are underneath.'| He stifd, 'How?' And I repeated the words?he and I together?just as you wrote?the everlasting arm.. ?are?underneath.' At the end I thought he said, 'Arms! Arms!' Then he gasped and all was over. His was the most beautiful, the most seraphic countenance I have ever looked upon." Miss Delaplane, now 70 years old ' and the last of a family of 12 sons and daughters, writes on March 24 to Mrs. Clifford: "After the battle of 2nd Manassas we had 9 house full of wounded soldiers at our old home, Kinsley. Some were nriiade comfortable in a store house at the foot of the hill. Some , were in the barn for several days for, as you know, the railroads had all been torn up as far as Culpepper Court House, and the wounded soldiers had to be removed from the field of battle in ambulances, wagon*, or irr^uiy way they could find. And they were left in any house where people could take them. As'we were right well known, a great many were left with us and we were kept busy for many days making soup and things the poor soldiers could eat. Dr. Burns from Maryland, medical director in Gen. Jackson's command, was left here to attend to the wounded. He was such a lovely man, so gentle and kind to each man.1 And we helped to bandage and dro3sj the wounds until we^ would almost faint from the suffering of the poor men who tried to be so brave. These scenes I can never forget nor Dr. Burn's sweet voice, saying, I won't hurt you any more than I can help, my dear fellow.' I feel that I must tell you of one who was brought here ^ the day after Maj. Steedman came and who was a dear friend of lub This young man was aide to the Governor of South Carolina when the war came. He was Capt. Pullion. His father and mother died when he wus very young and he was brought up I 3E I \CTS GO [AJOR JJ Receives Letters rviving Sister. ition From Miss Delaplane, man When Wounded? ajor Steedman to a i in 1861V62. by Dr. Watts and his wife as their son. He was wounded in the hip and the hip bone was crushed. His leg was put in a sling hung from thor ceiling and all that could be was done for him but we could not save his life. His room was upstairs and, when under the inbuence of morphine, he would drill his company at midnight. We could hear him cry, 'Forwaru march!' He could be heard all over the house. When he was gone and Maj. Steeman did not hear that souno, he said, 'I do not hear poor Pullion's groans?is he better' Sister Mary had to tell him then and he said, 'Poor brave fellow! Another sacrifice on the altar of liberty.' And he lay there and want fnr- ? ? v i.vi ouiuc nine. "Dr. Watts and his wiff pot to us a few days before the end and took his remains home. Sister Mary went with them as far as Culpepper Court House. I never saw greater distress nor more gratitude for all tnat had been done than theirs. Maj. .Steedman felt this all deeply. One night about three weeks after he was brought to us, he was taken with a severe hemorrhage and we all thought the end was near. He said in such a calm voice, 'Sister, I am afraid after all your care you are going to lose your soldier.' "We sent for Dr. Leach and as soon as he got to us he said the hemorrhage was from the wound in the lung and the thrdwing off the blood was the best thing for him, and so i? ' "As thelbeautiful autumn came and he could be moved, he was carried out into the yard, a large comfort was put in the wheelbarrow, and he was put on it and wheeled around the yard. He ate his dinner out under the -trees and did so enjoy it. He would say, 'This is peace, comfort and rest.' His was a beautiful Christian character and life. His grant?son, James Steedman Thorpe, was raised at Kinsley, the old home. It was Addie's request. She said to my sister Yacy one day, 'Aunt Yacy, if anything should happen to me I want Jimmie raised here bv von nil' ' so ne was brought to us when he was three years old. Capt. Thorpe's home was about three miles from us. "My niece, Lora Glascock, lives a*. Kinsley, the old place, now. They have a full house every sumtner. Jimmie Thorpe goes there and Lora's brother, Dr. Glascock, who is one ol* the professors at Yale. It was Lora's mother who said, Is Bunyan bringing your master here?' Maj. Steedman was very fond of her and her daughter is named Lora Steedman. "My mother died the last year of the war and we continued to live on at Kinsley and a fearful life it was. We were all the time on contested ground. We'd go to bed at night with Southern scouts around us and get up in the morning surrounded by i the "Yankees." But my oldest sister, Mary, who was very brave, always went to the head officer and I demanded a guard. She always got one, too. "She lived ten years aftpr the war, and then she was taken frdm us. One by one the rest of us have gone until I am the only one left of a family of six sons and six daughters?and all the family but two of the sons are buried in the garden at "old Kinsley" under a cluster of grand old oaks. Maj. Steedman wrote the epitaphs for the stones that mark the graves of my mother and my sister Mary. "They are all gone, these dear ones of mine, and I am living now at Delaphane with a nephew to whom I have always been devotedly attached. He has a beautiful home, a sweet wife, and one son now at school." INTERESTING OLD LETTERS. Letters Written by Major Steedman to a Union Citizen 1861-2. The following old letters were written by Major Steedman to a Union citizen, Mr. B. F. Arthur during the war. ' Mr. B. F. Arthur, a son of the elder B. F. Arthur, sent these letters to Mrs. Clifford, upon reading the article concerning Major Steedman in The Times week before last. The letters are as follows: Camp, Va., Aug. 16th, 1861. Dear Sir: Yours of the inst. came duly to hand some days ago before we left Camp Pettis, and I was light glad once more to recognize your well-remembered chirography. Oui removal to this place and the interruption in mail communications, caused by a breakage in the road near Richmond which stopped trains fron. I \ JNI( UNIOlSr, S. ., FltlDA NCERNtt \S. B. ST1 running for several days, will explain my not replying: sooner. 1 We are now on the road from Centreville to Fairfax C. H., 1 1-2 mile* distant from the latter place, and about 1-2 mile from the little village of Germantown. We are posted on the right of the Brigade and our camp is still nameless except the soubirquet of MUD HOLE by which it is known among the men. We moved here on a wet, dismal day, and have had constant and heavy rains for a week. During this time we have had cold weather, and have received timely warning of wha-, we may hereafter expect. The inhabitants tell us that we may look for snow waist deep for weeks together, and we will accordingly prepare for another "Valley Forge." Our men are but poorly provided with warm clothing and are in many instances wholly without blankets and I shall 1 by this mail write to friends in Union t to begin in time to assist the poor 1 fellows through the severe ordeal to which they will be exposed. A fund 1 of S300 was subscribed for the ben- ? efit of the P. R. Company and Ed ' Meng was appointed chairman of the 1 committee to collect and disemburse ' the same. This has not yet been col- ] lected. Dr. Herndon told me also to ; call on him for any necessary assistance and I shall not fail to do so. 1 Good, home-made, stout shoes, under- * clothijig, woolen stockings and bed coverings will be chiefly needed. ! Whiskey consigned to the care of the 1 officers will be invaluable, when cold weather sets in. I am sorry to say 1 that the number of our sick does not ( apparently diminish. Every day J brings the news of the death of some ooor fellows of the 5th. We have i lost two, Harper Sharp and James * Parr, and the J. R. have been equally unfortunate. I fear more will soon ' die. The number of our wounded who die of wounds not apparently mortal, is strangely large. Men wounded in the foot, in the hands, in fleshy portions of the body, die unexpectedly I and amputation has in an unusually large proportion of cases proved fa- < tal. Prominent then here express the = belief that the balls of - the en amy C were often poisoned. Bullets with copper rings are picked up and on i infernal contrivance in the shape of ' a musket ball, so charged with ful- 1 minating powder as to explode from ' contact, after entering the flesn was : shown me the other day taken from ! the pocket of a prisoner. Many ol ( the Federalists wage war upon u.* 1 with most devilish malice, and the ( country in which we now are bears ' arffple evidence of the reckless spirit of mischief with 'which they gre ' filled. Lincoln's proclamation con- 1 tained the assurance that there should ' be "no invasion among the people ' anvwhere" nm) tViot -~Ll- ' v V..MV ,nn; 1IJJIIIS OI " private property should be respected. J Fairfax, Centreville and German- ( town all show how these pledges have been fulfilled. In the last, a mere ' hamlet, I count six ruins of houses c burnt by them in one day, and I am * told many others were destroyed in [ the outskirts- All along ?he road ' you come upon blackened 'ruins, or- J chards stripped, grain fields trampled ' down, and the story of property plun- 1 dered is in every mouth. I dined with one poor man the other day who suh- e sists by the produce of his orchard c which he has been in the habit of sell ing in Washington and Alexandria; c from this'poor inoffensive fellow liv- 11 ing along with his bed-ridden wife, * they stole four horses (his only s team), ruined his orchard, slaughtered all his beeves, poured out the casts ^ of vinegar he had ?eady for market. * took all his bee-hives and honey aim * this although Senator Wilsan was w stopping in his house and the Gen. of ? the Brigade which plundered him, * had promised him to severely punish 11 any one who should molest him or his c property. Their replies to his remonstrances always was, "Uncle Sam will * pay you for evervthinc if vn? ?..:n u -O Q make out your bill." From this old L man I prdrured some shoots of what ?, he considered the finest pears sold in Washington, the "Harvest" and I ^ sent them to you by Lieut. Mabry, . who promised to deliver them to- J! gethcr with my watch, to some one *' in Uniop to be handed to you. I fear " they will be worthless when they * reach fo>u though wrapped in wet * wool, fl sent also the Golden Pippin ? from which I would like to propagate * a treeJ v Our/tent was enlivened this after- J1, noon by the presence of a lovely girl of Miss Nannie Thomas of Fair- !? fax f. H., niece of Jackson, the f Martir, who with her father, the Se- V ccssic: Senator from Alexandria, J1, cam4 out to see Dogan and myself The* gave us full accounts of the do- 8 ingraof the Yankees while at Fairfax a and/more diabolical outrages can " hait'y be conceived. They broke to pieps Mr. Thomas' furniture, strapped his beautiful grounds of their c shlolr.bery, threatened his wife to 'cut 3 hit to pieces and share them amon;: ? til forces" while one cowardly wretch ^ iilthe uniform of an officer, after insiting this young graceful and love- a If girl, enraged by her spirited re- a es. actually seized a musket and ? veiling it at her, threatened to r plow her to hell, if she didn't hold 11 lor damned tongue!" She had some ? If her uncle's blood .in her, for she y folcl him to fire away if he wanted s to and did not shirk or tremble in fimi ASSEMBLE IN FOR i / )N" .Y, APRIL 3, 1914. JG GEDMAN J the least. We were all charmed with tier heroism and beauty, and Scaii'c, Glenn, Kelse and myself all envied Dogan his chance of securing such a [irize. Our mess is now living in clover nur boy being down with measles. We board with an old lady in the neighborhood who cooks the provisions we furnish very nicely, and make us feel like civilized beings when we surround her mahogany tc lispose of them. Here is our bill of Fare today: Breakfast?eggs, mutton, butter, honey and light bread. Dinner?beans and bacon, roast beei, :abbage, cucumbers, beets. Supper? beefsteak, biscuit, honey, good tea md coffee. This is doing pretw well por camp as you would also say if yoi. cad tried Commissarist as iong as ive have. Dogan, Glenn, Kelse and myself compose the mess. Scaife tents with us but will not mess with is, as that would withdraw him toe much from Camp. I hoped that Jack would be elected to the vacant Lieutenants among the L R. but I fear that the race will be between Kitchens and Dunn. Jack thinks of withdrawing his name, as there was some sort of understanding that he should not oppose Dunn, the atter's friends supporting Jack for 1st Lieutenant in case Richter ran For it. R. will claim promotion therefore Jack's chance is lost. In our Comp. Glenn is below zero, md has lost the respect of his superior and brother officers by his weakness and childish murmurings. He is a mill stone about the neck of >ur company. No news of the enemy, heavy firing today in the direction of Acquira, but I do not attach my importance to it. No movement ixpeeted before the 15th Sept. Give my kindest regards to Ann md the children. Yours very truly, James B. Steedman. / En route for Manassas, Oct. 17, '61 Dear Mr. Arthur: Your kind note of the 23th ulto. contained in a box of tastefully astorted articles for Scaife, Dogan and myseK, was received on the evening nr. the 15th inst., on my return fron. picket duty near Falls Church. You hava shown such delicate appreciation for our most secret wants that we with unanimity have voted you a 'great man." The books you have sent us will while away many a tedinus hour during the severe weather now almost upon us when outdoor exercise will be impossible. It is just -he literature suited to our circumstances, and you could not possibly lave presented us with a more opportune contribution. While others nave felt for our physical wants, you nave liberallv irratilied nnr mnntai recessities. The "peach" is also very icceptable and we have agreed to Irink your health standing and in ;ilence, this will be the second "horn" ' have ever known Dogan to be guilty >f. The other was when he visited Mr. Dogan, in compliment of the only nale of that name beside his father re had ever seen. The cigars are an llllisnnl tvn.it- T Kn../. i v*v??v, x nave 1UIIK since apsed into the habit of a dirty pipe ind miserable Lynchburg tobacco, our generous supply of paper, ink, >tc. relieves a much felt want, and mtitles you to a long letter from us vhenever we can find matter suffiient to fill one. On the whole you tnd Ann have our grateful thanks for he kind manner in which you have tudied our wants, and the generosity vith which you have supplied then, thanks to you, winter quarters, to ne at least, will not be uncomfortable, am attempting to write you a letter inder the most unfavorable circumtances possible. For three nights, have been up with hardly a mounts sleep; we have this morning ailed a halt upon the road for a few noments, and 1 am sheltering myself rom a drizzling rain and sharp wind inder the tail of a baggage wagon, lome warrior and poet has said that very day of a woman's and a soldier^ ife is in itself a romance. I can't estify as to the first, but do ^ay that he aesthetical sense must be strong tideed to perceive any romance in the ife which we are now leading. Let ie give you a short account of it for he past 5 days, and you may judge or yourself of the hardships we are xposed to, and at the same time orm some idea of the movement ;hfih wo oro * ,#: " ...~ uie nun uiaMii);. on tne lorning of the 12th we left camp for he neighborhood of Fall's Church the feather being wet and bitterly cold, lere we remained for 3 days, living i the open air with little to eat, and ardly time to sleep. The night of he 14th I was ordered to keep a trict watch on my station all night s an attack was regarded as imlinent. This I did, and we returned 5 camp 7 miles .next morning having ad no other intimation of the viinity of a hostile army, than a few hells dropped from time to time in ur vicinity, they apparently feeling or the whereabouts of our lines. Ve reached camp an hour by run that fternoon, tired, hungry and sleepy nd were ordered immediately to pack ur wagons, strike our tents, and be endy for a long march in 30 mintes. We were kept constantly awak. xpecting a summons to march until o'clock that night, when the bugle ummoned us into line and we left (Continued on page 12). ! Democrats May Consider Pi For State and Senatoi Arranged?Review < i The next State Democratic convention will meet May 20 in Columbia in the hall of the house of repre, sentatives. At present it seems likci> that the chief issue before the convention will be whether or not the rules jroverninp the Democratic pri, mary elections in South Carolina are i to be amended to the end of prel cludinjr fraudulent votinrr such as "res peatinj?" and its variations. The coni vention will provide the machinery i necessary for conducting the primary election next summer in which a 1 United States senator and State anu 5 county officials will be nominated. The ? State Democratic executive commit: tee to be elected by the convention, i one member from each county, will ; arrange the itineraries for the county ? to county canvass of the candidates for the United States senate and oft i the candidates for congress and State offices, unless the rules and constitu<on of the party are amended to ( abolish the county to county tour. The last State Democratic conven[ tion was held in Columbia May 15, , 1912. The main question before the ' convention was whether the South . Carolina delegation to the national . Democratic convention in Baltimore i should go instructed to vote for Woodrow Wilson as the Democratic iminee for president or be allowed , to act on their own initiative. The fight in the convention on this issue was a memorable one. The anti-instruction wing in the convention won a technical victory, which may have caused the Wilson forces some embarrassment just at that time, but worked them no serious harm. Empty Victory, j Senator Bankhead of Alabama, Un, derwQod's.campaign manager,.aunp#d ' in Columbia for some time before the convention of 1912, rallying every influence at his command to prevent South Carolina from sending a dele' gation to Baltimore instructed to vote for Wilson. What he wanted was ar. uninstructed delegation despite the | strong sentiment of the people of the State that Woodrow Wilson was the logical candidate for the Democrats to put in the field. Bankhead and the anti-instructionists in the con vention won an nmntv I convention had" before it strong pre1J cedent for sending an instructed del1 egation, having (lone so twice for Bryan and once for Tillman in the three conventions immediately preceding that of 1912. When the convention met on the night of May 15, the Richland delegation led the fight for an instructed delegation since it came from the county convention with ironclad orders to work for this end. John P. Thomas of Columbia offered a resolution "that the delegation from this State to the national convention :n Baltimore advocate Gov. Wilson as 1 the nominee of national Democracy, and work and vote accordingly." P. S. Henderson of Aiken offered as *\ substitute for the Thomas resolution one for an uninstructed delspal ion. Mr. Henderson said that h, advocated Wilson but that the paity was above the candidate. As a substitute for the Thomas ancr. Henderson resolutions Harry 1). Calhoun of Barnwell offered one which proposed that "the 18 delegates favor the candidacy of Woodrow Wilson for ; nresident" and providing that if the ' ? - 1 uci^iiuuii snuuia regard it expedient they might change their vote for some ' other candidate. W. F. Stevenson offered an amend- , ment to the Calhoun resolution pro- , viding that the delegation could | change its vote from Wilson to an- ( other candidate only on a two-thirds ( vote of its members. Choice of the People. Mr. Stevenson made a ringing 1 soeoch in favor of sending a delega- i tion to Baltimore pledged to support : Woodrow Wilson. 1 * ? w j^oes anynocty doubt that Wilson ! is the choice of the people for South ! Carolina for president," asked Mr. Stevenson. "If you hitch a colt he will stand. If you don't he may run away. The delegation may be a colt." One of the best speeches of the convention of 1912 was made by H. K. Cook, delegate from Horry, who ( showed a remarkably clear understanding of the issues confronting the Democratic party at this junc- : ture. Mr. Cook declared that the delegate who was too big to receive in structions from the convention was too big to get his vote. He pointed , on; that an uninstructed delegation offered unlimited opportunity for <^!ly politicians to get in their won: a iid defeat the will of the people of South Carolina. Mr. Cook's time was extended by the convention and he ( was vigorously applauded. After the debate had lasted for two hours, the Calhoun resolution for an instructed delegatibn'came to a vote. It was defeated by a vote of 218 *.o 122. The motion then recurred upon ' the Henderson substitute resolution "that the delegation from South Car- i N ages 9 to 16. I ^ FIRST CUSS . JOB WORK J EXECUTED ============================ $1.00 A YJSAK. * I MAY CONVENTION : ' rimary Reform?Iteneraries rial Campaigns to Be i of Last Convention. \l , olina should be left free and untrani- % nulled and uninstructed." This reso- { lution was adopted by a vote of 17S 1 to 11)2. J Ragsdale Resolution. t J. VV. Ragsdale of Florence offered a resolution indorsing Woodrow Wilson for the Democratic nomination for president. M. L. Smith of Camden, who fought mnvi ucuun, movea to inaennitely postpone the Ragsdale resolution, which he said would accomplish by indirection what was intended by the Thomas and Calhoun resolutions. The point of order was made that the Ragsdale resolution was contradictory to the Henderson resolution, which had been adopted. Thomas G. McLeod of Bishopville, president of the convention, sustained the point of order and ruled the Ragsdale indorsement resolution out of order. For several minutes the convention was thrown into confusion. Announcing that he had another resolution, Mr. Ragsdale, who occupied a seat in the back of the hall, came striding toward the president's des\. "Resolved, That this convention indorse Woodrow Wilson for president without instruction," shouted Mr. Ragsdale. "You can't quibble over that." "I move to table the resolution,' said M. L. Smith. Senator G. W. Sullivan, a strong advocate of instruction for Wilson, 4BM moved that the convention take an aye and no vote on the second Rags- U"%,' dale resolution for indorsement with ^ v'i out instruction. His motion prevailed after Mr. Smith withdrew his motion * "V':$ to table and moved the previous que?> . , 4 V, tion. ;?4 -'V_, r *?U of the "> called and the Ragsdale resolution' was adopted by the overwhelming vote of 241 to U7. The resolution to all intents ana pui*poses bound the delegates to Baltimore to support Wilson first, last and always as long as there was a shadow of a chance for his nomina tion. Mr. Ragsdale made his spectat ular light for indorsement without instruction at a moment when the an ti-instructionists had apparently won the victory that Senator Blankheao was so anxious for them to win. Events in Baltimore proved subsequently that the delegation considered itself bound to support Wilson; for he received the vote of the delegation from start to finish at Baltimore.?The State. WEST SPRINGS HELI) UP AS A MODEL. County Superintendent of Education Little has received a letter from Hon. .1. E. Swearingen, commending West Springs school, and urging others to follow the gooil example of that community. The letter is as follows: Coumhia, S. C., March 2*>, 1014. fiupt. II. C. Little, Union, S. C. Dear Mr. Little: In payment of rural graded schoo' applications to the several counties I note with pleasure that one district in your territory has met the requirements oi this Act. The schol at West Springs illustrates the type of rural education that needs to he widely extended anion); your school districts. K the people of Sedal'a, Mt. Tabor, Kelly and perhaps other communities would vote a four-mill school tax, they should he ahle to secure at once better educational facilities. Wherever f>0 children are enrolled, two teachers should be employed for at least six months. An enrollment of 75 nuoiIs renuires th?-?o tnaotmvo " , ?... w vx-mv uvi o, aiiu ^tate aid will be given if the term is iot less than seven months. May I suggest that you confer with the trustees of these districts concerning the advisability of establishing graded schcols. Yours respectfully, J. E. Swearingen, State Supt. of Education. Honor Roll of Gault School. First Grade?Frank Gregory and Curtis Vinson. Second Grade?John Gregory, Ruth and Beauna Plexico and Carl Vinson. Third Grade?Margaret Fowler and Harold Vinson. Adv. Third Grade?Johnnie Vinson and Horthy Haney. Fifty Grade?T. B. Fowler and Willie Plexico. Sixth Grade?Maud Plexico and Maebelle Vinson. Eighth Grade?Eva and Beaulah < Gregory. Miss Florence B. Haney, Teacher. Rev. and Mrs. S. P. Hair and children, who have been the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Sanders, have -eturned to their home in Rock Hill. . 1