' ' ';^i»l 
 

Date Due 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 F 269 R171858 
 
 Ramsay's History of South Carolina, from 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 028 789 737 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028789737 
 
R A_ M: S A. Y'S 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT I .\ 1670 
 TO THE YEAR 180 8. 
 
 By DAYID EAMSAY, M. D. 
 
 ' The Muse of History has been bo mucli in love with Mars, that she has seldom conTersed 
 with Minerva." — Henry. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 
 
 PtIBLISHED AND SOLD BY 
 
 W. J. DUFFIE, 
 
 NEWBERRY, S. 0. 
 
 PRINTED BT WAI.KEH, EVANS « CO. CHARLESTON 
 
 1858 
 T 
 
THE YOUTH OF CAKOLINA, 
 
 WHOSE ANCESTORSj 
 COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS NATIONS OF THE OLD WORLD, 
 
 HATE COALESCED INTO ONE IN THE NEW, 
 
 AND WHO, AFTER TWO REYOLUTIONS, IN LESS THAN ONE CENTURY, 
 
 HAVING ACQUIRED LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE, 
 
 MADE A PRUDENT USE OF THESE INESTIMABLE BLESSINGS, 
 BY ESTABLISHING, ON THE BASIS OF REASON AND THE BIGHTS OF MAN, 
 
 A SOLID, EFFICIENT, AND WELL BALANCED GOVERNMENT, 
 
 WHOSE OBJECT IS PUBLIC GOOD, 
 
 WHOSE END IS PUBLIC HAPPINESS, 
 
 BY WHICH INDUSTRY HAS BEEN ENCOURAGED, AGRICULTURE EXTENDED, 
 
 LITERATURE CHERISHED, RELIGION PROTECTED, AND 
 
 .JUSTICE CHEAPLY AND CONVENIENTLY ADMINISTERED 
 
 TO A RAPIDLY INCREASING POPULATION. 
 
 IN HOPES THAT THE DESCENDANTS OF SUCH SIRES WILL LEARN, 
 
 FROM THEIR EXAMPLE 
 
 TO LOVE THEIR COUNTRY AND CHERISH ITS INTERESTS, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING HISTORY IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I, 
 
 CIVTL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 Chap. Page 
 
 ^ I. Population — .- . _ 1 
 
 II. Proprietary Government from its Commencement in 1670, till its Aboli- 
 tion in 1719 14 
 
 III. The Revolution in 1719 from Proprietary to Royal Government 31 
 
 IV. Royal Government from 1720 to 1776 53 
 
 MILITARY HISTORY, FROM 1670 TO 1776. 
 
 V. Sec. 1. Contests with Spaniards 70 
 
 " 2. Contests with Indians 84 
 
 " 3. Military Operations against Pirates 113 
 
 VI. The settlement of the Back Country 118 
 
 THE CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 FROM A BRITISH PROVINCE TO AN INDEPENDENT STATE. 
 
 VII. Sec. 1. Of Introductory Events and Taking of Arms 124 
 
 " 2. Of the Extinction of Royal Authority and of the Royalists 141 
 
 " 3. Of the Formation of a Regular Constitution 148 
 
 *' 4. Of the Attack of the Fort on Sullivan's Island by Sir Peter 
 Parker and Sir Henry Clinton, and the Invasion of the 
 
 Cherokees by Colonel Williamson 152 
 
 5. Of Independence and the Alliance with France 162 
 
 6 Campaign of 1779 167 
 
 7. Campaign of 1780— Fall of Charlestown 181 
 
 8. Campaign of 1781 223 
 
 9. Marion's Brigade 228 
 
 10. Campaign of 1781 continued 237 
 
 11. Campaign of 1782 249 
 
 12. Revolutionary Miscellaneous History 252 
 
CONTENTS OF VOL. II. 
 
 Chap. "Page 
 I. Ecclesiastical History of South Carolina 1 
 
 II. Medical History 28 
 
 III. Le^al and Constitutional Histoi-y 68 
 
 IV. Fiscal History 90 
 
 V. Agricultural Plistnry 112 
 
 VI. Commercial History 130 
 
 VII. Of the Arts 136. 
 
 VIII. Natural History 152 
 
 IX. Literary History 196 
 
 X. Miscellaneous Histoij — Virtues^ Vices, Customs, Diversions, &c., of 
 
 the inhabitants - 213 
 
 Dress - 227 
 
 Complexion 228 
 
 Manners and Character 228 
 
 Fecundity, Population, and Longevity 231 
 
 XL Civil History, from the termination of the Revolutionary War in 1783 
 
 to the year 1808 235 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF LITERARY MEN, 
 
 AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS. 
 
 Lionel Chalmers, M. D 251 
 
 Rev. Richard Clarke 251 
 
 William Henry Drayton 252 
 
 Christopher Gadsden 253 
 
 Rev. Commissary Garden 256 
 
 Alexander Garden, M. D 256 
 
 Maj. John James 257 
 
 Sir Nathaniel Johnson 258 
 
 John Lining, M. D 260 
 
 Henry Laurens 260 
 
 John Laurens 264 
 
 Gabriel Manigault 266 
 
 Peter Manigault 267 
 
 Thomas Reese, D. D 267 
 
 Col. William Rhett 268 
 
 John Rutledge 269 
 
 Edward Rutledge 272 
 
 Rev. Josiah Smith, A. M 273 
 
 Rev. William Tennent, A. M 274 
 
 Nicholas Trott, L. L. D 275 
 
 William Wi-agg - 276 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 Number Tagi: 
 
 I. A Statistical Account of Edisto Island 278 
 
 11. A Statistical Account of St. Stephen's District 291 
 
 III. A Statistical View of Pendleton District 295 
 
 IV. A Statistical Account of Orangeburg District 299 
 
 V. A Statistical Account of Beaufort 3qj 
 
 VI. A Statistical Account of Georgetown 3Q2 
 
 VIL A Statistical Account of Claremont District 305 
 
 VIII. A Statistical Account of Camden 3Qg 
 
 IX. A General View of the upper country 307 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 Tho growing importance of the United States excites an increasing curiosity to 
 be acquainted with their early history. Of their wars and of their late revolulion 
 much has been written, but a development of the causes which, in less than two 
 centuries, have raised them from poverty to riches — from ignorance to knowledge — 
 from weakness to power — from a handful of people to a mighty multitude — 
 from rude woodsmen to polished citizens — from colonies guided by the leading 
 strings of a distant island to a well regulated, self-governed community, has 
 not been sufficiently the subject of attention. It is a work of too much mag- 
 nitude to be incorporated in a general history of the whole, and cannot be 
 done to purpose otherwise than by local histories of particular provinces or 
 states. Much useful knowledge on these subjects is already lost, and more 
 is fast hastening to oblivion. A considerable portion of it can now only be 
 recovered by a recurrence to tradition — for records of many events worthy of 
 being transmitted to posterity have either never been made, or if made have been 
 destroyed. Every day that minute local histories of these states are deferred is an 
 injury to posterity — for by means thereof more of that knowledge which ought to be 
 transmitted to them will be irrecoverably lost. These views were so forcibly 
 impressed on the author of the following work, that he began many years ago tn 
 collect materials for writing a detailed history of the State in which Providence had 
 cast his lot. In vain did he expect complete information from public records. On 
 many interesting subjects they were silent — the most early were illegible — others 
 were lost in the hurricanes or fii'es which at several successive periods have deso- 
 lated Charleston, Much of what escaped from these calamities was destroyed in 
 the invasions of the State by the British in 1779 and 1780. Of what remained every 
 practicable use was made ; but to remedy their defects, application was made to the 
 only repositories of facts on which reliance could be placed. This was the recol- 
 lection of old citizens and especially of such as were the descendants of the first 
 settlers. To them, in the year 1798, he addressed a circular letter and queries on 
 a variety of subjects connected with the history of Carolina.* These were sent to 
 
 * Sir— Having made some progress in. collecting materials for a general History of South-Carolina 
 from its first settlement, I beg tlie favor of you to furnish me, in Charleston, with information on aay sub- 
 jects that may properly be incorporated in such a work; and in particular, with answers to all or any of 
 the following inijuiries, at least as far as they respect the vicinity of your residence- If you should not 
 have leisure for this purpose, I request that you would put them in the hands of some suitable person who 
 may be willing to collect and transmit the wished-for information. 
 
 I am, your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 Charleston, November 19, 1798, DAVID RAMSAY. 
 
 The time when the settlement of your parish or county began ? the date of the oldest grants of land ; 
 and the place from which the first settlers migrated, with some account of the most remarkable of them ? 
 
 The Indian name of your parish or county ; what tribes of Indtans formerly occupied It? notice of their 
 monuments and relies which may remain ? if they have disappeared, when and by what means ? if still in 
 your settlement, or the vicinity, what is their present state, condition and number? 
 
 Biographical anecdotes of persons in your settlement, who have been distinguished for their ingenuity, 
 enterprise, literature, talents civil or military ? 
 
 Topographical* descriptions of your parish or county, or its vicinity— its mountainp, rivers, ponds, 
 animals, useful and rare vegetable productio^ns ; stones, especially such as may be useful for mills, lime, 
 architecture, pavements, or for other purposes ; remarkable falls, caverns, minerals, sands, clays, chalk, 
 flint, marble, pitcoal, pigments, medicinal or poisonous substances, their uses and antidotes ? 
 
 The former and present state of cultivation; what changes has it undergone ; an account of the first 
 introduction of rice, indigo, Ac. Tour ideas of further icnprovements, either as to the introduction of new 
 staples or the improvement of the old, or with respect to roads, bridges, canals, opening the navigation 
 of the rivers or boatahle waters-? 
 
 An estimate of the expenses and profits of a well-cultivated field, of any given dimensions, say 20 acres, 
 in tobacco, cotton, rice, wheat, or corn, with the average price of land ? 
 
 The distiuetion of soils, with a notice of the productions to which they are respectively best adapted; a 
 notice of the different kinds of useful timber ; the proportioa between cleared and uncleared land ; and of 
 the proportions between the number of inhabitants and number of acres ? 
 
 What are the natural advantages in your vicinity for the erection of mills, and for other labor-saving 
 machinery ; for catching and curing fish, and for raising stock ? 
 
 Singular instances of longevity and fecundity ? observations on the weather, epidemic and other diseases, 
 and the influence of the climate or of particular situations, employments or aliments ; and especially the 
 effects of spirituous liquors ou the human constitution? 
 
 Is your population, distinguishing white from black, increasing, decreasing, or stationary ; and the 
 causes and evidences thereot? 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 well informed persona in every part of the State, and afterwards printed in the 
 newspapers. In consequence thereof, much useful information has been received. 
 
 All the early histories which treat of Carolina were attentively perused, but from 
 them little of consequence could be obtained. Dr. Hewat's historical account of 
 the rise and progress of the colonies of South Carolina and Georgia, was read with 
 much more advantage — on it greater reliance was placed — and of it more use has 
 been made, than of all the histories which had preceded. To him every Carolinian 
 ought to be obliged for preserving many useful facts which otherwise would before 
 this day have been forgotten. His valuable work was written shortly before the 
 American Revolution, when tradition went further back and was more recent than 
 at present. Much of the information contained therein is said to have been de- 
 rived from Lieutenant-Governor William Bull, who had been a public officer since 
 1740, and who was the son of Lieutenant-Governor Bull, and the gi-andson of 
 Stephen Bull, wbo had held public offices in succession from the very hrst settle- 
 ment of the colony. For the thirty-four eventful years of revolutionary war and 
 civil improvements which have intervened since Dr. Hewat wrote and the year 
 1808, the author has been a cotemporary witness of all, and an actor in several of 
 the scenes which are the ground-work of the history of South Carolina in that inter- 
 esting period. 
 
 Chalmers' political annals of the united colonies also afforded many statements of 
 which use has been made. His knowledge was derived from an authentic source, 
 the plantation office. In dates and early matters of fact, where he differed from 
 other writers, his authority has been considered as paramount; but in matters of 
 opinion, his assertions have been received with large allowance for the principles 
 and feelings of a man who, in consequence of his adherence to the King of Great 
 Britain, was not permitted to continue an inhabitant of the United tJtates during 
 their revolutionary struggle for independence. 
 
 Governor Drayton's view of South Carolina affords more interesting detailed 
 views of the interior economy of the State than had ever been given. His official 
 station and duties as governor opened to him sources of information inaccessible to 
 all preceding writers. Much original matter preWously unnoticed is contained in 
 his valuable work, and of it use has been made in the following pages. 
 
 After the proposals had been issued for publishing the History of South Carolina, 
 and the greater part of it had been written, a flood of local intelligence, in answer 
 to the preceding queries, poured in on the author.. Much of this came too late to 
 be incorporated in its proper place ; it was too valuable to be suppressed, and was 
 therefore introduced in the appendix in the form of statistical accounts. To his 
 many correspondents, the author returns the warmest acknowledgments for their 
 valuable communications, which will be noticed in their proper place To the 
 Reverend Donald M'Leod he is under very particular obligations for his minute, 
 accurate, and satisfactory account of Edisto Island, and he begs leave to recom- 
 mend it to others as a model worthy of imitation. If one or more persons in the 
 different districts or other portions of the State, will take thp trouble of furnishing 
 statements on the plan of Mr. M'Leod, the author pledges himself, if his life is 
 spared, to connect the whole in one view, and give it to the public as a statistical 
 account of South Carolina. If this proposal should be carried into effect a collec- 
 tion of facts useful to philosophers, legislators, physicians and divines, would be 
 brought to light. The interior economy of the State, which is now the least known 
 of any one in the Union, would become the most known. South Carolina would rise 
 in the esteem of the citizens of other States, many of whom, from not knowing 
 better, load it with reproaches it does not deserve, and deny it much of that credit 
 to which it is justly entitled. • 
 
 , „, DAVID RAMSAY. 
 
 Charleston, December oist, 1808. 
 
 Whattnanufactures are. earned on? how have they been affected br the independence of tho^P ^fntos 
 and by the establishment of the federal constitution ; and your thou-hts on the farther imnrovP^pitSnf 
 thera? what public libraries have you ? what encouragement is ffiven to schools! anA r.nii,iir.. ■; T^^ -li,!;*: 
 has been done, or is doinff, to advance literature or diffuse knowledge ' ^^^ ''°"^S" ^ '"''^ ^^^' 
 
 What churches are there iu your parish or county; how long have they been erected ■ how are fh«v 
 supplied with preachers? how are they attended on days of public worship f what harbeendont or i^ 
 doing, to promote morality and religion among the people ? "wue, or isa 
 
 The date, extent, consequences, and other circumstances of freshets, whirlwinds hurrirnnpq +>. 
 
 remarkable events, which have taken place, as far back as can be recollected in your county °^ • i,'i 
 
CIYIL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 C H A P T'E R I . 
 
 Population. 
 
 Columbus, by the discovery of America, introduced the Old 
 World to an acquaintance with the new. No sooner was the 
 existence of a Western Continent known to the maritime 
 powers of Europe, than they eagerly rushed forth to seize a 
 portion of it for themselves. Though that part of the Ameri- 
 can coast which stretches from the 36lh degree of north lati- 
 tude to St. Augustine, was claimed by Spain, England and 
 France, yet they all for a long time neglected it. Nearly two 
 centuries passed away subsequent to its discovery, before any 
 permanent settlement was established in the tract of country 
 which is now called Carolina and Georgia. That germ of 
 civilized population which took root, flourished, and spread 
 in South Carolina, was first planted at or near Port Royal, in 
 1670, by a few emigrants from England, under the direction 
 of William Sayle, the first Governor of the province. Dis- 
 satisfied with that situation, they removed, in 1671, to the 
 Western banks of Ashley river, and there laid the foundation 
 of old Uharlestown, on a plantation now belonging to Elias 
 Lynch Horry. This site was injudiciously chosen, for it 
 could not be approached by vessels of large burden, and was 
 therefore abandoned. A second removal took place to Oyster 
 Point, formed by the confluence of the rivers Ashley and 
 Cooper. There, in the year 1680,* the foundation of the 
 present city of Charleston was laid, and in one year, thirty 
 houses were built. Neither the number of these first settlers, 
 nor their names, with the exception of William Sayle and 
 Joseph West, have reached posterity. They could not, however, 
 have been many ; for all of them, together with provisions, 
 arms, and utensils, requisite for their support, defence, and 
 comfort, in a country inhabited only by savages, were brought 
 from England to Carolina in two vessels. To increase the 
 population, was a primary object. There is no evidence of 
 
 * A monument in the Circular Church, erected to the memory of Kobert Tradd, 
 states, "that he was the first male child born in Charlestown," and "that he died 
 on the 30th of March, 1731, in the 52d year of his age." Though the precise time 
 of his birth is not mentioned, tlie whole accords witli other historic evidence, that 
 Charlestown began to be built in 1G80. 
 1 
 
CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 any plan to procure settlers of any uniform description, either 
 as to politics or religion, farther than that a decided preference 
 was given to protestants. The emigrants were a medley of 
 different nations and principles. From England the colony re- 
 ceived both Roundheads and Cavaliers, the friends of the parlia- 
 ment, and the adherents to the royal family. The servants of 
 the crown, from motives of policy, encouraged the emigration 
 of the former; and grants of land were freely bestowed on the 
 latter, as a reward of their loyalty. Liberty of conscience, 
 which was allowed to everyone by the charter, proved a great, 
 encouragement to emigration. The settlement commenced at 
 a period when conformity to the Church of England was 
 urged with so high a hand, as to bear hard on many good 
 men. In the reign of Charles the Second and James the 
 Second, and till the revolution, which was eighteen years 
 subsequent to the settlement of the province, dissenters la- 
 bored under many grievances. They felt much and feared 
 more; for, in common with many others, they entertained 
 serious apprehensions of a popish successor to the crown of 
 England. Men of this description, from a laudable jealousy 
 of the rights of conscience, rejoiced in the prospect of securing 
 religious liberty, though at the expense of exchanging the 
 endearments of home, and cultivated society for the wilds of 
 America. Such cheerfully embraced the offers of the pro- 
 prietors ; and from them Carolina received a considerable 
 number of its earliest settlers. 
 
 The inducements to emigration were so many and so various, 
 that every year brought new adventurers to the province. The 
 friends of the proprietors were allured to it by the prospect of 
 obtaining landed states at an easy rate. Others took refuge in 
 it from the frowns of fortune^ and the rigor of creditors. 
 Young men reduced to misery by folly and excess, embarked 
 for the new settlement, where they had leisure to reform, and 
 where necessity taught them the unknown virtues of prudence 
 and temperance, llestless spirits, fond of roving, were grati- 
 fied by emigration, and found in a new country abundant 
 scope for enterprise and adventure. 
 
 Besides individual emigrants, the colony frequently received 
 groupes of settlers, from their attachment to particular leaders 
 some common calamity, or general impulse. The first of 
 these was a small colony from Barbadoes, which arrived in 
 1671, under the auspices of Sir John Yeamans, who had ob- 
 tained a large grant of land from the proprietors. With these 
 were introduced the first, and for a considerable time the only 
 slaves that were in Carolina. 
 
 Shortly after, the colony received a valuable addition to its 
 strength from the Dutch settlement of Nova-Belgia. This in 
 
POPULATION. 6 
 
 1674 was conquered by England, and thereupon acquired the 
 name of New York After their subjugation, many of the 
 Dutch colonists, dissatisfied with their new masters, determined 
 to emigrate. The proprietors of Carolina offered them lands, 
 and sent two ships for their accommodation, which conveyed 
 a considerable number of them to Charlestown. Stephen 
 Bull, Surveyor General of the colony, had instructions to mark 
 out lands on the southwest side of Ashley river, for their ac- 
 commodation. They drew lots for their property, and formed 
 a town which was called Jamestown. This was the first col- 
 ony of Dutch settlersin Carolina. Their industry surmounted 
 incredible hardships, and their success induced many from 
 ancient Belgia afterwards to follow them to the western world. 
 The inhabitants of Jamestown, finding their situation too nar- 
 row, spread themselves over the country, and the town was 
 deserted. 
 
 In 1 679, King Charles II. ordered two small vessels to be pro- 
 vided at his expense, to transport to Carolina several foreign 
 protestants, who proposed to raise wine, oil, silk and other pro- 
 ductions of the south. Though they did not succeed in en- 
 riching the country with these valuable commodities, their 
 descendants form a part of the present inhabitants. 
 
 The revocation of the edict of Nantz, fifteen years subse- 
 quent to the settlement of Carolina, contributed much to its 
 population. In it, soon after that event, were transplanted 
 from France the stocks from which have sprung the respect- 
 able families of Bonneau, Bounetheau, Bordeaux, Benoist, 
 Boiseau, Bocquet, Bacot, Chevalier, Cordes, Courterier, Chas- 
 taignier, Dupre, Delysle, Dubose, Dubois, Deveaux, Dutarque, 
 De la Consiliere, De Leiseline, Douxsaint, Dupont, Du Bour- 
 dieu, D'Harriette, Faucheraud, Foissin, Faysoux, Gaillard, 
 Gendron, Gignilhat, Guerard, Godin, Girardeaux, Guerin, 
 Gourdine, Horry, Huger, Jeannerette, Legare, Laurens, La 
 Roche, Lenud, Lansac, Marion, Mazyck, Manigault,* Melli- 
 
 * A letter written in French by Judith Manigault, the wife oi' Peter Manigault, 
 who were the foiuulers of the worthy family of that name, may give some faint 
 idea of the sufferings of these French protestant refugees. This lady, when 
 about twenty years old, embarked in ItiSS for Carolina, by the way of London. 
 After her arrival, she wrote to her brother a letter, giving an account of her ad- 
 ventures. This letter translated into English, is as follows: — " Since you desire 
 it, I will give you an account of ourquitting France, and of our arrival in Carolina. 
 During eight months, we had suffered from the contributions and the quartering 
 of the soldiers, with many other inconveniences. We therefore resolved on quitting 
 France by night, leaving the soldiers in their beds, and abandoning the house with 
 its furniture. We contrived to hide ourselves at Romans, in Dauphigny, for ten 
 days, while a search was made after us; but our hostess being faithful, did not 
 betray us when questioned if she had seen us. From thence we passed to Lyons 
 — from thence to Dijon — from which place, as well as from Langres, my eldest 
 brother wrote to you ; but I know not if either of the letters reached you. He 
 informed you that we were quitting France. He went to Madame de Choiseul's, 
 which was of lio avail as she was dead, and her son-in-law had the command of 
 
4 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 champ, Monzon, Michau, Neufville, Prioleau,* Peronneau, 
 Perdriau, Porcher, Postell, Peyre, Poyas, Ravenel, Royer, 
 Simons, Sarazin, St. Julien, Serre, Trezevant. 
 
 These, and several other French protestants, in consequence 
 of the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, repaired to Carolina, 
 and became useful inhabitants. Many of their descendants 
 have been, and are, respectable and distinguished citizens.* 
 They generally at first established themselves on Santee 
 
 every thing: moreover, he gave us to understand that he perceived our intentioa 
 of quitting France, and if we asked any favors from him, he would inform against 
 us. We therefore made the best of our way for Metz, in Lorraine, where we 
 embarked on the river Moselle, in order to go to Treves — from thence we passed 
 to Cochieim, and to Coblentz — from thence to Cologne, where we quilted the 
 Rhine, to go by land to Wesel — where we met with an host, who spoke a little 
 French, and who informed us we were only thirty leagues from Lunenburg. We 
 knew that you were in winter quarters there, by a letter of yours, received fifteen 
 days before our departure from France, which mentioned that you should winter 
 there. Our deceased mother and myself earnestly besought my eldest brother to 
 go that way with us; or, leaving us with her, to pay. you a visit alone. It was in 
 the depth of winter: but he would not hear of it, having Carolina so much in his 
 head that he dreaded losing any opportunity of going thither. Oh, what grief the 
 losing so fine an opportunity of seeing you at least once more, lias caused me I 
 How have I regretted seeing a brother show so little feeling, and how often have I 
 reproached him with it ! but he was our master, and we were constrained to do as 
 he pleased. We passed on to Holland, to go from thence to England. I do not 
 recollect exactly the year, whether 'Si or 'S5, but it was that in which King Charles 
 of England died, fFeb. 1085.) We remained in London three months, waiting for 
 a passage to Carolina. Having embarked, we were sadly ofl': the spotted fever 
 made its appearance on board our vessel, of which disease many died, and amono- 
 them our aged mother. Nine months elapsed before our arrival in Carolina. We 
 touched at two ports— one a Portuguese, and the other an island called Bermuda, 
 belonging to the English, to refit our vessel, which had been much injured in a storm! 
 Our Captain having committed some misdemeanor, was put in prison, and the 
 vessel seized. Our money was all spent, and it was with great dilficulty we pro- 
 cured a passage in another vessel. Alter our arrival in Carolina, we suffered 
 every kind of evil. In about eighteen months our elder brother, unaccustomed to 
 the hard labor we had to undergo, died of a fever. Since leaving France we had 
 experienced every kind of aBlictiou— disease— pestilence— famine— poverty— hard 
 labor. I have been for six months together without lasting bread, working the o-round 
 like a slave ; and I have even passed three or four years without always havin" it 
 when I wanted it. God has done great things for us, enabling us to bear up under°so 
 many trials. I should never have done, were I to attempt to detail to you all our adven- 
 tures. Let it sufiice that God has had compass ion on me. and changed my fate to a more 
 happy one, for which glory be unto him." The writer of the'above letter died in 
 1711, seven years after she had given birth to Gabriel Manigault, who in a lon»- 
 and uselul lite accumulated a iortune so large, as enabled him to aid the asvluiu 
 of his persecuted parents with a loan of $2-20,000, for carrying on its revolutionary 
 struggle for liberty and independence. This was done at an early period of the 
 contest when no man was certain whether it would terminate in a revolution or 
 a rebellion. 
 
 "The Rev. Elias Prioleau, the founder of the eminently respectable flimily of 
 that name in Carolina, migrated thither soon after the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantz, and brought with him from France a considerable part of his nrotesiant 
 congregation. He was the grandson of Amhoine Prioli, who was elected IW 
 of Venice in ihe year 101&. Many of his numerous descendants, who were born 
 and constantly resided in or near Charleston, have approached or exceeded ,h»^^ 
 70tb year; and several have survived, or now survive their bOth. ' 
 
 tThree of the nine Presidents of the old Congress which conducted the TIni.ed 
 States through the revolutionary war, were descendants of French npm . . 
 refugees, who had migrated to America in consequence of the revoc»,,'„ J fi" 
 Edict of Nantz. The persons alluded to were Henry Laurens,of South p °r 
 John Jay, of New York ; and Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey. "-arolma; 
 
POPULATION. 5 
 
 river ; and from them that part of the country in old maps 
 was called French Santee. 
 
 Besides these French refugees who came directly from 
 France, there was a considerable number which, after a short 
 residence in the northern countries of Europe and of America, 
 particularly New York, repaired to Carolina, as a climate 
 more similar to the one from which they had been driven, 
 than the bleaker regions to which they had first resorted. Thus 
 Carolina became a general rendezvous of French protestants, 
 as had been originally contemplated by one of their distin- 
 guished leaders, shortly after the discovery of America.* 
 
 In the year 1696, Carolina received a small accession of 
 inhabitants, by the arrival of a congregational church from 
 Dorchester in Massachusetts, who, with their minister, the 
 Rev. Joseph Lord, settled in a body near the head of Ashley 
 river, about twenty-two miles from Charlestown. 
 
 In the year 1713 the Assembly passed a law directing the 
 public receiver to pay out of the treasury, fourteen poimds 
 current money to the owners or importers of each healthy 
 male British servant, not a criminal, betwixt the age of twelve 
 and thirty years. 
 
 No considerable groups of settlers are known to have emi- 
 grated to South Carolina, between 1696 and 1730, but the 
 province continued to advance in population from the arrival 
 of many individuals. It in particular received a considerable 
 accession of inhabitants from Georgia, at the first settlement 
 of that Colony. The Colonists there were prohibited the use 
 
 -'■"As early as the year 1562 Admiral Coligny, a zealous Huguenot, formed a pro- 
 ject for founding an asylum for French protestants in America. He succeeded so 
 far as to afJect a settlement under the direction of John "Ribault somewhere on 
 the coast of Carolina, most probably on or near the island of St. Helena. These 
 French settlers not being well supported, became discontented; and afterwaMs 
 the whole of them put to sea, with a scanty stock of provisions. Pinched with 
 hunger, they killed one of their number, who consented to be made a victim to 
 save liis comrades. The survivors were taken up by an English ship, and carried 
 into England. Two years after, or in 1564, M. Rene Laudonniere, with a consider- 
 able reinforcement, arrived at the river of May on the same coast after it had 
 been aliandoned. This second groupe of French protestants was killed by Pedro 
 Melendez a Spanish officer, who had received orders from his King to drive the 
 Huguenots out of the country, and to settle it with good Catholics. In execution 
 of this order he hung several of the French settlers, and suspended over them a 
 label signifying, "I do not do this as to Frenchmen, but as to Lutherans.'' The 
 Spanish conquerers took the stand of the vanquished French and fortiiied it. But 
 their cruelty was retaliated by Dominique De Gourges, who soon after sailed from 
 France with a considerable force. On his arrival he successfully attacked the 
 Spanish settlement, and after killing many in action, he hung the survivors on the 
 same trees in which his countrymen had been previously hung, and with a sear- 
 ing iron, impressed on a tablet of wood this inscription. "I do not do this as to 
 Spaniards, but as to robbers and murderers." The victors, after razing the forts 
 and destroying the settlement, returned to France. The country, thus abandoned 
 by both French and Spaniards, remained in the undisturbed possession of the 
 Indians for more than a hundred years. Soon after the end of that period, it was 
 taken possession of by the English, and under their auspices became an asylum 
 for French protestants, as it had been originally intended by Admiral Coligny. 
 
6 CIVIL HISTORY 
 
 of spirituous liquors, and were not sviffered to own slaves. Sev- 
 eral of thern soon found that Carolina would suit them better. 
 In a few years after the royal purchase of the province in 1729, 
 vigorous measures, which shall be hereafter related, were 
 adopted by government for filling the country with inhabitants. 
 Contracts were made — bounties offered — free lands assigned — 
 and other inducements held out to allure settlers. The door was 
 thrown open to protectants of all nations. Besides the distressed 
 subjects of the British dominions, multitudes of the poor and 
 unfortunate closed with these offers; and emigrated from 
 Switzerland, Holland and Germany. Between the years 1730 
 and 1750, a great addition was made to the strength of the 
 province from these sources; Orangeburg, Congaree, and 
 Wateree, received a large proportion of the German emigrants. 
 Numbers of palatines arrived every year. The vessels which 
 brought them over usually returned with a load of rice, and 
 made profitable voyages. After some time the King of Prus- 
 sia suddenly ptit a stop to this intercourse, by refusing to the 
 emigrating palatines a passage through his dominions. Wil- 
 liamsburg township was the rendezvous of the Irish. The 
 Swiss took their stand on the northeast banks of the river 
 Savannah. Soon after the suppression of the rebellions of 
 1715 and 1745, in Scotland, many of the vanquished High- 
 landers were transported to, or voluntarily sought an asylum 
 in South Carolina. 
 
 In the course of eighty-years, or about the middle of the 
 18th century, the most valuable landj5 in the low country were 
 taken up; and settlements were gradually progressing West- 
 wardly on favorite spots in the middle and upper country. 
 The extinction of Indian claims by a cession of territory to 
 the King, was necessary to the safety of the advancing settlers. 
 This was obtained in 1755. In that year Governor Glen met 
 the Cherokee warriors in their own country, and held a treaty 
 with them. After the usual -ceremonies were ended the 
 Governor made a speech to the assembled warriors in the 
 name of his King ; representing his great power, wealth, and 
 goodness, and his particular regard for his children the Chero- 
 kees. He reminded them of the happiness they had long 
 enjoyed by living under his protection; and added, that he 
 had many presents to make them, and expected they would 
 surrender a share of their territories in return. He informed 
 them of the wicked designs of the French, and hoped thev 
 would permit none of them to enter their towns. He de- 
 manded lands to build two forts in their country, to protect 
 them against their enemies, and to be a retreat to their friends 
 and allies, who furnished them Avith arms, ammunition 
 hatchets, clothes, and everything that they wanted. ' 
 
POPULATION. 7 
 
 When the Governor had finished his speech, Chiilochcullak 
 arose, and in answer spoke to the following effect: " What I 
 now speak, our father the great King should hear. We are 
 brothers to the people of Carolina ; one house covers us all." 
 Then taking a boy by the hand, he presented him to the Gov- 
 ernor saying, " We, our wives, and our children, are all chil- 
 dren of the great King George ; I have brought this child, that 
 when he grows up. he may remember our agreement on this 
 day, and tell it to the next generation, that it may be known 
 forever." Then opening his bag of earth, and laying the same 
 at the Governor's feet, he said : " We freely surrender a part 
 of our lands to the great King. The French want our posses- 
 sions, but we will defend them while one of our nation shall 
 remain alive." Then delivering the Governor a string of 
 wampum, in confirmation of what he said, he added ; " My 
 speech is at an end — it is the voice of the Cherokee nation. 
 I hope the Governor will send it to the King, that it may be 
 kept for ever." 
 
 At this congress, a prodigious extent of territory was ceded 
 to the King of England. Deeds of conveyance were drawn 
 up, and formally executed, by the head men of the Cherokees 
 in the name of the whole nation. It contained not only much 
 rich land, but an air and climate more healthy than in the 
 maritime parts. It exhibited many pleasant and romantic 
 scenes, formed by an intermixture of beautiful hills — fruitful 
 valleys — rugged rocks — clear streams, and pleasant waterfalls. 
 The acquisition, at that time, was of importance to Carolina; 
 for it removed the savages at a greater distance from the set- 
 tlements, and allowed the inhabitants liberty to extend back- 
 wards in proportion as their numbers increased. 
 
 After the cession of these lands, governor Glen built a fort 
 about three hundred miles from Charlestown. This was after- 
 wards called fort Prince George, and was situated on the 
 banks of the river Savannah, and within gun shot of an Indian 
 town called Keowee. About an hundred and seventy miles 
 farther down, a second stronghold, called fort Moore, was con- 
 structed in a beautiful commanding situation, on the banks 
 of the same river. In the year following a third fort was 
 erected, called fort Loudon, among the upper Cherokees, 
 situated on Tennessee river, upwards of five hundred miles 
 from Charlestown. 
 
 At the time Governor Glen was procuring additional terri- 
 tory for South Carolina, the events of war were furnishing 
 inhabitants for its cultivation. The province of Nova Scotia 
 was originally settled by the French, under the name of 
 Acadie. When the province was surrendered to the English, 
 by the treaty of Utrecht, it was stipulated for the inhabitants 
 
CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 that they should be permitted to hold their lands on condi- 
 tion of taking the oath of allegiance to their new sovereign. 
 With this condition they refused to comply, without annexing 
 to it as a qualification that they should not be called upon to 
 bear arms in defence of the province. 
 
 Though this qualification to their oaths of allegiance, which 
 was acceded to by the commanding officer of the British 
 forces, was afterwards disallowed by the crown, yet the French 
 inhabitants of Nova Scotia continued to consider themselves 
 as neutrals. Their love of France, however, would not permit 
 them to conform their conduct to the character they had 
 assumed. In all the contests between the two nations, re- 
 specting the possession of their countrj^, or the boundaries of 
 Nova Scotia, their conduct was influenced rather by their 
 wishes than their duty, and about three hundred of them 
 were captured in the year 1755, with the French garrison of 
 Beau Sejour, fighting against the English. 
 
 In the obstinate conflict which was then commencing be- 
 tween France and England for American territory, the con- 
 tinuance of these acadian neutrals in Nova Scotia was 
 thought dangerous. To expel them from the country, leaving 
 them at liberty to choose their place of residence, would be 
 to reinforce the French in Canada. A council was held for 
 the purpose of deciding on the destinies of these unfortunate 
 people; and the severe policy was adopted of removing them 
 from their homes, and dispersing them among the other 
 British colonies. This harsh measure was immediately put 
 into execution. About 1500 of them were sent to Charles- 
 town. Some of these exiles have risen to wealth and distinc- 
 tion in Carolina, though it was not originally their country 
 either by birth or choice; but most of them in a short time 
 after peace, left the country. They were, in general, a hard 
 working people. Among them were several industrious fisher- 
 men, who plentifully supplied the market with fish. 
 
 Soon after the conclusion of the treaty, between Governor 
 Glen and the Indians, the settlers began to stretch backward, 
 and occupied land above an hundred and fifty miles from the 
 shores of the Atlantic. New emigrants from Ireland, Ger- 
 many, and the northern colonies, obtained grants in these 
 interior parts; and introduced the cultivation of wheat, hemp, 
 flax, and tobacco, for which the soil answered better than in 
 the low lands near the sea. Their cattle, sheep, hoo^s and 
 horses, multiplied rapidly ; having a country of vast^ extent 
 to range over, they found plenty of provisions in almost every 
 season. New settlers were invited to these hilly and more 
 healthy parts, where they labored with greater safety than 
 among the swamps. By degrees, public roads were made 
 
POPULATION. 9 
 
 and they conveyed their produce in wagons to the capital, 
 where they found an excellent market for all their productions. 
 
 The lands thus obtained by treaty form the present districts 
 of Edgefield, Abbeville, Laurens, Newberry, Union, Spartan- 
 burg, York, Chester, Fairfield and Richland. Their value, in 
 a few years after their cession, was enhanced by the peace of 
 Paris, in 1763; for the stipulations therein contained gave 
 security to the frontiers, and settled all disputes about the 
 boundaries of the English colonies. By the cession of 
 Florida it removed troublesome neighbors, and left the sav- 
 ages so much in the power of the English as to deter them 
 from future hostilities. The population of the newly acquired 
 territory, form that period, increased with unusual rapidity. 
 The assembly, desirous of strengthening their frontier, wisely 
 appropriated a large fund for bounties to foreign protestants, 
 and such industrious poor people of Britain and Ireland, as 
 should resort to the province within three years and settle on 
 the inland parts. Two townships, each containing 48,000 
 acres, were laid out to be divided among emigrants, allowing 
 one hundred acres for every man, and fifty for every woman 
 and child, that should come and settle in them. The face of 
 the country in those interior parts, is variable and beautiful. 
 The air mild and wholesome, and the soil exceedingly fertile. 
 The salubrity of the climate, connected with the provincial 
 bounty, and the fertility of the soil, induced great numbers to 
 fix themselves in these western regions. 
 
 About the same time, a remarkable affair happened in 
 Germany, by which South Carolina received a considerable 
 acquisition. One Stumpel, who had been an officer in the 
 King of Prussia's service, being reduced at the peace, applied 
 to the British Ministry for a tract of land in America; and 
 having got some encouragement, returned to Germany, where, 
 by deceitful promises, he seduced between five and six hun- 
 dred ignorant people from their native country. When these 
 poor palatines arrived in England, Stumpel, finding himself 
 unable to perform his promises, fled, leaving them without 
 money or friends, exposed in the open field, and ready to 
 perish through want While they were in this starving con- 
 dition, a humane clergyman took compassion on them, and 
 published their deplorable case in a newspaper. He pleaded 
 for the mercy and protection of government, until an oppor- 
 tunity might offer of transporting them to some of the British 
 colonies. A bounty of three hundred pounds was allowed 
 them. Tents were ordered for the accommodation of such as 
 had been permitted to come ashore, and money was sent for 
 the relief of those that were confined on board. The public 
 spirited citizens of London chose a committee to raise money 
 
10 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 for the relief of these poor palatines. In a few days these 
 unfortunate strangers, from the depth of indigence and dis- 
 tress, were raised to comfortable circumstances. The com- 
 mittee, finding the money received more than sufficient to 
 relieve their present distress, applied to the king to know his 
 royal pleasure with respect to the future disposal of the 
 German protestants. His majesty, sensible that his colony of 
 South Carolina had not its proportion of white inhabitants, 
 signified his desire of transporting them to that province. 
 
 Accordingly two ships of two hu'ndred tons each were 
 provided for their accommodation, and provisions of all 
 kinds laid in for the voyage. An hundred and fifty stand of 
 arms were given to them for their defence after their arrival 
 in America. Every thing being ready for their embarkation, 
 the palatines broke up their camp and proceeded to the ships, 
 attended by several of their benefactors, of whom they took 
 their leave with songs of praise to God in their mouths and 
 tears of gratitude in their eyes. 
 
 In the month of April, 1764, they arrived at Charlestown, 
 and presented a letter from the lords commissioners for trade 
 and plantations to Governor Boone; acquainting him that his 
 majesty had been pleased to take the poor palatines under his 
 royal care and protection ; and, as many of them were versed 
 in the culture of silk and vines, had ordered that a settlement 
 be provided for them in Carolina, in a situation most proper 
 for these purposes. The assembly voted five hundred pounds 
 sterling to be distributed among them. That they might be 
 settled in a body, one of the two townships was allotted for 
 them and divided in the most equitable manner into small 
 tracts, for the accommodation of each family, and all possi- 
 ble assistance was given towards promoting their speedy and 
 comfortable settlement. 
 
 In the same year Carolina received 212 settlers from 
 France. Soon after the peace of Paris, the Rev. Mr. Gibert, a 
 popular preacher, prevailed on a number of persecuted pr'o- 
 testant families to seek an asylum in South Carolina. On his 
 solicitation, the government, of England encouraged the 
 project, and furnished the means of transportation. Mr. 
 Gibert repaired to England, and directed the movements of 
 the refugees. They found it necessaiy to leave France pri- 
 vately, at different times, and in small numbers. After leaving 
 their native country, they rendezvoused at Plymouth and 
 sailing from that port arrived in Charlestown in April 'l764. 
 They were received by the Carolinians with great kindness 
 and hospitality. They, generally, retired to spend the ap- 
 proaching summer in Beaufort. But in the month of October 
 following they returned to Charlestown, and set out for the 
 
POPULATION. 11 
 
 back country, having lost but one of their number since tVieir 
 landing. The province furnished them with the means of 
 conveyance to Long Cane. Vacant lands were laid out for 
 their use; and they received warrants for the quantities of 
 land granted to them respectively, by the bounty of the Pro- 
 vincial Assembly. On their arrival at the place assigned 
 them, they gave it the name of New Bourdeaux, after the 
 capital of the province from which most of them had emi- 
 grated. They have been distinguished for their industry and 
 good morals. The climate has agreed so well with them, 
 that they have generally enjoyed good health, and several of 
 them have survived their 80th year. The manufacture of 
 silk is still continued among them. The nephew of the 
 original projector of the settlement is one of the present rep- 
 resentatives of Abbeville district, in the State Legislature. 
 This was the third groupe of settlers Carolina received from 
 France. 
 
 Besides foreign protestants, several persons from England 
 and Scotland resorted to Carolina after the peace of 1763. 
 But of all other countries, none has furnished the province 
 with so many inhabitants as Ireland. Scarce a ship sailed 
 from any of its ports for Charlestown that was not crowded 
 with men, women, and children. The bounty allowed to 
 new settlers, induced numbers of these people to resort to 
 Carolina. The merchants finding this bounty equivalent to 
 the expenses of the passage, persuaded the people to embark. 
 Many causes may be assigned for this spirit of emigration 
 from Ireland, but domestic oppression was the most powerful 
 and prevalent. 
 
 JSTor were these the only sources from which an increase 
 of population was at this time derived. Notwithstanding 
 the vast extent of territory contained in the provinces of 
 Virginia and Pennsylvania, a scarcity of improvable lands 
 began to be felt in these colonies, and poor people could not 
 find vacant spots in them equal to their expectations. In 
 Carolina the case was different ; for there large tracts of the 
 best lands lay waste. This induced many of the northern 
 colonists to migrate to the South. About this time above a 
 thousand families with their effects, in the space of one year 
 resorted to South Carolina, driving their cattle, hogs, and 
 horses over land before them. Lands were allotted them in 
 its western woods, which soon became the most populous 
 parts of the province. The frontiers were not only strength- 
 ened and secured by new settlers, but the old ones began to 
 stretch backward, and the demand for lands in the inte- 
 rior parts every year increased. From the time in which 
 America was secured by the peace of 1763, and particularly 
 
12 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 for the twelve subsequent years, the province made rapid 
 progress in agriculture, numbers and wealth. 
 
 In the revolutionary war which commenced in 1775, little 
 addition was made either to the population or settlements in 
 South Carolina. But this was amply compensated by the 
 multitudes from Europe and the more northern parts of 
 America, which poured into the State, shortly after the peace 
 of 1783. The two new western districts now called Pendle- 
 ton and Greenville, which were obtained by treaty founded 
 on conquest from the Cherokee Indians in 1777, filled so 
 rapidly with inhabitants, that in the year 1800 they alone 
 contained upwards of 30,000 inhabitants; which exceeded 
 the population of the whole province in the 64th year from 
 its first settlement. 
 
 Hitherto Carohna had been an asylum to those who fled 
 from tyranny and persecution — to the exile — the weary and 
 heavy laden — the wretched and unfortunate — and to those 
 who were bowed down with poverty and oppression. A new 
 variety of human misery was lately presented for the exercise 
 of its hospitality. The insecurity of life, liberty, and pro- 
 perty, in revolutionary France, and the indiscriminate 
 massacre of Frenchmen in St. Domingo, drove several hun- 
 dreds in the last years of the 18th century to the shores of 
 Carolina. They were kindly received; and, such as were in 
 need, received a temporary accommodation at the expense of 
 the public. Most of them fixed their residence in or near 
 Charleston. 
 
 These were the last groupe of settlers the State received 
 from foreign countries. The new States and Territories to 
 the southward and westward, draw to them so many of the 
 inhabitants of South Carolina, that emigration from it at 
 present nearly balances migration to it. Its future population 
 must in a great measure depend on the natural increase of 
 its own inhabitants. So much of the soil is unimproved, or 
 so imperfectly cultivated, that the introduction and extension 
 of a proper system of husbandry will afford support to ten 
 Jimes the number of its present inhabitants. 
 
 So many and so various have been the sources from which 
 Carolina has derived her population, that a considerable 
 period must elapse, before the people amalgamate into amass 
 possessing an uniform national character. This event daily 
 draws nearer; for each successive generation drops a part of 
 the peculiarities of its immediate predecessors. The in- 
 fluence of climate and government will have a similar effect. 
 The different languages, and dialects, introduced by the set- 
 tlers from different countries, are gradually giving place to 
 the English. So much similarity prevails among the de- 
 
POPULATION, 13 
 
 scendants of the early emigrants from the Old World, that 
 strangers cannot ascertain the original country of the ancestors 
 of the present race. 
 
 If comparisons among the different nations which have 
 contributed to the population of Carolina were proper, it 
 might be added that the Scotch and Dutch were the most 
 useful emigrants. They both brought with them, and gen- 
 erally retained in an eminent degree, the virtues of industry 
 and economy so peculiarly necessary in a new country. To 
 the former. South Carolina is indebted for much of its early 
 literature. A great proportion of its physicians, clergymen, 
 lawyers, and schoolmasters, wer.e from North Britain. The 
 Scotch had also the address frequently to advance them- 
 selves by marriage. The instances of their increasing the 
 property thus acquired, are many — of their dissipating it, 
 very few. 
 
 Emigrants from all countries on application readily ob- 
 tained grants of land ; either by private agreement from the 
 proprietors, or from officers appointed by them, and acting 
 under their instructions. The fees of office were not unrea- 
 sonable. The price first fixed by the proprietors, was at the 
 rate of £20 sterling for a thousand acres, and an annual 
 quit-rent of one shilling for every hundred acres. When a 
 warrant for taking up land was obtained, the person in whose 
 favor it was granted had to choose where it should be located. 
 It was then surveyed and marked. Plats and grants were 
 also signed, recorded and delivered to the purchasers. This 
 was the common mode of obtaining landed estates in Carolina, 
 and the tenure was a freehold. They who could not ad- 
 vance the purchase money, obtained their lands on condition 
 of their paying one penny annual rent for every acre. The 
 first settlers, having the first choice of lands, had great ad- 
 vantages ; and many of their descendants now enjoy large 
 and valuable estates, purchased by their ancestors for incon- 
 siderable sums. This mode of settlement by indiscriminate 
 Jocation, dispersed the inhabitants over the country without 
 union or system. The settlers generally preferred the sea 
 coast — the margins of rivers — and other fertile grounds; and 
 gradually located themselves westwardly on the good land, 
 leaving the bad untouched. For the first eighty years, they 
 had advanced very little beyond an equal number of miles ; 
 but in the following fifty, they stretched to the Alleghany 
 Mountains nearly three hundred miles from the ocean. 
 While the people of New England extended their settlements 
 exclusively by townships, presenting a compact front to the 
 Indians, and co-extending the means of instruction in religion 
 and learning with their population, South Carolina, in com- 
 
14 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 mon with the other Southern provinces proceeding on the 
 former plan, deprived her inhabitants of the many advantages 
 connected with compact settlements. These evils are now 
 done away; for, since the revolution, nearly all the vacant 
 land in the State has been taken up. They who have been 
 obliged to content themselves witli the long neglected poor 
 lands, have the consolation that what they lost one way is 
 made up in another; for it is found, that the high and dry 
 pine land is by far the most healthy. 
 
 CIVIL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Proprietary Government, from its Commencement in 1670, 
 till its Abolition in 1719. 
 
 In the course of the 130 years in which South Carohna 
 increased from a handful of adventurers to 345,591 inhab- 
 itants, the government was changed, first from proprietary to 
 regal; and secondly, from regal to representative. The first 
 continued forty-nine years, the second fifty-seven; and the 
 third, after a lapse of thirty-two years, is now in the bloom 
 and vigor of youth, promising a long duration. 
 
 Near the end of the fifteenth century, the King of England, 
 according to currently received opinions, obtained a property 
 in the soil of North America, from the circumstance that 
 Cabot, one of his subjects, was the first Christian who sailed 
 along the coast Property thus easily acquired, was with 
 equal facility given away. Charles the Second, soon after 
 his restoration to the throne of his ancestors, granted to 
 Edward, Earl of Clarendon, George, Duke of Albemarle, Wil- 
 liam, Lord Craven, John, Lord Berkeley, Anthony, Lord Ash- 
 ley, Sir George Carteret, Sir William Berkeley, and Sir John 
 Colleton, all the lands lying between the 31st and 36th degree 
 of north latitude. In two years more he enlarged the grant 
 from the 29th degree of north latitude to 36° 30', and from 
 these points on the sea coast westwardly in parallel lines to the 
 Pacific ocean. Of this immense region the King constituted 
 them absolute lords and proprietors, with the reservation of 
 the dominion of the country to himself and successors. These 
 extensive limits underwent many changes from the resump- 
 tion of royal charters; treaties — particularly those of 1763 and 
 
PKOPRIETAKT GOVERNMENT, 1670 1719. 15 
 
 1783; royal instructions to governors; boundary lilies run and 
 settlements made by authorized commissioners; State cession 
 to Congress; conquests from and treaties with Indians. 
 
 The present situation and limits of South Carolina are as 
 follows. It is situated in North America; between 32 and 
 35° 8' and 6° 10' west longitude, from Washington, the seat 
 of government of the United States of America. North Caro- 
 lina stretches along its northern and northeastern frontier; 
 Tennessee along its northwestern, and Georgia along its south- 
 ern frontier; and the Atlantic ocean bounds its eastern limits. 
 
 South Carolina is bounded northwardly by a line commenc- 
 ing at a cedar stake marked with nine notches on the shore 
 of the Atlantic ocean, near the mouth of Little river, then 
 "pursuing by many traverses a coast west-north-west, until it 
 arrives at the fork of Catauba river; thence due west until it 
 arrives at a point of intersection in the Apalachean moun- 
 tains. From thence, due south until it strikes Chatuga, the 
 most northern branch or stream of Tugoloo river. Thence 
 along the said river Tugoloo to its confluence with the river 
 Keowee; thence along the river Savannah, until it intersects 
 the Atlantic ocean by its most northern mouth ; thence north- 
 eastwardly, along the Atlantic ocean, including the islands, 
 until it intersects the northern boundary near the entrance of 
 Little river. These boundaries include an area somewhat 
 triangular, of about 24,0080 square miles ; whereof 9,570 lie 
 above the falls of the rivers, and 14,510 are between the falls 
 and the Atlantic ocean. 
 
 King Charles the Second also gave to the lords proprietors 
 of Carolina authority to enact, with the assent of the freemen 
 of the colony, any laws they should judge necessary; to erect 
 courts of judicature, and to appoint judges, magistrates and 
 officers; to erect forts, castles, cities and towns; to make war, 
 and in case of necessity, to exercise martial law; to build har- 
 bors, make prrts, and enjoy customs and subsidies, imposed 
 with the consent of the freemen, on goods loaded and un- 
 loaded. The King also granted to the proprietors, authority 
 to allow indulgences and dispensations in religious aff"airs, 
 and that no person to whom such Uberty should be granted 
 was to be molested for any difference of speculative opinions 
 with respect to religion, provided he did not disturb the peace 
 of the community. 
 
 The preamble of this grant states, "That the grantees being 
 excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation of 
 the gospel, begged a certain country in the parts of America, 
 not yet cultivated and planted, or only inhabited by some bar- 
 barous people who had no knowledge of God." Invested with 
 these ample powers, the proprietors formed a joint stock for 
 
16 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 the transportation of settlers to their projected colony. To 
 induce adventurers, they declared, " That all persons settling 
 on Charles river, to the southward of Cape Fear, shall have 
 power to fortify its banks, taking the oath of allegiance to the 
 King, and submitting to the government of the proprietors: 
 that the emigrants may present to them thirteen persons, in 
 order that they may appoint a Governor and council of six, for 
 three years; that an assembly, composed of the Governor, the 
 council, and delegates of the freemen, should be called as soon 
 as the circumstances of the colony would allow, with power 
 to make laws, which should be neither contrary to the laws 
 of England, nor of any validity after the publication of the 
 dissent of the proprietors : that every person should enjoy the 
 most perfect freedom in religion: that during five years every 
 freeman should be allowed one hundred acres of land and 
 fifty for every servant, paying only one half-penny an acre: 
 that the same freedom from customs which had been conferred 
 by the royal charter should be allowed to every one." Such 
 were the original conditions on which Carolina was planted. 
 And thus it was established upon the broad foundation of a 
 regular system of freedom, both civil and religious. 
 
 The proprietors, anxious to improve their property, with the 
 aid of the celebrated John Locke, framed a constitution and 
 laws for the government of their colony. These were in sub- 
 stance as follows: "The eldest of the eight proprietors was 
 always to be Palatine, and at his decease was to be succeeded 
 by the eldest of the seven survivors. This Palatine was to 
 sit as President of the Palatine's Court, of which he and three 
 more of the proprietors made a quorum, and had the manage- 
 ment and execution of the powers of their charter. This 
 Court was to stand in room of the King, and give their assent 
 or dissent to all laws made by the Legislature of the colony. 
 The Palatine was to have power to nominate and appoint 
 the Governor, who, after obtaining the royal approbation, 
 became his representative in Carolina. Each of the seven 
 proprietors was to have the privilege of appointing a deputy 
 to sit as his representative in Parliament, and to act agreeably 
 to his instructions. Besides a Governor, two other branches, 
 somewhat similar to the old Saxon constitution, were to be 
 established; an upper and lower House of Assembly: which 
 three branches were to be called a Parliament, and to consti- 
 tute the Legislature of the country. The parliament was to 
 be chosen every two years. No act of the Legislature was to 
 have any force unless ratified in open Parliament, during the 
 same session, and even then to continue no longer in force 
 than the next biennial Parliament, unless in the meantime it 
 be ratified by the hands and seals of the Palatine and three 
 
PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT, 1670 1719. 17 
 
 proprietors. The upper house was to consist of the seven 
 deputies, seven of the oldest landgraves and cassiques, and 
 seven chosen by the Assembly. As in the other provinces, 
 the lower house was to be composed of the representatives 
 from the different counties and towns. Several officers were 
 also to be appointed, such as an admiral, a secretary, a chief 
 justice, a surveyor, a treasurer, a marshal, and register; and 
 besides these, each county was to have a sheriff and four jus- 
 tices of the peace. Three classes of the nobility were to be 
 established, called barons, cassiques, and landgraves ; the first 
 to possess twelve, the second twenty-four, and the third forty- 
 eight thousand acres of land, and their possessions were to be 
 unalienable. Military officers were also to be nominated; and 
 all inhabitants, from sixteen to sixty years of age, as in the 
 times of feudal government, when regularly summoned, were 
 to appear under arms, and in time of war to take the field. 
 
 With respect to religion, three terms of communion were 
 fixed. First, to believe that there is a God. Secondly, that 
 he is to be worshipped. And thirdly, that it is lawful, and 
 the duty of every man when called upon by those in authority, 
 to bear witness to the truth. Without acknowledging which, 
 no man was permitted to be a freeman, or to have any estate 
 or habitation in Carolina. But persecution for observing dif- 
 ferent modes and ways of worship, was expressly forbidden ; 
 and every man was to be left full liberty of conscience, and 
 might worship God in that manner which he thought most 
 conformable to the Divine will and revealed word. 
 
 Notwithstanding these preparations, several years elapsed 
 before the proprietors of Carolina made any serious efforts 
 towards its settlement. In '1667 they fitted out a ship, gave 
 the command of it to Captain William Sayle, and sent him 
 out to bring them some account of the country. He sailed 
 along the coast of CaroUna, where he observed several large 
 navigable rivers emptying themselves into the ocean ; and a 
 fiat country covered with woods. He attempted to go ashore 
 in his boat, but observing some savages on the banks of the 
 rivers, he desisted- Having explored the coast and the mouths 
 of the rivers, he returned to England. 
 
 His report to the proprietors was favorable. He praised 
 their possessions, and encouraged them to engage with vigor 
 in the execution of their project. Thus encouraged, they 
 began to make preparations for sending a colony to commence 
 a settlement. Two ships were procured; on board of which 
 a number of adventurers embarked with provisions, arms, 
 and utensils requisite for building and cultivation. William 
 Sayle, who had visited the country, was appointed the first 
 Governor of it; and received a commission, bearing date 
 2 
 
18 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 July 26th, 1669. The expenses of this first embarkation 
 amounted to twelve thousand pounds sterling. The settlers 
 must have been few in number, and no ways adequate to 
 the undertaking.* The country now called Carolina, on 
 which they settled, was then an immense hunting ground 
 filled with wild animals; overgrown with forests — partly 
 covered with swamps, and roamed over, rather than inhabited, 
 by a great number of savage tribes, subsisting on the chase 
 and often at war with each other. 
 
 Governor Sayle first landed at or near Beaufort, early in 
 1670, but soon moved northwardly and took possession of 
 some high ground on the western banks of Ashley river, near 
 its mouth; and there laid the foundations of old Charles- 
 town. This was also abandoned ; and in 1680 Oyster Point, 
 at the confluence of Ashley and Cooper rivers, was fixed upon 
 as the seat of government, and head-quarters of the settle- 
 ment. Soon after his arrival governor Sayle died, and was 
 succeeded by Joseph West; and he by Sir John Yeamans, 
 who left the colony, and was succeeded by Joseph West on 
 a second appointment. These changes took place in the 
 short space of four years. The people, who had hitherto 
 lived under a species of military government, began about 
 this time to form a Legislature for establishing civil regula- 
 tions. In the year 1674 the freemen of Carolina, meeting by 
 summons at old Charlestown, elected Representatives for the 
 government of the colony. There was now the Governor, 
 and Upper and Lower House of Assembly; and these three 
 branches took the name of Parliament. Of the laws passed 
 by them nothing is known. The first law which has been 
 found on record in the office of the Secretary of the Province, 
 is dated May 26th, 1682 ; eight years subsequent to the first 
 meeting of the first Parliament in Carolina. Many were the 
 difficulties with which these settlers had to-contend. They 
 were c^bliged to stand in a constant posture of defence. While 
 one party was employed in raising their little habitations, 
 another was always kept under arms to watch the Indians. 
 
 » We have the authority of John Archdale, Governor of South Carolina in 
 1695, that the number of hostile Indians was considerably lessened about the 
 time this settlement took place. In the second page of his description of South 
 Carolina, printed in 1707, in London, he observed. •' That in the first settlement 
 of Carolina, the hand of God was eminently seen in thinning the Indians to make 
 room for the English. As for example; in Carolina in which were seated two 
 potent nations, called the Westoes and Savannahs, which contained inanv thou- 
 sands, who broke out into an unusual civil war; and thereby reduced themselves 
 into a small number: and the Westoes, the more cruel of the two were "at the 
 last forced quite out of that province ; and the Savannahs continued' n-ood friends 
 nd useful neighbors to the English. But again it at other tiines nleased 
 Ahnigbty God to send unusual sicknesses amongst them, as the small nox &c 
 to lessen their numbers; so that the English, in comparison to the sLnSni-ds' 
 have but little Indian blood to answer for." '"^ bpaniards, 
 
PROPEIETART GOVERNMENT, 1670 1719. 19 
 
 While they gathered oysters with one hand for subsistence, 
 they were obliged to carry guns in the other for self-defence. 
 The only fresh provisions they could procure were fish from 
 the river, or what game they could kill with their guns. They 
 raised their scanty crops not only with the sweat of their 
 brows, but at the risk of their lives. Except a few negroes, 
 whom Sir John Yeamans and his followers brought with 
 them from Barbadoes, there were no laborers' but Europeans. 
 Till the trees were felled, and the grounds cleared, domestic 
 animals could afford to the planters no assistance. White 
 men, exposed to the heat of the climate and the terrors of 
 surrounding savages, had alone to encounter the hardships of 
 clearing and cultivating the ground. Provisions, when raised, 
 were exposed to the plundering parties of Indians. One day 
 often robbed the planter of the dear-bought fruits of a whole 
 year's toil. European grains, with which were made the 
 first experiments of planting, proved suitable neither to soil 
 nor climate. Spots of barren and sandy land, which were 
 first and most easily cleared, poorly rewarded the toil of the 
 cultivator. It was difficult for the proprietors to furnish a 
 regular supply of provisions. All the horrors of a famine 
 were anticipated. The people feeling much, and fearing 
 more, threatened to compel the Governor to abandon the set- 
 tlement.* One sloop was dispatched to Virginia, and another 
 to Barbadoes to bring provisions. Before their return a sup- 
 ply arrived from England, together with some new settlers, 
 which reanimated the expiring hopes of the colonists. 
 
 ~ It might have been expected that these adventurers, who 
 were all embarked on the same design, would be animated by 
 one spirit and zealous to maintain harmony and peace among 
 themselves; for they had all the same hardships to encounter, 
 and the same enemies to fear; yet the reverse took place. 
 The most numerous party in the country were dissenters from 
 the established Church of England. A number of cavaliers 
 having received ample grants of lands, brought over their 
 families and effects and also settled in Carolina. The cava- 
 liers were highly favored by the proprietors, and respected as 
 men of honor, loyalty and fidelity. They met with great 
 encouragement, and were generally preferred to offices of trust 
 and authority. The puritans, on the other hand, viewed 
 them with jealous eyes ; and having sufliered from them in 
 England, could not bear to see the smallest atom of power 
 committed to them in Carolina. Hence the seeds of strife 
 
 * A similar measure had been carried into effect by some French settlers, who 
 had located themselves on the coast of CaroUna, about 120 years before. Their 
 settlement was abandoned in less than two years after its commencement, and 
 was never renewed. 
 
20 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 and division which had been imported into the colony, began 
 not only to spring, but to grow rank. No common dangers 
 nor difRcnlties could obliterate the prejudices and animosities 
 which the first settlers had contracted in England. The 
 odious terms or distinction which had prevailed in the mother 
 country, were revived and propagated ainong the people of 
 the infant colony. While one party was attached to the 
 Church of England the other, which had fled from the rigor 
 of ecclesiastical power, was jealous above all things of their 
 religious liberties and could bear no encroachment on them. 
 The same scenes of debate and contention which had taken 
 place in England, for some time before and after the restora- 
 tion of Charles the Second, were acted over again on the 
 little theatre of Carolina ; but without bloodshed or legal 
 persecution. 
 
 Another source of difficulty arose to government from the 
 different manners of the colonists. Several of the first emi- 
 grants, unaccustomed to rural labors and frugal simplicity, 
 were pampered citizens; whose wants luxury had increased 
 and rendered impatient of fatigue. By such, the sober lives 
 and rigid morals of the puritans were made the objects of 
 ridicule. The puritans on the other hand, exasperated against 
 their scorners, violently opposed their influence among the 
 people. Hence arose difficulties in framing laws — in distrib- 
 uting justice — and in maintaining public order. Governor 
 West was at no small pains to restrain these dissentions; but 
 having a Council composed of cavaliers, was unable to calm 
 the tumult. In spite of his authority the puritans and cava- 
 liers continued to insult and oppose each other. In conse- 
 quence of their fierce contentions, the colony was distracted 
 with domestic differences, and poorly prepared for defence 
 against external enemies. Disputes between the proprietors 
 and settlers, were also of an early origin. 
 
 In most measures for the immediate support of the colony, 
 they for some time cordially concurred; but this was of short 
 duration. The same scenes which for more than 5000 years 
 had taken place in the Old World, began to open in this set- 
 tlement of the new. Those who govern and those who are 
 governed, think they can never gain too much on each other. 
 The existence of a court and country party, results from the na- 
 ture of man; and is found more or less in every Government 
 
 The first contest between the proprietors and the settlers, 
 was respecting advances for the encouragement of the settlers. 
 The former for some time gratuitously supplied the latter with 
 provisions, clothes, and farming utensils. The proprietors 
 afterwards annually sent out similar supplies to be exchanged 
 with the colonists for the productions of their labor, or sold 
 
PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT, 1670 1719. 21 
 
 to them at a small advance on the original cost. After 
 expending upwards of £ 18,000 sterling, in this manner, for the 
 encouragement of the settlement, they wished to hold their 
 hands and to leave the settlers to depend on their own exer- 
 tions. The difRculties attendant on the first stage of cultivation 
 furnished the inhabitants with apologies for soliciting a con- 
 tinuation of the customary supplies, and a farther extension 
 of time to pay for them. The economy of the proprietors and 
 the necessities of the settlers, could not easily he compromised. 
 The one thought they had already done too much; the other 
 that they had not received enough. To the latter, requesting 
 a supply of cattle to be sent out to them, the proprietors re- 
 plied, as a reason for their refusal, " That they wished not to 
 encourage graziers but planters." 
 
 It is from this epoch that we may date the prosperity of 
 Carolina; because she was then taught a lesson, which it is of 
 the greatest importance for every individual and every state 
 to know, " That she must altogether depend on her own exer- 
 tions." 
 
 Two parties arose; one in support of the prerogative and 
 authority of the proprietors, the other in defence of the rights 
 and liberties of the people. The former contended that the 
 laws received from England respecting government, ought to 
 be implicitly observed. The latter kept in view their local 
 circumstances, and maintained that the free men of the colony 
 were under obligations to observe them only so far as they 
 were consistent with the interests of individuals, and the 
 prosperity of the settlement. In this situation, no governor 
 could long support his power among a number of bold adven- 
 turers, who were impatient of every restraint which had the 
 least tendency to obstruct their favorite views. Whenever he 
 attempted to interpose his feeble authority, they insulted his 
 person and complained of his administration till he was re- 
 moved from office. 
 
 In the short space of four years, from 1682 till 1686, there 
 were no less than five Governors; Joseph Morton, Joseph 
 West, Richard Kirle, Robert Quarry and James Colleton. The 
 last named, who was a landgrave, and brother to one of the 
 proprietors, as well as Governor, determined to exert his au- 
 thority in compelling the people to pay up their arrears- of 
 quit-rents ; which, though very trifling, were burdensome, as 
 not one acre out of a thousand, for which quit-rents were 
 demanded, had hitherto yielded any profit. For this purpose, 
 Governor Colleton wrote to the proprietors, requesting them to 
 appoint such deputies as he knew to be most favorably dis- 
 posed towards their government, and would most readily assist 
 him in the execution of his office. Hence the interest of the 
 
22 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 proprietors and that of the people, were placed in opposite 
 scales. The more rigorously the Governor exerted his author- 
 ity, the more turbulent and riotous the people became. The 
 little community was turned into a scene of confusion. 
 
 Landgrave Colleton, mortified at the loss of power, was not 
 a little puzzled in determining what step to take. Gentle 
 means, he perceived, would be vain and ineffectual. One ex- 
 pedient was suggested, which he and his council flattered 
 themselves might induce the people, through fear, to return 
 to his standard and support the person who alone had author- 
 ity to punish mutiny and sedition. This was to proclaim 
 martial law, and try to maintain by force of arms the propri- 
 etary jurisdiction. Accordingly, without letting the people 
 into'his secret, he caused the militia to be drawn up as if some 
 danger had threatened the country, and publicly proclaimed 
 martial law at their head. His design, when discovered, 
 served only to exasperate. The members of assembly met, 
 and taking this measure under their deliberation, resolved 
 that it was an encroachment upon their liberties, and an un- 
 warrantable exertion of power, at a time when the colony was 
 in no danger. The Governor insisted on the articles of war, 
 and tried to carry the martial law into execution ; but the dis- 
 affection was too general to admit of such a remedy. In the 
 year 1690, at a meeting of the representatives, a bill was 
 iDrought in and passed for disabling landgrave James Colleton 
 from holding any office or exercising any authority, civil or 
 military, within the province. So exasperated were they 
 against him that nothing less than banishment could appease 
 them ; and therefore they gave notice to him that in a limited 
 time he must depart from the colony. 
 
 During these public commotions, Seth Sothell, pretending to 
 be a proprietor by virtue of some regulations lately made in 
 England, usurped the government of the colony. At first, 
 the people seemed disposed to acknowledge his authority; 
 but afterwards, finding him to be void of every principle of 
 honor and honesty, they abandoned him. Such was the in- 
 satiable avarice of this usurper, that his popularity was of 
 small duration. Every restraint of common justice and equity 
 was trampled upon by him, and oppression extended her iron 
 rod over the distracted colony. The fair traders from Barba- 
 does and Bermuda, were seized as pirates, by order of this 
 Governor, and confined until such fees as he was pleased to 
 enact, were paid. Bribes from felons and traitors, were ac- 
 cepted to favor their escape. Plantations were forcibly taken 
 into possession, upon pretences the most frivolous; planters 
 were compelled to give bouds for large sums of money to 
 procure from him liberty to remain in possession of their pro- 
 
PROPEIETARY GOVERNMENT, 1670 1719. 23 
 
 perty. These, and many more acts of the like atrocious 
 nature, were committed by this rapacious Governor during the 
 short time of his administration. At length the people, weary 
 of his impositions and extortions, agreed to take him by force 
 and ship him off for England. Then he humbly begged of 
 them liberty to remain in the country, promising to submit 
 his conduct to the trial of the assembly at their iirst meeting. 
 When the assembly met, thirteen different charges were 
 brought against him, and all supported by the strongest evi- 
 dence ; upon which, being found guilty, they compelled him 
 to relinquish the government and country for ever. An ac- 
 count of his infamous conduct was drawn up and sent to the 
 proprietors, which filled them with astonishment and indigna- 
 tion. He was ordered to England to answer the accusations 
 brought against him, and was informed that his refusal would 
 be taken as a further evidence and confirmation of his guilt. 
 The law for disabling landgrave James Colleton from holding 
 any authority, civil or military, in Carolina, was repealed ; 
 and strict orders were sent out to the grand council to support 
 the power and prerogative of the proprietors. But, to com- 
 pose the minds of the people, they declared their detestation 
 of such unwarrantable and wanton oppression, and protested 
 that no Governor should ever be permitted to grow rich on 
 their ruins. 
 
 Hitherto South Carolina had been a scene of contention 
 and misery. The fundamental constitution, which the pro- 
 prietors thought the most excellent form of government upon 
 earth, was disregarded. The Governors were either ill quali- 
 fied for their office, or the instructions given them were inju- 
 dicious. The inhabitants, far from living in friendship and 
 harmony among themselves, had also been turbulent and 
 ungovernable. The proprietary government was weak, un- 
 stable, and little respected. It did not excite a sufficient inter- 
 est for its own support The title of landgraves were more 
 burthensome than profitable; especially as they were only joined 
 with large tracts of land, which, from the want of laborers, lay 
 uncultivated. The money arising from the sale of lands and 
 the quit-rents, was inconsiderable — hard to be collected, and 
 by no means equal to the support of government. The pro- 
 prietors were unwilling to involve their English estates for the 
 improvement of American property ; and, on the whole, their 
 government was ill supported. 
 
 Another source of controversy between the proprietors and 
 the people, was the case of the French refugees. Many of 
 these, exiled from their own country towards the close of the 
 17th century, had settled in the province; particularly in 
 
24 CIVIL HISTORr. 
 
 Craven county.* They were an orderly, industrious, religious 
 people. Several brought property with them which enabled 
 them to buy land, and settle with greater advantages than 
 many of the poorer English emigrants. While they were 
 busy in clearing and cultivating their lands, the English set- 
 tlers began to revive national antipathies against them and to 
 consider the French as aliens and foreigners, legally entitled 
 to none of the privileges and advantages of natural born sub- 
 jects. The proprietors took part with the refugees, and in- 
 structed their Governor, Philip Ludwell, who, in 1692, had 
 been appointed the successor of Seth Sothell, to allow the 
 French settled in Craven county, the same privileges and 
 liberties with the English colonists ; but the people carried 
 their jealousy so far, that at the next election for members to 
 serve in the Assembly, Craven county, in which the French 
 refugees lived, was not allowed a single representative. At 
 this period, the Assembly of South Carolina consisted of 
 twenty members, all chosen in Charlestown. 
 
 A further cause of dissention respected the trial of pirates. 
 The proprietors, mortified at the inefficacy of the laws in 
 bringing these enemies of mankind to justice, instructed Gov- 
 ernor Lee to change the form of drawing juries ; and required 
 that all pirates should be tried and punished by the laws of 
 England, made for the suppression of piracy ; but this inno- 
 vation in the laws of the colony, was opposed by the people. 
 
 There subsisted a constant struggle between the inhabitants 
 and the officers of the proprietors. The former claimed great 
 exemptions on account of their indigent circumstances. The 
 latter were anxious to discharge the duties of their trust, and 
 to comply with the instructions of their superiors. When 
 quit-rents were demanded, some refused payment; others had 
 nothing to offer. When actions were brought for their recov- 
 ery, the planters murmured and were discontented at the 
 terms of holding their lands. The fees of the Courts and 
 Sheriffs were such that, in all actions of small value thev 
 exceeded the debt. To remedy this inconvenience, the As- 
 sembly made a law for empowering Justices of the Peace to 
 hear, and finally to determine all causes hot exceeding forty 
 shillings sterling. This' was agreeable to the people, but not 
 to the officers of justice. Governor Ludwell proposed to the 
 Assembly to consider of a new form of a deed for holding 
 
 « South Carolina, soon after its first settlement, was divided into four counties 
 Berkeley, Craven, Colleton and Carteret. Berkeley county filled the space round 
 the capital; Craven to the northward; and Colleton contained Port' Roval and 
 the islands in its vicinity, to the distance of thirty.miles. Carteret lay to the south- 
 
PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT, 1670 1719. 25 
 
 lands, by which he encroached on the prerogative of the pro- 
 prietors, incurred their displeasure, and was soon after removed 
 from the government. 
 
 To find another man equally well qualified for the trust, 
 was a matter of no small difficulty. Thomas Smith, being 
 in high estimation for his wisdom and probity, was deemed 
 to be the most proper person to succeed Ludwell. Accord- 
 ingly, a patent was sent out creating him a landgrave;* and, 
 together with it, a commission investing him with the gov- 
 ernment of the colony. Mr. Ludwell returned to Virginia, 
 happily relieved from a troublesome office ; and landgrave 
 Smith, in the year 16 93, under all possible advantages, entered 
 on it. He was previously acquainted with the state of the 
 colony, and with the tempers and dispositions of the leading 
 men in it. He knew that the interests of the proprietors, 
 and the prosperity of the settlement, were inseparably con- 
 nected. He was disposed to allow the people, struggling 
 under many hardships, every indulgence consistent with the 
 duties of his trust. 
 
 The government of the province still remained in a con- 
 fused and turbulent state. Complaints from every quarter 
 were made to the Governor, who was neither able to quiet the 
 minds of the people nor to afford them the relief they wanted. 
 The French refugees were uneasy that there was no provincial 
 law to secure their estates to the heirs of their body, or the 
 next of kin ; and feared that on the demise of the present 
 possessors, their lands would escheat to the proprietors and 
 their children become beggars. The English colonists, also, 
 perplexed the Goveriior with their complaints of hardships 
 and grievances. At last, landgrave Smith wrote to the pro- 
 prietors that he despaired of ever uniting the people in inter- 
 est and affection — that he and many more, weary of the 
 fluctuating state of public affairs, had resolved to leave the 
 province ; and that he was conviiiced nothing would bring 
 the settlers to a state of tranquility and harmony, unless they 
 
 * This patent, dated May 13th, 1691, after reciting the authority of the propri 
 etors to constitute titles and honors in the province; and to prefer men of merit, 
 and to adorn such with titles and honors: and also stating the fundamental con- 
 stitutions by which it was established — ^"Ihat there should be landgraves and 
 cassiques, who should be perpetual and hereditary nobles and peers of the pro- 
 vince ; and that Thomas Smith, a person of singular merit, would be very service- 
 able by his great prudence and industry;" proceeds to constitute him landgrave, 
 together with four baronies of 12,000 acres of land each : and it farther declares, 
 *'that the said title and four baronies should for ever descend to his heirs, on 
 paying an annual rent of a penny, lawful money of England, for each acre." 
 
 If the proprietary government had continued, the title, honors, emoluments and 
 lands derived from this patent, would now be possessed by Thomas Smith, son of 
 Henry, who is the lineal heir of the original Thomas Smith. Such have been 
 the changes which, in the course of a little more than a century, have taken place, 
 that this is the only known instance in which any one oi Mr. Locke's Carolina 
 nobility can trace back his pedigree to the Original founder. 
 
26 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 sent out one of the proprietors with full powers to redress 
 grievances, and settle differences in their colony. 
 
 The proprietors resolved to try the expedient landgrave 
 Smith had suggested, and sent out John Archdale, a man of 
 considerable knowledge and discretion — a quaker and a pro- 
 prietor. 
 
 The arrival of this pious man occasioned no small joy 
 among all the settlers. Private animosities and civil discords 
 seemed for a while to lie buried in oblivion. The Governor 
 soon found three interesting matters demanded his particular 
 attention: to restore harmony and peace among the colonists: 
 to reconcile them to the jurisdiction and authority of the pro- 
 prietors: and to regulate their policy and traffic with the 
 Indians. Such was the national antipathy of the Enghsh 
 settlers to the French refugees, that Archdale found their total 
 exclusion from all connection with the legislature was abso- 
 lutely necessary ; and therefore issued writs of elections di- 
 recting them only to Berkeley and Colleton counties. Ten 
 members for the one and ten for the other, all Englishmen, 
 were accordingly chosen by the freemen of the same nation. 
 At their meeting the Governor made a seasonable speech to 
 both houses, acquainting them with the design of his appoint- 
 ment — his regard for the colony — and great desire of con- 
 tributing towards its peace and prosperity. They in return 
 presented affectionate addresses to him, and entered on public 
 business with temper and moderation. Governor Archdale, 
 by his great discretion, settled matters of general moment to 
 the satisfaction of all excepting the French refugees. The 
 price of lands, and the form of conveyances, were fixed by 
 law. Three years' rent was remitted to those who held land 
 by grant, and four years to such as held them by survey with- 
 out grant. It was agreed to take the arrears of quit-rents 
 either in money or commodities at the option of the planters. 
 Magistrates were appointed for hearing causes between the 
 settlers and Indians, and finally determining all differences 
 between them. Public roads were ordered to be made, and 
 water passages cut for the more easy conveyance of produce 
 to the market. Some former laws were altered, and such new 
 statutes made as were judged requisite for the government and 
 peace of the colony. Public affairs began to put on an agree- 
 able aspect, and to promise fair towards the future welfare of 
 the settlement. But as for the French refugees, the Governor 
 could do no more than to recommend to the English free- 
 holders to consider them in the most friendly point of hght 
 and to treat them with lenity and moderation. 
 
 No man could entertain more benevolent sentiments with 
 respect to the savages, than Governor Archdale. To protect 
 
PROPKIETART GOVERNMENT, 1670 1719. 27 
 
 them against insults, and establish a fair trade and friendly 
 intercourse with them, were regulations which humanity re- 
 quired and sound policy dictated. But the rapacious spirit of 
 individuals could be curbed by no authority. Many advan- 
 tages were taken of the ignorance of Indians in the way of 
 traffic. Several of the inhabitants, and some of those who 
 held high offices, were too deeply concerned in the abomina- 
 ble trade to be easily restrained from seizing their persons and 
 selling them for slaves to the West India planters. 
 
 Governor Archdale having finished his negotiations in Car- 
 olina, made preparations for returning to Britain. Though 
 the government, during his administration, had acquired con- 
 siderable respect and stability, yet the differences among the 
 people still remained. Former flames were rather smothered 
 than extinguished, and were ready on the first stirring to break 
 out and burn with increased violence. Before he embarked 
 the Council presented to him an address, to be transmitted to 
 the proprietors, expressing "the deep sense they had of their 
 Lordship's paternal care for the colony, in the appointment of 
 a man of such abilities and integrity to the government, who 
 had been so happily instrumental in establishing its peace and 
 security." They observed, " that they had now no contending 
 factions nor clashing interests among the people, excepting 
 what respected the French refugees ; who were unhappy at 
 their not being allowed all the privileges and liberties of Eng- 
 lish subjects, particularly those of sitting in assembly and 
 voting at the election of its members, which could not be 
 granted them without losing the affections of the Enghsh 
 settlers and involving the colony in civil broils — that Governor 
 Archdale, by the advice of his council, chose rather to refuse 
 them these privileges than disoblige the bulk of the English 
 settlers — that by his wise conduct they hoped all misunder- 
 standings between their Lordships and the colonists were 
 happily removed — that they would for the future cheerfully 
 concur with them in every measure for the speedy population 
 and improvement of the country — that they Avere now levy- 
 ing money for building fortifications to defend the province 
 against foreign attacks, and that they would strive to maintain 
 harmony and peace among themselves." Governor Arch- 
 dale received this address with peculiar satisfaction, and 
 promised to present it to the proprietors. 
 
 After his arrival in England he laid this address, together 
 with a state of the country and the regulations he had estab- 
 lished in it, before the proprietors; and showed them the 
 necessity of abolishing many articles in the constitutions, and 
 framing a new plan of government. Accordingly they began 
 to compile new constitutions from his information. Forty- 
 
28 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 one different articles were drawn up, and sent out, by Robert 
 Daniel, for the better government of the colony. But when 
 Governor Joseph Blake, successor of Archdale, laid these new 
 laws before the Assembly for their assent and approbation, 
 they treated them as they had done the former constitutions; 
 and instead of taking them under deliberation laid them 
 aside. 
 
 The national antipathies against the French refugees in 
 process of time began to abate. In common with others, they 
 had defied the danger of the desert and given ample proofs 
 of their fidelity to the proprietors, and their zeal for the suc- 
 cess of the colony. They had cleared little spots of land for 
 raising the necessaries of life, and in some measure surmounted 
 the difficulties of the first state of colonization. At this favor- 
 able juncture the refugees, by the advice of the Governor and 
 other friends, petitioned the legislature to be incorporated 
 with the freemen of the colony and allowed the same privi- 
 leges, and liberties, with those born of English parents. Ac- 
 cordingly an act passed in 1696 for making all aliens, themi 
 inhabitants, free — for enabling them to hold lands, and to 
 claim the same as heirs to their ancestors, provided they either 
 had petitioned, or should within three month's petition. Gov- 
 ernor Blake for these privileges and take the oath of allegi- 
 ance to King William. This same law conferred liberty of 
 conscience on all Christians, with the exception of papists. 
 With these conditions the refugees, who were all Protestants, 
 joyfully complied. The French and English settlers being 
 made equal in rights, became united in interest and affection, 
 and have ever since lived together in peace and harmony. 
 
 This cause of domestic discord was scarcely done away, 
 when another began to operate. In the year 1700 a new 
 source of contention broke out between the upper and lower 
 houses of Assembly. Of the latter Nicholas Trott was made 
 Speaker, and warmly espoused the cause of the people, in 
 opposition to the interest of the proprietors. The Governor 
 and Council claimed the privilege of nominating public offi- 
 cers, particularly a Receiver General, until the pleasure 
 of the proprietors was known. The Assembly, on the other 
 hand, insisted that it belonged to them. This occasioned 
 much altercation, and several messages between the two 
 houses. However, the upper house appointed their maa 
 The lower house resolved that the person appointed by them 
 was no Public Receiver, and that whoever should presume to 
 pay money to him as such should be deemed an enemy to 
 the country. Trott denied that they could be called an upper 
 house, as they differed in the most essential circumstances, 
 from the House of Lords in England ; and therefore inducecl 
 
29 
 
 the Assembly to call them the proprietors' deputies, a,nd to 
 treat them with indignity and contempt, by limiting them to 
 a day to pass their bills and an hour to answer their mes- 
 sages. At that time Trott was eager in the pursuit of popu- 
 larity ; and by his uncommon abilities and address succeeded 
 so far, that no man had equally engrossed the public favor 
 and esteem, or carried matters with so high a hand in oppo- 
 sition to the proprietary counsellors. 
 
 In the fourteen years which followed Governor Archdale's re- 
 turn to England, or from 1696 to 1710, there were four Gov- 
 ernors ; Joseph Blake, James Moore, Sir Nathaniel Johnson, and 
 Edward Tynte. The principal events, in this period, were 
 an unsuccessful invasion of St. Augustine by the Carolinians, 
 and a successful defence of the province against an attack of 
 the French and Spaniards; which shall be more particularly 
 explained in their proper places. 
 
 In Governor Johnson's administration, which lasted from 
 1702 to 1709, parties in Church and State ran high, and there 
 were great commotions among the people ; but on the death 
 of Governor Tynte, in 1710, a civil war was on the point of 
 breaking out. When Tynte died, there remained only three 
 deputies of the Lords proprietors. Robert Gibbes, one of 
 these three, was chosen and proclaimed Governor ; but by the 
 sudden death of Mr. Turbevil, one of the three deputies, who 
 in the morning of the election day had voted for Colonel 
 Broughton, another of the three deputies, but upon adjourn- 
 ment to the afternoon changed his mind and voted for Robert 
 Gibbes, it was discovered that Robert Gibbes had obtained 
 the said second vote of Turbevil by bribery. Colonel 
 Broughton laid claim to the government, alleging Turbevil's 
 primary and uncorrupted vote in his favor. Gibbes insisted 
 on his right,* as having added his own vote to Turbevil's and 
 thereby obtained a majority ; and in consequence thereof was 
 proclaimed Governor, and quietly settled in the administration. 
 Each persisted in his claim. Many sided with Broughton, 
 but more with Mr. Gibbes. Broughton drew together a 
 number of armed men at his plantation, and proceeded to 
 Charlestown. Gibbes having intelligence thereof, caused a 
 general alarm to be fired and the militia to be raised. At the 
 approach of Broughton's party to the walls and gates of 
 Charlestown, Gibbes ordered the drawbridge, standing near 
 the intersection of Broad and Meeting streets, to be hauled 
 up. After a short parley, Broughton's party asked admit- 
 
 *These particulars relative to the contest between Gibbes and Broughton for 
 the office of Governor are stated on the authority of an old manuscript in the hand- 
 writing of the venerable Thomas Lamboll, a native of South Carolina, who died 
 in the year 1775, upwards of 80 years old. 
 
30 CIVIL HISTOKT. 
 
 tance; Gibbes from within the walls inquired why they 
 came armed in such a number, and if they would own 
 him for their Governor ? They answered, that they heard 
 there was an alarm and were come to make their appearance 
 in Charlestovvn ; but would not own him, the said Gibbes, to 
 be their Govervor. He of course denied them entrance; 
 whereupon many of them gallopped round the walls towards 
 Craven's bastion, to get entrance there ; but being prevented 
 they soon returned to the drawbridge. By this time some of 
 the inhabitants of the town, and many sailors appearing there 
 in favor of Broughton, they proceeded to force a passage and 
 let down the drawbridge. Gibbes' party opposed, but were 
 not allowed to fire upon them. After blows and wounds 
 were given and received, the sailors and men of Broughton's 
 party prevailed so far as to lower down the drawbridge over 
 which they entered and proceeded to the watch-house in 
 Broad street. There the two town companies of militia were 
 posted under arms and with colors flying. When Brough- 
 ton's party came near they halted, and one of them drew a 
 paper out of his pocket, and began to read ; but could not be 
 heard, because of the noise made by the drums of the militia. 
 Being balked, they marched towards Granville's bastion, and 
 were escorted by the seamen on foot who were ready for any 
 mischief As they passed the front of the militia, whose 
 guns were presented and cocked, one of the sailors catching 
 at the ensign, tore it off the staff. On this provocation some 
 of the militia, without any orders, fired their pieces, but no- 
 body was hurt. Captain Brewton resolutely drew his sword, 
 went up to the sailor, who had committed the outrage, and 
 demanded the torn ensign. Captain Evans, a considerable 
 man of Broughton's party, alighted and obliged the sailor to 
 return it. Broughton's party continued their march for some 
 time, and then proclaimed Broughton Governor. After huz- 
 zaing, they approached the fort gate, and made a show of 
 forcing it ; but observing Captain Pawley with his pistol cocked, 
 and many other gentlemen with their guns presented and all 
 forbiding them at their peril to attempt the gate, they retired 
 to a tavern on the bay ; before which they first caused their 
 written paper or proclamation to be again read, and then dis- 
 mounted. After much altercation, many reciprocal messages 
 and answers, aud the mediation of several peace-makers, 
 the controversy was referred to the decision of the Lords 
 proprietors ; and it was agreed that Colonel Gibbes should 
 continue in the administration of government, until they de- 
 termined which of the two should be obeyed as Governor. 
 Their determination was in favor of neither. The proprietors 
 appointed Charles Craven, who then held their commission 
 
REVOLUTION OF 1719. 31 
 
 as Secretary, to be Governor. He was proclaimed in form, 
 and took upon him the administration. During his govern- 
 ment, the province was involved in two sharp contests with 
 the Indians. One in North Carolina with the Tuscaroras, and 
 another much more distressing with the Yaniassees, which 
 were ably and successfully conducted by the Governor, as 
 shall be related in its proper place. On his departure for 
 England, in 1716, he appointed Robert Daniel, Deputy Gov- 
 ernor. In the year following, Robert Johnson, son of Sir 
 Nathaniel Johnson, succeeded to the office of Governor. He 
 was the last who held that office under the authority of the 
 proprietors. 
 
 CIVIL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Revolution in 1719, from Proprietary to Royal Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 In the administration of Robert Johnson, a revolution from 
 proprietary to a regal system of government was accom- 
 plished. The explosion took place in the year 1719; but the 
 train of events which occasioned it was of prior origin. From 
 the first settlement of the province, short had been the inter- 
 vals of contention between the proprietors and the people; 
 but from the year 1715, various causes contributed to widen 
 the breach and destroy all confidence between them. One in 
 particular, which had a decided influence, resulted from the 
 war of 1715, between South Carolina and the Yamassee In- 
 dians. While this hard struggle was pending, the legislature 
 made appHcation to the proprietors for their paternal help; 
 but, being doubtful whether they would be inclined to involve 
 their English estates in debt for supporting their property in 
 Carohna, they instructed their agent, in case of failure with 
 them, to apply to the King for relief. The merchants entered 
 cordially into the measure for making application to the King, 
 and perceived at once the many advantages which would 
 accrue to them from being taken under the immediate care 
 and protection of the crown. It was alleged that ships of war 
 would soon clear the coast of sea robbers, and give free scope 
 to trade and navigation — that forces by land would over-awe 
 the warlike Indians — prevent their inroads, and procure for 
 
32 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 the inhabitants peace and security. The people in general, 
 were dissatisfied with living under a government unable to 
 protect them. They therefore were very unanimous in the 
 proposed application to the crown for royal protection. 
 
 About the middle of the year 1715 the agent for Carolina 
 waited on the proprietors, with a representation of the ca- 
 lamities under which their colony labored from the ravages of 
 Indians and the depredations of pirates. He acquainted them 
 that the Yamassees, by the influence of Spanish emissaries, 
 had claimed the whole country as their ancient possession; 
 and had conspired with many other tribes to assert their right 
 by force of arms, and therefore urged the necessity of sending 
 immediate relief to the colony. But not being satisfied with 
 their answer, he petitioned the house of commons in behalf 
 of the distressed Carolinians. The commons addressed the 
 King, praying for his interposition and immediate assistance. 
 The King referred the matter to the lords commissioners of 
 trade and plantations. The lords of trade made an objection 
 that the province of Carolina was one of the proprietary gov- 
 ernments; and were of opinion, that if the nation should be 
 at the expense of piotecting it, the government thereof ought 
 to be vested in the crown. Upon which Lord Carteret wrote 
 a letter to the following effiect: "We, the proprietors of 
 Carolina, are utterly unable to afford our colony suitable 
 assistance in this conjuncture ; and, unless his majesty will 
 graciously please to interpose, we can foresee nothing but the 
 utter destruction of his majesty's faithful subjects in those 
 parts." The lords of trade asked Lord Carteret, "What sum 
 might be necessary for that service, and whether the govern- 
 ment of the colony should not devolve on the crown if Great 
 Britain should agree to bear the expense of its defence?'' To 
 v/hich Lord Carteret replied: "The proprietors submitted to 
 his majesty what sum of money he should be pleased to grant 
 for their assistance ; and in case the money advanced for this 
 purpose should not in a reasonable time be repaid, they 
 humbly conceived that then his majesty would have an equi- 
 table right to take the government under his immediate care 
 and protection.'' 
 
 The same year a bill was brought into the House of Com- 
 mons in England, for the better regulation of the charter and 
 proprietary governments in America; the chief design of 
 which was to reduce all charter and proprietary governments 
 into regal ones. Men conversant in the history of past ages, 
 particularly in that of the rise and progress of different States, 
 had long foreseen the rapid increase of American colonies; 
 and wisely judged that it would be for the interest of the 
 kingdom to purchase them for the crown as soon as possible. 
 
REVOLUTION OP 1719. 33 
 
 One of the ostensible grounds on which the proprietors had 
 obtained their charter, was the prospect of their propagating 
 the Gospel among the Indians. Their total neglect of this 
 duty, contrasted with the active policy of the Spaniards at 
 St Augustine, was considered by the inhabitants as a pro- 
 curing cause of all their sufferings from the Yamassee war. 
 To answer the public exigences growing out of that war, large 
 emissions of paper money were deemed indispensable. While 
 struggling amidst these hardships, the merchants of London 
 complained to the proprietors of the increase of paper money 
 as injurious to trade. In consequence of which they directed 
 the Governor to reduce it. These several matters formed a 
 circle of embarrassment from which the inhabitants saw no 
 prospect of extrication, but from throwing themselves on the 
 crown, for protection. They referred their war with the In- 
 dians to the neglect of the proprietors in conciliating their 
 affections. The proprietors, when called upon to assist in re- 
 pelling the attacks made by these neglected Indians, declared 
 themselves incompetent. On application for royal aid, they 
 were told by ministers that it was unreasonable to expect it 
 while they were the tenants of the proprietors. Disappointed of 
 aid from both, they had made exertions to defend themselves ; 
 but the proprietary Governor, agreeably to his instructions, 
 thwarted their endeavors to equalize and lessen the expenses 
 of the war by an emission of paper money. A dissatisfaction 
 with the proprietors, and an eagerness to be under the imme- 
 diate protection of the crown, became universal. 
 
 This was increased from another source. The Yamassees 
 being expelled from Indian land, the Assembly passed two 
 Acts to appropriate these lands gained by conquest, for 
 the use and encouragement of such of his Majesty's sub- 
 jects as should come over and settle upon them. Extracts 
 of these two Acts being published in England, and Ireland, 
 five hundred persons from Ireland transported themselves to 
 Carolina to take the benefit of them. But the whole project 
 was frustrated by the proprietors, who claimed these lands as 
 their property and insisted on the right of disposing of them 
 as they thought fit. Not long afterwards, to the litter ruin of 
 the Irish emigrants, and in breach of the provincial faith, 
 these Indian lands were surveyed by order of the proprietors 
 for their own use, and laid out in large baronies. By this 
 harsh usage the old settlers, having lost the protection of the 
 new comers, deserted their plantation and left the frontier 
 open to the enemy. Many of the unfortunate Irish emigrants, 
 having spent the little money they brought with them, were 
 reduced to misery and perished. The remainder removed to 
 the northern colonies. 
 3 
 
34 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 The struggle between the proprietors and possessors of the 
 soil became daily more serious. The provincial Assembly 
 passed about this time some very popular laws. One for 
 the better regulation of tbe Indian ' trade, by which Com- 
 missioners were nominated to carry it on and to apply the 
 profit arising from it to the public benefit and defence. Another 
 was for regulating elections; by which it was enacted "that 
 every parish should send a certain number of representatives, 
 not exceeding thirty-six in the whole, and that they should 
 be ballotted for at the different parish churches." This, 
 though much more convenient to the settlers than their former 
 custom of electing all the members in Charlestown, was disa- 
 greeable to some members of the Council who perceived its 
 tendency to lessen their influence at elections. Chief Justice 
 Trott and William Rhett, Receiver General, men of great abil- 
 ities and influence, opposed both these bills. Though they 
 could not prevent their passing in Carolina, they had influence 
 enough with the proprietors to send them back repealed. The 
 colonists were exasperated; and in severe language censured 
 the proprietors as tyrannical, regardless of the convenience of 
 the inhabitants, and unfeeling for their distresses. 
 
 The Yamassee Indians, smarting under their recent defeat 
 as shall be hereafter related, were sanguinary and vindictive. 
 Being supplied with arms and ammunition from the Span- 
 iards, they were so troublesome as to make it necessary for 
 the Assembly to maintain a company of Rangers to protect 
 their frontier settlers. Presents were necessary to preserve 
 the friendship of other Indian tribes. Three forts were also 
 erected and garrisoned for the defence, and at the cost of the 
 province. These public expenses consumed the fruits of the 
 planter's industry. The law appropriating the profits of the 
 Indian trade, for the public protection, had been repealed by 
 the proprietors. Public credit was at so low an ebb, that no 
 man was willing to trust his money in the provincial treasury. 
 None would risk their lives in defence of the colony without 
 pay; and the province, oppressed with a load of debt, was 
 utterly unable to furnish the necessary supplies. The people 
 complained of the insufliciency of that government which 
 could not protect them, and at the same time prevented the 
 hiterposition of the crown for their relief Governor Daniel 
 joined them in their complaints ; and every one seemed ar- 
 dently to wish for those "advantages, which other colonies 
 enjoyed under the immediate care and protection of a power- 
 ful sovereign. 
 
 Robert Johnson, who, in 1717, succeeded Robert Daniel as 
 Governor, had instructions to reduce the paper currency. He 
 recommended to the Assembly to consider of ways and 
 
REVOLUTION OP 1719. 35 
 
 means for sinking it. The Indian war had occasioned a 
 scarcity of provisions. Large emissions of paper money 
 sunk its value. Both contributed to raise the price of country 
 commodities. The merchants and money lenders were losers 
 by these bills of credit, and the planters, who were generally 
 in debt, gained by them. Hence great debates about paper 
 money arose in the Assembly, between the planting and mer- 
 cantile interests. The Governor had so much influence as to 
 prevail with the Assembly to pass a law for sinking and pay- 
 ing otf their bills of credit in three years, by a tax on lands 
 and negroes. Their act for that purpose gave great satisfac- 
 tion both to the proprietors and people concerned in trade. 
 
 This compliance of the Assembly with the Governor's in- 
 structions, gave him some faint prospect of reconciling them 
 by degrees to the supreme jurisdiction of the proprietors; but 
 his hopes were of short duration. The planters, finding the 
 tax act burdensome, began to complain, and to contrive ways 
 and means for eluding it, by stamping more bills of credit. 
 The proprietors, having information of this, and also of a 
 design formed by the Assembly to set a price on country 
 commodities, and make them at such a price a good tender in 
 law for the payment of all debts, enjoined their Governor not 
 to give his assent to any bill framed by the Assembly, nor to 
 render it of any force in the Colony before a copy thereof 
 should be laid before them. About the same time the King, 
 by his order in council, signified to the proprietors that they 
 should repeal an act passed in Carolina of pernicious conse- 
 quence to the trade of the mother country, by which " a duty 
 of ten per cent, was laid on all goods of British manufacture 
 imported into that province." Accordingly, this act, together 
 with that "for regulating elections," and another "for declar- 
 ing the right of the Assembly to nominate a public receiver," 
 were all repealed and sent to Governor Johnson in a letter, 
 which enjoined him instantly to dissolve the Assembly and 
 call another to be chosen in Charlestown, according to the 
 ancient usage of the province. The proprietors considered 
 themselves as possessing not only power to put a negative on 
 aU laws made in the Colony, but also to repeal such as they 
 deemed pernicious. 
 
 Governor Johnson, sensible of the evil consequences that 
 would attend the immediate execution of these orders, con- 
 vened his council to take their advice on what was most 
 proper to be done. When he communicated his orders and 
 instructions from England, the majority of the council were 
 astonished. But as the Assembly were at that time deliber- 
 ating on the means of paying the provincial debt, it was 
 agreed to postpone the dissolution of the house until the busi- 
 
36 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 ness before them should be finished. As the repeal of the 
 duty law was occasioned by an order from the King in coun- 
 cil, they resolved to acquaint the Assembly immediately with 
 the royal displeasure at that clause of the law which laid an 
 impost duty on all goods manufactured in Great Britain, 
 and to advise them to make a new act, leaving out the clause 
 which had given otfence. Though great pains were taken to 
 conceal the Governor's instructions, yet they were divulged, 
 and excited violent resentments. The Assembly entered into 
 a warm debate about the proprietors' right of repealing laws 
 passed with the assent of their deputies. Many alleged that 
 the deputation given to them was like a power of attorney 
 sent to persons at a distance, authorizing them to act in their 
 stead, and insisted that, according to the charter, they were 
 bound by their assent to acts as much as if the proprietors 
 themselves had been present and confirmed them. 
 
 Chief Justice Trott was suspected of holding a private cor- 
 respondence with the proprietors, to the prejudice of the 
 Carolinians. On that and several grounds he was the object 
 of their hatred and resentment. Richard Allein Whitaker, 
 and other practitioners of the law, charged him with base and 
 iniquitous practices. No less than thirty-one articles of com- 
 plaint against him were presented to the Assembly, setting 
 forth, among. other things, "that he had contrived many ways 
 to multiply and increase his fees; that he had contrived a fee 
 for continuing causes from one term to another, and put off 
 the hearing of them for years ; that he took upon him to give 
 advice in causes depending in his courts, and not only acted 
 as counsellor in these cases, but had drawn deeds between 
 party and party, some of which had been contested before 
 him as Chief Justice, and in determining of which he had 
 shown great partiality ; and lastly, complaining that the whole 
 judicial power of the province was lodged in his hands, he 
 being at the same time sole Judge of the Court of Common 
 Pleas, King's Bench and Vice Admiralty, so that no prohibi- 
 tion could be lodged against the proceedings of these courts, 
 otherwise than by his granting one against himself He was, 
 at the same time, a member of the council, and of conse- 
 quence a Judge of the Court of Chancery. 
 
 These articles of complaint were well grounded, and the 
 facts alleged were supported by strong evidence before the 
 Assembly. But as the Judge held his commission from the 
 proprietors, he denied that he was accountable to the Assem- 
 bly for any part of his judicial conduct, and declared that he 
 would answer no where but in England. The Assembly, 
 however, sent a message to the Governor and Council, re- 
 questing that they would concur in representing his conduct 
 
REVOLUTION OP 1719. 37 
 
 to the proprietors ; and in praying them either to remove him 
 from his seat in the courts of justice, or at least to confine him 
 exclusively to one jurisdiction ; and to grant to the people a 
 right of appealing from his judgments. The Governor 
 and Council, convinced of the maladministration of the 
 Judge, agreed to join the Commons in their representation. 
 But they thought it most prudent and respectful to send one 
 of their counsellors to England with their memorial. Francis 
 Yonge, a man of considerable abilities, who had been present 
 at all their debates, was pitched upon as well qualified for 
 giving their lordships a faithful account of the whole matter. 
 Accordingly he sailed for England, and arrived in London 
 early in the year 1719. 
 
 Soon after his arrival he waited on Lord Carteret, the pala- 
 tine; but his lordship referred him to the other proprietors for 
 an answer to his representation. When they met, Yonge de- 
 livered to them a letter from Governor Johnson — the articles 
 of complaint against Chief Justice Trott — and the joint ad- 
 dress of the Governor, Council, and Assembly, praying to 
 have him removed entirely from the bench, or confined to a 
 single jurisdiction. 
 
 This memorial was far from being agreeable to the pro- 
 prietors ; some of them inferred from it that the people were 
 industrious in searching for causes of dissatisfaction, with 
 a view to shake the proprietary authority. Others had re- 
 ceived letters from Trott, which intimated that Yonge, though 
 an officer of the proprietors, had assisted the people in form- 
 ing plausible pretences for that purpose. For three months 
 Yonge attended the palatine's court, to accomplish the ends 
 of his appointment. After all he was given to understand, 
 that the business on which he came was extremely disa- 
 greeable to them — that the trouble he had taken, and the 
 otfice he had accepted as agent for the people, were inconsist- 
 ent with his duty as one of the deputies bound to act in 
 conformity to their instructions. They declared their displea- 
 sure with the members of the Council who had joined the 
 lower house in their complaints against Trott — removed them 
 from the board — appointed others in their place — and increased 
 the number of members from seven to twelve. They told 
 Yonge that he also would have been deprived of his seat but 
 for the high respect they had for Lord Carteret, -the absent 
 palatine, whose deputy he was. With respect to Chief Jus- 
 tice Trott, they had too much confidence in his fidelity and ca- 
 pacity to remove him from his office. On the contrary, they sent 
 him a letter thanking him for his excellent speech in defence 
 of their right of repealing all laws made in the colony, to- 
 gether with a copy of the articles of complaint against him. 
 At the same time they informed him that it was their opinion, 
 
38 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 and order, that he should withdraw from the Council-board 
 whenever appeals from his judgments in the inferior courts 
 were brought before the Governor and Council as a Court of 
 Chancery. 
 
 Such was the result of Yonge's negotiation in Britain. 
 The proprietors were displeased with him, and also with 
 Governor Johnson, for joining the other branches of the 
 Legislature in their late representation. By the return of 
 Yonge they sent out their repeal of the late popular acts of 
 the Legislature, their list of new counsellors, with positive 
 orders to the Governor to publish immediately the repeal of 
 the late popular laws — to convene the new Counsellors for the 
 dispatch of business — to dissolve the Assembly chosen ac- 
 cording to the late act, and to cause a new Assembly to be 
 elected according to the old act which required all the electors 
 to meet and vote in Charlestown. 
 
 Governor Johnson on receiving these new orders and in- 
 structions, instantly foresaw the difficulty of executing them. 
 Determined, however to comply, he summoned his Council of 
 twelve, whom the proprietors had lately nominated. These 
 were William Bull, Ralph Izard, Nicholas Trott, Charles Hart, 
 Samuel Wragg, Benjamin de la Consiliere, Peter St. Julian, 
 William Gibbon, Hugh Butler, Francis Yonge, Jacob Satuf, 
 and Jonathan Skrine. Some of these accepted the appoint- 
 ment, but others refused to serve. Alexander Skene, Thomas 
 Broughton, and James Kinloch, members of the former 
 board, being now left out of the new list of counsellors, were 
 disgusted and joined the people. The present Assembly was 
 dissolved; and writs were issued for electing another in Charles- 
 town, according to the ancient usage of the province. The 
 general duty act, from the proceeds of which all public debts 
 were defrayed, and the act respecting the freedom of election 
 were repealed. In consequence of which, public credit was 
 destroyed, and the Colonists were obliged to have recourse to 
 the old inconvenient manner of elections in Charlestown. 
 The act declaring the right of the Commons to nominate 
 a Public Receiver was also annulled, and declared to be 
 contrary to the usage of Great Britain. The Governor had in- 
 structions to refuse his assent to all laws respecting the trade 
 and shipping of Great Britain, which any future Assembly 
 might pass, until they were first approved by the proprietors. 
 The provincial debts incurred by the Indian war, and the ex- 
 pedition against pirates not only remained unpaid, but no 
 more bills of credit were allowed to be stamped for answering 
 the public demands. The Colonists considered the new 
 Council of twelve, instead of the old one of seven, as an in- 
 novation in the proprietary government ; exceeding the char- 
 tered power granted their lordships, and subjecting them to a 
 
REVOLUTION OF 1719. 39 
 
 jurisdiction tbreign to the constitution of the province. The 
 complaints of the whole Legislature against Chief Justice 
 Trott were not only disregarded, but he was privately ca- 
 ressed and publicly applauded. These grievances were ren- 
 dered the more intolerable, from the circumstance that the 
 suffering colonists could indulge no hopes of redress under 
 the existing system of proprietary government. 
 
 It may be thought somewhat astonishing, that the proprie- 
 tors should have persisted in measures so disagreeable and 
 so manifestly subversive of their authority. Many were the 
 hardships from the climate, and the danger from savages, 
 with which the colonists had to struggle; yet their landlords, 
 instead of rendering their circumstances easy and comfortable, 
 seemed rather bent on doubling their distresses. The people 
 could no longer regard them as indulgent fathers, but as 
 tyrannical legislators that imposed more on them than they 
 were able to bear. It was the duty of the proprietors to listen 
 to their complaints, and redress their grievances. It was their 
 interest to consult the internal security and population of their 
 colony. But perhaps the troubles and miseries suffered by 
 the colonists, ought to be ascribed to their lordships' shameful 
 inattention rather than to their tyrannical disposition. Lord 
 Carteret, the palatine, held high offices of trust under the 
 crown, which required all his time and care. Some of the 
 proprietors were minors, others possessed estates in England, 
 the improvement of which engrossed their attention. Having 
 reaped little or nothing from their American possessions, and 
 finding them every year becoming ijiore troublesome and 
 expensive, they trusted the affairs of their colony too much 
 to a clerk or secretary who was no ways interested in their 
 prosperity. Chief Justice Trott, in whose integrity and fidelity 
 the proprietors placed unlimited confidence, held of them 
 many offices of trust and emolument. Being dependent on 
 them for the tenure of his office, and the amount and payment 
 of his salary, he strongly supported their power and pre- 
 rogative. The proprietors depended on his influence and 
 eloquence, to make their favorite measures go down with the 
 people. Trott vindicated their authority in gratitude for 
 favors received, and in the expectation of receiving more. A 
 reciprocal chain of dependence and obligation was formed 
 between them. This interested policy was carried too far. 
 The chain broke. A new order of things took place. In 
 consequence of which Trott's influence was completely 
 destroyed, and the power of the proprietors forever an- 
 nihilated. 
 
 About this time, a rupture having taken place between the 
 courts of Great Britain and Spain, a project for attacking 
 
40 CIVIL HISTORT. 
 
 South Carolina and the Island of Providence was formed at 
 the Havanna. Governor Johnson having received advice 
 from England of this design, resolved to put the Province in 
 a posture of defence. For this purpose he summoned a 
 meeting of Council, and of such members of Assembly as 
 were in town, to inform them of the intelligence he had 
 received and to desire their advice and assistance in case of 
 any sudden emergency. He told them of the shattered con- 
 dition of the fortifications, and urged the necessity of speedy 
 reparations. To meet the expense he proposed a voluntary 
 subscription, and headed it with his own signature to a large 
 amount as an example to others. The members of Assembly 
 replied, "that a subscription was needless, as the income of 
 the duties would be sufficient to answer the purpose intended." 
 The Governor objected, "that the duty law had been repealed, 
 and no other yet framed in its place." To which the 
 members of Assembly answered, "they had resolved to pay 
 no regard to these repeals, and that the public receiver had 
 orders from them to sue every man that should refuse to pay 
 as that law directed." Chief Justice Trott told them, "if 
 any action or suit should be brought into his courts on that 
 law, he would give judgment for the defendant." The con- 
 test between the parties became warm, and the conference 
 broke up before anything was determined upon for the public 
 safety. The memlaers of Assembly resolved to hazard the 
 loss of the Province to the Spaniards, rather than yield to the 
 Council and acknowledge the right of the proprietors to repeal 
 laws which had been regularly passed. 
 
 Governor Johnson judging it prudent to be always in the 
 best posture of defence, called a meeting of the field officers 
 of the militia, ordered them to review their regiments, and 
 fixed a place of general rendezvous. At this meeting they 
 received their orders with their usual submission, and called 
 together the different regiments on pretence of training the 
 men. But before this time the members chosen to serve in 
 Assembly, though they had not met in their usual and regular 
 way at Charlestown, had nevertheless held several private 
 meetings in the country to concert measures for revolting 
 from their allegiance. They had drawn up an association 
 for uniting the whole Province in opposition to the proprietary 
 government. This was proposed to the people at the public 
 meeting of the militia, as an opportunity the most favorable 
 for procuring a general subscription. The people oppressed 
 and discontented, eagerly embraced the proposal; and almost 
 to a man subscribed this bond of union, in which they 
 promised to stand by each other in defence of their rights, 
 against the tyranny of the proprietors and their officers. The 
 
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 raojj }uataui3A0§ aqj jo aouBidaooB siq jsanbaj oj ajdoad 
 aqi JO uouBuimia^gp aqj jo puB 'juarauiaAoS ijiajaudoad 
 aqi jjo A\o.iqj o; uopBioossB yeiBuaS aqj jo uiiq pauiioj 
 -UI Asvfl qoiqAV m iAv/Ady[V[g^ uiBqi;^ puB 'ubSo^; aSjoaf) 
 'auajis japuBxa^y Xq pauSis puB 'eiil 'qigS -isqtuaAoj*^ ajBp 
 SuiiBaq jajja^ b paAiaoai aq |nun ia§UBajs aipua u-b sbay uos 
 -uqof loujaAof) 'suotjobsubji puis 'sSunaara jaioas asaqj ojl 
 •sagajiAiid auiBS aqj iofua oj UBqj aioin Suiqjou paiisap Aaqj 
 jBqi 'uAiOJO aqj jo uoijoa^oid puB aiBO ajBipamuii aqj japun 
 ajaAv qotqAv samopo aq^ jo ssauiddBq jBaiS aq} jo a^doad 
 aqj paouTAUoD iiqSnojoqj os pBq Aaqx 'sjojaudoid aqi 
 0} aonBi§a[jB paounouai Aaqj sb uoos sb oibd siq japun Auojoo 
 aqi ai^B} pinoAv §1113 aqj jBqj sadoq qjm saApsniaqi paiajjBp 
 puB 'sSuiqj asaqi ]jb pajapisuoo pBq Aaqx "uoijoajoid sji 
 JO asuadxa aqj ajoq qoiqAV laAvod jBqj oj Suopq p^noqs aouiA 
 -oi(j aq} JO juamujaAoS aq} }Bq} 'noiuido jo aiaAV apBjj^ jo 
 spio^; aq} }Bq} puB i juauiuiaAog qsT}ua; aq} uiojj aoui3}sissB 
 loj paqdds ipqqnd pBq 'jbav aassBuiB^ aq} ui aouiAOJj Jiaq} 
 puajap 0} sjo}audoj:d aq} jo A}qiqBui aq} jo snoiosuoo '}aia}.iB9 
 pioq; }Bq} pauuojui uaaq p-sq iaqx 'sauo |BSai 0}ui sjuara 
 -uiaAoS AjB}aiidoid puB aa}JBqo jjb Suionpai loj 'suouiraog 
 JO astiofj aq} 0}u; }q§uoiq uaaq pBq \i]C[ b }Bq} os^b Avauj{ Aaqx 
 ■ja}iBqo aq} }suib§b Suipaaoojd jo spoq}atu |Bn}oajja }sora 
 aq} JO japisuoo o}'[Bjauaf) io}ioips puB Aaujo}}yjaq pa.iapjo 
 uaq} pBq A}sa['Bj\[ laq Avoq — auuy uaan^ jo u§Tai aq} §uunp 
 sjaajj JO asnojj aq} ui passed pBq }BqAV putra o} paijBoaj 
 Aaqx "iAaiA ui pBq iaq} pua }Baj8 aq} Suqaadsai uiB}Tig uiojj 
 paAiaoai pBq Aaq} }uauia§Binooua aq} puB 'saouBAauS aiaq} 
 JO lapisuoo 0} sSupaaui }uant)aij p^aq A^qraassy jo sjaqiuaui 
 jaq}0 {BiaAas puB apj •}uarauiaAo§ jiaq} jo ouqBj Suua}}0} 
 aq} uALop §uq|nd ui aApoB puB sno|i39z auiBoaq aq 'sjo}aTjd 
 -Old aq} Aq pasn qi sb jpsuitq Suiiapisuog "sjaotgo jtaio aq} 
 asoddo 0} asodind uo uasoqo sbav qoiqAV 'if^quiassy A\au siq} 
 JO jaqraaiu •b pa}oaia sbav 'jiounoQ aq} raojj papnpxa A|a}B[ 
 'auajjs japuBxa^y -asnoq aq} o}ui ubiu auo Suiiq }on p]noo 
 Aaq} }Bq} iB|ndodun os aaaAv 'aouangui aAisua}xa pBq Aiiaui 
 -joj oqAi '}}aqa puB }}OJj^ 'uAvo}saiaBqo ui uoi}oa|a aq} }y 
 
 •§ui3 aq} JO uoi}oa}ojd aq} japun saAjasuiaq} Suijq p|noqs 
 Aaq} |i}un paaoojd 0} pauiuija}ap 'uiaq} }joddns o} aidoad 
 aq} aonpui o} sb jbj os auoS puB 'jjOAaj o} uoi}U]osaj Jiaq} 
 pauijoj SuiABq 'ijquiassy jo sjaqmam aqj^ ■}{ ui pajjnouoo 
 pBq s}UB}iqBqui aq} qB AjJBau sjBa s^ioujaAof) aq} paqoBai 
 }i ajojaq }Bq} 'ioajoas qons qjiAv pantjoj sbav AoBiapajuoo 
 
 X^ "eiil -lo jJoixnioAaH 
 
42 CIVIL HISTORY 
 
 respect, as an insult; but especially the advice contained 
 therein, which he deemed derogatory both to his integrity and 
 fidelity. The letter, however, served to give him notice of 
 the association and the resolution of the people which it was 
 his duty to defeat For this purpose he hastened to town, 
 summoned his Council — informed them of the association, 
 and required their advice and assistance about the most 
 effectual methods of breaking it up and supporting the pro- 
 prietary government. The Council, unable to determine what 
 was best to be done, advised the Governor to take no present 
 notice of the proceedings, but to wait events. 
 
 In the meantime, the members of Assembly were using 
 their utmost diligence among the people to keep them firm to 
 their purpose, having got almost every person, except the 
 officers and particular friends of the proprietors, to sign the 
 association. All agreed to support whatever their representa- 
 tives should do for disengaging the colony from the yoke of 
 the proprietors, and putting it under the government of the 
 King. Having thus fortified themselves by the union of the 
 inhabitants, the Assembly met to take bolder and more decisive 
 steps. Being apprehensive that the Governor would immedi- 
 ately dissolve them, they instantly came to the following reso- 
 lutions. "Firstly: that the several laws* pretended to be 
 repealed are still in force, and could not be repealed but by 
 the General Assembly of the province : and that all public 
 officers and others do pay due regard to the same accordingly. 
 Secondly: that the writs whereby the present representatives 
 were elected, are illegal, because they are signed by such a 
 Council as the proprietors have not a power to appoint; for 
 this Council consists of a greater number of members than 
 that of the proprietors, which is contrary to the design and 
 original intent of their charter. Thirdly: that the represen- 
 tatives cannot act as an Assembly, but as a convention dele- 
 gated by the people to prevent the utter ruin of the province 
 till His Majesty's pleasure be known." And lastly: "that 
 the lords proprietors have by such proceedings unhinged the 
 frame of their government and forfeited their rights to the 
 same — and that an address be prepared to desire Governor 
 Johnson to take the government upon him in the King's 
 name — and to continue the administration thereof until his 
 majesty's pleasure be known." 
 
 * The titles of the laws repealed by the proprietors, and adhered to by the Car- 
 olinians as unrepealed, were — ^ 
 
 1st. An act for declaring the rights of the House of Commons, for the time 
 being- to nominate a public receiver. 
 
 2d. An act entitled an act for laying an impost on negroes, liquors, and other 
 goods and merchandize, t^:c. 
 
 3d. An act entitled an act to ascertain the form of electing members to represent 
 the inhabitants ia general assembly. 
 
REVOLUTION OP 1719. 43 
 
 Agreeably to the last resolution, an address was drawn up 
 and signed by Arthur Middleton, as President, and twenty- 
 two members of the convention, to be presented to Johnson. 
 In the meantime, the Governor sent a message to the house, 
 acquainting them that he was ready, with his council, to re- 
 ceive and order them to choose a speaker. They came to the 
 upper house in a body, and Arthur Middleton addressed him 
 in the following words : " I am ordered by the representatives 
 of the people, here present, to tell you that according to your 
 honor's order, we are come to wait on you. I am further 
 ordered to acquaint you that we own your honor as our Gov- 
 ernor, you being approved by the King; and as there was 
 once in this province a legal council representing the propri- 
 etors as their deputies, which constitution, being now altered, 
 we do not look on the gentlemen present to be a legal Coun- 
 cil; so I am ordered to tell you that the representatives of the 
 people disown them as such, and will not act with them on 
 any account." 
 
 The Governor and council, struck with astonishment at the 
 spirit of the convention, and suspecting that they were sup- 
 ported by the people, were greatly puzzled while deliberating 
 on the measures they should take to recall them to the obe- 
 dience of legal authority. Some were for opposing violence 
 to violence ; and thought the best way of bringing them back to 
 their allegiance, would be to terrify them with threats and 
 confiscations. Others were of opinion that the defection was 
 too general to admit of such a remedy, and that mild expos- 
 tulations were more proper; and if such gentle means failed, 
 the Governor might then dissolve them and put an end to 
 the dispitte. But on the other hand, dangers hung over the 
 country ; and the only fund for repairing the fortifications 
 being lost by the repeal of the general act duty, it was neces- 
 sary that money should be provided by some new law for 
 public purposes. If the Governor dissolved the house, how 
 could the province be put in a posture of defence against a 
 Spanish invasion^with which it was threatened ? If he should 
 suffer them to sit while they had resolved that the proprietors 
 had fortified their right to the government, and refused on any 
 account to act with his council, he might be chargeable with 
 a breach of his trust. The result of their deliberations was a 
 message from the Governor and Council, desiring a conference 
 with the House of Assembly. To which they returned for 
 answer, that "they would not receive any message or paper 
 from the Governor, in conjunction with the gentlemen he was 
 pleased to call his Council." Finding them inflexible, and 
 resolute, the Governor was obliged to give way to the current ; 
 
44 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 and therefore, in two days afterwards, sent for them in his 
 own name, and delivered to them a long and elaborate speech, 
 and furnished them with a written copy of it. In this he 
 soothed the popular leaders — expostulated and reasoned with 
 them — remonstrated against their measures — and attempted 
 to alarm them and their followers with the conseqences of 
 their conduct ; but all in vain. The Assembly was neither to 
 be shaken by persuation, nor intimidated by threats. After a 
 short pause, they returned with the following answer : " We 
 have already acquainted you that we would not receive any 
 message or paper from your honor, in conjunction with the 
 gentlemen you are pleased to call your Council, therefore, we 
 must now repeat the same ; and beg leave to tell you, that the 
 paper you read and delivered to us we take no notice of, nor 
 shall we give any further answer to it but in Great Britain." 
 
 Immediately after, they came with an address to the Gov- 
 ernor, avowing their resolution to cast off all obedience to the 
 proprietary government ; declaring him to be the most fit per- 
 son to govern them — and entreating him to take upon him the 
 government in the name of the King. This flattering address 
 concluded in the following manner : " As the well-being 
 and preservation of this province, depends greatly on your 
 complying with our requests ; so we flatter ourselves that 
 you, who have expressed so tender regard for it on all 
 occasions, and particularly in hazarding your person in 
 an expedition against the pirates for its defence, we hope sir, 
 that you will exert yourself at this time for its support; and 
 we promise your honor on our parts, the most faithful assist- 
 ance of persons duly sensible of your great goodness, and big 
 with the hopes and expectation of his majesty's countenance 
 and protection. And we further beg leave to assure your 
 honor, that we will in the most dutiful manner address his 
 sacred majesty. King George, for the continuance of your 
 government over us ; under whom we doubt not to be a hap- 
 py people." 
 
 To this address the Governor replied : " I am obliged to you 
 for your good opinion of me; but I hold my commission from 
 the true and absolute lords and proprietors of this province, 
 who recommended me to his majesty, and I have his appro- 
 bation : it is by that commission and power I act, and I know 
 of no authority which can dispossess me of the same but 
 that of those who invested me with it. In subordination to 
 them I shall always act, and, to my utmost, maintain their 
 lordship's just power and prerogatives without encroaching on 
 the people's rights. I do not expect or desire any favor from 
 you, only that of seriously taking into consideration the ap- 
 
REVOLUTION OF 1719. 45 
 
 proaching danger of a foreign enemy and the steps you are 
 taking to involve yourselves, and this province, in anarchy 
 and confusion." 
 
 The representatives having now fully declared their inten- 
 tions, and finding it impossible to win over the Governor to a 
 compliance with their measures, began to treat him with in- 
 difference and neglect. He, on the other hand, perceiving 
 that neither harsh nor gentle means could recall them to their 
 allegiance, issued a proclamation for dissolving the House. 
 The representatives ordered his proclamation to be torn from 
 the marshal's hands. They met upon their own authority, 
 and choose Colonel James Moore their Governor, who was a 
 man excellently qualified for being a popular leader in peril- 
 ous adventures. To Governor Johnson he was no friend ; 
 having been by him removed from his command of the mili- 
 tia, for warmly espousing the cause of the people. In every 
 new enterprise he had been a volunteer ; and in all his under- 
 takings was resolute, steady, and inflexible. A day was fixed 
 for proclaiming him, in the name of the King, Governor of 
 the province; and orders were issued for directing all otficers, 
 civil and military, to continue in th eirditferent places and 
 employments till they should hear further from the con- 
 vention. 
 
 Johnson some time before had appointed a day for a gen- 
 eral review of the provincial militia, and the Convention fixed 
 on the same day for publicly proclaiming Moore. The Gov- 
 ernor having intelligence of their design, sent orders to Col. 
 Parris the commander of the militia to postpone the review to 
 a future day. Parris, though a zealons friend to the revolu- 
 tion, assured him his orders should be obeyed. Notwith- 
 standing this assurance, on the day fixed when Governor 
 Johnson came to town, he found, to his surprise, the militia 
 drawn up in the market-square, now the site of the National 
 Bank, colors flying at the forts and on board all the ships in 
 the harbor; and great preparations making for the proclama- 
 tion. Exasperated at the insults offered to his person and 
 authority, he could not command his temper. Some he 
 threatened to chastise for flying in the face of government, to 
 which they had sworn fidelity ; with others he coolly rea- 
 soned, and endeavored to recall them by representing the fatal 
 consequence that would attend such rash proceedings. But 
 advancing to Parris, he asked him " how he durst appear in 
 arras contrary to his orders ?" and commanded him in the 
 King's name, instantly to disperse his men. Colonel Parris 
 replied " he was obeying the orders of the Convention." The 
 Governor in great rage walked up towards him, upon which 
 Parris immediately commanded his miUtia to present their 
 
46 CIVIL HISTOET. 
 
 muskets at him, and ordered him " to stand off at his peril." 
 The Governor expected during this struggle that some friends, 
 especially such as held offices of profit and trust under the 
 proprietors, would have supported him, or that the militia 
 would have laid down their arms at his command ; but he 
 was disappointed; for all either stood silent, or kept firm to 
 the standard of the convention. Vain were the efforts of his 
 single arm in opposition to so general a defection. Even 
 Trott and Rhett in this extremity forsook him and kept at a 
 distance, the silent and inactive spectators of their master's 
 ruined authority. 
 
 After this the members of Convention, attended and escorted 
 by the militia, publicly marched to the fort; and there pro- 
 claimed James Moore governor of the province in the name 
 of the King, which was followed by the loudest acclamations 
 of the populace. Upon their return they proceeded to the 
 election of twelve counsellors, after the manner of the royal 
 provinces. Of these Sir Hovenden Walker was made Presi- 
 dent. The revolutioners had now their Governor, Coimcil and 
 Convention, and all of their own free election. In conse- 
 quence of which, the delegates published a declaration in 
 which they justified the measures they had adopted; and 
 pledged themselves to support the new Governor, and com- 
 manded all officers, civil and military, to pay him all duty 
 and obedience. 
 
 After this declaration was solemnly published, Johnson 
 retained but small hope of recalling the people to obey the 
 proprietary authorities. Still, however, he flattered himself 
 that the men who had usurped the government would not 
 long remain in a state of union and peace. In this expecta- 
 tion he called together the civil officers of the proprietors, and 
 ordered them to secure the public records, and shut up all of- 
 fices against the revolutioners and their adherents. 
 
 In the meantime, the delegates of the people were occu- 
 pied in regulating public affairs. • They took a dislike to the 
 name of Convention, as different from that of the other regal 
 governments in America, and voted themselves an Assembly, 
 and assumed the power of appointing all public officers. In 
 place of Nicholas Trott, they made Richard AUein Chief Jus- 
 tice. Another person was appointed provincial secretary, in 
 the room of Charles Hart. But William Rhett and Francis 
 Yonge secured to themselves the same offices they held from 
 the proprietors. Col. John Barnwell was chosen agent for the 
 province, and embarked for England with instructions and 
 orders to apply to the king, and lav a state of their public 
 proceedings before him, and to beseech his majesty to take the 
 province under his immediate care and protection. A new duty 
 
REVOLUTION OF 1719. 47 
 
 law for raising money to defray the various expenses of gov- 
 ernment was passed. Orders were given for the immediate 
 repairs of the fortifications at Charlestown ; and William 
 Rhett was nominated inspector-general of the projected re- 
 pairs. To their new Governor they voted two thousand five 
 hundred pounds, and to their Chief Justice eight hundred 
 pounds current money, as yearly salaries. To their agent in 
 England they transmitted one thousand pounds sterling. To 
 defray these and the other expenses of government, an act 
 was passed for laying a tax on lands and negroes, to raise 
 thirty thousand pounds Carolina money, for the service of the 
 current year. 
 
 When they began to levy the taxes imposed by this act, 
 Johnson and some of his party refused to pay; giving for 
 reason that the act was not made by lawful authority. On 
 'account of his particularcircumstances, Johnson was excused; 
 but they resolved to- compel every other person to submit to 
 their jurisdiction, and obey their laws. They seized the effects 
 or negroes of such as refused — sold them at public auction — and 
 applied the money for the payment of their taxes. Thus in 
 spite of all opposition, they established themselves in the full 
 possession of all the powers of government. 
 
 In the meantime Johnson received certain advice that the 
 Spaniards had sailed from the Havanna, with a fleet of four- 
 teen ships and a force consisting of twelve hundred men, 
 against South Carolina and Providence, and it was uncertain 
 which of the two they would first attack. At this time of 
 imminent danger, the late Governor endeavored to recall the 
 people to subjection; and sent to the Convention a letter, in 
 which he attempted to alarm them by representing the dan- 
 gerous consequences of military operations under unlawful 
 authority; but they remained firm to their purpose, and, with- 
 out taking any notice of the letter, contined to do business 
 with Moore as they had begun; and in concert with him, 
 adopted measures for the public security. They proclaimed 
 mardal law, and ordered the inhabitants of the province to 
 Charlestown for its defence. All the officers of the militia ac- 
 cepted their commissions from Moore, and engaged to stand 
 by him against all foreign enemies. For two weeks the pro- 
 vincial militia were kept under arms at Charlestown, every 
 day expecting the appearance of the Spanish fleet which they 
 were informed had sailed from the Havanna. The Spaniards 
 resolved first to attack Providence, and then to proceed against 
 Carolina ; but by the conduct and courage of captain Rogers, 
 at that time governor of the island, they were repulsed, and 
 soon after lost the greatest part of their fleet in a storm. 
 The Spanish expedition having thus proved abortive, the 
 
48 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 Flamborongh man-of-war, commanded by Captain Kildesley, 
 returned from Providence island to her station at Charlestown. 
 About the same time his majesty's ship Phoenix, commanded 
 by Captain Pierce, arrived from a cruise. The commanders 
 of these two men-of-war were caressed by both parties; but 
 they publicly declared for Johnson, as the magistrate invested 
 with legal authority. Charles Hart, secretary of the province, 
 by orders from Governor Johnson and his Council, had se- 
 creted and secured the public records so that the revolulioners 
 could not obtain possession of them. The clergy refused to 
 marry without a license from Johnson, as the only legal ordi- 
 nary of the province. These and other inconveniences, from 
 the unsettled state of things, rendered several of the people 
 more cool in their affection for the popular government. At this 
 juncture, Johnson, with the assistance of the captains and crews 
 of the ships of war, made his last and boldest effort for subject- 
 ing the colonists to his authority. He brought up the ships- 
 of-war in front of Charlestown, and threatened its immediate 
 destruction, if the inhabitants any longer refused obedience 
 to legal authority. But they having arms in their hands, and 
 forts in their possession, defied his power. They were neither 
 to be won by flattery, nor terrified by threats, to submit their 
 necks any more to the proprietary yoke. Johnson feeling his 
 impotence, made no more attempts for the recovery of his lost 
 authority. 
 
 In the meantime, the agent for Carolina had procured a 
 hearing from the lords of the regency and council in Eng- 
 land, the King being at that time in Hanover; who gave it as 
 their opinion that the proprietors had forfeited their charter, 
 and ordered the attorney general to take out a scire facias 
 against it. 
 
 An act of parliament was passed in Britain for establishing 
 an agreement with seven of the eight proprietors for a sur- 
 render to the King of their right and interest not only in the 
 government, but in the soil of the province. The purchase 
 was made for 17,500 sterling. At the same time seven-eighths 
 of the arrears of the quit-rents due from the colonists to the 
 proprietors were purchased on behalf of the crown for £5,000. 
 The remaining eighth share of the province and of the arrears 
 of quit-rents were reserved out of the purchase by a clause 
 in the act of parliament, for John, Lord Caitaret. About the 
 same time the province was subdivided by the name of North 
 and South Carolina. 
 
 Upon a review of these transactions, we may observe: that 
 although the conduct of the Carolinians, during this struggle, 
 cannot be deemed conformable to the strict letter of the writ- 
 ten law, yet necessity and self-preservation justify their con- 
 
REVOLUTION OF 1719. ,49 
 
 duct; while all the world must applaud their moderation, 
 union, firmness, and wisdom. When the proprietors first ap- 
 plied to the King for a gram of this large territory, at that time 
 occupied by heathens, they said they were excited thereto by 
 their zeal for the propagation of the Christian faith ; yet they 
 used no effectual endeavors for that purpose. The society 
 for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts employed 
 and supported missionaries for the conversion of the heathens; 
 but their best endeavors were inadequate to the extent of the 
 work. The proprietors by their charter were empowered to 
 build churches and chapels withinthe bounds of their pro- 
 vince, for divine worship ; yet they left the burden of this en- 
 tirely to the inhabitants, who received no encouragement or 
 assistance towards its accomplishment, except from the society 
 incorporated for the propagation of the gospel. The proprie- 
 tors were empowered by their charter to erect castles and forts 
 for the protection and defence of the colony, but the people 
 were obliged to raise all these at their own expense. By the 
 charter his majesty saved to himself, his heirs and successors, 
 the sovereign dominion of the province; yet the proprietors 
 assumed to themselves a despotic authority in repealing and 
 abrogating laws made by the Assembly and ratified by their 
 deputies in Carolina. They not only tyrannized over the 
 colony, but employed and protected officers ten times more 
 tyrannical than themselves. When the whole Legislature 
 complained of Chief Justice Trott, they paid no regard to their 
 complaints, and absolutely refused to remove him from the 
 bench, or even to limit his jurisdiction. In times of immi- 
 nent danger, when the colony applied to them for assistance, 
 they were either unable or unwilling to bear the expense of 
 its protection. When the Assembly allotted the lands obtained 
 by conquest from the Yamassee Indians, for the encourage- 
 ment of settlers to strengthen the provincial frontiers, the pro- 
 prietors claimed the sole right of disposing of these lands', and 
 frustratfed a judicious plan for preserving public security. When 
 the trade of the province was infested by pirates, the inhab- 
 itants could neither obtain a force sufficient to extirpate them, 
 nor a confirmation of their laws made for defraying the ex- 
 pense of such expeditions as the Assembly had fitted out 
 against them. The proprietors, at the request of the London 
 merchants had cried down the current money of the province, 
 stamped for answering the public exigencies. The people 
 saw no end of their troubles. Pressing distress dictated the 
 necessity of some remedy. No expedient appeared to them 
 so proper and effectual as that of throwing themselves under 
 the. immediate care and protection of the crown of Great Bri- 
 tain. Disgusted with the feeble proprietary Government, they, 
 4 
 
50 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 therefore, by one bold and irregular effort, entirely shook it 
 off; and a revolution fruitful of happy consequences resulted, 
 to their great relief and unspeakable satisfaction. 
 
 From the first settlement of the colony, one perpetual strug- 
 gle subsisted between the proprietors of the province and the 
 cultivators of its soil. A division somewhat similar to that 
 of the court and country parties in England eady sprung up 
 in the settlement, and kept it in continual agitation. The 
 people considered the proprietary claims of power as incon- 
 sistent with their rights ; hence they became turbulent, and 
 were seldom satisfied with their Governors in their public 
 capacity, however esteemed and beloved as private men. The 
 hands of Government were always weak, and the instructions 
 and regulations received from England were for the most part 
 ill adapted to the local circumstances of the people and the 
 first state of colonization. The great distance and compUcated 
 hardships of the Carolinians all concurred to render their 
 revolutionary measures not only excusable, but necessary. 
 The revolution in England had exemplified and confirmed 
 the doctrine of resistance, when the executive magistrate vio- 
 lates the fundamental laws and subverts the constitution of the 
 nation. The proprietors had done acts which, in the opinion 
 of the lords in regency, amounted to a forfeiture of their char- 
 ter; and they had ordered a writ of scire facias to be taken 
 out for repealing their patent and rendering the grant void. 
 By these means all political connections between the propri- 
 etors and people of Carolina was entirely dissolved, and a new 
 relation formed ; the King having taken the provinces under 
 his immediate care and made it a part of the British Empire. 
 
 In the forty-nine years of the proprietary Government of 
 South Carolina, there were twenty-three Governors.* To this 
 office Joseph West was thrice appointed; and Joseph Morton 
 and Joseph Blake, each twice. Joseph West was the only 
 one who served as long as eight years. James Colleton and 
 Seth Sothell were disgraced by the people, and Rob^t John- 
 son was deposed by the same authority. 
 
 Of the several proprietary governments in British America, 
 few or none have answered. Too often have they been under- 
 taken and carried on with the contracted views of land-job- 
 
 » These were as follows: William Sayle, c-ommissioned in England, 2filh July, 
 1669; JosephWest,2Sth August, 1671; Sir John Yeamans, 26th Deoeniber, 1671; 
 Joseph West, second time, 13th August, 1674; Joseph Morton, 26th September, 
 16S2 ; Joseph West, third time, 6th September, 1684 ; Sir Richard Kirle, unknown; 
 Colonel Robert Quarry, do.; Joseph Morton, second lime, 16S5; James Colleton, 
 16S6; Seth Sothell, 1690; Philip Ludwell, 1692; Thomas Smith, 1093; Joseph 
 BlaUe, 1694; John Archdale, 1695; Joseph Blake, second time, 1696; James Moore, 
 1700; Sir Nathaniel Johnson, 1703; Edward Tynte, December, 1709; Robert 
 Gibbes, 1710; Charles Craven, 1712; Robert Daniel, 1716; Robert Johnson, 1717- 
 deposed in December, 1719. 
 
REVOLUTION OP 1719. 61 
 
 bers. To propagate the gospel among the native heathens 
 was generally the ostensible design; but to make money by 
 the sale or rents of lands rising in value from the introduction 
 of settlers, was for ttte most part the governing motive of 
 private proprietors. To obtain a great income, from a small 
 expenditure, was the leading object of their policy. They were 
 therefore slow in defending and protecting their tenants. The 
 subjects of subjects often fare worse than the subjects of Kings. 
 Between limited monarchy and representative government, 
 there seems to be no middle ground for political happiness. 
 
 In the course of the 18th century. South Carolina underwent 
 two revolutions, the last of which took place in 1776. Several 
 of the actors in this are yet alive, and must be struck with the 
 resemblance of the measures adopted by their predecessors and 
 themselves for accomplishing these great and similar events. In 
 both cases, a well-intentioned people, alarmed for their rights, 
 were roused to extraordinary exertions for securing them. 
 They petitioned, in a legal channel, for a redress of their 
 grievances; but that being refused, they proceeded to bolder 
 measures. Before they took decisive steps from which there 
 was no honorable retreat, they both cemented their union by 
 an association generally signed by the inhabitants. The 
 physical force of government in all countries rests with the 
 governed; but from the want of union and concert, they often 
 quietly submit to be ruled with a rod of iron, or make such 
 feeble, injudicious efforts in the cause of liberty as incur the 
 penalties of rebellion, instead of gaining the blessings of a 
 change for the better. The case was otherwise in Carolina. 
 In both revolutions, an honest people engaged by a solemn 
 agreement to support each other in defence of their rights, 
 and to yield obedience to the leaders of their own appoint- 
 ment. When they had bound themselves by the tie of an 
 association, they seized their arms, took the forts and maga- 
 zines into possession, and assumed the direction of the militia. 
 A new government, without confusion or violence, virtually 
 superseded the existing authority of the proprietary Governor 
 in one case, and of the King's representative in the other. 
 The revolutioners in both respectfully asked their former 
 Governors to join them; but from principles of honor and 
 delicacy they declined. On their refusal they became pri- 
 vate persons, and the people proceeded without them to 
 organize every department of Government by their own au- 
 thority. The popular leaders in one case called themselves a 
 Convention of the people, and in the other a Provincial Con- 
 gress; but in both, when the revolution was completed, they 
 voted themselves an Assembly, passed laws in the usual man- 
 ner, and by manifestoes justified their conduct to the world. 
 
52 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 In these proceedings neither party nor faction had any hand. 
 The general interests of the great body of the settlers, were 
 the pole st-ar by which public measures were regulated. The 
 people, guided neither by private views nor selfish ends, and 
 acting in unison, eventually found their labors crowned with 
 success; and that each change of government produced for 
 their country a melioration of its circumstances. A whole 
 generation passed away, and a new one sprung up in the 
 interval, between these two revolutions, though only fifty- 
 seven years distant. No individual has been recognized as 
 an actor in both. But the name of Middleton was conspicu- 
 ous in the first, and more so in the last. Arthur Middleton 
 was President of the Convention of the People in 1719; his 
 son, Henry Middleton, President of the Congress of the United 
 Colonies in 1774; and his grandson, Arthur Middleton, was 
 one of the subscribers to the famous Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence in 1776, by which South Carolina became a sovereign 
 State. 
 
 The proprietary Government of Carolina maybe termed its 
 infancy. When it ceased in 1719, St. Stephen's was the fron- 
 tier of the province. Forts were erected there in St. John's, 
 on Colonel Glaze's land, near Dorchester, Dorchester, Wiltown, 
 and other places about the same distance from the coast; and 
 were necessary to defend the settlers from the Indians. The 
 former rarely ventured fifty miles from the Atlantic. The lat- 
 ter occupied what is now called the upper and middle country 
 of Carolina, and were very troublesome neighbors. Their 
 distressing incursions occasionally penetrated as low as Goose 
 creek. Charlestown was not perfectly safe, for it was exposed 
 to danger both from them and the Spaniards. As much of 
 it as lies between the Central Market and Water street, the Bay, 
 and Meeting street, was fortified both on the land and water 
 side. Much of that part of it which lay to the west of Meet- 
 ing street, and the north and south of Broad street, was either 
 a forest, or laid out in farms, gardens, orange-groves or orch- 
 ards, with here and there a straggling house. Peltry or lum- 
 ber, with a little rice, were the only exports of the province. 
 The planters were better satisfied with a dollar per hundred 
 for the last article, than they have been for years past with 
 three. The coast was infested with pirates, and they made 
 several captures near the bar of CharlestQwn. There were 
 incessant contentions between the inhabitants and the propri- 
 etors; great dissensions between the Episcopalians and Dis- 
 senters, and for several years bitter animosities between the 
 French refugees and English settlers. There was very little 
 real money in the province. The planters were clamorous 
 for bills of credit, and the merchants and others very much 
 
ROYAL GOVERNMENT, 1720 1776. 53 
 
 opposed to their increase and protracted circulation. The 
 police of the country was without energy. Demagogues en- 
 deavored to gain popularity by flattering the people, while 
 others were equally active in courting the favor of the propri- 
 etors by personal attentions, and by vindicating their claims. 
 The real good of the people was a secondary object with both. 
 The government was not administered for the benefit of the 
 governed. The latter were dissatisfied, and by a judicious 
 exertion of their inherent rights, obtained a change for the 
 better. 
 
 CIYIL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Royal Governme7it from 1720 to 1776. 
 
 The form of government conferred on Carolina when it 
 became a royal province, was formed on the model of the 
 British Constitution. It consisted of a Governor, a Council 
 and Assembly. To them the power of making laws was 
 committed. The King appointed the Governor, and delegated 
 to him his constitutional powers. The Council was appointed 
 by the King to advise the Governor, and to assist in legisla- 
 tion; and was intended to represent the House of Lords. 
 The Assembly, like the House of Commons in Great Britain, 
 consisted of the representatives of the people; and was elected 
 by them to be the guardians of their lives, liberties, and 
 property. The Governor convened, prorogued, and dissolved 
 the Assembly, and had a negative on the bills of both houses 
 and the execution of the laws. He also had powers of chan- 
 cery, admiralty, of supreme ordinary, and of appointing 
 magistrates and militia officers. After bills received his as- 
 sent they were sent to Great Britain for royal approbation. 
 But were obligatory as laws in the meantime, unless they 
 were passed with a saving clause. The Governor received his 
 instructions from England, and it was his duty to transmit 
 authentic accounts of the state of his province, that these 
 instructions might be founded in truth and utility. This is a 
 general sketch of the royal government given to the privince 
 of Carolina, in lieu of the proprietary system. The change 
 soon appeared to be for the better. 
 
 Early in 1721 General Francis Nicholson arrived in South 
 Carolina, with a royal commission to be Governor. He was 
 generous, bold, and steady. Possessing the firmness, integrity 
 
54 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 and honor of a soldier, he was well qualified for discharging 
 the duties of his exalted station. The people received him 
 with uncommon demonstrations of joy. The voice of mur- 
 mur and discontent, together with the fears of danger and 
 oppression, were banished from the province. The people 
 resolved to forget former animosities, and to bury past offences 
 in eternal oblivion. The only contention was who should 
 be the most zealous in promoting the union, peace, and 
 prosperity of the settlement. They looked upon themselves 
 as happily delivered from a confused and distracted state ; 
 and anticipated all the blessings of freedom and security. 
 
 Soon after his arrival, Governor Nicholson issued writs for 
 the election of a new Assembly. The persons returned as 
 members entered with great temper and cheerfulness on the 
 regulation of provincial affairs. They choose James Moore, 
 their late popular Governor, to be Speaker of the House; and 
 their choice was confirmed by the King's representative. 
 The first business they engaged in was to pass an act de- 
 claring, that they recognized and acknowledged his sacred 
 majesty. King George, to be the rightful sovereign of Gr^at 
 Britain, France, and Ireland, and of all the dominions and 
 provinces belonging to the empire ; and in particular his un- 
 doubted right to the province of Carolina. All actions and 
 suits at law, commenced on account of the late administration 
 of James Moore by particular persons, were declared void;, 
 but all judicial proceedings under the same administration, 
 were confirmed. These acts were judged proper and ne- 
 cessary for estabisliing harmony among the inhabitants. 
 Nicholson had the address to unite all parties ; and by the 
 wisdom and equity of his administration, to render the whole 
 community happy under their new government and highly 
 pleased with the change. Though he was bred a soldier, and 
 was profane and passionate, yet he was not insensible of the 
 great advantage of religion to society and contributed not a 
 little to its interest in Carolina. On his application to the So- 
 ciety in England for propagating the gospel in foreign parts, 
 they sent out teachers, money, and books, for the instruction 
 of the inhabitants, and also supplied the province with cler- 
 gymen ; and gave each of them a yearly allowance, over and 
 above the provincial salary. He also, with great zeal, urged the 
 usefulness, and necessity, of provincial establishments for the 
 promotion of literature. 
 
 Governor Nicholson, who was well acquainted with the 
 manners of savages, applied himself with great zeal to regulate 
 Indian affairs, and to form treaties of friendship with the 
 different tribes around the settlement. As most of the broils 
 between the settlers and the Indians had been occasioned by 
 by the former taking unauthorized possession of lands claimed 
 
ROTAL GOVERNMENT, 1720 1776. 55 
 
 by the latter, to prevent future quarrels from that source, 
 he sent a message to the Cherokees, a numerous and warlike 
 nation, acquainting them that he had presents to make them 
 and would meet them at the borders of their territories, to 
 hold a general congress, to treat of mutual friendship and 
 commerce. They rejoiced at a proposal which implied they 
 were a free people, and immediately the chiefs of thirty-seven 
 different towns set out to meet him. 
 
 At this congress the Governor gave them several presents — 
 smoked the pipe of peace — and afterwards marked the bound- 
 aries of the lands between them and the English settlers. 
 He also regulated all weights and measures, that justice might 
 be done them in the way of traffic — appointed an agent to 
 superintend their affairs, and proposed to nominate one war- 
 rior as commander-in-chief of the whole nation, before whom 
 all complaints were to be made, and who was to acquaint 
 the Governor with every injury done them. After which the 
 Indians returned to their towns, highly pleased with their 
 generous brother and new ally. The Governor then proceeded 
 to conclude a treaty of commerce and peace with the Creeks, 
 who were also at that time a numerous and formidable nation. 
 He likewise appointed an agent to reside among them, whose 
 business was to regulate Indian affairs in a friendly and equi- 
 table manner, and he fixed on Savannah river as the boundary'- 
 of their hunting lands, beyond which, no settlements were to 
 extend. 
 
 The policy respecting Indians had hitherto proceeded on 
 the idea of peace and commerce with independent neighbors, 
 and seemed to have little more in view than a share in their 
 superfluous lands and the tranquility of the English settle- 
 ments ; but about this time the projects of the French, for 
 uniting Canada and Louisiana, began to be developed. They 
 had extended themselves northwardly from the Gulf of Mex- 
 ico, and eastwardly from the upper parts of the river Missis- 
 sippi, and had made many friends among the Indians to the 
 southward and westward of Carolina. To counteract the 
 views of the French, Great Britain wished to convert the 
 Indians, on her borders, into allies or subjects. Treaties of 
 union and alliance with them were therefore deemed proper 
 and necessary. For this purpose Sir Alexander Cumming 
 was appointed and sent out to conclude a treaty of alliance 
 with the Cherokees. These Indians occupied the lands about 
 the head of Savannah river, and backwards among the Apa- 
 lachian mountains. The country they claimed as their 
 hunting ground was of immense extent. The inhabitants 
 of their different towns, were computed to amount to more 
 than twenty thousand. Of these, six thousand were warriors, 
 
56 CIVIL HISTOET. 
 
 fit on any emergency to take the field. An alliance with 
 such a nation was an object of the highest consequence, both 
 to Carolina and the mother country ; the latter of which was 
 now engaged for the defence and protection of the former. 
 
 At)oi;t the beginning of the year 1730, Sir Alexander Gum- 
 ming arrived in Carolina and made preparations for his 
 journey to the distant hills. When he reached Keowee, about 
 300 miles from Charlestown, the chiefs of the lower towns 
 met and received him with marks of friendship and esteem. 
 He immediately despatched messengers to the middle, the 
 valley, and overhill settlements ; and summoned a general 
 meeting of all their chiefs to hold a congress with him at 
 Nequasee. In the month of April the chief warriors of all 
 the Cherokee towns assembled at the place appointed. After 
 the various Indian ceremonies were over, Sir Alexander made 
 a speech to them; acquainting them by whose authority he 
 was sent, and representing the great power, and goodness, of 
 his sovereign King George : how he and all his other subjects 
 paid a cheerful obedience to his laws, and of course were pro- 
 tected by him from all harm : that he had come a great way 
 to demand of Moytoy, and all the chieftains of the nation, to 
 acknowledge themselves the subjects of his King, and to 
 promise obedience to his authority; and as he loved them, 
 and was answerable to his sovereign for their good and peace- 
 able behavior, he hoped they would agree to what he should 
 now require of them. Upon which, the chiefs falling on their 
 knees, solemnly promised fidelity and obedience, calling upon 
 all that was terrible to. fall upon them if they violated their 
 promise. Sir Alexander then, by their unanimous consent, 
 nominated Moytoy commander and chief of the Cherokee 
 nation, and enjoined all the warriors, of the different tribes to 
 acknowledge him as their King to whom they were to be ac- 
 countable for their conduct. To this they also agreed, provided 
 Moytoy should be made answerable to Sir Alexander for his 
 behavior to them. After which, many presents were made to 
 them, and the congress ended to the satisfaction of both par- 
 ties. The crown was brought from Tenassee, their chief 
 town, which, with five eagle tails and four scalps of their ene- 
 mies, Moytoy presented to Sir Alexander, requesting him, on 
 his arrival at Britain, to lay them at his majesty's feet. But 
 Sir Alexander proposed to Moytoy that he should depute sorae 
 of their chiefs to accompany him to England, there to do hom- 
 age in person to the great King. Six of them agreed and 
 accompanied Sir Alexander to Charlestown, where, being 
 joined by another, they embarked for England. 
 
 Being admitted into the presence of the King they, in the 
 name of their nation, promised to continue forever his maj- 
 
ROYAL GOVERNMENT, 1720 1776. 57 
 
 esty's faithful and obedient subjects. A treaty* was accord- 
 ingly drawn up and signed by Alured Popple, Secretary to 
 the lords commissioners of trade and plantations on one side, 
 and by the marks of the Indian chiefs on the other. The 
 Cherokees, in consequence of this treaty, for many years re- 
 mained in a state of perfect friendship and peace with the 
 colonists, who followed their various employments in the 
 neighborhood of these Indians without the least terror or 
 molestation. 
 
 * The preamble to this treaty recites " That, whereas, the six Chiefs, with the 
 consent of the whole nation of Cherokees, at a general meeting of their nation at 
 Nequassee, were deputed by Moytoy, their chief warrior, to attend Sir Alexander 
 Cunimiitg to Great Britain, where they had seen the great King George: and Sir 
 Alexander, by authority from Moytoy and all the Cherokees, had laid down the 
 crown of their nation, with the scalps of their enemies and feathers of glory at 
 his majesty's feet, as a pledge of their loyalty. And, whereas, the great King had 
 commanded the lords commissioners of trade and plantations, to inform the In- 
 dians that the English on all sides of the mountains and lakes, were his people, their 
 friends, his friends, and their enemies, his enemies — that he took it kindly the 
 great nation of Cherokees had sent them so far to brighten the chain of friendship 
 between him and them, and between his people and their people ; that the chain 
 of friendship between him and the Cherokees is now like the sun which shines 
 both in Britain and also upon the great mountains where they live, and equally 
 warms the hearts of Indians and Englishmen; that as there is no spots or black- 
 ness in the sun, so neither is there any rust or foulness on this chain. And as 
 the King has fastened one end to his breast, he desired them to carry the other 
 end of the chain and fasten it to the breast of Moytoy of Telliquo, and to the 
 breasts of all their old wise men, their captains and people, never more to be 
 made loose or broken. 
 
 The great King and the Cherokees being thus fastened together by a chain of 
 friendship, he has ordered, and it is agreed, that his children in Carolina do trade 
 with the Indians, and furnish them with all manner of goods they want, and to 
 make haste to build houses and plant corn from Charlestown towards the towns 
 of the Cherokees behind the great mountains. That he desires the English and 
 Indians may live together as children of one family; that the Cherokees be always 
 ready to fight against any nation, whether white men or Indians, who shall dare 
 molest or hurt the English — that the nation of Cherokees shall, on their part, take 
 care to keep the trading path clean — that there be no blood on the path where the 
 English tread, even though they should be accompanied with other people with 
 whom the Cherokees may be at war. That the Cherokees shall not suffer their 
 people to trade with white men of any other nation but the Enghsh, nor permit 
 white men of any other nation to build any forts or cabins, or plant any corn 
 among them upon lands which belong to the great King; and if any such at- 
 tempt shall be made, the Cherokees must acquaint the English Governor there- 
 with, and do whatever he directs, in order to maintain and defend the great King's 
 right to the country of Carolina. That if any negroes shall run away into the 
 woods from their English masters, the Cherokees shall endeavor to apprehend 
 them and bring Ihem to the plantation from whence they run away, or to the Gov- 
 ernor, and for every slave so apprehended and brought back, the Indian that brings 
 him shall receive a gun and a watch-coat ; and if by any accident, it shall happen 
 that an Englishman shall kill a Cherokee, the king or chief of the nation shall first 
 complain to the English Governor, and the man who did the harm shall be pun- 
 ished by the English laws as if he had killed an Englishman ; and in like manner 
 if any Indian happens to kill an Englishman, the Indian shall be delivered up to 
 the Governor, to be punished by the same English laws as if he were an English- 
 man.'" 
 
 This was the substance of the first treaty between the King and the Cherokees, 
 every article of which was accompanied with presents. A speech was at the 
 same lime addressed to the Indians, in which they were informed "that these 
 were the words of the great King whom they had seen; and as a token that his 
 heart was open and true to his cliildren the Cherokees, and to all their people, a 
 belt was given the warriors, which, they were told, the King desired them to keep 
 
58 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 About the beginning of the year 1731, Robert Johnson, who 
 had been proprietary Governor of Carolina, arrived with a 
 commission, investing him with a similar ofBce in behalf of 
 the crown. He brought back these Indian chiefs, possessed 
 with the highest ideasof the power and greatness of the Eng- 
 lish nation, and pleased with the kind and generous treatment 
 they had received. 
 
 This new Governor, from his knowledge of the province, 
 was well quahfied for his high office; and had a council to 
 assist him, composed of the most influential inhabitants. 
 Thomas Broughton was appointed Lieutenant Governor, and 
 Robert Wright, Chief Justice. The other members of the 
 Council were William Bull, James Kinlock, Alexander Skene, 
 John Fenwicke, Arthur Middleton, Joseph Wragg, Francis 
 Yonge, John Hamerton and Thomas Waring. 
 
 Mr. Johnson had acted with great spirit in opposing the 
 Carolinians in 1719, when they threw oS the proprietary gov- 
 ernment ; but they had Uberality enough to consider him as 
 having acted solely from a sense of duty and honor. He was 
 not only well received in his new oflace, but the Assembly 
 honored him after his death by erecting a handsome monu- 
 ment to his memory in St. Philip's church, highly applauding 
 his adrhinistration. 
 
 For the encouragement of the people, now connected with 
 the mother country, several favors were granted them. The 
 restraint upon rice, an enumerated commodity, was partly 
 
 and show to all their people, to their children, and children's children, to confirm 
 what was now spoken, and to bind this agreement of peace and friendship between 
 the English and Cherokees as long as the rivers shall run, the mountains shall 
 last, or the sun shall shine." 
 
 In answer to which SIcijagustah, in name of the rest, made a speech to the 
 following effect: " We are come hither from a mountainous place, where notiiing 
 but darkness is to be found — but we are now in a place where there is light. We 
 look upon you as if the great King were present — we love you as representing 
 the great King — we shall die in the same way of thinking — the crown of our nation 
 is different from that which the great King George wears, and from that we saw 
 in the tower, but to us it is all one — the chain of friendship shall be carried to our 
 people — we look upon the great King George as the sun and as our father, and 
 upon ourselves as his children; for though we are red and you are white, yet our 
 hands and hearts are joined together. When we shall have acquainted our people 
 with what we have seen, our children from generation to generation will always 
 remember it. In war we shall always be one with you — the enemies of the great 
 King shall be our enemies — his people and ours shall be one, and shall die together. 
 We came hither naked and poor as the worms of the earth; but you have every 
 thing, and we that have nothing must love you, and will never break the chain of 
 friendship which is between us. This small rope we show you is all that we have 
 to bind our slaves with, and it may be broken, but you have iron chains for yours— 
 however, if we catch your slaves, we will bind them as well as we can, and 
 deliver them to our friends and take no pay for it. Your white people may very 
 safely build houses near us ; we shall hurt nothing that belongs to them, for we 
 are children of one father, the great King, and shall live and die together." Then 
 laying down his feathers upon the table, he added : "This is our way of talking, 
 wiiich is the same thing to us as your letters in the book are to you, and to you, 
 beloved men, we deliver these feathers in confirmation of all we have said." 
 
ROTAL GOVERNMENT, 1720 1776. 59 
 
 taken oif ; and that it might arrive more seasonably and in 
 better condition at market, the colonists were permitted to 
 send it directly to any port sonthward of Cape Finisterre. A 
 bounty on hemp was also allowed by parliament. The arrears 
 of quit-rents, bought from the proprietors, were remitted by 
 the liberality of the crown. For the benefit of trade, their 
 bills of credit were continued, and seventy-seven thousand 
 pounds were stamped and issued by virtue of an act of the 
 Legislature, called the appropriation law. Seventy pieces of 
 cannon were sent out by the King; and the Governor had 
 instructions to build one fort at Port Royal, and another on 
 the river Alatamaha. An independent company of foot was 
 allowed for their defence by land, and ships of war were sta- 
 tioned on the coast for the protection of trade. From these 
 and several other benefits conferred on the colony, it soon 
 began to emerge from the depths of poverty, and rapidly rose 
 to a state of ease and affluence. 
 
 As a natural consequence of its domestic security the credit 
 of the province, in England, increased. The merchants of 
 London, Bristol and Liverpool, turned their eyes to Carolina 
 as a new and promising channel of trade; and established 
 houses in Charlestown for conducting their iDusiness with the 
 planters, and poured in slaves for cultivating their lands, and 
 manufactures for supplying their plantations, and furnished 
 them with both on credit and at a cheap rate. With this 
 increased force, the lands were cleared and cultivated with 
 greater facility. The lands rose in value, and men of fore- 
 sight and judgment began to look out and secure the rich 
 spots for themselves. The produce of the province in a few 
 years was doubled. From this period, its exports kept pace 
 with the imports, and secured its credit in England. 
 
 Hitherto, Carolina had made small progress in cultivation. 
 The face of the country appeared like a desert, with little spots 
 here and there cleared. The colonists were slovenly farmers, 
 owing to the vast quantities of lands and the easy and cheap 
 terms of obtaining them. They were more indebted for a 
 good crop to the natural richness of the soil, than to their own 
 culture and management. They had abundance of the neces- 
 saries and several of the conveniences of life. But their 
 habitations were clumsy, miserable wooden huts. Charles- 
 town, at this time, consisted of between five and six hundred 
 houses, mostly built of timber, and neither comfortable nor 
 well constructed. Henceforward the province improved in 
 building as well as in other respects. Many ingenious arti- 
 ficers and tradesmen of different kinds, found encouragement 
 in it, and introduced a taste for brick buildings, and more 
 neat and pleasant habitations. As the colony increased, the 
 
60 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 face of the country exhibited an appearance of industry and 
 plenty. 
 
 For the farther security of Carolina, the settlement of a new 
 colony between the rivers Alatamaha and Savannah was, 
 about the year 1732, projected in England. This large terri- 
 tory lay waste without any civilized inhabitants. The new 
 province was called Georgia in honor of the King, who greatly 
 encouraged the undertaking. 
 
 While the security of Carolina against external enemies, by 
 this settlement of Georgia, engaged the attention of the British 
 government, the means of its internal improvement and popu- 
 lation were not neglected. 
 
 John Peter Pury, of Neufchatel in Switzerland, having 
 formed a design of leaving his native country, paid a visit 
 to Carolina, in order to inform himself of the circumstances 
 and situation of the province. After viewing the lands he 
 returned to Britain. The government entered into a contract 
 with him, and agreed to give lands and four hundred pounds 
 sterling for every hundred effective men he should transport 
 from Switzerland to Carolina. Pury having drawn up a flat- 
 tering account of the soil and climate,* and of the excellence 
 and freedom of the provincial government, returned to Swit- 
 zerland and published it among the people. Immediately 
 one hundred and seventy Switzers agreed to follow him, and 
 were transported to the fertile and delightful province as he 
 described it. Not long afterwards two hundred more came 
 and joined them. The Governor, agreeably to instructions, 
 allowed forty thousand acres of land for the use of the Swiss 
 settlement on the northeast side of Savannah river ; and a 
 town was marked out for their accommodation, which was 
 called Purysburg, from the name of the principal promoter of 
 the settlement. Mr. Bignion, a Swiss minister, whom they 
 had engaged to go with them, having received Episcopal 
 ordination from the Bishop of London, settled among them 
 for their religious instruction. The Governor and Council, 
 happy in the acquisition of such a force, allotted to each of 
 them his separate tract of land and gave every encourage- 
 ment in their power to the people. The Swiss emigrants 
 began their labors with uncommon zeal and energy ; highly 
 elevated with the idea of possessing landed estates. But in a 
 short time they felt the many inconveniences attending a 
 change of climate. Several of them sickened and died, and 
 others found the hardships of the first state of colonization 
 
 * This may be found ia Anderson's History of Commerce. It proceeds on the 
 idea that countries lying in tlie 32d degree of North latitude, (the site of Palestine 
 and of South Carolina,) are remarkable for their fertility; the production of the 
 most valuable commodities, and other good qualities. 
 
ROTAL GOVERNMENT, 1720 1776. 61 
 
 much greater than they expected. They became discontented. 
 Smarting under the pressure of indigence and disappointment, 
 they not only blamed Pury for deceiving them, but repented 
 tiieir leaving their native country. 
 
 According to a new plan, adopted in England, for the more 
 speedy population and settlement of the province, the Gov- 
 ernor had instructions to mark out eleven townships in square 
 plats on the sides of rivers consisting each of twenty thousand 
 acres ; and to divide the land within them into shares of fifty 
 acres for each man, woman, and child that should come to 
 occupy and improve them. Each township was to form a 
 parish, and all the inhabitants were to have an equal right to 
 the river. So soon as the parish should increase to the num- 
 ber of an hundred families they were to have a right to send 
 two members, of their own election, to the Assembly and to 
 enjoy the same privileges as the other parishes already estab- 
 lished. Each settler was to pay four shillings a year for every 
 hundred acres of land, except the first ten years ; during 
 which term they were to be rent free. Accordingly ten town- 
 ships were marked out; two on river Alatamaha, two on 
 Savannah, two on Santee, one on Pedee, one on Wacamaw, 
 one on Wateree, and one on Black river. 
 
 By this time accounts of the great privileges granted by the 
 Crown, for the encouragement of- settlers in the province had 
 been published through Britain and Ireland ; and many 
 industrious people had resolved to take the benefit of the 
 royal bounty. Multitudes of laborers and husbandmen in 
 Ireland oppressed, by landlords and bishops, and unable to 
 procure a comfortable subsistence for their families, embarked 
 for Carolina. The first colony of Irish people had lands 
 granted to them ; and about the year 1734 formed the settle- 
 ment called Williamsburg township. But notwithstanding 
 the bounty of the Crown they remained for several years in 
 low and distressing circumstances. The climate proved fatal 
 to numbers of them. In consequence of hard labor and 
 scanty provisions at the commencement of the settlement a 
 considerable number, debihtated in body and dejected in 
 spirits, sickened and died. But as this township received 
 frequent supplies from the same quarter, the Irish settlers 
 amidst every hardship increased in number. Having ob- 
 tained' credit with the merchants for negroes they were, 
 relieved from the severest part of their labor. By this aid, 
 and their own industry, spots of land were cleared, which in 
 a short period yielded them plenty of provisions and in time 
 became fruitful estates. 
 
 In proportion as Carolina flourished and extended, the 
 Spaniards of Florida became more troublesome. At this time 
 
62 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 there were about forty thousand negroes in the province. Long 
 had hberty and protection been promised and proclaimed to 
 them by the Spaniards at St. Augustine. At different times 
 Spanish emissaries had been found secretly persuading them 
 to fly from their masters to Florida, and several had made their 
 escape to that settlement Of these negro refugees, the Gov- 
 ernor of Florida formed a regiment, appointed officers from 
 among themselves, allowed them the same pay, and clothed 
 them in the same uniform with the regular Spanish soldiers. 
 The most sensible part of the slaves in Carolina, were not 
 ignorant of this Spanish regiment, for when they ran away, 
 they constantly directed their course to that quarter. 
 
 While Carolina was kept in a state of constant fear, an insur- 
 rection, which alarmed the whole province, broke out in the 
 heart of the settlement. In the year 1740 a number of ne- 
 groes having assembled together at Stono, surprised and killed 
 two young men in a warehouse and then plundered it of guns 
 and ammunition. Being thus provided with arms, they 
 elected one of their number captain, put themselves under 
 his command, and marched towards the southwest with colors 
 flying and drums beating. They forcibly entered the house 
 of Mr. Godfrey, and having murdered him, his wife and chil- 
 dren, they took all the arms he had in it, set fire to the house, 
 and proceeded towards Jaoksonborough. In their way they 
 plundered and burnt every house, killed the white people, and 
 compelled the negroes to join them. Governor Bull, returning 
 to Charlestown from the southward met them, and observing 
 them armed, quickly rode out of their way. He crossed over 
 to Johns Island, and from thence came to Charlestown with 
 the first intelligence. Mr. Golightly in like manner met the 
 armed black insurgents, and rode out of their way; but went 
 directly to the Presbyterian church at Wiltown, and gave the 
 alarm. By a law of the province, all planters were obliged to 
 carry their arms to church. Mr. Golightly joined the armed 
 men, thus providentially assembled, and proceeded with them 
 directly from the church, to engage the negroes about eight 
 miles distant. The women were left trembling with fear, 
 while the militia under the command of Captain Bee, marched 
 in quest of" the negroes, who by this time, had become 
 formidable from the number that joined them. They had 
 marched above fifteen miles, and spread desolation through 
 all the plantations in their way. Having found rum in some 
 houses and drank freely of it, they halted in an open field and 
 began to sing and dance by way of triumph. During these 
 rejoicings, the militia came up and stationed themselves iQ 
 different places to prevent their escape. The intoxication ol 
 several of the slaves, favored the assailants. One party ad- 
 
ROYAL GOVERNMENT, ] 720 1776. 63 
 
 vanced into the open field and attacked them.* Having 
 killed some negroes, the remainder took to the woods, and 
 were dispersed. Many ran hack to their plantations, in hopes 
 of escaping snspicion from the ahsence of their masters ; but 
 the greater part were taken and tried. Such as had been com- 
 pelled to join, contrary to their inchnations, were pardoned ; 
 but the leaders and first insurgents suff'ered death. 
 
 All Carolina was struck with consternation by this insurrec- 
 tion, in which about twenty persons were murdered, and had 
 not the people in that quarter been armed and collected at 
 church, it is probable many more would have sufi'ered. It 
 was commonly believed, and not without reason, that the 
 Spaniards, by their secret influence and intrigues with slaves 
 had instigated them to this massacre. To prevent further 
 attempts Governor Bull sent an express to General Oglethorpe, 
 with advice of the insurrection, desiring him to double his 
 vigilance in Georgia and seize all straggling Spaniards and 
 negroes. At the same time a company of rangers were em- 
 ployed to patrol the frontiers, and block up all passages by 
 which they might make their escape to Florida. 
 
 About this time, November 18th, 1740, nearly one-half of 
 Charlestown was consumed by fire. It began about two 
 o'clock P. M., and continued until eight. The houses being 
 built of wood, and the wind blowing hard at northwest, the 
 flames spread with astonishing rapidity. From the south side 
 of Broad street to Granville's Bastion, almost every house was 
 at one time in flames except the north side of Broad street 
 and the north end of the Bay; the trading part of the town, 
 was nearly destroyed. The rum, pitch, tar, turpentine, and 
 gunpowder, in the different stores, served to spread the deso- 
 lating element. A violent wind carried the burning shingles 
 to a great distance. While floating in the air they added to 
 the borrow of the scene, and falling on remote houses, excited 
 new conflagrations rivalling the first. The cries of children 
 and the shrieks of women propagated a general alarm. The 
 anxiety of each individual for his own connections, prevented 
 united exertions for common safety; while flames bursting 
 forth from different quarters at the same time, nearly induced 
 despair of saving any part of the town. The fire continued to 
 spread desolation, until the calmness of the evening closed the 
 
 ^' The militia attacked the negroes just as they had dined, and were preparing 
 to move off. They had a few minutes before fired the dwelling house at a planta- 
 tion which has been ever since called " Battlefield." As soon as they discovered 
 the white people, their black captain, named Cato, who had two loaded guns, 
 immediately discharged one, and as he stooped to get the other, w^as shot down. 
 After this, the survivors made but little resistance, scattered, and endeavored to 
 escape. The fire in the house was extinguished, afterburning a hole in the 
 floor. This was sulTered to remain open for many years, as a memorial of the 
 transaction. 
 
64 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 dreadful scene. Three hundred of the best buildings wer 
 consumed, which, together with loss of goods and couritr 
 commodities, amounted to a prodigious sum. Few lives wer 
 lost, but the lamentations of ruined families were heard ii 
 every quarter. From a flourishing condition, the town wa; 
 reduced in the space of six hours to a most deplorable state 
 The inhabitants, whose houses escaped the flames, kindly in 
 vited their unfortunate neighbors to them, so that two or thre( 
 famihes were lodged in places built only for the accommoda 
 tion of one. After the legislature met they agreed to maki 
 application to the British parliament for relief It votec 
 twenty thousand pounds sterling, to be distributed among th( 
 sufferers. This relief was seasonable and useful on the on( 
 side, and displayed a generous and noble spirit on the other 
 
 Since the province was taken under the royal care, it was 
 nursed and protected by a rich and powerful nation. It; 
 government was staple, private property secure, and the privi- 
 leges of the people extensive. The planters obtained lands 
 from the King at a cheap rate. The mother country furnished 
 laborers upon credit; each person had entire liberty to manage 
 his affairs for his own profit and advantage, and having no 
 tythes and very trifling taxes to pay, reaped almost the whole 
 fruits of his industry. He obtained British manufactures at 
 an easy rate, and drawbacks were allowed on articles oi 
 foreign manufacture that they might be brought cheaper to the 
 American market. Frugal industrious planters, every three 
 or four years, doubled their capital and their progress towards 
 independence and opulence was rapid. 
 
 The plan of setthng townships, especially as it was accom- 
 panied with the royal bounty, proved beneficial in many re- 
 spects. It encouraged multitudes of poor oppressed people in 
 Ireland, Holland, and Germany, to emigrate ; by which means 
 the province received a number of useful settlers. As many 
 of them came from manufacturing towns in Europe, it might 
 haVe been expected that they would naturally have pursued 
 the occupations to which they had been bred and in which 
 their chief skill consisted; but this was by no means the case, 
 for, excepting a few that took up their residence in Charles- 
 town, they applied themselves to grazing and agriculture. By 
 raising hemp, wheat, and corn, in the interior parts of the 
 country, and curing hams, bacon, and beef, they supplied 
 the market with abundance of provisions. 
 
 As every family of laborers was an acquisition to the 
 country, for the encouragement of settlers to migrate thither 
 and improve the vacant lands, a door was opened to protes- 
 tants of every nation. Lands free from quit-rents for the first 
 ten years were allotted to men, women, and children. With 
 
ROYAi; GOVEBNMENT, 1720 1776. 65 
 
 their bounty-money they purchased utensils for cultivation, 
 and hogs and cows to begin their stock. The like bounty was 
 allowed to all servants, after the expiration of the term of their 
 servitude. From this period Carolina was found to be an ex- 
 cellent refuge to the poor, the unfortunate, and oppressed. The 
 population and prosperity of her colonies, engrossed the atten- 
 tion of the mother country. His majesty's bounty served to 
 alleviate the hardships inseparable from the first years of cul- 
 tivation ; and landed property animated the emigrants to 
 industry and perseverance. The different townships yearly 
 increased in numbers. Every one, upon his arrival, obtained 
 his grant of land and sat down on his freehold with no taxes, 
 or very trifling ones, and enjoyed full liberty to hunt and fish, 
 together with many other advantages and privileges he never 
 knew in Europe. If they could not be called rich during their 
 own lives, by improving their little freeholds, they commonly 
 left their children in easy circumstances. Even in the first 
 stage, being free and contented, their condition in many re- 
 spects was preferable to that of laborers in Europe. In all 
 improved countries, where commerce and manufacture have 
 been long established and luxury prevails, the lower classes 
 are oppressed and miserable. In Carolina, persons of that 
 description though exposed to more troubles and hardships 
 for a few years, had better opportunities than in Europe for 
 advancing to an easy and independent State. Hence it hap- 
 pened that few emigrants ever returned to their native country; 
 on the contrary, the success and prosperity of the most fortu- 
 nate brought many adventurers and relations after them. 
 Their love to their former friends, aud their natural partiality 
 for their countrymen, induced the old planters to receive the 
 new settlers joyfully and even to assist and relieve them. 
 Each individual possessing his own property, a reciprocal in- 
 dependence produced mutual respect and beneficence. Such 
 general harmony and industry reigned among them that the 
 townships, from a desolate wilderness, soon became fruitful 
 fields. 
 
 The vast quantities of unoccupied land furnished the poor 
 emigrants with many advantages. While they were encoun- 
 tering the hardships of the first years of cultivation, the incon- 
 veniences gradually decreased in proportion to their improve- 
 ments. The merchants being favored with credit from Britain, 
 were enabled to extend it to the inhabitants. The planters 
 having established their characters for honesty and industry, 
 obtained negroes to assist them in the harder tasks of clearing 
 and cultivating the soil. Their wealth consisted in the in- 
 crease of their slaves, stock, and improvements. Having 
 abundance of waste land, they extended their culture in pro- 
 5 
 
66 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 portion to their capital. They lived almost entirely on the 
 produce of their estates, and consequently spent but a small 
 part of their annual income. The surplus was yearly added 
 to the capital, and they enlarged their prospects in proportion 
 to their wealth and strength. If there was a great demand at 
 market for the commodities the}'- raised, their progress became 
 rapid beyond expectation. They labored and received in- 
 creasing encouragement to persevere until they advanced to 
 an easy and comfortable state. It has been observed on the 
 other hand, that few of the settlers who brought much pro- 
 perty with them succeeded as well as those who brought little 
 or none. It was pre-eminently a good poor man's country. 
 
 If the emigrant chose to follow his trade, the high price of 
 labor was no less encouraging. By the indulgence of the 
 merchants, or by the security of a friend he obtained credit 
 for a few negroes. He taught them his trade, and a few good 
 tradesman well employed were equal to a small estate. In a 
 little time he acquired some money; and, like several others 
 in the city whose yearly gain exceeded what is requisite for 
 the support of themselves and families, put it out on interest. 
 The legal interest of the province was ten per cent, till 1748, 
 and eight per cent, from that year till 1777. This high rate 
 induced many who were unwilling to settle plantations, to 
 choose this method of increasing their fortune. If the money 
 lender followed his employment in the capital, or reserved in 
 his hands a sufficiency for family use, and allowed the inter- 
 est to be added yearly to the capital stock, his fortune soon 
 became considerable. Several persons preferred this method 
 of accumulating riches to that of cultivation; especially those 
 whom age or infirmity had rendered unfit for action and 
 fatigue. 
 
 Notwithstanding the extensive credit commonly allowed by 
 the merchants, the number of borrowers always exceeded that 
 of the lenders of money. Having vast extent of territory the 
 planters were eager to obtain laborers, which raised the de- 
 mand for money and kept up a high rate of interest. The in- 
 terest of money in every country is for the most part according 
 to the demand, and the demand according to the profits made 
 by the use of it. The profits must always be great where 
 men can afford to take money at the rate of eight or ten per 
 cent. In Carolina laborers on good lands cleared their first 
 cost and charges in a few years, and therefore the demand for 
 money to procure them was great 
 
 The borrower of money obtained his landed estate from the 
 crown. The quit-rents and taxes were inconsiderable. Being 
 both, landlord and farmer he had perfect liberty to manage 
 and improve his plantation as he pleased, and was accounta- 
 
ROYAL GOVERNMENT, 1720 1776. 67 
 
 ble to none for the fruits of his industry. His estate furnished 
 him with game and fish, which he could kill and use at pleas- 
 ure. In the woods his cattle, hogs, and horses grazed at 
 their ease attended, perhaps only by a negro boy. He had 
 calves, hogs, and poultry in abundance for the use of his 
 family. He could turn his able laborers to the field, and exert 
 all their energies in raising the staple commodities of the 
 country. Having provision from domestic resources, he could 
 apply his whole crop for the purposes of answering the de- 
 mands of the merchant and money lender. He calculated 
 that his annual produce would not only answer all demands, 
 but bring aa addition to his capital, and enable him to clear 
 and cultivate more land. In proportion as the merchants ex- 
 tended credit to the planters, and supplied them with laborers, 
 the profits of their plantations increased. 
 
 The lands which were cultivated in South Carolina, for the 
 first eighty years after the settlement of the province, were, for 
 the most part, situated on or near navigable creeks or rivers. 
 The planters who lived fifty miles from the capital were at 
 little more expense, in sending their provisions and produce 
 to its market, than those who lived within five miles of it. 
 The town was supplied with plenty of provisions, and its 
 neighborhood prevented from enjoying a monopoly of its 
 market. By this general and unlimited competition, the 
 price of provisions was kept low. While the money arising 
 from them circulated equally and universally through the 
 country, it contributed, in return, to its improvement. The 
 planters had not only water carriage to the market for their 
 staple commodities, but, on their arrival, the merchant again 
 committed them to the general tide of commerce, and re- 
 ceived, in return, the valuable commodities of every clime. 
 
 The Carolinians all this time received protection to trade, a 
 ready market, drawbacks and bounties from the mother coun- 
 try. The duties laid on many articles of foreign manufac- 
 ture, on their importation into Britain, were drawn back on 
 their exportation to the colonies. These drawbacks were 
 always in favor of the consumers, and supplied the provin- 
 cial markets with foreign goods nearly as cheap as if they 
 had been immediately imported from the places where they 
 were manufactured. Besides, upon the arrival of such goods 
 in the country, the planters commonly had twelve months 
 credit from the provincial merchant who was satisfied with 
 payment once in the year from all his customers. To the 
 consumers in Carolina, East India goods, German manufac- 
 tures, Spanish, Portugal, Madeira and Fayal wines came 
 cheaper than to those in Great Britain. Coal, salt, and other 
 
68 CIVIL HISTORY. 
 
 articles, brought by way of ballast, have sometimes sold for 
 less in Charlestown than in London. 
 
 The colonists were also allowed bounties on several articles of 
 produce exported. For the encouragement ofher colonies, Great 
 Britain laid high duties on such as were imported from foreign 
 countries, and gave the colonists premiums on the same com- 
 modities. The bounties on naval stores, indigo, hemp and 
 raw silk proved an encouragement to industry, and all termi- 
 nated in favor of the planters. The colonial merchants en- 
 joyed perfect freedom in their trade with the West Indies, 
 where they found a convenient and most excellent market 
 for Indian corn, rice, lumber and salt provisions. In return 
 they had , rum, sugar, coffee and molasses cheaper than their 
 fellow subjects in the mother country. 
 
 Great Britain laid the colonists under some restraints with 
 respect to their domestic manufactures and their trade to 
 foreign ports. Though this policy affected the more northern 
 colonies, it was not prejudicial to Carolina. It served to direct 
 the views of the people to the culture of lands, which was 
 more profitable both to themselves and the mother country. 
 Though they had plenty of beaver skins, and a few hats were 
 manufactured from them, yet the price of labor was so high 
 that the merchant could send the skins to England, import 
 hats made of them, and undersell the manufacturers of Caro- 
 lina. The province also furnished some wool and cotton, but 
 before they could be made into cloth, they cost the consumers 
 more money than the merchant demanded for the same goods ' 
 imported. It afforded leather, but boots and shoes made from 
 it at home were of an inferior quality, and often dearer than 
 the same articles imported from Britain. In like manner, 
 wit?i respect to many other commodities, it was for the ad- 
 vantage of the province, as well as the mother country, to 
 export the raw materials and import the goods manufac- 
 tured. Cultivation was, therefore, the most profitable employ- 
 ment. It was the interest of such a flourishing colony to be 
 always in debt to Great Britain, for the more laborers were 
 sent the more rapidly the colony advanced in riches. If, from 
 an unfavorable season, the planters were rendered unable to 
 pay for the slaves they had purchased, the merchants gener- 
 ally indulged them another year, and sometimes allowed th'em 
 to increase their debt by addititional purchases. This was 
 often found the most certain method of obtaining payment 
 In like manner the merchant had indulgence from England, 
 the primary source of credit. By these forbearances the plan- 
 ter preserved, and often increased, his capital, while the differ- 
 ence of interest between the mother country and the province, 
 
ROYAL GOVERNMENT, 1720 1776. 69 
 
 amounting at first to five, and always to three, per cent., was 
 clear gain to the merchants. 
 
 Such was the general course of prosperity with which the 
 royal province of South Carolina was Ijlessed in the interval 
 between the termination of the proprietary government in 
 1719, and the American revolution in 1776. No colony was 
 ever better governed The first and second Georges were 
 nursing fathers to the province. Tliey performed to it the 
 full orbed duty of Kings, and their paternal care was returned 
 with the most ardent love and affection of their subjects in 
 Carolina. The advantages were reciprocal. The colonists 
 enjoyed the protection of Great Britain, and in return she had 
 a monopoly of their trade. The mother country received 
 great benefit from this intercourse, and the colony, under her 
 protecting care, became great and happy. In South Carolina 
 an enemy to the Hanoverian succession, or to the British 
 Constitution, was scarcely known. The inhabitants were 
 fond of British manners even to excess. They, for the most 
 part, sent their children to England or Scotland for education, 
 and spoke of these countries under the endearing appellation 
 of home. They were enthusiasts for the government under 
 which they had grown up and flourished. All ranks and 
 orders of men gloried in their connection with the mother 
 country, and in being subjects of the same king. The laws 
 of the British Parliament, confining their trade for the benefit 
 of the protecting parent state, were generally and cheerfully 
 obeyed. Few countries have, at any time, exhibited so strik- 
 ing an instance of public and private prosperity as appeared 
 in South Carolina between the years 1725 and 1775. The 
 inhabitants of the province were, in that half century, in- 
 creased seven fold. None were indigent but the idle and un- 
 fortunate. Personal independence was fully within the reach 
 of every man who was healthy and industrious. All were 
 secure in their persons and property. They were also con- 
 tented 'with their colonial state, and wished not for the smallest 
 change in their political constitution. 
 
 In the midst of these enjoyments, and the most sincere 
 attachment to the mother country, to their king and his gov- 
 erntnent, the people of South Carolina, without any original 
 design on their part, were, step by step, drawn into a defen- 
 sive revolutionary war, which involved them in every species 
 of difficulty, and finally dissevered them from the parent state. 
 
 But before we proceed to relate these interesting events, 
 some more early periods of the history of South Carolina 
 must be surveyed. 
 
70 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 THE MILITARY HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM 1670 TO 1776. 
 CHAPTER V- — SECTION I. 
 
 Contest with Spaniards. 
 
 All the forms of goverairient, hitherto of force in Carolina, 
 agreed in this particular : that every subject or citizen should 
 also be a soldier. There was a nightly watch maintained in 
 Charlestown ever since it was five years old, and, for the most 
 part, by men hired for the purpose. But in all other times 
 and situations the defence of the country rested solely on the 
 militia, except in cases of great pressing and continued danger. 
 The laws required every freeman of a suitable age, with a 
 few necessary exemptions, to be enrolled as a member of some 
 militia company and to be equipped and trained for public 
 service. The necessity of this was so evident, that till about 
 the middle of the 18th century, the practice was common and 
 the men were enjoined by law to carry their arms to church.* 
 The people could not brook a standing army in time of peace, 
 but were required to be always ready to defend themselves. 
 This was indispensably necessary, in their peculiar situation. 
 The province was not only constantly exposed to internal 
 danger ; but its peace was early and repeatedly disturbed by 
 Spaniards, Indians, and pirates. Carolina, with the English, 
 was the southern part of Virginia; with the Spaniards it was 
 the northern part of Florida. Both claimed by virtue of prior 
 discovery, but the title of the Spaniards was supposed to be 
 strengthened by a grant of the territory from his holiness the' 
 pope. Though the validity of the title of either could not be 
 supported, before an impartial tribunal, yet a century passed 
 away and much mischief was done before the controversy 
 was compromised. The Spaniards considering the settlement 
 of Carolina as an encroachment on Florida, were not scrupu- 
 lous about the means of inducing its relinquishment. They 
 encouraged indented servants to leave their masters, and fly 
 to St. Augustine for protection. They impressed the Indians 
 with unfavorable ideas of the English heretics, and encouraged 
 
 * The province was saved from much impending distress and desolation by an 
 armed congregation sallying forth from the Presbyterian church at Wiltown in 
 1740, as has been related. The practice of going armed to churchj was revived 
 for a short time in the revolutionary war. For fifleen or twenty years before thai 
 event, and ever since, it has not been observed; but a formal repeal of the law 
 cannot be recollected. 
 
CONTEST WITH SPANIARDS. 71 
 
 the former to obstruct the settlements of the latter. To these 
 unneighborly acts were added occasional hostilities. In about 
 three years after the first settlement of the province an armed 
 party of Spaniards, from the garrison of St. Augustine, ad- 
 vanced as far as the island of St. Helena to dislodge or destroy 
 the settlers. Fifty volunteers under the command of Colonel 
 Godfrey marched against the invaders, who, on his approach, 
 evacuated the island and retreated to Florida. 
 
 About the year 1682, Lord Cardross led a small colony 
 from Scotland which settled on Port Royal Island. These 
 claimed, by an agreement with the proprietors, a co-ordinate 
 authority with the Governor and Council at Charlestown ; but 
 their claims were overruled. The Spaniards sent an armed 
 force in 1786, and dislodged these solitary scotch settlers and 
 most of them returned to their native country.* 
 
 These hostilities of the Spaniards were retaliated. In 1702, 
 Governor James Moore proposed to the Assembly of Carolina 
 an expedition against the Spanish settlement at St. Augustine. 
 A majority of the Assembly declared for the expedition, and 
 two thousand pounds sterling were voted for the service. 
 They agreed to raise six hundred provincial militia, an equal 
 number of Indians were procured, and vessels impressed to 
 carry the forces. Port Royal was fixed on as the place of 
 rendezvous, and from it in September 1702 the Governor at 
 the head of his warriors embarked. 
 
 In the plan of operations it had been agreed that Colonel 
 Daniel, with a detached party, should go by the inland pas- 
 sage and make a descent on the town from the land ; while 
 the Governor, with the main body, should proceed by sea and 
 block up the harbor. Colonel Daniel accordingly advanced 
 against the town, entered and plundered it before the Govenor 
 arrived. But the Spaniards having laid up provisions for four 
 months in the castle, retired to it with their money and most 
 valuable effects. Upon the arrival of Governor Moore the 
 place was invested with a force which the Spaniards could 
 not face, and therefore kept themselves shut up in their strong- 
 hold. The Governor finding it impossible to dislodge them, 
 without suitable artillery, dispatched colonel Daniel with a 
 sloop to Jamaica to bring cannon, bombs, and mortars for 
 attacking the castle. In the meantime the appearance of two 
 Spanish ships, one of twenty-two guns, and the other of six- 
 teen, near the mouth of the harbor, induced the Governor to 
 raise the siege, abandon his ships and retreat to Carolina by 
 land. The Spaniards in the garrison were not only relieved 
 
 * The governmental seal, used for this settlement, -was carried to Scotland ; 
 but, in the year, 1793, it was politely returned by the Earl of Buchan as an object 
 of curiosity, a ad is now placed in the Museum of the Charleston Library. 
 
72 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 but the ships, provisions, and ammunition, belonging to the 
 Carohnians, fell into their hands. Colonel Daniel, on his re- 
 turn, standing in for the harbor of St. Augustine, found to his 
 surprise the siege raised, and with difficulty escaped from the 
 enemy. 
 
 The Governor lost no more than two men in this expedition, 
 yet it entailed on the colony a debt of six thousand pounds 
 sterling which, at that period, was a grievous burden. The 
 provincial assembly met to concert ways and means for dis- 
 charging it. A bill was brought in for stamping bills of credit, 
 to answer the public exigence, which were to be sunk in 
 three years by a duty on liquors, skins, and furs. This was 
 the first paper money issued in the province, and, for five or 
 six years, it passed at the same value and rate with the ster- 
 ling money of England. Thus war, debt, and paper money, 
 were coeval in Carolina; and connected as cause and effect 
 in the order in which they are mentioned. 
 
 Four years after the termination of Moore's expedition 
 against St. Augustine the Spaniards and French, then at war 
 with Great Britain, projected a combined attack on Charles- 
 town ; with a view of recovering the province claimed by the 
 Spaniards as a part of Florida. Sir Nathaniel Johnson, then 
 Governor, had been a military man and was well qualified to 
 conduct its defence. No sooner had he received intelligence 
 of the designs of the enemy, than he set every one to work 
 upon the fortifications, appointed a nxxmber of gunners to each 
 bastion, and diligently trained the men to the use of arms. A 
 small fort, called fort Johnson, was erected on James Island 
 and several cannon mounted thereon. Intrenchments were 
 made on White Point, and other suitable places. A guard 
 was stationed on Sullivan's Island, with orders to kindle a 
 number of fires opposite the town equal to the number of ships 
 they might see on the coast. 
 
 Carolina was at this juncture the southern frontier of the 
 British empire in America; and though it had acquired some 
 degree of strength, was in a feeble state to resist an enemy of 
 force. From its situation there was reason to apprehend that 
 the French and Spaniards would attack it, as it would be an 
 easier conquest than the more populous northern settlements. 
 Before this time a plan had been concerted at the Havanna, 
 for invading it. Monsieur Le Feboure, with a french frigate 
 and four armed sloops, encouraged and assisted by the Spanish 
 Governor of Cuba, sailed for Charlestown. To facilitate the 
 conquest. Monsieur Le Feboure had directions to touch at St. 
 Augustine and carry from it such a force as he judged ade- 
 quate to the enterprise. Upon his arrival there, he received 
 intelligence of an epidemical distemper, which raged at Charles- 
 
CONTEST WITH SPANIARDS. 73 
 
 town and had destroyed a vast number of inhabitants. In- 
 stead of discouraging, this animated him to proceed with 
 greater expedition. He took on board a considerable number 
 offerees and sailed for Charlestown. The appearance of five 
 seperate smokes on Sullivan's Island, announced to the in- 
 habitants that the same number of ships was observed on the 
 coast. 
 
 Sir Nathaniel Johnson being at his plantation, several miles 
 from town, Lieut. Col. Wm. Rhett, commanding officer of the 
 militia, immediately ordered the whole of the inhabitants to 
 be put under arms. A messenger was dispatched with the 
 news to the Governor, and letters were sent to all the captains 
 of the militia in the country ordering them to fire alarm guns — 
 raise their companies — and to march with all possible expedi- 
 tion to the assistance of Charlestown. 
 
 In the evening the enemy's fleet came near to the bar; but, 
 as the passage was intricate and dangerous, they hovered on 
 the coast all night within sight of land. Having come to an 
 anchor, they employed their boats all the next day in sounding 
 the south bar. This delay afforded time for the militia in 
 the country to march to town. 
 
 Governor Johnson, on his arrival, found the inhabitants in 
 great consternation ; but his presence, as a man of known 
 bravery and military capacity, inspired them with confidence 
 and resolution. He proclaimed martial law at the head of 
 the militia — issued the necessary orders for their conduct, and 
 sent to the Indian tribes in alliance with the colony to come 
 immediately to his assistance. As a contagious distemper 
 was said to rage in Charlestown, the Governor judged it im- 
 prudent to expose his men unnecessarily to danger; and 
 therefore held his headquarters about half a mile distant from 
 the town. In the evening, a troop of horse commanded by 
 Captain George Logan, and two companies of foot under the 
 command of Major George Broughton, reached the capital 
 and kept watch during the night. The next morning a com- 
 pany from James Island, commanded by Captain Drake, 
 another from Wands under Captain Fenwicke, and five more 
 commanded by Captains Cantey, Lynch, Kearn, Longbois, 
 and Seabrook, joined the other militia. The principal force 
 of the province with the Governor at their head, was now 
 assembled in and near Charlestown. 
 
 The day following, the enemy's four ships and a galley came 
 over the bar, and stood directly for the town, having the ad- 
 vantages of a fair wind and strong tide. When they had 
 advanced so far up the river as to discover the fortifications, 
 they cast anchor a little above Sallivan's Island. The Gov- 
 ernor observing their approach towards the town, marched his 
 
74 MILITARY HISTOET. 
 
 men into it to receive them ; but finding they had stopped by 
 the way, he had time to call a council of war; in which it was 
 agreed to put some great guns on board of such ships as were 
 in the harbor, and employ the sailors, in their own "way, for 
 the better defence of the town. William Rhett, a man of cour- 
 age and conduct, received a commission to be Vice-Admiral 
 of this little fleet ; and hoisted his flag on board the Crown 
 galley. 
 
 The enemy sent up a flag of truce to the Governor to sum- 
 mon him to surrender. George Evans, who commanded 
 Granville bastion, received their messenger on his landing from 
 the boat, and conducted him bliiidfolded into the fort, until 
 the Governor was in readiness to receive him. In the mean- 
 time having drawn up his men in such a manner as to make 
 them appear to the greatest advantage, he admitted the French 
 officer; and having first shown him one fort full of men, con- 
 ducted him by a different route to another, where the same 
 men sent by a shorter way were drawn up before hand. 
 Having given him a view of his strength, he demanded the 
 purport of his message ; the officer told him that he was sent by 
 Monsieur Le Feboure, Admiral of the French fleet, to demand 
 a surrender of the town and country, and of their persons as 
 prisoners of war ; adding that his orders allowed him no 
 more than one hour for an answer. Governor Johnson re- 
 plied, " There was no occasion for one minute to answer that 
 message ; that he held the town and country for the Queen of 
 England, and could depend on his men, who would sooner 
 die than surrender themselves prisoners of war ; that he was 
 resolved to defend the place to the last drop of his blood ;" 
 and informed the officer " that he might go when he pleased 
 and acquaint Monsieur Le Feboure with his resolution." 
 
 The day following, a party of the enemy went ashore on 
 James Island and burnt some houses. Another party, con- 
 sisting of an hundred and sixty men, landed on the opposite 
 side of the river and burnt two vessels in Dearby's creek, and 
 set fire to a store-house. Sir Nathaniel Johnson ordered Cap- 
 tain Drake and his company, with a small party of Indians 
 to James Island, to oppose the enemy on that side. Drake 
 marched against them, but before he could bring up his men 
 the Indians, who ran through the woods with their usual im- 
 petuosity, had driven the invaders to their boats. At the same 
 time advice was brought to town, that the party who landed 
 on Wands neck had killed a number of hogs and cattle and 
 were feasting on the plunder. To prevent their farther pro- 
 gress into the country. Captain Cantey, with one hundred 
 chosen men, was ordered to pass the river privately in the 
 night and watch their motions. Before break of day the 
 
CONTEST WITH SPANIARDS. 75 
 
 Captain came up and finding them in a state of security, sur- 
 rounded and attacked them hriskly. They were thrown into 
 confusion and fled. Some were killed, others drowned in 
 attempting to make their escape, and the remainder surren- 
 dered prisoners of war. 
 
 The Carolinians, encouraged and animated by their success 
 at land, determined to try their fortune by sea. Accordingly 
 William Rhett set sail with his fleet of six small ships, and 
 proceeded down the river to the place where the enemy rode at 
 anchor ; but the French perceiving this fleet standing towards 
 them weighed anchor and sailed over the bar. For some days 
 nothing more was heard of them. The Governor ordered Cap- 
 tain Watson, of the Sea Flower, out to sea to examine whether 
 the coast was clear. The Captain returned without seeing 
 the enemy ; but observing some men on shore, whom they 
 had left behind, he took them on board and brought them to 
 town. These men assured the Governor that the French were 
 gone. In consequence thereof orders were given for the cessa- 
 tion of martial law, and the inhabitants began to rejoice at 
 their happy deliverance. 
 
 But before night, advice was brought that a ship of force 
 was seen in Sevvee Bay, and that a number of armed men 
 had landed from her. Upon examination of the prisoners the 
 Governor found that the French expected a ship of war with 
 Monsieur Arbuset, their General, and a reinforcement of two 
 hundred men to their assistance. The Governor ordered 
 Captain Fenwicke to pass the river and march against them 
 by land, while Rhett with a Dutch privateer and an armed 
 Bermuda sloop sailed round by sea to meet him at Sewee 
 Bay. Captain Fenwicke came up with the enemy and briskly 
 charged them. Though advantageously posted, after a few 
 voliies, they gave way and retreated to their ship. Rhett soon 
 after came to Fenwicke's assistance, and the French ship 
 struck without firing a shot. The Vice Admiral returned to 
 Charlestown with his prize and ninety prisoners. 
 
 Thus ended Monsieur Le Feboure's invasion of Carolina ; 
 little to his own honor as a commander, and less to the credit 
 and courage of his men. It is probable he expected to find the 
 province in a weak and defenceless situation, and that the 
 Governor would instantly surrender on his appearance before 
 the town. But he was deceived. Governor Johnson was a man 
 of approved courage and conduct. The militia undertook the 
 various enterprises assigned to them with the spirit of men, and 
 success crowned their endeavers. Out of eight hundred who 
 came against the colony, near three hundred were killed and 
 taken prisoners. Among the latter were Monsieur Arbuset, 
 their Commander-in-Chief by land, with several sea ofiicers ; 
 
76 MILITARY HISTOET. 
 
 who, together, offered ten thousand pieces of eight for their 
 ransom. On the other hand, the loss sustained by the provin- 
 cial militia was incredibly small. The Governor publicly 
 thanked them for the unanimity and courage they had shown 
 in repelling the invaders. The proprietors were so highly 
 pleased with Johnson's good conduct that they made him a 
 present of a large tract of land by a special grant in terms the 
 most flattering and honorable.* 
 
 Though hostilities had been carried on by the Spaniards 
 against Carolina, to reclaim it as a part of Florida, the bound- 
 aries between these provinces were neither clearly marked 
 nor well understood ; for they had never been settled by any 
 public agreement between England and Spain. To prevent ne- 
 groes escaping to the Spanish territories the Carolinians had 
 built a fort on the forks of the river Alatamaha, and supported 
 a small garrison in it. This gave offence to the Governor of 
 St. Augustine, who complained of it to the court of Madrid as 
 an encroachment on the dominions of Spain. The Spanish 
 Ambassador at London lodged the complaint before the court 
 of Britain, and demanded that orders should be sent to de- 
 molish the fort. It was agreed that the Governors in America 
 on both sides should meet in an amicable manner, and adjust 
 the respective boundaries between the British and Spanish 
 dominions in that quarter. Accordingly Don Francisco Me- 
 nandez and Don Joseph de Rabiero, in behalf of Spain, came 
 to Charlestown to hold a conference on the subject with the 
 executive officers of the government. At their meeting Ar- 
 thur Middleton, President of the Council, demonstrated to the 
 Spanish deputies that the fort, against which complaint had 
 been made was built within the bounds of the charter granted 
 to the proprietors and that the pretensions of Spain to the 
 lands in question were groundless. At the same time he told 
 them that the fort, on the river Alatamaha, was erected for de- 
 fending themselves and their property against the depredations 
 of Indians living under the jurisdiction of Spain. Mr. Mid- 
 
 * This land and the original special grant are now in the possession of Joseph 
 Maniganlt. This repelled invasion was ridiculed in a humorous burlesque poetn 
 written above one hundred years ago in French, by one of the garrison, probably 
 a French refugee. The poet makes the Governor, in his answer to the inva- 
 ders, requiring an immediate surrender of the town and country to say as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " Que s'ils altaquoient notre camp, 
 
 lis y trOLiveroient bien miUe hommes, 
 
 Qui ne se battroient pas de pommes, 
 
 Outre cinq cens Refuges 
 
 Que la France a repudies, 
 
 Et reduits presque a l'Indigen9e, 
 
 Qui ne respiroient que vengence, 
 
 Ce qu'on leur feroit eprouver, 
 
 S'ils ozoient nous venir trouver." 
 
CONTEST WITH SPANIARDS. 77 
 
 dleton then begged to know their reasons " for protecting 
 felons and debtors that fled to them from Carohna, and for 
 encouraging negroes to leave their masters and take refuge at 
 St. Augustine, while peace subsisted between the two crowns." 
 The deputies replied, "that the Governor of Florida would 
 deliver up all felons and debtors ; but had express orders, for 
 twenty years past, to detain all slaves who should fly to 
 St. Augustine for liberty and protection." Mr. Middleton de- 
 clared that he looked on such orders as a breach of national 
 honor and faith, especially, as negroes were as much private 
 property in Carolina as houses and lands." The deputies an- 
 swered, " that the design of the King of Spain was not to 
 injure any one, for he had ordered compensation to be made 
 to the masters of such slaves in money; but that his humanity, 
 and religion, enjoined him to issue such orders for the sake of 
 converting slaves to the Christian faith." The conference 
 ended to the satisfaction of neither party, and matters re- 
 mained as they were ; but soon after the English fort, near 
 the Alatamaha, was burned to the ground ; and the southern 
 frontiers of Carolina were again left naked and defenceless. 
 
 As no final agreement with respect to the limits of the two 
 provinces had been concluded, the Indians, in alliance with 
 Spain, continued to harrass the British settlements. Scalping 
 parties of the Yamassees frequently penetrated into Carolina — 
 killed white men, and carried off every negro they could find. 
 Though the owners of slaves had been allowed from the Span- 
 ish government a compensation in money for their losses, yet 
 few of them ever received it. At length. Colonel Palmer 
 resolved to make reprisals on the plunderers. For this pur- 
 pose, he gathered together a party of militia and friendly 
 Indians, consisting of about three hundred men, and entered 
 Florida, with a resolution of spreading desolation throughout 
 the province. He carried his arms as far as the gates of St. 
 Augustine, and compelled the inhabitants to take refuge in 
 their castle. Scarce a house or hut in the colony escaped the 
 flames. He destrojred theii; provisions in the fields — drove off 
 their cattle, hogs and horses, and left the Floridians little pro- 
 perty, except what was protected by the guns of their fort. 
 By this expedition, he demonstrated to the Spaniards their 
 weakness; and that the Carohnians, whenever they pleased, 
 could prevent the cultivation and settlement of their province 
 so as to render the improvement of it impracticable on any 
 other than peaceable terms with their neighbors. 
 
 Soon after these events, the French in Louisiana advanced 
 nearer to Carolina. They erected a stronghold, called fori 
 Alabama, on Mobile river, which was well situated for opening 
 and carrying on a correspondence with the most powerful 
 
78 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 nations, contiguous to the southern British colonies. The 
 Carolinians had good reason to be on their guard against the 
 influence of these new and enterprising neighbors. The tribes 
 of upper creeks, whose hunting lands extended to the fort, 
 were soon won over by promises and largesses to form an alli- 
 ance with the French. The Cherokees lived at a greater 
 distance ; yet by means of the creeks, and other emissaries, 
 the French endeavored to bring them over to their interest 
 The river Mississippi, being navigable several hundred miles 
 from its mouth, opened a communication with the Chocktaws, 
 Chickesaws, and other nations residing near it. The French 
 had, therefore, many convenient opportunities of seducing 
 these Indians from their alliance with Britain. The Presi- 
 dent of the Council of Carolina employed Captain Tobias 
 Fitch among the Creeks, and Colonel George Chicken among 
 the Cherokees, to keep these tribes steady and firm to the Brit- 
 ish interest These agents found no small difficulty in coun- 
 teracting the influence of French policy. From this period, 
 the British and French settlers in America became competitors 
 for power and influence over the Indian nations. And the 
 Carolinians were farther from peace and safety than ever. 
 The French supplied these savages with tomahawks, muskets, 
 and ammunition, by which means they laid aside the bow 
 and arrow, and became more dangerous and formidable ene- 
 mies than they ever had been. 
 
 By the settlement of Georgia, in 1733, Carolina ceased to 
 be a frontier; but the Spaniards continued to seduce their 
 negroes, and to do other injurious acts. War being declared 
 in 1739, by Great Britain, against Spain, an opportunity was 
 given for attempting the reduction of the fort at St. Augustine, 
 which was considered as the only effectual means of securing 
 the two most southern provinces. General Oglethorpe, of 
 Georgia, projected an expedition for that purpose. He com- 
 municated his design by letter to William Bull, Lieutenant 
 Governor of South Carolina, and requested the aid of that 
 province in the common cause. Bull laid the letter before 
 the provincial assembly, recommending to raise a regiment 
 and to give all possible assistance to the enterprise. The As- 
 sembly favored the proposal. 
 
 General Oglethorpe urged the speedy execution of his pro- 
 ject with a view to surprise the enemy before they could 
 receive a supply of provisions. He declared that no personal 
 toil or danger should discourage his utmost exertions to free 
 Carolina from suc^h neighbors as instigated their slaves to 
 massacre fhem and publicly protected them after such bloody 
 attempts. To concert measures with the greater secrecy and 
 expedition, he went to Charlestown and laid before the Legis- 
 
CONTEST WITH SPANIARDS. 79 
 
 latiire an estimate of the force, arms, ammunition, and pro- 
 visions which he judged requisite for the expedition. In 
 consequence of which the Assembly voted one hundred and 
 twenty thousand pounds, Carolina money, for the service of 
 the war. A regiment, consisting of four hundred men was 
 raised partly in Virginia and partly in North and South Carolina, 
 and the command was given to Colonel Vanderdussen. Indians 
 were called into service from the different tribes in alliance 
 with Britain. Vincent Price, commander of the ships of war 
 on that station, agreed to assist with a naval force, consisting 
 of four ships of twenty guns each and two sloops. General 
 Oglethorpe appointed the mouth of St. John's river, on the 
 Florida shore, for the place of rendezvous. 
 
 On the 9th of May, 1740, he passed over to Florida with 
 four hundred select men of his regiment, and a considerable 
 party of Indians; and on the day following invested Diego, 
 a small fort, about twenty-five miles from St. Augustine. This, 
 after a short resistance, surrendered by capitulation. In it he 
 left a garrison of sixty men, under the command of Lieuten- 
 ant Dunbar, and returned to the place of general rendezvous, 
 where he was joined by Colonel Vanderdussen with the Car- 
 ohna regiment, and a company of Highlanders, under the 
 command of Captain M'lntosh. By this time, six, Spanish 
 half-gall(?ys, with long brass nine-pounders, and two sloops 
 loaded with provisions, had got into the harbor of St. Augus- 
 tine. A few days afterwards the General marched with his 
 whole force, consisting of above two thousand men, regulars, 
 provincials and Indians, to fort Moosa, situated within two 
 miles of St. Augustine. On his approach, the Spanish garrison 
 evacuated this post and retired into the town. 
 
 Notwithstanding the dispatch of the British army, the 
 Spaniards had collected all the cattle in the neighboring 
 woods, and drove them into the town; and the General found 
 that more difficulty would attend the enterprise than he at 
 first expected. The castle was built of soft stone, with four 
 bastions ; the curtain was sixty yards in length ; the parapet 
 nine feet thick ; the rampart twenty feet high, casemated un- 
 derneath for lodgings, arched over, and made bomb proof. 
 Fifty pieces of cannon were mounted, several of which were 
 twenty-four pounders. The town was also intrenched with 
 ten salient angles, on each of which some small cannon were 
 mounted. The garrison consisted of seven hundred regulars, 
 two troops of horse, four companies of armed negroes, besides 
 the militia of the province, and Indians. 
 
 The general perceived that an attempt to take the castle by 
 storm would cost him dear, and therefore changed his plan of 
 operations. With the assistance of the ships of war, which 
 
80 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 were lying at anchor off St. Augustine bar, he resolved to turn 
 the siege into a blocl^ade, to shut up every channel by which 
 provisions could be conveyed to the garrison. For this pur- 
 pose, he left Colonel Palmer with ninety-five Highlanders and 
 forty-two Indians at fort Moosa, with orders to scour the woods 
 and intercept all supplies of cattle .from the country by land. 
 He at the same time ordered him to camp every night in a dif- 
 ferent place — to keep strict watch around his camp, and by all 
 means to avoid coming to action. He sent Colonel Vander- 
 dussen, with the Carolina regiment, over a small creek, to take 
 possession of a neck of land called Point Qu artel, more than 
 a mile distant from the castle, with orders to erect a battery 
 upon it ; while he himself with his regiment, and the greatest 
 part of the Indians, embarked in boats and landed on the 
 island of Auastatia. From this island, the General resolved 
 to bombard the town. Captain Pierce stationed his ships so 
 that the Spaniards were cut off from all supplies by sea. Bat- 
 teries were erected, and several cannon mounted on Anastatia 
 Island. General Oglethorpe then summoned the Spanish Gov- 
 ernor to surrender; but the Don sent him for answer "that he 
 would be glad to shake hands with him in his castle." 
 
 The opportunity of surprising the place being lost, Ogle- 
 thorpe had no other method left but to attack it at the distance 
 in which he then stood. For this purpose he opened his bat- 
 teries against the castle, and at the same time threw a number 
 of shells into the town. The fire was returned with equal 
 spirit both from the Spanish fort,andfrom six half-galleys in the 
 harbor; but so great was the distance, that though they con- 
 tinued the cannonade for several days, litttle execution was 
 done on either side. 
 
 In the meantime the Spanish Commander, observing the 
 besiegers embarrassed, sent out a detachment against Colonel 
 Palmer which surprised him at fort Moosa; and while his 
 party was asleep, cut them almost entirely to pieces. A few 
 that accidentally escaped went over in a small boat to the 
 Carolina regiment at Point Quartel. About the same time, 
 the blockading vessel stationed at the Metanzas being ordered 
 oif, some small vessels from the Havanna with provisions and 
 a reinforcement of men got into St. Augustine to the rehef of 
 the garrison. A party of Creeks brought four Spanish prisoners 
 to the General, who informed him that the garrison had re- 
 ceived seven hundred men and a large supply of provisions. 
 All prospects of starving the enemy being lost, the army began 
 to despair of forcing the place to surrender. The Carohna 
 troops, enfeebled by the heat — despairing of success— and 
 fatigued by fruitless efforts, marched away in large bodies. 
 The navy being short of provisions, and the usual season of 
 
CONTEST WITH SPANIARDS. 81 
 
 hurricanes approaching, the Commander judged it imprudent 
 to hazard his majesty's ships by remaining longer on that 
 coast. The General was sick of a fever — his regiment ex- 
 hausted with fatigue and rendered unfit for action by disease. 
 These combined disasters made it necessary to abandon the 
 enterprise. Oglethorpe with extreme regret fell back to Fred- 
 erica. . On the 13th of August, the Carolina regiment returned 
 to Charlestown. Though not one of them had been killed by 
 the enemy, their number was reduced fourteen by disease and 
 accidents. 
 
 Thus ended the expedition against St. Augustine, to the 
 great disappointment of both Georgia and Carolina. Many 
 reflections were afterwards thrown out against General Ogle- 
 thorpe, for his conduct during the whole enterprise. He, on 
 the other hand, declared he had no confidence in the pro- 
 vincials for that they refused obedience to his orders and at 
 last abandoned his camp and retreated to Carolina. The place 
 was so strongly fortified, both by nature and art, that probably 
 the attempt must have failed though it had been conducted 
 by the ablest officer, and executed by the best disciplined 
 troops. The miscarriage was particularly injurious to Carolina, 
 having not only subjected the province to a great expense, but 
 also left it in a worse situation than it was before the attempt. 
 
 This invasion of Florida was soon retaliated. The Spaniads 
 had not yet relinquished their claim to the southern extreme 
 of the British colonies. They therefore prepared an arma- 
 ment to expel the English settlers from Georgia. There is 
 reason to believe that if they had succeeded against that infant 
 province, Carolina would have become the scene of their next 
 operations. To accomplish those purposes an armament was 
 prepared at the Havanna ; two thousand forces, commanded 
 by Don Antonio de Rodondo, embarked from that port under 
 convoy of a strong squadron and arrived at St. Augustine in 
 May. Oglethorpe, on receiving intelligence of their arrival in 
 Florida, sent advices of it to Governor Glen of Carolina and 
 made all possible preparations for a vigorous resistance. With 
 his regiment, a few rangers, highlanders, and Indians, he fixed 
 his headquarters at Frederica and waited in expectation of a 
 reinforcement from Carolina. About the last of June the 
 Spanish fleet, amounting to thirty-two sail and carrying above 
 three thousand men under the command of Don Manuel de 
 Monteano, came to anchor off' St. Simon's bar. After sounding 
 the channel, the Don passed through Jekyl sound, received a 
 fire from Oglethorpe at fort Simon's, and proceeded up the 
 Alatamaha beyond the reach of his guns. There the enemy 
 landed and erected a battery with twenty eighteen-pounders 
 mounted on it. Oglethorpe judging his situation at fort Simon's 
 6 
 
82 MILITARY HISTORT. 
 
 to be dangerous, spiked the guns, burst the bombs and cohorns, 
 destroyed the stores, and retreated to P'rederica. With a force 
 amounting to little more than seven hundred men, exclusively 
 of Indians, he could not hope to act but on the defensive 
 until the arrival of reinforcements from Carolina. He how- 
 ever, employed his Indians, and occasionally his highlanders, 
 in scouring the woods — harrassing the outposts of the enemy, 
 and throwing impediments in their way. In the attempts of 
 the Spanish to penetrate through the woods and morasses to 
 reach Frederica, several rencounters took place ; in one of 
 ■which they lost a Captain and two Lieutenants killed, and 
 above one hundred of their men were taken prisoners. Ogle- 
 thorpe, learning by an English prisoner who escaped from the 
 Spanish camp that a difference subsisted between the troops 
 from Cuba and those from St. Augustine occasioning a sep- 
 arate encampment, resolved to attack the enemy while thus 
 divided. He marched out in the night with the intention of 
 surprising the enemy. Having advanced within Iwo miles 
 of the Spanish camp he halted his troops, and went forward 
 himself with a select corps to reconnoitre the enemy's situa- 
 tion. While he was endeavoring to conceal his approach, a 
 French soldier discharged his musket and ran into the Spanish 
 lines. 
 
 The General returned to Frederica, and endeavored to effect 
 by stratagem what could not be achieved by surprise. Appre- 
 hensive that the deserter would discover to the enemy his 
 weakness, he wrote to him a letter; desiring him to acquaint 
 the Spaniards with the defenceless state of Frederica, and the 
 ease with which his small garrison might be cut to pieces. 
 He pressed him to bring forward the Spaniards to an attack; 
 but if he could not prevail thus far, to use all his art and in- 
 fluence to persuade them to stay at least three days more at 
 fort Simons; for within that time he should have a reinforce- 
 ment of two thousand land forces, with six British ships of 
 war. The letter concluded with a caution to the deserter 
 against dropping the least hint of Admiral Vernon's meditated 
 attack upon St. Augustine; and with assurance that for his 
 service, he would be amply rewarded by the British King. 
 Oglethorpe gave it to the Spanish prisoner; who for a small 
 reward, together with his liberty, promised to deliver it to the 
 French deserter. On hts arrival at the Spanish camp, he gave 
 the letter, as Oglethorpe expected, to the Commander-in-Chief, 
 who instantly put the deserter in irons. This letter perplexed 
 and confounded the Spaniards ; some suspecting it to be a strat- 
 agem to prevent an attack on Frederica, and others believing 
 it to contain serious instructions to direct the conduct of a spy. 
 While the Spanish officers were deUberating what measures 
 
CONTEST WITH SPANIARDS. 83 
 
 to adopt, an incident, not within the calculation of military- 
 skill or the control of human power, decided their counsels. 
 Three ships of force, whieh the Governor of South Carolina 
 had sent to Oglethorpe's aid, appeared oft' the coast. The 
 agreement of this discovery with the contents of the letter, 
 convinced the Spanish Commander of its real intention. The 
 whole army seized with an instant panic, set fire to the fort 
 and precipitately embarked ; leaving several cannon, with a 
 quantity of provisions and military stores. Thus in the 
 moment of threatened conquest, the infant colony was prov- 
 identially saved. Though the Spaniards threatened to renew 
 the invasion, yet we do not find that after this repulse they 
 ever made any attempt by force of arms to gain possession of 
 Georgia or Carolina. 
 
 For the seventy-two years which had passed away since 
 the settlement of South Carolina, there had been repeated 
 reciprocal invasions of the contiguous Spanish and British 
 provinces. Though hostilities occasionally ceased, bickerings 
 were always kept alive from the constant irritation of im- 
 neighborly, injurious acts; till by the peace of Paris in 1763, 
 the two Floridas were ceded by Spain to Great Britain. From 
 that period, till the commencement of the revolutionary war, 
 the inhabitants of Florida and those of Georgia and Carolina 
 being all subjects of the same King, lived in harmony with 
 each other. No sooner had the American war began, than 
 the former scenes of plunder and devastation recommenced 
 between the contiguous provinces. The Floridas by remaining 
 a part of the British empire, while Georgia and Carolina, 
 became free States, were set in opposition to each other. 
 Hostilities, as is usual among the borderers of contending 
 governments, were rendered more fierce from the circumstance 
 of contiguity. Throughout the war parties from each recipro- 
 cally plundered and harrassed the other ; ostensibly on one 
 side for the advancement of British, and on the other of Amer- 
 ican interests; but in both cases for the private emolument of 
 the actors in these disgraceful scenes. Florida also afi'orded 
 an entrance through which British agents furnished supplies 
 to the Indian tribes adjacent to the new formed American 
 States, and by which they encouraged the former to destroy 
 the latter. Such will ever be the case in the event of war 
 between the sovereigns of Florida, and the citizens of America, 
 Happy are the people whose territories are encircled by obvious^ 
 natural boundaries, easily distinguished but not easily passed. 
 
84 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Contests with Indians. 
 
 When South Carolina was settled by the English, it was in 
 the occupation of more than twenty nations, or tribes of In- 
 dians. Their combined numbers were so considerable that 
 had they been guided by a spirit of union, or directed by a 
 Common Council, they would have been able at any time, 
 for many years after the settlement, to have exterminated the 
 new comers. The Indians in their military capacity, were 
 not so inferior to the whites as some may imagine. The 
 superiority of muskets over bows and arrows, managed by 
 Indians in a woody country, is not great. The savage, quick- 
 sighted and accustomed to perpetual watchfulness, springs 
 from his hiding place, behind a bush, and surprises his enemy 
 with the pointed arrow before he is aware of danger. He 
 ranges through the trackless forest like the beasts of prey, 
 and safely sleeps under the same canopy with the wolf and 
 bear. His vengeance is concealed, till he sends the tidings in 
 the fatal blow. 
 
 Though the Indians viewed with a jealous eye the encroach- 
 ments made on their territorial possessions, they took no effect- 
 ual measures for the defence of their property. Finding 
 many present conveniences to result from their intercourse 
 with the new comers, they acquiesced in their settlement 
 Destitute of foresight, they did not anticipate consequences; 
 nor did they embitter present enjoyments, with forebodings of 
 future evils. To the Indian, a knife, a hatchet, or a hoe, was 
 a valuable acquisition. He observed with what facility the 
 strangers supplied their many wants by means of the various 
 implements they used. The woods fell before the axe — the 
 earth opened before the hoe and spade — and the knife was 
 useful on numberless occasions. He admired the skill of 
 white men in making these articles of ease and profit, and 
 voluntarily offered to them his deer skins, the only riches he 
 had which could procure them. The love of ease was as 
 natural to the one as the other ; and the Indian would rather 
 give to the white settler the profits of a year's hunting, than 
 be without his instruments. Having obtained these, in pro- 
 cess of time he found the tomahawk and musket equally use- 
 ful. These he also coveted, and could not rest till he obtained 
 them. What was at first only convenient, as his wants in- 
 creased became almost necessary. The original bond was 
 therefore progressively strengthened and confirmed. As the 
 channel of commerce opened, the Indian found that he was 
 not only treated with friendship and civility, but that the 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 85 
 
 white people were equally fond of his skins, furs, and lands, 
 as he was of their gaudy trinkets and various implements. It 
 was this connection that induced the native inhabitants ofthe 
 forest peaceably to admit strangers, though differing in com- 
 plexion, language, and manners, to reside among them and 
 to clear and cultivate their lands. 
 
 By these means the first settlers of Carolina readily ob- 
 tained foothold among the native owners of the soil] The 
 proprietors gave instructions to their tenants to cultivate the 
 good will of the aborigines. They also made many presents 
 to them, but nothing appears on record like a formal purchase 
 or transfer of any part of the low country from the one to the 
 other.* Tradition has informed tis that some individuals, 
 from a sense of justice, made private purchases from the In- 
 dians; but in general a liberty to settle was neither asked nor 
 given ; but was taken by white men, and acquiesced in by 
 the savages. Private contentions between them were frequent, 
 but formal hostilities' on national grounds only occasional; 
 many causes of the former existed, and but few of the latter. 
 While the English thought little of Indian rights to lands, the 
 latter were equally regardless ofthe rights of the former to 
 moveable property. (Accustomed to take wild animals where- 
 ever found, they could not readily comprehend the crime of 
 taking such as were tame.) What the English settler called 
 theft, the Indian considered as the exercise of a natural right. 
 The ideas of a civilized and savage man were at greater va- 
 riance in other important matters. If the former in a fit of 
 drunkenness, in the heat of passion, or even in self defence, 
 killed or wounded the latter, nothing less than scalp for scalp 
 — blood for blood — and death for death, could satisfy the sur- 
 viving friends ofthe injured party. If the real criminal could 
 not be found, they claimed the right of retaliating on any per- 
 son ofthe same color or nation that came in their way. They 
 also admitted the voluntary substitution of an innocent person 
 
 * The people of Carolina hold their lands in the southern and western parts of 
 the State partly by conquest, and partly by treaties with the aborigines. These 
 were valid against the natives. The charters from the sovereigns of England 
 were in like manner good against the grantors and other Europeans, but the 
 rights ofthe present possessors have a higher origin than either of these sources. 
 The earth was made for man, and was intended by the Creator of all things to be 
 improved for the benefit of mankind. The land which could support one savage 
 iniis mode of living, is capable of supporting five hundred under proper cultiva- 
 tion. These wild lands therefore were not the seperate property of the few 
 savages who hunted over them, but belonged to the^common stock of mankind. 
 The first who possessed a vacant spot, and actually cultivated it for some time, 
 ought to be considered as the proprietor of that spot, and they who derive their 
 titles from him have a valid right to the same. This doctrine is agreeable to the 
 judicial determination of the courts of South Carolina with respect to rights in 
 lands derived solely from possession, and is the ground on which the claims of 
 Spain to the whole country can be invalidated. 
 
86 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 as an atonement for one that was guilty, who thereupon was 
 free. 
 
 This conduct and these rules of action, were hostile to peace. 
 As the forgiveness of injuries is so far from being any part of 
 the creed of Indians, that they consider it as pusillanimous 
 not to avenge the death of their friends, one quarrel often 
 produced another. Feuds which were originally private and 
 personal, soon became public and national, and seldom failed 
 to multiply and extend their tragical effects. The Indians 
 made very free with the planters' stock, and these as freely 
 made use of their arms in defence of their property. Lives 
 were frequently lost in these petty contests. If an Indian was 
 killed, his countrymen poured their vengeance indiscriminately 
 on the innocent and guilty. Governor West found it neces- 
 sary to encourage and reward such of the colonists as would 
 take the field against them for the public defence. Accordingly 
 a price was fixed on every Indian the settlers should take 
 prisoner, and bring to Charlestown. These captive savages 
 were disposed of to the traders, who sent them to the West 
 Indies, and there sold them as slaves. This tratfic was an 
 inhuman method of getting rid of troublesome neighbors, yet 
 the planters pleaded necessity in its vindication. It is certain 
 that the reward for Indian prisoners encouraged bold adven- 
 turers, and the sale of them made a profitable branch of trade. 
 These advantages weighed with interested persons as an ex- 
 tenuation, if not a justification of the practice. The proceeds 
 of the Indians, when sold in the West Indies, were generally 
 returned to the colonists in rum. This appropriation of the 
 gains of the iniquitous traffic was so injurious, that in many 
 instances it was doubtful whether the evil ultimately suffered 
 or that originally committed was greatest. 
 
 The Carolinians soon found out the policy of setting one 
 tribe of Indians against another, on purpose to save themselves. 
 By trifling presents they purchased the friendship of some 
 tribes whom they employed to carry on war with others. This 
 not only diverted their attention from the white settlers, but 
 encouraged them to bring captives to Charlestown for the pur- 
 pose of transportation to the West Indies. 
 
 A war commenced in the beginning of the year 1680 with 
 the Westoes, a very powerful tribe between Charlestown and 
 Edisto, which well nigh ruined the infant settlement. The 
 cause of hostilities, thus inconvenient and dangerous, may be 
 found in injuries which had been mutually given and re- 
 ceived. A peace was concluded in the subsequent year, the 
 old giving security foi the good conduct of the young. To 
 prevent the return of similar mischiefs, and to advance justice, 
 the proprietors erected a commission for Maurice Matthews, 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 87 
 
 •William Fuller, Jonathan Fits, and John Boone, to decide all 
 complaints between the English and the Indians. Some com- 
 plaints were made against these commissioners, the particulars 
 of which have not reached us. They were discharged and 
 the commission abrogated. In lieu thereof the proprietors 
 ordered that the Indians within 400 miles of Charlestown, 
 should all be taken under their protection. 
 
 The next Indian war was an offensive one on the part of 
 the Carolinians. The Apalachian Indians, by their connec- 
 tion with the Spaniards, had become troublesome. Governor 
 Moore, in 1702 or 1703, marched at the head of a body of 
 white men and Indian allies into the heart of their settlements. 
 Wherever he went he carried fire and sword. He laid in 
 ashes the towns of those tribes who lived between the rivers 
 Alatamaha and Savannah ; captured many savages, and 
 obliged others to submit to the English government. This 
 exertion of power in that quarter filled the savages with terror 
 of the British arms, and helped to pave the way for the Eng- 
 lish colony afterwards planted between these rivers. The 
 Governor received the thanks of the proprietors, wiped off the 
 ignominy of his expedition against St. Augustine, and pro- 
 cured a number of Indian slaves whom he employed as slaves 
 or sold for his own advantage. 
 
 The first serious war with the Indians, in which Carolina 
 participated, took place far to the north of Charlestown. This 
 appears to have been entered upon by the natives with a view 
 of exterminating the English settlers. What they might have 
 accomplished in the first years of the settlement, was beyond 
 their power when forty-two years had given it strength and 
 stability. 
 
 In the year 1712, a dangerous conspiracy was formed by 
 the Indians of North Carolina against the settlers in that 
 quarter. The particular cause of the quarrel is unknown; 
 probably they were offended at the encroachments made on 
 their hunting lands. The powerful tribes of Indians, called 
 Corees, Tuscororas, and some others, united and determined 
 to murder or expel the European invaders. They carried on 
 their bloody design with amazing cunning and profound se- 
 cresy. They surrounded their principal town with a wooden 
 breast-work, for the security of their own families. There 
 the different tribes met together, to the number of twelve hun- 
 dred bowmen, and formed their horrid plot. From this place 
 of rendezvous they sent out small parties, who entered the 
 settlements, under the mask of friendship, by different roads. 
 All of them agreed to begin their murderous operations on 
 the same night. When that night came they entered the 
 planters' houses, demanded provisions, were displeased with 
 
MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 them, and then murdered men, women and children, withoiu 
 mercy or distinction. To prevent a communication of the 
 alarm through the settlement, they ran from house to house, 
 slaughtering the scattered families wherever they went. None 
 of the colonists knew what had befallen their neighbors be- 
 fore the barbarians reached their own doors. About Roanoke 
 one hundred and thirty-seven settlers fell a sacrifice to savage 
 fury in one fatal night. A Swiss Baron, and almost all the 
 poor palatines who had lately come into the county, were 
 among the slain. Some, who had hid themselves in the 
 woods, escaped, and by alarming their neighbors, prevented 
 the total destruction of that colony. Every family that sur- 
 vived was ordered instantly to assemble at one place, and the 
 militia under arms kept watch over them day and night until 
 relief arrived. 
 
 Governor Craven lost no time in forwarding a force to their 
 assistance. The Assembly voted four thousand pounds for 
 the service of the war. A body of militia, consisting of six 
 hundred men, under the command of Colonel Barnwell, 
 marched against the savages. Two hundred and eighteen 
 Cherokees, under the command of Captains Harford and 
 Turston; seventy-nine Creeks, under Captain Hastings; forty- 
 one Catabaws, under Captain Cantey, and twenty-eight Yamas- 
 sees, under Captain Pierce, being furnished with arms, joined 
 the Carolinians in this expedition. Hideous and -dreadful 
 was the wilderness through which Colonel Barnwell had to 
 march. To reach North Carolina in time for the relief of the 
 people, the utmost expedition was requisite. It was neither 
 possible for his men to carry with them a sufficient quantity 
 of provisions, together with arms and ammunition, nor to 
 have these things provided at different stages by the way. 
 There was no road through the woods upon which either 
 horses or carriages could conveniently pass. His army had 
 to encounter all manner of hardships and dangers from the 
 climate, the wilderness, and the enemy.. In spite of every 
 difficulty Barnwell advanced, employing his Indian allies to 
 hunt for provisions on the way. At length, having come up 
 with the savages, he attacked them with great execution. In 
 the first battle he killed three hundred Indians, and took about 
 one hundred prisoners. After which the Tuscororas re- 
 treated to their town, within a wooden breast-work. There 
 they were surrounded, many of them killed, and the remain- 
 der forced to sue for peace. Some of Barnwell's men being 
 wounded, and others having sufiered much by watching, 
 hunger and fatigue, the savages easily obtained their request. 
 In this expedition it was computed that Barnwell killed, 
 wounded and captured near a thousand Tuscororas. The 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 89 
 
 survivors abondoned their country and joined a northern 
 tribe of Indians on the Ohio river. Of Barnwell's party, five 
 CaroHnians were killed and several wounded. Of his In- 
 dians, thirty-six were killed and between sixty and seventy 
 wounded. Never had any expedition against the savages in 
 Carohna been attended with such difficulties, nor had the 
 conquest of any tribe of them ever been more complete. 
 
 Although this expedition was well conducted, and proved 
 successful, the expense incurred by it fell heavy on the pro- 
 vince, the revenues of which were ill adapted for such enter- 
 prises. Great harmony at that time subsisted between the 
 Governor and Assembly, and they were well disposed to con- 
 cur in every measure for the public good. The stamping of 
 bills of credit had been used as the easiest method of defray- 
 ing similar expenses. At this time the Legislature thought 
 proper to establish a public bank, and issued ^52,000, in bills 
 of credit, for answering the exigencies of government and for 
 the convenience of domestic commerce. This money was 
 lent out at interest on bonds, secured by landed or personal 
 security, and made payable by easy instalments. 
 
 In the year 1715 South Carolina was visited with an In- 
 dian war so formidable as to threaten its total extirpation. 
 The numerous and powerful tribes of Indians called Yamas- 
 sees, were the most active in promoting this conspiracy; 
 though every tribe in the vicinity were more or less concerned 
 in it. The Yamassees possessed a large territory, lying back- 
 ward from Port Royal Island, on the northeast side of Savan- 
 nah river, which, to this day, is called Indian land. This 
 • tribe had long been esteemed by the Carolinians as friends 
 and allies. They admitted a number of traders into their 
 town, and several times had assisted the settlers in their war- 
 like enterprises. 
 
 For twelve months before the war broke out, the traders 
 among the Yamassees observed that their chief warriors went 
 frequently to St. Augustine, and returned loaded with pres- 
 ents. John Fraser, an honest Scotch highlander, who lived 
 among the Yamassees and traded with them, had often heard 
 these warriors tell with what kindness they had been treated 
 at St. Augustine. One had received a hat, another a jacket, 
 and a third a coat, all trimmed with silver lace. Some got 
 hatchets, others knives, and almost all of them guns and am- 
 munition. These warriors told Fraser that they dined with 
 the Governor at St. Augustine, and that he was now their 
 King, and not the Governor of Carolina. 
 
 About nine days before hostilities commenced, Sanute, an 
 Indian warrior attached to Fraser's family, came to his house 
 and told his wife that " the English were all wicked heretics, 
 
90 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 and would go to hell, and that the Yamassees would also fol- 
 low them if they suflered them to live in their country — that 
 now the Governor of St. Augustine was their King — that 
 there would be a terrible war with the English, and they only 
 waited for the bloody stick to be returned from the Creeks 
 before they began it.'' He told them that " the Yamassees, 
 the Creeks, the Cherokees, and many other nations, together 
 with the Spaniards, were all to engage in it, and advised them 
 instantly to fly to Charlestown." Fraser, not a little aston- 
 ished at the news, asked him how the Spaniards could go to 
 war with the Carolinians while at peace with Great Britain ? 
 To which Sanute replied, the Spanish Governor told him that 
 there would soon be a war with the English, and again ad- 
 vised him to fly with all expedition. Fraser still entertained 
 doubts, but finally resolved to get of the way, and fled to 
 Charlestown with his family and efiects. 
 
 At the time in which this dark plot was to be put in execu- 
 tion. Captain Nairn, agent for Indian afiairs, and many 
 traders, resided at Pocotaligo, in a state of false security, in 
 the midst of their enemies. The case of the scattered settlers 
 on the frontier was equally lamentable, for they had no suspi- 
 cions of danger. On the day before the Yamassees began 
 their bloody operations. Captain Nairn, and some of the 
 traders, observing an uncommon gloom on the countenances 
 of the savages, went to their chief men, begging to know the 
 cause of their uneasiness, and promising, if any injury had 
 been done, to give them satisfaction. The chiefs replied they 
 had no complaints to make against any one, but intended to go 
 a hunting early the next morning. Captain Nairn accord- 
 ingly went to sleep, and the traders passed the night in appa- 
 rent tranquility. But next morning, about the break of day, 
 being the 15th of April, 1715, all were alarmed with the cries 
 of war. The leaders were under arms, calling upon their 
 followers, and proclaiming aloud designs of vengeance. The 
 young men flew to their arms, and in a few hours massacred 
 above ninety persons in Pocotaligo and the neighboring plan- 
 tations. Mr. Burrows, a Captain of miUtia, by swimming one 
 mile and running ten, after he had received two wounds, es- 
 caped to Port Royal and alarmed the town. The inhabitants 
 generally repaired on board a vessel in the harbor and sailed 
 for Charlestown. But a few families fell into the hands of 
 the savages, and by them were either murdered or made 
 prisoners of war. While the Yamassees, with the Creeks and 
 Apalachians, were advancing against the southern frontiers 
 and spreading desolation and slaughter through the province, 
 the colonists on the northern borders found the Indians down 
 among the settlements in formidable parties. The Caroli- 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 91 
 
 nians had entertained hopes of the friendship of the Conga- 
 rees, the Catawbas and Cherokees, but soon found that these 
 nations had also joined in the conspiracy and declared for 
 war. It was computed that the southern division of the 
 enemy consisted of above six thousand bowmen, and the 
 northern of between six hundred and a thousand. Every 
 Indian tribe from Florida to Cape Fear River had joined 
 in this confederacy for the destruction of the settlement. The 
 dispersed planters had no force to withstand such numbers, but 
 each consulting his own safety and that of his family, fled 
 in great consternation to the capital. They who came in, 
 brought the Governor such different accounts of the numbers 
 and strength of the savages, that even the inhabitants of 
 Charlestown were doubtful of their safety. The men in it 
 were obliged to watch every third night. The most spirited 
 measures were pursued both for offence and defence. In the 
 muster roll there were no more than twelve hundred men fit to 
 bear arms. The Governor proclaimed martial law, laid an em- 
 bargo on all ships, and obtained an act of Assembly empow- 
 ering him to impress men, arms, ammunition and stores, and 
 to arm trusty negroes. Agents were sent to Virginia and 
 England to solicit assistance — bills were stamped for the pay- 
 ment of the army and other necessary expenses. Robert 
 Daniel was appointed Deputy Governor in town, and Charles 
 Craven, at the head of the militia, marched to the country 
 against the largest body of savages. 
 
 In the meantime the Indians on the northern quarter had 
 made an inroad as far as the plantation belonging to John 
 Kearne, about fifty miles from Charlestown, and entered his 
 house apparently in a peaceable manner, but afterwards mur- 
 dered him and every person in it. Thomas Barker, a Captain 
 of militia, collected a party consisting of ninety horsemen, and 
 advanced against the enemy; but was led by the treachery of 
 an Indian guide into a dangerous ambuscade, where a large 
 party of Indians lay concealed on the ground. Barker having 
 advanced into the middle of them before he was aware of his 
 danger, they sprung from their concealment and fired upon his 
 men. The captain and several more fell at the first onset, and 
 the remainder retreated. After this advantage, a party of four 
 , hundred Indians came down as far as Goose creek. Every 
 
 ■ family there had fled to town, except in one place where 
 , seventy white men and forty negroes had erected a breast- 
 i work and resolved to remain and defend themselves. When 
 
 ■ the Indians attacked them they were discouraged, and rashly 
 ;. agreed to terms of peace; having admitted the enemy within 
 
 their works, this whole garrison was barbarously butchered. 
 ',' The Indians advanced still nigher to town, but meeting with- 
 
92 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Captain Chicken and the Goose creek militia, they were 
 obliged to retreat. 
 
 By this time the Yamassees, with their confederates, had 
 spread destruction through the parish of St. Bartholomew, 
 and advancing as far as Stono they burned the church at that 
 place, together with every house on the plantations by the way, 
 John Cochran, his wife and four children, Mr. Bray, his wife, 
 two children, and six other persons, having found friends 
 among them, were spared for some days, but while attempt- 
 ing to make their escape' they were retaken and put to death. 
 Such as had no friends among them were tortured in the most 
 shocking manner. The Indians made a halt in their progress 
 to assist in tormenting their prisoners. 
 
 Governor Craven advanced against the enemy by slow and 
 cautious steps. He knew well under what advantages they 
 fought among their native thickets, and the various wiles and 
 stratagems they made use of in conducting their wars, and 
 therefore was watchful against sudden surprises. The fate of 
 the whole province depended on the issue of the contest. His 
 men had no alternative but to conquer, or die a painful death. 
 As he advanced, the straggling parties fled before him until he 
 reached Saltcatchers, where they had pitched their great catnp. 
 A sharp and bloody battle ensued. Bullets and arrows were 
 discharged with destructive effect from behind trees and 
 bushes. The Indians made the air resound with their horrid 
 yellings and war-whoops. They sometimes gave way, hut 
 returned again and again with double fury to the charge. 
 The Governor kept his troops close at their heels, and chased 
 them from their settlement at Indian Land, until he drove 
 them over Savannah river, and cleared the province entirely 
 of this formidable tribe of savages. What number of his 
 army or of the enemy was killed, we have not been able to 
 learn, but in this Indian war four hundred innocent inhab- 
 itants of Carolina were murdered. 
 
 The Yamassees, after their defeat and expulsion, went to 
 the Spanish territories in Florida, where they were received 
 with bells ringing and guns firing, as if they had come victo- 
 riously frpm the field. This circumstance, together with the 
 encouragement afterwards given them to settle in Florida, 
 gave reason to believe that this horrid conspiracy was con- 
 trived by Spaniards, and carried on by their encouragement 
 and assistance. From the lowest state of despondencv Charles- 
 town was suddenly raised to the highest pitch of joy. The 
 Governor entered it with some degree of triumph, receiving 
 from all, such applause as his courage, conduct and succeS 
 justly merited. His prosperous expedition had not only dis- 
 concerted the most formidable conspiracy ever formed agairfsi 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 93 
 
 the colony, but also placed the inhabitants in a state of greater 
 security than they had hitherto enjoyed. From this period 
 the Yamassee Indians harbored the most inveterate rancour 
 against all Carolinians. Being furnished with arms and 
 ammunition from the Spaniards, they often sallied forth in 
 small scalping parties, and infested the frontiers. One such 
 caught William Hooper, and killed him by cutting oif one 
 part of his body after another till he expired. Another sur- 
 prised Henry Quinton, Thomas Simmons, and Thomas Par- 
 menter, and tortured them to death. Dr. Rose fell into their 
 hands, whom they cut across his nose with a tomahawk, and 
 left him scalped on the spot, apparently dead; but he hap- 
 pily recovered. The Spaniards of St. Augustine, disappointed 
 in their design of extirpating the English settlement in Carolina, 
 had now no other resource left but to employ the vindictive 
 spirit of the Yamassees against the defenceless frontiers of the 
 province. In these incursions they were too successful; many 
 settlers at different times fell a sacrifice td their insatiable revenge. 
 About the year 1718 a scalping party penetrated as far as 
 the Euhaw lands ; where having surprised John Levit and 
 two of his neighbors, they dispatched them with their toma- 
 hawks. They then seized Mrs. Borrows and one of her chil- 
 dren, and carried them off. The child by the way began to 
 cry, upon which they put him to death. The distressed 
 mother being unable to restrain from tears on seeing her child 
 murdered, was informed that she must not weep if she de- 
 sired to live. Upon her arrival at Augustine she would have 
 been immediately sent to prison; but one of the Yamassee 
 Kings declared that he knew herfromher infancy tobea good 
 woman, and begged, but in vain, that she might be sent home 
 to her husband. When Mr. Borrows went to Augustine to 
 procure the release of his wife, he also was shut up in prison 
 with her, where he soon after died ; but she survived. On her 
 return to Carolina she reported to Governor Johnson that the 
 Huspah King, who had taken her prisoner, informed her that 
 he had orders from the Spanish Governor to spare no white 
 man, but to bring every negro alive to St. Augustine ; and that 
 rewards were given to Indians for their prisoners to encourage 
 them to engage in such murderous and rapacious enterprises. 
 At another time a large party of Indians moved towards 
 Charlestown, and killed several of the inhabitants. A fort 
 was constructed in haste at Wiltown into which the women 
 and children were put, with a few old men, for their protec- 
 tion. The militia marched out to meet the Indians, but 
 'missed them. The Indians soon after appeared in force against 
 this party, but finding they would meet with resistance left it to 
 !go against the plantations. Governor Craven at the head of a 
 
94 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 body of militia fell in with these Indians near Stone Ferry, at 
 the place where Lincoln, in June 1779, attacked the British 
 troops under Provost. A general action took place, in which 
 the Indians were entirely defeated. This was the lastattemptof 
 the Yamassees to disturb the white people to the southward of 
 Charlestown. In a few years after the subjugation of the 
 Yamassees, South Carolina became a royal province. The 
 wise measures adopted by Sir Francis Nicholson, the first royal 
 Governor, the treaties afterwards entered into with the Indians 
 by Sir Alexander Gumming, the settlement of Georgia, and 
 the judicious measures respecting the Indians adopted by Gene- 
 ral Oglethorpe,theGovernorsof Georgia and of South Carohna, 
 together with the increasing strength of the white people, 
 and the decreasing number of the Indians, all concurred in 
 preserving peace with the savages, so far that for forty years 
 subsequent to the Yamassee war in 1715, the peace of the 
 , province was preserved without any considerable or general 
 interruption. 
 
 In the year 1752 South Carolina was nearly involved in an 
 Indian war, but happily escaped. The Creeks having quar- 
 relled with the Cherokees, took their revenge by killing a party 
 of the latter near the gates of Charlestown. Some Creek war- 
 riors had also scalped a British trader. For these and other out- 
 rages, Governor Glen demanded satisfaction at a public con- 
 gress held for the purpose. The Indians, by their orator 
 Malatchee, apologized for their conduct in a speech that was 
 deemed satisfactory, and peace was preserved. 
 
 The war between France and England, which commenced 
 in 1754 or 1755, induced both nations to court the friendship 
 of the Indians. The French were assiduous in connecting a 
 chain of influence with the aborigines, from Canada to the 
 mouth of the Mississippi. The British pursued a similar 
 line of policy, but less extensive. Governor Glen held a treaty 
 with the Cherokees in 1755, ostensibly to brighten the chain 
 of friendship, but really to obtain a cession of their lands and 
 a liberty to erect forts on the western frontier, as a barrier 
 against the French on the southwest. Both were granted, as 
 has already been related. 
 
 In the progress of the war the French were defeated in 
 Canada, and compelled to abandon Fort Duquesne. After 
 they had retreated from the latter down the Ohio, and the Mis- 
 sippi, they had the address to involve the Indians in a serious 
 war with Carolina. By the reduction of Fort Duquesne, the 
 scerje of action was changed from Pennsylvania and Virginia 
 to Carolina; and the influence of the French soon appeared 
 among the upper tribes of Cherokees. An unfortunate quartfil 
 with the Virginians helped to forward their designs. In the 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 95 
 
 successful expedition of 1758, against Fort Duquesne, the 
 Cherokees had sent considerable parties of warriors to the assist- 
 ance of the British army. While the savages were returning 
 home from that expedition, through the back parts of Virginia, 
 many of them having lost their horses took possession of such 
 as came in their way. The Virginians, instead of asserting 
 their rights in a legal manner, resented the injury by force of 
 arms, and killed twelve or fourteen of these unsuspicious war- 
 riors. The Cherokees, with reason, were highly provoked at 
 such ungrateful usage; and when they came home, gave a 
 highly colored account thereof to their nation. They became 
 outrageous. Those who had lost friends and relations resolved 
 upon revenge. In vain did the chieftains interpose their au- 
 thority. Nothing could restrain the ferocity of the young men. 
 The emissaries of France among them added fuel to the flame, 
 by declaring that the English intended to kill all the Indian 
 men and make slaves of their wives and children. They in- 
 flamed their resentments — stimulated them to bloodshed, and 
 furnished them with arms and ammunition to revenge them- 
 selves. Parties of young warriors took the field, and rushing 
 down among the white inhabitants murdered and scalped all 
 who came in their way. 
 
 The commanding officer at Fort Prince George despatched a 
 messenger to Charlestown, to inform Governor Lyttleton that 
 the Cherokees had commenced war. Orders were given to 
 the commanders of the militia immediately to collect their 
 men, and stand in a posture of defence. The militia of the 
 country were directed to rendezvous at Congarees, where the 
 Governor resolved to join them and march to the relief of the 
 frontier settlements. 
 
 No sooner had the Cherokees heard of these warlike prepa- 
 rations, than thirty-two of their chiefs set out for Charlestown 
 to settle all differences. Though they could not restrain 
 some of their young, men from acts of violence, yet the nation 
 in general was inclined to friendship and peace. As they ar- 
 rived before the Governor had set out on the intended expedi- 
 tion, a council was called; and the chiefs being sent for, Gov- 
 ernor Lytdeton, among other things, told them " that he was 
 ■<vell acquainted with all the acts of hostility of which their 
 people had been guilty, and likewise those they intended 
 against the English," and enumerated some of them. Then 
 he added " that he would soon be in their country, where he 
 would let them know his demands and the satisfaction he re- 
 quired, which he would certainly take if it was refused. As 
 they had come to Charlestown to treat with him as friends, they 
 : should go home in safety and not a hair of their heads should 
 be touched; but as he had many warriors in arms, in difl"erent 
 
96 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 parts of the province, he could not be answerable for what 
 might happen to them unless they marched with his army." 
 After this speech was ended Occonostota, who was distinguished 
 by the name of the great warrior of the Cherokee nation, began 
 to speak by way of reply ; but the Governor having deter- 
 mined that nothing should prevent his military expedition, 
 declared " he would hear no talk in vindication of his nation, 
 nor any proposals with regard to peace." This highly dis- 
 pleased the Indians. 
 
 In a few days after this conference the Governor set out for 
 Congarees, where he mustered about fourteen hundred men. 
 To this place the Cherokees inarched with the army and were 
 in appearance contented, but in reality burned with fury 
 When the army moved from the Congarees, the chieftains 
 were all made prisoners. To prevent their escaping, as two 
 had already done, a Captain's guard was mounted over them. 
 Being not only deprived of their liberty, but compelled to ac- 
 company an enemy going against their families and friends, 
 they no longer concealed the resentment raging in their breasts. 
 Sullen looks and gloomy countenances, showed that they 
 were stung to the heart by such treatment Upon the arrival 
 of the army at fort Prince George, the Indians were all shut 
 up in a hut scarcely sufficient for the accommodation of six 
 soldiers. 
 
 The army being not only poorly armed and disciplined, but 
 also discontented and mutinous, it was judged dangerous to 
 proceed farther into the enemy's country. The Governor sent 
 for AttakuUakulla, who was esteemed the wisest man of the 
 nation, and the most steady friend of the English, to meet 
 him at fort Prince George. This summons was promptly 
 obeyed. On the 17th December, 1759, they held a congress, 
 at which the Governor, in a long speech, stated to AttakuUa- 
 kulla the injuries done by the Cherokees to the white people, 
 in violation of existing treaties — the power of the English— 
 the weakness and many defeats of the French, and then con- 
 cluded as follows : " These things I have mentioned to show 
 you that the great King will not suffer his people to be de- 
 stroyed without satisfaction, and to let you know that the 
 people of this province are determined to have it. What I 
 say is with a merciful intention. If I make war with you, 
 you will suffer for your rashness ; your men will be destroyed 
 an'd your women and children carried into captivity. What 
 few necessaries you now have, will soon be exhausted, and 
 you will get no more. But if you give the satisfaction I shall 
 ask, trade will be again opened and all things go right I have 
 twice given you a list of the murderers. I will now tell you 
 there are twenty-four men of your nation whom I demand to 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 97 
 
 be delivered up to me to be put to death, or otherwise disposed 
 of as I shall think fit. Your people have killed that number 
 of ours and more ; therefore it is the least I will accept of. I 
 shall give you till to-morrow to consider of it, and then I shall 
 expect your answer. You know best the Indians concerned. 
 I expect the twenty-four you deliver up, will be those who 
 have committed the murders." 
 
 To this long speech, Attakullaknlla replied in words to the 
 following effect : " That he remembered the treaties mentioned, 
 as he had a share in making them. He owned the kindness 
 of the province of South Carolina, but complained much of 
 the bad treatment his countrymen had received in Virginia; 
 which, he said, was the immediate cause of the present mis- 
 understanding. That he had always been the warm friend of 
 the English — that he would ever continue such, and would 
 use all the influence he had to persuade his countrymen to 
 give the Governor the satisfaction he demanded ; though he 
 believed it neither would nor could be complied with, as they 
 had no coercive authority one over another. He desired the 
 Governor to release some of the head men then confined in 
 the fort to assist him, and added, " that he was pleased to hear 
 of the success of his brothers, the English ;" but could not 
 help mentioning "that they showed rnore resentment against 
 the Cherokees than they did to other nations who had dis- 
 obliged them. That he remembered some years ago several 
 white people belonging to Carolina were killed by the Choc- 
 taws, for whom no satisfaction had either been demanded or 
 given." 
 
 Agreeably to the request of Attakullaknlla, the Governor 
 released Occonostota, Fiftoe, the chief man of Keowee town, 
 and the head warrior of Estatoe, who next day delivered up 
 two Indians, whom Mr. Lyttleton ordered to be put in irons. 
 After which all the Cherokees present, who knew their con- 
 nections to be weak, instantly fled ; so that it was impossible 
 to complete the number demanded. Attakullakulla being 
 then convinced that peace could not be obtained on the terms 
 demanded by the Governor, resolved to go home and patiently 
 wait the event; but no sooner was Mr. Lyttleton made ac- 
 quainted with his departure, than he dispatched a messenger 
 after him to bring him back to his camp: and immediately on 
 his return began to treat of peace. Accordingly a treaty was 
 drawn up and signed by the Governor, by Attakullakulla, 
 another chief, and four of the confined warriors, who, together 
 with a few others, thereupon obtained their liberty. By one 
 article of this treaty it was agreed "that twenty-six chieftains 
 of the Cherokees should be confined in the fort as hostages, 
 until the same number of Indians guilty of murder were de- 
 7 
 
98 MILITARY HISTOKr. 
 
 livered up to the Commander-in-Chief of the province. This 
 was said to be done with their own consent; but as they were 
 prisoners they could have no free choice. If they must remain 
 confined, it was a matter of Uttle moment under what denom- 
 ination they were kept One more Indian was dehvered up, 
 for whom one of the hostages was released. The three In- 
 dians, given up by their companions, were carried to Charles- 
 town, where they died in confinement. 
 
 After having concluded this treaty with the Cherokees, the 
 Governor returned to Charlestown. Perhaps the Indians who 
 put their mark to these articles of agreement did not under- 
 stand them, or conceived themselves to be so far under restraint 
 as not to be free agents in the transaction, and therefore not 
 bound by it. Whether either of these, or deliberate perfidy 
 was the case, cannot be ascertained ; but it is certain that few- 
 er none of the nation afterwards paid the smallest regard to it. 
 The treacherous act of confining their chiefs, against whom no 
 personal charge could be made, and who had traveled several 
 hundred miles to obtain peace, was strongly impressed on 
 their minds. Instead of permitting them to return home 
 "without hurting a hair of their heads,'' as the Governor 
 promised in Charlestown, they were confined in a miserable 
 hut. It was said they were kept only as hostages until the 
 nvimberof criminals demanded was completed by their nation. 
 It was also said to be done by the consent of the nation, as 
 six of its chiefs had signed the articles of peace ; but when 
 the relative situation of the parties, and all circumstances are 
 considered, nothing less could have been expected than that 
 these wild and independent warriors' would violate the articles 
 they had signed, and retaliate for the confinement of their 
 chiefs. 
 
 Scarcely had Governor Lyttleton concluded the treaty of 
 fort Prince George, when the small pox, which was raging in 
 an adjacent Indian town, broke out in his camp. As few of 
 the army had gone through that distemper, the men were 
 struck with terror and in great haste returned to the settle- 
 ments, cautiously avoiding all intercourse with one another, 
 and suff'ering much from hunger and fatigue by the way. The 
 Governor followed them, and arrived in Charlestown on Jan- 
 uary 8th, 1760. This expedition cost the province £25,000 
 sterling. Though not a drop of blood had been spilt during 
 the campaign, yet as articles of peace were signed, the Gov- 
 ernor, as Commander-in-Chief, was received like a conqueror 
 with the greatest demonstrations of joy. 
 
 These rejoicings on account of the peace were scarcely over, 
 when news arrived that fresh hostihties had been committed, 
 and that the Cherokees had killed fourteen men within a mile 
 
• CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 99 
 
 of fort Prince George. The Indians had contracted an in- 
 vincible antipathy to Captain Coytmore, the officer whom 
 Governor Lyttleton had left commander of that fort. The 
 treatment they had received at Charleston, but especially the 
 imprisonment of their chiefs, converted their former desire of 
 peace into the bitterest rage of war. Occonostota, a chieftain 
 of great influence, became an implacable enemy to Carolina, 
 and determined to repay treachery with treachery. With a 
 strong party of Cherokees he surrounded fort Prince George, 
 and compelled the garrison to keep within their works ; but 
 finding that no impression could be made on the fort, he 
 contrived the following stratagem for the relief of his country- 
 men confined in it. 
 
 He placed a party of savages in a, dark thicket by the river 
 side, and then sent an Indian woman, whom he knew to be 
 always welcome at the fort, to inform the commander that he 
 had something of consequence to communicate and would 
 be glad to speak with him at the river side. Captain Coyt- 
 more imprudently consented, and without any suspicions of 
 danger, walked down towards the river, accompanied by Lieu- 
 tenants Bell and Foster. Occonostota appearing on the op- 
 posite side, told him he was going to Charlestown to procure 
 a release of the prisoners, and would be glad of a white man 
 to accompany him as a safeguard. To cover his dark design 
 he had a bridle in his hand, and added he would go and hunt 
 for a horse. Coytmore replied that he should have a guard, 
 and wished he might find a horse as the journey was very 
 long. Upon which, the Indian turning about, swung the 
 bridle thrice round his head as a signal to the savages placed 
 in ambush, who instantly fired on the officers, shot the Captain 
 dead, and wounded his two companions. In consequence of 
 which, orders were given to put the hostages in irons to pre- 
 vent any further danger from them. When the soldiers were 
 attempting to execute these orders, the Indians stabbed one 
 and wounded two more of them ; upon which the garrison 
 fell on the unfortunate hostages, and butchered all of them in 
 a manner too shocking to relate. 
 
 There were few men in the Cherokee nation that did not 
 lose a friend or a relation by this massacre, and therefore with 
 one voice all immediately declared for war. The leaders in 
 every town seized the hatchet, telling their followers "that 
 the spirits of their murdered brothers were hovering around 
 them and calling out for vengeance on their enemies." From 
 the diff"erent towns large parties of warriors took the field, 
 painted in the most formidable manner and arrayed with their 
 instruments of death. Burning with impatience to imbrue 
 their hands in the blood of their enemies, they rushed down 
 
loo MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 among innocent and defenceless families on the frontiers of 
 Carolina; where men, women and children, without distinc- 
 tion, fell a sacrifice to their merciless fury. Such as fled to 
 the woods and escaped the scalping knife, perished with hun- 
 ger; and those whom they made prisoners were carried into 
 the wilderness where they suffered inexpressible hardships. 
 Every day brought fresh accounts of their ravages and mur- 
 ders. But while the back settlers impatiently looked to their 
 Governor for relief, the small pox raged to such a degree on 
 the sea coast, that few of the militia could be prevailed on to 
 leave their distressed families. In this extremity an express 
 was sent to General Amherst the Commander-in-Chief of the 
 British forces in America, acquainting him with the deplorable 
 situation of the province and imploring his assistance. Ac- 
 cordingly a body of fine picked troops, consisting of six 
 companies of the Royal Scots regiment, and six companies of 
 the seventy-second, in which were included the grenadiers 
 and light infantry companies of several regiments, was put 
 under the command of Colonel Montgomery and ordered im- 
 mediately to Carolina. 
 
 In the meantime William Henry Lyttleton being appointed 
 Governor of Jamaica, the charge of the province devolved 
 on William Bull. Application was made to the neighboring 
 provinces of North Carolina and Virginia for relief. Seven 
 troops of rangers were raised to protect the frontiers, and 
 prevent the savages from penetrating further down among the 
 settlements, and to co-operate with the regulars for carrying 
 offensive operations into the Indian country. 
 
 Before the end of April, 1760, Colonel Montgomery landed 
 in Carolina and encamped at Monk's Corner. Great was the 
 joy of the province upon the arrival of this gallant officer; 
 but as the conquest of Canada was the grand object of that 
 year's campaign in America, he had orders to strike a sudden 
 blow for the relief of Carolina and instantly return to head- 
 quarters at Albany. Nothing was omitted that was judged 
 necessary to forward the expedition. Several gentlemen of 
 fortune, excited by a laudable zeal for the safety of their 
 country, formed themselves into a company of volunteers, 
 and joined the army. The whole force of the province was 
 collected and ordered to rendezvous at Congarees. 
 
 A few weeks after his arrival Colonel Montgomery marched 
 to the Congarees where he was joined by the militia of the 
 province, and immediately set out for the Cherokee country. 
 Having little time allowed him, his march was uncommonly 
 expeditious. After reaching a place called Twelve Mile river 
 he proceeded with a party of his men in the night to surprise 
 Estatoe, an Indian town, about twenty miles from his camp. 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 101 
 
 On his way there was another town called little Keowee. He 
 ordered the light infantry to surround the latter, and to put 
 every adult male Indian in it to the sword. He then pro- 
 ceeded to Estatoe which he found nearly abandoned. This 
 town, which consisted of at least two hundred houses, and 
 was well provided with corn, hogs, poultry, and ammunition, 
 he reduced to ashes. Sugartown, and every other settlement 
 in the lower nation, shared the same fate. The surprise to 
 every one of them was nearly equal, and so sudden and un- 
 expected, that the savages could scarcely save themselves, far 
 less any little property they had. In these lower towns about 
 sixty Indians were killed and forty made prisoners, and the 
 rest driven to seek for shelter among the mountains. Having 
 finished his business among these lower settlements, with the 
 small loss of three or four men, he marched to the relief of 
 fort Prince George. Edmund Atkin, agent for Indian affairs, 
 dspatched two Indian chiefs to the middle settlements to in- 
 form the Cherokees that by suing for peace they might obtain 
 it as the former friends and allies of Britain. Colonel Mont- 
 gomery finding that the savages were not yet disposed to listen 
 to any terms of accommodation, determined to carry the chas- 
 tisement a little further. Dismal was the wilderness into 
 which he entered, and many were the hardships and dangers 
 he had to encounter from passing through dark thickets, rug- 
 ged paths and narrow defiles, in which a small body of men 
 properly posted might harrass the bravest army. He also had 
 numberless difficulties to surmount; particularly from rivers 
 fordable only at one place, and overlooked by high banks on 
 each side, where an enemy might attack with advantage, and 
 retreat with safety. When he had advanced within five miles 
 of Etchoe, the nearest town in the middle settlements, he, 
 found a low valley covered so thick with bushes that the 
 soldiers could scarcely see three yards before them. Through 
 this natural ambuscade it was necessary for the army to 
 march, though the nature of the place would not admit any 
 number of men to act together. Captain Morison who com- 
 manded a company of rangers, well acquainted with the 
 woods, was therefore ordered to advance and scour this thicket. 
 He had scarcely entered it when a number of savages sprung 
 from their place of concealment, killed the Captain and 
 wounded several of his party. Upon which the light in- 
 fantry and grenadiers advanced and charged the invisible 
 enemy. A heavy fire then began on both sides, and for some 
 time the soldiers could only discover the places where the 
 savages were hid by the report of their guns. The woods 
 resounded with Indian war-whoops and horrible yellings. Du- 
 ring the action, which lasted above an hour, Col. Montgomery 
 
102 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 had twenty men killed and seventy-six wounded. What 
 number the enemy lost is uncertain, as it is a custom among 
 them to carry their dead off the field. Upon viewing the 
 ground, all were astonished to see with what judgment they 
 had chosen it. Scarcely could the most experienced officer 
 have fixed upon a spot more advantageous for attacking an 
 enemy. 
 
 This action terminated much in favor of the British army, 
 but reduced it to such a situation as made it very imprudent 
 to penetrate further into the woods. Orders were therefore 
 given for a retreat which was made with great regularity. A 
 large train of wounded men was brought in safety above sixty 
 miles through a hazardous country. Never did men endure 
 greater hardships, with fewer complaints, than this little army. 
 Colonel Montgomery returned to the settlement, and in Au- 
 gust embarked for New York agreeably to his orders; but left 
 four companies for covering the frontiers. 
 
 In the meantime the distant garrison of fort Loudon, con- 
 sisting of two hundred men, was reduced to the dreadful 
 alternative of perishing by hunger or submitting to the mercy 
 of the enraged Cherokees. The Governor having information 
 that the Virginians had undertaken to relieve it, waited to 
 hear the news of their having done so. But so remote was 
 the fort from every settlement, and so difficult was it to march 
 an army through the barren wilderness where the various 
 thickets were lined with epemies; and to carry at the same 
 time sufficient supplies along with them, that the Virginians 
 had relinquished all thoughts of even making the attempt. 
 Provisions being entirely exhausted at fort Loudon, the gar- 
 rison was reduced to the most deplorable situation. For a 
 whole month they had no other subsistence but the flesh of 
 lean horses and dogs, and a small supply of Indian beans 
 which some friendly Cherokee women procured for them by 
 stealth. In this extremity the Commander called a council of 
 war to consider what was proper to be done. The officers 
 were all of opinion that it was impossible to hold out any 
 longer, and therefore agreed to surrender the fort to the Cher- 
 okees on the best terms that could be obtained. For this 
 purpose Captain Stuart procured leave to go to Chote, one of 
 the principal towns in the neighborhood, where he obtained 
 the following terms qf capitulation which were signed by the 
 Commanding officer and two of the Cherokee chiefs. "That 
 the garrison of fort Loudon march out with their arms and 
 drums, each soldier having as much powder and ball as their 
 officer shall think necessary for their march, and all the 
 baggage they may choose to carry. That the garrison be 
 permitted to march to Virginia or fort Prince George, and that 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 103 
 
 a number of Indians be appointed to escort them and hunt 
 for provisions during the march. That such soldiers as are 
 lame or sick be received into the Indian towns, and kindly- 
 used until they recover, and then be allowed to return to fort 
 Prince George. That the Indians provide for the garrison as 
 many horses as they conveniently can for their march, agree- 
 ing with officers and soldiers for payment. That the fort, 
 great guns, powder, ball, and spare arms, be delivered to the 
 Indians without fraud or further delay on the day appointed 
 for the march of the troops.'' 
 
 Agreeably to these terms the garrison delivered up the fort, 
 E^nd marched out with their arms, accompanied by Occonos- 
 tota, the prince of Chote, and several other Indians ; and that 
 day went fifteen miles on their way to fort Prince George. At 
 night they encamped on a plain about two miles from Taliquo, 
 an Indian town, when all their attendants left them. During 
 the night they remained unmolested; but, next morning, about 
 break of day a soldier, from an outpost, informed them that he 
 saw a number of Indians, armed and painted in the most 
 dreadful manner, creeping among the bushes and advancing 
 to surround them. Scarcely had the officer time to order his 
 men to stand to their arms, when the savages poured in upon 
 them a heavy fire from diiferent quarters, accompanied with 
 the most hideous yellings. Captain Paul Demere, with three 
 other officers, and about twenty-six private men, fell at the 
 first onset. Some fled into the woods, and were afterwards 
 taken prisoners and confined. Captain Stuart and those that 
 remained were seized, pinioned, and brought back to fort 
 Loudon. As soon as Attakullakulla heard that his friend 
 Stuart had escaped, he hastened to the fort and purchased him 
 from the Indian that took him; giving him his rifle, clothes, 
 and all he could command by way of ransom. He then took 
 possession of Captain Demere's house, where he kept his 
 prisoner as one of his family, and freely shared with him the 
 little provisions his table afforded, until a fair opportunity 
 should offer for rescuing him from their hands: but the 
 soldiers were kept in a miserable state of captivity for some 
 time, and then redeemed by the province at a great expense. 
 
 While these prisoners were confined at fort Loudon, Occon- 
 ostota formed a design of attacking fort Prince George; and 
 for this purpose dispatched a messenger to the settlements in 
 the valley, requesting all the warriors there to join him at 
 Stickoey old town. By accident, a discovery was made of ten 
 bags of powder, and of ball in proportion, which the officers 
 had secretly buried in the fort to prevent their falling into the 
 enemy's hands. This discovery had nearly proved fatal to 
 Captain Stuart, and would certainly have cost him his life, if 
 
104 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the interpreter had not assured the enemy that these warlike 
 stores had been concealed without his knowledge or consent. 
 The Indians having now abundance of ammunition, for the 
 seige, a council was called at Chotfe; to which the captain 
 was brought and put in mind of the obligations he lay under 
 to them for sparing his life. They also stated to him, that as 
 they had resolved to carry six cannon and two cohorns with 
 them against fort Prince George, to be managed by men under 
 his command, he must go and write such letters to the com- 
 mandant as they should dictate to him. They informed him 
 ai the same time, that if that officer should refuse to surrender, 
 they were determined to burn the prisoners one after another 
 before his face, and try if he could hold out while he saw his 
 friends expiring in the flames. Captain Stuart was much 
 alarmed at his situation, and from that moment resolved to 
 make his escape or perish in the attempt. He privately com- 
 municated his design to Attakullakulla, and told him how 
 uneasy he was at the thoughts of being compelled to bear 
 arms against his countrymen. The old warrior taking him 
 by the hand, told him he was his friend. That he had al- 
 ready given one proof of his regard, and intended soon to give 
 another. Strong and uncultivated minds often carry their 
 friendship, as well as their enmity, to an astonishing pitch. 
 Among savages, family friendship is a national virtue ; and 
 they not unfrequently surpass civilized men in the practice of 
 its most self-denying, and noblest duties. 
 
 Attakullakulla claimed Captain Stuart as his prisoner, and 
 had resolved to deliver him from danger. Accordingly he 
 gave out among his countrymen, that he intended to go a 
 hunting for a few days and carry his prisoner along with him 
 to eat venison. Having settled all matters they set out on 
 their journey, accompanied by the warrior's wife, his brother, 
 and two soldiers. For provisions they depended on what they 
 might kill by the way. The distance to the frontier settle- 
 ments was great, and the utmost expedition necessary to pre- 
 vent any surprise from Indians pursuing them. They trav- 
 eled nine days and nights through a dreary wilderness, shaping 
 their course for Virginia, by the light and guidance of the 
 heavenly bodies. On the tenth they arrived at the banks of 
 Holstein river, where they fortunately fell in with a party of 
 300 men, sent out by Colonel Bird, for the relief of such 
 soldiers as might make their escape that way from fort Loudon. 
 
 It might now have been expected that the vindictive spirit 
 of the savages would be satisfied, and that they would be dis- 
 posed to listen to terms of accommodation. But this was not 
 the case. They intended their treacherous conduct at fort 
 Louden should serve as a satisfaction for the harsh treatment 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 106 
 
 their relations had met with at fort Prince George. Dearly 
 had the province paid for the imprisonment and massacre of 
 the Indian chiefs at that place. Sorely had the Cherokees 
 suffered, in retaliation, for the murders they had committed to 
 satisfy their vengeance for that imprisonment, and the mas- 
 sacre of their chiefs. Their lower towns had all been destroyed 
 by. Colonel Montgomery. The warriors in the middle settle- 
 ments had lost many friends and relations. Several French- 
 men had crept in among the upper towns, and helped to 
 foment their ill-humor against Carolina. Lewis Latinac, a 
 French officer, persuaded the Indians that the English had 
 nothing less in view than to exterminate them from the face 
 of the earth; and furnishing them with arms and ammunition, 
 urged them to war. At a great meeting of the nation he 
 pulled out his hatchet, and striking it into a log of wood called 
 out, " who is the man that will take this up for the King of 
 France ?'' Salone, the young warrior of Estatoe, instantly laid 
 hold of it, and cried out, " I am for war. The spirits of our 
 brothers who have been slain, still call upon us to avenge 
 their death. He is no better than a woman that refuses to 
 follow me.'' Many others seized the tomahawk and burned 
 with impatience for the field. 
 
 Lieutenant Governor Bull, who well knew how little In- 
 dians were to be trusted, kept the Royal Scots and militia on 
 the frontiers in a posture of defence, and made application a 
 second time to General Amherst for assistance. Canada being 
 now reduced, the Commander-in-Chief could the more easily 
 spare a force adequate to the purpose intended. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel James Grant, with a regiment fromEngland, and two 
 companies of light infantry from New York, received orders 
 to embark for Carolina. Early In the year 1761, he landed at 
 Charlestown, where he took up his winter quarters until the 
 proper season should approach for taking the field. 
 
 In this campaign, the province exerted itself to the utmost. 
 A provincial regiment was raised, and the command of it 
 given to Colonel Middleton.* Presents were provided for the 
 Indian allies, and several of the Chickesaws and Catawbas 
 engaged to co-operate with the white people against the 
 Cherokees. All possible preparations were quickly made for 
 supplying the army with everything necessary for the expe- 
 
 * The other field officers were Henry Laurens, Lieutenant-Colonel; John 
 Moultrie, Major. William Moultrie, Francis Marion, Isaac Huger, Andrew 
 Pickens, Owen Roberts, Adam McDonald, James McDonald and William Mason, 
 served in this expedition, and were there trained to further and greater services 
 in the cause of their country. They all served in the revolutionary war, and i'n 
 the course of it, the four first were promoted to the rank of general officers. Bel- 
 lamy Crawford, John Huger, Joseph Lloyd, John Lloyd and Thomas Savage, also 
 served in this expedition; and afterwards in civil departments, in and after the 
 revolution. 
 
106 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 dition. Great had been the expense which this quarrel with 
 the Cherokees had already occasioned. The Carolinians now 
 flattered themselves that, by one resolute exertion, they would 
 free the country from the calamities of war. 
 
 As soon as the Highlanders were in a condition to take the 
 field, Colonel Grant set out for the Cherokee territories. After 
 being joined by the provincial regiment and Indian allies, he 
 mustered about 2,600 men. On the 27th of May, 1761, he 
 arrived at fort Prince George; and, on the 7th of June,. began 
 his march from it, carrying with him provisions for thirty 
 days. A party of ninety Indians, and thirty woodsmen, 
 painted like Indians, under the command of Captain Quintine 
 Kennedy, had orders to advance in front and scour the woods. 
 When near to the place where Colonel Montgomery was at- 
 tacked the year before, the Indian allies in front observed a 
 large body of Cherokees posted upon a hill on the right flank 
 of the army. An alarm was given. Immediately the savages 
 rushing down began to fire on the advanced guard, which 
 being supported repulsed them ; but they recovered their 
 heights. Colonel Grant ordered a party to march up the hills 
 and drive the enemy from them. The engagement became 
 general, and was fought on both sides with great bravery. The 
 situation of the troops was in several respects deplorable, 
 fatigued by a tedious march in rainy weather — surrounded 
 with woods so that they could not discern the enemy — galled 
 by the scattering fire of savages who, when pressed, always 
 fell back, but rallied again and again. No sooner was any 
 advantage gained over them in one quarter than they appeared 
 in another. While the attention of the commander was occu- 
 pied in driving the enemy from their lurking place on the 
 river's side, his rear was attacked ; and so vigorous an effort 
 made for the flour and cattle, that he was obliged to order a 
 party back to the relief of the rear-guard. From 8 o'clock in 
 the morning until 11, the savages continued to keep up an 
 irregular and incessant fire ; sometimes from one place, and 
 sometimes from another, while the woods resounded with 
 hideous war-whoops frequently repeated, but in different direc- 
 tions. At length the Cherokees gave way and were pursued, 
 What loss they sustained in this action is unknown, but of 
 Colonel Grant's army there were between fifty and sixty killed 
 and wounded. Orders were given not to bury the slain, but 
 to sink them in the river to prevent their being dug up from 
 their graves and scalped. To provide horses for those that 
 were wounded, several bags of flour were thrown into the 
 river. After which the army proceeded to Etchoe, a large 
 Indian town, which they reached about midnight, and next 
 day reduced to ashes. Every other town in the middle settle- 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 107 
 
 ments shared the same fate. Their magazines and cornfields 
 were likewise destroyed ; and the miserable savages, with their 
 families, were driven to seek for shelter and provisions among 
 the barren mountains. 
 
 Colonel Grant continued thirty days in the heart of the 
 Cherokee territories. Upon his return to fort Prince George 
 the feet and legs of many of his men were so mangled, and 
 their strength and spirits so exhausted, that they were unable 
 to march any further. He therefore encamped at that place 
 to refresh his men, and wait the resolutions of the Cherokees 
 in consequence of the heavy chastisement which they had 
 received. Besides the many advantages their country afforded 
 for defence, it was supposed they had been assisted by French 
 officers. The savages supported their attack for some hours 
 with considerable spirit ; but being driven from their advan- 
 tageous posts they were disconcerted. Though the repulse 
 was far from being decisive, yet after this engagement they 
 returned no more to the charge, but remained the tame spec- 
 tators of their towns in flames and their country laid desolate. 
 
 It is no easy matter to describe the distress to which the 
 savages were reduced by this severe correction. Even in 
 time of peace they are destitute of that foresight which pro- 
 vides for future events; but in time of war, when their villages 
 are burnt and their fields destroyed, they are reduced to ex- 
 treme want. The hunters, furnished with ammunition, may 
 make some small provision for themselves; but women, chil- 
 dren, and old men must perish from being deprived of the 
 means of subsistence. 
 
 Soon after Colonel Grant's arrival at fort Prince George, 
 AttakullakuUa, attended by several chieftains, came to his 
 camp and expressed a desire of peace. They had suffered 
 severely for breaking their alliance with Britain, and giving 
 ear to the promises of France. Convinced at last of the weak- 
 ness of the French, who were neither able to assist them in 
 time of war nor to supply their wants in time of peace, they 
 resolved to renounce all connection with them. Accordingly 
 terms of peace were drawn up and proposed. The different 
 articles being read and interpreted AttakullakuUa agreed to 
 them all except one, by which it was demanded "that four 
 Cherokee Indians be delivered up to Colonel Grant at fort 
 Prince George to be put to death in the front of his camp; or 
 that four green scalps be brought to him in the space of twelve 
 nights." The warrior could not agree to this article, and 
 therefore the Colonel sent him to Charlestown to see whether 
 the Lieutenant-Governor would consent to mitigate its rigor. 
 
 Accordingly AttakullakuUa, and the chieftains being fur- 
 nished with a safeguard, set out for Charlestown to hold a 
 
108 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 conference with Lieutenant-Governor Bull, who, on their ar- 
 rival, called a Council to meet at Ashley ferry, and then spoke 
 to the following effect: "Attakullakulla I am glad to see you, 
 as I have always heard of your good behavior, and that you 
 have been a good friend to the English. I take you by the 
 hand, and not only you, but all those with you, as a pledge 
 for their security whilst under my protection. Colonel Grant 
 acquaints me that you have applied for peace. I have there- 
 fore met with my beloved men to hear what you have to say, 
 and my ears are open for that purpose." A fire was kindled, 
 the pipe of peace was lighted, and all smoked together for 
 some time in great silence and solemnity. 
 
 Attakullakulla then arose and addressed the Lieutenant- 
 Governor and Council to the following efi'ect: "It is a great 
 while since I last saw your honor. I am glad to see you and 
 all the beloved men present. I am come to you as a messen- 
 ger from the whole nation. I have now seen you, smoked 
 with you, and hope we shall live together as brothers. When 
 1 came to Keowee, Colonel Grant sent me to you. You live 
 at the water side and are in light, we are in darkness ; but 
 hope all will yet be clear. I have been constantly going about 
 doing good, and though I am tired, yet I am come to see what 
 can be done for my people who are in great distress." Here 
 he produced the strings of wampum he had received from the 
 different towns, denoting their earnest desire of peace, and 
 added, " as to what has happened, I believe it has been ordered 
 b y our father above. We are of a different color from the 
 white people. They are superior to us. But one God is 
 father of all, and we hope what is past will be forgotten. God 
 Almighty made all people. There is not a day but some are 
 coming into and others going out of the world. The great 
 King told me the path should never be crooked, but open for 
 every one to pass and repass. As we all live in one land, I 
 hope we shall all love as one people." After which peace 
 was formally ratified and confirmed. The former friendship 
 of the parties being renewed, both expressed their hope that it 
 would last as long as the sun shines and the rivers run. 
 
 Thus ended the war with the Cherokees, which had proved 
 ruinous to them, and seriously distressful to South Carolina, 
 without being advantageous or honorable to the contending 
 parties. Nothing was gained by either, and a great deal was 
 lost by both. In the review of the whole, there is much to 
 blame, and more to regret. The Cherokees were the first 
 aggressors by taking horses from the Virginians ; but by kill- 
 ing them for that offence the balance of injury was on their 
 side. They violated the laws of natural justice by retaliating 
 on Carolinians for murders committed by Virginians ; but ac- 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. 109 
 
 cording to their code, the whites of both were identified as 
 objects of retaliation. No pains had been taken to teach them 
 better by their neighbors, who enjoyed the superior benefits of 
 civihzation and of Christianity. When the storm of war was 
 ready to burst on their heads they sent their messenger of 
 peace to apologize, explain, and negotiate for the unauthorized 
 murders of their lawless young warriors ; but they were not 
 heard, nor even suffered to speak. Governor Lyttleton, un- 
 willing to be balked of his military expedition, marched with 
 his army into their country with these messengers of peace in 
 his train ; ostensibly for their safety, and with a promise that 
 a hair of their heads should not be hurt, but really as hostages 
 for their countrymen ; and they were afterwards, without any 
 personal fault, confined as such till twenty- four of their nation 
 should be delivered up to expiate by their death for the mur- 
 der of the Carolinians. If this demand was right, it was of 
 that too rigid kind which hardens into wrong. Compliance 
 with it was impossible ; for no such coercive power could be 
 exercised over these wild and independent warriors, under 
 their feeble system of loose government. A treaty was never- 
 theless made to that effect, but under circumstances that its 
 observance could not be expected. Treachery begat treachery, 
 and murder produced murder. The lives of these men who 
 came originally as messengers of peace, though afterwards 
 retained as hostages, were barbarously taken away without 
 any fault of theirs, other than their obeying the laws of nature 
 in resisting a military order for putting their persons in irons. 
 A deadly hatred, and a desolating war was the consequence. 
 Both exerted all their energies to inflict upon the opposite 
 party the greatest possible amount of distress. The war, after 
 incalculable mischief was done to both parties, ended in peace; 
 but the hatred of the Cherokees to Carolina continued to 
 rankle in their hearts. In about fifteen years after it broke 
 out, under the auspices of the same John Stuart before men- 
 tioned, to the great distress of Carolina in its revolutionary 
 war with Great Britain, which shall be related hereafter. 
 
 The treaty made by Sir Alexander Cumming with the Chero- 
 kees in 1730, had preserved peace between them and Carohna 
 for thirty years. It is highly probable that moderation on the 
 part of Governor Lyttleton would have prevented its interrup- 
 tion to any great extent, and most certainly the horrid scenes 
 which have just been reviewed. The assumption of a high- 
 toned spirit of decision on his part, carried to extremes against 
 ignorant savages, unrestrained by social order and the pre- 
 cepts of religion, together with their vindictive temper and 
 indiscriminate mode of retaliating for injuries received, pro- 
 duced a chain of great and reciprocal distress. The first link 
 
110 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 of this was the petty theft of a few Virginian horses, for ne- 
 cessary purposes ; and the last, the ruin of the Cherokee nation, 
 the desolation of populous settlements and the murder of many 
 Carolinians. A review of the whole demonstrates that civil- 
 ized people, as well as savages, show more sound policy as 
 well as true wisdom in abating of their just demands to a 
 certain extent than in urging complete and peremptory satis- 
 faction for injuries received with too high a hand, and beyond 
 the point of moderation. 
 
 In proportion as the province increased in the number of 
 white inhabitants, its danger from the savage tribes grew less 
 alarming. But to prevent any molestation from Indians, and 
 to establish the peace of the colonies on the most lasting foua- 
 dation, his Brittannic Majesty, by his proclamations after the 
 peace of 1763, took care to fix the boundaries of their hunt- 
 ing lands in as clear a manner as the nature of the country 
 would admit. No settlements were allowed to extend any 
 further backward, upon the Indian territories, than the sources 
 of those great rivers which fall into the Atlantic ocean; and 
 all British subjects who had settled beyond these limits were 
 ordered to remove. All private subjects were prohibited from 
 purchasing lands from Indians; but if the latter should at any 
 time be inclined to dispose of their property, it must, for the 
 future, be offered to the King by the general consent of the 
 nation, and at a public assembly held by British Governors 
 for that purpose. All traders were obliged to take out licenses 
 from their respective Governors for carrying on commerce 
 with the Indians. 
 
 The French and Spaniards having by the treaty of 1763 
 ceded to Great Britain all their territories in the vicinity of 
 South Carolina, nothing further was necessary than to guard 
 the provinces against the dangers arising from the savages. 
 It was thought proper that a superintendent of Indian affairs 
 should be appointed for the Southern, as well as the Northern 
 district of America. This office was given to Captain John 
 Stuart, who was in every respect well qualified for it. The 
 Assembly not only thanked him for his good conduct and 
 great perseverance at fort Loudon, but rewarded him with 
 £1,500 currency, and recommended him to the Governor as a 
 person worthy of preferment in the service of the province. After 
 his commission arrived, the Carolinians promised themselves 
 for the future great tranquility and happiness. Plans of lenity 
 were likewise adopted by government with respect to the 
 Indian tribes, and cautions were taken to guard them against 
 oppression and prevent any rupture with them. Experience 
 had shown that rigorous measures, such as humbling them 
 by force of arms, though expensive and attended with the 
 
CONTEST WITH INDIANS. Ill 
 
 sacrifice of lives, were seldom accompanied with any good 
 eifects. Such treatment rendered the savages cruel, suspicious 
 and distrustful, prepared them for renewing hostilities, and 
 kept alive their ferocious warlike spirit. 
 
 It was thought that by treating Indians with gentleness and 
 humanity, they would by degrees lose their savage spirit, and 
 become civilized; and instead of implacable enemies, ever 
 bent on destruction, they might eventually be rendered useful 
 and beneficial allies. 
 
 The British government adopted this line of government 
 after the peace of 1763. The result in some degree justified 
 their expectations, till the revolutionary war commenced. The 
 same ambitious cruel policy which had formerly led the Span- 
 iards and French to set the Indians on the English settlements 
 was then adopted by the English against their own colonists, 
 even before they had resolved on independence. The same 
 ruinous consequences followed. The poor unfortunate misled 
 Indians became once more the victims of their own folly, in 
 suffering themselves to be employed as tools to forward the 
 ambitious views of foreign powers ; as shall be hereafter ex- 
 plained. 
 
 The Indians on the continent of America, who were at the 
 time of its discovery a numerous and formidable people, have 
 since that period been constantly decreasing. For ihis rapid 
 depopulation many reasons have been assigned. It is well 
 known that population everywhere keeps pace with the means 
 of subsistence. The Indians being driven from their posses- 
 sions near the sea, as the settlements progressed, were robbed 
 of many of the necessaries of life, particularly of oysters, 
 crabs and fish, with which the maritime parts furnished them 
 in great abundance, and on which they must have chiefly 
 subsisted, as is apparent from a view of their camps still 
 remaining near the sea-shore. As their territorities have been 
 gradually circumscribed by narrower bounds, the means of 
 subsistence derived from game have become proportionably 
 less. The provisions they raise by planting, even in the best 
 seasons, are scanty; but in case of a failure of crops, or of their 
 fields being destroyed, numbers of them perished by famine. 
 The first European settlers soon discovered their natural pas- 
 sion for war, and turned the fury of one tribe against another, 
 with a view to save themselves. When engaged in hostilities 
 they always fought, not so much to humble and conquer, as 
 to exterminate and destroy. The British, the French, and 
 Spanish nations, having planted colonies in their neighbor- 
 hood, a rivalship for influence over them took place. Each 
 nation, having its allies among the savages, was indefatigable 
 in instigating them against the colonies of every other Euro- 
 
112 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 pean nation, and against its Indian allies. Hence a series of 
 bloody and destructive wars have been carried on among these 
 rude tribes, as instruments of the pride and ambitition of Euro- 
 pean sovereigns, which, though waged without any national 
 object or interest on the part of the Indians, was conducted 
 with all the rage and rancour of implacable enemies bent on 
 the destruction of each other in defence of their nearest con- 
 nections and dearest rights. 
 
 But famine and war, however destructive, were not the only 
 causes of their rapid decay. The small pox frequently proved 
 exceedingly fatal. But of all other causes, the introduction 
 of spirituous liquors among them has been the most destruc- 
 tive. Excess and intemperance not only undermined their 
 constitution, but also created many quarrels. Most of the 
 white traders engaged in commercial business among the 
 Indians, instead of reforming them by examples of virtue and 
 purity, have rather served to corrupt their morals and render 
 them more treacherous and debauched than they originally 
 were. The avarice and ambition of the professors of Chris- 
 tianity have so far debased the pristine habits and stern virtues 
 of hardy, free and independent savages, that the few who now 
 remain have lost in a great measure their primitive character. 
 The vices of white people, falsely called Christians, and the 
 diseases the consequences of the vices caught by the contam- 
 inating intercourse of such, have so nearly exterminated the 
 native original owners of the soil, that many nations formerly 
 populous are extinct, and their names entirely forgotten. 
 
 The principal tribes in or near to South Carolina are the 
 Cherokees, the Catawbas, the Creeks, the Chickesaws and 
 Choctaws. 
 
 The Cherokees, till the revolutionary war, continued to in- 
 habit that western part of South Carolina which now forms 
 Pendleton and Greenville districts. Having taken part with 
 the British in that contest, they drew upon themselves the 
 resentment of the State; and were so far subdued by its troops 
 that they were obliged by treaty, on the 20th May, 1777, to cede 
 to South Carolina all their lands eastward of the Unacaye 
 mountains. They now reside beyond the mountains, and are 
 inconsiderable both in number and force. 
 
 Of twenty-eight tribes of Indians which inhabited South 
 Carolina in 1670, when it began to be settled by white people, 
 twenty-six have entirely disappeared. The Cherokees are per- 
 mitted, during good behaviour, to reside on the west side of 
 the Oconee mountains. The Catawbas alone have continued 
 in the State to the present time. They occupy fifteen miles 
 square, situated on each side of the Catawba river, near the 
 borders of North Carolina. They mustered 1,500 fighting 
 
CONTESTS WITH PIRATES. 113 
 
 men at the first settlement of the province; but at present their 
 warriors do not exceed sixty, and the whole of their nation is 
 scarcely two hundred. These have degenerated from the 
 hardiness of the Indian character, and are so generally ad- 
 dicted to habits of indolence and intoxication, that they are 
 fast sinking into insignificance. 
 
 The Creeks inhabit a fine country on the southwest, between 
 four and five hundred miles distant from Charlestown, and 
 the number of both the upper and lower nations does not 
 exceed two thousand gun-men. The Chickasaw towns lie 
 about six hundred miles due west from Charlestown ; but the 
 nation cannot send three hundred warriors to the field. The 
 Choctavvs are at least seven hundred miles west and south- 
 west from Charlestown, and have between three and four 
 thousand gun-men. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Military Operations against Pirates. 
 
 The Spaniards and Indians were the first, but not the only 
 enemies of the infant settlement of South Carolina. When the 
 early settlers had made head against both, and raised mer- 
 chantable commodities for exportation, they had litde more 
 than began to ship the same than they were deprived of the 
 fruits of their labors by public robbers on the contiguous 
 ocean. From privateering to piracy the transition is easy. Both 
 rob their fellow men of their property, but with this difference: 
 the first are licensed, but the last are not. The distinction is 
 more in name than reality, for they who give the licenses are sel- 
 dom authorized by the laws of nature or of nature's God to grant 
 them. They who receive them rarely pay regard to the limita- 
 tions under which they are obtained. Property, whether of a 
 friend or a foe, of a countryman or a foreigner, is alike to most 
 of them ; provided,by any artifice, it can be taken with impunity. 
 
 The wars which raged in the close of the 17th and the be- 
 ginning of the 18th century, made lamentable inroads on moral 
 principles. They filled the American seas with privateers and 
 afterwards with pirates. These public robbers were received 
 with too much indulgence in Charlestown. They brought with 
 them abundance of gold and silver, and by aid of these pre- 
 cious metals often found favor and escaped from justice. 
 Proofs of their guilt could not easily be obtained, and the hu- 
 manity of the laws would not suffer them to be punished on 
 suspicion. Some were permitted to go at large without any re- 
 striction ; others to enter into recognizance, with security, for 
 their good behavior till the Governor shall hear whether the pro- 
 prietors would grant them a general indemnity. The proprie- 
 
114 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 tors, wishing to crush them, instructed Governor Ludvvell to 
 change the form of electing juries ; and required that all pirates 
 should be tried by the laws of England, made for the sup- 
 pression of piracy. Before these orders reached Carolina the 
 pirates, by their money and free intercourse with the people, 
 had made so many friends that it was difficult, to bring them 
 to trial, and more so to punish them. The courts of law be- 
 came scenes of altercation and confusion. The gold and 
 silver of pirates enlisted in their behalf the eloquence of the 
 first gentlemen of the bar ; too many of whom held that every 
 advantage, though at the expense of honor, justice, public 
 good, and even of truth, should be taken in favor of their 
 clients. Hence it happened that several of the pirates escaped,* 
 purchased lands, and took up their residence in the colony. 
 The authority of government was too feeble to check the evil, 
 supported as it was by a tide of money flowing into the country, 
 At length the proprietors, to gratify the people, granted an 
 indemnity to all the pirates with the exception of such as had 
 committed depredations on the dominions of the great Mogul. 
 The Carolinians, by the increasing culture of rice and other 
 valuable commodities, became more vulnerable on the ocean, 
 and of course more sensible of the benefits of uninterrupted 
 trade, and of the injury done to mankind by sea robbers. In 
 the last year of the 17th century, the planters had raised more 
 rice than they could find vessels to export. Forty-five persons 
 from different nations. Englishmen, Frenchmen, Portuguese, 
 and Indians, had manned a ship at the Havana, and entered 
 on a cruise of piracy. While they were on the coast of Caro- 
 lina the people felt severely the pernicious effects of that lawless 
 trade which in former times they had indirectly encouraged. 
 Several ships belonging to Charlestown were taken by those 
 public robbers who sent the crews ashore, but kept the vessels 
 as their prizes. At last, having quarrelled among themselves 
 about the division of the spoil, the Englishmen proving the 
 weaker party, were turned adrift in a long boat. They landed 
 at Sewee Bay, and from thence traveled over land to Charles- 
 town, giving out that they had been shipwrecked, but fortti- 
 
 * These frustrations of justice added to the wealth and reputation of the law- 
 yers, whose ingenuity had thrown a shield over guilt; but they inflicted a deep 
 wound on the credit and interests of Carolina. The subjects of his Catholic Ma- 
 jesty who were the greatest sufferers by the pirates, not only complained of the 
 Carolinians for screening: these enemies of the human race, but retaliated by in- 
 stigating the Indians to harrass the English settlers, and by tempting theirnegroes 
 ,h.r.'ni,d ,T'"r'^"'', Sf" '° ®'- Augustine. The Spaniards apologized for 
 !„!.„„.? „,,?^,^"'\"'^"'"' inhabitants of Charlestown countenanced and 
 encouraged the pirates, by permilting them to carry into their port and spend in 
 heir own hat wealth which had been unjustly taken from Span sh sublets m 
 the adjacent gulf and ocean, which was the tlioroughfare between old and ne^ 
 
CONTESTS WITH PIRATES. 115 
 
 nately reached the shore in their boat Three masters of ships 
 happened to be at Charlestown at the time, who had been 
 taken by them, and knew them. Upon their testimony the 
 pirates were instantly taken up, tried and condemned. Seven 
 out of nine suffered death. 
 
 Early in the 18th century, the island of Providence became 
 a receptacle for vagabonds and villains of all nations. From 
 this place of rendezvous a crew of desperate pirates had been 
 accustomed to push out to sea, and in defiance of the laws of 
 nations to obstruct navigation. The trade of Carolinaj and 
 that of the West Indies, suffered greatly from their depreda- 
 tions. From the year 1717 to 1721, we have an account of 
 between thirty and forty vessels which had been taken on that 
 coast. For five years those lawless robbers reigned as the 
 masters of the Gulf of Florida, plundering and taking ships 
 of every nation. North Carolina had also become a refuge for 
 pirates, who carried their prizes into Cape Fear river or Provi- 
 dence, as best suited their convenience. Their success induced 
 bold and rapacious spirits to join them, and in time they be- 
 came so formidable that considerable force was requisite to 
 repress them. 
 
 Merchants and masters of vessels trading to America and 
 the West Indies, having suffered much from the depredations 
 of pirates, complained to the King and Council of the heavy 
 losses the trade of the nation had sustained from public rob- 
 bers who had grown numerous and insolent. Inconsequence 
 of which the King issued a proclamation, promising a pardon 
 to all pirates who should surrender themselves in the space of 
 twelve months, and at the same time ordered to sea a force 
 for suppressing them. As they had made the island of Provi- 
 dence their common place of residence, Captain Woodes 
 Rogers sailed against that island with a few ships of war, and 
 took possession of it for the Crown. Except one Vane, who 
 with about ninety men made their escape in a sloop, all the 
 pirates took the benefit of the King's proclartiation and surren- 
 dered. Captain Rogers having made himself master of the 
 island, formed a Council in it, and appointed officers, civil and 
 military, for the better government of its inhabitants, and so 
 ordered matters that for thefuture the trade of the West Indies 
 was well protected. 
 
 Though the pirates on the island of Providence were crushed, 
 those of North Carolina still remained and were equally trouble- 
 some. Vane, who escaped from Captain Rogers, had taken 
 two ships bound from Charlestown to London. A pirate sloop 
 of ten guns, commanded by Steed Bonnett, and another com- 
 manded by Richard Worley, had taken possession of the 
 mouth of Cape Fear river, which place was now the principal 
 
116 MILITARY HISTOKT. 
 
 refuge of the pirates. Their station there was so convenient for 
 blocking up the harbor of Charlestown that the trade of the 
 colony was greatly obstructed. No soonor had one crew left 
 the coast than another appeared, so that scarcely one ship 
 coming in or going out escaped them. To check their inso- 
 lence, Governor Johnson fitted out a ship of force, gave the 
 command to William Khett, and sent him to sea for the pro- 
 tection of trade. Rhett had scarcely got over the bar when 
 Steed Bounett spied him, and sensible of his inferiority made 
 for his refuge into Cape Fear river. Thither Rhett followed 
 him, took the sloop and brought the commander and about 
 thirty men to Charlestown. Soon after this Governor Johnsoa 
 embarked and sailed in pursuit of the other sloop of six guns, 
 commanded by Richard Worley, which after a desperate en- 
 gagement was also taken. The pirates fought till they were 
 all killed or wounded except Worley and another man, who 
 even then refused to surrender until they were dangerously 
 wounded. The Governor brought these two men, together 
 with their sloop into Charlestown, where they were instantly 
 tried, condemned, and executed, to prevent their dying of their 
 wounds. Steed Bonnett and his crew were also tried, and 
 condemned. With the exception of one man, all, amounting 
 nearly to forty, were hanged, and buried on White Point, be- 
 low high water mark.* 
 
 * Steed Bonnett, who sufiered on this occasion, was said to have been a man of 
 education and properly, and to have possessed the manners and accompHshments 
 of a gentleman. He was addressed by the title of Major. He made his escape 
 from prison in women's clothes, but was retalven. After his condemnation he 
 wrote a letter to Colonel Rhett, which has been preserved, and by the politeness 
 of Judge Bee is in the hands of the author. It was as follows : 
 
 NovEMBEB 27th, nia 
 Sir: — My unhappy fate lays me under a necessity of troubling you with this 
 letter, which I humbly beg you will be pleased to excuse, and with a tenderness 
 of heart compassionate the deplorable circumstances I have been inadvertently 
 led into ; and though I can't presume to have the least expectations of your friend- 
 ship for so miserable a man, yet I hope your good dispositon and kind humanity 
 will move you to become an intercessor with his honor the Governor, that I may 
 be Indulged with a reprieve to stay execution of the severe sentence I have under- 
 gone, till his majesty's pleasure be known concerning me. 
 
 I have the misfortune of suffering, in the opinion of the world for many crimes 
 and injuries done to this government and others in a piratical manner; more than 
 I hope, God the knower of all secrets, will lay to my charge; and must intreat 
 you to consider that I was a prisoner on board Captain Edward Thatch, who, 
 with several of Captain Hornigold's company which he then belonged to, boarded 
 and took my sloop from me at the island of Providence, confining me with him 
 eleven months, in which time I was never concerned in, nor had any benefit or 
 share by his actions, but on the contrary was a very great loser by him ; notwith- 
 standing 'tis unjustly by some believed otherwise and used as an aggravation of 
 ray offences ; however, I can't but confess my crimes and sins have been too 
 many, for which, I thank my gracious God for the blessing, I have the utmost ab- 
 horrence and aversion; and although I am become as it were a monster unto 
 many, yet I intreat your charitable opinion of my great contrition and godly sorrow 
 for the errors of my past life, and am so far from entertaining the least thoughts 
 of being, by any inducement in nature, drawn into the like evil and wicked 
 
CONTESTS WITH PIRATES. 117 
 
 Governor Johnson, formerly a popular man, was now become 
 more so by his bold and successful expedition against the pi- 
 rates. The coast was now happily cleared, and no pirates 
 afterwards ventured to sea in that quarter. These two expe- 
 ditions cost the province upwards of ten thousand pounds 
 sterling, a burden which at this juncture it was ill qualified to 
 support. 
 
 In addition to the wars which have been stated, Carolina, 
 as an appendage to Great Britain, was implicated in all her 
 wars. These occupied forty years of the 106 of its colonial 
 existence. Its trade was so materially injured from frequent 
 captures made by armed vessels of France and Spain, that its 
 staple commodities were greatly reduced in price whenever 
 either of these nations were at war with Great Britain. This 
 unfortunately was the case more than one-third of the whole 
 period between the first settlement of South Carolina, and its 
 becoming an independent State. 
 
 courses, if I had the happiness of a longer life granted me in this world, that I 
 shall always retain in mind, and endeavor to follow those excellent precepts of 
 our holy Savior — to love my neighbor as myself j and do unto all men whatsoever 
 I would they should do unto me, living in perfect holy friendship and charity with 
 all mankind. This I do assure you, sir, is the sincerity of my heart upon the word 
 of a penitent Christian, and my only desire of enjoying such a transient being is, 
 that it may for the future be consecrated to the service of my maker, and by a long 
 and unfeigned repentance I may beseech Almighty God, of his inlinite mercy, to 
 pardon and remit all my sins, and enable me to live a holy religious life, and make 
 satisfaction to all persons whom I have any ways injured. 
 
 I don't doubt but the favor of your friendship and interest in the House of Com- 
 mons may prevail on his honor to indulge me with a reprieve, if you'll be so 
 charitable as to grant it me; which I presume to hope for, not only in tender re- 
 gard of so many men having already suffered, and of my hearty and sincere re- 
 pentance with full purposes of amendment of life ; but in consideration of the 
 securities and promises of favor I received from Colonel Rhett, which together 
 with the joy I conceived of having an opportunity safely to disengage myself" from 
 all such wicked people and inhumane actions, made me the sole instrument of 
 persuading those people to deliver themselves and arms up, which took me near 
 twenty-four hours time and trouble to do after the engagement was over, when I 
 knew what the two sloops were that Colonel Rhettcommanded. By which means 
 I saved the great effusion of blood which mustinfallibly have beenspilt by these rash 
 people, had they received Colonel Rhett's company on board, and blown us all up 
 as they threatened, which I found much difficulty to persuade them from doing. 
 This is what Colonel Rhett and many of his officers on board can testify. 
 
 I must confess the escape I attempted might justly increase and aggravate his 
 honor and the government against me, for which I ask his and their pardon, and 
 should not in the least have offered it, had not nature, as I believe it will in any 
 man under the same circumstances, prompted me to evade, if possible, so horrid 
 a sentence, by endeavoring to get to some private settlement and continue there 
 till ray friends could apply home for his majesty's gracious pardon. 
 
 I am fearful I have been too tedious already; therefore, shall not further trouble 
 you than once more to repeat my earnest entreaty for your charitable favor,and to 
 assure you that it will ever heartily devote me to your service, and oblige me al- 
 ways gratefully to acknowledge myself. 
 
 Sir, your most obliged, and unfortunate humble servant, 
 
 STEED BONNETT. 
 
118 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Settlement of the Back Country. 
 
 Settlements as early as 1736 had partially progressed west- 
 ward, from the sea coast, about eighty or ninety miles.* Be- 
 tween 1750 and 1760 two or three germs of settlement were 
 planted 200 miles from Charlestown by emigrants from Penn- 
 sylvania and Virginia, who had advanced from north to south 
 and in front of the eastern settlers. 
 
 Between the sea-coast settlements, and those to the west- 
 ward, a considerable tract of country was for several years left 
 in the undisturbed possession of the aborigines. These and 
 several other circumstances, sanctioned an early distinction 
 between the upper and lower country of South Carolina. In 
 1750, Colonel Clark emigrated from Virginia and settled on 
 Pacotet river. In the course of six years he was joined by 
 eight or ten families from Pennsylvania, all of whom settled 
 on or near Fair Forest creek, or the three forks of Tyger river. 
 These constituted the whole white population of that part of 
 the province in 175.5. In that year Braddock was defeated; 
 and the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, 
 were exposed to so much danger from the French at Fort 
 Duquesne on the Ohio, and the Indians attached to them, that 
 their inhabitants were strongly inclined to move southwardly. 
 In the same year Governor Glen made a treaty with the 
 
 *" Two classes of people generally advanced in front of the' regular settlers or 
 cultivators of the soil. These were the owners of cowpens, and traders with the 
 Indians. An uncultivated country covered with canes and natural grasses, pos- 
 sessed many advantages for raising stock. These were greatest where the settle- 
 ments were least. Central spots in which cattle might be occasionally rallied, 
 and so far domesticated as to prevent their running wild, were sought for and 
 improved. These were often located in front of the settlements, and were called 
 cowpens. They did not interfere with the pursuits of the natives, and therefore 
 seldom gaveoflence ; though they were sometimes observed with jealousy as'the 
 precursors of settlement. 
 
 Traders advanced without ceremony into the heart of Indian settlements. 
 Speculative men have drawn comparisons between savage and civilized life, 
 highly colored in favor of the former. Thejr theories have been acted upon ever 
 since the discovery of America, by individuals who, turning their backs upon 
 civilized society, have voluntarily chosen a residence among the Indians. Of this 
 description there were several who at an early day had settled among the Indians 
 at a great distance from the white people. Anthony Park, one of the first settlers 
 of the back country, who now lives in Newberry district, traveled in 1758 a few 
 hundred miles among the Indians to the west of the Alleghany mountains. He 
 found several white men, chiefly Scotch or Irish who said that they had lived as 
 traders among the Indians twenty years; a fevf from forty to fifty, and one sixty 
 years. One of these said that he had upwards of seventy children and grand- 
 children in the nation. If these accounts are correct, the oldest of these traders 
 must have taken up his abode among the Indians 400 miles to the west of Charles- 
 town before the close of .the 17th, century when the white population of Carolina 
 scarcely extended twenty miles f'rom the sea coast. 
 
SETTLEMENT Or THE BACK COUNTRY. 119 
 
 Cherokee Indians, by which much of what is now called the 
 upper country was ceded to the King of Great Britain. Both 
 events allured settlers to the western parts of South Carolina. 
 In the year 1756 Patrick Calhoun, with four families of his 
 friends, settled on Long Cane in Abbeville. On his arrival 
 there were only two families of white settlers, one named 
 Gowdy the other Edwards, in that southwestern extremity of 
 the upper country. The progress of settlement which com- 
 menced in or about 1750 was so very slow, for five years, 
 that in the beginning of 1756, the whole number of families 
 scarcely exceeded twenty. In that and the three following 
 years, there was a great influx of inhabitants from the middle 
 provinces. Carolina, though nominally at war, really enjoyed 
 all the blessings of peace, while hostilities raged in the north- 
 ern and middle provinces, and their frontiers were drenched 
 in blood shed by the savage allies of France. The recent set- 
 tlers in the upper country of Carolina, who had fled from In- 
 dian massacres in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, in 
 the three years that followed Braddock's defeat, found that in 
 the year 1759 they were involved in calamities similar to those 
 from which they had escaped. The reduction of Fort Du- 
 quesne in 175S gave the blessings of peace to the middle pro- 
 vinces, but entailed the miseries of war* on South Carolina. 
 The origin of Cherokee hostilities in 1759, has been explained 
 in the last chapter. It is here only necessary to observe that 
 its operations in that, and the two or three following years, 
 stunted the growth of the upper country. Several flourishing 
 settlements were broke up. Some took to Forts, others aban- 
 doned the country, and no new settlers would venture into it. 
 These calamities were done away by the peace of Paris in 
 1763, and from that period the settlements recommenced with 
 increasing vigor. The influx of inhabitants was greater than 
 ever, and the population was advanced Avith gigantic strides. 
 Unalloyed good is not the lot of man. The war was ended, 
 
 *A few facts attested by an eye witness will give some faint idea of the sufler- 
 ings of the frontier settlers. A young man was shot through the body and through 
 the thigh, one of his arms was broke, and he was scalped. A tomahawk was 
 stuck into his head. The muscles of his neck were so far divided that his chin 
 lodged on his breast, and several arrows were shot into his body. In this condi- 
 tion after he had extracted the arrows, he walked twenty miles before he could 
 get any assistance. Another was found wounded in the woods where he had lain 
 nine days without bread or water, incapable of helping or even of moving himself. 
 An attempt was made to move him but he instantly expired. When settlements 
 were attacked by the Indians, some would escape. These would conceal or lose 
 themselves in the woods. In this condition they have been known to wander two 
 or three weeks, living on snakes and such articles of food as the woods afforded. 
 Several who were scalped, and otherwise badly wounded, had the good fortune 
 10 recover; though they received no aid from regular physicians or surgeons. 
 Women and children were oftener the subjects of these barbarities than men, for 
 the latter by resistance for the most part obtained the superior boon of being 
 killed outright. 
 
120 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 but the consequences of it continued. It had tainted the pria- 
 ciples of many of the inhabitants, so as to endanger the peace, 
 and happiness of society. When settlements were brolce up, 
 industry was at an end. The prospects of reaping were so 
 faint, that few had the resolution to sow. Those who took up 
 their residence in Forts had nothing to do. Idleness is the 
 parent of every vice. When they sallied out they found much 
 property left behind by others who had quitted their homes. 
 To make use of such derelict articles did not appear to them 
 in the odious colors of theft. Cattle were killed — horses were 
 sold — household furniture, and plantation tools were taken 
 into possession in violation of private rights. The wrong- 
 doers lived easily at the expense of the absentees, and acquired 
 such vicious habits that when the war was over they despised 
 labor and became pests of society. To steal was easier than 
 to work. The former was carried on extensively, and the 
 latter rarely attempted. Among all kinds of theft none was 
 so easy in execution, so difficult in detection, and at the same 
 time so injurious in its consequences, as horse-stealing. On 
 the labors of that useful animal, the cultivators of the soil 
 depended for raising the provisions necessary for their sup- 
 port. A horse when grazing is as easily caught by a thief, as 
 by his owner ; and will as readily carry the one as the other 
 to a distance where he might be sold or exchanged, to the 
 serious injury of an helpless family. Practices of this kind 
 became common, and were carried on by system and in con- 
 cert with associates living remote from each other. The in- 
 dustrious part of the community were oppressed, and the sup- 
 port of their families endangered. 
 
 These difficulties were increased from an inefficient system 
 of government. If the thieves were caught, they could not be 
 brought to trial nearer than Charlestown. Till the year 1770,' 
 there were no courts of justice held beyond the limits of the 
 capital. The only legal authority in this infancy of the back 
 country was that of justices of the peace, authorized by the 
 Governor, who always resided near the sea coast. With his 
 scanty means of information, to select proper persons for that 
 office was no easy matter. The greatest villians had generally 
 the most money, and often the most friends. Instead of ex- 
 erting their authority to suppress horse-stealing and other 
 crimes, some of these justices were sharers in the profits of 
 this infamous business. Before such it was difficult to pro- 
 cure the commitment of criminals. If the proofs of their guilt 
 were too strong to be evaded, the expense of transporting them 
 to Charlestown was great ; the chances of their escape many. 
 When brought to trial, the non-attendance of witnesses from 
 a distance of two hundred miles, and other circumstances 
 
SETTLEMENT OF THE BACK COUNTRY. 121 
 
 were so improved by lawyers to whom the horse thieves were 
 both able and willing to give large fees, that prosecutions, 
 though for real crimes, seldom terminated in conviction. The 
 inhabitants groaned under these frustrations of justice. De- 
 spairing of redress in a legal channel, they took the law in 
 their~ own hands. In the year 1764 Thomas Woodward, 
 .Joseph Kirkland, Barnaby Pope, and others of the besfand 
 most orderly inhabitants, held a consultation on what was best 
 to be done. They drew up an instrument of writing which 
 they and their associates generally subscribed. In it they 
 bound themselves to make a common cause in immediately 
 pursuing and arresting all horse thieves and other criminals. 
 Such when caught were tried in a summary way by the neigh- 
 bors, and if found guilty, were sentenced to receive a number 
 of stripes on their bare backs, more or less in proportion to their 
 misdeeds. They were then advised to leave the neighborhood 
 and informed that if they returned, their punishment would be 
 doubled. This mode of proceeding was called regulation, and 
 its authors and friends regulators. 
 
 The horse thieves, their associates, and other criminals, 
 who, from causes already mentioned, were numerous, made a 
 counter common cause in supporting themselves against these 
 regulators. Most of the inhabitants favored one or other of 
 these parties. The one justified their proceedings on the score 
 of necessity and substantial, though irregular justice ; the other 
 alleged the rights of British subjects to a legal trial by a court 
 and jury. Though the former meant well, yet justice is of 
 so delicate a nature that form as well as substance must be 
 regarded. It is therefore probable, that in some cases, the pro- 
 ceedings of the regulators may have so far partaken of the 
 infirmities of human nature, as to furnish real grounds of 
 complaint against them. Their adversaries made such high 
 colored representations of their conduct, that the civil author- 
 ity interposed. Lord Charles Greville Montague, Governor of 
 the province, adopted measures for their suppression. With 
 this view he conferred a high commission on a man named 
 Scouil. whose conduct, character and standing in society, had 
 rendered him in the opinion of his neighbors, and especially 
 of the regulators, very unfit for the office. As if the country 
 had been in rebellion, Scouil erected something which was 
 intended to be a royal standard ; and afterwards called upon 
 the regulators to answer for their transgressions of the law. 
 In addition to many other acts of severity, he arrested two of 
 their number and sent them under a guard to Charlestown, 
 where they were imprisoned. The regulators and the Scouilites 
 contending for the superiority, were arranged under their 
 leaders and formed camps in opposition to each other. A 
 
122 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 civil war was on the point of commencing; both were armed 
 and prepared for the last extremity. Each party was ready to 
 return a fire from their adversaries, but both dreaded the 
 odium of beginning hostilities. Instead thereof, a flag was 
 sent from one to the other — a capitulation ensued, in which 
 both agreed to break up their camps, go home and respect- 
 ively petition the Governor for a redress of their grievances. 
 This was done and eventuated in the circuit court law, passed 
 in the year 1769. The establishment of courts of justice at 
 Ninety-Six, now Cambridge, at Orangeburgh, and Camden, 
 removed that necessity which was an apology for the proceed- 
 ings of the regulators. These gloried in having obtained their 
 ends for bringing criminals to justice. Their exertions hence- 
 forward took a different direction ; they applied to law and 
 ceased to regulate. In less than two years they brought thirty- 
 two horse thieves to trial, condemnation and punishment, un- 
 der the authority of the new and adjacent circuit courts. The 
 cause of justice triumphed, and a wholesome exertion of judi- 
 cial authority re-established order. The country enjoyed 
 peace and prosperity for the five following years. At the end 
 of that period new scenes of distress, connected with the revo- 
 lution, opened on the inhabitants. The animosities between 
 these parties continued to rankle in their hearts, but were not 
 called into action till the year 1775. When the revolution 
 commenced, the actors in these late scenes of contention took 
 opposite sides; and the names of Scouilites and regulators 
 were insensibly exchanged for the appellation of tories and 
 whigs, or the friends of the old and new order of things. Many 
 of the former were called Scouilites, and probably had co-op- 
 erated with Scouil in opposing the regulators ; but the name 
 was applied to others as a term of reproach on the alleged 
 similarity of their principles as being both abettors of royal 
 government, in opposition to the struggles of the people for 
 justice and liberty. The tories or Scouilites, for the opposers 
 of revolutionary measures were called by both names, insisted 
 that the King had laid no new burdens or taxes on the people, 
 and that therefore their opposition to royal government was 
 groundless. The act, as it respected Carolina, was true; but 
 the conclusion drawn from it did not follow. No new bur- 
 dens had been laid on the inhabitants of the province, but the 
 most grievous had been laid on Massachusetts, in pursuance 
 of principles which equally applied to Carolina, and struck at 
 the foundation of all her boasted rights. This train of reason- 
 ing was too refined for selfish individuals who had not energy 
 enough to encounter a present evil to obtain a future good. 
 Respectable well-informed persons were sent by the council 
 of safety to explain the nature of the controversy to these mis- 
 
SETTLEMENT OE THE BACK COUNTRY. 123 
 
 judging people, and to induce their co-operation with their 
 fellow-citizens in the common cause of American liberty. 
 Partial success followed their explanations, and a treaty of 
 neutrality was granted to the disaffected. But the old grudge 
 still subsisted, and they continued to thwart the measures of 
 Congress. The friends of the revolution marched an army 
 into their settlements. Opposition was subdued with little or 
 no bloodshed, and a temporary calm succeeded. But many 
 of the disheartened royalists abandoned their plantations, and 
 went either to the province of Florida, or among the Indians. 
 In both cases they were tools in the hands of the British, and 
 ready to co-operate with them against their countrymen who 
 favored revolutionary measures. They lent their aid to a 
 project for attacking the western settlements of South Carolina, 
 at the moment Charlestovvn was to be invaded by a powerful 
 fleet and army. They performed their part. Under the direc- 
 tion of Britain, and in concert with Indians, dressed and 
 painted like them, they began to murder the white settlers 
 nearly on the same day Sullivan's Island was attacked by the 
 British. Measures of discrimination had been proposed 
 among themselves to restrain the Indians from disturbing the 
 tories, but they were unavailing. Both classes of white people 
 fell by a common massacre. The repulse of the British in 
 their attack on fort Moultrie, disconcerted the tories and In- 
 dians, and gave the whigs leisure to chastise them both. This 
 was done with spirit and effect by an army commanded by 
 Colonel Williamson. A calm succeeded for three or four 
 years, but guards were kept on the frontiers and the inhab- 
 itants lived in terror ; for they were apprehensive of a renewed 
 attack. After the fall of Charlestown in 1780, everything was 
 reversed. The British, the tories and Indians, had the upper 
 hand. Robbery, desolation and murder, became common and 
 continued till the revolutionary war was ended. Many were 
 killed — several fled — the country was filled with widows and 
 orphans, and adult male population was sensibly diminished. 
 From the first settlement of the upper country till the peace 
 of 1783, a succession of disasters had stunted its growth. The 
 years 1756, 1757 and 1758, were attended with no uncommon 
 calamity. The same may be said of the years between 1770 
 and 1775, but with these exceptions; the upper country was 
 for nearly twenty years of the first thirty of its existence kept 
 in a constant state of disturbance either by the Indians or 
 tories, and the contentions between regulators and Scouilites. 
 Under all these disadvantages it grew astonishingly. Prior to 
 the revolution it had received such an increase of inhabitants, 
 as essentially contributed to the support of that bold measure ; 
 but since the year 1783, the improvement of that part of the 
 
124 HISTORY OF THE EEVOLUTION. 
 
 State has exceeded all calculation. In the course of the revo- 
 lutionary war the Cherokees, having taken part with the ene- 
 mies of the State, were so completely defeated, that in 1777 
 they ceded to South Carolina all their lands to the eastward 
 of the Unacaye mountains. In the year 1784 a land office 
 was opened for the sale of this land. The price fixed was ten 
 dollars per hundred acres, payable in debts due from the 
 State. This low price, the fertility of the soil, and the health- 
 iness of its climate, allured settlers to this newly acquired 
 mountainous territory in such abundance that its population 
 advanced with unexampled rapidity. The extention of the 
 limits of South Carolina — the increasing population both of 
 its old and new western territory, has within the last twenty- 
 five years elevated the upper country from a low condition to 
 be the most influential portion of the State. The base of 
 South Carolina on the sea coast below the falls of the rivers, 
 when compared with its apex above the falls, is nearly as 
 three to two ; yet its principal strength rests with the smaller 
 section. The latter increases in wealth, population and im- 
 provement of every kind, much more rapidly than the former. 
 What the flat sea-coast has slowly attained to in 138 years, is 
 now within the grasp of the hilly upper country ; though very 
 little more than half a century has passed since the first germs 
 of civilized population were planted in its western woods. 
 
 ClyiL AND MILITARY HISTORY OF THE REYOLUTION 
 
 OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM A BRITISH PROVINCE TO AN INDEPENDENT STATE. 
 
 CHAPTER III.— SECTION I. 
 
 Of Introductory Events and Taking of Jirms. 
 
 In the year 1763, when the peace of Paris had strengthened 
 the British interest in North America by the addition of the 
 contiguous French and Spanish colonies, many thought the 
 English American empire was established on a permanent 
 footing. Subsequent events proved the fallacy of these spec- 
 ulations. Perhaps some may allege that the removal of 
 hostile neighbors inspired the colonists with projects of inde- 
 pendence. This opinion is also unfounded, especially in South 
 Carolina. Happy in her connection with Britain she wished 
 
INTEODUCTOHT EVENTS. 125 
 
 for no change. Between her and the mother country there 
 was no collision of interests, and there never had been any- 
 serious complaints of either against the other. Commerce and 
 manufactures were the favorite pursuits of Great Britain, and 
 agriculture of Carolina. No instance can be produced where 
 the relative connection, between a colony and its parent State, 
 was more likely to last. In none was there a stronger bond 
 of union from a reciprocity of benefits, or a fainter prospect 
 of contention from the interference of their respective pursuits. 
 The colony consumed an immensity of British manufactures, 
 which she could neither make for herself nor purchase else- 
 where on equal terms, and for the payment of which she had 
 ample means in her valuable native commodities. The 
 exchange of one for the other, was a basis of profitable com- 
 merce. Carolina, satisfied with her political condition, did 
 not covet independence. It was forced upon her as the only 
 means of extrication from the grasp of tyranny, exerted to 
 enforce novel claims of the mother country, subversive of 
 liberty and happiness. These claims were brought forward 
 soon after the peace of Paris; and dissipated all the hopes 
 which were fondly indulged, that Great Britain would main- 
 tain a pre-eminent rank in America. At this inauspicious 
 period the scheme of a revenue to be laid by the British Par- 
 liament, and collected in the colonies without the consent of 
 their local legistatures, was introduced. The British min- 
 istry were prompted to this innovation by the immense load 
 of national debt, incurred during the war which in that year* 
 had terminated. They conceived that every part of their do- 
 minions should pay a proportion of the public debt and that 
 the Parliament of Great Britain, as the supreme power, was 
 constitutionally invested with a right to lay taxes on every 
 part of the empire. This doctrine, so plausible in itself, and 
 so conformable to the letter of the British constitution when 
 the whole dominions were represented in one Assembly, was 
 reprobated in the colonies as subversive of their rights and 
 contrary to the spirit of the same government when the 
 empire became so far extended as to have many distinct repre- 
 sentative assemblies. The colonists conceived that the chief 
 excellence of the British constitution consisted in the right 
 of the people to grant or withhold taxes, and in their having 
 a share in the enacting of the laws by which they were to be 
 governed. In the mother country it was asserted to be essen- 
 tial to the unity of the empire, that the British Parliament 
 should have a right of taxation over every part of their 
 extended dominions. In the colonies it was believed that 
 taxation and representation were inseparable, and that they 
 could neither be free nor happy if their property could be 
 
126 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 taken from them without their consent The patriots in the 
 American assemblies insisted that it was essential to liberty 
 and happiness, that the people should be taxed by those only 
 who were chosen by themselves and had a common interest' 
 with them. Mr. Locke's celebrated position " that no man 
 has a right to that which another has a right to take from him," 
 was often quoted as a proof that British taxation virtually an- 
 nihilated American property. 
 
 Every thing in South Carolina contributed to nourish a spirit 
 of liberty and independence. Its settlement was nearly coeval 
 with the revolution in England; and many of its inhabitants 
 had imbibed a large portion of that spirit, which brought one 
 tyrant to the block and expelled another from his dominions. 
 Every inhabitant was, or easily might be a freeholder. Settled 
 on lands of his own, he was both farmer and landlord. Having 
 no superiors to whom he was obliged to look up, and pro- 
 ducing all the necessaries of life from his own grounds, he 
 soon became independent 
 
 The first statute that roused general and united opposition 
 to British taxation was the memorable stamp act, passed in 
 the year 1765. By this it was enacted, that the instruments 
 of writing which are in daily use amongst a commercial peo- 
 ple should be void in law unless they were executed on 
 stamped paper, or parchment, charged with a duty imposed 
 by the British Parliament A less extensive tax might have 
 passed unobserved by the unsuspecting colonists; but the 
 »stamp act was so intimately connected with all public and 
 private business that an united vigorous opposition to it was 
 judged indispensably necessary. To concert an uniform line 
 of conduct to be adopted by the differnt colonies on this trying 
 occasion, a Congress of deputies from each province was re- 
 commended. This first step, towards continental union, was 
 adopted in South Carolina before it had been agreed to by any 
 colony to the southward of New England. The example of 
 this province had a considerable influence in recommending 
 the measures to others who were more tardy in their concur- 
 rence. The colonies on this occasion not only presented 
 petitions, but entered into associations against importing British 
 manufactures till the stamp act should be repealed. On the 
 18th of March 1766, that favorite point was obtained. This 
 concession had the effect of inspiring the Americans with high 
 ideas of the necessity of their trade to Great Britain. The 
 experiment of taxation was renewed in the year 1767, but in 
 a more artful manner. Small duties were imposed on glass, 
 paper, tea, and painter's colors. The colonists again petitioned 
 and associated to import no more British manufactures. In 
 consequence of which, all the duties were taken off excepting 
 
INTRODUCTORY EVENTS. 127 
 
 three pence a pound on tea. Unwilling to contend with the 
 mother country about paper claims, and at the same time 
 determined to pay no taxes hut such as were imposed by their 
 own legislatures, the colonists associated to import no more 
 tea; but relaxed in all their other resolutions, and renewed 
 their commercial intercourse with Great Britain. 
 
 The tax on tea was in a great measure rendered a barren 
 branch of revenue, by the American resolution, of importing 
 none on which the parliamentary duty was charged. In the 
 year 1773 a scheme was adopted by the East India Company, 
 to export large quantities of that commodity, to be sold on their 
 account in the several capitals of the British colonies. This 
 measure tended directly to contravene the American resolu- 
 tions. The colonists reasoned with themselves, that as the 
 duty and the price of the commodity were inseparably blended 
 if the tea was sold, every purchaser would pay a tax imposed 
 by the British parliament as part of the purchase-money. 
 Jealous of the designs of the mother country, and determined 
 never to submit to British taxation, they everywhere entered 
 into combinations to obstruct the sales of the tea sent out by 
 the East India Company. The cargoes sent to South Carolina 
 were stored, the consignees being restrained from exposing it 
 to sale. In other provinces, the landing of it being forbidden, 
 the captains were obliged to return without discharging their 
 cargoes. In Boston, a few men in disguise threw into th-e river 
 all that had been exported to that city by the East India Com- 
 pany. This trespass on private property provoked the British 
 Parliament to take legislative vengeance on that devoted town. 
 An act was immediately passed, by which the port thereof was 
 virtually blocked up by being legally precluded from shipping 
 or landing any goods, wares or merchandize. Other acts di- 
 rected by the same policy speedily followed. One of them 
 was entitled, "An Act for the better regulating the Government 
 of Massachusetts.'' The object of this was essentially to alter 
 the charter of the province. By it the whole executive gov- 
 ernment was taken out of the hands of the people, and the 
 nomination of all officers vested in the King or his Governor. 
 Soon after followed an act in which it was provided that 
 if any person was indicted for murder, or for any other cap- 
 ital offence committed in aiding the magistracy, that the Govt 
 ernor might send the person so indicted to another colony, or 
 to Great Britain, to be tried. These proceedings, no less con- 
 trary to the British constitution than to the chartered rights of 
 the colonies, were considered as the beginning of a new sys- 
 tem of colonial government, by which the provinces were to 
 De reduced to a much greater degree of dependence on the 
 mother country than they had ever experienced. A general 
 
128 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 confederacy to aid the province of Massachusetts in opposing 
 the execution of these unconstitutional acts very soon took 
 place. 
 
 The proceedings of parliament were no sooner known in 
 Boston than the inhabitants were thrown into the greatest 
 consternation. Sundry town meetings were called to deliber- 
 ate on the alarming state of public affairs. At one of them, 
 viz: on May 13, 1774, the following vote was passed: 
 
 " That it is the opinion of this town, that if the other colo- 
 nies come into a joint resolution to stop all importation from 
 Great Britain, and exportation to Great Britain and the West 
 Indies, till the act for blocking up this harbor be repealed, the 
 same will prove the salvation of North America and her liber- 
 ties. On the other hand, if they continue their exports and 
 imports, there is high reason to fear that fraud, power, and the 
 most odious oppression, will rise triumphant over justice, 
 right, social happiness and freedom. And, moreover, that this 
 vote be transmitted by the moderator to all our sister colonies, 
 in the name and behalf of this town.'' 
 
 A copy of this vote was immediately forwarded to the other 
 provinces. Upon its arrival in South Carolina, it was pre- 
 sented to a number of the principal gentlemen in Charlestown. 
 They were of opinion that the principles of policy and self- 
 preservation made it necessary to support the people of Boston; 
 but the mode pointed out was a matter of too much conse- 
 quence to be adopted without the general consent of the peo- 
 ple. It was therefore determined to request a meeting of the 
 inhabitants. That this might be as general as possible, cir- 
 cular letters were sent by express to every parish and district 
 within the province. In consequence of this invitation a very 
 great number, some of whom were from almost every part of 
 South Carolina, met on the 6th of July, 1774, at Charlestown. 
 The proceedings of the parliament against the town of Boston 
 and province of Massachusetts were distinctly related to this 
 convention of the people. On which, without one dissenting 
 voice, they adopted resolutions declaratory of their rights, for 
 supporting the people of Boston by voluntary contribution, and 
 for organizing committees. They also adopted the following 
 appropriate resolutions : " That the late act for shutting up 
 the port of Boston, and the other late acts relative to Boston 
 and the province of Massachusetts, are calculated to deprive 
 many thousand Americans of their rights, properties and 
 privileges, in a most cruel, oppressive and unconstitutional man- 
 ner, are most dangerous precedents ; and though levelled imme- 
 diately at the people of Boston, very manifestly and glaringly 
 show, if the inhabitants of that town are intimidated into a 
 mean submission of said acts, that the like are designed for 
 
INTRODUCTORY EVENTS. 129 
 
 all the colonies; when not even the shadow of liberty to his 
 person, or of security to his property, will be left to any of his 
 majesty's subjects residing on the American continent. 
 
 "Resolved, therefore, That the soundest principles of true 
 policy and self-preservation make it absolutely necessary for 
 the inhabitants of all the colonies in America to assist and 
 support the people of Boston, by all lawful ways in their 
 power, and to leave no justifiable means untried to procure a 
 repeal of those acts immediately relative to them, and also 
 all others affecting the constitutional rights and liberties of 
 America in general. As the best means to effect this desira- 
 ble end, 
 
 "Resolved, That Henry Middleton, John Rutledge, Christo- 
 pher Gadsden, Thomas Lynch and Edward Rudedge, Es- 
 quires, be, and they are hereby, appointed deputies on the 
 part and behalf of this colony, to meet the deputies of the 
 several colonies in North America in general Congress, to 
 consider the act lately passed, and bills depending in Parlia- 
 ment, with regard to the port of Boston and province of Mas- 
 sachusetts, which act and bills, in the precedent and conse- 
 quence, affect the whole continent; also the grievances under 
 which America labors, by reason of the several acts of Parlia- 
 ment that impose taxes or duties for raising a revenue, with 
 full power and authority, in behalf of us and our constituents, 
 to concert, agree to, and effectually to prosecute such legal 
 measures by which we for ourselves, and them, most solemnly 
 engage to abide, as in the opinion of the said deputies, and of 
 the deputies so to be assembled, shall be most likely to obtain 
 a repeal of the said acts, and a redress of these grievances." 
 
 This Convention of the people, and these resolutions, laid 
 the foundation of all the subsequent proceedings, which ulti- 
 mately terminated in a revolution.* The deputies appointed 
 on this occasion, in a little time, sailed for Philadelphia, and 
 were soon joined by others invested with similar powers by 
 the several provinces. 
 
 * Every atom of political power now exercised in and over the people and State 
 of South Carolina, is a ramification derived from what was granted by the last of 
 these resolutions. The people, by virtue of their inherent right to resist the ille- 
 gal oppression of their rulers, delegated full powers to five men of their own 
 choice to take care of their political interests, and promised to abide by what they 
 might resolve upon. Power thus liberally granted was faithfully and judiciously 
 used. The germ of representative government then planted, has grown up to the 
 tree of liberty and happiness, under the shade of which the people of South 
 Carolina enjoy as great a proportion of social blessings as in any country or age 
 has fallen to the lot of man. On this memorable day, the aged declared their wil- 
 lingness to sacrifice the remnant of their days rather than submit to the oppressive 
 acts of Britain. The young, with greater ardor, engaged to resist to the last ex- 
 tremity, and if they should survive all prospect of successful resistance, that they 
 would retire from civilized society and take up their abode with the savages of 
 the wilderness. 
 
 9 
 
130 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 In this manner, by the general consent of the people and 
 the universal alarm for their liberties, a new representative 
 body, with powers to bind all the American provinces, was 
 speedily constituted. The Continental Congress having, on 
 the 26th of October, 1774, finished their deliberations, the 
 South Carolina members returned home, and gave an account 
 of their proceedings, the most important of which were as 
 follows : A state of American claims, particularly of their ex- 
 clusive right to tax themselves and to regulate their internal 
 polity ; a petition to the King, stating their grievances and 
 praying a repeal of thirteen acts of Parliament, which im- 
 posed taxes on them, or interfered in their internal govern- 
 ment, and an association to suspend importations of British 
 goods, and the exportation of American produce, till these 
 grievances were redressed. They also addressed the people of 
 Great Britain and the inhabitants of the colonies. With great 
 energy of language, they justified their proceedings to both, and 
 endeavored to dissuade the former from aiding any attempt 
 on their liberties, and the latter from a tame relinquishment 
 of them. To give efficacy to the measures adopted by the 
 deputies at Philadelphia, it was determined, by the general . 
 committee in Charlestown, to convene a Provincial Congress, 
 by electing representatives from every parish and district in 
 South Carolina, and to submit the proceedings of the Conti- 
 nental Congress to their judgment. As the measures about 
 to be adopted depended entirely on the consent of the people, 
 a very large representation was thought advisable. The Con- 
 stitutional Assembly consisted only of forty-nine members, 
 but this new representative body consisted of 184. The 
 members of the Constitutional Assembly were universally 
 members of the Congress, but with this difference, that in the 
 latter capacity they could neither be prorogued nor dissolved 
 by the royal (lovernor. This first Provincial Congress met on 
 the nth January, 1775, and took under consideration the pro- 
 ceedings of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, in the 
 close of the preceding year. Without one dissenting voice, 
 they gave public thanks to their late deputies to the Conti- 
 nental Congress, approved their proceedings, resolved to carry 
 them into execution, and re-appointed the same delegates to 
 the next Continental Congress. Lest the selfishness of indi- 
 viduals might break through the public resolutions, commit- 
 tees of inspection and observation were appointed, whose 
 business it was to see that they were universally obeyed. 
 This same body also passed an unanimous resolution, that in 
 their opinion no action for any debt should be commenced or 
 proceeded in without the permission of the committee where 
 the defendant resided, and that the committee should give 
 
INTRODUCTORY EVENTS. 131 
 
 permission for bringing suits where the debtors refused to 
 renew their obligations or to give reasonable security, or were 
 justly suspected of intentions to leave the province or to de- 
 fraud their creditors. They also recommended to all the in- 
 habitants to be diligent and attentive in learning the use of 
 arms, and at the same time recommended to them to set apart 
 the 17th day of February, 1775, as a day of fasting, humilia- 
 tion and prayer before Almighty God, devoutly to petition Him 
 " to inspire the King with true wisdom to defend the people of 
 North America in their just title to freedom, and to avert from 
 them the calamities of civil war," and requested the several 
 ministers of the gospel throughout the colony to prepare and 
 deliver suitable discourses on the solemn occasion. 
 
 These recommendations for arming and praying, were car- 
 ried into effect with equal zeal. A military spirit pervaded 
 the whole country, and Charlestown soon had the appearance 
 of a garrison town. Volunteer companies were formed, and 
 almost daily exercised. Children, in imitation of their supe- 
 riors, were often to be seen going through the manual exer- 
 cise with something in the resemblance of a gun. In these 
 times that tried men's souls, the epithets of aristocrat and 
 democrat were never heard. The poor wished for the counte- 
 nance and influence of the rich. The wise and distinguished 
 few sought for the strength of the many. Wealth and wis- 
 dom, nerves and numbers were put in requisition for the 
 public service. Each depended on the other, and all knew 
 that their united vigorous exertions were indispensably neces- 
 sary. Joining foot to foot and hand to hand, they, with one 
 mind, presented the whole body of the people, a solid phalanx, 
 opposing their energies and resources to the introduction of 
 arbitrary power. 
 
 . The first of February, 1775, was the day fixed by the Con- 
 tinental Congress, after which no British goods should be 
 imported. Notwithstanding the solemnity with which the 
 resolutions had been adopted, severa) vessels, loaded with 
 British goods, arrived in the harbor after that period. It was, 
 doubtless, presumed by many that an association so contrary 
 to the immediate interest and convenience of such great 
 numbers, would be either violated or evaded. But, to their 
 great surprise, they found the resolutions so well observed 
 that a single article could not be landed, and that they must 
 either throw overboard or send back their cargoes. 
 
 In this manner, while the form of the old government sub- 
 sisted, a new and independent authority was virtually estab- 
 lished. It was so universally the sense of the people that the 
 public good required a compliance with the resolutions of 
 Congress, that any man who discovered an anxiety about the 
 
132 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 continuance of trade and business was considered a selfish 
 individual, prefering private interest to the good of his coun- 
 try. Under the influence of these principles, the intemperate 
 zeal of the populace transported them frequently so far beyond 
 the limits of moderation as to apply singular punishments to 
 particular persons who contravened the general sense of the 
 community. 
 
 This was the third time that a scheme of non-importation 
 had been adopted. From its success on two former occasions, 
 and an apprehension that the trade of America was necessary 
 to the inhabitants of Great Britain, it was generally hoped 
 the obnoxious acts would soon be repealed. An appeal to 
 arms, independence, and an alliance with France, were events 
 at this period neither intended nor expected. A bloodless 
 self-denying opposition was all that South Carolina designed, 
 and was all the sacrifice which, as she supposed, would be 
 required at her hands. 
 
 During the first three months of the year 1775, hopes were 
 entertained that Great Britain would follow the same line of 
 policy which before had led her to repeal the stamp act. On 
 the 1 9th of April, 1775, a packet from London reached Charles- 
 town, but with intelligence subversive of the pleasing hopes 
 of a speedy accommodation.* On that same day hostilities 
 were commenced at Lexington, in the Massachusetts, by a 
 detachment from the royal army at Boston, against the inhab- 
 itants of that province. A particular account of that bloody 
 scene was soon brought to the general committee in Charles- 
 town. No event during the war seemed so universally to 
 interest the minds of the people. All were struck with the 
 new face of things, and viewed the contest in a much more 
 serious light. From every appearance. Great Britain, instead 
 of redressing American grievances, was determined to dragoon 
 the colonists into submission. The spirit of freedom, beating 
 high in every breast, could not brook the idea; while reason, 
 
 * This was obtained in the following manner. A secret committee had been 
 appointed, who agreed to watch the arrival of the British packet, and to lake pos- 
 session of the mail. When it arrived, it was peremptorily demanded by William 
 Henry Drayton, John Neufville, and Thomas Corbett, the members of that com- 
 mittee. The post-master refused and protested, but these three gentlemen took 
 charge of the mail and carried it o'fTto the general committee. The private letters 
 were returned unopened to the post office, but public dispatches from the British 
 government to the Governors of Virginia, the two Carolinas, Georgia, and East 
 Florida, were opened and read. These furnished abundant evidence of the deter- 
 mination of England to coerce America by a military force. About the same 
 time a letter from Governor Wright, of Georgia, to General Gage, commander of 
 the King's army, then in Boston, was intercepted by the secret committee. It 
 contained a request to General Gage to send a detachment of his majesty's forces 
 to awe the people of Georgia. The secret committee took out this letter and put 
 another in its place, with an imitation of Wright's signature subscribed, in which 
 General Gage was informed "that there was no occasion for sending' any troops 
 to Georgia, as the people, convinced of their error, were come again to order.' 
 
INTRODUCTORY EVENTS. 133 
 
 more temperate in her decisions, suggested to the people their 
 insufficiency to make effectual opposition. They were fully 
 apprised of the power of Britain — they knew that her fleets 
 covered the ocean, and that her flag had waived in triumph 
 through the four quarters of the globe. They knew that they 
 were exposed on their western frontiers to the irruptions of 
 savage tribes, whose common rule of warfare is promiscuous 
 carnage — and they were not ignorant that their slaves might 
 be worked upon, by the insidious offer of freedom, to slay 
 their masters in tlie peaceful hour of domestic security. The 
 province, through its whole extent on the sea coast, which is 
 nearly two hundred miles, was accessible to the fleets and 
 armies of Great Britain. For defence, it possessed but a few 
 fortifications, too inconsiderable for particular notice, and even 
 these were held by the officers of the King. The royal Gov- 
 ernor was Commander-in-Chief of the militia; and all the 
 officers, being of his appointment, held their commissions 
 during his pleasure. The inhabitants were quite defence- 
 less — without arms — without ammunition — without cloth- 
 ing — without ships — without money — without officers skilled 
 in the art of war. The stores of the merchants afforded no 
 supplies, as the importation of arms had been restrained by 
 the resolutions of Congress. That Great Britain would com- 
 mence hostilities, was not imagined — that America should 
 have recourse to arms, was not originally intended. Twelve 
 hundred stand of muskets were in the royal magazine, but 
 they could not be obtained without the commission of an overt 
 act of treason. However, this alarming crisis of public affairs 
 stripped reason of its wonted terrors. All statutes of allegi- 
 ance were considered as repealed on the plains of Lexington, 
 and the laws of self-preservation left to operate in full force. 
 Accordingly, on the night after intelligence of actual hostilities 
 was received, a number of the principal gentlemen in Charles- 
 town concerted a plan to take possession of the arms and 
 accoutrements in the royal arsenal, which they instantly car- 
 ried into execution. They removed them that night from the 
 arsenal, and afterwards distributed them among the men en- 
 listed in the public service. Lieutenant-Governor Bull im- 
 mediately offered a reward of one hundred pounds sterling, 
 to any person who should discover the persons concerned in 
 this business ; but such as had the power had not the inclina- 
 tion, while the few who had the inclination were afraid to 
 incur the risk of informing. 
 
 Hitherto the opposition to Great Britain had been entirely 
 conducted on commercial principles; but as she turned a deaf 
 ear to the petitions and remonstrances of the colonists, and 
 resolved to force their obedience, they now found themselves 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 with no alternative left but a mean submission or a manly 
 and virtuous resistance. Tliough the colonists to the south- 
 ward of Boston w;ere not immediate sufferers, yet they were 
 sensible that a foundatioa was laid for every species of future 
 oppression. The newspapers and other publications, through 
 all the colonies, were filled with arguments and declamations 
 to the following effect: "If a British parliament, in which we 
 are unrepresented, has a right to shut up oiir ports, to tax us 
 at pleasure, to abolish our charters, and to bind us in all cases 
 whatsoever, we are tenants at will, depending on the good 
 humor of our fellow subjects for all our possessions." 
 
 In this new state of matters, the Provincial Congress was 
 immediately summoned by the general committee to meet in 
 twenty-three days at Charlestown. 
 
 So great was the zeal of the inhabitants, and so general the 
 alarm throughout the province, that one hundred and seventy- 
 two members met on the day appointed, and proceeded with 
 such assiduity that they finished a great deal of important 
 business in a short session of twenty-two days. Great were 
 the objects which came before this Assembly. Hitherto the only 
 sacrifices demanded at the shrine of liberty, were a suspension 
 of trade and business; but now the important question was 
 agitated, whether it was better to " live slaves or die free men.'' 
 
 On the second day of their meeting it was unanimously 
 resolved that an association was necessary. The following 
 one was drawn up and signed by their President, Henry Lau- 
 rens, and all the members present; and afterwards very gen- 
 erally by the inhabitants. It was also offered to Lieutenant 
 Governor William Bull, who was a native of the province, 
 and had a large estate in it ; but he refused to add his name. 
 
 "Tlie actual commencement of hostilities against this con- 
 tinent by the British troops, in the bloody scene on the 19th 
 of April last, near Boston — the increase of arbitrary imposi- 
 tions from a wicked and despotic ministry — and the dread of 
 insurrections in the colonies, are causes sufficient to drive an 
 oppressed people to the use of arms. We, therefore, the sub- 
 scribers, inhabitants of South Carolina, holding ourselves 
 bound by that most sacred of all obligations — the duty of good 
 citizens towards an injured country, and thoroughly convinced 
 that, under our present distressed circumstances, we shall be 
 justified before God and man, in resisting force by force — do 
 unite ourselves under every tie of religion and honor, and as- 
 sociate as a band in her defence against every foe — hereby 
 solemnly engaging that, whenever our continental or provin- 
 cial councils shall decree it necessary, we will go forth and be 
 ready to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to secure her freedom 
 and safety. This obligation to continue in full force until a 
 
INTRODtJCTORr EVENTS. 135 
 
 reconciliation shall take place between Great Britain and Amer- 
 ica, upon constitutional principles — an event which we most 
 ardently desire. And we will hold all those persons inimical 
 to the liberty of the colonies who shall refuse to subscribe this 
 association." 
 
 Within three days after, it was resolved to raise two regi- 
 ments of foot and a regiment of rangers, and to put the town 
 and province in a respectable posture of defence. These 
 resolutions were deliberately agreed to, after counting the cost. 
 The language of the times was, «we will freely give up half, 
 or even the whole of our estates, for the security of our liber- 
 ties." To defray these expenses, bills of credit were struck, 
 which, without being a tender in law, and though founded on 
 nothing but the consent and enthusiasm of the people, re- 
 tained their credit undiminished for eighteen months, and 
 answered every purpose of a circulating medium. 
 
 So great was the military ardor among the gentlemen of the 
 province, that the candidates for commissions in the proposed 
 regiments were four times as numerous as could be employed ; 
 and in their number were many of the first families and for- 
 tune. In making a selection among the numerous candidates 
 that offered, care was taken to choose men of influence, de- 
 cision and spirit, residing in different parts of the province, so 
 as to unite all its energies in the common cause. Four or five 
 had the recommendation of having served in the war of 1756, 
 but the other candidates were preferred solely on the ground 
 of their possessing the natural qualifications requisite for mak- 
 ing good officers, in addition to their holding an influential 
 rank among their fellow citizens. 
 
 In this manner, in a few weeks after the Lexington battle, 
 the popular leaders became possessed of an army and treasury 
 at their command. The militia officers also, having resigned 
 their commissions under the royal Governor, were, by their 
 own consent, subjected to the orders of the Provincial Con- 
 gress. The following gentlemen were chosen a council of 
 safety: Henry Laurens, Charles Pinckney, Rawlins Lowndes, 
 Thomas Ferguson, Miles Brewton, Arthur Middleton, Thomas 
 Heywood, Junior, Thomas Bee, John Huger, James Parsons, 
 William Henry Drayton, Benjamin Elliott, and William Wil- 
 liamson. To this council the Provincial Congress delegated 
 authority to certify commissions,* to suspend officers, and to 
 order courts-martial for their trial; to have the direction, regu- 
 
 *This phraseology was used as a defence against the charge of treason and 
 rebellion. They did not grant commissions, but barely certified that such had 
 been granted by the Provincial Congress. At this period they, and other popular 
 leaders, considered themselves as acting vifith ropes about their necks ; and well 
 knew that want of success would make that a rebellion, which otherwise might 
 be a revolution. They all knew the consequences of the battle at CuUoden. 
 
136 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 lation, maintenance and ordering of the army, and of all mili- 
 tary establishments and arrangements; and to draw on the 
 treasury for the demands of the public service. 
 
 During the sitting of this Congress, which had in so many 
 instances invaded the royal prerogative, Lord William Camp- 
 bell, Governor of the province, arrived, and was received with 
 all the demonstrations of joy usual on similar occasions. The 
 Provincial Congress waited on him with an address, in which 
 they observed: "We declare that no love of innovation, no 
 desire of altering the constitution of government, no lust of 
 independence, has had the least influence upon our counsels; 
 but, alarmed and roused by a long succession of arbitrary pro- 
 ceedings by wicked administrations, impressed with the great- 
 est apprehension of instigated insurrections, and deeply af- 
 fected by the commencement of hostilities by tlie British 
 troops against this continent, solely for the preservation and in 
 defence of our lives, liberties and properties, we have been 
 impelled to associate and to take up arms. 
 
 "We only desire the secure enjoyment of our invaluable 
 rights, and we wish for nothing more ardently than a speedy 
 reconciliation with our rhother country, upon constitutional 
 principles. 
 
 "Conscious of the justice of our cause and the integrity of 
 our views, we readily profess our loyal attachment to our sov- 
 ereign, his crown and dignity; and, trusting the event to Pro- 
 vidence, we prefer death to slavery. 
 
 "These things we have thought it our duty to declare, that 
 your excellency, and through you our august sovereign, our 
 fellow subjects, and the whole world may clearly understand 
 that our taking up arms is the result of dire necessity, and in 
 compliance with the first law of nature. 
 
 "We intreat and trust that your excellency will make such 
 a representation of the state of this colony, and of our true 
 motives, as to assure his majesty, that in the midst of all our 
 complicated distresses, he has no subjects in his wide extended 
 dominion who inore sincerely desire to testify their loyalty 
 and affection, or who would be more willing to devote their 
 lives and fortune in his real service." 
 
 To this address Lord William Campbell answered, that he 
 knew of no representatives of the people of this province, 
 except those constitutionally convened in the General Assem- 
 bly; and was incompetent to judge of the disputes which at 
 present unhappily subsisted between Great Britain and the 
 American colonies; and that no representation should ever 
 be made by him but what was strictly consistent with truth 
 and with an earnest endeavor to promote the real happiness 
 and prosperity of the province. 
 
INTRODUCTORY EVENTS. 137 
 
 Opposition having been carried much further by this Con- 
 gress than was originally intended at the time of their election, 
 they resolved to give the people a fresh opportunity to express 
 their unbiassed judgment on the state of public affairs. They 
 therefore detarmined that their own existence as a body should 
 expire on the 6th of August following, and that a new election 
 should be held on the two succeeding days for a new Provin- 
 cial Congress. On the 22d of June, 1775, they adjourned, 
 having first delegated a great part of their authority to the 
 council of safety and the general committee; the former of 
 which was in the nature of an executive, and the latter of a 
 legislative authority. It was particularly recommended to the 
 general committee to take effectual methods to have the asso- 
 ciation signed throughout the province, and to demand from 
 the non-subscribers the reasons of their refusal. Excepting in 
 that part of the country included between the Broad and Saluda 
 rivers, the non-subscribers were comparatively few. In Charles- 
 town, where the general committee sat, their number amounted 
 to about forty. The greatest part of these were officers, living 
 on salaries paid by his Britannic Majesty. They, and others 
 in the same predicament, were advertised as inimical to the 
 liberties of America, and all intercourse between them and the 
 associators was interdicted. An oath of neutrality was required 
 of all, to which some agreed. Those who refused were dis- 
 armed; and a few, who would not enter into any engagements 
 for the public security, were confined to their houses and plan- 
 tations. 
 
 The people having concurred with the views of Congress 
 in a military opposition, various plans were suggested for the 
 defence of the province. Some thought it necessary to ob- 
 struct the bar, by sinking vessels so as to exclude the approach 
 of ships-of-war. Others proposed abandoning the town, and 
 making their stand in the country. Many measurements 
 were made and much expense incurred, to accomplish the 
 first, but it was at last abandoned as impracticable. Never- 
 theless, a spirited resolution was adopted to defend the town 
 to the last extremity. 
 
 At the time these military preparations were making, the 
 whole quantity of powder in the province did not exceed 
 three thousand pounds. The people not originally designing 
 a military opposition, no care was taken to provide stores; but 
 now, reduced to the alternative of fighting or submitting, ex- 
 traordinary methods were taken to obtain a supply. 
 
 Twelve persons, authorized by the council of safety, sailed 
 from Charlestown, and by surprise boarded a vessel near the 
 bar of St. Augustine, though twelve British grenadiers were 
 on board, they took out fifteen thousand pounds of powder, 
 
138 HISTOKT or THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 for which they gave a bill of exchange to the captain, and 
 having secured a safe retreat to themselves by spiking the 
 guns of the powder vessel, set sail for Carolina. Apprehend- 
 ing that they should be pursued, they steered for IJeaufort, 
 From that place they came by the inland navigation, and 
 delivered their prize to the council of safety, whilst their pur- 
 suers were looking for them at the bar of Charlestown. This 
 seasonable supply enabled the people of South Carolina to 
 oblige their suffering brethren in Massachusetts; who, though 
 immediately exposed to the British army, were in a great 
 measure destitute of that necessary article of defence. Though 
 the popular leaders had determined on a military opposition, yet 
 fort Johnson, on James island, which commanded the harbor 
 of Charlestown, continued in possession of the King's servants 
 for more than three months after these resolutions were 
 adopted. The Tamar sloop-of-war, and Cherokee armed 
 vessel of eignteen guns, belonging to his Britannic majesty, 
 lay in Rebellion road, opposite to Sullivan's Island; but the 
 royal officers, either from an apprehension that indiscriminate 
 violence could not to be justified, or from a contempt of the 
 popular party, attempted nothing vigorous or decisive. 
 
 About the middle of September, 1775, the general committee 
 became possessed of intelligence, obtained by artifice, directly 
 from Lord William Campbell, "that troops would soon be 
 sent out to all the colonies." On the next evening it was 
 resolved, "that proper measures ought to be immediately taken 
 to prevent fort Johnson being made use of to the prejudice of 
 the colony.'' Colonel Motte, with a party of the new raised 
 provincials, was appointed to execute this first military enter- 
 prise under the authority of the council of safety. Before he 
 landed on the Island the fort was dismantled, the guns dis- 
 mounted, and the people belonging to it retired on board the 
 Cherokee and Tamar. On the following night Captain Hey- 
 ward, with thirty-five of the Charlestown artillery, landed at 
 the fort; and notwithstanding an incessant rain, they had 
 three guns ready for action before the dawning of day. The 
 officers of the men-of-war, then in the harbor, discovered a 
 strong inclination to fire upon the fort; but, for prudent rea- 
 sons desisted from the attempt. 
 
 The popular leaders issued orders forbidding the King's 
 victuallers to supply the men-of-war with provisions and water, 
 otherwise than from day to day. After sundry letters and 
 messages had passed on this subject. Captain Thornborough, 
 of the sloop Tamar, gave public notice, "that if his majesty's 
 agents in Charlestown were not permitted regularly, and with- 
 out molestation, to supply the King's ships Tamar and Chero- 
 kee, with such provisions as he thought necessary to demand, 
 
INTRODUCTORY EVENTS. 139 
 
 he would not from that day, so far as it was in his power, 
 suffer any vessel to enter the harbor of Charlestown, or depart 
 from it." 
 
 The new Provincial Congress met, agreeably to their origi- 
 nal appointment, on the 1st of November 1775. On that day. 
 Captain Thornborough sent his menacing letter to the chair- 
 man of the general committee. This Congress had been 
 chosen subsequent to the late resolution for raising troops, and 
 resisting Great Britain. The royal servants presumed that 
 the people at large would not justify these invasions of their 
 master's prerogative ; and, as they had lately had an oppor- 
 tunity given by a general and free election to express their 
 real opinions on the state of the province, that the new Con- 
 gress would reverse the determinations of the former. To the 
 great surprise of the King's officers the new Provincial Con- 
 gress, instead of receding from the resolutions of their prede- 
 cessors, took methods to ward off the injuries that might arise 
 from the execution of the menaces of Captain Thornborough. 
 They sent out two armed pilot boats with orders to cruise near 
 the bar, and to caution all vessels destined for Charlestown to 
 steer for some other port. 
 
 The late Congress in June had agreed to arm the colony; 
 but many still shuddered at the idea of hostile operations 
 against their former friends and fellow-subjects. It was at 
 length, after much debating, resolved by the new Congress, 
 on the 9th of November 1775, to direct the American officer 
 commanding at fort Johnson, " by every military operation to 
 endeavor to oppose the passage of any British naval arma- 
 ment that might attempt to pass." Though the fort had been 
 in the possession of the council of safety for near two months, 
 yet a variety of motives restrained them from issuing orders 
 to fire on the King's ships. When this resolution was adopted, 
 they communicated it to Captain Thornborough, commander 
 of the Tamar sloop-of-war. 
 
 An open passage to the town, without approaching fort 
 Johnson, was still practicable for the small royal armed ves- 
 sels Tamar and Cherokee. It was therefore, at the same time, 
 resolved to obstruct the passage through Hog Island channel. 
 Captain Tufts was ordered to cover and protect the sinking of 
 a number of hulks in that narrow strait. While he was en- 
 gaged in this business on board a coasting schooner, which 
 was armed for the security of the town and called the Defence, 
 . the Tamar and Cherokee warped in the night of November 
 12, 1775, within gun-shot of him and began a heavy cannon- 
 ade. The inhabitants were alarmed, expecting that the town, 
 in its defenceless state, would be fired upon ; but about sun- 
 rise both vessels dropped down to their moorings in Rebellion 
 
140 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 road, without having done any material injury either to the 
 schooner or to any of her crew. The schooner Defence re- 
 turned a few shot, but they were equally ineffectual. This 
 was the commencement of hostilities in South Carolina. 
 
 On the evening of the same day, on which this attack was 
 made, the Provincial Congress impressed for the public service 
 the ship Prosper ; and appointed a committee to fit and arm 
 her as a frigate-of-war. On the day following they voted that 
 a regiment of artillery should be raised, to consist of three 
 companies with one hundred men in each. A. vote was taken 
 about the same time for a new council of safety. Ten of the 
 former thirteen were re-elected, and Henry Middleton, David 
 Oliphant, and Thomas Savage, added in the room of three 
 others. Their powers were enlarged so far as to authorize 
 them "to do all such matters and things relative to the 
 strengthening, securing, and defending the colony as should 
 by them be judged expedient and necessary." 
 
 Agreeably to the menaces of Captain Thornborough, the 
 King's ships in the road seized all the vessels within their 
 reach which were either coming to CharJestown or going from 
 it. These seizures commenced several weeks prior to the act 
 of parliament for confiscating American property. 
 
 After these unauthorized seizures of private property had 
 been continued about six weeks, the council of safety took 
 measures to drive the royal armed vessels out of the road of 
 Charlestown.* Colonel Moultrie, with a party, took posses- 
 sion of Haddreli's point and mounted a few pieces of heavy 
 artillery on some, slight works. A few well directed shot from 
 this post induced the Commanders of the Cherokee and Tamar 
 to put out to sea. The harbor and road being clear, the 
 council of safety proceeded in their plans of defence. They 
 completed the fortifications at Haddreli's point, and at fort 
 Johnson — continued a chain of fortifications in front of the 
 town, both to the eastward and southward — and erected a new 
 fort on James Island t6 the westward of fort Johnson, and a 
 very strong one on Sullivan's Island. The militia were dili- 
 gently trained; the provincial troops were disciplined, and 
 every preparation made to defend the colony. 
 
 In addition to the four regiments ordered to be raised in the 
 year 1775, two regiments of riflemen were voted in February 
 1776. 
 
 «An opinion generally prevailed that these small royal armed vessels could at 
 any time destroy Charlestown by firing into it. As often as they bent their sails, 
 an alarm was communicated that they were about to commence a bombardment. 
 The inhabitants were for several months kept in daily painful expectation of 
 such an event. 
 
EXTINCTION OF ROTAI. AUTHORITY. 141 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Of the Extinction of Royal Authority , and of the Royalists. 
 
 The legal representatives met twice in the Constitutional 
 Assembly after the general meeting of the inhabitants on July 
 6, 1774. In their iirst session, after that event, it was pri- 
 vately determined to give the sanction of their branch of the 
 legislature to the resolutions adopted by the inhabitants at 
 their late convention, though they were well aware that any 
 vote for that purpose would induce the royal Governor to 
 exert his prerogative for their dissolution. After finishing the 
 necessary public business, thespeaker of the house summoned 
 a meeting of the members at a very early hour. A motion, 
 previously prepared, was read and agreed to without any debate ; 
 which gave the sanction of the Assembly to the resolutions 
 adopted by the people at their late general meeting in July. 
 The same words were used by the people in their general 
 meeting, and by the legal representative in the constitutional 
 Assembly ; and the same persons were members of both bodies. 
 Lieutenant-Governor Bull endeavored to dissolve them while 
 they were ratifying this resolution, but the business was com- 
 pleted before a council could be convened. 
 
 His majesty's justices made their last circuit in the spring 
 of 1775. On this occasion William Henry Drayton, one of 
 the assistant judges, and the only one who was born in Amer- 
 ica, in his charge to the grand jury inculcated the same senti- 
 ments which were patronized by the popular leaders. Soon after, 
 he was elected President of ther Povincial Congress, and de- 
 voted his great abihties with uncommon zeal to the support 
 of the measures adopted by his native country. Before the 
 next circuit, his colleagues having refused to sign the associa- 
 tion, were disarmed and advertised as inimical to the liberties 
 of America. Not long after, he was appointed Chief Justice 
 by the voice of his country. 
 
 Throughout the year 1775, and the first months of the year 
 1776, the popular assemblies by words avowed their allegiance 
 to the King of Great Britain. Even while they were arming 
 themselves they endeavored to reconcile this conduct with 
 their allegiance, alleging it was only in self-defence against 
 ministerial tyranny and not for purposes hostile to the King of 
 Great Britain. After the Provincial Congress had raised reg- 
 ular troops Lord William Campbell gave commissions to the 
 officers of volunteer companies of militia, which were formed 
 and trained on the recommendation of the popular leaders. 
 His Lordship also convened an assembly, and transacted 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 public business with officers in the new provincial regiments 
 who were also members of the Constitutional Legislature; but 
 he dissolved them on the 15th of September 1775, and never 
 afterwards issued writs for a new election. For three months 
 after his arrival he was unmolested, though indefatigable in 
 secretly fomenting opposition to the popular measures. About 
 the middle of September Captain Adam M'Donald had the 
 address to get himself introduced to his lordship under the 
 feigned name of Dick Williams, a supposed confidential mes- 
 senger from the back country royalists to the Governor. In 
 this assumed character he was informed that his lordship 
 had on the day before, received a letter from the King of Great 
 Britain; setting forth, "that his majesty was determined 
 speedily to send out troops to execute his schemes from one 
 end of the continent to the other." With a view of encour- 
 aging the royalists, the Governor gave an exaggerated account 
 of the power of Britain and of her fixed resolution to compel 
 the submission of America. He interspersed his discourse 
 with the severest reflections on the new-fangled Congresses 
 and committees. This conversation being speedily reported 
 to the general committee they sent a deputation from their 
 body, of which Captain M'Donald was one, to demand a com- 
 miinication of his lordship's late dispatches from England 
 and a perusal of his correspondence with the back country. 
 All these requisitions being peremptorily refused, it was moved 
 in the committee to take the Governor into immediate custody; 
 but the proposition was rejected by a considerable majority. 
 His lordship, mortified at the deception which had been 
 passed upon him and distrustful of his personal safety in 
 Charlestown, took the province seal with him, and retired ou 
 board the Tamar sloop-of-war. In about a fortnight after, the 
 general committee sent a deputation from their body with an 
 address, inviting his return to Charlestown; in which they 
 assured him, that while, agreeably to his own repeated decla- 
 rations, he should take no active part against the good people 
 of the colony, in the present arduous struggle for the preser- 
 vation of their liberties, they should, to the utmost of their 
 power, secure to his excellency that safety and respect for his 
 person and character which the inhabitants of Carolina had 
 ever wished to show to the representative of their sovereign, 
 But his Lordship thought it most prudent to continue on board. 
 Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers were insensibly 
 transferred from their usual channels to a Provincial Congress, 
 council of safety, and subordinate committees. The inhabi- 
 tants, generally alarmed for their liberties, took sundry steps 
 for their preservation. From their own impulse they met and 
 chose their representatives in committees and Congresses. 
 
EXTINCTION or ROTAL AUTHORITY. 143 
 
 The power of these bodies was undefined; but by common 
 consent it was comprised in the old Roman maxim : "To take 
 care that the commonwealth should receive no damage." 
 The ardor of the people, and their jealousy of the designs of 
 Great Britain, gave the force of laws to their determinations. 
 The voice of an approving country gave efficacy to the pro- 
 ceedings of the committees. They supported the Provincial 
 Congress; which, in its turn, gave an active energy to the 
 resolutions of the Continental Congress. 
 
 In this manner, without annihilating the forms of the an- 
 cient regal constitution, a new government was in a short time 
 introduced by the general consent of the people. 
 
 Though this new establishment was efl"ected by the voice 
 of a great majority — great in number, and in weight and in 
 influence greater still; yet, it was not wholly without oppo- 
 sition. Among the inhabitants of the back country, which 
 had not been settled more than twenty years, many were 
 uninformed or misinformed. In some neighborhoods their 
 aff'ections were enstranged from each other by local hostilities 
 and party divisions; which, a few years before, had been 
 urged to the extremes of reciprocal hatred and violence, as 
 has been related. 
 
 There were also among them a considerable number who 
 had settled on lands granted by the bounty of government. 
 These hadbrought from Europe the monarchical ideas of their 
 holding their possessions at the King's pleasure. They were 
 therefore easily made to believe, that the immediate loss of 
 their freeholds would be the probable consequence of their 
 acceding to the American measures. 
 
 Among a people who had so many reasons to love and fear 
 their King, and who were happy under his government, it was 
 no difficult matterfor Lord William Campbell to gain votaries 
 to support the royal interest. 
 
 His Lordship was unremitting in his endeavors to persuade 
 these uninformed back settlers, that the power of Britain could 
 never be effectually resisted by the feeble American colonies : 
 that the whole dispute was about a trifling tax on tea, which, 
 as they were not in the general habit of using, could not to 
 them be interesting. It was frequently insinuated that the 
 gentlemen on the sea coast, in order to obtain their tea free 
 from tax, were adopting measures which would involve the 
 back country in the want of salt and imported necessaries; 
 and that the expenses of the new raised regiments would be 
 infinitely more than the trifling taxes imposed by the British 
 Parliament. 
 
 The people generally felt themselves secure in their persons 
 and property. It was therefore easy to ofler arguments against 
 
144 HISTORY or 
 
 renouncing present comforts, to ward off future evils. The 
 popular leaders could not urge the inhabitants to the dangers 
 and expenses of war, otherwise than on speculation to prevent 
 the more alarming consequences which would probably take 
 place at a future time, if the proceedings of the British Par- 
 liament, against Boston and the province of Massachusetts, 
 were suffered to pass into precedent. Distant evils weigh so 
 little in the estimation of the multitude, that great scope was 
 given to those who wished to head a party for submitting to 
 the demands of Great Britain. 
 
 Though there were some royalists in every part of the 
 province the only settlement in which they out-numbered the 
 friends of Congress, was in the fork between Broad and Sa- 
 luda rivers. When it was determined to raise troops, the 
 inhabitants of that part of the province could not be persuaded 
 that the measure was necessary. Feeling themselves happy 
 and free from present oppression they were averse from be- 
 lieving that any designs, inimical to American liberty, had 
 been adopted by the British government. Instead of signing 
 the association, they signed papers, at their general musters, de- 
 claring their unwillingness to concur in the measures recom- 
 mended by Congress. The council of safety sent William 
 Henry Drayton, and William Tennent, into their settlement, 
 to explain to them the nature of the dispute and to bring 
 them over to a co-operation with the other inhabitants. They 
 had several public meetings, and much eloquence was exerted 
 to induce them to sign the association. Some were convinced 
 and subscribed that bond of union; but the greater number 
 could not be persuaded that there was any necessity for Con- 
 gresses, committees, or a military establishment. Suspicion 
 began to exert her mischievous influence. The friends of the 
 old government doubted the authenticity of all pamphlets, and 
 newspapers, which ascribed to the British troops in Boston, or 
 to the British government, any designs injurious to the rights 
 of the colonists. They believed the whole to be an imposi- 
 tion. The friends of Congress suspected the leading men of 
 the royalists to be in the pay of Governor Campbell. Re- 
 ports were circulated by one party, that a plan was laid to 
 seize the commissioners sent by the council of safety; by the 
 other, that the third provincial regiment was brought up to 
 compel the inhabitants to sign the association. Motives and 
 designs were reciprocally attribued to each other of the most 
 ungenerous nature and mischievous tendency. The royalists 
 embodied for reasons similar to those which had induced the 
 other inhabitants to arm themselves against Great Britain, 
 They suspected their adversaries of an intention to dragoon 
 them into a compliance with the measures of Congress; and 
 
EXTINCTION OF ROYAL AUTHORITY. 145 
 
 they, in their turn, were suspected of a design to commence 
 hostilities against the associators for disturbing the estabUshed 
 royal government. Camps were formed in opposition to each 
 other, and great pains were taken to increase their respective 
 numbers. Moderate men employed their good offices to prevent 
 bloodshed. After some days, the leaders on both sides met 
 in conference. Several explications having taken place a 
 treaty was reciprocally agreed to ; by which it was stipulated 
 that the royalists should remain in a state of neutrality. Both 
 parties retired to their homes, and a temporary calm succeeded, 
 Mr. Robert Cunningham, who had been a principal leader 
 amon,g the royalists, continued to encourage opposition to the 
 popular measures; and declared that he did not consider 
 himself as bound tiy the treaty. This declaration was con- 
 strued as an evidence of a fixed intention to disturb the peace 
 by another insurrection. To prevent anything of that kind 
 he was apprehended, brought to town, and committed to goal. 
 Patrick Cunningham instantly armed a party of his friends, 
 and pursued with the expectation of rescuing his brother. 
 The party collected on this occasion seized a thousand pounds 
 of power, which was at that juncture passing through their 
 settlement. This was public property, and had been sent by 
 the council of safety as a present to the Cherokee Indians. 
 To inflame the minds of the people, some designing men 
 among the royalists propagated a report that the powder was 
 sent to the Indians accompanied with instructions to kill 
 every man who should refuse to sign the association. This 
 charge, entirely false in itself, was not believed by any of the 
 well-informed inhabitants ; nevertheless it answered the pur- 
 poses of party among some of the ignorant multitude. Great 
 pains were also taken to exasperate the inhabitants against 
 the council of safety, for furnishing the Indians with powder 
 at a time when the white people could not be supplied with 
 that necessary article. 
 
 Major Williamson, who commanded the militia in favor of 
 Congress, went in quest of the party which had taken the pub- 
 lic powder, but was soon obliged to retreat before their superior 
 numbers. The royalists, irritated by the capture of Cunning- 
 ham, and flushed with success in seizing the powder, were at 
 this time more numerous than at any other period. Major 
 Williamson was reduced to the necessity of retreating into a 
 stockade fort, in which he and his paity were confined without 
 any water, till after three days by digging they obtained a 
 scanty supply. The royahsts possessed themselves of the gaol 
 of Ninety-Six, and from that station fired into the fort, but 
 very little execution was done. After some days the assailants 
 hoisted a flag, and proposed a truce. Reciprocal permission 
 10 
 
146 HISTORT OF THE HEVOJ.U 1 luii. 
 
 was given to forward expresses from the royalists to the Gov- 
 ernor, and from Major Williamson to the council of safety. 
 Both parties once more dispersed, and retired to their homes. 
 
 Domestic division at this time was particularly to be dreaded. 
 An invasion from Great Britain was soon expected.- A British 
 fleet and army in front, and disaffected inhabitants in rear, 
 threatened destruction to the friends of Congress. Lord Wil- 
 liam Campbell had uniformly recommended to the royalists to 
 remain quiet till the arrival of a British force. This advice, 
 so well calculated to distract the views of the popular leaders, 
 had been providentially frustrated. Similar reasons of policy 
 to those which induced the royal Governor to recommend 
 inaction to the royalists, operated with the council of safety 
 to crush their intestine foes before that force should arrive. It 
 was therefore judged necessary, for the public safety, to march 
 an army into their settlements before that event should take 
 place. To remove prejudices, a declaration was circulated 
 throughout their settlements stating the views and designs of 
 Congress — the necessity of the measures they had adopted,and 
 the wisdom and policy of co-operating with them in defence of 
 their common country. 
 
 The Provincial Congress enforced their measures with an 
 army sufficiently numerous to intimidate opposition. They 
 sent a large body of militia and new raised regulars, under the 
 command of Colonels Richardson and Thomson. They were 
 also joined by nine hundred men from North Carolina. In a 
 little time Congress had an army of two or three thousand men 
 under their direction, with instructions "to apprehend the 
 leaders of the party which had seized the powder, and to do 
 all other things necessary to suppress the present and prevent 
 future insurrections." Colonel Richardson proceeded in the 
 execution of these orders with great moderation and propriety. 
 A demand was made that the persons who had seized the 
 powder should be delivered up to the justice of their country. 
 Assurances were publicly given that no injury should be done 
 to inoffensive persons, who would remain quietly on their 
 plantations. The leaders of the royalists found great diffi- 
 culty in persuading their followers to embody. They were cut 
 off from all communication with Governor Campbell. Un- 
 connected with their brethren, in other parts, there was no 
 union in their measures. They were ' a rope of sand' with- 
 out order and subordination, and without that enthusiasm 
 which inspired the friends of Congress. Their leaders were 
 destitute of political knowledge and without military expe- 
 rience. The unanimity of the whigs, and the great numbers 
 which, from all sides, invaded the settlements of the royalists, 
 disheartened them from facing their adversaries in the field of 
 
EXTINCTION OF ROYAL AUTHORITY. 147 
 
 battle. They saw resistance to be vain, and that the new 
 government had much greater energy than they had supposed. 
 The whigs acted by system, and in concert with their brethren 
 in the adjacent States, and were directed by a council of safety 
 composed of the wisest men in the province. They easily 
 carried every point — seized the leaders of the royalists, and 
 dispersed their followers. This decided superiority gave confi- 
 dence to the popular leaders, and greatly strengthened their 
 hands. The vanquished royalists retired to their plantations ; 
 but on all occasions discovered as much obstinacy in opposing 
 their countrymen, as their countrymen did firmness in oppo- 
 sing Great Britain. Several of them, and of others who were 
 averse from fighting, retired over the mountains, where, re- 
 mote from the noise and bustle of war, they enjoyed that 
 independence for which so many -were contending. In the 
 year 177S, when every inhabitant was called on to take an 
 oath of allegiance to the State, many of them voluntarily aban- 
 noned their country for East Florida. In the same year, when 
 the alliance between France and the United States of America 
 was published, others of them nominally joined the Congress. 
 After the reduction of Savannah, a considerable party rose a 
 second time in favor of royal government ; but they were com- 
 pletely routed on their way to the British emcampments in 
 Georgia. They afterwards remained quiet till the British ob- 
 tained possession of Charlestown. 
 
 Excepting these ill-concerted insurrections no public body 
 in the province, prior to the British conquests in the year 1780, 
 gave avowed evidence of their disapprobation of the popular 
 measures. Several in private, no doubt, complained ; but they 
 contented themselves with secret murmurings. The number of 
 slaves within the province, and of Indians on the western fron- 
 tier, together with the large extent of unprotected sea coast. 
 Were, in the opinion of some worthy men, insuperable obstacles 
 to success in contending with Great Britain. Several, influ- 
 enced by reasoning of this sort, would rather have tamely 
 submitted to the encroachments of the mother country than 
 risked the vengeance of her arms. 
 
 The selfish, among the merchants and planters whose gains 
 were lessened by the cessation of trade, wished for the return 
 of business ; but the main body of both classes most heartily 
 concurred with the popular measures. A great majority of 
 the people determined to sacrifice ease, pleasure, and fortune; 
 and to risk life itself, to obtain permanent security for Ameri- 
 can rights. They believed their liberties to be in danger. 
 Roused with this apprehension, they were animated to the 
 most self-denying exertions. Beside their superiority in num- 
 bers, there was an animation in the friends of Congress which 
 
148 HISTOET or THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 was generally wanting in the advocates of royal government. 
 Men of ardor for the most part sided with the former ; but the 
 latter were chiefly composed of the ignorant, the selfish, and 
 the timid. Vigorous and decisive measures characterized the 
 popular party, while their opposers either acted without sys- 
 tem, or from timid counsels which were feebly executed. ■ 
 
 No revolution was ever eff'ected with greater unanimity, or 
 with more order and regularity. The leading men in every 
 part of the province, with very few exceptions, from the first 
 moments of the contest, exerted themselves in the cause of 
 their country. Their abilities and influence gave union and 
 system to the proceedings of the people. A few perstms in 
 the colony hated republican governments ; and some ignorant 
 people were induced to believe that the whole was an artful 
 deception, imposed upon them for interested purposes, by 
 the gentlemen of fortune and ambition on the sea coast. But 
 among the independent enlightened freemen of the province, 
 who loved liberty and had spirit to risk life and fortune in its 
 support, there were very few to be found who took part with 
 the royalists. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Of the Formation of a Regular Constitution. 
 
 Till the year 1776, the opposition to Great Britain was con- 
 ducted on such temporary principles, that the repeal of a few 
 acts of parliament would have immediately produced a rein- 
 statement of British government — a dissolution of the Amer- 
 ican army — and a recommencement of the mercantile in- 
 tercourse between the two countries. The refusal of Great 
 Britain to redress the grievances of the colonies, suggested to 
 some bold spirits, early in 1776, the necessity of going much 
 greater lengths than was originally intended. 
 
 A few penetrating minds foresaw that the love of dominion 
 in the parent state, and the unconquerable love of liberty in 
 America, would forever obstruct a cordial reconciliaiton ; but 
 the bulk of the people still flattered themselves with the fond 
 hopes of a re-union. 
 
 Public aflairs were in confusion for want of a regular con- 
 stitution. The impropriety of holding courts of justice under 
 the authority of a sovereign against whom all the colony was 
 in arms, struck every thinking person. The impossibility of 
 governing a large community by the ties of honor, without 
 the authority of law, was equally apparent. But, notwith- 
 standing the pressing weight of all these considerations, the 
 formation of an independent constitution had so much the 
 
INDEPENDENT CONSTITUTION. 149 
 
 appearance of an eternal separation from a country, by a re- 
 conciliation with which many yet hoped for a return of ancient 
 happiness, that a great part of the Provincial Congress opposed 
 the necessary measure. At the very time when they were 
 suspended on this important debate, an express arrived from 
 Savannah, with an act of parliament, passed December 21, 
 1775, confiscating American property, and throwing all the 
 colonists out of his majesty's protection. This turned the 
 scale — silenced all the moderate men who were advocates for 
 a reconciliation — and produced a majority for an independent 
 constitution. In less than an hour after that act was read in 
 the Provincial Congress, an order was issued to seize for the 
 public, the Port Henderson, a Jamaica vessel loaded with sugar, 
 -which had put into Charlestown on herway to London; though 
 she had the day before obtained leave to pass the forts, and 
 would have sailed the same afternoon on her intended voyage. 
 
 A law of the national parliament, which had thrown the 
 colonies out of his majesty's protection, convinced the most 
 lukewarm that America, legally discharged from her allegi- 
 ance to the King of Great Britain, must now take care of 
 herself. 
 
 So strong was the attachment of many to Great Britain, 
 which they fondly called the mother country, that though they 
 assented to the establishment of an independent constitution, 
 yet it was carried, after a long debate, that it was only to exist 
 " till a reconciliation between Great Britain and the colonies 
 should take place." The friends of reconciliation believed 
 that it was the dictate of sound policy, and in no respect in- 
 compatible with the true honor and dignity of the parent 
 state, to redress the grievances of the American colonies. The 
 great body of the people would have rejoiced at such an event, 
 and would with cheerfulness have returned to the class of 
 peaceable citizens in the ancient line of subordination. They 
 therefore only framed a temporary constitution, consisting of 
 three branches, on the model of the British government. The 
 Provincial Congress which formed this constitution, in con- 
 formity to the example of their revolutionary predecessors in 
 1719, voted themselves to be the General Assembly of South 
 Carolina. They elected thirteen of their most respectable 
 members to be a Legislative Council : they also elected a Pres- 
 ident and vice president ; six privy counsellors to advise the 
 president; a chief justice and three assistant judges; an attor- 
 ney general; secretary; ordinary; judge of the admiralty; 
 register of mesne conveyances.* The newly elected Presi- 
 
 ■^' These several offices were filled as follows : Members of the Legislative 
 Council — Cliarles Pinckney, Le Roy Hammond, George Gabriel Powel, William 
 Moultrie, Rawlins Lowndes, Stephen Bull, Thomas Shubrick, Richard Richard- 
 
150 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTIOPT. 
 
 dent, John Rutledge, took an oath to discharge his duty faith- 
 fully, and made an impressive speech on the occasion. The 
 Legislative Council and Genera! Assembly presented an affec- 
 tionate address to the President, by which they engaged to 
 " support him with their lives and fortunes." A solemn com- 
 pact was thus estabUshed between- the people and their chief 
 magistrate. Every department of government was organized 
 on the representative system, and went into immediate opera- 
 tion. 
 
 From this time forward, the public business was conducted 
 agreeably to the fixed rules of the temporary constitution. 
 Instead of resolutions of the congresses and committees, bills 
 were brought in and debated, both in the Assembly and Leg- 
 islative Council, deUberating apart and uninfluenced by each 
 other. On their being agreed to by both houses, they were 
 presented to the President for his assent. When duly enacted 
 by the three branches of Legislature, they were carried into 
 execution by the President and privy council. An act of 
 Assembly was passed in this session ' for preventing sedi- 
 tion and punishing insurgents and disturbers of the public 
 peace.' 
 
 By this law, treason and rebellion assumed a new form, 
 and the penalties of these crimes were legally denounced 
 against the aiders and abetters of British government. 
 
 The courts of justices which had been shut for twelve 
 months, were, with great solemnity, opened on the 23d of 
 April, 1776, under the sanction of this temporary constitution. 
 On that occasion, William H. Drayton, Chief Justice, under 
 the appointment of the Provincial Congress, gave an interest- 
 ing charge to the grand jury, in which he vindicated the pro- 
 ceedings of his native country as just in themselves^ and jus- 
 tified by what was done in England in 16S8. The charge 
 concluded thus: " I think it my duty to declare in the awful 
 seat of justice, and before Almighty God, that, in my opinion, 
 the Americans can have no safety but by the Divine favor, 
 their own virtue, and their being so prudent as not to leave it 
 in the power of the British rulers to injure them. Indeed the 
 ruinous and deadly injuries received on our side, and the jeal- 
 ousies entertained, and which, in the nature of things, must 
 daily increase against us on the other, demonstrate to a mind 
 
 son, Thomas Fergu&on, John Kershaw, Henry Middleton, David Oliphant, Thomas 
 Bee. 
 
 John Rutledge, President. Henry Laurens, Vice President. W. H. Drayton, 
 Chief Justice. Thomas Bee, John Mathews and Henry Pendleton, Assistant 
 Judges. Alexander Moultrie, Attorney General. John Huger, Secretary. Wil- 
 liam Burrows, Ordinary. Hugh Rutledge, Judge of the Admiralty. George 
 .Speed, Register of Mesne Conveyances. 
 
 Members of the Privy Council — James Parsons. John Edwards, Thomas Fer- 
 guson, William I-I. Drayton, Charles Pinckney, Rawlins Lowndes. 
 
INDEPENDENT CONSTITUTION. 151 
 
 in the least given to reflection upon the rise and fall of empires, 
 that true reconcilement never can exist between Great Britain 
 and America: the latter being in subjection to the former. 
 The Almighty created America to be independent of Britain: 
 let us beware of the impiety of being backward to act as in- 
 struments in the Almighty hand, now extended to accomplish 
 His purpose; and by the completion of which alone, America, 
 in the nature of human affairs, can be secure against the craft 
 and insidious designs of her enemies who think her prosperity 
 and power already by far too great. In a word, our piety and 
 political safety are so blended, that to refuse our labors in this 
 divine work, is to refuse to be a great, a free, a pious and a 
 happy people ! 
 
 "And now, having left the important alternative, political 
 happiness or wretchedness under God, in a great degree in 
 your own hands, I pray the Supreme Arbiter of the affairs of 
 men so to direct your judgment as that you may act agreeably 
 to what seems to be his will revealed in his miraculous works 
 in behalf of America bleeding at the altar of liberty !'' 
 
 The sentiments contained in this charge, from the bench of 
 justice, were re-echoed from the grand juries in the different 
 districts. This first General Assembly, agreeably to the con- 
 stitution they had framed, was dissolved by their own act 
 and a general election for members of the Legislature was 
 immediately held throughout the State. Such was the union 
 of the people, and so general their acquiescence in the meas- 
 ures adopted by their representatives, that the former members 
 were almost universally returned. The new Assembly met 
 on the 6th of December, 1776, and in a few days after, re- 
 chose the former President and Vice President. The govern- 
 ment had energy, and was cheerfully obeyed. So much tran- 
 quility reigned in every part of South Carolina, that after the 
 departure of the British fleet and army in July, and the ter- 
 mination of the Cherokee expedition in October, 1776, events 
 which shall hereafter be more particulary explained, the bulk 
 of the people were scarcely sensible of any revolution or that 
 the country was at war. 
 
 The policy of the rulers in departing as little as possible 
 from ancient forms and names, made the change of sove- 
 reignty less perceptible. The inhabitants had long been in 
 the habit of receiving laws from a General Assembly and 
 Council. The administration of the government in times 
 past, on the demise of the Governor, had been uniformly com- 
 mitted to one of the Council, under the title of President. 
 The people felt themselves secure in their persons and pro- 
 perties, and experienced all the advantages of law and govern- 
 ment. These benefits were communicated under old names, 
 
152 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 though derived from a new sovereignty. Their ancient laws 
 and customs were generally retained. The kingly office was 
 dropped, and the revolution took place without any violence 
 or convulsion. 
 
 South Carolina was the first of the united colonies that 
 formed an independent constitution ; it rested on the funda- 
 mental point, that the voice of the people was the source of 
 law, honor and office. Criminal prosecutions, which were 
 formerly carried on in the name of the King, were, from that 
 era, carried on in the name of the State. The same offices, 
 with nearly the same duties and powers that had existed un- 
 der the royal government, were continued under the popular 
 establishment, but with this difference, that the officers ob- 
 tained their places by the vote of the Legislature, and not 
 from the appointment of the Crown. The majesty of the 
 people took the place that had formerly been occupied by the 
 kingly office. By this substitution, a change of government 
 was easily and almost insensibly effected. The respect which, 
 for time immemorial, had been attached to Kings as the vice- 
 gerents of deity, and contributed to the support of their power, 
 was transferred to those who, by public suffrages, were brought 
 forward as substitutes of the people. Each individual thought 
 that by honoring and supporting the men thus elected to pub- 
 lic office, he honored himself as an unit in the mass of com- 
 mon sovereignty from which all power was derived. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Of the Attack of the Fort on Sullivan's Island, by Sir Peter 
 Parker and Sir Henry Clinton, and the Invasion of the 
 Cherokees by Colonel Williamson. 
 
 Soon after a regular form of government was adopted, a 
 formidable attack from Great Britain gave an opportunity of 
 ascertaining its energy. Governor Campbell, from the time of 
 his abandoning the province, had been assiduous in his at- 
 tempts to procure a military force to reduce it to obedience. 
 He represented the friends of royal authority as needing only 
 the countenance of a small military force to give them an 
 opportunity of embodying for the establishment of British 
 government ; that Charlestown might be easily reduced, and 
 that the reduction of it would restore the province to its former 
 tranquility; Crown officers and their friends, the royalists, 
 associating chiefly with one another, and not knowing or not 
 believing the numbers, the resources, nor the enthusiasm of 
 the opposite party, deceived themselves and communicated 
 their delusions to the rulers in Great Britain. 
 
ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE. 153 
 
 In the close of the year 1775, and the beginning of the 
 year 1776, great preparations had been made in Great Britain 
 to invade the American colonies with a force sufficient to 
 compel submission. With this view, early in 1776 upwards 
 of fifty thousand men were employed in active operations 
 against America. Part of this force was ordered to the south- 
 ward, to carry into effect in that quarter the designs of the 
 British ministry. In South Carohna every exertion had been 
 made to put the province, especially its capital, in a respecta- 
 ble posture of defence. As one means conducing thereto, the 
 popular leaders had erected works on Sullivan's Island. This 
 is a very convenient post for annoying ships approaching the 
 town. At the time the British fleet appeared off the coast, 
 about twenty-six heavy cannon, twenty-six eighteen and nine 
 pounders were mounted at Sullivan's Island, on a fort con- 
 structed with palmetto. This is a tree peculiar to the South- 
 ern States, which grows from twenty to forty feet high, without 
 branches, and then terminates in something resembling the 
 head of a cabbage. The wood of it is remarkably spongy. 
 A bullet entering it makes no splinters nor extended fracture, 
 but buries itself without injuring the parts adjacent. 
 
 On the first of June, 1776, advices were received in Charles- 
 town that a fleet of forty or fifty sail were at anchor about six 
 leagues to the northward of Sullivan's Island. The next day 
 the alarm was fired, and expresses sent to the officers com- 
 manding the militia in the country to repair to Charlestown. 
 In a few days after, several hundreds of the troops from the 
 British fleet were landed on Long Island. This is situated to 
 the eastward of Sullivan's Island, and separated from it by a 
 creek. On the fourth of June, thirty-six of the transports 
 crossed the bar, in front of Rebellion road, and anchored 
 about three miles from Sullivan's Island ; two of them ran 
 aground in crossing, one of which got off, but the other went 
 to pieces. On the 10th of June, the Bristol, a fifty gun ship, 
 her guns being previously taken out, got safely over. About 
 this time a proclamation was sent ashore, under the sanction 
 of a flag, in which the British General, Sir Henry Clinton, 
 promised pardon to the inhabitants in case of their laying 
 down their arms and quietly submitting to the re-establish- 
 ment of royal government. This produced none of the effects 
 expected from it. Tha militia of the country repaired in 
 great numbers to Charlestown. The regular regiments of the 
 adjacent northern States, having been ordered to the assist- 
 ance of their southern neighbors, arrived at this critical junc- 
 ture. The two continental General officers, Armstrong and 
 Howe, came about the same time. The whole was put under 
 the orders of Major-General Lee. In a few days the Ameri- 
 
154 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 cans, including the militia of the town and country, amounted 
 to five or six thousand men. The first South Carolina regular 
 regiment, commanded by Colonel Gadsden, was stationed at 
 Fort Johnson. This is situated about three miles from 
 Charlestown, on the most northerly point of James' Island, 
 and is within point blank shot of the channel. The second and 
 third regular regiments of South Carolina, commanded by Col- 
 onels Moultrie and Thomson, occupied the two extremities of 
 Sullivan's Island. The other forces had their posts assigned 
 them at Haddrell's point, James' Island, and along the Bay 
 in front of the town. The streets near the water were, in 
 different places, strongly barricaded. The stores on the wharves 
 were pulled down, and lines of defence were continued along 
 the water's edge. Domestic conveniences were exchanged 
 for blankets and knapsacks, and hoes and spades were in the 
 hands of every citizen. In a few days, by their labor, in con- 
 junction with a number of negroes, such obstructions were 
 thrown in the way as would have greatly embarrassed the 
 royal army attempting to land in the town. 
 
 On the 25th, the Experiment, a fifty gun ship, arrived near 
 the bar ; and on the 26th, her guns being previously taken out, 
 she got safely over. 
 
 On the 2Sth the fort on the Island was briskly attacked by 
 the two fifty-gun ships, Bristol and Experiment, four frigates, 
 the Active, Acteon, Solebay, Syren, each of twenty-eight guns, 
 the Sphynx, of twenty guns, the Friendship, an armed vessel 
 of twenty-two guns. Ranger sloop, and Thunder-Bomb, each of 
 eight guns. Between ten and eleven o'clock the Thunder-Bomb 
 began to throw shells. The Active, Bristol, Experiment, and 
 Solebay, came boldly on to the attack. A little before eleven 
 o'clock the garrison fired four or five shot at the Active while 
 under sail. When she came near the fort she dropped anchor, 
 and poured in a broad-side. Her example was followed by the 
 three other vessels, and a most tremendous cannonade ensued 
 The Thunder-Bomb, after having thrown about sixty shells, 
 was so damaged as to be incapacitated from firing. Colonel 
 Moultrie, with three hundred and forty-four regulars, and a 
 few volunteer militia, made a defence that would have done 
 honor to experienced veterans. During the engagement the 
 inhabitants stood with arms in their hands at their respective 
 posts, prepared to receive the British wherever they might 
 land. Impressed with high ideas of British bravery, and diffi- 
 dent of the maiden courage of their own new troops, they 
 were apprehensive that the forts would either be silenced or 
 passed, and that they should be called to immediate action. 
 Thevarious passions of the mind assumed alternate sway, 
 and marked their countenances with anxious fears or cheerful 
 
ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE. 155 
 
 hopes. Their resolution was fixed to meet the invaders at 
 the water's edge, and dispute every inch of ground, trusting 
 the event to Heaven and preferring death to slavery. 
 
 General Clinton was to have passed over to Sullivan's Island 
 with the troops under his command on Long Island; but the 
 extreme danger to which he must unavoidably have exposed 
 his men, induced him to decline the perilous attempt. Colonel 
 Thompson, with seven hundred men, an eighteen pounder, 
 and a field piece, were stationed at the east end of Sullivan's 
 Island to oppose their crossing; but no serious attempt to land 
 on Sullivan's was made, either from the fleet or by the de- 
 tachment on Long Island. The Sphynx, Acteon, and Syren, 
 were sent round to attack the western extremity of the fort. 
 This was so unfinished as to afford very imperfect cover to 
 the men at the guns in that part, and also so situated as to ex- 
 pose the men in the other parts of the fort to a very dangerous 
 cross-fire. Providence, on this occasion, remarkably interposed 
 in behalf of the garrison and saved them from a fate, which, in 
 all probability, would otherwise have been inevitable. About 
 twelve o'clock, as the three last mentioned ships were advanc- 
 ing to attack the western wing of the fort, they all got en- 
 tangled with a shoal called the Middle Ground; two of them 
 ran foul of each other. The Acteon stuck fast. The Sphynx, 
 before she cleared herself, lost her bowsprit; but the Syren 
 got off without much injury. The ships in front of the fort 
 kept up their fire till near seven o'clock in the evening with- 
 out intermission ; after that time it slackened. At half-past 
 nine the firing on both sides ceased ; and at eleven the ships 
 slipped their cables. Next morning all the men-of-war, ex- 
 cept the Acteon, had retired about two miles from the Island. 
 The garrison fired several shot at the Acteon ; she at first re- 
 turned them, but soon after the crew set her on fire and 
 abandoned her; leaving her colors flying, guns loaded, and all 
 her ammunition and stores. She was in a short time boarded 
 by a party of Americans, commanded by Captain Jacob 
 Milligan. While flames were bursting out on all sides they 
 fired three of her guns at the commodore, and then quitted 
 her. In less than half an hour after their departure she blew 
 up.* The Bristol had forty men killed and seventy-one 
 wounded. Every man, who was stationed in the beginning 
 of the action on her quarter deck, was either killed or wounded. 
 The Experiment had twenty-three killed and seventy-six 
 wounded. Lord William Campbell, the late Governor of the 
 
 *Her guns were afterwards raised and planted on the lines of Charlestown for 
 purposes of defence ■ but on being fired they burst. This was supposed to be the 
 consequence of a change their metal had undergone from their falling into the 
 cold water of the harbor, when they were heated by previous discharges. 
 
156 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 province, who, as a volunteer, had exposed himself in a post 
 of danger, received a wound which ultimately proved mortal. 
 The fire of the fort was principally directed against the Bristol 
 and Experiment; and they suffered very much in their hulls, 
 masts, and rigging. Not less than seventy balls went through 
 the former. The Acteon had Lieutenant Pike killed, and six 
 men wounded. The Solebay had eight men wounded. After 
 some days the troops were all re-embarked, and the whole 
 sailed for New York. 
 
 The loss of the garrison was ten men killed and twenty-two 
 wounded. Lieutenants Hall and Gray were among the latter. 
 Though (here were many thousand shot fired from the ship- 
 ping, yet the works were little damaged : those which struck 
 the fort were ineffectually btiried in its soft wood. Hardly a 
 hut or tree on the Island escaped. 
 
 When the British appeared off the coast there was so scanty 
 a stock of lead, that to supply the musketry with bullets, it 
 became necessary to strip the windows of the dwelling houses 
 in Charlestown of their weights. Powder was also very 
 scarce. The proportion allotted for the defence of the fort 
 was but barely sufficient for slow firing. This was expended 
 with great deliberation. The officers in their turn pointed the 
 guns with such exactness that most of their shot took effect.* 
 In the beginning of the action the flag-staff was shot away. 
 Sergeant Jasper of the grenadiers immediately jumped on the 
 beach, took up the flag and fastened it on a sponge-staff. 
 With it in his hand he mounted the merlon ; and, though 
 the ships were directing their incessant broad-sides at the 
 spot, he deliberately fixed it. The day after the action Presi- 
 dent Rultedge presented him with a sword, as a mark of re- 
 spect for his distinguished valor. Sergeant M' Donald, of Cap- 
 tain Huger's company, was mortally wounded by a cannon 
 ball. He employed the short interval between his wound 
 and his death, in exhorting his comrades to continue steady 
 in the cause of liberty and their country. 
 
 This ill-conducted expedition contributed greatly to estab- 
 
 « On the third day after the action, the lady of Colonel Bernard Elliott presented 
 an elegant pair of colors to the second regiment which had so bravely defended 
 fort Moultrie. Her address on the occasion concluded thus; "I make not the 
 least doubt, under Heaven's protection, you will stand by these colors as long as 
 they waive in the air of liberty." In reply a promise was made, "that they should 
 be honorably supported, and never should be tarnished by the second regiment." 
 This engagement was literally fulfilled. Three years alter they were planted on 
 the Britisli lines at Savannah. One by Lieutenant Bush who was immediately 
 shot down. Lieutenant Hume in the act of planting his, was also shot down; 
 and Lieutenant Gray in supporting them received a mortal wound. The brave 
 Serjeant Jasper on seeing Lieutenant Hume fall, took up the color and planted it. 
 In doing so he received a wound which terminated in death; but on the retreat 
 being ordered he brought the colors oif with him. These were taken at the fall of 
 Charlestown, and are said to be now in the tower of London. 
 
ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE. 157 
 
 lish the popular government which it was intended to overset. 
 The friends of America triumphed. Unacquainted with the 
 vicissitudes of war, some of them began to flatter themselves 
 their work was done and their liberties established. In op- 
 position to the bold assertions of some, and the desponding 
 fears of others, experience proved that American might effect- 
 ually resist a British fleet and army. The difiident grew bold 
 in their country's cause, and looked forward to the completion 
 of their wishes for its liberty and independence. The advo- 
 cates for the omnipotence of the British navy confessed their 
 mistake. Those who, from interested motives, had abetted 
 the royal government, ashamed of their opposition to the 
 struggles of an infant people for their dearest rights, retired 
 into obscurity. Mr. Cunningham, and other leaders of the 
 royalists, who, on the defeat and dispersion of their party in 
 the latter end of 1775, had been taken and committed to close 
 confinement, obtained their discharge soon after the departure 
 of the British fleet. The State wished to conciliate them to 
 the popular measures, and therefore in this moment of triumph 
 received from them assurances of fidelity to their country, and 
 restored them to the rights and privileges of free citizens. 
 
 Soon after the engagement, when the British troops were 
 re-embarked for their departure, the transport ship Glasgow, 
 mounting six four-pounders, with fifty-six high landers on 
 board, ran aground near Long Island. Captain Pickering, 
 Benjamin Waller, Cornelius Dewees, William Dewees, and 
 twenty-one seamen, all volunteers, came alongside of her in 
 a wood-boat, on which were mounted one eighteen-pounder 
 and some smaller guns, and took the whole crew of the Glas- 
 gow prisoners. After stripping her of everything that could 
 be brought off, they set her on fire. This successful defence 
 gave to South Carolina a respite of three years from the calam- 
 ities of war. In that season of leisure two expeditions were 
 projected against Florida, but they both proved abortive. The 
 energies of the State were applied with more success against 
 the Cherokee Indian nation, which inhabit lands not far dis- 
 tant from the western settlements of Carolina. On the first 
 appearance of a rupture between Great Britain and her colo- 
 nies, the attention of both parties were engaged to secure the 
 friendship of Indians. Many circumstances had concurred 
 to give them unfavorable impressions of the Americans. For 
 several years the management of them had been exclusively 
 committed to John Stuart, an ofiicer of the crown, and wholly 
 devoted to the royal interest. Being in the immediate seiwice 
 of his Britannic majesty, he conceived himself under obliga- 
 tions to exert his influence to attach the Indians to the royal 
 interest. The state of public affairs in the colonies furnished 
 
158 HISTORY OF THE EEVOLUTION. 
 
 him with many plausible arguments subservient to this de- 
 sign. The non-importation agreement adopted by the Amer- 
 icans, not only disabled them from supplying the wants of the 
 Indians, but precluded the possibility of their receiving royal 
 presents. This interruption of the commerce usual between 
 the white inhabitants and their savage neighbors, gave Mr. 
 Stuart an opportunity of exasperating the Indians against the 
 friends of Congress. 
 
 In the years 1760 and 1761, a war with the Cherokee In- 
 dians had involved the inhabitants of South Carolina in such 
 distress that they courted the aid of the King's troops in Amer- 
 ica. In fifteen years after, when the people of the same coun- 
 try dared to resist the parent state, it was supposed by the 
 friends of royal government that the horrors of an Indian war 
 would once more bring the province to sue for British protec- 
 tion. 
 
 The above mentioned Mr. John Stuart, very early in the 
 contest, retired from South Carolina to West Florida; and 
 from that province employed his brother Henry Stuart, Mr. 
 Cameron, and others, to penetrate into the Indian countiy to 
 the westward of Carolina. A plan was settled by him, in con- 
 cert with the King's Governors, and other royal servants, to 
 land a British array in Florida, and to proceed with it to the 
 western frontiers of the Southern States, and there, in con- 
 junction with the tories and Indians, to fall on the friends 
 of the revolution, at the same time that a fleet and army 
 should invade them on the sea-coast. Moses Kirkland, a 
 leader of the party for royal government in the back parts of 
 South Carolina, was confidentially employed by John Stuart, 
 Governor Tonyn, and other royal servants to the southward, 
 to concert with General Gage, the commander of the British 
 forces in Boston, the necessary means for accomplishing 
 the above mentioned scheme. The whole plan was fully 
 detected by the providential capture of the vessel which was 
 conveying Kirkland to Boston. The letters found in his pos- 
 session were published by the order of Congress, and produced 
 conviction in the minds of the Americans, that the British 
 administration, in order to elfect their schemes, had employed 
 savages, who indiscriminately murder men, women and chil- 
 dren, to commence hostilities on their western brethren. 
 Though the discovery of the British designs, and the capture 
 of Kirkland, who was to have had an active share in the exe- 
 cution of them, in a great degree frustrated th6 views of the 
 royal servants, yet so much was carried into effect, that the 
 Cherokee Indians began their massacres two days after the 
 British fleet attacked the fort on Sullivan's Island. 
 
 The Americans very early paid attention to their savage 
 
CHEROKEE EXPEDITION, 1776. 159 
 
 neighbors. They appointed commissioners to explain to 
 them the grounds of the dispute between Great Britain and 
 her colonies, and to cultivate with them a friendly corres- 
 pondence. As far as they possibly could, they supplied their 
 wants. They endeavored to persuade the Indians that the 
 quarrel was by no means relative to them, and that therefore 
 they should take part with neither side. These moderate 
 propositions were overruled by the superior influence of the 
 royal superintendent, who had their previous confidence and 
 more ample means of administering to their necessities. An 
 Indian war commenced, and was carried on with its usual 
 barbarity. Their massacres caused a general alarm. It was 
 known that the Indians were excited by royal agents, and 
 aided by some of the tories. The inhabitants were for the 
 most part destitute of arms, and government could afford 
 them no supply. For present safety they betook themselves 
 to stockade forts. Colonel Williamson was charged with the 
 defence of the coimtry, but so general was the panic, that in 
 sixteen days he could not collect 500 men. An engagement 
 took place on the 15th of July, between a party of Indians and 
 tories, and a party of militia commanded by Major Downs. 
 The former were defeated and fled. They were pursued, and 
 thirteen of their number being taken, were found to be white 
 men painted like Indians. Intelligence of the repulse of the 
 British at Sullivan's Island on the 28th of June, arrived in the 
 back country at this critical time, and produced very happy 
 effects. The tories were intimidated, and the inhabitants 
 turned out with so much alacrity that Williamson soon 
 found himself at the head of 1,150 men. With 330 horse- 
 men he advanced to attack a party of tories and Indians, 
 which was encamped at Occnore creek. On his way he was 
 attacked both in fpont and flank by savages who had formed 
 an ambuscade, and from it kept up a constant fire. William- 
 son's horse was shot under him; Mr. Salvador fell by his side, 
 and his whole party was thrown into disorder. Colonel Ham- 
 mond rallied about twenty men, and, directing them to reserve 
 their fire, marched rapidly with them to the fence behind which 
 the Indians were covered, fired upon thenj, and immediately 
 jumped over and charged. The Indians fled from the approach- 
 ing bayonet. Williamson burned the Indian town on the 
 east side of Keowee river, but his men could not be induced 
 to pass the river till Colonel Hammond crossed before them. 
 They then followed, and without delay destroyed all the 
 houses and provisions they could find. Williamson returned 
 to his main body and advanced with them to Eighteen Mile 
 creek, where he encamped on the 2d of August. As lie ad- 
 vanced, he sent off detachments to lay waste the Indian set- 
 
160 HISTOKY or THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 tlements, who, bj'^ the fifteenth, had completed the destruction 
 of all their lower towns. On the 13th of September, William- 
 son, with an army of two thousand men, partly regulars and 
 partly militia, marched into the country of the Cherokees, 
 whose warriors were said to be equally numerous. The in- 
 vaders again fell into an ambuscade. They entered a narrow 
 valley enclosed on each side by mountains. Twelve hundred 
 Indians occupied these heights, and from them poured in a 
 constant and well directed fire. Detachments were ordered 
 to file off and gain the eminences above the Indians, and to 
 turn their flanks. Others, whose guns were loaded, received 
 orders from Lieutenant Hampton to advance, and after dis- 
 charging to fall down and load. The Indians being hard 
 pressed, betook themselves to flight. The army proceeded 
 without further interruption, and on the 23d of September 
 arrived in the vallies. Penetrating through them, they de- 
 stroyed whatever came in their way. All the Cherokee set- 
 tlements to the eastward of the Apalachian mountains, were 
 so rapidly laid waste, that the business of destruction was 
 completed, and Williamson's army disbanded early in Octo- 
 ber. Above five hundred of the Cherokees were obliged, by 
 their distress for want of provisions, to take refuge with John 
 Stuart, in West Florida, where they were fed at the expense 
 of the British government. The Indian settlements to the 
 northward were at the same time invaded by a party of Vir- 
 ginia militia, commanded by Colonel Christie, and nineteen 
 hundred North Carolina militia, commanded by General Ruth- 
 erford ; and to the southward by the Georgia militia, com- 
 manded by Colonel Jack. Dismal was the wilderness through 
 which the Americans had to pass. Their route was over 
 pathless mountains, whose ascents were so steep that they 
 could not be scaled without serious danger. At other times 
 they had to march through thickets so impenetrable that the 
 rays of the sun scarcely ever reached the surface of the earth. 
 They were incessantly occupied for five days in advancing 
 twenty-five miles. Notwithstanding all these fatigues, not 
 one died of disease, and only one was so sick as to be unable 
 to march. 
 
 The unfortunate misled Indians, finding themselves attacked 
 on all sides, sued in the most submissive terms for peace. 
 They had not the wisdom to shun war, nor the cunning to 
 make a proper choice of the party with whom they made a 
 common cause. About fifteen years before, by taking part 
 with the French, they had brought on themselves a severe 
 chastisement from the British and Americans. At this time, 
 in consequence of joining the British and the tories, their 
 country was laid waste, and their provisions so far destroyed 
 
CHEROKEE EXPEDITION, 1776. 161 
 
 as to be insufficient for their support. And they were com- 
 pelled, as a conquered people,' to cede to South Carolina all 
 their lands to the eastward of the Unacaye mountains, which 
 now form the populous and flourishing districts of Pendleton 
 and Greenville. These former lords of the soil have ever since 
 been cooped up in a nook in the southwest angle of South 
 Carolina, though the best part of that State was, about sixty 
 years ago, their exclusive property. To preserve peace and 
 good order, a fort called fort Rutledge was erected at Seneca, 
 and garrisoned by two independent companies. A friendly 
 intercourse between the savages and white inhabitants took 
 place, and everything remained quiet till the year 1780. 
 
 None of all the expeditions before undertaken against the 
 savages had been so successful as this first effort to the new- 
 born commonwealth. In less than three months the business 
 was completed, and the nation of the Cherokees so far subdued 
 as to be incapable of annoying the settlements. The loss of 
 the Americans in the expedition was thirty-three killed, and 
 seventy-two wounded. The Cherokees lost about two hun- 
 dred men. 
 
 From the double success of this campaign, in repelling the 
 British and conquering the savages, the people of South Caro- 
 lina began to be more and more convinced that the leading 
 strings of the mother country were less necessary than in the days 
 of their infancy. Through the whole of this year, though the 
 arms of the British were successful to the northward, their in- 
 terest to the southward declined. Every plan, for their acting 
 in concert with the tories and Indians, proved abortive. Hard 
 would it have been for the whigs of South Carolina to have 
 opposed so formidable a combination could the friends of Bri- 
 tain have succeeded in their scheme of acting at one and the 
 same time : but, through the kindness of heaven, the favorers 
 of the revolution had the opportunity of attacking them sepa- 
 rately, and of successively pouring their whole force, and also 
 that of a considerable aid from their neighbors, on the tories, 
 the British, and the Indians. The first, from their premature 
 insurrection, were crushed before their British friends arrived. 
 The last were abandoned to the resentment of the State, by the 
 royal fleet and army precipitately leaving the coast, and under 
 the smiles of heaven, all three were vanquished by the infant 
 American republics. The means adopted by the British to 
 crush the friends of the Congress were providentially overruled, 
 so as to produce the contrary efi'ect. Their exciting Indians 
 to massacre the defenceless frontier settlers increased the unan- 
 imity of the inhabitants, and invigorated their opposition to 
 Great Britain. Several who called themselves tories in 1775 
 became active whigs in ] 776, and cheerfully took up arms in 
 11 
 
162 HISTORT OF THE EEVOLUTION. 
 
 the first instance against Indians, and in the second against 
 Great Britain, as the instigator of their barbarous devastations. 
 Before this event some well-meaning people could not see the 
 justice or propriety of contending with their formerly protect- 
 ing parent State ; but Indian cruelties, excited by royal artifices, 
 soon extinguished all their predilection for the country of their 
 forefathers. 
 
 The expedition into the Cherokee settlements diffused mili- 
 tary ideas, and a spirit of enterprise among the inhabitants. 
 It taught them the necessary arts of providing for an army, 
 and gave them experience in the business of war. The new 
 arrangements, civil and military, were followed with that 
 energy and vigor which is acquired by an individual ora col- 
 lective body of people acting from the impulse of their own 
 minds. The peaceable inhabitants of a whole State were in 
 a short time transformed from planters, merchants, and me- 
 chanics, into an active militia, and a well regulated self- 
 governed community. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Of Independence and the Mliance with Francp. 
 
 Notwithstanding the nominal existence -of royal authority 
 in South Carolina, an independent government had a virtual 
 operation from the 6th of July 1774. This was at first by 
 conventions, committees, and congresses, whose resolutions 
 had the fullest force of law on a people who thought that 
 their liberties were endangered, and that their only safetycon- 
 sisted in union. It was afterwards reduced into a more regular 
 form in March 1776 ; but all these institutions were temporary, 
 and looked forward to an accommodation with Great Britain. 
 The act of final separation from the mother country could not 
 be the work of any one State. Everything of that magnitude 
 was referred to the Continental Congress, to whose general 
 superintendence the individual colonies had voluntarily sub- 
 mitted. That august assembly, at their first meeting in 1774, 
 petitioned the King, and addressed the people of Great Bri- 
 tain for a redress of their grievances. In the year 1775 they 
 renewed their supplications to their sovereign, in which they 
 prayed that his majesty would be pleased " to direct some 
 mode by which the united application of his faithful colonists 
 to the throne, in pursuance of their common councils, might 
 be improved into a happy and permanent reconciliation; and 
 that in the meantime measures might be taken for preventing 
 the further destruction of his majesty's subjects.'' They also 
 a second time addressed the people of Great Britain, in which 
 
INDEPENDENCE AND FRENCH ALLIANCE. 163 
 
 they apprised them of their fixed resolution to defend their 
 liberties, but at the same time disclaimed every wish of inde- 
 pendence, or any thing more than the secure enjoyment of 
 their ancient rights and privileges. They asked for peace, 
 but the sword was tended — for liberty, but nothing short of 
 unconditional submission was offered. Their petitions re- 
 ceived no answer. And all the inhabitants of the colonies 
 were, by an act of parliament passed December 21, 1775, 
 thrown out of the King's protection. This was a legal dis- 
 charge from their allegiance to the King of Great Britain, and 
 placed the colonies in a state of nature, at full liberty to provide 
 for their own safety, by entering into any new social compact 
 which they approved. Though the refusal of protection was 
 a legal justification of their conduct in withholding allegiance, 
 yet independence was untried ground, and could not at once 
 gain the plenary approbation of colonies which had long flour- 
 ished under royal protection. The minds of the inhabitants 
 were overcast with fears, and tossed in a tumult of uncer- 
 tainty. Their resolution was fixed never to submit to the 
 claims of the British parliament, hut how to extricate them- 
 selves from surrounding diflaculties was a question that em- 
 barrassed their wisest politicians. While they were in this 
 state of feverish anxiety, a pamphlet, under the signature of 
 Common Sense, written by Mr. Thomas Paine, made its ap- 
 pearance. It proved the necessity, the advantages, and prac- 
 ticability of independence. It satisfied a great majority of the 
 people that it was their true interest immediately to cut the 
 gordian knot which bound the American colonies to Great 
 Britain, and to open their commerce as an independent people, 
 to all the nations of the world.- Nothing could be better timed 
 than this performance. It found the colonists greatly exas- 
 perated against the mother country, most thoroughly alarmed 
 for their liberties, and disposed to do and suifer everything 
 that bid fairest for their establishment. In unison with the 
 feehngs and sentiments of the people, it produced astonishing 
 effects. It was read by almost every American, and in con- 
 junction with the cruel policy of Great Britain, was by the 
 direction of Providence, instrumental in eifectingan unexam- 
 pled unanimity in favor of independence. The decisive genius 
 of Christopher Gadsden in the south, and of John Adams in 
 the north, at a much earlier day, might have desired the com- 
 plete separation of America from Great Britain — but till the 
 year 1776 — the rejection of the second petition of Congress— 
 and the appearance of Mr. Paine's pamphlet — a reconciliation 
 with the mother country was the unanimous wish of almost 
 every other American. 
 
 Before the Congress ventured on the important step of 
 
164 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 changing the sovereignty of the colonies, they sent forth a reso- 
 lution on the 15th of May, 1776, recommending to all of them 
 to institute forms of government. This was intended to ascer- 
 tain the sense of the inhabitants on the important question of 
 independence. In adopting this measure, Congress, instead 
 of leading, only followed the voice of the people. South 
 Carolina had for near two months been in possession of a 
 regular government. Independence was finally decided on in 
 Congress, and declared in Philadelphia, on the 4th of July, 
 1776. In this declaration, South Carolina most heartily con- 
 curred, and the same was subscribed on her part by her repre- 
 sentatives, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Thomas 
 Lynch, Arthur Middleton. 
 
 From this moment everything assumed a new appearance. 
 The Americans no longer appeared in the character of sub- 
 jects in arms against their sovereign, but as an independent 
 people, repelling the attacks of an invading foe. The propo- 
 sitions and supplications for reconciliation were done away. 
 The dispute was brought to a single point, whether the late 
 British colonies should be conquered, enslaved provinces, or 
 free and independent States. This decisive measure was 
 adopted without assurances of aid from any foreign power, 
 and in the face of a British force of fifty thousand men. In 
 a few days it was received in Charlestown, and proclaimed in 
 the most solemn manner to the troops under arms. This 
 was followed with the firing of guns, ringing of bells, accla- 
 mations of the people, and ail the usual parade of a public re- 
 joicing. The Declaration of Independence arrived in Charles- 
 town at a most favorable juncture. It found the people of 
 South Carolina exasperated against Great Britain for her late 
 hostile attack, and elevated with their successful defence of 
 Fort Moultrie. It was welcomed by a great majority of the 
 inhabitants. In private it is probable that some condemned 
 the measure, as rashly adventurous beyond the ability of the 
 State; but these private murmurs never produced to the public 
 ear a single expression of disapprobation. 
 
 After the termination of the unsuccessful attack on the fort 
 on Sullivan's Island in June, 1776, the British arms were for 
 more than two years wholly employed to the northward. 
 During this period. South Carolina felt very few of the incon- 
 veniences which were then grinding their brethren to the 
 northward. They were in possession of a lucrative commerce, 
 and comparatively happy. In the year 1777 and 1778 Charles- 
 town was the mart for supplying with goods most of the States 
 to the southward of New Jersey. Many hundred wagons 
 were employed in this inland traffic. At no period of peace 
 were fortunes more easily or more rapidly acquired. 
 
INDEPENDENCE AND FRENCH ALLIANCE. 165 
 
 While Congress vigorously opposed Great Britain from their 
 own resources, they did not neglect the important business of 
 negotiation. The friendship of foreign powers, particularly 
 of the ancient and powerful monarchy of France, was, from 
 the Declaration of Independence, earnestly desired by the 
 new-formed States of America. On the 'eth of February, 
 177S, his most christian majesty, Louis the Sixteenth, entered 
 into treaties of amity and commerce, and of alliance with 
 the American commissioners at Paris, oq the footing of the 
 most perfect equality and reciprocity. Such a powerful ally, 
 added to the natural force of America, alarmed the fears of 
 Great Britain, and induced her to make an eifort in the way 
 of negotiation to recover her late colonies. Governor John- 
 stone, Lord Carlisle, and Mr. Eden, were appointed commis- 
 sioners on the part of Great Britain, to come to America and 
 to offer Congress a relinquishment of the parliamentary exer- 
 cise of taxation, and to confirm them in every immunity con- 
 sistent with an union of force. So expeditious was the court 
 of Great Britain in proposing these overtures, that the bills 
 containing them were read in Congress eleven days before any 
 information was received by that body of their alliance with 
 France. A firm determination, under no change of fortune 
 whatever to recede from their Declaration of Independence, 
 prompted Congress in the first instance to reject the proposals 
 of a RE-UNION with Great Britain. After their connection with 
 France was known, gratitude and national faith were addi- 
 tional incentives to continue in the same line of conduct. 
 
 When the alliance with France was announced in South 
 Carolina, it diffused a general joy. It not only gave confi- 
 dence to all in the final establishment of their independence, 
 but reconciled them to the calamities of war. They viewed 
 their misfortunes only as temporary, and looked forward to a 
 speedy peace, when all their wishes in favor of their country 
 would be realized. The conduct of Congress, in instantly re- 
 jecting the offers of the commissioners, was 'in all companies 
 applauded. The second petition of Congress had not asked 
 so much as was then offered. At that period the propositions 
 of Great Britain would have been gladly accepted, but to that 
 petition the King of Great Britain refused an answer. After 
 the colonies had declared themselves independent States — had 
 pledged their honor to abide by that declaration — had, under 
 the smiles of heaven, maintained it for three campaigns with- 
 out foreign aid — after the greatest monarch in Europe had 
 entered into a treaty with them, and guaranteed their inde- 
 pendence — after all this to degrade themselves from the rank 
 of freemen to that of subjects — from sovereign States to depen- 
 dent provinces — were propositions no where less relished than 
 
166 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 hy the citizens of South Carolina. The tide was fairly turned. 
 Instead of that hankering after Great Britain which had made 
 a separation painful, the current of popular opinions and 
 prejudices ran strong in an opposite direction. 
 
 On a review of the transactions between Great Britain and 
 America from the year 1774 to the year 1778, an attentive 
 observer cannot but remark four different periods, in each of 
 which the contest between the two countries assumed a new- 
 complexion. The parliamentary claims of unlimited supre- 
 macy — the Boston port act — the abolition of the charter of 
 Massachusetts, and the other acts of the like tendency, passed 
 about the same time, roused the colonies in 1774 to the appoint- 
 ment of a Congress, and to a declaration of their exclusive right 
 to tax themselves, and regulate their own internal polity. To 
 obtain a repeal of thirteen acts of parliament, which infringed 
 upon theseclaims, they petitioned the Kingof Great Britain, and 
 associated to suspend all trade till this repeal shouldbe obtained. 
 The success that had followed two former attempts of this kind, 
 flattered them that their present wishes would soon be fully 
 gratified. They therefore very gen erally came into the measure, 
 without foreseeing all the consequences, and without intend- 
 ing anything further than such a commercial opposition as 
 would interest the West Indians and British merchants in 
 their behalf. The refusal of this first petition, and the sub- 
 sequent commencement of hostilities on the part of Great 
 Britain, produced in the colonists a determination to oppose 
 force to force. A military opposition was therefore adopted 
 about the middle of the year 1775, but without a design of 
 effecting a separation from Great Britain. At this second 
 stage of the quarrel, the Congress prepared a second petition, 
 praying for the repeal of the obnoxious acts. To give weight 
 to this renewed application to the throne, and to rouse the 
 people of England to a sense of the probable consequences 
 of their persisting in the war, they formed a temporary army, 
 and published to' the world their resolution of defending their 
 liberties at every hazard. Still nothing further was intended 
 than a redress of grievances. The rejection of this second 
 petition — the determination to wage war in full form against 
 the colonists — and the act of parliament putting the whole of 
 them out of the King's protection, gave birth to a third and 
 unforeseen measure — the Declaration of Independence. With- 
 out this they must either have submitted with their grievances 
 unredressed, or carried on a war under the appellation of sub- 
 jects in arms against their acknowledged sovereign, in which 
 case no foreign power could have openly assisted them. Af- 
 ter this measure was adopted, a federal union might have 
 taken place between Great Britain and America. Instead of 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1779. 167 
 
 proposing anything of this kind, Great Britain carried on the 
 war for the campaigns of 1776 and 1777, professedly with a 
 view to reduce tlrem to unconditional submission, and offered 
 nothing to the United States before April 1778, which they 
 could with safety accept After a treaty had been concluded 
 between France and America, Great Britain sent out commis- 
 sioners to offer Congress more than a repeal of the acts which 
 were at first the source of the dispute. By this conduct she 
 virtually acknowledged she had been hitherto in the wrong, 
 and also gave the United States an opportunity of evincing 
 to their new ally the sincerity of their engagements. 
 
 From this time forward commenced the fourth period of 
 the contest. The colonies were not only lost to Great Britain, 
 but their whole weight was thrown into the opposite scale of 
 France. 
 
 Though the continental Congress, in conducting the oppo- 
 sition to the mother country, did little more than give an efh- 
 cient operation to the wishes of their constituent, yet the 
 British commissioners flattered themselves that an application 
 to the local Legislatures and the people at large, would be 
 more successful. They therefore next addressed themselves 
 to the individual States, and denounced the extremities of war 
 on those who continued to prefer the alliance with France to 
 a re-union with Great Britain. This did not produce the in- 
 timidation expected from it, nor were their proposals more 
 favorably received by the local Legislatures, or the people, 
 than they had been by the Continental Congress. When the 
 flag arrived with their overtures separately addressed to the 
 Governor, the Assembly, the mihtary, the clergy, and the peo- 
 ple of South Carolina, it was detained in the road near the 
 harbor of Charlestown, till President Lowndes convened his 
 council, and the heads or leading men of the different orders 
 of the inhabitants, to whom they were addressed. As soon 
 as the letters of the British commissioners were read to the 
 gentlemen convened on this occasion, an unanimous resolu- 
 tion was adopted to order the flag-vessels immediately to de- 
 part the' State. This was accompanied with a reprimand for 
 attempting to violate the constitution of the country, by offer- 
 ing to negotiate with the State in its separate capacity. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Campaign of 1779. 
 
 Soon after the Brhish commissioners were convinced of the 
 inefRcacy of negotiation to effect a re-union of the colonies 
 with Great Britain, the war recommenced, but entirely on a 
 new system. Hitherto the conquest of America had been at- 
 
168 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 tempted by proceeding from north to south ; but that order 
 was from this period inverted. The northern States in their 
 turn obtained a diminution of their calamities, while South 
 Carolina and the adjacent settlements, became the principal 
 theatre of offensive operations. 
 
 The reduction in Savannah in December, 1778, by Colonel 
 Campbell, and the rapid extension of British conquests over 
 Georgia, were among the first consequences of this new plan 
 of warfare. South Carolina was thereby made a frontier; 
 the proximity of the enemy called for redoubled exertions to 
 be prepared for every event. 
 
 At the request of the delegates from South Carolina, Con- 
 gress appointed Major General Lincoln to take the command 
 of all their forces to the southward. This officer was second 
 in command in the campaign of 1777, when General Burgoyne 
 and his army surrendered to General Gates. He brought to 
 the southward great reputation, and there, though under many 
 disadvantages, acquired the further honor of checking the 
 British conquests, and preserving the State for upwards of 
 fifteen months against a superior enemy. His plans were 
 well formed; but his little army, mostly consisting of militia, 
 was not able to contend with superior numbers and the dis- 
 cipline of British regular troops. The continentals under his 
 command did not exceed six hundred men, and all the rest 
 of his force was made up of draughts from the inhabitants of 
 the country, changed every second or third month. 
 
 Upon advice received of the intentions of the British toin- 
 vade the southern States, President Lowndes, in order to keep 
 as great a force as possible in the country, laid on a general 
 embargo, and prohibited the sailing of vessels from any port 
 of the State. He also ordered "the proprietors of neat cattle, 
 sheep and hogs, on the sea-islands and other parts imme- 
 diately exposed to the incursions of the enemy, to remove 
 them off the said islands or exposed places, that the British 
 might be prevented from obtaining a supply of provisions." 
 And also addressed the Legislature in an animated speech of 
 which the following is a part. " Our inveterate and obdurate 
 enemy being foiled in the northern States, and by the valor 
 and good conduct of the inhabitants compelled to abandon 
 their hopes of conquest there, have turned their arms more 
 immediately against these southern States, in hopes of better 
 success. They are now in possession of Savannah, the capital 
 of Georgia, from whence, if not prevented, an easy transition 
 may be made into this country. This situation of danger, 
 gentlemen, calls for your most serious consideration. Our 
 whole force and strength should be exerted to stop the pro- 
 gress of the enemy." These spirited sentiments were re-echoed 
 
 >.>y.;J..^ 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1779. 169 
 
 by the House of Representatives in an address, of which the 
 following is a part. "That our cruel and ambitious enemies 
 should turn their arms against these southern States is a cir- 
 cumstance not unexpected. But this last nefarious struggle 
 of our desponding foes will, we trust, under the assistance of 
 Divine Providence, in the end tend more to show their impo- 
 tent malice, than the wisdom of their counsels or the valor of 
 their arms ; for that same spirit which once animated our 
 countrymen to drive them disgraced from our coasts, will 
 again be exerted to efiect the like happy consequences. We 
 conceive ourselves bound by all the difference there is between 
 the horrors of slavery and the blessings of liberty, to use every 
 means in our power to expel them from our country." 
 
 General Lincoln established his first post at Purysburgh, a 
 small village on the northern banks of the river Savannah. A 
 large proportion of the militia of the State of South Carolina 
 was draughted, put under the command of Colonel Richardson, 
 and marched for the American head quarters. Their numbers 
 Avere considerable, but they had not yet learned the implicit 
 obedience necessary for military operations. Accustomed to 
 activity on their farms, they could not bear the languors of an 
 encampment. Having grown up in habits of freedom and 
 independence on their freeholds, they reluctantly submitted to 
 martial discipline. 
 
 The royal army at Savannah, being reinforced by troops 
 from St. Augustine, its commanders formed a scheme of ex- 
 tending a part of their forces into South Carolina. Major 
 Gardiner, with two hundred men, was detached to take pos- 
 session of Port Royal Island. Soon after he landed General 
 Moultrie, at the head of an equal number of men in which 
 there were only nine regular soldiers, attacked and drove him 
 off the Island. This advantage was principally gained by 
 two field pieces which were well served by a party of the 
 Charlestown militia artillery, under the command of the Cap- 
 tains Heyward and Rutledge. The British lost almost all 
 their officers, and several prisoners were taken by a small 
 party of Port Royal militia commanded by Captain Barnwell. 
 The Americans had eight men killed, and twenty-two wounded. 
 Among the former. Lieutenant Benjamin Wilkins was the 
 theme of universal lamentation. His country regretted the 
 fall of a worthy man, and an excellent officer. A numerous 
 young family sustained a loss which to them was irreparable. 
 
 This success of the Americans checked the British, and for 
 the present prevented their attempting any enterprise against 
 South Carolina; but they extended themselves over a great 
 part of Georgia. Their next object were to strengthen them- 
 selves, by the addition of thetories. Emissaries were employed 
 
170 HISTORY OF THE HBVOLtTTION. 
 
 to encourage them to a general insurrection. Several hun- 
 dreds of them accordingly embodied and marched along the 
 western frontiers of the State. Colonel Pickins, with about 
 three hundred men, immediately followed and came up with 
 them near Kettle creek ; where an action took place which 
 lasted three quarters of an hour. The tories gave way, and 
 were totally routed. Colonel Pickins had nine men killed, 
 and several wounded. The royalists had about forty killed ; 
 in which number was their leader Colonel Boyd, who had 
 been secretly employed by British authority to collect and 
 head these insurgents. By this action the British were totally 
 disconcerted. The tories were dispersed all over the country. 
 Some ran to North Carolina, some wandered not knowing 
 whither. Many went to their homes, and cast themselves on 
 the mercy of the new government. Soon after this defeat, the 
 British retreated from Augusta towards Savannah ; and for 
 the remainder of that season the whole upper country, of both 
 South Carolina and Georgia, enjoyed domestic security. 
 
 The insurgents on this occasion were the subjects of the 
 State of South Carolina, and owed obedience to its laws. 
 They were therefore tried in a regular manner, by a jury, 
 under the direction of the Courts of Justice appointed by the 
 republican government. Seventy of them were condemned 
 to die by the laws of the State, enacted since the abolition of 
 royal government ; but the sentence of the court was executed 
 only on five of their principals, and all the rest were pardoned, 
 
 This second unsuccessful insurrection damped the spirit of 
 the tories. Their plans were ill laid, and worse executed. 
 They had no men of ability capable of giving union to their 
 force. They were disappointed in their expectations of aid 
 from the royal army, and had the mortification to see a few 
 of their ringleaders executed for treason and rebellion against 
 the State. 
 
 As the British extended their posts up the river Savannah 
 on the south side. General Lincoln fixed encampments at 
 Black Swamp and opposite to Augusta. From these posts 
 he crossed the river at Augusta and at Zubly's ferry in two 
 divisions, with the view of limiting the British to the sea 
 coast of Georgia. In the execution of this design General Ash, 
 with fifteen hundred North Carolina militia, and a few Georgia 
 continentals, crossed the Savannah river on the 28th of Feb- 
 ruary 1779; and immediately marched down the country as 
 far as Briar creek. At this place, on the fourth day after his 
 crossing, he was surprised at three o'clock in the afternoon 
 by Lieutenant-Colonel Prevost. This detachment of the royal 
 army, having crossed Briar creek fifteen miles above General 
 Ash's encampment, came unexpectedly on his rear. The 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1779. 171 
 
 American militia, completely surprised, were thrown into con- 
 fusion and fled at the first fire, Several were killed, and a 
 considerable number taken. None had any chance of escap- 
 ing but by crossing the river, in attempting which many were 
 drowned; of those who got over safe, a great part returned 
 home. The few continentals, about 60 under Colonel Elbert, 
 fought with the greatest bravery; but the survivors of them, 
 with their gallant leader, were at last compelled to surrender. 
 The whole that remained and rejoined the American camp, 
 did not exceed four hundred and fifty men. This event de- 
 prived General Lincoln of one-fourth of his numbers, and 
 opened a communication between the British, the Indians, 
 and the tories of South and North Carolina. 
 
 Unexperienced in the art of war, the Americans were fre- 
 quently subject to those reverses of fortune which usually 
 attend young soldiers. Unacquainted with military strata- 
 gems, deficient in discipline, and not thoroughly broken to 
 habits of implicit obedience, they were often surprised ; and 
 had to learn, by repeated misfortunes, the necessity of subordi- 
 nation and the advantages of discipline. Their numbers in 
 the field, to those who are acquainted with European wars, 
 must appear inconsiderable ; but such is the difference of the 
 state of society, and of the population in the old and new 
 world, that in America a few hundreds decided objects of 
 equal magnitude with those which, in European States, would 
 have called into the field many thousands. The prize con- 
 tended for was nothing less than the sovereignty of three rail- 
 lions of people, and five hundred millions of acres of land ; 
 and yet, from the remote situation of the invading power and 
 the thin population of the invaded States, this momentous 
 question was materially affected by the consequences of battles 
 in which only a few hundreds engaged. 
 
 The series of disasters which had followed the American 
 arms since the landing of the British in Georgia, occasioned 
 among the inhabitants of South Carolina many viell founded 
 apprehensions for their safety. The Assembly of the State, 
 desirous of making a vigorous opposition to the extension of 
 the British conquests, passed a very severe militia law. Hith- 
 erto the penalties for disobedience of orders were inconsidera- 
 ble, but as the defence of the country, in a great measure, 
 depended on the exertions of its inhabitants, much heavier fines 
 were imposed on those who either neglected to turn out or who 
 misbehaved or disobeyed orders. Every effort was made to 
 strengthen the continental army. Additional bounties and 
 greater emoluments were promised as inducements to encour- 
 age the recruiting service. The extent and variety of military 
 operations in the open country pointed out the advantages of 
 
172 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 cavalry ; a regiment of dragoons was, therefore, raised and 
 put under the command of Colonel Daniel Horry. 
 
 In this time of general alarm, John Rutledge,by the almost 
 unanimous voice of his countrymen, was called to the chair 
 of government. To him and his council was delegated, by 
 the Legislature, power " to do everything that appeared to 
 hirh and them necessary for the public good." In execution 
 of this trust he assembled a body of militia. This corps, 
 kept in constant readiness to march whithersoever public 
 service might require, was stationed near the centre of the 
 State, at Orangeburg. From this militia camp. Colonel Sim- 
 mons was detached with a thousand men, to re-inforce Gen- 
 eral Moultrie, at Black Swamp. The original plan of pene- 
 trating into Georgia was resumed. Lincoln marched with 
 the main army up the Savannah river, that he might give 
 confidence to the country, and lead into Georgia a body of 
 militia encamped in South Carolina, under the command of 
 General Williamson. A small force was left at Black Swamp 
 and Purysburgh, for the purpose of defending Carolina, while 
 offensive operations were about to be commenced in Georgia. 
 General Prevost availed himself of the critical time, when 
 the American army was one hundred and fifty miles up the 
 Savannah river, and crossed over into Carolina from Abercorn 
 to Purysburgh with two thousand men. In addition to this 
 number of regular troops, a party of Indians, whose friend- 
 ship the British had previously secured, were associated with 
 the royal army. Lieutenant-Colonel Macintosh, who com- 
 manded a few continentals at Purysburgh, not being able to 
 oppose this force, made a timely retreat. It was part of Pre- 
 vost's plan to attack Moultrie at Black Swamp, to effect which 
 he made a forced march the first night after he landed on the 
 Carolina side, but he was three hours too late. Moultrie had 
 changed his quarters, and being joined by Macintosh's party, 
 took post at Tiilifinny Bridge, to prevent the incursion of the 
 British intg the State and to keep between them and its 
 capital. General Lincoln, on receiving information of these 
 movements, detached Colonel Harris, with two hundred and 
 fifty of his best light troops, for Charlestown, but crossed the 
 river Savannah, near Angusta, with the main army, and 
 marched for three days down the country towards the capital 
 of Georgia. He was induced to pursue his original intention 
 from an idea that Prevost meant nothing more than to di- 
 vert him from his intended operations in Georgia, by a feint 
 of attempting the capital of South Carolina, and because his 
 marching down on the south side of the river Savannah 
 would occasion very little additional delay in repairing to the 
 defence of Charlestown. Prevost proceeded in his march by 
 
 :--^.jM 
 
CAMPAIGN or 1779. 173 
 
 the main road, near the sea coast, without opposition, as far 
 as Coosawhatchie bridge. Lieutenant-ColonelJohn Laurens, 
 with eighteen continentals and a much larger number of 
 militia, was detached to dispute this difficult pass. That gal- 
 lant officer persevered till he was wounded and had lost one- 
 half of his continentals. The British fired in security under the 
 cover of houses on the opposite bank, and had the advantage 
 of a field piece. On this, the first time of their being in 
 danger, the American militia could not be persuaded to stand 
 their ground. A retreat took place, and was conducted by 
 Captain Shubrick, over a long causeway, in the face of a 
 superior foe. 
 
 As the British army advanced into the country, they com- 
 mitted many outrages and depredations. The day before the 
 skirmish just mentioned, they burnt all the buildings on 
 Major Butler's plantation, at the Eutaws. The day after, they 
 burned the Episcopal Church, in Prince William's Parish, 
 and General Bull's house, at Sheldon. 
 
 The position of General Moultrie at Tulifinny was by no 
 means a safe one, for the British might easily have crossed 
 above him and got in his rear. A general retreat of his 
 whole force towards Charlestown was, therefore, thought ad- 
 visable. This was conducted with great propriety, though 
 under many disadvantages. Moultrie had no cavalry to 
 check the advancing foe, and, instead of receiving re-inforce- 
 ments from the inhabitants as he marched through the coun- 
 try, many of the militia left him and went home. Their 
 families and property lay directly in the route of the invading 
 army. Several, after providing for their wives and children, 
 rejoined Moultrie in Charlestown, but the greater number 
 sought security by staying on their plantations. The retreat- 
 ing Americans destroyed all the bridges in their rear, but there 
 was scarce any other interruption thrown in the way of the 
 , British in their march through the country. The absence of 
 the main army under Lincoln, the retreat of Moultrie, the 
 plundering and devastations of the invaders, and, above all, 
 the dread of the royal auxiliaries, the Indian savages, whose 
 constant practice is to murder women and children, diffused 
 a general panic among the inhabitants, and induced many of 
 them to apply to the British for their protection. New con- 
 verts to the royal standard endeavored to ingratiate themselves 
 with their protectors by representing the capital as an easy 
 conquest. This flattering prospect induced General Prevost, 
 contrary to his original intention, to pursue his march. Gov- 
 ernor Rutledge, with the militia lately encamped at Orange- 
 burg, had set out to join Moultrie at Tulifinny bridge, but, on 
 the second day of their march, advice was received of Moul- 
 
174 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 trie's retreat, and that Prevost was pushing towards Charles- 
 town. This inteUigence determined the Governor to march 
 with all the force under his command to the defence of the 
 capital. 
 
 When Prevost crossed the Savannah river, Charlestown 
 Neck was almost wholly defenceless. An invasion on the 
 land side, by an army marching through the country, was an 
 event so unexpected that no proper provision had been made 
 against it. The British did not continue their march with 
 the same rapidity with which it was begun, but halted two or 
 three days when they had advanced more than half the dis- 
 tance. In this short interval, Lieutenant-Governor Bee, and the 
 gentlemen of the council, made the greatest exertions to fortify 
 the town on the land side. All the houses in the suburbs 
 were burnt. Lines and an abbatis were, in a few days, carried 
 from Ashley to Cooper rivers. Cannon were mounted at 
 proper intervals across the whole extent of Charlestown Neck. 
 The militia in the vicinity were summoned to the defence of 
 Charlestown, and they generally obeyed. Public affairs now 
 appeared in a very singular situation. Lincoln was march- 
 ing unmolested towards the capital of Georgia, while Prevost 
 was advancing with as little interruption towards the capital 
 of South Carolina, The hurry and confusion that prevailed 
 in the State, and particularly in Charlestown, exceeds all de- 
 scription. The whole country seemed to be in motion. In 
 the north the militia were pushing for the capital. In the 
 south no less than five armies were, at the same time, but for 
 very different purposes, marching through the State. General 
 Moultrie, with a force originally 1,200, but daily diminishing, 
 was retreating before General Prevost, at the head of a British 
 army of 2,000 men. General Lincoln, vvith an American 
 army of 4,000 men, having re-crossed Savannah river, was 
 in the rear of Prevost, pursuing him with hasty strides to 
 save Charlestown, while Governor Rutledge, with 600 militia 
 men, and Colonel Harris, with a detachment of 250 conti- 
 nental troops, were both hastening, the one from Orangeburg 
 and the other from the vicinity of Augusta, to get in front of 
 Prevost, and either to re-inforce Moultrie or defend the capi- 
 tal, as circumstances might require. Moultrie, Rutledge and 
 Harris, with their respective commands, all reached Charles- 
 town on the 9th and 10th of May, the last having marched 
 nearly forty miles a day for four days successively. Their 
 arrival, together with that of the militia from the northern 
 parts of the State, gave hopes of a successful defence. 
 
 On the 11th, 900 of the British army, their main body and 
 baggage being left on the south side of Ashley river, crossed 
 the ferry, and in a few hours appeared before the lines. On 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1779. 175 
 
 the day that they marched down Charlestown Neck, the in- 
 fantry of an American legionary corps crossed Cooper river 
 and landed in Charlestown. This was commanded by Brig- 
 adier-General Count Pulaski, a Polander of high birth. The 
 men under his command had scarcely arrived two hours 
 when he led them out, and engaged the British cavalry with 
 so much resolution, that the second in command. Colonel 
 Kowatch, and most of his infantry, were killed or wounded. 
 The survivors with difficulty effected their retreat. Pulaski 
 had several successful personal rencontres with individuals of 
 the British cavalry, and on all occasions discovered the greatest 
 intrepidity. The gallant example»of this distinguished parti- 
 zan, courting danger on every occasion, had a considerable 
 influence in dispelling the general panic, and in introducing 
 military sentiments into the minds of men who had heretofore 
 been peaceable citizens. 
 
 The British advanced to Watson's, about a mile from the 
 lines. As they were unfurnished for a siege, and had nothing 
 to depend on but the chance of a sudden assault, this was 
 therefore so confidently expected that the whole garrison con- 
 tinued standing to their arms all night. That it might not be 
 made by surprise, tar barrels were lighted up in front of the 
 works. When it was dark, some fancied they saw the enemy 
 near the lines; a false alarm was instantly communicated, 
 and a general discharge of cannon, field-pieces and musketry 
 took place. By this unfortunate mistake, Major Benjamin 
 Huger, a brave officer, an able statesman, and a highly dis- 
 tinguished citizen, was killed by his countrymen. He was 
 without the lines on duty with a party, twelve of whom were 
 either killed or wounded. It was presumed by the garrison 
 that Lincoln, with the army under his command, was in close 
 pursuit of Prevost, but his present situation was unknown to 
 every person within the lines. To gain time in such circum- 
 stances was a matter of great consequence. A message was 
 sent to the British commander, requesting to be informed on 
 what terms he was disposed to grant a capitulation, to which 
 he returned an answer offering " peace and protection;" and 
 to such as declined acceptance of the same, "that they might 
 be received as prisoners of war, and their fate be decided by 
 that of the rest of the colonies. On the 12th, General Prevost 
 was' informed that his proposal was so dishonorable to the 
 garrison, that it could not be agreed to, and an interview 
 between officers from both armies was requested, to confer on 
 terms. At this interview the officers from the garrison were 
 instructed to propose — "A neutrality during the war between 
 Great Britain and America; and that the question whether 
 the State shall belong to Great Britain, or remain one of the 
 
176 HISTORr OP THE REVOLTITION. 
 
 United Sates, be determined by the treaty of peace between 
 these powers. This proposition being made to Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Prevost, acting as a commissioner in behalf of General 
 Prevost, he answered "that they did not come in a legislative 
 capacity." On a second interview, Lieutenant-Colonel Prevost 
 ended the conference by saying, "That as the garrison was in 
 arms, they must surrender prisoners of war.'' This being 
 refused, preparations were made for sustaining an immediate 
 assault. The inhabitants, as well as the regular troops, were 
 determined to stand to the lines and defend their country. 
 The next morning, the 13th, at daylight, to the great joy of 
 the whole garrison, it was resounded along the hues, "the 
 enemy is gone.'' It is probable they began their retreat im- 
 mediately after the termination of the conference, and were 
 restrained from making the threatened assault by intelligence 
 derived from an intercepted letter from Lincoln, about fifty 
 miles distant, to Moultrie in Charlestown, which was dated 
 May 10th, and concluded thus: "Pray stimulate your people 
 to every exertion for the defence of the town, until the troops 
 here can arrive. Our men are full of spirits. I think they 
 will do honor to themselves, and render service to the public. 
 Do not give up, nor suffer the people to despair." 
 
 Count Pulaski, with his cavalry, pursued the British, but 
 they had crossed Ashley river before he came to it. Expresses 
 were sent to General Lincoln to inform him of the retreat of 
 the enemy, and a thousand men were ordered to hold them- 
 selves in immediate readiness to go out to his aid. To avoid 
 being between two fires, the British filed off from the main 
 road, by which they came and took post on James Island 
 and the other islands on the sea-coast. While they were 
 encamped on James Island, their motions were constantly 
 watched from the steeple of St. Michael's church, by Peter 
 Timothy, and minutely reported to the commanding officer. 
 The British collected a number of boats, and seemed to be 
 making preparations to invade the town on its water side. 
 The inhabitants expecting an attack every night, were kept 
 in a constant state of alarm, and the little army was subdi- 
 vided into a number of small guards, posted round the town 
 to prevent a surprise. 
 
 While the British were encamped on James Island, about 
 seventy or eighty of the Americans were posted nearly opposite 
 to them, at the plantation of Mr. Matthews on John's Island. 
 On the 20th of Maya party of the troops commanded by Gen- 
 eral Prevost crossed over the narrow river which separates 
 the two islands, surprised the out-sentinel of the Americans, 
 and extorted from him the countersign. Possessed of this 
 criterion, they advanced in security to the second sentinel 
 
CAMPAIGN or 1779. 177 
 
 and bayonetted him before he could give any alarm. With- 
 out being discovered, they then surrounded the house of 
 Mr. Mathews, rushed in on the unprepared Americans, and 
 put several of them, though they made no resistance, to the 
 bayonet. Among the rest, Mr. Robert Barnwell, a young 
 gentleman who adorned a very respectable family by his many 
 virtues, good understanding and sweetness of manners, re- 
 ceived no less than seventeen wounds; but he had the good 
 fortune to recover from them all, and still lives an ornament 
 to his country. The British having completed this business, 
 burned the house of Mr. Mathews. 
 
 The British and American armies encamped within thirty 
 miles of Charlestown, watching each other's motions, till the 
 20th of June, when an attack was made on the part of the 
 British army, entrenched at Stono ferry. A feint was to have 
 been made from James Island with a body of militia from 
 Charlestown, at the same time that General Lincoln began 
 the attack from the main; but from mismanagement, and a 
 delay in providing boats, the militia from Charlestown did 
 not reach their place of destination till several hours after the 
 action. The American army consisted of about twelve hun- 
 dred men. The British force consisted of six or seven hun- 
 dred men. They had three redoubts, with a line of commu- 
 nication, and field pieces very advantageously posted in the 
 intervals, and the whole secured with an abbatis. That they 
 might be harassed or lulled into security, for several nights 
 preceding the action they were alarmed by small parties. 
 When the real attack was made, two companies of the Seven- 
 ty-first regiment saUied out to support the pickets. Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Henderson ordered his light-infantry to charge 
 them, on which they instantly retreated. Only nine of their 
 number got safe within their lines. All the men at the 
 British field pieces between their redoubts, were either killed 
 or wounded. The attack was continued for an hour and 
 twenty minutes, and the assailants had manifestly the advan- 
 tage; yet the appearance of a reinforcement, to prevent which 
 the feint from James Island was intended, made a retreat 
 necessary. 
 
 The loss of the Americans on this occasion, in killed and 
 wounded was about one hundred and fifty. Among the 
 former was the gallant Colonel Roberts, whose superior abili- 
 ties as an artillery officer, commanded the approbation of his 
 countrymen, and rendered his early fall the subject of uni- 
 versal regret. 
 
 Soon after this attack, the American militia, impatient of 
 absence from their plantations, generally returned to their 
 homes. About the same time the British left the islands in 
 12 
 
178 HisTORr or the revolution. 
 
 the vicinity of Charlestown, retreating from one to anotiier 
 till they arrived at Port Royal and Savannah. The sea-coast 
 of South CaroUna, to the southward of Charlestown, is so 
 chequered with islands and intersected with creeks and 
 marshes, as to make the movements of an army extremely 
 difficult. The British were much better provided with boats 
 than the Americans, and therefore could retire with expedition 
 and safety. Various projects were attempted to enable Gen- 
 eral Lincoln to pursue them. Boats on wheel-carriages, so 
 constructed as to suit the variegated face of the country, were 
 proposed ; but before anything of this sort could be completed, 
 the British had retreated to places of security. 
 
 This incursion into South Carolina, and subsequent retreat, 
 contributed very little to the advancement of the royal cause; 
 but it added much to the wealth of the officers, soldiers, and 
 followers of the British army, and still more to the distresses 
 of the inhabitants. The forces under the command of Gen- 
 eral Prevost marched though the richest settlements of the 
 State, where are the fewest white inhabitants in proportion to 
 the number of slaves. The hapless Africans, allured with 
 hopes of freedom, forsook their owners and repaired in great 
 numbers to the royal army. They endeavored to recommend 
 themselves to their new masters by discovering where their 
 owners had concealed their property, and were assisting in 
 carrying it off. All subordination being destroyed, they be- 
 came insolent and rapacious, and in some instances exceeded 
 the British in their plunderings and devastations. Collected 
 in great crowds near the royal army, they were seized with 
 the camp fever in such numbers that they could not be ac- 
 commodated either with proper lodgings or attendance. The 
 British carried out of the State, it is supposed, about three 
 thousand slaves, many of whom were shipped from Georgia 
 and East Florida, and sold in the West Indies. When the 
 the British retreated, they had accumulated so much plunder 
 that they had not' the means of removing the whole of it 
 The vicinity of the American army made them avoid the 
 main land, and go off in great precipitation from one island 
 to another. Many of the horses which they had collected 
 from the inhabitants were lost in ineffectual attempts to trans- 
 port them over the rivers and marshes. For want of a suffi- 
 cient number of boats, a considerable part of the negroes were 
 left behind. They had been so thoroughly impressed by the 
 British with the expectation of the severest treatment, and 
 even of certain death from their owners, in case of their re- 
 turning home, that in order to get off with the retreating army 
 they would sometimes fasten themselves to the sides of the 
 boats. To prevent this dangerous practice, the fingers of some 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1779. 179 
 
 of them were chopped oif, and soldiers were posted with cut- 
 lasses and bayonets to oblige them to keep at a proper dis- 
 tance. Many of them, laboring under diseases, afraid to return 
 home, forsaken by their new masters, and destitute of the 
 necessaries of life, perished in the woods. Those who got off 
 with the army were collected on Otter Island, where the camp 
 fever continued to rage. Without medicine, attendance, or 
 the comforts proper for the sick, some hundreds of them 
 expired. Their dead bodies, as they lay exposed in the 
 woods, were devoured by beasts and birds, and to this day 
 the island is strewed with their bones. The British carried 
 with them several rice-barrels full of plate, and household 
 furniture in large quantities, which they had taken from the 
 inhabitants. They had spread over a considerable extent of 
 country, and small parties visited almost every house, strip- 
 ping it of whatever was most valuable, and riiling the in- 
 habitants of their money, rings, jewels, and other personal 
 ornaments. The repositories of the dead were in several 
 places opened, and the grave itself searched for hidden treas- 
 ure.* Feather-beds were ripped open for the sake of the 
 ticking. Windows, china-ware, looking-glasses and pictures 
 were dashed to pieces. Not only the larger domestic animals 
 were cruelly and wantonly shot down, but the licentiousness 
 of the soldiery extended so far that, in several places, nothing 
 within their reach, however small and insignificant, was suf- 
 fered to live. The gardens which had been improved with 
 great care, and ornamented with many foreign productions, 
 were laid waste, and their nicest curiosities destroyed. The 
 houses of the planters were seldom burnt, but in every other 
 way the destruction and depredations committed by the Bri- 
 tish were enormous. 
 
 Soon after the affair at Stono, on the 20th of June, the con- 
 tinental forces under the command of General Lincoln retired 
 to Sheldon. Both armies remained in their respective encamp- 
 ments till the arrival of the French fleet on the coast roused 
 the whole country to immediate activity. 
 
 After the conquest of Grenada, in the summer of 1779, 
 Count D'Estaing with the force under his command retired to 
 Cape Fran9ois. Thence he sailed for the American continent 
 and arrived early in September with a fleet consisting of twenty 
 sail of the line, two of fifty guns, and eleven frigates. As 
 soon as his arrival on the coast was known, General Lincoln, 
 with the army under his command, marched for Savannah; 
 
 * Several of the first settlers of Carolina laid off spots of ground on their plan- 
 tations for the interment of their dead, when there were no, or very few, public 
 church yards. These private cemeteries are still used by their descendants and 
 others for the same purpose. 
 
180 HISTORY or THE REVOLXTTION. 
 
 and orders were issued for the militia of South Carolina and 
 Georgia to rendezvous immediately near the same place. The 
 British were equally diligent in preparing for their defence. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, who had a small command at 
 Sunbury, and Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, who was in force 
 at Beaufort, were ordered to repair to Savannah. Count 
 D'Estaing made repeated declarations, that he could not re- 
 main more than fifteen days on shore. Nevertheless the fall 
 of Savannah was considered as certain. It was generally be- 
 lieved that in a few days the British would be stripped of all 
 their southern possessions. Flushed with these romantic 
 hopes, the militia turned out with a readiness that far sur- 
 passed their exertions in the preceding campaign. Every aid 
 was given from Charlestown, by sending small vessels to assist 
 the French in their landing ; but as the large ships of Count 
 D'Estaing could not come near the shore, this was notefiected 
 till the 12th of September. On the 16th, Savannah was sum- 
 moned to surrender. The garrison requested twenty-four 
 hours to consider of an answer. This request was made with 
 a view of gaining time for the detatchment at Beaufort, com- 
 manded by Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, to join the royal 
 army in Savannah. An enterprise was undertaken to prevent 
 this junction, but it proved unsuccessful. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Maitland pushed through by Dawfuskies, dragged his boats 
 through a gut, and joined Prevost before the time granted for 
 preparing an answer to D'Estaing's summons had elapsed. 
 The arrival of such a reinforcement, and especially of the 
 brave Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, determined the garrison 
 to risk an assault. The French and Americans, who formed 
 a junction the evening after, were therefore reduced to the ne- 
 cessity of storming or of besieging the garrison. On the even- 
 ing of the 23d they broke ground. On the 4th of Octoberthe 
 besiegers opened with nine mortars, thirty-seven pieces of 
 cannon from the land side, and sixteen from the water. These 
 continued to play with short intervals for four or five days, but 
 without any considerable efl'ect. 
 
 It was determined to make an assault. This measure was 
 forced on D'Estaing by his marine officers, who had remon- 
 strated against his continuing to risk so valuable a fleet in its 
 present unrepaired condition on such a dangerous coast in the 
 hurricane season, and at so great a distance from the shore 
 that it might be surprised by a British fleet. In a few days the 
 lines of the besiegers might have been carried into the works 
 of the besieged ; but under these critical circumstances no 
 further delay could be admitted. To assault or to raise the 
 seige was the only alternative. Prudence would have dic- 
 tated the latter ; but a sense of honor determined to adopt the 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 181 
 
 former. The morning of the 9th of October was fixed upon 
 for the attack. Two feints were made with the country 
 miUtia; and a real attack on the Spring Hill battery with 
 2,500 French troops, 600 continentals, and 350 of the Charles- 
 town militia, led by Count D'Estaing and General Lincoln. 
 They marched up to the hnes with great boldness; but a 
 heavy and well directed fire from the batteries, and a cross fire 
 from the galleys did such execution as threw the front of the 
 column into confusion. A general retreat of the assailants 
 took place after they had stood the enemy's fire for fifty-five 
 minutes. Count D'Estaing received two wounds; 637 of his 
 troops, and 257 continentals were killed or wounded ; of the 
 350 Charlestown militia, who were in the hottest of the fire, 
 six were wounded and Captain Shepherd killed. The force of 
 the garrison was between two and three thousand, of which 
 about one hundred and fifty were militia. The damage sus- 
 tained by the besieged was trifling as they fired under cover, 
 and few of the assailants fired at all. Immediately after this 
 unsuccessful assault, the militia almost universally went to 
 their homes. Count D'Estaing re-embarked his troops, artillery 
 and baggage, and left the continent ; and General Lincoln's 
 army marched to Charlestown. 
 
 Thus ended the campaign of 1779, without anything de- 
 cisive on either side. After one year, in which the I?ritish had 
 overrun the State of Georgia for one hundred and fifty miles 
 from the coast and hadpelietrated as far as the lines of Charles- 
 town, they were reduced to their original limits in Savannah. 
 All their schemes of co-operation with the tories had failed, 
 and the spirits of that class of the inhabitants, by repeated 
 disappointments, were thoroughly broken. The arrival of the 
 French fleet protracted the execution of a plan formed for 
 turning the force of the war against the southern States. The 
 want of success in the attack on Savannah induced the British 
 commander in New York, soon after Count D'Estaing's depart- 
 ure, to resume it. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Campaign of 1780. 
 
 No sooner was the departure of the French fleet from the 
 coast of America known at New York, than Sir Henry Clinton 
 set on foot a grand expedition against Charlestown. The cam- 
 paigns of 1778 and 1775 to the northward, had produced 
 nothing of importance. But he regaled himself with flat- 
 tering prospects of more easy conquests among the weaker 
 States. The almost uninterrupted march of General Prevost 
 
182 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 through the richest parts of South Carolina to the gates of the 
 capital; the conduct of the planters who, on that occasion, 
 were more attentive to secure their property by submission, 
 than to defend it by resistance, together with the recent suc- 
 cessful defence of Savannah, all invited the British arms to the 
 southward. 
 
 Unfortunately for Carolina, the most formidable attack was 
 made on her capital, at a time when she was least able to de- 
 fend it. In 1776 a vote of her new government stamped a 
 value on her bills of credit, which in 1780 could not be affixed 
 to twenty times as much of the same nominal currency. At 
 this important juncture, when the public service needed the 
 largest supplies, the paper bills of credit were of the least 
 value. To a want of money was added a want of men. The 
 militia were exhausted with an uninterrupted continuance of 
 hard duty. The winter, to others a time of repose, had been 
 to them a season for most active exertions. The dread of the 
 small pox which, after seventeen years absence, was known to 
 be in Charlestown, discouraged many from repairing to the 
 defence of the capital. The six continental regiments, on the 
 South Carolina establishment, in the year 1777, consisting of 
 2,400 men ; but in the year 1780 they were so much reduced 
 by death, desertion, battles, and the expiration of their terms 
 of service, that they did not exceed 800. Government had 
 neither the policy to forgive aor the courage to punish the 
 numbers who, in the preceding campaign, deserting their 
 country's cause, had repaired for protection to the royal stand- 
 ard of General Prevost. They who stayed at home and sub- 
 mitted, generally saved some part of their property. They 
 who continued with the American army were plundered of 
 everything that could be carried away, and deprived of the 
 remainder as far as was possible by wanton destruction. 
 After events of this kind, it was no easy matter to call forth 
 the militia from their homes to the defence of Charlestown. 
 The repulse at Savannah, impressed the inhabitants with high 
 ideas of the power of Britain. The impossibility of a retreat 
 from an invested town, created in many an aversion from hnes 
 and ramparts. The presence of Sir Henry Clinton whOj as 
 Commander-in-Chief, could order what reinforcements he 
 pleased, and who would naturally wish by something bril- 
 liant to etface the remembrance of his defeat in 1776, concurred 
 with the causes already mentioned to dispirit the country. 
 The North Carolina and Virginia continentals, amounting to 
 1,500 men, and also two frigates, a twenty-gun ship, and a 
 sloop-of-war, were ordered from the northward for the defence 
 of Charlestown. This was all the aid that could be expected 
 from Congress. The resolution was nevertheless unanimously 
 
CAMPAIGN OP 1780. 183 
 
 taken, in a full house of assembly, to defend the town to the 
 last extremity. 
 
 The royal army, destined for the reduction of Charlestown, 
 embarked at New York on the 26th of December 1779. They 
 had a tedious and difficult passage, in which they sustained 
 great damage. This, with their touching at Savannah, made 
 it as late as the 11th of February, 1780, before they landed at 
 the distance of thirty miles from Charlestown. The Assem- 
 bly, then sitting, immediately broke up, and delegated, "till 
 ten days after their next session, to the Governor, John Rut- 
 ledge, and such of his council as he could conveniently consult, 
 a power to do everything necessary for the public good, except 
 the taking away the hfe of a citizen without a legal trial." In- 
 vested with this authority, he immediately ordered the militia to 
 rendezvous. Though the necessity was great, few obeyed the 
 pressing call. A proclamation was soon after issued, " re- 
 quiring such of the militia as were regularly draughted, and 
 all the inhabitants and owners of property in the town, to re- 
 pair to the American standard, and join the garrison imme- 
 diately, under pain of confiscation." This severe, though ne- 
 cessary measure, produced very little effect. Had Sir Henry 
 Clinton pushed immediately for the town, he might have pos- 
 sessed himself of it in four days after his landing; but that 
 cautious commander adopted the slow method of a regular 
 investiture. At Wappoo, on James Island, he formed a depot 
 and erected fortifications, both on that island and on the main, 
 opposite to the southern and western extremities of the town. 
 On the 29th of March he passed Ashley river, and the third 
 day after broke ground at the distance of eleven hundred 
 yards, and at successive periods erected five batteries on 
 Charlestown Neck. The garrison was equally assiduous in 
 preparing for their defence. The works that had been thrown 
 up in the spring of the year 1779, were strengthened and ex- 
 tended. Lines of defence and redoubts were continued 
 across Charlestown Neck from Cooper to Ashley river. In front 
 of the lines was a strong abbatis, and a wet ditch picketted on 
 the nearest side. Between the abbatis and the lines deep 
 holes were dug at short distances from each other. The lines 
 were made particularly strong on the right and left, and so 
 constructed as to rake the wet ditch in almost its whole extent 
 In the centre a strong citadel was erected. Works were 
 thrown up on all sides of the town where a landing was prac- 
 ticable. The continentals, with the Charlestown battalion of 
 artillery, manned the lines in front of the British on the Neck 
 between Ashley and Cooper rivers. The works on South 
 Bay and other parts of the town, not immediately exposed to 
 danger, were defended by the militia. The marine force of 
 
184 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 the State had been increased by converting four schooners 
 into galhes, and by the armed ships Bricole and Truite, 
 which for that purpose had been lately purchased from the 
 French. The inferior numbers of the garrison forbade any 
 attempts to oppose Sir Henry Clinton before his landing on 
 the main. Immediately after which Lieutenant-ColonelJohn 
 Laurens, with a corps of light infantry, briskly attacked his 
 advanced guards. In this skirmish. Captain Bowman was 
 killed. Major Hyrne, and seven privates wounded. Though 
 the lines were no more than field works, yet Sir Henry treated 
 them with the respectful homage of three parallels, and made 
 his advances with the greatest circumspection. From the 
 third to the tenth of April, the first parallel was completed, 
 and immediately after, the town was summoned to surrender. 
 On the 12th, the batteries were opened, and an almost inces- 
 sant fire kept up. 
 
 A British fleet, commanded by Admiral Arbuthnot consist- 
 ing of the Renown of fifty guns, the Romulus and Roebuck 
 each of forty-four, the Richmond, Le Blonde, Raleigh, Vir- 
 ginia, each of thirty-two guns, and the Sandwich armed ship, 
 crossed the bar in front of Rebellion road on the 20th of March, 
 and anchored in Five Fathom Hole. The force opposed to 
 this was the Bricole of forty-four guns, the Providence and 
 Boston, each of thirty- two guns, the Queen of France of twenty- 
 eight, L'Avanture and the Truite, each of twenty-six, the 
 Ranger and brig General Lincoln, each of twenty, and the 
 brig Notre Dame of sixteen guns. The first object of Commo- 
 dore Whipple, who commanded the American naval force, 
 was to prevent Admiral Arbuthnot from crossing the bar; but 
 on the near approach of the British fleet he retreated to fort 
 Moultrie, and in a few days after to Charlestown. The crews 
 and guns of all his vessels, except the Ranger, were put on 
 shore to reinforce the batteries. On the 9th of April Admiral 
 Arbuthnot weighed anchor at Five Fathom Hole, and taking 
 advantage of a strong southerly wind, and flowing tide, passed 
 fort Moultrie without stopping to engage it. Colonel Pin ckney, 
 who commanded on Sullivan's Island, with three hundred 
 men, kept up a brisk and severe fire on the ships in their pas- 
 sage. Twenty-seven seamen were killed or wounded. The 
 Richmond's fore-topmast was shot away, and the ships in 
 general sustained damage. The Acetus transport ran aground 
 near Haddrell's point. Captain Gadsden, detached with two 
 field-pieces, fired into her with such effect that the crew set 
 her on fire, and retreated in boats to the other vessels. The 
 royal fleet came to anchor, in about two hours, near the re- 
 mains of fort Johnson on James Island, within long shot of 
 the town batteries. To prevent their running up Cooper river, 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 185 
 
 from which they might have enfiladed the lines, was the next 
 object. With this intention eleven vessels had been sunk in 
 the channel opposite to the Exchange. The Ranger frigate 
 and two galleys were stationed to the northward of it, to co- 
 operate with the batteries on shore in defending these obstruc- 
 tions, and to attack any armed vessels that might force a pas- 
 sage through Hog-Island channel. 
 
 Though the greatest exertions had been made by the gen- 
 tlemen in power to reinforce the garrison, and to strengthen 
 the lines, yet their endeavors were not seconded by the people. 
 No more country militia could be brought into the town, and 
 very few could be persuaded to embody in the country. Seven 
 hundred continentals, commanded by General Woodford, who 
 had marched five hundred miles in twenty-eight days, arrived 
 in Charlestown on the 10th of April. This was the only re- 
 inforcement the garrison received during the siege, though 
 the communication between the town and country was open 
 until the middle of April. 
 
 The fire of the besiegers soon discovered itself to be much 
 superior to that of the beseiged. The former had the advan- 
 tage of twenty-one mortars and royals; the latter only of two. 
 While the lines of approach advanced with such rapidity that 
 the second parallel, at the distance of three hundred yards, 
 was completed on the 20th, the lines of the beseiged in many 
 places sustained great damage. On the 14th, the American 
 cavalry, as shall be more particularly hereafter related, was 
 surprised at Monk's Corner, and totally routed. The British 
 immediately extended themselves to the eastward of Cooper 
 river, and took post with two hundred and fifty cavalry, and 
 five hundred infantry, in the vicinity of Wappetaw. On the 
 16th General Lincoln called a council of officers, who were 
 of opinion that the weak state of the garrison made it impro- 
 per to detach a number sufficient to attack this separate corps. 
 The only practicable route of an evacuation was to the right 
 of the town. To deter Lincoln from attempting this change 
 of position, the British continued to extend and increase their 
 force in that quarter. On the 20th and 21st, a council of 
 officers was again called to deliberate on the important sub- 
 ject of an evacuation. They were of opinion, " that it was 
 unadvisable, because of the opposition made to it by the civil 
 authority and the inhabitants, and because, even if they should 
 succeed in defeating a large body of the enemy posted in their 
 way, they had not a sufficiency of boats to cross the Santee 
 before they might be overtaken by the whole British army." 
 The council of war recommended a capitulation with the be- 
 siegers as the most eligible mode of eflTecting the desired evac- 
 uation. In this it was proposed that the security of the in- 
 
186 HISTORY or THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 habitants, and a safe unmolested retreat for the garrison, with 
 baggage and field-pieces to the northeast of Charlestown, 
 should be granted on the part of Sir Henry Clinton, as an 
 equivalent for the quiet possession of the town, its fortifications 
 and dependencies. These terms were instantly rejected, and 
 from that time the dispirited garrison made a languid resistance. 
 The inferior numbers of the besieged forbade repeated sal- 
 lies. The only one made during the siege was on the 24th 
 of April, soon after the rejection of the offered terms of capit- 
 ulation. This was conducted by Lieutenant-Colonel Hen- 
 derson, who led out two hundred men, and attacked the ad- 
 vanced working-party of the British, killed several, and took 
 eleven prisoners. In this affair Captain Moultrie, of the South 
 Carolina line, was killed. The only plan now left for an 
 evacuation, was to withdraw privately under cover of the night. 
 A council of war held on the 26th pronounced this measure 
 impracticable with the present numbers of the garrison. While 
 General Lincoln was pressed with these difficulties, the British 
 flag was seen flying on fort Moultrie. After the ships had 
 passed Sullivan's Island, Colonel Pinckney, with one hundred 
 and fifty of the men under his command, was withdrawn 
 from that post to reinforce the besieged army in Charlestown. 
 The feeble remainder of that garrison, mostly militia, on the 
 6th of May surrendered without firing a gun, to Captain Hud- 
 son of the British navy. On the next day Sir Henry Chnton 
 began a correspondence, and renewed his former terms. At 
 this time all the flesh-provisions of the garrison were not 
 sufficient to furnish rations for the space of a week. There 
 was no prospects either of reinforcements, or of supplies from 
 the country. The engineers gave it as their opinion that the 
 lines could not be defended ten days longer, and that they 
 might at any time be carried by assault in ten minutes. The 
 same obstacles in the way of an evacuation still existed with 
 increased force. General Lincoln was disposed to close with 
 the terms offered, as far as they respected his army; but some 
 demur was made in behalf of the citizens. Sir Henry Chnton 
 insisted on their being all prisoners on parole. He also evaded 
 any determinate answer to the article which requested leave 
 for those who did not choose to submit to the British govern- 
 ment, to sell their estates and leave the province. The royal- 
 ists in the State having had this indulgence at all times since 
 the abolition of regal government, it was hoped that on a pro- 
 per representation of these matters, in a free Conference, the 
 generosity of the beseigers would soften their demands. This 
 Conference was asked by General Lincoln, without directly 
 refusing what was offered. Contrary to the expectation of the 
 besieged, an answer was returned that hostilities should re- 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 187 
 
 commence at eight o'clock. When that hour arrived the 
 most vigorous onset of the besiegers was immediately expected 
 by the garrison. But instead of this neither army fired a gun 
 for some time. Both seemed to dread the consequences of an 
 assault, and to wish for a continuance of the truce, and a re- 
 consideration of the proposed articles. At nine P. M., firing 
 commenced from the garrison, and was kept up on both sides 
 for several hours with unusual briskness, and did more exe- 
 cution than had taken place in the same length of time since 
 the commencement of the siege. Shells and carcasses were 
 thrown incessantly into almost all parts of the town. Several 
 houses were burnt, and many more were with difficulty saved. 
 By this time the British had completed their third parallel. 
 Besides the cannon and mortars which played on the garrison 
 at the distance of less than a hundred yards, rifles were fired 
 by the Hessian jagers with such etfect, that very few escaped 
 who showed themselves above the lines. On the 11th the 
 British crossed the wet ditch by Sap, and advanced within 
 twenty-five yards of the lines of the besieged. On this day 
 petitions were presented from a great majority of the inhabi- 
 tants, and of the country militia, praying General Lincoln to 
 accede to the terms oiFered by Sir Henry Clinton. Under these 
 circumstances Lincoln found it necessary to assent to the 
 articles as proposed without any conference or explanation. 
 
 This was the first instance in the American war of an at- 
 tempt to defend a town ; and the unsuccessful event, with its 
 consequences, makes it probable that if this method had been 
 generally adopted the independence of America could not have 
 been so easily supported. 
 
 Much censure was undeservedly cast on General Lincoln 
 for risking his army within the lines. Though the contrary 
 plan was undoubtedly the best in general, yet he had particu- 
 lar reasons to justify his deviation from the example of the 
 illustrious Commander-in-Chief of the American army. The 
 reinforcements promised him were fully sufficient for the 
 security of the town. The Congress and the governments of 
 North and South Carolina gave him ground to count upon 
 nine thousand nine hundred men. From a variety of causes, 
 some of which have been already stated, this paper army, in- 
 cluding the militia of both Carolinas, was very little more than 
 one-third of that number. Notwithstanding this unfortunate 
 termination of his command in the southern district, great 
 praise is due to General Lincoln for his judicious and spirited 
 conduct, in bafiling, for three months, the greatly superior force 
 of Sir Henry Clinton and Admiral Arbuthnot. Though Charles- 
 town and the southern army were lost, yet, by their long pro- 
 tracted defence, the British plans were not only retarded, but 
 
188 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 deranged; and North Carolina, as will hereafter be made evi- 
 dent, was saved for the remainder of the year 1780. 
 
 The return of prisoners transmitted by Sir Henry Clinton, 
 on the surrender of Charlestown, was very large. It compre- 
 hended everv adult free man of the town, between two and 
 three thousand sailors who had been taken from the shipping 
 and put into the batteries, and the militia of both Carolinas, 
 then in garrison. These swelled the number to upwards of 
 5,000, and afforded ample materials for a splendid account 
 of the importance of the conquest ; but the real number of 
 the privates of the continental army was 1,977, and of these 
 500 were in the hospitals. The number of the captive officers 
 was also great. During the thirty days of the siege, only 
 twenty American soldiers deserted. The militia and sailors 
 were stationed in those batteries which were not much ex- 
 posed, and therefore they suffered very little. Of the conti- 
 nentals who manned the lines in front of the besiegers, eighty- 
 nine were killed, and one hundred and thirty-eight wounded; 
 among the former were Colonel Parker, an officer who had 
 often distinguished himself by his gallantry and good con- 
 duct, and Captain Peyton, both of the Virginia line ; Philip' 
 Neyle, Aid-de-Camp to General Moultrie; Captains Mitchel 
 and Templeton, and Lieutenant Gilbank. The Charlestown 
 militia artillery, who were stationed at the lines and did equal 
 duty with the continentals, had three men killed ; Adjutant 
 Warham and seven privates wounded; about twenty of the 
 inhabitants who remained in their houses, were killed by ran- 
 dom-shot in the town. Upwards of thirty houses were burnt, 
 and many others greatly damaged. 
 
 After the British took possession of the town, the arms 
 taken from the army and inhabitants, amounting to five 
 thousand, were lodged in a laboratory near a large quantity 
 of cartridges and of loose powder. By the imprudence of 
 the guard in snapping the guns and pistols, this powder took 
 fire, blew up the house, dispersed the burning fragments of 
 it, which set fire to and destroyed the workhouse, the jail and 
 the old barracks. The British guard, consisting of fifty men, 
 stationed at this place, was destroyed, and their mangled 
 bodies dashed by the violent explosion against the neighbor- 
 ing houses in Archdale street. Several persons in the vicinity 
 shared the same fate. Many of the fire-arms were loaded; 
 they, with the cartridges going ofi", sent the instruments of 
 death in all directions. Upwards of a hundred persons lost 
 their lives on this occasion. 
 
 In the tedious and difficult winter passage of the royal army 
 from New York to Charlestown, the horses destined to mount 
 the British cavalry were lost. Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, 
 
CAMPAIGN or 1780, 189 
 
 after he landed, in a little time obtained a fresh supply and 
 began the career of his victories. Soon after he had procured 
 horses to mount his cavalry, he joined a body of about a 
 thousand men, who had marched through the country from 
 Savannah, under the command of General Patterson. On 
 the 18th of March, 1780, a detachment from his corps sur- 
 prised a party of American militia, about eighty in number, 
 at Saltcatcher bridge, killed and wounded several of them and 
 dispersed the remainder. Five days after, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Tarleton, with his legion, fell in with another small party of 
 mounted militia, near Ponpon, who immediately retreated. 
 In the pursuit, three were killed, one wounded, and four taken 
 prisoners. His next rencontre was on the 27th with Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Washington, at the head of his regular corps 
 of horse, between the ferry on Ashley river and Rantowle's 
 bridge, on Stono. The Americans had the advantage, took 
 seven prisoners and drove back the cavalry of the British 
 legion; but for want of infantry, durst not pursue them. At 
 the beginning of the siege, General Lincoln ordered the regular 
 cavalry, amounting to three hundred men, to keep the field; 
 and the country militia were ordered to act as infantry in 
 their support. The militia, on various pretences, refused to 
 attach themselves to the cavalry. This important body of 
 horse, which was intended to cover the country, and keep 
 open a communication between it and the town, was surprised 
 on the 14th of April, at Monk's corner, by a strong party of 
 British, led by Lieutenant-Colonels Tarleton and Webster. 
 A negro slave, for a sum of money, conducted the British 
 from Goose creek, in the night, through unfrequented paths. 
 About twenty-five of the Americans were killed or taken. 
 They who escaped, were obliged for several days to conceal 
 themselves in the swamps. Upwards of thirty horses were 
 lost, and became a seasonable supply to the British, who were 
 but badly mounted. After this catastrophe, all armed parties 
 of Americans, for some time, abandoned that part of the State 
 which lies to the southward of Santee. 
 
 Soon after this surprise. Colonel Anthony Walton White 
 arrived, and took the command of the remains of the cavalrjr. 
 At the head of this corps, mounted a second time with great 
 difficulty, he crossed to the southward of the Santee, and, on 
 the 6th of May, 1780, came up with a small British party, 
 took them prisoners and conducted them to Lanneau's ferry. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, with a party of horse, was dis- 
 patched to the ferry and arrived there in a few minutes after 
 the American cavalry, and instantly charged them with a su- 
 perior force. From the want of boats and of infantry, a re- 
 treat was impracticable, and resistance unavailing. A route 
 
190 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 took place. Major Call and seven others, escaped on horse- 
 back, by urging their way through the advancing British cav- 
 alry. Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, Major Jameson, and 
 five or six privates, saved themselves by swimming across the 
 Santee. About thirty were killed, wounded, or taken. The 
 remainder got off by concealing themselves in the swamps. 
 The British prisoners, who were in a boat crossing the river, 
 being called upon by their friends to come back, rose on their 
 guard and were released. 
 
 After the landing of the British in 1780, depredations sim- 
 ilar to those alread}'' described, recommenced. As the reduc- 
 tion of Carolina was then confidently expected, they did not 
 commit such wanton wastes as General Prevost's army ; but 
 it is hard to tell which exceeded the other in plundering. As 
 the royal army of 1780 was much more numerous, and ex- 
 tended over the country on all sides of Charlestown, and had 
 the convenience of a large fleet on the coast to carry off their 
 spoil, they made much greater collections of bulky articles. 
 They possessed themselves in particular of indigo to the valueof 
 many thousand dollars. From mistaken policy, the merchants 
 and others had stored the greater part of their commodities 
 without the lines, and very often on or near the water. These 
 collections very generally fell into the hands of the conque- 
 rors. The British, on this occasion, plundered by system, 
 formed a general stock, and appointed commissaries of cap- 
 tures. Spoil collected this way was disposed of for the benefit 
 of the royal army. The quantity brought to market was so 
 great that, though it sold uncommonly low, yet the dividend 
 of a Major General was upwards of four thousand British 
 guineas. The private plunder of individuals, on their separate 
 account, was often more than their proportion of the public 
 stock. Over and above what was sold in Carolina, several vessels 
 were sent abroad to market, loaded with rich spoil, taken from 
 the inhabitants. Upwards of two thousand plundered negroes 
 were shipped oif at one embarkation. Several private gentle- 
 men lost in the invasions of 1779 and 1780, from five hundred 
 to two thousand dollars worth of plate, and other property in 
 proportion. The slaves a second time flocked to the British 
 army, and, being crowded together, were visited by the camp 
 fever. The small pox, which had not been in the province 
 for seventeen years, broke out among them, and spread rap- 
 idly. From these two diseases, and the impossibility of their 
 being provided with proper accommodations and attendance 
 in the British encampments, great numbers of them died, and 
 were left un buried in the woods. 
 
 Never did any people more mistake their true interest than 
 the inhabitants of South Carohna, in permitting the British 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 191 
 
 to obtain foothold in their country. Exhausted with the 
 fatigues, and impoverished by the consequences of a war into 
 which they had been gradually drawn, without any intention 
 originally of pushing it so far, some flattered themselves that 
 the reduction of Charlestown would terminate their sufierings; 
 but that event proved to them the commencement of still 
 greater evils. 
 
 The capital having surrendered, the next object was to se- 
 cure the general submission of the inhabitants. To this end 
 the victors posted garrisons in ditferent parts of the country, 
 and marched with a large body of their troops over the Santee 
 towards that extremity of the State which borders on the 
 most populous settlements of North Carolina. This caused 
 an immediate retreat of some parties of Americans who had 
 advanced into the upper parts of South Carolina, with the 
 expectation of relieving Charlestown. Among the corps which 
 had come forward with that view, there was one commanded 
 by Colonel Buford, which consisted of three or four hundred 
 continental infantry and a few horsemen. Colonel Tarleton, 
 with about seven hundred horse and foot, was dispatched in 
 quest of this party. That enterprising officer, having mounted 
 his infantry, marched one hundred miles in fifty-four hours, 
 came up with them at the Waxhaws, and demanded their 
 surrender on terms similar to those granted to the continentals, 
 taken in Charlestown. This being refused, an action imme- 
 diately ensued. Buford committed two capital mistakes in 
 this affair. One was his sending his wagons and artillery 
 away before the engagement. The wagons might have served 
 as a breast-work to defend his men against the attacks of the 
 cavalry. Another mistake was ordering his men not to fire 
 till the enemy were within ten yards. A single discharge 
 made but little impression on the advancing British horse- 
 men. Before it could be repeated, the assailants were in con- 
 tact with their adversaries, cutting them down with their 
 sabres. The Americans, finding resistance useless, sued for 
 quarters, but their submission produced no cessation of hos- 
 tilities. Some of them, after they had ceased to resist, lost 
 their hands, others their arms, and almost every one was 
 mangled with a succession of wounds. The charge was 
 urged till five in six of the whole number of the Americans 
 were, by Tarleton's official account of this bloody scene, 
 either killed or so badly wounded as to be incapable of being 
 moved from the field of battle; and by the same account this 
 took place, though they made such ineffectual opposition as 
 only to kill five and wound twelve of the British. Lord 
 Cornwallis bestowed on Tarleton the highest encomiums for 
 this enterprise, and recommended him in a special manner to 
 
192 HISTORY OF THE. KEVOLUTION. 
 
 royal favor. This barbarous massacre gave a more san- 
 guinary turn to the war. Tarleton's quarters became pro- 
 verbial, and in the subsequent battles a spirit of revenge gave 
 a keener edge to military resentments. 
 
 This total route of all the continental troops of the southern 
 States, which were not made prisoners by the capitulation of 
 Charlestown, together with the universal panic occasioned by 
 the surrender of that capital, suspended for about six weeks 
 all military opposition to the progress of the British army. 
 In this hour of distress, to the friends of independence the 
 royal commander, by proclamation, denounced the extremity 
 of vengeance against those of the inhabitants who should 
 continue, by force of arms, to oppose the re-establishment of 
 British government. The conquerors did not rest the royal 
 cause exclusively on threats. On the first of June, nineteen 
 days after the surrender of Charlestown, Sir Henry Clinton 
 and Admiral Arbuthnot, in the character of commissioners 
 for restoring peace to the revolted colonies, by proclamation, 
 offered " to the inhabitants, with a few exceptions, pardon for 
 their past treasonable offences, and a re-instatement in the 
 possession of all those rights and immunities which they 
 heretofore had enjoyed under a free British government, exempt 
 from taxation except by their own legislatures." These spe- 
 cious offers, together with the impossibility of their fleeing 
 with their families and effects, and the want of an army to 
 which the militia of the State might repair, induced the peo- 
 ple in the country to abandon all schemes of further resistance. 
 The militia to the southward of Charlestown sent in a flag to 
 the commanding officer of the royal detachment at Beaufort, 
 and obtained terms similar to those granted to the inhabitants 
 of the capital. At Camden, the inhabitants met the British 
 with a flag, and negotiated for themselves. The people of 
 Ninety-Six assembled to deliberate on what course they 
 should pursue. Being informed that the British were ad- 
 vancing to that part of the State, they sent a flag to the com- 
 manding officer, from whom they learned that Sir Henry 
 Clinton had delegated full powers to Captain Richard Pearis 
 to treat with them. Articles of capitulation were immediately 
 proposed, and soon after ratified, by which they were promised 
 the same security for their persons and property which British 
 subjects enjoyed. Excepting the extremities of the State, which 
 border on North Carolina, the inhabitants who continued in 
 the country generally preferred submission to resistance. The 
 difference between evacuating and defending towns became 
 apparent, and fully proved that the first was the best plan of 
 defence for America. 
 
 Though the progress of the British arms was rapid, yet it 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 193 
 
 was far short of what was originally expected. Their schemes 
 had been deranged as to time, and new events made it neces- 
 sary for them to divide their forces and to alter their plans. 
 Intelligence was received by Sir Henry Clinton, about the 
 time of the surrender of Charlestown, that a large number of 
 land forces, and a French fleet, consisting of seven sail-of-the- 
 line and five frigates, commanded by M. De Ternay, was to 
 have sailed from France so early in the year that its arrival 
 on the American coast might be soon expected. This induced 
 the Commander-in-Chief of the royal army to re-embark for 
 New York early in June, with the greatest part of his army. 
 Though the French fleets gained at this time no direct ad- 
 vantages for their American allies, yet they completely de- 
 ranged the plan of British operations. 
 
 On the departure of Sir Henry Clinton from Charlestown, 
 Lord Cornwallis was appointed Commander-in-Chief in the 
 southern department, with about four thousand men. This 
 force, though far short of what was originally intended for 
 southern operations, was deemed fully sufiicient for the pur- 
 pose of extending the British conquests. 
 
 The object hitherto pursued by the British commanders 
 with regard to the inhabitants of South Carolina, was to in- 
 duce them to remain peaceably at their homes. To this end 
 they accepted of their submission on very easy terms. All, with 
 a few exceptions, who applied, obtained either paroles as pris- 
 oners or protections as British subjects. They who preferred 
 the latter were required to subscribe a declaration of their allegi- 
 ance to the King of Great Britain, but in the hurry of business 
 this frequently was omitted, and the privileges of British sub- 
 jects were freely bestowed on some without any engagements. 
 
 The general submission of the inhabitants was followed by 
 an unusual calm. The British believed that the State of 
 South Carolina was thoroughly conquered, but they soon 
 found that the disguise which fear had imposed subsisted no 
 longer than the present danger. Their experience in America 
 had not yet taught them enough of human nature to distin- 
 guish a forced submission, in a temporary panic, from a cor- 
 dial return to their former allegiance. Subsequent events 
 proved that a country is unsubdued as long as the minds of 
 the people are actuated by an hostile spirit. 
 
 All military opposition being suspended, the royal com- 
 manders, supposing their work in South Carolina to be com- 
 pletely finished, began to extend their views to the adjacent 
 States. To facilitate their future operations, they conceived a 
 scheme of obtaining substantial service from their new sub- 
 jects. In the prosecution of this business, their poHcy soon 
 lest what arms had gained. While some of the inhabitants 
 13 
 
194 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 were felicitating themselves in having obtained a respite from 
 the calamities of war, they were no less astonished than con- 
 founded by a proclamation, in which they were called upon 
 to take arms in support of royal government. All paroles 
 given to prisoners not taken by capitulation, and who were 
 not in confinement at the surrender of Charlestown, were de- 
 clared, on the third of June, 1780, by the Commander-in-Chief, 
 " to be null and void after the twentieth of the same month, 
 and the holders of them were called upon to resume the 
 character of British subjects, and to take an active part in 
 forwarding military operations, or to be considered and treated 
 as rebels against his majesty's government." This extraordi- 
 nary step was taken without any pretence of violation of 
 parole on the part of the prisoners. With this proclamation, 
 and the enrollment of the militia, commenced the declension 
 of British aulhority. Many had applied for paroles and pro- 
 tection from the fond expectation that they should be indulged 
 with a residence on their estates, and be at full liberty to prose- 
 cute their private business. Numbers who, from motives of 
 fear or convenience, had submitted, still retained an affection 
 for their American brethren, and shuddered at the thought of 
 taking arms against them. A great number, considering 
 themselves released from their parole by the proclamation, 
 conceived that they had a right to. arm against the British, and 
 were induced to do so from the royal menace, that they who 
 did not enroll themselves as British subjects must expect to 
 be treated as enemies. A greater number found it convenient 
 to exchange their paroles for protection. To sacrifice all and 
 leave the country, required a degree of fortitude that is the lot 
 of few. To take -protection, and to enroll themselves as militia 
 under the iroya-1 standard, were events wholly unexpected 
 when they submitted as prisoners of war. They conceived 
 themselves reduced to a very hard alternative. They sub- 
 mitted, but their subsequent conduct made it probable that 
 this was done, in many cases, with a secret reservation of 
 breaking the compulsory tie when a proper opportunity should 
 present itself. If this severe alternative had never been im- 
 posed, and if the people had been indulged in the quiet pos- 
 session of their property and domestic ease, it would have 
 been difficult for ('ongress to have made adequate exertions 
 for rescuing the State out of the hands of the British. But 
 from a concurrence of causes, about this time, there was 
 formed a strong party disposed to do and suffer more for the 
 expulsion of their new masters than they could be persuaded 
 to do six months before to prevent the country from falling 
 into their hands. 
 
 The situation of the inhabitants of the town was different 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 195 
 
 from that of the country. As they had a right, by the capitu- 
 lation, to remain at their homes on parole they were excepted 
 from the alternative offered by the proclamation of the third 
 of June; other methods were therefore used to compel them 
 to become British subjects. Immediately after the surrender 
 of Charlestown a few persons, attached to the British govern- 
 ment, prepared an address to the General and Admiral, con- 
 gratulating them on their conquest. This was signed by two 
 hundred and ten of the inhabitants; the greater part of whom 
 had been in arms against the British during the seige, and 
 among whom were a few who had been leaders in the popular 
 government. In answer to their address they were promised 
 the privileges and protection of British subjects, on subscribing 
 a test of their allegiance and of their willingness to support 
 the royal cause. These addressers, who thus decidedly took 
 part with the British, immediately made an invidious distinc- 
 tion between subjects and prisoners and became the instigators 
 of every severity against those who chose to remain on parole. 
 As they had revolted from the cause of America, that they 
 might be kept in countenance, they labored to draw others into 
 the same predicament. This example of exchanging paroles 
 for protection was soon followed by many of their fellow- 
 citizens. Those of them who owned estates in the country, 
 had no security by capitulation, for any property out of the 
 lines unless they became subjects. This induced persons so 
 circumstanced to join their conquerors. To oblige them uni- 
 versally to return to their allegiance, there was a succession 
 of proclamations, each abridging the privileges of prisoners. 
 Subjects were allowed to sue for their debts before the British 
 board of police, but prisoners were denied all benefit of that 
 court. Though they were liable to suits they had no security 
 for the payment of their debts, but the honor of their debtors. 
 The paroles granted to prisoners, after the surrender of the 
 town, were much more limited than might have been expected. 
 The citizens of the town were restrained from going out of the 
 hnes, or on the water, without special permission. This, when 
 applied for, was sometimes wantonly refused; and on other 
 occasions might be obtained for money. Ineffectual attempts 
 were made to obtain more generous limits, but no extension 
 was granted; and they who seemed averse from signing the 
 offered paroles were informed that, in case of an absolute re- 
 fusal, they must expect close confinement. These shackles 
 sat very uneasy on free citizens who had heretofore been ac- 
 customed to the fullest enjoyment of personal liberty; but no 
 relaxation could be obtained on any other condition than that 
 of professing a return to their allegiance. The conquerors, in 
 the most perfect confidence of keeping the province and of 
 
196 HISTOET OF THE KEVOLUTION. 
 
 extending their conquests, valued themselves much upon their 
 generosity in being willing to receive as British subjects the 
 citizens whom they viewed in the light of vanquished rebels. 
 Under the influence of this opinion they laughed at the folly, 
 and resented the ingratitude and impudence of those who 
 chose to remain in the character of prisoners. Such persons 
 met with every discouragement, and at the same time the door 
 of readmission to the privileges of subjects was thrown wide 
 open. This made some martyrs, but more hypocrites. A 
 numerous class of people were reduced to the alternative of 
 starving or suing for protection. Those inhabitants of Charles- 
 town, who were of the Hebrew nation, and others who were 
 shopkeepers, were, while prisoners, encouraged to make pur- 
 chases from the British merchants who came with the conquer- 
 ing army ; and after they had contracted large debts of this 
 kind, were precluded by proclamation from selling the goods 
 they had purchased unless they assumed the name and char- 
 acter of British subjects. Mechanics and others were allowed, 
 for some months after the surrender, to follow their respective 
 occupations ; but, as they could not compel payment for their 
 services, repeated losses soon convinced them of the conve- 
 nience of British protection. Great numbers in all commu- 
 nities are wholly indifferent what form of government they 
 live under. They can turn with the times, and submit with 
 facility to the present ruling power whatsoever it may be. 
 The low state of American affairs in the summer of 1780 in- 
 duced a belief among many of the inhabitants that Congress, 
 from necessity, had abandoned the idea of contending for the 
 Southern States. The resolutions of that body, disavowing 
 this imputation, were carefully concealed from the prisoners. 
 Many believing that South Carolina would finally remain a 
 British province, and being determined to save their estates 
 under every form of government, concluded that the sooner 
 they submitted the less they would lose. The negroes and 
 other property of individuals had been seized by the British 
 during the siege. Prisoners on parole had no chance of re- 
 possessing themselves of any part of this plunder, though 
 subjects were allowed to put in their claim, and were some- 
 times successful. A party always attached to royal government, 
 though they had conformed to the laws of the State, rejoiced 
 in the revolution, and sincerely returned to their allegiance; 
 but their number was inconsiderable in comparison with the 
 multitude who were obliged by necessity, or induced by con- 
 venience, to accept of British protection. 
 
 The inhabhants of the country, for the most part, lay more 
 at the unconditional mercy of the conquerors than the citizens 
 of the capital. Those who refused to give up their paroles, 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 197 
 
 and did not flee out of the country, were generally removed 
 from their families and confined to some of the islands on the 
 sea-coast; while their property became the spoil and plunder 
 of a rapacious army. In this trying situation, the various 
 ruling passions of individuals appeared without disguise. 
 Some men of the largest fortunes and who had been promoted 
 to exalted stations, both civil and military, relinquished the 
 service of the State for present ease and convenience. A few 
 of this character, who were entirely out of the way of personal 
 danger, and in the full enjoyment of the privileges of free- 
 men, voluntarily returned and bowed their necks to the con- 
 querors. In direct contradiction to the whole tenor of their past 
 conduct, they attempted to apologize for their inconsistency 
 by declaring that they had never aimed at independence, and 
 were always averse from an alliance with France. The mis- 
 chievous effects of negro slavery were, at this time, abundantly 
 apparent. Several who had Hved in ease and affluence from 
 the produce of their lands, cultivated by the labor of slaves, 
 had not fortitude enough to dare to be poor. Sentiments of 
 honor, and love of their country, made them wish to preserve 
 a consistency of conduct by refusing submission to British 
 government; but the impossibility of supporting themselves 
 by their own exertions, counteracted every generous resolution. 
 The conflict of contrary passions, and the distress of the 
 times, drove several to the excessive use of spirituous liquors, 
 which proved the source of diseases and often destroyed life. 
 Though numbers broke through the solemn ties by which 
 they had voluntarily bound themselves to support the cause 
 of America, illustrious sacrifices were made at the shrine of 
 liberty; several submitted to a distressing exile, or a more in- 
 tolerable confinement. The proprietors of some of the best 
 estates in South Carolina suffered them to remain in the power 
 and possession of the conquerors, rather than stain their honor 
 by deserting their country. The rich staked their fortunes ; 
 but in the humble walks of obscurity were found several of 
 the middling and poorer class of citizens, who may be truly 
 said to have staked their lives on the cause of America ; for 
 they renounced the comforts subservient to health in warm 
 climates, and contented themselves with a scanty portion of 
 the plainest necessaries of life in preference to joining the 
 enemies of independence. In this crisis of danger to the liber- 
 ties of America, the ladies of South Carolina conducted them- 
 selves with more than spartan magnanimity. They gloried 
 in the appellation of rebel ladies; and though they withstood 
 repeated solicitations to grace public entertainments, with their 
 presence, yet they crowded on board prison-ships, and other 
 places of confinement, to solace their suffering countrymen. 
 
198 HISTORr OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 While the conquerors were regaling themselves at concerts 
 and assemblies, they codld obtain very few of the fair sex to 
 associate with them ; but no sooner was an American officer 
 introduced as a prisoner, than his company was sought for 
 and his person treated with every possible mark of attention 
 and respect. On other occasions the ladies in a great measure 
 retired from the public eye, wept over the distresses of their 
 country, and gave every proof of the warmest attachment to 
 its suffering cause. In the height of the British conquests, 
 when poverty and ruin seemed the unavoidable portion of 
 every adherent to the independence of America, the ladies in 
 general discovered more firmness than the men. Many of 
 them, like guardian angels, preserved their husbands from 
 falling in the houi' of temptation when interest and conve- 
 nience had almost gotten the better of honor and patriotism. 
 Among the numbers who were banished from their families 
 and whose property was seized by the conquerors, many ex- 
 amples could be produced of ladies cheerfully parting with 
 their sons, husbands, and brothers, exhorting them to fortitude 
 and perseverance, and repeatedly entreating them never to 
 suffer family attachments to interfere with the duty they owed 
 to their country. When, in the progress of the war, they were 
 also comprehended under a general sentence of banishment, 
 with equal resolution they parted with their native country 
 and the many endearments of home — followed their husbands 
 into prison-ships and distant lands, where, though they had 
 long been in the habit of giving, they were reduced to the 
 necessity of receiving charity. They renounced the present 
 gratifications of wealth, and the future prospects of fortunes 
 for their growing offspring — adopted every scheme of economy, 
 and, though born in affluence, and habituated to attendance, 
 betook themselves to labor. 
 
 Whilst the conquerors were indefatigable in their endeavors 
 to strengthen the party for royal government by the addition 
 of new subjects, the American were not inattentive to their 
 interests. During the siege of Charlestown, General Lincoln 
 in the most pressing manner, requested Governor Rutledge, 
 with his council, to go out of town ; on the idea that the civil 
 authority of the State would be exerted to much greater ad- 
 vantage in the country than in the besieged metropolis. On 
 the 12th of April, 1780, he left Charlestown. Every exertion 
 was made by him to embody the country militia, and to bring 
 them forward for the relief of the besieged capital. Failing 
 in this, he attempted to make a stand to the north of the Santee, 
 The reduction of the town, with the army enclosed, occasioned 
 such a general panic among the militia that they could not 
 be persuaded to second his views. Governor Rutledge in a 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 199 
 
 little time retired to the northward, where he was more suc- 
 cessful in his negotiations with North Carolina, Virginia, and 
 Congress. Soon after, he returned to South Carolina, and gave 
 vigor, union, and force to the inhabitants in their exertions 
 against British government. 
 
 During the siege, expresses were sent by General Lincoln 
 to Congress, the States of North Carolina and Virginia, repre- 
 senting the unpromising appearance of affairs in South Caro- 
 lina. In consequence of these several requisitions. Congress 
 determined that a considerable detachment from their main 
 army should be immediately marched to the southward. The 
 State of North Carolina, also, ordered a large body of their 
 militia to take the field, and to be relieved every three months. 
 These stamina of a second southern army were originally 
 designed to compel the British to raise the siege of Charles- 
 town ; but being too late for that, they became a respectable 
 check to the extension of their conquests. 
 
 As the British advanced to the upper country of South 
 Carolina, a considerable number of the determined friends of 
 independence retreated before them, and took refuge in North 
 Carolina. In this class was Colonel Sumpter, a gentleman 
 who had formerly commanded one of the continental regi- 
 ments, and who was known to possess a great share of bravery 
 and other military talents. In a very little time after he had 
 forsaken his home, a detachment of the British turned his 
 wife and family out of doors, burned the house and every 
 thing that was in it. A party of these exiles from South Caro- 
 lina, who had convened in North Carolina, made choice of 
 Colonel Sumpter to be their leader. At the head of this little 
 band of freemen he soon returned to his own State, and took 
 the field against the victorious British. He made this gallant 
 effort at a time when the inhabitants had generally abandoned 
 the idea of supporting their own independence, and when he 
 had every difficulty to encounter. The State was no longer 
 in a condition to pay, clothe, or feed the troops who had en- 
 rolled themselves under his command. His followers were, 
 in a great measure, unfurnished with arms and ammunition, 
 and they had no magazines from which they might draw a 
 supply. The iron tools on the neighboring farms were worked 
 up for their use by common blacksmiths, into rude weapons 
 of war. They supplied themselves, in part, with bullets by 
 melting the pewter with which they were furnished by private 
 housekeepers. They sometimes came td battle Avhen they 
 had not three rounds a man; and some were obliged to keep 
 at a distance, till, by the fall of others, they were supplied 
 with arms. When they proved victorious, they were obliged 
 to rifle the dead and wounded of their arms and ammunition 
 
200 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 to equip them for their next engagement. At the head of 
 these volunteers Colonel Sumpter penetrated into South Caro- 
 lina, and recommenced a military opposition to the British 
 after it had been suspended for about six weeks. This un- 
 looked-for impediment to the extension of British conquests 
 roused all the passions which disappointed ambition can in- 
 spire. The late conquerors having in their official dispatches 
 asserted," that the inhabitants from every quarter had repaired 
 to the detatchments of the royal army, and to the garrison of 
 Charlestovvn, to declare their allegiance to the King, and to 
 offer their services in arms in support of his government; 
 that in many instances they had brought in as prisoners their 
 former oppressors or leaders; and that there were few men in 
 South Carohna that were not either their prisoners or in arms 
 with them;" and now, finding armed parties suddenly appear- 
 ing in favor of independence, were filled with indignation. 
 Their successes had flattered them with hopes of distinguished 
 rank among the conquerors of America; but these unexpected 
 hostilities made them fear that their names would be enrolled 
 among those who, by pompous details of British victories, 
 and exaggerated pictures of American sufferings, had deceived 
 the people of England into a continued support of an expen- 
 sive and ruinous war. Forgetting their experience in the 
 northern States, they had believed the submission of the in- 
 habitants to be sincere; making no allowance for that pro- 
 pensity in human nature which leads mankind, when in the 
 power of others, to frame their intelligence with more attention 
 to what is agreeable than to what is true; the British for some 
 time conceived that they had little to fear on the south side 
 of Virginia. When experience convinced them of the fallacy 
 of their hopes, they were transported with rage against the 
 inhabitants. Without taking any share of the blame to them- 
 selves for their policy in constraining men to an involuntary 
 submission, they charged them with studied duplicity and 
 treachery. Lenient measures were laid aside for those which 
 were dictated by the spirit of revenge. Nor were opportuni- 
 ties long wanting for the indulgence of this mahgnant passion. 
 Lord Rawdon, whose temper was soured by disappointment, 
 and whose breast was agitated with rage against the new sub- 
 jects for their unmeaning submissions, on the first rnmor of 
 an advancing American army, called on the inhabitants in 
 and near Camden to take up arms against their approaching 
 countrymen; and confined in the common jail those who 
 refused. In the midst of summer, upwards of one hundred 
 and sixty persons were shut up in one prison ; and twenty or 
 thirty of them, though citizens of the most respectable char- 
 acters, were loaded whh irons. Mr. James Bradley, Mi'. 
 
CAMPAIGN OP 1780. 201 
 
 Strother, Colonel Few, Mr. Kershaw, Captain Boykin, Colonel 
 Alexander, Mr. Irwin, Colonel Winn, Colonel Hunter, and 
 Captain John Chesnut, were in the number of those who were 
 subjected to these indignities. 
 
 The friends of independence having once more taken the 
 field in South Carolina, a party of the corps commanded by 
 Colonel Sumpter, consisting of one hundred and thirty-three 
 men, on the 12th of July, 1780, engaged at WiUiams' Plan- 
 tation, in the upper parts of South Carolina, with a detach- 
 ment of the British troops and a large body of tories com- 
 manded by Captain Huck. They were posted in a lane, 
 both ends of which were entered at the same time by the 
 Americans. In this unfavorable position they were speedily 
 routed and dispersed. Colonel Ferguson, of the British mili- 
 tia. Captain Huck, and several others, were killed. This was 
 the first advantage gained over the royal forces since their 
 landing in the beginning of the year. At the very moment 
 this unexpected attack was made, a number of women were 
 on their knees, vainly soliciting Captain Huck for his mercy 
 in behalf of their families and property. During his com- 
 mand he had distressed the inhabitants by every species of 
 insult and injury. He had also shocked them with his pro- 
 fanity. In a very particular manner he displayed his enmity 
 to the Presbyterians, by burning the library and dwelling- 
 house of their clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Simpson, and all bibles 
 which contained the Scots translation of the psalms. These 
 proceedings, no less impolitic than impious, inspired the nu- 
 merous devout people of that district with an unusual anima- 
 tion. A warm love for independence blended itself with a 
 religious fervor, and these two passions reciprocally added 
 strength to each other. The inhabitants of that part of the 
 State generally arranged themselves under the command of 
 Colonel Sumpter, and opposed the British with the enthu- 
 siasm of men called upon to defend not only their civil liber- 
 ties, but their holy religion. The effects of this ardor were 
 very sensibly felt. Colonel Sumpter was soon reinforced to 
 the number of six hundred men. At the head of this party, 
 on the 30th of July, 1780, he made a spirited but unsuccess- 
 ful attack on the British post at Rocky Mount. Without 
 delay he marched in quest of other British detachments, and 
 in eight days after successfully attacked one of their posts at 
 the Hanging Rock, in which was a considerable force of regu- 
 lars and tories. The Prince of Wales' regiment, which de- 
 fended this place, was nearly annihilated, and a large body of 
 tories, which had advanced from North Carolina under Colonel 
 Brian, was completely routed and dispersed. 
 
 It had been for some time known that an American army 
 
202 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 was marching from the northward for the relief of their 
 southern bretliren. The panic occasioned by the fall of Charles- 
 town was daily abating. The whig militia, on the extremities 
 of the State, formed themselves into small parties under lead- 
 ers of their own choice; and sometimes attacked detach- 
 ments of the British army, but much more frequently those 
 of their own countrymen who were turning out as royal 
 militia. These American parties severally acted from the im- 
 pulse of their own minds. They set themselves in opposition 
 to the British without the knowledge of each other's motions, 
 and without any preconcerted general plan. Colonel Wil- 
 liams, of the district of Ninety-Six, in particular, was indefat- 
 igable in collecting and animating the friends of Congress in 
 that settlement. With these he frequently harassed the con- 
 querors. On the 18th of August 1780 he attacked a consid- 
 erable party of British and tories, at Musgrove's mills, on the 
 Enoree river. Colonel Innis, of the South Carolina roy- 
 alists, was wounded; and the whole of his party obliged to 
 retire. 
 
 During the siege of Charlestown fourteen hundred conti- 
 nental troops, consisting of the Delaware and Maryland line, 
 commanded by Major General Baron DeKalb, were by Con- 
 gress, ordered to the southward. They marched from head- 
 quarters at Morristown, in New Jersey, on the 16th of April 
 1780, embarked at the head of Elk in May, and landed soon 
 after at Petersburg in Virginia ; and from thence proceeded by 
 land towards South Carolina. The country was thinly in- 
 habited and poorly cultivated. The last year's crop was nearly 
 expended, and the present one was not sufficiently ripe. The 
 troops subsisted principally on lean cattle collected in the 
 woods. The officers were so distressed for the want of flour 
 that they made use of hair-powder to thicken their soup, but 
 soon found a more savory substitute in green corn. Peaches 
 were also used, and became a seasonable supply. The whole 
 army was sometimes supplied for twenty-four hours in this 
 way without either meat or tioiir. 
 
 A considerable number of the militia of North Carolina had 
 taken the field, and had agreed to rendezvous at Anson Court 
 House on the 20th of July, that they might be in readiness to 
 co-operate with the continental army. On the approach of the 
 Americans Major M'Arthur, who commanded on the Peedee, 
 called in his detachments and marched directly to join the 
 main body of the royal army at Camden. On the day that 
 the British relinquished this part of the country, the inhabi- 
 tants, distressed by their depredations and disgusted with their 
 conduct, generally took arms. Lord Nairne, and one hundred 
 and six British invalids, going down the Peedee, were made 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 203 
 
 prisoners by a party of the Americans, commanded by Major 
 Thomas, who had lately been received as loyal subjects. A 
 large boat coming up from Georgetown, well stored with sup- 
 pUesfor Major M' Arthur's party, was seized for the use of the 
 American army. All the new made British militia othcers, 
 excepting Colonel Mills, were made prisoners by their own 
 men. For some time past the people were daily growing more 
 and more dissatisfied with the British. Tired of war, they had 
 submitted to their government with the flattering expectation 
 of bettering their condition ; but they soon found their mis- 
 take. The protection they received as the recompense of their 
 submissions, was wholly inadequade to the purpose of secu- 
 ring their property. When the British first took possession of 
 the country, they considered themselves as having a right to 
 seize on the property of rebels. Their commissaries, and 
 quartermasters, took provisions and all other things wanted by 
 the army, wherever they were to be found. Though articles 
 taken this way was all charged to the British government, yet 
 very few of the persons from whom they were taken ever re- 
 ceived any satisfaction. After the State had generally sub- 
 mitted, the same practice was continued. The rapacity of the 
 common men, the indigence and avarice of many of the offi- 
 cers, and the gains of the commissaries and quartermasters, 
 all concurred to forbid any check to this lucrative mode of 
 procuring supplies. They found it much more profitable to 
 look on the inhabitants in the light of rebels, whose property 
 was forfeited, than as reclaimed subjects who were reinstated 
 in the protection of government. When they applied in 
 the latter character to claim their rights, and to remonstrate 
 against British depredations, they much oftener received in- 
 sults than redress. People who had received this kind of 
 treatment, and who believed that allegiance and protection 
 were reciprocal, conceived themselves released from their late 
 engagements, and at full liberty to rejoin the Americans. 
 
 Though the inhabitants of Charlestown had not the same 
 opportunity of showing their resentment against their con- 
 querors, yet many of the new-made subjects and the pris- 
 oners were very soon disgusted with their conduct. Every 
 ungenerous construction was put on an ambiguous capitu- 
 lation, to the disadvantage of the citizens; and their rights 
 founded thereon were, in several instances, most injuriously 
 violated. Continental officers were stripped of their property, 
 on the pretence that they were soldiers, and had no right to 
 claim under the character of citizens. The conquerors de- 
 prived the inhabitants of their canoes by an illiberal construc- 
 tion of the article which gave them the shipping in the harbor. 
 Many slaves, and a great deal of property, though secured by 
 
204 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 the capitulation, were carried off by Sir Henry Clinton's army 
 in June 1780. Immediately after the surrender, five hundred 
 negroes were ordered to be put on board the ships for pioneers 
 to the royal forces in New York. These were taken where 
 ever they could be found, and no satisfaction was made to 
 their owners. The common soldiers, from their sufferings and 
 services during the siege, conceived themselves entitled to a 
 licensed plunder of the town. That their murmurings might 
 be soothed, the officers connived at their reimbursing themselves 
 for their fatigues and dangers at the expense of the citizens. 
 Almost every private house had one or more of the officers or 
 privates, of the royal army quartered upon them. In provi- 
 ding for their accommodation very little attention was paid to 
 the convenience of families. The insolence and disorderly 
 conduct of persons thus forced upon the citizens, were in 
 many instances intolerable to freemen heretofore accustomed 
 to be masters in their own houses. To induce a people who 
 had tasted of the sweets of independence to return to the con- 
 dition of subjects, their minds and affections, as well as their 
 armies, ought to have been conquered. This more delicate 
 and difficult task was rarely attempted. The officers, privates, 
 and followers of the royal army, were generally more intent 
 on amassing fortunes by plunder and rapine than on pro- 
 moting a re-union of the dissevered members of the empire. 
 The general complexion of the officers serving in the royal 
 army against America, was very different from what had 
 been usual in better times. In former wars, dignity, honor 
 and generosity, were invariably annexed to the military char- 
 acter. Though the old officers of the British regiments in 
 America were for the most part gentlemen, and eminently pos- 
 sessed these virtues, yet several vacancies both at the com- 
 mencement and in the progress of the American war had been 
 filled up by a new set, greatly inferior in education and good 
 breeding. Several new corps had been raised in America, in 
 which commissions had been promised by public advertise- 
 ment to any person who would recruit a given number of 
 men. They who possessed most of that low cunning, which 
 is necessary to wheedle the vulgar, were of course most suc- 
 cessful in procuring these commissions. From an army 
 abounding with such unworthy characters, and stationed 
 among a people whom they hated as rebels, and from the 
 plunder of whom theyhoped to make fortunes, it was not rea- 
 sonable to expect that winning behavior which was necessary 
 to conciliate the affections of the revolted States. The royal 
 officers, instead of soothing the inhabitants into good humor, 
 often aggravated intolerable injuries by more intolerable insults; 
 they did more to reestablish the independence of the State than 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 205 
 
 could have been effected by the armies of Congress, had the 
 conquerors guided themselves by maxims of sound policy. The 
 high spirited citizens of Carolina could not brook these oppres- 
 sions and insults, but most ardently wished to rid the country 
 of the insulting oppressors. From motives of this kind, and a 
 prevailing attachment to the cause of their country, many 
 broke through all ties to join the advancing American army 
 and more most cordially wished them success. 
 
 Major General Baron DeKalb commmanded the continen- 
 tals sent from the northward, till the 27th of July, when 
 Major General Gates arrived with the orders of Congress to 
 take the command. Great were the expectations of the pub- 
 lic from this illustrious officer. The cloud that had for some 
 time overshadowed American affairs, began to disperse. Noth- 
 ing short of the speedy expulsion of the British from the 
 State, came up to the wishes and hopes of the friends of in- 
 dependence. While the American army advanced towards 
 Camden, Colonel Sumpter was to the westward of the Wateree, 
 and daily augmenting his corps from the revolting inhabitants 
 who enrolled themselves under his standard. On receiving 
 intelligence that an escort of clothing, ammunition and other 
 stores for the garrison at Camden, was on the road from Charles- 
 town, and that the whole must pass the Wateree ferry under 
 coyer of a small redoubt which the British occupied on the 
 south side of the river, he formed a successful plan for reduc- 
 ing the redoubt and capturing the convoy. On the 15th of 
 August, General Stevens, with a brigade of Virginia militia, 
 joined General Gates. The whole of the American army 
 now amounted to three thousand six hundred and sixty-three ; 
 of which about nine hundred were continental infantry, and 
 seventy cavalry. 
 
 The arrival of this force being quite unexpected. Lord Corn- 
 wallis was distant from the scene of action. No sooner was 
 he informed of the approach of General Gates, than he pre- 
 pared to join his army at Camden. He arrived, and super- 
 seded Lord Rawdon in command, on the 14th. His inferior 
 force, consisting of abont 1,700 infantry and 300 cavalry, 
 would have justified a retreat; but, considering that no pro- 
 bable event of an action would be more injurious to the royal 
 interest than that measure, he chose to stake his fortune in a 
 contest with the conqueror of Burgoyne. On the night of 
 the fifteenth, he marched out with his whole force to attack 
 the Americans ; and at the same hour. General Gates put his 
 army in motion, with a determination to take an eligible posi- 
 tion between Sanders' creek and Green Swamp, about eight 
 miles from Camden. The advanced parties of both met about 
 midnight, and a firing commenced. In this skirmish, Colonel 
 
206 HISTORY OF THE REVOLITTION. 
 
 Porterfield, a very gallant officer of the State of Virginia, re- 
 ceived a mortal wound. After some time both parties re- 
 treated to their main bodies, and the whole lay on their arms. 
 In the morning, a severe and general engagement took place. 
 The American army was formed in the following manner: 
 The second Maryland brigade, commanded by Brigadier Gen- 
 eral Gist, on the right of the line, flanked by a morass ; the 
 North Carolina militia, commanded by Major General Cas- 
 well, in the centre ; and the Virginia militia, commanded by 
 Brigadier General Stevens, on the left, flanked by the North 
 Carolina militia, light infantry and a morass. The artillery 
 was posted in the instertices of brigades, and on the most ad- 
 vantageous grounds. Major General Baron DeKalb com- 
 manded on the right of the line, and Brigadier General Small- 
 wood commanded the first Maryland brigade, which was 
 posted as corps-de-reserve two or three hundred yards in the 
 rear. In this position, the troops remained till dawn of day. 
 As soon as the British appeared about two hundred yards in 
 front of the North Carolina troops, the artillery was ordered 
 to fire, and Brigadier General Stevens to attack the column 
 which was displayed to the right. That gallant officer ad- 
 vanced with his brigade of militia in excellent order within 
 fifty paces of the enemy, who were also advancing, and then 
 called out to his men, "my brave fellows, you have bayonets 
 as well as they, we'll charge them." At that moment the 
 British infantry charged with a cheer, and the Virginians, 
 throwing down their arms, retreated with the utmost precipi- 
 tation. The militia of North Carolina followed the unworthy 
 example, except a few of General Gregory's brigade, who 
 paused a very little longer. A part of Colonel Dixon's regi- 
 ment fired two orthree rounds, butthe greater part of thewhole 
 militia fled without firing a single shot. The whole left wing 
 and centre being gone, the continentals, who formed the right 
 wing, and the corps of reserve, engaged about the same time 
 and gave the British an unexpected check. The second bri- 
 gade, consisting of Maryland and Delaware troops, gained 
 ground, and had taken no less than fifty prisoners. The first 
 brigade being considerably out-flanked, were obliged to retire; 
 but they rallied again, and with great spirit renewed the fight. 
 This expedient was repeated two or three times. The British 
 directed their whole force against these two devoted corps, and 
 a tremendous fire of musketry was contiiuied on both sides 
 with great steadiness. At length Lord Cornwallis observing 
 that there was no cavalry opposed to him, poured in his dra- 
 goons and ended the contest. Never did men behave better 
 than the continentals in the whole of this action; but all at- 
 tempts to rally the militia were ineffectual. Lieutenant Colonel 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 207 
 
 Tarleton's legion charged them as they broke, and pursued them 
 as they were fleeing. Without having it in their power to de- 
 fend themselves, they fell in great numbers under the le- 
 gionary sabres. 
 
 Major General Baron DeKalb, an illustrious German in the 
 service of France, who had generously engaged in the support 
 of the American independence, and who exerted himself with 
 great bravery to prevent the defeat of the day, received eleven 
 wounds, of which, though he received the most particular as- 
 sistance from the British, he in a short time expired. Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel DuBuysson, Aid-de-Camp to Baron DeKalb, 
 embraced his wounded General, announced his rank and na- 
 tion to the surrounding foe, and begged that they would spare 
 his life. While he generously exposed himself to save his 
 friendj, he received sundry dangerous wounds, and was taken 
 prisoner. Brigadier-General Rutherford, a valuable officer 
 of the most extensive influence over the North Carolina 
 militia, surrendered to a party of the British legion, one of 
 whom, after his submission, cut him in several places. Of the 
 South Carolina line, that brave and distinguished officer Major 
 Thomas Pinckney, acting as Aid-de-Camp to Major General 
 Gates, had his leg shattered by a musket ball, and fell into the 
 hands of the conquerors. 
 
 The Americans lost eight field pieces, the whole of their 
 artillery, upwards of two hundred wagons, and the greatest 
 part of their baggage. The loss of the British, in killed and 
 wounded, was about three hundred. The royal army fought 
 with great bravery; but their success was in a great measure 
 owing to the precipitate flight of the militia, and the superi- 
 ority of their cavalry. 
 
 The militia composed so great a part of the American army, 
 that General Gates, when he saw them leave the field, lost all 
 hopes of victory, and retired in order to rally a sufficient num- 
 ber to cover the retreat of the continentals, but the further the 
 militia fled, the more they were dispersed. Finding nothing 
 could be done, he continued his retreat into North Carolina. 
 On his way he was soon overtaken by an officer from Colonel 
 Sumpter, who reported that the colonel had fully succeeded 
 in his enterprise against the British post at the ferry, had cap- 
 tured the garrison, and intercepted the escort with the stores; 
 but no advantage could be taken of this event, as the success- 
 ful party of the Americans was on the opposite side of the 
 river. A few of the Virginia miUtia were halted at Hills- 
 borough ; but in a little time their tour of service was out, and 
 they were discharged. The North Carolina militia went dif- 
 ferent ways, as their hopes led or their fears drove them. Al- 
 most all the American officers were separated from their com- 
 
208 HISTORY OF THE EEVOLUTION. 
 
 mands. Every corps was broken in action, and dispersed 
 through the woods. Major Anderson, of the Third Maryland 
 regiment, was the only infantry officer who kept together any 
 number of men. The retreat of the heavy baggage was de- 
 layed till the morning of the action, and the greatest part of it 
 fell into the hands of the British, or was plundered in the 
 retreat. The pursuit was rapid for more than twenty miles; 
 even at the distance of forty miles, teams were cut out of the 
 wagons, and numbers promoted their flight on horseback. 
 The road by which they fled was strewed with arms and 
 baggage, which in their trepidation they had abandoned, and 
 covered with sick, the wounded and the dead. 
 
 On the 17th and 18th of August, Brigadiers Smallwood and 
 Gist, and several other officers, arrived at Charlotte. At this 
 place also had rendezvoused upwards of one hundred regular 
 infantry of different corps, besides Colonel Armand's cavalry, 
 and a small partizan corps of horse, which took the field on 
 this occasion under the command of Major Davie. Some 
 provisions having been collected there, proved a most season- 
 able refreshment. The drooping spirits of the officers began 
 to revive, and hopes were entertained that a respectable force 
 might soon again be assembled from the country militia, and 
 from the addition of Colonel Sumpter's victorious detachment. 
 All these prospects were soon obscured by intelligence that 
 arrived on the 19th, of the complete dispersion of that corps. 
 On hearing of General Gates' defeat. Colonel Sumpter began 
 to retreat up the south side of the Wateree, with his prisoners 
 and captured stores. Lord Cornwallis dispatched Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Tarleton, with his legion and a detachment of in- 
 fantry, to pursue him. This was done with so much celerity 
 and address, that he was overtaken on the ISth at Fishing 
 Creek. The British horse rode into their camp before they 
 were prepared for defence. The Americans having been four 
 days without sleep or provisions, were more obedient to the 
 calls of nature than attentive to her first law — self-preserva- 
 tion. Colonel Sumpter had taken every prudent precaution 
 to prevent a surprise, but his videttes were so fatigued, that they 
 neglected their duty. With great difficulty he got a few of 
 them to make a short stand, but the greater part of his corps 
 fled to the river or the woods. The British prisoners, about 
 three hundred, were all retaken and conducted to Camden. 
 Colonel Sumpter lost all his artillery, and his whole detach- 
 ment was either killed, captured or dispersed. 
 
 Every hope of making a stand at Charlotte being extin- 
 guished, a resolution was soon taken for retreating to Salis- 
 bury. A circumstantial detail of this Avould complete the 
 picture of distress. The officers suffered much for want of 
 
CAMPAIGN OP 1780. 209 
 
 horses to carry off their wounded companions. The citizens 
 of that part of the north State were reduced to great difficul- 
 ties in removing their families and effects. It was expected 
 that every day would bring intelligence of Lord Cornwallis 
 pursuing his fugitive enemies. The inhabitants generally 
 meant to flee before the approaching conquerors. The con- 
 fusion that took place among all orders is more easily conceived 
 than expressed. 
 
 The loss of Charlestown, and the capture of an army within 
 its lines, had reduced American affairs in South Carolina low; 
 but the complete rout of a second army, procured with great 
 difficulty for the recovery of the State, sunk them much lower, 
 and filled the friends of independence with fearful anxiety for 
 the future fate of their country. 
 
 The British were unusually elated, and again flattered 
 themselves, that all opposition in South Carolina was effect- 
 ually subdued. Though their victory was complete, and there 
 was no army to oppose them, yet the extreme heat of the 
 weather, and sickliness of the season, restrained them for some 
 time from pursuing their conquests. Much was to be done 
 in the interior police of the country. To crush that spirit of 
 opposition to British government, which discovered itself on 
 the approach of an American army, engaged the attention of 
 Lord Cornwallis. 
 
 By the complete dispersion of the continental forces the 
 country was in the power of the conquerors. The expectation 
 of aid from the northward was now less probable than im- 
 mediately after the reduction of Charlestown. Several of the 
 revolted subjects had fallen as prisoners into the hands of the 
 British, and the property of others lay at their mercy. This 
 situation of public affairs pointed out the present moment of 
 triumph, as a most favorable conjucture for breaking the spirits 
 of those who were attached to the cause of independence. To 
 prevent their future co-operation with the forces of Congress, 
 a severer policy was henceforward adopted. 
 
 Unfortunately for the inhabitants this was taken up on 
 grounds which involved thousands in distress, and not a few 
 in the loss of life. The British conceived themselves in pos- 
 session of the rights of sovereignty over a conquered country, 
 and that therefore the efforts of the citizens to assert their in- 
 dependence were chargeable with the complicated guilt of 
 ingratitude, treason, and rebellion. Influenced by these opin- 
 ions, and transported with indignation against the inhabitants, 
 they violated rights which are held sacred between indepen- 
 dent hostile nations. In almost every district their progress 
 Avas marked with blood, and with deeds so atrocious as re- 
 flected disgrace on their arms. Nor were these barbarities 
 14 
 
210 HISTORY OF THE REVOLTJTION. 
 
 perpetrated in a sudden sally ofrage,orby officers of low rank. 
 Major Weyms. of the sixty-third regiment of his Britannic 
 majesty's army, deliberately hung Mr. Adam Cusack in Cheraw 
 district, who had neither taken parole as a prisoner, nor pro- 
 tection as a British subject, though charged with no other 
 crime than refusing to transport some British officers over a 
 ferry, and shooting at them across a river. The immediate 
 authors of executions pleaded no less authority than that of 
 Earl Cornwallis, for deliberately shedding the blood of their 
 fellow-men. In a few days after the defeat of General Gates, 
 his lordship stained his military fame by the following letter, 
 addressed to the Commandant of the British garrison at Ninety- 
 Six. 
 
 " I have given orders that all the inhabitants of this pro- 
 vince, who have subscribed and have taken part in this revolt, 
 should be punished with the greatest rigor; and also those 
 who will not turn out, that they may be imprisoned, and their 
 whole property taken from them or destroyed. I have like- 
 wise ordered, that compensation should be made out of their 
 estates to the persons who have been injured or oppressed by 
 them. I have ordered in the most positive manner, that every 
 militia-man, who has borne arms with us and afterwards joined 
 the enemy, shall be immediately hanged. I desire you will 
 take the most vigorous measures to punish the rebels in the 
 district in which you command, and that you obey in the 
 strictest manner the directions I have given in this letter rel- 
 ative to the inhabitants of this country. 
 
 (Signed) Cornwallis." 
 
 Similar orders were addressed to the Commanders of differ- 
 ent posts, and executed with the same spirit with which they 
 were dictated. At or near Camden, Samuel Andrews, Richard 
 Tucker, John Miles, Josiah Gayle, Eleazer Smith, with some 
 others whose names are unknown, were taken out of gaol and 
 hung without any ceremony. Some were indulged with a 
 hearing before a court martial, but the evidences against them 
 were not examined on oath, and slaves were both permitted 
 and encouraged to accuse their masters. Not only at Camden, 
 but in other parts of South Carolina, and at Augusta in Geor- 
 gia, the same bloody tragedies were acted, and several of the 
 inhabitants fell sacrifices to this new mode of warfare. 
 
 The warm zeal of Earl Cornwallis to annex the States of 
 America to the British empire, prompted him to measures not 
 only derogatory to his character, but inconsistent with the 
 claims of humanity. The prisoners on parole had an un- 
 doubted right to take arms ; for, by proclamation, after the 
 20th of the preceding June, as has'been stated, they were re- 
 leased from every engagement to their conquerors. Of those 
 
CAMPAIGN OP 1780. 211 
 
 it may be affirmed, that they were murdered in cold blood. 
 The case of those who had taken British protection is some- 
 what different. His lordship could allege, in vindication of 
 his severity to them, an appearance of right; but it was of 
 that too rigid kind which hardens into wrong. These men 
 were under the tie of an oath to support American indepen- 
 dence; but had been overcome by the temptation of saving 
 their property to make an involuntary submission to the royal 
 conquerors. By a combination of circumstances they were 
 in such a situation that they could not do otherwise, without 
 risking the support of their families. Experience soon taught 
 them the inefficacy of these protections. These men naturally 
 reasoned thus: "tliat as the contract was first violated on the 
 part of the conquerors, it could not be so highly criminal for 
 them to recede from it." They had also submitted on the 
 idea that they should not be called on to fight against the 
 Americans ; but finding themselves compelled to take up arms, 
 and under the necessity of violating their engagements either 
 to their countrymen or their conquerors, they choose to adhere 
 to the former. To treat men thus circumstanced with the 
 sanguinary severity of deserters and traitors might be politic, 
 but the impartial world must regret that the unavoidable hor- 
 rors of war should be aggravated by such deliberate effusions 
 of human blood. 
 
 Notwithstanding the decisive superiority of the British arms 
 in the summer of 1780, several of the citizens, respectable for 
 their numbers, but more so for their weight and influence, 
 continued firm to the cause of independence. It was no less 
 mortifying to Lord Cornwallis than unfriendly to his future 
 schemes, that these remained within the British lines in the 
 character of prisoners. Though they were restrained by their 
 paroles from doing anything injurious to the interest of his 
 Britannic majesty; yet the silent example of men, who were 
 revered by their fellow-citizens, had a powerful influence in 
 restraining many from exchanging their paroles as prisoners 
 for the protection and privileges of British subjects. To re- 
 move every bias of this sort, and to enforce a general submis- 
 sion to royal government, Lord Cornwallis, soon after his 
 victory at Camden, gave orders to send out of the province a 
 number of the principal citizens prisoners on parole in Charles- 
 town. On the 27th of August Christopher Gadsden, Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor of the State, Edward Blake, John Budd, Robert 
 Cochran, John Edwards, Thomas Ferguson, George Flagg, 
 William Hasel Gibbs, William Hall, Thomas Hall, Thomas 
 Hey ward, junior, Isaac Holmes, Richard Hutson, William 
 Johnson, Rev. John Lewis, William Livingston, John Love- 
 day, Rich'd Lushington, William Massey, Edward McCready, 
 
212 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 Alexander Moultrie, John Mouatt, John Neufville, Edward 
 North, Joseph Parker, John Earnest Poyas, David Ramsay, 
 Jacob Read, Hugh Rutledge, Edward Rutledge, John Sansurii, 
 Thomas Savage, Thomas Singleton, Josiah Smith, James Ham- 
 den Thompson, Peter Timothy, John Todd, and Anthony 
 Toomer, were taken up early in the morning out of their houses 
 and beds by armed parties and brought to the Exchange; from 
 whence, when collected together, they were removed on board 
 the Sandwich guard-ship, and in a few days transported to St. 
 Augustine. The manner in which this order was executed was 
 not less painful to the feelings of gentlemen, than the order itself 
 was injurious to the rights of prisoners entitled to the benefits of 
 a capitulation. Guards were left at their respective houses. 
 The private papers of some of them were examined. Reports 
 were immediately circulated to their disadvantage, and every 
 circumstance managed so as to induce a general belief that 
 they were all apprehended for violating their paroles, and for 
 concerting a scheme for burning the town and massacreing 
 the loyal subjects. On the very first day of their confinement 
 they remonstrated to Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour, the Com- 
 mandant of Charlestown, asserting their innocence, and chal- 
 lenging their accusers to appear face to face with their charges 
 against them. 
 
 To this no answer was directly obtained; but a message 
 from the Commandant, delivered officially by Major Benson, 
 acknowledged that this extraordinary step had been taken 
 "from motives of policy." 
 
 The British endeavored to justify this removal by alleging 
 the right of the victors to remove prisoners whithersoever they 
 pleased, without regarding their convenience. Few such in- 
 stances can be produced in the modern history of any civilized 
 nation with whom it is an established rule to construe capitu- 
 lations, where ambiguous, in favor of the vanquished. The 
 conquerors, in their great zeal to make subjects, forgot the 
 rights of prisoners. To express his indignation at this ungen- 
 erous treatment, Lieutenant-Governor Gadsden refused to 
 accept an ofi'ered parole in St. Augustine; and with the greatest 
 fortitude bore a close confinement in the castle of that place 
 for forty-two weeks, rather than give a second one to a power 
 which had plainly violated the engagement contained in the 
 first. The other gentlemen, who renewed their paroles in 
 St. Augustine, had the liberty of the town ; but were treated 
 with indignities unsuitable to their former rank and condition. 
 Cut off from all communication with their countrymen, they 
 could receive no intelligence of public affairs but through 
 British channels. In this forlorn situation, they were informed 
 of several decisive battles, which were represented as having 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 213 
 
 completely annihilated every prospect of American indepen- 
 dence; and they were taught to expect the fate of vanquished 
 rebels. They also heard from high authority, that the blood 
 of the brave but unfortunate Andrfe would be required at their 
 hands. They were told that Lieutenant-Colonel Glazier, Com- 
 mandant of the garrison in St. Augustine, had announced his 
 fixed resolution instantly to hang up six of them, if the exas- 
 perated Americans should execute their threats of putting to 
 death Colonel Brown, of the East Florida rangers. To all 
 these indignities and dangers they submitted, without an ap- 
 plication from a single individual of their number for British 
 protection. 
 
 From the time that the citizens before mentioned were sent 
 off from Charlestown, St. Augustine was made use of to frighten 
 prisoners to petition for the privileges of subjects. They who 
 delayed their submission were repeatedly threater * 
 
 banishment from their families and estates. To convince the 
 inhabitants that the conquerors were seriously resolved to 
 banish all who refused to become subjects, an additional num- 
 ber, who still remained prisoners on parole, was shipped otf on 
 the 15th of November following. Their names were as fol- 
 lows : Joseph Bee, Richard Beresford, John Berwick, Daniel 
 Bordeaux, Benjamin Cudworth, Henry Crouch, John Splatt 
 Cripps, Edward Darrell, Daniel DeSaussure, George A. Hall, 
 Thomas Grimball, Noble Wimberly Jones, William Lee, Wm. 
 Logan, Arthur Middleton, Christopher Peters, Benjamin Pos- 
 tell, Samuel Prioleau, Philip Smith, Benjamin Waller, James 
 Wakefield, Edward Weyman, Morton Wilkinson. In addition 
 to these citizens of South Carolina, most of whom were en- 
 titled to the benefits of the capitulation of Charlestown, Gen- 
 eral Rutherford and Colonel Isaacs of the State of North 
 Carolina, who had been taken near Camden in August, 1780, 
 were at the same time shipped off for St. Augustine. The only 
 charge exhibited against them as the reason of their exile was 
 that " they discovered no disposition to return to their allegiance 
 and would, if they could, overturn the British government." 
 Lord Cornwallis did not stop here; but being determined to 
 use every method to compel the re-establishment of British 
 government, as well by rewarding its friends as punishing its 
 opposers, his lordship proceeded to the sequestration of all 
 estates belonging to the decided friends of America. In the 
 execution of this business John Cruden was appointed to take 
 possession of the estates of particular persons designated in 
 warrants issued by Earl Cornwallis and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Balfour. 
 
 ... In the year 1778, when the then recent capture of General 
 Burgoyne's army, and the alliance with France inspired all 
 
214 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 ranks of men in Carolina with confidence in the final estab- 
 lishment of their independence, the Legislature of that State 
 gave to all the friends of royal government their free choice; 
 of either joining them, or going where they pleased with their 
 families and property. In the year 1780, when the British 
 arms had the ascendant, the conquerors gave no alternative, 
 but either to join them, and to fight against their countrymen 
 and consciences, or to be banished under every restriction of 
 prisoners of war. Instead of being allowed to carry their estates 
 with them, they whose. property made it worth while, were 
 stripped of every thing; and all, whether their estates were 
 sequestered or not, were deprived of the privileges of recovering 
 their debts, and of selling or removing their property without 
 the permission of the conquerors. An adherent to indepen- 
 dence was now considered as one who courted exile, poverty, 
 and ruin. The temptation was too great to be resisted by 
 those who were attached to their interest and ease. Numbers 
 who formerly professed great zeal in the support of their 
 country, and who continued their adherence to the cause of 
 America after the surrender of Charlestown, yielded to these 
 temptations and became British subjects. To discourage the 
 other States from any further attempts in behalf of Carolina, 
 an address to Lord Cornwallis was drawn up, in which the 
 subscribers " congratulated him for his glorious victory at 
 Camden ; and expressed their indignation at Congress for dis- 
 tilrbing the citizens of Carolina, who were represented as 
 having broken off from the union, and re-united themselves 
 to the British empire." Though every method was used to 
 obtain signers to this address, yet no more than one hundred 
 and sixty-four could be procured. Notwithstanding these 
 discouragements, the genius of America rose superior to them 
 all. At no time did her sons appear to greater advantage, than 
 when they were depressed by successive misfortunes. They 
 seemed to gain strength from their losses ; and, instead of 
 giving way to the pressure of calamities, to oppose them with 
 more determined resolution. 
 
 Hitherto the British arms to the southward have been at- 
 tended with almost uninterrupted success. The royal stand- 
 ards we have seen overspreading all the country, penetrating 
 into every quarter, and triumphing over all' opposition. Their 
 defeats at the Hanging Rock and at WiUiams's, in the upper 
 parts of South Carolina, made but little impression, on an 
 army familiar with victories. Checks indeed they were, but 
 nothing more; and the only check they had sustained since 
 their landing in the State. The British ministry, by this flat- 
 tering posture of affairs, were once more intoxicated with the 
 delusive hopes of subjugating America. New plans were 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 215 
 
 formed, and great expectations indulged of speedily re-uniting 
 the dissevered members of the empire. The rashness of Gen- 
 eral. Burgoyne, and the languor of Sir William Howe, were 
 assigned as the only causes of that shame and disappoint- 
 ment which had already disgraced five successive campaigns. 
 It was now asserted with a confidence bordering on presump- 
 tion, that such troops as fought at Camden, put under such a 
 Commander as Lord Corn wal lis, would soon extirpate rebel- 
 lion so effectually as to leave no vestige of it in America. 
 The British ministry and army, by an impious confidence in 
 their own wisdom and prowess, were duly prepared to give, 
 in their approaching downfall, an useful lesson to the world. 
 
 The disaster of the army under General Gates overspread 
 at first the face of American affairs with a dismal gloom. But 
 the day of prosperity to the United States began, as will appear 
 in the sequel, from that moment to dawn. Their prospects 
 brightened up, while those of their enemies A^ere obscured by 
 disgrace, broken by defeat, and at last covered with ruin. 
 Elated with their victory, the conquerors became more inso- 
 lent and rapacious, while the real friends of independence, 
 thoroughly alarmed at their danger, became resolute and 
 determined. We have seen Sumpter penetrating into South 
 Carolina, and recommencing a military opposition to British 
 government. Soon after that event he was promoted by Gov- 
 ernor Rutledge to the rank of Brigadier-General. About the 
 same time Marion was promoted to the same rank, and in 
 the northeastern extremities of the State successfully prose- 
 cuted the same plan. Unfurnished with the means of defence, 
 he was obliged to take possession of the saws of the saw- 
 mills, and to convert them into horsemen's swords. So much 
 was he distressed for ammunition, that he has engaged when 
 he had not three rounds to each man of his party. At other 
 times he has brought his men into view, though without am- 
 munition, that he might make a show of numbers to the 
 enemy. For several weeks he had under his command only 
 seventy men, all volunteers from the militia. At one time 
 hardships and dangers reduced that number to twenty-five; 
 yet with this inconsiderable force he secured himself, in the 
 midst of surrounding foes. Various methods were attempted 
 to draw off his followers. Major Weyms burned scores of 
 houses belonging to the inhabitants living on Peedee, Lynch's 
 creek, and Black river, who were supposed to do duty with him, 
 or to be subservient to his views. This measure had an effect 
 contrary to what was expected. Revenge and despair co-op- 
 erated with patriotism to make these ruined men keep the 
 field. The devouring flames sent on defenceless habitations 
 by blind rage and brutal policy, increased not only the zeal 
 
216 HISTORY or THE KEV0LT7TJ0N. 
 
 but the number of his followers. For several months he and 
 his party were obliged to sleep in the open air, and to shelter 
 themselves in the thick recesses of deep swamps. From 
 these retreats he sallied out whenever an opportunity of har- 
 assing the enemy or of serving his country presented itself 
 This worthy citizen, on every occasion, paid the greatest re- 
 gard to private property, and restrained his men from every 
 species of plunder. On the whole, he exhibited a rare instance 
 of disinterested patriotism, in doing and suffering everything 
 subservient to the independence of his country. 
 
 Opposition to British government was not wholly confined 
 to the parties commanded by Sumpter and Marion. It was 
 at no time altogether extinct in the extremities of the State. 
 The inhabitants of that part of South Carolina which is now 
 called York district, never were paroled as prisoners; nor did 
 they take protection as subjects. From among these people 
 Sumpter had recruited a considerable part of his men. After 
 his defeat, on the 18th of August, 1780, several of them re- 
 paired to that settlement, and kept in small parties for their 
 own defence. Some of them also joined Major Davie, an 
 enterprising young gentleman who commanded fifty or sixty 
 volunteers, who had equipped themselves as dragoons. This 
 was the only American corps which at that time had not been 
 beaten or dispersed. The disposition to revolt which had 
 been excited on the approach of General Gates' army, was 
 not extinguished by its defeat. By that check the spirit of 
 the people was overawed, but not subdued. The severity 
 with which revolters who were taken had been treated, 
 induced many others to persevere and to seek safety in 
 swamps. 
 
 From the time of the general submission of the inhabitants, 
 in the summer of 1780, pains were taken to increase the royal 
 force by the co-operation of the yeomanry of the country. 
 Commissions in the militia were given by the British com- 
 manders to such of the inhabitants as they supposed had 
 influence, and were most firmly attached to their interest 
 They persuaded the people to einbody, by representing to the 
 uninformed, that American aifairs were entirely ruined, and 
 that further opposition would only be a prolongation of their 
 distresses. They endeavored to reconcile those who had 
 families, and were advanced in life, to the bearing of arms, 
 by considerations drawn from the necessity of defending their 
 property and of keeping tlieir domestics in proper subordi- 
 nation. From young men without families more was ex- 
 pected. Whilst Lord Cornwallis was restrained from active 
 operations by the excessive heats and unhealthy season which 
 followed his victory at Camden, Colonel Ferguson, of the 
 
CAMPAIGN OP 1780. 217 
 
 seventy-first British regiment, had undertaken personally to 
 visit the settlements of the disaffected to the American cause, 
 and to train their young men for service in the field. With 
 these, at a proper season, he was to join the main army and 
 co-operate with it in the reduction of North Carolina. This 
 corps had been chiefly collected from the remote parts of the 
 State, and was induced to continue for some time near to 
 the western mountains, with the expectation of intercepting 
 Colonel Clark on his retreat from Georgia. Among those who 
 joined Colonel Ferguson were several disorderly, licentious per- 
 sons, who took the opportunity of the prevailing confusion to 
 carry on their usual depredations. As they marched through 
 the country, on the pretence of promoting the service of his 
 Britanic majesty, they plundered the whig citizens. Violences 
 of this kind, frequently repeated, induced many persons to con- 
 sult their own safety by fleeing over the mountains. By such 
 lively representations of their sufferings as the distressed are 
 always ready to give, they communicated an alarm to that hardy 
 race of republicans who live to the westward of the Alleghany. 
 Hitherto these mountaineers had only heard of war at a dis- 
 tance, and had been in peaceable possession of that inde- 
 pendence for which their countrymen on the sea-coast were 
 contending. Alarmed for their own safety by the near ap- 
 proach of Colonel Ferguson, and roused by the violences and 
 depredations of his followers, they embodied to check the 
 neighboring foe. This was done of their own motion, with- 
 out any requisition from the governments of America or the 
 officers of the continental army. Being all mounted and 
 unincumbered with baggage, their motions were rapid. Each 
 man set out with his blanket, knapsack, and gun, in quest of 
 Colonel Ferguson in the same manner he was used to pursue 
 the wild beasts of the forest. At night the earth afforded 
 them a bed and the heavens a covering ; the running stream 
 quenched their thirst, while the few cattle, driven in their rear, 
 together with the supplies acquired by their guns, procured 
 them provision. They soon found the encampment of Colonel 
 Ferguson. This was on an eminence of a circular base, 
 known by the name of King's Mountain, situated near the 
 confines of North and South Carolina. Though Colonel 
 Campbell had a nominal command over the whole, their en- 
 terprise was conducted without regular military subordina- 
 tion, under the direction of Colonels Cleveland, Shelby, Sevier 
 and Williams, each of whom respectively led on his own 
 men. It being apprehended that Colonel Ferguson was hasten- 
 ing his march down the country to join Lord Cornwallis, the 
 Americans selected nine hundred and ten of their best men, 
 and mounted them on their fleetest horses. With this force 
 
^^° HISTORY OF THE REVOLTTTION. 
 
 they came up with Colonel Ferguson on the 7th of October, 
 1780. As they approached the royal encampment, it was 
 agreed to divide their force. Some ascended the mountain, 
 while others went round its base in opposite directions. 
 Colonel Cleveland, who led one of the detachments round 
 the mountain, in his progress discovered an advanced piquet 
 of the royal army. On this occasion he addressed his party 
 in the following plain unvarnished language : " My brave fel- 
 lows, we have beat the tories and we can beat them. Thev 
 are all cowards. If they had the spirit of men, they would 
 join with their fellow-citizens in supporting the independence 
 of their country. When engaged you are not to wait for the 
 word of command from me. I will show you by ray example 
 how to fight I can undertake no more. Every man must 
 consider himself as an officer, and act from his own judgment. 
 Fire as quick as you can, and stand your ground as long as 
 you can. When you can do no better, get behind trees or re- 
 treat, but I beg of you not to run quite off. If we are re- 
 pulsed, let us make a point to return and renew the fight. 
 Perhaps we may have better luck in the second attempt than 
 the first. If any of you are afraid, such have leave to retire, 
 and they are requested immediately to take themselves off," 
 A firing commenced. Some of the Americans were on horse- 
 back, others on foot. Some behind trees, and others exposed. 
 None were under the restraints of military discipline, but all 
 were animated with the enthusiasm of liberty. The piquet 
 soon gave way, and were pursued as they retired up the 
 mountain to the main body. Colonel Ferguson, with the 
 greatest bravery, ordered his men to charge. The Americans 
 commanded by Colonel Cleveland followed his advice, and 
 having fired as long as they could with safety, they retired 
 from the approaching bayonet. They had scarcely given way 
 when the other detachment, commanded by Colonel Shelby, 
 having completed the circuit of the mountain, opportunely 
 arrived, and from an unexpected quarter poured in a well 
 directed fire. Colonel Ferguson desisted from the pursuit, 
 and engaged with his new adversaries. The British bayonet 
 was again successful, and caused them also to fall back. By 
 "^j^f ^^'^ P'^^'^y commanded by Colonel Campbell had 
 ascended the mountain, and renewed the attack from that 
 eminence. Colonel Ferguson, whose conduct was equal to 
 nis courage, presented a new front, and was again successful, 
 mpnMV I'^'^'^'u"''^^^? unavailing. At this moment the 
 mfpst nf th!f " '^^ '''''"'^' "o !««« obedient to the second re- 
 thev wre to rT^""^""" ^^ >-eturning to their posts than 
 
 etreat had ralhed /'^'" ^'''^"""^ themselves by a timely 
 retreat, had rallied and renewed their fire. As often as one 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 219 
 
 of the American parties was driven back, another returned to 
 their station. Resistance on the part of Colonel Ferguson was 
 in vain, but his unconquerable spirit refused to surrender. 
 After having repulsed a succession of adversaries, pouring in 
 their fire from new directions, this distinguished officer re- 
 ceived a mortal wound. No chance of escape being left, and 
 all prospect of successful resistance being at an end, the second 
 in command sued for quarters. The killed, wounded and 
 taken, exceeded eleven hundred, of which nearly one hundred 
 were regulars. The assailants had the honor of reducing a 
 number superior to their own. The Americans lost compara- 
 tively few, but in that number was that distinguished militia 
 officer, Colonel Williams. Ten of these men who had surren- 
 dered were hanged by their conquerors. They were provoked 
 to this measure by the severity of the British, who had lately 
 hanged a greater number of Americans at Camden, Ninety- 
 Six and Augusta. They also alleged that the men who suffered 
 were guilty of crimes for which their lives were forfeited by 
 the laws of the land. 
 
 This unexpected advantage gave new spirits to the de- 
 sponding Americans ; and, in a great degree, frustrated a well 
 concerted scheme for strengthening the British army by the co- 
 operation of the inhabitants who were disaffected to the cause 
 of America. 
 
 It was scarcely possible for any event to have happened, in 
 the present juncture of affairs, more unfavorable to the views 
 of Lord Corwallis than this reverse of fortune. The fall of 
 Colonel Ferguson, who possessed superior talents as a partizan, 
 was no small loss to the royal cause. In addition to the ac- 
 complishments of an excellent officer, he was a most exact 
 marksmen ; and had brought the art of rifle shooting to an un- 
 common degree of perfection. The total route of the royalists, 
 who had joined Colonel Ferguson, operated as a check on 
 their future exertions. The same timid caution which made 
 them averse from joining their countrymen, in opposing the 
 claims of Great Britain, restrained them from risking any 
 more in support of the royal cause. From this time forward 
 many of them waited events and reserved themselves till the 
 British army, by their own unassisted efforts, should gain a de- 
 cided superiority. 
 
 In a few weeks after the general action near Camden, on the 
 16th of August, 1780, Lord Cornwallis left a small force in 
 that village and marched with the main army to Charlotte. 
 Whilst they lay there. General Sumner and General Davidson, 
 with a considerable body of North Carolina militia, took post 
 in the vicinity and annoyed their detachments. Major Davie, 
 whose corps was greatly increased by staunch volunteers from 
 
220 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 the lower country, was particularly successful in intercepting 
 their foraging parties and convoys. Ritlemen frequently pene- 
 trated near the British camp, and from behind trees took care 
 to make sure of their object; so that the late conquerors found 
 their situation verj,' uneasy, being exposed to unseen danger 
 if they attempted to make an excursion of only a few hun- 
 dred yards from their encampment. The defeat of Colonel 
 Ferguson, added to these circumstances, gave a serious alarm 
 to Lord Cornwallis; and made him,Avhile at Charlotte, appre- 
 hensive for his safety. He therefore retreated, and fixed his 
 next position at Winnsborough. As he retired, the militia 
 took several wagons loaded with stores, and single men often 
 rode up within gun-shot of his army, discharged their pieces, 
 and made their escape. 
 
 The panic occasioned by the reduction of Charlestown, and 
 the defeat of General Gates, began to wear ofi". The defeat 
 of Colonel Ferguson, and the consequent retreat of Lord 
 Cornwallis from Charlotte to Winnsborough, encouraged the 
 American militia to repair to the camps of their respective 
 commanders. The necessity of the times induced them to 
 submit to the stricter discipline of regular soldiers. 
 
 Early in October, Gates detached General Morgan from 
 Hillsborough, with 300 Maryland and Delaware troops with 
 80 dragoons, to aid the exertions of the whig citizens of Meck- 
 lenburgh and Rowan counties. In an excursion from this de- 
 tached position Lieutenant-Colonel Washington penetrated 
 with a small force to the vicinity of Camden, and on the 4th of 
 December 17S0, appeared before Col. Rugeley's. This gentle- 
 man having taken a com mission in the British militia, had made 
 a stockade-fort round his house in which he had collected 112 
 of the men under his command. The appearance of the force, 
 commanded by Washington, produced an immediate surrender 
 of this whole party. A pine log enforced the propriety and 
 necessity of their speedy unresisting submission. This harm- 
 less timber, elevated a few feet from the surface of the 
 earth by its branches which stuck in the ground, was moulded 
 by the imagination of the garrison into artillery, completely 
 equipped with all the apparatus of death. 
 
 Sumpter, soon after the dispersion of his force on the 18th 
 of August 17S0, collected a corps of volunteers. About thirty 
 of his party re-joined him immediately after that event. In 
 three days more one hundred of the whig citizens in the vi- 
 cinity,on his requisition, rendezvoused at Sugar creek and put 
 themselves under his command. With these and other occa- 
 sional reinforcements, though for three months there was no 
 continental army in the State, he constantly kept the field in 
 support of American independence. He varied his position 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 221 
 
 from time to time about Enoree, Broad and Tyger rivers, and 
 had frequent s}iirmishes with his adversaries. Having mounted 
 his followers, he infested the British with frequent incursions, 
 beat up their quarters, intercepted their convoys, and so har- 
 assed them with successive alarms, that their movements could 
 not be made but with caution and difficulty. On the 12th of 
 November, 1780, he was attacked at Broad river by Major 
 Weyras, commanding a corps of infantry and dragoons. In 
 this action the British were defeated, and their commanding 
 officer taken prisoner. Though Major Weyms had personally 
 superintended the execution of Mr. Adam Cusack, after ordering 
 him to be hung ; and though in his pocket was found a mem- 
 orandum of several houses burned by his command, yet he 
 received every indulgence from his conquerors. On the twen- 
 tieth of the same month General Sumpter was attacked at 
 Black Stocks, near Tyger river, by Lieutenant-Colonel Tarle- 
 ton at the head of a considerable party. The action was severe 
 and obstinate. The killed and wounded of the British was con- 
 siderable. Among the former were Maj. Money, Lieuts. Gibson 
 and Cope. The Americans lost very few, but General Sumpter 
 received a wound which, for several months, interrupted his gal- 
 lant enterprises in behalf of the State. His zeal and activity in 
 animating the American militia when they were discouraged by 
 repeated defeats, and the bravery and good conduct he dis- 
 played in sundry attacks on the British detachments procured 
 him the applause of his countrymen and the thanks of Con- 
 gress. 
 
 The continental army which had been collected at Hillsbor- 
 ough, after their dispersion on the 16th of August, moved 
 down to Charlotte in the latter end of the year 1780. Congress 
 authorized General Washington to appoint an officer to take 
 the command in the southern district. He nominated Major- 
 General Greene to this important trust. This illustrious offi- 
 cer was universally acknowledged to possess great military 
 talents, particularly a penetrating judgment, and a decisive 
 enterprising spirit. Great were the difficulties he had to en- 
 counter. The principal part of his standing force consisted of 
 the few continentals wtio had escaped from the defeat near Cam- 
 den on the 16th of August, 1780. Six days after Greene took the 
 command, the returns of the southern army were nine hun- 
 dred and seventy continentals, and one thousand and thirteen 
 militia. The continentals were without pay, and almost with- 
 out clothing. All sources of supply from Charlestown were 
 shut up, and no imported article could be obtained but from a 
 distance of near two hundred miles. Though the American 
 force was small, yet the procuring of provisions for its support 
 was a matter of the greatest difficulty. The paper currency 
 
222 HisTORr or the revolution. 
 
 was so depreciated, that it was wholly unequal to the purchase 
 of necessaries for the suffering soldiers. Real money could 
 not be procured. Though Greene was authorized to dispose 
 of a few bills, drawn by Congress on their minister at the 
 court of France, on a credit given him by that court, yet, such was 
 the situation of the country, that very little relief could be ob- 
 tained from this quarter; and the greatest part of the bills 
 were returned unsold. The only resource left for supplying 
 the American army, was by impressment. The country had 
 been so completely ravaged, that all which could be obtained 
 even in that way, in the vicinity of the army, was far short 
 of a sufficiency. To supply the army, and please the inhabi- 
 tants, was equally necessary. To seize upon their property 
 and preserve their kind affections was a most delicate point, and 
 yet of the utmost moment, as it furnished the army with 
 provisions without impairing the disposition of the inhab- 
 itants to co-operate with the continental troops in recovering 
 the country. This grand object called for the united efforts of 
 both. That the business of impressment might be conducted 
 in the least offensive manner it was transferred from the mili- 
 tary to the civil officers of the State. This was not only more 
 effectual, but it also prevented two other evils of dangerous 
 consequence — the corruption of the discipline of the army — 
 and the misapplication of property impressed for the public 
 service. 
 
 With an inconsiderable army, miserably provided. General 
 Greene took the field against a superior British regular force, 
 which had marched in triumph two hundred miles from the 
 sea-coast ; and was flushed with successive victories through 
 a whole campaign. To face an host of difficulties the Ameri- 
 can General had the justice of his cause, his own valor and 
 good conduct, a very respectable cavalry, and the Maryland 
 and Delaware continentals who had served upwards of four 
 years ; and who, for their numbers, were equal to any troops 
 in the world. 
 
 Many of the inhabitants, who, from necessity, had sub- 
 mitted to the British government most cordially wished him 
 good speed ; but the unsuccessful attempt of Gates to recover 
 the country made the cautious and timid, for some time, very 
 slow in repairing to the standard of liberty. 
 
 Soon after Greene took the command, he divided his force 
 and sent a detachment, under General Morgan, to the western 
 extremities of South Carolina; and marched on the twentieth 
 of December with the main body to Hicks' Creek, on the 
 north side of the Peedee, opposite to Cheraw Hill. This di- 
 vision of the little American army into two parts, so remote 
 from each other that they could not co-operate, was risking 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 223 
 
 much ; but the necessity of the case gave no ahernative. 
 The continental army was too inconsiderable to make suc- 
 cessful opposition to the superior numbers of Lord Corn- 
 wallis, without the most powerful co-operation of the militia 
 of the country. To give them an opportunity of embodying 
 it was necessary to cover both extremities of the State. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 Campaign of 1781. 
 
 After the general submission of the militia, in the year 1780, 
 a revolution took place highly favorable to the interests of 
 America. The residence of the British army, instead of in- 
 creasing the real friends to royal government, diminished 
 their number and added new vigor to the opposite party. In 
 the district of Ninety-Six moderate measures were at first 
 adopted by the British commanders, but the effects of this 
 were frustrated by the royalists. A great part of those who 
 called themselves the King's friends had been at all times a 
 banditti, to whom rapine and violence were familiar. On the 
 restoration of royal government these men preferred their 
 claim to its particular notice. The conquerors were so far 
 imposed on by them, that they promoted some of them who 
 were of the most infamous characters. Men of such base 
 minds and mercenary principles, regardless of the capitula- 
 tion, gratified their private resentments and their rage for 
 plunder to the great distress of the new made subjects, and 
 the greater injury of the royal interest. Violences of this kind 
 made some men break their engagements to the British, and 
 join the Americans. Their revolt occasioned suspicions to 
 the prejudice of others who had no intention of following 
 their example. Fears, jealousies and distrust, haunted the 
 minds of the conquerors. All confidence was at an end. 
 Severe measures were next tried, but with a worse effect. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour, an haughty and imperious officer 
 who commanded in that district, was more calculated, by his 
 insolence and overbearing conduct to alienate the inhabitants 
 from a government already beloved, than to reconcile them to 
 one which was generally disliked. By an unwarrantable 
 stretch of his authority he issued a proclamation by which it 
 was declared, "that every man who was not in his house by 
 a certain day should be subject to a military execution.'' 
 The British had a post in Ninety-Six for thirteen months, 
 during which time the country was filled with rapine, vio- 
 lence, and murder. Applications were made daily for redress, 
 yet in that whole period there was not a single instance 
 wherein punishment was inflicted either on the soldiery or 
 
224 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 tories. The people soon found that there was no security for 
 their hves, liberties, or property, under the military goveru- 
 ment of British officers, which subjected them to the depreda- 
 tions of a malicious mercenary banditti; falsely calling 
 themselves the friends of royal government. The peaceable 
 citizens were reduced to that uncommon distress, in which 
 they had more to fear from oppression than resistance ; they 
 therefore most ardently wished for the appearance of an 
 American force. Under these favorable circumstances Greene 
 detached Morgan to take a position in the western extremity 
 of the State. On his arrival the latter dispatched Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Washington, with his own regiment and two hun- 
 dred militia-horse, to attack a body of tories who were plun- 
 dering the whig inhabitants. Washington came up with 
 them near Hammond's store-house, and charged them; on 
 on which they all fled Without making any resistance. Many 
 were killed or wounded, and about forty taken prisoners. 
 
 On the next day Washington detached Cornet James Simons, 
 with a command of eleven regulars and twenty-five militia, 
 to pursue the fugitives and to surprise a fort a few miles distant, 
 in which General Cunningham commanded about one hun- 
 dred and fifty British militia. This fort was strongly pic- 
 queted in every direction ; and, besides plunder taken from 
 the whig inhabitants, was well stored with forage, grain, and 
 provisions for the use of the British army. As soon as the 
 Americans were discovered. General Cunningham and all his 
 men abandoned the fort. Cornet Simons stationed his de- 
 tachment, and, advancing with a flag, demanded their sur- 
 render. Cunningham requested time to consult his officers, 
 and five minutes were given him for that purpose. In that 
 short space the whole party of tories ran off', and dispersed 
 themselves through the woods. Simons, after destroying the 
 fort and all the provisions in it which he could not carry 
 away, rejoined Washington without any molestation. 
 
 These successes, the appearance of an American army, a 
 sincere attachment to the cause of independence, and the im- 
 politic conduct of the British, induced several persons to re- 
 sume their arms and to act in concert with the detachments 
 of continentals. Lord Cornwallis wished to drive Morgan 
 from this station, and to deter the inhabitants from joining 
 him. Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, at the head of a thousand 
 regulars, was ordered to execute this business. The British 
 had two field-pieces, and the superiority of numbers in the 
 proportion of five to four, and particularly of cavalry in the 
 proportion of three to one. Besides this inequality of force, 
 two-thirds of the troops under Morgan were militia. With 
 these fair prospects of success, Tarleton, on the 17th of January 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 225 
 
 1781, engaged Morgan with the expectation of driving him 
 out of the country. The latter drew up his men in two lines. 
 The whole of the southern militia, with one hundred and 
 ninety from North Carolina, were put under the command of 
 Colonel Pickens. These formed the first line, and were ad- 
 vanced a few hundred yards before the second, with orders to 
 form on the right of the second when forced to retire. The 
 second line consisted of the light-infantry, under Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Howard, and a small corps of Virginia militia rifle- 
 men. Lieutenant-Colonel Washington with his cavalry and 
 forty-five militia-men, mounted and equipped with swords, 
 were drawn up at some distance in the rear of the whole. 
 The Americans were formed before the British appeared in 
 sight. Tarleton halted, and formed his men, when at the dis- 
 tance of about two hundred and fifty yards from the front line 
 of Morgan's detachment. As soon as the British had formed 
 they began to advance with a shout, and poured in an inces- 
 sant fire of musketry. Colonel Pickens directed the militia 
 under his command not to fire till the British were within 
 forty or fifty yards. This order, though executed with great 
 firmness and success, was not sufficient to repel the advancing 
 foe. The American militia were obliged to retire, but were 
 soon rallied by their officers. The British advanced rapidly 
 and engaged the second line which, after a most obstinate 
 conflict, was compelled to retreat to the cavalry. In this 
 crisis of the battle, Washington made a successful charge upon 
 Tarleton who was cutting down the militia. Lieutenant 
 Colonel Howard, almost at the same moment, rallied the con- 
 tinental troops and charged with fixed bayonets. The exam- 
 ple was instantly followed by the militia. Nothing could 
 exceed the astonishment and confusion of the British, occa- 
 sioned by these unexpected charges. Their advance fell back 
 upon their rear, and communicated a panic to the whole. In 
 this moment of confusion Howard called to them " to lay 
 down their arms," and promised them good quarters. Up- 
 wards of five hundred accepted the ofi'er, and surrendered. 
 The first battalion of the seventy-first regiment, and two 
 British light infantry companies laid down their arms to the 
 American militia. Previous to this general surrender, three 
 hundred of the corps, commanded by Tarleton, had been 
 killed, wounded or taken. Eight hundred stand of arms, two 
 field-pieces, and thirty-five baggage-wagons also fell into the 
 hands of the Americans. Washington pursued the British 
 cavalry for several miles, but a great part of them escaped. 
 The Americans had only twelve men killed, and sixty 
 wounded. General Morgan, whose great abilities were dis- 
 covered by the judicious disposition of his force, and whose 
 15 
 
226 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 activity was conspicuous through every part of the action, 
 obtained the universal applause of his countrymen. And 
 there never was a commander better supported than he was 
 by the officers and men of his detachment. The glory and 
 importance of this action resounded from one end of the con- 
 tinent to the other. It re-animated the desponding friends of 
 America, and seemed to be like a resurrection from the dead 
 to the southern States. 
 
 Morgan's good conduct, on this memorable day, was honored 
 by Congress with a gold medal. That illustrious assembly, on 
 this occasion, presented also a medal of silver to Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Washington, another to Lieutenant-Colonel Howard, 
 a sword to Colonel Pickens, a brevet majority to Edward Giles, 
 the General's Aid-de-camp, and a Captaincy to Baron Glasback, 
 who had lately joined the light infantry as a volunteer. The 
 British legion, hitherto triumphant in a variety of skirmishes, 
 on this occasion lost their laurels, though they were supported 
 by the Seventh regiment, one battalion of the Seventy-first, 
 and two companies of light infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Tarleton had hitherto acquired distinguished reputation, but 
 he was greatly indebted for his military fame to good fortune 
 and accident. In all his previous engagements he either had 
 the advantage of surprising an incautious enemy, of attacking 
 them when panic-struck after recent defeats, or of being op- 
 posed to undisciplined militia. He had gathered no laurels by 
 hard fighting against an equal force. His repulse on this 
 occasion did more essential injury to the British interest than 
 was compensated by all his victories. 
 
 Tarleton's defeat was the first link in a grand chain of causes 
 which finally drew down ruin, both in North and South Caro- 
 lina, on the royal interest. The series of victories which had 
 followed the British arms in the first nine months of the year 
 1780, had been considered by the sanguine royalists as decisive 
 with respect to the most southern colonies, and had led to the 
 formation of extensive plans for the year 1781. These were 
 defensive with respect to South Carolina and Georgia, which 
 were considered as conquered countries, but otFensive against 
 North Carolina and Virginia. To favor the subjugation of these 
 two latter States, the British commanders stationed troops in 
 both. The tories under the protection of the royal army were 
 encouraged to rise simultaneously. With their aid, and that of 
 his army, Lord Cornwallis expected to destroy the American 
 forces commanded by General Greene, or at least to drive 
 them out of the country. As his lordship advanced from 
 south to north, it was expected the tories, with a portion of 
 regulars, would keep all quiet in his rear. North Carolina 
 was scarcely considered in any other light than as the road to 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 227 
 
 Virginia. A junction with the royal forces stationed in the 
 last named State, in the froat of Lord Cornwallis, was ex- 
 pected at so early a day, as to give time for prosecuting fur- 
 ther operations against Maryland and Pennsylvania. The 
 expectations of some went so far as to count upon a junction 
 with the royal army in New York, and the subjugation of 
 every State to the southward of Hudson's river, before the 
 close of the campaign. The year 1781 commenced with the 
 prospect of accomplishing most, if not all of these objects. 
 These sanguine hopes were founded on the reduction of 
 Savannah and Charlestown, the subjugation of Georgia and 
 South Carolina — the route of General Gates' army — the fail- 
 ure of the American paper currency, the general distress of 
 the country, and the inability of Congress to carry on the war, 
 from the want of the means necessary for that purpose. In 
 this distressed state of American affairs, success, little short of 
 a termination of the war in favor of Great Britain, was ex- 
 pected from a vigorous campaign, conducted with energy and 
 advancing from south to north. The defeat of Ferguson at 
 King's mountain, in October, 1780, and of Tarleton at the 
 Cow Pens, in January, 1781, precipitated the projected system 
 of operations. To recover the prisoners taken at the Cow 
 Pens, the royal army was instantly put in motion. A mili- 
 tary race commenced between the pursuing British and the 
 fleeing Americans. North Carolina was therefore prematurely 
 invaded before the tories were prepared for joining the royal- 
 ists. Rising without order or system, they were separately 
 subdued. General Greene, by rapid movements, saved his 
 prisoners, but was compelled to retreat into Virginia. By avoid- 
 ing engagements he preserved his army till he was joined by 
 so many of his countrymen as enabled him to recross into 
 North Carolina, and to risk a general action at Guilford. This, 
 though called a victory by the British, operated against them 
 like a defeat. Lord Cornwallis was reduced to the alternative 
 of retracing his footsteps to South Carolina, or advancing to 
 Virginia, while the country behind him was left open to the 
 enterprising General Greene, at the head of a respectable force. 
 The two armies, one of which for some weeks had been chas- 
 ing the other, now turned back to back. Lord Cornwallis 
 advanced northwardly, and seated himself in York Town, 
 Virginia, where, in October following, he was reduced to the 
 necessity of surrendering his whole army prisoners of war; 
 Greene, southwardly to Carolina, and in the course of the 
 campaign, recovered the country from its late conquerors. 
 This was facilitated by the previous enterpises of Generals 
 Sumpter and Marion. These distinguished partisans, though 
 surrounded with enemies, kept the field and animated the 
 
228 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 whig inhabitants of Sonth Carolina to deeds of valor, while 
 the two main armies were in North Carolina and Virginia. 
 Though the continental army was driven over Dan river, 
 Marion and Sumpter did not despair of the commonwealth. 
 Having mounted their followers, their motions were rapid 
 and their attacks unexpected. With their light troops they 
 intercepted the British convoys of provisions, infested their 
 outposts, beat up their quarters, and harassed their detach- 
 ments with such frequent alarms, that they were obliged to be 
 always on their guard. In the western extremity of the State, 
 Sumpter was powerfully supported by Colonels Niel, Lacey, 
 Hill, Winn, Bratton, Brandon, and others, each of whom held 
 militia commissions, and had many friends. In the north- 
 eartern extremity, Marion received, in like manner, great as- 
 sistance from the active exertions of Colonels Peter Horry and 
 Hugh Horry, Lieutenant-Colonel John Baxter, Colonel James 
 Postell, Major John Postell, and Major John James. 
 
 The inhabitants, either as affection or vicinity induced them, 
 arranged themselves under some of these militia officers, and 
 performed many gallant enterprises.* 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Marion's Brigade. 
 
 Marion and his brigade were so distinguished, and at the 
 same time so detached in their operations, as to merit and 
 require particular notice. 
 
 General Francis Marion was born atWinyaw, in 1733. His 
 grandfather was a native of Languedoc, and one of the many 
 Protestants who fled from France to Carolina to avoid perse- 
 cution on the account of religion. He left thirteen children, 
 the eldest of whom was the father of the general. Francis 
 Marion, when only sixteen years of age, made choice of a 
 seafaring life. On his first voyage to the West Indies he was 
 shipwrecked. The crew, consisting of six persons, took to 
 the open boat, without water or provisions, except a dog who 
 jumped into the boat from the sinking vessel. They were six 
 days in the boat before they made land, having nothing to eat 
 in that time but the dog, whom they devoured raw. Two of 
 the crew perished. Francis Marion, with three others, reached 
 
 *The author would gladly have recorded these events minutely, if the par- 
 ticulars were either known by him or had been communicated to him. The 
 information received of the corps commanded by Sumpter is very general, and 
 of course deficient, though exertions were made to procure it in detail. He has 
 been more successful in his applications to the friends of the deceased General 
 Marion, and with gratitude acknowledges the obligations he is under to Captain 
 John Palmer, and to the Honorable William James, Esq., for interesting informa- 
 tion respecting that distinguished officer and his brigade. 
 
Marion's brigade. 229 
 
 land. This disaster, and the entreaties of his mother, induced 
 him to quit the sea. In Littleton's expedition against the In- 
 dians in 1759, he went as a volunteer in his brother's militia 
 troop of horse. In Grant's expetition to the Indian country 
 in 1761, he served as a lieutenant under Captain William 
 Moultrie. On the formation of a regular army in 1775, to 
 defend his native province against Great Britain, he was ap- 
 pointed a captain in the Second South Carolina regiment, and 
 had gradually risen to the rank of colonel before Charlestown 
 fell. Fortunately for his country, he had fractured his leg 
 and retired from the garrison, which prevented his being 
 made a prisoner of war. After the surrender, he retreated to 
 North Carolina. On the approach of General Gates he ad- 
 vanced with a small party through the country towards the 
 Santee. On his arrival there he found a number of his coun- 
 trymen ready and willing to put themselves under his com- 
 mand, to which he had been appointed by General Gates. 
 This corps afterwards acquired the name of Marion's Bri- 
 gade. Its origin was as singular as its exploits were honor- 
 able. 
 
 In the month of June, 1780, a British captain named 
 Ardesoif, arrived at Georgetown and published a proclama- 
 tion, inviting the people to come in, swear allegiance to King 
 George, and take protection. Many of the inhabitants of 
 Georgetown submitted. But there remained a portion of that 
 district stretching from the Santee to the Peedee, containing 
 the whole of the present Williamsburg and part of Marion 
 district, to which the British arms had not penetrated. The 
 inhabitants of it were generally of Irish extraction, and very 
 little disposed to submission. At this crisis there was a meet- 
 ing of this people to deliberate on their situation. Major 
 John James, who had heretofore commanded them in the 
 field and represented them in the State Legislature, was se- 
 lected as the person who should go down to Captain Ardesoif 
 and know from him upon what terms they would be allowed 
 to submit. Accordingly he proceeded to Georgetown in the 
 plain garb of a country planter, and was introduced to the 
 Captain at his lodgings. 
 
 After narrating the nature of his mission, the Captain sur- 
 prised that such an embassy should be sent to him, answered 
 "that their submission must be unconditional.'' To an in- 
 quiry, " whether they would be allowed to stay at home upon 
 their plantations in peace and quiet," he replied, " though you 
 have rebelled against his majesty he offers you a free pardon, 
 of which you were undeserving, for you ought all to have 
 been hanged. As he offers you a free pardon you must take 
 up arms in support of his cause." To Major James suggest- 
 
230 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 ing " that the people he came to represent would not submit 
 on such terms," the Captain, irritated at his republican lan- 
 guage, particularly at the word "represent," replied, "you 
 damned rebel ! if you speak in such language, I will imme- 
 diately order you to be hanged up to the yard arm." Major 
 James perceiving what turn matters were likely to take, and 
 not brooking this harsh language, suddenly seized the chair 
 on which he was seated, brandished it in the face of the 
 Captain, made his way good through the back door of the 
 house, mounted his horse and made his escape into the coun- 
 try. This circumstance which appears now so trivial, gave 
 rise to Marion's brigade. When the whole adventure was 
 related at a meeting of the inhabitants of Williamsburg, it 
 was unanimously determined that they would again take up 
 arms in defence of their country and not against it Major 
 James was desired to command them as heretofore, and they 
 arranged themselves under their revolutionary Captains, Wil- 
 liam M'Cottry, Henry Movvzon and John James, junior. 
 
 The small band thus resolved on further resistance was 
 about two hundred men. Shortly after. Colonel Hugh Giles 
 joined them with two companies, Thornly's and Wither- 
 spoon's. On this accession of force a consultation was held, 
 and it was agreed to dispatch a messenger to General Gates, 
 who about this time had arrived on the confines of the State, 
 requesting him to send them a Commander. Shortly after 
 these events, Colonel Tarleton crossed the Santee at Lenud's 
 ferry, and hearing of the late proceedings in Williamsburg, 
 approached at the head of some cavalry to surprise the party 
 of Major James ; but Captain M'Cottry, as soon as he received 
 notice of his movements, marched his company of fifty men 
 to give him battle. Tarleton was posted at King's Tree 
 bridge, on Black river, and M'Cottry approached him at mid- 
 night; but by means of the wife of the only loyalist in that 
 part of the country, Tarleton gained intelligence of M'Cottry's 
 movements, and marched away a few hours before the latter 
 arrived. M'Cottry pursued him, but without effect 
 
 In this route Tarleton burnt the house of Captain Mowzon 
 and took Mr. James Bradley* prisoner. 
 
 *This gentleman was taken prisoner by stratagem. Colonel Tarleton came to 
 his house and passed himself for Colonel Washington of the Ameriuan army. 
 Bradley made much of his guest, and without suspicion freely communicated to 
 him the plans and views of himself and other Carolinians for co-operating with 
 their counlryjnen against the British. When the interview and its hospitalities 
 were ended, Tarleton requested Bradley to accompany him as a guide to a neigh- 
 boring place. This service was cheerfully performed On their arrival, Tarleton's 
 party appeared in full view and took charge of Bradley as a prisoner. The host 
 thus taken by order of his late guest was sent to Camden jail, and there confined 
 in irons. He was freiiuently carted to the gallows to witness the execution of his 
 countrymen as rebels, and was told to prepare for a similar fate as his time was 
 
Marion's brigade. 231 
 
 In the meantime Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Horry arrived 
 from Georgetown with a small party and took command of 
 the force already raised by Major James, and on all occasions 
 very much animated the men by his gallantry and persever- 
 ing patriotism. The messenger, however, had been dis- 
 patched to Gates, and on the first or second of August, Gen- 
 eral Francis Marion arrived to the great joy of all the friends 
 of America, He was accompanied by Colonel Peter Horry, 
 Major John Vanderhorst, Captains Lewis Ogier and James 
 Thems, and Captain John Milton, of Georgia. In a few days 
 after taking the command, General Marion led his men 
 across the Peedee at Post's ferry to disperse a large party of 
 tories commanded by Major Gainey, collected between great 
 and little Peedee. He surprised them in their camp ; killed 
 one of their captains and several privates. Two of his own 
 party were wounded. Major James was detached at the head 
 of a volunteer troop of horse to attack their horse. He came 
 up with them, charged and drove them into little Peedee 
 swamp. Marion returned to Posts's ferry and threw up a 
 redoubt on the east bank of Peedee to awe the tories, still nu- 
 merous in that neighborhood. While thus employed he 
 heard of the defeat of Gates, at Camden, August 16th, 1780. 
 Without communicating the intelligence, he immediately 
 marched for Nelson's ferry on the Santee, in the hope of 
 intercepting some of the prisoners on their way to Charles- 
 town. Near Nelson's he was informed of a party on their 
 way down, and found by his scouts that the British had 
 stopped at the house on the main road on the east side of 
 Santee. The General waited till near daylight next morning 
 and then divided his men into two divisions. A small party- 
 under Colonel Hugh Horry* was directed to obtain possession 
 of the road at the entrance of the swamp, and the main body 
 led by himself was by a circuitous route to attack the British 
 in the rear. Colonel Horry in taking his position, had ad- 
 vanced in the dark too near to a sentinel who fired upon 
 him. In a moment he with his little party rushed up to the 
 house, found the British arms piled before the door and seized 
 
 next. On such occasions, and when interrogated at courts-martial, he made no 
 other reply than that " I am ready and willing to die in the cause of my country ; 
 but remember, if I am hanged, I have many friends in General Marion's brigade, 
 and my death will occasion a severe retaliation." Either awed by his virtues or 
 apprehensive of the consequences, his captors did not execute their threats. His 
 life was spared, but he was kept in irons as long as the British had possession of 
 the upper country. He bore the marks of these rugged instruments of confine- 
 ment till the day of his death, and would occasionally show thera to his young 
 friends, with a request "that if the good of their country required the sacriiice, 
 they would suffer imprisonment and death in its cause." 
 
 *This gallant officer was the bosom friend of General Marion. Wherever the 
 latter was personally engaged in action, the former was to be seen at his side. 
 
232 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 upon them. Thus by a party of sixteen American militia 
 was a British guard of thirty-two men taken, and one hun- 
 dred and fifty prisoners released. Colonel Horry had one man 
 wounded. However, the news of the defeat of Gates, which 
 now became public, damped all joy for the complete success 
 of this well conducted attack. On the same day General 
 Marion marched back for his old position on the Peedee. 
 On the way many of his militia, and, with the exception of 
 two, the whole of the regulars released from the enemy, de- 
 serted. But by the exertions of the General and his officers, 
 the spirits of the drooping began to revive. About the 14th 
 of September, 1780, when Marion had under his command 
 only 150 men, he heard of the approach of Major Weyms, 
 from the King's Tree, at the head of a British regiment and 
 Harrison's regiment of tories. Major James was instantly 
 dispatched at the head of a party of volunteers to reconnoitre, 
 and with orders to count the enemy. On his return a council 
 of war was called. The British force was reported to be 
 double that of Marion's. Gainey's party of tories in the rear 
 had always been estimated at 500 men. Under these dis- 
 couraging circumstances the line of march was directed back 
 towards Lynch's creek. This was a most trying occasion. 
 Men were called upon to leave their property and their fam- 
 ilies at the discretion of an irritated relentless enemy. About 
 half of Marion's party left him ; Colonels Peter and Hugh 
 Horry, Colonels John Erwin and John Baxter, Major John 
 Vanderhorst, Major John James, Major Benson, and about 
 sixty others continued with their General. Captain James, 
 with ten chosen men, was left to succor the distressed and to 
 convey intelligence.* The next morning Marion arrived at 
 his redoubt; and at sunset the same evening turned towards 
 North Carolina, and soon reached the eastern bank of Drown- 
 ing creek in that State. Major James obtained leave to return 
 at the head of a few volunteers ; and General Marion con- 
 tinued on to the White marsh, near the source of the Wacca- 
 maw. In a little time the Major returned with intelligence of 
 the depredations and house burnings committed by Weyms. 
 Many of Marion's party were reduced from easy circum- 
 stances to poverty. 
 
 After a few days more of repose, the General returned by 
 forced marches towards South Carolina. When near to Lynch's 
 creek he was informed that a party of tories, much more nu- 
 merous than his own, lay at Black Mingo, fifteen miles below. 
 Every voice was for the General to lead on his men to an at- 
 tack ; and they were gratified. 
 
 *He continued in the vicinity of the British encampments and to fire upon 
 stragglers from it as long as his powder and ball lasted. 
 
BRIGADE. 233 
 
 The tories lay at Shepherd's ferry on the south side of that 
 creek. To approach them Marion was ohliged to cross the 
 creek at a bridge one mile above the ferry. As soon as the 
 front files of his advance had struck the bridge, with their 
 horses' feet, an alarm gun was fired by the enemy and they 
 were advantageously posted to receive him. A sharp conflict 
 ensued. In an interval of platoons Marion was heard to call 
 out, " advance cavalry and charge on the left." Instantly the 
 tories broke and ran for Black Mingo swamp. The parties 
 had been engaged for a considerable time so near to each 
 other that the wads of their gims struck on each side, and 
 both fired balls and buckshot. Neither had bayonets, or they 
 would have been used. Captain Logan, and one private of 
 Marion's party were killed ; but of those engaged, nearly one- 
 half were wounded. Two gallant oflicers. Captain Mowzon 
 and his Lieutenant Joseph Scott, were rendered unfit for 
 further service. 
 
 The tories had five killed, and a considerable number 
 wounded. Several of these had lately been companions in 
 arms with Marion's party, but from mistaken views had 
 changed sides. The General without delay marched into 
 Williamsburg. In a short time his party was four hundred 
 strong. 
 
 Thus re-inforced the General proceeded up, Lynch's creek, 
 to chastise the tories who had assisted Weyms. On his march 
 he obtained information that Colonel Tynes was collecting a 
 large body of tories in the fork of Black river, distant about 
 thirty miles. The General instantly proceeded towards them ; 
 crossing the north branch of Black river, he came up with 
 Tynes — surprised and completely defeated him without the 
 loss of a man. When Marion approached, the first party of 
 tories was playing cards; and Captain Gaskens one of the 
 plundering companions of Weyms, was killed with a card in 
 his hand. Several other tories were killed and wounded. In 
 all these marches Marion and his men lay in the open air 
 with little covering, and with little other food than sweet pota- 
 toes and meat mostly without salt. Though it was in the 
 unhealthy season of autumn, yet sickness seldom occurred. 
 The General fared worse than his men ; for his baggage hav- 
 ing caught fire by accident, he had literally but half a blanket 
 to cover him from the dews of the night, and but half a hat 
 to shelter him from the rays of the sun. Soon after the defeat 
 of Tynes, General Marion took a position on Snow's Island, 
 This is situated at the conflux of the Peedee and Lynch's 
 creek, is of a triangular form, and is bounded by Peedee on ' 
 the northeast — by Lynch's creek on the north — and by Clark's 
 creek, a branch of the latter, on the west and south. Here, 
 
234 HISTORY OF THE EEVOHJTION. 
 
 by having command of the rivers, he could be abundantly 
 supplied with provisions, and his post was inaccessible except 
 by water. Major John Postell was stationed to guard the 
 lower part of the river Peedee. While there, Captain James De- 
 Peysterof the royal army, with twenty-nine grenadiers, having- 
 taken post in the house of the major's father, the major posted 
 his small command of twenty-eight militia-men in such posi- 
 tions as commanded its doors and demanded their surrender. 
 This being refused, he set fire to an out-house and was pro- 
 ceeding to burn that in which they were posted ; and nothing 
 but the immediate submission of the whole party restrained 
 him from sacrificing his father's valuable property to gain an 
 advantage for his country. 
 
 From Snow's Island during the winter next after the fall 
 of Charlestown, General Marion sent out his scouts in all 
 directions. In January 1781, he sent two small detachments 
 of militia dragoons, under the command of Major Postell and 
 Captain Postell, to cross the Santee. The former destroyed a 
 great quanity of valuable stores at Manigault's ferry ; the latter 
 did the same at another place in the vicinity. Theace he 
 marched to Keithfield near Monk's Corner, where he destroyed 
 fourteen wagons loaded with soldiers' clothing and baggage; 
 besides several other valuable stores, and took forty prisoners 
 chiefly British regulars, and etfected the whole without any 
 loss. In the course of these desultory operations, Marion 
 killed and captured a number of the British and their tory 
 friends more than double of his own force. 
 
 In the course of the contest, a new race of young warriors 
 had sprung up. The General was desirous of employing them, 
 and to give some repose to those who had served from the 
 beginning. Among these the brothers, the Postells, were all 
 active and enterprising. Major Benson commanded the cav- 
 alry; under him was John Thompson Green; under them 
 were Daniel Conyers and James M'Cauley ; who on every 
 occasion signalized themselves. Captain M'Cottry commanded 
 a company of riflemen.* Wherever his name was repeated 
 it struck terror into the hearts of the enemy. The warfare 
 was various and bloody. Lieutenant Roger Gordon, of Marion's 
 party being upon a scout upon Lynch's creek, stopped at a 
 house of refreshments. While there, the house was beset and 
 fired by a Captain Butler and a party of tories greatly superior 
 in number. Gordon's party surrendered upon a promise of 
 quarters, but after laying down their arms, Butler fell upon 
 them and butchered them in cold blood. 
 
 * No man was more belored by his men than M'Cottry ; his active services 
 brought upon him a complication of disorders which shortened his life. 
 
Marion's brigade. 235 
 
 In consequence of this massacre "no quarters for tories," 
 was the cry with Marion's men when going into action. Still 
 however the regular British forces were treated with lenity, 
 and agreeably to the generally received rules of war, when 
 they laid down their arms. The pruning hook was converted 
 into a spear; and the saw, under the hands of a common 
 blacksmith, became a terrible sabre. Powder and ball were 
 much wanted. On account of the small stock of both, the 
 orders often were to give the British one or two fires and to 
 retreat. Those fires were always well directed and did great 
 execution. 
 
 Marion so etfectually thwarted the schemes of the British 
 against South Carolina, that to drive him out of the country 
 was with them a favorite object. The house burnings and 
 devastations perpetrated by Weyms and the tories under his 
 direction, had not produced that intimidation and disposition 
 to submit which had been vainly expected from men who 
 disregarded property when put in competition with liberty. 
 A new and well concerted attempt to destroy, or disperse, the 
 brigade which had given so much trouble to the late conque- 
 rors was made early in 1781. 
 
 Colonel Watson moved down from Camden along the San- 
 tee, and Colonel Doyle crossing Lynch's creek marched down 
 on the east side of it. The point of their intended junction 
 was supposed to be at Snow's Island. General Marion heard 
 first of the approach of Watson, and marched from Snow's 
 Island with almost the whole of his force to meet him. At 
 Tawcaw swamp, nearly opposite to the mouth of the present 
 Santee canal on the east side of the river, he laid the first am- 
 buscade for Watson. General Marion had then but very little 
 ammunition, not more than twenty rounds to each man. His 
 orders were to give two fires and retreat; and they were 
 executed by Colonel Peter Horry with great effect. Watson 
 made good the passage of the swamp, and sent Major Harrison 
 with a corps of tory cavalry and some British in pursuit of 
 Horry. This had been foreseen by the cautious Marion ; and 
 Captain Daniel Conyers, at the head of a party of cavalry, 
 was placed in a second ambuscade. As soon as the tories 
 and British came up, Conyers, in a spirited and well-directed 
 charge, killed with his own hands the officer who led on the 
 opposite charge. Conyer's men followed his gallant example. 
 Many of Harrison's party were killed, and the remainder made 
 their escape to the main body of the British. Such work re- 
 quired little powder and ball. General Marion continued to 
 harass Watson on his march, by pulling up bridges and op- 
 posing him in like manner at every difficult pass until they 
 had reached near the lower bridge on Black river, seven miles 
 
2 36 HISTOET OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 below King's Tree. Here Watson made a feint of inarching 
 down the road to Georgetown. Marion being too weak to 
 detach a party to the bridge, had talien an advantageous post 
 on that road; when Watson wheeling suddenly about gained 
 possession of the bridge on the west side. This was an im- 
 portant pass on the road leading into the heart of Williams- 
 burg and to Snow's Island. The river on the west runs under 
 a high bluff; the grounds on the opposite side are low and 
 the river, though generally fordable, was then raised by a 
 swell nearly up to the summit of the opposite shore. Watson 
 still hesitated about passing. 
 
 General Marion, informed of Watson's movement, without 
 delay approached the river, plunged into it on horseback and 
 called to his men to follow. They did so. The whole party 
 reached the opposite shore in safety, and marched forward to 
 occupy the east end of the bridge. Marion detached Major 
 James with forty musqueteers, and thirty riflemen under 
 M'Cottry to burn the bridge. The riflemen were posted to 
 advantage on the river bank, but as soon as their friends had 
 gained possession of the east end of the bridge, and had ap- 
 plied fascines to it, Watson opened the fire of his artillery 
 upon them, but it was unavailing. The west bank of the river 
 was so much elevated above the east that before his field pieces 
 could be brought to bear upon the Americans, his artillerists 
 were exposed to the fire of the riflemen, who deliberately 
 picked them off as they advanced to the summit of the hill. 
 In the meantime Major James' party had fired the bridge. 
 Thus were Marion's friends saved from similar plunderiugs 
 and conflagrations with those they had suffered under Weyms. 
 The practice of Watson was to burn all the houses of Marion's 
 men that were in the line of his march. 
 
 Watson was so much intimidated by this affair, that he im- 
 mediately quitted the lower bridge and proceeded by forced 
 marches to Georgetown. General Marion repassed Black river, 
 and hung alternately on the rear, the flanks, or the front of 
 the enemy until they had reached Sampit bridge, nine miles 
 from Georgetown. There M'Cottry gave them a parting fire 
 from his riflemen. During these transactions, Watson com- 
 manded five hundred men, and Marion not half that number. 
 The loss of the British is unknown, that of Marion but 
 one man. 
 
 The three officers, and all the men employed by the General 
 at the lower bridge, were inhabitants, whose plantations and 
 families would have been exposed to the enemy had they made 
 good their passage. From Sampit bridge Marion marched 
 directly for Snow's Island. There he heard of the approach 
 of Doyle, who had driven Colonel Erwin from the Island and 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 237 
 
 taken possession of the pass of Lynch's creek, at Wither- 
 spoon's ferry. When M'Cottry, advancing in front, arrived at 
 Witherspoon's, on the south bank of the creek, the British on 
 the north were scutthng the ferry boat. He approached softly 
 to the edge of the water and gave them an unexpected fire. 
 A short conflict took place between ill-directed musketry, 
 whose balls hit the tops of the trees on the opposite side, and 
 riflemen, whose well directed aim seldom failed of doing exe- 
 cution at every fire. Doyle fell back to Camden. 
 
 In addition to these skirmishes, Marion made two descents 
 on Georgetown. In the first, he came unexpectedly on a body 
 of tories, whom he charged and dispersed after their Captain 
 and several of their men were killed. In this aff'air Captain 
 Marion, brother of the present member of Congress from 
 Charlestown District, was killed and, it was believed, after he 
 had been taken prisoner. 
 
 Marion's second descent was more successful. With a 
 party of militia he marched to Georgetown, and began regular 
 approaches against the British post in that place. On the first 
 night after his men had broken ground, their adversaries 
 evacuated their works and retreated to Charlestown. Shortly 
 after, one Manson, an inhabitant of South Carolina, who had 
 joined the British, appeared in an armed vessel and demanded 
 permission to land his men in the town. This being refused, 
 he sent a few of them ashore and set fire to it. Upwards of 
 forty houses were speedily reduced to ashes. 
 
 After the return of General Greene to Carolina, in 1781, 
 Marion acted under his orders, and the exploits of his brigade, 
 no longer acting by itself, made a part of the general history 
 of the revolutionary war. 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 Campaign of 1781 Continued. 
 
 It was no sooner known in South Carolina that Lord Corn- 
 wallis had left the State in pursuit of the American army, 
 than General Sumpter, who had just recovered from his 
 wound, collected a force to penetrate into the heart of the 
 country, as well with the design of distracting the views of the 
 British as of encouraging the friends of independence. Early 
 in February, 1781, he crossed the Congaree, and appeared in 
 force before Fort Granby and destroyed its magaznes. Lord 
 Rawdon advanced from Camden for the relief of the post, on 
 which General Sumpter retreated, but immediately appeared 
 before another British post, near Colonel Thompson's. On 
 the second day after this excursion he attacked and defeated 
 an escort convoying some wagons and stores from Charles- 
 
238 HisToar of the revolution. 
 
 town to Camden. Thirteen of the British detachment were 
 killed and sixty-six taken prisoners. The captured stores 
 were sent in boats down the Congaree, but on their passage 
 they were retaken. Sumpter, with three hundred and fifty 
 horsemen, swam across the Santee and proceeded to Fort 
 Watson, at Wright's Bluff, but on Lord Rawdon's marching 
 from Camden for its relief, he retired to Black river. On his 
 return, he was attacked near Camden, by Major Frazer, at the 
 head of a considerable force of British regulars and militia. 
 The Major lost twenty of his men, and was obliged to retreat 
 Sumpter having, by this excursion, satisfied the friends of in- 
 dependence in the centre of the State that their cause was not 
 desperate, retired in safety to the borders of North Carolina. 
 Hiiherto all his enterprises had been effected by volunteers 
 from the militia, but the long continued services in the field 
 which were required, pointed out the proprietj^ of a more per- 
 manent corps. He, therefore, in March, 1781, enlisted three 
 small regiments of regular Stale troops, to be employed in 
 constant service for the space of ten months. With these, and 
 the returning continental army, the war recommenced in South 
 Carolina with new vigor, and was carried on with more 
 regularity. 
 
 General Greene, having determined to return to South 
 Carolina, sent orders to General Pickens to collect the militia 
 of his brigade, and to prevent supplies from going to the 
 British garrisons at Ninety-Six and Augusta. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Lee, with his legion and part of the second Maryland 
 brigade, was ordered to advance before the continental troops, 
 to co-operate with General Marion. 
 
 About the time that these preparations were making to 
 renew the war in South Carolina, seventy-six exiles, who had 
 been compelled to seek refuge with General Marion on the 
 north side of Santee, re-crossed that liver with the bold design 
 of re-visiting their own settlements. Some of them were from 
 the militia of the sea-coast of Carolina, to the southward of 
 Charlestown, and others from Georgia. The first commanded 
 by Colonel Harden, the latter by Colonel Baker. On their 
 way they fell in with about twenty-five of the royal militia, at 
 Four Holes, and captured the whole of them. The privates 
 were paroled, and their officers carried off. As they marched 
 through the country, parties were sent to the houses of the 
 officers of the royal militia, some of whom were taken, and 
 others fied to Charlestown. Colonel Harden had two or three 
 successful skirmishes with detachments of the British, but his 
 capital manoeuvre was the surprise of Fort Balfour, at Poka- 
 taligo. By his address and good management in this enter- 
 prise, three British Colonels of militia, Fenwick, Lechraere 
 
CAMPAIGN OP 1781. 239 
 
 and Kelsal, with thirty-two regular dragoons and fifty-six pri- 
 vates of the royal militia, surrendered on the 12th of April, 1781, 
 to this handful of returning exiles, without any loss on their 
 part. Colonel Harden had his party considerably increased 
 by daily accessions of the people inhabiting the southern sea- 
 coast of Carolina. With their aid he prosecuted, in that part 
 of the State, the same successful plan of opposition to the 
 British which was begun much earlier in the northwestern 
 and northeastern extremities under the auspices of his gallant 
 co-adjutors, Sumpter and Marion. 
 
 General Greene marched with the main army from Deep 
 river, in North Carolina, towards Camden. The British were 
 no less alarmed than surprised when they heard that Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Lee had penetrated through the country, and in 
 eight days efiected a junction with General Marion, near the 
 Santee, and that the main body of the Americans encamped 
 on the 19th of April before Camden. To secure the provi- 
 sions that grow on the fertile banks of the Santee and Con- 
 garee rivers, the British had erected a chain of posts in their 
 vicinity. One of the most important of these was on an emi- 
 nence, known by the name of Wright's Bluff, and called Fort 
 Watson. This was closely invested, on the 15th of April, 
 by about eighty militia-men under General Marion, and by the 
 continentals commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Lee. Neither 
 party had any other means of annoyance or defence but mus- 
 ketry. Though the ground on which the fort stood was an 
 Indian mount, thirty or forty feet high, yet the besiegers, 
 under the direction of Colonel Maham, erected, in a few days, 
 on an unusual plan, a work much higher. From this emi- 
 nence the American riflemen fired into the fort with such exe- 
 cution that the besieged durst not show themselves. On the 
 twenty-third the garrison, consisting of one hundred and four- 
 teen men, surrendered by capitulation. 
 
 Camden, before whiph the main army was encamped, is a 
 village situated on a plain covered on the south and east sides 
 by the Wateree, and a creek which empties itself in that river. 
 On the western and northern by six strong redoubts. It was de- 
 fended by Lord Rawdon with about nine hundred men. The 
 American army, consisting of about seven hundred continen- 
 tals, was unequal to the task of carrying this post by storm or 
 of completely investing it. The General therefore took a 
 good position at Hobkirk's Hill, about a mile distant, in expecta- 
 tion of favorable events and with a view of alluring the gar- 
 rison out of their lines. Lord Rawdon armed his musicians, 
 drummers, and everything that could carry a firelock, and 
 with great spirit sallied on the twenty-fifth. An engagement 
 ensued. Victory for some time very evidently inclined to the 
 
240 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 side of the Americans ; but in the progress of the action the 
 fortune of the day was changed, and the British kept the field. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Washington was ordered to turn the right 
 flank of the British, and to charge in their rear. While he exe- 
 cuted this order he was so confident of the success of the 
 main army, that he divided his men into small parties, and 
 made them take such positions as he thought most eligible for 
 intercepting the fugitives on their retreat to Camden. At one 
 time he had in his possesion upwards of two hundred ; but 
 he relinquished the greatest part of them on seeing the Amer- 
 ican army retreat. On this unexpected reverse of fortune he 
 paroled the officers on the field of battle — collected his men — 
 wheeled round — and made his retreat good, with the loss of 
 three men, and at the same time brought oif near fifty pris- 
 oners. The killed, wounded, and missing of the Americans 
 was about two hundred. The British had one officer killed, 
 and eleven taken prisoners. General Greene retreated in good 
 order, with his artillery and baggage, to Gun Swamp, about 
 five miles from the place of action. In the evening after this 
 action Lieutenant-Colonel Washington marched with fifty men 
 of the cavalry within a mile of the British army, and after send- 
 ing forward a small party, concealed his principal force in the 
 woods. As soon as the advanced small party was discovered, 
 Major Coffin, at the head of about forty of the Irish volun- 
 teers, pursued them a considerable distance. After the British 
 party had passed the American cavalry, which was concealed, 
 the latter rushed from the woods and charged them so briskly 
 in the rear, that they lost upwards of twenty of their number. 
 Very soon after the action, on the 25th of April, General 
 Greene, knowing that the British garrison could not subsist 
 long in Camden without fresh supplies from Charlestown or 
 the country, detached a reinforcement to General Marion on 
 the road to Nelson's ferry; and on the third of May crossed 
 the Wateree, and took occasionally such positions as would 
 most effectually prevent succors from going into the town from 
 that quarter. On the seventh of May Lord Rawdon received 
 a considerable reinforcement by the arrival of the detachment 
 under Lieutenant-Colonel Watson. With this increase of 
 force he attempted, on the day following, to compel General 
 Greene to another action ; but soon found that this was im- 
 practicable. Failing in his design, he returned to Camden ; 
 and on the tenth burned the gaol, mills, many private houses 
 and a great deal of his own baggage — evacuated the post— 
 and retired with his whole army to the south of the Santee; 
 leaving about thirty of his own sick and wounded, and as 
 many of the Americans, who, on the twenty-fifth of April, 
 had fallen into his hands. Lord Rawdon discovered as great 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 241 
 
 prudence in this evacuation of Camden as he had shown 
 bravery in its defence. The fall of Fort Watson broke the 
 chain of communication with Charlestown, and the positions 
 -of the American army intercepted all supplies from the coun- 
 try. The return of General Greene to the southward being 
 unexpected, the stores of the garrison were not provided for a 
 siege. Lord Rawdon had the honor of saving his men though 
 he lost the post, the country, and the confidence of the tories. 
 He off'ered every assistance in his power to the friends of Brit- 
 ish government who would accompany him ; but it was a 
 hard alternative to the new-made subjects to be obliged to 
 abandon their property, or be left at the mercy of their exas- 
 perated countrymen. Several families nevertheless accom- 
 panied his lordship. These were cruelly neglected after their 
 arrival in Charlestown. They built themselves huts without 
 the works. Their settlement was called Rawdontown ; which, 
 from its poverty and wretchedness, became a term of reproach. 
 Many women and children, who lived comfortably on their 
 farms near Camden, soon died of want in these, their new 
 habitations. 
 
 This evacuation animated the friends of Congress, and 
 gave a very general alarm to the British. The former had 
 been called upon for their personal services, to assist in re- 
 gaining the country, but were disheartened by the repulse of 
 General Greene from before Camden ; but, from the moment 
 that Lord Rawdon evacuated that post their numbers daily in- 
 creased, and the British posts fell in quick succession. On 
 the day after the evacuation of Camden the garrison of 
 Orangeburg, consisting of seventy British militia and twelve 
 regulars, surrendered to General Sumpter. The next day fort 
 Motte capitulated. After the surrender of fort Watson, Gen- 
 eral Marion and Lieutenant-Colonel Lee crossed the Santee 
 and moved up to this post, which lies above the Fork on the 
 south side of the Congaree, where they arrived on the eighth of 
 May. The approaches were carried on so rapidly, that a 
 house in the centre of the fort was set on fire the fourth day 
 after they began the entrenchments ; and the garrison, which 
 consisted of 165 men, commanded by Lieutenant M'Pherson, 
 was compelled, after a brave defence, to surrender at discre- 
 tion. On this occasion Mrs. Motte displayed an eminent ex- 
 ample of disinterested patriotism. The British had built 
 their works round her dwelling house, on which she removed 
 to a neighboring hut. When she was informed that firing the 
 house was the easiest mode of reducing the garrison, she pre- 
 sented the besiegers with a quiver of African arrows to be em- 
 ployed for that purpose. Skewers armed with combustible 
 materials were also used, and with more effect. Success soon 
 16 
 
242 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 crowned these experiments, and her joy was inexpressible 
 that the reduction of the post was expedited, though at the ex- 
 peiise of her property. Two days after this surrender, the 
 British evacuated their post at Nelson's ferry — blew up their 
 fortifications — and destroyed a great part of their stores. The 
 day following, fort Granby, near Friday's ferry, about thirty 
 miles to the westward of fortMotte, surrendered by capitula- 
 tion. Very advantageous terms were given by the assailants 
 in consequence of information that Lord Rawdon was march- 
 ing to its relief This was a post of more consequence than 
 the others, and might have been better defended; but the 
 otfer of security to the baggage of the garrison, in which 
 was included an immense quantity of plunder, hastened the 
 surrender. For some time before, it had been greatly harassed 
 by Colonel Taylor's regiment of militia, and had also been in- 
 vested by General Siimpter. On the night of the fourteenth 
 of May, Lieutenant-Colonel Lee erected a battery within six 
 hundred yards of its out-works, on which he mounted a six- 
 •pounder. After the third discharge from this field-piece. Major 
 Maxwell capitulated. His force consisted of three hundred 
 and fifty-two men, a great part of whom were royal militia. 
 
 While these operations were carrying on against the small 
 posts, General Greene proceeded with the main army to 
 Ninety-Six. This place being of great consequence was de- 
 fended by a considerable force. Lieutenant-Colonel Cniger 
 conducted the defence with great bravery and judgment. 
 Major Green, in particular, acquired distinguished reputa- 
 tion by his spirited and judicious conduct in defending the 
 redoubt against which the Americans made Iheir principal 
 eflorts. 
 
 On the left of the besiegers was a work erected in the form 
 of a star; on the right was a strong stockade fort, with two 
 block houses in it. The town, flanked by these two works, 
 was also piquetted with strong piquets, and surrounded with 
 a ditch, and a bank near the height of a common parapet 
 There were also several flushes in different parts of the town, 
 and all the works communicated with each other by covered 
 ways. On the twenty-third of May 1781, the main body of 
 the American army encamped in a wood within half a mile 
 of Ninety-Six; and on that night, threw up two flushes within 
 one hundred and fifty yards of the star fort. The next morn- 
 ing the enemy made a sally, and being supported by the ar- 
 tillery and musketry from the parapet of the star redoubt, 
 drove the besiegers from them. The next night two strong 
 block batteries were erected at the distance of three hundred 
 and fifty yards, which were opened in the morning. Another 
 batterytwenty feet high, erected within two hundred and twenty 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 243 
 
 yards, was finished in a few days ; and soon afterwards, 
 another of the same height was erected within one hundred 
 yards of the main fort. Approaches were gradually carried 
 on against the redoubt on the left. Colonel Koziusko, a 
 young gentleman of distinction from Poland, superintended 
 the operations of the besiegers, and by his assiduity, though 
 the ground was hard and the situation unfavorable, a third 
 paraUel within thirty yards of the ditch was completed on 
 May 14th ; and a rifle battery, upwards of thirty feet high, 
 erected at the same distance. On the seventeenth the abbatis 
 was turned, and two trenches and a mine were extended so 
 as to be within six feet of the ditch. Few sieges aff'ord greater 
 instances of perseverance and intrepidity, than were exhibited 
 on this occasion by the besiegers and besieged. Riflemen were 
 employed on both sides, who immediately levelled at every 
 person who appeared in sight and very seldom missed their 
 object. Various success attended the conflicts between the 
 several covering parties of the workmen, and those who re- 
 peatedly sallied from the garrison. 
 
 On the third of June, twelve days after the commencement 
 of this seige, a fleet arrived at Charlestown from Ireland having 
 on board the third, nineteenth, and thirtieth regiment of his 
 Britannic majesty, a detachment from the guards, and a con- 
 siderable body of recruits, the whole commanded by Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Gould. Earl Cornwallis had given permission to 
 the commanders of the British forces in South Carolina, to 
 detain these reinforcements if they conceived that the service 
 of his Britannic majesty required it; otherwise they were to 
 be sent forward to join his lordship. On the 7th of June, 
 178 1, Lord Rawdon marched from Charlestown, with these 
 newly arrived troops, for the relief of the garrison at Ninety- 
 Six. Great were the difficulties they had to encounter in 
 rapidly marching under the rage of a burning sun through the 
 whole extent of South Carolina; but much greater was their 
 astonishment at being informed, that their services in the field 
 were necessary to oppose the yet unsubdued rebels in the 
 province. They had been amused with hopes that nothing 
 remained for them to do, but to sit down as setders on the 
 forfeited lands of a conquered country. 
 
 The American army had advanced their approaches very 
 near that critical point, after which further resistance on the 
 part of the garrison would have been temerity. At this inter- 
 esting moment intelligence was received, that Lord Rawdon 
 was near at hand with a reinforcement of about two thousand 
 men. An American lady, who had lately married an officer 
 then in the British garrison of Ninety-Six, had been bribed 
 by a large sum of money to convey a letter to Lieutenant- 
 Pnl/^nol Pi-iicror iirith tlip ivplnnms np^vs nf their annroach. 
 
244 HISTORY OF THE KEVOLTJTION. 
 
 Attempts had been made to retard their march, but without 
 the desired effect. Their vicinity made it necessary either to 
 raise the seige, or attempt the reduction of the place by a 
 coup-de-main. The last was agreed upon, and the necessary 
 dispositions made on the 18th of June. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Lee, with his legion infantry, and Captain Kirkwood's light 
 infantry, made the attack on the right. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Campbell, with the first Maryland and first Virginia regirnents, 
 were to have stormed the star redoubt, the ditch of which was 
 eight or nine feet deep, the parapet eleven or twelve feet high, 
 and raised with sand-bags near three feet more. The forlorn 
 hopes were led on by Lieutenants Duval and Sheldon, and 
 were followed by a party with hooks and entrenching tools to 
 pull down the sand-bags and reduce the parapet. Had this 
 been effected, the besieged could not have annoyed the assail- 
 ants without exposing themselves to the American marksmen. 
 The artillery soon made sufficient breaches on the fortified 
 redoubt on the right, for the infantry under the command of 
 Lieutenant Colonel Lee to assault the garrison. It was there- 
 . fore abandoned, and they took possession without loss. On 
 the left the utmost exertions of resolution and fortitude were 
 displayed, but failed of success. The parties led by Duval 
 and Sheldon entered the ditch, and, though galled by an in- 
 cessant fire, made every effort to get down the sand-bags. 
 Both these gallant officers were wounded, and not more than 
 one in six of their party escaped. The near approach of Lord 
 Rawdon, and the uncertainty of final success, induced General 
 Greene to raise the siege and to retreat over the Saluda, after 
 having lost about one hundred and fifty men. 
 
 Truly distressing was the situation of the American army: 
 when in the grasp of victory, to be obliged to expose them- 
 selves to the dangers of an hazardous assault, and afterwards 
 to abandon the siege: when they were nearly masters of the 
 whole country, to be compelled to retreat to its extremity: 
 after subduing the greatest part of the force lately opposed to 
 them, to be under the necessity of encountering still greater 
 reinforcements, when their remote situation precluded them 
 from the hope of receiving a single recruit. In this gloomy 
 situation there were not wanting persons who advised General 
 Greene to leave the State, and retire with his remaining force 
 to Virginia. To arguments and suggestions of this kind he 
 nobly replied, " I will recover the country, or die in the at- 
 tempt." This distinguished officer, whose genius was most 
 vigorous in those perilous extremities when feeble minds 
 abandon themselves to despair, adopted the only resource now 
 left him, of avoiding an engagement till the British force 
 should be divided. 
 
 Lord Rawdon, who by rapid marches was very near Nine- 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 245 
 
 ty-Six at the time of the assault, pursued General Greene as 
 far as the Enoree; but finding it impossible to overtake the 
 light retreating American army, and supposing that they had 
 gone to North Carolina or Virginia, his lordship consoled 
 himself with the imaginary advantage of having driven the 
 rebels out of the country. On this occasion General Pickens 
 exhibited an illustrious instance of republican virtue. When 
 the retreat was ordered, the General's family and private pro- 
 perty was sent off with the baggage of the army. This pre- 
 caution, though wished for by all, and justified on every 
 principle of prudence, gave an alarm to many who either had 
 not the same means of transportation, or who could not have 
 attended to it without deserting the American army. To en- 
 courage the men to stay in the camp, and their families to 
 remain on their plantations, General Pickens ordered his 
 family and property back again to his house within twenty 
 miles of the British garrison. His example saved the country 
 in the vicinity from depopulation, and the army under Gene- 
 ral Greene from sustaining a great diminution of their num- 
 bers by the desertion of the militia to take care of their fami- 
 lies. 
 
 The arrival of the British reinforcement, and the subsequent 
 retreat from Ninety-Six, induced a general apprehension, that 
 the British would soon re-establish the posts they had lost to 
 the southward of Santep. The destination of the main army 
 under Lord Cornwallis having been for some time known, 
 the British Commanders in South Carolina had contracted 
 their boundaries to that extent of country which is in a great 
 measure inclosed by the Santee, the Congaree, and the Edisto. 
 Within these rivers Lord Rawdon intended to confine his 
 future operations, and to canton his forces in the most eligible 
 positions. His lordship, taking it for granted that the Ameri- 
 cans had abandoned South Carolina, resolved, upon his return 
 from pursuing General Greene, to divide his army, with the 
 intention of fixing a detachment at the Congaree; but he soon 
 found that his adversaries were not disposed to give up the 
 prize for which they had so long contended. Greene, on 
 hearing that Lord Rawdon had marched with a part of his 
 force to Congaree, faced about to give him battle. Lord Raw- 
 don, no less surprised than alarmed at this unexpected move- 
 ment of his lately retreating foe, abandoned the Congaree in 
 two days after his arrival there and retreated expeditiously to 
 Orangeburg. In this position he was secured on one side 
 with a river, and on the other with strong buildings little 
 inferior to recioubts. Greene pursued — encamped within five 
 miles of this post — and offered him battle. His lordship, 
 secure in his stronghold, would not venture out ; and General 
 
246 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 Greene was too weak to attack him in his works with any 
 prospect of success. In the course of these movements, on 
 the second of July, Captain Eggleston, of Lee's legion, fell in 
 with forty-nine British horse, near the Saluda, and took forty- 
 eight of them prisoners. Whilst the American army lay near 
 Orangeburg, advice was received that Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Cruger had evacuated Ninety-Six, and was marching with 
 the troops of that garrison through the forks of Edisto to join 
 Lord Rawdon at Orangeburg. As the north fork of Edisto 
 is not passable by an army, without boats, for thirty miles 
 above or below the British encampments, General Greene 
 could not throw himself between with any prospect of pre- 
 venting the junction ; he therefore retired to the high hills of 
 Santee, and Lord Rawdon and Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger the 
 day after made a junction. The evacuation of Camden having 
 been effected by striking at the posts below it, the same ma- 
 nosuvre was now attempted to induce the British to leave 
 Orangeburg. With this view, on the day that the main 
 American army retired from before that post,' Generals Suinp- 
 ter and Marion, with their brigades and the legion cavalry, 
 were detached to Monk's Corner and Dorchester. They 
 moved down by different roads, and in three days commenced 
 their operations. Lientenant-Colonel Lee took all the wa- 
 gons and wagon-horses belonging to a convoy of provisions. 
 Colonel Wade Hampton charged a party of British dragoons 
 within five miles of Charlestown. He also took fifty priso- 
 ners at Strawberry ferry, and burned four vessels loaded with 
 valuable stores for the British army. General Snmpter ap- 
 peared before the garrison at Biggin's church, which consisted 
 of five'hundred infantry and upwards of one hundred cavalry. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Coates, who commanded there, after hav- 
 ing repulsed the advanced party of General Sumpter, on the 
 next evening destroyed his stores and retreated towards Charles- 
 town. He was closely pursued by Lieutenant-Colonel Lee 
 with the legion, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hampton with the 
 State cavalry. The legion came up with them near Shu- 
 brick's plantation, took their rear guard and all their baggage. 
 Captain Armstrong, of Lee's legion, at the head only of five 
 men, charged through a considerable part of their lines and 
 escaped with the loss of two men. Generals Sumpter and 
 Marion, after some hours, came up with the main body ; but 
 by this time the British had secured themselves by taking an 
 advantageous post in a range of honses. An attack was how- 
 ever made, and continued with spirit till upwards of forty 
 were killed or wounded by the fire from the'houses. The 
 British lost in these different engagements one hundred and 
 forty prisoners, besides several kiUed and wounded, all the 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 247 
 
 baggage of the nineteenth regiment, and above one hundred 
 horses and several wagons. 
 
 Thus was the war carried on. While .the British kept their 
 forces compact, they could not cover the country, and the 
 American general had the precaution to avoid fighting. 
 When they divided the army, their detachments were sepa- 
 rately and successfully attacked. While they were in force 
 in the upper country, light parlies of Americans were annoy- 
 ing their small posts in the low country near Charlestown. 
 The people soon found that the late conquerors were not able 
 to atford them their promised protection. The spirit of revolt 
 became general, and the British interest daily declined. 
 
 Soon after these events. Lord Jiawdon, driven from almost 
 the whole of his posts, baffled in all his schemes, and over- 
 whelmed with vexation, sailed for Europe. Tn the course of 
 his command he aggravated the unavoidable calamities of 
 war by many acts of severity, which admit of no other apol- 
 ogy than that they were supposed to be useful to the interests 
 of his royal master. 
 
 About the same time that Generals Sumpter and Marion 
 were detached to the lower parts of the State, the main Amer- 
 ican Army retired to the high hills of Santee, and the British 
 returned to their former station near the junction of the Wa- 
 teree and the Congaree. Greene, in a little time, began to 
 concert measures to force them a second time from these 
 posts. Though the two armies were within fifteen miles of 
 each other, on a right line, yet, as two rivers intervened, and 
 boats could not be procured, the American army was obliged 
 to take a circuit of seventy miles, with the view of more con- 
 veniently crossing the Wateree and the Congaree. Soon after 
 their crossing these rivers, the continental army was joined 
 by the State troops and several corps of militia. The whole 
 American force, thus collected, proceeded the next morning 
 to attack the British army commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Stewart. On the approach of the Americans, the British had 
 retired from the Congarees about forty miles nearer Charles- 
 town, and taken post at the Eutaw Springs. Greene drew up 
 his little force, consisting of about two thousand men, in two 
 lines. The front consisted of the militia from North and 
 South Carolina, and was commanded by Generals Marion 
 and Pickens, and by Colonel De Malmedy. The second con- 
 sisted of the continental troops from North Carolina, Virginia 
 and Maryland, and was led on by General Sumner, Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Campbell, and Colonel Williams. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Lee, with his legion, covered the right flank; Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Henderson, with the State troops, covered the 
 left. Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, and 
 
248 HISTORY OF THE KEVOLTTTION. 
 
 Captain Kirkwood, with the Delaware troops, formed a corps 
 of reserve. As the Americans advanced to the attack, they 
 fell in with two advanced parties of the British, three or four 
 miles ahead of their main army. These being briskly charged 
 by the legion and State troops, soon retired. The front line 
 continued to fire and advance on the British till the action 
 became general, and till they, in their turn, were obliged to 
 give way. They were well supported by General Sumner's 
 North Carolina brigade of Continentals, though they had been 
 under discipline only for a few weeks, and were chiefly com- 
 posed of militia-men who had been transferred to the conti- 
 nental service to make reparation for their precipitate flight in 
 former actions. In the hottest of the engagement, when great 
 execution was doing on both sides. Colonel Williams and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, with the Maryland and Vir- 
 ginia Continentals, were ordered by General Greene to charge 
 with trailed arms. Nothing could surpass the intrepidity of 
 both officers and men on this occasion ; they rushed on, in 
 good order, through a heavy cannonade and a shower of mus- 
 ketry, with such unshaken resolution that they bore down all 
 before them. The State troops of South Carolina were de- 
 prived of their gallant leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Henderson, 
 who was wounded very early in the action; but they were 
 nevertheless boldly led on by the second in command, Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Hampton, to a very spirited and successful charge, 
 in which they took upwards of a hundred prisoners. Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Washington brought up the corps-de-reserve 
 on the left, and charged so briskly with his cavalry and Cap- 
 tain Kirkwood's light infantry, as gave them no time to rally 
 or form. The British were closely pursued, and upwards of 
 five hundred prisoners were taken. On their retreat they took 
 their posts in a strong brick house, and in impenetrable shrubs 
 and a picquetted garden. From these advantageous positions 
 they renewed the action; Lieutenant-Colonel Washington 
 made every possible exertion to dislodge them from the 
 thickets, but failed in the attempt — had his horse shot under 
 him, was wounded and taken prisoner. Four six-pounders 
 were ordered up before the house from which the British were 
 firing under cover. These pieces finally fell into their hands, 
 and the Americans retired out of the reach of their fire. They 
 left a strong picquet on the field of battle, and retreated to the 
 nearest water in their rear. In the evening of the next day, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart destroyed a great quantity of his 
 stores, abandoned the Eutaw, and moved towards Oharles- 
 town, leaving upwards of seventy of his wounded, and a 
 thousand stand of arms. He was pursued for several miles, 
 but without effect. The loss of the British amounted to up- 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1782. 249 
 
 wards of eleven hundred men. That of the Americans was 
 about five hundred, in which number were sixty officers. 
 Among the killed of Greene's army, the brave Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Campbell, of the Virginia line, was the theme of uni- 
 versal lamentation. While with great firmness he was lead- 
 ing on his brigade to that charge which determined the fate 
 of the day, he received a mortal wound. After his fall he 
 inquired who gave way, and being informed the British were 
 fleeing in all quarters, he added, " I die contented," and im- 
 mediately expired. 
 
 Congress honored General Greene, for his decisive conduct 
 in this action, with a British standard and a gold medal; and 
 they also voted their thanks to the different corps and their 
 Commanders. 
 
 After the action at the Eutaws, the Americans retired to 
 their former position on the high hills of Santee, and the Bri- 
 tish took post in the vicinity of Monk's Corner. While they 
 lay there, a small party of American cavalry, commanded by 
 Colonel Maham,took upwards of eighty prisoners, within sight 
 of their main army. The British no more acted with their 
 usual vigor. On the slightest appearance of danger, they dis- 
 covered a disposition to flee scarcely inferior to what was ex- 
 hibited the year before by the American militia. 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 Campaign of 1782. 
 
 Though the army under Greene was too weak to risk an- 
 other general action, yet it became necessary, in the close of 
 the year 1781, to move into the lower country to cover the 
 collection of provisions for subsistence through the winter. 
 In about two months after the action at Eutaw, the main body 
 of the American army was put in motion under Colonel Wil- 
 liams. Greene, with two hundred horse and two hundred 
 infantry, advanced by private roads and appeared near Dor- 
 chester so unexpectedly and with such confidence, as induced 
 the British to believe that the whole army was in his rear. This 
 mancEuvre had the intended effect They abandoned their 
 outposts, and retired with their whole force to the quarter- 
 house on Charlestown Neck. By this means all the rice be- 
 tween Edisto and Ashley rivers was saved to the Americans. 
 
 The defence of the country was given up, and the conque- 
 rors, who had lately carried their arms to the extremities of the 
 State, seldom aimed at anything more than to secure them- 
 selves in Charlestown Neck, and to keep a communication 
 with the sea islands, on which they had collected great num- 
 bers of cattle. Yet they made some excursions with cavalry. 
 
250 HISTORY OP THE BEVOLTJTION. 
 
 One of the most important was in February, 1782. While 
 General Marion was attending his duty as a member of the 
 Legislature, at Jacksonborough, his brigade was surprised 
 near the Santee by a party of British horse commanded by 
 that spirited and judicious officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Thom- 
 son, (now Count Rumford.) Major Benson, an American 
 officer highly esteemed by his countrymen, Mr. Thomas 
 Broughton, a young gentleman of an ancient family in South 
 Carolina, and some others, were killed. The remainder of 
 the brigade then in camp was for some time dispersed. In a 
 few days the British retired within their lines, and the militia 
 re-assembled. 
 
 In the summer of 1782, the British announced their inten- 
 tion of evacuating Charlestown. They offered to pay for rice 
 and other provisions that should be delivered to them before 
 their departure, and at the same threatened that if it was 
 withheld it should be taken by force without compensation. 
 The British offers to purchase being refused, they sent out 
 parties to seize provisions near the different landings, and to 
 bring them by water to Charlestown. One of the most con- 
 siderable parties on this service was sent to Combakee ferry, 
 where they arrived on the 25th of August, 1782. Brigadier- 
 General Gist, with about three hundred cavalry and infantry 
 of the continental army, was detached to oppose them. He 
 succeeded so far as to capture one of their schooners, and in 
 a great degree to frustrate their designs. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 John Laurens, though he had been confined for several days, 
 on hearing of the expedition, rose from his bed and followed 
 General Gist. When the British and American detachments 
 approached within a few miles of each other, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Laurens, being in advance with a small party of 
 regulars and militia, engaged with a much superior force, 
 in expectation of support from the main body in his rear. 
 In the midst of his gallant exertions, this all-accomplished 
 youth received a mortal wound. Nature had adorned him 
 with a profusion of her choicest gifts, to which a well con- 
 ducted education had added its most useful as well as its 
 most elegant improvements. Though his fortune and family 
 entitled him to pre-eminence, yet he was the warm friend of 
 republican equality. Generous and liberal, his heart expanded 
 with genuine philanthropy. Zealous for the rights of hu- 
 manity, he contended that personal liberty was the birth- 
 right of every human being, however diversified by country, 
 color or capacity. His insinuating address won the hearts of 
 all his acquaintances ; his sincerity and virtue secured their 
 lasting esteem. Acting from the most honorable principles- 
 uniting the bravery and other talents of a great officer with 
 
CAMPAIGN or 1782. 251 
 
 the knowledge of a complete scholar, and the engaging man- 
 ners of a well bred gentleman, he was the idol of his country, 
 the glory of the army, and an ornament of human nature. 
 His abilities shone in the legislature and in the cabinet as 
 well as in the field, and were equal to the highest stations. 
 His admiring country, sensible of his rising merit, stood pre- 
 pared to confer on him her most distinguished honors. Cut 
 down in the midst of all these prospects, he has left mankind 
 to deplore the calamities of war, which, in the twenty-seventh 
 year of his life, deprived society of so invaluable a citizen. 
 
 Throughout the year 1783, the American army acted chiefly 
 on the defensive. A short time before the evacuation, an at- 
 tempt was made agahist a British detachment on James' 
 Island. In this unsuccessful enterprise, Captain Wilmot, a 
 brave and worthy officer of the Maryland line, lost his Ufe. 
 This was the last drop of blood shed in the American war. 
 
 After General Greene moved from the high hills of Santee 
 into the low country, near Charlestown, a scene of inactivity 
 succeeded difierent from the busy operations of the late cam- 
 paign. He was unable to attempt anything against the British 
 within their lines, and they declined risking any general ac- 
 tion without them. 
 
 While the American soldiers lay encamped in this inactive 
 situation, their tattered rags were so completely worn out that 
 seven hundred of them were as naked as they were born, ex- 
 cepting a small slip of cloth about their waists, and they were 
 nearly as destitute of meat as of clothing. In this condition 
 they lay for three months within four hours march of the 
 British garrison in Charlestown, which contained in it more 
 regular troops than there were continentals in the American 
 army. Though they had abundant reason to complain, yet, 
 while they were every day marching and almost every week 
 fighting, they were in good health, good spirits and good 
 humor; but when their enemy was confined within their for- 
 tifications, and they were inactive, they became sickly and dis- 
 contented, and a few began to be mutinous. Their long arrears 
 of pay, the deficiency of their clothing, and their want of many 
 comforts, were forgotten whilst constant action employed their 
 minds and bodies, but when an interruption of hostilities 
 gave them leisure to brood over their calamities, these evils 
 were presented to their imaginations in aggravated colors. 
 A plan was seriously laid to deliver their gallant and victo- 
 rious leader into the hands of the British, but the whole 
 design was happily discovered and prevented from being car- 
 ried into execution. To the honor of the continental army, 
 it may with justice be added, that notwitiistanding the pres- 
 sure of their many sufferings, the whole number concerned in 
 this plot did not exceed twelve. 
 
252 HisTORr OF the kevcTlution. 
 
 In the course of the year 1782, John Mathews, Esquire, 
 Governor of South CaroHna, concerted measures with some of 
 the citizens in Charlestown, who wished to make their peace 
 with their countrymen, for sending out of the British lines 
 necessary clothing for the almost naked continentals. When 
 their distresses had nearly arrived to that point beyond which 
 human nature can hear no more, Mr. Joshua Lockwood, under 
 the direction of Governor Mathews, brought out of Charles- 
 town a large quantity of the articles which were most needed 
 in the American cam pi This seasonable supply, though much 
 short of their due, quieted the minds of the suffering soldiers. 
 Tranquility and good order were restored in the camp, and 
 duty was cheerfully performed. It is impossible to do justice 
 to that invincible fortitude which was displayed by both offi- 
 cers and men in the campaigns of 1780 and 1781. They 
 encountered fatigues which, if particularly related, would ap- 
 pear almost incredible. They had scenes of suffering to bear 
 up under, of which citizens in the peaceable walks of private 
 life can form no adequate idea. Without pay, almost without 
 clothing, and often with but a scanty portion of the plainest 
 provisions, they were exposed to the scorchingheatof the day, 
 and the baleful vapors of the night. When sinking under the 
 fatigues of repeated successions of forced marches, they were 
 destitute of every comfort suitable to their situation. But to 
 all these accumulated hardships the greatest part of them sub- 
 mitted with patience and magnanimity, which reflected honor 
 on human nature, and which was never exceeded by any 
 army in the world. 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 Revolutionary Miscellaneous History. 
 
 The reduction of Charlestown in May 1780, was followed 
 by the establishment of a military government. A Command- 
 ant was appointed to superintend the affairs of the province. 
 His powers were as undefined as those of the American com- 
 mittees which took place in the early stages of the dispute 
 between Great Britain and America, while the royal govern- 
 ments were suspended and before the popular establishments 
 were reduced to system. To soften the rigid and forbidding 
 aspect of this new mode of administration, and as far as possi- 
 ble to temper it with the resemblance of civil authority, a 
 board of police for the summary determination of disputes 
 was instituted. Under the direction of James Simpson, in- 
 tendant of the board, a table was drawn up, ascertaining the 
 depreciation of the paper currency at different periods ; from 
 which the friends of royal government, who had sustained 
 losses by paper payments, were induced to hope for reimburse- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 253 
 
 ment. This measure, though just in itself, was productive of 
 unexpected and serious consequences fatal to the reviving 
 fondness for the royal interest. Among the new-made British 
 subjects, many were found who had been great gainers by the 
 depreciation of I he American bills of credit. These, by the 
 proposition of a second payment of their old debts, were filled 
 with astonishment. From the circumstances of the country 
 a compliance with it was, to the most opulent, extremely in- 
 convenient; and to multitudes absolutely impracticable. The 
 paper currency, before the reduction of Charlestown, had sup- 
 planted the use of gold and silver and banished them from 
 circulation. The ravages of war had desolated the country, 
 and deprived the inhabitants of the means of payment. Credi- 
 tors became clamorous for their long arrears of interest, and 
 debtors had either lost their property or could not exchange it 
 for one-half of its value. Many suits were commenced, and 
 great numbers ruined. The distresses of the reclaimed sub- 
 jects, within the British lines, were in many instances greater 
 than those of their unsubdued countrymen who had forsaken 
 all in the cause of liberty. After the Americans had recovered 
 possession of a considerable part of the State, it was presumed 
 that the proceedings of the board of police would be reversed. 
 This redoubled their difficulties. Creditors became more press- 
 ing, and at the same time the doubtfulness of British titles 
 induced a depreciation of real property not far behind that of 
 the American paper currency. Fear and interest had brought 
 many of their new subjects to the British standard ; but, in 
 consequence of the plans they adopted, in a little time both 
 these powerful motives of human actions drew in an opposite 
 direction. The Americans pursued a different line of conduct. 
 In every period of the contest they sacrificed the few creditors 
 to the many debtors. The true whigs who suffered on this 
 score, consoled themselves with the idea that their country's 
 good required it, and that this was the price of their indepen- 
 dence. A disposition to suffer in behalf of the royal interest 
 was not so visible among the professed adherents to British 
 government. That immediate justice might be done to a few, 
 great distress was brought on many and the cause of his 
 Britannic majesty injured beyond reparation. 
 
 Several Commandants were successively appointed to su- 
 perintend the affairs of the town. Among these Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Nisbit Balfour had the greatest share of administra- 
 tion. This gentleman displayed in the exercise of this new 
 office all the frivolous self-importance, and all the disgusting 
 insolence, which are natural to Uttle minds when pufi'ed up 
 by sudden elevation. By the subversion of every trace of 
 the popular government, without any proper civil establish- 
 
254 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 ment in its place, he, with a few coadjutors, assumed and ex- 
 ercised legislative, judicial, and executive powers over citizens 
 in the same manner as over the common soldiery under their 
 command. A series of proclamations was issued by his au- 
 thority, which militated as -w^ell against the principles of the 
 British constitution, as those of justice, equity, and humanity. 
 For slight offences, and on partial and insufficient information, 
 citizens were confined by his orders ; and that often without 
 any trial. 
 
 The place allotted for securing them, being the middle part 
 of the cellar, under the Exchange, was called the Provost. 
 The dampness of this unwholesome spot, together with the 
 want of a fire-place, caused among the unhappy sufferers 
 some deaths and much sickness. In it the American State- 
 prisoner, and the British felon shared the same fate. The 
 former, though for the most part charged with nothing more 
 than an active execution of the laws of the State, or having 
 spoken words disrespectful or injurious to the British officers 
 or government, or of corresponding with the Americans, suf- 
 fered indignities and distresses in common with those who 
 were accused of crimes tending to subvert the peace and exist- 
 ence of society. 
 
 It has already been observed, that on the arrival of the 
 British in South Carolina, the inhabitants were encouraged 
 to stay on their plantations with the prospect of neutrality; 
 and that, in a little time, these delusive hopes vanished. In- 
 stead of drawing off the people gradually from an attachment 
 to their late constitution, the conquerors were so far mistaken 
 as to suppose that men could instantly be transformed from 
 obstinate revolters to zealous royalists. In a short time after 
 their submission they were called upon to promise that, by 
 force of arms, they would oppose men who were their friends 
 and neighbors, and by whose sides they had lately fought. In 
 effecting a revolution from the regal to the republican govern- 
 ment, a very different policy was pursued. The pcj-ular 
 leaders proceeded gradually. The common people were not 
 shocked by any propositions too repugnant to their ancient 
 prejudices, or too remote from established opinions. Though 
 the leading men in the councils of America were far from 
 being adepts in the maxims of refined policy yet they were 
 led, by a providential concurrence of circumstances, to carry 
 on their operations in a manner which contributed more to 
 their success than if every step they took had been prescribed 
 by the most consummate art When they first began to oppose 
 the claims of Great Britain, they were far from intending that 
 separation which they afterwards effected; and would hare 
 trembled with horror at the thoughts of that which at last 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 255 
 
 they gloried in accomplishing. Strange and undesigned con- 
 sequences followed in the gradual succession of causes and 
 effects. In confuting the extravagant opinion of taxation 
 without representation, the Americans were insensibly led to 
 inquire into the nature of civillilDerty, and of their connection 
 with Great Britain. From a denial of the British right of 
 taxation, the way was opened for an investigation of the re- 
 strictions on their commerce and of the disadvantages of their 
 subordinate station. A direct renunciation of the mother 
 country, in the first instance, would have drawn on the Amer- 
 icans the whole weight of her vengeance, and would probably 
 have disunited the colonists; but, as this was far from the 
 thoughts of the popular leaders, they continued to profess, and 
 with sincerity, great respect for their King and his government, 
 till step by step they came to erect the standard of independ- 
 ence. The sentiments of a great majority of the people coin- 
 cided with the resolutions of their leaders. JS^othing was re- 
 commended but what was in unison with the prevailing opin- 
 ions. A prudent respect was paid to ancient prejudices, and 
 nothing new was imposed till the public mind was gradually 
 reconciled to its favorable reception. The first popular assem- 
 blies conducted their opposition on legal grounds, and in a 
 manner compatible with their allegiance. It was the acknowl- 
 edged right of the subjects to meet together, and petition for a 
 redress of their grievances. Their committees and congresses, 
 their resolutions of non-importation and non-exportation con- 
 tained nothing unconstitutional. The association which was 
 the first band of popular union in South Carolina, was sanc- 
 tioned by no other penalty but that of withholding all inter- 
 course with those who should refuse to concur with the same 
 measures. 
 
 The distinction of whig and tory took its rise in the year 
 1775. Both parties in the interior country were then embo- 
 died, and were obliged to impress provisions for their respect- 
 ive support The advocates for Congress prevailing, they 
 paid for articles consumed in their camps; but as no funds 
 were provided for discharging the expenses incurred by the 
 royalists, all that was consumed by them was considered as a 
 robbery. This laid the foundation of a piratical war between 
 whigs and tories, which was productive of great distress and 
 deluged the country with blood. In the interval between the 
 insurrection of 1775, and the year 1780, the whigs were occa- 
 sionally plundered by parties who had attempted insurrections 
 in favor of royal government. But all that was done prior to 
 the surrender of Charlestown was trifling when compared to 
 what followed. After that event, pohtical hatred raged with 
 uncommon fury, and the calamities of civil war desolated the 
 
256 HisTOKr OF the revoltttion. 
 
 State. The ties of nature were in several instances dissolved 
 and that reciprocal good will, and confidence, which hold 
 mankind together in society, was in a great degree extin- 
 guished. Countrymen, neighbors, friends, and brothers took 
 different sides and ranged 'themselves under the opposing 
 standards of the contending factions. In every little precinct, 
 more especially in the interior parts of the State, King's-men 
 and Congress-men were names of dictinction. The passions 
 on both sides were kept in perpetual agitation, and wrought 
 up to a degree of fury, which rendered individuals regardless 
 not only of the laws of war but of the principles of humanity. 
 While the British had the ascendency, their partizans gave 
 full scope to their interetsed and malicious passions. People 
 of the worst characters emerged from their hiding places in 
 swamps, called themselves King's-men and began to appro- 
 priate to their own use whatsoever came in their way. Every 
 act of cruelty and injustice was sanctified, provided the actor 
 called himself a friend to the King and the sufi"erer was de- 
 nominated a rebel. Of those who were well-disposed to the 
 claims of America, there were few to be found who had not 
 their houses and plantations repeatedly rifled. Under the 
 sanction of subduing rebellion, private revenge was gratifiedi 
 Many houses were burned, and many people inhumanly mur- 
 dered. Numbers for a long time were obliged either entirely 
 to abandon their homes, or to sleep in the woods and swamps. 
 Rapine, outrage, and murder became so common as to inter- 
 rupt the free intercourse between one place and another. That 
 security and protection which individuals expect by entering 
 into civil society, ceased almost totally. Matters remained in 
 this situation for the greatest part of a year after the surrender 
 of Charlestown. When General Greene returned to South Car- 
 olina, in the spring of 1781, everything was reversed. In a 
 few weeks he dispossessed the British of all their posts in the 
 upper country, and the exasperated whigs once more had the 
 superiority. On their return to their homes, they generally 
 found starving families and desolate plantations. To reim- 
 burse their losses, and to gratify revenge, they, in their turn, 
 began to plunder and to murder. The country was laid waste, 
 and private dwellings frequently stained with the blood of 
 husbands and fathers inhumanly shed in the presence of their 
 wives and children. About this time Governor Rutledge re- 
 turned to South Carolina, and exerted his great abilities in 
 re-establishing order and security. To this end he issued a 
 proclamation, strictly forbidding all violence and rapine. Mag- 
 istrates were appointed in every part of the State recovered 
 from the British. Civil government was restored. Property 
 was secured. Confusion and anarchy gave place to order and 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 257 
 
 regular government. The people were happy, and rejoiced 
 in the revolution. 
 
 In the close of the year 1781, when the successes of the 
 American army had confined the late conquerors to the vi- 
 cinity of Charlestown, a desperate hand of tories adopted the 
 infernal scheme of taking their last revenge by carrying fire 
 and sword into the settlements of the whig militia. To this 
 end Major William Cunningham, of the British militia, col- 
 lected a party, and having furnished them with everything 
 necessary for laying waste the country, sallied from Charles- 
 town. He and his associates concealed themselves till they 
 arrived in the back settlements far in the rear of the American 
 army, and there began to plunder, burn and murder. In the 
 unsuspecting hour of sleep and domestic security, they en- 
 tered the houses of the solitary farmers and sacrificed to their 
 revenge the obnoxious head of the family. Their cruelties 
 induced some small parties to associate and arm in self- 
 defence. Captain Turner and twenty men had, on these 
 principles, taken post in a house and defended themselves till 
 their ammunition was nearly expended. After which they 
 surrendered on receiving assurances that they should be 
 treated as prisoners of war. Notwithstanding this solemn 
 agreement. Captain Turner and his party were put to instant 
 death by Cunningham and the men under his command. 
 Soon after this massacre the same party of tories attacked a 
 number of the American militia in the district of Ninety-Six, 
 commanded by Colonel Hayes, and set fire to the house in 
 which they had taken shelter. The only alternative left was 
 either to be burned or to surrender themselves prisoners. The 
 last being preferred. Colonel Hayes and Captain Daniel Wil- 
 liams were hung at once on the pole of a fodder stack. This 
 breaking, they both fell, on which Major William Cunning- 
 ham cut them into pieces with his own sword ; when turning 
 upon the others he continued on them the operations of his 
 savage barbarity, till the powers of nature being exhausted, 
 and his enfeebled limbs refusing to administer any longer to 
 his insatiate fury, he called upon his comrades to complete 
 the dreadful work by killing whichsoever of the prisoners 
 they pleased. They instantly put to death such of them as 
 they personally disliked. Only two fell in action, but four- 
 teen were deliberately cut to pieces after their surrender. 
 Their names and rank were as follows : Colonel Joseph 
 Hayes, Captain Daniel Williams, Lieutenant Christopher 
 
 - Hardy, Lieutenant John Neel, Clement Hancock, Joseph 
 Williams, Joseph Irby, senior, Joseph Irby, junior, John 
 Milven, James Feris, John Cook, Greaf Irby, Benjamin Good- 
 
 ; man, Yancy Saxon. 
 
258 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 About the same time, and under the same influence, emis- 
 saries from the British induced the Cherokee Indians to com- 
 mence hostilities. Early in the year 1781 General Greene 
 had concluded a treaty with them, by which they had en- 
 gaged to observe a neutrality. This was attended with the 
 beneficial effects of saving the frontier settlements, both of 
 North and South Carolina, from their incursions, while the 
 inhabitants were left at full liberty to concentrate their force 
 against the army under the command of Lord Cornwallis. 
 When the co-operation of the Indians could be of the least 
 service to the British forces, they were induced to break 
 through their engagements of neutrality. They, with a num- 
 ber of disguised white men who called themselves the King's 
 friends, made an incursion into the district of Ninety-Six, 
 massacred some families and burned several houses. Gen- 
 eral Pickens collected a party of the American militia and 
 penetrated into the settlements of the Cherokees. This he 
 accomplished in fourteen days, at the head of three hundred 
 and ninety-four horsemen. In that short space he burned 
 thirteen towns and villages, killed upwards of forty Indians, 
 and took a greater number prisoners. Not one of his party 
 was killed, and only two were wounded. None of the expe- 
 ditions carried on against the Cherokees had been so rapid 
 and decisive as the present one. General Pickens did not 
 expend three pounds of ammunition, and yet only three 
 Indians escaped after having been once seen. On this occa- 
 sion a new and successful mode of fighting the savages was 
 introduced. Instead of firing, the American militia rushed 
 forward on horseback and charged with drawn swords. This 
 was the second time during the American war that the 
 Cherokee Indians had been chastised in their own settle- 
 ments, in consequence of sufiering themselves to be excited 
 by British emissaries to commence hostilities against their 
 white neighbors. They again sued for peace in the most sub- 
 missive terms, and obtained it after promising that instead of 
 listening to the advice of the royalists instigating them to war, 
 they would deliver those of them that visited their settle- 
 ments on that errand to the authority of the Stata 
 
 In consequence of these civil wars between the whigs and 
 tories, the incursions of the savages, and the other calamities 
 resulting from the operations of the British and American 
 armies, South Carolina exhibited scenes of distress which 
 were shocking to humanity. The single district of Ninety- 
 Six has been computed by well informed persons residing 
 therein, to contain within its limits fourteen hundred widows 
 and orphans ; made so by the war. Nor is it wonderful that 
 the country was involved in such accumulated distress. The 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 259 
 
 American government was suspended, and the British con- 
 querors were careless of the civil rights of the inhabitants. 
 They conducted as though interior order and police were 
 scarcely objects of attention. The will of the strongest was 
 the law. Such was the general complexion of those who 
 called themselves royalists, that nothing could be expected 
 from them but outrages against the peace and order of society. 
 Though among the tories in the lower parts of South Caro- 
 lina there were gentlemen of honor, principle and humanity, 
 yet in the interior and back parts of the State a great propor- 
 tion of them was an ignorant unprincipled banditti; to whom 
 idleness, licentiousness and deeds of violence were familiar. 
 Horse-thieves and others whose crimes had exiled them from 
 society, attached themselves to parties of the British. En- 
 couraged by their example and instigated by the love of 
 plunder, they committed the most extensive depredations. 
 Under the cloak of attachment to the old government, they 
 covered the basest and most selfish purposes. The necessity 
 which their indiscriminate plundering imposed on all good 
 men of defending themselves, did infinitely more damage to 
 the royal cause than was compensated by all the advantages 
 resulting from their friendship. 
 
 As soon as the American army obtained re-possession of 
 the country, the inhabitants, after returning to their former al- 
 legiance, resolutely put all to the risk in support of independ- 
 ence. Though the British, in the career of their conquests, 
 had inculcated the necessity and propriety of transferring al- 
 legiance from the vanquished to the victor, yet they treated 
 with the utmost severity those unfortunate men, when in 
 their power, who having once accepted of British protection 
 acted on these very principles in afterwards re-joining their 
 victorious countrymen. 
 
 Among the sufferers on this score, the illustrious Colonel 
 Hayne stands conspicuous. During the siege of Charles- 
 town, that gentleman served his country in a corps of militia- 
 horse. After the capitulation, there being no American army 
 in the State and the prospect of one being both distant and 
 uncertain, no alternative was left but either to abandon his 
 family and property or to surrender to the conquerors. This 
 hard dilemma, together with well-founded information that 
 others in similar circumstances had been paroled to their 
 plantations, weighed with Colonel Hayne so far as to induce 
 a conclusion that instead of waiting to be captured it would be 
 both more safe and more honorable to come within the British 
 lines and surrender himself a voluntary prisoner. He there- 
 fore repaired to Charlestown and offered to bind himself, by 
 the honor of an American officer, to do nothing prejudicial to 
 +V.Q TivitioU I'ntoi-ocf till tip sVioiild he RYchans-ed. Renorts 
 
260 HISTORY OF THE REVOLTJTION. 
 
 which were made of his superior abilities and influence, uni- 
 formly exerted in the American cause, operated with the con- 
 querors to refuse him a parole, though they were in the habit 
 of daily granting that indulgence to others of the inhabitants. 
 To his great astonishment he was told, "that he must either 
 become a British subject or submit to close confinement." To 
 be arrested and detained in the capital, was to himself not an 
 intolerable evil ; but to abandon his family both to the rail- 
 ages of the small-pox, a disease then raging in their neighbor- 
 hood, and which in a short time after proved mortal to his 
 wife and two of his children, and to the insults and depreda- 
 tions of the royal army, was too much for a tender husband 
 and a fond parent. To acknowledge himself the subject of a 
 King, whose government he had from principle renounced, 
 was repugnant to his feelings ; but without this he was cut 
 off from every prospect of a return to his family. In this em- 
 barrassing situation he waited on the author of this history, 
 with a declaration to the following eifect : " If the British 
 would grant me the indulgence, which we in the day of our 
 power gave to their adherents, of removing my family and 
 property, I would seek an asylum in the remotest corner of the 
 United States rather than submit to their government; but as 
 they allow no other alternative than submission or confine- 
 ment in the capital, at a distance from my wife and family, 
 at a time when they are in the most pressing need of my pres- 
 ence and support, I must for the present yield to the de- 
 mands of the conquerors. I request you to bear in mind that 
 previous to my taking this step, I declare that it is contrary to 
 my inclination and forced on me by hard necessity. I never 
 will bear arms against my country. My new masters can re- 
 quire no service of me but what is enjoined by the old militia- 
 law of the province, which substitutes a fine in lieu of per- 
 sonal service. That I will pay as the price of my protection. If 
 my conduct should be censured by my countrymen, I beg 
 that you would remember this conversation and bear wit- 
 ness for me, that I do not mean to desert the cause of 
 America." 
 
 In this state of duress Colonel Hayne subscribed a declara- 
 tion of his allegiance to the King of Great Britain, but not 
 without expressly objecting to the clause which required him, 
 "with his arms to support the royal government." The 
 commandant of the garrison, Brigadier-General Paterson, and 
 James Simpson, Esquire, Intendant of the British poUce, as- 
 sured him that this would never be required; and added fur- 
 ther, "that when the regular forces could not defend the coun- 
 try, without the aid of its inhabitants, it would be high time 
 for the royal army to quit it." 
 
 Having submitted to their government, he readily obtained 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 261 
 
 permission to return to his family. In violation of the special 
 condition under which he subscribed the declaration of his 
 allegiance, he was repeatedly called on to take arms against 
 his countrymen, and was finally threatened with close con- 
 finement in case of a further refusal. This open breach of con- 
 tract, together with the inability of the late conquerors to give 
 him that protection which was promised as a compensation 
 for his allegiance, the Americans having regained that part of 
 the State in which he resided, induced him to consider him- 
 self as released from all engagements to the British command- 
 ers. The inhabitants of his neighborhood, who had also 
 revolted, subscribed a petition to General Pickens, praying 
 that Colonel Hayne might be appointed to the command of 
 their regiment. Having thus resumed his arms, and the tide 
 of conquest being fairly turned in the short space of thirteen 
 months after the surrender of Charlestown, he sent out, in 
 the month of July, 1781, a small party to reconnoitre. They 
 penetrated within seven miles of the capital, took General 
 Williamson prisoner, and retreated to the head-quarters of 
 the regiment. Such was the anxiety of the British com- 
 mandant to rescue General Williamson, that he ordered out 
 his whole cavalry on that business. Colonel Hayne unfor- 
 tunately fell into their hands. Though he had conducted 
 himself peaceably while under the British government, and 
 had injured no man, yet for having resumed his arms after 
 accepting British protection, he was, when bronght to Charles- 
 town, confined in a loathsome provost. At first he was prom- 
 ised a trial, and had counsel prepared to justify his conduct 
 by the laws of nations and usages of war; but this was finally 
 refused. Had he been considered as a British subject, he had 
 an iindoubted right to a trial; if as an American officer, to his 
 parole; but in violation of every principle of the constitution, 
 he was ordered for execution by the arbitrary mandate of 
 Lord Rawdon and Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour. 
 
 The royal Lieutenant-Governor Bull, and a great number 
 of the inhabitants, both loyalists and Americans, interceded 
 for his life. The ladies of Charlestown generally signed a 
 petition in his behalf, in which was introduced every delicate 
 sentiment that was likely to operate on the gallantry of officers 
 or the humanity of men. His children, accompanied by some 
 near relations, were presented on their bended knees, as hum- 
 ble suitors for their father's life. Such powerful intercessions 
 were made in his favor as touched many an unfeeling heart, 
 and drew tears from many an hard eye; but Lord Rawdon 
 and Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour remained inflexible. 
 
 After his fate was fixed, he was repeatedly visited by his 
 friends, and conversed on various subjects with the fortitude 
 
262 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 of a man, a philosopher, and a Christian. He particularly la- 
 mented that, on principles of reciprocal retaliation, his execu- 
 tion would probably be an introduction to the shedding of 
 much innocent blood. His children, who had lost their other 
 parent, were brought to him in the place of his confinement, 
 and received from his lips the dying advice of an afiectionate 
 father. On the last evening of his life he told a friend, "that 
 he was no more alarmed at the thoughts of death, than at 
 any other occurrence which was necessary and unavoidable." 
 He requested those in whom the supreme power was vested, 
 to accommodate the mode of his death to his feelings as an 
 officer; but this was refused. 
 
 On the morning of the fatal day, on receiving his summons 
 to proceed to the place of execution, he delivered some papers 
 to his eldest son, a youth of about thirteen years of age: 
 "Present," said he, "these papers to Mrs. Edwards, with my 
 request that she would forward them to her brother in Con- 
 gress. You. will next repair to the place of execution, receive 
 my body, and see it decently interred among my forefathers." 
 They took a final leave. The Colonel's arms were pinioned, 
 and a guard placed round his person. The procession began 
 from the Exchange, in the forenoon of the fourth of August, 
 1781. The streets were crowded with thousands of anxious 
 spectators. He walked to the place of execution with such de- 
 cent firmness, composure and dignity, as to awaken the com- 
 passion of many, and to command respect from all. There 
 was a majesty in his sufferings which rendered him superior 
 to the pangs of death. When the city barrier was past, and 
 the instrument of his catastrophe appeared full in vieAV, a 
 faithful friend by his side observed to him, " that he hoped he 
 would exhibit an example of the manner in which an Amer- 
 ican can die." He answered with the utmost tranquility, "I 
 will endeavor to do so." He ascended the cart with a firm 
 step and serene aspect. He inquired of the executioner, who 
 was making an attempt to get up to pull the cap over his 
 eyes, what he wanted? Upon being informed of his design, 
 the colonel replied, "I will save you that trouble," and pulled 
 it over himself He was afterwards asked whether he wished 
 to say anything; to which he answered,"! will only take leave 
 of my friends, and be ready." He then affectionately shook 
 hands with three gentlemen, recommended his children to 
 their care, and gave the signal for the cart to move. 
 
 Thus fell, in the bloom of life, a brave officer, a worthy 
 citizen, a just and upright man: furnishing an example of 
 heroism in death that extorted a confession from his enemies, 
 "that, though he did not die in a good cause, he must at least 
 have acted from a persuasiom of its being so.'' 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 263 
 
 Few men stood higher in the estimation of their country- 
 men than the illustrious man whose exit has been just de- 
 scribed. General Greene demanded from the British Com- 
 manders their reasons for this execution. To which he 
 received a written answer, signed by N. Balfour, acknowledg- 
 ing, "that it took place by the joint order of Lord Rawdon 
 and himself, but in consequence of the most express direc- 
 tions from Lord Cornwallis to put to death those who should 
 be found in arms after being at their own requests received 
 as subjects, since the capitulation of Charlestown, and the 
 clear conquest of the province in the summer of 1780." 
 
 The regular officers of the continental army presented a 
 petition to General Greene, requesting that he would retaliate 
 for the execution of Colonel Hayne. By this they voluntarily 
 subjected themselves to all the consequences to which, in case 
 of capture, they would be exposed. General Greene soon after 
 issued a proclamation, threatening to make British officers 
 the objects of retaliation. This encouraged the revolted in- 
 habitants to continue in arms, and effaced every impression 
 that was expected from the fate of Colonel Hayne. The Brit- 
 ish interest gained no permanent advantage, Avhile pity and 
 revenge sharpened the swords of the countrymen and friends 
 of the much beloved sufferer. 
 
 After the British landed in Carolina in 1780, they confined 
 some of their first prisoners in the vaults with the dead. When 
 their successes had multiplied the number of prisoners, they 
 were crowded on board prison-ships, where they suffered every 
 inconvenience that could result from putrid air and the want 
 of the comforts of life. This was done not only to those who 
 surrendered at discretion, but also to the private soldiers who 
 were entitled to the benefit of the capitulation of Charlestown. 
 
 The condition of these unfortunate men was truly deplor- 
 able. They were crowded on board the prison-ships in such 
 numbers that several were obliged to stand up for want of 
 room to lie down. The State of South Carolina could afford 
 them no supply. Congress could not at that time command 
 hard money for their relief. Wine, and such like comforts, 
 particularly necessary for the sick in southern climates, could 
 not be obtained from the British hospitals. 
 
 Upwards of eight hundred of these brave men, nearly one- 
 third of the whole, exhausted by a variety of sufferings, expired 
 in the short space of thirteen months' captivity. When a gen- 
 eral exchange took place in June, 1781, out of nineteen hun- 
 dred taken at the surrender of Charlestown on the 12th of 
 May, 1780, and several hundreds more taken afterwards at 
 Oamden and at Fishing creek on the 16th and 18th of Au- 
 gust of the same year, there were only seven hundred and 
 
264 HISTORY or the revolution. 
 
 forty restored to the service of their country. It was not by 
 deaths alone that the Americans were deprived of their sol- 
 diers. Lord Charles Greville Montague, who before the revo- 
 lution had been Governor of the province of South Carolina, 
 enlisted five hundred and thirty of them in the British ser- 
 vice. The distressed continental soldiers were induced to ac- 
 cept the offers of Lord Charles Greville Montague in prefer- 
 ence to the horrors of a prison-ship, by the specious promise 
 that they should be employed in the West Indies, and not 
 against their countrymen in the United States. His lordship, 
 after completing his regiment, offered the command of it to 
 Brigadier-General Moultrie, the senior officer of the prisoners- 
 of-war belonging to the continental army, who with becoming 
 spirit declined it. 
 
 The continental officers taken at the surrender of Charles- 
 town were confined to Haddrell's Point and the vicinity. Far 
 from their friends, and destitute of money, they were reduced 
 to the greatest straits. Such were the difficulties and severe 
 restrictions imposed on this band of patriots that many of them, 
 though born in affiuence and habituated to attendance, were 
 compelled to do not only the most menial offices for them- 
 selves but could scarcely procure the plainest necessaries of 
 life. During a captivity of thirteen months, they received no 
 more from their country than nine days' pay. These hard- 
 ships were not alleviated by those civilities from their conque- 
 rors which among modern refined nations have abated the 
 horrors of war. They were debarred the liberty of fishing for 
 their support, though their great 'leisure and many wants made 
 it an object not only as an amusement but as a mean of sup- 
 plying their necessities. After bearing all these evils with 
 great fortitude they were informed, in the month of March 
 17S1, by Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour, that by positive orders 
 from Earl CornwalliSj he was to send them to some one of the 
 West India Islands. Preparations were made for the execu- 
 tion of the mandate; but a general exchange of prisoners, in 
 the sovithern department, took place in a few weeks which re- 
 leased the prisoners on both sides from captivity. 
 
 The citizens of the town, who adhered to their paroles, were 
 treated with great severity. Though they were not allowed 
 rations, yet they were debarred from trade, and from exercis- 
 ing any profession; and the King's subjects were strictly en- 
 joined not to employ them on any pretence. 
 
 Though by the capitulation of Charlestown, in May 1780, 
 the inhabitants were entitled to their paroles and a residence 
 on their estates with their families; yet in May, 1781, upwards 
 of one hundred of them were confined to prison-ships. The 
 conquerors did not undertake to justify this step from any 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 265 
 
 supposed breach of parole. They affected to hold the pris- 
 oners in this state of duress as hostages to secure good treat- 
 ment for those of the loyalists who had been captured by the 
 Americans. The gentlemen who were confined on this oc- 
 casion submitted to their fate with great magnanimity. In- 
 stead of repining at their situation, they only regretted, "if it 
 should fall to the lot of any or all of them to be made victims, 
 agreeably to the menaces of Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour, that 
 their blood could not be disposed of more to the advantage of 
 the glorious cause in which they had engaged." 
 
 As the war was carried on not to gain a contested point 
 from an independent power, but to annihilate the assumed 
 independence of the State and to reduce it to its former pro- 
 vincial subjection; the conquerors ridiculed the idea of observ- 
 ing the capitulation with citizens. They considered that 
 measure as the expedient of a day, only proper at the surren- 
 der to prevent the effusion of blood, but no longer so when 
 their arms were triumphant in the remote extremities of the 
 State. Indulgences shown to prisoners were viewed as favors 
 derived from the humanity of conquerors, and not as rights 
 founded on a capitulation. Persons who remained in the 
 character of prisoners, and claimed under that solemn agree- 
 ment, were considered as obstinate rebels who meant to thwart 
 the views of the royal army. While they wished to be re- 
 garded as members of an independent State, they were looked 
 upon as vanquished rebels who owed their lives to British 
 clemency. In this confusion of sentiments, to reconcile con- 
 tradictory claims required uncommon address. The pride of 
 conquerors, highly estimating their own moderation; and the 
 pride of prisoners, considering themselves as independent free- 
 men entitled to respect for their firmness and patriotism, made 
 the former trample on the latter and the latter despise the 
 former. 
 
 It has been already mentioned that in May, 1781, a general 
 exchange of prisoners was agreed to, in which the militia on 
 both sides were respectively exchanged for each other. Not- 
 withstanding every difficulty, a considerable number of the 
 inhabitants had perseveringly refused to become British sub- 
 jects. These being exchanged, were delivered at the American 
 posts in Virginia and Pennsylvania. Great were the exulta- 
 tions of the suffering friends of independence, at the prospect 
 of their being released from confinement and restored to ac- 
 tivity in their country's cause; but these pleasing prospects 
 were obscured by the distresses brought on their families by 
 this otherwise desirable event, for they were all ordered to quit 
 the town and province before the first day of next Augiist. 
 
 The gentlemen, who had been from motives of policy re- 
 
266 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 moved from Charlestown to St. Augustine, as has been already- 
 related, obtained their release by this general exchange and 
 were delivered at the port of Philadelphia. More than a thou- 
 sand persons were exiled from their homes, and thrown on 
 the charity of strangers for their support. In retaliation for 
 this conduct, Governor Rutledge ordered the Brigadiers of 
 militia to drive within the British lines the families of those 
 who adhered to the royal cause. The wives and children of 
 those inhabitants who, to avoid the resentment of their coun- 
 trymen had retreated with the retreating British, were com- 
 pelled to take shelter within their posts. In exchange for 
 their comfortable farms in the country, many of them were 
 reduced in a little time to the necessity of living in clay huts 
 in the vicinity of Charlestown. In this forlorn situation num- 
 bers of them, destitute of the comforts of life, and overwhelmed 
 with diseases, speedily perished. The exiled Americans re- 
 ceived generous treatment from some individuals, and also 
 from the bounty of Congress; but notwithstanding this libe- 
 rality, they suffered many of the evils which result from a 
 want of friends and a want of money. Several of the persons 
 thus exchanged, and sent to the northern States, were owners 
 of landed property in Charlestown. Though by the capitula- 
 tion they had an undoubted right to dispose of this for their 
 own advantage, yet they were debarred that liberty by an order 
 issued on the 11th of July, 1781. 
 
 In consequence of this mandate, the houses of those who 
 adhered to the cause of America were, in violation of public 
 faith, taken out of their hands, and there was scarce an in- 
 stance of compensation being allowed them for this seizure of 
 their property. 
 
 The partial re-establishment of British governmentin South 
 Carolina was the source of accumulated evils to the steady 
 friends of independence ; but they were not the only sufferers. 
 The calamities of the years 1780 and 1781, operated exten- 
 sively. There was scarcely an inhabitant of the State, how- 
 ever obscure in character or remote in situation, whether he 
 remained firm to one party or changed with the times, who 
 did not partake of the general distress. The adherents to royal 
 government were often treated by the British conquerors with 
 neglect and contempt — frequently suffered in their property, 
 and had many grievances unredressed. Their most essential 
 interests were in every stage of the war, and especially at the 
 evacuation of Charlestown, and the general treaty of peace, 
 sacrificed to political necessity. They had the peculiar mis- 
 fortune of suffering from the repeated violation of public faith 
 successively pledged for their security. 
 
 The successes that had attended the American arms in 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 267 
 
 South Carolina, in the summer of 1781, gave such flattering 
 prospects to the friends of independence, that it was judged to 
 be a favorable opportunity to detach from the British interest 
 in South Carolina those of the inhabitants of the State who 
 had joined them in the day of their success. On the 27th of 
 September, 1781, Governor Rutledge, therefore, issued a proc- 
 lamation, offering them pardon on condition of their doing 
 six months militia duty, with the exception of those who had 
 taken commissions — signed congratulatory addresses on Brit- 
 ish victories — or who had been otherwise active in support of 
 their government. In a few weeks several hundreds came 
 out of the British lines, and reinforced the American militia. 
 Several were now as assiduous in framing excuses for their 
 having arranged themselves under the British standard, as 
 they had been the year before to apologize for their involuntary 
 support of rebellion. "Their wives, their children, and their 
 property, made it necessary to make a show of submission to 
 the conquerors — They thought the country was subdued, and 
 that further resistance was vain — but notwithstanding, at all 
 times they wished well to American independence." Such 
 was the alacrity with which they joined their countrymen, 
 that several, though excepted by the proclamation, cast them- 
 selves on the public mercy. They explained their taking 
 British commissions into a benevolent design, of rescuing 
 their neighbors from more severe officers. For their signing 
 addresses of congratulation on British victories, many apolo- 
 gies were offered. Some alleged in their behalf "the fear of 
 losing their estates — of being refused protection, or of being 
 objects of suspicion." Others had never read them ; but they 
 all agreed, " that the sentiments contained in these ill-fated 
 addresses were at no time the language of their hearts." 
 
 The tranquility that reigned through every part of the State 
 gave an opportunity of calling an assembly, the meetings of 
 which had been interrupted ever since the reduction of Charles- 
 town. Many of the inhabitants who had never submitted to 
 the British,and who had been lately delivered as exchanged in 
 Virginia and Philadelphia,soon found their way back to South 
 Carolina. In their number were most of the late civil offi- 
 cers of the State, and members of the Legislature. These 
 favorable circumstances, in conjunction with the position of 
 the American army, within thirty-six miles of Charlestown, 
 pointed out the propriety of convening a Legislature. In the 
 close of the year 1781, Governor Rutledge, by virtue of the 
 extraordinary power delegated to him before the surrender of 
 Charlestown, issued wrhs for a new election. These were or- 
 dered to be held in the usual places where it was practicable, 
 and in other cases as near as safety and other circumstances 
 
268 HISTOET OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 would permit. By the same authority it was ordered, that at 
 the election the votes of such only should be received as had 
 never taken British protection, or who, having taken it, had 
 notwithstanding rejoined their countrymen on or before the 
 27th of September, 1781. Other persons, though residents, 
 were not considered as freemen of the State, or entitled to the 
 full privilege of citizenship. A General Assembly was chosen, 
 and convened in January, 1782, at Jacksonborough, a small 
 village situated on Edisto river, about twenty-five miles from 
 the sea, and thirty-five from Charlestown. 
 
 By the rotation established, it became necessary to choose a 
 new Governor. The suffrages of a majority were in the first 
 instance in favor of Christopher Gadsden, who declined the 
 office. 
 
 The General Assembly then elected John Mathews Gov- 
 ernor, filled up vacancies in the different departments, and re- 
 established civil government in all its branches. They also 
 delegated to the Governor or Commander-in-Chief the same 
 extensive powers, with similar limitation, which had been en- 
 trusted to his predecessor, "of doing all matters and things 
 which Avere judged expedient and necessary to secure the lib- 
 erty, safety, and happiness of the State." Hitherto the Legis- 
 lature of the State had given every man the free liberty of 
 choosing his side and retaining his property ; but the conduct 
 of the British, while they had the ascendancy in the State, 
 was so contrary to this humane mode of carrying on war, that 
 on this occasion an opposite line of policy was adopted. 
 
 Laws were passed for confiscating the estates, and banish- 
 ing the persons of the active decided friends of British gov- 
 ernment, and for amercing the estates of others, as a substitu- 
 tion for their personal services of which, the country had been 
 deprived. Two hundred and thirty-seven persons or estates 
 were included in the first class, and forty-eight in the last. 
 Those whose submission appeared to be necessary and una- 
 voidable, and who did not voluntarily aid or abet the govern- 
 ment of the conquerers, were generally overlooked. These 
 laws, though contrary to the constitution and every principle 
 of republican government, passed by large majorities. The 
 subjects of them were condemned without a hearing or even 
 the form of a trial. Some of the members who voted for them 
 were influenced by a spirit of revenge, and others by avarice; 
 but these were far short of a majority. That was obtained by 
 the accession of numbers of upright and honorable principles, 
 who believed that constitution and lav/s in cases of extremity 
 must both yield to self-preservation. Such considered the con- 
 fiscation of tory property in the nature 'of a forced loan for pur- 
 poses of indispensable necessity. It is certain that without it the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 269 
 
 State had no resources for raising or supporting a military- 
 force for self-defence. These laws were passed in. February, 
 .1782, while the Assembly was under an impression that the 
 war would be continued by Great Britain. To meet it was 
 impossible without making free with the property of British 
 adherents contrary to the usual forms of law. The obstinacy 
 of the British in continuing a hopeless war, aggravated the 
 distresses of their friends. Soon after these laws were passed, 
 reports were circulated that the British intended soon to with- 
 draw from Charlestown. 
 
 The apprehension of this gave a serious alarm to thcfse of 
 the inhabitants who adhered to their interest. There was no 
 part of South Carolina without the British lines which was 
 not formally in the peace of the State, excepting a settlement 
 on Little Peedee. Major Ganey, at the head of some loyalists 
 residing near that river, had refused to do militia duty under 
 General Marion, the Brigadier of the district. They defended 
 themselves in the swamps, and from thence frequently sallied 
 to the distress of the whig inhabitants of the adjacent coun- 
 try. On the 28th of April, 1781, a party of them commanded 
 by Captain Jones, surrounded and set fire to the house of Col. 
 Kolb, a respectable American militia officer. He, after re- 
 ceiving assurances of being treated as a prisoner of war, sur- 
 rendered. Nevertheless he was put to instant death in the 
 presence of his wife and children. When the British had lost 
 ground in 1781, General Marion made a treaty of neutrality 
 with them. In the summer of 1782 this was formerly re- 
 newed. Though the British interest was entirely ruined, and 
 their departure from Charlestown soon expected, such was 
 the generosity of the government, that it gave them a full 
 pardon for all treasons committed against the State, the secu- 
 rity of their property, and the protection of the laws, on the 
 condition of their delivering up their plunder, abjuring the 
 King of Great Britain, and demeaning themselves as peaceable 
 citizens of the State. An alternative was oifered to those who 
 disapproved of these articles, to go within the British lines, 
 and to carry off or sell their property. These lenient meas- 
 ures brought over the disaffected people of the settlement. 
 Several of them not long after fought bravely under General 
 Marion, and the whole conducted themselves peaceably. 
 Regularity, order and government took the place of reciprocal 
 depredations and hostilities. 
 
 On the proposed evacuation of Charlestown, the merchants 
 who came with the British were in a disagreeable predica- 
 ment. They had entered into extensive commercial engage- 
 ments in the short interval of the British sway. Those of 
 their debtors who were without the lines, were not subject to 
 
270 HISTORY OF THE EEVOLtJTION. 
 
 their jurisdiction ; those who were within were unable to pay. 
 It was supposed that all transfers of property, by the authority 
 of the board of police, would be null and void on the depart- 
 ure of the British from the State. Environed with difficul- 
 ties, and threatened with bankruptcy, if they should leave the 
 State along with the garrison, they applied to General Leslie 
 for leave to negotiate for themselves. A deputation of their 
 body waited on Governor Mathews, and obtained from him 
 permission to reside in South Carolina for eighteen months 
 after the evacuation, with the full liberty of disposing of their 
 stock of goods on hand, and of collecting the debts already 
 due to them. This indulgence was extended to a longer term 
 by the Legislature at their next meeting, before any infor- 
 mation arrived that the preliminary articles of peace were 
 signed. 
 
 When the evacuation of Charlestown drew nigh, it was ap- 
 prehended by the inhabitants, that the British army, on its de- 
 parture, would carry off with them some thousands of negroes 
 which were within their lines. To prevent this. Governor 
 Mathews wrote a letter to General Leslie, dated August 17th, 
 1782, in which he informed him, " that if the property of the 
 citizens of South Carolina was carried otf from its owners by 
 the British army, he should seize on the debts due to the 
 British merchants — and to the confiscated estates — and the 
 claims on those estates by marriage settlements — which,three 
 articles were not included in the confiscation act." This con- 
 ditional resolution operated as a check on some, so as to re- 
 strain their avidity for plunder, and induced General Leslie 
 to propose a negotiation for securing the property of both par- 
 ties. After sundry conversations, the commissioners on both 
 sides, on the 10th of October, 1782, ratified a compact on this 
 subject, by which it was agreed with a few exceptions, that 
 all the slaves of the citizens of South Carolina then in the 
 power of the British General Leslie, should be restored to their 
 former owners, and that the faith of the State should be 
 pledged that no further confiscation or sequestration of pro- 
 perty belonging or pledged to royalists should take place; that 
 all such should be at full liberty to sue for, recover and dis- 
 pose of their property in the same manner as citizens — that 
 the slaves so returned should not be punished by the State; 
 and that it should be recommended to their masters to forgive 
 them — that Edward Blake and Roger Parker Saunders should 
 be permitted,on their parole of honor, to reside in Charlestown 
 to assist in the execution of the article respecting the delivery 
 of negroes to the citizens. 
 
 In consequence of this agreement, Governor Mathews gave 
 a commission and a flag to Thomas Ferguson and Thomas 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 271 
 
 Waring, to reside near the British lines, with instructions to 
 receive such negroes as should be delivered from the garrison. 
 Edward Blake and Roger Parker Saunders had also a com- 
 mission and a flag given them to reside in Charlestown, and 
 forward the delivery of the negroes to the gentlemen who 
 were waiting to receive them without the garrison. Governor 
 Mathews requested the citizens of the State to attend for the 
 purpose of receiving their negroes, and earnestly entreated 
 that they would forgive them for having deserted their sei-vice 
 and joined the British. Great were the expectations of the 
 sufi"ering inhabitants that they would soon obtain re-posses- 
 sion of their property ; but these delusive hopes were of short 
 duration. Notwithstanding the solemnity with which the 
 compact had been ratified, it was so far evaded as to be in a 
 great measure ineffectual for the end proposed. 
 
 Edward Blake and Roger Parker Saunders, having waited 
 on General Leslie, were permitted to examine the fleet bound 
 to St. Augustine; but were not sufiered to examine any ves- 
 sel that wore the King's pendant. Instead of an examination, 
 the word of the commanding officer to restore all the slaves 
 that were on board, in violation of the compact, was offered 
 as an equivalent. In their search of the Augustine fleet, they 
 found and claimed one hundred and thirty-six negroes. When 
 they attended to receive them on shore, they were surprised 
 to find no more than seventy-three landed for delivery. They 
 then claimed this small residue, of the original number, to be 
 forwarded to the other commissioners without the lines; but 
 they were informed by General Leslie, that no negroes would 
 be delivered till three soldiers were restored that had been 
 taken by a party of General Greene's army. 
 
 This was the unsuccessful termination of a benevolent 
 scheme originally calculated for mitigating the calamities of 
 war. Motives of humanity, together with the sacred obliga- 
 tion of the provisional articles of peace, restrained the State 
 from extending its confiscation laws. Instead of adding to 
 the Ust of the unhappy sufferers on that score, the successive 
 assemblies diminished their number. 
 
 The prospects of gain from the sale of plundered negroes 
 were too seducing to be resisted by the officers, privates, and 
 followers of the British army. On their departure from 
 Charlestown upwards of eight hundred slaves, who had been 
 employed in the engineer department, were shipped off" for the 
 West Indies. It was said, and believed, that these were taken 
 by the direction and sold for the benefit of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Moncrieif. The slaves carrit3d off" by the chief engineer were 
 but a small part of the whole taken- away at the evacuation, 
 but their number is very inconsiderable when compared with 
 
272 HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 the thousands that were lost from the first to the last of the 
 war. It has been computed by good judges, that between the 
 years 1775 and 1783, the State of South Carolina lost twenty- 
 five thousand negroes. 
 
 The evacuation, though officially announced by General 
 Leslie on the 7th of Augustas a measure soon to be adopted, 
 did not take place till the 14th of December, 1783. On that 
 and the succeeding days the British went on board their 
 shipping, and the town was entered by Governor Mathews and 
 the American army without any confusion or disorder. Those 
 who remained in Charlestown felt themselves happy in being 
 delivered from the severities of a garrison life. The exiled 
 citizens experienced sensations more easily conceived than 
 expressed, on returning to their houses and estates. To crown 
 their other blessings, provisional articles of peace were soon 
 announced to have been signed at Paris, on the 13th of No- 
 vember, 1782, by which the King of Great Britain acknowl- 
 edged " the United States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
 Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
 vania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South 
 Carolina, and Georgia, to be free, sovereign and independent 
 States ; that he treated with them as such ; and for himself, 
 his heirs, and successors, relinquished all claims to the gov- 
 ernment, proprietary or territorial rights of the same." The 
 patriot exulted in the acknowledged independence of his 
 country. The soldier rejoiced that the toils of war were 
 ended, and the objects of it fully obtained. The farmer re- 
 doubled his industry, from the pleasing conviction that the 
 produce of his labor would be secured to him without any 
 danger from British bayonets or American impress-warrants. 
 Cheerfulness and good humor took possession of minds that, 
 during seven years, had been continually occupied with 
 anxiety and distress. The army was soon after disbanded, 
 Such at that time was the situation of the finances of the 
 United States, that Congress was scarcely able to discharge 
 to that virtuous, army, which with the price of their blood had 
 secured their independence, as much of the arrears of many 
 years' pay as was sufficient to defray their expenses in return- 
 ing to their respective habitations. The laurels they had 
 dearly earned, the applause of their countrymen which they 
 had eminently obtained, and the plaudits of their consciences 
 which they honestly possessed, were almost the only rewards 
 they carried home at the termination of a war in which many 
 had injured their constitutions, and all had diminished their 
 fortunes. Sympathizing with the distresses of their country- 
 men — sensible of their inability to pay them their stipulated 
 due — and confiding in their justice to make them future retri- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 273 
 
 bution, they cheerfully relinquished the uniform of the mili- 
 tary for the plain garb of the citizen. The private soldier 
 exchanged his bayonet and firelock for the implements of 
 husbandry, and betook himself to rural occupations. Subal- 
 terns, captainsjfield and general officers returned with pleasure 
 to their ancient civil employments. 
 
 The citizens, instead of repining at their losses, generally 
 set themselves to repair them by diligence and economy. The 
 continental officers who had served in the State, and whose 
 bravery and exertions had rendered them conspicuous, were 
 so well received by the ladies, that several of them had their 
 gallantry rewarded by the possession of some of the finest 
 women and greatest fortunes in South Carolina. The unfor- 
 tunate adherents to royal government were treated by those 
 in power with moderation and lenity. The legislature per- 
 mitted the greater part of the exiles to return. These were 
 divided into three classes. Thirty-one were fully restored to 
 their property and citizenship, thirty-three were disqualified 
 from holding any place of trust within the State for the space 
 of seven years, and they, with sixty-two others, were relieved 
 from total confiscation on the condition of their paying twelve 
 per cent, on the equitable value of their property. Though 
 the State labored under an immense load of public debt, con- 
 tracted during the war, it generously restored confiscated pro- 
 perty in its actual possession to an amount very little short of 
 half a million of pounds sterling. 
 
 Though the war was ended, some address was necessary 
 to compose the minds of the people. Some of those who 
 under every discouragement had steadily adhered to the cause 
 of independence, took to themselves the appellation of the 
 virtuous few, and looked down with contempt on such of 
 their fellow-citizens as had conformed their allegiance to ex- 
 isting circumstances. A disposition to proscribe and banish 
 persons of the latter description showed itself under the auspi- 
 ces of self-constituted committees ; but the weight of govern- 
 ment and the influence of the best informed citizens, was 
 successfully exerted to counteract it. The hard duty of sub- 
 duing private feelings 'and of forgetting personal injuries, and 
 insults, for the public good, was yet to be performed. Edanus 
 Bilrke, an Irish gentleman, who, with the gallantry charac- 
 teristic of his nation, came from the West Indies at the com- 
 mencement of the revolution as a volunteer to fight for American 
 liberty, generously undertook to advocate the cause of those 
 who, in the hour of danger, had by a change of allegiance 
 sought protection from the present conqueror. In a well 
 written pamphlet he demonstrated from history that such 
 changes were common, and that by the laws of nature and 
 18 
 
274 HISTORY OP THE REVOLUTIOJN. 
 
 reason, allegiance and protection were reciprocal; and that 
 the former ceased where the latter either was not or from cir- 
 cumstances could not be given. He advocated the policy of 
 a general amnesty, and of forgetting all that had taken place 
 in the fervor of the revolutionary war. These sentiments ably 
 advocated by Mr. Burke, and promptly supported by the con- 
 stituted authorities and the most enlightened patriots, gradu- 
 ally prevailed. Political distinctions ceased. Bj?^ forbearance, 
 moderation, and good sense, the appellations of congress-men 
 and king's-men were soon forgotten, and both joined heartily 
 in promoting the interests of their common country. 
 
E A. M S AY'S 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT IN 1670 
 TO THE YEAR 1808. 
 
 By DAVID RAMSAY, M. D. 
 
 "The Muse of History has been bo much in love with Mars, that she has seldom conTeraed 
 with Minerva." — Henry. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 PUBLISHED AND SOtD BY 
 
 W. J. DUFFIE, 
 
 PRISTEO Br WALKEB, EVANS ffl CO. CHARLEStO.'' 
 1858 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM 1670 TO 1808. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The first settlers of South Carolina were of different religious 
 persuasions. None had any particular connection with gov- 
 ernment; nor had any sect legal pre-eminence over another.* 
 
 This state of things continued for twenty-eight years. In 
 that early period of the province divine service was seldom 
 publicly performed beyond the limits of Charlcstown, with the 
 exception of an independent church formed near Dorchester 
 in 1696. The inhabitants of the province were nevertheless 
 kept in a state of social order ; for they generally believed in 
 a God, a future state of rewards and punishments, the moral 
 obhgation of the decalogue, and in the divine authority of the 
 Old and New Testaments. The two first Acts of the Legisla- 
 ture which have been found in the records of the Secretary's 
 office " enjoined the observance of the Lord's day, commonly 
 called Sunday;" and prohibited sundry gross immoralities par- 
 ticularly " idleness, drunkenness, and swearing." Thus far 
 the government aided religion in the infant colony. In the 
 year 1698, one step further was taken by an Act "to settle a main- 
 tenance on a minister of the Church of England in Charles- 
 town." This excited neither suspicion nor alarm among the 
 dissenters, for the minister in whose favor the law operated 
 was a worthy good man ; and the small sum allowed him was 
 inadequate to his services. The precedent thus set by the 
 Legislature being acquiesced in by the people paved the way 
 for an ecclesiastical establishment. In the year 1704 when 
 the white population of South Carolina was between 5000 and 
 6000, when the Episcopalians had only one church in the pro- 
 vince and the dissenters three in Charlestown and one in the 
 country, the former were so far favored as to obtain a legal 
 establishment. Most of the proprietors and public officers of 
 
 * The New-England plan of co-extending settlements and religious instruction 
 by making a meeting house, and a minister, appendages to every new town was 
 far from being common in Carolina; but was substantially adopted in some cases. 
 The New-Englanders near Dorchester, the Irish at Williamsburg, the Swiss 
 at Purysburgh, the French at New-Bourdeaux all brought their ministers with 
 them, and each of these groupes had the benefits of religious instruction from the 
 time they becatrie Carolinians. 
 
the province and particularly the Govenor Sir Nathaniel John- 
 son, were zealously attached to the Church of England. Be- 
 lieving in the current creed of the times that an established 
 rehgion was essential to the support of civil government, they 
 concerted measures for endowing the church of the mother 
 country and advancing it in South Carolina to a legal pre-em- 
 inence. Preparatory thereto they promoted the election of 
 members of that church to a seat in the provincial Legislature, 
 and succeeded by surprise so far as to obtain a majority. The 
 recently elected members soon after they entered on their legis- 
 lative functions took measures for perpetuating the power they 
 had thus obtained; for they enacted a law "which made it 
 necessary for all persons thereafter chosen members of the com- 
 mons, house of assembly, to conform to the religious worship 
 of the church of England and to receive the sacrament of the 
 Lord's supper according to the rights and usages of that 
 church.'' This Act passed the lower house by a majority of 
 only one vote. It virtually excluded from a seat in the Legis- 
 lature all who were dissenters, erected an aristocracy, and gave 
 a monopoly of power to one sect though far from being a ma- 
 j ority of the inhabitants. The usual consequences followed. 
 Animosities took place and spread in every direction. Mod- 
 erate men of the favored church considered the law as impol- 
 itic and hostile to the prosperity of the province. Dissenters 
 of all denominations made a common cause in endeavoring to 
 obtain its repeal. The inhabitants of Colleton county, who 
 were mostly dissenters, drew up a statement of their grievan- 
 ces which they transmitted by John Ash to the proprietors 
 praying their lordships to repeal the oppressive Act Ash being 
 coldly received, and despairing of relief from those to whom he 
 was sent, determined to address himself to the Enghsh nation 
 ihrough the medium of the press; but death prevented the 
 execution of his design. The dissenters, in two years after, 
 made another effort to obtain a repeal of the obnoxious law. 
 They drew up a petition and sent it by Joseph Boone to be 
 presented to the House of Lords in England. In this they 
 severely animadverted on the law, its authors and abettors. 
 In consequence of their application a vote was passed " that 
 the Act complained of was founded on falsity in matter of 
 fact — was repugnant to the laws of England — contrary to 
 the charter of the proprietors — was an encouragement to athe- 
 ism and irreligion — destructive to trade, and tended to the de- 
 population and ruin of the province." The Lords also ad 
 dressed Queen Anne, beseeching her " to use the most effectual 
 methods to deliver the province from the arbitrary oppression 
 under which it lay and to order the authors thereof to be pros- 
 ecuted according to law." To which her majesty replied, " that 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 5 
 
 she would do all in her power to relieve her subjects in Caro- 
 lina and protect them in their just rights." 
 
 Though the infant establishment of the Church of England 
 was thus frowned upon by the ruling powers in England, and 
 was disagreeable to a majority of the inhabitants of Carolina, 
 yet no further steps were taken for restoring to dissenters their 
 equal rights. The Episcopal party continued to maintain their 
 ascendency in the assembly, and made legislative provision 
 for extending and maintaining their mode of worship. In two 
 years the colony was divided into ten parishes: St. Philips, 
 Charlestown, Christ Church, St. Thomas, St John, St. James, 
 St. Andrews, St Dennis, St. Pauls, St Bartholomews, St 
 James Santee and each parish was made a corporation. Some 
 of these were afterwards subdivided, and others occasionally 
 formed as the population extended. Money was provided by 
 law for building and repairing churches ; lands were provided 
 by donation, purchase, or grants from the proprietors, at public 
 expense, for glebes and church yards ; — salaries for the different 
 rectors, clerks, and sextons of the established parishes were 
 fixed and made payable out of the provincial treasury. Le- 
 gislative acts were passed for the encouragement of Episcopal 
 clergymen to settle in the province, and exercise their clerical 
 functions in the several parishes designated by law. To such 
 £25 was paid out of the public treasury immediately on their 
 arrival in Carolina, and their annual legal salary commenced 
 from the same period in case they were afterwards elected 
 rectors of any of the established parishes by the resident in- 
 habitants who were members of the Church of England. 
 
 This state of things with but little variation continued for 
 seventy years, and as long as the province remained subject to 
 Great Britain. In the course of that period, twenty-four par- 
 ishes were laid off. Most of these were in the maritime dis- 
 tricts and none more than ninety miles from the sea-coast 
 
 The religious establishment which enjoyed so many and 
 such highly distinguished privileges, was mildly administered. 
 A free toleration was enjoyed by all dissenters. The law which 
 excluded them from a seat in the Legislature was soon repealed 
 by the Provincial Assembly. The friendship of the mother 
 church, the patronage of government, and the legal provision 
 made for clergymen, though partial and confined to one sect, 
 were useful as means of introducing more learned ecclesiastics 
 than would probably have been procured by the unassisted 
 efibrts of the first settlers. Religion assumed a visible form, 
 and contributed its influence in softening the manners of dis- 
 persed colonists, who from the want of school-masters and 
 clergymen were in danger of degenerating into savages. The 
 prospect of attaining these advantages had a powerful influence 
 
O ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 with the members of assembly in favor of an establishment. 
 They saw with regret the increasing inhabitants destitute of 
 public instructors, and knew their inability to reward or even 
 to procure them. The society which about that time was incor- 
 porated in England for propagating the gospel in foreign parts, 
 was able and willing to assist the infant colonies, both with 
 ministers and the means of supporting them ; but that could 
 only be done in the mode of worship prescribed by the church 
 of England. To obtain their aid, an establishment of the same 
 form of public worship in the colony which prevailed in the 
 parent state was deemed a prudential measure. The expected 
 consequences followed. The society, on apphcation, sent out 
 ministers to Carolina and for a long time assisted to maintain 
 them. They generally paid fifty pounds sterhng to their mis- 
 sionaries; and besides, made valuable donations of books to 
 be distributed by them or kept as parochial libraries. The 
 Reverend Mr. Thomas, whose descendants of the fourth or 
 fifth generation constitute a part of the inhabitants, was the 
 first missionary sent out by the Society. 
 
 The number of Episcopal Clergyman who setded in Caro- 
 lina anterior to 1731, is not known; but from that year till 
 1775, when the revolution commenced, their aggregate num- 
 ber was one hundred and two.* Most of them were men of 
 regular education. Such of these and of others as arrived for 
 nearly the first half of the 18th century were generally sent 
 out as missionaries by the society for propagating the gospel 
 
 » List of the clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina sub- 
 sequent to 1730, with the date of their arrival. The Rev. Messrs. Thomas Hasel, 
 "William Guy, Stephen Coulet, Joseph Hooper, Francis Varnod, John I. Tissot, 
 William Cotes, arrived in 1731 ; Daniel Dwight, Lewis Jones, Andrew Leslie, 
 Joseph Buguiou, Timothy Mellichamp, Thomas Morrit, in 1732; Thomas Thomp- 
 son, John Fulton, in 1733; Robert Gowrie, Lawrence O'Neill, in 1734 ,_Peter 
 Duplessis, in 1736 ; John Fordyce, William Orr, in 1737 ; Stephen Roe, Robert 
 Small, in 1738; Levi Durand, in 1741; William M. Gilchrist, in 1742; Samuel 
 Quincy, Charles Bosche, Alexander Garden, Jun., in 1744; Henry Chifielle, in 
 1745; Robert Betbam, in 1746; Alexander Keith, in 1747; Richard St. John, in 
 174S ; Robert Stone, Robert Gumming, John Giessendaner, in 1750 ; John Rowand, 
 in 1751 ; Michael Smith, in 1753; William Langhorne, William Peasely, Charles 
 Martin, James Harrison, Richard Clarke, Alexander Baron, in 1754 ; Jonathan 
 
 Copp, Robert Barron. John Andrews, Jenkin Lewis, in 1756; Sergeant, 
 
 Samuel Fairweather, Robert Smith, in 1758; Robert Cooper, Samuel Warren, 
 John Tonge, in 1759 ; Abraham Imer, in 1761 ; Joseph Stokes, Joseph Dacre Wil- 
 ton, Otispring Pearce, Dormer, in 1762; John Greene, Samuel Drake, George 
 
 Skeen, John Evans, William Teale, in 1763; Isaac Amory, Robert Dunscomb, 
 
 in 1765; Samuel Hart, James Crallan, John Hockley, John Fevrier, Dawson, 
 
 Lousdle, in 1766 ; Tourqand, Charles Woodmason, Streaker, 1767; 
 
 Thomas Panton, John Lewis, Richard Farmer, Robert Purcell, Thomas Morgan,^ 
 James Pierce, in 1769; John Bullman, Henry Purcell, D. D., Edward Ellington, 
 
 in 1770 ; Alexander Findlay, in 1771 ; Villette, Scliquab, Thomas Walker,' 
 
 Steward, Edward Jenkins, in 1772; Smith, Davis, Charles R 
 
 Moreau, m 1773 ; Dundas, in 1774 ; Benjamin Blackburn, in 1775. 
 
 The following clergymen have arrived since the revolution- Thomas Jones, 
 Thomas Frost, Charles Lewis, Thomas IMills, William Blackwall Fennel Bowenj 
 
 Stephen Sykes, William Jones, Graham, Matthew Tate - Gates, William 
 
 Smith, Pogson, Cotton, Woodbridge, William Best, William Nixo"' 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 7 
 
 in foreign parts, and with a few exceptions they continued to 
 preserve the good moral characters they all brought out with 
 them. For some years before the revolution the number of 
 officiating clergymen, at one and the same time, varied from 
 twelve to twenty. Of the whole there was not a single native 
 of Carolina. Two or three are said to have been born in the 
 northern provinces, but ail the rest were Europeans. 
 
 In countries where ecclesiastics have an official agency in 
 the government, their history is additionally important as it is 
 blended with the civil police. This was at no time the .case 
 in South Carolina. The people, both of the province and 
 State, were always averse to the exercise of any civil power 
 by ecclesiastics. Clergymen enjoyed the rights of British sub- 
 jects or of American citizens; hut at no time any distinguish- 
 ing privileges by virtue of their office. 
 
 This jealousy has been continued under every form of 
 government. The clergy under the present constitution are 
 deprived of one of the rights of common citizens ; for they are 
 declared "to be ineligible to the office of Governor, Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor, or to a seat in the Senate or House of Represen- 
 tatives.'' Though they derive no emoluments from the State, 
 they are subjected to this disqualification on the ground "that 
 they should not be diverted from the great duties of their 
 function." 
 
 The same disposition manifested itself under the former 
 order of things ; for coeval with the establishment of the church 
 of England, was the appointment of a board of commissioners 
 by which it was enacted that twenty lay persons be consti- 
 tuted a corporation ; who, in addition to a general superinten- 
 dency over the temporal concerns of all the parochial churches, 
 should exercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction, with full powers to 
 deprive ministers of their livings at pleasure; not for immor- 
 ality only, but also for imprudence, or on account of unrea- 
 sonable prejudices taken against them. This was in fact taking 
 the ecclesiastical jurisdiction out of the hands of the bishop 
 of London, in whose diocese the whole British colonies in 
 America were included, and transfering it to a select portion 
 of the laity in Carolina. No record nor even tradition has 
 reached us that these extraordinary powers were improperly 
 used. They were in the first instance conferred on the fol- 
 lowing persons, who were highly esteemed by the people ; 
 Sir Nathaniel Johnson, Thomas Broughton, Nicholas Trott, 
 Robert Gibbes, Henry Noble, Ralph Izard, James Risbee, 
 William Rhett, George Logan, Arthur Middleton, David Davis, 
 Thomas Barton, John Abraham Motte, Robert Seabrook, Hugh 
 Hext, John Woodward, Joseph Page, John Ashby, Richard 
 Beresford, Thomas Wilkinson, Jonathan Fitch, William Bull, 
 Rene Ravenel, and Philip Gendron. 
 
8 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 The institution of lay commissioners with such ample 
 powers was disapproved by several in Carolina, and by more 
 in England. The society for propagating the gospel in foreign 
 parts, at a meeting in St. Paul's church, London, resolved not 
 to send any missionaries to Carolina until the clauses relating 
 to these extraordinary powers of the lay commissioners were 
 annulled. 
 
 The government of the established church assumed another 
 form about the year 1733. Alexander Garden was then ap- 
 pointed by the bishop of London to be his commissary; and 
 as such to exercise spiritual and ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
 within the provinces of North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor- 
 gia, and the island of New Providence. His strict morals and 
 steady adherence to all the forms of the Episcopal church 
 qualified him in many respects for this high office. It was 
 his duty to watch not only over the morals of the clergy, but 
 to enforce their observance of the rules and forms prescribed 
 by the church. In the former case he had all good men with 
 him, for he was steady, strict, and impartial. In the discharge 
 of the latter he was involved in a most unpleasant controversy 
 with George Whitefield. This celebrated pulpit orator, edu- 
 cated in the church of England and ordained by the bishop 
 of Gloucester, was in common with other Episcopal clergymen, 
 under obligations to obey the canons of the church. These 
 enjoin "the use of the form of prayer prescribed in the book 
 of common prayer and of no other." Though Whitefield 
 possessed an high esteem for these prayers, and always used 
 them when he officiated in Episcopal churches; yet being 
 often called upon to preach to large crowds, many of whom 
 neither possessed nor knew how to use the hook of common 
 prayer in public worship, he departed from the rules of his 
 church and performed divine service in the extempore mode 
 usually practiced among non-Episcopalians. This was un- 
 questionably an offence against the church of which he pro- 
 fessed to be a member, and subjected him to its censures; but 
 he took no guilt to himself, as being conscious that he was 
 influenced by no selfish views nor improper motives, and that 
 he was acting in subserviency to the great and benevolent 
 purposes for which all churches were instituted. While the 
 official duty of the commissary compelled him to enforce, 
 among the members of the Episcopal church, an observance 
 of its established forms; the expanded and liberal mind of 
 Whitefield led him occasionally to set at nought all forms 
 while he pursued the substance in the most direct practicable 
 mode of t)btaining it. His aim was to do the most extensive 
 possible good; and therefore he was willing to preach, if cir- 
 cumstances required, in meeting houses, or even in the open 
 air as well as in consecrated churches. Wherever he found 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 9 
 
 human beings desirous of religious instruction he readily 
 preached to them, and prayed with them, either as the book 
 of common prayer prescribed, or without any form whatever, 
 as was deemed for the present most expedient. After he had 
 indulged himself in these aberrations from the prescribed rules 
 of his church, he was cited by commissary Garden to appear 
 before the ecclesiastical court in the parish church of St. Philips 
 on the 15th of July, 1740, to answer for the same. The result 
 was a sentence of the court for suspending George Whitefield 
 from his ministerial office.* 
 
 While this prosecution was pending, and for thirty years 
 after, Whiteiield was preaching almost daily to crowded con- 
 gregations. So charmed were the people with his eloquence, 
 that frequentljr no house could contain his hearers. The 
 oftener he preached, the keener were their desires to hear him 
 again. As a theologian reasoner, or writer of sermons, he had 
 many superiors; but as an orator for impressing the heart, 
 
 *The particulars of this novel and interesting trial, taken from the records of the 
 courtj were as follows: The first step was a citation from Commissary Garden, 
 calling upon George Whitefield " to answer to certain articles or interrogatories 
 which were to be objected and ministered to him concerning the mere health of 
 bis soul and the reformation and correction of his manners and excesses ; and 
 chiefly for omitting to use the form of prayer prescribed in the communion book." 
 Whitefield appeared in court on the day appointed, but protested against the 
 admission of any articles against him, alleging that he doubted the authority of 
 the court to proceed in the cause, and prayed for time to exhibit his objections. 
 This was granted. At the next meeting of the court he tendered exceptions in 
 writing, ''in recusation of the judge." At the same time he proposed to refer the 
 causes of his recusation against the judge to six diflTerent arbitrators, three of 
 whom to be chosen by the said Alexander Garden. A replication to these excep- 
 tions was made by "William Smith, and the relevancy of the exceptions was argued 
 before the court by Andrew Rutledge in behalf of George Whitefield, and the con- 
 trary was argued by James Greeme. The court, consisting of the Commissary 
 and the Rev. Messrs. Guy, Mellichamp, Roe and Orr, clergymen assistants, unan- 
 imously decreed "that the exceptions be repelled." From this determination 
 George Whitefield appealed to the Lords Commissioners appointed by the King 
 for receiving and hearing appeals in spiritual causes, from his majesty's planta- 
 tions in America. This was granted, and a year and a day allowed for prosecut- 
 ing the appeal and hearing the result. It was ordered that in the interim all fur- 
 ther proceedings should be staid. After the expiration of the limited time it was 
 certified by the register of the court that no prohibition whatever from further 
 proceedings in the said cause, nor any decree or determination of any superior 
 court, had been interposed, and therefore on motion the business was resumed as 
 if no appeal had been made. Due notice was given to George Whitefield to attend, 
 but as he did not appear, the following articles and interrogatories were, after a 
 proper pause, objected to him as if he had been present. "Imprimis, we article 
 and object to you the said George Whitefield, that you were and are a minister 
 in holy orders iis deacon and priest, and that when you were admitted into the 
 ministry you did, pursuant to the thirty-sixth canon of the canons and constitu- 
 tions ecclesiastical, subscribe to the following articles : " That the book of common 
 prayer, and of ordering of bishops, priests and deacons, containeth in it nothing 
 contrary to the word of God; and that it may lawfully so be used, and that he 
 himself will use the form in the said book prescribed in public prayers and admm- 
 istration of the sacraments, and none other."— Item, we article and object that 
 you, the said George Whitefield, do believe and have heard say, that by the thirty- 
 eighth canon of the canons and constitutions ecclesiastical, it is provided, ordajned 
 and decreed, "that if any minister, after he hath once subscribed the aforesaid 
 article, shall omit the form of prayer prescribed in the communion book, let him 
 
10 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORr, 
 
 moving the passions, and for abashing, confounding, and 
 beating down vice and immorality, he was exceeded by none. 
 The unbounded applause he met with from men, and espe- 
 cially from women, was sufficient to have intoxicated him; 
 nor was it wholly without effect, for he was but a man. As 
 to wealth, power, pleasure, honor, or the ordinary pursuits of 
 the vulgar great, he soared above their influence. All his popu- 
 larity, and all his powers, as the greatest pulpit orator of the 
 age, were employed by him in the capacity of an itinerant 
 minister for advancing the present and future happiness of 
 mankind, without regard to sect, party or denomination. Caro- 
 lina was frequently the scene of his ministerial labors; and 
 the religion of the province owed much to his zeal, diligence, 
 and eloquence. It was also much indebted to that steady, 
 inflexible disciplinarian, Commissary Garden. From the dif- 
 ferent temperaments of their minds, the one thought it his 
 bounden duty to do what the other conceived it to be equally 
 
 be suspended; and if after a month he do not reform and submit himself, let him 
 be excommunicated ; and then if he do not submit himself within the space of 
 another month, let him be deposed from the ministry." Item, we article and 
 object, that notwithstanding the premises in the foregoing articles mentioned and 
 deduced, you the said George Whitefield, on diverse Sundays or Lord's days and 
 week days, you have oiRciated as a minister in diverse meeting-houses, and more 
 particularly in that commonly called the Presbyterian or Independent meeting- 
 house in Charlestown, by praying and preaching to public congregations, and at 
 such times have omitted to use the form of prayer prescribed in the communion 
 or common prayer book, in contempt of the laws, canons and constitutions eccle- 
 siastical aforesaid." Item, we article and object to you the said George White- 
 field, that by reason of the premises in the foregoing articles deduced, you have 
 incurred canonical punishment and censure, and were and are by us and our 
 authority canonically to be punished, and to which and every part of which arti- 
 cles, we will and require you the said George Whitefield, to make true, plain, full, 
 and faithful answer." 
 
 Successive adjournments were made to give time for the answer of George 
 Whitefield, but he neither appeared nor put in any answer." The facts of his 
 frequently preaching in dissenting meeting-houses without using the forms of 
 prayer prescribed by the book of common prayer, were proved by Hugh Ander- 
 son, Stephen Hartley, and John Redman. A final decree, after a full recital of all 
 facts, was pronounced in these words : Therefore we, Alexander Garden, the judge 
 aforesaid, having first invoked the name of Christ, and setting and having God 
 himself alone before our eyes, and by and with the advice of the reverend persons, 
 William Guy, Timothy Mellichamp, Stephen Rowe, and William Orr, with whom 
 in that part we have advised and maturely deliberated, do pronounce, decree, and 
 declare the aforesaid George Whitefield. clerk to have been at the times articled, 
 and now to be a priest of the Church of England, and at the time and days in that 
 part articled, to have officiated as a minister in diverse meeting-houses in Charles- 
 town in the province of South Carolina, by praying and preaching to public congre- 
 gations ; and at such times to have omitted to use the form of prayer prescribed 
 in the communion-book or book of common prayer, or at least according to the 
 laws, canons, and constitutions ecclesiastical in that part made, provided and 
 promulged, not to have used the same according to the la-^vful proofs before us in 
 that part judicially had and made. We therefore pronounce, decree, and declare, 
 that the said George Whitefield, for his excesses and faults, ought duly and canon- 
 ically, and according to the exigence of the law in that part in the premises, to be 
 corrected and punished, and also to be suspended from his office; and accordingly 
 by tjiese presents, we do suspend him the said George Whitefield ; and for so sus- 
 pended, we also pronounce, decree and declare him to be denounced, declared, 
 and published openly and publicly in the face of the church." 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 11 
 
 his duty to punish. Both were good and useful men, but in 
 different ways. The one was devoted to forms; the other 
 soared above them. The piety of the one ran in the channel of 
 a particular sect of Christians; but that of the other, confined 
 neither to sect nor party, flowed in the broad and wide-spread- 
 ing stream of Christianity. 
 
 The dissenters increasing in numbers by emigrants, par- 
 ticularly from Scotland and Ireland, complained that while 
 they had to build their own churches and maintain their own 
 ministers, they were taxed in common with the Episcopalians 
 to support their highly-favored mode of worship. The dis- 
 senters saw with regret several of their more wealthy followers 
 desert a less fashionable church, and conform to that which 
 enjoyed the patronage of government. They nevertheless 
 maintained a respectable standing. The Presbyterians in 
 particular, formed congregations not only in Charlestown, but 
 on three of the maritime islands, and at Wiltown, Jackson- 
 borough, Indian Land, Port Royal, and Wilhamsburgh. 
 These were maintained by the contributions of their mem- 
 bers. In process of time considerable funds were established 
 by private donations for the permanent support of their mode 
 of worship. While every Episcopal church was a corporation 
 capable of holding property, of suing and being sued, the 
 congregations of dissenters, not being known in law, could 
 only hold property by the intervention of trustees : a mode of 
 tenure often attended with loss, and always with trouble. 
 
 To these inconveniences the dissenters were obliged to sub- 
 mit, and probably must have continued to do so, if the revo- 
 lution had not taken place. The change of government from 
 proprietary to regal brought to them no relief. For Kings, 
 even more than the proprietors, thought they had an interest 
 in cementing the alliance between church and state, and con- 
 necting the altar with the throne. 
 
 When the people of Carolina, in common with their fellow- 
 citizens, broke the chains which bound them to Great Britain, 
 a new order of things took place. While the established 
 church was chiefly confined to the vicinity of the sea-coast, 
 in the course of the forty years which preceded the revolution, 
 numerous bodies of dissenters had migrated from the more 
 northern provinces and settled in the northern and western 
 parts of Carolina. These, added to their brethren on the sea- 
 coast, gave them a decided superiority in point of numbers. 
 The physical force of the country, so necessary for its defence 
 against Great Britain, rested in a great degree in their hands. 
 The crisis demanded union and was favorable to the re-estab- 
 lishment of the rights of man. Though the people of South 
 Carolina engaged in the revolutionary war primarily for their 
 
12 ECCLESIASTICAI. HISTORr, 
 
 civil liberties, they did not overlook their claims to equal re- 
 ligious privileges without discrimination or preference. The 
 judicious and moderate among the members of the established 
 church saw and felt the propriety and necessity of relinquish- 
 ing the advantages they had long enjoyed ; and with more 
 readiness than is usual among those who part with power in 
 possession, consented to a constitution which repealed all 
 laws that gave them pre-eminence. The dissenters felt their 
 weight, and though zealous in the cause of independence, 
 could not brook the idea of risking their lives and fortunes for 
 anything short of equal rights. Moderation, liberality, good 
 sense and sound policy prevailed with both parties. The 
 hopes of the enemies of independence that union could not be 
 pTeserved among the discordant sects of religionists were dis- 
 appointed. The energies of the inhabitants in maintaining 
 their liberties were in no respect weakened. The prize con- 
 tended for being made equally interesting to all, equal exer- 
 tions were made by all for obtaining it. 
 
 The experience of more than thirty years has proved that 
 an established church is not essential to civil government; 
 that citizenship is a bond of union sufficient for all its neces- 
 sary purposes ; that the true mode of promoting the public 
 interest and preserving peace among different sectaries, is for 
 the constituted authorities to lean to neither ; but, standing 
 erect, to give equal protection to the persons, liberties and pro- 
 perty of all, without noticing their religious opinions and 
 practices, while they do not disturb the equal rights of others 
 or the peace and order of society ; and to leave to the different 
 sectaries the exclusive management of their respective reli- 
 gious interests. Proceeding on these principles, the inroads 
 made on morals and religion by the revolutionary war in 
 Carolina have been gradually done away. The acrimony of 
 speech, the sourness of temper and the shyness of intercourse 
 which had too much prevailed among religious sects before 
 the revolution, have since that event given place to christian 
 benevolence. The heat of party zeal has become more mod- 
 erate. Men have discovered that their opinions with regard 
 to speculative points are often as different as their faces, and 
 that the harmony of society and the intercourse of life ought 
 not to be interrupted by the one more than by the other. 
 Without any interference on the part of the State, churches 
 have been built, congregations formed, ministers settled and 
 maintained, peace and good will preserved among the differ- 
 ent sectaries. At the same time great liberality has been often 
 spontaneously and reciprocally displayed in assisting each 
 other in pecuniary concerns connected with the support of 
 their respective forms of worship. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 13 
 
 A revolution in the government of the church grew out of 
 the civil revolution. A complete severance of all connection 
 between church and State being accomplished by that great 
 event, ecclesiastical proceedings, censures, punishments, infer 
 no penalties nor any deprivation of civil rights. In this re- 
 spect the churches of South Carolina have improved on their 
 respective European prototypes. In England and Scotland 
 the proceedings of spiritual courts are frequently vexatious 
 and expensive. Excommunication from the church is nearly 
 equal to an outlawry. A solitary instance of this occurred in 
 South Carolina in 1765, in which the royal Governor William 
 Bull, as ordinary of the province, pronounced a sentence of 
 excommunication against an individual for refusing obedi- 
 ence to his summons. The powers of these courts, where 
 useful and necessary, have been transferred to civil establish- 
 ments. There are now no spiritual courts in the State. No 
 canons, decrees, acts, orders or regulations, either of bishops, 
 presbyteries or religious associations of any kind, can involve 
 a person, however contumacious, in civil disabilities or to 
 any extent further than excluding him from the sacraments 
 of the offended church, or from being considered as one of its 
 members. Churches, as corporations, can enforce their by- 
 laws, but their powers as spiritual courts are merely advisary ; 
 for the civil authority neither issues nor aids any ecolesias- 
 tical process. The constitution recognizes clergymen only for 
 the purpose of declaring them ineligible to civil offices. The 
 act for regulating the fees demandable for the performance of 
 certain enumerated public duties, allows them to take from all 
 voluntary applicants a small fee for registering births, mar- 
 riages and funerals — for a search of these registers and a cer- 
 tified extract from them. The same, law authorizes them to 
 demand five shillings for reading in church every citation 
 from a civil officer, called ordinary, preparatory to the grant- 
 ing letters of administration on the estates of intestate persons. 
 They are also by law excused from the performance of militia 
 duty or serving on juries. Thus far and no further the con- 
 stitution and laws of the State notice the clergy. For the 
 solemnization of marriages, application is generally made to 
 them ; but this is not legally necessaiy. Marriages with or 
 without licenses or publication of the bans by clergymen or 
 justices of the peace, are in law all equally valid ; but when 
 contracted are indissoluble. The churches have no authority 
 to gra,nt divorces. Every application to the civil power to 
 legislate on this subject has been unsuccessful. The courts 
 have no jurisdiction. No power exists in the State competent 
 to grant them, nor can it be otherwise till the legislature pass 
 a law for the purpose. 
 
14 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 A brief view of the present state of religion in Carolina 
 will close this chapter. 
 
 The Episcopalians since the revohition labored under pecu- 
 liar disadvantages. Their church was incomplete without 
 bishops, and their whole body of clergy and laity was incom- 
 petent to invest any individual, or number of individuals, with 
 Episcopal powers. This boon could only be obtained through 
 some of the successors of the apostles in the old world. Twelve 
 years subsequent to the revolution passed away before Episco- 
 pal ordination could be obtained in South Carolina.* In the 
 meantime the non-Episcopalians, animated with the recovery 
 of their long lost equal rights, proceeded vigorously in organiz- 
 ing churches and extending their forms of worship. 
 
 "■■■' To preserve the uninterrupted succession of Episcopal ordinatioDj it was ne- 
 cessary either that the Aiuerican candidates for the ministry should goto European 
 bishops, or that ecclesiastical officers of that high rank should be constituted in 
 the United States. The former was the mode usually adopted before the revolu- 
 tion, and in a few instances after its commencement. Insuperable difficulties op- 
 posed its continuance. The laws of England required all candidates for holy 
 orders to take an oath of allegiance to his Britannic majesty. This could not be 
 done by the citizens of independent America. The English bishops with great 
 liberality applied for, and obtained an act of parliament, authorizing the ordination 
 of clergymen for the United States without their taking an oath of allegiance to 
 his Britannic majesty. This afforded only partial relief An American Episcopate 
 was therefore proposed as the only remedy adequate to the exigency. The non- 
 Episcopalians, before the revolution, had opposed this measure, but cheerfully ac- 
 quiesce(j in it after that event had placed their rights and liberties beyond all 
 foreigt^ interference. The proposed measure was readily and without difficulty 
 substantially agreed upon by the Episcopalians on both sides of the Atlantic, yet 
 many previous arrangements were necessary to give it effect. The English bish- 
 ops required evidence of the orthodoxy, regularity, and order of the Episcopal 
 churches in America, and also of the acquiescence of the civil government of the 
 new formed States in the proposed Episcopate. Certificates of the latterj were 
 easily obtained. Conventions of the American Episcopal clergy and laity were 
 held in several successive years and in different States, which finally agreed upon 
 such alterations of the prayers, forms, and officers of the church as local circum- 
 stances and their new political condition required. In these the Episcopal church 
 of South Carolina was represented by the Rev. Dr. Purcell, Jacob Read, and 
 Charles Pinckney. The proposed alterations being submitted to the heads of the 
 church in England, were so far approved as to be no obstacle in the way of their 
 consecrating bishops to preside overthe American Episcopal church. Dr. Provost 
 of New York, and Dr. White of Philadelphia, were accordingly in 1787 ordained 
 and consecrated bishops of the American Episcopal church at the archiepiscopal 
 palace of Lambeth by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, and by the bishop 
 of Bath and Wells, and the bishop of Peterborough. Not long after, Dr. Madison 
 of Virginia was ordained and consecrated in England to be a bishop in America. 
 The Episcopal church was then for the first time complete in the United States. 
 Three or rather four American clergymen were promoted to the rank of bishops 
 by British Episcopal consecration. These jointly were competent to perpetuate 
 their own order, and each of them separately had the power of ordaining priests 
 and deacons. The uninterrupted succession was not only preserved, but its un- 
 broken chain was extended across the Atlantic with full powers to perpetuate 
 itself In consequence of these arrangements, the right Rev. Robert Smith, D. D. 
 was by four bishops, convened in Philadelphia in September 1795, consecrated 
 bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church in South Carolina. He continued in 
 the discharge of the duties of that ofiice till his death in 1801. This was the sec- 
 ond consecration of a bishop which had taken place in the United States. Since 
 the death of bishop Smith there has been no bishop of his church in South Caro- 
 lina. The candidates for holy orders are now under a necessity of repairing to 
 the northern States for ordination. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 15 
 
 1 he patronage which the EpiscopaHans enjoyed, under the 
 royal government, made them less able to stand alone after 
 that p&,Vronage was withdrawn. Man is a creature of habit. 
 Voluntary contributions for the support of religion had been 
 so long customary with the dissenters, that when the pressure 
 of war was removed they readily resumed their ancient habits ; 
 but the case was otherwise with the Episcopalians: for as their 
 form of worship had for seventy years been in a great meas- 
 ure supported from the public treasury, they were not so im- 
 mediately impressed with the necessity of advancing their 
 private funds for that purpose. 
 
 For these and other reasons the Episcopal church lan- 
 guished in South Carohna for several years after the revolu- 
 tion. Though it maintained a respectable standing in their 
 two ancient houses of worship in Charlestown,* it made for 
 some time but little progress in the country. Better prospects 
 are now before its members. Experience has convinced them 
 of the propriety of voluntary contributions for the support of 
 religion. Their church is completely organized within the 
 United States. They are no longer confined in the choice of 
 clergymen to strangers: for natives of the country, of the pur- 
 est morals and best education, have with pious zeal entered 
 upon or are preparing themselves for the work of the 
 ministry in such numbers as exceed anything heretofore 
 known in Carolina. Their long neglected places of worship 
 in the country are repairing, and new ones are building. Di- 
 vine service according to the book of common prayer is now 
 regularly performed in Beaufort by the Rev. Mr. Hicks; in St 
 Andrews by the Rev. Mr. Mills ; in St. Bartholomews by the 
 Rev. Mr. Fowler; in St. Johns by the Rev. Mr. Gadsden; in 
 St. Thomas by the Rev. Mr. Nankeville ; at the high hills of 
 Santee by the Rev. Mr. Ischudy ; and at St James Santee by 
 the Rev. Mr. Mathews. In most of the other parishes where 
 the establishment operated before the revolution, there are 
 Episcopal churches, but at present no settled ministers. 
 
 The Presbyterians were among the first settlers, and were 
 always numerous in Carolina. Their ministers in the mari- 
 time districts were mostly from Scotland or Ireland; men of 
 
 * Charlestown and Charlestown Neck constituted one parish by the name of 
 St. Philips till 1721, when a new one named St. Michaels to the southward of 
 Broad-street was established by act of assembly. Divine service was first per- 
 formed in the present church of St. Philips in the year 1723; and in that of St. 
 Michaels in 17fil. On the site of the latter, a church originally called St. Phdips 
 had been previously erected about the year 1B90, which was the only Episcopal 
 church in South Carolina prior to the establishment in 1706. Divine service was 
 performed in St. Philips church for three-fourths of the 18th century by two rec- 
 tors: thirty-four years by commissary Garden, and forty-two by bishop Smith. 
 The Rev. Dr. Jenkins is the present rector, but being absent, divine service is per- 
 formed by the Kev. Dr. Percy, and the Rev. James Dewar Simons. The Rev. 
 Nathaniel Bowen is the rector of St. Michaels church. 
 
 19 
 
16 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 good education, orderly in their conduct, and devoted to the 
 systems of doctrine and government established in Scotland. 
 The zeal of their adherents had amassed considerable funds 
 before the revolution, but these v.'-ere materially injured by the 
 failure of trustees and the depreciation of the paper currency. 
 They have a numerous and wealthy congregation in the capi- 
 tal,* and the Presbytery of Charlestown consists of five mia- 
 isters. To them seven congregationsf look up for religious 
 instruction. It was constituted at an early period of the 18th 
 century, agreeably to the principles and practice of the church 
 of Scotland, but during the revolutionary war was unfortu- 
 nately dissolved by the death or removal of the ministers con- 
 stituting it; and all its books and records were lost or de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 In the year 1790 four of the congregations belonging to the 
 said Presbytery, being the only ones then provided with or- 
 dained ministers, addressed a petition to the Legislature pray- 
 ing to be constituted a body corporate, chiefly with the view of 
 raising a fund for the relief of the widows and orphans of 
 deceased clergymen belonging to their society. This was 
 promptly granted. 
 
 From the time of its incorporation the Presbytery of Charles- 
 town has held regular stated meetings, and has exercised 
 the power of ordination and the other functions of a Presby- 
 tery. 
 
 Impressed with the importance of union in religious matters 
 they applied, in 1799, to the General Assembly of the Presby- 
 terian churches in the United States, to be received into com- 
 munion with the said Assembly and to be admitted members 
 of their body. Agreeably to the prayer of this memorial and 
 petition, the Presbytery of Charlestown was received a con- 
 stituent part of the General Assembly. Of the numerous 
 emigrants to the western parts of Carolina, in the last fifty 
 years of the 18th century, agreat majority were Presbyterians. 
 
 * The present Presbyterian church in Charlestown was built about the year 
 1731. Its ministers, as far as can be recollected, were the Rev. Messrs. Stuart, 
 Grant, Lorimer, Morrison, Hewat, Graham, Wilson, and Buist. Previous to 1731 
 the Presbyterians and Independents formed one society, and worshipped together 
 in a church which stood on the lot which is now occupied by the circular church. 
 
 f The Presbytery at present consists of the following congregations and miais- 
 ters ; 1. Presbyterian church of Stoney Creek, Prince Williams, Rev. R. Mont- 
 gomery Adams. 2. Presbyterian church of Salt Catchers. 3. Presbyterian church 
 of Black Mingo, Rev. W. Kno.x. 4. Original and first incorporated Presbyterian 
 church of Willamshurgh. 5. Presbyterian church of the city of Charlestown. 
 6. Presbyterian church of Edisto Island, Rev. Donald M'Leod. 7. Presbyterian 
 church of John and Wadmalaw Islands. Rev. Doctor Clarkson. 
 
 These difl'erent congregations are incorporated and have glebes or funds of 
 greater or less extent. 
 
 The following congregations belonged formerly to the Presbytery, but have not 
 connected themselves with it since its incorporation, viz. James Island, Wiltown, 
 Pon Pon, and St. Thomas. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 180S. 17 
 
 They had little regular preaching among them till about the 
 year 1770, when missionaries from the northward formed them 
 into churches. These were revived and increased after the 
 revolution, and have since been constantly supplied with min- 
 isters who have been formed into regular Presbyteries and 
 synods in connection with the General Assembly of the Pres- 
 byterian church of the United States. Most of their clergymen 
 were born and educated in America. These are now formed 
 into two Presbyteries consisting of more than twenty ministers, 
 and ha,ve in connection with them about sixty congregations. 
 There is also a Presbytery of seceders in South Carolina consist- 
 ing of nine ministers, who have under their care twenty-two 
 congregations. Each of these Presbyteries possesses and exer- 
 cises the power of ordination. 
 
 The Baptists formed a church in Charlestown about the 
 year 1685.* Its first minister was the Rev. Mr. Screven, the 
 founder of a numerous and respectable family. He began his 
 ministerial labors in the province about the year 1683, and 
 continued them till the time of his death in 1713. His suc- 
 cessors in the Baptist church of Charlestown were the Rev. 
 Messrs. Fry, White, Tilly, Simons, Chanler, Bedgewood, and 
 Hart; who, with some intervals, supplied the church till 1780. 
 In the year 1787, the Rev. Dr. Furman who is now living, was 
 invested with the pastoral care of it. Anterior to the revolu- 
 tion in 1776, they had increased to about thirty churches. 
 Since the establishment of equal religious rights they have in- 
 creased so that they now have five associations consisting of 
 100 ministers, 130 churches, 10,500 communicants, and about 
 73,500 adherents; reckoning seven of the latter for one of the 
 former. 
 
 The Independents or Congregationalists in conjunction with 
 the Presbyterians were formed into a church in Charlestown 
 about the year 1690. These sects, after forty years of union, 
 differing only in the form of church government,f separated 
 and formed different churches. The Independents kept pos- 
 session of their ancient house of worship, long known by the 
 
 *A subdivision of the Baptists, Icnown bj' the name of Arian or General Bap- 
 tists, was formed into a church about the year ]735. This society became extinct 
 about the year 1767. 
 
 t Both agreed in doctrine, mode of worship, and in renouncing the power of 
 bishops; but the latter were willing to submit to the authority of a Presbytery, 
 while the former, exercising in their congregational capacity every necessary 
 power for governing their own church without any extrinsic interference, claimed 
 to be an independent self-governed society. By their constitution they are at lib- 
 erty to elect their pastors from any denomination of christians. Two of their min- 
 isters in the early part of the 18lh century were Presbyterians and members of 
 the Charlestown Presbyterv. These were the Kev. Messrs. Stobo and Livingston. 
 On the demise of the latter, liis successor was an Independent from New England. 
 During his incumbency twelve families seceded and formed the Presbyterian 
 church on the model of the church of Scotland. 
 
18 ECCLE'SIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 name of the White Meeting.* They erected an additional house 
 of worship in Archdale street, in which divine service was first 
 performed in 1787. These two houses form one church, and 
 have common interests and ministers, with equal salaries and 
 privileges. 
 
 The Independents also have a church, near Dorchester, f 
 supplied by the Rev. Mr. M'Kelhenny — in Christ church 
 under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. M'Calla; on James 
 Island under thatof Mr. Price; in Beaufort under Mr. Palmer, 
 and in St Bartholomews at present vacant. 
 
 The Methodists made their first appearance as a religious 
 society in South Carolina in the year 1785. For the last ten 
 or fifteen years they have increased beyond any former exam- 
 
 *This building, after various eiilargemeiils, in the course of one hundred and 
 fourteen years, was finally taken down in 1804; and the present church on a cir- 
 cular plan of 88 feet diameter was erected in its place. This form accommodates 
 a greater number of people, at less expense, than any other j is easy to the speaker, 
 and makes his voice more distinctly audible, especially at a distance. The build- 
 ing has already cost B0,000 dollars, and 14,000 more will be necessary to finish the 
 steeple. One half of the gallery is laid otf for the use of people of color, and ac- 
 commodates about 400 decent, orderly, and steady worshippers of that de- 
 scription. 
 
 This church has had fifteen ministers. The commencement and termination of 
 their ministerial functions as far as is now known, was nearly as follows : 
 
 1. Rev. Benjamin Pierpoint settled about the year 1691, and died, it is supposed, 
 in 16% or '97. 2. Rev. Mr. Adams a very short time minister. 3. Rev. John 
 Cotton, settled in the year 1698, and died 1090. 4. Rev. Archibald Stobo took 
 charge of the church in the autumn of 1700, and resigned in 1704. 5. Rev. Wm. 
 Livingston became pastor in 1704, and died after the year 1720. 6. Rev. Nathan 
 Bassett settled in 1724, died of the small pox in 1738. 7. Rev. James Parker ar- 
 rived in Charlestown in 1740, and died in 1742. ci. Rev. Josiah Smith tookcharge 
 of the church in 1742, and resigned in 1750. 9. Rev. James Edmonds settled De- 
 cember 15, 1754, and resigned about 1767. 10. Rev. Wm. Hutson settled in con- 
 nection with Mr. Edwards, 1757, and died in 1761. 11. Rev. Andrew Bennet was 
 settled as pastor with Mr. Edmonds in 1762, and resigned in 1763. 12. Rev. Jno. 
 Thomas was installed pastor of the church in 1767, and died at New York on the 
 29th of September, 1771. 13. The Rev. William Tennent entered on the pastoral 
 charge of the church in 1772, and died at the high hills at Santee in August, 1777 ; 
 from his death the church remained vacant till the termination of the revolutionary 
 war. While the British were in possession of Charlestown, the building was 
 used as a store-house by the conquerors. The pews were all destroyed and the 
 house materially injured. 14. Rev. Dr. Hollinshead enteredon the pastoral charge 
 of the church in 1783, and is now living. 15. Rev. Dr. Keith, in connection with 
 Dr. Hollinshead in 1787, and is now living. 
 
 Of these fifteen ministers the first, second, third, sixth, eighth, thirteenth, four- 
 teenth and fifteenth, were Americans, and one of them. Rev. Josiah Smith, a Caro- 
 linian. The other seven were Europeans. Till the year 1730 the church was in- 
 discriminately called Presbyterian Independent, or Congregational. After the 
 separation whicli then took place between them and the Presbyterians it retained 
 the appropriate name of Independent or Congregational Church, and was in 
 common conversation sometimes called the New England Meeting, but oftener the 
 While Meeting. 
 
 f This church was formed as early as the year 1696. It is the oldest without 
 the limits of Charlestown. Its founders migrated in a body, with their minister 
 the Rev. Joseph Lord, from Dorchester, in Massachusetts, and settled compactly 
 together in a place to which they gave the name of their former abode. In 1752 
 they made a second migration to Medway, in Georgia, with their minister, the 
 Rev. Joseph Osgood, who was so much beloved by his people, and had such 
 influence over them, that on his recommendation they went off in a body. Their 
 original church in Carolina lay in a ruined condition till 1794, when it was rebuilt 
 and re-organized. 
 
FROM 1670 TO ISOS. 19 
 
 pie. They had been indefatigable in their labors, preaching 
 abundantly* in the most remote settlements and where there 
 had been no previous means of religious instructions. Their 
 mode of performing divine service is calculated to keep up a 
 high degree of fervor in the minds of their followers. Well 
 knowing that all men have hearts to feel, though few have 
 heads to reason, their address is for the most part to the pas- 
 sions and excites more of feeling than of reasoning. Their 
 preachers, laboring under strong impressions, are very suc- 
 cessful in communicating them to the breasts of their hearers. 
 By a circulating mode of preaching they guard against that 
 apathy and languor which is apt to result from long habits. 
 New preachers successively addressing new congregations are 
 roused to new and extraordinary exertions. Sympathetic 
 feelings spread from one to the other; and frequently whole 
 congregations are melted into tears, or transported with ecstacy 
 breaking out in loud exclamations.f 
 
 * Traveling Methodist preachers grenerally preach on six days of each week to 
 six different congregations. No "weather, however severe, prevents their punc- 
 tual attendance agreeably to appointment. For this extraordinary labor they re- 
 ceive from the common fund only eighty dollars a year in addition to their traveling 
 expenses. The interior economy of their connection is admirable, and shows the 
 energetic mind of John Wesley. It is well calculated to secure the performance 
 of much clerical duty at a very little expense, and is therefore peculiarly suited to 
 the poor. Their society in South Carolina is divided into twelve circuits and sta- 
 tions ; in which there are twenty-six traveling preachers who continue to ride 
 daily, Monday excepted, two or three in each circuit, so that they preach one 
 hundred and fifty-six sermons weekly, or eight thousand one hundred and twelve 
 - sermons in the year, besides attending night and other casual meetings. They 
 commonly ride around a circuit in five or six weeks. Exclusive of the twenty-six 
 traveling preachers there are in the State of South Carolina, about ninety-three 
 local preachers, generally married men, who labor all the week and preach at an 
 average each two sermons in each week, or nine thousand six hundred and sev- 
 enty-two in one year. Thus there are annually preached by the Methodists 
 seventeen thousand seven hundred and eighty-four sermons for $2,080; as the 
 local preachers receive no salary or compensation for their labors. They have in 
 South Carolina about two hundred churches or stations for preaching, which are 
 constructed in so plain a style as to cost on an average about one hundred and 
 thirty-five dollars each, or 27,000 for the whole. There are four Methodist 
 churches in Charlestown ; two of which are not in connection with the others. 
 One of these (Trinity Church) is under the pastoral care of the Reverend Mr. 
 Munds of the Protestant Episcopal Church; the other is vacant. The two which 
 are in connection have their ministers changed according to the established rou- 
 tine. To these two belong forty heads of families, or about one hundred and 
 seventy white persons, and fifteen hundred and twenty persons of color. The 
 Methodists have abundantly more success in the woods, the swamps, the pine 
 barrens, and all new and dispersed settlements than in populous cities where 
 there are competent resident clergymen. 
 
 fCamp meetings which began in Kentucky, and parts adjacent, found their way 
 into South Carolina about the year ISOO. These were held in different places and 
 different seasons, but oftenest in the autumn. They were attended by several 
 thousands, many of whom came from considerable distances; and they usually 
 kept together on the same ground from the Thursday of one week till the Tuesday 
 of the next. The holy sacrament was always administered on the intervening 
 Sunday, and to persons of different sects ; who, forgetting all differences on minor 
 subjects, chose to commune together. The bagging provided for the envelop- 
 ment of their cotton was easily formed into tents for their temporary lodging. 
 -Huts made in a few hours and covered wagons answered the same purpose. The 
 
20 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 To presume that nolhing improper has ever occurred in 
 their frequent, numerous and unseasonable meetings, would 
 be contrary to the ordinary course of things; but that great 
 good has resulted from the labors of the Methodists is evident 
 to all who are acquainted with the state of the country before 
 and since they commenced their evangelisms in Carolina. 
 Drunkards have become sober and orderly — bruisers, bullies, 
 and blackguards, meek, inoffensive and peaceable — profane 
 
 farmers brought their famiUes, provisions, and bedding, in wagons from their 
 respective homes. They took their station where wood and water were of easy 
 attainment, and in general fared well. From their stores they hospitably enter- 
 tained strangers who came as visitors. Two, three, or four tents or stands for 
 preaching were erected at such distances that divine service could be performed 
 in each of them at the same time without any interference. From five to twelve 
 or fifteen ministers of different denominations attended and with short intervals 
 for refreshment and repose, kept uj) in different places a constant succession of 
 religious exercises by night as well as by day. Besides the performance of divine 
 service by the ministers in their respective tents, there were frequently sub- 
 divisions of the people at convenient distances, where praying, exhorting, and 
 singing of psalms, was carried on by lay persons, and the whole so managed that 
 they did not disturb each other. The auditors whose motive was curiosity, freely 
 passed from one scene to another, and could in the space of a few minutes and 
 the circuit of a few acres indulge their taste for variety. Others were more sta- 
 tionary and hung on the lips of their favorite preachers. Among these it was not 
 at all uncommon for individuals, in consequence of something said in the sermon 
 or prayers, to be seized all at once with the most dreadtul apprehensions concern- 
 ing the state of their souls, insomuch that many of them could not abstain from 
 crying out in the most public manner, bewailing their lost and undone condition 
 by nature, calling themselves " enemies to God and despisers of precious Christ;'' 
 declaring, "that they were unworthy to live on the face of the earth:" but the 
 universal cry was "what shall we do to be saved?" The agony under which they 
 labored was expressed not only by words, but ahso by violent agitations of the 
 body, by clapping their hands, and beating their breasts — by shaking and trem- 
 bling — byfaintings and convulsions — and they remained sobbing, weeping, and often 
 crying aloud till the service was over. Some who were subjects of these exer- 
 cises did not consider themselves as converted persons, but most were supposed 
 by themselves and others to have been converted in a few days, and sometimes in 
 a few hours. In the latter case, they were raised up all at once from the lowest 
 depth of sorrow and distress, to the highest pitch of joy and happiness; crying 
 out with triumph and exultation "that they had overcome the wicked one, that 
 they had gotten hold of Christ, and would never let him go." Under these de- 
 lightful impressions some began to pray and exhort publicly, and others desired 
 the congregation to join with them in singing a particular psalm. Many of the 
 subjects of the preceding exercises while under their operation had no appetite 
 for tbod nor inclination to sleep. 
 
 To what cause this memorable work ought to be ascribed, was a question 
 which occasioned much debate and great diversity of opinion. Some ascribed it 
 to the real efficacy of the doctrines of Christ and to the power of God which ac- 
 companied them : others to the influence of the devil, and many to the influence of 
 fear and hope, of sympathy and example aided by peculiar circumstances. Many 
 serious persons advocated the first opinion. These alleged that the fruits of this 
 extraordinary work in the hearts and lives of men were such as might be ex- 
 pected from divine agency. The lives of the profane were reformed, harmony and 
 peace succeeded strife and contention, families where religion had been disre- 
 garded, became temples in which God was daily worshipped. Persons who had 
 been loose livers, formed themselves into societies which met frequently for prayer 
 and religious conversation. With regard to the external effects by which this 
 work manifested itself on the bodies of men, they acknowledged them to be un- 
 common but not singular. The scriptures furnish instances of similar effects of 
 an a-wakened conscience, such as St. Paul at his conversion — the jailor at 
 Philippi,and Felix who trembled as St. Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, 
 and the judgment to come. 
 
 They who ascribed the work to the agency of the devil, were comparatively 
 
FROM 1670 TO 180S. 21 
 
 swearers, decent in their conversation. In the cause of re- 
 Ugion the Methodists are excellent pioneers and prepare the 
 way for permanent moral improvement when the "fervor of 
 passion subsides into calm reflection and sober reason. They 
 are particularly suited to the state of society in South Caro- 
 lina, in which large tracts of poor land afford such a scanty 
 return to its dispersed cultivators as to be incompetent to 
 their own support, and also that of learned stationary clergy- 
 men. To multitudes of such persons the methodists have 
 given religious instructions which they never enjoyed before, 
 arid among such they have produced a great diminution of 
 
 few and consisted for the ihost part of profane scoffers at all that was serious, or 
 of bigotted formal christians who denounced everything that did not accord witli 
 the religious routine to which they had been accustomed. 
 
 That the camp meetings were intended for good, and that they frequently issued 
 in the reformation of several who attended them, was the general opinion of the 
 candid, liheral and virtuous ; but these at the same time acknowledged that much 
 of the work, especially its effects on the body, were to be ascribed to the imper- 
 fections of agitated liuman nature — to the influence of strong passions — to the 
 force of sympathy and example aided by peculiar circumstances. These alleged 
 that the bodily agitations might be sufficiently explained by the operation of 
 natural causes. The soul and body, they observed, are so intimately connected 
 that they mutually symi)athize with each other, and whatever gives pleasure or 
 pain to the one. gives likewise pleasure or pain to the other. All the passions of 
 the mind, especially those which are of a violent nature, discover themselves by 
 some corresponding outward expression. When an event, whether joyful or sor- 
 rowful, is communicated in such an interesting manner as to affect our minds 
 strongly, it will also affect our bodies in proportion. As this is the case with re- 
 gard to such of men's concerns as are present and temporal, it is reasonable that 
 it should also be the case with regard to such of them as are future and eternal. 
 When they were deeply affected by the preaching of the gospel, their fears 
 alarmed by the dread of everlasting punishment, and their hopes elevated by the 
 assurance of pardon and the prospect of eternal happiness, it was natural that the 
 feelings of their minds should discover themselves both by words and actions. 
 The sermons preached on these occasions were addressed not so much to the 
 understanding of the hearers as to their imaginations and especially to the pas- 
 sions of fear and hope. 
 
 The effects of these camp meetings were of a mixed nature. They were doubt- 
 less attended for improper purposes by a few licentious persons, and by others 
 with a view of obtaining a handle to ridicule all religion. It is to be regretted 
 that from the imperfection of human nature, truth with a little distortion and high 
 coloring could be made in some respect to answer their purposes especially with 
 those whose principles were unsettled. The free intercourse of so great a num- 
 ber of all ages and sexes under cover of the night and the woods was not without 
 its temptations. It is also to be feared that they gave rise to false notions of re- 
 ligion by laying too much stress on bodily exercises and substituting them in 
 place of moral virtues or inward purity. These were too often considered as evi- 
 dences of a change of the heart and affections, though they neither proved nor 
 disapproved anything of the kind. After every deduction is made on these several 
 accounts, it must be acknowledged that the good resulting from these camp meet- 
 ings greatly preponderated over the evil. They roused that indifi'erence to the 
 future destinies of man, which is too common, and gave rise to much serious 
 thoughtfulness on subjects confessedly of the most interesting nature. The cir- 
 cumstances under which these impressions were excited were too violent to last 
 long. Much of the extraordinary fervor which produced camp meetings has 
 abated and they are seldomer held, and when held they are attended by smaller 
 numbers than formerly. They are still kept up by the Methodists, but are de- 
 serted by most other denominations. More correct and rational ideas of religion 
 are daily taking place. These influence the understanding more, and the body 
 less than was common about the beginning of the 19th century in Carolina and 
 the southern States, and about the year 1740 in New England, New York, New 
 ^ersey, Pennsylvania and at Cambuslang and other places in Scotland. 
 
22 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 gross immoralities. Similar zeal and activity have been dis- 
 played by the Baptists, and their labors have been followed 
 with correspondent success in civilizing and evangelizing re- 
 mote and destitute settlements. 
 
 Among the numerous emigrants to Carolina there were 
 doubtless at all times several of the Roman Catholic persua- 
 sion, but they Avere not organized into a church till 1791. In 
 that year a number of individuals of that communion, chiefly 
 natives of Ireland, associated together for public worship- 
 chose a vestry, and put themselves under the care of bishop 
 Carrol, of Baltimore. The Reverend Doctor Keating officiated 
 as their minister. The troubles in France and the West In- 
 dies soon brought a large accession to their number. Under 
 the auspices of the learned and eloquent Doctor Gallaherthey 
 have built, organized and obtained incorporation for a re- 
 spectable church in Charlestown. The orderly conduct and 
 active co-operation of its members in all measures for the de- 
 fence and good government of the country, proves that the 
 apologies offered in justification of the restrictions imposed on 
 them by the protestant governments of Europe are without 
 foundation, or do not apply to the state of things in Carolina. 
 The Quakers have a small church in Charlestown, and a con- 
 siderable one near Bush river ; but steady in their opposition 
 to slavery, they are not numerous in a country where the 
 greatest part of its most fertile soil cannot be advantageously 
 cultivated otherwise than by negroes. In consequence of the 
 late unrestrained importation of slaves, many of the Quakers 
 have left Carolina in disgust, and settled in the State of Ohio, 
 where slavery is prohibited. The encouragements given to 
 settlers in Carolina have attracted people not only of different 
 rehgions, but of different languages. Two of the latter, the 
 French and the Dutch, have been continued in their respect- 
 ive religious societies. 
 
 Soon after the revocation of the edict of Nantz in 1685, 
 great numbers of French protestants sought an asylum in 
 Carolina. Most of them settled in the parishes of St. Dennis 
 and St. James, on Santee, and to them in their ecclesiastical 
 capacity were extended the privileges of established churches, 
 with a permission to perform all their public religious exer- 
 cises in the French language, provided they used Doctor 
 Durel's translation of the book of common prayer. Those of 
 them who settled in Charlestown formed a church about the 
 beginning of the eighteenth century on the plan of the re- 
 formed churches in France.* It is rich in lands ; but so 
 
 ®The Lords proprietors in 1701, with9ut consideration, conveyed to trustees for 
 the use of the French Protestants in Charlestown, two lots in King street origin- 
 ally numbered 92 and 93. These were subdivided and leased in the year 1755 
 for fifty years, and are now valuable. In 1740 their church was burnt down au" 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 23 
 
 many of the descendants of its original founders have joined 
 other churches, that its present members are but few. 
 
 The German protestants associated in Charlestown for re- 
 ligious worship about the middle of the eighteenth century. 
 They were at first accommodated with the use of the French 
 church for several years. In the year 1759 they began to 
 build a house of worship for themselves. This was conse- 
 crated in 1764 by the name of St. John's church, but was in- 
 corporated in 1783 by the name of the Lutheran church of 
 German protestants. All its records prior to 1763 have been 
 lost. Their first minister, the Reverend Mr. Luft, arrived in 
 1752. His successors were the Reverend Messrs. John George 
 Frederic, John Nicholas Martin, John Severin Haumbaum, 
 Frederic Baser, Christian Streit, John Christopher Faber, 
 Matthew Frederic, Charles Faber; the last of whom is now in 
 office. Of these the only native American was Christian 
 Streit who officiated from 1778 to 1781, and first introduced 
 divine service in the English language so as to have one ser- 
 vice in English every second or third Sunday. 
 
 Besides their church in Charlestown, the German protes- 
 tants have a church in Amelia township, two on Saluda river, 
 two on Broad river, one at Beaver creek, and one at Salt 
 Catchers; but with them as with the French, each succeed- 
 ing generation is less anxious for perpetuating the language 
 of their forefathers, and frequently join themselves to societies 
 in which divine service is constantly performed in English. 
 
 The Jews, the oldest religion in the world, enjoy rights in 
 Carolina which have been denied to them for many centuries 
 in the greatest part of Europe. Equally interested in the 
 welfare of the country, they are equally zealous for its defence 
 and good government. They have had a synagogue in Charles- 
 town for more than half a century. Their whole number in 
 South Carolina is about seven hundred. 
 
 By the constitution of South Carolina not only all the sects 
 which have been mentioned, but those individuals who keep 
 aloof from all religious societies enjoy equal protection for life, 
 liberty and property. The government is administered on the 
 idea that the constituted authorities have nothing to do with 
 rehgion ; this being an affair between man and his Creator — 
 that the proper business of magistrates is to provide for the 
 
 all their records consumed. It was again destroyed in the great fire of 1796, but 
 was afterwards rebuilt in 1799. In consequence of these misfortunes little of 
 their early history is known. As far as can be recollected their ministers were as 
 follows; Rev. Mr. Boisseau in 1712; ReT. Francis Guiehard from 1722 to 1753; 
 the Rev. John Peter Tetard from 1753 to 1759; the Rev. Bartholomew Henry 
 Himeli from 1759 to 1773. After an absence of twelve years he was re-elected 
 minister in 17S5. Since that period, the Rev. Messrs. Peter Levrier, LaCoste, 
 Boardillon and Detargny have in succession served as ministers of the church: 
 but it is now vacant. 
 
24 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 civil order and happiness of the whole community, while in- 
 dividuals and sects have unrestrained liberty to adjust the 
 articles of their belief and their religious concerns in any 
 mode most agreeable to themselves. 
 
 The emoluments of the clergy in Carolina may terminate 
 with their services, but always do so with their lives. Even 
 while they live their income is far short of what the same 
 talents, education, and industry generally command in the 
 other learned professions. To compensate for these sacrifices, 
 to provide for the clergy when elderly or disabled, and for 
 their widows and orphans, several societies have been insti- 
 tuted and fostered by the liberality of the people. The eldest 
 is for the relief of the widows and orphans of the clergy of 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina. This 
 was instituted in 1762, and incorporated in 17S6. It began 
 with eleven members, all clergymen. Lay members were 
 first admitted in 1770. There are now eight clerical members, 
 and sixty-five of the laity, all of whom pay ten dollars per 
 annum. The society possesses efficient funds to the amount 
 of $26,000, and an annual income of $2,800, which exceeds 
 its present annual expenses. This surplus is laid out in stock, 
 so that the funds and income of the society increase consider- 
 ably every year. 
 
 The next in order is entitled "the Society for the benefit of 
 elderly or disabled Ministers, and of the Widows and Or- 
 phans of the 'Clergy of the Independent or Congregational 
 Church in the State of South Carolina." This was estab- 
 lished in 1789, and soon after incorporated. It consists of 
 forty-seven members, each of whom pays annually one pound 
 sterling. Of these only three are clergymen. Its capital ex- 
 ceeds $29,000, and its annual income is about $2,000 more 
 than its present annual expenditures. The surplus from time 
 to time is added to the capital, and will soon constitute a re- 
 spectable sum. 
 
 The Presbytery of Charlestown is a corporation for raising a 
 fund for the relief of the widows and orphans of their society. 
 This was constituted in 1790, and possesses a capital of 
 $2,645. These and similar institutions indirectly foster reli- 
 gion and learning, for they take away from the discourage- 
 ments of a worldly nature, which deter men of forecast from 
 engaging in theological studies or entering on clerical func- 
 tions. 
 
 The methodists manage these matters on a general system, 
 and in a way peculiar to themselves. Their worn-out super- 
 annuated and supernumerary ministers, the wives and widows 
 of all ministers, draw a salary from a common fund equal to 
 that of a traveling preacher. The children of all their preach- 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 25 
 
 ers are each allowed sixteen dollars a year till they are seven 
 years of age, and twenty-four dollars after that period till they 
 are fourteen years old. In this manner their preachers are 
 absolved from distressing anxiety about the future support of 
 their families; for nearly the same provision is made for them 
 after the death of their parents as before. 
 
 In addition to these modes, voluntarily adopted by different 
 religious societies in Carolina for the support of the families 
 of deceased clergymen, several of the old churches have funds 
 in lands, negroes, or monies, at interest, which assist in the 
 support of officiating ministers. These institutions are of 
 early origin, and of great utility. By discouraging unnecessary 
 separations they cement the union and preserve the perpetuity 
 of congregations, while they lighten the burdens of supporting 
 preachers. It is to be wished that they were multiplied and 
 carried to an extent sufficient to pay all church expenses. 
 This has been done in Edisto Island, and might be done, 
 with proper exertions, in every district. The present heavy 
 rents on pews might then be done away, and churches made 
 as accessible to the poor as the rich. This policy originated 
 upwards of one hundred years ago, and was found very use- 
 ful. The revolutionary paper money materially injured the 
 system, but it may now be resumed with increasing advan- 
 tage; for the future existence of paper money is constitution- 
 ally prohibited, and the privileges of incorporation, then unat- 
 tainable by dissenters, are at present either possessed, or may 
 on application be easily obtained, by every religious society. 
 
 Though the different sects in Charlestown have been long 
 separated from each other by distinct religious property, and 
 different modes of worship, yet in one instance there is a com- 
 munion of all Christians highly honorable to human nature. 
 It often happened that persons, whose daily wants were sup- 
 plied by their daily labor, departed this life, leaving helpless 
 orphans without any prospect of education, and often without 
 the means of support. Instances of this became so numerous 
 as to require a systematic arrangement for their accommoda- 
 tion. The business was taken up with ardor. By donations 
 of individuals, and appropriations from the city treasury, a 
 spacious building, called the Orphan House, was erected at the 
 close of the eighteenth century, in which about one hundred 
 and thirty orphans are successively fed and clothed. They 
 also receive the rudiments of a plain education. One thing 
 was wanting: no means had been provided for their religious 
 instruction. The bounty of individuals and of the public 
 soon added a church for the performance of divine service for 
 their benefit, and of such of the inhabitants as chose to attend 
 with them. The clergy of all denominations of Christians, 
 
26 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 with the consent of their respective congregations, concurred 
 in performing divine service, in a routine fixed by the mana- 
 gers of the institution. Thus a free church was instituted, in 
 which the gospel was preached without expense, not only 
 to the orphans but to all who chose to attend. It is re- 
 markable that in the various services which have been per- 
 formed by the clergy of different sects of Christians, nothing 
 has been at any time introduced savoring of the peculiarities 
 of sect or party. The truths of the gospel in which all Chris- 
 tians are agreed, and the principles of morality sanctioned by 
 universal consent, have been the only topics brought forward. 
 The astonished hearers, consisting of Jews and Gentiles, Catho- 
 hcs and Protestants, Christians and Infidels, found that all 
 religions tended to make men better, and that good men of 
 all denominations substantially meant the same thing. They 
 wondered at the contentions of Christians, for they perceived 
 that they all agreed on matters of the greatest moment, and 
 only differed on subjects of minor importance. From charity 
 in giving, an unexpected transition was made to charity in 
 thinking. When they intended nothing more than to relieve 
 the necessities of the fatherless, they found their minds gradu- 
 ally cleared from that narrowness of thinking, which leads 
 bigots of all descriptions to suppose themselves exclusively 
 right, and all others wrong. Their minds expanded with 
 good will and charity to their fellow-citizens, though differing 
 from them in modes and forms. 
 
 These are some of the good consequences which have re- 
 sulted in Charlestown from the establishment of a charitable 
 institution on a broad basis ; and still more extensively over 
 the whole State, from placing all religious denominations on 
 an equal footing, without discrimination or preference. 
 
 Though real religion is always the same, yet there is a fash- 
 ion in its modes varying with times and circumstances, which 
 is worthy of historical notice. For the first thirty-five or forty 
 years after the settlement of South Carolina, there was a con- 
 stant jarring between the puritans and cavaliers, or the dis- 
 senters and high churchmen. The former brought with them 
 from England much of the severity and strictness of their 
 party, the latter an equal proportion of that levity and spright- 
 liness which was fashionable in England after the restoration 
 of Charles the Second to the throne of his ancestors. The 
 former dreaded conformity to the fashionable world, even in 
 matters of indifference, as a great abomination ; the latter had 
 an equal horror of hypocrisy, and to avoid the appearance of 
 it went to the opposite extreme. 
 
 In the next seventy years in which the Church of England 
 was established, both parties relaxed. The sufferings of dis- 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 27 
 
 senters under the rigorous establishments of Europe were 
 unknown in Carolina. The moderation of the established 
 church was great — the toleration of the dissenters was com- 
 plete. Except the patronage from government, and support 
 from the public treasury, the civil rights and privileges of both 
 were nearly equal. The former were too apt to look down 
 with contempt on the latter, as an inferior grade of beings, 
 but abstained from all private acts of injury or oppression. 
 The one gradually abated of their haughtiness, the other of 
 their scrupulosity. Fashion induced several prosperous indi- 
 viduals among the dissenters to join the established church. 
 The American revolution leveled all legal distinctions, dimin- 
 ished prejudices, and brought both into a nearer connection 
 with each other. Marriages between persons of different de- 
 nominations became more common and excited less wonder. 
 Fashion no longer led exclusively to one church. The name 
 of meeting-house and the ridicule attached to those who fre- 
 quented them were done away. The difference now is more 
 in name than reality. The peculiarities, formerly character- 
 istic of each, have been so far dropped that there is no longer 
 any other obvious mark of distinction than that which results 
 from their different modes of performing divine service. 
 
 Among the Carolinians deism was never common. Its 
 inhabitants at all times generally believed that a Christian 
 church was the best temple of reason. Persons professing 
 arian or socinian doctrines, or that system of religion which 
 has been denominated universalism, are so very few that they 
 form no separate religious societies. The only church in 
 which these doctrines were publicly professed has long been 
 completely extinct. The bulk of the people who make an 
 open profession of any religion are either Baptists, Catholics, 
 Episcopalians, Independents, Methodists, Protestants of the 
 German or French reformed churches, Presbyterians, or Sece- 
 ders. All these agree in the following doctrines, which have 
 a direct tendency to advance the best interests of society and 
 the peace and happiness of its members. 
 
 There is a God and a future state of rewards and punish- 
 ments. 
 
 God is to be publicly worshipped. 
 
 The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the 
 word of God. 
 
 The present state of man is a state of sin and misery. 
 Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. 
 There will be a resurrection of the dead, and a general judg- 
 ment, in which retribution will be made to every individual 
 of the human race according to his works. 
 
 But these sects differ in matters respecting church politics, 
 
28 
 
 some preferring the government of one, others that of a few 
 or of the many; by bishops, presbyteries, associations, the 
 whole body of the people, or by vestries, elders, or select por- 
 tions of them. While all agree that ministers or public teach- 
 ers of religion are of divine appointment, some contend for a 
 distinction of ranks, and others for a parity among them. The 
 former are subdivided; some considering an uninterrupted suc- 
 cession from the apostles to be necessary — others that ordina- 
 tion derived from John Wesley, or his successors, is as valid 
 as that from St. Paul or any of the Apostles. In addition to 
 these acknowledged legitimate sources of ordination, the other 
 sects contend that three or more ordained ministers are fully 
 competent to the work of ordination, and that all ordained 
 ministers are of equal grade in the church. 
 
 All agree that public prayers to the Deity are of divine in- 
 stitution; but some prefer prayers by form, others in an extem- 
 pore manner. 
 
 All agree that baptism is a divine ordinance, and that it 
 may be rightly administered when adults are its subjects and 
 immersion the mode. Others add that it may also be rightly 
 administered when the children of believers are its subjects 
 and sprinkling the mode. Among professors who agree in so 
 many fundamental points embracing the substance of Chris- 
 tianity, and differ only in matters relating to its husk and shell 
 or necessary appendages, there is an ample foundation for a 
 friendly understanding and a liberal exchange of all the kind 
 offices of reciprocal church fellowship; while tJiere is no real 
 cause for treating each other with shyness or cold indifference. 
 
 MEDICAL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM 1670 TO 1S0&. 
 
 South Carolina lies between the 32d and 35th degrees of 
 north latitude, and in the same parallel with Cyprus, Candia, 
 Morocco, Barbary, Damascus, Tripoli, Palmyra, Babylon, and 
 other parts of Turkey in Asia, and with parts of Persia, India, 
 and China. In comparing American climates with those of 
 Europe, to bring them on a par with each other, a difference 
 of 12 degrees should be allowed for peculiarities in the Amer- 
 ican continent. The most remarkable of these is such a pre- 
 dominance of cold as subjects an American, living in north lat- 
 itude 35 to an equal degree of cold with an European residing 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 29 
 
 in north latitude 47.* If this opinion is correct we should look 
 for a resemblance of South Carolina, not in the countries which 
 have been mentioned as lying in the same latitude, but in Aix, 
 Rochelle, Montpelier, Lyons, Bordeaux, and other parts of 
 France; in Milan, Turin, Padua, Genoa, Parma, Mantua, and 
 other parts of Italy; in Buda, Benda, Crimea, and other parts 
 of Turkey in Europe; in Circassia, Astracan, and other parts 
 of Russian Tartary, and of Chinese Tartary, which lie between 
 the 44th and 47th degrees of north latitude. It is certain that 
 the points of resemblance are more numerous in the latter than 
 the former case. 
 
 The climate of South Carolina is in a medium between that 
 of tropical countries and of cold temperate latitudes. It re- 
 sembles the former in the degree and duration of its summer 
 heat, and the latter in its variableness. In tropical countries 
 the warmest and coldest days do not in the course of a twelve- 
 month vary more, from each other, than sixteen degrees of 
 Farenheit's thermometer. There is consequently but little dis- 
 tinction between their summer and winter; but a variation of 
 83 degrees between the heat and cold of different days of the 
 same year, and of 46 degrees in the different hours of the same 
 day in South Carolina is to be found in its historical records. 
 Since 1791, the difference between our coolest and warmest 
 summers has ranged between 88 and 93, and the difference 
 between our mildest and coldest winters has ranged on a 
 few particular days from 50 to 17.t Our greatest heat is some- 
 times less and never much more than what takes place in the 
 same season in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York; but 
 the warm weather in these places does not on an average 
 continue above six weeks, while in Carolina it lasts from three 
 to four months. Our nights are also warmer than theirs. The 
 heat of the days in Charlestown is moderated by two causes, 
 which do not exist in an equal degree to the northward of it. 
 Our situation open and near the sea, almost surrounded by 
 water and not far distant from the torrid zone, gives us a small 
 proportion of the trade winds which, blowing from the south- 
 east, are pleasantly cool. These generally set in about 10 A. 
 M., and continue for the remainder of the day. A second 
 
 * If the meteorological observations which have been made at Williamsburg, 
 Cambridge; Quebec, and Hudson's bay, in America, be compared with those which 
 have been made at Algiers, Rome, Poictiers, and Solyskamsid, places whose lati- 
 tudes are nearly equal, it will be found that the European continent is now twelve 
 degrees warmer than that of America. — Williams' Vermont, p. 3&4. 
 
 t Farenheit's thermometer is what is every where meant in this publication ; 
 andthe observations on it therein referred to, unless otherwise specified, were 
 reported to the medical society as taken by Dr. Robert Wilson at his house, the 
 west end of Broad-street, at the hours of 8 in the morning, between 2 and 3 in the 
 afternoon, and at 10 in the evening. The instrument was suspended in an open 
 passage about ten feet from the floor. 
 
80 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 reason may be assigned from the almost daily showers of rain 
 which fall in the hottest of our summer months, and are fre- 
 quently accompanied with much thunder and lightning, and 
 therefore are called thunder showers. 
 
 The degree of heat in Charlestown is considerably less than 
 in the interior western country. In the summer of 1808, at 
 Columbia, it was frequently at 96 and 97, and sometimes at 98 ; 
 while at Charlestown it did not exceed 91. 
 
 The number of extreme warm days in Charlestown is sel- 
 dom above thirty in a year ; and it is rare for three of these to 
 follow each other. On the other hand, eight months out of 
 twelve are moderate and pleasant. The number of piercing 
 cold days in winter is more in proportion to our latitude than 
 of those which are distressingly hot in summer: but of these 
 more than three rarely come together. There are on an average 
 in Charlestown about twenty nights, in a twelvemonth, in 
 which the closeness and sultriness of the air forbid in a great 
 measure the refreshment of sound sleep ; but this severe weather 
 is for the most part soon terminated by refreshing and coohng 
 showers. April, May, and June, are in common our health- 
 iest months, with the exception of the cholera infantum and 
 bowel diseases among children. August and September are 
 the most sickly; April and May the driesi; June, July, and 
 August the wettest; November the pleasan test. Our old peo- 
 ple are oftenest carried off in cold weather; the young, the 
 intemperate, and the laboring part of the community, when it 
 is hot. In some years January, and in others February is the 
 coldest month. It is remarkable that when orange trees have 
 been destroyed by frost, it has always been in the month of 
 February. It is also remarkable that oranges, though plenti- 
 ful forty or fifty years ago, are now raised with difficulty. 
 Once in every eight or ten years a severe winter destroys the 
 trees on which they grow. Of this kind were the winters of 
 1776, 1779, 1786, and 1796. The transitions from heat to 
 cold have in the same period been great and rapid. Mr. John 
 Champneys has observed on three ditferent occasions the ther- 
 mometer fall more than fifty degrees in less than fifteen hours. 
 The coldest days on record are December 23d and 24th, 1796, 
 In both of which the thermometer in doctor Wilson's house 
 fell to seventeen. These changes, probably the eft'ect of the 
 country being more opened and cleared, discourage the hope 
 of naturalizing tropical fruits. November and December are 
 the best months in the year for strangers to arrive in Carolina. 
 Such should calculate so as not to make their first appearance 
 either in summer or in the face of it, or in the first months of 
 autumn. The hottest day of the year is sometimes as early 
 as June, sometimes as late as September, but oftenest in July 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 31 
 
 or August. The hottest hour of the day in Charlestown varies 
 with the weather ; it is sometimes as early as ten in the fore- 
 noon, but most commonly between two and three in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 In the spring when the sun begins to be powerful, a langour 
 and drowsiness is generally felt; respiration is accelerated, 
 and the pulse becomes quicker and softer. Strangers are apt 
 to be alarmed at these feelings and anticipate an increase of 
 them y/ith the increasing heat of the season, but they find 
 themselves agreeably disappointed. The human frame so 
 readily accommodates itself to its situation that the heat of 
 June and July is to most people less distressing* than the 
 comparatively milder weather of April and May. On the 
 the other hand, though September is cooler than the preceding 
 months, it is more sickly and the heat of it more oppressive. 
 Perspiration is diminished and frequently interrupted : hence 
 the system, debilitated by the severe weather of July and 
 August, feels more sensibly and more frequently a sense of 
 lassitude. Besides the coolness of the evenings in September 
 and the heavy dews that then fall, multiply the chances, of 
 getting cold. It is on the whole the most disagreeable month 
 in the year. 
 
 In winter the mountains near the western boundary of the 
 State are often covered with snow. From thence to the sea 
 shore snow but seldom falls so as to cover the ground except 
 on extraordinary occasions.f The soil is sometimes in like 
 manner bound up with frost. This seldom extends into the 
 ground more than two inches. In shady places it will not 
 thaw for several days ; and the waters and ponds at the same 
 time are generally frozen, but seldom more than half an inch 
 thick, and rarely strong enough to give an opportunity for the 
 wholesome exercise of skating. This freezing lasts only for a 
 few days, and the weather breaks up mild and warm so as to 
 render fires unnecessary in the middle of the day. In the 
 winter these changes from heat to cold, and the reverse, fre- 
 
 * On the 3d of July, 1806, Doctor Harris suspended a thermometer six feet above 
 the surface, exposed to the full influence of the sun. The mercury rose under 
 these circumstances to 131 degrees, though it stood at 90 within doors. On his 
 placing its bulb in his mouth it fell to 98. As it frequently rises to 90 in the shade, 
 and stands so for some hours, the inhabitants of Charlestown then out of doors 
 exposed to the sun are breathing an atmosphere heated to 131 degrees, or 33 
 degrees more than the heat of the human body ; and it is supported by them 
 without any manifest injury. 
 
 t On December 31, 1790, wind N. E. a severe snow storm began in Charlestown 
 which continued for twelve hours. In consequence of which the street.s were 
 covered with snow from two to four inches deep. Another took place on the 
 28th of February, 1793, wind N. W. which continued for several hours, and till it 
 covered the ground iive or six inches. Similar snow storms fell in January 1800, 
 and were thrice repeated in twenty-three days, and amounted in the whole to 
 more than ten inches. But these phoenomena are rare. 
 
 20 
 
32 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 quently and suddenly take place, and affect the feelings of the 
 inhabitants much more than equal, or even greater degrees of 
 permanent cold in countries where the climate is more steady, 
 and the transitions from heat to cold are more gradual. 
 
 In February the weather is particularly variable. It is often 
 rainy. Vegetation commences in warm clear days and in- 
 spires hopes of an early spring. Suddenly a northwest wind 
 inducing frost, sometimes blasts and always retards these flat- 
 tering expectations. In March and April the planting season 
 begins and continues till June. 
 
 In July and August the heats increase, and the heavy rains 
 set in attended at times with severe thunder and lightning. Sep- 
 tember is the principal month of harvest. In it the evenings and 
 mornings are chilly, but the sun is extremely oppressive in the 
 middle of the day. Storms of rain are produced, accompanied 
 sometimes with hurricanes. The leaves of deciduous trees 
 begin to fall, and nature by degrees assume the sober dress of 
 winter. In October the weather is generally mild and clear. 
 About the middle of this month frosts commence and gen- 
 erally terminate in the month of March. On their approach 
 they bring with them a cure for fevers, then usually prevalent 
 The inhabitants of Charlestown keep fires in their houses 
 from four to six months in the year ; but there are some warm 
 days in every one of them in which fires are disagreeable. 
 On the other hand there are some moist cool days in every 
 month of the year, with the exception of July and August, in 
 which fires are not only healthy but pleasant. These, with 
 the addition of June, are the only months which are ex- 
 empt from frost in all years, and in every part of South 
 Carolina. 
 
 Sharp cold weather seldom commences before December, 
 though there are several cold days in November, and the eve- 
 nings and mornings are generally so. In these months, especially 
 the last, vegetation is checked and continues so for about four 
 weeks. In this manner the annual circle revolves in the vary- 
 ing climate of South Carolina. The last half of December 
 and the first half of January is the dullest period of the whole. 
 If the year was to be regulated with a particular reference to 
 Carolina, it might be said to commence about the middle of 
 January, and to terminate about the middle of December; 
 for the one begins and the other ends its visible natural vege- 
 tation. 
 
 The hygrometer in Charlestown shows an almost constant 
 humidity in the air. For the last seven years it has not marked 
 in any one year more than 24 dry days; and the average of 
 the whole seven years is less than sixteen dry days for each. 
 The variation of the barometer is inconsiderable. It gener- 
 
PROM 1670 TO 1808. 
 
 33 
 
 ally stands between 30 and 31, but has been as low as 29° 7' 
 and as high as 31° 8'. The extremes of heat and cold since 
 1791 have been seventy-six degrees asunder. The subjoined 
 statement* of meterological observations for the year 1S02 may 
 serve as a sample of the climate. 
 
 The evils that every year take place more or less in the 
 northern States from drinking cold water, are imknown in 
 Charlestown. The water of the wells lies so near the surface 
 of the earth that the difference of its temperature from that of 
 the common air, is not so great as to create danger ; unless 
 in very particular circumstances. A solitary case occurred in 
 September, 1791, of a negro fellow who after taking a draught 
 of cold water when very warm, suddenly fainted away and 
 immediately after became insane and continued so for sev- 
 eral days ; but he afterwards recovered. The medium tem- 
 perature of the well water in Charlestown is 65°. This is 
 twelve degrees above that of the well-water of Philadelphia. 
 
 ^' Thunder was distinctly, and in few cases very loudly heard on forty-eight days 
 in the interval between April 7, and November 30. Less rain fell in 1802 than in 
 any of the seven precedinjj years. The particulars will appear fronisthe follow- 
 ing table. 
 
 1802. Days 
 
 of rain. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Tenths. 
 
 1S02. Days 
 
 of rain. 
 
 Inches 
 
 Tenths. 
 
 January, 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 July, 
 
 14 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 February, 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 August, 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 9i 
 
 March, 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 September, 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 8i 
 
 April. 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 October, 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 ■ 2 
 
 May, 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 November, 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 June, 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 December, 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 25 8 24 39 26 27 
 
 Though there were only sixty-four days in which an actual fall of rain took 
 place, yet the index of the hygrometer pointed to damp in all degrees from one to 
 one hundred and one, for three hundred and fifty-two days. As far as we can rely 
 on this instrument we must admit that there were only thirteen days of a dry at- 
 mosphere in the year 1802; these were, in April 2, May 8, June 1, and Novem- 
 ber 3. The highest degree of dryness pointed out in these days was fifteen. 
 
 The direction of the winds for the year 1S02 may be learnt from the following 
 table. 
 
 Winds. Days. Winds. Days. 
 
 Jantiary, S. to N. W. 17 N. to S. E. 14 
 
 February, '■ 15 " 13 
 
 March, " 20 " 11 
 
 April, , " 22 " 8 
 
 May, " 26 '' 5 
 
 June, " IS " 12 
 
 July, S. 
 
 August, 
 
 September, 
 
 October, 
 
 November. 
 
 December, 
 
 Winds. Days. Winds. Days, 
 to N. W. 21 N. to S. E. 10 
 
 le 
 
 IS 
 
 s 
 
 14 
 17 
 
 15 
 12 
 23 
 16 
 11 
 
 The latest frost in the spring of 1802 was March the 15th; the earliest in autumn 
 was October26th, or rather November 1st. The coldest day was February 23d. 
 Thermometer 32. The next coldest day was December 9th, thermometer 33. The 
 greatest and least degrees of heat in each month was as follows : 
 
 January, 
 
 February, 
 
 March, 
 
 April, 
 
 May, 
 
 June, 
 
 The following table in which the days are classed, will show the number of 
 warm days in the respective months, in the year 1802, and the degree of heat 
 in each day ; but without fractions. The first column stales the highest range of 
 
 Greatest. 
 
 Least. 
 
 
 74 
 
 45 
 
 July, 
 
 69 
 
 32 
 
 August. 
 
 74 
 
 44 
 
 September, 
 
 80 
 
 61 
 
 October, 
 
 84 
 
 66 
 
 November, 
 
 86 
 
 72 
 
 December, 
 
 Greatest. 
 
 Lea. 
 
 S7 
 
 70 
 
 89 
 
 72 
 
 89 
 
 60 
 
 81 
 
 54 
 
 14 
 
 45 
 
 70 
 
 33 
 
34 
 
 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 Instead of sudden deaths from cold water in Charlestown, 
 the inhabitants have to lament the same event from the in- 
 temperate use of spirituous liquors. The stimulus of ardent 
 
 the thermometer io the whole course of the days opposite thereto in the other 
 columns. 
 
 JANUARY. 
 
 PEBRDABY. 
 
 MARCH. 
 
 APRIL. 
 
 h 
 
 
 k 
 
 
 bJ 
 
 
 L. 
 
 
 jd 
 
 Days. 
 
 X 
 
 Days. 
 
 2: 
 
 Days. 
 
 ® 
 
 JS 
 
 Days. 
 
 H 
 
 
 &H 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 ti 
 
 
 74 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 74 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 86|26 
 
 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 10 
 
 19 25 
 
 30 '.'.'. 
 
 8C 
 
 4 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 3 
 
 16 
 
 "i 
 
 
 
 71 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 7£ 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 17 
 
 20 .'.'.' 
 
 
 78 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 16 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 4 
 
 ii 
 
 i's 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 3 
 
 24 ... 
 
 
 77 
 
 2 
 
 i'6 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 30 
 
 
 64 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 9 
 
 26 29 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 13 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 63 
 
 13 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 1 
 
 16 ... 
 
 
 76 
 
 22 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 14 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 7 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 13 
 
 23 ... 
 
 
 75 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 16 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 
 61 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 63 
 
 2 
 
 6 ... 
 
 
 74 
 
 1 
 
 "s 
 
 i'2 
 
 19 
 
 27 
 
 69 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 61 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 73 
 
 
 21 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 68 
 
 11 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 15 
 
 21 22 
 
 
 71 
 
 
 28 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 67 
 
 20 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 58 
 
 20 
 
 "2 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 5 ... 
 
 
 70 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 24 
 
 
 56 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 65 
 
 26 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 63 
 
 5 
 
 "e 
 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 U 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 64 
 
 25 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 81 
 
 5 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 8 
 
 27 '.'.'. 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 64 
 
 14 
 
 ... |... 
 
 
 66 
 
 
 20 ... 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 » ! 
 
 u 
 
 
 t; 
 
 
 
 MAY. 
 
 ^ 
 
 JUNE. 
 
 _!_ 
 
 JDLY. 
 
 _l_ 
 
 ADQUST. 
 
 84 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 86 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 87 
 
 ... 
 
 9 ... 
 
 
 89 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 
 
 83 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 86 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 86 
 
 
 8 ... 
 
 
 88 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 
 82 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 84 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 18 
 
 21 Z 
 
 87 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 81 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 
 
 83 
 
 3 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 85 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 11 
 
 22 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 82 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 30 
 
 
 86 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 79 
 
 25 
 
 9 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 
 84 
 
 "4 
 
 6 7 
 
 19 31 
 
 86 
 
 2 
 
 28 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 16 
 
 21 
 
 
 81 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 83 
 
 20 
 
 23 29 
 
 ... 27 
 
 84 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 77 
 
 24 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 "9 
 
 i's 
 
 
 82 
 81 
 
 1 
 24 
 
 2 3 
 16 17 
 
 5 ... 
 
 83 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 20 
 
 8 
 
 31 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 17 
 
 76 
 
 23 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 i'e 
 
 26 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 11 
 
 26 28 
 
 25 '.'.'. 
 
 82 
 
 18 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 
 75 
 
 4 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 
 79 
 
 7 
 
 18 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 
 15 12 
 
 
 81 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 
 74 
 
 16 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 
 14 ... 
 
 
 80 
 
 6 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 
 73 
 
 8 
 
 14 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 77 
 
 5 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 
 13 ... 
 
 
 79 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 4 
 
 "5 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 71 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 74 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 77 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 69 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^^• 
 
 
 tl 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 ja 
 
 OCTOBER. 
 
 ja 
 
 NOVEMBER. 
 
 s 
 
 BEOEMBEB. 
 
 » 
 
 
 E^ 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 89 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 81 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 74 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 27 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 
 88 
 
 7 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 73 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 87 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 16 
 
 22 24 
 
 
 66 
 
 6 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 
 86 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 7 
 
 21 11 
 
 30 '.". 
 
 64 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 86 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 19 
 
 
 79 
 
 16 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 10 
 
 17 ... 
 
 
 62 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 84 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 9 
 
 11 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 19 
 
 20 23 
 
 15 '.'.'. 
 
 60 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 83 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 
 77 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 64 
 
 13 
 
 12 8 
 
 
 68 
 
 20 
 
 24 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 81 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 3 
 
 "s 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 10 
 
 "7 
 
 "s 
 
 
 
 61 
 
 9 
 
 29 '.'.'. 
 
 
 66 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 79 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 73 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 3 
 
 18 ... 
 
 
 64 
 
 6 
 
 "i 
 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 6 
 
 6 ... 
 
 
 63 
 
 11 
 
 25 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 71 
 
 2 
 
 20 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 2 
 
 27 ... 
 
 
 60 
 
 2 
 
 31 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 71 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 68 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 64 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 16 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 24 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 24 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 64 
 63 
 
 29 
 28 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 44 
 42 
 40 
 39 
 
 8 
 17 
 
 9 
 IS 
 
 
 
 
 ■■ 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 35 
 
 spirits added to that of excessive heat, drives the blood forcibly 
 on the brain and produces fatal consequences. 
 
 The east and northeast winds in winter and spring are 
 very injurious to invalids, especially to those who have weak 
 lungs or who are troubled with rheumatic complaints. In 
 these seasons they bring with them that languor for which 
 they are remarkable in other countries ; but in summer, by 
 moderating heat they are both pleasant and wholesome. 
 Their worst effects are to produce catarrhal complaints and 
 colds. Winds from the northwest to the southwest, blowing 
 over large tracts of marsh or swamp, are, in summer season, 
 unfriendly to health. The north and northwest winds in 
 winter, are remarkable for their invigorating effects on the 
 human frame. South winds are healthy in summer, but 
 much less so in winter. 
 
 Snow is more common and continues longer in proportion 
 as we recede from the sea-shore. The further we proceed 
 westward till we reach the mountains which divide the 
 western from the eastern waters, the weather is colder in the 
 winter and vegetation later in the spring. In the western 
 parts of the State the days are warmer and the nights are 
 cooler than on the sea-coast. While the inhabitants of Charles- 
 town can scarcely bear to be covered in the hours of sleep 
 with a sheet, they who live in the town of Columbia, one hun- 
 dred and twenty computed miles, but probably about one 
 hundred in a straight line, to the northwest of it, are not in- 
 commoded by a blanket : and this difference is greater as we 
 advance more to the west. 
 
 The sum total of rain on an average of five years, viz: from 
 1738 to 1742 as observed by Dr. Lining, was 48.6 inches in 
 the year; and of ten years, viz: from 1750 to 1759, as ob- 
 served by Dr. Chalmers, was 41.75 inches in the year. The 
 annual average quantity by the observations of the medical 
 society for the last ten years, or from 1797 to 1807 was 49.3 
 inches. The greatest quantity in any one of these last ten 
 years was 83.4 inches; this was in the year 1799: and the 
 least was 38.6 in the year 1800. The greatest quantity in any 
 one month of these ten years was 12.9 inches; this was in 
 August 1799. In the course of these ten years, four months 
 passed without any rain, and several in each of which it was 
 less than one inch. The number of rainy days in the last 
 five years, or from 1802 to 1807, gives an average of seventy- 
 two rainy days for each. 
 
 South Carolina extends about 200 miles on the sea-coast, 
 and about 300 to the west. The southern boundary and a 
 great part of the northern, runs northwest from the Atlantic 
 ocean. As the air grows colder in a western as well as a 
 
36 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 northern direction, the dimate is far from heing uniform. 
 The western districts, from their high and dry situation and 
 contiguity to the mountains, enjoy a dry, elastic, wholesome 
 atmosphere. The middle country partakes of the advantages 
 of the upper country, and the disadvantages of the lower. 
 The latter bei ng intersected by swamps, bays, and low grounds, 
 the waters spread over the face of the country, and in conse- 
 quence of heat and stagnation produce mephitic exhalations. 
 Thick fogs cover the low lands throughout the night during 
 the summer months. In the western districts from August 
 until frost, thick fogs also cover the grounds at night, but are 
 dissipated by the rays of the sun. Much exposure to these 
 fogs early in the morning is said to occasion intermittents. 
 
 In such a situation it is no matter of surprise that fevers 
 prevail in places contiguous to fresh, and especially stagnant 
 water. The heavy rains generally commence in June and 
 July. While they flow, and until their waters by remaining 
 stagnant have putrefied, the health of the lower country is not 
 particularly affected. But when weeds and vegetables are 
 rankest, and putrefaction is excited by the operations of heat 
 and moisture, the atmosphere becomes deleterious. Like 
 effects being produced by the same causes in Georgia and 
 East Florida, winds from these countries in autumn are much 
 charged with mephitic qualities. Hence south-westardly 
 winds increase all summer fevers. These exciting causes of 
 disease lie dormant in the native state of new countries, while 
 they are undisturbed by cultivation ; but when the ground is 
 cleared and its surface broken they are put into immediate 
 activity. Hence it has happened that the upper country of 
 South Carolina was more healthy at its first settlement than 
 it was some time after. When the putrescent materials are 
 expended and the original mephitic effluvia are exhausted and 
 cultivation has improved the face of the earth, it again becomes 
 healthy. Very little if any of South Carolina has attained to 
 this state. The upper country is approximating, and the high 
 hills of Santee come nearer to it than any part of the middle or 
 low country. In like manner mill-dams, when first erected 
 and for many years after, are injurious to the health of the 
 vicinity; but when the timber in them is rotted and their 
 poisonous effluvia are dissipated, they become comparatively 
 harmless. 
 
 Observations on the climate of South Carolina have not 
 been made sufficiently long to test by satisfactory evidence 
 any considerable changes which have already taken place. 
 Those made by the Medical Society since 1791, compared 
 with those made by Dr. Lining between 1738 and 1742, and 
 with those made by Doctor Lionel Chalmers between 1750 
 
FROM 1670 TO 180S. 37 
 
 and 1759, seem to prove that the climate in the last seventy- 
 years has changed for the better.* The heat of our late sum- 
 mers has abated eight degrees. Whether this is really the 
 case, or to be referred to a difference of instruments or of sit- 
 
 * The reader is desired to judge for himself whether he has experienced any- 
 thiDg comparable to the account of Charlestown given by Doctors Lining and Chal 
 mers who were eminent physicians and practiced physic for many years in Charles- 
 town. The observations of the former were read before the royal society in May 
 1748; extracts from them are as follows: ''In summer the heat of the shaded 
 air about two or three in the afternoon is frequently between 90 and 95 degrees; 
 and on the 14th, 15lh, and 16th of June- 1738, at 3 P. M. it was 9S; a heat equal to 
 the greatest heat of the human body inhealth." "In June 1738, when the heat of the 
 shaded air was 98, the thermometer sunk one degree in my arm-pits, but continued at 
 98 in my hand and mouth. Twomen who were then in the streets (when the heat was 
 probably 124 or 126 degrees, as the shaded air's heat was then 98) dropped sud- 
 denly dead, and several slaves in the country at work in the rice fields shared the 
 same fate. I saw one ot"the men immediately after he died; his face, neck, breast, 
 and hands were livid." The following extracts are taken from the sixteenth to 
 the twenty-third page of Doctor Chalmers' account of the weather and diseases of 
 South Carolina which was printed in London in 1776, and chiefly refer to a period 
 about the middle of the eighteenth century. 
 
 "I cannot convey a better idea of the heat we perceive in passing along the 
 streets at noon in summer, than by comparing it to that glow which strikes one 
 who looks into a pretty warm oven; for it is so increased by reflection from the 
 houses and sandy streets as to raise the mercury sometimes to the 130th division 
 of the thermometer, when the temperature of the shaded air may not exceed the 
 94th. Solid bodies, more especially metals, absorb so much heat at such times 
 that one cannot lay his hand on them but for a short time without being made 
 very uneasy. Nay, I have seen a beef-steak of the common thickness so deprived 
 of its juices when laid on a cannon for the space of twenty minutes as to be over- 
 done according to the usual way of speaking. 
 
 "In order to know what degree of heat my servants were exposed to in the 
 kitchen, I suspended a thermometer to a beam eight feet from the floor, and fifteen 
 from the fire, the windows and doors being all open on both sides of the house so 
 that this was the coolest station in it. But even here the mercury stood at the 
 115th division, and notwithstanding this seeming distress, the negroes assured me 
 they preferred this sort of weather to the winter's cold. 
 
 "By the 13th of July 1752, a general draught prevailed; for the earth was so 
 parched and dry that not the least perspiration appeared on plants, which shrunk 
 and withered. All standing waters were dried up as were many wells and 
 springs, so that travelers eould not find water either for themselves or their 
 beasts for a whole day together. In several settlements no water could be found 
 by digging ever so deep, for which reason the inclosures were laid open and the 
 cattle drove out to shift for themselves. But very many of them perished for 
 want both of pasturage and water, as probably did great numbers of those birds 
 that require drink, for none of them were to be seen among us. In short, the dis 
 tresses of men and beasts at that time are not to be described. 
 
 '•When the mercury rose to the 97th and 98th degree of the thermometer in 
 the shade, the atmosphere seemed in a glow. At bed time it was not in our power 
 to lie long still, being obliged to turn almost incessantly in order to cool the side 
 we rested on before. Refreshing sleep therefore was a stranger to our eyes, inso- 
 much that people were in a manner worn down with watching, and the excessive 
 heat together. Nor did this restlessness and frequent tossings prevent our being 
 constantly bathed with sweat, though we lay on thin mattrasses spread upon 
 the floor, and had all the windows in our room open. Nay, many people lay abroad 
 on the pavements. So speedy was the putrefaction of dead bodies that they re- 
 quired to be quickly interred. For in the short space of five hours the body of a 
 pretty corpulent woman who died as she was ironing hnen, burst the coflin; so 
 violent was the putrefaction. In order therefore to prevent such accidents as well 
 as to guard against the oflTensive smeil of so rapid a putrescence, it was found 
 necessary to wrap dead bodies in sheets that were wrung out of tar, and bind 
 them up tightly with cords. 
 
 "During this season a candle was blown out and set in a chimney at ten o clock 
 at night, the wick of which continued to burn clearly tillnext morning, and was 
 likely to do so for many hours longer. 
 
do MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 uations in which they are kept, must be decided by further 
 experience. It is certain that the climates of old countries 
 have been materially improved by clearing and cultivating 
 the land. We have therefore reason to hope that a meliora- 
 
 "When this violently hot weather began to brealc up, (about the 21st of July) 
 every shower was accompanied with most dreadful lightning and thunder, Ijy 
 which several persons were liilled in different placeS; besides the damages that 
 were done to buildings and vessels. Among other instances of the afarniing 
 effects of lightning this year, the distress of one poor family maybe related. The 
 father and one of Ills sons being ploughing with four horses, they, together with 
 their beasts, were all struck dead by one flash. I have known it to lighten and 
 thunder violently, and with but little intermission, lor eight or ten hours together, 
 the clouds being all this while so low that in one afternoon the lightning fell on 
 sixteen different objects in town, among which were nine dwelling-houses, one 
 church, a meeting-house, and five vessels were dismasted in part. 
 
 "During the summer of 17.52, the mercury often rose above the 90th degree of 
 the Thermometer throughout the months of May, June, July, and August; and 
 for twenty successive days, excepting three in June and July, the temperature of 
 the shaded air varied between the 90th and 101st division, and sometimes it must 
 have been 30 degrees warmer in the open sunshine, to which great numbers of 
 people were daily exposed for many hours. Neither was ever a more healthy 
 season known than this, so long as the weather continued steadily warm and fair. 
 True Indeed it is, that those who happened to sicken during these intensely hot 
 luonths might almost be said to have escaped through the fire when they recovered, 
 which few in truth did who were seized with fevers j and all those died on whom 
 dropsies had made any considerable progress. 
 
 " All creatures seem equally affected with man by such intensely hot weather; 
 for horses sweat profusely in the stable, and flag presently when ridden. Dogs 
 seek the shade and lie panting with their tongues lolling out as if they had long 
 pursued the chase. Poultry droop the wing and breathe with open throats in the 
 manner cocks do when much heated in fighting. Crows and other wild fowls do 
 the same, and are so unwilling to move that they will suffer a man to come nearer 
 them than at other times before they fly." 
 
 Such was the account given of the weather in Charlestown,byDoctor Chalmers, 
 a gentleman of veracity, of medical and philosophical accuracy in making and re- 
 cording observations. The business has been taken up and prosecuted ever 
 since the year 1791, by the medical society. In the whole of these 18 years the 
 highest degree of the mercury has been from two degrees to five less than it was 
 in two years of the four observed by Doctor Lining, and from one degree to eight 
 less than it was in five years of the ten observed by tloctor Chalmers. Since 1791, 
 it has reached 93 only on one day. 
 
 In 1 year it did not exceed 88. In 4 years it did not exceed 89. In 4 years it 
 did not exceed 90. In 6 years it did not exceed 91. In 2 years it did not exceed 92. 
 
 In the 10 years viz., from 1750 to 1759, observed by Doctor Chalmers, it was in 
 no year less than 90, and only in two years as low as 90. 
 
 In 1 year it reached to 101. In 2 years it reached, but did not exceed 96. In 2 
 years do. do. 94. In 2 years do. do. 93. In 1 year do. do. 91. 
 
 In the 4 years observed by Doctor Lining, it was 98 in the year 173S, and 95 in 
 1742. Doctor Chalmers' house, in the alley called by his name, was, doubtless, 
 something warmer than Doctor Wilson's, at the west end of Broad-street. There 
 may have been some variation in the structure or position of the respective ther- 
 mometers ; but the difierence in the result is too great to be accounted for from 
 these circumstances. It is possible that the apparent abatement of our summer 
 heat is only accidental, and that the scorchings in 1738, and in or about the year 
 1752, will return in future years; but it is more probable that the degree of heat 
 in Charlestown is now Jess than it was 60 or 70 years ago. It may be proved by 
 inferences from facts stated in the Bible, and in the Greekand Roman classics, that 
 the climate of those parts of Asia and Europe with which we are best acquainted 
 have been meliorated to the extent of 15 or 20 degrees within the last 20 or 30 
 centuries. That an abatement of cold has taken place in the northern States 
 within the two centuries that have passed away since their first settlement can 
 also be satisfactorily ascertained. It remains to be proved by further observations 
 and future experience, whether the labor of man in clearing and cultivating the 
 earth is or is not rewarded by its moderating both heat and cold where they are 
 excessive. 
 
FEOM 1670 TO 1808. 39 
 
 tion of ours will in time take place, and we are not too san- 
 guine in believing that it is already begun.* 
 
 George Chalmers, in his political annals of the United Colo- 
 nies, printed in 1780, page 541, 542, observes that "Charles- 
 town was long unhealthful. From the month of June to 
 October, the courts of justice were commonly shut up. No 
 public business was transacted. Men fled from it as from a 
 pestilence, and orders were given to inquire for situations 
 more friendly to health." This statement is corroborated by 
 tradition from the elder citizens, who inform us that in the 
 time of their fathers the sick were sent from Charlestown to 
 expedite their recovery in the more wholesome air of the 
 country ; and that the country was preferred on the score of 
 health as a place of summer residence. This is by no means 
 improbable. The site of Charlestown in its natural state was 
 a slip of land stretching south-eastwardly, between two rivers, 
 and projecting into the harbor formed by their junction and 
 divided into a number of peninsulars by creeks and marshes; 
 indenting it on three sides so as to leave but little unbroken 
 high land in the middle. The first buildings extended along 
 East Bay street, and had a marsh in their whole front. A 
 considerable creek, named Vanderhorst's creek, occupied the 
 foundation of Water street ; and passing beyond Meeting street, 
 sent out a branch to the northward nearly to the Presbyterian 
 church. Another creek stretched northwestwardly nearly 
 parallel to East Bay street, from the neighborhood of Macleod's 
 lots, through Longitude lane, and to the north of it. The 
 same kind of low grounds ran up Queen street, then called 
 Dock street, beyond the French church, and through Beres- 
 ford's alley till it approached Meeting street. The north end 
 of Union "street was planted with rice about the middle of the 
 18th century. Another very large creek occupied the site of 
 the present central market, and extended westwardly beyond 
 Meeting street, which diverged southwardly almost to the In- 
 dependent church, and northwardly spreading extensively, 
 and then dividing into two branches ; running to the north- 
 west and to the northeast so as to cover a large portion of 
 
 * When the Romans first invaded Britain, the face of a considerable part of that 
 country resembled what Carolina now isj for it was equally covered with marshes, 
 ponds and stagnant waters : and in like manner shaded with trees. When culti- 
 vation has improved Carolina as much as it has done Britain, they will be both 
 equally dry, and if not equally healthy, nearly so. For the excessive cold of the 
 one is as injurious to the human frame, as the excessive heat of the other when 
 unaccompanied with moisture or putrefaction. 
 
 Eighteen hundred years have passed away in eifecting the change in Britain, 
 and it is not yet fully accomplished j for there are in it even now several marshes, 
 and a considerable quantity of low, moist, unhealthy ground. Judging of the 
 future by the past, three or four hundred years will probably make such a change 
 in the face of Carolina as will be little inferior to what Great Britain has slowly 
 attained in the course of eighteen centuries. 
 
40 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 ground. Besides the marsh and these creeks which nearly- 
 environed three sides of the improved part of Charlestown, 
 there was another creek a Uttle to the southward of what is 
 now Water street, which stretched westwardly over Church 
 street ; and another which ran northwardly up Meeting street, 
 and then extended across westwardly nearly to King street. 
 A creek ran from the west near where Peter Smith's house 
 now stands, and nearly parallel to South Bay till it approached 
 the last mentioned creek, and was divided from it by King 
 street and a slip of land on each side. Six other creeks ran 
 eastwardly from Ashley river, three of which stretched across 
 the peninsular so as to approximate to King street. There 
 were also ponds and low grounds in different parts of the 
 town. One of these extended on the east side of King street 
 almost the whole distance between Broad and Tradd streets. 
 This was granted to the French church in 1701, but being 
 useless in its then state was leased out by them for 50 years. 
 In the course of that period the tenants improved and built 
 upon it. There was also a large body of low grounds at the 
 intersection of Hasell and Meeting streets. The elder inhabi- 
 tants often mention a large pond where the court house now 
 stands. It is believed that this, though real, was artificial 
 It is probable that the intrenchments attached to the western 
 fortifications of Charlestown, which extended up and down 
 Meeting street from the vicinity of the Independent church to 
 the vicinity of the Presbyterian church, were dug so deep as 
 to cause a constant large collection of water at that middle 
 part of the lines.* It was the site of Johnson's covered half 
 moon, and of a draw-bridge over which was the chief com- 
 munication between the town and the country. No prudent 
 engineer would erect such works as these in a pond, though 
 when they were erected in the moist soil of Charlestown the7 
 would be very likely to produce one. Whether this was a 
 natural or artificial collection of water, there was enough in 
 other parts of the town to make it unhealthy. Such, with 
 some small alteration was the situation of Charlestown for the 
 first 70 years after its settlementf 
 
 To reduce such a quagmire as a great part of Charlestown 
 originally was, to a firm, high, and dry state, required time, 
 labor, and expense. Much has been done, but much remains 
 for fixture enterprise. 
 
 The pond at the south end of Meeting street was filled up 
 
 * Persons now living remember that tliey liave heard the deceased Samuel 
 Prioleau, who was born in or about 1718, say that he had swam in the line of 
 Meeting street, from the west end of the present Water street to the site of the 
 present national Bank. 
 
 f This appears from George Hunter's ichnography of that city, published in 
 1739. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 41 
 
 and built upon by Josiah Smith, in the years 1767, 1768, and 
 1769, at an expense of about Xl,200 sterling. 
 
 Vauderhorst's creek was tarned into a firm, solid land, be- 
 tween the years 1788 and 1792, and obtained the name of 
 Water street. 
 
 The oeek running under the Governor's bridge was finally 
 obliterated and turned into a market, between the years 1804 
 and 1807. The extensive marsh land and low ground to the 
 north and west of this creek had been filled up and built upon 
 some years before by John Eberly, Anthony Toomer, and 
 others. The time when the other creeks were converted into solid 
 land and improved, cannot be exactly ascertained. As Charles- 
 town extended, and land became more valuable, industrious 
 enterprising individuals, by draining marshes and filling up 
 creeks, advanced their private interest and contributed to the 
 growing salubrity of the town. 
 
 In addition to what has been efi'ected by individuals, for 
 converting marsh into solid land, several incidental causes have 
 contributed to a similar result. Every vault, cellar, and well, 
 that has been dug in Charlestown for 128 years past, brought 
 to the surface a part of a sandy soil, which, when laid on soft 
 low ground, promoted its induration and elevation. Fires, of 
 which there have been many, though destructive of property, 
 have not been without their use. The lime, the mortar, and 
 broken bricks of the burnt houses, were for the most part added 
 to the surface of the ground and corrected its capacity for 
 producing disease. In addition to the dryness of the soil, its 
 elevation was beneficial. To the latter not only every new 
 building, but every inhabitant contributes more or less every 
 day. The ofi'als of a single soap boiler sometimes amount to 
 500 bushels of ashes in a week. This multiplied by the num- 
 ber of the trade, and by the number of weeks that take place 
 in a century, and by similar deposits from other persons, 
 would contribute materially to the elevation of ground cov- 
 ered with houses and crowded with inhabitants. The projec- 
 tion of wharves into the adjacent rivers, which are filled up 
 with dry materials, changes low unwholesome ground into 
 what is high and healthy. Houses now stand in safety which 
 are carried out so near to the channel of Cooper river, that 
 the ooze, previously obtruded on the senses every ebb tide, is 
 now no longer visible. From these and similar additions to 
 the soil, Charlestown has been constantly, though slowly, be- 
 coming higher and dryer. The increase of an inch in fifteen 
 or twenty years would probably be a moderate calculation for 
 the aggregate amount of every addition that is made to it in 
 that period. One foot less in the height of the land, or one 
 foot more in the height of the water in the hurricane of 1752, 
 
42 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 ■would, in the opinion of eye witnesses, have inundated every 
 spot of ground in Charlestown. Under such circumstances 
 the gradual elevation of the surface, increasing with time 
 and population, holds out encouraging prospects to poster- 
 ity; for the higher and dryer it is the more secure and 
 healthy it will be. In a country whose maladies chiefly arise 
 from heat and moisture, it is a glorious exploit to redeem it 
 from the latter ; which, of the two, is the most plentiful source 
 of disease. Every Carolinian who plants a field — builds a 
 house — ^fills a pond — or drains a bog, deserves well of his 
 country. From the operation of these causes a change for 
 the better has already taken place to a certain extent. With 
 the exception of the more frequent recurrence of the yellow 
 fever, Charlestown is now more healthy than it was thirty or 
 forty years ago. The frequent recurrence of that disease is an 
 exception to the generality of this remark more in appearance 
 than reality. For though it is distressing and fatal to strangers, 
 yet, as they are but a very small part of the whole population, 
 the aggregate mass of disease for several years past, even with 
 that addition, would nevertheless be inferior to what it form- 
 erly was. Bilious remitting autumnal fevers, have for some 
 time past evidently decreased. Pleurisies, which were form- 
 erly common and dangerous, are now comparatively rare ; 
 and so easily cured as often to require no medical aid. The 
 thrush in children, the cholera morbus, iliac passion or dry 
 belly ache, have in a great measure disappeared. April and 
 May used to be the terror of parents ; but the diseases which 
 thirty years ago occasioned great mortality among children in 
 the spring, have for several years past been less frequent and 
 less mortal. Consumptions on the other hand have become 
 more common; but this is not chargeable on the chmate but 
 results from the state of society, and the growing wealth of 
 the inhabitants, in conjunction with new dresses, manners, 
 and customs. It is also in part to be accounted for from the 
 accidental circumstance that several, every year, die in Caro- 
 lina of that complaint who had recently arrived with it in its 
 advanced stages from the West India islands or the more north- 
 ern States. Their unparalleled increase in 1808, is the conse- 
 quence of the influenza of 1807, and the present fashionable 
 dresses. 
 
 In the medical history of Carolina, the improvement of the 
 country is to be viewed only as one cause of the ameliora- 
 tion of its diseases. A more judicious medical treatment of the 
 sick is another. This will appear by a particular review of the 
 history of the small pox from the first settlement of the province, 
 
 The years 1700 and 1717 are the dates of the two first at- 
 tacks of the small pox in Charlestown. In both it proved 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 43 
 
 fatal to a considerable proportion of the inhabitants. It re- 
 turned in 1732, but effectual care was taken to prevent its 
 spreading. In the year 1738 it was imported in a Guinea 
 ship, and spread so extensively that there was not a sufficiency 
 of persons in health to attend the sick ; and many perished 
 from neglect and want. There was scarcely a house in which 
 there had not been one or more deaths.* Doctor Moybray, 
 Surgeon of a British man-of-war then in the harbor, proposed 
 inoculation ; but the physicians opposed it at first. With the 
 exception of Dr. Martini they afterwards came into it. Mr. 
 Philip Prioleau was the first person in Charlestown who sub- 
 mitted to the operation. The success which attended this 
 first experiment encouraged several others to follow the exam- 
 ple. The disease soon after abated. 
 
 About the beginning of the year 1760, the small pox was 
 discovered in the house of a pilot on White Point — ^^guards 
 were placed round the house, and every precaution taken to 
 prevent the spreading of the disease ; but in vain. When 
 the persons first infected at White Point were either dead or 
 well, the house in which they had lain was ordered to be 
 cleansed. In doing this a great smoke was made, which, be- 
 ing carried by an easterly wind, propagated the disease exten- 
 sively to the westward in the line of the smoke. Inoculation 
 was resolved upon and became general. 
 
 When this practice was first introduced, and for several 
 years after, the inoculators loaded their patients with mercury 
 
 * From a manuscript in the hand-writing, and found among: the papers of the ven- 
 erable Thomas Lamboll who died in 1775, the following particulars are collected 
 relative to this disease. "It first attracted public notice in iVIay, 1738. In the next 
 month a fast day was appointed by proclamation. Soon after the disease com- 
 menced, a report was circulated that tar water was not only a good preparative 
 for receiving, but a preventive of the small pox. Many barrels of tar were sold 
 and used for that purpose ; but the author soon after took the infection and died, 
 and his empiricism died with him. 
 
 "By an account dated September 30th, of the same year, it appeared that the 
 whole number of deaths was 411; and the whole number which had taken the small 
 pox was 2,112, of which 833 were whites, and 1,279 blacks. Of the former, 647 took 
 the disease in its natural way, and of them 157 died. Of lb8 whites who took the 
 disease by inoculation, nine died. Of the 1,279 blacks who took the disease 1,028 
 had it in the natural way, and of them 138 died. The remainder 253 were inocu- 
 lated, and of them seven died." 
 
 From these facts as stated by Mr. Lamboll, it appears that of the white persons 
 who took the small pox in the natural way, nearly one in four died ; but of such as 
 took it by inoculation, the deaths were only one in twenty. Of the negroes who 
 took the disease in the natural way, nearly one in seven died; but of such as took 
 it by inoculation, the deaths were only one in thirty-six. ■ It is well known that 
 negroes have the small pox as bad, if not worse than white people, where the 
 treatment of both is the same. That they fared better than their owners on this 
 occasion must be referred to their being under less restraint with regard to cold 
 air. In treating the small pox, an excess of care and confinement is much worse 
 than no care or confinement wliatever. From the same manuscript it appears that 
 on the21st of September, an act of assembly passed at Ashley ferry against inocu- 
 lating for the small pox in Charlestown, or within two miles of it after the 10th of 
 October 1738. 
 
44 
 
 and tortured them with deep crucial incisions in which ex- 
 traneous substances, impregnated with the variolous matter, 
 were buried. There were then able physicians in Charlestown ; 
 but they were so mistaken with regard to the proper method 
 of treating the disease that it was no uncommon practice to 
 nail blankets over the shut windows of closed rooms, to ex- 
 clude every particle of cool fresh air from their variolous pa- 
 tients whose comfort and safety depended on its free admis- 
 sion. The consequences were fatal. Charlestown was a scene 
 of the deepest affliction. Almost every family was in distress 
 for the loss of some of its members, but so occupied with 
 their attentions to the sick that they could neither indulge the 
 pomp nor the luxury of grief The deaths from the smallpox 
 were nearly eleven-twelfths of the whole mortality in Charles- 
 town. Only eighty-seven died of other diseases, while the 
 deaths from the small pox amounted to nine hundred and 
 forty. Of these only ninety-two died under inoculation. Fif- 
 teen hundred persons are said to have been inoculated, in one 
 day ; and it is certain from the bills of mortality that 848 per- 
 sons died of the disease who were not inoculated. If we 
 allow that only one in four died, as in the year 1738, the 
 whole number who took the disease in the natural way must 
 have been 3,392. Precision in numbers is not attainable; but 
 enough is known and remembered by several persons still 
 alive to prove that the year 1760 was one of the most mel- 
 ancholy and distressing that ever took place in Charlestown. 
 
 In the year 1763 the small-pox returned; but as there were 
 few to have it, and inoculation was generally adopted, its rav- 
 ages were not extensive. For seventeen years after, the small- 
 pox was seldom or never heard of During the siege of Charles- 
 town it was introduced, and immediately after the surrender 
 of the town on the 12th of May, 1780, a general inoculation 
 took place. As the cool regimen was then universally adopted, 
 the disease passed over without any considerable loss or incon- 
 venience. 
 
 Since the revolution, all the laws which interdicted the in- 
 troduction and spreading of the small-pox have been repealed. 
 There have been of course some cases of small pox almost 
 every year, but nothing very general or alarming in any one. 
 A small proportion of those who were inoculated died or suf- 
 fered inconveniences from it; but to nineteen of twenty, it was 
 a trifling disorder. This was a great triumph in favor of suf- 
 fering humanity, but it was far short of what followed. In 
 the year 1802, vaccination was introduced into Charlestown, 
 within four years after Dr. Jenner had published its efficacy 
 in preventing the small pox, though eighteen years had elapsed 
 between the first inoculation in England for the small pox and 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 45 
 
 the adoption of that practice in Carolina. This substitute for 
 the small pox was introduced into Charlestown by David Ram- 
 say, who after many trials succeeded in February, 1802, in com- 
 municating the disease to his son Nathaniel. From him origi- 
 nally, or remotely, some thousands have received the disease. 
 No case has yet occurred in which a clearly marked case of 
 small pox has followed a clearly marked case of vaccination. 
 Mistakes have been made with respect to both diseases, and 
 the one has in some instances been communicated to persons 
 who had previously received the seed of the other. From 
 these causes, added to the ignorance and carelessness of some 
 vaccinators, the confidence of a few in the Jennerian discovery 
 has been weakened. But that the real vaccine is a preventive 
 of the real small pox is as certain, from the testimony and 
 experience of thousands, as that the inoculated small pox se- 
 cures against the natural. Thus, in the short space of seventy 
 years, the small pox has been moderated in Carolina from the 
 natural to the artificial. The latter so alleviated by mild treat- 
 ment, and particularly by the cool regimen, as to become for 
 the most part a trifling disease; and finally an opportunity 
 has been given to avoid the dangers and inconvenience of 
 both, by a safe and easy substitute. The future ravages of 
 the small pox may be fairly put to the account of the careless- 
 ness, the ignorance or the prejudices of the people.* Though 
 ordinary fevers, since the improvement of Charlestown, have 
 been less frequent and less dangerous, yet for the last sixteen 
 years the yellow fever has recurred much oftener than in any 
 preceding period. This has not been satisfactorily accounted 
 for. If we refer it to some new state of the air, we virtually ac- 
 
 *The Royal College of Physicans, in London, in obedience to the command of 
 his Britannic majesty, "To inquire into the state of vaccine inoculation in the 
 United Kingdom," made a report on the subject on the lOth of April, 1807, from 
 which the following extracts are taken : 
 
 '■In the British islands some hundred thousands have been vaccinated. In our 
 possessions in the East Indies upwards of eight hundred thousand, and among 
 the nations of Europe the practice has become general. 
 
 "Vaccination appears to be in general perfectly safe; the instances to the con 
 trary being extremely rare. The disease excited by it is slight, and seldom pre- 
 vents those nnder it from following their ordinary occupations. It has been com- 
 municated with safety to pregnant women, to children during dentition and in 
 their earliest infancy, in all which respects it possesses material advantages over 
 inoculation for the small pox. 
 
 "The security derived from vaccination against the small-pox, if not absolutely 
 perfect, is as nearly so as can perhaps be expected from any human discovery; 
 for amongst several hundred thousand cases, with the results of which the college 
 have been made acquainted, the number of alleged failures has been surprisingly 
 small; so much so as to form certainly no reasonable objection to the general 
 adoption of vaccination; for it appears that there are not nearly so many failures 
 in a given number of vaccinated persons as there are deaths in an equal number 
 of persons inoculated for the small pox. 
 
 "The testimonies before the College of Physicians are very decided in declaring 
 that vaccination does less mischief to the constitution, and less frequently gives 
 ,rise to other diseases, than the small pox, either natural or inoculated." 
 
46 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 knowledge our ignorance. No visible obvious cause can be 
 designated why it should have recurred almost every year of 
 the last fifteen, and not once as an epidemic disease for the 
 forty years which immediately preceded the year 1792. 
 
 In the year 1699 or 1700, in addition to the calamities re- 
 sulting from a desolating fire and a fatal epidemic small pox, 
 a distemper broke out in Charlestown which carried off an 
 incredible number of people, among whom were Chief-Justice 
 Bohun, Samuel Marshal, the Episcopal clergyman, John Ely, 
 the Receiver-General, Edward Rawlins, the Provost-Marshal, 
 and almost one-half of the members of Assembly. Never 
 had the colonies been visited with such general distress and 
 mortality. Some whole families were carried off, and few- 
 escaped a share of the public calamities. Almost all were 
 lamenting the loss either of their habitations by the devour- 
 ing flames, or of friends and relations by this disease or the 
 small pox. Anxiety and distress were visible on every coun- 
 tenance. Many of the survivors seriously thought of aban- 
 doning a country on which the judgments of heaven seemed 
 to fall so heavy. Dr. Hewatt, from whom the preceding ac- 
 count is taken, designates this malady by the general appella- 
 tion of "an infectious distemper.'' It was generally called the 
 plague by the inhabitants. From tradition, and other circum- 
 stances, particularly the cotemporaneous existence of the yellow 
 fever in Philadelphia, there is reason to believe that this mal- 
 ady was the yellow fever; and if so, was the first appearance 
 of that disorder in Charlestown, and took place in the nine- 
 teenth or twentieth year after it began to be built. 
 
 The same author states, "that in 1703 an epidemical dis- 
 temper raged at Charlestown, which swept off a vast number 
 of inhabitants; and as the town was threatened by the French 
 and Spaniards, the Governor, who called the inhabitants to its 
 assistance, held his head-quarters about half a mile distant 
 from the town, on account of the contagious distemper which 
 then raged therein ; not wishing to expose his men to the dan- 
 gerous infection, unless from necessitJ^" These circumstances 
 make it probable that this was also the yellow fever. If so, 
 this was its second visit, and only three or four years subse- 
 quent to the first. 
 
 The same author states, "that the summer of 1728 was 
 uncommonly hot in Carolina; that in consequence thereof 
 the face of the earth was entirely parched, the pools of stand- 
 ing water dried up, and the beasts of the field reduced to the 
 greatest distress; and that an infectious and pestilential dis- 
 temper, commonly called the 'yellow fever,' broke out in town, 
 and swept off' multitudes of the inhabitants, both white and 
 black. As the town depended entirely on the country for 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 47 
 
 fresh provisions, the planters would sufler no person to carry- 
 supplies to it, for fear of catching the infection and bringing 
 it to the country. The. physicians knew not how to treat the 
 uncommon disorder, which was suddenly caught and proved 
 quickly fatal. The calamity was so general, that few could 
 grant assistance to their distressed neighbors. So many fu- 
 nerals happening every day while so many lay sick, white 
 persons sufficient for burying the dead were scarcely to be 
 found. Though they were often interred on the same day 
 they died, so quick was the putrefaction, so offensive and 
 infectious were the corpses, that even the nearest relations 
 seemed averse from the necessary duty." This is the first 
 •direct mention of the yellow fever in the history of Carolina. 
 
 From the information of Dr. Prioleau, derived from the 
 manuscripts of his accurate and observing grandfather, the 
 venerable Samuel Prioleau, who died in the year 1792, at the 
 age of seventy-four, it appears "that in the year 1732 the 
 yellow fever began to rage in May, and continued till Sep- 
 tember or October. In the heighth of the disorder there were 
 from eight to twelve whites buried in a day, besides people of 
 color. The ringing of the bells was forbidden, and little or 
 no business was done. In the year 1739, the yellow fever 
 raged nearly as violently as in the year 1732. It was observed 
 to fall most severely on Europeans. In 1745 and 1748 it 
 returned, but with less viotence; however, many young peo- 
 ple, mostly Europeans, died of it. It appeared again, in a few 
 cases, in 1753 and 1755, but did not spread. In all these visi- 
 tations it was generally supposed that the yellow fever was. 
 imported, and it was remarked that it never spread in the 
 country, though often carried there by infected persons, who 
 died out of Charlestown, after having caught the disease in it." 
 
 For forty-four years after 1748, there was no epidemic at- 
 tack of this disease, though there were occasionally in differ- 
 ent summers a few sporadic cases of it. In the year 1792 a 
 new era of the yellow fever commenced. It raged in Charles- 
 town in that year, and in 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1799, 1800, 
 1801, 1803, 1804, and 1807. The number of deaths from it 
 in these, its worst years, were — 
 
 Deaths.— In 1799, 239; in 1800, 184; in 1802, 96; in 1804, 
 148; in 1807, 162. 
 
 It appeared slightly in the years 1803 and 1805. In both 
 years its victims did not exceed 59. In the years 1793, 1798, 
 and 1808, the disease is not mentioned at all, and in the year 
 1806 it is only mentioned as having occurred in a very few 
 cases, under particular circumstances. In its visitations it 
 extended from July to November, but was most ripe in August 
 and September. With a very few exceptions, chiefly chil- 
 21 
 
48 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 dren, it exclusively fell on strangers. The unseasoned negroes 
 were not exempt from its ravages, but they escaped oftener 
 than other strangers, and when attacked, had the disease" in a 
 slighter degree, and if properly treated were more generally 
 cured. Persons, both black and white, arriving from the West 
 India Islands enjoy similar exemptions from the yellow fever 
 of Charlestown. In the years 1796 and 1799 it raged with its 
 greatest violence, but has since considerably abated both in fre- 
 quency and violence. This abatement is partly owing to the 
 diminished number of subjects, for strangers have been cau- 
 tious of residing in or even visiting Charlestown in the warm 
 months. It is also to be in part ascribed to a more judicious 
 treatment of the disease; for physicians now cure a greater 
 proportion of their patients laboring under it, especially when 
 they apply for relief in its first' stage, than some years ago, 
 when it was a new disease in the practice of the oldest and 
 most experienced of the faculty.* Nevertheless, there is rea- 
 son to believe that a real abatement has taken place. Nor is 
 this uncommon; for diseases, like other natural phenomena, 
 come and go. Such has been the history of the yellow fever 
 in Charlestown from its settlement to the present time. Soli- 
 tary cases originated in the country, but they were few in 
 number and not often repeated. 
 
 The laws of Carolina guard against the yellow fever, as an 
 imported contagions disease. The uniform experience of the 
 physicians in Charlestown, since the year 1792, proves that it 
 is neither one nor the other; for in no instance has a physi- 
 cian, nurse, or other attendant on persons laboring'nnder this 
 disease, caught it from them. Several, after taking it in 
 Charlestown, carried it with them and died in the country, 
 yet it never spread nor was communicated to any one who 
 attended on them. In every such case of mortality the disease 
 and the subject of it expired together. The quarantine laws 
 exist in the statute book, and impose useless restrictions on 
 commerce; but the execution of them is so far relaxed as not 
 to be unreasonably inconvenient. The present policy adopted 
 
 ®The detailed particulars of the yellow fever in Charlestown in the year 1802 
 may serve as a sample of it in other seasons. The whole number of deaths from 
 that disease in that year was ninety-six. Of these two took place in August, 
 sixty-four in September, and thirty in October. In the whole number there wa.s 
 not a single native of Charlestown, though five of them were born in South, and 
 one in North Carolina; twenty-one were born in England, twenty in the northern 
 States, nineteen in Ireland, eight in Germany, seven in Scotland, five in France, 
 one in Spain, one in Prussia, and one in IWadeira. The birth-place of the remain- 
 ing seven could not be ascertained. There was not a single black and only one 
 mulatto died of this fever in 1S02; but they were not equally fortunate in other 
 years. One of the subjects to whom it proved fatal, had resided three years, partly 
 in Charlestown and partly on Sullivan's Lsland. One had resided two years, two 
 a year and a half, and eighten for eleven or twelve months in Charlestown. The 
 residence of the remainder varied from eight months to six days. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 49 
 
 by the City Council, founded on the recommendation of the 
 medical society, proceeds on the idea of enforcing cleanliness 
 in the houses, yards, streets, harbor and shipping, as the best 
 practicable means of guarding against the yellow fever and other 
 diseases incidental to the climate. These are all aggravated by 
 the excess of solar heat. The diminution of that exciting cause 
 of disease would be of great service. From this/if it could be 
 effected in conjunction with cleanliness and a high dry surface 
 of the soil, both of which have been already attained in Charles- 
 town to a considerable degree, a melioration of the health of 
 the inhabitants might be confidently expected. Two remedies 
 for diminishing heat have been proposed. Shading the streets 
 by trees, or projections from the dwelling-houses, so that a 
 person might pass along without exposure to the direct rays 
 of the sun. No one can walk before the National bank with- 
 out wishing it was practicable to enjoy a similar refreshing 
 shade in every other part of the city. The second proposed 
 remedy is the plentiful introduction of water, so as to give a 
 facility for washing and cooling the streets with an artificial 
 shower whenever wanted. Streets either paved or covered 
 with gravelly materials, which Avould transmit but not stagnate 
 superincumbent water, and occasionally watered, would proba- 
 bly prevent or at least mitigate diseases, and certainly moderate 
 the distressing heat of summer, and refresh the inhabitants. 
 
 Diseases of the throat are common in Carolina. Its varia- 
 ble weather often produces inflammatory affections of that 
 organ. A disease thereof, accompanied with the scarlet fever, 
 or the scarlatina anginosa, frequently recurs, but is rarely 
 mortal. An apparently slight affection of the throat, accom- 
 panied with a laborious respiration resembling the croup, 
 about the year 1785, proved very destructive to many chil- 
 dren, and in a few instances to three or four in one family. 
 It has seldom recurred since that period. 
 
 The measles may be reckoned among the epidemic diseases 
 of Carolina. They are sometimes directly and speedily fatal, 
 especially when treated with heating remedies, on the absurd 
 theory of forcing a sweat and expediting their eruption, but 
 oftener lay the foundation for slow wasting consumptions; 
 especiallv where bleeding and a low regimen has been neg- 
 lected. The visitations of measles have not been matter of 
 historical record, except in the journals of the Medical Soci- 
 ety, from which it appears that they have occurred in 1791, 
 '2, '3, '4, '5, '6, and 1802 and 1803 ; but no particular mortaUty 
 is noted as attached to the disease. 
 
 Our elder citizens recollect that the measles were not only 
 epideinic, but frequently fatal in the year 1772 ; especially 
 when thev fell on the bowels or lungs. Tradition informs us 
 
50 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 that in the years 1747, 1759, 1775, or 1776, they were also 
 common and fatal; principally by the bowel complaints 
 which followed them. 
 
 Influenza in like manner, though a serious and frequent 
 epidemic, has seldom been the subject of record. 
 
 Many persons remember that the influenza, after traversing 
 the United States in 1789, reached Carolina and spread ex- 
 tensively. It was very fatal on the plantations near the north- 
 eastern line of the State, especially to prime full grown negroes. 
 William Alston lost above thirty of that description. The 
 whole mucous membrane, through all its recesses in the sinu- 
 ses of the OS frontis, was most grievously aff'ected. Deafness, 
 loss of taste and smell, for a long period were among its con- 
 sequences. More have reason to remember the influenza of 
 1807. Gradually advancing from the northern States, it 
 reached Charlestown early in September.* It spared neither 
 age nor sex, though children oftenest escaped altogether; or 
 if attacked, got through the disease with the least inconveni- 
 ence. The reverse was the case with aged persons. It soon 
 became so general that in some large families there was not a 
 sufficiency of persons in health to attend on the sick. In a 
 few Aveeks it is supposed that 14,000 persons, or half the popu- 
 lation of Charlestown, had been afflicted with that disease. 
 Of these, forty-five died ; thirteen of whom were white persons 
 and thirty-two negroes. The former were generally aged 
 persons. The disease spread on all sides into the country, 
 The mortality in Georgetown and Beaufort was considerably 
 greater than in Charlestown. The disease in many cases was 
 so mild as to preclude the necessity of application to a physi- 
 cian. In dangerous cases, when medical aid was required, 
 bleeding, blistering, emetics, cathartics, and sudorifices were 
 chiefly relied upon. 
 
 The influenza in its commencement resembled the yellow- 
 fever with a pain in and over the eyes^ and with red streaks 
 over their whites. A sharp acrid serum was discharged from 
 the eyes, and sometimes from the nostrils. In such cases a 
 hoarseness and soreness of the throat was usual. The sense 
 of smelling was sometimes impaired, the hearing was fre- 
 quently injured, and in a few cases the powers of vision were 
 
 "* This disease originated in New York in the month of August, and spread from 
 that centre in all directions. It reached Canada in October, and had extended to 
 the western and southwestern States, and even to the Havana in the course of 
 three months. Members of Congress on their way to "Washington, where they 
 were summoned to assemble on the 26th of October, while traveling from their 
 respective homes, met the disease in every State. Its progress was so rapid as 
 to outstrip the slow movements of contagion, and must have arisen from some 
 morbid constitution of the air. This is more probable from the circumstance that 
 it was caught at sea by persons approaching the coast of America from distant 
 countries. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 51 
 
 diminished. A tightness and stricture across the breast, with 
 a dry cough, was common. The matter expectorated was 
 occasionally tinged with blood. The whole mucous mem-, 
 brane lining the fauces, nostrils, and bronchia, was uncom- 
 monly stuffed with phlegm. In the aged the disease assumed 
 the form of a peripneumony ; in the young and plethoric, that 
 of a pleurisy. Persons of a consumptive diathesis, or who 
 had been subject to old coughs or diseases of the breast, suf- 
 fered most and oftenest relapsed. Spittings of blood and other 
 serious precursors of consumption attacked such patients after 
 the disease had in their cases apparently vanished and gen- 
 erally disappeared. An uncommon increase of consumptions 
 followed in the year ISOS, which exceeded anything ever 
 before known in Charlestown. 
 
 The whooping cough rages more or less almost every year, 
 but its visits iiave not been generally recorded. The returns 
 of yellow fever, and of small pox in the early period of our 
 history, made such strong impressions on the minds of the 
 people as to form seras in the domestic history of private fami- 
 lies. But tlie whooping cough though an epidemic disease, 
 occasionally fatal, and one which attacks almost every person, 
 yet it has been for the most part soon forgotten. It is never- 
 theless recorded that in the year 1804 it proved fatal to sixty- 
 four children in Charlestown. It has been remarked that in 
 seasons when Charlestown was healthy, the country was 
 sickly. The reverse has also been noticed. Diseases are 
 most ripe in the city in summer, but in the country in autumn. 
 A constitution of the air prevails in one which is different 
 from that of the other. For three months, July, August, and 
 September, a free intercourse between them is not without 
 danger. They fare best who keep steadily for that period 
 either in the city or the country. These remarks, always true, 
 have been eminently so in 1808; for in that most healthy 
 summer there were few mortal cases of fever which originated 
 in Charlestown, while excursions for a few days to the coun- 
 try in many cases proved fatal. The fevers which in sum- 
 mer and autumn attack the inhabitants of the city in conse- 
 quence of their going to the country, lie dormant for some 
 time, more or less ; for a week, nine or ten days, and in some 
 cases longer. That all danger is past cannot be certainly 
 known in less than twenty-one days after returning to the 
 city. 
 
 The diseases of negroes in Carolina differ in several par- 
 ticulars from those of white people. Palsies, apoplexies, and 
 madness dyspepsia, and the whole train of maladies con- 
 nected with the passions and acts of the mind, are less 
 frequent with the former than the latter. Removed frorn 
 all anxiety concerning their own support, or that of their 
 
52 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 children ; incapable of holding property or of advancing 
 themselves, their minds are generally made up to their situa- 
 tion, and they are free from many tormenting passions and 
 corroding cares which prey upon the health and break the 
 hearts of their owners. To colds, fevers, and such complaints 
 as result from a variable climate, they are rather more liable 
 than white people. The dread of losing time and of incurring 
 expense for the recovery of health is no inducement with them 
 to take care of it. All tliese losses and all cares respecting 
 future events fall oa their maslers. A respite from labor com- 
 pensates for the pains of slight indispositions. They are 
 therefore incorrigibly careless, and wantonly expose them- 
 selves to the dangers which result from the sudden changes 
 of the weather. Their common intermitting fevers are easily 
 cured, and seldom require more than a smart emetic; but 
 epidemic fevers occasionally break out among them which 
 not unfrequently baffle medical skill. These have no regular 
 periods of returning. They were frequent in the revolutionary 
 war, especially when great numbers of negroes were crowded 
 in small confined spots. The disease had different names and 
 was occasionally called camp, hospital, gaol, putrid, nervous, 
 and malignant fevers. Its supposed causes are filth, impure 
 air, putrid animal and vegetable effluvia, a moist atmosphere, 
 great fatigue, and low scanty diet ; but sometimes they break 
 out without any visible known cause, and in both cases prove 
 fatal to numbers of the most valuable negroes in particular 
 neighborhoods or plantations, while the white people gen- 
 erally escape. The treatment of blacks laboring under these 
 novel diseases* puzzled the physicians; for the symptoms 
 were so various in difl'erent attacks that the best informed 
 could not always trust former experience, and were some- 
 times obliged in the first cases to grope their way. These 
 limited epidemics have been so destructive at different times 
 to negro property as to add much to the uncertainty of plan- 
 ters' estates. 
 
 Of the diseases which have been reviewed, Carolina has its 
 
 * Among the novel diseases of negroes was one which became the subject of 
 remark at the beginning of the revolutionary war, when large bodies of blacks 
 were employed as laborers on the public works. This had the external appear- 
 ance of dropsy, or universal anasarca, and was accompanied with extreme de- 
 bility, great thirst, loss of appetite, and in many cases quickly proved mortal. In 
 the cure of it the salt of tobacco was first extensively introduced into practice in 
 Charlestown, and it has ever since maintained a superior rank among the medi- 
 cines which are prescribed in dropsical complaints. 
 
 During the siege of Charlestown in 17S0, a fever, answering exactly to the de- 
 scription_ of the hospital fever, broke out among the negroes employed on the 
 works of the besiegers, which depopulated many of the plantations in the neigh- 
 borhood of the scene of military operations. After the siege, this disease made 
 its appearance among the negroes confined in prison, and carried oft' multitudes. 
 S'iveral of these turned yellow before they died. The mortality from it was so 
 great that in one case eighty negroes given by an alfectionate father to an only 
 son, were in a few weeks reduced to forty-two. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 180S. 53 
 
 full proportion. Of others it has less. Gravel and nephritic 
 complaints in general have at all times been comparatively 
 rare. The operation of lithotomy which has been performed 
 seventeen times in Philadelphia by Doctor Bond, sixty times 
 by Doctor John Jones of New York, and two hundred times 
 by Doctor Turner of Connecticut, has been rarely necessary 
 in Carolina. Only three operations can be distinctly and cer- 
 tainly recollected as having been performed on its inhabitants; 
 two by Doctor Turner, and one by Doctor Glover. In each of 
 these three cases the operation succeeded. Consumptions, 
 though they have increased in Charlestown very much within 
 the last ten years, and within the last four years from ninety- 
 two to upwards of two hundred fatal cases in the year, and 
 even more so since the general influenza of 1807, yet are much 
 rarer in Carolina than in more northern climates. The same 
 may be said of rheumatisms. In the statistic accounts of 
 Scotland, the gezreral prevalence of that distressing disease is 
 referred to the severity of their cold weather, to the dampness 
 of their houses uncorrected by large fires, and to a deficiency 
 of fuel. The superabundance of wood, and particularly of 
 light-wood, in the country enables even the poor in Carolina 
 to guard against such complaints as far as they are the effects 
 of cold. The consequences of being enveloped in, and breath- 
 ing a terebinthinate air are not fully known. Thereis reason 
 to believe that they are eminently beneficial. It is an old and 
 well authenticated observation that persons, whether white or 
 black, employed in burning tar kilns are always healthy. 
 Miserable will be the lot of the poor, both black and white, in 
 Carohna, when light-wood ceases to be common or to be 
 easily procured. Of the numerous emigrants from colder 
 countries there have been several who, though troubled in the 
 laud of their nativity with painful rheumatic affections or 
 threatened with serious diseases of the breast, have found on 
 their settling in Carolina that the first either vanished or were 
 mitigated both in violence and frequency and that the last, if 
 not cured, were rendered stationary. 
 
 The rickets, scrophula, scurvy, and diabetes, especially the 
 first, are very uncommon in this State. Children, even slaves, 
 seldom experience the parchings of hunger; especially on plan- 
 tations where provisions are raised. Their youthful limbs 
 are not crippled by early confinement at sedentary employ- 
 ments. Play is the chief business of most of them till they 
 are sufficiently grown to work in the field or to do something 
 of consequence. Hypochondriasis,* and indeed the whole tribe 
 
 » It is probable that the state of mind which leads to self-murder is less common 
 ill Carolina than in more northern latitudes ; but it is certain from an examination 
 of the records of the Coronors office in Charlestown that few natives commit that 
 foul crime in comparison with strangers. From this authentic source of informa- 
 
54 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 of chronical diseases is less common in this warm climate 
 than in those which are cold. The dangers and difficulties of 
 parturition are also comparatively less. The general character 
 of most diseases in Carolina is acute. Their onset is violent, 
 their progress rapid, their termination speedy, and they require 
 energetic remedies. Short credit is given to juvenile indul- 
 gences. The follies of youth and their distressing consequen- 
 ces follow almost immediately in the order of cause and effect. 
 He that wishes to do the great business of life by preparation 
 for futurity, or even to make a prudent and judicious testa- 
 mentary disposition of his property, would do well to arrange 
 these matters before serious sickness commences; for that is 
 often so rapid as to leave little leisure to attend to anything 
 further than the prescriptions of the physician till reason de- 
 parts or death closes the scene forever. 
 
 Fevers are the proper endemics of Carolina, and occur of- 
 tener than any, probably than all other diseases. These are the 
 effects of its warm, moist climate, of its low grounds, and 
 stagnant waters. In their mildest season they assume the type 
 of intermittents ; in their next grade they are bilious remit- 
 tents, and under particular circumstances in their highest 
 grade constitute yellow fever. The efforts of the inliabitants to 
 guard against these diseases merit a place in medical history. 
 Their first plan is said to have been retirement from Charles- 
 town to the country. This may have answered for the first 
 thirty or forty years ; for in that period very little of the 
 swamps had been opened, and the high and dry pine lands 
 were the chief spots both of residence and improvement. The 
 increased cultivation of rice, the diffusion of marsh miasmata 
 from the open cultivated low grounds, and the location of settle- 
 ments near them in process of time turned the balance of 
 health in favor of Charlestown. The wealthy planters who 
 could afford the expenses of a double residence, spent their 
 summers in town and their winters in the country. Within 
 the last sixteen years the frequent recurrence of yellow fever 
 in the crowded metropolis has induced numbers to adopt 
 other plans. The sea islands, particularly Sullivan's and 
 Beaufort, Edding's bay, and the sea-shore, generally has been 
 resorted to as places of healthy retirement during the summer 
 season. With the same views Walterborough, Springfield, 
 Summerville,Pineville, and some other smaller establishments, 
 
 tion it appears that in the first eight years of the 19th century there were twenty- 
 four self-murderers in CharlestOM-n. Of these, only two were born in the State. 
 Six were newly imported Africans, whose situation was peculiar. Nine were 
 from the northern parts of Europe, four from the more northern States of Amer- 
 ica; only two from France, and one from Jamaica. Migrations from north to 
 south are frequently undertaken with extravagant expectations of great advan- 
 tages from the change. These often fail and advantage is taken of their failure 
 against the unfortunate for the worst of purposes by the worst of beings. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 55 
 
 have suddenly grown into villages. A medical opinion, ap- 
 parently well founded, has generally prevailed that the en- 
 demic diseases of Carolina were not the effect of heat alone, 
 nor exclusively of superahundant moisture; but the result 
 of both, producing and combining with putrefaction. The 
 conclusion followed that health might be enjoyed in any 
 situation exempt from putrefaction and moisture, and at 
 a sufficient distance from the miasmata to which they give 
 birth. Experience had proved that these miasmata seldom 
 extended their effects as far as three miles, even to the lee- 
 ward of stagnant putrefying materials, and much less on the 
 windward side. Spots of high and dry land covered with pine 
 trees, and at a sufficient distance from ponds, swamps, and 
 other reservoirs of poisonous efBluvia, have been diligently 
 sought for; and to them families have retired from their dwell- 
 ing houses, injudiciously located in the vicinity of the swamps, 
 and there passed the summers sociably with their neighbors 
 allured to the same place with the same views. Advantages 
 neither foreseen nor calculated upon have resulted from these 
 temporary villages. They became the seats of schools and 
 of churches, neither of which were within the convenient 
 grasp of the inhabitants when dispersed over the adjacent 
 country. Experience confirmed the theory which gave birth 
 to these estabhshments, for their inhabitants have generally 
 escaped the fevers of the season ; nor were their planting in- 
 terests materially injured, for they could make short excur- 
 sions to their plantations and return without inhaUng the 
 seeds of fever. Numbers in this manner parry the diseases 
 of summer at the trifling expense of a slight building in the 
 pine woods. The residents on Sullivan's island enjoy a whole- 
 some air, inferior to none in the world, with the exception of 
 persons laboring under diseases of the breast, many of whom 
 are injured by the tonic qualities of the island air. Enjoy- 
 ments without alloy are rarely the lot of man. While the in- 
 habitants of that salubrious island revelled in health, and 
 rioted in intellectual and social pleasures, they were surprised 
 with the hurricane of 1804 which brought their lives into 
 serious danger, and from which there was no possibility of 
 escape. Apprehensions of the return of similar scenes have 
 been ever since a source of annual anxiety. The extremity 
 of heat elsewhere which makes the coolness of the island so 
 great a luxury, is the exciting cause of these convulsions of 
 nature which render a residence thereon dangerous. Expe- 
 rience of more than a century has demonstrated that hurri- 
 canes are always preceded by extreme hot weather, and gen- 
 erally accompanied with the yellow fever. They occur in the 
 same season, and follow in the train of each other as effect 
 
56 
 
 and cause. In such a case between the dread of pestilence in 
 the city, of common fever in the country, and of an expected 
 hurricane on the island, the' inhabitants of the latter are at 
 the close of every warm season in a painful state of anxiety, 
 not knowing what course to pursue, nor what is best to be 
 done. 
 
 An opinion generally prevails that South Carolina is un- 
 healthy. This is neither correctly true nor wholly false. A 
 great proportion of the State, especially of the lower country, 
 is for the most part inundated. In it sluggish rivers, stagnant 
 swamps, ponds, and marshes are common; and in or near to 
 them putrefaction is generated. In all these places, and for 
 two or three miles adjacent to them, the seeds of febrile dis- 
 eases are plentifully sown and from them are disseminated ; 
 particularly between the months of June and November. On 
 the other hand, the sea-shore and sea islands are for the most 
 part healthy. The same may be affirmed of the ridges of land 
 between the rivers. These extend from ten to forty or fifty 
 miles. After deducting inland swamps, and two or three miles 
 on the margin of the rivers, and around the ponds and 
 marshes, many thousands of acres of high, dry, and healthy 
 land will remain. As we advance westwardly these deduc- 
 tions lessen. The swamps terminate about 120 miles from the 
 ocean. Beyond them are extensive settlements in which the 
 blessings of health are generally enjoyed, with the exception 
 of the margins of rivers and the vicinity of ponds and mill- 
 dams. This is the case in the districts of Abbeville, Laurens, 
 Spartanburg, York, Union, Newberry, Chester, Lancaster, Fair- 
 field, and eminently so in Pendleton and Greenville. The 
 greatest part of the high hills of Santee, though only seventy 
 or eighty miles in a direct line from the ocean, is also in gen- 
 eral, healthy. Such is the medical division of South Carolina 
 as resulting from the natural qualities of the soil. Art has 
 done something and might do much more for the improve- 
 ment of the country. Every drop of superabounding and at 
 present injurious moisture that is therein, may be turned to 
 some useful account. When, suifered to stagnate it is a curse, 
 when properly dispersed it is a blessing. Marshes, low grounds, 
 and ponds may be drained by the industry of man, and their 
 surplus water made to fertilize the adjacent thirsty soil. The 
 removal of obstructions in the rivers and creeks would give mo- 
 tion to much stagnant or sluggish water, and convert moist into 
 dry ground. Inland navigation connected with irrigation might 
 be carried to such an extent as to give an active and import- 
 ant use to much of that water which is now the hot bed of 
 putrefaction. These things have been done in China and 
 may be done in Carolina. Every step that is taken in this 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 57 
 
 glorious work advances both the health and wealth of the 
 country. 
 
 The original settlers of Carolina had no thought that in less 
 than a century Oyster-Point would become a place of com- 
 mercial importance, and the capital of an independent State 
 stretching from the ocean to the mountains. Had they antic- 
 ipated half of what has already taken place, ten feet alleys, 
 and streets thirty-three feet wide, would have made no part of 
 their projected seat of government. It would then have been 
 nearly as easy to have made the streets one hundred feet wide 
 as any inferior number. In that case they would have ad- 
 mitted three rows of trees, one at each side, and one in the 
 middle of every street. It would have been easy to have 
 made no lots of less size than half an acre, and by law to 
 have prevented their subdivision. In addition to the incon- 
 veniences of a low and moist situation, too many people in 
 Charlestown, in consequence of its niggardly plan, are crowded 
 on too small a space of ground. Close compact cities are the 
 destroyers of the human race. Every family generates a 
 portion of filth, and when they are near to each other, that 
 becomes too great for the health of the citizens. Numbers are 
 every year sacrificed to the avarice of the proprietors of lots. 
 The evils of a crowded population are increased by high and 
 close fences, which are daily increasing, and still more by 
 building houses in contact with each other and without any 
 interstice between. The daily removal of putrescible sub- 
 stances lessens the evils of an impure air, but is inadequate 
 to the purpose intended. The only efi'ectual remedy is fresh 
 running water. This unites cleanliness with coolness. It re- 
 moves noxious vapors, cools the atmosphere and increases its 
 salubrity by extricating fresh and wholesome air from its 
 own substance. The next best practicable mitigator of heat 
 and corrector of foul air in Charlestown is trees planted in all 
 the streets which can admit them. They are the coolers 
 given to us by nature. In addition to their refreshing shade, 
 they imbibe the poisonous materials which vitiate the air. 
 They fan the earth by the vibratory motion of their leaves. 
 Instead of obstructing the free circulation of the air, they in- 
 crease a light breeze by creating an under current on the sur- 
 face of the earth, where it is wanted. Cities built with marble, 
 if destitute of trees and vegetation, would only afford a miser- 
 able residence to splendidly wretched inhabitants. 
 
 Much of the sickness in the country arises from an inju- 
 dicious choice of sites for habitation. Health or disease, long 
 life or premature death, hang very much on the choice of a 
 salubrious situation for a house. This should never be on the 
 side of a marsh or within a mile of it ; but if this cannot be 
 
58 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 avoided, the dwelling should be placed to the windward, 
 which in this State is the south and west; for the unwhole- 
 some winds of summer mostly blow from these points. If 
 circumstances make it necessary to live near to or on the 
 north or east side of unwholsome spots, the evil may be 
 mitigated by preserving or planting trees in the intermediate 
 space. 
 
 South Carolina since the revolution has been favored with 
 the privilege, seldom enjoyed by any State, of forming a city 
 on medical and philosophical principles for health and com- 
 fort Avithout any influence from mercantile convenience or 
 land jobbing avarice. The extension of settlements far to the 
 west loudly demanded on republican principles a removal of 
 the seat of government from the vicinity of the Atlantic ocean. 
 The general principle being resolved upon, no private views 
 could control the sovereign people from establishing their gov- 
 ernment where they pleased ; and wherever they fixed it a 
 town would of course be speedily formed. A high and com- 
 manding situation about one hundred and twenty miles from 
 Charlestown, and about three miles from the junction of Broad 
 and Saluda rivers, commonly known by the name of the 
 plane of Taylor's hill, was selected. In many respects this 
 choice was judicious: perhaps a much better could not have 
 been made to the east of the mountains. There was a suffi- 
 cient elevation to carry off with management all superfluous 
 water. Some of the defects in the original plan of Charles- 
 town were obviated. No lots were to be less than half an 
 acre. The two main streets crossing each other at right 
 angles were to be each 150 feet wide, and none were to be 
 less than sixty. It was unfortunately, but perhaps unavoid- 
 ably placed on the north and east side of the neighboring 
 rivers and no more than about three miles distant. It is to be 
 regretted that the lots were not by the original terms of sale 
 made indivisible, and their owners restrained from building 
 more than one dwelling house on each — that the plat of the 
 town was not so constituted as to have preserved all the timber 
 between the town and the rivers as a defence against the 
 south west winds, impregnated with the miasmata with which 
 they are usually charged, and that all possibility of erecting 
 mill dams or keeping up ponds of stagnant water was not le- 
 gally or constitutionally forbidden. These regulations could 
 with ease and propriety have been adopted at first, but cannot 
 now be carried into effect without violating private rights. The 
 place is sufficiently high to have in it no other than running 
 water; and the streets are wide enough to admit without in- 
 convenience, three rows of trees to be planted in each of them. 
 These advantages, with the surrounding woods and vegeta- 
 
PEOM 1670 TO 1808. 59 
 
 tion, especially when drained of every drop of stagnant water, 
 may keep the town healthy till the rising value of its lots 
 paves the way for the destruction of pure air by a crowded 
 population. This is to be apprehended, for the degree of heat 
 therein is greater than in Charlestown, and is unallayed by 
 salutary sea breezes; the refrigerating qualities of the trade 
 winds; the ventilation from the motion of tide, water, and 
 even of the east and northeast winds which seldom penetrate 
 so far from the shores of the Atlantic as sensibly to moderate 
 the heat of summer. The natural advantages of Columbia 
 and its scattered settlements, together with the improved plan 
 of the town, bid fair, under the direction of a well regulated 
 police, to preserve it healthy for several years ; but from its 
 greater heat it will be more exposed to diseases than Charles- 
 town when population, compact settlement and consequent 
 filth shall be equal in both. 
 
 A medical society for the advancement of the heahng art 
 was formed in 1789, and incorporated in 1794. At their 
 monthly meetings they converse on the prevailing diseases; 
 examine and record their meteorological observations, and dis- 
 cuss some medical question or subject. The members are by 
 their rules under obligations to furnish in rotation some origi- 
 nal medical paper which, after circulating among the members, 
 is made the subject of conversation and discussion at their 
 next meeting. Of these papers, a few have already been i)ub- 
 lished. Others remain sufficient both in number and import- 
 ance to make a volume which probably will in time be brought 
 forward to public view. In all cases respecting the medical 
 police of Charlestown application has been made to this society 
 for their advice, and it has been cheerfully given and essen- 
 tially contributed to form beneficial regulations for preserving 
 the health of the inhabitants. Three institutions emanated 
 from the medical society of great public utility: the Humane 
 society — the Charlestown dispensary, and the Botanic garden. 
 An apparatus for the recovery of persons suffering under sus- 
 pended animation was purchased by the society, and lodged 
 near the most frequented wharves with directions how to treat 
 the sufferers. The members tendered their medical services 
 when called upon. They also applied to the City Council for 
 their aid, who directed that all articles used, and all assistance 
 rendered should, if required, be paid by the city; and that any 
 retailer of spirituous liquors who refused the use of his house 
 for trying the process of resuscitation should receive no new 
 license for carrying on his business. The second institution, 
 or the Dispensary, was instituted for the medical relief of the 
 poor in their own houses. Most of the physicians and sur- 
 geons of the society in rotation gratuitously attend and pre- 
 
60 
 
 scribe for the dispensary patients. These are admitted to the 
 benefit of the institution by tickets from trustees. The City 
 Council appoints the trustees and also the dispensary apoth- 
 ecary. To the latter an annual salary is paid from the city 
 treasury for his medicines and services. Thus medical advice 
 and attendance can be obtained at their own habitations gra- 
 tuitously by all the indigent inhabitants who apply for it; and 
 the whole expense has hitherto cost the city no more than 1,000 
 dollars per annum. The young physicians, when admitted 
 members of the medical society, are classed into pairs; and 
 in monthly rotation with the elder members, prescribe for and 
 attend on the dispensary patients. In cases of difficulty, pro- 
 vision is made for consultations with some of the elder physi- 
 cians appointed for that purpose by the medical society. In 
 addition to the manifold advantages derived to the more indi- 
 gent inhabitants from this institution, it proves an excellent 
 practical school for the younger physicians, and furnishes a 
 conspicuous opportunity for introducing their industry, talents, 
 and acquirements to public observation. 
 
 The Botanic society was formed and incorporated in the 
 year 1805. The Medical society gave to it three hundred dol- 
 lars, fifty dollars per annum, and a large lot of land which had 
 been generously given to them by Mrs. Savage, now Mrs. Tur- 
 pin, to be used as a Botanic garden. The inhabitants were 
 invited to join the association, and oia their annual payment 
 of any sum between four to ten dollars, at their option, they 
 were entitled to privileges in proportion to their respective 
 subscriptions, and became members of the Botanic society. 
 An annual sum of 1,176 dollars thus obtained from voluntary 
 subscribers, has given activity to the project. The garden was 
 opened in the year 1805, and has been superintended ever 
 since by a committee,chosen partly by the medical society and 
 partly by the other members of the Botanic society. This 
 committee keep in constant employ an experienced practical 
 Botanist, and a few laborers under him. The institution has 
 flourished beyond the most sanguine expectations of its friends. 
 It is now enriched with a considerable number of plants, both 
 indigenoits and exotic, arranged according to the Linnean sys- 
 tem, and additions are constantly making to it by the citizens 
 and from foreign countries. From the proceeds of a lottery 
 now pending, hopes are entertained that the society will be 
 enabled to enlarge their plan so as to make their garden the 
 repository of every thing useful, new, and curious in the vege- 
 table world. A society of practitioners of physic from several 
 surrounding districts has been lately formed, which now hold 
 their meetings in Union district, under the name of Escula- 
 pean society of South Carolina. The duties and exercises 
 
PROM 1670 TO 1808. 61 
 
 imposed by this society are similar to those imposed by the 
 JVledical society of South Carolina. Their funds are intended 
 for the purchase of a Medical library. 
 
 For eighty or ninety years after the first settlement of South 
 Carolina, the practice of physic was almost entirel}^ in the 
 hands of Europeans. Among these were several able phy- 
 sicians who possessed an accurate knowledge of the diseases 
 of the country. 
 
 The 18th century was more than half elapsed before the 
 Carolinians seriously undertook to educate their sons for the 
 practice of physic, or before any native of America had estab- 
 lished himself in Soixth Carolina as a practitioner of medicine. 
 About the year 1760 a few youths were put under the care of 
 respectable physicians in Charlestown who, afier spending five 
 or six years in their shops, doing the duties of apprentices, 
 and reading practical medical books, spent three or four sea- 
 sons at the university of Edinburgh and then came home in- 
 vested with the merited degrees of Doctors of Medicine. They 
 were well received by their coimtrymen, and readily established 
 themselves in business. This success encouraged others to 
 follow their example and ever since a medical education has 
 been, more common. Anterior to the revolution nothing short 
 of an European education was deemed suificient to attach the 
 confidence of the public to any medical practitioner; but the 
 growing reputation of the university of Pennsylvania resulting 
 from the splendid talents of its Professors, and the solid attain- 
 ments of its graduates, has done away this impression. The 
 conveniency of attending medical lectures in a neighborhood 
 city for some time past, and at present, draws three in four of 
 the Charlestown medical students to Philadelphia in prefer- 
 ence to Edinburgh at the distance of 3,000 miles and in a 
 climate often too cold for young Carolinians. The study of 
 medicine becomes daily more fashionable, and the first people 
 in the State now educate their sons for physicians. 
 
 In addition to the regular practice of medicine, there is much 
 that may be called domestic. The distance of physicians, the 
 expense, difficulty, and delay in procuring their attendance, 
 has compelled many inhabitants of the country to prescribe 
 for their families and sometimes for their neighbors. Wesley's 
 primitive physic, Tissot, Buchan, Ricketson, Ewell, or some 
 plain practical author is to be found in almost all their houses. 
 f: With the aid of some family medicines, and of some well 
 known vegetable productions, under the guidance of expe- 
 rience they prescribe for the sick and often succeed beyond 
 expectation. 
 
 In cases of surgery they are more at a loss ; but even here by 
 the aid of common sense and from the pressure of necessity 
 
62 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 aiding invention, they sometimes perform wonders. The 
 author of this work in the year 1779, examined the stump of 
 a man living near Orangeburg whose leg, after being horribly 
 mangled, had been successfully amputated several years be- 
 fore by one of his neighbors with a common knife, carpenter's 
 handsaw, and tongs. The last instrument was applied red 
 hot to staunch the bleeding. The stump was far from elegant, 
 but with the help of a wooden leg the patient enjoyed all the 
 advantages which are secured by the most dexterous perform- 
 ance of amputation. There was no sergeon within sixty miles 
 of the sufferer. 
 
 Capital planters have their sick house or hospital — their 
 medicine chest — their tooth drawer and bleeder — and often 
 their midwife for family use. The negroes are the chief ob- 
 jects of these establishments. From the simplicity of their 
 disorders, resulting from their plain aliment and modes of life, 
 the benevolent intentions of their owners are often carried 
 into full effect. The pride of science is sometimes humbled 
 on seeing and hearing the many cures that are wrought by 
 these pupils of experience, who, without theory or system, by 
 observation and practice acquire a dexterity in curing comrnoa 
 diseases. 
 
 In the infancy of Carolina, when European physicians mo- 
 nopolized the practice of physic, there were more experiments 
 made, more observations recorded, and more medical writings 
 ushered into public view by the physicians of Charlestown, 
 than of any other part of the American continent Dr. John 
 Lining communicated to the Royal Society meteorological 
 observations on the weather of Charlestown for the year 1738, 
 1739, 1740, and 1742, which were the first ever published. 
 He also favored the public with a series of judicious statistical 
 experiments, perseveringly conducted through the whole of the 
 year 1740.* 
 
 Dr. Lining was one of the first experimenters in the novel 
 subject of electricity, on which he corresponded with Dr. 
 Franklin, soon after the discoveries of that celebrated man had 
 astonished the philosophers of both the old and new hemis- 
 phere. He also, in the year 1753, published an accurate his- 
 tory of the yellow fever, which was the first that had been 
 given to the public from the American continent 
 
 Dr. Lionel Chalmers made and recorded observations on 
 
 *From these it appeared that in the course of one year he had taken in nour- 
 ishment and drink 42,443 ounces; that in the same time he had discharpred byper- 
 spiration 19,721 ounces — by urine 21,276 ounces — and by stool 1,428 ounces ; and 
 that the weight of his body increased in March, October, November, December, 
 and January ; and diminished in April, May, June, July, August, September, and 
 February, and that the diminution was greatest in September, being then 102 
 ounces. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808, 63 
 
 the weather for ten successive years, that is from 1750 to 1760. 
 The same able physician furnished a particular account of 
 the opisthotonos and tetanus, which was communicated to the 
 Medical Society in London, in the year 1754, and afterwards 
 published in the first volume of their transactions. He also 
 prepared for the press an account of the weather and diseases 
 of South Carohna, which was published in London in 1776; 
 but his most valuable work was an essay on fevers, printed 
 in Charlestown in the year 1767. In this he unfolded the 
 outlines of the modern spasmodic theory of fevers. Hoffman 
 had before glanced at the same principles ; but their complete 
 illustration was reserved for Cullen, and laid the foundation 
 of his fame. 
 
 Doctor Garden, about the year 1764, gave to the public an 
 account of the virtues of pink root and at the same time gave 
 a botanical description of the plant. This truly scientific phy- 
 sician was much devoted to the study of natural history, and 
 particularly of botany, and made sundry communications* on 
 those subjects to his philosophical friends in Europe. 
 
 In compliment to him, the greatest botanist of the age gave 
 the name of Gardenia to one of the most beautiful flowering 
 shrubs in the world. 
 
 William Bull was the first native of South Carolina who 
 obtained a degree in medicine. He had been apupilof Boer- 
 haave, and in the year 1734 defended a thesis "De Colica Pic- 
 tonum" before the University of Leyden. He is quoted by 
 Van Swieten as his fellow-student, with the title of the learned 
 Dr. Bull. 
 
 John Moultrie was the first Carolinian who obtained the 
 degree of Doctor of Medicine, from the University of Edin- 
 burgh, where, in the year 1749, he defended a thesis "De Febre 
 Flava." Between the years 1768 and 1778 ten more natives 
 obtained the same honor. These were Isaac Chanler, Peter 
 Fayssoux, Thomas Caw, Charles Drayton, Tucker Harris, Rob- 
 ert Peronneau, James Air, George Logan, Zachariah Neuf- 
 ville, and Robert Pringle. 
 
 Since the revolutionary war the number of native students 
 has very much increased. Among them are several young 
 men of great hopes. It is no inconsiderable evidence of the 
 
 *0f these the following have been published in the transactions of the Royal 
 Society: the HcUesia, first described by Dr. Garden, as appears by the letter of T. 
 Ellis, Esq., F. K. S., read before the Royal Society, November 20th, 1760. An ac- 
 count of the male and female cochineal insects, in a letter to John Ellis, Esq., read 
 before the Royal Society, December 23, 1762. An account of an amphrl)ious bipes, 
 (the mud inguana, or syren of South Carolina,) communicated in a letter to John 
 Ellis, Esq., read before the Royal Society. An account of tvpo nevp tortoises com- 
 municated in a letter to Thomas Pennant, Esq., and read before the Royal Society, 
 May 2, 1771. An account of the gymnotus electricus in a letter to John Ellis, 
 Esq., read before the Royal Society, February 23, 1775. 
 22 
 
64 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 increasing prosperity of South Carolina and the progress of 
 medical knowledge therein, that within the last twenty-five 
 years, or since the peace of 1783, many more natives of the 
 State have graduated doctors of medicine than all the Caro- 
 linians who had previously obtained that honor from the first 
 settlement of the province. Among them are physicians and 
 surgeons who are equal to the judicious treatment of every 
 disease, and the dexterous performance of every operation in 
 surgery. 
 
 Three attempts have been made to regulate the admission 
 of candidates for practicing the healing art in Carolina; but 
 all failed. Clergymen and lawyers, before they are authorized 
 to exercise their respective functions, are examined and li- 
 censed by competent judges ; but the practice of physic is free 
 to every man or woman who chooses to undertake it. 
 
 A summary view of fashions, medical opinions, and prac- 
 tices which have at different periods affected the health of the 
 inhabitants and the practice of medicine in Carolina, shall 
 close this chapter. The cocked hats which were common 
 thirty years ago, exposed the wearers of them to the action of 
 the sun much more than the round, flat, and deep crowned 
 hats, which are now fashionable. The substitution of silk for 
 varnished umbrellas has also been advantageous. The late 
 increased general use of flannel next the skin, by adults, has 
 defended them against the consequences of the sudden changes 
 of the weather. Females, thirty or forty years ago, by the use 
 of tight heavy whalebone stays injured their health, and some- 
 times obstructed their regular growth. To this succeeded a 
 moderate use of lighter stays which were advantageous to the 
 shape without injury to the health. These gave place to a 
 loose manner of dressing, which though unnecessary to 
 health, destroyed the elegance of their form. Some, by the use 
 of suspenders to their petticoats ran the risk of inducing can- 
 cers, by an unequal and constant pressure on their bosoms. 
 This mode of dressing, which obliterated all distinction be- 
 tween the blooming slender virgin and the fruitful wife has 
 been for some time changing in favor of lengthening waists 
 and tighter bracing. The present danger is of their proceed- 
 ing too far; for such practices, carried to excess, endanger the 
 health of single women ; and in the case of married ladies, 
 increase the pangs of parturition and lessen the probability of 
 their terminating in the birth of living, well formed children. 
 The great revolution in favor of the health of females, is the 
 laying aside the old absurd custom of shutting them up from 
 the commencement of pains, introductory to real labor, in 
 close rooms from which air was excluded, and continu- 
 ing them in this confined state, not only during the pangs of 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1S08. 65 
 
 child-birth, but for many days after their termination. Un- 
 reasonable prejudices against cool air were common thirty or 
 forty years ago, and were acted upon to the injury and fre- 
 quent deaths both of mothers and their infant offspring. The 
 tight swaddling bands applied to the latter hastened the same 
 event. A great reform has taken place; these mischievous 
 practices have been laid aside. Cool air for several years has 
 been freely admitted to the comfort of all parties in the cham- 
 ber of confinement. The natural activity of infants, and the 
 free expansion of their viscera, is no longer cramped by tight 
 dresses. Most happy consequences have resulted — fewer wo- 
 men are lost — more children survive, and larger families are 
 now raised than was common forty years ago. 
 
 The Carolinians are indebted to the late French emigrants 
 for the more frequent use of baths, both hot and cold, and 
 also of the bidet. Long experience in the West India Islands 
 had taught them that such practices, and also a more free use 
 of vegetable aliment, were suitable to warm climates. Cold 
 water as well as cool air were undervalued by the elder inhab- 
 itants. The Author of all good has put both within the grasp 
 of all men, with little trouble or expense; but the cheapness of 
 the gift has been the occasion of its being slighted. Its value 
 has lately been appreciated. Experience has proved that wa- 
 ter judiciously applied, cold or warm, as circumstances require, 
 cures many diseases and prevents more. 
 
 The practice of physic about fifty years ago was regulated 
 in Carolina by the Boerhaavian system, and that of surgery by 
 the writings of Heister and Sharp. Diseases were ascribed 
 to a morbific matter in the blood. Medicines were prescribed 
 to alter its qualities, and to expel from it the cause of the dis- 
 ease. To ensure its discharge through the pores, patients 
 were confined to their beds, and fresh cool air was excluded 
 by close doors and curtains. To hasten its expulsion, much 
 reliance was placed on sudorifics. Neutral mixtures and sweet 
 spirits of nitre were often prescribed with this intention. In 
 cases of danger, recourse was had to saffron, Virginia snake- 
 root and camphor. In pleurisies and acute rheumatisms the 
 lancet was freely used, but very seldom in other diseases. The 
 medical treatment of most febrile complaints, commenced 
 with purges and vomits; but after their operation the princi- 
 pal reliance was on sweating medicines. The bark was freely 
 administered in intermittents, but there were strong prejudices 
 against it So many believed that it lay in their bones and 
 disposed them to take cold, that the physicians were obliged 
 to disguise it. Opium was considered as a medicine calculated 
 to compose a cough, or to restrain excessive discharges from 
 the system, but was seldom prescribed in sufficient doses, and 
 
66 MEDICAL HISTORY, 
 
 not at all in several cases to which it is now successfully ap- 
 plied. Like the bark, it was the subject of so many preju- 
 dices as to make it necessary to conceal or disguise it. It was 
 seldom given without the advice of a physician. At present 
 a phial of laudanum is to be found in almost every family, 
 and it is freely taken, not only without medical advice, but 
 frequently in cases in which no prudent physician would 
 advise it. To the lentor and morbific matter of Boerhaave, 
 which regulated the practice of medicine in Carolina for more 
 than sixty years of the eighteenth century, succeeded the 
 spasmodic system of CuUen. These theories were more at 
 variance than the practice of their respective advocates. The 
 attenuation of the lentor, and the expulsion of the morbid 
 matter in one case, and the i-esolution of spasmodic strictures 
 in the other, were both attempted in a great measure by the 
 same means; but the followers of Cullen improved on the 
 Boerhaavians by the more free exhibition of antimonial 
 remedies, which are much more powerful than the medicines 
 which had been previously in common use. For several 
 years, emetic tartar was the most fashionable medicine, and 
 i)y varying its form and dose, it was made to answer a variety 
 of useful medicinal purposes. This has given place to jalap 
 and calomel, which is the present favorite, both in regular and 
 domestic practice. The old remedies, bleeding, blistering, 
 mercury, opium, bark and wine, have been carried to a much 
 greater extent than formerly, and applied to diseases for which 
 they were seldom, if ever, prescribed fifty years ago. The 
 new medicines, digitahs, lead, zinc, arsenic, melia, azederach 
 or pride of India, muriatic acid, nitric acid, some of the gases, 
 and artificial musk, are now common remedies in the hands 
 of the most judicious practitioners, though seldom used and 
 scarcely known to their predecessors. The practice of physic 
 has undergone a revolution in Carolina, as well as the govern- 
 ment of the State. This is partly founded in fashion, which 
 extends its empire over more important matters than dress; 
 but has a more solid foundation in a real change of the dis- 
 eases of the country. Since 1792 these have been, both in 
 degree and frequency, more inflammatory than before that 
 period, and require freer evacuations and more energetic 
 prescriptions. 
 
 The improvements in surgery made by Monro, Pott, 
 Hunter, Bell, Desault, Physick, Hey, and others, have all 
 been transplanted into Carolina. The surgery of the early 
 period of its history was far inferior to the present. Diseases 
 of the eyes were then not well understood. Few operations 
 on them were attempted, and fewer succeeded. Fractures are 
 now united, luxations reduced, and amputations performed 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 67 
 
 with less pain to the patient, with more expedition, and with 
 greater success than fifty years ago. The inhabitants who 
 from misfortunes need the performance of the most difficult 
 and uncommon operations in surgery, are at present under 
 no necessity of seelcing foreign operators; for what can be 
 done for them in London or Paris can also be done in Charles- 
 town. The improvements made in midwifery since the days 
 of Smellie, are in like manner well known and practiced in 
 the State. These have been so great that instrumental deliv- 
 ery is now rarely necessary and seldom performed. Deaths 
 from pregnancy and parturition are at present more rare in 
 Charlestown, than when its population did not exceed half its 
 present number. But few years have elapsed since there was 
 any established regular dentist in Carolina. There are now 
 three or four who find employment. The diseases of the 
 teeth are not now more common than in former times; but 
 many of them were at that period frequently suffered to pro- 
 gress unmolested from had to worse, which are now prevented 
 or cured by the dental art, which was one of the last trans- 
 planted into the State. Carolina, by her Lining, Chalmers, 
 and Garden, has increased the stock of medical and philo- 
 sophical knowledge; but cannot, like Pennsylvania, boast 
 that she has produced a Rush, a Barton, and a Physic, emi- 
 nently raised up for the advancement of the healing art, and 
 of the auxilliary branches of medical science. Her prac- 
 titioners, though they have not originated improvements in 
 medicine, deserve well of their country; for they have been 
 ever attentive and among the first to enrich it with the medi- 
 cal discoveries both of the old and new world. 
 
 The Medical Society of South Carolina was constituted in 
 the year 1789, and consisted of the following members: Peter 
 Fayssoux, Alexander Baron, Tucker Harris, David Ramsay, 
 Andrew TurnbuU, Isaac Chanler, George Logan, George Car- 
 ter, Robert Wilson, Elisha Poinsett, James Lynah, George 
 Hahnbaum, John Budd, and Thomas Tudor Tucker. 
 
68 LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY, 
 
 LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 
 
 OF SOUTH CAROLINA, FROM 1670 TO 1808. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Ample powers for the government of Carolina were given 
 by the royal charters. These, as far as they were legislative, 
 were to be exercised by the proprietors with the consent of 
 the freemen. Each appears to have had a negative on the 
 other. Anterior to the settlement of the province, the proprie- 
 tors employed the celebrated John Locke to draught "funda- 
 mental constitutions of South Carolina." What was their 
 precise object does not appear. The articles agreed upon 
 were not in the nature of a bill of rights, for they are far 
 short of magna charta, and enumerate few of any conse- 
 quence and derogate from others. The 101st declares "that no 
 person above seventeen years of age should have any benefit or 
 protection of the law, or be capable of any place of honor or 
 profit, who is not a member of some church or profession." 
 The 96th declares, "that a Church of England being the only 
 true and orthodox, and the national religion of all the King's 
 dominions, is so also of Carolina, and therefore it alone shall 
 be allowed to receive public maintenance by grant of par- 
 liament.''* These fundamental constitutions were not of the 
 nature of a constitution, in the American sense of the word, 
 for instead of emanating from the people, they were to 
 be unalterable, though agreed upon before a single white 
 person had settled in the province. The object of most 
 of them is, "the establishment of the interest of the lords 
 proprietors with equality and without confusion," as is 
 stated in the preamble. They were wholly unsuitable and 
 even impracticable for the immediate government of an infant 
 colony. From internal evidence they do not appear to be so 
 intended, for they proposed that " there should be eight Su- 
 preme Courts," and also "a court in every county,'' and that 
 "all towns incorporate should be governed by a mayor, twelve 
 aldermen,and twenty-four common councilmen ;" nearly three 
 times the number that now preside over the police of Charles- 
 town though 128 years old. They contemplated three orders 
 of nobility; and appointed a court to take care of all cerenio- 
 nies, precedency, heraldry, and to regulate fashions, habits, 
 
 * In the folio edition of Locke's -works these constitutions are printed as part 
 of tlie same, but a note subjoined to this article disavows its havings been drawn 
 up by Mr. Locke. It was also objected to by John Archdale. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 69 
 
 badges, games and sports, when as yet there were no com- 
 moners. They seemed on the whole to be calculated for a 
 state of society far beyond that to which Carolina has yet 
 attained. They were never accepted by the people, who, ad- 
 hering to the charter as a constitutional rule, passed such laws 
 in concert with the proprietors as the state of the province 
 required. After twenty-eight years these fundamental consti- 
 tutions were set aside by the proprietors on the requisition of 
 the people, who in no one instance had acted upon them. The 
 feeble and distracted state of the proprietary government was 
 not, as has been erroneously represented, the effect of the 
 speculative political theories of John Locke, introduced as the 
 Constitution of South Carolina: for neither his fundamental 
 constitutions nor their successive modifications by the proprie- 
 tors, were at any lime the law of the province or the rule of 
 its government. The only part of them which seems to have 
 been perpetuated is the biennial election of members of assem- 
 bly. The 79th article proposes that all acts of parliament 
 should become null and void at the end of 100 years without 
 a formal repeal. This would have produced both good and 
 evil, but which would have preponderated is questionable. 
 The 70th article declares "that it shall be a base and vile thing 
 to plead for money or reward :'' and that no one should be 
 permitted to plead another man's cause, not a relation, " till he 
 took an oath that he had not nor would not receive, directly 
 or indirectly, any money or reward for pleading the cause he 
 was going to plead." The proprietors were always friendly 
 to the fundamental constitutions ; * but they could not per- 
 suade the people to consent to their establishment. The char- 
 ter which the assembly preferred as the best security of their 
 rights, was silent on many important points. In supplying 
 its defects on principles of analogy and in every act of legis- 
 
 * The proprietors "were so desirous of the acceptance of these fundamental con- 
 stitutions, that they sent out four successive modifications of them to render|lhem 
 more agreeable to the people. The original draughted by John Locke, was dated 
 in 1669 — an amended set in 1670 — a further amended set in 1681 — 2. The date 
 of the next amended set is unlinown ; but that of the last was in 1698. The genu- 
 ine original 3d set, engrossed on a roll of parchment 18 feet long and 2 wide, is 
 now in possession of Governor Charles Pinokney, and is subscribed in the real 
 hand writing of the proprietors as follows : 
 
 "Sir Peter Colleton, Albemarle, 
 
 Seth Solhell, Craven, 
 
 Bath for Lord Carteret. 
 I subscribe this fundamental constitution except the 96th paragraph," this is 
 quoted above, and authorizes an estalishment of the Church of England, ''and 
 what relates to fighting which for conscience sake I refuse and not otherwise. 
 
 John Archdale, for Thomas Archdale." 
 They who wish to read these much talked of but misrepresented oonstit utions, 
 will find a copy of them In Mr. Locke's works, and in Dr. Hewat's History of South 
 Carolina. As they were never received nor acted upon by the Carolinians, they 
 were not deemed of sufficient importance to merit republication in this work. 
 
70 
 
 lation, the concurrence of the proprietors and of the freemen of 
 the province was necessary ; but frequently this concurrence 
 could not be obtained. In several particulars respecting the 
 executive and judicial departments there was a collision of 
 interests. The charter was construed by both in a manner 
 most favorable to their own wishes. Each endeavored to gain 
 upon the other by extending their respective claims. These 
 dissensions continued to increase till, in conjunction with 
 other more serious grounds of discontent which have been 
 already related, the people by their inherent right to resist op- 
 pression threw off the proprietary yoke, and sought and ob- 
 tained the protection of the crown. The king henceforward 
 was the source of honor and office. Under the reigns of 
 George the first and second, government was in general wisely 
 administered and tended to the happiness both of the mother 
 country and the colony. This agreeable state of things contri- 
 buted not a little to the extension of settlements far to the 
 westward. An evil resulted from this good, which in its 
 turn produced an improvement in the administration of jus- 
 tice. For the first ninety-nine years of provincial Carolina, 
 Charlestown was the source and centre of all judicial pro- 
 ceeding. No courts were held beyond its limits, and one pro- 
 vost marshal was charged with the service of processes over 
 the whole province. For the first seventy or eighty years, 
 when the population rarely extended beyond an equal number 
 of miles, this was patiently borne; but in the course of the 
 next twenty years it became intolerable. The distance and 
 expense of attending courts in Charlestown were so inconve- 
 nient, that people in the back country were induced occasion- 
 ally to inflict punishments in their own way, and by their own 
 authority, on knaves and villains. Associations were formed 
 under the name of regulators, who enforced justice in a sum- 
 mary way. For the accommodation of the remote settlers, 
 and to remove all apology for these irregular proceedings in- 
 compatible with orderly government, an act was passed in 
 1769 called the Circuit Court Act; by which new District 
 Courts were established at Beaufort, Georgetown, Oheraws, 
 Camden, Orangeburgh and Ninety-Six, now Cambridge. One 
 difficulty stood in the way, the removal of which was necessary 
 before the projected reform could go into operation. The im- 
 portant and lucrative office of provost marshal for the whole 
 ^province was held by patent from the crown by Richard Cum- 
 berland, well known in the literary world for his talents and 
 writings. The proposed Circuit Court Act contemplated the 
 abolition of the office of provost marshal of the province, and 
 the appointment of seven sheriffs; one for Charlestown, and 
 one for each of the six new districts. To reconcile private 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 71 
 
 right with puhUc convenience, the province paid ^5,000 ster- 
 ling to Mr. Cumberland as a compensation for his resigning the 
 office of provost marshal. The new arrangement soon after- 
 wards went into operation. In the year 1789 these Circuit 
 Courts were made more beneficial and convenient by being 
 invested with complete original and final jurisdiction. In two 
 years more it became necessary to make two additional Cir- 
 cuit Courts. From the rapidly increasing population, these 
 districts were found too large for public convenience. In 
 1798 they were subdivided into twenty-four ; and three years 
 after a part of one of these districts was formed into a separate 
 one, making in the whole twenty-five districts which are suffi- 
 ciently small to meet the convenience of the people. Their 
 names are : 
 
 1. Abbeville. 2. Edgefield. 3. Newbury. 4. Laurens. 5. 
 Pendleton. 6. Greenville. 7. Spartanburg. 8. Union. 9. 
 York. 10. Chester. 11. Lancaster. 12. Fairfield. 13. Ker- 
 shaw. 14. Chesterfield. 15. Marlborough. 16. Darlington. 
 17. Sumpter. 18. Marion. 19. Horry. 20. Georgetown. 
 21. Charleston. 22. Colleton. 23. Beaufort. 24. Barnwell. 
 25. Orangeburgh. 
 
 The multiplication of court districts, proceeded from an 
 honest desire to accommodate the people. The Legislature by 
 successive reforms, each improving on what had been pre- 
 viously done, finally organized in the last years of the 16th 
 century an uniform efficient judiciary system which brought 
 law and justice within a convenient distance of the habita- 
 tions of all the citizens. To meet the increased labor of at- 
 tending so many new circuits, provision was made for two 
 additional judges. This new arrangement contemplated six 
 judges for twenty-five districts. To each of these was granted 
 an annual salary of £600 sterling, that they might be enabled 
 to devote themselves to the duties of their office. About thir- 
 teen years before the establishment of this enlarged system, 
 an attempt had been made to accommodate the public by the 
 estabhshment of courts in counties of small dimensions and 
 limited jurisdiction, to be held by such of the inhabitants as 
 were chosen and willing to serve as judges without salaries. 
 This project was introduced and carried through by the 
 talents, address, and perseverance of Henry Pendleton ; who 
 had witnessed many of the benefits resulting from the county 
 courts in his native State, Virginia. What had been fouiid 
 beneficial in the oldest State of the Union, did not answer in 
 the junior State of South Carolina, whose sea coast was too 
 thinly peopled to need these courts; and whose back country 
 had been too recently settled to have a sufficient number of 
 men of talents, leisure, weight and respectability, to give dig- 
 
72 
 
 nity to twenty-five or thirty county courts. After an experi- 
 ence of twelve or fifteen years, tlie whole system was aban- 
 doned by its friends ; but all the counties were incorporated 
 into the twenty-five districts, and the latter were for the most 
 part substituted in the room of the former ; but with this dif- 
 ference, that one of the six State Judges presided in every 
 District Court The change drew after it considerable ex- 
 pense, but as the benefit was also considerable the people 
 cheerfully paid it This was the second time a County Court 
 system had failed in South Carolina. It had been introduced 
 in an early period of the colony but imperceptibly, and with- 
 out any positive repealing law, became obsolete. In politics 
 perhaps than in any other art, the solid ground of experience 
 is to be relied on in preference to the splendid but dazzling 
 visions of theory. 
 
 In addition to the Courts of Common Pleas and of Sessions, 
 there have always been in Carolina Courts of Ordinary, of 
 Admiralty, and of Chancery. The two first have been held 
 by proprietary or regal governors or by judges appointed by 
 the proprietors, the King, or the State, in correspondence with 
 the existing state of things. The Court of Chancery was in 
 like manner held by the council of the proprietors, of the 
 King and of the State in succession till the year 17S4. In 
 that early period, after the termination of the revolutionary 
 war, the Court of Chancery was new modelled, and three 
 judges were appointed to preside over it Since the year 
 1791, when it received some modifications for the more speedy 
 advancement of justice, it has been called the Court of Equity. 
 This Court, in its principles of practice, possesses advantages 
 over the Court of Chancery at Westminster Hall. The mode 
 of compelling the appearance of the defendant in the Court of 
 Equity in South Carolina, and of enforcing its decrees, is more 
 easy and summary than that of the Court of Chancery in 
 England.* The Court of Equity in this State, has also the 
 additional advantage of a viva voce examination of witnesses, 
 to which the Court of Chancery in England is a stranger and 
 which is one of the most valuable privileges of the common 
 law. South Carolina in the formation of courts of justice in 
 other particulars, has generally copied after the models of 
 corresponding courts in England ; but with this difference, 
 the State considered her courts as the courts of the people in 
 their sovereign capacity, enforcing justice between separate 
 units of one common mass of sovereignty. Since the estab- 
 lishment of the national government in 1789, causes in the 
 
 * Besides the usual process against the person, which it has iocidentally with 
 the latter Court for enforcing its decrees, a special act of the Legislature has giveu 
 it power to issue an execution oi fieri facias against the property of the defendant. 
 
FKOM 1670 TO 1808. 73 
 
 Court of Admiralty, and the appointment of judges for that 
 Court, have been transferred to the United States as apper- 
 taining to the general government. 
 
 On similar principles, and with similar limitations, the com- 
 mon law of England has been respected by the courts of 
 Carolina ever since the revolution. By Act of Assembly in 
 1712, it, together with the habeas corpus act and other statutes 
 particularly enumerated, were declared to be in force in Caro- 
 lina. Some of these statutes have become obsolete ; others 
 which made offences at common law of a highly penal nature 
 or the subject of capital punishment, have seldom been acted 
 upon. It has been the practice to frame indictments for them 
 as offences at common law, in order to inflict a milder pun- 
 ishment The rules of descent with respect to real property 
 were, till 1791, the same in Carolina as in England; but in 
 that year the Legislature passed an act to abolish the rights 
 of primogeniture by which they made the estate, real as well 
 as personal of persons dying intestate, distributable much in 
 the same manner as by the English statute of distribution. 
 In general all laws which were unsuitable to the present form 
 of republican government have been altered or new modelled 
 by acts of Assembly; but the common law of England is 
 likely to continue till time and experience have matured a 
 system more suitable to the present order of things. ■ 
 
 During the reigns of the first and second Georges, no po- 
 litical disputes of greater importance than the wisdom and 
 policy of augmenting or redeeming paper bills of credit inter- 
 rupted the harmony between the different branches of the 
 government. The interests of a commercial mother country 
 and an agricultural colony coincided, with little or no clash- 
 ing; but from an early period in the reign of George the 3d, 
 when a project of American revenue was superadded to a 
 commercial monopoly, there was a constant succession of po- 
 litical controversies between the Governor and Council on one 
 side and the Commons House of Assembly on the other. By 
 the constitution of the royal government, the concurrence of 
 the King's Governor and of the Council appointed to advise 
 him, was as necessary to every legislative act as that of the 
 Commons House of Assembly. The two former being ap- 
 pointed by the crown, were partial to its claims and endeav- 
 ored to enforce them. The latter being chosen by the people 
 were equally zealous in support of their rights, and originated 
 sundry measures calculated to give union to American meas- 
 ures for opposing the new system of parliamentary taxation. 
 As often as these jarring claims came into contact, the legisla- 
 tive powers of the province were interrupted. The Governor 
 and Council would pass no bills that favored the views of the 
 
74 LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY, 
 
 popular leaders, or even indirectly seemed to countenance 
 their claims. The Commons House of Assembly, equally 
 firm, would not sanction any measure calculated to favor 
 British claims of taxation or to derogate from American rights. 
 They even went further, for when they could not obtain the 
 passage of a tax act without seeming to yield a right, they de- 
 clined legislating on any subject whatever. From 1771 to 
 1775, the four years immediately preceding the American 
 Revolution, there was but one legislative act passed, though 
 ten or twelve was the usual annual average number of new 
 acts, and fifty had been actually passed in the four years that 
 immediaiely preceded this intermission of legislation. A state 
 of things so unnatural requires explication. The Commons 
 House of Assembly claimed the exclusive right of taxing 
 themselves, or of giving or granting their own money as they 
 pleased. To display their right they granted 1,500 pounds 
 to the Bill of Rights Society in England, and put a clause in 
 the tax bill to provide for the same. The Governor and Coun- 
 cil would not pass the bill with that clause, and the House 
 would not consent to expunge it. The bill was not passed — 
 no tax was laid — the public debts were unpaid — each branch 
 of the Legislature charged the other as the cause of the con- 
 fusion and injustice which followed. The Commons House 
 of Assembly, supported by the people, refused to pass any law 
 till the royal servants sanctioned the obnoxious tax bill. The 
 paltry present to the society in England was in itself no ob- 
 ject; but the principle that the representatives of the people 
 had an exclusive right to do as they pleased with their own 
 money, was deemed of the greatest importance. The repub- 
 lican spirit of the province, and indeed of all the provinces, 
 was rising. The project of an American revenue, and the de- 
 bates for and against the constitutionality of that innovation 
 had produced an exquisite sensibility on the rights of the 
 colonies in every patriotic breast. The question was now 
 fairly at issue between the people and the royal servants. 
 The former, with the same spirit that induces their offspring 
 now to submit to a general embargo, chose to be debarred of 
 all the blessings of legislation rather than indirectly yield the 
 smallest tittle of their claims to the exclusive right of disposing 
 of their own money. The revolutionary contest immediately 
 followed, and the question of the right of the Carolinians to 
 make a present of 1,500 pounds of their own money to a so- 
 ciety in England was merged in another of still greater conse- 
 quence; whether they should be conquered rebels or independ- 
 ent freemen. 
 
 The thirteen years that intervened between the peace of 
 Paris in 1763 and Declaration of Independence in 1776, were 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 75 
 
 eventful years in South Carolina. In that period the seeds of 
 the revolution were sown, watered, grew and ripened. The 
 people were made instruments in the hands of Providence to 
 detach the colonies from the parent State, though they neither 
 intended nor wished for any such event The claim of a 
 British parliament to tax them without their consent, roused 
 them to reflect on their rights and to do something for their 
 security. Every step they took for that purpose was thwarted 
 by the King's Governor and Council. Their concurrence in 
 necessary bills was sometimes withheld, and on other occasions 
 they dissolved the Commons House of Assembly for entering 
 on necessary defensive measures. The royal prerogative 
 which had never been used to the disadvantage of the prov- 
 ince by the two first Georges, under a new King and new 
 ministry became a rod of iron to scourge the people for daring 
 to assert their rights and resist meditated oppression. Pleased 
 as the Carolinians had been with the royal government as in- 
 finitely preferable to that of the proprietors, they now found 
 its excellency was merely accidental ; and that, with a change 
 of Kings and Ministers, it might in a short period pass over 
 from good to bad. The exercise of royal prerogative to keep 
 down the rising spirit of freedom produced a contrary effect, 
 and made the people more determined to be the conservators 
 of their own privileges. While the public mind was gradually 
 alienating from a partiality for royal government, and expand- 
 ing with more thorough knowledge of the rights of man, the 
 physical force of the country was increasing with unexampled 
 rapidity. By the combined influence of new views of govern- 
 ment, and of a vast increase of population in the short space 
 of twelve or thirteen years, the people of South Carohna with- 
 out any preconcerted plan or design, were prepared with hon- 
 est views and a respectable force to defend their rights. The 
 year 1763 found them dutiful subjects — 1775 left them sub- 
 jects, but subjects prepared to resist oppression. 
 
 Though from the causes that have been mentioned there 
 was but one solitary legislative act passed in Carolina for the 
 five years that immediately preceded the revolution, executive 
 functions were nevertheless, for the greatest part of that pe- 
 riod, discharged as before. As the revolution advanced, the 
 executive powers of the royal governor gradually declined, and 
 in September, 1775, finally terminated. At that period Lord 
 William Campbell, the last representative of his Britannic ma- 
 jesty, went on board one of the armed vessels of his royal 
 master and left the province in a state of nature; without any 
 form of government, other than the recommendations of com- 
 mittees, or congresses, appointed without the authority of 
 written law or any definite specification of powers. After re- 
 
76 LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY, 
 
 maining in this unsettled state for some time it was deter- 
 mined to appoint a committee to prepare a draught of a con- 
 stitution, or form of government, on the sole authority of the 
 people; though they still acknowledged themselves subjects of 
 the King of Great Britain. In consequence thereof, a tempo- 
 rary constitution was agreed to on the 26th of March, 1776, 
 "until an accommodation of the unhappy differences between 
 the two countries should be obtained." The constitution, then 
 adopted, was as exact a copy of the British form of govern- 
 ment as the situation of Carolina would permit. A legislative 
 body was constituted of three separate and independent 
 branches ; and an executive officer, by tlie name of President, 
 was elected, with ample powers approaching to royalty. The 
 reconciliation, then expected by some and wished for by more, 
 was not realized. This temporary constitution, in a little more 
 than two years, gave place to a new one, formed on the idea 
 of independence, which, in the meantime, had been declared. 
 The distinction between a constitution and an act of the Leg- 
 islature was not, at this period, so Well understood as it has 
 been since. The Legislature, elected under the constitution 
 of 1776, with the acquiescence of the people, undertook to 
 form a new constitution ; and, to give it activity, with the 
 forms, and under the name of an Act of Assembly. This, af- 
 ter being fully discussed, was finally ratified in 1778. The 
 religious rights of the people, on which the preceding consti- 
 tution was silent, now, for the first time, obtained attention. 
 The establishment of the Church of England, which took 
 place in 1706, had been continued till the revolution. But, 
 growing illumination on the principles of government, and the 
 temper of the times, pointed out the impropriety of continuing 
 under a free constitution that legal pre-eminence of one de- 
 nomination of Christians overall others, which had been con- 
 ferred partly for political purposes under a very different sys- 
 tem of government. In making a new arrangement on the 
 subject of religion, the distinction between toleration and es- 
 tablishment was retained. To the former all were entitled 
 who acknowledged, "that there was one God — that there was 
 a future state of rewards andpunishments — and that God was 
 to be publicly worshipped." To the latter all Christian Pro- 
 testants were equally entitled, and it was declared " that the 
 Christian Protestant religion was the established reUgionofthe 
 State,'' and"that all denominations of them should enjoy equal 
 religious and civil privileges;'' and "that the societies of the 
 Church of England, then formed, should continue incorporate 
 and hold the property in their possession." To preserve the 
 idea of an established religion, and at the same time to do equal 
 justice to all denominations of Protestants, the public support, 
 
I'ROM 1670 TO 1808. 77 
 
 heretofore given to the Church of England, was withdrawn; 
 and the privileges of the establishment, and particularly of in- 
 corporation, were held out on easy terms to all Christian Pro- 
 testants. To accomplish this, an extensive nominal religious 
 estabhshmentwas adopted on apian similar to that suggested 
 by Mr. Locke in the fundamental constitutions of the province. 
 This contemplated to grant on petition the privileges of incor- 
 poration and of an established church to any fifteen persons 
 who would associate for public worship, give themselves a 
 name, and subscribe in a book the five following terms of com- 
 munion : "1st. That there is one eternal Gon, and a future 
 state of rewards and punishments. 2d. That God is publicly 
 to be worshipped. 3d. That the Christian religion is the true 
 religion. 4th. That the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testament are of divine inspiration, and are the rule of faith 
 and practice. 5th. That it is lawful and the duty of every 
 man, being thereunto called by those that govern, to bear wit- 
 ness to truth." They who had been called dissenters con- 
 formed to the new establishment, and readily obtained the 
 privileges of incorporation, and as such were enabled to sue 
 for and hold their property without the intervention of trustees.. 
 Thus, all Christian Protestants were put on an equal footing, and 
 in consequence thereof harmony and good will was increased. 
 At that time, there was no church of Roman Catholics in the 
 State, nor of any denomination not comprehended under the 
 general term of Christian Protestants, except that of the Jews. 
 The whole of this system distinguishing between toleration 
 and establishment — between Christian Protestants and others, 
 was abolished by the constitution of 1790; and religion was 
 placed where it ought to be in a state of perfect freedom, in 
 the following words : " The free exercise and enjoyment of re- 
 ligious profession and worship without discrimination or pref- 
 erence, shall forever hereafter be allowed within this State to 
 all mankind, provided that the liberty of conscience thereby 
 declared shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licen- 
 tiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or 
 safety of this State." 
 
 By the constitution of 1778, the title of the executive officer 
 was changed from President to Governor, and he was deprived 
 of his negative on the laws. Instead of a legislative council 
 to be chosen by the representatives from their own body, a 
 second branch of Legislature, denominated a Senate was to be 
 constituted by election of the people. The idea of a Legisla- 
 ture consisting of a single branch, though advocated by some, 
 was generally reprobated. 
 
 This constitution carried the people through the revolu- 
 tionary war, and continued till the j^ear 1790. The chief 
 
78 LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY, 
 
 difficulty attending it, was its great expense in supporting an 
 enormously large representation. But it was deemed impolitic 
 to lesson it while the war raged. 
 
 The State of South Carolina was one of thirteen confedera- 
 ted States whose general interest were managed by a congress 
 of deputies from each. The powers of congress were found 
 inadequate to the good government of the union, when the 
 pressure of war and the cement of common danger was over. 
 A more efficient form of government was called for by the 
 States. South Carolina readily agreed to a proposition from 
 Virginia for digesting such a form of government by a general 
 convention, and appointed Henry Laurens, John Rudedge, 
 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Pierce Butler, and Charles 
 Pinckney to represent the State in the same. The four last 
 named attended and assisted in the deliberations of the con- 
 vention, and concurred in the plan of government recom- 
 mended by them. The people promptly adopted the present 
 constitution of the United States, which was originally pro- 
 posed in 1787, by this convention of delegates from the indi- 
 vidual States. Since that period the government is complex. 
 
 A federal, legislative, executive, and judicial power pervades 
 the State; but is confined to objects of a general nature more 
 within the purview of the United States than of any particu- 
 lar one. 
 
 Every power that is necessary to a common national govern- 
 ment has been ceded to the United States, but all that is purely 
 domestic in its operation and consequences is reserved and 
 exercised by the State. 
 
 This reform of the common bond of union which was 
 adopted by South Carolina in 1788, necessarily involved an- 
 other. To new model the constitution of the State in conform- 
 ity to that of the United States, a convention of the people 
 of South Carolina was called in 1790, which formed a consti- 
 tution adapted to the new order of things. The large repre- 
 sentation which, from motives of policy, began and had been 
 continued through the war, was diminished one-half and 
 several other improvements were adopted. 
 
 Though the form of government in South Carolina has been 
 materially altered six or seven times,* yet each change has 
 been for the better. In the eighteenth century, while experi- 
 ments and the reasoning powers of man were improving the 
 
 * The government of South Carolina has been one proprietary, two regal, three 
 representative. One by committees and congresses, or conventions ofthe people; 
 two by the constitution of 17"6; three by that of 1778; four by that of 1790. Be- 
 sides these domestic changes South Carolina, as one of the United Slates, was 
 successively subject to a congress with advisory powers from 1774 to 1781 — to 
 the confederation from 1781 to 1789 — to the constitution of the United States from 
 1789 to the present time. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 79 
 
 arts and sciences, the art of government was by no means 
 stationery. South Carolina, as one of the United States and 
 acting her part in the American revolution, has practically 
 enforced the following improvements in the art of government : 
 
 1. That all power is derivedfrom the people, and ought to be 
 exercised for their benefit; that they have a right to resist the 
 tyranny and oppression of their rulers and to change their 
 government whenever it is found not to afford that protection 
 to life, liberty, and property, for the security of which it was 
 instituted. 
 
 2. That it is the true policy of States to afford equal protec- 
 tion to the civil rights of all individuals and of all sects of re- 
 ligionists without discrimination or pieference, and without 
 interference on the part of the State in all matters that relate 
 only to the intercourse between man and his maker. 
 
 3. That the ultimate end and object of all laws and govern- 
 ment is the happiness of the people; and that therefore no 
 laws should be passed, or taxes or other burdens imposed on 
 them for the benefit of a part of the community, but only such 
 as operate equally and justly on all for the general good. 
 
 4. That war shall only be declared or entered upon by the 
 solemn act of the people, whose blood and treasure is to be 
 expended in its prosecution. 
 
 Plain and obvious as these principles are to American un- 
 derstandings, yet the government of nations over the greatest 
 part of the world, and for almost the whole period of its ex- 
 istence, has been conducted on difl'erent principles and for 
 very different purposes. Burdensome taxes have been levied 
 in all countries on the body of the people to support the pride 
 and luxury of a few. Wars, all of which are wicked, most of 
 them mad, and none of them necessary, have been begun and 
 prosecuted to gratify the passions and foUies of rulers without 
 any regard to national happiness. Thousands in every age 
 have been shedding the blood of their fellow-men for trifles 
 in which neither have any interest. Fire and faggot have 
 been extensively used to promote uniformity in articles of 
 faith and unimportant ceremonies of religion. Grievous per- 
 secutions have been aUernately inflicted on contending sects 
 of religionists as often as they had power in their hands. 
 The rights and interests of millions have been sacrificed to 
 aggrandize a few. All this mischief has been perpetrated 
 under color of law and constitution. A government founded 
 in reason, and the rights of man, and exclusively directed to 
 its proper object, the advancement of human happiness, was 
 first estabHshed by common consent in the eighteenth cen- 
 tury ; and in the woods of America. Its foundation in South 
 Carolina rests on the following principles : 
 23 
 
80 LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY, 
 
 No power is exercised over the people but what has been 
 granted by them with the express view of its being used for 
 the general good. 
 
 No laws bind them, nor are any taxes imposed on them, 
 but with the consent of themselves or representatives freely 
 and fairly chosen every second year by a majority of votes. 
 
 There are no privileged orders. All are equally subject to 
 the laws; and the vote of any one elector goes as far as that 
 of any other. 
 
 "No freeman can be taken or imprisoned or disseized of 
 his freehold liberties, or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or 
 in any manner destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty, or • 
 property, but by the judgment of his peers or by the law of the 
 land." 
 
 Religion is so perfectly free that all sects have equal rights 
 and privileges and each individual may join with any, or 
 with none, as he pleases without subjecting himself to any 
 civil inconvenience. 
 
 These and similar principles of liberty and equality pervade 
 the Constitution and laws of the State. The first is the work 
 of the people in their sovereign capacity, and prescribes limits 
 to all the departments of government. These departments 
 are three — legislative, executive, and judicial; for it is neces- 
 sary in regular government that laws be enacted, expounded, 
 and applied, and finally executed. The legislative power is 
 constituted and exercised by forty-five senators and one hun- 
 dred and twenty-four representatives, who are all chosen by 
 the people, and form two co-ordinate branches of legislature 
 independent of each other. Bills cannot be passed into laws 
 till after they have been read three times on three different 
 days in each house, and are agreed to by both ; deliberating 
 apart. Laws thus made are expounded and applied to par- 
 ticular cases by judges elected by the Legislature and commis- 
 sioned during good behavior who are afterwards independent 
 both of the Legislature and the people. The Governor who is 
 charged with the execution of the laws, and the administra- 
 tion of the government, is elected by the Legislature for the 
 term of two years. The duties required, and the burdens 
 imposed by the laws, are equally binding on the law-makers 
 as on the people. They who are legislators cease to be so in 
 the Senate at the end of four years, and in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives at the end of two ; and all power reverts to the 
 people till by a new election they invest the men of their 
 choice with authority to act for them. Every precaution is 
 taken to identify the interests of the people, and their rulers. 
 If the electors are not wanting to themselves the laws thus 
 cautiously made,impartially expounded, and liberally executed 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808, 81 
 
 by the men of their choice, must be the collected will and 
 wisdom of the people, deliberately pursuing their own happi- 
 ness as far as is practicable in the imperfect state of human 
 nature. Such, after two revolutions in one century and three 
 attempts to form an efficient constitution, is the result of the 
 efforts of the people of South Carolina for the preservation 
 and advancement of their political interests. 
 
 The mode of passing laws varied with the forms of govern- 
 ment. During the forty-nine years of proprietary rule, four 
 hundred and ninety-seven acts were passed which have reached 
 us. Of each of these it is declared that they were " enacted 
 'by the Palatine and the proprietors of the province by and 
 with the advice and consent of the rest of the members of the 
 General Assembly;" and that they were "read three times 
 and ratified in open assembly." They were severally signed 
 by the Governor for the time being, and by three, four, 
 five, or six of thirty-two gentlemen who were deputies 
 of the proprietors or members of the proprietary council. 
 Their names arranged in the same order as they appear 
 in the printed statutes, are Thomas Smith, Paul Grim- 
 ball, Richard Conant, Joseph Blake, Stephen Bull, William 
 Smith, WiUiam Hawett, Joseph Morton, Thomas Gary, 
 James More, John Beresford, John Wick, Edmund Bel- 
 linger, Robert Gibbes, Henry Noble, Thomas Broughton, 
 Nicholas Trott, Benjamin Barons, James Risbee, Charles 
 Burnham, Francis Furberville, Samuel Eveleigh, Thomas 
 Diston, Stephen Gibbes, Charles Hart, Arthur Middleton, 
 Richard Beresford, Ralph Izard, Hugh Butler, George Chicken, 
 Francis Yonge, and Alexander Skeene. There is no evi- 
 dence that any person signed the laws as the organ of the 
 freemen of the province by the title of Speaker, or by any 
 other title in their behalf as a separate body. It is probable 
 that the laws were passed by all the legislators deliberating 
 together in one and the same apartment. In the fourteen 
 months between the proprietary and regal government, while 
 all power was administered by the sole authority of the peo- 
 ple, twenty-nine laws were enacted and said to be so "by 
 James Moore, Governor, by and with the advice and consent 
 of the council and representatives of the inhabitants ;" yet 
 they were signed only by James Moore declaring his assent 
 to the same. 
 
 The period of royal legislation in South Carolina was only 
 50 years; for no laws were passed by the King's representa- 
 tive for one year after the proprietary government was re- 
 
 ; nounced : nor more than one for five years before the royal 
 government terminated. In this half century from 1721 to 
 
 , 1771, 687 laws were passed. The enacting style was, "by the 
 
82 LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY, 
 
 Governor, or President of the province of South Carolina, by 
 and with the advice and consent of his majesty's council and 
 the Assembly of the province." The laws were signed by the 
 Speaker of the Assembly first, and then by the Governor or 
 President. 
 
 The royal Governors or persons acting as such, with the 
 title of President or Lieutenant-Governor were, 1st. Francis 
 Nicholson from 1721 — 1725. 2d. Arthur Middleton, 1725— 
 1730. 3d. Robert Johnson, 1730 — 1735. 4th. Thos. Brough- 
 ton, 1735— 1737. 5th. William Bull, 1737 — 1743. 6th. James 
 Glen, 1743 — 1756. 7th. William Henry Littleton, 1756— 
 1760. Sth. William Bull, 1760 — 1761. 9th. Thomas Boone, 
 1762 — 1763. 10th. William Bull, 1763—1766. 11th. Lord 
 Charles Greville Montague, 1766— 1769. 12th. WilliamBulI, 
 1769—1775. 13th. Lord William Campbell, from June 1776 
 to September 1775. 
 
 The Speakers who signed the laws in behalf of the common 
 House of Assembly were, 1st. James Moore, 1721 — 1725. 2d. 
 Thos. Broughton, 1726 — 1730. 3d. William Donning, 1731— 
 1732. 4th. Paul Jenys, 1733 — 1736. 5th. Charles Pinckney, 
 1736 — 1740. 6th. William Bull, 1740 — 1742. 7th. Benja- 
 min Whitaker, 1743. Sth. William Bull, 1744—1746. 9th. 
 Henry Middleton, 1746 — 1747. 10th. William Bull, 1748. 
 11th. Andrew Rutledge, 1749 — 1751. 12th. James Michie, 
 1752—1755. 13th. Benjamin Smith, 1775—1762. 14th. 
 Rawhns Lowndes, 1764 — 1765. 15th. Peter Manigault, 1766. 
 It does not appear that any person signed the laws in behalf 
 of the King's Council other than the Governor, or President 
 while acting as Governor. 
 
 During the existence of the temporary constitution, there 
 were two Presidents, John Rutledge and Rawlins Lowndes: 
 two Speakers of the legislative Council, G. G. Powell, and 
 Hugh Rutledge : three Speakers of the General Assembly, James 
 Parsons, John Matthews, and Thomas Bee: and one hundred 
 laws passed with the concurrence of three branches of the 
 Legislature in thirty-one months. The number is great but 
 not excessive. This constitution was adopted after a suspen- 
 sion of regular legislative power for five years, and in the midst 
 of an extensive war. To legislate for a country so circum- 
 stanced, required the almost constant attention of its new 
 formed legislative bodies. 
 
 Between the establishment of the constitution of 1778, and 
 the period of the removal of the seat of government to Colum- 
 bia in 1790, there were six Governors, John Rutledge, 1779— 
 John Matthews, 1782 — Benjamin Guerard, 1783 — William 
 Moultrie, 1785 — Thomas Pinckney, 1787 — Charles Pinckney, 
 1789 — each serving for about two years agreeably to the con- 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 83 
 
 stitution : and four Presidents of the Senate, Charles Piuck- 
 ney, 1779 — John Lewis Gervais, 17S2 — John Lloyd, 1783 — 
 Daniel DeSaussure, 1789: and six Speakers of the House of 
 Representatives, John Matthews, 1776 — Thomas Fair, 1779 — 
 Hugh Rutledge, 1782 — John Faucherhaud Grimke, 1785 — 
 John Julius Pringle, 1787 — and Jacob Read, 1789. In this 
 period of twelve years, 362 laws were passed with the signa- 
 ture of the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House 
 of Representatives, which two houses coastituted the Legisla- 
 ture. For two years of this period, legislation was suspended 
 in consequence of the British successors in reducing the capital 
 and over-running the greatest part of the country. After they 
 had evacuated the State, so extensive were its desolations — so 
 puzzling was the line of propriety in legislating between dis- 
 tressed creditors and impoverished debtors — and between those 
 who by temporizing had saved, and others who by steady 
 patriotism had lost their property, that legislation became a 
 delicate and difficult task. From the year 1790, to the present 
 time, a new asra has presented brighter prospects. A new 
 constitution both for the United States, and for this State of 
 South Carolina — a new seat of government — increasing har- 
 mony and reviving credit, produced a real melioration of the 
 public affairs and made legislation an easier and a more pleas- 
 ant duty. From this time to the present there have been 
 'Governors Charles Pinckney, 1791; A. Vanderhorst, 1793; 
 William Moultrie, 1795; Edward Rudedge, 1798; John Dray- 
 ton, 1800; James B. Richardson, 1802; Paul Hamilton, 1804; 
 Charles Pinckney, 1806; and John Drayton, 1808 — and six 
 Presidents of the Senate, David Ramsay, 1791; John Ward, 
 1798; John Gaillard, 1803; Robert Barnwell, 1805; William 
 Smith, 1806; Samuel Warren, 1808 — and six Speakers of the 
 House of Representatives, Jacob Read, 1790 ; Robert Barnwell, 
 1795; William Johnson, 1798^ Theodore Gaillard, 1800; 
 Robert Starke, 1802; William Cotesworth Pinckney, 1804; 
 Joseph Alston, 1805. 
 
 In this period of eighteen years, 395 laws have been enacted 
 by both houses, and signed by the President of the one, and 
 the Speaker of the other. In the period of 138 years which 
 have passed away since the settlement of South Carolina, 
 2,059 laws have been passed. Of these, 1,202 were enacted in 
 the r06 years of the colonial existence of South Carolina, and 
 857 in the thirty-two years of its freedom and independence. 
 This great comparative increase of laws in the latter period, 
 may in part be accounted for from the pressure of war, the 
 novel state of the country, and the great increase of popula- 
 tion; but must be principally referred to the new form of 
 government. If it is notthe fault, it is certainly the misfortune 
 
84 LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY, 
 
 of republics to legislate too much. There being no interfering 
 interest to check the wheels of legislation, the law-makers 
 seldom meet with difficulties in passing laws especially of a 
 private nature. Every petty association that chooses to be 
 incorporated, has little more to do than to petition for that 
 privilege. The sale of any public property ; the opening a 
 new road ; the establishment of a ferry ; the running the di- 
 vision lines between two districts; the altering any trival cir- 
 cumstance in the manner of transacting public business, and 
 a thousand minor objects must all be done by laws expressly 
 made for the purpose. It is a high privilege to be bound by 
 no laws, but such as have been agreed to by common con- 
 sent; but to obtain that consent for every trifle, must make 
 legislation laborious, and in time enlarge the statute book to 
 an enormous size. Where no proper remedy can be applied, 
 the inconvenience must be patiently borne, but the wisdom 
 of man is certainly equal to the adoption of some general rules 
 or principles that will make the government even of a free 
 State safe and practicable without a growing annual multi- 
 plicity of laws. 
 
 A Carolinian will abate of his astonishment at the darkness 
 which overshadows the early history of the governments of the 
 old world, when he is told that no law can be found on record 
 in South Carolina, which passed prior to the year 1682, which 
 was twelve years after the first settlement of the province' 
 that the first authority for printing the laws was in 1712, and 
 that there is not any regular record of judicial proceedings 
 prior to 1703, nor any entered in bound books before 1710. 
 
 Those who live at a distance, and have been taught to be- 
 lieve that the Carolinians were and are a loose irreligious peo- 
 ple, will be surprised to hear that the two oldest acts which 
 have been handed down to us, are the first "for the observa- 
 tion of the Lord's day," and the second " for the suppressing 
 of idle, drunken, or swearing persons ;" and that there are 
 several subsequent laws " for the better observance of the 
 Lord's day," and " for punishing blasphemy and profaneness." 
 
 They who for many years past have been witnesses of the 
 extension of the buildings and wharves into the waters, which 
 wash three sides of Charlestown, will be satisfied that the 
 present inhabitants have sufficiently retaliated for these early 
 encroachments of the sea on the city, for the prevention of 
 which the Legislature passed several laws from 1694 to 1725, 
 and also built a strong curtain line on its east front. As long 
 ago as 1695, an act was passfd for ifgifteiirg births, roar- 
 Yiages and burials, in which our fathers were wiser than we are. 
 Charlestown was then so thinly settled, that within three years 
 of the same time, an act was passed for clearing it of under- 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 85 
 
 wood. Much was done in these early days by judicious laws, 
 to encourage the settlement of the province, and to promote 
 learning and the religious instruction of the people; to pre- 
 serve peace and regulate trade with the Indians ; to open 
 roads, establish ferries, and build bridges ; to provide for the 
 defence of the province, for the better ordering of slaves; to 
 establish courts, regulate elections, encourage the raising of 
 the staple commodities of the country, and to promote in- 
 dustry and order among the people. 
 
 These and similar subjects pointed out by the infant state of 
 the colony, were attended to by its legislators under the pro- 
 prietary government. The same have been in like man- 
 ner steadily pursued since the country was taken under the 
 care of the crown, but on a larger scale. The increasing 
 trade of the province required some new regulations and new 
 officers. Colonial wars with tribes of Indians, called for 
 legislative direction. The extension of settlements required 
 new and more ample arrangements for the convenience of the 
 people and the administration of justice. To these and other 
 subjects connected with the improving state of the country, 
 the legislative powers of the royal province were advantage- 
 ously directed, till the American revolution unsettled every- 
 thing. The regular power of making, expounding and enforc- 
 ing laws, was then for some time suspended, and afterwards 
 extinguished, but was soon revived with increased energy on 
 a system of representative government. The objects of legis- 
 lation have ever since embraced every attribute of sovereignty ; 
 but during the revolutionary war they were chiefly confined 
 to necessary defensive measures and matters of immediate 
 pressing necessity; but no sooner was the war over than full 
 scope was given to the spirit of law-making. Inland naviga- 
 tion, canals, toll-bridges, improvements of internal police, and 
 in the administration of justice, together with a variety of other 
 projects for meliorating the condition of the country, received 
 the warmest patronage of the first General Assemblies which 
 met after the peace of 1783. The State powers of legislation 
 were then in a great measure uncontrolled; but in five or six 
 years they were divided ; and some of the most important, and 
 all of a general nature, were transferred to the United States 
 for the common good. The range of State legislation was 
 circumscribed and since the year 1790, has been exclusively 
 directed to matters of a local concern. The powers of the 
 Legislature of the country have increased under every change 
 of government but the last. This limited the sovereignty of 
 the State ; but in proportion as its legislative powers in mat- 
 ters of national concern have been curtailed, its real domestic 
 happiness has been advanced. It has become powerful by 
 
86 
 
 relinquishing power, and rich by giving up revenue; for both 
 have been managed more for the interest, not only of South 
 CaroHna, but of all the States, than they ever could have been 
 by the individual States, acting without system, and under 
 the influence of divided councils. Before the revolution, 
 Chief Justice Trott compiled the laws np to the year IVS'ljand 
 Mr. Simpson brought into one view all of them which related 
 to the powers and duties of justices of the peace. Soon after 
 the revolution, Justice Crrimk^ took up the same business and 
 gave a compilation of the most material laws from the settle- 
 ment of the province to the year 1789, and also two separate 
 works, one for the information and direction of justices of the 
 peace, and another for similar purposes respecting executors 
 and administrators of tiie estates of deceased persons. Before 
 these publications of Judge Grimke, knowledge of the ordi- 
 nary acts of provincial and State legislation could only be ob- 
 tained from the public records; for few or no copies of them 
 could be otherwise procured. A work of great importance 
 has been lately commenced and is to be continued; this is 
 reports of adjudged cases, by Justice Bay, containing a judicial 
 exposition of the laws, and an application of their principles 
 to particular cases. These as far as sanctioned by the bench 
 of judges, become established precedents and partake of the 
 nature of law. They gradually diminish the necessity of 
 referring to precedents from foreign countries, and will in time 
 make the determination of our courts wholly American. 
 
 The penal code of barbarous antiquity is in a great measure 
 still unreformed; but the mitigation of punishments and the 
 establishment of a penitentiary for the reformation of crimi- 
 nals, are subjects now before the Legislature. The policy of 
 adopting turnpikes, to be supported by a tax on travelers for 
 the improvement of roads, is also in a train of investigation. 
 Hitherto no provision for making or repairing roads has been 
 sanctioned, but the occasional labor of the contiguous inhabi- 
 tants. This has been found wholly inadequate: but no effect- 
 ual substitute has yet been agreed upon. With respect to 
 roads and bridges. South Carolina is far behind the northern 
 and eastern States. On these subjects the existing laws re- 
 quire, and it is hoped will soon receive, amendment. 
 
 This general view of the laws of South Carolina will be 
 concluded with as particular an enumeration of the gentlemen 
 employed in the judicial department as can now be obtained. 
 There have been chief justices of South Carolina as follows: 
 
 Bohun, in the seventeenth century; Nicholas Trott, 
 
 early in the eighteenth ; Richard Alleyn, 1719 ; Robert Wright, 
 1731 ; Thomas Dale, 1739; Benjamin Whitaker, 1739; James 
 Greene, 1749; Charles Pinckney, 1752; Peter Leigh, 1753; 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 87 
 
 James Michie, 1759; William Simpson, 1761 ; Charles Skin- 
 ner, 1763; Thomas Knox Gordon, 1771; William Henry Dray- 
 ton, 1776; John Rutledge, 1791. Since the year 1791 there 
 has been no appointment of a chief justice; the senior judge 
 acting as such. 
 
 It does not appear from the records that there were any as- 
 sistant judges prior to 1736. In the previous infancy of the 
 province, a single chief justice presided over the courts in 
 Charlestown, which were then, and for thirty-three years af- 
 ter, the only ones held in the province. About that time the 
 middle country began to be settled. An increasing population 
 required an increase of judges. Since that year the following 
 gentlemen have been appointed assistant judges : 
 
 Thomas Dale, 1736; Robert Austin, 1737; Thomas Lamboll, 
 1736; Benjamin De La Conseillere, 1737; James Mazyck, 
 1739; William Bull, Jr., 1739; Robert Young, 1739 ; Othneil 
 Beale, 1 740 ; John Lining, 1744 ; John Drayton, 1753 ; William 
 Simpson, 1760; Robert Pringle, 1760; William Burrows, 
 1764; Rawlins Lowndes, 1766; Benjamin Smith, 1766; Geo. 
 Gabriel Powell, 1769; John Murray, 1770; Edward Savage, 
 1771 ; John Fewtrell, 1771 ; Charles Matthew Cosslett, 1772 ; 
 William Henry Drayton, 1774 ; William Gregory, 1774 ; Tho- 
 mas Bee, John Matthews, Henry Pendleton, 1776; Edanus 
 Burke, 1778. 
 
 Since the evacuation of Charlestown, in 1782, the following 
 gentlemen have been appointed judges of the Court of Common 
 Pleas and of Sessions, in the following order: 1. John Fau- 
 cheraud Grimk^ ; 2. Thomas Heyward ; 3. Thomas Waties ; 
 4. William Drayton ; 5. Elihu Hall Bay; 6. Ephraim Ramsay ; 
 7. William Johnson; 8. Lewis Trezevant; 9. Joseph Brevard; 
 10. Samuel Wylds; 11. William Smith. The first, third and 
 three last, are the judges in 1808. Since the year 1784, when 
 appropriate judges were first appointed by the Legislature to 
 preside over the Court of Chancery, the following gentlemen 
 have been appointed to that high office : — John Rutledge, 
 Richard Hutson and John Matthews, in 1784. These have 
 been succeeded by Hugh Rutledge, James Green Hunt, 
 Edanus Burke, William James, Waddy Thomson, Theodore 
 Gaillard, and William Henry DeSaussure. The last four, 
 with Hugh Rutledge, are at present, 1808, judges of the Court 
 of Equity. Each of them can hold a court, but an appeal may 
 be made from its decisions to the bench of judges. 
 
 On a retrospect, the gradual improvement of the judiciary 
 system must be obviously striking. For ninety-nine years 
 there were no courts, judges or lawyers beyond the limits of 
 Charlestown. For two-thirds of that period the Courts of 
 Common Pleas and of King's Bench were held by one and 
 the same single judge, from whom there was no appeal but to 
 
himself on a new trial. In the year 1719 the government and 
 people, by their representatives, remonstrated to the lords pro- 
 prietors against Nicholas Trott, as being not only sole judge 
 of the Courts of Common Pleas, of King's Bench, but also of the 
 Court of Vice-Admiralty, and at the same time as a counsellor, 
 one of the judges of the Court of Chancery ; but they could not 
 effect his removal from any one of these incompatible offices. 
 For the first sixteen years of the royal government, the Courts 
 of Common Pleas and of Sessions were both held by one and 
 the same person by the name of Chief Justice, and without any 
 appeal to any other than to himself All this time, and till 
 the year 1769, no suit could be commenced but in Charles- 
 town, and no officer but the provost marshal could serve a 
 process in any part of the province; by which means the ex- 
 penses of a suit were often half the amount of the debt. Some 
 relief was obtained by the Circuit Court Act, but that was only 
 partial. These Circuit Courts were not courts of original juris- 
 diction, nor of record, for the first twenty years after they were 
 constituted. Since the revolution, the former districts have 
 been successively subdivided till the same portion of country, 
 with the addition of Pendleton and Greenville, has been 
 formed into twenty-five districts, and the number of judges 
 increased from one to six. Every cause may now be re- 
 examined by a bench of judges, of whom, at least, three out 
 of four take it up as new, and without any prepossession. 
 The same successive reforms have attached to the Court of 
 Chancery : for the first 1 14 years of provincial Carolina, justice 
 was dispensed in that court by the counsellors of the executive 
 authority, who were generally destitute of competent legal 
 knowledge. From 1784 to 1808 three appropriate judges pre- 
 sided over this court ; but from their decisions there was no 
 appeal hut to a full hench, of which they, from whose decision 
 the appeal was made, constituted a majority. At present an 
 appeal can be made to a bench of five, or at least of four 
 judges, all of whom, except one, takes the case up as new, 
 and without any bias from having presided over the court 
 from whose decision the appeal was made. Before the revo- 
 lution, and for five years after, there Avas but one ordinary for 
 South Carolina; but since the peace of 1783, the twenty-five 
 districts have been accommodated with one for each. The 
 good of the people was the object of these modifications of the 
 several departments of government. The end has been ob- 
 tained with respect to a great majority of the inhabitants, who 
 are orderly and well disposed; but nevertheless, the increased 
 facility and decreased expense of going to law has fostered a 
 spirit of litigation. The number of suits in the State courts 
 exceeds the number instituted in provincial Carolina in a 
 much greater proportion than can be supposed to arise solely 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 89 
 
 from an increase of population.* Such is the imperfection of 
 all things human, that every earthly good has an alloy of evil 
 mixed with it. The disposition to bear and forbear, and to 
 accommodate disputes, has been lessened by the multiplica- 
 tion of courts and diminution of the expenses, and other in- 
 conveniences of seeking legal redress for small matters.f 
 
 The mode of admission to practice law in the courts of 
 Carolina, has varied with times and circumstances. Before 
 the revolution it depended on a rule of court, and was rarely 
 conferred on any others than regularly bred European or na- 
 tive Carolinian lawyers. Since the year 1785 the door of ad- 
 mission has been widened, particularly in favor of citizens of 
 the United States. The last law on the subject was passed in 
 1806. By the rules therein laid down, an examination of the 
 candidate on legal subjects, and also a year's residence, not 
 only in the State, but of actual study in the office of some 
 practicing attorney or judge, is in every case indispensably 
 necessary. This is required of American citizens, though 
 they have studied and been admitted to practice in other 
 States; but from graduates commencing their legal studies, 
 three years, and from others four years study of law is required 
 before they can be admitted. In the year 1808 there were 
 forty-eight practitioners of law in Charlestown. The whole 
 number admitted to the bar, for the twenty-seven years which 
 immediately preceded the revolution, was fifty-eight ; but in 
 the twenty-five years subsequent to its termination, in 1783, 
 no less than 238 were admitted in Charlestown, exclusive of 
 those who passed their examination in the country. Of these 
 several never practiced nor intended to practice. 
 
 * For the seven years before the courts were disturbed by the revolution, the 
 greatest number of judgments entered up in Charlestown in one year was 390, 
 and the average of these seven years was 236 judgments for each. In seven 
 years since the revolution, or from 1800 to 1806 inclusive, 5,858 judgments have 
 been entered up, which is an average of 838 for each year. There were 1,850 
 causes at issue for the January term, 1809 — and 1,150 causes were tried in the 
 May term of 1 806. This disparity of nearly one for four, previous to and since 
 the revolution, will be more obvious when it is known that all the judgments, 
 obtained in the country districts before the year 1789, were entered up in Charles- 
 town; and that, in the latter period, the judgments entered up in Charlestown are 
 only those obtained in Charlestown district, which is no more than one of the 
 twenty-five into which the State is divided: and it will be still more striking when 
 it is known that the whole population of the State in 1765 was 130,000, rather 
 more than double of the whole population of Charlestown district, which, in 1800, 
 was only 57,486. For much of these details the author and his readers are in- 
 debted to James Nicholson. 
 
 fThe Methodists, in South Carolina, manage these matters in a way peculiar to 
 themselves. In some cases they prohibit, and in all, discourage their people from 
 going to law. They reprobate their contracting debts without a fair prospect ol 
 paying them according to contract. In the case of failure to pay, if the debt was 
 contracted wantonly and with improper views, the debtor is left to himself or 
 dismissed from their society. If its non-payment is the effect of unexpected 
 misfortunes they lend him money to discharge it. Though this can only be done 
 to a limited extent, yet their funds are so prudently managed as to save most of 
 their followers from the expenses of law-suits, which are often ruinous to the poor 
 of other societies. 
 
90 FISCAL HISTORY, 
 
 FISCAL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM 1670 TO 1808. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 From the settlement of Carolina, taxes were uniformly 
 the free gifts of the people. For the first twelve years none 
 were imposed. The earliest on record is in the year 1682. 
 This appears in the form of an act of the Legislature, "for 
 raising a tax of £400 for defraying the public charges of the 
 province." But the mode of raising that sum has not descended 
 to posterity. The largest sum imposed in any one year of the 
 first thirty-two, was ^£800 ; and the whole which appears to 
 have been raised by taxes during that time did not exceed 
 £2,320 : but in that period a new principle of revenue was 
 introduced. In 1691 a duty was imposed on skins and furs. 
 These were then the principal exports from the country. The 
 amount of this duty is unknown, but it must have been con- 
 siderable, perhaps adequate to the public exigencies; for no 
 tax act appears on record for the ten years next after that duty 
 was imposed. 
 
 With the new century there were new calls for money and 
 new modes of raising it. Taxes on the former plan were also 
 continued and enlarged. In 1702 an act was passed "for 
 raising £2,000," to provide for an offensive expedition against 
 St. Augustine. Though the expedition failed, this sum was 
 not sufficient. To supply its deficiencies, acts were passed in 
 each of the two following years for raising £2,000; and about 
 the same time a tax of ten per cent, was laid on furs, skins, 
 liquors, and other goods and merchandize imported into and 
 exported out of the province. 
 
 In 1708 an act was passed for raising the sum of £5,000, 
 and in 1710 for raising £3,000, and in 1713 for raising £4,000. 
 In 1714 a specific duty was laid on all negro slaves imported, 
 but the amount charged on each is not mentioned. Anactfor 
 raising £30,000 from the estates real and personal of the in- 
 habitants, was passed in 1715, and in the year 1716, there was 
 an act for raising 35,000 in that year, and 30,000 for each of 
 the two ensuing years. Of these taxes, £l,600 were appor- 
 tioned among the merchants and other inhabitants living 
 within the limits of the plat of Charlestown. This is the first 
 instances of a tax laid expressly on merchants and the inhabi- 
 tants of Charlestown. In the year 1719 an act was passed 
 for raising the sum of £70,000 on lands and negroes. The 
 
FROM 1670 TO 180S. 91 
 
 augmentation of taxes from ,£2,320 for the eighteen last years 
 of the seventeenth century to £215,000 in the first eighteen 
 years of the eighteenth century needs explanation. It was not 
 the consequence of increasing wealth or accidental sudden 
 prosperity, but proceeded from causes directly the reverse. The 
 commencement of the eighteenth century was uncommonly 
 disastrous to Carolina. The abortive expedition against Au- 
 gustine — the invasion of the province by Feboure — the expe- 
 dition under Col. Barnwell against the Tuscaroa Indians 
 of North Carolina — the Yamassee war and the suppression of 
 the pirates, all took place between 1701 and 1719, and drew 
 after them debt, taxes, paper-money and depreciation. Such 
 are Ihe consequences of war, whether offensive or defensive, 
 successful or abortive, injurious to all establishments, but 
 doubly so to such as are in their infancy. The first link 
 in this chain of evils, was Gov. Moore's expedition against 
 St. Augustine in 1702. To lessen the burdens resulting from 
 it, £8,000 in bills of credit were issued by the Assembly which 
 were to be sunk in three years by a duty laid on liquors, 
 skins and furs. The credit of this paper-money was for some 
 considerable time undiminished; audit would have continued 
 so to the end if it had stood alone, for it was well received by 
 all and ample funds were provided for its redemption. But 
 a new plausible project, contrary to the expectation of its 
 friends, diminished the value of the bills. Interest was then 
 ten per cent., and lands were increasing in value from the 
 successful culture of rice. These circumstances suggested 
 the idea of a land bank as an easy and practicable mode of 
 obtaining, money and of supporting the credit of paper. In 
 the year 1712, the enormous sum of £52,000 was issued in 
 bills of credit to be loaned out on interest to such of the in- 
 habitants as could give the requisite security and agreed to 
 pay interest annually in addition to the twelfth part of the 
 principal. These land bank-bills came into circulation under 
 circumstances similar to those which introduced the late paper 
 medium sanctioned by the Legislature in 1785; but their fate 
 was different. On their emission, the rate of exchange and 
 the price of produce quickly increased. In the first year it 
 advanced to 150, and in the second to 200 per cent. In ten 
 years after, 1722, it was fixed by law at four for one. In ad- 
 dition to the injury done by the land bank-bills, a further de- 
 preciation resulted from a further emission of £15,000 by the 
 Legislature in 1716, to assist in defraying the expenses of the 
 Yamassee war. The people lost confidence in bills of credit, 
 the multiplication and extension of which was so easy and 
 tempting. 
 
 In Carolina, as a British province, sterhng was the legal 
 
92 FISCAL HISTORY, 
 
 money of the country ; but unfortunately there was very little 
 of it in the province or in any of the British colonies. The 
 greatest part of their current gold and silver was foreign coin. 
 The local assemblies settled the value thereof by laws pecu- 
 liar to each province. To remedy the inconveniences arising 
 from the different rates of foreign coin in the several colonies, 
 an act of Parliament was passed and a proclamation founded 
 thereon by Queen Anne in 1708, for ascertaining the current 
 rate of foreign coin in all the colonies. This fixed their cur- 
 rent nominal value in British America at one-fourth above 
 the nominal value in sterling money. But the demand for 
 more circulating medium in a new country than could be fur- 
 nished in coin was so urgent,that this regulation was not re- 
 garded, and the confusion arising from the different values of 
 British sterling and provincial current paper money became 
 general throughout the colonies. In some a dollar passed for 
 six shillings, in others for seven and sixpence: in North Caro- 
 lina and New York, for eight shillings: in South Carolina for 
 one pound twelve shillings and sixpence. In the latter, the 
 comparative value of sterling coin and paper-money diverged 
 so far from each other, that after passing through all interme- 
 diate grades of depreciation, it was finally fixed at seven 
 pounds of the paper bills for one pound sterling. It afterwards 
 assumed the character of currency as distinct from sterling, 
 and formed as it were another denomination and species of 
 money. Persons who had entered into contracts before the 
 paper bills had attained that fixed point suffered great injury; 
 but in contracts made afterwards the parties made their engage- 
 ments in conformity to the existing state of things. In the 
 meantime, the confusion which results from the fluctuating 
 value of money pervaded every department of business. The 
 merchants in Carolina complained of the justice of .making 
 these bills of credit a legal tender in the discharge of steriing 
 debts, and interested the merchants of London in their behalf. 
 By the persuasion of the latter the proprietors were induced 
 to direct Governor Robert Johnson to insist on their redemp- 
 tion. Laws were passed for that purpose, but were not car- 
 ried into full effect. The change of government soon followed. 
 With the new royal government, the same fiscal measures 
 were substantially pursued ; several specified articles were 
 subjected to impost duties ; taxes were raised almost every 
 year, and varied from about 20,0(t0 or 30,000 pounds which ■ 
 were among the lowest, to 50,000 or 60,000, which were 
 among the highest prior to the year 1755. Paper bills of 
 credit were also continued. Nicholson, the first royal Gov- 
 ernor, willing to soothe the people, gave his assent in the year 
 1722 to an emission of £40,000 in bills of this description. It 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808, 93 
 
 had the intended effect of making the inhabitants more pleased 
 with their change of government, but paved the way for an 
 enormous increase of paper money. The readiness of Nicli- 
 olson to concur in an emission of bills of credit, increased the 
 eagerness of the people for more, and made them restive under 
 the opposition of his successors to their projects for increasing 
 its amount. Disputes between the different branches of the 
 Legislature for and against bills of credit, were carried to such 
 an height, that there was not one legislative act passed between 
 the years 1727 and 1731. When the King's Council refused 
 to pass laws favorable to paper money, the Provincial House 
 of Commons for some time declined their concurrence in 
 passing any whatever. Each branch endeavored to throw on 
 the other the odium of involving the country in the evils 
 which resulted from a suspension of legislative acts. The 
 House of Commons finally carried their point; for an act to 
 emit £210,000 in bills of credit to be loaned out at eight per 
 cent was passed in 1736.* A second sum of £210,000 was 
 
 * These large emissions of paper money were not made without opposition, as 
 will appear from the following protest of Arthur Middleton, James Kinlock, and 
 Joseph Wragg: 
 
 "South Carolina. 
 
 " The joint and several protests of Arthur Middleton, James Kinlock, and 
 Joseph Wragg, Esqrs., three of the members of his Majesty's Council, against the 
 bill for stamping, emitting and making current the sum of two hundred and ten 
 thousand pounds in paper bills of credit, &c. 
 
 '"1st. The said^rthur Middleton, James Kinlock, and Joseph Wragg, do hereby 
 jointly and severally protest against passing the said bill; for that there is no 
 present necessity for enlarging the said paper credit, because it is notoriously 
 evident that the course of exchange between sterling money and the present 
 paper credit, within this two years last past, hath advanced in proportion from 
 seven to ten shillings Carolina moneys on every twenty shillings sterling, to the 
 great prejudice not only of all persons concerned in trade in this province, but to 
 all the merchants in Great Britain trading here, who have very large debts out- 
 standing in this province. 
 
 " 2dly. For that it appears by the bill itself that the bills of credit now proposed 
 to be issued by this bill bear no manner of proportion to sterling or proclamation 
 money ; for that by the said bill it is declared that the said sum of two hundred 
 and ten thousand pounds of the said bills is but equal to about thirty thousand 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 " 3dly. For that no means is provided by the said bill for ascertaining the value 
 ofthe bills thereby intended to be emitted, nor any provision made how the pro- 
 prietors of such bills shall receive any recompense or satisfaction for the same. 
 
 "4thly. For that notwithstanding there is no value annexed to the said bills, 
 nor any method prescribed for ascertaining the value of the same whilst in the 
 hands ofthe possessors, and consequently the valueof such bills must be always 
 fluctuating and uncertain, yet they are made a tender, and forced in payment, on 
 the King's subjects, of all debts, past, present, and to come, contrary to all reason 
 and justice. 
 
 5thly. For that as it has been found by constant experience that the continued 
 increase of this sort of paper currency has from time to time depreciated Ibe value 
 ofthe paper credit, wrought up the course of exchange to what it now is, seven 
 hundred and forty pounds, and upwards, ofthe now current bills for one hundred 
 pounds sterling; so by enlarging the present currency the same will diminish its 
 value, increase the price of the commodities ofthe country, raise the course of 
 exchange, and be highly detrimental to such ofthetrading interest both here and in 
 Great Britain, who have now debts outstanding in this colony to a very great value. 
 
 " Lastly, For that the said bills are made to be a perpetual bank, and ^re to be 
 
94 FISCAL HISTORY, 
 
 issued by the same authority and on the same terms in 1746. 
 
 In consequence of the too free emissions of paper money 
 in the first half of the eighteenth century, it had no steady 
 value ; and under color of law much confusion was intro- 
 duced, and much injustice was done. The currency of the 
 province was sometimes as low as ten for one, sterling, though 
 its average was only seven for one. Another denomination 
 of money was also introduced and referred to in laws. This 
 was called proclamation money, and was at the rate of one 
 for five, which was an aggregate of the depreciation by the 
 proclamation of Queen Anne in 1708, and of the provincial 
 legal depreciation of 1722. The former of which was one in 
 four ; the latter four for one. 
 
 In the ten years which followed the commencement of the 
 war between" France and England, or from 1755 to 1765, 
 South Carohna paid in taxes £2,020,652. Of this, the enor- 
 mous sum of £535,303 was raised in the year 1760, when the 
 Cherokee Indians were at war with the Carolinians. The 
 whole amount paid in taxes for the twenty years' peace that 
 intervened between the French war and that which is called 
 the American, or Revolutionary war, was £375,578, which is 
 one quarter less than the taxes for the year 1760. The inter- 
 val between the first and last tax laid on South Carolina as a 
 colony was eighty-seven years ; both were times of peace and 
 required no extraordinary supplies; yet after making every 
 allowance for the difference between sterling and currency, 
 the last provincial tax was more than twenty-four times tho 
 amount of the first. This fact is a strong proof of the pro- 
 gressive improvement of the country. 
 
 The last emission of provincial paper money was in 1770, 
 when the sum of £70,000 was issued for defraying the ex- 
 penses incurred for building the several court houses and 
 gaols required by the Circuit Court act passed in the preced- 
 ing year. The whole amount emitted in bills of credit by 
 
 perpetually current; which is expressly contrary to the intent of the twenty-first 
 article of his Majesty's royal instructions, which recites the great inconveniences 
 that have heretofore happened in South Carolina from the issuing of large sums 
 of paper money, without sufficient funds for the gradual repaying and cancellipg 
 the same : for all which reasons we do protest against the passing of the said bill, 
 and pray that this our protest may be forthwith entered and recorded in the jour- 
 nals of the council in assembly. 
 
 "May 29th, 1736." 
 
 It is remarkable, that though the American revolution took place only forty 
 years after these events, that they were so little known as to be never referred to 
 in the debates relative to paper money. In the interval, a new race had sprung 
 up who had no personal knowledge of them. Tradition was obscure, history was 
 silent. Newspapers gave no information. Old official records were seldom ex- 
 amined or referred to. From these causes the Carolinians of 1776 had little ad- 
 vantage from the knowledge of what their forefathers had done in 1736 or in 1719- 
 It is hoped that in consequence of the present increased means of diffusing and 
 perpetuating knowledge, the like will not occur again. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1S08. 95 
 
 provincial Carolina in the sixty-eight years which intervened 
 between the first and last emission of paper was ^£605,000, of 
 wliich more than two-thirds were secured by mortgaged prop- 
 erty; and except 60,000, all of it had been issued after a 
 great depreciation had taken place. As the early emissions 
 were generally called in before later ones were thrown into 
 circulation, the whole sum current at any one time must have 
 been far short of the whole amount emitted. The ingenuity 
 of the early legislators of America was frequently employed 
 in discussing the advantages and disadvantages of paper bills 
 of credit. In two points they all agreed — that under prpper 
 restrictions they might be useful to a certain extent ; but that 
 all proper restrictions were seldom imposed and seldomer ob- 
 served. The present Constitution of the United States has 
 rendered the discussion uninteresting in a practical point of 
 view. Bank bills immediately exchangeable for gold or silver, 
 have been found a safer expedient for increasing the circulat- 
 ing medium. 
 
 For five years before the revolution, the people of Carolina 
 were singularly circumstanced. From the course of trade 
 there was very little of either gold or silver in the province. 
 No tax bill had been passed, no emission of paper had taken 
 place since 1746, except that of 1770, which amounted to no 
 more than ,£10,000 sterling. From necessity barter was often 
 substituted for money. To remedy in part this inconvenient 
 mode of doing business, two expedients were adopted. The 
 clerk of the Commons House of Assembly in 1774, gave cer- 
 tificates to the public creditors that their demands were liqui- 
 dated and should be provided for in the next tax bill. So great 
 was the want of money — so high was the credit of the State, 
 that these certificates passed currently for their full value. 
 Henry Middleton, Benjamin Huger, Roger Smith, Miles Brew- 
 ton, and Thomas Lynch, men of large estates, issued in April 
 1775, their joint and several notes in convenient sums paya- 
 ble to bearer. These were readily exchanged for good bonds 
 drawing interest, and went into circulation as money, and 
 passed freely from hand to hand. The abilities of the obli- 
 gors were well known, and it was generally believed that they 
 would or could, or in every event might be made to pay. 
 The people were pleased to get anything that answered the 
 end of money, and the issuers of the notes anticipated a clear 
 gain of the interest of their whole caphal £128,000. While 
 these speculations and anticipations were indulged, the revo- 
 lutionary war came on. The courts of law were shut. A 
 flood of paper money was issued — depreciation followed. 
 The bonds given in exchange for the notes were paid off with 
 the new depreciated bills of credit, while the holders of the 
 24. 
 
96 FISCAL HISTORY, 
 
 notes, preferring them to every other species of paper money, 
 hoarded them up under the impression that in every event 
 payment in good money might be procured from some of the 
 payers whose names were subscribed to the same. Thus in 
 the end a project which was really a public convenience and 
 promised to be a private benefit, turned out both unprofitable 
 and vexatious. 
 
 At the commencement of the revolution. South Carolina 
 though abounding in natural riches, was deficient in the 
 money of the world. For several years before the termination 
 of the royal government, from three to 5,000 negroes had been 
 annually imported into the province. This increased the 
 capital of the country, but turned the balance of trade against 
 it and caused the greatest part of its gold and silver to centre 
 in Great Britain. In this scarcity of a circulating medium, 
 payments were often made by a transfer of bonds. The ne- 
 cessities of war required something current in the form of 
 money. Paper bills of credit had aided the exertions of Caro- 
 lina in every period of her- colonial history when fighting for 
 Great Britain; the same expedient was resorted to in this 
 juncture to assist in fighting against her. The first emission 
 took place in June, 1775, and the last in February, 1779. In 
 this period, not quite four years, the sum of £7,817,553 was 
 thrown into circulation under the authority of the new order 
 of things. These sums are in the old provincial currency at 
 the rate of seven for one, sterling. When the last emission 
 became current, it was not worth more than one-tenth of its 
 nominal amount. The real value of all the emissions at the 
 times they were respectively issued was £481,065, or nearly 
 half a million of pounds sterling. Though Carolina engaged 
 in the revolutionary war with an empty treasury, yet she drew 
 from her credit, resources to the amount of about half a mil- 
 lion of dollars for each of the first four years of the contest 
 The animation, unanimity, and enthusiam of the people — the 
 immense value of the staple commodities of the province — 
 the strict observance of good faith in performing all its en- 
 gagements had established a credit sixperior to the mines of 
 Potosi, and gave currency to everything stamped with public 
 authority. To a people thus circumstanced, whose credit was 
 unstained and who though deficient in gold and silver, abounded 
 in real wealth, the paper currency was very acceptable and 
 greatly facilitated the transfer of property. It set in immediate 
 motion the late stagnant streams of commerce — invigorated 
 industry — and gave a spring to every branch of business. It 
 had an operation on society similar to what might be expected 
 from a government becoming suddenly possessed of a large 
 quantity of hidden treasure, and throwing it into circulation 
 for the public benefit. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 97 
 
 The paper currency retained its value undiminished in 
 South Carolina for one year and nine months, viz: from June, 
 1775 to April, 1777. To this period commenced a deprecia- 
 tion destructive to credit; ruinous to the monied interest ; and 
 greatly detrimental to the success of military operations. The 
 progress of it was scarcely perceivable in the first four or five 
 months of 1777, and was comparatively slow throughout that 
 year. From the commencement of the year 1778, when great 
 quantities of the continental money began to flow into the 
 State, it became much more rapid. The enormous expenses 
 of the armies kept up by Congress in the extensive campaigns 
 of 1775, 1776, 1777, in the northern States, required immense 
 supplies of money. This could not be raised in sufficient 
 quantities either by taxes or loans. The only practicable re- 
 source left, was emissions of paper currency under an engage- 
 ment to be redeemed at a future day. These Congress bills 
 of credit were current in Carolina as well as its own bills, and 
 contributed much to the depreciation of the State emissions. 
 The possessors of the paper money who, either from acci- 
 dent or sagacity, conjectured right about the event, finding 
 that it daily lost part of its value, were perpetually in quest 
 of bargains. As they foresaw that Congress would make 
 further emissions for the supplies of their armies, they con- 
 cluded that it would be better to purchase any kind of property 
 than lo lay up their money. The progressive superabundance 
 of cash produced a daily rise in the price of commodities. 
 The deceitful sound of large nominal sums tempted many 
 possessors of real property to sell. The purchasers, if in- 
 dulged with the usual credit, or if they took the advantage 
 which the delays of the courts of justice allowed, could pay 
 for the whole by the sale of an inconsiderable part. The san- 
 guine, flattering themselves with the delusive hopes of a 
 speedy termination of the war, were often induced to sell lest 
 a sudden peace should appreciate the money, in which case it 
 was supposed they would lose the present opportunity of sell- 
 ing to great advantage. From the same principles some hoarded 
 up the bills of credit in preference to purchasing solid properly 
 at a supposed extravagant price. They mistook the dimin- 
 ished value of the money for an increasing price of commodi- 
 ties, and therefore concluded that by buying little, selling 
 much, and retaining their paper currency, they were laying 
 the foundations of future permanent weaUh. Subsequent 
 events, in opposition to the commonly received maxims of 
 prudence and economy, fully demonstrated that they who in- 
 stantly expended their money received its full value, while 
 they who laid it up, sustained a daily diminution of their 
 capital. 
 
98 FISCAL HISTORY, 
 
 That the money should finally sink, or that it should be 
 redeemed by a scale of depreciation, were events neither fore- 
 seen nor expected by the bulk of the people. The Congress 
 and the local Legislatures, for the first five years of the war, 
 did not entertain the most distant idea of such a breach of 
 public fai'b. The generality of the friends of the revolution, 
 reposing unlimited confidence in the integrity of their rulers, 
 the plijlited faith of government, and the success of the cause 
 of Amoiira, amused themselves with the idea that in a few 
 years tiKiir paper dollars, under the influence of peace and in- 
 dependence, would be sunk by equal taxes or realized into 
 silver at their nominal value; and that, therefore, the sellers 
 would ultimately increase their estates in the same proportion 
 that the currency had depreciated. The plunderings and 
 devastation of the enemy made several think that their prop- 
 erty would be much safer, when turned into money, than 
 when subject to the casualties of war. The disposition to sell 
 was in a great degree proportioned to the confidence in the 
 justice and final success of the revolution, superadded to ex- 
 pectations of a speedy termination of the war. The most san- 
 guine Whigs were, therefore, oftenest duped by the fallacious 
 sound of high prices. These principles operated so extensively 
 that the property of the inhabitants, in a considerable degree, 
 changed its owners. ' Many opulent persons, of ancient fami- 
 lies, were ruined by selling paternal estates for a depreciating 
 paper currency, which, in a few weeks, would not replace 
 half of the real property in exchange for which it was obtained. 
 iVIany bold adventurers made fortunes in a short time by 
 running in debt beyond their abilities. Prudence ceased to 
 be a virtue, and rashness usurped its place. The warm 
 friends of America, who never despaired of their country, and 
 who cheerfully risked their fortunes in its support, lost their 
 property; while the timid, who looked forward to the re- 
 establishment of British government, not only saved their 
 former possessions, but often increased them. In the Ameri- 
 can revolution, for the first time, the friends of the successful 
 party were the losers. 
 
 The enthusiasm of the Americans, and their confidence in 
 the money, gave the Congress the same advantage in carrying 
 on the war which old countries derive from the anticipation 
 of their permanent funds. It would have been impossible to 
 have kept together an American army for so many years with- 
 out this paper expedient. Though the bills of credit operated 
 as a partial tax on the monied interest, and ruined many indi- 
 viduals, yet it was productive of great national benefits by 
 enabling the popular leaders to carry on a necessary defensive 
 war. 
 
PROM 1670 TO 1808. 99 
 
 Many attempts were made to preserve the credit of the cur- 
 rency. State and continental loan offices were opened, that 
 the necessity of further emissions might be diminished, and the 
 hearty friends of American independence deposited in them large 
 sums on interest. The Legislature, in the year 1779,offered an 
 interest on money lent to the State of three per cent, more than 
 was paid by private persons. Notwithstanding all these dou- 
 ceurs, the supplies obtained by loans fell so far short of the 
 public demands that further emissions could not be restrained. 
 When the small quantities of specie that still remained began 
 to be changed for paper bills at an advance, an Act of As- 
 sembly was passed prohibiting any person from receiving or 
 demanding for any article a larger sum in paper than in spe- 
 cie. A law to prevent the ebbing and flowing of the sea would 
 have been no less ineffectual than this attempt of the Legisla- 
 ture to alter the nature of things. Gold and silver no longer 
 passed at par, and contracts were either discharged in paper 
 or not discharged at all. The bills of credit being a legal ten- 
 der in all cases would pay off" old debts equally with gold and 
 silver, though for new purchases they were of much less 
 value. The merchants and other monied men, who had out- 
 standing debts, contracted before or near the first period of 
 the war, were great losers by the legal tender of the paper cur- 
 rency. For eighteen months they were not allowed to sue for 
 their debts, and were afterwards obliged to accept of depre- 
 ciated paper in discharge of them at par with gold and silver. 
 This was not the result of intentional injustice, but forced on 
 the Legislature by the necessity of the times. Besides, it was 
 at that time the fixed resolution of Congress and the different 
 Legislatures to redeem all their paper bills at par with gold or 
 silver. 
 
 The public was in the condition of a town on fire, when 
 some houses must be blown up to save the remainder. The 
 liberties of America could not be defended without armies- 
 armies could not be supported without money — money could 
 not be raised in sufficient quantities otherwise than by emis- 
 sions. It was supposed essentially necessary to their credit 
 that they should have the sanction of a legal tender in the 
 payment of all debts. This involved the ruin of the monied 
 interest, and put it in the power of individuals to pay their 
 debts with much less than they really owed. This unhappy 
 necessity to do private injustice for a public benefit, proved in 
 many respects injurious to the political interests of the State 
 and the moral character of its inhabitants. It disposed those 
 who were losers by the legal tender, and who preferred their 
 money to the liberties of America, to wish for the re-establish- 
 ment of British government, and filled others with murmur- 
 
100 
 
 ings and bitter complaints against the ruling powers. The 
 public spirited who were sincere in their declarations of de- 
 voting hfe and fortune to support the cause of their country, 
 patiently submitted to the hardships from a conviction that 
 the cause of liberty required the sacrifice. The nature of 
 obligations was so far changed that he was reckoned the hon- 
 est man who from principle delayed to pay his debts. In- 
 stead of creditors pressing their debtors to a settlement, they 
 frequently kept aloof or secreted their obligations. 
 
 Much of the evil occasioned by the legal tender of paper 
 bills might have been prevented if the laws respecting it had 
 confined its operations to future contracts. A great deal might 
 have been done at an early period by taxation to support the 
 credit of the money. But the depreciation not being generally 
 foreseen, no provision was made against the injustice result- 
 ing from it. The evils which had taken place from minor 
 floods of paper money forty or fifty years before, were gen- 
 erally unknown to a new generation. In the first stage of the 
 dispute, few Americans had any acquaintance with the phi- 
 losophy of money or the subject of finance; and almost all 
 were sanguine in expecting the establishment of their liberties 
 without such long and expensive sacrifices. Had even all 
 these matters been properly attended to they would only have 
 moderated, but could not have prevented depreciation. The 
 United States had no permanent funds to give stability to their 
 paper currency. In the commencement of the war they were 
 without fiscal systems or regular governments to enforce the 
 collection of taxes. They were in possession of no resources 
 adequate to the raising of sufficient supplies without large 
 emissions of paper money. 
 
 The surrender of Charlestown on the 12th of May, 1780, 
 wholly arrested the circulation of the paper currency, and put 
 a great part of the State in possession of the British when 
 many contracts for these nominal sums were unperformed, 
 and after many individuals had received payment of old 
 debts in depreciated paper. James Simpson, Intendant Gen- 
 eral of the British police, commissioned thirteen gentlemen to 
 inquire into the different stages of depreciation, so as to ascer- 
 tain a fixed rule for payment in hard money of outstanding 
 contracts; and to compel those who had settled with their 
 creditors to make up by a second payment the difference be- 
 tween the real and nominal value of the currency. The com- 
 missioners proceeded on principles of equity, and compared 
 the prices of country produce when the paper currency was 
 in circulation, with its prices in the year before the war; and 
 also the rate of exchange between hard money and the paper 
 bills of credit. The Legislature of the State took up the same 
 
FHOM 1670 TO 1808. 
 
 101 
 
 business in the year 1783, and, proceeding on the same prin- 
 ciples as the British commissioners, agreed upon and estab- 
 Ushed by law the following table of depreciation, which shows 
 how much of the depreciated bills was necessary to make the 
 value of £lOO in good money in each month, between April 
 1777, when depreciation began, and May 1780, when by the 
 fall of Charlestown the bills of credit ceased to circulate : 
 
 MONTHS. 
 
 January 
 
 February. . . . 
 
 March 
 
 April 
 
 May 
 
 June 
 
 July 
 
 August 
 
 September... 
 
 October 
 
 November... 
 December... 
 
 1777 
 
 £ 6: 
 
 108 10 
 
 117 
 
 125 10 
 
 139 
 
 152 10 
 
 166 
 
 186 
 206 
 
 226 10 
 
 1778 
 
 1779 
 
 £ s. 
 
 221 10 
 
 211 10 
 
 267 10 
 
 317 
 
 328 10 
 
 347 10 
 
 354 10 
 
 361 10 
 
 380 10 
 405 
 
 520 10 
 
 629 
 
 
 
 £ s. 
 
 761 
 
 832 
 
 893 10 
 
 966 10 
 
 950 
 
 1177 
 
 1457 
 
 1537 10 
 
 1618 
 
 2040 10 
 
 2596 10 
 
 3233 
 
 1780 
 
 £ 
 3775 
 4217 
 4659 
 5101 
 
 5248 10 
 
 The British successes to the southward in 1780 caused the 
 continental money to flow back to the middle States. Its 
 superabundance and incurable depreciation at last forced on 
 the Congress and the several Legislatures, a scale of depre- 
 ciation, though the face of the bills, the terms of their emis- 
 sion, and every public act respecting them, gave assurances 
 that they should be ultimately redeemed at the rate of one 
 silver dollar for every paper dollar. In September, 1779, the 
 Supreme Council of the States, in their circular letter, rejected 
 with horror the bare supposition that such a measure should 
 ever be adopted ; yet in six months afterwards it was done 
 with the acquiescence of a great majority of the people. In 
 other countries similar measures have produced popular in- 
 surrections, but in the United States it was peaceably adopted. 
 Public faith was violated, but in the general opinion public 
 good was promoted. The evils consequent on depreciation 
 had taken place and the redemption of the bills at par, instead 
 of remedying the distresses of the sutferers, would in many 
 cases have increased them by subjecting their small remains 
 of property to exorbitant taxation. The money had in a great 
 measure got out of the hands of the original proprietors, and 
 was in the possession of others who had obtained it at a 
 cheap rate. 
 
102 FISCAL HISTOEY, 
 
 The paper currency continued to have a partial circulation 
 in the northern States for a year after a scale of depreciation 
 was fixed. It gradually diminished in value till the summer 
 of 1781. By common consent, it then ceased to have any 
 currency. Like an aged man, expiring by the decays of na- 
 ture without a sigh or a groan, it gently fell asleep in the 
 hands of its last possessors, and continued so for ten years; 
 when the Congress paper dollars were funded at the rate of 
 100 for one of silver. The extinction of the paper currency 
 was an event ardently wished for by the enemies, and dreaded 
 by the friends of American independence. The failnre of its 
 circulation disappointed them both. The war was carried on 
 with the same vigor afterwards as before, and the people very 
 generally acquiesced in the measure as justified by necessity. 
 
 The introduction of silver and gold by channels which were 
 opened about the same time that the paper currency ceased to 
 circulate, contributed much to diminish the bad effects of its 
 annihilation. A trade was at that period opened with the 
 French and Spanish West India islands, by which specie was 
 imported into the American continent, and a vent was found 
 for the commodities of the northern and middle States. The 
 French army which arrived in Rhode Island, as has been 
 before mentioned, early in the year 1780, put into circulation 
 a great quantity of coined silver, and subsidies to a large 
 amount were about the same time granted to the United States 
 by his most christian majesty. 
 
 The unexpected introduction of so much gold and silver 
 suggested to the Congress a new system of finance. The issu- 
 ing of paper currency by the authority of government was dis- 
 continuedj and the public engagements were made in specie. 
 
 The supplies for public exigencies in South Carolina before 
 the reduction of Charlestown, were principally raised by taxes 
 on lands and negroes. Three contributions of this kind had 
 been levied between the Declaration of Independence in 1776, 
 and the surrender of the capital in I7S0. The first was in the 
 year 1777, and was fixed at nearly one-third of a dollar per 
 head on negroes, and as much on every hundred acres of land. 
 A fear of alarming the people, and too sanguine hopes of 
 a speedy peace, induced the Legislature to begin moderately; 
 more with a view of making an experiment than of raising 
 adequate supplies. The next tax was in 1778, nominally ten 
 times larger than the former, but really at the time of paying 
 worth only about twice as much. In 1779, a tax of twenty 
 paper dollars per head on negroes, and one very hundred acres 
 of lands, was levied. This about the time of payment was 
 nearly equal to a specie dollar. 
 
 While the British were in possession of Charlestown, money 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 103 
 
 was plentiful where their power extended. Where it did not, 
 the reverse was the case. Coin had no existence in any quan- 
 tity among the friends of independence. Paper money had 
 no general circulation, and its value was next to nothing. A 
 few had hoarded up a little specie for this day of extremity. 
 Plate, rings, keep-sakes, old coin, and such like articles were 
 brought into nse by those who possessed them; but the great 
 bulk of the people lived without money or any substitute for 
 it. Buying and selling in a great measure ceased. Those 
 who had the necessaries of life freely divided with those who 
 were destitute. Luxuries or even comforts were not contem- 
 plated. To make out to live was the ultimate aim of most. 
 This was done to the astonishment of many who could scarcely 
 tell how it had been effected. While the British were in pos- 
 session of Charlestown, their sterling was the money of ac- 
 count. After their departure as currency and paper bills of 
 every kind had vanished from circulation, the Legislature con- 
 tinued sterling as the money of the country; but added two 
 pence to the dollar, and nine pence to the guinea in the vain 
 hope of retaining them in circulation. This change of the 
 money of account produced mischievous consequences among 
 country people ignorant of public business. Some such made 
 contracts, expecting that a dollar would pay £1 12s. 6d. of 
 debt which was its value in the current money of the country 
 before the fall of Charlestown; but according to the new reg- 
 ulations, it was equal to no more than 4s. 8d. Several even 
 now keep their accounts in pounds, shillings, and pence: but 
 a dollar is the legal money unit of the state, and is by degrees 
 becoming the money of account with all the people. 
 
 When the British evacuated Charlestown, and the citizens 
 regained possession, there was a show of money which had 
 been left by the evacuating troops; but this soon disappeared. 
 Though the object of resisting Great Britain was obtained, yet 
 for several years many inconveniences were felt from the want 
 of a circulating medium. A partial rehef was obtained from 
 a general evil. The debts growing out of the war were liqui- 
 •dated, and an acknowledgment on the part of the State of the 
 sum due was given to the creditor in form of an indent. In- 
 terest on these evidences of debt was paid by another paper 
 called a special indent. These were annually issued for five 
 years, and were made receivable in taxes which were annu- 
 ally imposed for their redemption. The holders of them 
 readily subscribed to the doctrine that a public debt was a 
 pubhc blessing; for to them it really proved so. It furnished 
 annually from two to three hundred thousand dollars in the 
 form of paper, which obtained a considerable circulation, and 
 to a certain extent lessened the evils resulting from the want of 
 
104 FISCAL HISTORY, 
 
 an adequate circulating medium. The value of the expedi- 
 ent depended on the punctual collection of taxes, which often 
 failed. Nevertheless, the special indents kept up their credit 
 at a moderate depreciation. The project of paper money had 
 heen frequently contemplated and sometimes brought forward; 
 but the quantities of paper bills of credit, issued in the revo- 
 lutionary war, and still unprovided for in the hands of almost 
 every person, induced a general opinion that no new bills of 
 credit could be emitted with any probable ground of hope 
 that they would pass current so as to answer the end of money. 
 After some years the experiment was made on a small scale. 
 Bills of credit to the amount of ,£100,000 were issued by the 
 Legislature under the name of paper medium, on a plan 
 similar to that which had been adopted seventy-six years 
 before : these were loaned on interest to the inhabitants in 
 small sums on a mortgage of land or a deposit of plate. There 
 was a general understanding among the members of the 
 Legislature, that no further sum should be emitted on any 
 emergency. The merchants, who were always losers by de- 
 preciation, came forward in a body, and agreed to take these 
 paper bills at par with gold or silver. This association and a 
 general conviction that the measure adopted was necessary, 
 introduced this new paper into common use. It maintained 
 its credit better than was expected. The depreciation was 
 inconsiderable and so far short of what the inhabitants had 
 often seen to be attached to other paper, that little or no im- 
 pression was made to its disadvantage. To the borrowers it 
 proved a great accommodation, and to the public a source of 
 revenue; for besides the loss of bills, the annual interest, 
 30,000 dollars, was clear gain to the State. So much of the 
 principal has been paid, that the outsanding balance at present 
 only draws about 9,000 dollars annual interest This is re- 
 duced by occasional payment of the principal; but the State 
 finds so great a convenience in receiving interest on what costs 
 nothing, that all who punctually pay it receive indulgence for 
 the principal. The State has cleared 300,000 dollars by this 
 project, and is likely to receive a considerable further sum.' 
 The same paper was a source of great emolument to the 
 South Carohna bank. At a time when gold and silver were 
 fast leaving the country, to arrest its departure, the directors of 
 that institution discounted on the State paper medium. To 
 the depositors of it they issued in exchange a new paper of 
 their own, in which they promised on demand to pay its nomi- 
 nal amount in the medium of the State or the specie of the 
 bank. On this deposit of State paper medium they discounted 
 in their own paper to a considerable extent, and gained the 
 whole discount and at the same time retained their specie 
 
FKOM 1670 TO 1808. 105 
 
 without the hazard of any great run heing made upon it. In 
 tiws -mxide they advanced their own capital to the amount of 
 about 60,000 dollars, while they accommodated their custom- 
 ers and prevented the exportation of gold and silver. 
 
 In five or six years after the issuing of the paper medium 
 the debts of the United States, and of South Carolina, were 
 funded and ample provision was made for paying the interest 
 and in due time the principal. This added an important item 
 of daily increasing value to the circulating medium of Caro- 
 lina. The energy of the new national government, with its 
 offspring, the funding system, made important changes in the 
 fiscal concerns of the State. Among many other benefits re- 
 sulting from the former, was a settlement of accounts between 
 the United and individual States. The pecuniary concerns of 
 the revolution were adjusted on the principles of a mercantile 
 partnership. All expenses incurred by individual States on 
 behalf of the United States, were a fair charge against the 
 latter. South Carolina, far removed from the seat of govern- 
 ment, carried on the war in a great measure from her own 
 resources but charged her advances in the common cause to 
 the United States according to fixed rules. It was generally 
 supposed that Carolina was a creditor State, but the extent and 
 amount was unknown to all its citizens. To adjust accounts 
 between the United States and the individual States, three 
 commissioners were appointed in behalf of the United States; 
 and each State appointed one to take care of its particular in- 
 terest. Simeon Theus was appointed on behalf of South 
 Carolina. There never was a more judicious or happy ap- 
 pointment. To facilitate his arduous labor the State permitted 
 him to employ as many clerks as he chose, but he employed 
 none. By working night and day, regardless of office hours, 
 in about two years he brought forward an immense mass of 
 accounts, co-extensive with the revolutionary war, and embrac- 
 ingall the advances of South Carolina, and supported so many 
 of them to the satisfaction of the commissioners of the United 
 States, that they certified a balance of 1,447,173 dollars due 
 to the State over and above the four millions of dollars of its 
 debt previously assumed by the United States. Certificates of 
 funded stock were given to the State for that sum, and they 
 have been regularly paid. This immense credit placed the 
 finances of South. Carolina on high ground. A funded public 
 debt became a species of money and silenced the clanior for 
 an increase of the circulating medium. The clauses in the 
 Constitution which prohibited the State "from issuing bills of 
 credit ; from passing ex-post facto laws, or laws impairing the 
 obligation of contracts," restored confidence between individu- 
 als and produced an astonishing melioration of public and 
 private concerns. 
 
106 
 
 One of the beneficial consequences resulting from this new 
 and happy state of things was the establishment of the banks. 
 The utility of these institutions was known before, and an 
 effort to establish one in Charlestown with the small capital 
 of 100,000 dollars was made in 1783, but failed from the 
 want of subscribers. Men willing and able to advance that 
 small sum could not then be found. Soon after the adoption 
 of the funding system, three banks were established in Charles- 
 town whose capitals in the whole amounted to twenty times 
 the sum proposed in 1783. The first of these was a branch 
 of the National bank with the name of the office of discount 
 and deposit, which was established in 1792. Though one 
 bank could not be raised in 1783, yet before ten years elapsed 
 one would not satisfy the people. A second one by the name 
 of the South Carolina bank was in the year 1792 projected, 
 agreed upon, and filled in a short time. The advantages 
 of these institutions were found to be so great that in nine 
 years a third by the name of the State bank was projected 
 and readily filled. Three hundred thousand dollars were sub- 
 scribed by the State as a part of the capital of this third bank, 
 and paid in six per cent, stock. The State gained by the 
 transfer all that the dividend of bank stock exceeded the inter- 
 est of funded stock. This excess was never less than two, 
 and has been as high as four per cent, per annum. All the 
 shares in these several banks were taken up and instantly sold 
 for an advanced price. In every instance there were more 
 subscribers than shares. The receipts for the first payment to- 
 wards the National bank sold in Charlestown for five, six, and 
 in a few instances for ten times the amount of the first cost. 
 The term depreciation which was common in the revolu- 
 tionary war, and for eight years after, became obsolete, and ap- 
 preciation took its place. The unemployed money of indi- 
 viduals being deposited in the banks, added so much to their 
 capitals as enabled the directors to discount extensively. In 
 consequence thereof landed property rose in value — agricul- 
 ture was promoted — commerce extended — embarrassed men 
 assisted, and the people in general accommodated. The coun- 
 try rapidly rose from a state of depression and embarrassment 
 to a high pitch of prosperity. 
 
 The establishment of banks has completely done away all 
 inconveniences from the want of a circulating medium, an 
 evil that has afflicted Carolina in every preceding period of her 
 history except when it was remedied by bills of credit: a 
 remedy for the most part worse than the disease. Since their 
 institution, in ordinary times, every man whose capital and 
 habits of punctuality entitle him to credit can obtain it. Thus 
 a revolution has taken place in the fiscal concerns of South 
 Carolina as well as in its government. Bank bills exchange- 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 107 
 
 able at sight for gold and silver are the true bills of credit, and 
 have sufficiently increased the current money of the country 
 without the hazard of depreciation or injustice which have for 
 the most part followed all other bills. There still are ebbs 
 and flows of money when it comes in like a tide, and what re- 
 mains in private hands is very apt to go out like* the ebb; but 
 in these emergencies the banks being the principal holders of 
 the gold and silver in the State, by curtailing their discounts 
 can arrest the departure of specie and confine it in their vaults. 
 So sudden have been the transitions from plenty to a scarcity 
 of gold and silver, and the reverse in the former periods of 
 Carolina history, that nomaa was safe in buying or selling on 
 long credit; for he could not be sure that money would have 
 the same value at the time of payment as in the moment of 
 contracting. In the present state of things, gold and silver 
 have a domicile in Charlestown. Though the quantity is not 
 always the same, yet the variation is so much under control 
 that great injustice or even inconvenience cannot readily occur 
 from that source. This happy fiscal state never took place 
 while Carolina was a British province, nor even for the first 
 fifteen years of its sovereignty. 
 
 Since the termination of the revolutionary war, annual 
 taxes to answer the current expenses of the State for the year 
 have been imposed on the inhabitants. The first was in 1783, 
 a dollar a head on negroes and in proportion on every hun- 
 dred acres of land. From the first settlement of the province 
 till that period, the lands had been uniformly taxed according 
 to quantity without any regard to quality. A hundred acres 
 of pine barren and a hundred acres of the most highly culti- 
 vated tide swamp, paid the same tax. The owners of the 
 former were clamorous foran alteration so as to make quality as 
 well as quantity a ground of taxation. The owners of the latter 
 were very slowly convinced of the practicability of the discrimi- 
 nation, though they acknowledged its justice. The experiment 
 was first made and carried into efi'ect in the year 1785. All the 
 granted lands were then classed according to their situation 
 and quality, none higher than twenty-six dollars per acre and 
 none less than twenty cents. A per centage was imposed on 
 each class rated according to this valuation. The taxes from 
 1784 to 1788 were payable in special indents, but ever since 
 in specie or something equivalent. 
 
 Till the year 1790, the State had the income of the impost 
 duty, and from that fund paid its civil list; but the United 
 States have since enjoyed that fruitful source of revenue. ;, The 
 State now depends for the support of its government on taxes 
 imposed on lands, negroes, monies at interest, stock in trade, 
 factorage, employments, faculties and professions, and a few 
 
108 FISCAL HISTORY, 
 
 incidental sources of revenue; such as duties upon sales at 
 public auction, on licenses granted to hawkers, pedlars, and 
 theatrical performers, the interest of the paper medium loan, 
 the interest and instalments of the debts due to the State from 
 the United States, the dividends from its shares in the State 
 bank, fines and forfeitures, &c. 
 
 The average of taxes annually collected, is about 135,000 
 dollars; and the State receives from other sources about 175,- 
 000 dollars. The appropriations of revenue are first for pay- 
 ing the salaries of the civil list, and other incidental expenses 
 of government, both of which amount in common years to a 
 sum between seventy and 80,000 dollars; and secondly, for 
 paying extraordinaries and contingent accounts. These vary 
 so considerably that they cannot be stated with precision. On 
 an average they amount to about the sum of 145,000 dollars 
 per annum. 
 
 For the last fifteen years government has been daily acquir- 
 ing consistency, and becoming more adequate to the ends for 
 which it was instituted. The fiscal department was the last 
 which received a portion of this healthy vigor. Stricter laws 
 were enacted and severer penalties imposed on revenue officers 
 for mismanagement or neglect of duty. Committees of the 
 House of Representatives were appointed to superintend the 
 collection of taxes. Boards of commissioners were instituted 
 and authorized to call all persons to account who had had any 
 agency in the fiscal concerns of the State. Nevertheless, many 
 frauds were committed without detection and much was lost 
 from neglect and mismanagement No man in or out of 
 office could tell with any precision the amount of the debts 
 and credits of the State. The concentration of all matters rel- 
 ative to revenue in a head of the department had been sev- 
 eral times proposed but not adopted. Some could not see the 
 utility of such an officer ; others thought his salary might be 
 saved. At length the defects of the financial system became 
 so glaring as to induce the passing of an act in the year 1799 
 to establish the office of a Comptroller of the revenue whose 
 duty it was, among other official details, to superintend, adjust, 
 and settle all the former accounts of the treasurers and tax 
 collectors of the State — to superintend the collection of the 
 future revenue — to direct and superintend prosecutions for all 
 delinquencies of revenue officers — to enforce executions issued 
 for arrearages of taxes, and suits for debts due to the State— to 
 decide on the official form of all papers to be issued for col- 
 lecting the public revenue — and on the manner and form of 
 kee])ing public accounts — to examine and count over the cash 
 in the treasury — to prepare and report at every session of the 
 Legislature estimates of the public revenue and public expend- 
 
PROM 1670 TO 1808. 109 
 
 iture — and at the same time to render fair and accurate 
 copies of all the treasurer's monthly reports, and a true and 
 accurate account of the actual state of each department of the 
 treasury — to suspend from office every tax collector who did 
 not perform the duties of his office faithfully — to examine and 
 compare the returns of taxable property from the different 
 districts — to inquire into any defects or omissions — and to 
 proceed against all persons accessary to the making false or 
 defective returns. It was also made the duty of the treasurers, 
 on receiving any public money, to give duplicate receipts; 
 one of which was to be lodged with the Comptroller. And 
 no public money was to be paid otherwise than in conformity 
 to legal appropriations; and no sum for more than a hundred 
 dollars was to be drawn out of the treasury but by the warrant 
 of the Comptroller, expressing on what account such money 
 was due by the State. Thus everything relating to revenue 
 was subjected to the direction and control of a single person ; 
 and all power relative to the same concentered in his hands. 
 The Legislature chose Paul Hamilton their first Comptroller 
 who, besides an accurate knowledge of accounts, possessed a 
 clear and systemising head and a quick discernment to detect 
 errors and frauds. After a thorough examination of the re- 
 sources, debts, and credits of the State, he made his first report 
 in 1800; and a further one annually for the four following 
 years. These reports astonished the Legislature. They then 
 for the first time knew their real fiscal state, and were agreea- 
 bly surprised to find it much better than they expected. From 
 Comptroller Hamilton's last report in 1S04 it appeared that the 
 balance due to the State amounted to the unexpected sum of 
 754,755 dollars. 
 
 This flourishing condition of the public finances led to two 
 important State measures. The richness of the treasury en- 
 couraged the Legislature to subscribe 300,000 dollars in stock 
 to the State bank, and to establish and endow the South Car- 
 olina college at the new central seat of government. The 
 clear gains of the former, which accrued to the State from the 
 excess of bank dividends over interest on six per cent, stock, 
 were sufficient to defray the expenses of the latter. The State 
 may be said to have acquired for its citizens the advantages 
 of both institutions for nothing, as they were carried into effect 
 without imposing upon them any additional burdens. After 
 five years faithful service, in which Paul Hamilton introduced 
 the same order into the finances of the State which had been 
 done for his illustrious namesake for the United States, he was 
 honored by his grateful country with the highest State office 
 in its gift. ' Thomas Lee was appointed his successor, who, 
 with equal firmness and ability, prosecutes the same good 
 work. From their exertions a chaos of public account has 
 
110 FISCAL HISTORV, 
 
 been reduced to order, energy and decision infused into every 
 department of finance; andthe fiscal concerns of the State, re- 
 covered from disorder, are now in a flourishing and healthy 
 condition. 
 
 One reform facilitated another. The State constitution of 
 1790 adopted no rule for apportioning the representation of 
 the people in the Legislature. Afraid of interrupting public 
 harmony, the convention, by common consent, made an arbi- 
 trary apportionment without regard to property, numbers, or 
 any avowed principle whatever. A general conviction pre- 
 vailed, that as government was instituted for the preservation 
 of property as well as liberty, both should be respected. The 
 principle was just, but the carrying it into effect impracticable 
 anterior to the establishment of the office of a Comptroller 
 General. As many wealthy citizens owned property in vari- 
 ous and distant parts of the State, and had the privilege of 
 making their returns of taxable property and paying their 
 taxes where they lived, the exact comparative taxable property 
 of any one district could not be ascertained till the returns 
 from all parts of the State were brought under the view of 
 one person; who, by dissecting and distributing them, could 
 determine the precise amount and value of taxable property 
 in each electoral district. This was done by Comptroller Lee. 
 The Legislature adopted a principle, introduced and ably 
 supported by Abraham Blanding, that one-half of the present 
 representatives should be assigned to numbers and the other 
 half to property. The population being ascertained by a cen- 
 sus taken for the purpose, and the value of the taxable prop- 
 erty of each electoral district being stated by the Comptroller, 
 the apportionment of the representation, conformably to the 
 principle just adopted, becomes a plain arithmetical caculation. 
 Thus, a real difficulty, which threatened the peace of the State, 
 was compromised to general satisfaction, and the reform in 
 the fiscal department essentially contributed to a reform of the 
 constitution and the stability of the government. 
 
 Since the first settlement of Carolina there has been a pro- 
 gressive rise in the price of property. Well chosen spots of 
 land, which sixty years ago cost little more than the fees of 
 office, will now command from ten to fifteen dollars per acre. 
 Squares might have been purchased in Charlestown many 
 years after it began to be built, for less money than single lots 
 sell for at present. The appreciation of landed property is, on 
 a general average, three for one, and in many cases ten or 
 twenty for one.* The rents of houses, the price of slaves, the 
 
 *A tract of high land, the property of Dr. Harris, three miles distant from 
 Charlestown, containing 140 acres, with 150 or 200 acres of salt marsh annexed 
 thereto, sold, in the year 1713, for 305 pounds ; in 1726, for 1,750 pounds ; in 1728, 
 for 2,000 pounds; in 176S, for 2,792 pounds. Land, opposite to this tract, lately 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. Ill 
 
 wages of laborers, the expenses of living and of educating 
 children, have all advanced three if not four for one.* 
 
 A few observations on the rate of interest and usury, as con- 
 nected with the fiscal history of Carolina, shall close this 
 chapter. For the first fifty years after the settlement there is 
 no evidence of any law fixing the rate of interest, nor of any 
 against usury. Two laws were passed, one in 1720 and the 
 other in 1721, against usury; the last of which indirectly 
 brings into view the rate of interest. This prohibits the taking 
 more interest for money lent than ten per cent, per annum 
 under the penalty of a forfeiture of treble the amount. When 
 Carolina was settled, interest in England was six per cent. 
 When this law passed it was five. How it came to be ten 
 per cent, in Carolina, without an express law, does not appear. 
 Perhaps common consent and usage had fixed that rate; for 
 no evidence exists that there ever was any written law au- 
 thorizing it. As a reason for proscribing usury, it is stated in 
 the law of 1721 that "divers persons have of late taken advan- 
 tage of the great necessities of the people, and exacted twenty- 
 five pounds interest for the loan of one hundred pounds for 
 one year; and very often more." Twenty-seven years after, 
 1748, a law passed for reducing interest from ten to eight per 
 cent.; and twenty-nine years after, 1777, it was reduced from 
 eight to seven per cent. These reductions were both preceded 
 by plentiful emissions of paper money. With the last laws 
 for reducing interest, severe penalties against usury were in- 
 corporated. Since the institution of banks there has been no 
 new law against usury, though the practice and legal prose- 
 cutions for it have been more common than they ever were 
 before. The intention of the laws against usury is humane, 
 being designed to save men from the effects of their own folly 
 and indiscretion ; but the policy of such laws is questionable. 
 The rate of interest, when left to itself, will, like all other 
 things, find its own level. When it is hedged round with 
 penal laws the lender will not part with his money till he is 
 secured, not only against the insolvency of the borrower, but 
 
 sold for 100 pounds sterling per acre. In the year 1756 the South Corolina society 
 declined to purchase fourteen acres of highland with thirty acres of adjoining 
 marsh, all in Ansonborough. The highland was inclosed with a brick wail, and 
 had on it a good dwelling-house and all necessary out-houses. The whole was 
 then olfered to the society for 600 pounds currency, or less than $3,700; though it 
 would now readily sell for $100,000. 
 
 *In the year 1740, when the detail of an expedition against St. Augustine was 
 before the Assembly, a joint committee of both Houses rated corn at one-fourth of 
 a dollar per bushel, and rice at five shillings sterling per hundred. In Well's 
 South Carolina Gazette, of September 17th, 1760, the price current of the following 
 articles, reduced to dollars and cents, is as follows. Rice, per hundred, $1 53; 
 Carolina flour, per hundred, $2 SO ; by the pound, tallow, 10 cents; by the barrel, 
 pork, $7; by the bushel, salt, 2.5 cents; by the pipe, Madeira wine, $118; do. best, 
 $155 ; Vidonia, do., $96. 
 
 25 
 
112 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, 
 
 the possibility of his being subjected to the consequences of 
 violating the laws. This raises the premium, and increases 
 the distresses of the distressed. The practice will exist with 
 or without laws; for none have been found able to restrain it 
 It is far from being improbable that the repeal of all laws on 
 the subject would be more for the interest of both borrowers 
 and lenders than the present system of enormous penalties 
 inflicted on those who ask and take more than seven per cent, 
 for the use of their money. 
 
 AfiRICULTURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 FROM 1670 TO 1S0&. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 To facilitate the improvement of new countries the settlers 
 should have a general knowledge of the climate, soil, and 
 productions of such as are similar and have been previously 
 cultivated. Information on these subjects, especially when 
 corrected by philosophy and experience, leads to useful prac- 
 tical results. In these particulars the proprietors as well as 
 the first settlers were deficient The countries subject to Great 
 Britain both in Europe and the American continent, were 
 much colder than South Carolina; and her possessions in the 
 West Indies much more steadily warm. The productions of 
 neither were suited to this climate, which was a medium be- 
 tween the two. From inattention to these circumstances the 
 first attempts at agriculture in the province were injudicious. 
 They were directed to the cultivation of those highland grains 
 with which the settlers were best acquainted, but these were 
 unsuitable to the low sandy soil common on the sea-coast 
 An anxiety to raise provisions may have directed their indus- 
 try into this channel, but the maize and potatoes, both natives 
 of the country, would have answered better. The swamps 
 and low grounds were of forbidding aspect, thickly wooded 
 and hard to clear; and when cleared were not adapted to any 
 productions with which the inhabitants for the first twenty- 
 four years of the settlement were acquainted. During this 
 period their efforts to cultivate the commodities which in 
 England pass under the general name of corn, turned to little 
 account The woods presented a much more profitable object 
 for their industry. In addition to bears, beavers, wild cats, 
 
PEOM 1670 TO 1808. 113 
 
 deer, foxes, raccoons and other numerous animals whose skins 
 or furs were vahiable, they abounded with oak and pine trees; 
 the former yielded staves which were then in demand in the 
 adjacent West India Islands. The juice of the latter extracted 
 from the growing tree by incision and solar heat forms turpen- 
 tine. This distilled yields the spirits of turpentine and the 
 residue is rosin. The same tree when dead and dry, by the 
 application of fire yields tar, and that when boiled becomes 
 pitch. The trunk is easily converted into masts, boards or 
 joists. Little labor was requisite in a country abounding with 
 fuel and pines for obtaining these and other valuable commo- 
 dities from this most useful of all trees. While the early set- 
 tlers of Carolina were engaged in procuring naval stores, furs 
 and peltry for market, and cultivating European grains on a 
 sandy soil for provisions, providence diiected them to a new 
 source of great wealth. Landgrave Thomas Smith who was 
 Governor of the province in 1693, had been at Madagascar 
 before he settled in Carolina.* There he observed that rice 
 was planted and grew in low and moist ground Having such 
 ground at the western extremity of his garden attached to his 
 dweUing house in East Bay street, he was persuaded that rice 
 would grow therein if seed could be obtained. About this 
 
 *The exact time of the arrival of Thomas Smith in Carolina is not known, but 
 it must have been soon after it began to be settled, for as early as 1658 he obtained 
 in his own name a grant of about six acres of land on "White Point. He or his 
 father came from Exeter, in England, and was one of the many dissenters who 
 migrated to America as an asylum from the persecution which was raised in the 
 seventeenth century against nonconformists to the church of England, A tradition 
 has been regularly handed down among the descendants of Thomas Smith, that 
 he obtained the passing of a law, the principle of which continues to this day, for 
 drawing juries indiscriminately from a box so as to preclude the possibility of 
 l)acking a jury to carry any particular purpose. This tradition accords with au- 
 thentic dates and facts: for on the the 15th of October, 1692, the first law on that 
 subject was passed and was entitled "an act to provide indifferent jurymen in all 
 cases, civil and criminal." This law, in common with the others passed on that 
 day, was authenticated with the name of Thomas Smith in conjunction with 
 Governor Philip Ludwel, Paul Grimball, and Richard Conant. That Thomas 
 Smith was then a person of so much influence as to have a principal agency in 
 passing a favorite good law is highly probable, for in seven months after he was 
 constituted a landgrave and also appointed Governor of the province. He was the 
 founder of a numerous and respectable family in Carolina, of which many of the 
 fifth and sixth, and some of the fourth and seventh generation are now living. 
 They have generally retained the principles of their common ancestor so far as to 
 be zealous friends of religion. Among them have been found some of the most 
 distinguished pillars both of the Episcopal and Independent churches. The im- 
 mediate descendants of Thomas Smith were two sons: of these, one was the 
 father of twenty children, and the other of four. Of these twenty-four grand- 
 children, seventeen were married; and their descendants have multiplied and 
 branched out into many families. The number of the descendants of Thomas 
 Smith who are now alive cannot be exactly ascertained, but there is reason to be- 
 lieve that it exceeds 500. For it is known that there are now living forty-five 
 descendants of the Rev. Josiah Smith, who was only one of his seventeen mar- 
 ried grand-children, and that there are more than twenty living descendants of 
 Josiah Smith, cashier of the branch bank, who is only one of the very many of his 
 great grand children. There is an evident fitness that the founder of so numerous 
 a progeny, should be the introducer of rice, which of all known grains is best cal- 
 culated for the support of an extensive population. 
 
114 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, 
 
 time a vessel from Madagascar being in distress, came to 
 anchor near Sullivan's Island. The master of this vessel in- 
 quired for Mr. Smith as an old acquaintance. An interview- 
 took place. In the course of conversation Mr. Smith expressed 
 a wish to obtain some seed rice to plant in his garden by way 
 of experiment. The cook being called said he had a small 
 bag of rice suitable for that purpose. This was presented to 
 Mr. Smith who sowed it in a low spot of his garden, which 
 now forms a part of Longitude Lane. It grew luxuriantly. 
 The little crop was distributed by Mr. Smith among his planting 
 friends. From this small beginning the first staple commodity 
 of Carolina took its rise. It soon after became the chief sup- 
 port of the colony. Rice, besides furnishing provisions for 
 man and beast, employs a number of hands in trade; and is 
 therefore a source of naval strength. In every point of view 
 it is of more value than mines of silver and gold. Rice is said 
 by Dr. Arbuthnot to support two-thirds of the human race. 
 No doubt can exist of its contributing extensively as nutri- 
 ment to the great family of mankind. 
 
 Besides its consumption in Europe, Africa, and America, 
 many millions of the inhabitants of Asia, live almost exclu- 
 sively upon it. In plantations where it is cultivated, every 
 domestic animal is usually fat and hearty. Among all the 
 variety of grains none is more productive, nutritious, or whole- 
 some than rice. In its simple state it is both a healthy and 
 cheap food for the poor, and with proper preparation and addi- 
 tions it is one of the greatest delicacies at the tables of the rich ; 
 every particle of it is trebled in bulk and doubled in weight, 
 and in its capacity for aliment, from the quantity of water it 
 imbibes in boiling: for water is now known to be the princi- 
 pal ingredient in nutrition. He that eats rice at the same time 
 receives mucilage and water, solid and fluid aliment of the 
 most nourishing kind. Its emollient and glutinous qualities 
 make it eminently useful in bowel complaints, and as such it 
 forms an important article in the stores of armies and other 
 large bodies of men. One pound of it has been found on ex- 
 periment to go as far in domestic cookery, as eight pounds of 
 flour. It is more durable than any other known grain. Its 
 substance is so hard as not to be penetrable by the insects 
 which deposit their ova in other farinaceous substances. It 
 has been eaten in a sound and wholesome state four, five and 
 six years after it was cleaned; and there is no doubt of its 
 keeping good even more than twice as long when it is covered 
 with its natural husk. To those who from age or infirmity are 
 deprived of their teeth, rice is a most convenient aliment, for it 
 requires little or no mastication. When introduced into the 
 stomach after being well boiled, it is more easily digested than 
 
PROM 1670 TO 1808. 115 
 
 almost any other solid food not thoroughly masticated. To 
 that class of people whose deranged stomach cannot digest 
 bread, unless well raised and thoroughly baked, rice affords a 
 safe and agreeable substitute, for it requires no fermentation, 
 and when sufficiently boiled is as likely to agree with the 
 stomach as crusts of bread or the best baked biscuits. To 
 exhausted armies, starving navies, or even to the weary trav- 
 eler, though far removed from the haunts of men, if fuel, 
 water and an earthen or metallic pot can be procured, rice 
 quickly affords a palatable and strengthening aliment. In 
 voyages round the world, flour of every kind and everything 
 made from flour is apt to spoil, but rice sustains no injury 
 from change of climate or the longest period of any voyage 
 hitherto known. Such is the grain which was introduced 
 into Carolina about 115 years ago, and has ever since been in 
 high demand. With several in Charlestown and the adjacent 
 country, it is the principal vegetable aliment they use for the 
 greatest part of their lives. They experience nothing of that 
 blindness which ignorance attributes to its constant use. The 
 variation in the amount of the crops of this useful commodity 
 is an important document in the history of Carolina; for it 
 has* been materially affected not only by the introduction of 
 other staples, but by the political revolutions of the country. 
 When it was introduced there were few negros in the prov- 
 ince, the government was unsettled, and the soil and other cir- 
 cumstances most favorable to its growth were unknown. For 
 the first twenty years after it began to be planted, the ravages 
 of pirates on the coast made its exportation so hazardous as to 
 discourage the cultivation of it. In the year 1724, about six 
 years after the pirates were entirely suppressed, 18,000 barrels 
 of rice were exported. Our knowledge of what was previ- 
 ously made or exported is conjectural; but each succeeding 
 crop brought an additional quantity to market. In the year 
 1740, the amount exported was 91,110 barrels; in 1754 it had 
 reached to 104,682 barrels. Till the middle of the eighteenth 
 century the chief article of export was rice; but about that 
 time much of the attention and force of the planters was 
 transferred from it to indigo. Nevertheless the culture of 
 this grain continued to advance, though slowly, till the com- 
 mencement of the American revolution; when the average 
 quantity annually exported was about 142,000 barrels. In 
 the course of the revolutionary war, the small crops of rice 
 were consumed in the country; and so many of the negroes 
 were either destroyed or carried off that the crop of 1783, the 
 first after the evacuation of Charlestown, amounted only to 
 61,974 barrels. With the return of peace the cultivation of 
 rice was resumed, and continued to increase till the year 1792 ; 
 
116 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, 
 
 when the crop exported amounted to 106,419 barrels. About 
 this time cotton began to employ so much of the agricultural 
 force of the State, that the crops of rice since that period have 
 rarely exceeded what they were about the middle of the eigh- 
 teenth century. 
 
 The culture of rice in Carolina has been in a state of con- 
 stant progressive improvement. Though it can be made to 
 grow on highland, yet the profits of it when planted there are 
 inconsiderable. The transfer of it to the swamps was highly 
 advantageous. It gave use and value to lands which before 
 were of no account, and by many deemed nuisances; and it 
 more than trebled the amount of crops. Had the first mode 
 of planting been continued, the highland would soon have 
 failed; but much of the rice swamp in Carolina is inexhaust- 
 ible. 
 
 Another great improvement is the water culture of this 
 valuable grain. The same preparation which fits the soil for 
 the growth of rice equally favors the growth of grass and 
 weeds. The old method of destroying these intruders with 
 the hoe was so laborious as to curtail the crops; but when re- 
 flection and experience had pointed out that overflowing the 
 rice fields at a proper season, would kill the grass and weeds 
 while it nourished rice, a plant delighting in water, the practi- 
 cability of planting more ground became obvious.* For the 
 first seventy or eighty years after rice became a staple com- 
 modity, the attention of the Legislature and of individuals 
 was steadily fixed on the contrivance of some labor-saving 
 machinery for separating the grains from its closely adhering 
 husk. After many attempts machines, worked by the tides, 
 were contrived and erected by Mr. Lucas, which are equal to 
 the beating out twenty barrels a day by the force of tide water 
 with the help of a few hands. Before they were introduced, 
 the labor of the negroes in doing the same business by hand 
 was immense. It sometimes crippled the strength of the men, 
 and often destroyed the fertility of the women. Being done 
 at unseasonable hours, it was a frequent source of disease and 
 death. All this mischief in a great measure has been done 
 away for the last twenty years, in which period rice mills have 
 
 * Soutli Carolina is indebted lo Gideon Dupont, of St. James Goose Creek, for 
 the water culture of rice: he was an experienced planter of discernment and 
 sound judgment, who after repeated trials ascertained its ]>racticability. In the 
 year 1783 he petitioned the Legislature of the State on the subject. A committee 
 of five was appointed to confer with him. To them he freely communicated his 
 method, relying on the generosity of the public. The treasury being then empty, 
 the committee could only recommend granting him a patent. This he declined. 
 His method is now in general use on river sw^amp lands, and has been the means 
 of enriching thousands, though to this day his own family have reaped no benefit 
 whatever from the communication of his discovery. Thomas Bee, now federal 
 Judge for the district of South Carolina, was one of the above committee; and 
 on his authority these particulars are stated. 
 
FBOM 1670 TO 1808. 117 
 
 become common in all parts of the State where rice is exten- 
 sively cultivated. Some of these machines have been lately- 
 improved by Mr. Lucas, his son, and Mr. Cleland Kinlock of 
 Georgetown, to such an extent, that from the beating out of 
 the grain to the packing it in barrels for market, the whole 
 and every part is performed by the same impelling power. 
 When the late improved method of thrashing out the grain 
 from the straw, invented by Mr. DeNeale is also taken into 
 view, it may be asserted that the saving of labor in the cul- 
 ture and manufacture of rice has been carried to an astonish- 
 ing height The Carolina rice machines are far superior to 
 any in China, though machinery has been long employed for 
 the same purpose by the ingenious people of that ancient 
 country. From these improvements the same force of hands 
 that formerly would have raised two barrels can now with 
 equal facility raise three. The ri<!e of Carolina is equal in 
 quality and better manufactured than that of any other 
 nation. The only thing now wanting is to raise it, as in some 
 foreign countries, with little or no other manual labor than that 
 of sowing and reaping. This is only to be effected by keep- 
 ing it constantly in water to the height of four, five, or six 
 inches. When it terminates through water of that depth it 
 will be generally free from those weeds and grasses, which if 
 not kept down by constant labor, stunt its growth. The Agri- 
 cultural Society of South Carolina have therefore resolved to 
 give a gold medal to the maker of the best experiment on the 
 culture of rice sown on land which shall, immediately after 
 sowing, be covered with water from four to six inches deep, 
 and kept inundated to that or a greater depth during the 
 whole progress of its growth ; except when it may be neces- 
 sary to reduce or take off the water for the purpose of chang- 
 ing it, or of weeding the rice. As an auxiliary to this project, 
 the same society have resolved to give a gold medal for 
 the best hydraulic machine, to be worked either by wind, 
 steam, or animal power, which shall be erected and used dur- 
 ing the season, and which shall raise to a height not less 
 than twelve feet the greatest quantity of water in a given time. 
 They also have resolved to give a silver medal for the next best 
 machine used for the same purpose to raise water to a height 
 not less than four feet. This mode of cultivating rice is prac- 
 ticed in the Delta of Egypt, where the land is irrigated with 
 water raised by the labor of oxen applied to simple machinery. 
 If these projects succeed, and become general, the laborers 
 may be withdrawn from the rice fields for five of the best months 
 in the year and applied to other objects ; for water will perform 
 all the necessary intermediate operations between sowing and 
 reaping. The culture of that grain may then be said to ap- 
 proach near to perfection. 
 
118 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, 
 
 The second great staple of Carolina was iniigo. Its origi- 
 nal native country is Hindostan ; but it had been naturalized 
 in the West India islands, from which it was introduced into 
 Carolina by Miss Eliza. Lucas, the mother of Major General 
 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Her father, George Lucas, 
 Governor of Antigua, observing her fondness for the vegetable 
 world, frequently sent to her tropical seeds and fruits to be 
 planted for her amusement on his plantation at Wappoo. 
 Among others he sent her some indigo seed as a subject of 
 experiment. She planted it in March 1741 or 1742. It was 
 destroyed by frost. She repeated the experiment in April; 
 this was cut down by a worm. Notwithstanding these dis- 
 couragements she persevered, and her third attempt was suc- 
 cessful. Governor Lucas, on hearing that the plant had seeded 
 and ripened, sent from Montserrat a man by the name of 
 Cromwell, who had been accvistomed to the making of indigo, 
 and engaged him at high wages to come to Carolina and let 
 his daughter see the whole process for extracting the dye from 
 the weed. This professed indigo maker built vats on Wappoo 
 creek, and there made the first indigo that was formed in 
 Carolina. It was but indifferent Cromwell repented of his 
 engagement as being likely to injure his own country; made 
 a mystery of the business, and, with the hope of deceiving, 
 injured the process by throwing in too much lime. Miss Lucas 
 watched him carefully, and also engaged Mr. Deveaux to 
 superintend his operations. Notwithstanding the duplicity 
 of Cromwell, a knowledge of the process was obtained. Soon 
 after Miss Lucas had completely succeeded in this useful 
 project, she married Charles Pinckney ; and her father made 
 a present of all the indigo on his plantation, the fruit of her 
 industry, to her husband. The whole was saved for seed. 
 Part was planted by the proprietor next year at Ashepoo, and 
 the remainder given away to his friends in small quantities 
 for the same purpose. They all succeeded. From that time 
 the culture of indigo was common, and in a year or two it 
 became an article of export. Soon after the dye was success- 
 fully extracted from the cultivated plant, Mr. Cattel made a 
 present to Mr. Pinckney of some wild indigo which he had 
 just discovered in the woods of Carolina. Experiments were 
 instituted to ascertain its virtues. It proved to be capable of 
 yielding good indigo but was less productive than what had 
 been imported. The attention of the planters was fixed on 
 the latter. They urged its culture with so much industry and 
 success, that in the year 1747 a considerable quantity of it 
 was sent to England ; which induced the merchants trading 
 to Carolina to petition Parliament for a bounty on Carolina 
 indigo. The Parliament, upon examination, found that it 
 was one of the most beneficial articles of French commerce : 
 
TROM 1670 TO 1808, 119 
 
 that their West India islands supplied all the markets of 
 Europe, and that Britain alone consumed annually six hun- 
 dred thousand weight of French indigo, which at five shillings 
 a pound cost the nation the prodigious sum of one hundred 
 and fifty thousand pounds sterling. It was demonstrated that 
 this expense might be saved by encouraging the cultivation 
 of indigo in Carolina. It was proved that the demand for 
 indigo annually increased, and it could never be expected that 
 the planters in the West Indies would attend to it while the 
 culture of sugar canes proved more profitable. Accordingly, 
 an Act of Parliament passed in the year 1748, for allowing a 
 bounty of sixpence per pound on indigo raised in the British 
 American plantations, and imported directly into Britain from 
 the place of its growth. In consequence of this Act, the 
 planters applied themselves with double vigor and spirit to 
 that article, and seemed to vie with each other who should 
 bring the best kind and greatest quantity of it to the market. 
 Some years indeed elapsed before they found out the nice art 
 of making it as good as the French; but every year they im- 
 proved in the mode of preparing it, and finally received great 
 profit as the reward of their labors. While many of them 
 doubled their capital every three or four years by planting 
 indigo, they in process of time brought it to such a degree of 
 perfection as not only to supply the mother country, but also 
 to undersell the French at several European markets. It 
 proved more really beneficial to Carolina than the mines of 
 Mexico or Peru are or ever have been either to old or new 
 Spain. In the year 1754, the export of indigo from the prov- 
 ince amounted to 216,924 lbs. And shortly before the 
 American Revolution, it had arisen to 1,107,660 lbs. In the 
 Revolutionary war it was less attended to than rice. In the 
 year 1783, it again began to be more cultivated: 2,051 casks 
 of indigo was exported, and it continued to form a valuable 
 export for some years, but large importations of it from the 
 East Indies into England so lowered the price as to make it 
 less profitable. Near the close of the eighteenth century, it 
 gave place to the cultivation of cotton. The same grounds 
 being generally suitable for both, were for the most part 
 planted with the new staple ; and indigo has been ever since 
 comparatively neglected. Its culture was at all times in a 
 great measure confined to the low and middle country. 
 
 Cotton has been known to the world as an useful com- 
 modity ever since the days of Herodotus, who upwards of 
 two thousand years ago wrote that "Gossypium grew in India 
 which instead of seed produced wool." As rice feeds more 
 of the human race than any other grain, so cotton clothes 
 more of mankind than either wool, flax, hemp, or silk. Both 
 
120 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, 
 
 of these articles have grown for many centuries in the East 
 Indies in a country similar to Carolina. Though the same 
 reasoning and analogy, and the same information that led to 
 the introduction of rice might have pointed out the propriety 
 of attempting the culture of cotton in Carolina, yet the latter 
 was not planted to any considerable extent for one hundred 
 years after the introduction of the former. It had been de- 
 clared by Dr. Hewat in his valuable historical account of 
 South Carolina, printed in 1719, "that the climate and soil of 
 the province were favorable to the culture of cotton." The 
 first Provincial Congress in South Carolina, held in January, 
 1775, recommended to the inhabitants "to raise cotton,'' yet 
 very little practical attention was paid to their recommenda- 
 tion. A small quantity only was raised for domestic manu- 
 factures. This neglect cannot solely be referred to the con- 
 fusion of the times, for agriculture had been successfully 
 prosecuted for ten years after the termination of the Revolu- 
 tionary war before the Carolinians began to cultivate it to any 
 considerable extent.* In this culture the Georgians took the 
 lead. They began to raise it as an article of export soon after 
 the peace of, 1783. Their success recommended it to their 
 neighbors. The whole quantity exported from Carolina in 
 anyone year prior to 1795 was inconsiderable, but in that 
 year it amounted to Xl, 109,653. The cultivation of it has 
 been ever since increasing, and on the first year of the present 
 century eight million of pounds were exported from South 
 Carolina. The uncertainty of this crop has disgusted a few 
 planters, and brought them back to the less hazardous culture 
 of rice. These two staples have so monopolized the agricul- 
 tural force of the State, that for several years past other arti- 
 cles of export and even provisions have been greatly neglected. 
 In the great eagerness to get money, the planters have brought 
 themselves into a state of dependence on their neighbors for 
 many of the necessaries of life which formerly were raised at 
 home. So much cotton is now made in Carolina and Georgia, 
 that if the whole was manufactured in the United States, it 
 , would go far in clothing a great proportion of the inhabitants 
 of the Union ; for one laborer can raise as much of this com- 
 modity in one season as will afford the raw material for fifteen 
 hundred yards of common cloth, or a sufficiency for covering 
 one hundred and fifty persons. That part of it which is now 
 manufactured in Europe, and brought back in an improved 
 state, sometimes pays more, and on a general average nearly 
 
 *Tlie labor-saving machines invented in England within the last thirty-five 
 years, greatly promoted the manufacture of cotton, and thereby opened a steady 
 and advantageous market for the raw materials. This was one of the principal 
 causes which encouraged its cultivation in the United States. 
 
PKOM 1670 TO 1808. 121 
 
 as much in duties to the United States, as the planter gets for 
 the raw material. The duty, being in proportion to the value, 
 on a pound weight of fine cotton goods is much more than 
 the cultivator of the commodity gets for the same weight of 
 cotton in its merchantable state. This staple is of immense 
 value to the public, and still more so to individuals. It has 
 trebled the price of land suitable to its growth, and when the 
 crop succeeds and the market is favorable, the annual income 
 of those who plant it is double to what it was before the in- 
 troduction of cotton. 
 
 The cotton chiefly cultivated on the sea-coast is denom- 
 inated the black seed or long staple cotton, which is of the 
 best quality and admirably adapted to the finest manufac- 
 tures. The wool is easily separated from the seed by roller- 
 gins which do not injure the staple. A pair of rollers worked 
 by one laborer give about twenty-five pounds of clean cotton 
 daily. The cotton universally cultivated in the middle and 
 upper country is called the green seed kind. It is less silky 
 and more wooly, and adheres so tenaciously to the seed that 
 it requires the action of a saw-gin to separate the wool from 
 the seed. This cuts the staple exceedingly ; but as the staple 
 of this kind of cotton is not fit for the finer fabrics it is not 
 considered injurious. The quality of these two kinds is very 
 different. The wool of the green seed is considerably the 
 cheapest; but that species is much more productive than the 
 other. An acre of good cotton land will usually produce one 
 hundred and fifty pounds of clean wool of the long staple 
 kind. An acre of land of equal quality will usually produce 
 two hundred pounds of the green seed or short staple kind. 
 Besides these, yellow or nankeen cotton is also cultivated in 
 the upper country for domestic use. Two ingenius artists, 
 Miller and Whiteney of Connecticut, invented a saw-gin for 
 the separation of the wool from the seed which has facilitated 
 that operation in the highest degree. The Legislature of 
 South Carolina purchased their patent-right for 50,000 dollars, 
 and then munificently threw open its use and benefits to all 
 its citizens. 
 
 Such have been the profits of the planters of cotton, and so 
 great has been their partiality for raising it, to the exclusion 
 of other valuable commodities, that the history of the agricul- 
 ture of Carolina, in its present state, comprehends little more 
 than has been already given : but it is proper to bring into 
 view what this has been and what it might and would be now 
 if rice and cotton, especially the latter, did not absorb almost 
 the whole energies of the planting interest. 
 
 Wheat, next to rice, is of most extensive use as an aliment. 
 The culture of it was introduced and encouraged by Joseph 
 
122 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, 
 
 Kershaw, who, more than forty years ago, erected mills at 
 Pinetree, now Camden, for manufacturing it into flour. 
 These both encouraged and rewarded the cultivators of wheat 
 It became a favorite commodity for some time in the vicinity, 
 and continued so for several years. The flour made there 
 did not command as high a price in Charlestown as whatwas 
 imported from the northern States. The Carolina wheat was 
 not inferior, though perhaps these first mills might in some 
 respect be so ; but the difierence in the quality of the flour has 
 become so inconsiderable that when shipped to the West In- 
 dies in barrels, marked as if from Philadelphia and Baltimore, 
 it sold as well as that which had been really shipped from 
 these ports. The fraud, if detected, was considered more as 
 an ofi'ence against truth than commerce ; for the commodities 
 were substantially equal. The manufacture of flour was sus- 
 pended by the Revolutionary War. In the course of it Mr. 
 Broome, one of Col. Lee's cavalry, passed over the foundation 
 of Mr. Kershaw's mills. Struck with the advantages of the 
 situation he returned when peace took place and erected there 
 as complete a set of mills as any in the United States. And 
 in the year 1801, 40,00(i bushels of it were manufactured at 
 two or three flour mills, all of which were within one mile of 
 Camden, and from the proceeds 600 barrels of superfine flour 
 were delivered for domestic use or exportation. From the de- 
 mand of wheat and flour money flowed into the contiguous 
 settlements. This good example was followed, and excellent 
 merchant mills were erected in Laurens district, on the waters 
 of Little river, by Thomas Wadsworth ; and at Greenville, on 
 the waters of Reedy river, by Alston, and in different parts of 
 the State by others. There was every prospect that flour 
 would soon make an important addition to the exports of 
 Carolina. These prospects have been, for some years, ob- 
 scured; for, by nice calculations, the planters found that they 
 could make more money by cotton than wheat. Consid- 
 erable quantities of flour are now imported, and though much 
 is made in the interior country, very little, or none, is ex- 
 ported.* 
 
 The next great article derived from the cultivation of the 
 earth is maize, or Indian corn ; for its production the swamps, 
 
 * Such is Ihe uncertainty of human aiTairs that the project of building mills for 
 the manufacture of flour, which promised fair to be both a public and private ad- 
 vantage, has proved very injurious to the interests of all concerned. These mills, 
 erected at great expense, are comparatively idle from the want of wheat ; for 
 the farmers in the neighboring districts raise little else than cotton. The owners 
 of the Camden mills, in particular, have been materially injured by this general 
 change of the staple commodity of the vicinity. It is worthy of their consideration 
 whether they might not alleviate their losses by sub.stituting homespun manufac- 
 tures for that of flour. The same machinery, buildings and water power would 
 answer as well for the one as the other. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 123 
 
 xhen perfectly drained, and the highlands are both well 
 idapted. The crop varies with the soil and seasons on high- 
 and from ten to twenty-five bushels, and in the swamps 
 Tom twenty-five to seventy-five bushels. The aliment derived 
 from this grain is considered as more strengthening and bet- 
 ;er adapted to laborers than either rice or wheat. The negroes 
 Df Carolina give it a decided preference, and are said to be better 
 ible to perform their labor when fed on corn than on any other 
 grain. From the year 1739 nearly to the end of the eigh- 
 teenth century it has been an article of export, but on a moder- 
 ate scale; for rice and indigo were always deemed more 
 profitable. With the new staple, cotton, it cannot bear any 
 competition. In the year 1792, when cotton was beginning 
 to be extensively cultivated, 99,985 bushels of corn were ex- 
 ported ; which exceeded any amount that can be recollected, 
 either before or since. As the former advanced the latter de- 
 clined. Corn, no longer an article of export, is now largely 
 imported for domestic use on the sea-coast. 
 
 Though Carolina, by her rice, cotton and lumber, contrib- 
 uted largely to the food, clothing and shelter of man, yet these 
 were not the only rewards conferred on the cultivators of its 
 soil. It produced another commodity which, though not to 
 be numbered among the necessaries, is by its votaries placed 
 high in the list of the comforts of life. Tobacco is an indige- 
 nous plant of America. It had been successfully cultivated 
 in Virginia before Carolina was settled. Little doubt could 
 have existed that it might be made to grow in a more southern 
 latitude; but it does not appear among the articles of export 
 from Carolina till 1783, and then only six hundred and forty- 
 three hogsheads are stated as the amount. In the following 
 it had reached to 2,680, and in the year 1799 to 9,646 hogs- 
 heads. In the rich lands of the back country it was found to 
 answer well; but the expense of bringing so bulky an article 
 so great a distance to market, left little clear profits. It could 
 not stand in competition with cotton. 
 
 The soil of Carolina produces also hemp and flax. They 
 are noted as articles of export in the year 1784, but only in 
 the small quantity of three tons of the former and 171 casks 
 of the latter. Hemp is now cultivated for sale in the upper 
 country, particularly between Broad and Saluda rivers; and 
 the soil is so congenial to it that enough might be raised for 
 every necessary use. The rice planters may console them- 
 selves that if the planting of that grain should ever cease to 
 be an object of their attention, the grounds heretofore used for 
 the culture of rice will answer very well for hemp or afford 
 excellent pastures and grazing fields. Flax may be cultivated 
 to any extent, but at present it is only jaised for domestic pur- 
 poses. 
 
124 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, 
 
 Barley has been successfully cultivated, and some exported. 
 The low grounds of Carolina have produced fifty, sixty, and 
 even seventy bushels to the acre. ) t ripens so early in May 
 as to admit another crop to be made on the same ground in 
 the course of the year. A sufficiency might be furnished to 
 answer all demands if the planters found an interest in rais- 
 ing it. 
 
 Madder has been successfully cultivated by Aaron Loocock, 
 but it has been dropped in favor of other pursuits less trouble- 
 some or more profitable. 
 
 The swamps abound with reeds, of which 147,750 were 
 exported in 1784, and any demand for them might be sup- 
 plied. 
 
 The commodities already enumerated have all been articles 
 of export, and will probably be so again if cotton or rice should 
 fail, but the capacity of the country to yield other valuable 
 productions has been ascertained, though not carried to the 
 extent of exportation. In this class hops and silk may be 
 reckoned. The former is annually raised in small quantities, 
 and may easily be urged so far as to answer any probable 
 demand. The latter was the subject of successful experiments 
 made very early in the eighteenth century, under the patronage 
 of Governor Sir Nathaniel Johnson.* In the year 1755 Mrs. 
 Pinckney, the same lady who about ten years before had in- 
 troduced the indigo plant, took with her to England a quan- 
 tity of excellent silk, which she had raised and spun in the 
 vicinity of Charlestown, sufficient to make three complete 
 dresses. One of these was presented to the Princess Dowager 
 of Wales and another to Lord Chesterfield. They were al- 
 lowed to be equal to anysilk ever imported. The third, now 
 in Charlestown, in the possession of her daughter Mrs. Horry, 
 is remarkable for its beauty, firmness and strength. 
 
 The culture of silk was attended to for a considerable time 
 by the Swiss colonists near Purysburgh, and occasionally by 
 private persons, particularly by Mr. Van Haslet, as late as the 
 year 1787, in the vicinity of Charlestown. It is at present 
 successfully continued at New Bordeaux in Abbeville, by Mr. 
 Gibert; but the project has not been urged with perseverance 
 nor to any great extent, probably from conviction that there 
 were easier modes of making money. From the well known 
 circumstance that mulberry trees grow spontaneously, and 
 that native silk worms producing well formed cocoons are 
 often found in the woods of Carolina, it is probable that the 
 country is naturally adapted to the raising of silk. 
 
 The same observations will apply to wine, olives and oil; 
 
 * The plantation, on which Governor Sir Nathaniel Johnson made his silk, is 
 situate in St. Thomas parish, and has ever since been known by the appropriate 
 name of Silk Hope. It is now the proporty of Nathaniel Heyward. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 125 
 
 for the woods abound with native grapes, and wine has been 
 made both from them and the fruit of imported vines. The 
 olive tree has also been brought from abroad and naturalized, 
 and their fruit prepared and preserved equal to imported olives. 
 The former of Henry Laurens, the latter in the first instance 
 by his daughter Martha Laurens Ramsay, and afterwards by 
 others. 
 
 Though the demand for cotton should cease, or the price 
 fall, there would be no ground for serious regret. Many other 
 profitable objects of culture are within the grasp of the plan- 
 ters. When their industry and ingenuity is turned to these 
 and other projects which might be mentioned, there is good 
 reason to believe that the result will console them for their 
 loss of a valuable staple by finding others which will add 
 more to their comforts and real enjoyments than they ever 
 have derived from the proceeds of their cotton crops. 
 
 Planters are the most independent and influential men in 
 Carolina, especially when they are out of debt and have money 
 remaining from their last crop to meet with cash in hand the 
 expenses of the current year. Such of them as commence 
 planting with both land and slaves bought on credit, often 
 fail. Where either is inherited or acquired without debt, the 
 other may be purchased by an industrious prudent man with 
 a fair prospect of advantage. When crops are anticipated by 
 engagements founded on them before they are made, ruin is 
 often the consequence, and much oftener since the revolution 
 than before ; for the indulgence formerly granted to subjects 
 in Carolina has seldom been extended to citizen planters. The 
 failure of a single pre-engaged crop may break up a promising 
 agriculturist driven to extremities by a pressing creditor. 
 
 Merchants and military men, when they have devoted 
 themselves to agriculture in Carolina, have generally made 
 good planters. Their former habits have a tendency to make 
 them regular and methodical in business — to keep up strict 
 discipline — and to count the cost of every undertaking. Pro- 
 fessional men who attempt agriculture, seldom succeed in 
 both as well as when they devote themselves diligently and 
 exclusively to one pursuit. In no business do the random 
 habits of desultory men more certainly lead to ruin than in 
 planting. 
 
 The education of the sons of planters in distant countries is 
 often injurious to such of them as are destined to follow the 
 same line of business as their fathers. They frequently return 
 with sentiments and habits very unsuitable to their future 
 prospects. In consequence of their foreign education they 
 may be better scholars but they are generally worse planters. 
 The opportunities of enjoying and communicating happiness 
 
126 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, 
 
 within the power of humane, good, and liberal planters, are 
 great. If their inclination is for mental improvement they 
 may riot in intellectual luxury. Books, leisure to read, and 
 every facility for philosophical experiments or agricultural 
 projects, are all within their grasp. So great are their ad- 
 vantages that Arthur Youngs might be reared in every district. 
 If their disposition leads them to the practical arts of govern- 
 ment, they may be Trajans on a small scale. All that has 
 ever been urged in favor of an energetic efficient government 
 applies to them. They can enforce obedience to any extent 
 they please. If they make a good and judicious use of their 
 power they can compel that observance of regularity and order, 
 decency and propriety of conduct, which brings happiness in 
 its train. There are several such planters in Carolina who do 
 a full-orbed duty to their domestics; and instead of being ty- 
 rants over slaves, are wise and good rulers over well-governed 
 happy subjects. 
 
 In 1785, a society was incorporated to promote the interests 
 of agriculture. Their object was to institute a farm for agri- 
 cultural experiments — to import and circulate foreign articles 
 that were suitable to the climate of Carolina, and to direct the 
 attention of the agriculturists of the State to useful objects, and 
 to reward such as improved the art. They imported and dis- 
 tributed some cuttings of vines and olives. The latter an- 
 swered well, but the vicinity of Charlestown proved too moist 
 for the former. The society gave some considerable pecuniary 
 aid to an adventurer undertaking to cultivate vines at Colum- 
 bia, but their liberality was misapplied. 
 
 Their efforts hitherto have been crippled from the want of 
 funds. This defect has been lately done away from the suc- 
 cessful issue of a lottery, instituted for the benefit of the in- 
 stitution. It is now clear of debt and possessed of forty-two 
 acres of land in the vicinity of Charlestown, in which agri- 
 cultural experiments are occasionally made. The society 
 consists of forty members, whose annual subscription of twenty- 
 five dollars each, added to the proceeds of the late lottery, will 
 enable them to proceed with vigor in their original pursuits. 
 
 From their future labors the public look with earnest ex- 
 pectation for illumination on various subjects, the improve- 
 ment of which was the object of their incorporation.* 
 
 The agriculture of Carolina, though flourishing, is far short 
 
 * These expectations are in a train of being realized. The society have resolved 
 upon a plan for advancing the agricultural interest of the State. Part of this has 
 been already mentioned as connected with the culture of rice. In addition, they 
 have resolved to offer medals. For an efficacious and practical method of destroy- 
 ing the caterpillars vi'hich infest the cotton plant, or preventing their ravages: 
 For the best and most practicable method of discharging stains from cotton and 
 rendering it perfectly white : For the greatest quantity of sweet oil made from 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 127 
 
 of its height. The art of manuring land is little understood, 
 and less practiced. The bulls of the planters, relying on the 
 fertility of the soil, seldom planting any but what is good, and 
 changing land when it begins to fail for that which is fresh, 
 seldom give themselves much trouble to keep their fields in 
 heart. Beds of compost are rare. Twenty years ago there 
 was no fixed price in Charlestown for manure, and it was 
 often given to the first who offered to carry it off". The late 
 increase of gardens in the vicinity has increased the demand 
 and raised its price to something, but far less than it bears in 
 other large cities. Cattle, sheep, and hogs experience little 
 care and derive but a small portion of their comforts or food 
 from the attention or the labors of their owners. For the most 
 part they are left to provide for themselves from the bounties 
 of nature. It is not uncommon for the planter, though pos- 
 sessing twenty or thirty milch cows, to enjoy fewer comforts 
 from them than cottagers in other countries derive from two 
 or three well looked after. Much good highland remains un- 
 touched for future laborers. Extensive marshes are yet in a 
 state of nature, though no doubt exists of the practicability of 
 reducing the most of them to a very useful state. Only a small 
 proportion of the margins of rivers and of other swamps have 
 as yet been brought under cultivation. Immense forests of 
 pine land have hitherto yielded little else than lumber. They 
 might, with a little manure, be made to produce corn, potatoes, 
 turnips, and rye, in addition to kitchen garden vegetables. A 
 numerous peasantry might be supported in them, though at 
 present they are generally unproductive deserts. Pine lands 
 are now the seat of health, and with proper management 
 might be made the bulwark of the State ; for they can be cul- 
 tivated by white men, while the swamps and low grounds 
 can be planted only by those who are black. A numerous 
 population is maintained in Asia, and in the southern parts of 
 Europe, in climates resembling that of Carolina. 
 
 Some observations on horticulture as a branch of agricul- 
 ture will close this chapter. 
 
 The planters of Carolina have derived so great profits from 
 the cultivation of rice, indigo, and cotton, that they have 
 always too much neglected the culture of gardens. The high 
 
 olives raised in the State: For the greatest quantity of oil obtained from ground- 
 nuts, and from the seed of sesamum or bene, of cotton, and of sun-flowers : Also 
 for the greatest quantities of the levant senna, cassia senna, raised, cured, and 
 brought to market in the State ; and the greatest quantity of rhubarb, rheum pal- 
 matum, castor oil, hops, and madder, all to be raised in the State : And to the per- 
 son Vf ho shall first, within the State, establish and keep a flock of sheep of the 
 true marino breed : And for the greatest quantity of figs, the produce of the State, 
 dried and brought to market. The society have also resolved to establish a nur- 
 sery of the most useful and ornamental trees, shrubs, and plants, and to offer them 
 for sale at moderate prices. 
 
 26 
 
128 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, 
 
 price of their staple commodities in every period has tempted 
 them to sacrifice convenience to crops of a marketable quality. 
 There are numbers whose neglected gardens neither afford 
 flowers to regale the senses, nor the vegetables necessary to 
 the comfort of their families, though they annually receive 
 considerable sums in money for their crops sent to market. 
 To this there have been some illustrious exceptions of persons 
 who cultivated gardens on a large scale both for use and 
 pleasure. The first that can be recollected is Mrs. Lamboll, 
 who, before the middle of the eighteenth century, improved 
 the southwest extremity of King street, in a garden which 
 was richly stored with flowers and other curiosities of nature 
 in addition to all the common vegetables for family use. She 
 was followed by Mrs. Logan and Mrs. Hopton, who cultiva- 
 ted extensive gardens in Meeting, George, and King streets, 
 on lands now covered with houses. The former reduced the 
 knowledge she had acquired by long experience, and observa- 
 tion, to a regular system which was published after her death, 
 with the title of the Gardener's Kalendar ; and to this day 
 regulates the practice of gardens in and near Charlestown.* 
 
 About the year 1755 Henry Laurens purchased a lot of four 
 acres in Ansonborough, which is now called Laurens' square, 
 and enriched it with everything useful and ornamental that 
 Carolina produced or his extensive mercantile connections ena- 
 bled him to procure from remote parts of the world. Among 
 a variety of other curious productions, he introduced olives, 
 capers, limes, ginger, guinea grass, the alpine strawberry, 
 bearing nine months in the year, red raspberrys, blue grapes ; 
 and also directly from the south of France, apples, pears, and 
 plums of fine kinds, and vines which bore abundantly of the 
 choice white eating grape called Chasselates blancs. The 
 whole was superintended with maternal care by Mrs. Elinor 
 Laurens with the assistance of John Watson, a complete 
 English gardener. Watson soon after formed a spacious 
 garden for himself on the ground now occupied by Na- 
 thaniel Heyward. and afterwards on a large lot of land 
 stretching from King street to and over Meeting street. In 
 the latter he erected the first nursery garden in Carohna. 
 There every new and curious plant that grew or had been 
 naturalized in the country might be purchased. The botanic 
 publications of the day quote him as the introducer of several 
 
 * Mrs. Martha Logaii was tlie daughter of Robert Daniel, one of the last pro- 
 prietary Governors of South Carolina. In the fifteenth year of her age she njarried 
 George Logan, the son of Colonel George Logan, who came from Aberdeen, in 
 Scotland, and in the year 1690 settled in South Carolina, and there founded the 
 respectable family of Logans, the sixth generation of which is now living. Mrs. 
 Logan was a great florist, and uncommonly fond of a garden. She was 70 years 
 old when she wrote her Treatise on Gardening, and died in 1779, aged 77 years. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 129 
 
 productions of Carolina to the public gardens in England. By 
 an exchange of such articles, he rendered service to both 
 countries and enriched each with many of the curiosities of 
 the other. These promising attempts at gardening were all laid 
 waste in the revolutionary war. Watson's garden was revived 
 and continued by himself and descendants after the peace of 
 1783, but has since gone to ruin. Robert Squib followed John 
 Watson, and in like manner did honor to Carolina by circulating 
 its curious native productions. Of these he transmitted sev- 
 eral to English botanists, which grew and flourished. He is 
 honorably mentioned in Curtis's Botanical Magazine "as not 
 only well versed in plants, but indefatigable in discovering 
 and collecting the more rare species of Carolina, and with 
 which the gardens of England are likely soon to be enriched." 
 He was also the author of a work entitled the Gardener's Kal- 
 endar, which was published in Charlestown. About the year 
 1786 the government of France sent out the celebrated traveler 
 and botanist, Andre Mich'aux, who established a botanic gar- 
 den ten miles from Charlestown into which he introduced a 
 number of curious exotics in addition to a great variety of 
 American productions. This also has gone to ruin, though 
 many of the articles growing therein have been transplanted 
 and preserved elsewhere. 
 
 There are now some valuable private gardens near Charles- 
 town: one is situated in St. Andrews on the banks of Ashley 
 river, and belongs to Charles Drayton. It is arranged with 
 exquisite taste and contains an extensive collection of trees, 
 shrubs, and flowers which are natives of the country. Among 
 many other valuable exotics, a great number of viburnum 
 tinus, and of gardenias, which are perfectly naturalized to the 
 soil, grow there with enchanting luxuriance; but the principal 
 object of the proprietor has been to make an elegant and con- 
 centrated display of the native botanic riches of Carolina, in 
 which he has succeeded to the delight and admiration of all 
 visitants. 
 
 Another is in St. Paul's district and was originally formed 
 by William Williamson, but now belongs to John Champneys. 
 It contains twenty-six acres, six of which are in sheets of water 
 and abound in excellent fish ; ten acres in pleasure grounds, 
 walks, and banks; the remainder is used for horticultural and 
 agricultural purposes. The pleasure grounds are planted with 
 every species of flowering trees, shrubs, and flowers that this 
 and the neighboring States can furnish; and also whh similar 
 curious pr9ductions of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Another 
 part contains a great number of fruit trees; especially piccan 
 nut and pear trees, which are ripe in succession from the 
 middle of May to the middle of October. 
 
130 COMMERCIAL HISTORY, 
 
 Though all garden vegetables can be raised earlier in Caro- 
 lina than in the Northern States ; yet till very lately cabbages, 
 potatoes, onions, and such like articles were generally im- 
 ported for domestic consumption. Some are even now im- 
 ported. Within the last twenty years a spirit of horticulture 
 has increased in the vicinity of Charlestown so as to supply 
 the market with a considerable variety and plenty of vegeta- 
 bles for domestic use ; but many of the inhabitants of the 
 country still remain destitute of the comforts which even a 
 moderate attention to gardens could not fail of procuring. 
 Rich in staple commodities, minor objects are by many com- 
 paratively neglected. 
 
 A passion for flowers has of late astonishingly increased. 
 Many families in the capital, and several in the country, for 
 some years past have been uncommonly attentive to flower 
 gardens. Those who cannot command convenient spots of 
 ground have their piazzas, balconies, and windows richly 
 adorned with the beauties of nature far beyond anything that 
 was known in the days of their infancy. 
 
 COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM 1670 TO 1S08. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Commerce is of noble origin in South Carolina. Its first 
 merchants were the lords proprietors of the province. Two 
 vessels were very early and constantly employed by them to 
 introduce settlers and everything necessary either for their sup- 
 port or the cultivation of the earth. These plied between 
 Charlestown on one side, and Virginia, the Brhish West In- 
 dia Islands, particularly Barbadoes, and Great Britain on the 
 other. From the West India Islands they imported rum and 
 sugar, and in return carried thither staves and lumber. Sir 
 John Yeamans, who was Governor of the province in the 
 second, third, and fourth year after its settlement, owned 
 an estate in Barbadoes, and was very active in promoting this 
 exchange of commodities between the two countries, with 
 both of which he was particularly connected. From Great 
 Britain the Carolinians imported clothing, provisions, planta- 
 tion tools, and domestic animals. To it they exported furs 
 and peltry. Much of these were procured from the Indians, 
 
FKOM 1670 TO 1808. 131 
 
 which gave rise to a brisk trade between them and the settlers 
 in the way of barter. This was the general course of com- 
 merce for the first thirty years after the settlement. About 
 that time rice began to be an article of export. 
 
 Mercantile profit was not the object of the lords proprie- 
 tors. To encourage emigration to their province they advanced 
 money to supply the settlers. Their increased number bid 
 fair to increase the demand for the lands of the proprietors so 
 as ultimately to reimburse them for their advances. They 
 pursued this policy till they had reason to complain of much 
 going out and little coming in. The colonists, after a reasona- 
 ble period of indulgence, were left to their own exertions ; and 
 the proprietors discontinued their mercantile intercourse with 
 the settlement. 
 
 The trade of the province must have been inconsiderable 
 for at least fifteen years, as that period had elapsed before any 
 collector of duties for the port of Charlestown was appointed ; 
 and before the first legislative act respecting a pilot was passed. 
 For fifty years, subsequent to the settlement, nothing certain 
 is known either of the population in or the amount of exports 
 from Carolina; but there is reason to believe that rice began 
 to be exported about the beginning of the 18th century. An- 
 derson states that 264,488 barrels were exported to England 
 from 1720 to 1729; and that 429,525 barrels were exported 
 between 1730 to 1739 inclusive. About the latter period the 
 trade of the province was considerable both in imports and 
 exports. The negroes then amounted to about 40,000. They 
 and all other articles of importation must have been paid for 
 chiefly by rice, naval stores, lumber, peltry, and furs exported 
 from the country. To these first articles of export were added 
 indigo, from 1747 — tobacco, from 1782 — and cotton, from 
 1792.* The aggregate value of exports was in such a course 
 of progressive increase, that in the last year of the 18th cen- 
 tury it amounted to 10,554,842 dollars, and in the first year of 
 the 19th to 14,304,045 dollars. 
 
 For the 106 years of the colonial existence of South Caro- 
 lina, all its trade centered in Great Britain and its dependen- 
 cies; with the exception of as much rice as under the special 
 indulgence of an act of parhament was exported to the south- 
 ward of Cape Finisterre. This trade was carried on very 
 much to the satisfaction and interest of Carolina. A consider- 
 able proportion of it was in the hands of native merchants, 
 but more was carried on by emigrants from Great Britain and 
 
 *These periods mark the years when the exportation of these articles began to 
 be considerable. Small quantities were exported before. In addition to these 
 great articles of export, some minor ones might be added: such as Indian corn, 
 cow-pease, beef, pork, leather, shingles, staves, &c. 
 
132 COMMERCIAL HISTORT, 
 
 Ireland. Many of these invested their commercial gains in a 
 planting interest, settled and raised up families in the prov- 
 ince. Several of them passed through all the grades between 
 clerks, or shopmen, and wealthy merchants or substantial 
 planters, in the interval between their youth and the period of 
 their attaining or soon after their passing the meridian of Hfe. 
 They did not consider Carolina as a place of exile from the 
 delights of Europe till they had amassed the means of enjoy- 
 ing life in their native lands, but took it for their home and 
 acted with that liberality towards their adopted countrymen 
 which might be expected from permanent inhabitants. Sev- 
 eral of the present generation have derived their origin from 
 merchants of this description. 
 
 All the little commerce which was carried on in the revo- 
 lutionary war was forced against apparently insurmountable 
 obstacles. The State had no adequate means for protecting 
 its trade. Soon after the declaration of independence, some 
 adventurous individuals began to send vessels to the Dutch 
 and French West India Islands. It was early foreseen that 
 the public would suffer most from the want of salt. To ob- 
 viate this inconvenience eight gentlemen entered into a part- 
 nership to purchase six swift sailing vessels in Bermuda to 
 be employed in importing that necessary article. They for a 
 season supplied the wants of the people and continued this 
 trade till their vessels were all taken. 
 
 Commerce soon began to flow in new channels. The old 
 merchants whose fortunes were easy, unwilling to risk their 
 capital, generally retired from business. A new set who had 
 little to lose by boldly venturing, served their country and 
 rapidly advanced their own interest. Various artifices were 
 used to screen this contraband trade from legal seizure. Some 
 vessels had captains of different nations, and registers of differ- 
 ent ports; and were occasionally French, Dutch, English or 
 American property as the exigency of the case required. Not- 
 withstanding all this subtlety many forfeitures were incurred. 
 The increasing demand for imported goods and the stoppage 
 of all exportation to Great Britain, put it so much in the power 
 of adventurers to sell imported articles dear and to purchase 
 country produce cheap, that in the years 1776 and 1777, the 
 safe arrival of two vessels would indemnify them for the loss 
 of one. For the encouragement of trade two insurance com- 
 panies opened offices which greatly forwarded the extension 
 of commerce. A direct trade to France was soon attempted, 
 and French vessels in like manner found their way into the 
 port of Charlestown. This intercourse in its commencement 
 proved very unfortunate; for out of sixteen vessels richly 
 laden with the commodities of the country, four only arrived 
 
FKOM 1670 TO 1808. 133 
 
 safe. This heavy blow for a little time damped the spirit of 
 enterprise, but it soon revived. 
 
 A considerable trade, though much inferior to what had 
 been usual in times of peace, was carried on in this manner 
 for the greatest part of the three first years of the contest when 
 the operations of the British were chiefly confined to the 
 northern States. It received severe shocks from repeated em- 
 bargoes and the growing depreciation of the paper currency. 
 To subserve miUtary operations the sailing of vessels was 
 several times interdicted. This solely distressed commerce, 
 and prevented the country from obtaining supplies of foreign 
 commodities. It also discouraged strangers from sending their 
 vessels into American ports, as their return, for reasons of 
 State, was so frequently prevented. 
 
 When in the course of the war the British turned their 
 arms more immediately against Carolina and Georgia, the 
 trade that had been previously carried on became inconsidera- 
 ble. Nevertheless, as often as French fleets visited the coast 
 or the absence of British armed vessels was satisfactorily as- 
 certained, the merchants of Charlestown improved their op- 
 portunities and sometimes made successful voyages. With 
 the fall of Charlestown all trade in behalf of Americans wholly 
 ceased. The transition from the greatest want of imported 
 articles to the greatest plenty, was instantaneous. In the train 
 of the victorious army was a number of merchants and an 
 immensity of goods. The shelves which for some time had 
 been unoccupied, began once more to bend with the novel 
 load of British manufactures. Such of the inhabitants as had 
 credit or the command of money, easily obtained a supply of 
 all they wanted. The contrast between the eighteen months 
 which preceded, and the eighteen months which followed the 
 surrender of Charlestown was striking; but soon after the ex- 
 piration of the latter period, commerce again began to languish. 
 Every day added to the probability that the late conquerors 
 would not be able to keep the province. The Americans in a 
 few more months regained nearly all they had formerly lost, 
 and the evacuation of Charlestown was resolved upon by the 
 British. The merchants who came with them were permitted 
 to negotiate for themselves, and on the departure of the royal 
 army obtained permission from the government of the State 
 to remain under the protection of its laws. The impoverished 
 inhabitants of South Carolina now experienced no other want 
 but that of money, for much of the merchandize in Charles- 
 town was left behind at its evacuation by the British. As a 
 substitute for cash they stretched their credit to the utmost, 
 and contracted debts which to several were ruinous and to all 
 inconvenient. 
 
134 COMMERCIAL HISTORY, 
 
 With the return of peace, the CaroUnians counted on an 
 extension of their commerce as being no longer fettered with 
 a British monopoly. But they soon found that when they 
 ceased to be British subjects, they lost the advantages attached 
 to that political character ; that as aliens they could not trade 
 to the British West India Islands, with which, from the first 
 settlement of the province, they had carried on a lucrative 
 commerce. With the war several had lost their capital and 
 others their credit. Few Carolinians had resources left to 
 enter into competition with the British merchants. In the 
 hands of the latter the bulk of the trade of the country cen- 
 tered, and with them it has more or less continued ever since. 
 
 It was not only from this circumstance, but from the supe- 
 rior advantages of trading with Great Britain, that the Caroli- 
 nians have been commercially connected with Great Britain 
 nearly as much since the Revolution as before. They have 
 a right to trade with all the world, but find it their interest to 
 trade principally with Britain. The ingenuity of her manu- 
 facturers — the long credit her merchants are in the habit of 
 giving — the facility of making remittances to her as the pur- 
 chaser of a great part of the native commodities of Carolina, 
 have all concurred to cement a commercial connection be- 
 tween the two countries. From the increased demand for the 
 manufactures of Britain by the increased inhabitants of Caro- 
 lina, the latter, as a State, is much more profitable to the 
 former than she ever was when a province. Though the 
 trade of South Carolina to Germany has greatly increased, and 
 that to the Mediterranean, to France, Spain, United Nether- 
 lands, Madeira, and Russia, has also increased in the order in 
 which these countries are respectively mentioned ; yet the 
 surplus that remains for Great Britain far exceeds all she ever 
 derived from the same country as her colony. It may be 
 confidently asserted that the trade between the two countries 
 for one single year of general peace, free from all interruption, 
 would now be of greater value to Great Britain than all she 
 derived from Carolina for the first half of her colonial exist- 
 ence; or the fifty-three years which were immediately subse- 
 quent to the settlement of the province. 
 
 The merchants of Carolina do not seem fond of exploring 
 new channels of commerce. There never was but one vessel 
 fitted out in Charlestown for the East Indies. No voyages 
 round the world, to the northwest coast of America, to new 
 or remote countries, have originated there ; as far as can be 
 recollected. 
 
 The wars that for several years before and after the com- 
 mencement of the nineteenth century, ragqd in Europe, have 
 been of great advantage ; and also a source of material injury 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 135 
 
 to the commerce of Carolina. In the first instance the priv- 
 ileges attached to neutral vessels, the extensive marine and 
 enterprising spirit of American navigators, have made their flag 
 the passport for the commodities of most of the belligerent 
 nations. Carolina, as being near to their colonies in the West 
 India Islands and on the Main, came in for a large share of 
 this carrying trade and derived great profits from it. This 
 was called by England, "War in disguise;" as it facilitated 
 the transportation of commodities between the French and 
 Spanish colonies, and their respective mother countries, to effect 
 which their own reduced marine was unequal. Orders, and 
 counter decrees, decrees and counter orders, alternately retal- 
 iating not on each other, but on unoffending third persons, 
 followed each other in rapid succession, till neutrals were 
 reduced to the alternative of either abandoning the ocean or 
 subjecting themselves to almost certain capture by one or the 
 other of the belligerents. The laws of nature and nations 
 were disregarded. Both the hostile nations, England and 
 Trance, so often and so grossly violated the rights of neutrals, 
 that it is diflicult to ascertain who was the first or the greatest 
 aggressor. They both deserve the execrations of every friend 
 to the rights of man, or of neutral commerce. The citizens 
 of Carolina, conscious that they had given no just cause of 
 offence to either, humbly hoped to be permitted to live in 
 peace. But this boon was too great to be granted. Each of 
 the nations at war endeavored to goad them into a quarrel 
 with its respective adversary; and to compel them to do so, 
 each hostile nation interdicted them and all Americans from 
 trading with the other and all its dependencies : thereby shutting 
 them out from nine-tenths of the ports with which, by the 
 laws of nations, of nature, and of nature's God, they had a 
 right to trade. That their innocent commerce might be saved 
 from universal seizure, under color of British orders of coun- 
 cil, and French decrees, the ruling powers of the United States 
 in December, 1807, directed that the Americans should retire 
 within themselves from all commercial intercourse with for- 
 eigners. A coasting trade is all that throughout the year 
 1808 remained of an extensive commerce, which, though not 
 two centuries old, had grown with such unexampled rapidity 
 as to be the second in the world. That year, which will be 
 long remembered for the privations and sufferings resulting 
 from a general embargo, was an eventful one to the inhab- 
 itants of South Carolina. Their foreign trade was in a mo- 
 ment, and with little or no previous notice, completely arrested. 
 To vessels loaded and ready to sail, clearances were denied. 
 Such as having already cleared out, had began their voyages, 
 were pursued, and when overtaken brought back. The price 
 of produce instantly fell more than one hundred per cent, or 
 
136 OP THE ARTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 rather could not be sold from want of purchasers. The labors 
 of the past year were rendered unavailing to the relief of their 
 owner though pressed with debt and threatened with execu- 
 tions. Factors, wharfingers, and others engaged in the trans- 
 portation or sale of commodities, suddenly passed over from 
 the full tide of employment to listless inactivity. A general 
 stagnation of business in the midst of that bustling period 
 which is called the crop season, instantly took place. The 
 distresses of individuals were both the causes and effects of 
 the distresses of others. A chain of suffering encircled the 
 community. All this was magnanimously borne by a great 
 majority of the inhabitants. Their reproaches fell not on the 
 administrators of their own government, but on the authors 
 of British orders and French decrees. The Legislature of the 
 State applauded the measures of the general government and 
 their applause was re-echoed by the people. The discontents 
 of a few evaporated in private murmurings, and did not pro- 
 duce a single public expression of disapprobation or impa- 
 tience. While others contended that they suffered most from 
 the embargo, the Carolinians with justice preferred their claim 
 to the honor of bearing it best. History is confined to the re- 
 lation of facts, and does not extend to conjectures on contin- 
 gent events, or it might be added that if the embargo had 
 been as faithfully observed and as patiently borne in every 
 part of the Union as it was in Carolina, the issue would 
 probably have been very different, and certainly more to the 
 honor of the United States. 
 
 OF THE ARTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM 1670 TO 1808. 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 To procure food, clothing, shelter and defence, are primary 
 arts at all times indispensable, but eminently so among the 
 settlers in new countries or such as are inhabited only by sav- 
 ages. The first Europeans who located themselves in Caro- 
 lina must have derived their food from the waters and woods, 
 except what they brought with them and the maize they ob- 
 tained from the Indians. Their clothing they must have im- 
 ported, for the country afforded none other than the skins of 
 beasts. The aborigines had no domestic animals, no stores 
 of food artificially preserved, no cultivated fields or gardens 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 137 
 
 from which they could supply the wants of the new comers. 
 The embarkation of the latter in January was probably the 
 result of design, that they might be in readiness to improve 
 the approaching season of vegetation. Of their proceedings 
 no records, nor even any tradition has reached us further 
 than that their Governor, William Sayle, set them a noble ex- 
 ample of personal industry. Fom the nature of man, we 
 must suppose that their first care was to make some rude shel- 
 ter to cover them, and their next to prepare the ground for 
 planting. After they had committed to its bosom such seeds 
 as they supposed likely to grow and be useful ; it was natural 
 for them to employ their leisure time in fishing and htinting 
 for. their immediate support. They had no experience to 
 guide them as to the nature of soils, and seeds or grains suit- 
 able to each other. Tradition has informed us that their first 
 essays in planting were with highland grains on the high and 
 sandy soil which was most easily cleared, as being slightly cov- 
 ered with wood. We know that more than once they labored 
 under serious apprehensions of famine, and threatened to 
 compel their Governor to abandon the country. Their agri- 
 cultural efibrts were for some time poorly rewarded, and much 
 of their food and all their clothing was imported. In the arts 
 of fishing and hunting they had advantages over the natives, 
 to whom fish-hooks and guns were unknown. The arts of 
 the new comers in destroying the wild beasts were eminently 
 conducive to their comfort. The flesh of some of them was 
 exquisitely agreeable. The skins of all were serviceable 
 for domestic purposes. They were so common that hun- 
 ters had no difficulty in finding game. From the Indians 
 the settlers must soon have learned, not only to plant maize, 
 but to dress it in its various forms. This agreeable vegetable, 
 added to fish, oysters, crabs and shrimps, from the water; and 
 deer and wild fowl, obtained by their guns from the land, 
 must have constituted no mean aliment. The rapid increase 
 of domestic animals, brought out by the first settlers, must soon 
 have multiplied animal food to a sufficiency for every useful 
 purpose. To trace the progress of the necessary arts from 
 such rude beginnings to their present improved state is no easy 
 matter. 
 
 As £12,000 were expended in equipments for the settle- 
 ment, it is not improbable that tents were provided for the 
 first and immediate shelter of the settlers on their disembark- 
 ing. Whether they were or not, the accommodation must 
 have been only temporary. With the Indians it is a prevail- 
 ing opinion "that they are always at home, except when they 
 are in a house." The rude wigwams of such out of door 
 people, generally formed of bark and the limbs of trees, with- 
 
138 OF THE ARTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 out the aid of metal or of any instrument made of metal, must 
 have afforded very imperfect models of architecture to the first 
 settlers. Neither stones nor brick were within their grasp. 
 But with the axes, saws and other tools, brought with them, 
 in a country abounding with timber, they might, and doubt- 
 less did, construct cabins with such expedition as could not 
 fail to impress the admiring savages with ideas of their supe- 
 rior skill. The first settlers were probably like the first 
 Romans, a "populus virorum," or chiefly males, for it is rea- 
 sonable to suppose that the dangers and difficulties of the en- 
 terprise would have gene'rally deterred the weaker sex from 
 being parties in the earliest embarkations. 
 
 This mode of originating a settlement has continued more 
 or less ever since. There always have been in Carolina single 
 men, and sometimes families, migrating from the earlier set- 
 tlements and breaking ground on bare creation. The diffi- 
 culties of such undertakings have been constantly lessening, 
 but are always considerable. The time of commencing them 
 is in March, or about the breaking up of the winter. The 
 parties go with family and plantation utensils, a few bushels 
 of corn, and some domestic animals. After fixing on a site, 
 they build in two or three days a cabin with logs cut down 
 and piled one upon another in the form of a square or a paral- 
 lelogram. The floor is of earth, the roof is sometimes of bark, 
 but oftener of split logs. The light is received through the door, 
 and in some instances through a window of greased paper, or 
 the bottom of a broken glass bottle. Experience, without the 
 aid of philosophy, teaches them that fresh' air is harmless; and 
 they are therefore not anxious to exclude it by stopping crev- 
 ices between the logs. Though sometimes they attempt it by 
 introducing clay between them, especially on the lower parts, 
 or as high as their heads. Shelter being provided, their next 
 care is to provide food. This is frequently accomphshed be- 
 fore the few bushels of corn brought with them are expended. 
 To expedite vegetation, the large trees are deprived of their 
 power to shade the ground, by cutting a circle around their 
 trunks. This deadens them by preventing the sap from as- 
 cending. The under wood is destroyed. The ground, thus 
 exposed to the action of the sun, is roughly prepared for plant- 
 ing by ploughing or hoeing. To its virgin soil is committed 
 seed corn in March, or early in April. In ninety or one hun- 
 dred days it is so far advanced as to afford a great deal of 
 nourishment in the form of roasting ears. In six weeks more 
 it is ripe. The increase on this new land is often great, and 
 the grain will keep from one crop to another. Till it is so far 
 grown as to be fit for eating, the settler is supported by corn 
 brought with him, or bought or borrowed from his neighbors; 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 139 
 
 and with such fresh game as he can kill, or such fresh fish as 
 he can catch. The same process may be repeated each suc- 
 ceeding year, and with increasing advantages, and diminish- 
 ing difficulties. Thus, in the short space of one summer, the 
 settler is possessed of a fixed residence, and has shelter and 
 provisions from his own resources. His axe and gun in the 
 meantirne furnish him with the means of defence against In- 
 dians, wild beasts, and robbers. Lightwood or the heart of dry 
 pine logs affords a cheap substitute for candles. The same 
 materials which can easily be procured, enable him to kindle 
 an instantaneous fire for any domestic purpose. The surplus 
 of his crop may be bartered for homespun garments ; or if 
 he is happily married, he may convert the wool of his sheep, 
 the flax or cotton of his field into coarse clothing for domestic 
 use. Thus a natural family is constituted, and in a very short 
 time provided with the three great necessaries of life — shelter, 
 food, and clothing. From such humble beginnings hundreds 
 of families in Carolina have been gradually raised to easy cir- 
 cumstances. Such as aspired to nothing beyond this style of 
 living, were among the least valuable citizens; for laziness, not 
 contentment, bounded their ambition ; such as by active exer- 
 tions sought to obtain something higher and better, were 
 among the best citizens ; for while they advanced themselves 
 they advanced their country. Settlers of the latter description 
 are not long content with their cabins and lightwood torches. 
 In a few years they construct either a frame house or one 
 made of hewn logs. In either case it is floored with boards, 
 and covered with oak, pine, or cypress shingles; and for the 
 most part consists of two stories or floors, one above another, 
 and is divided into two apartments. A distinction takes place 
 between the dwelling house and kitchen. Other grains besides 
 corn are cultivated. Potatoes, cabbages, turnips, and garden 
 vegetables are raised, and the table is supplied with wholesome 
 and agreeable food. Apple or peach trees are planted, and 
 from them cider is obtained and whiskey distilled. If the lat- 
 ter is used in moderation, the proprietor makes his neighbors 
 tributary to him, and commands their labor and resources to 
 a certain extent, in exchange for his liquor. He purchases oiie 
 or two slaves. He builds a barn and other out-houses. His 
 children are put to school. He becomes a member of a 
 church. Tea, coffee, and sugar are found on his table — his 
 house is glazed and decently furnished. His fields well se- 
 cured. His stock enlarged and care taken of it. Cattle, sheep, 
 and hogs are occasionally slaughtered for the support of his 
 family, and the surplus salted for future use. Their skins 
 are dressed and applied to sundry domestic purposes. Their 
 butter supplies the place of oil in cookery, and their fat fur- 
 
140 OF THE ARTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 nishes him with candles to the exclusion of lightwood torches. 
 His credit is good with the merchant; but of this he makes a 
 a sparing use^ dealing mostly for cash. Domestic manufac- 
 tures are carried to such an extent that over and above cloth- 
 ing his family, some is left to barter for imported merchan- 
 dize. Their plain native colors no longer satisfy his wife and 
 daughters. The woods are ransacked for dye-stuffs. Indigo, 
 either tame or wild, enables them to give a beautiful blue to 
 their homespun. Sweet leaf, hopea tinctoria, imparts an ele- 
 gant yellow color to the labor of their hands. Materials for 
 impressing other colors, if desired, may be easily procured 
 from the fields or woods.* Proceeding in this manner in the 
 course of a moderate life, the industrious settler becomes an 
 independent man in easy, and often comfortable, circum- 
 stances. If, on the other hand, his whiskey becomes too great 
 a favorite, if habits of laziness increase, and labor is either 
 neglected, or transferred to his slaves, everything is reversed. 
 
 *The art of dyeing ought to make a conspicuous iigure among the arts of the 
 Carolinians, for nature has blessed them with a profusion of materials for that pur- 
 pose. To encourage their attention to this subject, Ihe following facts are men- 
 tioned : Captain Felder, near Orangeburg, procured a paste from the leaves of the 
 sweet leaf, hopea tinctoria, and those of the yellow indigo, a species of cassia, for 
 which he obtained one guinea per pound during the American revolutionary war. 
 Unlbrtunately his process died with him. 
 
 Dr. Bancroft, the ingenious author of experimental researches concerning the 
 philosophy of permanent colors, informed the writer of this history that his patent 
 for introducing into England several dye-stufls, gained for him £5,000 per annum, 
 for some of the last years of his patent. In the course of his experiments, Dr. 
 Bancroft found that some materials for dyeing could be procured in the greatest 
 abundance from the woods of America, vt'hich were of equal efficacy with 
 others which commanded a high price in England. This was particularly the 
 case with the baric of the quercus tinctoria or black oak, which is very common 
 in Carolina. Of this he annually imported and sold as much as gained him the 
 above sum. 
 
 It may be of service to some persons residing in the country to be. informed 
 that Carolina affords, among many other dye-stuffs, the following materials for dye- 
 ing the colors to which they are respectively annexed: 
 
 Black. — Rhus toxicodendron, -poison oak — the acrid juice of this small shrub 
 imparts a durable black without any addition. Gall-berry bush grows in profusion 
 on the margin of our bays, creeks and ponds; the leaves and berries of it are 
 employed by hatters for giving a black to hats, as also by weavers for staining 
 yarn. Lycopus Europfeus, water horehouncl, or gipsywort — the juice of this plant 
 also gives a fixed black dye. Actea spicuta, herb Christopher or baneberries — the 
 juice of the berries boiled with alum affords a fine black dye or ink. Quercus 
 rubra, red oak — the capsules and bark of the oak affords a good fixture for brown 
 or black dyes. Copperas or alum is commonly used for the mordant^ or setting 
 ingredients, as they are vulgarly called. 
 
 Blues. — Indigofera tinctoria, coinmon. indigo; amorpha U\\\\q,o%z., false indigo — 
 these are well-known dyes. Fraxinus excelsior, common ash trp-e — the inner bark 
 is said to give a good blue color to cloth. 
 
 Note. — Preparations of the cnpruniy vitriolatum^ or blue stone, are used in dying 
 blues. 
 
 Yellow. — Urtica dioica, common nettle — the roots of this give a faint yellow to 
 cotton. Rhamnus frangula, Mac/t berry ^ bearing alder — the bark tinges a dull yellow. 
 Berberis vulgaris, barberry bush — the root gives wool a beautiful yellow. Prunus 
 chicasa, (?om.??K??i plum tree. Pyrus malus, apple tree — the barks of both these are 
 used in dyeing yellow. Betula, birch tree — the leaves give a faint yellow. Seratula 
 tinctoria, saw wort, and contaurea jacea, common knapiveed, give to wool a good 
 yellow. Polygonum persicaria — spotted arsemart. Lysimachia vulgaris, yeUqw 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 141 
 
 Broken fences, neglected fields, dirty houses, famished slaves, 
 squahd and uneducated children, point out a melancholy ret- 
 rogradation in useful habits and pursuits. The erection of a 
 distillery, and the purchase of slaves have a decisive influ- 
 ence on the future fortunes aad -characters of such settlers. 
 They are blessings or curses, as they are used or abused. 
 
 The buildings in Charlestown were generally mean, and 
 mostly of wood, before the great fire of 1740. Many of 
 the new buildings erected in place of those which had been 
 destroyed, were of brick, and generally more convenient and 
 constructed with more taste. Twenty or thirty spacious brick 
 houses were built by some of the wealthiest first settlers above 
 one hundred years ago, which still remain serviceable dwell- 
 ings. These were all in the vicinity of Charlestown and 
 mostly on or near the banks of the Ashley.* Brick buildings 
 have been increasing in Charlestown ever since the year 1740. 
 In it there are a few of Bermudas stone, seven of clay; all 
 the rest are of brick or wood. In Columbia, the college, the 
 jail, the court house, and the foundation of the State house, 
 and three or four private houses, are of brick and all the rest 
 
 willow herb^ or loose strife, Scabiosa succisa, or deviVs bit — the leaves impart a 
 yellow color. Hypericum perforatum, St. Johu^s wort, the flowers. Calnendula 
 otlicinalis, garden marigold — the petals or flower leaves dried. Cuscuta amer- 
 icana, american dodder, or love vine, produces a bright, though not permanent yel- 
 low; it is however in great esteem. Hopea tincloria, horse laurel, horse honey, 
 sweet or yellow leaf, this shrub abounds in the country, and on James Island — is 
 greedily eaten by cows and horses: the leaves are used for dyeing yellow. Heli- 
 aiithus tuberosa, tuberose sun-flower, Jerusalem or groitiid artichoke — the petals of 
 this plant are used for imparting a yellow color to wool. Zantboriza apufolia, 
 parshy leaved root, yellow root. Hydrastis canadensis, yellow root — both impart a 
 beautiful yellow. 
 
 Red. — But few articles of this kind are known in South Carolina. Carthamus 
 tinctoria, bastard saffron, is used for cotton; it is said to impart a line red color to 
 silks — the blossoms only are use,i. Ruinex allosa, common sorrel — the roots 
 impart a faint red. but is not lasting. Gallium soreale, crosswort madder, and 
 indeed the roots of several species of gallium, impart a red color to wool. Sangi- 
 naria canadensis, piiccoon or bastard turmeric — the roots impart a yellowish red 
 color to wool. Cactus opuntia, prickly pear — imparts a beautiful red color. 
 
 Crimson. — Phytolacca discaudea, American nightshade, or poke — the juice of 
 poke berries boiled in rain-water and set with alum, imparts to wool a beautiful 
 crimson, and when fixed with lime-water, produces a yellow color. 
 
 Gheen. — Arundo phragmatis, common reed or caue — the leaves of which impart 
 to wool a fine green color. This color is principally obtained by first dyeing the 
 stuffs yellow, and dipping them in indigo dye. 
 
 Brown, Gold, and Olive Shades. — Acer campestris, common maple — the bark 
 inaparts to cotton or wool a brownish purple, as does also the tops of the origanum 
 vuigare, or wild majoram. Quercus rubra, red oak — the inner bark of the tree 
 produces an orange or reddish brown color with alum; set with copperas, a good 
 black. Juglans nigra, black walnut — the hark of the tree and fruit imparts to wool 
 or cotton an excellent dark olive color. Hurnulus lupuli, common hops — the plant 
 dyes a good brown. Agrimonia eupatoriUm, common agrimony, affords a tolerable 
 gold color. 
 
 * In that vicinity, and Colleton district, a great proportion of the first white owners 
 of the soil of Carolina located themselves. At an election in St. Andrew's in 1&06, 
 all the managers and members elected were owners of plantations which had 
 belonged to their respective ancestors above one hundred years. The managers 
 were William Bull and Thomas Cheffelle. The members elected were Elias Lynch 
 Horry, senator, Daniel Elliot Huger, Christopher Fuller, and William Cattle, 
 representatives. 
 
142 OF THE ARTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 are of wood. In Beaufort their college and fifteen dwelling 
 houses, the arsenal, the Baptist church, and the barracks, are 
 built of a composition of lime, oyster shells, sand, and water, 
 commonly called tappy. The Episcopal and Independent 
 churches, and three dwelling houses, are of brick. All the 
 other buildings are of wood. In Camden, Jacksonborough, 
 and the other towns, there are few or no brick dwellings. Of 
 about one hundred and twenty houses in Georgetown all are 
 of wood, except ten or twelve. Of a thousand houses in the 
 country, not more than two or three are built of brick, stone, 
 or any other materials than wood. Timber is every where 
 abundant and cheap. Bricks are made with considerable labor 
 and expense. Though stones are common in the upper dis- 
 tricts, most of them require the hand of the artist to fit them 
 for building. Brick and stone both require the cement of lime, 
 which is procured with difficulty and expense in most parts 
 of the State. Much of the ground in the vicinity of Charles- 
 town is suitable for bricks. These when well burnt are very 
 durable, and suit well with the climate; and oyster shell lime 
 may easily be procured. The first four story house in Charles- 
 town was buih in 1806. Within the last eighteen years more 
 lofty, elegant, and spacious brick buildings, both public and 
 private, have been built in Charlestown, than in any preceding 
 thirty or forty years. Within the same period Bartholomew 
 Carrol introduced a new mode of building with clay. Seven 
 houses thus built in Charlestown have hitherto answered very 
 well, and they are as elegant, comfortable, and as free from 
 moisture and all other untoward accidents, as any brick 
 houses, though they cost much less. They stood the hurri- 
 cane of 1804, which exceeded everything of the kind which 
 had taken place since the year 1752: yet the example has 
 not been followed by a single citizen. Some doubts were at 
 first entertained of the safety of building lofty spacious houses 
 with these materials; but the experience of thirteen years 
 proves that moderate sized clay houses of two or even three 
 stories, may be safely tenanted for that length of time: for 
 aught that yet appears, they may be built as large and last as 
 long as any other houses whatever. Wood in time yields to 
 putrefaction, and may be destroyed by fire. Clay is incapa- 
 ble of the first, and instead of being destroyed by the latter, 
 is only changed into brick.* The intrusion of water might 
 involve danger, but this may with certainty be prevented. 
 
 * In the Repertory of Arts, vol. vi., page 3Bfl, or the volume for 1797, there is a 
 specification of a patent granted to Henry Walker "for his invention of a method 
 by which houses and other buildings of any dimensions might be erected in one 
 entire mass at much less expense, and which would be equally durable, and less 
 liable to accidents by fire than ordinary buildings." This is nothing but the appli- 
 cation of fire, by means of flues, to the difterent parts of a clay house constructed 
 upon Mr. Carroll's plan. The projector proposes to make not only the walls, but 
 the floors of diflerent stories, the staircases and roof, one entire mass. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 143 
 
 Nature has made such ample provision for feeding the in- 
 habitants of South Carolina, that little room was left for art. 
 The sea, rivers, and ponds abound with fish; the banks of 
 salt-rivers, with oysters, prawns, shrimps and crabs ; the woods 
 with game. Cattle and hogs multiply astonishingly, with lit- 
 tle or no feeding or care. A fertile soil repays with large in- 
 crease what is planted in it. A little industry in planting, 
 fishing or hunting, and a little foresight and care in preserv- 
 ing what was thus procured from one season to another, read- 
 ily supplies the wants of nature, as to aliment. With respect 
 to drink, the country generally abounds with wholesome 
 water. In Charlestown and the sea-coast, it has a slight admix- 
 ture of salt, which is apt to disagree with strangers, but its 
 disagreeable effects are only temporary and easily removed. 
 The further we recede from the sea-shore, the water becomes 
 cooler and better, and in the interior country, is equal to any 
 in the world. Few people, in the simplest state of society, 
 are content with this beverage of nature. Something more 
 stimulant or pungent is generally coveted. Wine, porter, 
 punch, lemonade and cider, are used by some, but the habits 
 of Carolinians are in favor of a mixture of ardent spirits and 
 water, commonly called grog, for a common drink, when water 
 is not deemed satisfactory. This can be commanded almost 
 every moment, and in every place, and is for that reason pre- 
 ferred by most to fermented liquors, which are frequently 
 rendered acid in warm weather; hence breweries are rare, 
 while distilleries are common. The art of preparing whole- 
 some agreeable drinks by fermentation, which employs thou- 
 sands in colder countries, is seldom practiced in Charlestown, 
 and still less in the country. 
 
 A Carolinian in one season requires the Warm garments 
 adapted to cold climates, in another, those which are suita- 
 ble for the inhabitants of the torrid zone. Wool, cotton, and 
 flax and the skins of animals, furnish materials for both ; but 
 indolence prevents some from applying them to the purposes 
 to which nature designed them, and the love of money has 
 the same efliect on others, who exhaust their energies in rais- 
 ing such articles as will sell in market for the greatest amount 
 in money. Where slaves abound, and the staple commodities 
 are raised in the greatest plenty, the least attention is paid to 
 the domestic manufacture of articles for clothing. If the crop 
 succeeds, and afterwards sells for a good price, there is money 
 to buy clothing, but,if either fails, the reverse takes place, and 
 no provision is made against the pinchings of a cold winter. 
 The least wealthy are generally the most provident. The loom 
 and the wheel are most steadily plied among the minor plant- 
 ers or farmers, who are content to follow the guidance of 
 27 
 
144 OF THE ARTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 nature in making provisions for the supply of those wants 
 she has imposed on all the human race. Among such, domes- 
 tic manufactures now are, and for a long time have been, car- 
 ried on for almost every necessary family purpose. Tanners 
 and shoemakers are common, who extract extensive accom- 
 modations for their fellow-citizens from the skins of animals 
 both wild and tame, though seldom completely dressed ; these 
 defend the feet. Equal provision might be made for the head 
 from the wool, the furs, the straw of rice and wheat, the strips 
 of the willow bark, and the palmetto tree;* but these resources 
 are neglected. There are several hatters in the western dis- 
 tricts, but very few in the lower parts of the State. Wool, 
 cotton, and flax, either combined or separate, are worked up 
 into plain garments calculated for warmth, but are seldom 
 made of so fine a texture as to be suitable for summer wear. 
 Though domestic manufactures are daily increasing in quan- 
 tity and improving in quality, and are carried on, especially in 
 the interior parts of the State, to so considerable an extent that 
 their aggregate value is very great, yet they are far short of a 
 sufficiency for the supply of the inhabitants. The genius of 
 the people leads them to agriculture, and they seldom depart 
 from it but when under the pressure of necessity. The time 
 is distant, and a great revolution must take place in the man- 
 ners of the inhabitants, before they clothe themselves com- 
 pletely from their own resources. Their workshops will prob- 
 ably long remain in Europe or the more northern States; but 
 as the country abounds with the suitable materials, they may, 
 whenever they please, become a manufacturing as well as an 
 agricultural State. f 
 
 The arts of defence were at all times necessary to the Caro- 
 linians. The Indians were sufficiently numerous to have ex- 
 terminated them. The Spaniards had been in possession of 
 Cuba and Florida longer before the settlement of Carolina 
 than the whole time which has elapsed since it commenced. 
 
 *Hats made of the palmetto are mentioned in Lawson's History of Caro- 
 lina, written above a hundred years ago. They have been lately brought into 
 more general use by the newly imported Africans, who on discovering the tree in 
 this country, of their own accord began to make hats of the inner laminae of its 
 bark. It is probable from these circumstances, that both the tree and the art of 
 making a covering of the head from it are common in Africa. Hats made of pal- 
 metto are uncommonly strong and durable. 
 
 ■{-Since writing the above, while the public mind was in an impressible slate 
 from the privations of the general embargo of 1808, Dr. Shecut, by a series of 
 warm addresses to the people, printed in the city gazette, roused a spirit favor- 
 able to manufactures. After sundry town meetings, an association was formed 
 by the name of the Homespun Company, which has been incorporated. Shares 
 in it are taken up, payable by instalments, which, when fully paid, will furnish 
 a capital of about $30,000. A lot of land has been purchased, and preparations are 
 far advan(^ed for manufacturing coarse cloths, and some have been actually com- 
 pleted. Its progress and success are ardently wished for by the friends of American 
 independence. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 145 
 
 That the few first settlers, far removed from any friendly aid 
 were preserved under such circumstances, must be referred to 
 the kindness of providence; for they were unable to have re- 
 sisted any judicious attack from either Indians or Spaniards. 
 What methods they adopted for self-defence are not precisely 
 known. The earliest recorded act for settling the militia was 
 passed in 1682. The first settlers doubtless brought arms 
 with them, and it is reasonable to suppose, that from the mo- 
 ment of their debarkation some common defensive measures 
 were adopted. From the year 1683, militia laws in succession 
 have made it the duty of every freeman of competent age to 
 be armed and enrolled for military purposes. These laws 
 have always been substantially the same, being framed on the 
 idea that every freeman is a soldier, and the whole body of 
 the people an army liable to be called into actual service when 
 public exigence requires it. With this force the province was 
 exclusively defended for the first ninety years of its existence. 
 In the year 1760 the regular troops of Great Britain for the 
 first time aided the militia of the country against the Cherokee 
 Indians, then in connection with France, at war with the 
 province. On this source of defence, the State continues to 
 rely for security against all internal and external enemies. It 
 is at present respectable; and is divided into two divisions, 
 each commanded by a Major-General. These divisions com- 
 prehend ninehrigades, thirty-nine regiments of infantry, eight 
 regiments and a squadron of cavalry, and one regiment 
 and a battalion of artillery, besides artillery companies, which 
 are attached to some of the regiments of infantry. The bri- 
 gades are commanded by as many Brigadier-Generals, and 
 the regiments are commanded by Lieutenant-Colonels. The 
 Governor is Commander-in-Chief of all the militia of the State, 
 both by land and sea. This increases every year. At present 
 it approaches to 40,000 men. 
 
 The militia thus organized, are particularly under the di- 
 rection of a Brigade Inspector, with the rank of Major for 
 each brigade; and of an Adjutant-General holding the rank 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel, who superintends the whole, and re- 
 views the militia regimentally throughout the State from year 
 to year. The duties of the Brigade Inspectors are to attend 
 the regimental and battalion meetings of the militia, compos- 
 ing their several brigades during the time of their being under 
 arms, to inspect their arms, ammunition and accoutrements, 
 superintend their exercise and manoeuvres, The duties of 
 the Adjutant-General are to receive and distribute orders from 
 the Commander-in-Chief to the several corps, to attend all pub- 
 lic reviews when the Commander-in-Chief shall review the 
 militia, to furnish blank forms of different returns, to receive 
 
146 
 
 from the several officers of the different corps throughout the 
 State, returns of the militia under their command, reporting 
 the actual situation of their arms, accoutrements, and ammu- 
 nition; their delinquencies, and every other thing which re- 
 lates to the general advancement of good order and discipline. 
 From all which returns he is to make proper abstracts, laying 
 the same annually before the Commander-in-Chief of the 
 State. The appointment of these officers has much benefitted 
 the public service, as the militia throughout the State are dis- 
 ciplined by the same rules, and are taught to perform the same 
 menoeuvres. Much good has also resulted from the attendance 
 of the Governor at reviews. When in real service, the militia 
 are entitled to receive the same pay and rations, and are sub- 
 ject to the same rules as the troops of the United States, ex- 
 cept that in case of courts-martial respecting them, the cou^t is 
 to be drawn from the militia of South Carolina. 
 
 A naval defence was early contemplated. In the year 1686 
 an act was passed for raising £300 for building galleys for the 
 defence of the province. From the year 1682 taxes were com- 
 mon for defraying public expenses. How, or for what these 
 expenses were incurred, does not appear; but doubtless in part 
 for defence. Charlestown was early fortified. The precise 
 time is not known, but it is supposed to have been so betM-'een 
 the year 1695 and 1704.* From an old map, furnished by 
 Doctor Prioleau, as having long been in possession of his an- 
 cient and respectable ancestors, it appears that the foriications 
 of Charlestown extended along East Bay street from Gran- 
 ville's bastion, adjoining Captain Messroon's house; north- 
 wardly to Craven's bastion near the Governor's bridge; and 
 from these two bastions in converging lines to Meeting street, 
 so as to strike it on the north, near its junction with the present 
 Cumberland street, and on the south, near to the site of the 
 Presbyterian church ; and from one of these points on Meet- 
 ing street to the other. These limits enclosed almost the whole 
 of Charlestown, which was then improved, and were of diffi- 
 cult approach on the north and south sides, in consequence of 
 two creeks, now obliterated, which then ran nearly parallel to 
 them. On these lines were six bastions, and the outlet was 
 by a draw-bridge near where the National bank now stands. 
 To the southward, westward, and northward of these lines 
 were small farms. The bastions on East Bay stood and were 
 
 *The first mention of fortification in the laws is in 1695, when an act was 
 passed for appropriating the proceeds of a duty on liquors imported, and on skins 
 and furs exported, ''to a fortification in Charlestown." The preamble to an act 
 '•to prevent the breaking down and destroying tlie fortifications in Charlestown," 
 passed in 1704, states, "that at great expense and labor, Charlestown had been 
 fortified with intrenchments and other works, to make it defensible in this time of 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 147 
 
 serviceable in the revolutionary war ; but nothing of them 
 now remains but their foundations. Carteret bastion, at the 
 northwest angle, and Colleton bastion at the southwest angle 
 and the lines between the bastions on the north, south, and 
 west sides, have all been so completley destroyed that not a 
 trace of them remains. A second set of lines to the north- 
 ward and westward of the first have also been laid waste. It 
 is probable that they were destroyed or fell to pieces between 
 the years 1720 and 1740. Charlestown was in no danger from 
 Indians after the Yamassee war, which terminated shortly 
 before 1720, and had but little to fear from the Spaniards 
 after the settlement of Georgia in 1731. While the province 
 belonged to the King of Great Britain he was attentive to its 
 defense. At different times he presented to it sundry cannon 
 for that purpose. Towards Cooper river the town was de- 
 fended by a number of batteries, that no ships of an enemy 
 could approach it without considerable hazard. Besides 
 these, the passage up to it was secured by Fort Johnson, built 
 on James Island, about three miles below the town. This 
 fort stands in a commanding situation, within point blank shot 
 of the channel, through which every ship in its way to and 
 from Charlestown must pass. During the Cherokee war in 1760 
 and 1761, a plan was also formed for fortifying the town towards 
 the land with a horn-work, built of tappy, flanked with bat- 
 teries and redoubts at proper distances, and extending from 
 river to river ; but after a great sum of money was spent on 
 this work, peace being restored, the prosecution of it was dis- 
 continued. 
 
 From the expulsion of the Yamassees, in 1715, the province 
 had little occasion for the arts of defense against the Indians 
 till after the middle of the eighteenth century, when that im- 
 mense region, which lies between the western mountains and 
 the river Mississippi, was claimed and contended for both by 
 France and England. To awe the Indians and defend the 
 inhabitants, slight forts were then built at proper distances over 
 a great part of the western country, as hasbeen already related. 
 The era, when the arts of defense were pre-eminently called 
 into exercise, was at the commencement of the American rev- 
 olution. The oldforts had generally gone to ruin. Fort John- 
 son was in the hands of an officer of the crown. A noble 
 spirit of defense having taken possession of the Carolinians, 
 they took possession of fort Johnson, and repaired it. They 
 built an extensive fortification on Sullivan's Island, and sev- 
 eral new forts, which, with old onesrepaired, nearly encircled 
 Charlestown both on the land and water side. After the 
 termination of the revolutionary war the inhabitants, pre- 
 suming on a continuation of peace, paid no attention to sev- 
 
148 or THE ARTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 eral of these forts. Others were sold, and their sites converted 
 into private property. In the year 1798, when war between 
 France and the United States was deemed probable, some of 
 them were repaired; but the dispute between the two countries 
 being compromised, they were again suffered to go to ruin. 
 In the present situation of affairs, when disputes exist between 
 this country and both Great Britain and France, works of 
 defense are once more put into a train of being rebuilt. The 
 sites of all the forts having been lately ceded to the United 
 States, the arts of defense will hereafter be conducted by the 
 war department of the national government. It is hoped that 
 such permanent works will ere long be erected as to make it ex- 
 tremely hazardous for any ordinary hostile naval force to enter 
 the harbor of Charlestown. Provision on a smaller scale for the 
 defense of Beaufort and Georgetown is contemplated. On the 
 yeomanry of the country reliance is placed for defense against 
 any land force that is likely to attack from that quarter. 
 
 Ship building is connected with the arts of a country and 
 at all times ranks with its manufactures. For carrying on this 
 noble art the Carolinians have great advantages. Their live- 
 oak, their cedars and pines, furnish the best materials for the 
 construction of serviceable and lasting ships. Their live-oak 
 is equal to any wood in the world for the timbers of ships. It 
 is of so solid a texture that, different from most other wood, it 
 sinks in water. An experiment was made some years ago of 
 the comparative weight of English oak and Carolina live-oak. 
 A few cubic inches of the latter weighed eighteen pounds; 
 but the same quantity of the former no more than fifteen. 
 Ships built of live-oak have been known to last upwards of 
 forty years, though employed in the destructive climate of the 
 West Indies, and in carrying sugars, than which nothing is 
 more trying to their timbers. 
 
 About the year 1740 the Carolinians began seriously to at- 
 tend to ship building : five ship-yards were erected ; one in 
 Charlestown, three in the vicinity and one at Beaufort. In 
 them twenty-four square rigged vessels, besides sloops and 
 schooners, were built between the years 1740 and 1779. 
 
 At the commencement of the American revolution, when 
 South Carolina first adopted the idea of defending herself 
 against all hostile attempts to enforce the arbitrary claims of 
 the British parliament, she had not possession of a single 
 armed vessel. In this extremity, under the pressure of ne- 
 cessity, which could brook no delay, it was agreed to arm 
 merchantmen. A coasting schooner was fitted out with sixteen 
 guns, to which was given the name of the Defense. The 
 Prosper, a merchant ship, was mounted with twenty guns, 
 and soon after another coasting schooner, named the Comet, 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 149 
 
 was armed with sixteen guns. A galley called the Beaufort 
 was huilt, and three small vessels were converted into galleys 
 for the protection of the inland navigation. Another coasting 
 schooner was fitted out with ten guns, which was intended for 
 the protection of Georgetown. In the progress of the dispute, 
 after British seizures had induced the Continental Congress 
 toauthorize reprisals, the Comet, the Defense and the Beaufort 
 galleys were converted into hrigs ; and, cruising on the high 
 seas, brought in several prizes. The Legislature erected a 
 navy board, and delegated to Edward Blake, Roger Smith, 
 Josiah Smith, George Smith, Edward Darrell, Thomas Corbet, 
 John Edwards, George Abbott Hall, and Thomas Savage, 
 " authority to superintend and direct the building, buying or 
 hiring of all vessels in the public service, and to direct the 
 outfits of the same, and the furnishing them with necessary 
 ordnance, victualling, provisions and naval stores ; to fill va- 
 cancies in the navy or marine, and to draw warrants on the 
 treasury forthe sums of money necessary forthe purposes afore- 
 said." These gentlemen took charge of the above mentioned 
 public vessels, and also built a brig of fourteen guns, to v/hich 
 they gave the name of the Hornet. This was the whole of the 
 Carolina navy for the first four years of the revolutionary war. 
 In the year 1777 the Continental frigate Randolph, Captain 
 Biddle, put into Charlestown in distress. After being refitted 
 she sailed on a cruise, and in eight days returned with four 
 rich prizes. This encouraged the State to attempt something 
 in the same way with her little marine. The ship General 
 Moultrie, Captain Sullivan, the brig Polly, Captain Anthony, 
 and brig Fair American, Captain Morgan, belonging to private 
 persons, were taken into public service on this occasion. They 
 in conjunction with the Continental frigate Randolph and the 
 State brig Notre Dame, early in 1778 sailed on a cruise. They 
 descried a vessel to the windward of Barbadoes, and engaged 
 her in the night, presuming that she was a frigate; but she 
 proved to be the Yarmouth, a sixty-four gun ship. After an 
 engagement of seventeen minutes, the Randolph blew up with 
 three hundred and fifteen souls on board, who all perished 
 excepting four ; who, after tossing about for four days on a 
 wreck, were discovered and taken up by a passing vessel. 
 Captain Biddle, who lost his life on this occasion, was prized 
 by his country as one of her very best naval officers. Captain 
 Joor, a worthy, brave officer of the first South Carolina regi- 
 ment, with fifty privates of that corps, acting as marines on 
 board the Randolph, all likewise perished. The other vessels 
 , escaping from the Yarmouth, continued their cruise. They 
 ' took seventeen prizes, but only four of them arrived safe in a 
 friendly port. 
 
150 OF THE ARTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 The great advantages resulting to the State from their little 
 navy, and the manifold distress sustained by the trade for the 
 want of protection, induced the Legislature to take methods 
 for purchasing or building three frigates. Alexander Gillon 
 was appointed Commodore; John Joyner, William Robeson, 
 and John M'Queen were appointed Captains. The commod- 
 ities of the country were purchased and shipped on the pub- 
 lic account, and the Commodore was authorized to borrow 
 money on the credit of the State. He, with his corps of of- 
 ficers, sailed in the year 1778 for Europe, to prosecute the 
 business on which he was sent. Various embarrassments 
 from intercepted remittances and other causes prevented his 
 completing the object of his mission. He accomplished 
 nothing more than to purchase on credit for the use of the 
 State a large quantity of clothing, and ammunition, and to 
 hire a large frigate from the Prince of Luxembourg, for the 
 term of three years, on condition of allowing the prince one- 
 fourth of the prizes captured while she cruised, at the risk 
 and expense of South Carolina. After innumeralDle difficul- 
 ties were surmounted, this frigate began to cruise, and in a 
 short time captured several valuable prizes. Her commander 
 had also the sole direction of the Spanish and American ma- 
 rine forces, which, in May 1782, reduced the Bahama Islands 
 under the crown of Spain. The fleet, consisting of eighty-two 
 sail, which undertook this enterprise, was conducted by Com- 
 modore Gillon, from Havana, through the dangerous naviga- 
 tion of the Providence channel. Soon after the termination 
 of this expedition the frigate arrived in Philadelphia. After 
 being completely repaired at an immense expense, she put to 
 sea from that port under the command of Captain Joyner. 
 On the second day after she left the Capes of Delaware she 
 was captured by three British frigates. In this spirited at- 
 tempt to equip a navy, the expenses far exceeded the profits. 
 It cost the State of South Carolina upwards of two hundred 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 Since the termination of the revolution, ship building has 
 been resumed and prosecuted with spirit in South Carolina. 
 In the year 1798 the frigate John Adams, carrying thirty-two 
 guns, was built at Cochran's ship-yard by Paul Pritchard. 
 
 The government of a country must be long settled, and the 
 inhabitants much at their ease before the fine arts command 
 their steady and continuing attention. This is doubtless the 
 reason that they have made so little progress in South Caro- 
 lina as scarcely to merit a place in its history. Sculpture, as 
 an art, cannot be said to have any existence in the State; and 
 engraving is only in its infancy. Thomas Coram has merit 
 as a self-taught engraver, and James Akin has obtained dis- 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808, 151 
 
 tinction in the same art, but notwithstanding has found it for 
 his interest to seek the reward of his ingenuity elsewhere than 
 in the land of his nativity. There is some good music in 
 Carolina; but ahnost all theeminent performers are foreigners, 
 or the children of a few such as have domesticated themselves 
 in the country. 
 
 Many youths of both sexes discover talents for drawing, but 
 few have either the leisure or opportunities requisite to raise 
 them to distinguished eminence. Among female artists the 
 first place is due to Miss Rosella Torrans and her sister Mrs. 
 Eliza Cochran. In landscape painting they are exceeded by 
 none. From their assiduity in continuing to devote a portion 
 of their time almost daily to the study and practice of this 
 polite accomplishment, their improvement must continue to 
 advance. Thomas Coram, by an innate love of the art and 
 great industry, has far exceeded what could have been ex- 
 pected from his slender opportunities for improvement. His 
 picture of the presentation of children to the Savior of the 
 world, which he executed from a design of Benjamin West, 
 and gave to the orphan house, is a work of extraordinary 
 merit. It does great honor to the elegance of his taste and the 
 liberahty of his heart Charles Fraser, who never was be- 
 yond the limits of the State, and has had his time engrossed 
 by legal studies, has discovered so much taste and genius for 
 painting, that nothing but leisure, traveling and practice is 
 wanting to elevate him to first rate distinction among the pro- 
 fessors of that elegant art. Washington Alston has enjoyed 
 advantages in this line beyond any other Carolinian. From 
 his enthusiastic attachment to the art, manifested by the sac- 
 rifices he has made to enable him to prosecute his studies — 
 from his correct taste and persevering industry, the pubhc an- 
 ticipate with confidence that his talents will do honor both to 
 himself and his country. Carolina, and indeed America, is 
 deficient in that critical knowledge which is necessary to 
 make such a nice discrimination of the comparative merit of 
 artists as would stimulate their exertions by judicious ap- 
 plause proportioned to their respective grades of eminence. It 
 is also too young, and too poor in men of taste, talents and 
 wealth, to reward her native sons for devoting their whole 
 time to any of the fine arts. In this respect our infant country 
 is very far' behind the ancient and refined nations of Europe, 
 It is no matter of wonder that West, Trumbull and Copley, 
 have sought for a reward of their talents elsewhere than in 
 their native country. 
 
152 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Of the interior of the soil of South Carolina little is known. 
 The cultivation of its surface has so fully employed the ener- 
 gies, and so amply rewarded the labors of the inhabitants, 
 that their inquiries seldom penetrated to any considerable 
 depth beneath it. The superabundance of wood precluded 
 all necessity for ransacking the bowels of the earth for coal. 
 This for the most part lies lower than eighty feet, the greatest 
 depth to which the soil of Carolina has ever yet been pene- 
 trated. In addition to the common agricultural operations on 
 the face of the soil, it was occasionally penetrated for the in- 
 terment of the dead, for cellars, and the foundations of houses, 
 for obtaining water, for carrying off superfluous moisture by 
 drains and ditches, and for the extension of inland navigation. 
 From these sources we know that in Otiarlestown and near 
 the sea-coast, water for the most part springs about six or 
 eight feet from the surface — that if the digging is continued, 
 it springs so abundantly that it is difficult to penetrate much 
 lower, and if that difficulty is conquered the water is too 
 brackish for domestic use. We also know that our descent 
 from the surface of highland in the low country is most 
 generally through a sandy soil; but when we penetrate through 
 river swamps, we frequently meet with the trunks of large 
 trees which appear to have been buried for ages ; and that as 
 far as these swamps have been penetrated, they consist of a 
 rich blue clay in a black soft mould of inexhaustible fertility. 
 
 In digging for domestic purposes, near the ocean, we have 
 seldom penetrated more than ten or twelve feet. To go much 
 deeper was generally reputed worse than labor lost, for it 
 always introduced us to bad water. Mr. Longstreet conceived 
 the idea that by penetrating forty or fifty feet he would get 
 below the bad water, and find a plentiful supply of a purer 
 fluid than the surface afforded. To bring this theory to the 
 test of experience, he began in 1803 to dig in a vacant lot in 
 Archdale street. For the first eleven feet nothing uncommon 
 presented. The next stratum, eighteen inches, was a black 
 marsh mud and sand. This suddenly changed to a yellow 
 sand and clay, and continued so for twenty inches, then sud- 
 denly resumed the black appearance and gradually changed 
 to mud. Mr. Longstreet next came to a bed of oyster, clam, 
 and conch shells, many of which were entire ; this stratum 
 extended three feet A. yellow sand, intermixed with pow- 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 153 
 
 dered shells was next presented, and continued for two feet. 
 Between the twelfth and twentieth foot from the surface, 
 muddy brackish water filled the well so fast as finally to over- 
 come the most strenuous exertions to empty it. This chiefly 
 ascended from the bottom; for etfectual precautions were 
 adopted to prevent any quantity of water from entering by 
 the sides. In such a crisis, a mind of less energy than Mr. 
 Longstreet's would have abandoned the project. Instead of 
 this, he replaced a considerable portion of the earth in the 
 well, and laying aside his spade, drove down a hollow tube of 
 three inches diameter in the cavity of which a machine for 
 boring was introduced. These were made to penetrate through 
 the earth to the depth of fifty-four feet. The soil between the 
 20th and 47th foot was a continued dry, stiff, black clay. It 
 was of such a consistence as to bear the chissel or plane, and 
 to be capable of being cut into any shape. Knives are sharp- 
 ened by drawing them over its surface when made smooth. 
 Another stratum of shells presented itself for the next two feet. 
 The black clay then became less rigid, and soon terminated 
 in sand with little resistance to the operator. On descending 
 two or three feet the water rushed up the tube forty-eight feet, 
 so as to be only six feet from the surface, and with such 
 rapidity as to yield fifteen gallons in a minute. The joy of 
 the projector on this event may be more easily conceived than 
 expressed. This water, after exposure to the air for a few 
 minutes, resembled common well-water in taste and appear- 
 ance, and was nearly of the same temperature. It readily 
 lathered with soap, and gave satisfactory evidence of its being 
 softer than common pump-water. It was free from lime, iron, 
 copper, lead, vitriolic acid, or any acid whatever in a separate 
 state ; but contained a small proportion of common salt, rather 
 less than is to be found in common wells. 
 
 From the result of this experiment, Mr. Longstreet was 
 sanguine in the belief that if he had been supported so as to 
 carry down a circular close wall of forty feet diameter to the 
 depth of sixty or seventy feet, he would have got below all 
 bad water, and have commanded an inexhaustible reservoir 
 of what was good ; perhaps derived by subterranean commu- 
 nication^ from the upper country but certainly from a source 
 sufficiently high to cause its ascent to the vicinity of the sur- 
 face; and that this water percolated through the bowels of the 
 earth would be free from impurities on its surface, and in 
 quantities sufiicient for the supply of Charlestown. After one 
 thousand dollars had been expended, the further prosecution 
 of the subject was dropped; but under an engagement to be 
 resumed when adequate funds were provided for the purpose. 
 The only advantage that has resulted from the experiment is 
 
154 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 a little more information of the interior of that portion of the 
 State on which Charlestown is erected.* 
 
 Another experiment was made nearly at the same time, but 
 for very different purposes; which demonstrates the possibility 
 of enjoying health in Charlestown though in a subterraneous 
 residence. On the night of the 9th of October, 1802, William 
 Withers, a horse dealer from Kentucky, descended through a 
 grate into one of the covered arched drains that pervade the 
 streets of Charlestown and passed along the same till he was 
 opposite to the South Carolina bank. He then began opera- 
 tions to make a subterraneous passage across from the drain 
 to the vaults in which the cash of the bank was deposited. 
 In prosecuting this business he passed ninety days and nights 
 under ground and in a prone posture. For the first twenty- 
 two days after his descent, the weather was so uncommonly 
 warm as to be on an average nearly seventy-nine on Fahren- 
 heit's thermometer. For the last sixty-eight days, the heat 
 varied from seventy-four to thirty-three on the same instru- 
 ment. In the first period yellow-fever, intermitting, and other 
 fevers of warm seasons were common among the inhabitants. 
 In the last period pleurisies, colds, and catarrhal complaints 
 were in like manner frequent ; yet all this time Withers en- 
 joyed good health, with the exception of a few slight head- 
 aches and pains in his bones, which generally went off with 
 perspiration in the course of his next repose. He had no 
 blanket nor covering of any kind but his light ordinary apparel 
 which he never put off. He was sometimes exposed to serious 
 danger from the springing of water, and his bed was earth 
 which was often damp. His food was mostly bread, butter, 
 and cheese ; and, with the exception of one bottle of wine, 
 water was his only drink. Butter burning in a lamp afforded 
 him light 
 
 Three days frequently passed without discharging the con- 
 tents of his bowels. 
 
 The enjoyment of so much health for so long a time under 
 
 * It is submitted to the water company of Charlestown, whether, in case of their 
 meeting with difficulty in procuring; a suihciency of water, it would not be worth 
 while to make a further experiment on Mr. Longstreet's plan. That there are 
 subterraneous streams of water running to the ocean frorw distant htgh lands is 
 probable, and in some cases certain. In Modena, in Italy, on digging into the 
 earth, a column of water rushed above the surface. The same is said to have 
 taken place lately in the city of Washington. As the land of this State ascends 
 about three feet every mile, if by accident an experimenter on Mr. Longstreet's 
 theory should strike a subterraneous stream, flowing from any distant western 
 source, its ascent above the surface would be great, and might be made very 
 useful. If it only came from the distance of twenty or thirty miles, it might have 
 an elevation sufficient to discharge water in the highest stories of ordinary houses 
 in Charlestown. The first experiment, though made under great disadvantages, 
 produced an ascent of forty-eight feet. The project is founded on such plausible 
 grounds as to merit further trials. Elkington's successful plan for draining lands 
 is founded on principles that corroborate Longstreet's theory. 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 155 
 
 such circumstances, was, in addition to the excitement of his 
 mind, probably owing to the absence of several of the causes 
 of diseases. The heat of well water and of the earth a few 
 feet below the surface is generally the same in all countries 
 as the medium heat on an average of the diiferent seasons in 
 these countries respectively. This, in Charlestown, is sixty- 
 five, or at most sixty-six, on Fahrenheit's thermometer. With- 
 ers must have enjoyed a steady unvarying atmosphere of this 
 temperature, while the inhabitants above ground were pant- 
 ing under a heat of eighty, or distressed with the cold of thirty- 
 three on the same instrument, and subject to all the changes 
 of an atmosphere vibrating from one extreme to the other. 
 
 The attempts at inland navigation in Carolina have extended 
 our knowledge of the interior of its soil. The cuts which 
 have been made across peninsulas, near the sea-coast, have 
 brought to view such quantities of cypress timber as can only 
 be accounted for on the idea that in former times an immense 
 number of large trees of that species of wood grew there.* 
 
 In digging the Santee canal twenty-two miles across from 
 Santee to Cooper river, the workmen met with different strata 
 of clay, mud, sand, and soil. In one part there was a stratum 
 of mud resembling soft-soap or jelly from about four to six 
 inches deep, entirely free from any particle of grit. It lay on a 
 stratum of lime stone. The lime stone met with in digging 
 was generally covered first with sand, then clay, and lastly soil. 
 In digging the summit canal which penetrated fifteen feet be- 
 low the surface, there was a variety of strata, among which, 
 was a very fine white clay ; there was a stratum of red clay 
 resembling red ochre. In this part of the canal the workmen 
 got down to the natural bed of springs. In the course of this 
 extended line of digging, were found trunks of trees seven 
 feet below the surface, also many oyster shells of uncommon 
 size, and bones of monstrous animals, unlike to any which 
 are now known to exist. The latter were found eight or nine 
 feet under the ground, and lying so near together as to make it 
 probable that they originally belonged to one and the same 
 
 *"That part of the inland passage between Charlestown and Savannah, begin- 
 ning at Wappoo Cut, and ending at Bear's Bluff, where it falls into Edtsto river, I 
 have examined with some attention, and can affirm that a great part of this dis- 
 tance has been a cypress swamp. The first stump is at the landing of Abraham 
 Waight, Esq., deceased, on St. John's Island, six miles east of new cut; and this 
 cut is full of them, and on them several vessels have been damaged. I have exam- 
 ined them at low tide, and at Mr. Young's place, eight miles west of new cut. 
 Mr. George Rivers owns three or four hundred acres of this high marsh land, 
 now covered with small cedars. This I examined three years ago, and found 
 niany stumps and large logs of cypress; and below this place, on the Wadmalaw 
 side, a few trees are still growing near the high lands. The spring tides cover 
 the.se lands. I believe this is the case through the whole of the inland passage, 
 wherever it passes through high marsh lands accessible only to the spring tides." — 
 Extract of a letter from Benjamin Reynolds, Esq., to the author, dated Ist December, 
 
156 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 animal. Its size may be conjectured from its ribs, one of 
 which, when dug up was nearly six feet long ; and from one 
 of its jaw teeth which was eight inches and a quarter long, 
 three inches and a half wide, its root eleven inches and a half 
 long. The depth of the tooth from its surface to its bottom 
 was six inches and a half The other parts of the skeleton 
 were in a relative proportion. 
 
 The necessity for digging wells in the interior country is 
 much less than on the sea-coast, for natural springs of water 
 are more common as we advance towards the westerrj moun- 
 tains; where these fail, water cannot be generally procured 
 without digging from fifteen to eighty feet The intermediate 
 soil is for the most part clay, but sometimes sand. Along the 
 sea-coast, and for a hundred miles westward. South Carolina 
 is generally low and flat, thence to its western extremity it 
 is diversified, with hills rising higher and higher till they ter- 
 minate in the Alleghany mountains, which are the partage 
 ground of the eastern and western waters. In the vallies 
 between these hills, a black and deep loam is found. This 
 has been formed by abrasion from the hills, and from rotten 
 trees and other vegetables which have been collecting for cen- 
 turies. 
 
 Carolina, lying on the east side of the partage ground be- 
 tween the eastern and western waters, is considerably lower 
 than the corresponding parts of the United States which are 
 on its west side. Hence it follows that when the snows melt, 
 or heavy rains fall on the mountains, much more of the 
 water proceeding from these sources is determined to the 
 Atlantic ocean than to the river Mississippi, in consequence 
 of which, we are often too wet, while our western neighbors 
 are too dry. 
 
 There are some circumstances which make it probable that 
 the whole of the low country in Carolina was once covered 
 by the ocean. In the deepest descent into the ground, neither 
 stones or rocks obstruct our progress, but everywhere, sand or 
 beds of shells. Intermixed with these at some considerable 
 depth from the surface, petrified fish are sometimes dug up. 
 Oyster shells are found in great quantities at such a distance 
 from the present limits of the sea-shore, that it is highly 
 improbable they were ever carried there from the places where 
 they are now naturally produced. A remarkable instance 
 occurs in a range of oyster shells extending from Nelson's 
 Ferry, on the Santee river, sixty miles from the ocean in a 
 south-west direction, passing through the intermediate countrir 
 till it crosses the river Savannah in Burke county, and con- 
 tinuing on to the Oconee river, in Georgia. The shells in this 
 range are uncommonly large, and are of a different kind from 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 15T 
 
 what are now found near our shores, they are in such ahund- 
 ance as to afford ample resources for building and agricul- 
 ture. On Doctor Jamieson's plantation six miles northeast 
 from Orangeburg, and about eighty miles from the Atlantic 
 ocean, ten hands can raise in a week as many of these oyster 
 shells from their bed, though seven feet below the surface, as 
 when burnt will yield twelve hundred bushels of lime. In 
 digging for them there is nothing but common earth for the first 
 seven feet, the soil for the next four feet is a whitish colored 
 mass, intermixed with shells of the aforesaid description ; a blue 
 hard substance, resembling stone succeeds for the next three or 
 four feet, of this, lime may be made but of an inferior quality; 
 under this is sand, the depth of which is unknown. 
 
 The sea-coast of Carolina is intersected by inlets, creeks 
 and marshes. J>om their meanderings and junctions many 
 islands are formed.* Some of these are increased on their 
 western extremities by accretions, and diminished on their 
 eastern border by the operation of the ocean dashing against 
 them. On such of these as are contiguous to the main, mon- 
 
 *'•! have been upon all the sea islands and hunting islands, from Sullivan's to 
 Savannah river: some of them are bedded on clay on the north side, some on the 
 south,' whilst others, say St. Helena and Hiltonhead, have no clay at all. Their 
 surfaces are nearly uniform. The vallies and rising grounds run northeast and 
 southwest through their whole extent, and from their corresponding angles, indi- 
 cate their formation under the water. The small islands lying between them and 
 the hunting islands have the same form and figure. It is remarked by many, that 
 all the small creeks running in and on each side of the sea islands, have grown 
 much wider than they were forty years ago, cutting down the blufls from ten to 
 forty feet. At Edisto Island I was shown by Mr. Joseph Jenkins, a few years 
 ago, a large live oak in the creek, now the abode of sheepshead and other fishes, 
 which he assured me was a shade to the school-house when he was a boy. The 
 hunting islands which skirt the sea islands must be considered as new land, and 
 appear to have been formed above water; and thoughmany of the sand hills follow 
 the direction of the coast, yet internally, and at their endings, they lie in all direc- 
 tions, and must have received their figure from the prevailing winds. That the 
 ocean now advances on the shore, I have no hesitation in believing, for the sea 
 has very much narrowed the belt which is the barrier between them, and one ol 
 the islands opposite Edisto Island is pierced through in some places. Neverthe- 
 less, these islands must have existed a long time, since there are live oak and pine 
 trees on some of them as large as any perhaps in the State. Hiltonhead has no 
 island to skirt it ; but yet it has the same belt of sand-hill land. This is also the 
 case with Simmond's Island, the north side is clay, and similar to St. John's Island. 
 On the southwest end of Edisto is a mound of shells from fifteen to twenty feet 
 high, and its base half an acre of land. It is called the Spanish Mount; but as 
 savages drew the better part of their subsistence from the sea, from the many 
 banks of shells scattered about this point of land, I apprehend that there was a 
 large settlement of Indians in the vicinity, and that this pile of shells may have 
 been placed there by some regulations among themselves. On St. Helena are 
 two mounds of human bones. The one fifteen, the other ten feet high. One 
 covers a quarter of an acre, the other less. They are called "The Indian Burial- 
 Place." I saw one of them opened when I was a lad, and well remember the red 
 beads and broken earthen vessels among the bones, and these last lying in every 
 direction. The Indians say that a great battle had been fought there, long before 
 the white people were heard of. This is what I heard from my family, who were 
 among the first settlers of this country; my grandfather, Richard Reynolds, being 
 for a long time Commander of the English garrison first established on Port Royal 
 Island." — Esrtract of a letter from Bettjamm Reynolds, Esq., to the author, dated 
 ^admedow, DeeeTnber 1, 1808. 
 
158 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 uments of Indian antiquities are occasionally found. Other 
 islands are doubtless wholly of marine origin, and are accu- 
 mulations of recrements thrown up by the action of the At- 
 lantic waters. The main land, contiguous to these islands, is 
 level with a surface of light black earth, on a stratum of 
 sand. It is free from stones for eighty or one hundred miles, 
 and has a gradual ascent. This has been mathematically 
 ascertained by Mr. Peraux to be three feet for every mile of 
 the first eleven from Charlestown. The high lands in the low 
 and middle parts of the State generally produce extensive 
 forests of pine, but yield poor returns for what is planted in 
 them. These pine barrens, as they are commonly called, 
 have little or no underwood, and are occasionally intersected 
 with veins of fertile land, producing valuable timber. Swamps 
 and bogs abound in the low country, which empty their wa- 
 ters into some river or inlet, communicating with the sea. 
 Savannahs or plains, without trees, are also common, and 
 some of them cover a considerable extent of the surface. 
 The margins of the rivers in Carolina are of inexhaustible 
 fertility, and make excellent rice plantations. These are com- 
 posed of a large proportion of dark blue clay, and near the 
 sea are often covered with rushes and salt water sedge, and 
 extend themselves to the adjacent high pine lands. These 
 swamps in their natural state abound with useful timber of 
 various kinds, and when cleared, they reward their cultivators 
 with plentiful crops, especially in seasons that are exempt 
 from freshets. In the intervals between the rivers there are 
 often inland swamps, fresh water lakes, and great quantities 
 of low level land which, after heavy rains, continue for a long 
 time overflowed. The remainder is dry, and for the most part 
 sandy. 
 
 The soil of South Carolina is naturally, and for the pur- 
 poses of taxation, politically divided into the following classes : 
 1. tide swamp; 2. inland swamp; 3. high river swamp, or 
 low grounds, commonly called second low grounds ; 4. salt 
 marsh; 5. oak and hickory high land; 6. pine barren. The 
 tide and inland swamps are peculiarly adapted to the culture 
 of rice and hemp ; the high river swamps to hemp, corn, and 
 indigo. The salt marsh has hitherto been for the most part 
 neglected, but there is reason to believe that it would amply re- 
 pay the expense and labor of preparing it for cultivation. 
 The oak and hickory high land is well calculated for corn and 
 provisions, and also for indigo and cotton. The pine barren 
 is the least productive species of our soil, but is the most 
 healthy. A proportion of it is an indispensably necessary ap- 
 pendage to a swamp plantation. It is remarkable that ground 
 of this last description, though comparatively barren, affords 
 
or SOUTH CAROLINA. 159 
 
 nourishment to pine trees which maintain their verdure 
 through winter, and administer more to the necessities and 
 comforts of mankind than any other trees whatever. This 
 may perhaps in part be accounted for hy the well known ob- 
 servation that much of the pine land of Carolina is only su- 
 perficially sandy; for by digging into it a few feet the soil in 
 many places changes from sand to clay. 
 
 The tide swamps are of so level a nature that frequently a 
 few inches of water can cover them for agricultural purposes. 
 These in the Legislative valuation of lands for taxation form 
 the first grade of land in the State. The swamps above 
 the influence of the tides are subject to freshets and there- 
 fore hazardous, but in other respects are of immense value. 
 
 From this description of the low country it is apparent that 
 there must be a predominance of moisture, and from the co- 
 operation of heat, there is a strong tendency to putrefaction. 
 From the same causes and the presence of acid gasses float- 
 ing in the common atmosphere, metals are very subject to 
 rust. This is particularly the case with iron which when ex- 
 posed to the air loses in a short time all its brightness and 
 much of its solidity. 
 
 In the middle country sand hills arise to a considerable 
 height above the adjacent lands. Very little is to be seen 
 growing upon them and that little is of a diminutive size. 
 The soil produces scarcely any grass and is often so sandy 
 that the footsteps of animals walking over it may be distinctly 
 traced. On the low grounds between these hills, a rich mould 
 is sometimes deposited and always fertilizes the soil. When 
 rivers run through them, their margins are very rich and yield 
 large crops. 
 
 In this middle country the high hills of Santee are situated. 
 These arise two hundred feet above the adjacent lands. Their 
 soil is a mixture of sand, clay, and gravel, and produces high- 
 land grain and cotton in abundance. Their inhabitants en- 
 joy the comforts of life together with health, pleasure, and 
 profit, in a greater combination than is common in the south- 
 ern States. 
 
 Stones and rocks, hills and dales, begin to appear and long 
 moss to disappear about the falls of the rivers. Loose stones 
 on or near the surface are rarely so numerous as to be incon- 
 venient or troublesome. A stone wall or a stone house is 
 seldom to be found in South Carolina. Near the falls, the 
 soil changes to a dark and fertile mould on a stratum of clay or 
 marie. The water course are rapid, and as they pass along emit 
 a guggling sound never heard in the low country. The hills 
 swell into more towering heights and gradually form the base 
 of mountains. These divide the State from Tennessee and the 
 28 
 
160 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 eastern waters from those which empty themselves into the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 The western limits of Carolina so much resemble the apex 
 of a triangle, the base of which is on the sea-coast, that only 
 four of the twenty-five districts into which it is divided can 
 be called mountainous. These are the districts of Pendleton, 
 Greenville, Spartanburg, and York. In that part of the State 
 seven or eight mountains run in regular direction. Among 
 them the Table mountain in Pendleton district is the most 
 distinguished. Its height exceeds 3,000 feet, and thirty 
 farms may be distinguished at any one view from its top by 
 the unaided eye. Its side is an abrupt precipice of solid rock 
 300 yards deep, and nearly perpendicular. The valley under- 
 neath appears to be as much below the level as the top of the 
 mountain towers above it. This precipice is called the Lov- 
 ers Leap. To those who are in the valley it looks like an im- 
 mense wall stretching up to heaven. At its base lie whiten- 
 ing in the sun the bones of various animals who had incau- 
 tiously advanced too near its edge. Its summit is often 
 surrounded with clouds. The gradual ascent of the country 
 from the sea-coast to this western extremity of the State, added 
 to the height of this mountain, must place its top more than 
 4,000 feet above the level of the Atlantic ocean; an eminence 
 from which vessels crossing the bar of Charlestown might be 
 seen with the aid of such improved glasses as are now in use. 
 Large masses of snow tumble from the side of this mountain 
 in the winter season, the fall of which has been heard seven 
 miles. Its summit is the resort of deer and bears. The woods 
 produce mast in abundance. Wild pigeons resort to it in such 
 flocks as sometimes to break the limbs of the trees on which 
 they alight. 
 
 The Oolenoy mountain is in the vicinity of the Table 
 mountain. From it a cataract of water descends six or seven 
 hundred feet. This forms the southern head branch of Saluda 
 river. 
 
 The summit of the Oconee mountain near the head waters 
 of Keowee and Tugoloo rivers is five or six hundred yards 
 above the adjacent country. From it there is a most beauti- 
 ful prospect of Georgia and of the Cherokee mountains. The 
 country between Oconee and Table mountain is generally 
 wild, but all the vallies are highly cultivated. Some of them 
 have produced one hundred bushels of corn to the acre. 
 From the numerous settlements in them, and the hoards of 
 children who rush from every cottage to gaze on travelers it 
 is apparently the most populous part of the State. When the 
 country which is overlooked from these mountains is cultivated 
 and adorned with villages and other embellishments, it will 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 161 
 
 afford such brilliant prospects as may give full employment 
 to the pencils of American artists. In this-part of Carolina, 
 Indians have resided for time immemorial. Here were sit- 
 uated their towns, Esenelca, Keowee, Eustaste, Foxaway, 
 Kulsage, Oustinare, Socony, Estate, Warachy, Noewee, Cono- 
 rass, Tomassee, and Cheokee, besides many others whose 
 names are now forgotten. In the midst of them near the 
 eastern bank of the Keowee river stood fort George, in which 
 a garrison was long continued for the protection of that part 
 of the State. But time has swept away both the one arid the 
 other. A pellucid stream which meanders among these 
 mountains makes two falls of nearly fifty feet each; then 
 calmly flowing about two hundred yards it is precipitated 
 upwards of eighty feet. This last descent is extremely beau- 
 tiful. The rock over which it tumbles is in the form of a 
 flight of short steps. At its summit it is about twelve feet 
 broad but increases as it descends to ninety-six. The pro- 
 tuberances, which resemble steps, break the current into a 
 thousand streams. These pour in eveiy direction and cover 
 their moss grown channels with foam. The original stream 
 is small and turbulent. Although the weight of water is not 
 great it is so dissipated as to produce a most beautiful effect. 
 About four miles from General Picken's farm there is. another 
 cataract ; to approach which it is necessary for visitants occa- 
 sionally to leap, crawl, or climb. The mountains arise like 
 walls on each side of the stream which is choked by the 
 stones and trees that for centuries have been falling into it. 
 The cataract is about one hundred and thirty feet high, and 
 some sheets of the stream fall without interruption from the 
 top to the bottom. All the leaves around are in constant agi- 
 tation from a perpetual current of air excited by this cataract, 
 and causing a spray to be scattered like rain to a considera- 
 ble distance. Another cataract may be observed descending 
 from the side of a mountain about six miles distant. This is 
 greater and more curious than the one just described. 
 
 Paris's inountain is situated in Greenville district; from it 
 the Table mountain, the Glassy, the Hogback, the Tryon,and 
 King's mountain are distinctly visible. Many farms are also 
 to be seen from this beautiful eminence. The rocks on its 
 southern side are adorned with the fragrant yellow honey- 
 suckle. Reedy river is formed by the streams which flow 
 from its surface. A spring impregnated with iron and sulphur 
 issues from its side. This is said to cure ringworms and 
 other diseases of the skin. 
 
 The Glassy and Hogback mountains are situated near the 
 boundary line of Greenville and Spartanburg districts. Waters 
 flow from them which form the sources of the Tyger and 
 
162 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 Pacolet rivers. These at their fountains are too cold to be 
 freely drank in summer. On these mountains there are four 
 or five snug level farms, with a rich soil and extensive apple 
 and peach orchards. Cotton and sweet potatoes do not thrive 
 thereon. The settlements are all situated on the south side, 
 for the north is unfit for cultivation on account of prodigious 
 rocks, precipices and bleak cold winds. Every part, even the 
 crevices of the rocks, is covered with trees and shrubs of some 
 kind or other. The chesnut trees are lofty, and furnish a 
 quantity of excellent food for swine. In these mountains are 
 several large caverns and hollow rocks, shaped like houses, in 
 which droves of hogs shelter themselves in the great snow 
 storms which occur frequently in winter. The crops of fruit, 
 particularly of apples and peaches, never fail. The climate 
 in these mountains is less subject to sudden changes, than in 
 the plains below. Vegetation is late, but when once fairly 
 begun, is seldom destroyed by subsequent frosts. Neither 
 are there any marks of trees being struck with lightning, or 
 blown up by storms. It is supposed that the mountains 
 break the clouds, and that the lightning falls below ; for there 
 the effects of it are frequently visible. On the Hogback moun- 
 tain there is a level farm of thirty or forty acres of the richest 
 high land in South Carolina. This is covered with large lofty 
 chesnut trees, with an undergrowth of most luxuriant wild 
 pea-vines, very useful for fattening horses. These animals 
 while there, are free from flies. The ascent to this mountain 
 is very steep for about two miles ; but with the exception of 
 thirty or forty yards, expert horsemen may ride all the way to 
 its summit. The prospect from it towards the north and 
 west, exhibits a continued succession of mountains one ridge 
 beyond another, as far as the eye can see. 
 
 From a spring on one of the small mountains, between the 
 Hogback and the Tryon, water is conveyed more than a thou- 
 sand feet in a succession of wooden troughs, to the yard of a 
 dwelling house built by Mr. Logan. It empties into a large 
 reservoir from which, when filled, it runs over, and soon min- 
 gles with the adjacent north Pacolet river, which is there a 
 very small stream. Thus a great domestic convenience is 
 enjoyed by a single mountaineer, which has not yet been ob- 
 tained by the opulent city of Charlestown. 
 
 On King's mountain, in York district, the real limestone 
 rock has been discovered. This has also lately been found 
 in Spartanburg district. Before these discoveries the inhabi- 
 tants had frequently to haul lime for domestic use upwards of 
 an hundred miles. 
 
 Beautiful springs of water issue in plentiful streams from 
 these mountains. They also for the most part produce a pro- 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 163 
 
 fusion of grass, and are clothed to their summits with tall 
 timber. The intermediate vallies are small, but of great fer- 
 tility. Hence the pastoral life is more common than the agri- 
 cultural. The soil of the Table mountain is excellent; that 
 of the others is stony and less fertile. But chesnut, locust, 
 pine, oak, and hickory trees grow on them. The champaign 
 country which becomes more level as it approaches the sea, 
 aifords an interminable view finely contrasted with the wild 
 irregularities of these immense heights which diversify the 
 western extremity of Carolina. 
 
 Only a small part of South Carolina is favored with moun- 
 tains, but every part of it is intersected with rivers. Its side, which 
 borders on the sea, is watered by the Waccamaw, Peedee, 
 Black river, Santee, Wandow, Cooper, Ashley, Stono, Edisto, 
 Ashepoo, Combakee, Coosaw, Broad, and Savannah rivers. 
 Some of these have two mouths, others have several heads or 
 branches. The Santee, in particular, is formed by a junction 
 of Congaree and Wateree rivers. The same stream, which 
 below is called Wateree, passes in the upper country by the 
 name of the Catawba. Congaree is formed by a junction of 
 Broad and Saluda rivers. Broad river unites in its stream 
 three rivers, the Enoree, the Tyger, and the Pacolet, and after- 
 wards becomes a component part of the Congaree; which last 
 named river, uniting with the Wateree, takes the name of 
 Santee. 
 
 Most of these rivers have a margin of swamp extending 
 from half a mile to three miles. The short ones head in 
 swamps, but the long ones in the mountains or other high 
 grounds. They all run in a south-eastern direction from 
 their heads to the sea, which if extended, would cross the 
 mountains and vallies in an acute angle to the south of east. 
 Waccamaw river takes its rise in North Carolina, and empties 
 into Georgetown bay. Broad, Coosaw, Port Royal, and other 
 short rivers, are properly arms of the sea. Their waters are 
 deep, and their navigation safe. Broad and Port Royal rivers 
 can safely and conveniently accommodate a large navy. They 
 insulate a great part of Beaufort district, and by their wind- 
 ings and junctions form Islands. These generally are suitable 
 to the culture of cotton or indigo. 
 
 Wando river empties itself into Cooper about three miles 
 above Charlestown. It is navigable for about twenty miles, 
 and then heads in swamps. Cooper river rises in Biggen and 
 other swamps, and is about one thousand four hundred yards 
 broad, where it empties itself into Charlestown harbor. It is 
 navigable by schooners and sloops to Watboo bridge, about 
 fifty miles, and its eastern branch admits like vessels as far as 
 Huger's bridge. 
 
164 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 Ashley river originates in the Cypress and other contiguous 
 swamps, and, uniting with Cooper river at White Point, forms 
 Charlestown harbor. Its navigation for sea vessels extends 
 only a few miles, but for sloops and schooners as far as Bacon's 
 bridge. Its width opposite to Charlestown is about 2,100 
 yards. 
 
 Stono river rises in swamps not far distant from the ocean, 
 into which it empties itself between Keywaw and Coffin land. 
 Its navigation extends above Rantowle's and Wallace's bridge, 
 but to no great distance. 
 
 Ashepoo river springs from swamps in the low country, 
 and empties itself into St. Helena sound. Its navigation ex- 
 tends nearly the whole of its short course. 
 
 Combakee river originates in Salt Catcher swamp. Its 
 navigation for schooners and vessels, is about thirty miles. It 
 empties itself into the Atlantic ocean through St. Helena sound. 
 
 Black river takes its rise in the middle country from the 
 high hills of Santee. It winds between Santee river and 
 Lynch's creek, and having formed a junction with the Peedee, 
 their united waters are emptied into Georgetown bay. Its 
 navigation for schooners and sloops extends many miles up its 
 stream, and for flat bottomed boats, flats and rafts, as far as 
 its forks. 
 
 Edisto river is too shallow to admit boats of heavy burden 
 to any considerable distance. In a full river the navigation 
 of its northern branch is open as far as Orangeburg, and its 
 southern branch is also navigable some miles, until it is in- 
 terrupted by islands and shoals. When the river is low, it is 
 fordable at Parker's ferry, about thirty-five miles from the sea. 
 This river takes its rise in the middle country from the ridge 
 of highland which lies between the Congaree and Savannah 
 rivers. These two last mentioned rivers, like all others which 
 terminate in high lands, are subject to freshets. 
 
 Savannah river is bold and deep, and its navigation extends 
 from the sea to Augusta for boats of seventy tons. At this 
 place the falls of the river commence. Beyond it the naviga- 
 tion is continued for sixty miles to Vienna for boats of thirty 
 tons or more. 
 
 The navigation of Santee river extends from the sea to the 
 fork of the Congaree and Wateree rivers, thence up the Wateree 
 to Camden on one side, and up the Congaree to Granby on 
 the other, for boats of seventy tons. At these places the falls 
 and rapids of the rivers commence ; their upper branches are 
 dispersed extensively over the country.* Sometimes they are 
 
 * Broad river, one of the branches of the Congaree, is the northern and eastern 
 boundary or Union district. The Enoree river is its western and southern bound- 
 ary. Besides these two rivers, the Pacolet runs through its northern portion, 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 165 
 
 obstructed by rocks, but in general their current is gentle and 
 deep. In light boats and full rivers several hogsheads of to- 
 bacco have been brought down their streams with safety. 
 
 The Peedee also stretches from the sea towards the moun- 
 tains, through the northern part of the State. Its free naviga- 
 tion extends from the sea to Greenville for boats of seventy 
 tons, and from thence to Chatham for boats of lesser draught. 
 Here the navigation is impeded by rocks and shallows, al- 
 though in full rivers boats of light burden descend with the 
 stream from North Carolina. 
 
 These large rivers, by innumerable tributary streams, spread 
 themselves throughout all the upper country. Some of their 
 branches are wider than the rivers themselves. Keowee, 
 though two hundred yards wide for several miles above its 
 confluence with the Tiigoloo, is the narrowest of these two 
 streams whose united waters take the name of Savannah 
 river. Hence when the accumulated waters of rain and snow 
 pour down their channels, the adjacent low lands and inter- 
 vals are overflowed with destructive freshets. 
 
 The natural advantages for mills and other labor-saving 
 machinery, are great in most of the upper districts, but espe- 
 cially in those at a moderate distance from the mountains. 
 The springs which gush from their sides after rimning sixty 
 or seventy miles, become streams from one to three hundred 
 yards wide. These have many shoals where they spread 
 wider, and are so shallow as to be generally fordable. In the 
 intermediate spaces, the water is on an average from eight to 
 ten feet deep. At many of these shoals the falls are sufficient 
 with the aid of a small dam to impel the most weighty ma- 
 chinery. At some of them the falls are so great and abrupt 
 as to admit twenty feet wheels upon the over-shot construc- 
 tion without any, or at most very short races: at others the 
 ledges of rocks extending across the river form a natural dam 
 quite sufficient for the obstruction of as much water as is re- 
 quired for working one or two mills. The artist has little to 
 do but to erect his house and machinery. These places gen- 
 erally afford a sufficiency of durable materials for erecting the 
 necessary buildings. They also frequently afi"ord the rock out 
 of which the mill stones are cut. Smaller streams, called 
 creeks, take their rise at the foot of the hills: these are from 
 ten to fifteen miles in length, and generally contain such a 
 quantity of water as, with the advantages of the falls which 
 
 and forms a confluence with Broad river at PincIineyviUe. Tyger river runs 
 through its southern portion, and forms a confluence with Broad river at its south- 
 eastern extremity. Fairforest creeli, which from its size seems entitled to the 
 appellation of river, takes rise in Spartanburgh, and after running twenty-five or 
 thirty miles nearly through the centre of Union, discharges itself into the north 
 side of Tyger river. 
 
166 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 they afford, is sufficient to give activity to labor-saving ma- 
 chines of the largest size. 
 
 Many of the branches that take rise from the springs at the 
 foot of the hills, after running two or three miles, afford beau- 
 tiful sites for the erection of similar works upon a smaller 
 scale. Some of these are now improved for the purpose of 
 cleaning cotton with the saw-gin, and a few of them have also 
 a pair of mill-stones fitted up in the gin-house which, without 
 manual labor, serve for grinding a sufficiency of grain for a 
 distillery and for domestic consumption. 
 
 The common tides along the coasts of South Carolina rise 
 from six to eight feet at neap tides, and from eight to ten feet 
 at spring tides ; they are however much influenced by wind; 
 for a neap tide with a south-eastwardly wind is higher than 
 a spring tide with a north-westwardly one. Along the coast 
 the depth of sea-water is from two to five fathoms to a dis- 
 tance of sonie miles from the shore. In general the tides as- 
 cend our rivers as far as thirty or thirty-five miles in a direct 
 line from the ocean. This however is to be understood only 
 in those rivers whose streams are not impetuous; for in the 
 Santee the tides do not flow more than fifteen miles in a direct 
 line and the salts are so kept back by the column of fresh 
 water, continually flowing down, that, except in times of great 
 drought, they do not ascend further than two miles from the 
 sea. When a drought prevails, they scarcely ever penetrate 
 more than three or four miles in a direct line. The salts pro- 
 ceed further up Georgetown bay, and are sometimes injurious 
 to agriculture fourteen miles or more from the sea. The Sa- 
 vannah river partakes also of the same influences, and nearly 
 in the same extent with Santee river. 
 
 Few lakes are to be found in South Carolina: one however, 
 situated in Barnwell district, presents a beautiful sheet of water 
 near a mile in circumference. Large rivers of this State pre- 
 sent us with several instances where their waters have broken 
 through peninsulas and worn a short channel as wide and as 
 deep as the circuitous one which they before pursued. When 
 the mouths of these old channels are partly stopped up, and 
 the streams in them become slow, they are denominated lakes. 
 Of such is Lowder's lake on Peedee river, over which the sur- 
 rounding lands project elevations of near one hundred feet. 
 
 Asbestos which is incombustible, though capable of being 
 drawn into threads and formed into a resemblance of cloth, 
 is found near the head waters of Lynche's creek. 
 
 Soap stones, steatite's, rock chrystal, white flint. Fuller's 
 earth, clays of various natures and of beautiful colors, potter's 
 clay, isinglass, ochres, chalks, and marles, have all been found 
 in different parts of the State. 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 167 
 
 A quarry of gray stone, resembling free stone, which works 
 well and splits easily, has been discovered at Beaver creek. 
 The foundations of some of the locks of the Santee canal were 
 formed of this stone. Rocks suitable for mill-stones are com- 
 mon in the upper country. Good slate has been found near 
 the sources of Lynche's creek. Some fine clay was brought 
 to Charlestown from the Cherokee country about the year 
 1760 ; which, being sent to England by Doctor Garden, was 
 returned in the form of a tea equipage equal to the finest im- 
 ported from China, and was long used as such in his family. 
 
 Iron ore is very common in the upper country, particularly 
 in the mountainous districts, and of so good a quality that it 
 yields one-fourth of its weight in excellent iron. 
 
 In the Cherokee mountains lead ore has been found in great 
 abundance, and so rich as to produce two thirds of its crude 
 weight in pure lead. 
 
 Specimens of copper and of several other metals have been 
 discovered, but no thorough investigation of them nor of the 
 other hidden riches of the State has ever been made. It is the 
 general opinion of the inhabitants that the true wealth of 
 Carolina is to be derived from its surface by labor and in- 
 dustry. 
 
 There are doubtless valuable medicinal springs in the State. 
 Some are rising into fame and begin to be frequented, but 
 their component parts and real virtues have not been hitherto 
 ascertained with satisfactory precision. 
 
 So much of South Carolina is level that cascades are very 
 rare, especially in the low country. There cannot be recol- 
 lected a single instance of an overshot mill within 100 miles 
 of Charlestown, though one might be advantageously worked 
 at each end of the Santee Canal. There are many such in the 
 upper country, and a few beautiful natural water falls. One of 
 these is the precipice across Reedy river at Greenville Court 
 House. The perpendicular fall is thirty-six feet, and exceeds 
 the whole breadth of the stream. In dry seasons the river is 
 fordable on horseback, or at particular times may be safely 
 walked over by stepping from one rock to another ; but when 
 the water rises but two or three feet, any attempt to pass over 
 it is hazardous in the extreme. The impetuosity of the cur- 
 rent is such, that a person crossing, either by wading or riding, 
 would be almost certainly thrown off his balance, precipitated 
 down the fall and dashed against opposite rocks. 
 
 From the Glassey, Table and Oolenoy mountains, streams 
 of water, fifteen or twenty yards wide, tumble into the vallies 
 below, and in the whole of their passage dash upon and foam 
 over rocks. 
 
 Nothing in South Carolina is equal to the Catawba falls. 
 
168 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 They are situated above Rocky mount. Hills confine the 
 descending stream as it approaches to them. When it ad- 
 vances nearer it is further narrowed on both sides by high 
 rocks piled up like walls. The Catawba river, from a width 
 of 180 yards, is straitened into a channel about one-third of 
 that extent, and from this confinement is forced down into the 
 narrowest part of the river called the Gulph. Thus pent upon 
 all sides but one, it rushes over large masses of stone, and is 
 precipitated down the falls. Its troubled waters are dashed 
 from rock to rock, and foam from one shore to another; nor 
 do they abate of their impetuosity till after they have been 
 precipitated over twenty falls to a depth very little short of 100 
 feet. Below Rocky mount the agitated waters, after being ex- 
 panded into a channel of 318 yards width, begin to subside, 
 but are not composed. A considerable time elapses before 
 they regain their former tranquility. 
 
 The wildness of the steep and rugged rocks — the gloomy 
 horrors of the cliffs — the water falls which are heard pouring 
 down in diff'erent places of the precipice, with sounds various 
 in proportion to their respective distances and descents — the 
 hoarse hollow murmuring of the river running far below the 
 summit of the rocks and of the adjacent surface of the earth, 
 are objects well calculated to excite emotions of wonder and 
 admiration in the mind of spectators. The scenery is suffi- 
 ciently grand and curious to attract the visits of the most dis- 
 tant inhabitants of Carolina. 
 
 These falls greatly impede the water communication be- 
 tween the upper and lower country. To open it is the object 
 of an incorporated company. In their speedy and complete 
 success every citizen, and especially the Santee Canal Com- 
 pany, has a great and decisive interest. These falls give such 
 a command of water as points out Rocky mount and the 
 vicinity to be a most eligible site for labor-saving machinery. 
 Merchant mills and machines for lessening the expense and 
 labor of carrying on manufactures of every description, may 
 there be cheaply kept in constant motion by a water power 
 which might be extended to every purpose of utility or con- 
 venience. It is situated in the heart of a fertile and thickly 
 settled country, abounding with provisions and raw materials 
 for manufacture, where labor and provisions are compara- 
 tively cheap, and where there is every prospect of a growing 
 vent for all useful commodities among rapidly increasing in- 
 habitants. The situation of Grimkeville at Rocky mount is 
 not only fascinating for its beauty, but eminently calculated 
 for the enjoyment of health and transaction of business. Its 
 summit is considerable higher than the top of lofty trees in 
 the vicinity, and it commands a most extensive view of the 
 
OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 169 
 
 surrounding country. At its base a shad fishery might be 
 carried on to great advantage and to any desirable extent either 
 for domestic consumption or exportation. 
 
 From the head waters of the Catawba in the vicinity of 
 Morgantown, a turnpike road or a canal might be formed to 
 the head waters of both the Kanhaway and Tennessee ; which 
 three rivers head near each other. Either, when accom- 
 pUshed, would facilitate an intercourse between Charlestown 
 and the States of Kentucky and Tennessee on easier and bet- 
 ter terms than it can be carried on between these Western 
 States and any other Atlantic port in the Union. 
 
 Carohna partakes so much of the nature of a West India 
 climate that generally five or six and sometimes seven or 
 eight months of the year pass without frost. It partakes so 
 much of the climate of temperate cold countries that only three 
 months of the year are always exempt from it. Frosts have 
 been known as late as May and as early as September. Ex- 
 cept extraordinary seasons, the months of November, Decem- 
 ber, January and February never pass without it. It some- 
 times terminates for the season with the month of February, 
 and has been known to keep oif as late as the 13th of Novem- 
 ber.* The period of vegetation comprehends in favorable 
 years from seven to eight months. It commences in January 
 or February and terminates in October or November; a term 
 too short for ripening the most delicate fruits of southern lati- 
 tudes. The sugar-cane, ginger, bread-fruit, pine-apple, banana 
 and coffee trees, cannot stand the severity of a Carolina win- 
 ter; though they grow well in summer. Gooseberries, cur- 
 rants and cherries cannot, or rather have not been made to 
 grow to any purpose in the low country. Wild cherries are 
 common in the woods ; but of garden cherries few or none, 
 with ordinary care, bear fruit of any consequence ; though the 
 trees grow very well. Figs, apricots, nectarines, apples, peaches, 
 pears, olives and pomegranates, also almonds, piccan or Illi- 
 nois nut, though exotics, have been naturalized in Carolina to 
 good purpose and stand all seasons. Orange trees are unin- 
 jured in ordinary winters, but the frosts of such as are un- 
 commonly severe occasionally destroy their stems. Most of 
 them grow again from the roots with the return of the next 
 warm season. These thrive best in the low country near the 
 sea, and in the most southern parts of the State. Apples and 
 peaches may and have been raised in small quantities and of 
 
 » After the hurricane of September, 1752, the season was so mild that all the 
 fruit trees put out in blossom, and the fruit of some ripened. There was no frost 
 until Christmas day, when rare -ripe apples of the second crop were gathered 
 fit to eat. Something of the same kind, though not to an equal degree, took place 
 after the hurricane of 1804. On the 12th of December of that year, ripe mulberries 
 and ripe wild cherries were gathered in the vicinity of Charlestown. Apples and 
 pears grew to a large size, but did not reach maturity. 
 
170 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 a very good kind in and near Charlestown ; but in general they 
 can only be cultivated to advantage in the middle or western 
 parts of the State. Of all the variety of fruit none thrives 
 better than pears, pomegranates and water melons. The latter 
 grow in Carolina to an enormous size, and are equal if not su- 
 perior to any in the world. 
 
 Carolina cannot be called a good fruit country, yet some is 
 furnished from the stores of nature in almost every month of 
 the season when it is most wanted. Blackberries, strawber- 
 ries, apricots, and raspberries, are ripe in April and May. 
 Plums, huckleberries, early pears, apples, peaches, together 
 with figs and nectarines, follow. Watermelons and musk- 
 melons continue from June to October. Pomegranates, late 
 peaches, pears, apples, grapes, and winter-plums, come in 
 towards the termination of the hot weather. Haws, sloes, and 
 fox-grapes, in October. Chinquepins, chesnuts, and persim- 
 ons, still later. If to these refreshing and agreeable fruits we 
 add the great variety of esculent vegetables, particularly aspar- 
 agus, English peas, artichokes, Irish potatoes, green-corn, a 
 variety of beans, squashes, pompions, okra, tomatoes, salads, 
 beets, carrots, cabbages, and cucumbers, most of which are in 
 season for a great part of the summer, we will find abundant 
 reason of thankfulness for the ample provision made for the 
 gratification and comfort of the heated thirsty inhabitants of 
 our half West India climate. 
 
 Of the various articles of comfort which have been enu- 
 merated all except corn, potatoes, and caravansaras or Indian 
 peas, are exotics introduced and naturalized by the care and 
 attention of intelligent persons. Much has been done, but the 
 field is open and invites to further experiments. Several of 
 the finest countries of the world have a soil and climate like 
 to that which we inhabit. As an independent people, we 
 have access to all countries, and a mercantile intercourse with 
 as many of them as we choose. The productions of the coun- 
 tries bordering on the Mediterranean sea, of Persia, India, 
 China, Japan, of the greatest part of Africa, and of South 
 America, might be successfully introduced into some parts of 
 the State. Rice, indigo, and cotton, the three great sources of 
 our wealth, all came from or grow in India ; which is but one 
 of the many countries resembling Carolina. Some commodi- 
 ties equally or even more valuable* may be in reserve to re- 
 ward the investigations of the present inhabitants. 
 
 '^>^ A more remarkable species of cotton, naturally of a crimson color in the pod, 
 has been mentioned by difTerent travelers as g^rowing in Africa, and principally 
 in the Eyeo country. Mr. Clarkson states that a small specimen of it was brought 
 to Great Britain in the year 1786. He adds that "the value of this cotton would 
 be great, both to the importer and the manufacturer of muslins ; the former would 
 immediately receive eight shillings for a pound of it, and the latter would gain 
 considerably more by his ingenuity and HiSte.—Bancroft on Colors, pp. 68 and 69. 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 171 
 
 As this State enjoys many of the comforts of tropical coun- 
 tries, it is in like manner subject to some of the violent con- 
 vulsions of nature which agitate these peculiar regions. From 
 the fatal consequences of earthquakes, we are happily exempt. 
 A momentary one that did no damage, is recollected by some 
 of our old citizens as having taken place on the 19th of May, 
 1754. Another is remembered by many still living, as having 
 taken place about, 2 o'clock in the morning of April 4th, 1799. 
 
 Though earthquakes in Carolina are harmless, thunder 
 storms are not always so. When they take place, especially 
 if in the night, their grandeur exceeds description. The fre- 
 quent balls of fire bursting from cloud to cloud; the forked 
 flashes darting between the clouds and the earth, and from 
 the one to the other alternately, illuminate the whole sur- 
 rounding atmosphere and form a magnificent and striking 
 scene. The solemn sound of distant thunder, followed by 
 the vast explosion on the one hand, and the repercussive roar 
 on the other, appear tremendously awful. The beasts of the 
 field start from the thicket and gaze at the surrounding pros- 
 pect with evident symptoms of terror and astonishment, and 
 the winged tribes seek the shelter of the groves. Sometimes 
 indeed these storms are of short duration, particularly when 
 they come attended with brisk gales of wind ; but when that 
 is not the case, they often last four or five hours. While the 
 clouds are gathering, the atmosphere, though before serene, is 
 suddenly obscured. To the inhabitants accustomed to view 
 such appearances, and to experience their salutary effects in 
 cooling the air and earth, the thunder storm produces more 
 pleasurable than alarming sensations ; but to strangers the 
 "peal on peal, crushed, horrible, convulsing earth and heaven,'' 
 is exceedingly solemn and terrifying. As the flashes of light- 
 ning from the clouds commonly strike the highest objects, 
 and the whole country is covered with woods, the fury of the 
 storm for the most part falls upon the trees. Such storms 
 sometimes occasion considerable damage particularly to the 
 ships in the harbor ; and sometimes they are attended with 
 showers of hail which fall with such force as to beat down 
 the corn in the fields, and to break glass windows. Our elder 
 citizens inform us, that thunder storms were in the days of 
 their youth much more frequent and more injurious than 
 they have been for the last thirty or forty years. This is re- 
 markably the case in Charlestown, and is probably in part 
 owing to the multiplication of electrical rods. Dr. Hewat, 
 who wrote about 1775, asserts that he had known in Charles- 
 town, "five houses, two churches, and five ships struck with 
 lightning during one thunder storm.'' Nothing comparable 
 to this has occurred for many years past. It is nevertheless 
 
172 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 true, that during the summer there are few nights in which 
 lightning is not visible in some part of the horizon.* 
 
 South Carolina, by its proximity to the torrid zone, is ex- 
 posed to the conflicts of the elements in a greater degree than 
 the northern States. To the southward the atmosphere is con- 
 tinually rarefied by excessive heat; a colder atmosphere from 
 the northward, has a constant tendency to rush to the point of 
 gteatest heat and restore the equilibrium. To this warfare of 
 elements may be ascribed the destructive whirlwinds which 
 sometimes lay waste particular parts of Carolina. One of these 
 took place May 4th, 1761. It was seen between one and two 
 o'clock P. M., coming from the southwest like a large column 
 of smoke and vapor. When it had advanced to the vicinity 
 of Charlestown, it was providentially opposed by another whirl- 
 wind from the northeast; the shock of their junction was so 
 great as to alter the direction of the former, whereby a great 
 part of the town was left without the range of its violence. 
 It then passed down Ashley river with such rapidity and 
 force, that in a few minutes it reached Rebellion road where 
 a fleet of loaded vessels lay; five of these were overset and so 
 suddenly sunk, that the people in their cabins had not time to 
 come on deck. Several others would have shared the same 
 fate had not their masts given way. All those over which 
 the whirlwind passed were laid on their sides. While many 
 of the inhabitants, unsuspicious of any danger, sat at dinner, 
 they were alarmed with an uncommon sound like the contin- 
 
 ■■"On Tuesday morning, 12lh November, 1799, I'roin a little after inidnight until 
 daylight, the firmament in Charlestown exhibited a singular but splendid phenom- 
 enon. Instead of a few solitary meteors sporting along the sky, which is not un- 
 frequent, they appeared in countless numbers, darting incessantly in all directions. 
 Some of them emitted a light so vivid that objects in a chamber not very dark were 
 rendered visible. A similar phenomenon was observed at the same time at sea, 
 about sixty or seventy leagues from the bar. Tlie like was seen at the same 
 period as far to the south as 29 degrees of north latitude and 71 degrees of longi- 
 tude. Accounts from Nassau, in New Providence, mentioned the same appear- 
 ance to have been noticed there on the same morning. During the appearance of 
 this uncommon phenomenon, the weather was very calm ; yet the fears of some 
 timid persons were so excited by the coruscations of effulgent light darting in all 
 directions, that they apprehended the day of judgment and conflagration of the 
 world to be at hand. 
 
 On August 2d, 1806, about seven o'clock, several thick clouds were gradually 
 gathered in Charlestown, through which for more than an hour there was a superbly 
 grand appearance of lightning, but without thunder. About a quarter past eight 
 o'clock a smart shower of rain came on, accompanied with some lightning and 
 thunder. This in a short time cleared away, though the clouds still continued to 
 hover from the southwest to the north-northwest; the moon, then in the fourth 
 day of its last quarter, rose with great splendor, while the firmament to the east- 
 ward was studded with a number of brilliant stars. At half-past eight o'clock a 
 very unusual phenomenon occurred: a lunar rainbow was very plainly to be seen. 
 It had none of the brilliancy of the solar rainbow, hut was of a dark mud color. 
 The arc was completely (brmed, rising at the summit to about 40 degrees above 
 the horizon. It continued perfect for about ten or twelve minutes, and then began 
 to disappear, and in a few minutes vanished. These uncommon phenomena were 
 accurately observed and noted at the time of their appearance by Dr. Tucker 
 Harris. 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 173 
 
 ual roaring of distant thunder. Looking round for its cause 
 tiiey saw a tremendous cloud advancing rapidly towards them 
 with a circular motion, and large branches of trees hurled 
 about in its vortex. Its diameter appeared to be about 300 
 yards, and its height thirty degrees, while a thick vapor emit- 
 ted from it ascended much higher. The quantity of materials 
 which composed this impetuous column and its prodigious 
 velocity, gave it such a surprising momentum as to plough 
 Ashley river to the bottom, and to lay the channel bare. Floods 
 of water fell on those parts over which it moved. As the 
 wind ceased soon after the passage of the whirlwind, the 
 branches and leaves of trees which had been hurried along 
 with it began to fall, and for half an hour darkened the air in 
 their descent. A thousand axemen, employed for a whole 
 day in cutting down trees, could not have done as much exe- 
 cution as was done by this whirlwind in one minute. Young 
 and pliant trees by yielding to the storm escaped its fury, but 
 those which were more inflexible and firmly rooted were bro- 
 ken off and hurled away. Among such were some live 
 oaks of nearly two feet diameter ; of these, though probably 
 weighing more than two tons, no remains could afterwards 
 be found, except their roots which were never separated from 
 the earth. The same tremendous column was seen at noon 
 upwards of thirty miles southwest from Charlestown. In the 
 vicinity of the latter it arrived twenty-five minutes after two 
 P. M. In its rapid intermediate course, exceeding fifteen 
 miles an hour, it made an avenue of great width, tearing up 
 trees, houses, and everything that came in its way. By four 
 o'clock the wind was fallen — the sun shone out — the sky was 
 serene — and everything appeared so quiet that a stranger just 
 arriving could scarcely believe that so dreadful a scene had 
 been recently exhibited, if so many melancholy proofs of its 
 reality did not obtrude themselves to his astonished view. 
 
 Minor whirlwinds often proceed through the upper country, 
 sometimes in a width of a half mile, tearing up the largest 
 trees in their way or twisting and shivering them to pieces. 
 Storms of hail also take place whose effects have been 
 destructive to different parts of the State. The hills on both 
 sides of the Catawba river near Rocky Mount, suffered se- 
 verely from one which occurred some years ago. The dis- 
 charge of hail stones was so heavy and large that the pine 
 trees were completely killed, and still exhibit a wild and awful 
 spectacle. Fields of wheat and other grain were beaten to 
 pieces and destroyed. In April, 1793, a similar storm swept 
 through part of Orangeburg and Ninety-Six districts; and 
 in 1797 one passed along the eastern side of Cooper river, 
 lasting about half an hour, and depositing on the ground hail 
 
174 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 Stones three inches in circumference. The grain in the fields, 
 and the vegetables in the gardens, were completely destroyed, 
 and birds and poultry were killed. 
 
 The commencement of the year 1800 was uncommonly 
 cold, and several snow-storms took place in the months of 
 January and February; some of these covered the grounds of 
 the lower country six inches, and those of the upper country 
 two or three feet deep. During this time a remarkable sleet 
 fell in a vein of ten or tifteen miles wide from Broad river 
 towards the Savannah. The cold and the sleet produced 
 many long and heavy icicles appendant on the trees. The 
 icicles by their number and weight bent saplings to the 
 ground; but the full grown trees which did not bend were 
 broken off in all directions, and the ground for miles covered 
 with their ruins. The woods in that part of the State still pre- 
 sent a wild and haggard appearance. 
 
 When either floods of rain or of melted snow pour down 
 the rivers of Carolina, the adjacent low lands and intervals 
 are overflowed with freshets. As early as the year 1701 we 
 are informed by Mr. Lawson, in his history of Carolina, of a 
 great inundation which about that time had rushed down San- 
 tee river, rising perpendicularly thirty-six feet. In January, 
 1796, a similar one came down the same river. No bridge 
 could withstand its fury. Trees and houses were borne down 
 by its stream. A wooden bridge over Broad river, a few miles 
 above Columbia, and another about seven hundred feet long, 
 over the Congaree river at Granby, upwards of forty feet high 
 above the common level of the river, and many of whose piers 
 were fastened by iron bolts into solid rock at its bottom, were 
 swept away. At Granby, the tobacco ware-house, together 
 with one hundred and fifty hogsheads of tobacco, was de- 
 stroyed. The Camden tobacco ware-house on the banks of the 
 Wateree river, met the same fate. Dwelling houses, corn 
 houses, cattle, horses and hogs, were carried down by the vio- 
 lence of the current ; and vast beds of sand were fixed on fer- 
 tile tracts of swamp land, to their irreparable injury. The 
 collected waters of almost all the rivers in the upper country 
 at length formed a junction at the confluence of the Wateree 
 and Congaree rivers, and rushed on the country below with 
 destructive velocity. They rose at the rate of three inches an 
 hour, and continued to rise for some days. The current in a 
 great degree swept directly down the swamp, in a width in 
 some places more than five miles from the high pine lands on 
 either side. Great quantities of provisons — thousands of 
 bushels of Indian corn — and many hundred barrels of rice 
 were destroyed. Some of the negro houses of the lower plan- 
 tations on Santee were torn up and carried by the torrent en- 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 175 
 
 tirely out to sea. Rice plantations within a few miles of the 
 ocean, and on the best pitch of tide, were overflowed for near 
 a week ; the water being from two to three feet above the rice 
 field banks. The force of the freshet was so strong that for 
 some days the ebbing of the tides was scarcely perceivable. 
 This great flood poured itself into Hell Hole swamp, and from 
 thence entered the diflerent bays which communicate with 
 the eastern branch of Cooper river, passing over the high part- 
 age ground which divides the Santee from Cooper river, to 
 ascend which the Santee canal was undertaken. At the same 
 time a similar flood swelled Savannah river, laying the town of 
 Augusta, in Georgia, generally two feet under water, and 
 damaging goods therein to a large amount. It tore away an 
 extensive bridge, near eight hundred feet long, belonging to 
 Wade Hampton, which had been thrown over that river from 
 South Carolina, and carried destruction before it down to the 
 town of Savannah. The height of this freshet was supposed 
 to be, at Augusta, from thirty-five to forty feet above the com- 
 mon level of the river. At Granby and Camden, the height 
 of the waters in the Congaree and Wateree rivers must have 
 been nearly at the same elevation. Just above the confluence 
 of North and South Santee, the water was twenty-one feet 
 above the common level. The best lands in the State were 
 materially injured by this enormous freshet. It brought loss 
 and distress to many individuals, and the well-earned pros- 
 pects of a year's industry were either swept away or injured 
 beyond the possibility of recovery. 
 
 Towards the termination of the hot season, blowing 
 weather is common and in some measure necessary to restore 
 the equilibrium between the heated air of the South and the 
 cold air of the North. The autumnal equinox seldom passes 
 in the vicinity of the torrid zone without some conflict of the 
 elements more or less dangerous. In the 138 years which 
 have taken place since the settlement of Carolina, several mi- 
 nor storms* have passed over without exciting any perma- 
 nent public attention. But four having done extensive mis- 
 
 *In a blank leaf of the church book of the Independent church is the follow- 
 ing note: "Memorandum. — There was a former register kept belonging to the 
 meeting-house and congregation, which by misfortune of the great hurricane that 
 happened the 5th and 6th of September, 1713, was lostj when the house where 
 the late Mr. William Livingston, deceased, then lived, and in whose possession it 
 was, at White Point in Charlestown, in tliis province, was washed and carried 
 away by the overflowing of the sea." Of this hurricane nothing more is known. 
 Since writing the above, a very old manuscript, written by the venerable Thomas 
 Lamboll, who was born soon after Charlestown began to be built, and died in 
 1775, has been put into the hands of the author by his daughter, Mrs. Mary Lam- 
 boll Thomas, from which are collected the following particulars of the above hur- 
 ricane, wfaicli are unnoticed by all historians. "1713. — On September 5th came 
 on the great hurricane, which was attended with such an inundation from the 
 sea, and to such an unknown height that a great many lives were lost; all the 
 vessels in Charlestown harbor, except one, were drove ashore. The new Look 
 
 29 
 
176 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 chief, are particularly remembered, and have been called 
 hurricanes; an appellation usually given to those convul- 
 sive storms in the West India Islands in which the fields 
 of sugar canes are destroyed, and the canes torn up and 
 hurried away in confusion. The first of these hurricanes 
 was in 1700. The swelling sea rushed in upon Charles- 
 town with amazing impetuosity, and obliged the inhab- 
 itants to fly for shelter to the second stories of their houses. 
 Happily few lives were lost in town, but a large vessel 
 called the Rising Sun, belonging to Glasgow, and com- 
 manded by James Gibson, which had come from Darienwith 
 a part of the unfortunate Scotch settlers, at the time of the 
 storm rode at anchor off the bar. The hurricane drove this 
 ship from her anchor and dashed her to pieces against the 
 sand banks, and every person on board perished. Archibald 
 Stobo, a Presbyterian clergyman, Lieutenant Graham, and sev- 
 eral more belonging to the ship, being on shore, escaped the 
 disaster. The men going next day in search of their unfor- 
 tunate countrymen, found the corpses of the greatest part of 
 them driven ashore on James's Island, where they spent a 
 whole day in burying them. 
 
 Of the second, in 1728, very few particulars have been re- 
 corded. Newspapers, which are now so common, had then 
 no existence in Carolina. During the summer of 1728 the 
 weather was observed by the inhabitants of Charlestown to 
 be uncommonly hot. A dreadful hurricane followed, occa- 
 sioning an inundation which overflowed the town and the low 
 lands, and did incredible damage to the fortifications, houses, 
 wharves, shipping and corn-fields. The streets of Charlestown 
 were covered with boats, boards, staves ; and the inhabitants 
 were obliged to take refuge in the higher stories of their 
 dwelling-houses. Twenty-three ships were driven ashore, 
 most of which were either gieatly damaged or dashed to 
 pieces. The Fox and Garland, men of war, stationed there 
 for the protection of trade, were the only ships that rode out 
 of the storm. This hurricane, though it leveled many thou- 
 sand trees in the maritime parts,* was scarcely perceived an 
 
 out on SuUiyan's Island, of wood, built eight square and eighty feet high, blown 
 down; all the front wall and mud parapet before Charlestown undermined and 
 washed away, with the platform and gun-carriages, and other desolations sus- 
 tained as never before happened to this town; To the northward of Charlestown 
 the hurricane was more violent, but at Port Royal it was not much felt." 
 ■ *One fact, preserved by tradition in a particular family, has reached us, which 
 as an historical document fixing the date of this hurricane and pointing out the 
 then situation of Charlestown, is worth mentioning. A considerable portion of that 
 central, thickly-settled part of the city lying to the northward and eastward of 
 the National Bank, was at that time an orchard, just beginning to bear nectarines, 
 apricots, pears, and other choice fruit. The same day destroyed this orchard, the 
 property of John Laurens, and gave birth to his son James. These cotempora- 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 177 
 
 hundred miles from the shore. The hurricane of 1752 ex- 
 cited the longest and greatest portion of public attention. The 
 few surviving chroniclers who were witnesses of its devastation 
 even now frequently take a mournful pleasure in reciting the 
 particulars thereof to their listening grand-children and great- 
 grand-children. In the months of June, July and August, 1752, 
 the weather in Charlestown was warmer than any of the in- 
 habitants, before or since, have ever experienced. The mer- 
 cury in the shade often arose above ninety, and for nearly 
 twenty successive days varied between that and 101. By 
 such excessive heat the air becomes greatly rarefied, and a 
 violent hurricane commonly follows and restores the balance 
 in the atmosphere. In such a case the wind usually proceeds 
 from the northeast. These storms indeed seldom happen ex- 
 cept in seasons when there has been little thunder, when the 
 weather has been long dry and hot. Accordingly, on the 
 15th of September, 1752, a dreadful hurricane took place. In 
 the night before it was observed bv the inhabitants of Charles- 
 town that the wind at northeast began to blow hard and 
 continued increasing in violence till next morning. Then 
 the sky was suddenly overcast and it began to drizzle and 
 rain. This northeast wind blew with so much violence as to 
 stem the Gulf stream in its northern course and to throw it on 
 the shores. About 9 o'clock A. M. the flood came rolling in 
 
 neous events, on the 3d of September, old style, were too interesting to be for- 
 gotten by tliose particularly concerned. When the circumstance of an orchard 
 so near the centre of this city is compared with the present state of things, it 
 cannot fail of exciting admiration at the vast increase of Charlestown in the short 
 space of eighty years. The hurricanes of 1700, 1713, 1728, 1752, and 1804, were 
 all in September, and between the 8th and 16th of that month. When allowance 
 is made for the change of style, all of them appear to have taken place within 
 eight days of each other in their respective years. Reducing the whole to the 
 new style or present mode of computing time, the earliest was in 1804, on the 8th 
 of September, and the latest in 1700, nominally on the Sth, but really on the 16th 
 of the same month. The date of the hurricane of 1728, is 'by Dr. Hewat erro- 
 neously fixed in August. It is fixed as above, on the 3d of September, old style j 
 that author assigned no date for the hurricance of 1700. It i.- fixed as above, on 
 tbe Sth of September, old style, on the following ground: John Lawson, who wrote 
 an account of Carolina one hundred years ago, states, that on the 28th of Decem- 
 ber, 1700, he set out from Charlestown for North Carolina. On the second day of 
 his journey he fell in with a Scotchman living near Sewee bay, on an island then 
 called Dixe's Island. The Scotchman treated his guest with oatmeal, and informed 
 him, "That he had obtained the oatmeal, with several other effects, from the wreck 
 of the Rising Sun, a Scotch ship which had been cast away near Charlestown bar 
 on the Sth of the preceding September.'' Fixing these dates with precision is of 
 importance; for when exactly ascertained, they not only tend to diminish the 
 period of terror which in the season of hurricanes disturbs the minds of many in 
 Charlestown, but furnish data from past experience for rational conjectures on 
 the probable time of their taking place. The inhabitants of Sullivan's Island, and 
 of the sea-coast, should be attentive to all great changes of the weather between 
 the 1st and 16th of September, particularly after very hot summers, and especially 
 when an uncommon roaring is heard from the sea. It appears that hurricanes 
 have generally come earlier in the season. The two first, in 1700 and 1713, were 
 on September 16th: that of 1728, was September 14th; that of 1752, September 
 15th; that of 1804, September Sth. It is therefore more probable that the next 
 will be before than after the 8th of September. 
 
178 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 with great impetuosity, and in a little time rose ten feet above 
 high water mark at the highest tides. The streets were al- 
 most instantly covered with boats, boards, wrecks of houses 
 and ships. Before 11 all the ships in the harbor were driven 
 ashore; and sloops and schooners were dashing against the 
 houses of Bay street. The stores on the several wharves from 
 Roper's on the south and Wragg's on the north of East Bay 
 street were all broken up and lodged in large heaps on the 
 Governor's bridge and the yards or open ground in its vi- 
 cinity. 
 
 When the gale came on there was a large ship at anchor at 
 Sullivan's Island road. When it was over, that ship, no 
 longer visible, was supposed to be foundered, but was shortly 
 after found in Clouter's creek, about six miles north of 
 Charlestown. During the gale she had drifted, with her an- 
 chors ahead, through the marsh opposite the city, called 
 Shute's Folly, and also passed over another piece of marsh 
 land three miles higher up, called Drum Island, without the 
 loss of any of her crew, masts, or yards. After taking out two 
 schooner loads of her cargo she was hove down at Hockbaw 
 careening place. On examination it appeared that she had 
 sustained no other damage than the loss of some of her 
 sheathing plank, torn off by oyster shells. She was afterwards 
 reloaded and safely arrived at London, after she had there 
 been given over as lost. 
 
 Another vessel was driven with her anchors ahead from 
 off White Point through the mouth of Vanderhorst's creek. 
 In passing she carried away the southwest corner of the Bap- 
 tist new church, and afterwards safely grounded on the west 
 side of Meeting street. Her draft of water was from nine to 
 ten feet. 
 
 A ship with a cargo of palatines had anchored in Ashley 
 river a day or two before the gale. She, with her anchors, 
 was driven into the marsh near to James Island where, by 
 continual rolling the passengers were tumbled from side to 
 side. About twenty of them, by bruises and other injuries, 
 lost their lives. The Hornet sloop-of- war, with seven anchors 
 ahead, drifted almost on shore near to the place where Gads- 
 den's wharf now stands. Her bowsprit and foremast were 
 cut away to prevent her foundering. She was the only vessel 
 in the harbor that rode out the storm. All others were 
 wrecked, damaged or driven on the wharves. The constern- 
 ation which seized the inhabitants exceeds all description. 
 Finding themselves in the midst of a tempestuous sea, and 
 expecting the tide to flow till one o'clock, they retired at eleven 
 to the upper stories of their houses, and contemplated a speedy 
 termination of their lives. At this critical time providence 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 179 
 
 mercifully interposed and surprised them with a sudden and 
 unexpected deliverance. Soon after eleven the wind shifted, 
 in consequence of which the waters fell five feet in the space 
 often minutes. By this happy change the Gulf stream, no 
 longer stemmed by the violent blast, had freedom to regain 
 its usual course, and the town was saved from eminent dan- 
 ger. Had the Gulf stream continued to flow in upon the 
 town its destruction would have been inevitable. Almost all 
 the tiled and slated houses were uncovered ; several persons 
 were hurt and some were drowned. The fortifications and 
 wharves were almost entirely demolished — the provisions in 
 the fields in the maritime parts were destroyed, and numbers 
 of cattle and hogs perished in the waters. The pest-house, 
 on Sullivan's Island, built of wood, with fourteen persons in 
 it, was carried several miles up Cooper river, and nine of the 
 fourteen were drowned.* 
 
 * Several of these particulars are stated on the authority of Josiah Smith. This 
 was the greatest and most destructive hurricane that has ever yet taken place in 
 Carolina. Tlie attention of the public being called to the subject of hurricanes 
 by a very destructive one "w^hich took place in 1804. the Medical Society wishing 
 to perpetuate a minute account of both, directed Dr. Prioleau to collect and par- 
 ticularly state the material facts relative to these important events, and to modern- 
 ize the coteraporary statements of the hurricane of 1752, which by a change of 
 names and circumstances were no longer intelligible. This service he performed 
 very much to the satisfaction of the society; of it much use has been made in 
 this historic statement. The result of his inquiries was recorded iit the journal of 
 the Society. That part of it which relates to the hurricane of 1752 is nearly as fol- 
 lows: "As the hurricane of the year 1752 far, very far exceeded, both in violence and 
 devastation, the one of 1804, it may be both useful and interesting to collect its 
 history, not only to enable us to make a comparison between them, but to apprise 
 us of tile danger and destruction to which we may be subjected from eastwardly 
 storms. By the politeness of our President, Dr. James Moultrie, I have been 
 favored with avery excellent and minute account of the hurricane of 1752, written 
 by his worthy and learned father. Dr. John Moultrie ; from which, together with 
 the information communicated to me by my father, who was in the city at the 
 time, and has a perfect recollection of the occurrence, we shall be enabled to 
 compile an accurate account. 
 
 "As great changes have taken place in our city since that period by increased 
 population, extension, change of property, and other circumstances, and as the 
 above account refers to buildings which have long since been demolished, and to 
 places the names of which have been altered, it will become necessary, in order to 
 understand the extracts, to make a partial reference to the situation of the city at 
 that time. In doing which, it is only necessary to observe, that the aspect of the 
 city has been very much changed since the year 1752. The creeks which ran 
 partly through the town have been obliterated, the low grounds have been filled, 
 and even the most elevated spots must have received additional height from the 
 rubbish which must necessarily accumulate in so populous a place. 
 
 The town was in a state of fortification. At White Point there was a consid- 
 erable fort. A very strong brick wall, the curtain line, extended on the east side 
 of East Bay street from Roper's wharf to the Governor's bridge, at each extremity 
 of which there was a bastion. The wharves were few in number, the most north- 
 wardly of which is now owned by Captain John Blake. With the exception of 
 the low stores on the wharves, the vendue store which was opposite Tradd street, 
 and the old Guard House, where the Exchange now stands, there was not an 
 house on the east side of East Bay street, nor was there any land at that time on 
 which one could be erected. The water washed the curtain line from one end to 
 the other, except only in those places where the wharves projected from it. On 
 the night of 14th September, 1752, it was cloudy and boisterous. Friday, Sep- 
 tember 15th, was extremely stormy in the morning; and the wind, blowing from 
 
180 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 In September, 1804, after an interval of fifty-two years, 
 another hurricane took place. This proceeded from a junc- 
 tion of two simultaneous gales of Avind on the coast. The 
 one commenced at the Carribee Islands and proceeded north- 
 westwardly along the coast of Florida, Georgia, and South 
 Carolina. The other commenced at the northeast, and pro- 
 ceeded southwestwardly. These two gales after having sep- 
 arately done much mischief, met, and forming a junction in 
 the latitude of Charlestown or Beaufort effected still greater 
 devastation. Their conflict was attended with torrents of rains ; 
 it retarded the gulf stream, and of course accumulated so much 
 water on the coast as to inundate a great partof thelow lands 
 of South Carolina and Georgia. 
 
 For several days before the storm commenced, an uncommon 
 roaring of the sea was distinctly heard, especially by the resi- 
 dents on Sullivan's Island. The tides were remarkable for 
 high floods and for ebbs less low than usual. 
 
 At 10 o'clock P. M. on the 7th of September, 1804, a heavy 
 
 the northeast, iticreased and continued -with very little variation until eleven 
 o'clock, A. M. Its violence was so great that no person could stand against it 
 without support. About 9 o'clock A. M., when agreeably to the course of the 
 tide it should have been low water, it was observed greatly to exceed the height 
 of spring tides, and continued rising until the wn'nd, which blew from the northeast 
 and east-northeast, shifted to the south and southwest. The mountainous sea 
 which then raged in the harbor began to fall, and the water returned in a very 
 surprising manner. But for this change of wind, it is probable that the whole 
 town would have been laid in ruins, as the tide had, according to the usual 
 routine, two hours to flow^, and a foot more of water would have inundated the 
 highest spot. We cannot but shudder at the recital of the havoc it produced. 
 Granville's bastion, situated at the southeast corner of East Bay street, on the 
 very spot whic:h is now occupied by Captain Messroon's house, was much shaken, 
 the upper part of the wall beat in, the platform with the guns upon it iloated 
 partly over the wall. The upper part of the curtain line, a solid wall at least four 
 feet thick, was beat in upon the bay, from Granville's bastion to Lloyd's wharf, 
 now Geyer's ; and from the spot where Cochran's wharf now is to Craven's bas- 
 tion, w^hich is now occupied by a house of Mr. Pritchard's, near the southeast 
 corner of the Governor's bridge. 
 
 "The warehouses, scale-houses, and sheds upon the wharves, with all the goods 
 in them, were swept away; the solid parts of the w^harves much leveled. All the 
 floating materials of the wharves, warehouses, and theij contents — naval stores, 
 boards, timber, shingles, staves, canoes, small craft, and barrels, were washed up 
 under the curtain line from Lloyd's wharf, now Geyer's, to the place where Coch- 
 ran's w^harf now stands, and from thence to Craven's bastion, as the curtain line 
 was beat in ; the same confused mass was washed up against the houses on that 
 part of the bay, to their great damage, and up into Queen street as far as Kialoch's 
 court. AH the vessels in the harbor, of every description, except the Hornet 
 sloop-of-war, drove ashore. The small craft, except a few, were so torn to pieces, 
 crushed and blended with the materials of the wharves and warehouses, as hardly 
 to be discriminated. 
 
 "A pilot boat drove up on the pavement, close to Mr. T. Smith's door, the house 
 which Mr. Gardner afterwards lived in, opposite to Keith's wharf, in the parlor of 
 of which there was water to the depth of three feet. 
 
 "Dr. Caw's house, near to the corner of Lodge alley, was almost torn to pieces. 
 The remains of two or three large petti-augers before it, the stables and chair- 
 house next to it, and a great quantity of rafts of timber in the back yard of it, 
 ■were all washed away. 
 
 "A wooden house of Mrs. Wragg's, corner of Bay and Amen streets, her green 
 house, together with Mrs. Scott's (where Mr. Winstanley now lives,) out-build- 
 ings, were entirely demolished. Mr. Scott saved himself by swimming from his 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 181 
 
 gale of ivind from the northeast commenced which continued 
 duringthe night. It moderated ahout five o'clock in the morn- 
 ing of the 8th, but at seven it wore to the east and came on 
 with redoubled force, and continued to increase until twelve 
 o'clock, when it blew with tremendous violence, driving the 
 spray of the sea across Charlestown Neck. The effect of this 
 showed itself on the branches of tall pine trees fronting the 
 east, blasting their leaves so that they appeared as if scorched 
 with fire, and remained so for several weeks. In the afternoon 
 it shifted round to the southeast, but did not in the least de- 
 crease until ten o'clock iri the evening; it still, however, blew 
 hard until one o'clock of the morning of the ninth, accom- 
 panied at intervals with heavy showers of rain. 
 
 The amount of property destroyed was immense ; the wliole 
 of the wharves, from General Gadsden's on Cooper river, to 
 to the extent of South Bay were greatly damaged. The heads 
 and sides of most of them were shattered both by the violence 
 of the waves and the beating of vessels against them. Very 
 
 house. The works of Craven's bastion, from the platform upwards, were all beat 
 in, the platform torn up and crowded into a corner of the bastion, the guns dis- 
 mounted and washed out of their carriages, the great gate burst open into the 
 street, and the heavy doors have never since been found. 
 
 "Captain Walker's sloop, loaded for Jamaica, drove through Colonel Pinckney's, 
 now General Pinckney's stables, into Robert Raper's, now Ancrum's yard, where 
 she was crushed to pieces, and left her mast through the balcony door. 
 
 "Captain Walker's pilot boat beat down the fine staircase leading to Colonel 
 Pinckney's house, now the General's, and made a small breach in the southeast 
 corner of the house. Mr. Brown's house, corner of Bay and William's wharf, 
 was so much shattered, as to be rendered almost unfit to be inhabited. 
 
 "Colonel Pinckaey, who lived in the large white house at the corner of Eljery 
 street and French alley, abandoned it after there were several feet of water in it. 
 He conveyed his family from thence to Mr. Seaman's, where Mr. Thomas Jones 
 now lives, corner of Guignard and Charles streets, in a ship's yawl. All South 
 Bay was in ruins, many wooden houses were wrecked to pieces and washed 
 away, and brick houses reduced to a heap of rubbish. The piazza of the house 
 of Samuel Peroneau, in Meeting street, where Dr. Irvine now lives, the chair- 
 house, stables, and store-house, were all washed away. Mr. Fenwicke's coach- 
 house, on the spot where Judge Heyward now lives, was beat down, and a new 
 chariot broke to pieces and carried into King street, where Mr. AUston now lives. 
 A new brick tenement, opposite to where Major Ladson now lives, was beat 
 down hy the falling of a stack of chimneys upon it, and washed away almost to 
 the foundation. A brick house where Mr. Bedon lived, in Church street, a few 
 doors from General Washington's, was, with the out-houses, reduced to a heap of 
 rubbish. Mr. Bedon and family unfortunately remained too long in the house, for 
 the whole family, consisting of twelve souls, perished in the water, except himself 
 and a negro wench. He was driven to the upper end of Broad street, and was 
 taken into the window of the house of Mr. Hext, who lived at the corner of Broad 
 and Mazyck's street, where Mr. John Huger now lives. The negro wench was 
 driven on Cumming's point, and saved herself by clinging to a tree. ■ The bodies 
 of Mrs. Bedon, of one of her children, and of a Dutch boy, were found in the 
 parsonage pasture, where Mr. Ehrick now lives, in St. Philip's street. Mr. George 
 Eveleigh's house, where Dr. Polony lately lived, was much shattered ; the brick 
 pillars before his house, together with the gate and pailing, were washed away. 
 Mr. Tomplatt, who lived opposite, was drowned and washed into a stable on the 
 lot where Colonel Morris lives, in Meeting street. Mr. Screven s brick tene- 
 ments, with their out-buildings, corner of Church street and Stoll s alley, was beat 
 down. The new Baptist church had both its ends beat in, the doors and windows 
 broken to pieces. Many other houses in Church street, continued, were destroyed. 
 "A loaded brig came up the creek, which is now Water street, and was lelt 
 
182 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 few vessels indeed escaped uninjured; many were totally lost, 
 and more materially damaged. 
 
 At seven o'clock on the morning of the eighth, which was 
 the period of low water, the tide was as high as it generally 
 is at common high tides. It appeared that during the preced- 
 ing ebb, little water had left the rivers. At twelve o'clock it 
 had risen upwards of three feet higher than what is reckoned 
 a high spring tide. This made a complete breach over the 
 wharves, and drove some small vessels on them. On Gads- 
 den's wharf several stores were washed or blown down, and 
 their contents of rice and cotton much damaged. The new 
 street made to continue East Bay to White Point was destroyed. 
 Through it the water passed up Water street as far as Meeting 
 street, in which it was some inches deep, opposite to the Pres- 
 byterian church. 
 
 On South Bay the whole of the bulwark made to withstand 
 the encroachments of the tide was destroyed. The house of 
 Mr. Wm. Veitch, built on made land, was washed away, and 
 
 in Church street, on the spot where Mr. Verrce's house-now stands. In general, 
 all wooden fences and brick walls which were much exposed, and high stacks of 
 chimnies were blown down, Alt wooden houses above one story in height, were 
 either beat down or shattered. Many gable ends of houses blown out. All tiled 
 and slated houses without exception, were more or less stripped of their covering; 
 those on the bay, in a manner quite uncovered. When the front was stripped, 
 the wind blowing under the roof, burst the back part out in bulk. 
 
 "All the southwest point of the town comprehened between Tradd and King 
 streets was inundated. White Point and South Bay were under water ; it was 
 two feet deep in Meeting street, opposite Major Ladson's. The tide flowing up 
 the creek, which has been filled up and is now Water street, poured its water 
 into Church street, as far as the corner of Tradd street. It iiowed up the creek 
 .to Meeting street, through said street, round St. Michael's church, into Broad 
 street, as far down as the corner of Church street, where the South Carolina 
 Bank now stands, where it met the water which flowed up from East Bay through 
 Queen street into Church street. 
 
 "The south end of the Bay, from Captain Messroon's to Major Reid's, and the 
 north end from Queen street to General Gadsden's, was completely inundated. 
 The water was several feet in General Pinckney's house, and in other houses in 
 that neighborhood. It flowed up the creek over which the Governor's bridge is 
 thrown, by the old magazine as far as Meeting street, where Mr. John Splatt 
 Cripps now lives. It was generally believed that one foot more of water would 
 have covered the highest spot in Charlestown. 
 
 "Sullivan's Island was covered with water. Some people were hunting there: 
 in all, fourteen souls. Of these only five escaped on part of the roof of the Pest 
 House, which was driven ashore near Hobcaw Point. 
 
 "A great part of James Island was under water: many houses thereon were 
 beat down, and some people drowned. 
 
 "The plantations on Keewah Island were completely overflowed. Mr. William 
 Matthews, his wife, and about forty-seven souls, were miraculously saved on an 
 old corn house which stood raised on posts from the ground. 
 
 "The plantations between Pon Pon and Santee river had their negro houses 
 and many of their out-houses blown down. 
 
 "An incredible number of trees were blown out by the roots, and many of the 
 finest pine trees which stood the gale, rendered unfit for timber, boards, &c., in 
 consequence of the internal part of the tree being split, or of what the workmen 
 call heart-sliaken, 
 
 "The roads were blocked up by trees falling across them. The bridges were 
 carried away, and as the canoes or boats were either crushed to pieces or driven 
 ashore, all communication with the country was thereby cut off' for some days 
 The whole of this devastation was effected in the short space of six hours " 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 183 
 
 a negro killed by the fall of its chimney. Most of the families 
 in this street fled from their dwellings. 
 
 In the city several houses which were covered with slate 
 and pantile were partly unroofed. Many trees and fences 
 were blown down. At twelve o'clock on the 8th, which was 
 the period of high water, the tide had risen three feet two 
 laches higher than what is called a high spring tide. As 
 usual it began to decrease, but at six o'clock, the time of low 
 water, it had fallen only two feet As so little water had been 
 carried out by the ebb, and a new flood was coming in, it was 
 apprehended that this tide would be much higher than the 
 former. But owing to the shifting of the wind more to the 
 southward, the water continued to fall during the last four 
 hours of what in the common course of things would have 
 been a flood tide. So that at one o'clock A. M. on the ninth, 
 the period of high water, it was not as high as it had been 
 the preceding evening at the period of low water. On Sulli- 
 van's Island the situation of several hundreds who had re- 
 sorted thither for the benefit of the sea air, and to avoid the 
 heat of the city, was distressing beyond description. The 
 western part of the island was completely under water to the 
 depth of several feet. Upwards of twenty houses were either 
 blown down, or their foundations undermined by the sea and 
 completely washed away. The inhabitants of these houses 
 escaped by resorting to the Lazaretto barracks and other parts 
 of the island not so immediately exposed. Many houses 
 were occupied by women and children alone who could not 
 assist themselves and who, but for the prompt aid of several 
 gentlemen, must inevitably have perished. The eastern part 
 of the island was not completely covered. The inhabitants 
 of that end had free communication with each other, walking 
 dry shod along the narrow ridge of sand which runs longitu- 
 dinally through the island. It is the opinion of several who 
 witnessed the scene that in case the tide had continued to 
 rise for half an hour longer, every house on the island must 
 have fallen, and the destruction of every person thereon would 
 have been almost inevitable. Of many families, part were in 
 Charlestown and part on Sullivan's Island. Between these 
 two places, six miles apart, there was no possibility of any 
 communication. The residents on the island and in the city 
 were reciprocally anxious for each other. Personal safety for 
 the present moment was no security for the next. The in- 
 habitants of the island could not tell whether they or their 
 friends in the city fared worst. The latter feared that the 
 former were overwhelmed and lost. In this painful state ot 
 suspense both remained for several hours, not knowing what 
 ■ was the fate of their friends, and equally uncertain what was 
 to be their own. 
 
184 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 Fort Johnson was so injured as not to admit the mounting 
 of a single cannon. The breast-work, and pallisadoes of Fort 
 Pinckney were washed away. 
 
 The gale was scarcely felt northwardly beyond Wilmington, 
 North Carolina. It commenced at Georgetown on the 8th of 
 September, between 3 and 4 o'clock A. M.; the wind was 
 northeast, and blew with increasing violence until midnight 
 It then changed to southeast, and abated but little of its fury 
 before the evening of the 9th. The rain descended in torrents. 
 The devastation increased as the storm proceeded south- 
 wardly. At Savannah the gale began on Saturday, September 
 8th, and lasted seventeen hours. The water rose to eight or 
 ten feet above the level of the common spring tides. Houses 
 and stores were blown down by the wind and undermined by 
 the water. Fences and trees were prostrated, ships and ves- 
 sels were stranded and left high and dry on the wharves. 
 Many negroes and others were drowned in consequence of 
 the low islands on the coast being deeply overflowed. On 
 Cockspur Island Fort Green was leveled, all the buildings de- 
 stroyed, and thirteen lives lost. Muskets were scattered all 
 over the island. Cases of canister shot were carried from one 
 hundred to two hundred feet, and a bar of lead of 300 pounds 
 was likewise removed to a considerable distance. A cannon 
 weighing 4,800 pounds is said to have been carried thirty or- 
 forty feet from its position. Broughton Island was covered 
 with water, and upwards of seventy negroes, the property of 
 William Brailsford, were drowned by the oversetting of a boat 
 in which they attempted to escape from the island to the 
 main. The barn on the island being raised on made high 
 land stood the storm, and in it the negroes would have been 
 safe. At St. Simon's Island great damage was done. The 
 crops were generally covered with water, and several negroes 
 were drowned. The like happened on St Catherines, and on 
 the other islands on the coast At Sunbury the bluff was re- 
 duced to a plane, and almost every chimney leveled to the 
 ground. 
 
 The rice swamps and low lands within the reach of the 
 tides were generally overflowed. The crops of rice and pro- 
 visions were greatly injured, and in some places totally de- 
 stroyed or washed away. The fields of cotton along the sea- 
 shore which previously promised an abundant crop, were 
 blasted and nearly destroyed by the violence of the wind and 
 the spray of the sea. 
 
 Destructive scenes similar to those which have been just 
 described seldom occur ; but something of an opposite nature 
 takes place almost every year. There is an uncommon and 
 frequent multiphcation of fish under particular circumstances 
 
OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 185 
 
 which deserves to be noticed in the natural history of South 
 Carolina. In every plantation great care is taken in making 
 dams to preserve water for overflowing the rice fields in sum- 
 mer ; without which they will yield no crops. Soon after 
 these ponds are made, the planters find them stocked with a 
 variety of fishes. In what manner they breed or whence they 
 come has been a subject of inquiry. Some think that their 
 spawn is exhaled from the large lakes of fresh water in the 
 continent, and being brought in thunder clouds, falls with the 
 drops of rain into these reservoirs of water. Others imagine 
 that it must have remained every where among the sand 
 since the sea left these maritime parts of the continent. Others 
 are of opinion that young fish are brought by water fowls 
 from one pond to another and dropt therein, by which means 
 the new made pools receive a plentiful supply. Of these dif- 
 ferent solutions the first 'is most satisfactory. But whatever 
 is the cause the effect is visible and notorious all over the 
 country. When the ponds are stocked with fishes, it becomes 
 an agreeable and common amusement to catch them by ang- 
 ling or bawling a seine through the pool. 
 
 Of the original animale in South Carolina, the following 
 remain : 
 
 Bear, panther, wild cat, wolf, beaver, grey fox, red deer, 
 otter, wild rat, mouse^ black squirrel, gray squirrel, flying 
 squirrel, ground squirrel, rabbit, pole cat, mole, mink, opos- 
 sum, raccoon, lizard, scorpion, toad, bull frog, frog, green frog. 
 The following have been imported and domesticated: 
 The cow, horse, ass, hog, sheep, goat, dog, cat. 
 Of the birds of Carolina the following are the principal : 
 Bald eagle, fishing hawk, pigeon hawk, gray hawk, swallow 
 tailed hawk, night hawk, turkey buzzard, carrion crow, large 
 owl, screech owl, Carolina cuckoo, perroquet, blue jay, purple 
 jack daw, red winged starling or black bird, rice bird, large 
 white beUied woodpecker, gold winged woodpecker, red bel- 
 lied woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, yellow bellied woodpecker, 
 small spotted woodpecker, nut-hatch great and small, sanguil- 
 lah, wild pigeon, turtle dove, ground dove, may bird, robin, 
 thrush, Carolina bullfinch, large swamp sparrow, little sparrow, 
 snow bird, mocking bird, blue grosbeak, purple finch, painted 
 finch or nonpareil, blue linnet, chatterer, blue bird, crested fly 
 catcher, black cap fly catcher, swamp red bird, highland red 
 bird, summer red bird, crested tit mouse, yellow tit mouse, 
 pine creeper, yellow throated creeper, humming bird, king- 
 fisher, chattering plover or killdeer, whistling plover, hooping 
 crane, blue heron, little white heron, crested bittern, cormo- 
 rant, white curlew, brown curlew, oyster catcher, canada goose, 
 small white brant goose, great gray brant goose, duck and 
 
186 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 mallard, canvas back duck found here every spring, gannet, 
 large black duck, bull neck duck, round crested duck, summer 
 duck, little brown duck, blue winged teal, green winged teal, 
 white faced teal, black cormorant, flamingo, water pelican, 
 wild turkey, pheasant or mountain partridge, small partridge 
 or quail, wren, swallow, martin whip-poor-will or goat sucker, 
 snipe, woodcock, marsh hen, Indian pullet. 
 
 Of these the geese, many species of ducks, the wild pigeon, 
 the snow bird and some others are birds of passage, some of 
 them coming from northern and others from southern lati- 
 tudes. Swallows appear commonly in the second week of 
 March, and disappear the beginning of August Martins 
 come about the middle of April, and depart about the end of 
 October or beginning of November. Small birds called king 
 birds, show themselves about the first week in April, and re- 
 tire the first week in September. 
 
 Many species of serpents, some of which are of deadly 
 nature, are natural to this State, among which are: The rattle 
 snake, water rattle snake, small rattle snake, water viper, black 
 viper, copper belly snake, bluish green snake, hog nose snake, 
 wampum snake, horn snake, thunder snake, black snake, 
 little brown head snake, ribbon snake, chain snake, mogason 
 water snake, coach whip snake, corn snake, green snake, glass 
 snake, bull snake. 
 
 Among our insects are: The earth worm, grub worm, snail, 
 house bug, flea, wood worm, forty legs, wood louse, cicada, 
 mantis or camel cricket, cockroach, cricket, beetle, fire fly, 
 glow worm, butterfly, moth, ant, fig eater, humble bee, ground 
 bee or yellow jacket, wasp, hornet, fly, musqueto, sand fly, 
 spider, tick, potatoe louse. 
 
 Alligators are in abundance in our brackish and fresh tide 
 waters. They grow to the length of twelve or fourteen feet, 
 and are extremely destructive to fish and other animals ; they 
 are said sometimes to attack men. If so it is very rare and 
 under very particular circumstances. In general they are 
 more sluggish and cunning, than active and courageous. But 
 they conceal themselves in or near the water and seize calves, 
 hogs and colts in the act of drinking or eating, drag them 
 under the stream and devour them piece meal. 
 
 The fresh water fish are: Sturgeon, pike, trout, bream, roach, 
 or silver fish, mud fish, pearch, sucking fish or carp, herring,* 
 cat fish, gar fish, rock fish, eel ; and of the shell fish kind, the 
 soft shelled turtle, terrebin, cray fish. 
 
 * These fish, in their passage from Europe to the southwestern parts of the 
 Atlantic, and in their return back to the great fisheries in the Northern and Ger- 
 man seas, seldom fail to show themselves almost every March in considerable 
 numbers in this State, particularly in Goose creek, Pedee, and Edisto rivers. 
 
OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 187 
 
 The salt water fish are : — Shark, porpus, drum, bass, sailors 
 choice, cavaUi, snapper, shad,* sheep head, crocus, whiting, 
 porgy, black fish, soles, angel fish, mullet, herring, skip jack, 
 yellow tail, alewife. 
 
 And the shell fish are some kinds of large and small sea 
 turtle, oysters, crab, shrimps, clams and muscles. 
 
 So various is the climate of South Carolina that the plants 
 of Canada may be found on its mountains, and the more 
 hardy tropical fruits on its south-eastern extremity. Since the 
 revolution, its botanic riches have been examined and many 
 specimens transported to the old world by six European bota- 
 nists: Michaux and son, Beauvois, I. Fraser and son, and 
 John Lyon. Among its numerous vegetable productions, the 
 following, in addition to what have been introduced in prece- 
 ding chapters, deserve particular notice : 
 
 Tkees. — Ash,fraxinus. Its wood is used in making ploughs, 
 wagons and carts, spokes of wheels, tool handles, and dairy 
 utensils ; and the bark in making baskets. 
 
 Birch, betula alba, is used for baskets and hoop-poles. 
 
 Beech, fagus sylvatica, is made into sundry articles of fur- 
 niture, and is split into thin scales for band-boxes. It also 
 makes stocks for planes. 
 
 Black cherry, cerasus virginiana — furniture is made of its 
 wood. A decoction of the bark is useful in dyspepsia, con- 
 sumptions, intermittent fevers. Its gum is nearly equal to 
 gum arable; its fruit, by infusion in brandy, is a rich cordial. 
 
 Black mulberry, morus nigra — its wood makes furniture, 
 and the fruit is pleasant and wholesome. 
 
 Cypress tree, cupressus disticha, is the largest tree growing 
 in the State, being sometimes thirty feet in circumference. Its 
 wood is very durable, and yet easy to work. Large canoes, 
 requiring six or eight oarsmen, are sometimes made from a 
 single tree. They are sufficiently numerous in some single 
 swamps to afibrd materials for building every house in a large 
 town. They afibrd plank and timber for ships, houses and 
 various other purposes ; also boards for pannel work, shingles 
 for covering houses, tubs, churns and other dairy utensils. 
 
 Red cedar, juniperus virginiana, makes durable furniture, 
 posts and coffins. On the plantation of Thomas Drayton, in 
 St. Andrews, an inscription on wood of this species in 1706, 
 indicates the grave of Stephen Fox, There is no tombstone 
 in Charlestown equally old on which time has made so little 
 impression. 
 
 •These fish in the month of February rnn up the fresh water rivers, particularly 
 the Savannah, the Sanlee and its various heads, and in such numi)ers, that in 
 addition to a plentiful supply for domestic use, many hundreds of barrels of them 
 might be every year caught and salted for exportation. 
 
188 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 Chestnut, castanea vesca, a very durable wood. Many of 
 the oldest houses in London are built of it. It is good for 
 tubs or vats for liquor, and never shrinks after being once 
 seasoned. It makes fence-rails, and answers for several pur- 
 poses of husbandry. The fruit is used as food. 
 
 Chinquepin, castanea pumela. Its fruit makes an agree- 
 able article of light food. Posts made of the tree are very 
 durable. 
 
 Candleberry-myrtle, myrica cerifera, affords wax for candles. 
 A decoction of the bark is good for dropsies — of the leaves for 
 diarrhoeas — of the root for restraining uterine haemorrhages. 
 
 Dogwood, cornus fiorida. The bark is a good substitute for 
 Peruvian bark in the cure of fevers and mortifications. 
 
 Elder, sambucus canadensis. A decoction of the leaves has 
 been found useful in dropsies — of the flowers in erysipelas, 
 and other cutaneous diseases. 
 
 Elm, ulmus americana and alata, keeps well in water — is 
 useful for mill-wheels, water-pipes, and for the carved works 
 of architecture. It also yields materials for chair bottoms. 
 The bark of one species of it can be made into ropes. The 
 inner bark of another, the slippery-bark elm, ulmus pubescens, 
 is commonly and with advantage applied to fresh wounds. 
 An infusion of it is an useful mucilaginous drink in bowel 
 complaints. Water in which it has been macerated, applied 
 cold, acquires increased efficacy in cases of burns. 
 
 Several kinds of holly : the ilex cassena, is a most powerful 
 diuretic. 
 
 Hickory nut, juglans alba. The nuts of this tree are pleas- 
 ant food. Its wood makes excellent fuel. When small, it 
 answers very well for hoop-poles. The inner bark imparts 
 either an olive or yellow color. 
 
 Linden tree, tilia americana. The inner bark macerated in 
 water is a good application to burns. 
 
 Locust tree, robinia, pseudo acacia, is a beautiful tree, and 
 makes excellent fuel, timber, posts for fences, and is much 
 used for trundles by ship-wrights. It is of quick growth, and 
 cherishes the grass beneath its shade. 
 
 Spring plum, prunus chicasa — reputed unwholesome, but 
 only accidentally so from swallowing the skin and stones — the 
 juice is cooling and wholesome. 
 
 Winter plum, prunus hiemalis, affords an excellent preserve, 
 and a rich cordial. 
 
 Chamaerops palmetto. Palmetto tree grows only on lands 
 adjacent to the sea. It is much used for facing wharves and 
 other works under water, as it is not at all injured by worms. 
 It affords excellent materials for the construction efforts; for 
 cannon balls soon loose all their force in its spongy substance. 
 
OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 189 
 
 They penetrate but a little, make no extended fractures, nor 
 do they detach any dangerous splinters. The top of the tree 
 yields a substance resembling cabbage, which may be used 
 as such. The leaves of the chamserops pumila make durable 
 hats. 
 
 There are more than twenty kinds of oak. Their acorns 
 are useful as mast for hogs, and their galls as strong astrin- 
 gents. The wood of all is used for fuel, and of some for posts, 
 shingles, staves, and heading for barrels. Pot-ash is obtained 
 from their ashes, which when united with the wax of the can- 
 dleberry-myrtle makes soap. 
 
 Live oak, quercus virens, is a very heavy wood which can- 
 not be split. It yields the best of timber for ships, and for 
 various kinds of machinery. 
 
 Quercus alba, white oak. The wood of this tree is split 
 into thin laminas for the purpose of making baskets, hoops, 
 whip handles, &c. 
 
 Red oak, quercus ru,bra. A decoction of the bark is useful 
 in diarrhoeas and gangrene — the bark itself in tanning leather. 
 Great black mountain oak, quercus tinctoria. Its bark is 
 used for dying black. 
 
 Persimon, diospyrus virginiana, is one of the strongest veg- 
 etable astringents, and much used in various cases where 
 medicines of that class are indicated. By fermentation an 
 agreeable beverage may be made from it. It also yields by 
 distillation something like brandy. The younger trees may 
 be used as stocks for engrafting. 
 
 Plane, platanus occidentalis. Sycamore tree. 
 Flowering poplar or tuhp tree, liriodendron tulipifera, are 
 both very beautiful. The bark of the latler is used for the 
 cure of intermittent fevers, and in cases of bad digestion and 
 debility — by many it is deemed nearly equal to Peruvian 
 bark, and is much used by farriers. 
 
 Acer rubrum, red maple — the bark contains much galic 
 acid, and is used with copperas for giving a permanent black 
 color. Furniture and gun stocks are made from its wood. 
 
 Sugar maple, acer saccharinum — each tree yields in the 
 proper season about five pounds of good sugar. 
 
 Sugar tree, a nondescript species of acer — yields sugar of 
 a superior quality, and more in quantity than the sugar maple. 
 Papaw, annona trilaba — ropes are made from the fibres of 
 its inner bark. Its fruit affords a delightful repast. 
 
 Magnolia glauca — the bark is an agreeable bitter, used fre- 
 quently and successfully in intermittents, and other diseases 
 requiring tonic aromatic bitters. 
 
 Pine tree, pitch pine, pinus tseda, produces pitch, tar, tur- 
 pentine — and the heart of it when dry becomes lightwood, 
 
190 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 which makes lasting posts. There is a species of pine iii 
 Carolina, as yet undescribed, growing on the summits of high 
 mountains, which yields a balsam much famed both as a 
 dressing to wounds and for relieving internal diseases. 
 
 Yellow pine, pinus palustris — of it are made planks, house- 
 frames, spars, oars, boats, masts of vessels, ship-timber and 
 lumber in all its various forms. Other pine trees yield fence 
 rails, posts, shingles, staves, and heading for barrels.* All of 
 them make excellent fuel. 
 
 MEDICINAL VEGETABLES. 
 
 Acorus calamus, sweet calamus, is a useful bitter and an 
 excellent carminative and stomachic. 
 
 Amorpha fruticosa, wild indigo, is a strong styptic, and re- 
 strains excessive discharges of blood. Several vegetables pass 
 under the name of snake-root The following are the most 
 useful, and are stimulant, bitter, sudorific and antispasmodic: 
 1. Virginia aristolochia serpentaria. 2. Seneka, polygala, 
 senega. 3. Heart asarum, arifolium ; and 4, button snake- 
 root, agave virginica. The three first are used in febrile dis- 
 eases, and with the aid of the lancet, blisters, and salts, are 
 equal to the cure of most of the common inflammatory fevers. 
 The last has been found a powerful auxiUary in cases of teta- 
 nas and other spasmodic complaints; and a tincture of the 
 root is also found most useful in cases of flatulent chohc. 
 
 Asclepias decumbens, pleurisy root, is much used by the 
 planters in the disease from which it is named — it is a very 
 
 -Pines are the most valuable trees which grow in Carolina. Judging of Iheir 
 ages by their rings, some of them have been cotemporary with the French, Span- 
 ish, and English settlements on the coast, and have flourished equally under the 
 democracy of Indians, and the proprietary, royal, and representative governments 
 of white men. The resources of Carolina in lumber may be estimated from the 
 following statements : There are within its limits two hundred thousand acres j 
 each of which, on an average, has growing on it fifty pine trees, and every one of 
 these, on an average, when brought in a marketable form to the sea ports, would 
 sell for ten dollars. If to these are added the cypress and cedar trees, the oaks, 
 ashes, poplars, maples, beeches, magnolias, palmettoes, and other common trees 
 in Carolina, which are used in furniture, building, as ship timber, and in various 
 forms by different artists, the sylvan riches of the State will be found to exceed all 
 calculation. So great is the eagerness to plant cotton, that forests containing im- 
 mense quantities of useful wood are yearly cut down and burnt without any 
 other advantage than what is derived from the fertilizing quality of their ashes. 
 This small residue of what might have been made ten times more valuable, is not 
 improved by being convertedinto pot-ash. Such are the temptations resulting from 
 the high value of the new staple, cotton, that to extend its culture, other sources 
 of wealth to an immense amount are annually sacrificed. In almost every case 
 land which, by being cleared of wood, is fitted for immediate planting, sells for 
 more than the same when fully timbered. There are about 30,000 cords of wood 
 consumed annually in Charlestown ; and much more cut down, burnt, and destroyed 
 in the country. Notwithstanding all this waste, the day is far distant when Caro- 
 lina, stript of its trees, will resemble the south of Europe, and some of the most 
 populous settlements in the northern States, so far as to present an unsha- 
 ded surface to the direct action of the sun. Great havoc for some time past has 
 been made among the pine trees by insects which, by boring into their substance, 
 destroy them. 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 191 
 
 useful sudorific after proper evacuations; and, combined with 
 them, seldom fails of effecting a cure. 
 
 Cassia marylandica, wild senna, not inferior to the senna of 
 the shops. 
 
 Convallaria polygonatum, Solomon's seal — an excellent 
 remedy for the scald head, and cutaneous eruptions. 
 
 Chironia angularis, lesser centaurs, is an excellent tonic and 
 bitter in the low state of fevers when the body is prepared for 
 medicines of that class. 
 
 Eupatorium perfoliatum, hemp agrimony. Thoroughwort 
 is an emetic sudorific and tonic medicine, and frequently re- 
 moves diseases of the skin. 
 
 Eupatorium pilosum, wild hoarhound, is good against fevers 
 and old coughs arising from debility. The tame possesses the 
 same virtues, but in an inferior degree. 
 
 Oxalis acetosella,woodsorrel, with which the woods abound, 
 makes with milk a grateful whey, cooling in fevers — and from 
 it may be prepared an essential salt like that of lemons, for any 
 purpose requiring a vegetable acid. 
 
 Puccoon root, sanguinaria canadensis, is a deobstruent, and 
 excellent in jaundice, old coughs, and bihons habits. 
 
 Pyroia umbellata, winter green — useful in nephritic cases. 
 Spieroea trifoliata, drop wort, commonly called Bowmen's 
 root, or Indian physic. The bark of the root is tonic and 
 emetic. 
 
 Zanthoryza, apiifolia, parsley leaved yellow root. A pleas- 
 ing bitter, not inferior to columbo. 
 
 Spigelia marylandica, pink-root. The experience of many 
 years has established the efficacy of a decoction of the roots 
 of this elegant plant as a safe and powerful vermifuge. Dr. 
 Barton is of opinion that it is also an excellent remedy in 
 some febrile diseases of children, particularly in that species 
 of remittent which often paves the way to dropsy of the brain. 
 Ceanothus Americanus, red root — the bark of the root is a 
 very strong astringent, and is much used in diarrhoeas. 
 
 May apple, wild lemon, podophyllum peltatum. The root 
 of this plant affords a certain and salutary cathartic. Dr. 
 Barton prefers it to jalap, because it is not so irritating and may 
 be procured fresh and genuine in almost every part of the 
 United States. 
 
 Prickly ash, aralia, spinosa— a watery infusion of the bark 
 of the root is a certain .Emetic, and proves frequently cathartic. 
 Its use is common in checking the progress of intermittents. 
 
 Gentiana or gentian — several species are to be found in 
 Carohna. Their roots are highly but agreeably bitter, and are 
 employed in making bitters and in cases of dyspepsia. 
 Laurus, sassafras— an infusion of the dried flowers is pre- 
 30 
 
192 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 ferred by many to tea, and the bark of the root is used as an 
 external appHcation in gangrene. 
 
 Poke root weed, phytolacca decandra. The tender plant is 
 an excellent substitute for spinach. A tincture of the berries 
 is employed in chronic rheumatisms, and a decoction of the 
 root by farriers in cleaning fistulous ulcers. 
 
 Sumach, rhus glabrum. An infusion of the berries makes 
 a drink cooling and acidulous, and proves gently cathartic. 
 
 Michella repens, partridge berry. A decoction of this plant 
 is esteemed a good emetic, and has gained a very general use. 
 
 Diuretic flagg, iris virginica. This plant possesses consider- 
 able diuretic powers, a decoction of the root in the hands of 
 several planters has performed cures in dro])sical cases. 
 
 Bucks eye, poor man's soap — esculus pavia. The root of 
 this plant is employed in washing woolens, and from the 
 fruit good starch may be plentifully obtained. The fruit pow- 
 dered and thrown into stagnant water, has the effect of intoxi- 
 cating the fish. They rise to the suface and are readily taken 
 by the hand. 
 
 VEGETABLES REMARKABLE FOR THEIR BEAUTY, FRAGRANCE, OR 
 CURIOUS STEUCTURE. 
 
 The mantling vines of the trumpet flower, yellow jasmines, 
 convolvolus, ipomea, glycine or Carolina kidney bean tree. The 
 fragrant bay trees, the delicate mellifluous smelling azalea, 
 the beautiful and sweet honeysuckle, the cheerful clematis or 
 traveler's joy, the shewy hibiscus, the elegant fringe and snow- 
 drop trees, the air-perfuming sweet scented shrubs, the rich 
 and gay variety of wild asters and dwarf sunflowers, with 
 the wood-enlivening phlox, the iris, the curious water lily, the 
 philadelphus inodorus, the andromeda, the kalmia, the storax 
 tree, the rhododendron, the spircea, the viburnum with the 
 humble but beautiful and sweet mitchella repens, the wild 
 strawberries, the blackberry bush, and the huckleberry, the 
 wild rose, the bartsia coccinea, wild lilies, vanilla or Indian to- 
 bacco, asclepias of many sorts, wood anemones, the utricularia 
 ceratophylla or bladder snout Sarracenia, dionea muscipula, 
 and many others which either display their beauties to every 
 traveler, or in more retired situations are wailing to reward the 
 curiosity and industry of the student of nature. 
 
 The woods furnish four native kinds of grape: the fox 
 grape, summer, winter and muscadine grape; their luxuriant 
 vines and sweet smelling blossoms contribute greatly to the 
 pleasantness of the country at an early season : their fruit is 
 moderately grateful, and they furnish excellent natural stocks 
 for engrafting imported grapes on. The cactus opuntia, or 
 Indian fig, is also a native of Carolina. Its growth is curious; 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 193 
 
 its fruit wiien thoroughly ripe agreeable: it furnishes also a 
 good but not durable scarlet dye ; but it is likely to become an 
 object of importance as furnishing food for the cochineal in- 
 sect which may be found in vast numbers on its leaves in the 
 months of April and May. 
 
 FOREIGN TREES AND OTHER VEGETABLES NATURALIZED. 
 
 The melia azedarach, or pride of India, introduced by 
 Thomas Lamboll. It is of very quick growth: the wood 
 makes furniture; the berries are eaten by horses and birds; 
 and the roots are a powerful vermifuge. 
 
 The stillingia sebifera, or tallow tree, was introduced from 
 the East Indies by Henry Laurens. Is a very beautiful tree, 
 and perfectly free from insects. Its berries are said to yield 
 in China an oil from which candles are made. They have 
 not hitherto answered for that purpose in Carolina. Their 
 leaves are green in mild winters ten or eleven months in the 
 year. 
 
 The weeping willow, salix babylonica. The pliable bark 
 and branches of this may be woven into baskets. Its whole 
 appearance connected with its situation near water, disposes 
 the mind to pensive contemplation. 
 Lombardy poplar. Pupulus dilitata. 
 
 Sterculia platanifolia. Introduced by Andrew Michaux, and 
 propagated by General Pinckney. 
 
 Palrna Christi, or castor oil tree, is easily propagated, grows 
 in abundance, and yields from 100 to 150 gallons of oil to 
 the acre. Mr. Rudulph of Camden has planted fifty or sixty 
 acres of it; from its berries he has obtained by expression 
 large quantities of cold drawn oil, which in equal doses opens 
 the bowels as effectually as castor oil imported from the West 
 Indies. 
 
 Sesamun indicum, benne oil nut. The seeds of this plant 
 furnish an excellent oil for salads, and every purpose for which 
 olive oil is used; the grain parched makes a pleasant, light 
 food, and may be prepared as a substitute for chocolate, and 
 an infusion of the leaves in water produces a gelatinous drink 
 highly recommended in bowel complaints. 
 
 The popy, papaver somniferum, has been successfully cul- 
 tivated near Charlestown ; and good opium, equal to any im- 
 ported, has been prepared from it, by Catharine Henry Lau- 
 rens Ramsay. If the present enormous price of that drug, 
 which exceeds its weight in silver, continues, the preparation 
 of opium will be an object worthy of attention. Carolina is 
 indebted to the East Indies for its rice, indigo and cotton. To 
 these may be added, and originally from the same country, 
 opium, which may be cultivated to any extent that is requisite. 
 Hops, humulus lupulus, grow plentifully and require little 
 
194 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 care. A growing fondness for beer may render a crop of this 
 nearly as profitable as cotton, especially if the price and Eu- 
 ropean demand for this article should, as many expect, be 
 considerably diminished. As a further recommendation of 
 hops, it has been found by late experiments to be in several 
 cases and some constitutions, a more unexceptionable ano- 
 dyne than laudanum ; while at the same time infusions of it 
 give tone to a debilitated stomach. 
 
 The common and despised datura stramonium, or James- 
 town weed, is a most powerful medicine in epilepsy and some 
 of the most obstinate complaints to which human nature is 
 liable ; prepared in the form of an ointment, it has an ano- 
 dyne effect when it is applied to pains on or near the surface 
 of the body; an application of the leaves frequently produces 
 the same result. 
 
 ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS. 
 
 The gardenia florida or cane jasmine, the virburnumtinus, 
 the rosa ferox, sometimes called rosa multifiora, more com- 
 monly known by the name of the noudescript, the rosa sin- 
 ensis, perpetual rose — rosa moschata, musk rose — the rosa 
 muscosa, moss rose, and many other beautiful and formerly 
 Tare kinds of roses. The olea fragrans, tlie hydrangea hor- 
 tensis, double and single oleanders, altheas, cultivated myrtles 
 of various descriptions, english jasmines and honeysuckles, 
 several kinds of elegant mimosas, an abundance of hyacinths, 
 narcissuses, daffodils, tonquils, ixias, ranunculuses, anemones, 
 with a profusion of annuals of the most beautiful kind. Of 
 fruit, sweet and sour oranges are raised, and, with some ad- 
 ditional care, citrons, lemons and limes, almonds and chesnuts, 
 figs and pomegranates, red and yellow raspberries and grapes, 
 but not in profusion. 
 
 VEGETABLES USED AS FOOD. 
 
 Okra, melons, pompions, and squashes in many varieties, 
 cucumbers, tanniers, Irish and sweet potatoes, groundnuts 
 used as food as a substitute for cocoa, and as a source of oil 
 for domestic purposes. 
 
 Indian potatoe, suckahoe trufiies, lycoperdon tuber is found 
 in great abundance in old fields one or two feet beneath the sur- 
 face of the earth, attached to the decayed roots of the hickory. 
 This subterranean production afforded the Indians wholesome 
 bread. 
 
 The country abounds also in natural grasses of which the 
 crab grass is undoubtedly the most valuable. Canes make 
 angling rods, and reeds for weavers, and are excellent food for 
 cattle. The common salt marsh yields manure and also prov- 
 ender for horses, for whose use hundreds of bundles of it are 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 195 
 
 almost daily sold in Charlestown market, at an early period of 
 the spring and through the summer. It is a wholesome aux- 
 iliary to green oats and crab grass. 
 
 Long moss, tillandsia usneoides — this curious production 
 marks the boundary between the upper and lower country. 
 In the first, though most wanted, as the winters are more 
 severe, it does not grow naturally, and all endeavors to propa- 
 gate it have been unsuccessful. In the latter it grows profusely 
 as an appendage to trees, and gives to them the venerable ap- 
 pearance of long pendulous gray beards. In hard winters it 
 is greedily eaten by cattle, and serves for food till the grass 
 springs ; when properly prepared it is used as a substitute for 
 hair in stuffing mattrasses,it is not lasting, but in other respects 
 answers very well. With the exception of Doctor Garden, no 
 Cirolinian is recollected as having studied botany scientifically 
 or otherwise than for horticultural purposes prior to the revo- 
 lution, but since that event, this delightful science has excited 
 attention, which though daily increasing, is far short of what 
 it deserves.* At the head of its present votaries are Stephen 
 Elliott of Beaufort, Henry Middleton, General Pinckney, and 
 Dr. MacBride of St. Stephens; the latter of whom prosecutes 
 this study with ardor and success in every relation, but most 
 particularly as connected with the practice of physic. It has 
 also been successfully cultivated by Mrs. (General) Pinckney, 
 who has formed an extensive hortus siccus, or collection, of 
 dried specimens of the botanic riches of Carolina. Miss 
 Maria Drayton of Drayton Hall, and Miss Martha Henry 
 Laurens Ramsay of Charlestown,are entitled to a distinguisjied 
 place among its admirers and students. 
 
 *There are many medical plants, the virtues of which have not been ascertained, 
 nor can they properly be till they are made the subject of repeated experiments. 
 To the candidates for medical degrees it is submitted whether any subjects for 
 inaugural dissertations can have equal charms, or excite an equal interest, as 
 experimental investigations of some of the medicinal vegetables of the country. 
 The virtues of several of these are now in a great measure lost to the community, 
 because unknown, or imperfectly ascertained. To persons residing in the coun- 
 try, the study of botany would beguile the lime which, from want ot'sorae useful 
 pursuit, frequently hangs heavy on their hands. To the pious it affords a constant 
 source of love and gratitude to the Author of nature, for having done so much to 
 benefit and please his creatures. To persons of taste and refinement, it affords a 
 continual feast. To the studious, by eneouragingand rewarding rural excursions, 
 it gives agreeable relaxation and wholesome exercise, without wasting any of 
 their time; for by exchanging their retirement and books for the woods and the 
 volume of nature, the improvement of the mind goes on, while the body acquires 
 new vigor: and to all it affords a never-failing source of enjoyment and employ- 
 ment which smooths the brow of care, and gives a zest to life. 
 
 Much has Carolina done for the encouragement of literature. One step more 
 will justify her sons in claiming pre-eminent rank for generously patronizing 
 science. A botanical garden at Columbia, of about twenty acres, would cost but 
 little, and under proper management could not fail to diffuse \!no\v]ei\ge among 
 the youth of the country, of immense practical use, leading to discoveries that, 
 even in a pecuniary point of view, would probably repay with handsome interest 
 the pittance necessary for its support. 
 
196 LITERARV HISTORr, 
 
 LITERARY HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 FROM 1670 TO 1S08. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The colonists of modern limes have many advantages over 
 those of antiquity, for they carry with them the civilization, 
 arts, and refinements of the times in which they lived and 
 the countries from which they migrated. The settlement of 
 Carolina commenced some considerable time after the dis- 
 covery of printing — the reformation of religion — and the res- 
 toration of learning. It was nearly coeval with the institu- 
 tion of the Royal Society of London, and began at a time 
 when Addison, Boyle, Boerhaave, Barrow, Fenelon, Hale, 
 Locke, Milton, Newton, Roliin, Sydney, Sydenham, Sloan, 
 Tillotson, Watts, and many other suns of intellect were living 
 and enlightening the world with the beams of knowledge. 
 Though few if any of the early settlers of the province were 
 learned men, yet they brought with them general ideas of Eu- 
 ropean literature. The subsequent improvements in the old 
 world were soon transmitted to the new, and by the noble art 
 of printing extensively diflfused. The opportunities enjoyed 
 by the emigrants to South Carolina for rapidly rising to con- 
 sequence, surpassed those Avhich had been at any period 
 within the grasp of the colonies of Asia; or even of Greece or 
 Rome. To prepare the soil for cultivation — to provide shelter 
 and the necessaries of life, must have engrossed the first care 
 of the early settlers ; but this was no sooner accomplished than 
 they adopted measures for promoting the moral and literary 
 improvement of themselves, and particularly of the rising gen- 
 eration. In the year 1700 a law was passed " for securing the 
 provincial library of Charlestown." This had been previously 
 formed by the liberality of Dr. Bray, the lords proprietors, and 
 the inhabitants of the province ; and was, by special act of 
 the Legislature, deposited in the hands of the minister of the 
 Church of England in Charlestown, for the time being, to be 
 loaned out to the inhabitants in succession, under the direc- 
 tion and care of James Moore, Joseph Morton, Nicholas Trott, 
 Ralph Izard, Job Howe, Thomas Smith, Robert Stevens, Jo- 
 seph Croskeys, and Robert Fenwicke; who were appointed 
 commissioners for that purpose. Libraries were soon after 
 formed in the difi"erent parishes, but chiefly for the use of the 
 rectors and ministers. Most of the books in these parochial 
 libraries were the gift either of Dr. Bray or of the society for 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 197 
 
 propagating the gospel in foreign parts ; but the assembly 
 took them all under their care, and subjected them to the vis- 
 itations of the commissioners appointed to secure the provin- 
 cial library. From this time forward the circulation of books — 
 the establishment of churches — and the settlement of Epis- 
 copal ministers in the different parishes, were encouraged by 
 legislative acts, private donations, and by the liberality of the 
 English society for propagating the gospel. Abouit a hundred 
 years ago that society considered the Carolinas as proper ob- 
 jects of their attention, and contributed in different ways to their 
 literary and religious instruction. Their efforts were seconded 
 by the people and the Legislature. The settlers were so few, and 
 so indigent, that they could not have accomplished the ob- 
 ject wished for to any proper extent from their own resources, 
 but the bounty of the society encouraged legislative and pri- 
 vate exertions, and their combined efforts were rewarded with 
 success. In a few years the Episcopal churches near Charles- 
 town were supplied with preachers, and several of them with 
 parochial libraries. Such was the zeal of the assembly for 
 promoting the religious instruction of the infant colony, that 
 they advanced £25 to Episcopal clergymen on their arrival 
 in the province ; and in case of their election to a benefice 
 their salary was paid by the treasury retrospectively from 
 the day of their landing. 
 
 In the years 1710 and 1712 the assembly passed laws "for 
 founding and erecting a free-school in Charlestown for the use 
 of the inhabitants of South Carolina. The preamble of the 
 latter, after setting forth "the necessity that a free-school be 
 erected for the instruction of youth in grammar and other arts 
 and sciences, and also in the principles of the christian reli- 
 gion ; and that several well disposed christians, by their last 
 wills had given several sums of money for the founding a 
 free-school," proceeds to enact, " that Charles Craven, Charles 
 Hart, Thomas Broughton, Nicholas Trott, Arthur Middleton, 
 Richard Beresford, William Rhett, Gideon Johnson, Francis 
 Lejau, Robert Maul, Ralph Izard, Joseph Morton, George Lo- 
 gan, Alexander Parris, Hugh Grange, and William Gibbon, 
 and their successors, be a body corporate, by the name of the 
 commissioners for founding, erecting, governing and visiting 
 a free-school for the use of the inhabitants of South Carolina, 
 with all the powers of a corporation, and with particular au- 
 thority to take possession of all gifts and legacies formerly 
 given for the use of the free-school, and to take up or purchase 
 as much land as might be deemed necessary for the use of the 
 school, and to erect thereon suitable buildings." It also 
 enacted " that John Douglass should be preceptor or teacher 
 of said school ; and that on his ceasing to be so, the comnus- 
 
198 LITERARY HISTORY, 
 
 sioners should appoint his successor, who should be of the 
 religion of the Church of England, and capable of teaching 
 the Latin and Greek languages — that the teacher should have 
 a salary of £lOO per annum, to be paid out of the public treas- 
 ury, and the use of the lands and buildings belonging to the 
 school, for which he was to teach twelve scholars, to be nom- 
 inated by the commisssioners, free of expense; and for all 
 others he was to receive at the rate of £4 per annum." Pro- 
 vision was also made " for the support of an usher and a mas- 
 ter to teach writing, arithmetic, merchant's accompts, survey- 
 ing, navigation, and practical mathematics.'' It was also en- 
 acted, " that any school-master settled in a country parish, 
 and approved by the vestry, should receive ten pounds per 
 annum from the public treasury;" and that "the vestries 
 should be authorized to draw from the same source twelve 
 pounds towards building a school-house in each of the coun- 
 try parishes." 
 
 Sir Francis Nicholson, the first royal Governor of the prov- 
 ince, was a great friend to learning. He liberally contrib- 
 uted to its support, and pressed on the inhabitants the useful- 
 ness and necessity of provincial establishments for its ad- 
 vancement. Animated by his example and urged by his per- 
 suasions, they engaged in providing seminaries for the instruc- 
 tion of youth. Besides general contributions, several partic- 
 ular legacies were also left for this purpose. Mr. Whitmarsh 
 left five hundred pounds to St. Paul's parish for founding a 
 free-school in it. Mr. Ludlam, the society's missionary at 
 Goose creek, bequeathed all his estate, which was computed 
 to amount to two thousand pounds, for the same purpose. 
 Richard Beresford, by his'will, bequeathed the annual profits 
 of his estate, to be paid to the vestry of St. Thomas' parish, in 
 trust, until his son, then eight years of age, should arrive at 
 the age of twenty-one ; directing them to apply one-third of 
 the yearly profits of this estate for the support of one or more 
 schoolmasters, who should <each writing, accounts, mathe- 
 matics, and other liberal learning, and the other two-thirds for 
 the support, maintenance, and education of the poor of that 
 parish. The vestry accordingly received from this estate six 
 thousand five hundred pounds for promoting these pious and 
 charitable purposes. This fund is still in existence, and has 
 long been known by the name of " Beresford's bounty.'' 
 
 In 1733 a free-school was erected at Childsbury, in St. 
 John's parish, on the foundation of ^600 bequeathed for that 
 purpose by James Childs, and ,£3,200 subscribed by the par- 
 ishioners. The interest of £200 bequeathed by Francis Wil- 
 liams was also appropriated as a fund for teaching poor 
 scholars. Thomas Broughton, Thomas Hasel, Anthony Bon- 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 199 
 
 neau, John Harleston, Nathaniel Broughton, Thomas Cordes, 
 and Fi-ancis Lejau, were appointed trustees, with the necessary 
 powers for promoting the interests of the institution. 
 
 In the year 1734 a free school was erected in Dorchester. 
 Alexander Skeene, Thomas Waring, Joseph Blake, Arthur 
 Middleton, Ralph Izard, Robert Wright, Paul Jenys, Walter 
 Izard, Benjamin Waring, Francis Vernod, William Cattel and 
 John Williams, were appointed trustees for taking care of its 
 interests. 
 
 The corporations of these several free-schools were cher- 
 ished by government. They were favored in taking up lands 
 which have ever since been increasing in value. They formed 
 a centre to which were drawn the donations and bequests of 
 the charitable. From the triple source of tuition money, pub- 
 lic bounty and private donations, a fund was created which 
 diffused the means of education far beyond what could have 
 been accomplished by uncombined exertions conducted with- 
 out union or system. 
 
 With the growing wealth of the province the schools be- 
 came more numerous and co-extended with the spreading 
 population. The number of individuals who could afford to 
 maintain private tutors and of natives who were sent abroad 
 for education, increased in like manner. None of the British 
 provinces in proportion to their numbers sent so many of their 
 sons to Europe for education as South Carolina.* This was 
 the consequence of the superior value of her exports, particu- 
 larly rice and indigo. These furnished ample means of de- 
 fraying the expenses of being educated in and of traveling 
 over Europe. The knowledge of grammar and of the Latin 
 and Green languages, and of mathematics, could, be obtained 
 in Carolina at any time after 1712, or the forty-second year 
 subsequent to the settlement of the province. The views of 
 the assembly with respect to domestic education did not for a 
 considerable time extend any further. The project of a pro- 
 vincial college was never seriously brought forward till the 
 year 1769, when a bill for that purpose was introduced and 
 discussed before the assembly but finally miscarried. Men of 
 moderate circumstances had not influence enough to carry it 
 through, and the rich did not need it ; for they disregarded the 
 
 * South Carolina has furnished to the United States two Presidents of the revo- 
 lutionary Congress; a Chief-Justice and an Associate-Judge of the supreme court; 
 six diplomatic characters; a comptroller and treasurer; three General officers for 
 the revolutionary army; a Major-General for the army of 1798, and a Brigadier- 
 General for the army of 1808. In addition to this, the vote of the State in ISOO 
 might have elevated one of its citizens either to the presidency or vice-presidency. 
 With the exception of Virginia, no State in the Union has obtained a greater, or 
 even an equal proportion of national honors. This was in some degree the con- 
 sequence of the attention paid by the early settlers of Carolina to the liberal educa- 
 tion of their children. 
 
200 LITERARY HISTORY, 
 
 expense of sending their sons to the seminaries of Europe. 
 The natives of Carolina, though educated in Great Britain, 
 were not biased in favor of that country. Most of them 
 joined heartily in the revolution, and from their superior 
 knowledge were eminently useful as civil and military officers 
 in directing the efforts of their countrymen in defense of their 
 rights.* The ideas which prevailed under the royal govern- 
 ment hostile to a provincial college as likely to level many ex- 
 isting distinctions between the children of the rich and poor, 
 were done away in the glorious struggle for the rights of man 
 which commenced about the year 1776. During the revolu- 
 tion popular opinion took a contrary course and ran in an op- 
 posite direction. In 17S5, only two years after the establish- 
 ment of peace and independence, no less than three colleges 
 were constituted on the same day. One was located on the 
 sea-coast in Charlestown, another in Winnsborough near the 
 centre of the State, and a third in Cambridge near its western 
 extremity. Several legacies at different periods had been left 
 to the first college that should be founded. These were equally 
 divided between the three colleges then established, according 
 to the wishes of the respective friends of each, who claimed an 
 equal share on the double ground of their having made extra- 
 ordinary and meritorious exertions in fostering a school in 
 each place, and of the more extensive accommodation to the 
 dispersed inhabitants. The number defeated the intentions 
 of the assembly, for neither could be properly supported on 
 the third of the common stock. They are colleges in name, 
 but in reality only grammar schools. 
 
 In the year 1795 the citizens of Beaufort preferred a claim 
 to have a charter granted for a college to be erected in their 
 vicinity. The advocates of the measure urged the uncommon 
 healthiness of the place, the great number of. their youth, and 
 the danger of sending them from the wholesome air and pure 
 morals of their native spot either to the capital or distant parts 
 of the country. They prevailed so far as to obtain a charter 
 and such funds as they could collect from the sale of escheated 
 and confiscated property in the district, and also from the sales 
 of the vacant lots in the town of Beaufort The latter in a 
 few years rose two or three hundred per cent, in value, and 
 aided the funds of the institution beyond the expectation of 
 its most sanguine friends. Suitable buildings for the accom- 
 modation of the students were begun, and schools set on foot 
 
 *Tlus is the more remarkable as the reverse took place in other provinces. 
 The circumstance is particularly mentioned " as a source of serious regret" by the 
 illustrious Washington in his last "will, and was assigned as a reason for his ardent 
 ■wish "to see an university established in the central parts of the United States, 
 to which the youths of fortune and talents should be sent from all parts for the 
 completion of their education." 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 201 
 
 preparatory to the college. The seminary blossomed well, 
 but little fruit has yet been gathered, though there is reason to 
 believe that when its funds are productive, and the world is 
 composed to peace, it will- realize the hopes of its friends. It 
 has many natural advantages favorable to the proper educa- 
 tion of youth. 
 
 The multiplication of colleges did not answer the end. In- 
 stead of yielding anymore to the partial wishes of sections of 
 the State the Assembly, in the year 1801, took up the business 
 on its proper ground and passed a law for building and en- 
 dowing a college at the seat of government, by the name of 
 the South Carolina College, under the care of its high respon- 
 sible officers, together with thirteen others, to be chosen every 
 fourth year by the Assembly. This measure was strongly rec- 
 ommended by Governor Drayton in his message to the Leg- 
 islature; and a report from Comptroller Hamilton on the 
 finances of the State proved its ability to meet the expense. 
 The establishment of a State college was carried through with 
 unexampled unanimity, all parties concurring therein, and 
 ample funds appropriated from the public treasury for erect- 
 ing all requisite buildings, for the purchase of a suitable 
 library, of a complete apparatus for philosophical purposes, 
 and for the annual support of a president, professors and othSr 
 teachers. The narrow policy which prevailed under the 
 royal government, of confining the choice even of teachers for 
 the free-schools to one sect of christians, had been done away 
 by the constitution. In the true spirit of free representative 
 government persons of every country and State, of every sect 
 and party, were equally eligible to be teachers in this cher- 
 ished seminary. The Reverend Dr. Maxcey, Avho had, with 
 great reputation presided over Brown university, in Rhode 
 Island, and Union college, in the State of New York, was 
 elected the first President. Under his auspices the college 
 has flourished to as great an extent as could reasonably be 
 expected in the short period of its existence. Its present num- 
 ber of students is 87 : two classes amounting to about forty 
 have already graduated. If its pupils are not wanting to 
 themselves they may be amply instructed in every language, 
 art and science, necessary to prepare them for the service of 
 their country. This college, yet in its infancy, possesses a 
 very select and extensive library, and a philosophical apparatus 
 not inferior to any on the continent. 
 
 Education has also been fostered in South Carolina by sev- 
 eral societies as a part of a general plan of charity. The old- 
 est of this class is the South Carolina society, which was 
 formed about the year 1737. 
 
 It pays the salary of a school-master and school-mistress for 
 
202 LITERARY HISTORY, 
 
 the education of children of both sexes. Since the commence- 
 ment of their school several hundreds of pupils have received 
 the benefit of a plain education from its bounty. Theie is a 
 succession of scholars. None are received under eight years 
 of age and none are retained beyond fourteen, and the girls 
 not beyond twelve. The present number is seventy-two, and 
 that is steadily kept up;- for as fast as any of the pupils are 
 dismissed, their place is supplied by the admission of others. 
 The present funds of this society amount to 137,000 dollars. 
 Since its foundation twenty-seven decayed members, and the 
 widows of sixty- four deceased members, have been annually 
 supported ; four hundred and forty children educated, and 
 three hundred and seven of them clothed from its bounty. 
 At present seventy-two children are educated by the society. 
 These are either destitute orphans,- or the offspring of needy 
 parents. One indigent member and sixteen widows of de- 
 cayed members, are also at present maintained by the society. 
 
 The Fellowship society, incorporated in 176 9, was originally 
 intended to cover under its sheltering wing the deplorable 
 maniac; and for that purpose appropriated one-half of its funds. 
 With the other moiety it has followed the humane example of 
 the last mentioned society, and bestows a gratuitous education 
 on the children of misfortune. Twenty-five children are now 
 under a course of plain education on its bounty. 
 
 The St. Andrew's society have in like manner lately appro- 
 priated a portion of their funds for similar purposes, and 
 twenty children are now educated at their expense. 
 
 The Wynyaw Indigo society was incorporated in 1756. 
 The original design of the founders of this institution was of 
 a patriotic and charitable nature. It had in view the im- 
 provement of the culture and manufacture of indigo, and the 
 endowment of a free-school. The object of the society is now 
 wholly confined to the education of orphan children. Since 
 its commencement there have been educated and supported 
 upon its bounty between one and two hundred orphans. 
 From the continual accession of new members the funds are 
 in a flourishing condition, and enable the society to educate 
 twenty children annually. 
 
 The German Friendly Society, incorporated in 1791, gives 
 a gratuitous education to about twenty children in succession. 
 
 With these five last mentioned societies, education is only a 
 collateral part of their general plan; but since the revolution, 
 societies and academies have been formed and incorporated 
 at difl"erent periods in almost every part of the State; prima- 
 rily for the encouragement and support of schools. To these 
 generally have been given by the Assembly the escheated 
 and unsold confiscated property in their respective districts. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 203 
 
 The names of these, as far as can be recollected, are the Mount 
 Zion society, incorporated in 1777; St. David's, in 1778; the 
 Minerva academy, fourteen miles below Columbia, in which 
 about fifty-six scholars are educated ; the Camden Orphan so- 
 ciety, in which a few children are educated on charity, and 
 about sixty Avho pay for their education. The trustees of this 
 institution have purchased the large elegant mansion house 
 of the late Colonel Joseph Kershaw for the use of the school 
 and its teachers. The Clarendon Orphan society, incorpo- 
 rated inl 798 ; the Trustees, for establishing public schools in the 
 district of Orangeburg, incorporated also in 1798; the Mount 
 Bethel academy ; the Clermont society, for the purpose of 
 endowing a seminary of learning at Statesburgh; the Friendly 
 Cambridge society. 
 
 Among the different sects of Christians in South Carolina, 
 none have made earlier or greater exertions for promoting re- 
 ligious knowledge than the Baptists. Their Charlestown as- 
 sociation was formed in the year 1752, and then consisted 
 only of four or five churches. Under their patronage, collec- 
 tions soon began to be made to assist pious young men in 
 obtaining an education for the gospel ministry. They assisted 
 several. Of these, four or five arrived to considerable emi- 
 nence. One in particular. Doctor Stillman, shone as a distin- 
 guished luminary of the church in Boston. In the year 1775, 
 several of the leading members of the association formed 
 themselves into a society by the name of " The Society for 
 Improvement in Christian Knowledge," which pursued the 
 plan of educating pious young men for the ministry, but con- 
 nected with it the formation of a select library and the discus- 
 sion of useful theological subjects at a weekly meeting. Un- 
 der the same patronage a more extensive society was formed 
 in 1792, and soon after incorporated by the name of "The 
 General Committee for the Charlestown Baptist Association 
 Fund.'' Besides donations and bequests, there are yearly col- 
 lections made in the Baptist churches for improving the funds 
 of this society. Nine young men under its care have finished 
 their studies preparatory for the ministry, and two more are 
 far advanced in a similar course. The committee have pro- 
 vided a respectable library for the use of the students, which 
 as kept by the Reverend Mr. Roberts, near Statesburgh, and 
 some useful books have been distributed among indigent 
 clergymen. In the year 1802, a missionary scheme was 
 formed by the Charlestown association which was placed un- 
 der the direction of a special committee, and the Reverend 
 John Rooker was appointed missionary to the Catawba In- 
 dians. A school was also opened among them, and a consid- 
 erable number of the Indian children have been taught to 
 
204 
 
 LITERARY HISTORY, 
 
 read and write, and a few the use of figures. The Indians 
 have treated the preacher and school-master with respect, and 
 attended their instructions with apparent seriousness. Some 
 of them have become more enlightened and civilized ; but 
 none have hitherto made any regular profession of Christ- 
 ianity.* 
 
 The Independents or Congregationalists of Charlestown, in 
 1802, formed a society for promoting the interests of religion. 
 They have amassed funds to the amount of 2,000 dollars. 
 From the interest of this capital — annual subscriptions and 
 collections, they support a missionary to preach to and in- 
 struct the inhabitants in such parts of the State as are destitute 
 of the ordinary means of acquiring religious knowledge; and 
 among such they distribute Bibles, and other books of prac- 
 tical religion. In 1804, a number of ladies in Charlestown 
 formed themselves into " a Society for distributing pious books 
 and erecting country schools for the children of the poor." 
 They appointed a committee consisting of Mrs. Hollinshead, 
 president; Mrs. Waring, treasurer; and Miss Edwards, sec- 
 retary; Mrs. Gregorie, Mrs. M'Calla and Mrs. Beach, to trans- 
 act the business of the society. Each of these and some 
 others circulated among their acquaintances papers soliciting 
 charitable contributions. From the proceeds, amounting to 
 more than 4,000 dollars in the first four years after the insti- 
 tution of the society, they ha:ve been enabled to distribute a 
 number of religious books and to establish and support a 
 school near the head branches of Goose creek, in which twen- 
 ty-seven scholars are educated and partly maintained at their 
 expense. Within twenty-five miles of Charlestown they found 
 in one neighborhood seventeen families containing sixty-one 
 children, who were destitute of the means of instruction. This 
 is now freely imparted to them by the society. The funds of 
 the institution have been managed with such address that, 
 over and above paying all current expenses, they have pur- 
 chased fifty-one shares in the South Carolina Bank; the divi- 
 dends of which are appropriated as a perennial spring to water 
 this and similar institutions which they have resolved to ex- 
 
 « It is truly honorable to the Baptists that they have done so much for the inter- 
 ests of learning and religion, and particularly for the instruction of the Indians; 
 and it is lamentable that the State has done so little for the latter purpose. The 
 Catawba Indians have for a long time been friendly, and have lived among, or 
 rather have been surrounded by white people, and yet no one effort has been 
 made by the State for the civilization and religious instruction of this tribe, nor of 
 any of the Indians. A century and a half has not passed away since these people 
 were the sole possessors of the whole of this e-xtensive and beautiful country; but 
 
 these former lords of the soil have been driven from river to river from forest to 
 
 forest— rolled back nation upon nation, till they are fugitives, vagrants and stran- 
 gers in their own land. Carolinians! cherish the few that remain, and prevent 
 their cursing the day on which white men landed in the country of their fore- 
 fathers. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 205 
 
 tend and establish as far and as soon as their means will 
 enable them. The late happy revolution in South Carolina 
 was essentially aided by the patriotism of its ladies. Exertions 
 like the present, tend to make that revolution a real blessing ; 
 for knowledge and morality are the main pillars of our free 
 and happy government. 
 
 In Union district there is a grammar school situated on Fair 
 Forest, and has about twenty grammar scholars. It is sup- 
 ported by a society under the name of the Philomathean So- 
 ciety. This society have it under their patronage and direction, 
 and promise a certain annual sum to the teacher, which they 
 pay up by contribution if the tuition money fails; independ- 
 ent of this they tax themselves with a certain sum per annum, 
 for the purpose of raising a fund for the erection of an 
 academy. 
 
 In Newberry district there are two very respectable acade- 
 mies ; they were originated and have been carried on with 
 much spirit. Bethel Academy is under the patronage of the 
 Methodist Society, and is much indebted to the zeal and in- 
 fluence of the Reverend Mr. Dorothy, deceased. It is situated 
 in the centre of a pleasant and wealthy neighborhood, and as 
 the gentlemen of the vicinage feel a zeal for the welfare of the 
 academy, they keep plentiful boarding at a reasonable price. 
 This academy sometimes has seventy or eighty students. It 
 is generally filled by a respectable teacher. 
 
 The Newberry Academy was established by contributions, 
 and is about one mile from Newberry court house. For the 
 better support of it they procured leave of the Legislature to 
 raise a sum of money by lottery. It is very well supplied 
 with a respectable teacher and a competent number of stu- 
 dents. This institution is much indebted to the zeal and 
 liberality of Colonel Rutherford. 
 
 In Spartanburg district there is one grammar school called 
 the Minerva school, with about twenty grammar scholars. 
 It is supported and patronized by a society under the name of 
 the Philanthropic society. It is situated in a high, healthy 
 part of the country, and the neighborhood affords plentiful 
 and good boarding at a reasonable price. It is supplied with 
 a respectable teacher. 
 
 Besides what has been done by the State, and by religious 
 sects and private societies for the advancement of learning 
 and the diffusion of religious knowledge among the inhab- 
 itants, there are several private schools, both in Charlestown 
 and the country, for teaching classical and mathematical 
 learning. Among these one under the care of the Reverend 
 Dr. Waddell, of Abbeville district, deserves particular notice. 
 In it from seventy to eighty students are instructed in the 
 
206 LITERARY HISTORT, 
 
 Latin, Greek and French languages, and such of the arts and 
 sciences as are necessary to prepare a candidate for admission 
 into the higher classes at the northern colleges.* The school- 
 house is a plain log building in the midst of the woods, in a 
 hilly and healthy country, and too small to accommodate all 
 the scholars in the hours of study. To obviate this inconve- 
 nience they are permitted and encouraged to build huts in the 
 vicinity. These are the rough carpentry of the pupils, or con- 
 structed by workmen for about four dollars. In these, when 
 the weather is cold, and under the trees when it is warm, the 
 different classes study. To the common school or recitation 
 room they instantly repair when called for by the name of the 
 Homer, the Xeriophen, the Cicero, the Horace, or Virgil class, 
 or by the name of the author whose writings they are reading. 
 In a moment they appear before their preceptor, and with or- 
 der and decorum recite their lessons — are critically examined 
 in grammar and syntax — the construction of sentences — the 
 formation of verbs — the antiquities of Greece and Rome — the 
 history and geography of the ancients, illustrative of the au- 
 thor whose works they recite; and are taught to relish his 
 beauties, and enter into his spirit. Thus class succeeds to 
 class without the formality of definite hours for study or re- 
 creation, till all have recited. In the presence of the students 
 assembled, a solemn and appropriate prayer, imploring the 
 Eternal in their behalf, begins and ends the exercises of each 
 day. In this manner the classics are taught 190 miles from 
 the sea-coast. The glowing periods of Cicero are read and 
 admired. The melody and majesty of Homer delight the ear 
 and charm the understanding, in the very spot, and under the 
 identical trees, which sixty years ago resounded with the war- 
 whoop and horrid yellings of savage Indians. Of the large 
 number that attend this school, nine in ten are as studious as 
 their health will permit, and as orderly in their conduct as 
 their friends could wish. Far removed from the dissipation 
 of cities, and among sober, industrious, and religious people, 
 they must be studious, or lose all character and be pointed 
 at by the finger of scorn. If disposed to be idle or vicious, 
 they cannot be so otherwise than by themselves ; for the 
 place will not furnish them with associates. Monitors are 
 appointed to superintend each sub-division of the students; 
 and such as transgress the rules of the school are reported 
 once in every week. Over them a court is held. They are 
 allowed to justify or extenuate. A summary decision is made. 
 Though corporeal punishment is not wholly excluded, it is 
 
 *Dr. Smith, the learned President of Nassau Hall, in New Jersey, has repeat- 
 edly said, that he receives no scholars from any section of the United States who 
 stand a better examination than the pupils of Dr. Waddel. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 207 
 
 rarely inflicted. The discipline of the institution respects the 
 pride of youth, and is chiefly calculated to repress irregular 
 conduct by attaching to it shame and dishonor. The saga- 
 cious preceptor quickly finds out the temper and disposition 
 of each student, and is the first to discover aberrations from 
 the straight line of propriety. By nipping mischief in the bud, 
 he prevents its coming to any serious height. By patience in 
 teaching, and minutely explaining what is difiicult, he secures 
 the afi'ections of his pupils and smooths their labors; while 
 at the same time judicious praise rouses ambition, and kin- 
 dles in their breasts an ardent love for improvement, and an 
 eagerness to deserve and gain applause.* 
 
 Though the State and individuals have done much to en- 
 courage education among the youth of Carolina, the propor- 
 tion of the rising generation which is pressing forward with 
 such ardent zeal for knowledge, as bids fair to secure for them 
 high seats in the temple of fame, is lamentably small. In ge- 
 nius they are not deficient, but perseverance in a long contin- 
 ued, close application to study is too often wanting. Many 
 of them will not learn Greek at alL Others learn it so sifper- 
 
 *A clergyman with the same name with this illustrious instructor of youth in 
 Abbeville, and his relative, died near Richmond about the year 1806. It is remark- 
 able that both these distinguished namesakes lived in similar situations, remote 
 from the public eye, in country retirement. The merits of the Virginia Waddel 
 were first brought before the public in a letter published in a Virginia newspaper 
 ill 1803, purporting to be written by an English gentleman traveling in the United 
 States, to a member of the British Parliament; but generally ascribed to the cele- 
 brated William Wirt, of Richmond. From this letter the following extract is 
 taken: "It was one Sunday, as I traveled through the county of Orange, that my 
 eye was caught by a cluster of horses tied near a ruinous old wooden house in 
 the forest, not far from the roadside. I had no difficulty in understanding that 
 this was a place of religious worship. Curiosity to hear the preacher of such a 
 wilderness was not the least of my motives for joining the congregation. On 
 entering, I was struck with his preternatural appearance. He was a tall and 
 very spare old man; his head, which was covered with a white linen cap, his 
 shriveled hands and his voice — were all shaking under the influence of a palsy, 
 and a few moments ascertained to me that he was perfectly blind. The lirst emo- 
 tions that touched my breast were those of mingled pity and veneration. But ah! 
 how soon were all my feelings changed. The lips of Plato were never more wor- 
 thy of a prognostic swarm of bees than were the lips of this holy man. It was a 
 day of the administration of the sacrament, and his subject of course was the 
 passion of our Savior. I had heard the subject handled a thousand times: I had 
 thought it exhausted long ago. Little did I suppose that in the wild woods of 
 America, I was to meet with a man whose eloquence would give to this topic a 
 new and more sublime pathos than I had ever before witnessed. As he descended 
 from the pulpit to distribute the mystic symbols, there was a peculiar, a more than 
 human solemnity in his air and manner, which made my blood run cold and my 
 whole frame to shiver. He then drew a picture of the sufferings of our Savior, 
 his trial before Pilate, bis ascent up Calvary, his crucifixion, and his death. I 
 knew the whole history, but never until then had I heard the circumstances so 
 selected, so arranged, so colored. It was all new, and I seemed to have heard it 
 for the first time in my life. His enunciation was so deliberate that his voice 
 trembled on every syllable, and every heart in the assembly trembled in unison. 
 His peculiar phrases had that force of description, that the original scene appeared 
 to be at that moment acting before our eyes. But when he came to touch the 
 patience, the forgiving meekness of our Savior ; when he drew to the life his 
 blessed eyes streaming in tears to heaven; his voice breathing to God a soft and 
 gentle prayer of pardon on his enemies— "Father forgive them, for they know 
 
 31 
 
208 LITERARY HISTORY, 
 
 ficially that it is soon forgotten. Very few can bring their 
 knowledge of either the Latin or Greek classics to bear on any 
 subject of conversation, or writing, seven years after they have 
 done with school. W hat is thoroughly learned cannot be so 
 easily forgotten. A few, with little or no classical education, 
 by the help of superior natural powers and an industrious 
 course of English reading, have made a distinguished figure in 
 public life. Their success, like the large prizes in a lottery, 
 inspires false hopes in the breasts of others, who have neither 
 the talents nor industry of those whom they affect to resemble. 
 So much of the precious period of youth is frequently spent 
 in doing nothing of any value, or in frivolous amusements, 
 that too little is left for completing a solid education in its 
 proper season. Whether this is attained or not, the pursuit 
 of it oftener terminates under twenty, than continues beyond 
 that period. Several affect to be men, and some are really 
 fathers when they ought to be at school. How far the youth 
 of the upper country will merit exemption from these remarks, 
 remains to be ascertained by time. There are already some 
 prorAising appearances in their favor. Youths of great hopes 
 
 not whal they do" — ^the voice of the preacher, which had all along faltered, grew 
 fainter and fainter, until his utterance became entirely obstructed by the force of 
 his feelings ; he raised his handkerchief to his eyes, and burst into a loud and irre- 
 pressible flood of grief. The eflect is inconceivable: the whole house resounded 
 with the mingled groans and sobs of the congregation. It was some time before the 
 tumuli had subsided, so far as to permit him to proceed. I began to be very uneasy 
 for the situation of the preacher; for I could not conceive how he would be able 
 to let his audience down from the height to which he had wound them, without 
 impairing the solemnity and dignity of his subject, or perhaps shocking them by 
 the abruptness of the fall. But, no: the descent was as beautiful and sublime as 
 the elevation had been rapid and enthusiastic. The first sentence with which he 
 broke the awfur silence, was a quotation from Rousseau: "Socrates died like a 
 philosopher, but Jesus Christ like a God." I despair of giving you any idea of 
 the effect produced by this short sentence, unless you could perfectly conceive 
 the whole manner of the man, as well as the peculiar crisis in the discourse. 
 Never before did I completely understand what Demosthenes meant by laying 
 such stress on delivery. You are to bring before you the venerable figure of the 
 preacher; his blindness constantly recalling to your recollection old Homer, Os- 
 sian, and Milton, and associating with his performance the melancholy grandeur 
 of their geniuses; you are to imagine that you hear his slow, solemn, well-accented 
 enunciation, and his voice of aflecting, trembling melody; you are to remember 
 the pitch of passion and enthusiasm to which the congregation were raised ; and 
 then the few minutes of portentous death-like silence which reigned thoughout the 
 house; the preacher removing his white handkerchief from his aged face, even 
 yet wet from the recent torrent of his tears, and slowly stretching forth the palsied 
 hand which holds it, begins the sentence: "Socrates died like a philosopher;" then 
 pausing, raising his other hand, pressing them both clasped together with warmth 
 and energy to his breast, lifting his "sightless balls" to heaven, and pouring his 
 whole soul into his tremulous voice; "but Jesus Christ like a God." If he had 
 been indeed and in> truth an angel of light, the eflect could scarcely have been 
 more divine. Whatever I had been able to conceive of the sublimity of Massillon 
 or the force of Bourdaloue, had fallen far short of the power which I felt from the 
 delivery of this simple sentence. The blood which just] before had rushed in a 
 hurricane upon my brain, and in the violence and agony of my feelings, had held 
 my whole system in suspense, now ran back into my heart with a 'sensation 
 which I cannot describe, a kind of shuddering, delicious horror. 
 
 " If this description gives you the impression that this incomparable minister 
 had anything of shallow theatrical trick in his manner, it does him great injustice. 
 
FROM 1670 TO 180S. 209 
 
 aiU coming forward into public life from the western woods. 
 
 A general system of education has often been before the As- 
 sembly, but nothing has yet been determined on the subject. 
 In several extensive but thinly populated settlements there 
 are no schools ; and children are advancing in years without 
 being able to read. In a Christian State, professing to believe 
 that the bible is the word of God, it is no small reproach that 
 there should be any so ignorant as to be incapable of reading 
 it* 
 
 The assembly did not confine their patronage of literature 
 merely to the erection of schools and colleges, but encouraged 
 the practical arts. The first law passed for that purpose was 
 as early as 1691, in the 22d year after the settlement of the 
 province. This was entitled "an Act for the better encour- 
 agement of the making of engines for the propagating the 
 staples of the colony." A law was passed in 1707 "for en- 
 
 I have never seen in any other orator such an union of simplicity and majesty. 
 He has not a gesture, an attitude, or an accent, to which he does not seem forced 
 by the sentiment which he is expressing. His mind is too serious, too earnest, too 
 solicitous, and, at the same time, too dignified to stoop to artifice. Although as far 
 removed from ostentation as a man can be, yet it is clear, from the train, the style, 
 and substance of his thoughts, that he is not only a very polite scholar, but a man 
 of extensive and profound erudition. I was forcibly struck with a short yet beau- 
 tiful character which he drew of our learned and amiable countryman, Sir Robert 
 Boyle; he spoke of him as if "his noble mind had even before death divested 
 herself of all influence from his frail tabernacle of flesh," and called him, in his 
 peculiarly emphatic and impressive manner, " a pure intelligence, the link between 
 men and angels." 
 
 "This man has been before my imagination almost ever since; a thousand 
 times as I rode along I dropped the reins of my bridle, stretched forth my hand, 
 and tried to imitate his quotation from Rousseau ; a thousand times I abandoned 
 the attempt in despair, and felt persuaded that his peculiar manner and power, 
 arose from an energy of soul, which nature could give, but which no human be- 
 ing could justly copy. In short, he seems to be altogether a being of a former 
 age, or of a totally different nature from the rest of men. Guess my surprise 
 when on my arrival at Richmond, and mentioning the name of this man, I found, 
 not one person who had ever before heard of James Waddel. Is it not strange 
 that such a genius as this, so accomplished a scholar, so divine an orator, should 
 be permitted to languish and die in obscurity within eighty miles of the metropo- 
 lis of Virginia! To me it is a conclusive argument either that the Virginians have 
 no taste for the highest strains of the most sublime oratory, or that they are des- 
 titute of a much more important quality, the love of genuine and exalted religion. 
 Indeed it is too clear ipy friend that this soil abounds more in weeds of foreign 
 birth, than in good and salubrious fruits. Among others the noxious weed of in- 
 fidelity has struct a deep a fatal root, and spread its pestilential branches far around. 
 I ftar that our eccentric and fanciful countryman Godwin, has contributed not a 
 little to water and cherish this pernicious exotic. There is a novelty, a splendor, 
 a boldness in his scheme of morals peculiarly fitted to captivate a youthful and an 
 ardent mind." 
 
 ■ *This reproach can now be more easily wiped off than heretofore; for the 
 ingenuity of Mr. Lancaster has lately contrived and introduced into practice, with 
 success, a new and easy method, by which one man can at the same time teach a 
 thousand persons to read. A school in New York, and another in Philadelphia, 
 have been lately set up on this plan, and have been found to answer. A salary 
 for the teacher, and a large house for the pupils, are all the items which involve 
 any material expense in executing Mr. Lancaster's system. When the Assembly 
 in this or some other mode shall have put it in the power of the poorest person to 
 be taught the art of reading and writing, they will then have done a lull orbed duty 
 to all classes of the people, as far as their literary interests are concerned. 
 
210 LITERARr HISTORY, 
 
 couraging the making potash and salt petre;" one in l'P[2 
 " for encouraging the building saw mills and other mechanic 
 engines;" and two in 1725 "for the encouragement of making 
 salt in the province." Peter Villepontaux, Francis Gracia, 
 Charles Lowndes, and Adam Pedington, between the years 
 1732 and 1756, severally received legislative encouragement 
 in favor of machines made or projected by them respectively 
 for pounding, beating, and cleaning rice. These and some 
 other laws of a similar tendency passed while South Carolina 
 was a British province. On the establishment of independ- 
 ence, and peace, the business was taken up in the proper style 
 of a sovereign State. In 1784, a law was passed "for the en- 
 couragement of arts and sciences," by which it was enacted, 
 "that the authors or proprietors of books, and the inventors of 
 useful machines, should have the exclusive benefit of their 
 labors or inventions on certain restrictions for the term of 
 fourteen years ; and renewable for a second term of fourteen 
 years if the authors or inventors were then living.'' This 
 power was exercised by the State liberally for the encourage- 
 ment of genius till it was voluntarily transferred to the United 
 States in 1788 for more general benefit. 
 
 Except the provincial library, coeval with the eighteenth 
 century, which has disappeared, the eldest establishment of 
 that kind is the Charlestown Library Society, founded in 1748, 
 and incorporated in 1754. It consisted originally of the fol- 
 lowing seventeen members : John Sinclair, John Cooper, Peter 
 Timothy, James Grindlay, William Burrows, Morton Brails- 
 ford, Charles Stevenson, John Neufville, Thomas Sacheverell, 
 Robert Brisbane, Samuel Brailsford, Paul Douxsaint, Thomas 
 Middleton, Alexander Baron, Alexander M'Caulay, Patrick 
 M'Kie, and William Logan ; and has been ever since increas- 
 ing in members, funds, and books. It at present possesses 
 4,500 volumes, and consists of 230 members : its capital in 
 bank shares and stock, 11,600 dollars; yearly income, 3,400 
 dollars; annual expenses, 1,500 dollars. It is deficient in an- 
 cient literature,* but contains a very ample collection of ele- 
 gant and costly works in botany, natural histsry, voyages, 
 travels, civil history, biography, and miscellaneous literatura 
 It also receives a regular annual supply from London of new 
 
 * On the 17th of January, 1778, a very extensive fire took place in Charlestown, 
 when this library, containing between six and seven thousand volumes, comprising 
 a very valuable collection of ancient authors, with paintings, prints, a pair of ele- 
 gant globes, mathematical and other instruments, and man~y specimens of natural 
 history, was almost totally destroyed. Since the establishment of peace the at- 
 tention of the society has been principally directed to the most valuable modern 
 authors. 
 
 A beginning has also been made towards the formation of a museum. Among 
 the natural curiosities of Carolina there collected, are the heads of two deer with 
 their branching horns so interlocked that they cannot be detached from each 
 
FROM 1670 TO 1808. 211 
 
 and valuable publications. Similar respectable establishments 
 have been made in Union, JS^ewberry, Laurens, and Abbeville 
 districts ; also in Camden, Georgetown, and Columbia ; but 
 of recent date.* There are libraries forming at many of the 
 . court houses, as central places of deposit for the districts, 
 which are enlarging gradually, and extending a taste for read- 
 ing. They are in the nature of circulating libraries among 
 the proprietors. 
 
 Many of the wealthy planters have respectable libraries for 
 their private use, and they are not backward in adding to 
 them from time to time, especially new and popular publica- 
 tions. The booksellers declare that the sale of books pro- 
 gressively increases except in times of general distress from 
 some common calamity. They add further, that school-books, 
 and such as treat of religion, are in the greatest demand, 
 Mr. Davidson, the worthy and respectable Librarian of the 
 Gharlestown Library, adds, as a further evidence of an in- 
 creasing taste for literature in Carolina, that the number of 
 books loaned out for reading has increased astonishingly in 
 the period of eleven years, during which he has been charged 
 with the care of the society's books. 
 
 So many are the readers in Carolina, compared with the 
 books within their reach, that much of their knowledge in 
 theology, moral philosophy, ancient history, manners, and 
 customs, is derived from their bibles ; and a great proportion 
 of what they know respecting politics and government, the 
 modern improvements in arts and sciences, and the present 
 state of the world, is derived from newspapers. The amount 
 of knowledge collected from these two sources by some re- 
 tired citizens, exceeds what strangers could expect. Having 
 
 other. These were parts of two skeletons found in the woods of Beaufort dis 
 trict, lying in opposite directions. It is conjectured on probable grounds that in 
 butting each other their respective long diverging antlers became so entan- 
 gled as to be incapable of separation. In this state of unnatural union they must 
 either have starved, or have been devoured by birds of prey. A spectator cannot 
 avoid reflecting that duels between individual's, and wars between nations are of- 
 ten as causeless ia their origin, and as ruinous in their consequence, as the fatal 
 contest of these cervine combatants. 
 
 * A library society might be instituted on the following plan in every neighbor- 
 hood, which at a small expense would afibrd to its members an opportunity of 
 reading a considerable number of books ; let any given number associate and 
 each pay a certain sum to be agreed upon, and with that purchase books. When 
 the books are procured let every subscriber ehyose and take home as many of 
 them as he pleases, not exceeding in price the aiuount of his subscription. The 
 priority of choice to be in the alphabetical order of their names. In every fort- 
 night, month, or other regular period to be agreed on, let all the books be re- 
 turned, and a new distribution be made on the same principle ; but he who has 
 had the first choice shall immediately thereupon be put at the foot of the list and 
 have his next choice last ; and so on successively, till the last in the alphabetical 
 arrangement has the first choice. The books may then be sold, and the proceeds 
 or a second sum advanced by the subscribers, may be applied to the purchase of 
 a new collection to be distributed in rotation as before. 
 
212 LITERARY HISTORY. 
 
 but little to read, they read that little well. Their bibles, 
 when carefully studied and one part made to expound another 
 by the help of marginal references, open an extensive view of 
 the origin of the world, and the great revolutions it has un- 
 dergone — of ancient nations, and particularly of the real state 
 of human nature, in every clime and age. No history was 
 ever better written than that of the Jews, by their own Moses. 
 And there is more knowledge respecting the first half of the 
 whole period that has elapsed since the creation of man to be 
 obtained from the bible, than from any other source. In our 
 popular government, where contending parties exert their 
 utmost powers by eloquent appeals to the people to draw 
 them to their respective sides ; and where rival editors, by 
 the variety and importance of the contents of their papers, 
 endeavor to extend their circulation, a flood of miscellaneous 
 knowledge is transmitted through these daily vehicles of com- 
 munication. 
 
 Newspapers began to be printed in South Carolina in or 
 about 1730, by Lewis Timothy. From that period to the 
 present, with some short interruptions, a paper has been con- 
 stantly printed by some of that family. His great grandson, 
 Peter Timothy Marchant, is one of the present proprietors of 
 the Courier. Robert Wells commenced a gazette in 1758, and 
 continued it with great spirit for about sixteen years, and was 
 followed by his son, John Wells, in the same line till 1782. 
 Charles Crouch also began a public newspaper in 1765 in 
 defiance of the stamp act, and continued it till the Revolution. 
 None but weekly papers were printed in Charlestown, and 
 none at all in the country prior to the establishment of inde- 
 pendence. In 1783, Mr. John Miller, formerly editor of a 
 paper in London, began a daily one in Carolina. Three daily 
 and two weekly papers now issue frorii the presses of Charles-, 
 town. A newspaper is also printed in Camden, Columbia, in 
 Pendleton district, and at Georgetown. The public gazettes, 
 before the principles of the Revolution began to agitate the 
 American mind, were comparatively unimportant. Govern- 
 ment being administered for the colonists, and not by them, 
 they felt but little interest in its transactions. Very different 
 is the case at present From the concern that every man 
 takes in public matters — from the arts of politicians, to lead 
 or even to mislead the people connected with the spirit of 
 free inquiry, and the enlivening energy of representative gov- 
 ernment, knowledge has become a thriving plant among the 
 Carolinians ; and many of their minds have grown far be- 
 yond the standard of their fathers who died while they were 
 subjects. 
 
 In the course of the one hundred and six years while South 
 
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY. 213 
 
 Carolina was a colony, the whole number of persons born 
 therein who obtained the honors of literary degrees in colleges 
 or universities, as far as can be recollected, is short of twenty ; 
 but in the thirty-two years of her independence, one hundred 
 of her native sons have acquired that distinction. There was 
 no grammar-school in South Carolina prior to 1730, except 
 the free-school in Charlestown : from 1730 till 1776 there were 
 not more than four or five, and all in or near Charlestown. 
 Since the Revolution there are, from information, about thirty, 
 and they are daily increasing and extending into the remotest 
 extremities of the State. 
 
 The only well furnished book-store in provincial South 
 Carolina, was one kept for about twenty-five years by Robert 
 Wells, who contributed considerably to a taste for reading in 
 Charlestown by the regular and early importation oif all 
 new and admired publications in Great Britain. Since the 
 revolution, there have been constantly from three to six book- 
 stores in Charlestown. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 Viriues, Vices, Customs, and Diversions, <f-c. of the Inhabitants. 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The love of liberty had taken deep root in the minds of 
 Carolinians long before it was called into action by the revo- 
 lution. The first settlers fled from tyranny and persecution. 
 In such a situation truth occurred to them every moment and 
 epiectually taught them the rights of man. Their situation 
 and employment in a new country operated so as to enlarge 
 and confirm the sentiments which their sufferings had first 
 produced. The wilderness was to be cleared — habitations 
 were to be built — the means of living were to be procured. 
 The similarity of situation and employment produced a simi- 
 larity of state and condition, and inculcated the equality of 
 rights. They soon found that to be wise, strong, industrious 
 and healthy, was of much more importance than to be called 
 dukes, earls, or marquisses. They grew up with a love of 
 liberty, and everything around them confirmed their predilec- 
 tions for its blessings. Two of their early Governors, Sir 
 James Colleton and Seth Sothel, were taught by the Assembly 
 of the province to respect the rights of freemen. In the exer- 
 
214 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 
 
 cise of that great American right to resist tyranny and to abol- 
 ish constitutions when hostile to their happiness, they threw 
 off the proprietary yoke. Animated by the same spirit, in 
 little more than half a century after one revolution they en- 
 gaged in another. They rescinded all connection with Great 
 Britain, and risked their lives and properties in defense of inde- 
 pendence. Great were the sacrifices to which they submitted 
 in the revolutionary war ; but on all occasions the love of 
 liberty was their predominant passion. Nice calculations of 
 the probable consequences of their resisting Great Britain 
 while they were few in numbers — exposed to dangers from 
 their own domestics and the namenais savages on their fron- 
 tiers, would have deterred them from engaging in the doubt- 
 ful contest if immediate self interest had been the pole-star of 
 their conduct. South Carolina had few or no local grievances 
 to complain of, and might at any time have obtained good 
 terms on submission to the mother country ; but the love of 
 liberty carried her sons honorably and triumphantly through 
 the war, and has ever since taught them to resist all real and 
 supposed attempts to invade their rights. 
 
 Though this disposition nourishes freedom, and is highly 
 deserving of praise, yet it has sometimes been carried too far; 
 especially since the revolution, and by the younger part of the 
 community. The elder citizens have successfully contended 
 for the rights of men. Their sons, too little accustomed to the 
 discipline of a strict education, seem equally zealous for the 
 rights of boys, and urge their claims so practically that many 
 of the merchants import from Europe clerks trained to habits 
 of obedience, rather than make vain attempts to subjugate the 
 high minded youths of Carolina. Their repugnance to sub- 
 jection is sometimes accompanied by many virtues, and affords 
 a guarantee to the republican institutions of the country, but 
 too often transcends the temperate medium which as cheer- 
 fully submits to proper authority as it manfully opposes what 
 is improper and degrading. 
 
 Hospitality is another common virtue in Carolina. Inn- 
 keepers complain that this is carried to such an extent that 
 their business is scarcely worth following. The doors of the 
 citizens are opened to all decent travelers, and shut against 
 none. The abundance of provisions on plantations renders 
 the exercise of this virtue not inconvenient, and the avidity of 
 country people for hearing news makes them rather seek than 
 shun the calls of strangers. The State may be traveled over 
 with very little expense by persons furnished with letters of 
 introduction, or even without them by calling at the planta- 
 tions of private gentlemen on or near the roads. 
 
 Charity is carried rather to excess in Charlestown; for the 
 
or SOUTH CAROLINA. 215 
 
 bounty of the public is so freely bestowed and so easily ob- 
 tained as to weaken the incitements to industry and some- 
 times to furnish facilities for indulging habits of vice. On 
 this siibject a reform is needed, and will probably soon take 
 place. The public charitable institutions of Charlestown cost 
 its inhabitants annually more than 30,000 dollars ; the pay- 
 ment of which is enforced by law in the form of a city tax. 
 The calls on them for their private contributions to relieve in- 
 digence, to promote literary, religious, charitable, and benevo- 
 lent institutions, both in and out of the State, are frequently 
 repeated and seldom or never without success. Two or three 
 thousand dollars are often collected in a few weeks by courtly 
 solicitors and carried oflf by them for purposes in the advance- 
 ment of which the people of Charlestown have no direct nor 
 immediate interest. 
 
 A sense of honor is general ; but, like charity, is sometimes 
 carried too far, and urges individuals to seek satisfaction or 
 explanation for trifles which might with propriety pass unno- 
 ticed. The general result is however favorable to a respectful 
 behavior of the citizens reciprocally to each other. The licen- 
 tiousness of the tongue and press is seldom indulged in Caro- 
 Una by the lowest classes of people, and scarcely at all by any 
 of decent standing in society. The correct conduct of the 
 gentlemen in the State is imitated by all ranks. There is such 
 a general respect for propriety of behavior, that rude attacks 
 on the characters of individuals meet with no countenance. 
 They are for the most part more injurious to their authors 
 than their subjects. A keen sensibility on subjects of per- 
 sonal honor, carried to extremes, degenerates into a vice odi- 
 ous in its motive, mischievous, in its consequences, and par- 
 ticularly disgraceful to the State. Mistaken views of honor 
 give rise to duels. These take place oftener in Carolina than 
 in all the nine States north of Maryland. Warm weather and 
 its attendant increase of bile in the stomach has a physical 
 tendency to produce an irritable temper. Hence it frequently 
 happens, especially in summer, that many things are said or 
 done thoughtlessly and without any deUberate intention of 
 hurting the characters or wounding the feelings of the persons 
 to whom they relate. Genuine chivalry would either disregard 
 such trifles, or seek for an explanation and readily accept of 
 a shght one or such as might be made without degradation. 
 But it is too common for sudden gusts of passion under the 
 imposing garb of honor to urge the offended party to demand 
 too much, and the ofiender to concede too little. The Christ- 
 ian doctrine of the forgiveness of injuries being disregarded, 
 pride and self-love become the motives of action, and make 
 honorable reconciliation impossible; for they urge one party 
 
216 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 
 
 to refuse, what they urge the other to insist upon. To avoid 
 the imputation of cowardice, the one demands reparation for 
 an offense according to his own ideas of justice, and the other 
 from the same motive and under the same influence refuses 
 it. Each constitutes himself judge in his own case at a time 
 when pride or passion hide both truth and justice from their 
 minds. The laws of God and man being set aside, the im- 
 portant question of right or wrong — of character and reputa- 
 tion, is left to the decision of the best marksman. That duel- 
 lists, who nine times in ten can strike a dollar, should at the 
 same distance either miss their antagonists altogether, or that 
 part of them at which they leveled, must be referred to want 
 of self-possession. Conscious that the)* are doing wrong, their 
 hands tremble and carry the bullets aside from their aim ; 
 otherwise the death of both parties would be much more com- 
 mon than it is. 
 
 A few duels are recollected as having taken place before the 
 revolutionary war, and were often fought with swords. Dur- 
 ing and since that period they have been much more frequent; 
 and always with pistols. Their folly is equal to their guilt 
 They decide nothing. They neither prove the courage, the 
 justice, nor the innocence of the parties. The greatest cow- 
 ards maybe urged on to fight duels, and the bravest men may, 
 from a sense of duty to God and man, and from a conviction 
 of their absurdity, refuse that gothic mode of settling disputes. 
 They occasionally rid the world of a fool, a madman, a gam- 
 bler, a bully, or a blackguard: but sometimes deprive society 
 of a worthy man, who, though possessed of many virtues, has 
 not courage enough to follow his own convictions of duty; 
 and who is so afraid of the imputation of cowardice, that he 
 acts the part of a coward ; for, induced by fear of the censure 
 or ridicule of a misjudging world, he deliberately does what 
 his conscience condemns. 
 
 It is to be regretted that among the many laws which crowd 
 the statute book of Carolina, there are none that are calcula- 
 ted to suppress the practice of duelling. According to the 
 letter of the law, duellists may be prosecuted for murder; but 
 the uniform verdict of juries for more than thirty years has 
 adjudged the off'ense to be manslaughter. The burning in the 
 hand, which is the penalty of that ofi'ense, has in every in- 
 stance been remitted. The trial of a person who has killed 
 his antagonist in a duel, is now little more than an investiga- 
 tion of the fairness of the procedure. If the rules of duelling 
 have been observed, and no advantage taken, an acquittal as 
 above stated is a matter of course. This defect in the policy 
 of the State laws induced the Revolution society, and the 
 South Carolina society of Cincinnati, in the year 1803, to ap- 
 
OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 217 
 
 point a committee from both societies to petition the Legisla- 
 ture to provide some adequate law to restrain this practice of 
 duelling. The committee draughted a petition which, after 
 being signed by more than 4,000 persons, was presented to the 
 Legislature. They also by circular letters requested the clergy 
 to preach on the subject. This was generally complied with. 
 The public mind was enlightened on the guilt and folly of 
 the practice ; but no other benefit resulted. The Legislature 
 did not act on the petition though the petitioners were numer- 
 ous, and many of the Grand Juries had presented the want 
 of a proper law against duelling as a grievance. The com- 
 mittee o^the two societies at the request of some members of 
 the Assembly, draughted a bill for the purpose intended. This 
 was put in the hands of members of the Legislature to be 
 brought forward as the work of a committee of their body. 
 It contemplated the subject on new grounds and proposed a 
 legal tribunal for deciding those points of honor which are 
 the ordinary causes of duels, and imposed penalties affecting 
 the honor, character, and civil privileges of the duellists, their 
 seconds, aiders, and abettors. It did not touch the life of the 
 survivor, but subjected his estate to the obligation of provid- 
 ing for the family of his deceased antagonist. In this busi- 
 ness Major-General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney took the 
 lead. His standing in society as an officer of high rank — his 
 estabhshed reputation for courage and for exquisite sensibility 
 on every subject connected with honor, gave great weight to 
 his opinions: but all was unavailing. No law has yet been 
 passed relative to duels; and the practice of killing men in 
 single combat, and of acquitting the survivors, continues. 
 South Carolina loses four or five of its citizens almost every 
 year and sometimes embryo citizens; for lads have fought 
 duels, who were too young to give their votes at elections or to 
 make their wills. They dispose of their lives when they are 
 not legally competent to dispose of their property. 
 
 Drunkenness may be called an endemic vice of Carolina. 
 The climate disposes to it, and the combined influence of 
 religion and education, too often fail to restrain it The free 
 perspiration which takes place, especially in summer, calls for 
 a great proportion of liquid to replace the discharged fluid. 
 Several persons are contented with the beverage of nature, and 
 maintain good health and spirits without any artificial liquor 
 whatever; but a much greater number drink water only when 
 they can get nothing else. The most harmless substitute that 
 has ever yet been found for that pure element is beer. This 
 communicates strength while it quenches thirst, and in its 
 most common forms does not readily intoxicate. Unfortu- 
 nately for Carolinians, cheap fermented liquors do not suit 
 
218 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 
 
 with their climate, especially in the summer when they are 
 most wanted. Recourse is generally had to spirituous liquors ; 
 medical theories are made to bend to appetite. Accommodat- 
 ing professional men by their example and advice, recom- 
 mend it as a corrector of the water. Such opinions are read- 
 ily received and acted upon. The general position being once 
 admitted that the addition of rum, gin, brandy, or whiskey, is 
 an improvement of water, it is no easy matter to stop at the 
 precise point of temperance. The reasoning powers are so 
 far the dupes of sense, that a little more and a little stronger 
 is taken without hesitation. Thirst makes the iirst drink a 
 plentiful one; a few supplementary draughts complete the 
 business of intoxication, and induce an oblivion of all cares. 
 A repetition of the pleasing delusion takes place; an habit 
 of inebriety is insensibly formed. To resist a growing fondness 
 for liquor in its first stage is possible, but it requires much 
 fortitude and perseverance. When the habit is completely 
 formed, reason is dethroned ; the reins are surrendered to ap- 
 petite, and the unhappy man is hurried on from bad to worse, 
 till he becomes a nuisance in society. 
 
 All these temptations to intoxication are increased by idle- 
 ness. Men are so constituted as to be incapable of total stag- 
 nation. Something to stimulate the senses, employ the body 
 or occupy the mind, is a matter of absolute necessity. He 
 whose vacant mind cannot amuse itself with reading, reason- 
 ing, reflecting, or the reveries of imagination ; whose inclina- 
 tion disrelishes and whose circumstances elevate him above 
 bodily labor, has only one avenue left to save himself from 
 the painful sensations of being without any employment for 
 mind or body ; that is, to rouse his senses by the poignancy 
 of something that acts directly and strongly upon them. This 
 may be done by tobacco, opium, and some other irritating 
 substances, but by nothing so readily or so conveniently as 
 by ardent spirits. The draught which- at first excited the 
 senses, soon becomes inadequate. The quantity must there- 
 fore be increased. A pernicious habit is thus insensibly 
 formed from having nothing to do. 
 
 The hard laboring man is assailed by temptations of a dif- 
 ferent nature. Labor in warm weather excites great thirst. 
 The attending depression of spirits is supposed to require some- 
 thing cordial. The quantity of water which nature requires, 
 dashed with only a common portion of ardent spirits, makes 
 in the whole too much of the latter for health or comfort. 
 Habits of intoxication in this manner grow on persons of this 
 description, while they are without any apprehensions of their 
 transgressing the rules of temperance. Thus a considerable 
 proportion of the laborers who take up their abode in Caro- 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 219 
 
 Una, either lose their healths or their lives in the course of a 
 few years. Dropsies, complaints of the liver, dyspepsia, or 
 bad digestion close the scene with people of this description. 
 
 To these may be added the gentlemen who spend their 
 afternoons and evenings over their wine. By the help of 
 semi-annual fits of the gout they sometimes make out to live 
 for several years, though they seldom go to bed sober. Their 
 habits are expensive, destructive of time, and inconsistent 
 with close application to business ; but their lives are not so 
 directly and immediately threatened as in the caseof those who 
 in shorter spaces drink equal quantities of spirituous liquors. 
 
 Perplexity, from debt and other embarrassments or troubles, 
 is in Carolina a common cause of inebriation. This state of 
 mind produces a physical effect which resembles the pressure 
 of a bar across the breast. To remove that sensation, and to 
 drown care, recourse is had to the oblivious draught. Being 
 often repeated, it disqualifies the sufferer from manly exertions 
 to extricate himself. Instead of more industry and economy, 
 it too often happens that more ardent spirits are taken till the 
 case becomes hopeless. 
 
 The too early introduction of young lads into company has 
 an unhappy effect on their habits. They need not the stim- 
 ulus of strong drink, and are often indifferent and sometimes 
 averse to it; but when fashion leads the way, they have not 
 fortitude enough to made a stand. They are apt to prefer 
 social folly to singular wisdom. To be occasionally drunk in 
 good company, is considered by their young companions as a 
 proof of spirit. As duels are sometimes fought against the 
 grain in compliance with custom, so habits of intoxication are 
 contracted by young men, not from any self-indulgence in 
 the beginniug, but merely to please other people. When once 
 contracted they are rarely laid aside. The good-natured, 
 pleasant, accommodating youth, dies a sot before he attains to 
 middle age. 
 
 When all the preceding classes are taken into view, the 
 number of strictly temperate people is far short of what is gen- 
 erally supposed. On this subject medical men have much 
 better opportunities of information than others. Let him that 
 stands, take heed lest he fall; for the temptations' to drunken- 
 ness are so great and so common, as partly resulting from the 
 climate, that great self-command, prudence and fortitude, and 
 a strict discipline of the passions and appetites, are absolutely 
 necessary to maintain the empire of reason over sense. 
 
 A disposition to contract debts is one of the vices of Caro- 
 linians: To this several local causes contribute. Agriculture 
 is the employment of most, and is the original source of their 
 wealth. As crops are annual, out-goings must precede in- 
 
220 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 
 
 comings. To limit the former to means in hands would 
 greatly curtail the latter. Agriculture must be carried on by- 
 most planters partly on credit or carried on to little purpose. 
 From the state of the country many annual debts are una- 
 voidably contracted, and from the uncertainty of crops in a 
 hazardous climate, subject to storms, freshets and hurricanes, 
 must often remain unpaid at least for the ensuing season. 
 When everything is prosperous the profits are great. One 
 crop will often purchase the fee simple of the land on which 
 it is made. Two, three, or four, will in like manner pay for 
 the negroes who make it. These are strong inducements to 
 give and to take credit. In successful seasons neither the 
 merchant nor the planter are disappointed. But a melancholy 
 reverse often takes place: unseasonable frosts, insects, freshets, 
 defects or excess of rain, and several other incidents, prevent 
 the growth or maturation of the commodities of the country. 
 When the crop is made and ready to be gathered, storms 
 often, and hurricanes sometimes, in a few hours blast the 
 labors of a year. When all is housed, circumstances both at 
 home and abroad, beyond the control of the planters, fre- 
 quently arise to reduce the price of country produce, and 
 sometimes entirely to obstruct its sale. Planting in Carolina 
 is like an annual lottery, in which, on an average of several 
 years, there are many blanks and many prizes. A few of the 
 latter are very large, but the greatest number do not much 
 exceed the price of the ticket. In the great chain of credit 
 the planter forms the first link. When his crop fails, the fail- 
 ure involves multitudes in unavoidable breaches of contract, 
 though they have no immediate connection with agriculture. 
 
 If rational prospects of crops were the only foundation of 
 credit the debts of individuals would be far short of what they 
 generally are. To these must be added an immense sum 
 founded on speculation. In Carolina, where the price of mar- 
 ketable articles is as variable as the weather, a boundless field 
 is opened to exercise the ingenuity of men, who, from an ex- 
 act knowledge of the present state of things and an attentive 
 retrospect of the past, can form shrewd conjectures of the fu- 
 ture rise and fall of the market. Such men are called specu- 
 lators. By lucky guesses a few of them make estates; but 
 many others, less fortunate, not only lose what they possessed 
 but involve innocent creditors in their speculations. The 
 transition from riches to poverty, from good credit to insolv- 
 ency, is sometimes rapid. In other cases it is slow, but the 
 more slow the more extensive is the ultimate crash. Where 
 there are banks and money lenders an artificial credit mav be 
 supported for some time. The afiairs of the declining debtor 
 are known to none but himself, and even he, from self-love 
 
or SOUTH CAROLINA. 221 
 
 and sanguine hopes is often deceived. In the meantime 
 others, misled by appearances, continue to trust him ; while 
 his substance is wasting away between usurers and brokers, 
 lawyers and sheriffs. 
 
 The contiguity of the West India islands to Charlestown 
 affords temptations to many mercantile adventurers ; which, 
 as they may be commenced without solid capital, frequently 
 prove ruinous to those concerned. The voyage is often begun 
 and ended within sixty days, and the cargo furnished on the 
 credit of a note for that period. When the speculation suc- 
 ceeds all is well. It pays expenses and yields a handsome 
 profit ; but orders or decrees from European sovereigns, storms, 
 tempests and sudden changes, in the market price of com- 
 modities, not unfrequently blast the fairest prospects ; and 
 suddenly substitute a heavy load of debt and sometimes com- 
 plete ruin, where immense profits were in a train of being 
 realized. 
 
 Securityship is another source of debt. Bondsmen are re- 
 quired by the State from most of its public officers, and fre- 
 quently from private purchasers of property. A few years 
 often make a material alteration both in the circumstances 
 and character of the principal, which is neither known nor 
 suspected by his security. A safe act is at first contemplated, 
 but time or unforeseen circumstances make it the reverse, and 
 involve an innocent man in the misfortunes of his friend. The 
 great advance in the price of articles sold on long credit in- 
 duces sellers to prefer that mode of selling; and the profits 
 made by purchasers occasionally exceeding the usual rate of 
 interest induce purchasers to take the bait. This sometimes 
 proves harmless, but often injurious both to them and their 
 securities. 
 
 Speculators are the readiest to be extensively involved in the 
 toils of debt ; but the most cautious are sometimes unavoidably 
 entangled. There are few countries in the world where the 
 expenses pf living, especially in a tolerably decent style, are 
 higher than in Charlestown. In such a place even a tempo- 
 rary failure of business produces serious consequences. With 
 many the profits and the labors of the day supply its wants. 
 Though the first, from sickness or other causes, should fail 
 the latter go on and can only be supplied by credit. In this 
 manner cautious honest men are sometimes involved. Debt, 
 like a millstone, weighs them down so that their future extri- 
 cation is always difficult and often impracticable. The plain 
 furniture of a decent house, for the accommodation of a new 
 married pair boiight on credit, sometimes involves embarrass- 
 ments which last for years. So many debts are contracted 
 from these various sources that few individuals are clear of 
 
222 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORT 
 
 them. Unembarrassed estates are rare, and their real value is 
 seldom known till their owners die; especially where mutual 
 credits are given and accounts remain for years, as is too often 
 the case, without a final setdement. The banks have intro- 
 duced a germ of punctuality among that class of people who 
 do business with them; but these are not one in fifty of the 
 whole inhabitants. He that commences business of any kind, 
 with the means and the inclination to give general credit, 
 must be both cautious and fortunate or he will lose, not only 
 profits, but capital. His customers will be numerous ; but 
 their payments will be so tardy, irregular, and so often with- 
 held, that no dependence can be placed on them. On these 
 subjects a reform is beginning to take place. The necessity 
 and advantages of punctuality are more generally known, and 
 its votaries increase. Credit is oftener withheld, or more cau- 
 tiously given, than formerly. The necessity for it in agricul- 
 ture has given it a currency in other cases, and has carried it 
 so far as to make debt very common, and punctual payments 
 very rare. 
 
 Insolvent debtors enjoy some peculiar privileges in Caro- 
 lina. When taken into custody, if they give security for their 
 keeping within prescribed bounds, they are indulged with 
 ample limits, comprehending in Charlestown a space equal to 
 two or three squares. On petition and a surrender of all their 
 property to their creditors they may, after ten days notice, re- 
 gain their liberty. To prevent this catastrophe some make 
 equivalent private surrenders to trustees for the benefit of their 
 creditors. In the first case they are discharged from the 
 claims of all creditors who have sued. In the latter from all 
 who accept of the terms of assignment There is no bankrupt 
 law in Carolina, nor any that bars a creditor who has neither 
 sued nor compromised with the debtor from demandimg pay- 
 ment from his future earnings. When this catastrophe takes 
 place new measures are generally adopted. The failing mer- 
 chant commences broker. The planter, whose property is 
 taken from him, becomes manager forsome of his more fortu- 
 nate agricultural acquaintances. In both cases they recom- 
 mence business with a stock of experience that may be of im- 
 mense service in their future operations. By the aid of 
 industry and sobriety they may do well and retrieve what 
 they have lost ; but if they are so far broken down with their 
 misfortunes as to give themselves up to habits of indolence 
 and intoxication they are gone for ever; and the sooner they 
 die the better it is likely to fare with their families. If the 
 property should be kept together during the life of its embar- 
 rassed possessor, when he dies new scenes open. The whole 
 amount of debts and credits is then brought to view. The 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 223 
 
 estate is found to be insolvent, to the surprise of many and 
 especially of the unsuspecting widow. All her energy be- 
 comes immediately necessary for her helpless family. In such 
 extremities the female character in Carolina has shown with 
 pecuUar lustre. Two obvious and common resources are 
 open to the surviving parent. She may keep a lodging-house 
 or open a school. In these or some other, modes of making a 
 Hvelihood widows engage, and often with surprising success. 
 Steady to their purpose they pursue the present object with- 
 out being drawn aside by splendid probabilities of remote ad- 
 vantages. By their judicious management estates have been 
 retrieved, families raised; sons and daughters, knowing that 
 their prospects of paternal fortune are cut off, are educated 
 strictly, and early taught to depend on their own exertions for 
 their future maintenance and advancement. From a moth- 
 er's care they rise, by the fall of their father's, and are pre- 
 sented to their country fortified with virtuous habits and hon- 
 orable principles* Such have been the consequences, both 
 good and bad, of the disposition to contract debt which abounds 
 in the State. 
 
 A warm, moist unelastic air fosters habits of indolence. The 
 mountaineer delights inaction ; but repose has peculiar charms 
 for the inhabitant of the plain. In Carolina there are inhab- 
 itants and portions of the State embracing both descriptions. 
 The common custom of making almost daily long sittings at 
 meals, and smoking segars, co-operate with the climate in di- 
 minishing incitements to activity and energy of character. 
 There is a painful vacuum in the life of an unemployed man, 
 doubtless designed by Providence to stimulate him to indus- 
 try. These kind intentions are frustrated by substituting use- 
 less, frivolous amusements in place of serious business. The 
 long protracted pleasures of the table, fascinate, beguile time, 
 and make immense deductions from that portion of it which 
 the calls of families and society require for interesting pur- 
 poses. The dryness of the mouth, caused by smoking, excites 
 an articial thirst and that demands repeated supplies of liquid. 
 Water is insipid and cannot be relished after the stimulating 
 poignancy of tobacco. . Something spirituous must be added. 
 That disinclination to labor which flows from the state of the 
 atmosphere is increased. When all the powers of human 
 nature sfiould be put in requisition to counteract the influ- 
 ence of climate, auxiliaries are called in to augment its bane- 
 ful tendency. A chain of causes, all tending to mischief, is 
 formed. A waste of time, idleness and intemperance result 
 from late sittings and long smokings, and all concur to expend 
 the energies of man ; born for nobler purposes. Of the many 
 customs which are deemed harmless in Carolina, none are 
 32 
 
224 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 
 
 eventually mgre injurious and at the same time less sus- 
 pected than these which have occasioned the preceding re- 
 marks. 
 
 To encourage the raising and improving the breed of good 
 horses, a race course was in the year 1754 established by pri- 
 vate subscription about a mile from Charlestown. Very few 
 blooded horses had been previously imported ; but after 
 course-racing was introduced, great numbers of well bred 
 running horses and mares were brought from England. 
 Every planter raised yearly one or more colts. In a short 
 time no part of America, except Virginia, could produce so 
 many fine horses, either for the course, saddle or draught, as 
 South Carolina. This state of things continued till the revo- 
 lutionary war, and furnished excellent horses both for the 
 British and American cavalry. It has been renewed since 
 the peace of 1783, but not urged with the same zeal as before. 
 The culture of cotton engrosses the Carolinians, and they now 
 purchase many of their horses from the inhabitants of Ken- 
 tucky, Tennessee and other States who raise them at little 
 expense. Before the year 1754 the best horses for the draught 
 or saddle in Carolina were called the Chickesaw breed. These 
 were originally introduced by the Spaniards into Florida, and 
 in the course of time had astonishingly increased. Great num- 
 bers ranged wild in and near the Apalache old field. Many 
 of them were caught and tamed by the Indians, and sold to 
 the traders. They made use of them for pack horses to bring 
 their peltry to market, and afterwards sold them in the low 
 country. These horses in general were handsome, active and 
 hardy, but small; seldom exceeding thirteen hands and a 
 half in height. The mares in particular, when crossed with 
 English blooded horses, produced colts of great beauty, strength 
 and swiftness. Before the year 1754 these Chickesaw horses 
 were the favorite breed. Since that period a much better one 
 has been introduced. After course-racing was established, it 
 was one of the most fashionable diversions, and drew from 
 all parts of the province and State to Charlestown, a greater 
 number of spectators than any other amusement or business 
 whatever. Far from being confined to the capital, it extended 
 over the province. It excited and continues to excite among 
 the people a great and lively interest. The jockey club is nu- 
 merous and comprehends a great proportion of the gentlemen 
 near Charlestown. The periodical races in the month of 
 February form an annual epoch inferior only to the 4th of 
 July. For two or three hours before their commencement 
 the road leading to the course is so crowded that access to the . 
 city is very difficult. While the race is pending, and for 
 sometime before and after, a solemn stillness reigns through- 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 225 
 
 out the streets. These are for the most part deserted, and 
 Charlestown is transferred to the race ground. When the con- 
 test commences, almost every spectator takes part with one or 
 the other of the horses contending for the foremost place.. The 
 moment that point is settled the rattling of cash is heard in all 
 directions. Thousands are lost or won in a moment. The 
 same scene is repeated and the same tumult of the passions is 
 roused for four successive days. On the evening of the last 
 but one, a ball is given by the jockey club in the style of re- 
 publicans. The bustle is gradually composed. The planters 
 and factors make a convenience of their meeting to eifect a 
 settlement of accounts, and both by degrees resume the accus- 
 tomed habits of tranquil life. 
 
 Hunting, both as a business and a diversion, has always 
 been useful and fashionable in Carolina. It contributed es- 
 sentially to the support of the first settlers, and considerably 
 to that of their successors in every period. It has also fur- 
 nished the most valuable materials for the early commerce of 
 the country, and has ever since added to the list of its exports. 
 The same arts which were daily employed by the inhabitants 
 in hunting, taught them to be expert, and always ready to de- 
 fend themselves against enemies. The country, at its first 
 settlement, was one continued forest abounding with wild 
 beasts. To destroy them was both pleasant and profitable. 
 This disposition has descended from father to son through the 
 five or six generations which have intervened between the 
 first and present settlers. To the inhabitants of cities it is 
 matter of astonishment with what ease they who reside in the 
 country can force their way at full speed through the thickest 
 recesses of the forest. Impediments apparently insurmount- 
 able are readily got over. Dangers that seem to threaten life 
 and limb — to tear riders from their horses, or horses from 
 them, are escaped without injury. Hunting in some respects 
 is war in miniature. The votaries of the one are in a good 
 school of preparation for the other. This was amply expe- 
 rienced in the course of the American revolution. When 
 Charlestown yielded to the conquerors in 1780, the contest 
 was re-commenced by the huntsmen of the country under the 
 auspices of their gallant leaders Sumpter and Marion. The 
 same arts, arms and equipments which had been used against 
 wild beasts, were successfully employed against the invaders, 
 and made all their movements in a woody country extremely 
 dangerous. At present game affords the only trophies of hun- 
 ters. In pursuing it they take great delight. Children are 
 taught by their example, and early equipped for the chase 
 with a dog, a gun, and a horse. Boys not more than ten 
 years old can show with pride the deer they have killed. 
 
226 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORT 
 
 Exulting in their prowess they give an earnest of what they 
 can do if their country should call for their services. 
 
 Hunting is a social diversion and is carried on by clubs. 
 One of these exists in almost every district, especially in the 
 low country. They meet once a month or fortnight, and the 
 members by turns provide a dinner in a plain building erected 
 for the purpose in some convenient central part, and called the 
 club-house. They meet early in the day with their hounds, 
 horses and guns. Such as choose to take an active part in 
 the sport, sally out in the rear of their dogs. As soon as a 
 deer is discovered, the hounds in full cry commence the chase. 
 The woods re-echo with sounds more exhilarating to the party 
 than any musical instrument. The hunters pursue. From 
 their knowledge of the country and the habits of the deer, 
 they know the precise course that will be taken. They gallop 
 through the woods with a swiftness sometimes exceeding that 
 of the dogs and the deer. They take different stands, but all 
 ahead of the game, and in the course which they know he 
 will take. As soon as the deer appears within gun shot, he 
 is leveled at by the hunters in succession ; but most of them 
 are such dexterous marksmen that he hardly ever escapes, 
 and is often laid low by the first or second fire. Instances 
 not unfrequently occur where the shot takes effect, though 
 discharged when the shooter and the stricken deer are both 
 in motion ; and the latter at full speed. The hunt seldom fails 
 of success. When it is over, the parties return to the club- 
 house with keen appetites and partake of the dinner provided 
 for them in the woods. The remainder of the day is spent 
 sociably. In the evening they divide the spoil and return 
 home. The members die, but the clubs are immortal; so far 
 that a constant succession is kept up, and has been so for near 
 half a century and bids fair to continue. The sons take the 
 place of their fathers, and two or three generations in succes- 
 sion have hunted over the same ground. Any decent stranger 
 coming to reside in the district, if he chooses, is proposed as a 
 member and rarely rejected. Any such person being acci- 
 dentally in the neighborhood or even traveling by is invited 
 to visit the club. If agreeable to him, he is furnished with 
 equipments and partakes of the sport as well as of the feast. 
 Politeness and hospitality are incorporated with these social 
 clubs. Good humor and good neighborhood are promoted by 
 them, and they furnish excellent marksmen when wanted for 
 the service of their country. The violence of the exercise is 
 sometimes injurious. Disasters of a serious nature from acci- 
 dent or mistake occasionally take place. The cravings for 
 food and drink, highly excited hy the chase, are not always 
 satisfied without subsequent irregularities ; but such occur- 
 rences are rare. 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 227 
 
 Dancing was always a favorite diversion among the Caro- 
 linians ; in it the young people excel. To acquire that ease 
 and elegance which results from it, much time is spent and 
 considerable expense incurred. It is regarded more as a 
 means than an end, and is prized as a social salutary exercise 
 contributing to self-possession and the perfect command of 
 one's limbs. These ends being obtained, the means by which 
 they were acquired are dropped. The sprightly girl becomes a 
 sober wife, and after some years, with a few exceptions, sel- 
 dom exercises beyond her domestic circle the art to which she 
 is greatly indebted for her graceful movements 
 
 To music also great attention is paid, but not with equal 
 success. To excel in this accomplishment requires not only 
 a natural talent, but sedulous attention and long practice. 
 There are many in Carolina, who, possessing all these advan- 
 tages, arrive at distinguished eminence, but more, who after 
 spending considerable sums of money, scarcely exceed medi- 
 ocrity, and soon forget the smattering they had previously 
 acquired. 
 
 In addition to the amusements already described, ball-pla3^- 
 ing and rifle-shooting are added in the country. Through 
 the interior parts of the State, ball-alleys are common and 
 much frequented by young men. Of rifle-shooting they are 
 also very fond. Instead of articles being sold at public auc- 
 tion they are often shot for at a small price each shot; the 
 most expert marksman has the first choice ; they generally 
 shoot at a mark about the size of a dollar. He who does not 
 strike the center of it or its vicinity comes in for no part of 
 the prize. It is common to give notice that on a certain day 
 a beef is to be shot for, and that the best shot shall have the 
 first choice of any piece of the carcass. It sometimes hap- 
 pens that two or three win the whole; for though there have 
 been twenty or thirty competitors, and all have hit the mark, 
 yet as they did not strike its center they have no share in the 
 prize. By such practices the inhabitants are trained to feats 
 in shooting which will with difficulty be believed by the in- 
 habitants of cities. A good rifleman with a fair shot seldom 
 misses a deer or a wild turkey at the distance of 150 yards, 
 and is often equally successful in hitting either of them though 
 in full speed. 
 
 DRESS. 
 
 There is no standard for dress in Carolina. The models of 
 it are not originally American, but are copied from the fash- 
 ions of London and Paris. MiUiners and tailors have more 
 influence in regulating it than the court at Washington. 
 These keep up a regular correspondence with Europe, and 
 import new dresses to Charlestown as soon as they are intro- 
 
228 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 
 
 duced in the capital of France or England. The ladies of 
 Carolina dress with taste, but approximate nearer to the 
 French than English style. They often improve on imported 
 fashions, but few of them have resolution enough to follow 
 their own correct ideas in originating dresses entirely new 
 without any reference to French or English models. The 
 gentlemen are partial to blue, the prodnct of their staple in- 
 digo, and most of them have at all times at least one coat of 
 that color. About the year 1800, pantaloons, which had been 
 fashionable in England some centuries past, were generally 
 worn in Carolina, but in the lapse of the eight years which fol- 
 lowed, they are generally laid aside and breeches are again in 
 common use; the former are much more suitable to the cli- 
 mate than the latter, but considerations of this value will not 
 have their proper weight till the country becomes original and 
 independent in the modes of dress as it is in matters of more 
 consequence. The climate requires that suspenders, deep 
 crowned hats with double bottoms, as well as loose flowing 
 pantaloons, should be continued, but it rests with the fashion- 
 makers in Europe to determine how long they shall be used 
 in Carolina. 
 
 COMPLEXION. 
 
 Of this nothing farther can be said than that it inclines to 
 a greater degree of sallowness than is common in more north- 
 ern latitudes. The climate is too variable and too subject to 
 piercing winds and the extremes of heat and cold, especially 
 the former, for the general production of that exquisite mix- 
 ture of white and red which constitutes the highest grade of 
 beauty. Nevertheless many of the inhabitants who live on 
 healthy situations, enjoy the comforts of life in moderation, 
 and are in such circumstances that they can guard tkeir per- 
 sons from the rude assaults of the wind and weather, approx- 
 imate to this most lovely and desirable complexion. On the 
 other hand, the poor who live on mean fare, neglect personal 
 cleanliness, are obliged to buff'et with the winds and sun, and 
 especially if they inhabit swamps, have their neglected yearly 
 fevers, and their annually increasing spleens, and at the same 
 time are intemperate, their complexions are disgusting. These 
 two extremes diverge from each other like the complexions of 
 people who inhabit different zones. Between them there are 
 grades of approximation to both which increase or diminish 
 with circumstances. 
 
 MANNERS AND CHARACTER. 
 
 A propensity to indolence is common in Carolina as in 
 other warm countries and seasons. The exceptions to it are 
 comparatively few. The Carolinians are not easily roused; 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 229 
 
 when roused they are active and ardent but not persevering. 
 These particularities are in some degree connected with a 
 variable chmate, vibrating between the extremes of heat and 
 cold, and suddenly passing from one to the other. They 
 are irritable in their tempers, have a very high sense of honor, 
 and are disposed to guard it at every hazard. 
 
 The female character appears to great advantage in Caro- 
 lina. The women are generally well educated. Several of 
 them have highly cultivated minds and refined manners. 
 The name of the family always depends on the sons; but its 
 respectability, comfort, and domestic happiness, often on the 
 daughters. While young they enter into amusements with 
 the vivacity natural to their age; but this vivacity is in 
 general so well tempered by sweetness of disposition, and 
 discretion, as leaves little room for anxiety to their parents 
 with regard to their future conduct. No pursuit of pleasure 
 interferes with duty to a father, or affectionate attention to a 
 brother; so that the happiness as well as cheerfulness of a 
 family is increased in proportion to the number of daughters. 
 When they become wives and mothers they are devoted to 
 their families — they regard their husband's friends and rela- 
 tions as their own. They follow no amusement incompati- 
 ble with their new duty, but seek to "make well ordered home 
 man's best delight :'' nor are there wanting examples of those 
 who, remaining single, perform admirably well the duties of 
 daughters, sisters, and friends, and have been eminently use- 
 ful in assisting to train up and educate their younger connec- 
 tions. They are capable of enjoying prosperity with zest, and 
 of bearing adversity with dignity. Their virtues were put to 
 a severe trial in the American revolution, and the result was 
 highly in their favor. They bore not only with fortitude but 
 cheerfulness every privation, and submitted to every hardship 
 which the most self-denying patriotism could require from 
 them. When the war was ended and their husbands and 
 fathers were by its ravages reduced in their circumstances, 
 they aided by their economy and retirement from the world 
 to repair the losses. It is not only on such great events they 
 display their magnanimity and energy of character. Occa- 
 sions too often occur in common life requiring similar exer- 
 tions. ' In Carolina, where sickness and health, poverty and 
 riches, frequently alternate in rapid succession, wives and 
 daughters bear incredible fatigues and privations with exem- 
 plary fortitude, and conform to existing circumstances with 
 becoming dignity and accommodating propriety. When they 
 are left widows, though with small means, large families, and 
 great embarrassments, they, in many cases, extricate the estate 
 with wonderful address and devote themselves to the educa- 
 
230 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 
 
 tion of their children. Speculating, intemperate, mismanag- 
 ing husbands advance their families by dying and leaving to 
 their widows the sole management of their embarrassed for- 
 tunes. In the lower grades of life, where there are no fortunes 
 to repair, the industry and economy of the wife produces 
 similar results eminently conducive to the advancement of 
 the common interest. 
 
 The state of society in Carolina is such that the subdivisions 
 usual in other countries do not apply to its inhabitants. The 
 relation of master and servant scarcely exists among the white 
 people — that of landlord and tenant is also very rare, espe- 
 cially in the country. Domestic service is performed for the 
 rich by slaves — for the poor by themselves. The valuable 
 land is chiefly engrossed by the wealthy, and eenerally cul- 
 tivated by the slaves of its owners. The poor land has been 
 of so little account that it seldom commanded any rent that 
 was worth acceptance. The fee-simple of it might be pur- 
 chased so low that industrious tenants soon became freehold- 
 ers. The subdivision of the inhabitants which applies best 
 to Carolina is the fourfold one of planters, farmers, cottagers, 
 and squatters : each of these has an appropriate character. 
 The planters have large incomes — live at their ease — enjoy 
 much — suffer little — are high minded, and possess much of 
 that dignity of character which constitutes an independent 
 country gentleman — but seldom engage in arduous pursuits 
 to the accomplishment of which much time, patience, and 
 long continued exertions of mind or body are necessary — or 
 if they engage in them, rarely persevere till the object is fully 
 attained. The virtues of the farmers are less brilliant, but 
 their vices are fewer than those of the planters. They are 
 more active — depend more on their own exertions — are con- 
 tent with less — are more able to bear the frowns of fortune, 
 and have greater internal resources to meet extraordinary 
 emergencies. They own few or no slaves. In the former 
 case, labor is performed jointly by whites and blacks ; and the 
 laborers of both colors are separated by very few lines of dis- 
 tinction. Cottagers hitherto have been in a state of depres- 
 sion. Having no slaves of their own — unwilling to work with 
 those of other people, and unable to procure the place of over- 
 seers, many of them had no resource left but to engage in 
 some slight business which did not afford suitable constant 
 employment. Without the incitement of profitable industry 
 to stimulate their exertions, they seldom extended their labors 
 beyond the point which would supply their daily wants in 
 the plainest style of living. Much idleness and consequently 
 vice was attached to their character. The necessaries of life 
 are so easily obtained in Carolina that the man who aims at 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 281 
 
 nothing more than a bare subsistence, must be often so far 
 unemployed as to have ample leisure for the perpetration of 
 wickedness. Such was the former character of many belong- 
 ing to this class. A considerable change for the better has 
 lately taken place. To these people the culture of cotton holds 
 out strong inducements to personal industry. It rewards their 
 labors with a large share of the comforts of life without the 
 degradation which must have often attached to them while 
 laboring, not for themselves but as appendages to planters or 
 large farmers and as fellow-laborers with their slaves. They 
 now work their own lands — raise provisions and cotton with the 
 help of their children, and daily acquire consequence in 
 society. The lowest grade of people, called squatters, have 
 been at all times nuisances. Settling on any man's land — 
 paying no rent — cultivating very litde or no ground; they 
 lived by their guns ostensibly in hunting, but often in shoot- 
 ing down the domestic animals of their industrious neighbors. 
 In the vast tracts of poor land with which Carolina abounds, 
 these people could easily make temporary settlements. These 
 served as centres, from which they made excursions and to 
 which they brought both their game and their booty. In 
 sundry places into which the Methodists have penetrated, they 
 have had iniJuence on many of this class so far as to induce 
 them to engage in regular active industry. In these circum- 
 stances the number of squatters has diminished — of industri- 
 ous cottagers or farmers increased. To such the long neglected 
 pine woods of Carolina oiTer settlements which many of them 
 have embraced, and on which they are likely to receive the 
 rewards of their reformation. 
 
 rECUNDITT, POPULATION AND LONGEVITY. 
 
 Mrs. Easely, of Greenville district, now living, has been the 
 mother of thirty-four live born children, though she never had 
 twins but once. From sixteen to twenty-two have been brought 
 alive into the world by individual mothers in the low coun- 
 try; but these instances are rare. A case or two is known 
 where the same parents have raised and married thirteen chil- 
 dren. From six to nine children are often raised in the wes- 
 tern districts. Twelve is the largest number of children now 
 living from one pair in Charlestown, and only two such can 
 be recollected; but there are several who ha,ve from eight to 
 eleven alive, and many from four to seven. Some women 
 have been mothers at fifteen, and a few grand-mothers at 
 thirty. The number of children born is great ; but the deaths 
 in infancy are also great, though considerably less than was 
 usual forty years ago. 
 
 The first regular census of the inhabitants was taken in 
 
232 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 
 
 1790, whea the whole number of every description amounted 
 to 249.073. A second census was taken in 1800, amounting, 
 to 345,591, an increase of nearly 4 per cent, per annum, or 
 96,518 in a period of ten years. In the last census the sexes 
 approached nearer to an equality of number than is usual: 
 for the diiference in the sum total of their respective numbers 
 was only 5,577 or nearly twenty males to nineteen females, 
 though the usual proportion is thirteen or fourteen of the 
 former to twelve or thirteen of the latter. It is further remark- 
 able, that there is an excess of 384 females between the ages 
 of sixteen and twenty-six over males of corresponding ages ; 
 though in all the other periods of human life noticed in the 
 census the excess is on the side of the males. It appears that 
 the relative excess of males is constantly lessening till the age 
 of sixteen, when the difference in point of numbers is only 
 299 in favor of the males. Between the age of sixteen and 
 twenty-six this small excess of males is lost, and the balance 
 is on the other side ; for in that class there is an excess of 384 
 females.* 
 
 Carolina has not been settled long enough to furnish data 
 for making calculations on the longevity of its inhabitants. 
 Some are still living who were born within thirty years after 
 the first settlement, and when the whole population did not 
 exceed seven thousand. The middle country was settled 
 about 1736, and the upper country about 1751. In both some 
 of the first natives are still alive, and several of the emigrants 
 are much older than these settlements. The extent of the 
 longevity to which the natives of these more healthy parts 
 may attain, cannot be ascertained for forty, fifty, or sixty years 
 to come. Many natives of the low country live to sixty with 
 their faculties entire ; several live to seventy, a few survive 
 from eighty to eighty-nine, beyond which no native but one, 
 as far as can be recollected, has been known to live who made 
 the low country his or her ordinary residence. Some emi- 
 grants fromGermany, France, Ireland, Scotland, England and 
 the northern States have survived their 100th year, and a few 
 their llOth.f Their ages at the time of their arrival cannot 
 always be ascertained ; but in general it has been found to be 
 
 »It is probable that about the age of twenty-one the number of both sexes is 
 equal, or nearly so; for live years after that period there is an excess of 384 
 females; and live years before it, of 299 males. If the enumerations in the census 
 are correct, and the conclusion drawn from analogy and average is just, it follows, 
 that in case marriages universally took place between the citizens of the State at 
 the age of twenty-one, or between twenty-one and twenty-two on both sides, 
 there would not be an unmarried person, either male or female, of that age in 
 South Carolina. 
 
 •j" Satisfactory evidence can be produced that at least one negro born in Caro- 
 lina has approached to the age of 120. Several of them live to great ao-es but 
 the precise number of years is seldom known. 
 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 233 
 
 oftener under forty than above it. In some cases their resi- 
 dence in Carolina is known to have exceeded seventy years. 
 The natives of lower CaroUna who arrive at old age are few, 
 and that portion of the State cannot in general be called 
 healthy; but the climate is not the greatest enemy to the lon- 
 gevity of its inhabitants. Intemperance, particularly the im- 
 moderate use of ardent spirits, is a, much greater one. It 
 makes young men old before they reach their thirtieth year, 
 and brings them with all the infirmities and decrepitude of 
 age to premature graves, when, under other circumstances, 
 they would have been in the prime of life and usefulness. 
 Few are sots before they are twenty, and very few of that de- 
 scription reach fifty. Death from intemperance between these 
 two periods diminishes the candidates for the honors of old 
 age, and increases the number of widows and orphans much 
 faster, and to a greater extent, than the climate alone would 
 have done. The latter in the most sickly spots is not inimi- 
 cal to health for more than four months out of twelve, but 
 the former continues its destructive ravages all the year 
 round. 
 
 There are now living; in South Carolina. 
 
 AGED. 
 
 Mrs. Jackson, a widow lady at the high hills of Santee, near Captain Single- 
 ton's, a native of Virginia — 110 
 
 Mary Miller, a native of Germany, has resided near Orangeburg 80 years — 110 
 
 Peter Carson, near Greenville Court House. .. — — 107 
 
 Benjamin Busby, in Edgefield .. . — 104 
 
 , Swore to his age 103, some time ago, to be excused from duty as a juryman 
 
 Frederic Hooevr, near Orangeburgh 102 
 
 Rose Maples, 17 miles from Statesburgh 102 
 
 Mary James, from Maryland, 70 years resident near Statesburgh 102 
 
 William Atwood, in Abbeville, married for the first time at 65, and has since 
 
 had nine child ren 100 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Lennox, in St. Bartholomew's 100 
 
 John Windall Hallman, Lexington - 98 
 
 Thomas Lee, a resident in Abbeville for forty years 97 
 
 Mrs. Ellis, in Newberry 95 
 
 Mrs. Lane, near Statesburgh, who on Sunday walks ten miles to Church 
 
 attended by her descendants to the fifth generation 95 
 
 Mrs. Walter, near Dorchester : :".' 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Nettles, ten miles from Statesburgh, were born in Virginia in 
 the same month of the same year, have been married 72 years, have 134 
 descendants, are healthy, cheerful, and good humored, have resided in 
 
 Carolina 30 years, each of them is 92 
 
 Mrs. Mary Ernst, born in Germany, a resident in Charlestown, 66 years 92 
 
 Mrs. Dorothy Boomer has resided in Charlestown 71 years 91 
 
 Amos Tims, 83, and his wife - 91 
 
 This couple have been married 66 years, and are exemplary for their 
 piety, their warm and uninterrupted affection. 
 
 Nelly Snyder, in Lexington; this woman has had ten husbands 90 
 
 Mary Keller, a resident for 57 years, near Orangeburgh 90 
 
 Mrs. Linguard, of Charlestown - 90 
 
 Mr. Hughes, in Newberry, rides 14 miles to Church 90 
 
 Mr. James Kelly, born in Ireland, resident for 30 years in Prince Williams.. 89 
 
 Ehzabeth Henry, of Charlestown, born in Ireland °d 
 
 Mrs. Lance, of Charlestown 
 
234 MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY. 
 
 Mrs. Boldric, a native of Ireland, 50 years resident in or near St. Mathew's 
 Parish, in perfect health until the year 1807, when her constitution re- 
 ceived a shock from the influenza; or, as stated by herself, from the 
 timidity of a young- practitioner, who counted her years instead of her 
 pulse, refused to bleed her, or lend his lancet that she mi^ht bleed her- 
 self. She still carefully attends to her domestic concerns, and performs 
 journeys to Charlestown 
 
 Mr. James Hemmingen, of Abbeville, born in Scotland 
 
 Mr. John Lewis Wingtxen, of Charlestown, born in Germany 
 
 Mrs. Mary Smyser, born in Germany, resident in Charlestown 67 years 
 
 *Mrs. Roupell, of Charlestown 
 
 Sebastian Spinier, born in Switzerland, has lived 57 years in Charlestown.. . 
 
 Mr. John Horlbeck, born In Saxony, has lived in Charlestown 44 years, and 
 never took a dose of medicine - 
 
 Mr. De Toliinere, u native of Nantz, has lived in Carolina, 35 years, and for 
 several years, at all seasons, in St. John's. He rides on horseback, leaps 
 over fences, and dances with the agility of youth — . 
 
 **Mrs. Sarah Smith, a descendant of Governor Moore, has had 110 descend- 
 ants, of whom 62 are alive, and all of whom were born and lived in 
 or near Charlestown. She has the perfect use of all her senses, reads 
 and works without spectacles, is cheerful, conversable, and superintends 
 with care and diligence the concerns of a large household 
 
 DIED IN SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE 1797. 
 
 Mr. Neighbours, of Laurens, died in 1798 
 
 His Wife 
 
 Both Pennsylvanians, and had been married 80 years. Mrs. Neighbours, 
 when 105, broke her thigh in three places, which healed very kindly. 
 
 Mrs. Newby, in Laurens 
 
 Mrs. Minnich, near Edisto river 
 
 James Jaquet, a native of Switzerland, a resident in St. James, Santee, for 
 60 years 
 
 Margaret Dickson, in Abbeville 
 
 Andrew Rumny, of Sandy Run, Lexington 
 
 Patrick Smith, born in Ireland, a resident in Carolina for 50 vears, died in 
 Fairfield, 1808 T 
 
 Rev. .Jeremiah Ream, a preacher after he was 90 years old, in Sumpter district 
 
 Mrs. Sheely 
 
 ^Elizabeth Jenkins 
 
 Abraham Jones 
 
 Peter Dickert, born in Germany 
 
 Mrs. Morgan 
 
 Mrs. Paxton 
 
 Mrs. Hopton, a native of England, 70 years resident in Charlestown, except 
 the loss of sight, from a particular circumstance, retained the use of her 
 senses, and the exercise of her intellectual powers, which were uncom- 
 monly vigorous till within two or three years of her death 
 
 Thomas Sykes, a native of Ireland 
 
 Mrs. Sarah White, born in Ireland, had upwards of 100 descendants. After 
 a residence of 40 years in the wax-haws, died in 1806 
 
 *Mrs. Ann Anderson, of Charlestown 
 
 *Miss Mary Bacot, of Charlestown 
 
 Peter Buyck 
 
 *Zachariah Villepontoux 
 
 Mrs. Haynesworth, high hills of Santee 
 
 Mrs. M'Kewn, Dorchester 
 
 William Ancrem, after a residence of 60 years in Charlestown 
 
 ^Stephen Mazyck, of Goose Creek, South Carolina 
 
 Anna Barbara Dreher, of Charlestown, born in Germany 
 
 Ursula Grabenstei n , born in Germany - 
 
 Mrs. Austin, born in Virginia, was the mother of 21 children, nearly all of 
 whom lived to maturity, was healthy and strong through life, after a resi- 
 dence of 45 years in Fairfield, died in 1802 
 
CIVIL HISTORY, 235 
 
 AGED. 
 
 Mrs. Williams, of Charlestown, was a grand-mother at 30 84 
 
 ^General Gadsden, Ralph Atmore, -"Theodore Trezevant, '*'Eliz. Rivers, 
 Margaret Buckle, *Mary Barnwell, Christiana Dawson, Emanuel Abra- 
 hams, *Ann Gray, Mary Tucker, ^Catharine Cordes, Sarah Jones, '*Sarah 
 Butler, Ann Morgan, ^Margaret Young, Margaret Woolf, ^Rachael Caw, 
 Mrs. Ballantine, several of whom were above, but all had reached 80 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PERSONS DIED BEFORE 1797. 
 
 Thomas Farling, was at the battle of the Boyne, and died in 1756, at 
 
 Beaufort u6 
 
 Peter Dickert, born in Germany 93 
 
 Solomon Legare, born in France 87 
 
 His daughter *Mary Ellis 81 
 
 His son * Daniel Legare 81 
 
 Colonel Othniel Beale 85 
 
 Richard Dale Beaufort 84 
 
 Rev. William Screven, ancestor of the numerous and respectable families of 
 that name in Carolina and Georgia, founder of Georgetown, and of the 
 Baptist Churches in South Carolina, after a residence of about 40 years, 
 
 died in 1713 84 
 
 *Damaris Elizabetli Ravenel 83 
 
 Elizabeth Ralsteisen, born in Germany 82 
 
 Eiias Ball, born in Devonshire, England, lived in the country and had never 
 
 been sick 82 
 
 George Brownell, mentioned with respect by Doctor Franklin, as his teacher, 
 
 many years a respectable teacher in Carolina 82 
 
 1^^ The persons to whose name * is pi'efixed, were natives of, and generally 
 residents in or near Charlestown. Several more might be added who are known to 
 
 have attained the age of 80 ; and many pages might have been filled with the 
 names of persons who had approached to or exceeded 70. 
 
 CIVIL HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 From the Termination of the Revolutionary War in 1783 
 to the year 1808. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The unexpected but successful straggle for independence 
 unsettled everything. To bring order out of confusion was no 
 easy matter. In the course of the revolution many things 
 were done on the principle of sacrificing minor objects to the 
 public safety, which admit of no justification and can only be 
 palliated by the plea of necessity. The prohibition of all ex- 
 portation from the country was a measure early enjoined by 
 authority, and enforced by sound policy. This brought after 
 it an obstruction of the regular course of justice; for hard 
 would have been the fate of planters to be compelled to pay 
 their debts when their country forbade the sale of their crops. 
 The commencement of hostilities required that troops should 
 
236 CIVIL HISTORY, 
 
 be raised, and that imposed a necessity of emitting bills of 
 credit for their maintenance. To support the credit of these 
 bills, they were made a tender in payment of debts. As they 
 were emitted without solid funds for their redemption, they 
 progressively depreciated. Many contracts made at different 
 periods, payable in these bills, were yet to be fulfilled. Many 
 debts contracted prior to the war, were wholly and others par- 
 tially cancelled by these bills. When the war was ended, 
 and real money introduced, to do justice in every case between 
 debtor and creditor was impossible. It was necessary for the 
 Legislature to fix some rule. This occupied their attention 
 at their first meeting after the evacuation of Charlestown. As 
 the least of all possible evils, they agreed on a scale of de- 
 preciation which fixed the value of the paper bills at different 
 periods in a relative proportion to the commodities of the 
 country, compared with their prices anterior to the revolution. 
 This scale began in April, 1777, at .£108 10s. for ^100, and 
 ended May 10th, 1780, at £5,248 for jGlOO, and credits were ac- 
 cordingly to be given for payments on all subsisting contracts. 
 Where the contract no longer subsisted, and the evidence of 
 the debt has been destroyed on the receipt of nominal pay- 
 ment in depreciated bills, no redress could be obtained. This 
 produced great inequality and injustice. No remedy in the 
 power of the Legislature could be applied on a general scale 
 without producing greater injustice than it was intended to 
 obviate.* The evils resulting from depreciation, and the best 
 though partial, rule of the Legislature for lessening them, 
 were soon followed by others of greater magnitude. The 
 
 ■*An interesting debate on this subject for some time occupied the public mind' 
 It was discussed with great animation, both in the newspapers and in. the Legisla- 
 ture. By one party it was contended that the scale of depreciation should be 
 applied to all debts, as well as those which were cancelled by full payment, as 
 those which being wholly unpaid "or only partially paid off still subsisted. The 
 monied and the landed interest took opposite sides, and some were doubtless 
 influenced by private interest. Abstract justice favored the one, and political 
 expedience the other. The moderate and impartial were swayed by the consider- 
 ation of the impossibility of doing complete justice to all; and that therefore the 
 rule which departed least from it was to be preferred. Legal compulsion to make 
 a second payment of a debt w hich had been once legally d ischarged, would be in their 
 opinions often as much ex post facto injustice to the debtor, as the first depreciated 
 payment had been to the creditor. The general retrospect was considered as 
 likely to involve an infinity of contention and litigation; and that, instead of pro- 
 moting universal and equal justice, would operate partially, and occasion general 
 distress to the bulk of the inhabitants, who were not accurate in the practical art 
 of book-keeping, and be of service only to a few who kept recorded memoran- 
 dums of all their pecuniary transactions. The Legislature therefore decided in 
 favor of those who wished to confine the retrospective operation of the law 
 respecting payments made in depreciated money, to contarcts still subsisting.. 
 Thus far, and no farther, they had a clear and certain rule by which the decision 
 of courts might be regulated. There were doubtless many cases in which this 
 rule operated hardly on individuals; but it was conceived that the extension of 
 the retrospect to cancelled as well as to subsisting contracts, would have operated 
 equally hard on a greater number. 
 
FROM 1783 TO 1808. 237 
 
 revolution took place at a time when immense sums were due 
 from the inhabitants of Carolina to the inhabitants of Great 
 Britain. The non-exportation agreement of the Americans, 
 and the restraining acts of the British Parliament, both of 
 which took place in the first period of the revolution, made 
 remittances impossible. To this load of old debt was added 
 an immense mass of what was new. When the war ended, 
 the planters found desolate plantations and very few laborers. 
 To repair the one and purchase the other, they were in 
 some degree compelled to contract debts. Urged by specula- 
 tion, they did not always content themselves with moderate 
 supplies for necessary purposes; but in too many cases em- 
 barrassed themselves with pecuniary engagements for the dis- 
 charge of which the most favorable seasons, largest crops, and 
 highest prices for the same would have been scarcely sufficient. 
 The merchants, knowing the value of the staple commodities . 
 of Carolina, were very liberal of credit to the planters; but on 
 terms of enhanced price, as a security against losses and pro- 
 tracted payments. Misfortunes love a train. When plentiful 
 crops were necessary to support the credit of the country, a 
 series of unfavorable seasons, and of desolating freshets, im- 
 paired its resources. The little of gold and silver that was in 
 circulation soon found its way to Great Britain. 
 
 The people of Carolina had been but a short time in the 
 possession of peace and independence when they v>rere brought 
 under a new species of dependence. So universally were 
 they in debt beyond their ability to pay, that a rigid enforce- 
 ment of the laws would have deprived them of their posses- 
 sions and their personal liberty and still left them under in- 
 cumbrances; for property, when brought to sale under execu- 
 tion, sold at so low a price as frequently ruined the debtor with- 
 out paying the creditor. A disposition to resist the laws be- 
 comecommon. Assemblies were called often and earlier than 
 the constitution or laws required. The good and evil of repre- 
 sentative government became apparent. The assemblies were 
 a correct representation of the people. They had common 
 feelings, and their situations were in most cases similar. These 
 led to measures which procured temporary relief but at the 
 expense of the permanent and extended interests of the com- 
 munity. Laws were passed in which property of every kind 
 was made a legal tender in the payment of debts though paya- 
 ble according to contract in gold or silver. Other laws in- 
 stalled the debt, so that of sums already due only a third, and 
 afterwards only a fifth, was annually recoverable in the courts 
 of law. Numbers were clamorous for large emissions of pa- 
 per money armed with the sanction of a legal tender. This 
 old resource in cases of extremity, had been so overdone in 
 
238 CIVIL HISTORY, 
 
 the revolutionary war, that many doubted the possibihty of 
 attaching credit to anything in the form of bills of credit. 
 After some time an emission of ,£100,000 sterling secured by 
 a mortgage of land, or a deposit of plate, was risked. The 
 smallness of the sum, and the ample security of the fund on 
 which it was emitted, together with the great want of some 
 circulating medium, and an agreement of the merchants to re- 
 ceive it in payment at its nominal value, gave it credit and cir- 
 culation. 
 
 The effects of these laws, interfering between debtors and 
 creditors, were extensive. They destroyed public credit and 
 confidence between man and man ; injured the morals of the 
 people, and in many instances ensured and aggravated the 
 final ruin of the unfortunate debtors for whose temporary relief 
 they were brought forward. The procrastination of payment 
 . abated exertions to meet it with promptitude. In the meantime 
 interest was accumulating, and the expenses of suit multi- 
 plied by the number of instalments. At no time before 
 nor since, were the fortunes of attornies so rapidly or so 
 easily made. At no period has an equal number of plan- 
 ters been involved in embarrassments from which they were 
 never extricated, or only extricated by more than ordinary sac- 
 rifices. 
 
 The eight years of war in Carolina were followed by eight 
 years of disorganization, which produced such an amount of 
 civil distress as diminished with some their respect for liberty 
 and independence. Several apprehended that the same scenes 
 which had taken place in England in the seventeenth century 
 after a long and bloody civil war, would be acted over again 
 in America by a fickle people who had neither the fortitude 
 nor the wisdom to govern themselves. Peace, and the most 
 perfect liberty to make such laws and constitutions as the 
 people pleased, had not hitherto brought in their train the 
 blessings expected from them, but the power of making such 
 alterations in both as promised to procure them were among 
 the privileges of freemen. Peace and liberty were found in- 
 adequate to promote public happiness without the aid of en- 
 ergetic government. The axe of reform was laid at the root 
 of the political evils under which the country groaned. A 
 constitution to form a more perfect union, establish justice, 
 ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, 
 promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of lib- 
 erty, was wanting. To obtain such an one, Carolina con- 
 curred with the other States to meet in a general convention, 
 and appointed Henry Laurens, John Rutledge, Charles Cotes- 
 worth Pinckney, Pierce Butler, and Charles Pinckney to at- 
 tend and act in her behalf. They agreed upon and submitted 
 
FROM 1783 TO 1808. 239 
 
 to the people a plan of general government; by which every 
 legislative power necessary for national purposes was vested 
 in a Congress, consisting of two branches, a Senate and House 
 of Representatives. The former to be chosen by the Legisla- 
 tures and the latter by the people of the several States. And 
 a supreme executive officer with the name of President, was 
 charged with the execution of the national laws and the care 
 of the national interests. A supreme judiciary was also or- 
 ganized to decide all questions to the decision of which State 
 judiciaries were improper. Thirteen independent States were 
 formed into one nation as far as their common interests were 
 concerned; and one uniform legislative, executive and judi- 
 cial power pervaded the whole. The individual States were 
 left in full possession of every power for their interior gov- 
 ernment, but restrained from coining money, emitting bills of 
 credit, making anything but gold and silver a tender in pay- 
 ment of debts, passing any bill of attainder, ex post facto 
 law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts. This con- 
 stitution was submitted to a convention of the people of South 
 Carolina consisting of two hundred and twenty-four members, 
 by which it was accepted and ratified* on behalf of the State on 
 the 23d day of May, 1788. Their acceptance of a constitution, 
 which, among other clauses, contained the restraining one 
 which has been just recited was an act of great self-denial. 
 To resign power in possession is rarely done by individuals, 
 but more rarely by collective bodies of men. The power thus 
 given up by South Carolina, was one she thought essential to 
 her welfare, and had freely exercised for several preceding 
 years. Such a relinquishment she would not have made at 
 any period of the last five years ; for in them she had passed 
 no less than six acts interferring between debtor and creditor, 
 with the view of obtaining a respite for the former under par- 
 ticular circumstances of pubUc distress. To tie up the hands 
 of future Legislatures so as to deprive them of a power of re- 
 peating similar acts on any emergency, was a display both of 
 
 ■» This acceptance and ratification was not without opposition. In addition to 
 the common objections which had been urged against the constitution, South' 
 Carohna had some local reasons lor refusing or at least delaying a final vote on 
 the question. Doubts were entertained of the acceptance of the constitution by- 
 Virginia. To gain time till the determination of that leading State was known, &• 
 motion for postponement was brought forward. This, after an animated debate, 
 was overruled by a majority of forty-six. The rejection of it was considered as 
 decisive in favor of the constitution. When the result of the vote was announced' 
 an event unexampled in the annals of Carolina took place. Strong and involun- 
 tary expressions of applause and joy burst forth from the numerous transported spec- 
 tators. The minority loudly complained of disrespect— unpleasant consequences 
 were anticipated. The majority joined with the complaining members in clearing 
 the house, and in the most delicate manner soothed their feehngs. In the true 
 style of republicanism, the minority not only acquiesced, but heartily joined in 
 supporting the determination of the majority. The constitution went into opera- 
 tion with general consent, and has ever since been strictly observed. 
 
 33 
 
240 CIVIL HISTORY, 
 
 wisdom and magnanimity. It would seem as if experience 
 had convinced the State of its poUtical errors, and induced a 
 wilhngness to retrace its steps and relinquish a power which 
 had been improperly used. 
 
 The new constitution being accepted by all the States ex- 
 cept two, went into operation in 1789. Its beneficial effects 
 were speedily and extensively felt. It was followed by a 
 funding system, which, among other benefits, gave life and 
 activity to a capital of four millions of comparatively useless 
 paper in the form of indents, which had been issued as a 
 payment to the people of South Carolina for their services 
 and supplies in the revolutionary war. Public credit was 
 re-animated. The owners of property and holders of money 
 freely parted with both, well knowing that no future law could 
 impair the obligation of contracts. Money, in a few years, 
 became plentiful. Three banks were established in Charles- 
 town with an aggregate capital approaching to two millions 
 of dollars. Trade flourished — agriculture was extended. The 
 exports of the State between 1791 and 1801 were more than 
 trebled. Its shipping increased in a correspondent proportion. 
 Landed estates rose in value — confidence between man and 
 man, which for several years had been unknown, was re- 
 stored. In a short time public affairs were so much altered 
 for the better, that the fable of the golden age seemed to be 
 realized. 
 
 For the two first elections of President, General Washington 
 was unanimously elected. On his declining that arduous 
 office, Major Thomas Pinckney, of South Carolina, was brought 
 forward in conjunction with John Adams, of Massachusetts. 
 The Major was respectably supported by the votes of his na- 
 tive State, and fifty-eight in addition from other States, but 
 failed of complete success. In the following election which 
 took place in 1800, General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 
 was brought forward as a candidate in conjunction with John 
 Adams. Both failed of success; but General Pinckney had 
 so many votes that if his native State had voted for him he 
 would have been either President or Vice-President ; but con- 
 trary to general expectation. South Carolina preferred Aaron 
 Burr. This vote resulted from the state of parties. The cit- 
 izens were marshalled under two grand divisions, denomi- 
 nated federalists and republicans. The former charged the 
 latter as being under the influence of such leveling princi- 
 ples as tended to disorganization — the latter retorted by rep- 
 resenting the former as friends to such an high-toned system 
 of government as approximated to monarchy, and both did 
 injustice to the other. The repubhcan electoral ticket pre- 
 vailed. The electors knowing by whom and for what pur- 
 
PROM 1783 TO 1808. 241 
 
 poses they were chosen, and declaring they were influenced by 
 measures, and not by men, and at the same time preferring the 
 measures of the republicans to those of the federalists, unan- 
 imously laid aside private attachments and feelings for a be- 
 loved fellow-citizen, and gave an unanimous vote for the two 
 republican candidates. This noble pair of brothers, the two 
 Pinckneys, who, by the unsolicited voice of their fellow-cit- 
 izens in distant portions of the Union, were successively 
 brought to the threshhold of the first offices in the United 
 States, have since retired from public life, and devoted them- 
 selves to agriculture, the first and best employment of man. 
 
 In each of the American States the seat of Government was 
 originally on or near the sea-coast; but in all of them whose 
 territory reached to the western mountains, in proportion as 
 their population increased in that direction, there has been an 
 eagerness to remove the seat of government so as to approxi- 
 mate the geographical centre of their territories. The people 
 of the back country of South Carolina, having felt their weight 
 and influence in the revolutionary war, soon after its termina- 
 tion brought forward their claim to have a fixed seat of gov- 
 ernment more central than Charlestown. Every principle of 
 republicanism supported their claim ; but six years passed 
 away before the previous arrangements were completed so as 
 to give it eff'ect. Commissioners were appointed to select a 
 proper site for the projected new establishment. They fixed 
 on Columbia, which for beauty, health, and convenience, 
 claimed a preference. There the Legislature convened for the 
 first time in 1790, exactly 120 years after the first English set- 
 tlement in Carolina. It is remarkable that the reputed centre 
 of population was just as many miles from the sea-coast as 
 years had passed away from the first year .of settlement in 
 South Carolina. The interval^of space was 120 miles — of time, 
 130 years. 
 
 The fears and apprehensions of many people on the sea- 
 coast for the consequences of this removal, were excessive. 
 Truth and justice never hurt any individual or State. Since 
 the removal, party division between the , upper and lower 
 country has diminished. The inhabitants of both, by being 
 better acquainted, are become more like one people ; and en- 
 tertain fewer jealousies or prejudices against each other. A 
 disposition to compromise and accommodate took place in the 
 breasts of both. Under the influence of these principles the 
 convention of the people, which, for the purpose of revising 
 the constitution, met in Columbia a few months after the 
 removal of the seat of government, ordained that the business 
 of the Treasury, of the Secretary of State, of the Surveyor 
 General, should be conducted both in Charlestown and 
 
242 CIVIL HISTORY, 
 
 Columbia; and that the constitutional court or meeting of all 
 the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, in the nature of a 
 Court of Appeals, should in like manner be held equally in 
 the old and new seat of government. The meetings of the 
 Legislature at Columbia led to an establishment highly hon- 
 orable and advantageous to South Carolina. A central seat 
 of government brought in its train a well-endowed central 
 college. The latter could not have been obtained without the 
 former. The prospect of cementing the internal peace and 
 harmony of the country by educating in one seminary that 
 portion of its youth which bids fair to direct its public affairs, 
 promised so much good as united all parties in passing bills 
 for granting 68,000 dollars to erect buildings, and an annual 
 income of 6,000 to support professors and teachers in a college 
 to be erected in Columbia, under the patronage and care of the 
 State. Thus a wise and great national measure was carried 
 into effect on general principles, without the interference of 
 party politics. 
 
 The convention at Columbia, which was coeval with the 
 removal of the seat of government, in order to strengthen the 
 principles of republicanism enjoined on the Legislature as 
 soon as might be convenient, " to pass laws for the abolition 
 of the rights of primogeniture, and for giving an equitable dis- 
 tribution of the real estate of intestates." This arduous work 
 was entered upon and a law passed for these purposes at the 
 very next meeting of the Assembly. The pride of man covet- 
 ing to be long remembered, fondly anticipates a species of im- 
 mortality by the transmission of his name to posterity. From 
 the customs of the world, this is more certainly done in the 
 male than female line. In old countries where the feudal 
 system had long prevailed, the entailing of real estates on the 
 eldest males in succession, was a common practice; this was 
 transferred from Europe to America while the colonies were 
 British provinces, and was by many thought an useful ap- 
 pendage to royal government, as favoring the distinction of 
 ranks in society. To republicanize the rising generation, the 
 convention of the people of South Carolina made it the duty 
 of the constituted authorities to do away this accompaniment 
 of royalty as far as was compatible with liberty. While every 
 individual was left free to dispose of his property by will, the 
 laws interfered where there was no testamentary disposition, 
 so far as to divide the whole equally among all the descend- 
 ants in equal degree, without any distinction of sex or age. 
 This was an improvement on the existing system which gave 
 the lands exclusively to the eldest male, and was adopted as 
 a prop to the principles of the new government. It was well 
 calculated to correct the monstrous inequalities of property 
 
PROM 1783 TO 1808. 243 
 
 between the children of the same parents, which had some- 
 times taken place, as contrary to natural justice as to the 
 peace of families. It also promoted a circulation and diffusion 
 of property, and aided the civil institutions of the country 
 founded on the equality of rights. The aristocracy which 
 had attached itself to some of the old families in Carolina, re- 
 ceived a check ; but encouragement was given to enterprise 
 in one sex, and to decent well-ordered behavior in the other; 
 for the males and females, the elder and younger branches of 
 the same family, had no peculiar advantages but such as they 
 respectively acquired by their good conduct and personal ex- 
 ertions. 
 
 The establishment of energetic government produced all 
 the benefits expected from it. But while domestic events 
 promised a long continuance of political happiness, the con- 
 vulsions of the Old World interrupted the pleasing prospects 
 of the New. Carolina, enjoying peace, liberty, independ- 
 ence, and an efficient government, hoped that by her severance 
 from Europe she would be exempt from a participation in its 
 contentions. These hopes were of short duration, the war 
 which was kindled between England and France near the 
 close of the eighteenth century, extended its baleful influence 
 across the Atlantic. The duties of neutrality were novel to 
 the Carolinians, and at first awkwardly performed. Gratitude 
 to one of the European belligerents, for favors received in 
 the American war, and a keen remembrance of injuries in- 
 flicted at the same time by the other, induced several of the in- 
 habitants to transgress the line of impartial neutrality. The 
 ports of the State were opened to French privateers, and its 
 government permitted them to arm and equip within its lim- 
 its. Genet, the first minister of Republican France to the 
 United States, landed in Charlestown, and was received by 
 Governor Moultrie and the inhabitants with an attachment 
 approaching to enthusiasm. The enlightened mind of Presi- 
 dent Washington soon decided that an impartial neutral con- 
 duct, was the true line of conduct to be pursued by the United 
 States. This was no sooner enjoined by the new national 
 government, than South Carolina retraced her steps, and 
 yielded obedience to the requisition; and her Legislature 
 firmly resisted an attempt of the French Minister to arm her 
 citizens, in his country's cause, against the Spanish American 
 colonies. This decided conduct produced a temporary calm, 
 and expectations were indulged that independent, neutral, 
 Carolina would be undisturbed. Experience soon proved the 
 futility of hopes founded on the expectation of justice from 
 the belligerent nations. To distress each other they both 
 adopted coercive measures, injurious to the rights of unoffend- 
 
244 CIVIL HISTORY, 
 
 ing neutrals. The last years of the eighteenth and the first of 
 the nineteenth century witnessed scenes of rapine and plunder 
 of defenseless commerce, which would have disgraced the 
 Vandalism of remote antiquity. In the year 1807 these dep- 
 redations were authorized by decrees of France and orders 
 of council in England, to such an excess, that Congress found 
 it necessary to impose an embargo as a measure of precau- 
 tion to save American property, and of coersion to operate on 
 the interests of the European belligerents. To this self-deny- 
 ing measure Carolina cheerfully submitted; no act of her gov- 
 ernment, no measures sanctioned by public meetings of her 
 inhabitants, expressed the smallest tittle of dissatisfaction with 
 the general government — her inhabitants had been frequently 
 taught, in the school of adversity, the policy of submitting to 
 a present evil to obtain a future good. Her sufferings on this 
 occasion were immense, but patiently borne: the Legislature 
 of the State instead of weakening the hands of the nation, 
 declared their most thorough approbation of its measures, 
 and recommended that the inhabitants should form associa- 
 tions to support the laws. This was effectually done. Indi- 
 viduals in a few instances violated the embargo, but the pub- 
 lic voice, without distinction of party, was in favor of its 
 faithful execution, and the energies of the State were directed 
 to aid its complete execution. Though the prohibition of ex- 
 porting the valuable commodities of the country reduced their 
 price one-half, yet the Courts and the Legislature firmly resisted 
 all attempts to obstruct the legal course of justice in favor of 
 debtors.* The forbearance of the creditor part of the com- 
 
 ■^ To induce a suspension of legal proceedings for the recovery of debts, two 
 methods were adopted. The grand juries in some of the districts presented it as 
 a grievance that the courts should carry on the usual legal proceedings for the 
 sale of property under execution at a time ^vhen the laws forbade the exportation 
 of their crops. At the beginning of the revolution the grand jury of Charlestown 
 presented the late Acts of the British parliament, hostile to the united colonies, as 
 a grievance. This practice has been ever since continued, and grand juries exer- 
 cise the privilege of freemen ia expressing their sense of grievances from what- 
 ever quarter they may ari.se. Thus sanctioned by custom, in the year 1808 they 
 wished in some districts to influence the presiding judges of courts to suspend 
 their functions as far as they aided compulsory processes -against debtors. The 
 judges reasoned on the loss of character which Avould result from the measure — 
 the sacred obligation of their oaths — and of the existing constitutions both State 
 and national; pointed out the impolicy of all interferences between debtor and cred- 
 itor, and the many evils which had resulted from the late instalment laws. Hav- 
 ing thus prepared the minds of the people for a refusal, they paid no attention to 
 the opinions of the jury but proceeded to hold the courts for the whole period au-i 
 thorized by law. 
 
 When this failed, an attempt was made to obtain the passage of a law for sus- 
 pending legal proceedings against debtors on the plea of the embargo. An ani- 
 mated debate took place which resulted in a vote carried by a large majority, '-that 
 legislative interference was not expedient." In consequence thereof the courts 
 were kept open and justice administered throughout the whole period of the em- 
 bargo, upwardsof fourteen months, without any impediment either from the courts, 
 the Legislature', or the people. 
 
FROM 1783 TO 1S08. 245 
 
 munity generally afforded a shield to property Bound by 
 judgments and executions, which without violating the con- 
 stitution, protected it more effectually than the instalment 
 laws which had been too easily passed in the period of dis- 
 organization preceding the establishment of energetic govern- 
 ment in 1789. 
 
 In the year 1808, when it was difficult to decide which was 
 greatest, the sufferings or the patience of the inhabitants, a 
 general election took place for members of the State and gen- 
 eral government and for the electors of a President. On this, 
 occasion General Charles Coatesworth Pinckney, without any 
 agency either of himself, his friends, or native State, was 
 brought forward as a candidate for the Presidency. His nom- 
 ination and principal support came from the eastern section 
 of the Union. It was presumed that his talents, virtues, and' 
 popularity, aided by that prepossession which every State ha& 
 more or less for its own natives, would have induced the Caro- 
 linians to vote for their highly esteemed fellow-citizen in pref- 
 erence to every other candidate. Great pains were taken to 
 operate upon the feelings of the people, distressed as they were 
 by the privations of the embargo, to induce them to favor a 
 change of men as leading to a change of measures, but with- 
 out any decisive effect on the election. The citizens being 
 generally in favor of the administration, broke through all per- 
 sonal attachments, and with their votes supported the candi- 
 dates whose political sentiments were known to be in unison 
 with the ruling powers. James Madison had the unanimous 
 electoral vote of the State, to be the successor of Thomas 
 Jefferson, who had declined are-election. 
 
 While the minds of the citizens were sharpened by political 
 contention, the great interests of the State were far from being 
 overlooked. In the same year two measures were adopted of 
 the greatest consequence to the interests of the community. 
 In all the changes of constitution which had taken place in 
 South Carolina, no obvious practical rule had been laid down 
 and acted upon for apportioning the representation to the dif- 
 ferent electoral districts. For the tirst fifty years of fhe prov- 
 ince, all elections for members of Assembly, with one or two 
 exceptions, were held in Uharlestown ;, for the next fifty they 
 were all held in the low country. For the last thirty-three, 
 the elective franchise was extended over the State; but no 
 principle was adopted as a permanent rule of apportionment. 
 Many of the wealthy descendants of the first settlers near the 
 sea-coast, preferred wealth and taxes as the regulators of rep- 
 resentation. The more numerous but less opulent yeomanry 
 of the west were partial to numbers. Though the subject had 
 been often discussed before provincial Congresses, Conven- 
 
246 CIVIL HISTORY, 
 
 tions, and Legislative Assemblies, they always evaded a de- 
 cision. As a temporary expedient a definite number of repre- 
 sentatives had been assigned to definite portions of territory 
 in an arbitrary manner, without the guidance of any fixed 
 principle. At length a law was passed in 1808, for altering 
 the constitution in the mode prescribed in the body of that in- 
 strument, by which a principle of representation was brought 
 forward and agreed upon. This was substantially to appor- 
 tion one-half of the existing representation among the several 
 districts in proportion to the number of their citizens, and the 
 other half in proportion to the amount of the taxes paid by 
 them respectively. Provision was made for taking a census 
 of the inhabitants. This, when completed, in connection with 
 the amount of taxable property in each elective district which 
 can always be obtained from the fiscal ofiicers of the State, 
 will furnish data that at all times will make the apportion- 
 ment of the representation a matter of arithmetical calculation. 
 Thus by slow and successive steps the upper country has ob- 
 tained its full proportion of influence. For several years it 
 had no representation whatever ; and afterwards a very inade- 
 quate one. Having passed through a long minority, it has for 
 some time past been of adult age, and by unanimous consent 
 in 18.08, entered upon its full share of the common inheritance. 
 The result has been, as might be expected, favorable to peace 
 and harmony. The most prominent cause of jealousy and 
 political dissension among the members of the State family, is 
 done away. The citizens in all parts standing on equal ground, 
 and in possession of equal rights founded on permanent prin- 
 ciples, easily applicable both to the present and all future situa- 
 tions which are likely to result from the fluctuations of wealth 
 and numbers, can have no reasonable cause for any other 
 contentions than who shall love and serve their common 
 country best In no preceding period has there been so much 
 reciprocal cordiality, and so much of a friendly disposition to 
 accommodate, to bear, and forbear, in the political collisions 
 of different sections of the State. 
 
 The s'ame year gave maturity to a project for improving 
 the constitution of the Court of Equity. That previously con- 
 sisted of three judges: from the decision of any two of them 
 there was no appeal other than to themselves on a re-hearing 
 of the cause. Theodore Gaillard and Henry William DeSaus- 
 sure were added to the equity bench, and any one of the five 
 was empowered to hold a court and transact business; but 
 with a reserved right to the parties of appealing from the de- 
 cision of a single judge, to a full bench or a majority of all its 
 members. Though political considerations weighed with the 
 electors in filling up the legislative and executive departments 
 
FROM 1783 TO 1808. 247 
 
 of government, they were laid aside in the choice of judges. 
 The successful candidates, though of different political senti- 
 ments, were preferred from a full conviction that they were 
 above all influence from the contracted views of party. Talents 
 and virtues were exclusively respected. Justice was considered 
 as neither republican nor federal; and its administration com- 
 mitted to clean hands and pure hearts, from whom it was ex- 
 pected that leaning to neither they would follow its divine 
 attractions wherever they might lead. 
 
 Between the evacuation of Charlestown by the British in 
 1783, and the year 1808, the diflference in the condition of 
 South Carolina is immense. When the revolutionary contest 
 ended, the country was full of widows and orphans made so 
 by the war, and a deadly hatred growing out of it continued 
 to rage between the tories and whigs. The possessions of the 
 planters were laid waste, their laborers were carried off or 
 greatly reduced by deaths and desertion. The morality of the 
 inhabitants had been prostrated by laws violating private 
 rights on the plea of political necessity — by the suspension of 
 the Courts of Justice — by that disregard for the institutions of 
 religion which is a never-failing attendant on military opera- 
 tions — by the destruction or dilapidation of churches and the 
 consequent omission of public worship addressed to the Deity. 
 All this time the education of the rising generation was neg- 
 lected, and the youth of the country had little other training 
 than what they got in camps amidst the din of arms. In such 
 a condition of pubhc affairs, to re-produce a state of things 
 favorable to social happiness, required all the energies of the 
 well disposed inhabitants. They immediately set about the 
 god-like work. Assemblies were called — the best practicable 
 laws were passed — courts were re-established, and from them 
 impartial justice was dispensed — churches were rebuilt — the 
 public worship of the Deity was resumed — the people were 
 taught their duty by public instructors — schools were insti- 
 tuted and encouraged — the education of youth recommenced. 
 By'degrees the wounds inflicted by war on the morality and 
 rehgion of the inhabitants began to heal. Their losses of prop- 
 erty were made up from the returns of a fruitful soil, amply re- 
 warding the labors of its cultivators. These promising appear- 
 ances were strengthened by improvements on their civil in- 
 stitutions. In 1783 the bond of federal union was feeble and 
 inadequate to the purposes of government. The State author- 
 ities were incompetent to their objects. There were only four 
 courts in all the middle and back country. The seat of the 
 Legislature was at one extremity of the State, and more than 
 100 miles from its center. The representation in the Assem- 
 
248 CIVIL HISTORT, 
 
 bly was apportioned withoutany fixed rule, and in an unequal 
 manner. By degrees all these inequalities and disabilities 
 were done away. The powerless advisory system of. the con- 
 federation yielded to an efficient national government. The 
 seat of legislation was made to approximate to the geograph- 
 ical centre of the State. The seven courts were increased to 
 twenty-five, and to all was given original, complete and final 
 jurisdiction. No man had to go more than twenty miles to 
 attend court, and seldom so far to a place of public worship or 
 an election. When he voted he had the satisfaction of know- 
 ing that his vote weighed as much in regulating the afiairs of 
 the State as that of any other man. The extension of equal 
 rights and privileges annihilated the murmurings of the people 
 and cemented the union of all parts of the State. Active, up- 
 right judges, by their laborious investigation of facts and cir- 
 cumstances to come at truth — by their impartial distribution 
 of justice and luminous charges to multiplied juries, taught 
 the people to reverence truth and justice, and instructed them 
 in their legal and social duties; and at the same time, by a 
 steady line of conduct enforced their observance. The clergy 
 co-operated with great effect in reforming the people. They 
 carried the gospel into the remotest settlements, and made an 
 honest use of the rewards and punishments of a future state 
 to promote peace and order in the present. To these sources 
 of moral improvement a powerful auxiliary was added by the 
 introduction of cotton. The cultivation of the former great 
 staples, particularly rice and indigo, required large capitals. 
 They could not be raised to any considerable purpose but by 
 negroes. In this state of things poor white men were of little 
 account otherwise than as overseers. There were compara- 
 tively few of that intermediate and generally most virtuous 
 class which is neither poor nor rich. By the introduction of 
 the new staple the poor became of value, for they generally 
 were or at least might be elevated to this middle grade of so- 
 ciety. Land suitable for cotton was easily attained, and in 
 tracts of every size either to purchase or rent. The culture of 
 it entailed no diseases ; might be carried on profitably by indi- 
 viduals or white families without slaves, and afforded employ- 
 rnent for children whose labor was of little or no account on 
 rice or indigo plantations. The poor having the means of 
 acquiring property without the degradation of working with 
 slaves, had new and strong incitements to industry. From 
 the acquisition of property the transition was easy to that 
 decent pride of character which secures from low vice, 
 and stimulates to seek distinction by deserving it. As 
 they became more easy in their circumstances, they be- 
 
FROM 1783 TO 1808. 249 
 
 came more orderly in their conduct. The vices which 
 grew out of poverty and idleness were diminished. In esti- 
 mating the value or cotton, its capacity to excite industry 
 among the lower classes of people, and to fill the country with 
 an independeht, industrious yeomanry, is of high importance. 
 It has had a large share in moralizing the poor white people 
 of the country. From the combined influence of these causes, 
 the moral improvement of Carolina, ever since the year 1783, 
 has been in a constant state of progression; and particularly 
 so since 1792, when cotton became a considerable article for 
 exportation. 
 
 On a review of the history of Carolina to this last happy 
 period, there is abundant reason for gratitude to the Supreme 
 Disposer of all events. A handful of English subjects, 138 
 years ago took possession of Carolina when occupied by sav- 
 ages, covered with trees, swamps, and marshes, and claimed 
 by the Spaniards in the vicinity as their property. That the 
 settlement under these circumstances did not like several 
 similar ones prove abortive, must be referred to the will of 
 Heaven. That it was preserved through a long infancy without 
 any aid from the mother country, against repeated incursions 
 and attacks from combined and separate operations of the 
 Spaniards, the French and Indians, is to be accounted for in 
 the same manner. The union and vigor of the revolutioners 
 of 1719 when they broke the proprietary yoke, was more than 
 could have been expected on the ordinary principles which 
 regulate the actions of men. The same observation holds 
 more eminently true with respect to the revolution of 1776. 
 The part which Carolina then acted, the vigor with which she 
 engaged in the war, and the final result of the unequal con- 
 test, are beyond all human calculations. That the people in 
 possession of complete sovereign power should, on the return 
 of peace, at first act unwisely, cannot excite surprise; but that 
 they should have the good sense to submit to establish by com- 
 mon consent self-denying constitutions, and voluntarily im- 
 pose on themselves the restraints of good government, is more 
 than what the preceding history of man gave ground to ex- 
 pect. That there should be a concurrence in so many causes 
 for reproducing religion, learning, order, justice, industry, and 
 other moral virtues from the prostrate state into which they 
 were thrown by the revolution, is not solely the work of man. 
 So great has been the melioration of Carolina in all these 
 respects, and so far beyond what might be expected for men 
 t just entering on the threshhold of sovereignty, that it must be 
 referred to a superintending Providence. Heretofore the his- 
 tory of revolutions has seldom been more than the exchange 
 
250 CIVIL HISTOKY, 
 
 of one dynasty or depotism for another, or a stronger riveting 
 of the chains of the former. In America the result has been 
 very different. Foreign domination has been renounced, not 
 to aggrandize one or a few, but to substitute an efficient sys- 
 tem of representative government in its place. This has been 
 found to answer not only in theory, but in practice. Under 
 it the people have been as happy as could be expected 
 from any or even the wisest political institutions. Young 
 Carolinians! cherish the blood-bought inheritance derived 
 from your fathers, and transmit it unimpaired to posterity. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF LITERARY MEN, 
 
 AND OTHEE DISTIKGUISHED CHARACTERS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 LIONEL CHALMERS, M. D., 
 
 Was born about the year 1715 at Cambleton, in the west of Scotland, and came 
 very young to Carolina, and there practiced physic more than forty years. He first 
 practiced in Christ church, but soon removed to Charlestown. He was the author 
 of several medical works, which are particularized in the chapter of Medical His- 
 tory, page 112. He never affected any mystery in his practice, but employed the 
 knowledge he had acquired forthe good of mankind. Hewas the first writer who 
 treated oif the soil, climate, weather, and generally of the diseases of South Caro- 
 lina. He died in 1777, leaving behind him the character of a skillful, humane phy- 
 sician, and worthy honest man. 
 
 REV. RICHARD CLARKE, 
 
 Minister of St. Philip's, in Charlestown, was more known as a theologian be- 
 yond the limits of America, than any other inhabitant of Carolina. He was ad- 
 mired as a preacher, both in Charlestown and London. His eloquence captivated 
 persons of taste — his serious preaching and personal piety procured for him the 
 love and esteem of all good men. When he preached the church was crowded, 
 and the effects of it were visible in the reformed lives of many of his hearers, and 
 the increased number of serious communicants. His sermons were often com- 
 posed under the impressions of music, of which he was passionately fond. From 
 its soothing effects, and from the overflowing benevolence of his heart, God's love 
 to man, peace and good will among men, were the subjects on which he dwelt 
 with peculiar delight. He gave on the week-day a regular course of lectures on 
 the Epistle to the Hebrews, which were much admired. So great at that time 
 was the harmony between ministers of different denominations in Charlestown, 
 that Mr. Clarke agreed with Mr. Hutson, minister of the Congregational or Inde- 
 pendent Church, who was also in the habit of delivering n week-day lecture, that 
 the lecture of the one should be on Wednesday — of the other, on Friday, in order 
 that each might hear the other, and that an opportunity of attending both might 
 also be afforded to such of their respective congregations as desired it. About 
 this period both these worthy men were members of a religious and literary so- 
 ciety composed, in addition to themselves, of the Rev. Mr. Zubly, minister of the 
 Independe'nt church in Christ church — the minister of the Scotch Presbyterian 
 church, Mr. Christopher Gadsden, Mr. Gabriel Manigault, Mr. Henry and Mr. 
 James Laurens, Mr. Ben. Smith, members of the Episcopal church, Mr. Daniel 
 Crawford, Mr. John Rattray, an eminent lawyer and learned man— the two last 
 named were members of the Presbyterian church — and of several others whose 
 names are not now distinctly remembered. The Society met once a month in the 
 evening at the houses of the respective members. One of the clergymen opened 
 the meeting with a short prayer, and they then discussed some literary or religious 
 topic which had been previously agreed on, without, however, being so strictly 
 confined to it,. but that other matters not inconsistent with the intention of the 
 meeting might be introduced. 
 
 Afler several years residence in Charlestown, Mr. Clarke, in the year l7o9, lea 
 Carolina and was soon after appointed lecturer of Stoke Newington, at St. James' 
 Aldgate in London. Though that city abounded with first-rate preachers, his 
 eloquence and piety attracted a large share of public attention. He was so much 
 esteemed and beloved in Charlestown, that several of its inhabitants sent their 
 children after him, and put them under his care and instruction at an academy 
 which he opened near London. Soon after his return to England he commenced 
 
252 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 author, and at successive periods published six volumes and several pamphlets 
 on theological subjects. In these, much biblical, classical, and historical knowl- 
 edge was displayed. His letter to Dr. Adam Smith on his account' of the death 
 of David Hume, was extensively read and much admired. Of his writings in ex- 
 planation of scripture prophecies, the present generation will have an opportunity 
 of judging; for according to his commentaries, the general conversion of the Jews 
 will take place between the present day and the year 1S35. That these works 
 were written in Carolina is probable, for the substance of a considerable part 
 of them was preached in Charlestown. In the title page he calls himself "late 
 minister of St. Philip's, Charlestown, South Carolina." He lived to an extreme old 
 age, and was through life esteemed for his fervent piety, great learning, and com- 
 manding eloquence. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON, 
 
 "Was born in Carolina in 1742. He spent his youth and acquired his education 
 in England. Soon after he came to manhood he returned to Carolina and there 
 with inferior opportunities, but superior industry, prosecuted his studies. In it he 
 acquired the greater part of that knowledge for which he was afterwards distin- 
 guished. He iirst began to write for the public about the year 1769. Under the 
 signature of Freeman, he stated several legal and constitutional objections to an 
 association, or rather the mode of enforcing an association, for suspending the 
 importation of British manufactures which was then generally signed by the in- 
 habitants. This involved him in a political controversy in which he was opposed 
 by Christopher Gadsden and John Mackenzie. In the year 1774- he wrote a 
 pamphlet under the signature of Freeman, which was addressed to the American 
 Congress. In this he stated the grievances of America, and drew up a bill of 
 American rights. This was well received. It substantially chalked out the line 
 of conduct adopted by Congress then in session. He was elected a member of 
 the Provincial Congress which sat in January 1775 ; and in the course of that 
 year was advanced to the presidency thereof In The latter character he issued on 
 the 9th of November, 1775, the iirst order that was given in South Carolina for 
 firing on the British. The order was addressed to Col. Wm. Moultrie, and di- 
 rected him " by every military operation to endeavor to oppose the passage of any 
 British naval armament that may attempt to pass fort Johnson." This was before 
 Congress had decided on independence, and in the then situation of Carolina wasa 
 bold, decisive measure. 
 
 Before the revolution Mr. Drayton was one of the King's counsellors, and one 
 of his assistant Judges for the province. The first of these ofiices he resigned, and 
 from the last he was dismissed by the officers of his Britannic majesty. On the 
 formation of a popular constitution he was reinstated by his countrymen in the 
 corresponding offices of the State, and in the last, advanced to the rank of Chief 
 Justice. In this latter capacity he gave a charge to the Grand Jury in April, 1776, 
 in which he declared " that George the Third, King of Great Britain, had abdica- 
 ted the government of South Carolina, that he had no authority over the people of 
 that colony, and that they owed no obedience to him." This being anterior to the 
 declaration of independence was bold language. Several publications appeared 
 from his pen, explaining the injured rights of his country and encouraging his fel- 
 low-citizens to vindicate them. He has also lefta manuscript history of the Ameri- 
 can revolution in three folio volumes, brought down to the end of the year 1778, 
 which he intended to continue and publish. His country, pleased with his zeal 
 and talents, heaped olHces upon him. He was appointed a member of Congress 
 in 1778 and 1779. Soon after he had taken his seat British commissioners came 
 to Ainerica with the hope of detachingthe States from their alliance with France. 
 Congress could not, consistently with national honor, enter on a discussion of the 
 terms offered to them as an inducement to violate their faith plighted to France ; 
 but some individuals of their body ably proved the propriety of rejecting the Brit- 
 ish ofl'ers and adhering to independence and the alliance with France. William 
 Henry Drayton entered largely into this discussion, and with great force of argu- 
 ment and poignancy of wit, justified the measures adopted by his countrymen. 
 This was the last offering made by his pen in favor of America; for in the next 
 year, and in the 37th of his age, he died in Philadelphia while attending his duty 
 in Congress. He was a statesman of great decision and energy, and one of the 
 ablest political writers Carolina has produced. 
 
CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN. 253 
 
 CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN, 
 
 Was born in Charlestown in the year 1724. He was the son of Thomas Gads- 
 den, the King's Collector, and a Lieutenant in the British navy. Christopher Gads- 
 den was sent by his father to England for his education, and there learned Latin, 
 Greek, and French. He afterwards acquired a knowledge of Hebrew and the 
 oriental languages. At the age of sixteen he returned to Carolina and was sent 
 to Philadelphia and placed in the counting-house of Mr. Laurence. At the age of 
 twenty-onehe went to England. On his return.to Carolina, as a passenger on board 
 of a man-of-war, the purser died, and Mr. Gadsden was appointed in his place, and 
 continued for two years in that office ; then left the navy and followed merchandize, 
 and afterwards planting and factorage. Whatever he undertook he pursued with 
 all his might. The large wharf known by his name, which he began and comple- 
 ted, is a work of greater magnitude than ever has yet been accomplished in 
 Charlestown by any one man. Henry Laurens and he were cotemporaries ; and at- 
 tached in their early youth to each other by the strongest ties of ardent friendship. 
 They made a common cause to support and encourage each other in every virtu- 
 ous pursuit, to shun every path of vice and folly, to leave company whenever it 
 tended to licentiousness, and by acting in concert, to parry the charge of singu- 
 larity so grating to young persons. By an honorable observance of a few con- 
 certed rules, they mutually strengthened virtuous habits, broke the force of many 
 temptations, and acquired an energy of character which fitted them for acting a 
 distinguished part in the trying scenes of a revolution through which it was the 
 destiny of both to pass under similar circumstances. 
 
 Mr. Gadsden had natnrally a strong love for independence. He was born a 
 Republican. Under well ordered government he was a good subject; but could 
 not brook the encroachments of any man or body of men intrenching on his 
 rights. 
 
 Mr. Gadsden was for several years prior to the stamp act elected a representa- 
 tive of Charlestown; and during that period was always a very active and influ- 
 ential member in the Commons House of Assembly. There is no instance to be 
 found in which private interest interfered with his public duty. 
 
 In the year 1759, when Governor Lyttelton made his expedition against the 
 Cherokees, there was not a single field-piece mounted in all Carolina. Mr. Gads- 
 den by his influence obtained the passage of a law for raising a company of artil- 
 lery. Of this he was appointed Captain, and at the head of it accompanied the 
 Governor into the Indian country. This was the origin of what, after many 
 changes and enlargements, is now called the ancient battalion of artillery. 
 
 When the British began their projects for abridging the privileges of the colo- 
 nies, Mr. Gadsden was among the first to take fire. If he had lived in the days 
 of King Charles, he would have been another Hampden. He described independ- 
 ence when it was afar off*, and early foresaw that such was the nature of man 
 that America could never be governed with an exclusive or even a preferable 
 view to her own interest, while the fountain of power was three thouband miles 
 distant. He had correct ideas of the rights of man and of the representative sys- 
 tem, long before Mr. Paine wrote on the subject. With such views he wasamong 
 the foretnost to resist the unconstitutional claims of Great Britain. When the 
 project of a general Congress to give union and system to measures of detense 
 was first before the Commons House of Assembly in 1765, he was indefatigable in 
 making friends to the measure. His talents for speaking did not exceed medioc- 
 rity, yet there was in him so much honest zeal, ardor, and energy, that he had no 
 small share of the merit of bringing the House into that important measure. Be- 
 ing appointed one of its members, he was the steady friend of his country's rights, 
 put his foot on firm American ground, and from it no consideration could induce 
 him to depart. When the scheme of revenue was renewed in 1767, he was one of 
 the first and most zealous promoters of an association to suspend all importations 
 of British manufactures, with a few exceptions, till a repeal of the new duties im- 
 posed on the colonies should be obtained — and was one of the last to recede from 
 that self-denying mode of obtaining a redress.of grievances. To the New Eng- 
 landers he was a steady friend, the constant correspondent of Samuel Adams, 
 and great admirer of the zeal and principles of the inhabitants of Boston. The 
 news of the bill for shutting its port harrowed up his soul. He was willing to do 
 »nd sufl^er whatever was most likely to procure lor its inhabitants the most speedy 
 and complete relief He had about that time completed the largest wharf in 
 Charlestown, which was just beginning to yield an interest on an immense capital 
 expended in building it. His whole prospect of reimbursement was founded on 
 the continuance of trade, and especially on the exportation of rice. He never- 
 
254 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 theless urged the adoption of a non-importation and non-exportation agreement; 
 and that the colonists should retire within themselves and live on their domestic 
 resources till Great Britain redressed their grievances, most heartily concurred in 
 these measures when adopted in the latter end of the year 1774 by Congress, of 
 w^hich he was a member, and was uncommonly active in afterwards enforcing 
 their strict execution, though few men lost more by them than he did. In June 
 1775, when the Provincial Congress determined to raise troops, Mr. Gadsden, 
 though absent on public duty at Philadelphia, was without his consent or knowl- 
 edge elected Colonel of the first regiment. For personal courage he was inferior 
 to no man. In knowledge of the military art he had several equals and some su- 
 periors I but from the great confidence reposed in his patriotism and the popularity 
 of his name, he was put at the head of the new military establishment. He left 
 Congress and repaired to the camp in Carolina, declaring that "wherever his 
 country placed him, whether in thecivil or military department ; andif in the latter, 
 whether as Corporal or Colonel, he would cheerfully serve to the utmost of his 
 ability." In the next year he was promoted by Congress to the rank of Brigadier- 
 General. He commanded at fort Johnson when the fort on Sullivan's island was 
 attacked; and he was prepared to receive the enemy in their progress to Charles- 
 town. The repulse of the British prevented his coming into action. Their re- 
 treat relieved South Carolina from the pressure of war for two years. In this pe- 
 riod Mr. Gadsden resigned his military command, but continued to serve in the 
 Assembly and the Privy Council, and was very active in preparing for and en- 
 deavoring to repel the successive invasions of the State by the British in 1779 and 
 1780. He was the friend of every vigorous measure, and always ready to under- 
 take the most laborious duties, and to put himself in the front of danger. When 
 Charlestown surrendered by capitulation, he was Lieutenant-Governor, and pa- 
 roled as such, and honorably kept his engagement. For the three months which 
 followed, he was undisturbed; but on the defeat of Gates in August, 1780, 
 the British resolved that he and several others, who discovered no disposi- 
 tion to return to the condition of British subjects, should be sent out of the 
 country. He was accordingly taken in his own house by a file of soldiers and 
 put on board a vessel in the harbor. He knew not why he was taken up, nor 
 what was intended to be done with him, but supposed it was introductory to a 
 trial for treason or rebellion, as the British gave out that the country was completely 
 conquered. He was soon joined by twenty-eight compatriots, who were also 
 taken up onthe same day. He drew i'rom his pocket half a dollar, and turning 
 to his associates with a cheerful countenance assured them that was all the money 
 he had at his command. The conquerors sent him and his companions to St, 
 Augustine, then a British garrison. On their landing, limits of some extent were 
 offered to them on condition of their renewing the parole they had given in 
 Charlestown, "to do nothing injurious to the British interest." When this was 
 tendered to General Gadsden, he replied "that he had already given one and hon- 
 orably observed it ; that in violation of his rights as a prisoner under a capitula- 
 tion, he had been sent from Charlestown, and that therefore he saw no use in 
 giving a second parole." The commanding officer replied, " he would enter into 
 no arguments, but demanded an explicit answer whether he would or would not 
 renew his parole." General Gadsden answered with that high minded republican 
 spirit which misfortunes could not keep down, " 1 will not. In God I put my 
 trust, and fear no consequences." He was instantly hurried off to the castle, and 
 there confined for ten months in a small room, and in a state of complete separa- 
 tion from his fellow-prisoners, and in total ignorance of the advantages gained by 
 his countrymen, but with most ample details of their defeats, and particularly of 
 the sequestration of his estate with that of the other Carolina rebels. It is re- 
 markable that Christopher Gadsden and Henry Laurens, whose virtuous juvenile 
 friendship has been just related, were at the same time in close confinement; one 
 in the castle of St. Augustine, and the other in the tower of London. Mr. Gads- 
 den improved his solitude by close application to study and came out much more 
 learned than he entered. In the course of 17S1 the victories of General Greene 
 procured an equivalent for the release of all the prisoners belonging to South 
 Carolina. Mr. Gadsden was discharged from close confinement and rejoined his 
 fellow-prisoners. The reciprocal congratulations on the change of circumstances 
 and on seeing each other after a ten months separation, though in the same gar- 
 rison, maybe more easily conceived than expressed. They were all conveyed by 
 water from St. Augustine to Philadelphia, and there delivered. On their arrival 
 they were informed for the first time of the happy turn American affairs had taken 
 subsequent to Gates's defeat. General Gadsden hastened back to Carolina to aid 
 in recovering it from the British. He was elected a member of the Assembly 
 which met at Jacksonborough in 1782. On their meeting it became necessary to 
 
CHEISTOPHER GADSDEN. 255 
 
 choose a new Governor. The suffrages of a majority were in the first instance in 
 favor of Christopher Gadsden, who declined the office in a short speech to the fol- 
 lowing effect: "I have served you in a variety of stations for thirty years, and I 
 would now cheerfully make one of a forlorn hope in an assault on the lines of 
 Charlestown if it was probable that with the certain loss of my life you would be 
 reinstated in the possession of your capital. What I can do for my country I am 
 willing to do. My sentiments of the American cause, from the stamp act down- 
 wards have never changed. I am still of opinion that it is the cause of liberty and 
 of human nature. If my acceptance of the office of Governor would serve my 
 country, though my administration would be attended with the loss of personal 
 credit and reputation, I would cheerfully undertake it. The present times require 
 the vigor and activity of the prime of life ; but I feel the increasing infirmities of 
 age to such a degree that I am conscious I cannot serve you to advantage. I 
 therefore beg for your sakes, and for the sake of the public, that you would indulge 
 me with the liberty of declining the arduous trust." He was indulged in his 
 request ; but though he declined the laborious office of Governor, he continued to 
 serve both in the Assembly and Council where, notwithstanding the long confine- 
 ment he had suffered in the castle of St. Augustine and the immense loss of his 
 property, he opposed the law which was brought in for confiscating the estates 
 of the adherents to the British government, and zealously contended that sound 
 policy required to forget and forgive. 
 
 General Gadsden continued in the country throughout the year 17S2, serving as 
 one of the Governor's Council. On the 14th of December, 1782, he, with the 
 American army and citizens, made their triumphant entry into Charlestown in the 
 rear of the evacuating British. In the first moment of his return afler an absence 
 of more than two years, he had the pleasure of seeing the British fleet, upward of 
 300 sail, in the act of departing from the port, and the capital as well as the coun- 
 try restored to its proper owners. Mr. Gadsden henceforward devoted himself to 
 private pursuits, but occasionally served in the Assembly, and with unspeakable 
 delight in the two State conventions; the one for the ratificationofthenational con- 
 stitution in 1788, and the other for revising the State constitution in 1790. From 
 the first dawn of independence he was particularly anxious for an efficient consti- 
 tution, and considered nothing done while that remained undone. When difficul- 
 ties arose or delays took place on this great subject, he was full of fears that the 
 independent Americans would form difierent confederacies; or like their fore- 
 fathers in England bow their necks to the royal government ; an event which he 
 dreaded as one of the greatest political evils which could befall his country. He 
 survived his eighty-first year, generally enjoying good health, and at last died 
 more from the consequences of an accidental fall than tfie weight of disease or 
 decays of nature. At his- death he was honored by the State Cincinnati and 
 American Revolution Societies, who requested the Rev. Mr. Bowen to preach a 
 funeral sermon on the occasion. Throughout life he was a strictly honest, virtu- 
 ous, good man, a regular attendant on divine service in St. Phillip's church, and a 
 steady communicant in the same. In the high day of Episcopal establishment he 
 was friendly with and liberal to dissenters. When early in the revolution they pe- 
 titioned the Assembly for equal religious liberty, he brought forward theirpetition 
 and advocated their claims as founded in reason, justice, and policy. He was the 
 friend of good clergymen of all denominations, and wished to promote peace 
 among all sects and parties.- His opinions of lawyers were not favorable. He 
 considered their pleadings as generally tending to obscure what was plain and to 
 make difficulties where there were none.; and much more subservient to render 
 their trade lucrative, than to advance justice. He adhered to that clau.se of Mr. 
 Locke's fundamental constitution which makes it "a base and vile thing to plead 
 for money or reward;" and wished that the lawyers, when necessary to justice, 
 should be provided with salaries at a public expense, like the Judges, that they 
 might be saved from the shame of hiring their tongues to the first who offered or 
 gave the largest fee. Of physicians he thought very little. He considered tem- 
 perance and exercise superior to all their prescriptions, and that in most cases 
 they rendered them altogether unnecessary. In many things he was particular. 
 His pas.sions were strong and required all his religion and philosophy to curb 
 theth. His patriotism was both disinterested and ardent. He declined all offices 
 of profit, and through life refused to take the compensations annexed by law to 
 suohoffices of trust as were conferred on him. His character was impressed 
 with the hardihood of antiquity ; and he possessed an erect, firm, intrepid mind, 
 which was well calculated for buffeting with revolutionary storms. 
 
 34 
 
256 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 REV. COMMISSARY GARDEN, 
 
 Was born in Scotland about the year 1685. Of his education, and of the time 
 of his arrival in Carolina, nothing precise or certain is known ; but from circum- 
 stances it is probable that he must have arrived about the year 1720, for he died 
 in 1756, at the age of seventy-one, after he had been thirty-four years rector of St. 
 Phillip's, Charlestown. Some years after his arrival, he was appointed Commis- 
 sary of the Bishop of London for the two Carolinas, Georgia, and Bahama Islands. 
 In the discharge of the duties of this high oifice he was strict and impartial. 
 Improper conduct on the part of clergymen was immediately noticed, the delin- 
 quents brought to trial, and the canons of the church were enforced against them. 
 His appearance as one of the visiters of the free-school in Charlestown was the 
 sure precursor of a strict examination. He did not permit the teachers, as they 
 are very fond of doing, to point out the places for examination. This business 
 was managed by him as it ought to be, and was a real trial of what the pupils had 
 learned. It was not confined to selected portions on which they had been pre- 
 viously prepared, but extended generally and promiscuously to all they had gone 
 over. His visits and strict examinations produced good effect, both on masters 
 and scholars. In the discharge of family and clerical duties, Commissary Garden 
 was exemplary. He was attentive to the religious education of his children and 
 servants, and it is mentioned in the "Abstract of the Proceedings of the Society 
 for Propagating the Gospel," in South Carolina, dated 1752, "that a flourishing 
 school was taught in Charlestown by a negro of the society, under the inspection 
 and direction of the worthy rector, Garden, by which means many poor negroes 
 were taught to believe in God and in his Slin Jesus Christ." He kept up strict 
 discipline in his church; was careful whom he admitted as sponsors for children 
 at the time of baptism; caused children who on account of sickness had been 
 hastily baptized in private, in case of their recovery, to be presented for a public 
 reception into the church ; refused the communion to immoral persons, and admitted 
 no young persons as communicants till he was privately satisfied that they under- 
 stood the nature of the ordinance, and had those views of religion which are 
 proper for communicants. In all cases he was a strict observer of rules and 
 ibrms, and would not lightly depart from them. His particularities subjected him 
 to remarks, but were the effect of a systematic line of conduct which he had 
 prescribed for himself. He would not receive from persons he married one penny 
 more or less than the law allowed, nor at any other time than that prescribed in 
 the prayer-book. Nor would he marry any persons in Lent, nor on the other fast 
 days prescribed by the church; nor in any other manner than was strictly con- 
 formable to the book of common prayer. His charity was in like manner measured 
 by rule. The exact tenth of his whole income was regularly given to the poor. 
 In every thing he was methodical. He carefully digested his plans, and steadily 
 adhered to them. Strict himself, according to the forms of his religion, he required 
 strictness from others. Under his pastoral care, a profession of religion was no 
 slight matter. It imposed a necessity of circumspect conduct, regulated in all 
 respects by the prescribed forms of the church. Though his literary talents were 
 great, nothing more is known of him as an author, than that he preached and 
 printed a sermon on these words: "They who have turned the world upside 
 down, have come hither also;" in which he exposed the evil consequences of 
 fanaticism and innovation. 
 
 ALEXANDER GARDEN, M. D., 
 
 Was born in Scotland- about the year 1728, and was the son of the Rev. Alex- 
 ander Garden of the parish of Birse, in the shire of Aberdeen, a clergyman of high 
 respectability, who, during the rebellion in the years 1745 and 1746 was distin- 
 guished by his exertions in favor of the family of Hanover; and still more so by 
 his humane interposition in behalf of the followers of the house of Stuart, after 
 their defeat at Culloden. Dr. Garden received his philosophical and classical 
 education in the University of Aberdeen, at the Mareschal College there. He 
 received his first medical education under the celebrated Dr. John Gregory, and 
 studied also a twelvemonth in Edinburgh. He arrived in South.Carolina about 
 the middle of the 18th century, and commenced the practice of physic in Prince 
 William's Parish, in connection with Dr. Rose. Here he began his botanic 
 studies; but having lost his health, he was obliged to take a voyage to the north- 
 ward for his recovery. In the year 1754 he went to New York, where a professor- 
 ship in the college recently formed was offered to him, but he declined the accept- 
 ance thereof. On his return he settled in Charlestown, and continued to practice 
 
MAJOR JOHN JAMES. 257 
 
 physio there for about thirty years. In this period he amassed a handsome 
 fortune, being deservedly in very high esteem, and extensively employed. He 
 brought with him a haemoptoie constitution, but the complaint was suspended 
 during his residence in Carolina. He was well acquainted with the Latin 
 and Greek classics, understood the French and Italian languages, and was a 
 considerable proficient In the knowledge of the belles lettres; in mathematics, 
 philosophy, history and miscellaneous literature; but his attention, when the 
 duties of his profession permitted any relaxation, was chiefly directed to the 
 study of natural history, and particularly to that branch of it which is called 
 botany. A list of his communications on these subjects has been already given 
 in the preceding chapter of medical history. Linnaeus, with whom he corres- 
 ponded in Latin, gave his name, Gardenia, to a most beautiful flowering shrub ; 
 and often mentioned him with applause. He was also highly esteemed by the 
 literati throughout Europe, with several of whom he corresponded. About the 
 year 1772 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London. Shortly after 
 his return to Europe in 1783, he was appointed one of its council, and afterwards 
 one of its vice-presidents. To extend his knowledge in natural history. Dr. 
 Garden, accompanied James Glen, Governor of South Carolina, in the year 1755, 
 when he penetrated into the Indian country, and formed a treaty with the Chero- 
 kees in their own mountains. In this expedition Dr. Garden discovered an earth 
 which, upon a fair trial by the manufacturers at Worcester, in Great Fritain, was 
 deemed equal to theiinest porcelain that ever was imported from India. Unfortu- 
 nately no precise knowledge can now be had of the spot where this valuable earth 
 was found. Hitherto no advantage has resulted from the discovery, though no 
 doubt exists of its reality and importance. On Dr. Garden's return to Europe, his 
 consumptive diathesis, which had been long suspended, began to show itself. He 
 endeavored to parry its attacks by traveling. This answered a valuable purpose, 
 but failed in its primary object. He found that wherever he went his literary 
 fame had preceded him, and induced many to court his acquaintance. In France 
 he was treated by men of science with the most pointed attention, and hailed as 
 a brother. He met with a similar reception in Switzerland, and was particularly 
 caressed by Lavater, the author of an elaborate work on Physiognomy. In the 
 course of his travels he tried the eifects of breathing his native air, and of revisit- 
 ing the haunts of his youth, hoping that the pleasing recollection of juvenile scenes 
 would have a salutary influence in arresting the progress of his disease. He was 
 received as a man who had done honor to his native land, and extended its repu- 
 tation as the soil of genius. He found that his venerable father, after reaching 
 his 90th year, had lately died. Nought remained but to do honor to his memory. 
 The son drew up a monumental inscription in elegant classical Latin, commemor- 
 ative ol the virtues of the father. This is shown to strangers as honorable to 
 both, and is respectfully mentioned in the statistical account of the parish, edited 
 by Sir John Sinclair. 
 
 Dr. Garden was highly pleased with the attentions he everywhere received in 
 his travels, but all this time his disorder was advancing. Having made every 
 exertion to preserve his life, he finally made up his mind to his situation, resolved 
 to travel no more, and to meet his approaching fate in the bosom of his family. 
 He accordingly settled at London, and soon after expired in that city, in the year 
 1793. The high reputation for literature to which he attained reflected honor 
 both on his native and adopted country. In the first a good foundation was laid, 
 especially in classical learning; in the latter the superstructure was raised. He 
 came young to Carolina, and was then barely initiated in the favorite studies in 
 which he particularly excelled. He acquired most of his botanical knowledge in 
 the woods of Carolina. He was fond of good company, and particularly of refined 
 female society, and to it he devoted a considerable portion of his time ; but enough 
 was reserved for mental improvement. He never complained of the climate as 
 too hot for study. In it, though oppressed with professional business, he redeemed 
 time enough to examine its natural riches, and to co-extend its fame with his own. 
 
 MAJOK JOHN JAMES, 
 
 "Was born in Ireland in 1732, and was the son of an officer who had served King 
 William in his wars in Ireland against King James. This circumstance was the 
 origin of the name of Williamsburg, which is now attached to one of the districts 
 of Carolina. The elder James, with his family and several of his neighbors, 
 migrated to that district in 1733, made the first settlement there, and in honor of 
 King William, gave his name to a village laid out on the east bank of Black river. 
 The village is now called King's Tree, from a white or short-leaved pine which 
 in old royal grants was reserved for the use of the King; and the name of 
 
258 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 Williamsburg has been transferred to the district. To it Major James, when an 
 infant, was brought by his parents. His first recollections were those of a stockade 
 fort, and of war between the new settlers and the natives. The former were often 
 reduced to great straits in procuring the necessaries of life, and in defending 
 themselyes against the Indians. In this then frontier settlement, Major James, Mr. 
 James Bradley, and other compatriots in the revolution, were trained up to defend 
 and love their country. Their opportunities for acquiring liberal educations were 
 slender, but for obtaining religious instruction were very ample. They were 
 brought up under the eye and pastoral care of the Rev. John Rae, a Presbyterian 
 minister w'ho accompanied his congregation in their migration from Ireland to 
 Carolina. When the revolution commenced in 1775, Major James had acquired 
 a considerable portion both of reputation and property. He was a Captain of 
 militia under George the Third. Disapproving of the measures of the British 
 government, he resigned his royal commission, but was soon after reinstated by 
 a popular vote. In the year 1776 he marched with his company to the defence of 
 Charlestown. In the year 1779 he was with General Moultrie on his retreat before 
 General Prevost, and commanded 120 riflemen in the skirmish at Tulifinny. When 
 Charlestown was besieged in 1780, Major James marched to its defence, but Gov- 
 ernor John Rutledge ordered him back to embody the country militia. The town 
 having fallen, he was employed by his countrymen to wait on the conquerors and 
 to inquire of them what terms they would give. On finding that nothing short of 
 unconditional submission and a resumption of the characters and duties of British 
 subjects would be accepted, he abruptly broke off all negotiation, as has been 
 already related ; and rejoining his friends, formed the stamina of the distinguished 
 corps known in the latter periods of the revolutionary war by the name of Marion's 
 Brigade. His conduct as one of the confidential officers of General Marion in the 
 hard struggle which followed, has been already narrated. In the course of this 
 cruel and desultory warfare, Major James was reduced from easy circumstances 
 to poverty. All his movable propertywas carried off, and every house on his planta- 
 tion burnt; but he bore up under these misfortunes, and devoted not only all his 
 possessions, but life itself, for the good of his country. After Greene, as Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, had superseded Marion, Major James continued to serve under 
 the former, and fought with him at the battle of Eutaw. The corps with which 
 he served consisted mostly of riflemen, and were each furnished with twenty-four 
 rounds of cartridges. Many of them expended the whole, and most of them 
 twenty of these, in firing on the enemy. As they were in the habit of taking aim, 
 their shot seldom failed of doing execution. Shortly after this action, Major 
 James and General Marion were both elected members of the State Legislature. 
 Before the General had rejoined his brigade it was unexpectedly attacked, and 
 after retreating, was pursued by a party of British commanded by Colonel Thomp- 
 son, now Count Rumford. In this retreat Major James, being mounted, was 
 nearly overtaken by two British dragoons, but kept them from cutting him down 
 by a judicious use of his pistols, and escaped by leaping a chasm in a bridge of 
 twenty feet width. The dragoons did not follow. The Major, being out of their 
 reach, rallied his men, brought them back to the charge, and stopped the progress 
 of the enemy. When the war was nearly over he resigned his commission, and 
 hke another Cincinnatus, returned to his farm and devoted the remainder of his 
 days to the improvement of his property and the education of his children. In 
 the year 1791 he died with the composure and fortitude of a Christian hero. 
 
 SIR NATHANIEL JOHNSON, 
 
 Was Grovernor of South Carolina for seven or eight of the first years of the eigh- 
 teenth century. He had been bred a soldier, and was also a member of the House of 
 Commons. From the year 16S6 to 1689 he had been Governor of Nevis, St. Chris- 
 topher's, Montserrat, and Antigua, commonly called the Leeward Islands. Soon 
 after the termination of his government in 1789, he became a private inhabitant of 
 South Carolina. Being fond of projects, his attention was turned to that province, 
 as being in a latitude favorable to his views. He was particularly allured by the 
 hope of making silk, and commenced a settlement for that purpose. In this he 
 succeeded so far as to make considerable quantities of that commodity. His 
 example encouraged others to engage in the same business. His experiments 
 were made on a plantation which to this day is called the Silk Hope. A project 
 for making salt also engaged his attention. To the settlement on Seewee Bay, 
 where his experiments were made with this view, he gave the name of Salt 
 Ponds. The result is not known. He also attempted the culture of grapes, and 
 is said to have succeeded in making wine, but in small quantities. Soon after 
 his arrival in Carolina, rice was introduced. He made many trials of the severa 
 
SIR NATHANIEL JOHNSON. 259 
 
 Vndsorrice, and of the soil most suitable for it; and incurred considerable 
 expense in building mills and other machinery necessary for preparing the "-rain 
 for use or market. His experiments and example had a considerable influence in 
 determining the planters of these days to engage in the culture of this new com- 
 modity. Ihese enterprises, and his military education, gave him extensive popu- 
 larity, and induced the proprietors to offer him the government of the province. 
 But as he was suspected of not being well affected to the revolution of 1688 in 
 England, Queen Anne would not give her approbation but on the conditions of his 
 giving security for observing the laws of trade and navigation, and such instruc- 
 tions as should be sent out to him by her majesty. These conditions were com- 
 plied with. As Governor he was active and intelligent. His influence over the 
 Assembly was great. Of this he made a proper use by urging the completion of 
 the fortifications of Charlestown and its harbor. The fort on th^ east end of James 
 Island was called by his name. To defray the expenses of these works, heavy 
 taxes were necessary, and of course his popularity was for some time diminished ; 
 but time and posterity have done him ample justice. Soon after these fortifica- 
 tions were completed, their utility was demonstrated. The province was invaded 
 by feOO Frenchmen, and the recent fortifications were instrumental in discouraging 
 the invading army, though within the bar, from making an attack on the town. 
 The result, highly honorable to the Governor, and the notice taken of him by the 
 proprietors for his good conduct on this occasion, have been related. 
 
 While Sir Nathaniel Johnson was successful in fortifving and defending the 
 town and harbor, he was equally so in procuring a legal establishment of the Epis- 
 copal church. His influence was exerted in favor of this measure. It was carried 
 by great address and management through the Legislature by a single vote, and at 
 a time when a majority of the people were dissenters and opposed to it. The 
 Governor concurring in the common creed of the times, that an established reli- 
 gion was necessary to the support of civil government, and believing that the best 
 interests of the province would be promoted by endowing the Episcopal church, 
 he exerted all his influence with the Assembly and people to procure its advance- 
 ment to public support and legal pre-eminence. The result was in several respects 
 answerable to his expectations. It was the means of introducing about 100 
 Episcopal clergymen into the country, who were men of regular education and 
 useful in their profession, who generally became settlers and left families. It also 
 contributed to the introduction of a number of bibles and other books on religious 
 subjects, which either formed parochial libraries or were given away by mission- 
 aries of the English society for propagating the gospel. The establishment also 
 procured an influx of several hundred pounds sterling annually into the country 
 forthe maintenance of Episcopal clergymen, in aid of their provincial legal salary. 
 The annual allowance of from £30 to £S0 to several of that description was con- 
 tinued down to the revolution. For these benefits resulting from the establish- 
 ment, the country was in a great measure indebted to Governor Johnson. The 
 Assembly was sensible that his continuance in office was so essential to the 
 continuance of the establishment, that they made a most extraordinary provision 
 against the contingency of his death or removal from office. This is expressed 
 in the preamble of an act passed in his admini-tration in the following words : 
 "Whereas the Church of England has of late been so happily established among 
 us, fearing that by the succession of a new Governor this church may be either 
 undermined or wholly subverted; to prevent which calamity falling upon us, be it 
 enacted, that this present Assembly shall continue to sit two years, and for the 
 term of eighteen months after the change of government, or the succession of 
 another in his time." 
 
 The salaries of Governors were at this early period low, and did not exceed 
 two hundred pounds sterling; but they found out an indirect method of increasing 
 them by a monopoly, or a profitable management of the trade with the Indians. 
 Governor Johnson consented to a law for a diSerent arrangement of this business, 
 by commissioners appointed by the Assembly, on terms that were injurious to his 
 private interest, but in their consequences highly beneficial to the province. His 
 administration lasted for six or seven years, and was highly reputable to himself 
 and eminently conducive to the improvement of Carolina. He was, nevertheless, 
 in the year 1709, superseded by Colonel Tynte. It probably was the policy of the 
 proprietors to make frequent changes of their Governors, for it does not appear 
 that any fault was found with Johnson. Of his subsequent life nothing is known.* 
 
 * It is probable that he lived a retired private life in Carolina, for he died there in 1713, and 
 was buried on his Silk Hope plantation. From respect to his memory, his grave was surrounded 
 by a brick wall by Gabriel WUinigault, who purchased the plantation many years after the death 
 01 Sir Nathaniel Johnsou. 
 
260 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 His son, Robert Johnson, succeeded to the same office about eight years after, in 
 which period there had been four intermediate Governors. ' 
 
 It has been the lot of Governor Sir Nathaniel Johnson, in common with several 
 other of the distinguished personages in Carolina, to have their names extinct, 
 though their blood still survives in the female line. His daughter married the 
 great-great-grandfather of the present Philip P. Broughton. His two grand- 
 daughters married: one, "Ralph Izard, the other Benjamin Stead; but no person 
 of the name of Johnson is known now to exist, who can trace back his family to 
 the illustrious Governor, Sir Nathaniel Johnson. 
 
 JOHN LINING, M. D., 
 
 "Was born in Scotland in 1708, and arrived in Carolina when he was about 
 twenty-two years old. For nearly thirty years he successfully practiced physic 
 in Charlestown, and was reckoned one of its most skillful physicians. His fame 
 was much more extensive than his practice. The latter was necessarily confined 
 to the vicinity of his residence; but his medical writings, which have been pai*- 
 ticularly mentioned in the preceding chapter of medical history, page 62; his 
 statical experiments and meteorological observations, which were published in 
 the transactions of the Royal Society of London, procured for him a large portion 
 of fame in Europe. His statical experiments are the opiy ones that have ever 
 been made to any extent in America; and his meteorological observations, com- 
 mencing as early as 1733, were the first made in Carolina, and as far as is known, 
 the first made in the British Colonies, now United States, which have been pub- 
 lished. He was also the first experimenter in Carolina on electricity, and ranked 
 high among the early literati of the new world. He died in 1760, with a distin- 
 guished reputation as a physician and a philosopher, after he had extended tha 
 literary fame of his adopted country to distant regions. 
 
 HENRY LAURENS, 
 
 "Was born in Charlestown in 1724. His ancestors were French Protestant ref- 
 ugees, who had left France soon after the revocation of the edict of Nantz. 
 They first settled in New York, but afterwards removed to Charlestown. His 
 education was superintended at first by Mr. Howe, and aiterwards by Mr. Cor- 
 bett, the same who after instructing Peter Manigault, "William Drayton, and some 
 other excellent classical scholars in Carolina, returned to England and became 
 high bailiff* of "Westminster. Being designed for a merchant, Henry Laurens was 
 early in life put u'nder the care of Thomas Smith, merchant of Charlestown, and 
 afterwards of Mr. Crokatt, of London, who had returned to Europe after having 
 acquired a considerable estate in Charlestown. Under these instructors, Henry 
 Laurens was regularly bred to merchandize, and acquired those habits of order, 
 system, and method in business, for which he was through life remarkable. On 
 his return from London, he entered into partnership with Mr. Austin, an estab- 
 lished merchant of Charlestown, and engaged in trade with spirit, but at the same 
 time with caution and judgment. His scrupulous attention to punctuality not 
 only in the discharge of pecuniary engagements, but in being where and in doing 
 what he had promised was almosc romantic. He suffered nothing to interfere 
 with his own engagements, and highly disrelished all breaches of punctuality on 
 the part of others. He was an excellent model for a young man to form himself 
 upon, and was largely trusted in that way by parents who wished their sons to 
 be brought up strictly and in habits of doing business with accuracy. To have 
 served in his counting-house was no small recommendation. He worked hard 
 himself, and made all around him do the same. He required less sleep than most 
 men, and devoted a great part of the night to the ordinary mercantile pursuits of 
 the day. For the dispatch of business he was never exceeded, perhaps never 
 equalled, in Charlestown. He was a very early riser, and devoted the morning 
 to his counting-house, and frequently had the business of the day not only ar- 
 ranged, but done, when others were beginning to deliberate on the expediency of 
 leaving their beds. His letters were generally written in the retired hours of the 
 night and morning. In them his ideas were always expressed in strong and pre- 
 cise language, which forcibly conveyed his meaning without a possibility of being 
 misunderstood. Whether friendship, business, or amusement was the subject, 
 his epistolary style was excellent and well worthy of imitation. 
 
 He had an exact knowledge of human nature, and, in his own mercantile lan^uao-e, 
 soon found out the par of exchange of every man with whom he transacted bu'si- 
 ness. His eye was uncommonly penetrating, and the correct opinions he frequently 
 brmed of the real characters of men, from their looks, would, if known to Lavater 
 
HENKY LAUEENS, 261 
 
 have confirmed that philosopher in his theory of physiognomy. Such dih'gence, 
 and such knowledge of men and of business, could not fail of success. It is no' 
 small evidence of this, and at the same time, characteristic of the period in which 
 Mr. Laurens -v^as engaged in trade, between 1747 and 1770, that at the winding 
 up of his partnership concerns, which had embraced transactions to the amolint 
 of many millions of pounds of the then currency, he offered his partner to take 
 all outstanding debts as cash, at a discount of five per cent, on their gross amount. 
 
 His talents for conversation were great. He could adapt himself to the young 
 and the old, the gay and the grave, to the man of business and the votaries of 
 pleasure. He reproved without offending, and gave advice without appearing to 
 dictate. 
 
 Mr. Laurens' love of justice was extreme. He would never draw a bill of ex- 
 change till he had a written acknowledgment from the person on whom he drew, 
 that he was indebted to the amount drawn for. He cheerfully partook of diversions 
 in their proper time and place ; but had at all periods of his life so deep rooted an 
 aversion to gaming, that he never played at cards or any other gamCj but for amuse- 
 ment, unless on some very rare occasions, when in company with those to whom 
 play was without zest except something was risked, he so far conformed to their 
 humor as to play for money on a very moderate scale, and in case of loss he 
 promptly paid, but uniformly refused to receive what he won, esteeming it wrong 
 to take any man's money without giving an equivalent. 
 
 In two or three instances he yielded to the fashionable folly of accepting a chal- 
 lenge to decide a controversy by single combat. In every such case he received 
 the fire of his adversary, but would not return it. He once had a suit at law with 
 the Judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, in which he resisted the claims of the 
 royal government, which, by some recent regulations, were hostile to American 
 rights. Mr. Laurens being cast, tendered to the Judge, Sir Egerton Leigh, his 
 legal fees to a considerable sum. The Judge declined to receive them. Mr. Lau- 
 rens, conceiving that he had no right to retain what was legally due from him, 
 gave the same precise amount to the South Carolina Society, to be expended by 
 them in charity. On another occasion, a sum of money came into his hands in 
 some official character which had no! been claimed. Under an impression that 
 the money thus unclaimed was not his, he transferred it to the South Carolina 
 Society, to be used by them as a fund of charity, till the owner called for it. No 
 such call was then expected, or has yet been brought forward, though the deposit 
 was made forty years ago. 
 
 Mr. Laurens once persuaded a favorite slave to give a reluctant consent to 
 receive the small pox by inoculation, who. in consequence thereof, died. To com- 
 fort the deceased for the issue of an unfortunate experiment urged upon him, 
 assurances were given to him in his dying moments that his children should be 
 emancipated. This was accordingly done. 
 
 In the performance of his religious duties, Mr. Laurens was strict and exem- 
 plary. The emergency was great which kept him from church either forenoon or 
 afiernoon, and very great indeed which kept him from his regular monthly com- 
 munion. With the bible he was intimately acquainted. Its doctrines he firmly 
 believed ; its precepts and history he admired, and was much in the habit of quot- 
 ing and applying portions of it to present occurrences. He not only read the 
 scriptures diligently to his family, but made all his children read them also. His 
 family bible -ontained, in his own hand-writing, several of his remarks on passing 
 providences. He used to observe that many passages-of admired authors were 
 borrowed either in matter jr manner 'rom sacred writ, and in support of this 
 opinion, often quoted, among other examples, " God tempers the wind to the back 
 of the shorn. lamb," of Sterne, as ai' imitation of, "he stayeth his rough wind in 
 the day of the east wind,'" of the prophet Isaiah ; and the interesting " lovely 
 young Lavinia," of Thompson, as a portrait of the bible Ruth by a modern hand, 
 with a little alteration in the drapery. He frequently recommended the writings 
 of Solomon as giving an excellent insight into human nature, and as aphorisms, 
 the observance of which would make men both wise and happy. 
 
 Mr. Laurens having amassed a fortune far exceeding what was then common in 
 America, and having lately lost his wife, gave up business, and in 1771, went to 
 Europe to superintend the education of his sons. Soon after he had made ar- 
 rangements for bringing them forward to the greatest advantage, the disputes 
 began which finally severed the colonies from the parent State. He was one of 
 the thirty-nine natives of America, who, in 1774, petitioned the British parliament 
 not to pass the Boston port-bill. His utmost exertions were made to prevent the 
 war; but finding that nothing short of the most degrading submission on the part 
 of the colonies, would prevent it, he determined to return to Carolina and take 
 part with his countrymen. Great interest was used to dissuade him from execut- 
 
262 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 ing this resolution, and ample offers were made to indemnify him for all losses 
 that might result from his remaining in England. To his mercantile friend, Mr. 
 Oswald, one of the subsequent negotiators of peace, urging his stay, he replied 
 from Falmouth, when on the point of embarking for Charlestown, as follows; 
 " I shall never forget your friendly attention to my interest, but I dare not return. 
 Your ministers are deaf to information, and seem bent on provoking unnecessary 
 contest. I think I have acted the part of a faithful subject. I now go resolved 
 still to labor for peace; at the same time, determined in the last event to stand or 
 fall with my country." On his leaving England, he assured the numerous friends 
 he left behind, that America would not submit to the claims of the British parlia- 
 ment: on his landing in Charlestown, in December, 1774, he assured his American 
 friends that Britain would not yield to their demands, and that war was inevitable. 
 His information was much relied on, and vigorous preparations for defense were 
 made very early in 1775 by the Carolinians. The circumstance of his leaving 
 England at this crisis to take part with his countrymen in their approaching ardu- 
 ous conflict, rivetted him in their esteem. They conferred many offices upon him. 
 In the interval between the suspension of royal and the establishment of repre- 
 sentative government, the executive department of the latter system, while in 
 embryo, was administered by him as president of the council of safety, with a 
 full impression that both his fortune and his life were staked on the result. His 
 countrymen soon found that the well known activity of the merchant was trans- 
 ferred to the statesman, and that the public business was promptly and accurately 
 dispatched. Soon after the establishment of a regular constitution in South Car- 
 olina, in 1776, he was elected a member of Congress, and shortly after he had 
 taken his seat, was appointed President of that body. Two volumes of his official 
 public letters as President remain in the archives of the old Congress. These are 
 monuments of his talent for writing letters — of his industry and attention to the 
 duties of his station. In that period the British commissioners arrived with the 
 vain hope of inducing the Americans to rescind their alliance with France, and to 
 resume the character of free British subjects. One of them. Governor Johnson, 
 had private letters of introduction to Mr. Laurens. These were forwarded and 
 brought on a correspondence long since made public, which Avas honorable to the 
 American character. In December, 1778, Mr. Laurens resigned the chair of Con- 
 gress, and thereupon received their thanks "for his conduct in the chair and in 
 the execution of public business." He returned his grateful acknowledgments 
 fop the honor done him, which he observed "would be of service to his children." 
 In the year following he was appointed minister plenipotentiary from the United 
 States to Holland. In his way thither he was captured and carried to England, 
 and there committed a prisoner to the tower of London, on suspicion of treason ; 
 and was officially mentioned by Sir Joseph York as " styling himself President of 
 the pretended Congress." The commitment was accompanied with orders "to 
 confine him a close prisoner — to be locked up every night — to be in the custody of 
 two warders — not to suffer him to be out of their sight one moment, day or night — 
 to allow him no liberty of speaking to any person, nor to permit any person to 
 speak to him — to deprive hira of the use of pen and ink — to suffer no letter to be 
 brought to him, nor any to go from him." Mr. Laurens was then fifty-six years 
 old, and severely afflicted with the gout and other infirmities. In this situation he 
 was conducted to apartments in the tower, and was shut up in two small rooms, 
 which, together, made about twenty feet square, with a warder for his constant 
 companion, and a fixed bayonet under his window, without any friend to converse 
 with, and without any prospect or even the means of correspondence. Being 
 debarred the use of pen and ink, he procured pencils which proved an useful sub- 
 stitute. After a month's confinement, he was permitted to walk out on limited 
 ground, but a warder with a sword in his hand followed close behind. This in- 
 dulgence was occasionally taken for about three weeks, when Lord George Gor- 
 don, who was also a prisoner in the tower, unluckily met and asked Mr. Laurens 
 to walk with him. Mr. Laurens declined the offer, and instantly returned to his 
 apartment. Governor Gore caught at this transgression of orders, and locked 
 him up for thirty-seven days, though the attending warder exculpated him from 
 all blame. 
 
 About this time an old friend and mercantile correspondent, having solicited the 
 Secretaries of State for Mr. Laurens' enlargement on parole, and having offered 
 his whole fortune as security for his good conduct, sent him the following message : 
 " Their lordships say if you will point out anything for the benefit of Great Britain 
 in the present dispute with the colonies, you will be enlarged." This proposition 
 filled him with indignation, and provoked a sharp reply. 
 
 The same friend soon after visited Mr, Laurens, and being left alone with him 
 addressed him as follows : " I converse with you this morning, not particularly as 
 
HENRY LAURENS. 263 
 
 your friend but as the friend of Great Britain. I have certain propositions to 
 make for obtaining your liberty, which I advise you should take time to consider." 
 Mr. Laurens desired to know what they were, and added " that an honest man re 
 quired no time to give an answer in a" case where his honor "was concerned." '* If," 
 said he, "the Secretaries of State will enlarge me upon parole, T will strictly con- 
 form to my engagement to do nothing directly or indirectly to the hurt of this king- 
 dom. I will return to America, or remain in any part of England which may be 
 assigned, and surrender myself when demanded." It was answered, " no sir, you 
 must stay in London among your friends. The ministers will often have occasion 
 to send for and consult you : you can write two or three lines to the ministers and 
 barely say you are sorry for -what is past. A pardon will be granted. Every man 
 has been wrong at some time or other of his life, and should not be ashamed to 
 acknowledge it." Mr. Laurens replied, "1 will never subscribe to my own 
 infamy and to the dishonor of my children." 
 
 Though Mr. Laurens was not allowed to see his own friends, pains were taken 
 to furnish him with such newspapers from America as announced the successes 
 of the British in South Carolina after the surrender of its capital in 1780 — that the 
 inhabitants had given up the contest, and generally taken British protection ; and 
 that the estates of Henry Laurens, and of the other obstinate rebels who still ad- 
 hered to the ruined cause of independence, were under sequestration by the Brit- 
 ish conquerors. To such communications Mr. Laurens steadily replied, " none of 
 these things move me." 
 
 In the year 1781, Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens, the eldest son of Henry 
 Laurens, arrived in France as the special minister of Congress. The father was 
 requested to write to the son to withdraw himself from the court of France, and 
 assurances were given that it would operate in his favor. To these requests he 
 replied, "my son is of age, and has a will of his own; if I should write to him in 
 the terms you request it would have no effect ; he would only conclude that con- 
 finement and persuasion had softened me. I know him to be a man of honor. He 
 loves me dear and "would lay do^wn his life to save mine, but I am sure he would 
 not sacrafice his honor to save my life : and I applaud him." 
 
 Mr Laurens pencilled an address to the Secretaries of State for the use of 
 pen and ink to draw a bill of exchange on a merchant in London who was in his 
 debt, for money to answer his immediate exigencies. This was delivered to their 
 lordships, but they returned no answer though no provision was made for the sup- 
 port of their prisoner. Mr. Laurens was thus left to languish in confinement un 
 der many infirmities and without the means of applying his own resources on the 
 spot for his immediate support. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Laurens had completed a year in the tower, he was called upon 
 to pay £97 10s. sterling to two warders for attending on him. To which he replied, 
 " I will not pay the warders whom I never employed and whose attendance I shall 
 be glad to dispense with." 
 
 Three weeks after, the Secretaries of State consented that Mr. Laurens should 
 have the use of pen and ink for the purpose of drawing a bill of exchange ; but 
 they were taken away the moment that business was done. 
 
 As the year 1781 drew near a close, Mr. Lauren's sufferings in the tower became 
 generally known, and excited compassion in his favor, and odium against the 
 authors of his confinement. It had also been found by the inefficacy of many 
 attempts, that no concessions could be obtained from him. It was- therefore 
 resolved to release him, but difficulties arose about the mode. Mr. Laurens 
 would not consent to any act which implied that he was a British subject, and 
 he had been committed as such on a charge of high treason. Ministers, to extri- 
 cate themselves from this difficulty, at length proposed to take bail for his appear- 
 ance at the Court of King's Bench. When the words of the recognizance, "Our 
 sovereign lord the King" were read to Mr. Laurens, he replied in open court, 
 "Not my Sovereign," and with this declaration he, with Mr. Oswald and Mr. 
 Anderson as his securities, entered into an obligation for his appearance at the 
 Courts of King's Bench the next Easter term, and for not departing thence 
 without leave of the court. Mr. Laurens was immediately released. When the 
 time of his appearance at court drew near he was not only discharged from all 
 obligations to attend, but was requested by Lord Shelburne to go to the continent 
 in subserviency to a scheme for making peace with America. Mr. Laurens was 
 startled at the idea of being released without any equivalent, as he had unilormly 
 held himself to be a prisoner-of-war. From a high sense of personal independence, 
 and unwillingness to be brought under an apparent obligation, he replied, inat 
 he durst not accept himself as a gift; and that as Congress had once oflered 
 Lieutenant-General Burgoyne for him, he had no doubt of their now giving Lieu- 
 tenant-General Earl Cornwallis for the same purpose." 
 
264 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 The contrast between this close confinement in the tower for more than four- 
 teen months, and the active life to which Mr. Laurens had been accustomed, so 
 far undermined his constitution that he never afterwards enjoyed good health. 
 Soon after his release he received a commission from Congress to be one of their 
 ministers to negotiate a peace with Great Britain. He repaired to Paris, and there, 
 in conjunction with Dr. Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay, signed the prelim- 
 inaries of peace on the 30th of November, 1782, by which the independence of 
 the United States was acknowledged. Mr. Laurens soon after returned to Caro- 
 lina. His countrymen, well pleased with his conduct, stood ready to honor him 
 with every mark of distinction in their power to confer; but he declined all 
 solicitations to suffer himself to be elected either Governor, member of Congress, 
 or of the State Legislature. When the project of a general convention was under 
 consideration for revising the federal bond of union, he was, without his permis- 
 sion, elected one of its members, but declined serving. He retired from all public 
 business, and amused himself with agricultural experiments, and promoting the 
 happiness of his children, domestics,* friends and neighbors. His health, which 
 had long been delicate, gradually declined, and on the 8th of December, 1792, near 
 the close of his 69th year, he expired. His will concluded with these words: "I 
 solemnly enjoin it on my son as an indispensable duty, that, as soon as he conve- 
 niently can afler my decease, he cause my body to be wrapped in twelve yards of 
 tow cloth, and burnt until it be entirely consumed, and then collecting my bones, 
 deposit them wherever he may think proper." This request was fulfilled. 
 
 JOHN LAURENS, 
 
 Son of Henry Laurens, was born in Charlestown in 1755. His early education 
 was conducted by Benjamin Lord, Rev. Messrs. Himeli and Panton. In youth 
 he discovered that energy of character that distinguished him through life. "When 
 a lad, though laboring under a fever, on the cry of fire he leaped from his bed, 
 hastened to the scene of danger, and was in a few minutes on the top of the 
 exposed houses, risking his life to arrest the progress of the flames. This is the 
 more worthy of notice, for precisely in the same way, and under a similar, but 
 higher impulse of ardent patriotism, he lost his life in the year 1781. 
 
 At the age of sixteen he was taken to Europe by his father, and there put 
 under the best means of instruction in Geneva, and afterwards in London. 
 
 In the course of his youthful studies he united the plodding diligence of the 
 mere scholar and the refinement of the gentleman. By a judicious distribution of 
 his time, and doing with his might whatever he engaged in, he acquired as much 
 solid useful learning as could be expected from one, who, immuring himself in 
 the walls of a college, renounced society; and at the same time as many accom- 
 plishments as are usually attained by those who, neglecting all study, aim at 
 nothing more than the exterior polish of an elegant education. In classical learn- 
 ing, the French and Italian languages, mathematics, philosophy, geography, his- 
 tory, and the ordinary circle of sciences, he was an adept; and also excelled in 
 drawing, dancing, fencing, riding, and all the graces and refined manners of a 
 man of fashion. He was entered a student of law at the temple in 1774, and was 
 daily improving in legal knowledge till the disputes between Great Britain and 
 her colonies arrested his attention. He soon found that the claims of the mother 
 country struck at the root of liberty in the colonies, and that she perseveringly 
 resolved to enforce these claims at every hazard. Fain would he have come out 
 to join his countrymen in arms ct the commencement of the contest; but the 
 peremptory order of his father enjoined his continuance in England, to prosecute 
 his studies and finish his education. As a dutiful son he obeyed these orders; 
 but as a patriot burning with desire to defend his country, he dismissed Coke, Lit- 
 tleton, and all the tribe of jurists, and substituted in their place Vauban, Folard, 
 and other writers on war. He also availed himself of the excellent opportunities 
 which London affords of acquiring practical knowledge in the manual exercise, 
 of tactics, and the mechanism of war. Thus instructed, as soon as he was a free- 
 man of legal age, he quitted England for France, and by a circuitous voyage in 
 neutral vessels, and at a considerable risk, made his way good in the year 1777 to 
 Charlestown. Independence had been declared; the American army was raised, 
 ofEcered, and in the field. He who by his attainments in general science, and 
 
 *Mr. Laurens' treatment of his domestica was highly commendable, Hewaa strict in making 
 them do their proper business, and enforced among them the observance of decency, order and 
 morality; but amply supplied their wants, and freely contributed to their comforts. Pew 
 laborers in any country had more of the eiyoyments of life than the cultivators of hia grounds. 
 They accordingly lived long, and their natural increase was great. To their religious imstmctions 
 he was also attentive. 
 
JOHN LAURENS. 265 
 
 particularly, in the military art, deserved high rank, had no ordinary door left open 
 to serve his country but by entering in the lowest grade of an army abounding with 
 officers. General "Washington, ever attentive to merit, instantly took him into his 
 family as a supernumerary aid-de-camp. Shortly after this appointment, he had an 
 opportunity of indulging his military ardor. He fought and was wounded in the 
 battle of Germantown, October 4th, 1777. He continued in General Washington's 
 family in the middle States till the British had retreated from Philadelphia to New 
 York; and was engaged in the battle of Monmouth, June 28,1778. After this, the 
 war being transferred more northwardly, he was indulged in attaching himself to 
 the army on Rhode Island, where the most active operations were expected soon 
 to take place. There he was intrusted with the command of some light troops. 
 The bravery and good conduct which he displayed on this occasion was honored 
 by Congress. On the 5th of November, 1778, they resolved "That John Laurens, 
 Esq., aid-de-camp to General Washington, be presented with a continental com- 
 mission of Lieutenant-Colonel, in testimony of the sense which Congress enter- 
 tain of his patriotic and spirited services as a volunteer in the American army; 
 and of his brave conduct in several actions, particularly in that of Rhode Island, 
 on the 29th of August last; and that General Washington be directed, whenever 
 an opportunity shall offer, to give Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens command agreeable 
 to his rank." On the next day a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens was read 
 in Congress, expressing "his gratitude for the unexpected honor which Congress 
 were pleased to confer on him by the resolution passed the day before; and the 
 high satisfaction it would have afforded him, could he have accepted it without 
 injuring the rights of the officers in the line of the army, and doing an evident 
 injustice to his colleagues in the family of the Commander-in-Chief; that having 
 been a spectator of the convulsions occasioned in the army by disputes of rank, 
 he held the tranquility of it too dear to be instrumental in disturbing it and there- 
 fore entreated Congress to suppress the resolve of yesterday, ordering him a 
 commission of Lieutenant-Colonel, and to accept his sincere thanks for the 
 intended honor." In this relinquishment there was a victory gained by patriotism 
 over self-love. Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens loved military fame and rank; but he 
 loved his country more, and sacrificed the former to preserve the peace and pro- 
 mote the interest of the latter. 
 
 In the next year the British directed their military operations chiefly against 
 the most Southern States. Lieutenant-Colonel John Laurens was induced by 
 double motives to repair to Carolina. The post of danger was always the object 
 of his preference. His native State was become the theatre of war. To its aid 
 he repaired, and in May, 1779. with a party of light troops, had a skirmish with the 
 British at Tulifinny. In endeavoring to obstruct their progress towards Charles- 
 town, he received a wound. This was no sooner cured than he rejoined the army, 
 and was engaged in the unsuccessful attack on Savannah on the 9th of October 
 of the same year. To prepare for the defense of Charlestown, the reduction of 
 of which was known to be contemplated by the British, was the next object of 
 attention among the Americans. To this Colonel Laurens devoted all the ener- 
 gies of his active mind. In the progress of the siege which commenced in 1780, 
 the success of defensive operations became doubtful. Councils of war were fre- 
 quent; several of the citizens were known to wish for a surrender, as a termination 
 of their toils and dangers. In these councils, and on proper occasions. Colonel 
 Laurens advocated the abandonment of the front lines, and to retire to new ones 
 to be erected within the old ones, and to risk an assault. When these spirited 
 measures were opposed, on the suggestion that the inhabitants preferred a capitu- 
 lation, he declared that he would direct his sword to the heart of the first citizen 
 who would urge a capitulation against the opinion of the Commander-in-Chief. 
 When his superior officers, convinced of the ineificacy of further resistance, were 
 disposed to surrender on terms of capitulation, he yielded to the necessity of the 
 case and became a prisoner-of-war. This reverse of fortune opened a new door 
 for serving his country in a higher line than he ever yet had done. He was soon 
 exchanged and reinstated in a capacity for acting. In expediting his exchange. 
 Congress had the ulterior view of sending him as a special minister to Paris, that 
 he might urge the necessity of a vigorous co-operation on the part of France with 
 the United .States, against Great Britain. When this was proposed to Colonel 
 Laurens, he recommended and urged that Colonel Alexander Hamilton should be 
 employed in preference to himself. Congress adhered to their first choice. 
 Colonel Laurens sailed for France in the latter end of 1780, and there, in conjunc- 
 tion with Dr. Franklin and Count De Vergenness and Marquis De Castries, 
 arranged the plan of the campaign for 1781 ; which eventuated in the surrender 
 of Lord Cornwallis, and finally in a termination of the war. Within six months 
 ^om the day Colonel Laurens left America, he returned to it and brought with 
 
266 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 him the concerted plan of combined operations. Ardent to rejoin the army, he 
 was indulged with making a verbal report of his negotiations to Congress, and in 
 three days set out to resume his place as one of the aids of General "Washington. 
 The American and French army about this time commenced the siege of York- 
 town. In the course of it, Colonel Laurens, as second in command with his 
 fellow aid, Colonel Hamilton, assisted in storming and taking an advanced British 
 redoubt, which expedited the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. The articles of 
 capitulation were arranged by Colonel Laurens on behalf of the Americans. 
 Charlestown and a part of South Carolina still remained in the power of the 
 British. Colonel Laurens thought nothing done while anything remained undone. 
 He therefore, on the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, repaired to South Carolina to 
 assist in recovering the State. Before he entered on active military duty, he 
 obeyed the call of his country to serve as a representative to the State Legisla- 
 ture, which was convened in January, 1782, at Jacksonborough, within thirty-five 
 miles of Charlestown, which was at that time a British garrison. His eloquence 
 was then put in requisition for the public service. He was the advocate of every 
 energetic measure of defense and offense, but declined all civil honors; preferring 
 to serve his country in the field. His legislative duty being over, he joined the 
 southern army, commanded by General Greene. In the course of the summer of 
 1782 he caught a common fever, and was sick in bed, when an expedition was 
 undertaken against a party of the British which had gone to Combakee to carry 
 off rice. Colonel Laurens rose from his sick bed and joined his countrymen. 
 While leading an advanced party, he received a shot which on the 27th of August, 
 1782, at the close of the war, put an end to his valuable life in the twenty-seventh 
 year of his age. His many virtues have been ever since the subject of eulogy, 
 and his early fall of national lamentation. The fourth of July seldom passes 
 without a tribute to his memory. 
 
 GABRIEL MANIGAULT, 
 
 Was born in the year 1704. Both his parents were French Protestant refugees, 
 who, in consequence of the revocation of the edict of Nantz in 1685, determined 
 to leave France. Their marriage took place in Charlestown about the year 1699. 
 Their son Gabriel was born and resided there the whole of his life, which was 
 seventy-seven years, with the exception of a voyage to the West Indies. The 
 prominent traits in his character ■were integrity and bene^^olence. His regard to 
 justice was almost romantic. His charity was always exercised whenever an 
 opportunity offered. He generally had pensioners who received his bounty at 
 stated periods. At his death he left to the South Carolina Society of Charlestown 
 a legacy of £5,000 sterling, from the interest of which the society has been enabled 
 to add very considerably to the number of children educated on its bounty. In 
 his transactions as a merchant he was candid, fair and honorable. All his con- 
 tracts were performed with such exactness and punctuality, that the same confi- 
 dence was placed in his word as on his bond. He had many solicitations to 
 engage in the slave trade, which was pre-eminently lucrative; but he declined all 
 agency in transferring the subjects of that trade from the land of their nativity to 
 a foreign country. He was nevertheless no advocate for emancipating those 
 which were already in Carolina. He was a planter, as well as a merchant, and 
 O'wned negroes. These were treated with great humanity. This was well known 
 to his friends and neighbors, and by an accidental circumstance has become indi- 
 rectly a matter of record. The great proof of the good treatment of negroes is 
 their natural increase. In an examination, in the year 1790, before a committee 
 of the House of Commons in England, appointed to ascertain the treatment of 
 slaves in the British colonies, it was given in evidence by John Savage, that in 
 thirty-eight years the slaves of Gabriel Manigault had increased in the low country 
 of Carohna from 86 to 270, without any aid from purchases, other than replacing 
 twelve or fourteen old slaves with the same number of young ones. 
 
 Mr. Manigault was treasurer of the province, and faithfully discharged the 
 duties thereof in and after the year 1740, when all the intricate accounts of the 
 unfortunate expedition against St. Augustine were the subject of fiscal exam- 
 ination. 
 
 He was also for some time a representative of Charlestown in the provincial 
 House of Commons. Though he never courted popularity, he was so much a 
 favorite that in a contested election the mechanics walked in procession to the 
 place of voting, and by their unanimous ballot turned the election in his favor. 
 No man could engage with more ardor in public undertakings than he did. His 
 name was generally to be found on the lists of those who were charged with the 
 executions of such projects. In the attempts to introduce the making of silk and 
 
THOMAS REESE, D.D. 267 
 
 wine in Carolina he was very active. He was for many years vice-president of 
 the Library Society, the Governor being president; and he felt so interested in 
 the success of that institution, that he leased to them, free of expense for twenty- 
 one years, the upper rooms of two adjoining tenements belonging to him, which 
 were thrown into one, and formed a spacious apartment for their books and another 
 for the librarian. 
 
 In the discharge of his religious duties, Mr. Manigault was most exemplary. 
 Being descended from French parents, he was by birth a member of the French 
 Calvinistic church in Charlestown, of which he was always a most zealous sup- 
 porter. He was nevertheless a steady communicant, and a regular attendant, 
 both forenoon and afternoon, on divine service in St. Phillip's church. 
 . At the breaking out of the American war he was above the age of man j of 
 course no personal assistance could be expected from him by his fellow citizens ; 
 but his pecuniary aid was not wanting, and he showed his attachment to and 
 confidence in the new government by loaning to the State of South Carolina 
 $220,000. When General Prevost made an incursion into South Carolina, and 
 appeared before the lines of Charlestown in May, 1779, Mr. Manigault was past 
 seventy-five; notwithstanding which, he determined that the place of his nativity 
 should not fall without some exertion, however feeble, on his part. He equipped 
 himself as a soldier, caused his grandson, Joseph Manigault, then only fifteen, to 
 do the same; and taking him by the hand to the lines in the face of the enemy, from 
 whom an attack was every moment expected, offered their services in defense of 
 the city. In two years after this demonstration of attachment to the land of his 
 nativity and the asylum of his persecuted parents, he departed this life. In the 
 course of more than fifty years devoted to commercial pursuits, he honestly 
 acquired a fortune very little, if anything, short of half a million of dollars, though 
 he had given away considerable sums in charity and liberality. His house and 
 table were always open to his friends, and the civilities of hospitality were by him 
 liberally and extensively bestowed on strangers. 
 
 PETER MANIGAULT, 
 
 The only child of Gabriel Manigault, was born in Charlestown in 1731. At sixteen 
 he was placed with Mr. Corbett, and. in two years after accompanied him to Eng- 
 land, where he lived with him some lime, and afterwards took chambers in the 
 Inner Temple, of which he was a member. He was admitted a barrister in Eng- 
 land, after having pursued his studies with unusual application. He returned to 
 CaroHnain 1754, and commenced the practice of law; but after a few years declined 
 it. Though he had retired from the bar, his professional advice was always at the 
 service of the necessitous. Many were the instances of his assisting those who 
 could not pay for it elsewhere. He became early in life a member of the Commons 
 House of Assembly, and by his eloquence and attention to business, acquired in 
 a short time a large share of influence. In opposing the Stamp Act, and the 
 other assumptions of power by the British Parliament over the colonies, he took 
 a decided part. His zeal and patriotism were so well received by his countrymen, 
 that in 1766 he was advanced to the office of Speaker of the House, and as such 
 signed every law that was passed subsequent to his election as Speaker, and pre- 
 vious to the revolution which took place nine years after. In this eventful period, 
 when the seeds of the revolution were sown, he so ably advocated the claims of 
 his country that no doubt can exist that he would have been a distinguished revo- 
 lutionary patriot, if his life had been spared. He died in 1773, the very year when 
 the Bostonians destroyed the dutied tea, which deed gave occasion to those acts 
 of the British Parliament which caused the American Revolution. By his early 
 death at the age of forty-two, he was exempted from all the buffetings of the revo- 
 lutionary storm, to the raising of which he had largely contributed. He was an 
 elegant classical scholar, an eloquent public speaker, and possessed an inexhaust- 
 ible fund of wit. Many of his repartees and other effusions of a brilUant imagina- 
 tion, are still remembered and often quoted by the few companions of his social 
 hours who still survive. 
 
 THOMAS REESE, D. D., 
 
 Was born in Pennsylvania, in 1742. When young he came with his parents to 
 North Carolina, and commenced his classical studies in Mecklenburg county with 
 the Rev. Dr. Joseph Alexander and Mr. Benedict, who were at the head of a 
 grammar school in that county, which was then the only one within the distance 
 of 100 miles. He finished his education at Princeton college, and graduated there 
 in 1768. After a proper course of theological studies, he commenced preacher. 
 
268 BIOGEAPHICAI. SKETCHES. 
 
 and settled in the church of Salem, on Black river in South Carolina. During a 
 twenty years residence there, he pursued his studies with an ardor and diligence 
 that has never been exceeded in Carolina. He amassed a large fund of useful 
 knowledge in divinity, moral philosophy, and other branches of science auxiliary 
 to the formation of a complete theologian. He there began and completed his 
 admired essay on the influence of religion in civil society. He pursued his argu. 
 ment through a variety of relations, and demonstrated from reason and history 
 that all human institutions are in their own nature, and have ever been found in 
 practice insufficient for preserving peace and order among mankind, without the 
 sanctions of religion. The execution of the work would have been reputable to 
 the pen of Warburton; but coming from the woods of CaroUna, and an unknown 
 writer, it fell still-born from the press in Charlestown. Its fate would probably 
 have been different if it had come from the east side of the Atlantic, and made its 
 appearance with the name of some European divine. It is preserved in Carey's 
 American Museum, and will be an honorable testimony to posterity of the litera- 
 ture of Carolina in 1788. It procured for the author the well merited degree of D. 
 D. from Princeton college; which, as far as can be 'ecollected, is the first instance 
 in which that degree had ever been conferred on a Carolinian. Dr. Reese coo 
 tinued to write ; but not able to bear the expense of publishing for public benefit 
 printed nothing further. Two of his sermons were nevertheless published, but 
 neither by him nor for him, in the collection called American preacher. Cir- 
 cular letters about the year 1790 were written by the editor, Mr. Austin, to the 
 clergy of all denominations in the United States, requesting them to furnish at 
 least two sermons annually, that a selection might be made from time to time, and 
 published as a specimen of pulpit eloquence in the United States. To the four 
 volumes of this miscellany printed in New Jersey, Dr. Reese appears as the only 
 contributor to the southward of Virginia. 
 
 Dr. Reese pursued his studies with an intenseness that injured his health. For 
 his recovery he was induced to accept an invitation to the pastoral care of a con- 
 gregation in Pendleton district. There he expired in 1796, leaving behind him 
 the character of a distinguished scholar, and an eminently pious man. 
 
 COL. WILLIAM RHETT, 
 
 Was born in London, in the year 1666, and came to Carolina in 1694, with his 
 wife and one child. They had six children born in Charlestown, and one of them 
 when Mrs. Rhett was in her fiftieth year. About ten years after Colonel 
 Rhett's arrival a pressing call was made on him for the defense of his adopted 
 country. He was then Colonel of the militia ; but it was determined, as has been 
 already related, that he should attack the invading French and Spanish forces be- 
 fore they came up to town. Governor Johnson appointed him Vice-Admiral of a 
 fleet consisting of six small merchant ships then inlheharbor, on which some great 
 guns were hastily mounted. With this force he proceeded towards the bar to en- 
 gage the invaders which lay at anchor within it. On his approach they put out to 
 sea. In a few days information ■was received that a ship of force was seen in 
 Sewee bay, and that a number of men had landed from her. Aparty of the militia 
 was ordered to attack those who bad landed, and Admiral Rhett to go around by 
 water and attack the ship from which they had landed. Both succeeded. The ship, 
 without firing a gun, struck, and was brought into Charlestown with about ninety 
 prisoners. This was to Rhett a bloodless victory ; but in the year 1718 he was 
 called to execute a much more difficult enterprise. The pirates were then so 
 bold and troublesome that the port of Charlestown was in a great measure blocka- 
 ded. They took possession of the mouth of Cape Fear river, made a refuge of 
 it, and from it came in succession, to take vessels on their approach to the bar of 
 Charlestown. Governor Johnson fitted out a ship of force, gave the command of 
 it to Col. Rhett, and sent him to sea for the protection of trade. On his approaoh- 
 ingthe bar, Steed Bonnett, who commanded a piratical sloop in the vicinity, fled 
 to Cape Fear river. Thither Rhett followed, and after a severe engagement, in 
 which he was wounded, took the sloop, its commander, and crew, and brought 
 them to Charlestown. Such signal services increased the popularity of Rhett. 
 He was a man of cool determined courage, and well qualified to command either 
 by land or water. He was Collector of the port, and also Receiver General 
 When the revolution from proprietary to regal government took place in 1719, 
 Rhett had the address to keep so far in with both parties as to retain all his places. 
 The revolutioners added two new offices to those he formerly held. They ap- 
 pointed him Lieutenant-General of the militia, and Inspector General of the works 
 for repairing the fortifications. He was afterwards appointed Governor of the 
 Bahamas, but before he entered on the duties of that office he died, in 1722, of an 
 
JOHN RUTLEDGE. 269 
 
 apoplexy. Men of his decided courage and conduct, were eminently useful in the 
 first period of colonization. His son married Chief Justice Trott's daughter. 
 Though the fathers of this pair were the most distinguished Carolinians of their 
 day, the names of both are extinct, except that the name of Rhett is still retained 
 as an appendage to another. There are many descendants of Rhett in North and 
 South Carohna and England; but all, as far as is known, in the female line. To 
 him the Carolinians are much indebted. The services he rendered them were 
 great on many occasions ; but particularly in repelling the invasion of 1704, and 
 breaking up the pirates in 1718. The plate now used for the communion service 
 in St. Philip's, was a present from Col. Rhett. 
 
 ^OHN RUTLEDGE, 
 
 Was born in the year 1739, and was the son of Dr. John Rutledge who, with his 
 brother Andrew, both natives of Ireland, arrived in Carolina about the year 1735, 
 and there practiced, the one law, and the other physic. l)r. Rutledge married 
 Miss Hext, who, in the 15th year of her age gave birth to the subject of this me- 
 moir. At a very early period she was left a widow, and added one to the many 
 examples of illustrious matrons who, devoting their whole attention to their 
 orphan oiTspring, have brought forward distinguished ornaments of human na- 
 ture. 
 
 The early education of John Rutledge was conducted by David Rhind, an ex- 
 cellent classical scholar, and one of the most successful of the early instructors 
 of youth in Carolina. After he had made considerable progress in the Latin and 
 Greek classics, he entered on the study of law with James Parsons, and was af- 
 terwards entered a student in the temple, and proceeding barrister, came out to 
 Charlestown and commenced the practice of lawin 1761. One of the first causes 
 in which he engaged, was an action for breach of a promise of marriage. 
 The subject was interesting, and gave an excellent opportunity for displaying his 
 talents. It was improved, and his eloquence astonished all who heard him. 
 
 Instead of rising by degrees to the head of his profession, he burst forth at 
 once the able lawyer and accomplished orator. Business flowed in upon him. He 
 was employed in the most difiicult causes, and retained with the largest fees that 
 were usually given. The client in whose service he engaged, was supposed to 
 be in a fair way of gaining his cause. He was but a short time in practice, when 
 that cloud began to lower which, in the course of ten or twelve years, burst forth 
 in a revolutionary storm. In the year 1764 Governor Boone refused to administer 
 to Christopher Gadsden the oaths which the law required every person returned 
 as a member in the Commons House of Assembly to take, before he entered on 
 his legislative functions. This kindled the indignation of the House as being an 
 interference with their constitutional privileges as the sole judges of the qualifi- 
 cations of their own members. In rousing the Assembly and the people to resist 
 all interferences of the royal Governors, in deciding who should, or who should 
 not be members of the Commons House of Assembly, John Rutledge kindled a 
 spark which has never since been extinguished. 
 
 The controversy was scarcely ended when the memorable stamp act was 
 passed. The British colonies were then detached from each other and had never 
 acted in concert. A proposition was made by the Assembly of Massachusetts to 
 the different provincial assemblies for appointing committees from each to meet 
 in Congress as a rallying point of union. To this novel project many objections 
 were made; some doubted its legality, others its expedience, and most its efficiency. 
 To remove objections— to concihate opposition, and to gain the hearty concurrence 
 of the Assembly and the people, was no easy matter. In accomplishing these 
 objects, the abilities of John Rutledge were successfully exerted. Objections 
 vanished— prejudices gave way before his eloquence. The public mind was illu- 
 minated, and a more correct mode of thinking took place. A vote for appointing 
 deputies to a continental Congress was carried in South Carolina at an early day, 
 and before it had been agreed to by the neighboring States. Christopher Gadsden, 
 Thomas Lynch, and John Rutledge, were appointed. The last was the youngest, 
 and had very lately began to tread the threshhold of manhood. When this first 
 Congress met in New York in 1765, the members of the distant provinces were 
 surprised at the eloquence of the young member from Carolina. In the means of 
 education that province was far behind those to the northward. Of it little more 
 was known or believed than that it produced rice and indigo, and contained a 
 large proportion of slaves, and a handful of free men, and that most of the latter 
 were strangers to vigorous health— all self-indulgent, and none accustomed to ac- 
 tive exertions either of mind or body. From such a province nothing great was 
 expected. A respectable committee of its Assembly and the distinguished abili- 
 
270 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 ties of one of them who was among the youngest members of the Congress, pro- 
 duced at this first general meeting of the colonies more favorable ideas of South 
 Carolina than had hitherto prevailed. 
 
 After the repeal of the stamp act, John Rutledge was for some years no further 
 engaged in politics than as a lawyer and a member of the Provincial Legislature. 
 In both capacities he was admired as a public speaker. His ideas was clear and 
 strong — his utterance rapid but distinct — his voice, action, and energetic manner 
 of speaking, forcibly impressed his sentiments on the minds and hearts of all who 
 heard him. At reply, he was quick — instantly comprehended the force of an ob- 
 jection — and saw at once the best mode of weakening or repelling it. He suc- 
 cessfully used both argument and wit for invalidating the observations of his ad- 
 versary ; by the former he destroyed or weakenjgd their force ; by the latter he 
 placed them in so ludicrous a point of light that it oiten convinced, and scarcely 
 ever failed of conciliating and pleasing his hearers. Many were the triumphs of 
 his eloquence at the bar and in the Legislature ; and in the former case probably 
 more than strict impartial justice would sanction; forjudges and juries, counsel 
 and audience, hung on his accents. 
 
 In or after the year 1774 a new and more extensive field was opened before 
 him. When news of the Boston port-bill reached Chariestown, a general meeting 
 of the inhabitants was called by expresses sent over the State. After the pro- 
 ceedings of the British Parliament wert stated to this convention of the province, 
 sundry propositions were oii'ered for consideration. To the appointment of dele- 
 gates for a general Congress, no objection was made. But this was followe'd by 
 propositions for instructing them how far they might go in pledging the province 
 to support the Bostonians. Such a discordance of opinion was discovered as 
 filled the minds of the friends of liberty with apprehensions that the meeting 
 would prove abortive. In this crisis John Rutledge, in a most eloquent speech, 
 advocated a motion which he brought ibrward to give no instructions whatever ; 
 but to invest the men of their choice with full authority to concur in any measure 
 they thought best ; and to pledge the people of South Carolina to abide by what- 
 ever they would agree to. He demonstrated that anything less than plenary dis- 
 cretion to this extent would be unequal to the crisis. To those who, after stating 
 the dangers of such extensive powers, begged to be informed what must be done 
 incase the delegates made a bad use of their unlimited authority to pledge the 
 State to any extent, a laconic answer was returned : " Hang them," An impression 
 vras made on the multitude. Their minds were subdued by the decision of the 
 proposed measure, and the energy with which it was supported. On that day and 
 by this vote the revolution was virtually accomplished. By it the people of Carolina 
 determined to be free, deliberately invested five men of their choice as their rep- 
 resentatives with full powers to act for them and to take charge of their political 
 interests. Royal government received a mortal wound and the representative 
 system was planted in its stead. The former lingered for a few months and then 
 expired. The latter instantly took root, and has ever since continued to grow and 
 flourish. An election immedially followed. The mover of this spirited resolution 
 his brother, Edward Rutledge, Christopher Gadsden, Thomas Lynch, and Henry 
 Middleton, were elected. Furnished with such ample powers they took their seats 
 in Congress under great advantages, and by their conduct justified the confi- 
 dence reposed in them. John Rutledge was continued by successive elections a 
 member of Congress till the year 1776. He returned to Chariestown in the be- 
 ginning of that year, and was elected President and Commander-in-Chief of Caro- 
 lina, in conformity to a constitution established by the people on the 20th of 
 March, 1776. His duties henceforward were executive. He employed himself 
 diligently in arranging the new government, and particularly in preparing for the 
 defense of the State against an expected invasion of the British. Their attack on 
 Sullivan's Island has already been related. On this occasion John Rutledge 
 rendered his country important service. General Lee, who commanded the con- 
 tinental troops, pronounced Sullivan's Island to be a "slaughter pen" and either 
 gave orders or was disposed to give orders for its evacuation. The zeal of the 
 State, and the energy of its chief magistrate, prevented this measure. Carolina 
 had raised troops before Congress had declared independence. These remained 
 subject to the authority of the State, and were at this early period not imme- 
 diately under the command of the officers of Congress. To prevent the evacua- 
 tion of the fort on Sullivan's Island, John Rutledge, shortly before the commence- 
 ment of the action on the 2Sth of June, 1776, wrote the following laconic note to 
 General Moultrie, who commanded on the island : " General Lee wishes you to 
 evacuate the fort. You will not without an order from me. 1 would sooner cut oft" 
 my hand than write one. J. Rdti,ei>ge." 
 
 The successful issue of the defense has been already related. The conse- 
 
JOHN RUTLEDGE. 271 
 
 quenoes which would probably have followed from theievacuation of the fort, may 
 in some measures be conjectured from theevents of 1780, wheo the British,grown 
 wiser, passed the same fort "without erigag:ing. 
 
 John Rutledge continued in the olRce of President till March, 1778, when he re- 
 signed. The occasion and reasons of his resignation are matters of general his- 
 tory. This did not diminish his popularity. Of this the Legislature gave the 
 strongest proof; for the next election he was reinstated in the executive authority 
 of the State, but under a new constitution and with the name of Governor substi- 
 tuted in the place of President. He had scarcely entered on the duties of this of- 
 fice, when the country was invaded by the British General Prevost. The exer- 
 tions made by Governor Rutledge to repel this invasion — to defend Gharlestown 
 in the years 1779, 1780 — to procure the aid of Congress and of the adjacent States, 
 to drive the tide of British conquest, to recover the State, and to revive its suspen- 
 ded legislative and judicial powers, have all beenparticularly related in their proper 
 places. On the termination of his executive duties in 1782, he was elected and 
 served as a member of Congress till 1783. In this period he was called upon 
 to perform an extraordinary duty. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis in October, 
 17S1, seemed to paralyze the exertions of the States. Thinking the war and all 
 danger to be over, they no longer acted with suitable vigor. Congress fearing 
 that this languor would encourage Great Britain to recommence the war, sent 
 deputations of their members to rouse the States to a sense of their danger and 
 duty. On the 22d of May, 1782, John Rutledge and George Clymer were sent in 
 this character and instructed "to make such representation to the several Stales 
 southward of Philadelphia as were best adapted to their respective circumstances 
 and the present situations of public affairs, and as might induce them to carry the 
 requisitions of Congress into effect with the greatest dispatch." They were per- 
 mitted to make a personal address to the Virginia Assembly. In the execution of 
 this duty John Rutledge drew such a picture of the United States, and of the dan- 
 ger to which they were exposed by the backwardness of the particular States to 
 comply with the requisitions of Congress, as produced a very happy effect. The 
 addresser acquitted himself with so much ability that the Virginians, who, not 
 without reason^ are proud of their statesmen and orators, began to doubt whether 
 their Patrick Henry or the Carolina Rutledge was the most accomplished public 
 speaker. 
 
 Soon after the termination of Mr. Rutledge's congressional duties he was ap- 
 pointed Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States to Holland, but declined 
 to serve. 
 
 In the year 1784 he was elected a Judge of the court of chancery in South 
 Carolina. Theevents of the late war had greatly increased the necessity for 
 such a court. John Rutledge draughted the bill for organizing it on a new plan, 
 and in it introduced several of the provisions which have been already mentioned 
 as improvements on the English court of the same name. Mr. Rutledge's public du- 
 ties hitherto had been either legislative or executive. They were henceforward ju- 
 dicial. If comparisons were proper it might be added that he was most at home 
 in the tatter. His knowledge of the law was profound ; but the talent which pre- 
 eminently fitted him for dispensing justice was a comprehensive mind, which 
 could at once take into view all the bearings and relations of a complicated case. 
 When the facts were all fairly before him, he promptly knew what justice re- 
 quired. The pleadings of lawyers gratified their clients, but rarely cast any light 
 on the subject whichhad not already presented itself to his own view. Their decla- 
 mations and addresses to the passions were lost on him. Truth and justice were 
 the pole-stars by which his decisions were regulated. He speedily resolved the 
 most intricate cases — pursued general principles through their various modifica- 
 tions till they led to the fountain of justice. His decrees were so luminous, and 
 the grounds of them so clearly expressed, that the defeated party was generally 
 satisfied. 
 
 In the year 17S7 he was called upon to assist in framing a national constitution 
 in Keu of the advisory system of the confederation. In arranging the provisions 
 of that bond of union, and in persuading his countrymen to accept it, he was emi- 
 nently useful. As soon as it was in operation, he was designated by President 
 "Washington as first Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 In this office he served till 1791, when he was elected Chief Justice of South 
 Carolina. He was afterwards appointed Chief Justice of the United States. 
 Thus, for more than thirty years, with few and short intervals, he served his 
 country in one or other of the departments ofgovernment ; and in all with fidelity 
 and ability. In the friendly competitions of the States for the comparative merits 
 of their respective statesmen and orators, while Massachusetts boasts of her John 
 Adams, Connecticut of her Ellsworth, New York of her Jay, Pennsylvania of her 
 
 35 
 
272 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 Wilson, Delaware of her Bayard, Virginia of her Henry, South Carolina rests her 
 claims on the talents and eloquence of John Butledge. This illustrious man closed 
 his variegated career in the year 1800. 
 
 EDWARD RUTLEDGE, 
 
 The son of Dr. John Riitledge, was born about the year 1750. He received his 
 classical education in Charlestown under David Smith, A. M., of New Jersey 
 college, who was an able instructor in the learned languages. On finishing his 
 classical education he studied law with his elder brother John Rutledge. In a 
 due course of time he was entered a student in the temple, and proceeding bar- 
 rister returned to Charlestown and commenced the practice of law in 1773. The 
 high character of John Rutledge raised the expectations of the public that his 
 brother would support the reputation of the name and family; nor were they dis- 
 appointed. His eloquence was great, but not precisely in the same line with his 
 brother's. Demosthenes seemed to be the model of the one, Cicero of the other. 
 The eloquence of the elder hke a torrent bore down all opposition, and controlled 
 the passions of the hearers — that of the younger was soothing, persuasive, and 
 made willing proselytes. In the practice of law, Edward Rutledge was directed 
 by the most upright and generous principles. To advance his personal interest 
 was a secondary object ; to do good, promote peace, to heal breaches, to advance 
 justice, was a primary one. His powers of persuasion were not to be purchased 
 to shield oppression or to support iniquity. Where he thought his client had jus- 
 tice on his side, he would go all lengths in vindicating his claims ; but would not 
 support any man, however liberal, in prosecuting unfounded claims, or resisting 
 those that were substantially just. He abhorred the principle that an advocate 
 should take all advantages for his client, and gain whatever he could for him, 
 whether right or wrong; or, on the other hand, to assist him with all the quirks 
 and quibbles which ingenuity can contrive, or the forms of law permit tor defeat- 
 ing or delaying the claims of substantial justice. 
 
 Such honorable principles, connected with such splendid talents, procured for 
 him the love and esteem of all good men. In the second year after Edward Rut- 
 ledge commenced practice, he was called to represent his country in the Congress 
 which met at Philadelphia in September, 1774. He and John Jay, of New York, 
 were nearly of an age, and the two youngest members of that honorable body. 
 In this station Mr. Edward Rutledge continued for nearly three years. Through- 
 out that period he was one of the most influential members. He had much of 
 the esteem and confidence of Washington, and was often requested by him to 
 bring forward particular measures, for the adoption of which the General was 
 anxious. 
 
 Edward Rutledge has the honor of being one of the four members who signed 
 the Declaraiion of Independence in behalf of South Carolina. Hisprotracted ab- 
 sence from home, and continued attention to public business was no small sacri- 
 fice. His talents and popularity would have commanded the first practice at the 
 bar; but he loved his country too well to be influenced by pecuniary considera- 
 tions to neglect its interests. In the year 1779 he was again appointed member 
 of Congress; but on his way thither was seized with an obstinate tedious fever, 
 which prevented his proceeding to the seat of their deliberation. In addition to 
 his civil employments Edward Rntledge held a commission in the militia, and 
 regularly rose through all grades of rank in the Charlestown battalion of artillery 
 to the rank of its Lieutenant-Colonel. In the year 1779, when the British were 
 defeated and driven from Port Royal island, he as Captain commanded a company 
 of artillerists which earned its full share of the glory of that victory. 
 
 In the year 1780 he became a prisoner of war, and as such was sent to St. Au- 
 gustine, where he was- confined for eleven months and on his exchange, delivered 
 above eight hundred miles from his home and friends. He embraced the first op- 
 portunity of returning to Carolina, but could not approach Charlestown, for it was 
 a British garrison. He was elected and served in the Jacksonborough Assembly 
 in 17S2, and afterwards in the Privy Council of the State; and in both rendered 
 essential service to his country, but was obliged to lead a desultory life till the 
 evacuation of Charlestown in December, 1782. When that event took place he 
 returned to his proper home after an exile of nearly three years. He had set out 
 with the most brilliant professional prospects ; but the revolution deprived him 
 .for eight of the best years of his life from reaping the reward justly due to the 
 studies of his youth. For the seventeen succeeding years he followed his pro- 
 fession, and at the same time served in the Legislature. Though a private mem- 
 ber, he by his persuasive eloquence, directed most of the important measures 
 adopted in that period for the improvement of the country. Many were the 
 
REV. JOSIAH SMITH, A. M. 273 
 
 points which his eloquence either carried through or defeated in the Legislature. 
 For the good obtained and the evil prevented, his memory will be long respected 
 by his countrymen. His persuasive eloquence will in like manner be held up as a 
 model for young public speakers to form themselves upon. Though Mr. Ed- 
 ward Rutledge fromtheyear 1783, had withdrawn from the public life on a national 
 scale, he was never absent from the public service. He was too much absorbed 
 in his country's welfare to look with indifference on the course of her public affairs. 
 He kept up a constant correspondence with his friends and particularly his 
 nephew John Rutledge, in Congress. His opinions were much respected and 
 had great influence with a new set of members who took up the same national 
 concerns in their progress which he had directed in their origin. He wanted no 
 offices from the government, but ardently wished to see its national interests ju- 
 diciously managed for public good. In moderating those collisions which in 
 Carolina too often produce duels, Mr. Edward RutFedge had great address. His 
 opinions as a man of honor were appreciated by all parties, and being impartial, 
 seldom failed of bringing around those explanations which, without degrading, 
 ' were satisfactory. As a lawyer and a gentleman he was justly entitled to the 
 honorable appellation of a peace-maker. He was eminently the friend of the dis- 
 tressed, and thought nothing too much for their accommodation and relief. The 
 talents of few were estimated equally high. The virtues of none attracted a 
 greater proportion of public love and esteem. In the last year of his life he was 
 elected Governorof the State, and died in January, 1800, when in the discharge of 
 the duties of that exalted station. 
 
 REV. JOSIAH SMITH, A. IVl., 
 
 Was born in Charlestown in 1704. He was the grandson of Thomas Smith, 
 who has already beenmentioned as Landgrave and Governor of the province, and 
 the son of George Smith, who died at the age of 79, and the father of Josiah 
 Smith, the present cashier of the branch of the national bank in Charlestown, 
 who, in the 7&th year of his age, ably performs the laborious duties of that office, 
 requiring a clear head and an accurate knowledge of business and accounts. Of 
 these three successive generations, all born in Charlestown, the subject of this 
 memoir was the youngest, though he attained to the age of 77. 
 
 The deceased Josiah Smith was the iirst native of Carolina who obtained a de- 
 gree from a college ; and he with three others, Lieutenant-Governor William 
 Bull, Dr. John Moultrie, and Rev. John Osgood, of Dorchester, were all the na- 
 tives who obtained that honor for the iirst ninety years which followed the set- 
 tlement of South Carolina. Shortly after the year 1725 when Mr. Smith gradua- 
 ted-in Cambridge college near Boston, he commenced preacher. He and the 
 Rev. John Osgood were the only natives of the province, as far as can be recol- 
 lected, who were ordained ministers prior to the American revolution. Mr. 
 Smith was a public preacher for fifty years, and an author for forty-five. He was 
 the only native Carolinian who was a theological author prior to the American 
 war.* Mr. Smith was a respectable preacher, a learned divine, and a writer of 
 considerable reputation. His ministerial functions were at different periods per- 
 formed in Bermuda at Cainhoy, and in Charlestown. About the year 1729 he main- 
 tained a learned disputation with the Rev. Mr. Fisher, on the right of private judg- 
 ment. When the Rev. George Whitfield was forbidden to preach in the Episcopal 
 churches Mr. Smith opened to him his church, then called the white meeting or 
 Independent Congregational Church, and declared to the world his decided ap- 
 probation of the character and doctrines of Mr. Whitfield in a sermon which he 
 afterwards printed from the words " I also will show my opinion." 
 
 He published an octavo volume of sermons in 1752, and several single ones on 
 particular occasions; all of which were well received and are still highly es- 
 teemed. 
 
 In the year 1749 he received a stroke of the palsy, from which he never recov- 
 ered so far as to be able to articulate distinctly. He nevertheless continued to 
 compose and print sermons. His delight was so much in preaching, that he 
 begged as a favor that he might be permitted to deliver a sermon once in every 
 month in his late church. This was conceded, and his friends gave him a patient 
 hearing, though the palsy had so far affected his tongue that they understood but 
 little of what he said. He was seventy-two years old when independence was 
 declared. His age and infirmities put it out of his power to render his country 
 any active service ; but his heart and his prayers were with the friends in Amer- 
 ica in every period of the revolution. When Charlestown surrendered he became 
 
 * Tho Key. Mr. Qnincy, a native of Boston, and an assistant minister of St. Philips, Charlestown, 
 published a volume of sermons about the year 1750. 
 
274 BIOGRAPH-ICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 a prisoner of war, and was paroled as such. He discovered no disposition to 
 become a British subject, but honorably observed his parole. In the year 1781, in 
 the 77th year of iiis age, he, with the family of his son Josiah Smith, then a pris- 
 oner in St. Augustine, were all ordered away from Charlestown and landed in 
 Philadelphia. Shortly after, he died there. In the worst of times Mr. Smith re- 
 peatedly expressed a cheerful hope that he would .live to see the troubles of Amer- 
 ica ended. This was so far realized that he survived for a short time the surren- 
 der of Lord Cornwallis- 
 
 His venerable age, distinguished eminence in the church as a man of learning 
 and piety, his steady patriotism and personal sufferings in the cause of liberty, ex- 
 cited a general sympathy in his behalf. Though he died a stranger in a strange 
 land, he was particularly honored. The Presbyterians of Philadelphia directed that 
 his body should be buried within the walls of their Arch Street church, and between 
 the remains of his two friends the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, and Dr. Samuel Finley, 
 late President of Princeton college. 
 
 THE REV. WM. TENNENT, A. M., 
 
 Was born in New Jersey, in the year 1740, and educated at the college of Prince- 
 ton, white the Rev. Aaron Burr was its President. His ancestors were distin- 
 guished for the'ir learning and piety, and ranked high among the earliest promoters 
 of religion in the middle Slates. After he had preached some time in Connecti- 
 cut he was invited to the pastoral charge of the Independent Church in Charles- 
 town, and arrived there in 1772. As a man of learning, eloquence, and piety, he 
 was in high estimation. While gliding on through lil'e, devoted to study and the 
 discharge of his clerical duties, the American revolution commenced. He was 
 possessed of too much vigor of mind to be indifferent to this great event. It. so 
 thoroughly absorbed all his capacities as to give a new direction to bis pursuits. 
 He speedily comprehended in prospect the important changes it was likely to pro- 
 duce, and engaged in the support of it with all his energies. Ardent zeal and 
 distinguished talents made him so popular, that, contrary to the habits and cus- 
 toms of the people, they with general consent elected him a member of the Pro- 
 vincial Congress. In the revolutionary crisis, when the dearest interests of the 
 country were at stake, many things were done which ought not to be drawn into 
 precedent in seasons of ordinary tranquility. Such was the urgency of public af- 
 fairs that committees and congresses of the people, then their only legislators, 
 were on pressing emergencies in the habit of meeting on Sundays for the dispatch 
 of public business. In the different hours of the same day Mr. Tennent was 
 occasionally heard both in his church and the State-house, addressing different 
 audiences with equal animation on their spiritual and temporal interests^ * He 
 rarely introduced politics in the pulpit ; but from the strain of his preaching and 
 praying it was evident that his whole soul was in the revolution ; and that he con- 
 sidered success in it as intimately connected with the cause of religion, liberty, 
 and human happiness. He wrote sundry anonymous pieces in the newspapers, 
 stirring up the people to a proper sense of their duty and interest, while their lib- 
 erties were endangered ; but printed nothing with his name, except two sermons 
 and a speech delivered in the Legislature of South Carolina ou the justice and 
 policy of putting all religious denominations on an equal footing. In the year 
 1775 the adherents to royal government in the back country armed themselves 
 and went so far in their opposition to the friends of the revolution, that serious 
 consequences were apprehended. In this crisis the council of safety sent 
 William Tennent in conjunction with William Henry Drayton to explain to 
 these misled people the nature of the dispute, and to bring them over to a co- 
 operation with the other inhabitants. They had public meetings with them in dif- 
 ferent places. At these the commissioners of the council of safety made several 
 animated addresses to the disaffected. In this public manner, and in private in- 
 terviews with their leaders, Mr. Tennent's influence and eloquence, in conjunc- 
 tion with his able coadjutor, were exerted to good purpose in preserving peace 
 and making friends to the new order of things. 
 
 Born and educated in a province where there never had been any church estab- 
 lishment, and strongly impressed with the rights of all men to free and equal re- 
 ligious liberty, he could not consent to receive toleration as a legal boon from 
 those whose natural rights were not superior to his own. He drew up an ar^-u- 
 mentative petition in favor of equal religious liberty— united the diflerent denom- 
 inations of dissenters in its support— and procured to it the signature of many 
 thousands When this petition was made the subject of legislative considera- 
 tion he delivered an eloquent and well-reasoned speech in its support This was 
 well received and carried conviction to the breasts of many that establishments of 
 
NICHOLAS TROTT, L. L. D. 275 
 
 particular sects of religion were at all times partial, oppressive, and impolitic; but 
 particularly so in a revolutionary struggle when the exertions of all were indis- 
 pensable to the support of civil liberty. To many well-informed liberal persons 
 his arguments were unnecessary ; but to others whose minds were less expanded 
 they were very useful, and contributed to carry through with general consent a 
 reform of the ancient system. His valuable life was terminated in the 37th year 
 of his age at the high hills of Santee, while discharging a filial duty in bringing his 
 agedand lately widowed mother from New Jersey to Carolina. 
 
 NICHOLAS TROTT, L. L. D., 
 
 Came to Carolina very near the end of the seventeenth century. He was an 
 Englishman by birth, and had been Governor of the Bahama Islands. Nothing 
 is known of ■ his prior history. From the early and decided lead he took in 
 all business, it may be fairly presumed that his abilities and information were 
 great. He is first noticed as Speaker of the House in or about the year 1700. He 
 then took an active part against the proprietors in a dispute whether the Governor 
 and Council, or the House of Assembly, had the right of appointing public oificers. 
 This was brought to issue in consequence of an appointment of a Receiver-Gen- 
 eral made by the Governor and Council. The Assembly, claiming the right of 
 appointing that officer, refused to acknowledge the one appointed by the upper 
 house, and resolved "that the person appointed by them was no receiver, and that 
 whosoever paid money to him should be deemed an enemy to the country." Trott 
 supported the claims of the Assembly. Three years after, or in 1703, his name 
 appears in the list of counsellors. It is probable that the proprietors so far 
 respected his talents as to be desirous of attaching him to their interest. He was 
 henceforward a great favorite with them. They conferred many offices upon hira, 
 and as long as their government lasted, he was by far the most influential man in 
 the province. In this flattering state of public affairs, he viewed the proceedings 
 of the proprietors in a new and more favorable light. He apprehended less danger 
 from their power, and was less anxious to curtail it, than in the first years of his 
 career, when he inade use of the shoulders of the people as a ladder to popularity. 
 In the progress of the province several new disputes arose which have been 
 noticed in the generalhistory. In all these Trott took part with the proprietors, 
 not ony against the claims of the Asseinbly, but against the principles which he 
 himself had 'urged in the year 1700, when he was Speaker of the Ho\ise. In 
 knowledge of the law he was profound. Two of his charges to the jury on the 
 trial of the pirates in 1718, one in manuscript, the other printed in the state trials, 
 have been preserved. In them his extensive erudition is so amply displayed in 
 quotations from a variety of authors, and in the Latin, Greek and Hebrew lan- 
 guages, that some modern judges and juries would be puzzled to understand 
 them. Such are the changes that have taken place in less than a century, that 
 what was then called learning would now be denomintaed pedantry. Another 
 change is also remarkable: of the twenty-four criminals on his calendar for the 
 sessions to be holden at Charlestown in October, 1715, two were charged with 
 blasphemy. No such crime is now brought into court. Expressions or sentimentB 
 similar to what were then the subjects of legal investigation, are now only pun- 
 ished with general contempt and abhorrence. 
 
 So great was Mr. Trott's ascendency about 1718, that it could not be shaken by 
 the combined influence of the Governor, Council, Assembly, and people, though 
 they had justice on their side. Nothing less than a revolution could have reduced 
 him to the common level. The enormity of the one was a concurring cause of 
 the other. 
 
 Tne downfall of Mr. Trott's power, and of the proprietary system, have been 
 already related. After that event his great abilities gave him weight, though 
 unconnected with the rulins powers. For nearly forty years he was among the 
 most influential men in Carolina. For the first half of that period he had ample 
 support from the government. In the last he had none from that quarter; but his 
 abilities carried him through without its aid. They were so great as would have 
 raised him to distinction in all times and under every constitution. The name of the 
 man who long bore so great sway is now only known in the records of history, 
 the volume of laws which he compiled, and by a street in Charlestown called after 
 him. His blood exists in the female line, and very extensively in the numerous 
 descendants of Admiral Sir Thomas Frankland; but the name of Trott is extinct 
 in Carolina, though it was the theatre in which the great power and influence of 
 this illustrious man was most eminently displayed. Mr. Trott died about the year 
 1740. 
 
276 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 •V^LLIAM WRAGG, 
 
 "Was bora about the year 1714. He was the son of Samuel Wragg, and the 
 great-grandson of Dugue, of Montpelier in France, whose daughter, Mary Du- 
 bose, was his mother. His ancestors were among the first settlers of Carolina, 
 and, in the maternal line, among the French Protestants who found an asylum in 
 the new world from the persecutions inflicted by Louis the Fourteenth of France 
 on his subjects for their religion. 
 
 Mr. Wragrg, when very young, and with his father on board a vessel bound from 
 Charlestown to England, was taken by Blackboard, the pirate, immediately aftei 
 passing the bar, but was soon released. His education commenced at "Westminster 
 school, and was completed at one of the English universities. He was called to 
 the bar in England, and married there. 
 
 Mr. Wragg's paternal ancestors were from England. Samuel "Wragg, his father, 
 purchased in the year 1717 Ashley barony from Maurice Ashley. This has 
 descended to his grand-daughter, the wife of William Loughton Smith. 
 
 In the period of Mr. Wragg's life, which was previous to the American Revolu- 
 tion, he had the applause of his countrymen as a man of integrity, of liberal edu- 
 cation, and of distinguished talents. He was for a considerable time elected a 
 member of the Commons House of Assembly. In that character he took a decided 
 line of opposition to Governor Lytlleton respecting his agency with the Cherokees 
 in the year 1759. The history of the war, which then took place between South 
 Carolina and these unfortunate Indians, has been given in its proper place. The 
 present generation, at the distance of nearly half a century, on an impartial retro- 
 spect of the subject, must decide against the Governor, as having provoked hos- 
 tilities when they might have been honorably avoided. In conducting the opposi- 
 tion to the Governor. Mr. Wragg displayed the talents of an accomplished orator.*' 
 His eloquence and pathetic addresses are distinctly remembered by some of his 
 cotemporaries, who still survive. 
 
 Mr. Wragg's abilities were not only admired in his native province, but com- 
 manded the attention of the mother country. In the year 1753 he was advanced 
 to the rank of one of his majesty's council; and about sixteen years after, without 
 any solicitation on his part, the office of Chief-Justice of the province was oflered 
 and even pressed upon him by the Secretary of State, by the express order of 
 George the Third. Mr. Wragg's reasons for declining this honorable and lucrative 
 office are a proof of his disinterestedness and delicacy. He had openly and for 
 reasons publicly given, refused to sign the association entered into by the people 
 of South Carolina, in 1769, to suspend the importation or purchase of British 
 manufactures, till certain impositions of the British Parliament on the colonies 
 were done away. After he had adopted this decisive line of conduct, the com- 
 mission of Chief-Justice was sent out to him without his knowledge. He returned 
 it, giving for reason that no man should say that "the hope of preferment had 
 influenced his preceding conduct." 
 
 The events of his life subsequent to the commencement of the American Revo- 
 lution, furnish a melancholy proof how quick the transition may be from popularity 
 to the reverse, and that without any moral guilt. When the Carolinians, breaking 
 through all the ties which had bound them to Great Britain, resolved to emancipate 
 themselves from colonial dependence, they would have rejoiced to have had 
 William Wragg for their coadjutor. They respected and loved him for his many 
 virtues, and depended on hira as a countryman. They knew his rank, his influ- 
 ence, talents and eloquence. Their expectations of his co-operation were not 
 realized. Being under the peculiar obligations of an oath of fidelity of the King, 
 as one of his council, and believing, as he said, that the popular measures adopted 
 were hostile to the interests of the country, he refused to sign the association and 
 to take the oaths which were imposed by the favorers of the new order of things. 
 Of his sincerity, the upright tenor of his life, and the ties of birth, family and for- 
 tune, which all attached him to Carolina, preclude every ground of suspicion. f 
 
 * Some idea may be formed of Mr. Wragg's mode of public speaking, and of its effect, by the 
 following paragraph, extracted from a piece written by the late General Gadsden, one of Mr. 
 Wragg's political adversaries in 1769. " Mr. Wragg hath here most cfertainly waded out of his 
 depth, and. justifies a common observation, that a man had better speak a hundred ridiculous 
 things than write one: to gild those of the first kind, an insinuating address, accompanied 
 with an engaging, well-directed, glancing smile, and above ail. an easy flow of sweetly-sounding 
 words, delivered in a Trim'\ik& stand, from a conspicuous well-choseu situation, have often done 
 wonders: we have seen these so fascinate and confound the hearers and spectators, as to cause 
 the greatest absurdities to pass over unnoticed." 
 
 t In Mr. Wragg's publicatioBs in 1769, signed William Wrpgg, Planter, wherein he assigns his 
 reasons for not concurring in the non-importation resolutions of the day, he evinced his sincere and 
 decided opposition to everything which had the appearance of forcing men's wills into measures 
 
WILLIAM WRAGG. 277 
 
 When called upon, he gave reasons for his refusal. These, though they would 
 have justided him in a court of law, were not satisfactory to the friends of the 
 revolution. From the different views they respectively took of the same subject, 
 one party was justified for refusing what the other was justified in demand- 
 ing. Mr. Wragg claimed the rights and privileges of a British subject, and these 
 were evidently in his favor.* The popular leaders having resolved to break their 
 connection with Great Britain, proceeded on the idea that all prior rights, laws 
 and constitutions, merely of British origin, must yield to the necessity of the case; 
 that self-preservation was the first law of nature, and that he who was not for 
 them niust be against them. Conceiving that the crisis was too urgent for the 
 admission of any neutrality, they determined that all who would not co-operate 
 with them in their revolutionary projects must quit the country. They had the 
 power to enforce their determinations, and believed that their country's good 
 required that they should be enforced. William Wragg was therefore obliged to 
 leave his native land because he would not renounce the allegiance under which 
 he was born, by which he had been protected, and under which he was happy. 
 He took no guilt to himself, as being conscious that he had committed no offense 
 against his God, his King, or his country: further than not seeing as the majority 
 of hfs countrymen saw, and not believing as they believed, he conscientiously 
 refused to take part with them in measures M^hich he disapproved. The Caro- 
 linians, on the other hand, were so far from feeling remorse, that they considered 
 themselves entitled to the praise of generosity for permitting those who choose 
 to side with Great Britain to go thither, carrying all their property with them. 
 Such is the consequence of revolutions, that one party often thmks it their duty 
 to inflict what the other thinks it their duty to suffer; and both have the applause 
 of their own consciences. 
 
 In this case the issue was melancholy. William Wragg left his country and 
 family with the sensibilities of a fond husband and affectionate father, and at the 
 same time with the feelings of a persecuted man, and was shipwrecked in a vio- 
 lent storm in September, 1777, on the coast of Holland, on his way to England. 
 His infant son, though in the same ship, was saved.f A monument erected to 
 his memory in Westminster Abbey exhibits the melancholy scene of his last 
 moments. 
 
 not sanctioned by law. ."God forbid," he exclaims, " that I, descended from ancestors who 
 severely suffered by the persecutions of Louis the J?ourteenth for exercising a liberty of con- 
 science, should ever adopt that rancour and spirit in the civil affairs of life, which they, upon 
 religious considerations, esteeming to be tbe worst of tyranny, ilew from to this country. Where 
 is the reason, the justice, the charity, in locking up my property with endeavors to force a com- 
 pliance or starve me? had I no other resources than what a plantation afforded, I would endure 
 everything rather than have the freedom of my will or understanding limited or directed by the 
 humors or capricious proscriptions of men not having authority. I have ever been studious to 
 preserve the peace of society; voluntarily I will never violate it; I never concerned myself with 
 the resolutions further than to declare, agreeably to my present opinion, that they did not appear 
 to me to be such as were calculated to produce, but would be destructive of the end proposed ; 
 let me add that I have not forgotten, and therefore am not ashamed of acknowledging, that I dare 
 not oppose acts of parliament made not for the purpose of raising a revenue, but to regulate the 
 commerce of Great Britain and her dominions, and falling within those very rules laid down 
 by lord Chatham and others, who allow only of the partial supremacy of parliament over the 
 colonies." 
 
 *It appears from the publications of those days that the associators never dreamed of inde- 
 pendence. General Gadsden,;one of the most zealous of thepi, furnishes a strong proof of this : 
 In 1769 he observes, in one of his publications in favor of the association, as follows : " To say 
 that America is aiming at independence is so far from being true that the sons of British America 
 would think that to be independent of Great Britain would be the greatest misfortune that could 
 befall them, excepting that of losing th^ir rights and liberties." 
 
 t Those who knew Mr. Wragg were surprised that he should perish, when most of the othe^ 
 persons on board were saved. He was with the other passengers in the vessel's round-hous» 
 after she had struck. Perceiving that the crew wanted assistance, he left this situation anf 
 advanced to the middle of the deck, when a wave passing over the vessel, threw him down. H« 
 held by a rope, but could never regain the use of his feet. He continued in this situation till he 
 was so bruised and exhausted that he expired within a few yards of the round-house. The vessel 
 afterwards went to pieces, and fortunately a part of the deck attached to the round-house floated 
 ashore with it, which preserved most of the other passengers. Mr. David Ehind was lost at the 
 same time. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 1 .—A Statistical Account of Edisto Island. From the ' Com- 
 munications of the Rev. Donald McLeod and Dr. Aidd — the 
 Medical part from the latter. 
 
 SITUATION — EXTENT — SOIL. 
 
 Edisto Island is situate about forty miles to the southwest of Charlestown. It 
 is bounded by the Atlantic ocean on the southeast, by the Edisto rivers in their 
 respective bearings on the north and south, and on the northwest by Dahaw river, 
 which connects the waters of south Edisto or Pon Pon river with those of the 
 north inlet. The alluvions of these rivers may have had the same agency in the 
 formation of this island that those of the Nile and Mississippi have had in the 
 formation of the Delta and New Orleans. Indented by a variety of creeks, it is 
 extremely irregiilar in its dimensions. It is so- nearly intersected in two places 
 that at the periods of high spring tides the waters of north and south Edisto rivers 
 intermix and form it into three separate islands. It. is twelve miles long, and in 
 the widest part, between four and five miles broad. It contains 28,811 acres, or 
 122 acres for every white person, and nearly eleven for every slave, and a fraction 
 more than ten acres for every inhabitant. It is so generally level as to exhibit few 
 inequalities of surface. The more elevated parts consist of a light, sandy soih 
 The low grounds or bottoms are of a stiff, clayey quality. It contains a less pro- 
 portion of barren land, and is more generally fertile than any of the adjacent 
 islands. About three-fourths of it are cleared. Firewood and fencing-timber are 
 on some plantations scarce, and with difliculty procured. 
 
 TIME OF SETTLEMENT — PRODUCTIONS — RICE — INDIGO — COTTON. 
 
 This Island was settled about the beginning of the last century, and principally 
 by emigrants from Scotland and Wales. All the grants are dated either the last 
 years ofthei7th-or first years of the 18th century. The first settlers directed 
 their industry to the culture of rice. The quantity of rice-land is inconsiderable, 
 and of inferior quality. In favorable years 300 barrels have been sent to market. 
 These rice grounds have been latterly converted into corn, and in some instances 
 into cotton lands, to the great emolument of the proprietors. 
 
 The Edisto lands being ill adapted to the growth of rice, the islanders turned 
 their attention at an early period to the culture of the indigo plant. In the prepar- 
 ation of the dye extracted from this "weed, they made considerable proficiency. 
 The Edisto indigo was in greater demand, and sold at a higher rate than any other 
 manufactured in the State. In favorable years 330 casks of ] 60 lbs. have been 
 sent to market. It is observable that the lands that were found best adapted to 
 the production of indigo are the least adapted to the growth of cotton. This, if 
 not invariably, holds generally true. The demand for the Carolina indigo having 
 greatly decreased, the prices became so reduced as to render it no longer expedi- 
 ent to plant it as an object of agricultural pursuit. In this dilemma the islanders 
 in the year 1796 had recourse, with seeming reluctance and great doubts of the 
 result, to the cotton plant. The success which has attended their efforts has been 
 great. An activS field hand can cultivate from four acres to four and an half of 
 cotton land, exclusive of one acre and an half of corn and ground provisions. In 
 a favorable year a planter on an extended scale has made 270 weight to the acre. 
 But in a period of eleven years, his crops have averaged only 137 pounds to the 
 acre. There are lots of land, owing either to peculiar local advantages, favorable 
 seasons, or superior management, which have produced the enormous amount of 
 435 pounds to the acre. But in no instance have any of the planters made more 
 than $490 to the hand. The general result of crops is from $170 to $260 to the hand. 
 
 The green seed cotton is a distinct variety of the same genus of plants. Its 
 flower, leaf, and stalk are evidently different. The pod contains more sections or 
 
EDISTO ISLAND. 279 
 
 divisions and a greater number of seeds. The wool is shorter, and adheres more 
 tenaciously to the seed. It is supposed that it possesses peculiar advantages that 
 recommend it to the attention of the planter. It requires a shorter summer to 
 bring it to maturity, is not so liable to be damaged by tlie inclemency of the sea- 
 sons, and is more prolific. It is better adapted to weak and exhausted lands, and 
 the wool improves from the combined influence of a milder climate and sea air. 
 But the experiments that have hitherto been made on Edisto Island do not warrant 
 the conclusion that it will ever be introduced into general cultivation to the exclu- 
 sion of the black seed cotton plant. In favorable years, more than 750,000 pounds 
 .of nett cotton wool are grown. This at its common price, two shillings sterling per 
 pound, yields an annual income of $321,300 ; a sum which is equal to $11 for every 
 acre on the island, and would afford $110 to every inhabitant, or $1,360 for every 
 white person, or $8,683 for each married pair of its white population. 
 
 PRICE OF LAND — OF LABORERS — OF PROVISIONS. 
 
 The price of land varies from $30 to $60 the acre. The quantity of arable land 
 bears rather a restricted proportion to the number of cultivators, and hence, 
 scarcely any portion of it can be procured on lease. The few portions that are 
 disposed of in this manner command a steady rent of $6.44 the acre. 
 
 As every planter employs his own cultivators, it is not easy to ascertain the 
 price of labor. Active young fellows have been hired out for from $110 to $128 
 for the year, and prime young wenches from $64 to $85. Carpenters can earn 
 $1.50 the day, exclusive of their maintenance. 
 
 The proximity of Charhsstown to this Island sensibly affects and regulates the 
 price of provisions. It has often happened that many articles have been pur- 
 chased at a cheaper rate in the city market than they could be bought for on the 
 Island Corn for several years has never been less than a dollar the bushel. 
 It has sold as high as six shillings, and even as high as two dollars the bushel. 
 Steers of three years old as they run in the pasture, sell current at $18. Calves 
 at $8; lambs at $3; turkeys at $2 the pair; ducks at $1 the pair, and common 
 . fowls at half a dollar the pair. 
 
 FISH. 
 
 The creeks, rivers, and seas, which indent and surround the Island, furnish at 
 different and appropriate seasons of the year, a great variety of excellent fish — as 
 ■the larger drum, the small black drum, bass, rock-fish, sheep-head, cavallie, bon- 
 netta, salmon-trQut, yellow-fin trout, whiting and mullet in great profusion, black- 
 fish, yellow-tail, ale-wife, croaker, plaice, flounder, skate, pike, shad, and cat-fish, 
 and many others suitable for the table. Porpoises and sharks frequent the creeks 
 and surrounding waters. Some of the latter are seen and caught of an enormous 
 size. They are considered as just objects of terror by the negroes. And yet, al- 
 though the fishermen continue hours together waist deep in water, and have often 
 the misfortune of hooking them, they escape with impunity. Of shell-fish, the turtle 
 is sometimes to be met with, but not in any considerable number or variety. Ter- 
 rapin, land, stone, and sea crabs, muscles, clams, conchs, Khrimps, are common 
 and abundant ; and the oysters of the creeks that intersect the sea-bays, below 
 described, are equal in flavor, perhaps, to any found on the American shores. 
 
 POPULATION — WHITE INHABITANTS — SLAVES — THEIR NUMBER — VALUE — INCREASE, 
 AND TREATMENT. 
 
 A census of the Island, taken at this time, 1808, would rate the white population 
 at 236 inhabitants. Of these 111 are males, and 135 females. Of the males 37 are 
 married, 4 are widowers, 9 natives of Europe, and 2 of the middle States j of the 
 females 37 are married, 12 are widows, and all are either natives of the Island or 
 the adjacent parts of the State. The births are to the deaths annually as 13 to 11. 
 Nevertheless, the white population decreases in consequence of the numbers who 
 leave the island. 
 
 In more temperate climates, it is observed that the males are to the females in 
 their nativities as 13 to 12. The law which governs this ratio does not obtain 
 here. Of the issue now living of 38 families, the females are to the males as 72 
 to 47, or 2 to 1 nearly. If the physical influence of climate can be supposed to 
 have any agency in producing this disparity and preponderance in favor of the 
 more amiable sex, it should increase with the decrease of the latitude, and come 
 to a maximum in the tropical regions. If the narratives of the Abyssinian and 
 other travelers can be relied on, something of the kind takes place. In these 
 narratives it is asserted that in some parts of Asia and Africa, the females are to 
 the males in a higher proportion than two to one. 
 
 From the return made to the tax-collector of the district for the year 1807, it 
 
280 APPENDIX. 
 
 appears that the black population of the Island exceeds by a few infants and newly 
 boug:ht Africans, 2,609 slaves. If sold in gangs or families, these slaves average 
 one with another, $430. An active young fellow sold detached from his family, 
 readily commands from $700 to $800 ; and young wenches in proportion. There 
 is a disposition in the islanders to treat this patient and laborious race with indul- 
 gence, and to meliorate their condition. They are never strictly restrained or 
 stinted in their allowance. The instruction commonly given to those who distrib- 
 ute out their weekly portions is, " let them never want, but do not suffer them 
 to waste." Exclusive of hats, shoes, salt, tobacco, pipes, and other occasional 
 considerations, every grown negro is annually furnished with two suits of clothes, 
 or 12 yards, partly plains and partly osnaburgs, or some adequate substitute, for 
 their summer and winter wear. The boatmen are generally provided with sur- 
 touts of the fear-nought description, and greater attention than formerly begins of 
 late to be paid to their accommodation and comfort, in a more enlarged and im- 
 proved construction of their dwellings. Some of the planters have it in contem- 
 plation to furnish them with regular rations of beef or some other animal food, 
 particularly d-uring those stages of the year in which they are most exposed to 
 greater and more constant exertions of labor. If this laudable design were car- 
 ried into general execution, it would render them more able and willing to en- 
 counter the fatigues of the field, at those periods when laboring under the relaxing 
 and exhausting influence of an almost vertical sun. Exclusive of considerations 
 of humanity, it would be a pledge and assurance that their daily tasks would be 
 not only completed, but more eifectually done and in a style of better execution. 
 A circumstance that would amply compensate even in point of interest, any ex- 
 penses consequent on such an indulgence. Theirvacant hours they are at liberty 
 to spend as their discretion or caprice may dictate ; and the fruits of their private 
 industry they are permitted to dispose of without the least interference or control. 
 In cases of difficulty or danger, recourse is always had to the aid of a physician. 
 In ordinary cases the planters prescribe with competent skill and success ; for so 
 extensively conversant are they with sickness, that they may all be considered as 
 good practical quacks. That the negroes are in general treated with becoming 
 indulgence and humanity, no better evidence can be adduced than their rapid in- 
 crease by natural population. In a period of nineteen years, 47 slaves have 
 increased to 90. That is, the original stock, after supplying the vacancies pro- 
 duced by deaths, has acquired an accession to their number of 43, or nearly dou- 
 bled themselves in the above specified period. It is believed that. similar and more 
 favorable instances are not uncommon on the Island. They derive some advan- 
 tages from their insular position, which they could not have obtained in the inte- 
 rior parts of the State. Their proximity to and frequent intercourse by water 
 with Charlestown, afford them an opportunity of carrying to market their poultry, 
 corn, ground provisions, and whatever else they may have to dispose of And 
 being settled either on or in the vicinity of creeks and rivers, they can supply 
 themselves with fish and oysters in quantities proportionate to their exertions. 
 These advantages operate as a stimulus to their industry, and tend to multiply 
 their comforts. If the observation that the fishing villages of Britain and the 
 eastern parts of New England abound in children be well founded, a fish diet may 
 be supposed to influence the principle of fecundity, and may help to account for 
 their rapid increase by natural population. The island negroes appear lo be more 
 intelligent and speak better than their brethren of the main. Their frequent 
 intercourse with the city and the easier access they have to the white population 
 may have created this difference. They furnish many examples of ingenuity, 
 private industry, fidelity and honesty. They are verv susceptible of religious 
 impressions, and repair to the churches in their, best attire, and conduct them- 
 selves in a grave and orderly manner. The more aged inhabitants observe that 
 although they are treated with more lenity and indulgence, and in every respect 
 fare better than they did forty years ago, yet they do not appear to be happier in 
 proportion. If danding, frolic, and dissipation be a sure indication of happiness, 
 the observation is well founded. At the period alluded to in their voyages to the 
 city, they were wont to beguile the time and the toil of rowing with songs and ex- 
 travagant vociferations, and were accustomed to devote their holidays to dancing, 
 dissipation, and irregularities, often to the prejudice of their health and destruc- 
 tion of their lives. These practices they have in a great measure abandoned, 
 not from a sense of additional misery, but from an impression they have acquired 
 that they are incompatible with a religious frame of mind. 
 
 An impartial reviewer of these cultivators, and their condition on this island, 
 would pronounce them in a state approaching nearer to competency and comfort 
 than falls to the lot of the bulk of laborers in the greatest part of the world. 
 
EDISTO ISLAND. 281 
 
 CLIMATE DISEASES — CAUSES AND CURE SEA-SHORfe, ETC. 
 
 The climate of Edisto may be considered as sickly. In the course of iifteen 
 years, a number greater than three-fourths of the inhabitants have died. Some 
 families in that period are extinct, and in all of them death has been once or twice, 
 and in some three or four times an unwelcome visitor. Two funerals have oc- 
 curred in a day, but the instances are rare. And two instances can be adduced 
 of two funerals in a family in one day. From the commencement of the sickly 
 season of 17!)8, to the corresponding period of the succeeding year, 37 persons 
 died. A great mortality for the population, and greater in proportion than that pro- 
 duced by the malignant fever which recently infested the cities of Philadelphia 
 and New York. The deaths on Edisto Island, on an average of 16 years prior to 
 the year 180S, were annually 11, or nearly one death for every 22 of the white in- 
 ha'bitants. It is some relief to this representation to reflect that the experience of 
 the last few years supports the opinion that a summer residence on the sea bays, 
 connected with a moderate attention to regularity and exposure, secures the in- 
 habitants from the autumnal fevers incident to the climate. These sea bays are 
 accumulations of sand, shells, and other marine recrements thrown up by the ac- 
 tion of the Atlantic waters. They extend in an irregular line from north to south 
 Edisto rivers, and front the ocean. They are intersected at intervals by shallow 
 creeks, and afford a scanty nourishment to the palmetto, pines, cedars, scrubby 
 oaks, and some dwarfish and diminutive plants. They seem to constitute a bar- 
 rier between the sea and the island. It has been observed that some time before 
 and since the last hurricane, the tides have made considerable advances on these 
 shores. Should they continue their approaches and process of attrition, these 
 accumulations of sand will at no very distant period be effectually washed away.* 
 Bihous fevers and dysenteries are the diseases which chiefly prevail in the 
 summer and autumnal seasons. In the winter and spring, those of more local 
 inflammation, such as pneumonic, hepatic and rheumatic alfections. The autum- 
 nal diseases run more or less high in proportion as the rains set in more or less 
 early. The symptoms which mark the bilious fevers of this island are headache, 
 precordial oppression, sickness of stomach, and vomiting. The mildness or ob- 
 stinacy of the winter diseases, may always be predicted by the force which char- 
 acterized those of the preceding autumn. It has not unfrequently happened in 
 the season next after severe autumnal fevers, that pleurisies have refused to yield 
 toother than mercurial medicines. The mortality of this island has hitherto been 
 great, but it is hoped that it will be less so in future. A residence on the sea 
 bays has lately been found to lessen the frequency and violence of the most de- 
 structive fevers. AVhen they attack they are oftener subdued by medicines early 
 and judiciously applied. Their nature is now better understood. The success 
 which of late years has attended the physicians in cases of early application, has 
 in a great measure disarmed the bilious fevers of summer and autumn of a con- 
 siderable portion of their terrors. In the year 1798 the deaths from fever amounted 
 to twenty-four, very nearly an eighth of the whole number of inhabitants. Of 
 those who died, seventeen were children under iive years of age, and seven were 
 adults. The year 1803 was equally sickly, yet the deaths from fever amounted 
 to no more than seven: of these, three were children. The remedies which have 
 been found to be most successful in the cure of these formidable autumnal fevers 
 are early, large and repeated bleedings, assisted by active mercurial purges, and 
 emetic and nauseating medicines when the irritability of the stomach did not for- 
 
 * That the Atlantic waters have encroa«hed upon the whole line of this coast, is a fact notonons 
 and confessed. On the more prominent parts of it which are most exposed to their action as in 
 the Ticinity of Cape Hatteras, they have made considerable invasions and threaten to extend and 
 maintain their conquests. The more aged islanders refer to the site of a tree now covered at half 
 flood nnder whose shade they have often reposed and refreshed themselves in their fishing excnr- 
 Bions and macarooning parties of pleasure. In the course of these few last years, the summer 
 houses have in some instances been removed from the approaches of the surf to places of greater 
 security, and palmettoes and live oaks have heen washed down, which, if an opinion can be 
 formed from their slow growth, size and other appearances, must have flourished and stood the 
 war of elements for more than a century. The approaches of the tides are supposed to receive a 
 satisfactory solution in the agency of the prevailing easterly ^'J^s, which, acting on the gulf 
 stream at right angles to the direction of its course, protrude before them ''" ™'" ,™* ^°™- 
 mulate them on thise shores. To counteract the attn ions which ''"Slowly tut effectually wear^ 
 ing away the sea bays, there are accretions daily making to the north and ^rthwestern parts of 
 thl island. These iccretions consist in the tirst instance °f/.°°*«^f ™J»' J"" m« from the back 
 and other floating substances brought down by Pon Pon, and its tributary ^*"™;?°" '^.''X^. 
 and upland country. These floating substances being repelled into st 11 ^'f • ^^"^^'^t^J'™, 
 ary, aid settling according to the laws of gravity are permanently A^f • ,,^''/^?* '"""'J^'e^/^t^J 
 vegetable, mould, and earthly particles which the river water holds '^JJ^^-^^ °l^'?^^i{^^%f^ 
 asl cemeit to consolidate these heterogeneous «'*f" of various substances and uUim^^^^^ 
 them into rice and corn lands consisting on the surface of a fine black sediment or mould ol mex 
 haustible fertility. ^ 
 
282 APPENDIX. 
 
 bid. Blisters have been found to do liartn if applied before the third day, but after 
 that period astonishing effects are produced by them, when they have been applied 
 during the remission of fever, and at such time as that their stimulating elfects 
 will be greatest about the commencement of the succeeding paroxysm. In this 
 manner the febrile series is completely broken, and the patient recovers without 
 the application of any other means. Doctor Rush's "blistering point," should 
 never be out of sight when blisters are applied in autumnal fevers. Cool air and 
 cold water are also very useful remedies. Exposure to the former, and the exhi- 
 bition of the latter are strongly recommended when the feelings of the patient are 
 not in opposition to them. The water is given as drink by way of clyster, and 
 applied to the surface either by ablusion or affusion. Vegetable acids, and sugar 
 have been generally found to be hurtful. In their decomposition in the stomach, 
 they evolve much gaseous and acid matter, which not only debilitate this viscus, 
 but by the painful distentions and eructations which they excite, exhaust the pa- 
 tient without producing a corresponding effect upon his disease. 
 
 The Peruvian bark is still considered by some as a remedy of powerful efficacy 
 in the cure of autumnal fever. In mild forms of this disease it may generally 
 succeed ; and in such forms some years back it most frequently appeared. But 
 from some cause or other, the nature of these fevers has undergone a great 
 change. Much to be pitied is the patient now whose bilious fever is attempted to 
 be cured by Peruvian bark. This disease in its present form is no trifler. "When 
 it makes its visit, it does it with a front and power so commanding as to disdain 
 to be expelled by so feeble an opponent. Instead of expulsion by the bark, the 
 fever derives additional strength from it, and a fatal termination has in this way 
 been but too often the melancholy consequence. The effects of bark in remitting 
 fevers even when it has been given in cases of convalescence, and when the pa- 
 tient has been previously well depleted, are so very questionable that it may even 
 in these cases be generally laid aside. When the fever has been subdued by the 
 method already pointed out, it has been found safest to trust the final recovery to 
 regimen. 
 
 The year 1802 will long be remembered on this island for the ravages produced 
 by the dysentery. Some of the most respectable characters became the victims of 
 this dreadful distemper as well as a great number of negroes. Since the year 
 1803 but few cases of dysentery have occurred, and these were wholly confined 
 to the blacks, and were all cured. But it was necessary to bleed once, and in 
 some cases twice, very largely. After bleeding, calomel was given at night and 
 castor oil in the morning ; after which the cure was trusted to a saturated solution 
 of soda in the acetous acid. Castor oil was frequently repeated through the prog- 
 ress of the cure, and in some instances it was found necessary to purge with 
 salts. To relieve pain when it was excruciating, opiates were sometimes given, 
 but the constipation they produced was more injurious than their anodyne eflects 
 were beneficial. 
 
 The occasional exhibition of small doses of calomel, and the above saturated 
 solution, were of the greatest benefit. On this last medicine a principal reliance 
 was placed, and it seldom disappointed the most sanguine expectations. 
 
 If it is enquired why Edisto is so sickly as it is represented to be, it may be 
 replied that heat and moisture combined in access are agents of dissolution; that the 
 dissolution of vegetable and animal substances generates putrescent eiHuvia, and 
 that these efRuvia, acting upon the system, induce diseases which often destroy life. 
 
 It has been stated that Edisto Island is a formation of the alluvions brought 
 down from the back or upland country, by the rivers which form and surround it. 
 These rivers are incessantly conveying to the ocean immense quantities of fresh 
 water, which being specifically lighter than sea water, floats upon the surface. 
 But meeting, in the course of its progress to the bars of the two great inlets, with 
 the re-action of the tides, and the prevailing winds of an easterly bearing, it is 
 repelled, covers the marshes, and fills the ponds. At the retrocession of the tides, 
 a quantity of this brackish water is left behind. This becoming stationary, gen- 
 erates noxious miasmata, which filling the atmosphere with their deleterious 
 vapors, prove injurious to heahh and destructive of life. 
 
 The peculiar local position of Edisto exposes its inabitants to a moist and 
 morbid atmosphere. It is surrounded with vast bodies of salt, brackish and fresh 
 wafer, which are in a constant state of copious evaporation. It is so uniformly 
 flat that few portions of its surface are elevated so high as seven feet above a 
 high spring tide. This low level surface being extensively surroundedwith and 
 deeply immersed in water, is favorable to the production of vapors and exhala- 
 tions, and tends to constitute that peculiar modification of a moist and morbid 
 atmosphere which obtains in warm climates. 
 
 Hence the origin of these autumnal fevers, so incident to this and the lower 
 parts of the State. This representation is supported by facts and experience. 
 
EDISTO ISLAND. 288 
 
 It holds invariably true, that dry summers and falls are healthy; and those of a 
 different description, abounding- in rains and freshets, are the sure precursors of 
 general sickness. 
 
 The marshes that border various parts of the island are of considerable extent; 
 but being regularly covered and agitated by the tides, are kept in a stale of com- 
 parative purity. There are marshes of a different description and more limited 
 extent, but far more injurious in their effects. Of these a body of 150 acres is 
 situated towards the centre, and probably an equal quantity in other parts of the 
 island. Into these marshes high spring tides occasionally penetrate. They may 
 be considered as receptacles of stagnant rain and brackish water ; of decayed 
 vegetables and putrid animal substances. From this extensive surface of putres- 
 cent matters it may well be supposed that gases of a most deleterious quality are 
 incessantly evolving, which sensibly affect the mass of surrounding air and render 
 it morbid. 
 
 To those who approach these marshes at certain periods of the year, particularly 
 a little after sunrise and before his setting, the exhalations proceeding from them 
 are most offensive; and those who are settled in their vicinity are generally more 
 sickly than those living in more favorable situations. 
 
 The water used on Edisto Island for domestic purposes is not so pure as the 
 health of its inhabitants requires. If the received theory of the formation of 
 springs be correct, they cannot exist in a surface so low and little diversified by 
 elevated and prominent parts; and hence spring water is seldom to be met with. 
 That made use of for culinary and other .purposes, is generally of a hard or brack- 
 ish quality, and is obtaiiied by sinking wells. These wells are not always sunk 
 and constructed with adequate care and judgment. They are often lefl exposed 
 to the influence of the sun, "air and rain; various extraneous substances are per- 
 mitted to enter them, which affect the color, taste, and general purity of their 
 waters. No consistent attempt has hitherto been made to procure cistern water. 
 The success of the experiments recently made in Charlestown, engrosses atten- 
 tion, and may at some future day lead to a general introduction of the water- 
 cistern system. 
 
 In these causes combined may the sickliness of Edisto be found and accounted 
 for. Attentively considered, it will excite no surprise that the island should 
 be sickly. The wonder is that the inhabitants enjoy such degrees of health 
 as commonly fall to their share. Thjs must in a great measure be referred to 
 the influence of habit, which more or less accommodates the human frame to 
 every situation. 
 
 All the lower grounds, and even the more obnoxious marshes, are susceptible 
 of draining, and capable of being made subservient to the purposes of the agri- 
 culturist. But the process of draining requires time, labor and expense; and not 
 being immediately remunerated, it is reluctantly undertaken. In his progress 
 from rudeness to refinement, man adverts in the first instance to such labors only 
 as are most necessary and essential to his existence. The comforts, the conve- 
 niences, and elegancies of life are slowly acquired. The construction of roads, 
 bridges, drains, and canals are effected by an improved state of society, possess- 
 ing enterprise, extended knowledge and general science. These islanders are 
 fast approaching to this state. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 The present race of inhabitants having been brought up either immediately 
 before the commencement or during the progress of the revolutionary war, suf- 
 fered considerably in their education. Sensible of the advantages of early instruc- 
 tion and extended knowledge, and fortune concurring with their inclinations, 
 their offspring and descendants will be more liberally educated. Of this it is a 
 favorable indication and flattering assurance that two teachers are employed, at a 
 salary of $1,000 each, teaching the elementary parts of an English or classical 
 education. Nine boys are absent at sohools in different parts: one is studying 
 at the medical schools of Philadelphia, two at Princeton, and two going to Yale or 
 Princeton College, destined for the learned professions. 
 
 The girls are educated either under the paternal roof, or are sent promiscuously 
 with the boys to school until a certain age, when they are sent to the city boarding 
 schools to acquire such instruction and accomplishments as these mstitutions are 
 supposed capable of conferring. ^ , u- r 
 
 The project of an academy with extensive funds has often been a subject of 
 conversation; but although no scheme has been digested or adopted to realize 
 their ideas, they have liberally contributed to the support of other coUeges. I he 
 Keverend President Smith, of Princeton, and the Reverend Mr. Coffin, received 
 in the year 1803 from these islanders more than $1,200, to rebuild and support the 
 New Jersey and Tennessee Colleges. 
 
284 APPENDIX. 
 
 STORES. 
 
 The Island has, time immemorial, employed a small capital in a retail store. 
 The parties concerned have in some instances succeeded to the acquisition of for- 
 tunes. Two stores have been recently established, and those concerned have a 
 fair prospect of succeeding in their undertakings. The various articles of mer- 
 chandize that are disposed of in the city stores are sold in quantities proportion- 
 ate to the wants of the inhabitants. Sales to the amount of $50,000 might be 
 annually made, and if judiciously conducted, secure from any risk of bad debts. 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 Although the Island produces cotton in abundance, and might furnish wool in 
 adequate quantities, no attempts have been made to carry on any domestic or 
 public manufacture. The islanders are alike strangers to the application of the 
 loom and the ordinary process of knitting. Their sheep, which are of the ordinary 
 breed, are permitted to range at large, and they engross the care of the planter no 
 further than he can make them subservient to the purposes of furnishing lamb for 
 his table. The requisite attention paid to washing, penning, and regular shearing, 
 would improve both the breed, the quality, and the quantity of their wool. The 
 Island is favorable to their increase and multiplication. Secure from the ravages 
 of wolves and foxes, they might be multiplied to any desirable extent; and yet 
 scarcely eight hundred tleeces are shorn annually, and these are either suffered to 
 waste, or sold for a trifle to the upholsterer. 
 
 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 The absence of a public market is supplied by a number of neighbors, generally 
 eight or four, connecting themselves into a society, and taking in rotation appro- 
 priate pieces of such animals as are usually slaughtered. Two hundred steers, 
 seventy-five calves, one hundred and twenty lambs, are supposed to be annually 
 slaughtered in these associations or markets. 
 
 The island does not afford a shoemaker or a blacksmith, and yet artizans of this 
 description, of moderate resources and competent industry could be employed to 
 great advantage to themselves and the community. 
 
 It does not appear that any establishment similar to that of a tavern was ever 
 attempted on the island. Strangers and visitors are received and hospitably en- 
 tertained in private families, and are sent about on horseback or in carriages, as 
 their circumstances or exigencies may require. 
 
 To afford the means of maintaining a regular intercourse with the adjacent 
 main, and the contiguous island of Wadmalaw, two ferries were established about 
 fifty years since, by legislative authority. But such was the unfrequency of the 
 intercourse, that these ferry establishments have been discontinued ; and there 
 appears no disposition in the present generation to revive theni. Those that have 
 occasion to come on or go off, usually transport themselves, or have recourse to 
 their more opulent friends and neighbors, who may be situated in places favora- 
 bly for their transportation. 
 
 The islanders carry on their intercourse with Charlestown by water. In trans- 
 porting themselves and the productions of their plantations, they make use of 
 boats made after the canoe model. These boats are built of cypress and other du- 
 rable materials ; they are well adapted to the purposes of inland navigation, but ill 
 calculated for encountering heavy seas. They are of various dimensions and 
 unequal prices; from ten hundred weight to six tons, and from one hundred to a 
 thousand dollars. There are five or six workmen advantageously employed in 
 constructing and repairing these boats. All the efforts of their art are directed to 
 combine elegance of shape with lightness of draught and capacity for burden. 
 
 The institution of a public convivial club is common to this and to the contigu- 
 ous islands, and various parts of the State. The Free and Easy has continued its 
 semi-monthly meeting for a period of thirty-five years without intermission ; the 
 members in rotation provide dinner. Strangers, by a standing rule, are consid- 
 ered as guests. The landlord of the day or entertaining member has the 
 privilege of inviting his friends. This institution affords the planters an opportu- 
 tunity of repairing to a defined and central place to transact their private and pub- 
 lic business ; to consider and digest their schemes of planting; and to hear and 
 discuss the news and politics of the day. These public dinners have usually cost 
 the providing members fifty dollars. Estimated at the low rate of twenty-five dol- 
 lars, they cost the members six hundred dollars yearly. Had these annual sums 
 been improved at compound interest, from the first establishment of the club to 
 the present time, they would have amounted to 88,748 dollars, yielding an annual 
 interest of 6,212 dollars. A sum, one-half of which would be fully adequate to 
 defray the expense of draining the island and destroying a principal source of the 
 
EDISTO ISLAND. 285 
 
 diseases of its inhabitants, or of supporting other establishments calculated to im- 
 prove the condition of man indefinitely with the flow of ages. 
 
 On the 29th April, 1794, a lodge of ancient York Masons was instituted for the 
 first tioie on the island. During the noyelty of the institution, it consisted of about 
 thirty, but IS now confined to eighteen members. Their ordinary meetings are 
 monthly ; and they are regularly attended. They have a fund consisting of 1,480 
 dollars, and are governed by a master, and such officers as are peculiar to that 
 mystic fraternity. 
 
 AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 There is nothing peculiarly characteristic in the amusements of these islanders. 
 They are similar to those which obtain in various parts of the State. The sports 
 of the field engross a part of their vacant hours. The range, the crowded settle- 
 ments, and cleared state of the island, render it unfavorable to the pursuits of thehun- 
 ter, and deer finding no copse to cover thein, may be said to be no longer inhabitants. 
 Sould any stragglers rashly venture to stroll on from the neighboring main and 
 surrounding inlets, they are instantly hunted down. Similar causes may have 
 operated to drive and scare away those migratory and acquatic birds which, at an 
 early period of its settlement, were known annually to frequent the Island in great 
 variety and numbers. The culture of rice being abandoned, and a considerable 
 part of the lower grounds drained, they are deprived of their favorite grain, or an 
 adequate supply of seeds and insects. Being averse to the haunts of men, they 
 instinctively retire to those parts of the State wher3 they can feed more privately, 
 plentifully, and securely. 
 
 It has been said that horse-racing is the amusement of an idle and luxurious 
 people. This epithet is not as yet descriptively applicable to these islanders. If in 
 opulent and easy circumstances, the personal superintendence of their planta- 
 tations, which they seldom wholly trust to the management of an overseer, how- 
 ever skillful or faithful, engages their thoughts and fills up the greater part of their 
 time. They rarely suffer amusements of any kind to divert them from the proper 
 pursuits of life. Various attempts have been made to form a jockey club and in- 
 troduce annual races ; these attempts have hitherto failed of any consistent suc- 
 cess. Local circumstances are adverse to such exhibitions on a large scale. So 
 great are the natural advantages of water conveyances, and so limited and cir- 
 cumscribed is the extent of the insular territory, that saddle and draught horses 
 of a superior breed are not wanted. In a state of society so peculiarly situated 
 , they are unnecessary. It is not compatible with the economical habits of these 
 industrious islanders which converts everything to use to keep fine horses at con- 
 siderable trouble and expense to be paraded occasionally as objects of show and 
 admiration. The appearance of their cavalry has often excited and called forth 
 the sneers and gibes of their brethren of the main ; but these they are ever ready 
 to repel by extolling the superior elegance, swiftness, and accommodation of their 
 row and sailing boats. It is not to be understood that they have no predilection for 
 the amusements and delights of the turf If not animated by that impassioned ar- 
 dor which characterizes many of their fellow-citizens, yet in the occasional ra- 
 cings of their sober and hardy nags, they enjoy all the real pleasure of that species 
 of amusement exempt from that care and agitation of spirits, that trouble and ex- 
 pense, and those habits of dissipation which are often its consequent evils. 
 
 Dancing, it is said, was more a favorite amusement before than since the revo- 
 lution. Dancing parties are confined to the temperate seasons of the year. They 
 are neither so frequent nor so eagerly pursued as they are reported to be in other 
 parts of the State. The planters occasionally relax themselves at the games of 
 coit, hand and trap balls ; but the recreation which engrosses more of their time 
 and attention than any other, is that of fishing. In the arts of the fisherman they 
 are dexterous and successful proficients. They fabricate their own lines and 
 nets. In these fabrications they display taste and ingenuity; and this is the 
 only species of manufacture, if such it can be called, that is practiced among 
 them. 
 
 Of superstition some traces are discoverable. There are individuals who will 
 not commence a journey, nor begin any new work on Friday. This day is con- 
 sidered as inauspicious in cases of nativities. The moon is suppo.sed to extend 
 a sensible influence to the operations of nature, to the growth and the decay of 
 vegetables and animals; and hence the processes of sowing and planting are con- 
 nected with the phases of the full; and animals destined to be cured and reserved 
 for domestic use are slaughtered on those of the new moon and flux of the tide. 
 They believe in the reality of the spectres and apparitions. Supposed facts 
 of the reappearance of departed friends are related and by some implicitly 
 credited. 
 
286 APPENDIX. 
 
 PRIVATE REGISTER WORTHY OF IMITATION. 
 
 From the 12lh of March, 1792, to the 8th of October, 1808, Joseph James Mur- 
 ray has kept a record of deaths, births, marriages, and other miscellaneous events 
 which took place on Edisto Island. Such register, if kept by at least one 
 person in every district or neighborhood, would, in time, present to the view of the 
 physician, the legislator, the politician, and philosopher, a valuable collection of 
 facts of great importance to the best interests of society. From Mr. Murray's 
 register, it appears that in the course of sixteen years there were among the 
 white inhabitants of Edisto Island 66 marriages, 212 births, and 177 deaths, 75 of 
 which were chilaren under five years of age, and fifteen about the age of ten ; 
 the rest were adults, six of which were strangers, eleven deaths were acciden- 
 tal, and one was a case of suicide. Five of the above deaths were from con- 
 sumptions ; there was also a case of natural small pox of extraordinary origin. 
 Upwards of a year before the birth of the child, which was the subject of this 
 disease, its parents had their other children inoculated for the small pox. One of 
 them was an infant and occupied the cradle. Thatone died and all the others re- 
 covered. The bed clothes were washed and deposited in a drawer; but it seems 
 that they retained so much of the contagion, as to communicate the disease which 
 was clearly marked, though not fatal to the infant whose case is the subject of 
 these observations. This child had never been off the Island ; on which, neither 
 at the time of infection nor for a long time after, was there a single case of small 
 pox. From the same register it appears that of seventy-four negro children which 
 Mr. Murray has had born upon his plantation in the above period of sixteen years, 
 fifly-three are alive, thirty-three of which are females. The plantations of the 
 Rev. Mr. M'Cleod, of Messrs. Ephraim Mifcell, James Clark, William Edings, 
 Daniel Townsend, William Seabrook, William C. Meggett, Dr. Chisolra, Gabriel 
 Seabrook, Normon M'Leqd, and others, furnish similar examples of increase. 
 There is now a suflicient number of blacks for all the purposes of cultivation; 
 and kindness with proper attention to their food, clothing, and habitations, will 
 increase their number. 
 
 LONGEVITY. 
 
 The Island does not furnish any remarkable instances of longevity. Seventy- 
 six, seventy-three and sixty-eight are the respective ages of the three oldest in- 
 habitants now living. The two former instances are of widows, -who have been 
 for some years in a stat^ of incurable infirmity. The latter instance is of a man 
 who has been thrice married, who retains the free use and exercise of his mental 
 faculties, and enters with interest into the business and the amusements of the 
 day. Being inured to habits of activity and regularity, he is an early riser, 
 and spends more of his time in the sun than perhaps any other individual on the 
 Island. From|his appearance and general health he seems capable of living and 
 enjoying life for many years to come. All three are natives of the Island or State. 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL STATE. 
 
 In their ideas of church government the inhabitants of Edisto are either Presby- 
 terians or Episcopalians. Those of the former denomination are the most numer- 
 ous. The date of the first organization of their church cannot, with precision, be 
 ascertained. Its records, if any such existed in a connected or detailed form, 
 were lost or destroyed during the conflicts of the revolution. From such detached 
 papers as are preserved, it appears that Henry Bower obtained in 1705a grant of 300 
 acres from the then lords proprietors. This same tract of 300 acres the saidHenry 
 Bower conveyed in 1717 to certain persons therein named in trust for the benefit 
 of a Presbyterian minister on Edisto Island. 
 
 In the preamble of a deed of gift, dated in 1732, conveying from "Joseph Bus- 
 sel, W. Edings, Paul Hamilton, W. Bird, James Lardant, Timothy Hendrick, and 
 W. Whippy," certain negro slaves therein named, it is stated that, " whereas a 
 Presbyterian congregation is collected upon the Island of Edisto." This deed of 
 gift stipulates that the negro slaves therein named and their issue be employed 
 oil the above tract of 300 acres church lands "for the perpetual maintenance out of 
 their yearly labor of a Presbyterian minister, who owns the Holy Scriptures for 
 his only rule of faith and practice, and who, agreeably to the Holy Scriptures of 
 the Old and New Testament shall own the Westminster Confession of Faith 
 with the larger and shorter catechisms as a test of his orthodoxy, and that before 
 the church session for the time being, before his settlement there as the rightful 
 minister of the aforesaid church or congregation." About this period A valuable 
 donation of land was made to the church by "Mr. Waills." The quantity is not speci- 
 fied, nor can the location of the tract be now traced : all that can be collected on 
 
EDISTO ISLAND. 287 
 
 this subject is that " Mr.PauI Hamilton" conveyed, in 1737, an equivalent for it 
 of 2,500 pounds currency to certain trustees. The deed of conveyance provides 
 that of the yearly interest thereupon accruing, such part as the majority of the 
 said trustees shall think reasonable shall be applied to the proper use and behoof 
 of the Presbyterian minister who is or shall from time to time be regularly called 
 and settled as the pastor of the Presbyterian congregation assembled or to be 
 assembled for divine worship in the Presbyterian meeting-house built on the said 
 Island. 
 
 From a schedule of the church property, taken in 1755, it appears that some 
 time prior to that date the following persons contributed the sums or donations 
 subjoined to their respective names, viz : "Paul Hamilton £322 10s. and two silver 
 tankards for sacramental purposes, James Lardant £300, Wm. Cummings £94 
 12s., James Clark £100, Mrs. Mary Bee £100, Mrs. Mary Russel £100 of the then 
 currency." 
 
 The temporalities of the church were originally vested in eight trustees. The 
 moniedpartof the fund having considerably increased with the lapse of time it was 
 deemed safest and most for the interest of the church to petition for incorporation. 
 This was obtained in 1792. 
 
 The funds of the church in 1807 consisted of $23,370 30 in bonds bearing inter- 
 est ; and £!:i4 10s. annual rent, exclusive of forty acres connected with the parson- 
 age, and reserved for the use of the incumbent. 
 
 It is worthy of observation that there is no exclusive property in the pews of 
 this church. They were, until a recent period, open to any worshiper that might 
 repair to the church for the purposes of devotion and instruction. Some inconve- 
 nience was supposed to result from the practice of sitting promiscuously as ca- 
 price or fancy might dictate. To remove it a small rent was attached to the pews, 
 and this small pew-rent is the only tax which the members of this church pay to 
 the support of religion. It redounds to their credit that when the parsonage was 
 recently destroyed by fire they readily subscribed £700 in sums proportionate to 
 their respective incomes for the building another. The period of the first organ- 
 ization of this church was between 1732 and 1737. 
 
 Of its ministers no memorials are preserved that merit a particular detail. The 
 first was the Rev. John M'Leod, a native of North Britain. He came, it is be- 
 lieved, as chaplain attached to a corps of Highlanders, under General Oglethorpe, 
 stationed in Georgia. He was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Henderson, a native 
 likewise of North Britain j and he by the Rev. Thomas Cooly, a native of England. 
 The Rev. iVlr. Donald M'Leod, the present incumbent, was ordained minister of 
 the church in 1794. 
 
 The Episcopalians of Edisto were originally connected in worship and disci- 
 pline with the parish church of John's Island, and had divine service performed 
 for them on Edisto Island at occasional intervals. Being liable to various disap- 
 pointments in their expectations of divine service, they were led to separate from 
 that church. In effecting their separation they built, in 1774, by subscription, a 
 neat and commodious chapel j and some time after created a permanent fund for 
 the support of their ministers. The zeal and liberality displayed by them on these 
 occasions, considering the paucity of their numbers, reflects great credit on the 
 parties concerned. Thefollowing persons contributed in sterling money the sums 
 subjoined to their respective names, viz: Christopher Jenkins £200, Daniel 
 Jenkins £150, Ralph Bailey £150, Jos. Jenkins £150, John Seabrook £150, Benja- 
 min Seabrook £125, John Jenkins £120, Isaac Jenkins £125, John Hanahan £100, 
 Thomas B. Seabrook £100, Leighton Wilson £100, William Hanahan £100, Archi- 
 bald Calder 100, William C. Meggotte, £100, Nathaniel Adams £70, Joseph Fick- 
 ling £70, James Fielding £70, Paul Griinbal £50, Jeremiah Fickling £50, Samuel 
 Fickling £50, Daniel Jenkins, Jr., Jos. B. Seabrook £50, Henry Bailey £50, Jos. 
 Fickling £30. In 1807 the fund amounted to 15,003 dollars. The Rev. Messrs. 
 Lewis, Bowen, Sykes, Connor, and Matthews, officiated in succession in this 
 church. For the last ten years it has been vacant, except such occasional supplies 
 as the Episcopal clergy of Charlestown and their itinerant brethren could afford to 
 give. 
 
 A congregation of Baptists existed on this Island at an early period of its settle- 
 ment. The members of that denomination are either extinct or removed. The 
 site of their church, in which divine service was for the first time performed in 
 1774, is now in a state of forest. The glebe, consisting of about seventy acres, 
 partly in a state of nature and partly cultivated, yields a revenue of about seventy 
 dollars yearly. This rent is regularly transmitted to certain persons at the Euhaws 
 of the Baptist persuasion. 
 
 The intelligent traveler, who has passed through the Eastern States, will have 
 discovered a disposition in the enlightened citizens of that section of the Union to 
 
 36 
 
288 APPENDIX, 
 
 sneer at th<? infidelity of their Southern brethren. These islanders are not liable 
 to any such imputation. They may challeng;e the public to produce a similar 
 instance of a country district of so limited a population, creating- by the voluntary 
 donations of individals permanent funds, producing 3,276 dollars annually for the 
 support of religion, 
 
 MANNERS AND CHARACTER. 
 
 The inhafeitanls of Edisto may be justly represented as an industrious descrip- 
 tion of planters. In their intercourse with each other and the "world they are 
 friendly and hospitable^ and disposed to act on fair and honorable terms. They 
 have beea early aad long distinguished for supporting religion and its institutions. 
 And such is the liberality of these islanders, that the Episcopalians and Presby- 
 ^lerians worship in the same churches in the spirit of harmony and true charity. 
 Although some of the settlements are eight miles removed from the appointed 
 places of worship, there is hardly an individual absent on Sunday. During the 
 performance ofdivine service, they conduct themselves with, becoming reverence 
 and atteatiou. 
 
 HUSBANDRY, 
 
 The system of husbandry that obtains on this island is the simplest that can be 
 imagined. Every act of tillage is effected by the application of the hoe. To ap- 
 ply this implement of the gardener to all the operations of agriculture conducted 
 in a large way, is to render it subservient to purposes for which it was never 
 intended. 
 
 Although the art of ploughing can be traced to the most remote antiquity, and 
 it more effectually contributes to relieve the immediate and pressing wants of 
 man, and multiply the sources of national wealth than any other, yet these island- 
 ers have made no proficiency in it. This fact, detached from a knowledge of 
 their general character, would lead strangers to suppose them in the first stages 
 of civilization^ It could hardly be believed that a race of men descended from a 
 nation of people who understood and practiced the useful arts, could subsist 
 themselves for more than a century by agriculture, and yet continue strangers to 
 the use and instrumentality of the plough. The fact is notorious that the Island 
 cannot produce a specimen of this useful engine of the agriculturist. The plan- 
 ters appear to have an unconquerable aversion to its use. They conceive ■' that 
 the operation of ploughing would injure their light lands, and render them more 
 subject to flow; " but they are in a mistake. The plough, properly guided and 
 applied, can be made to operate or cut at any assignable depth, from two and a 
 half to six or eight inches. 
 
 If the objection should apply to the more elevated and lighter lands, it cannot 
 with any force to the flat or stift' clayey bottoms. To prepare these for corn or 
 cotton beds is a difficult, laborious and tedious process. It is significantly said to 
 be " a Hlliiig work for tJie negroes " — for it exposes them to long and severe ex- 
 ertions of muscOlar strength'. 
 
 It is objected that the operation of ploughing injures the cotton plant in its ten- 
 der state. It is confessed that the fact is in part true; but this will not support 
 the inference deduced from it. Cold winds, frost and worms, often injure the 
 cotton plant and stint its growth in the first stages of its vegetation. But no one 
 is induced by these considerations to discontinue his planting enterprises. These 
 casualities are to be expected. Every judicious planter prepares against them. 
 He leaves a superfluous number of plants until his crop has acquired a sufficient 
 degree of maturity to encounter and outlive such dangers. The plough has been 
 extensively and successfully introduced into the cuhure of cotton in various 
 parts of the State, these injuries notwithstanding; and what these men have 
 done, other men may do by similar exertions of skill, care and labor. 
 
 The introduction of the plough into general use wOuld produce manifold ad- 
 vantages. Suffice it to state briefly, that its agency would relieve the cultivators 
 from the pressure and endurance of that toil which now exhausts their spirits, 
 wastes their strength, and shortens their days, and would conduce to the general 
 comfort and extension of their lives ; that it would enable the planter to employ 
 his capital more advantageously, for he could plant more and cultivate it better. 
 It would enable him to send his crop to market at an earlier period, and in better 
 condition, so as to ensure it acurrent sale, and a liberal price. The agencyof the 
 plough would create for the planters a great deal of leisure time, which might be 
 advantageously employed in manuring, draining, fencing, repairing and buihJing ; 
 in combining ornament with schemes of improvement, and rendering everything 
 snug and comfortable around them. 
 
 The repugnance that is expressed to^the use of the plough, finds an easy solu- 
 
EDISTO ISLAND. 289 
 
 tion in the influence of habit. Accustomed to conduct their husbandry in a cer- 
 tain way, they feel a reluctance to depart from that routine of management which 
 has been found successful. It is a work of time and difficulty to persuade the 
 generality of men to relinquish the systems of their fathers. 
 
 All that seems requisite to overcome prejudice, is the application of a few 
 well-trained horses — some specimens of the best plough models — an intelligent 
 and persevering ploughman. Experiments so conducted could not fail to produce 
 the most satisfactory results; they would force conviction and bring the art of 
 ploughing into general use. 
 
 MANUttES. 
 
 The cotton crops on Edisto yield annually about 30,000 bushels of cotton seed, 
 or a little more than one bushel for every acre on the Island. The seed contains 
 a considerable portion of essential oil, which, if extracted and properly prepared, 
 might be employed to useful purposes. Without extraction it makes an excellent 
 manure. Exclusive of a small proportion reserved for the reproduction of the 
 cotton plant, this seed is either suffered to waste, scattered as a manure over the 
 fields, or given in its crude or boiled state as provender to milch cows, for which 
 it answers very well. 
 
 The creeks and marshes abound in inexhaustible stores of the most stimulating 
 manures. The small experiments made have produced the most satisfactory 
 results; and yet no attempts have been made on a large scale to keep the same 
 field in a constant state of culture or rotation of crops. The process adopted to 
 enrich their lands is by natural fallows. A field that has not been too much ex- 
 hausted by long and frequent culture, acquires sufficient strength from decayed 
 vegetables and the action of the elements, to produce a crop after an interval of 
 one or two years rest. 
 
 GROUND AND STANDING PROVISIONS. 
 
 Under this description' come first and principally the yam or sweet potatoes, 
 which are more extensively cultivated on Edisto Island than perhaps in any other 
 part of the State. They are a most valuable root, and deserve more of the atten- 
 tion of the planter as an article of provision, than is commonly paid them. An 
 acre manured as a cow-pen or otherwise, has produced and may be made at any 
 time to produce 300 bushels of 80 weight each, or 24,000 weight to the acre in the 
 crude or raw state. As they lose but little in the customary process of dressing, 
 this result may be considered as accurate ; and hence we have an acre producing 
 24,000 pounds of solid food. Estimating five pounds as sufficient not only to sup- 
 port a man, but to keep him in health and fit for labor ; we have 4,800 persons fed 
 from one acre for one day, or thirteen persons during the course of the year. 
 These roots contribute extensively to the subsistence and comforts of the culti- 
 vators. They constitute an essential article of their sustenance often for six and 
 sometimes for nine months of the year. They are exceedingly partial to their 
 use, and prefer them for a constancy to any other article of provision. They 
 require little preparation, and are palatable, and invigorating. It has been said 
 that every substance is more or less nutritious in proportion to the quantity of 
 oleaginous and saccharine matter it contains. This is conspicuously seen in 
 these saccharine or sweet potatoes. The moment they are introduced into gen- 
 eral use on the plantation, the cuhivators of all ages and sexes become more 
 lively and active and improve in general health and appearance. If fermented by 
 artificial means, these potatoes are capable of yielding an ardent spirit. The 
 quality of this spirit might be improved by subjecting it to a more accurate pro- 
 cess of distillation, and storing it till age had evaporated its more ardent and fiery 
 particles. . _, ,./,,.• 
 
 Irish potatoes are not planted in any quantity or extent. They are chiefly culti- 
 vated for the table. The negroes are averse to their use, and can hardly be pre- 
 vailed upon to receive them as a substitute for their corn rations. There is 
 something in the climate, soil, or manner of cultivating them, that renders them 
 less palatable, dry and mealy, than those imported from the eastern States and 
 
 British Isles. ., ., , , u 
 
 Ground-nuts are sui generis. Superficially considered they would seem to 
 be the roots, and not as they really are, the seeds of the plant vegeating to ma- 
 turity under ground. They are planted in sma patches chiefly by the negroes, 
 for market. They thrive best in light sandy soils. They produce eighty bushels 
 to the acre. They are palatable but oleaginous and heating. They constitute it 
 is said, an ingredient in the manufacture of the imported and domestic chocolate. 
 They are colmonly sold for five shillings sterling the bushel; but in 1768 the 
 same quantity sold so low as eight pence sterhng. 
 
290 APPENDIX. 
 
 Slandin" provisions consist chiefly of that variety of the maize which is distin- 
 guished by the name of flint-corn. An acre produces from fifteen to twenty-five 
 bushels; the quantity grown is not very considerable. In ordinary years it is 
 barely adequate to the consumption of the Island. It rarely happens that a super- 
 fluity is made to send to market; but such is the provident disposition of some 
 of the planters, that they often keep on hand a supply of corn sufiioient for the 
 consumption of two years. The corn blades are carefully cured and preserved as 
 a substitute for hay ; for which purpose they are admirably well adapted. The 
 intervals between the corn hills are generally planted with cow-pease, but not 
 often to any advantage. The season of harvesting them coincides with that of 
 pickina- cotton ; they are therefore suffered to waste to rescue from immediate 
 destruction the more valuable production of the cotton fields. 
 
 The culture of the English or small grains, with the exception of small patches 
 of oats and rye, is never attempted. The islanders are equally strangers to the 
 culture of artificial grasses, and the method of making hay from natural meadows. 
 They are unacquainted with the plough, the harrow, the scythe, rake, reaping- 
 hooks, wagons, sledges and such like implements which are necessary to carry on 
 farming. One-horse carts are in general use. 
 
 GARDENING. 
 
 Although that branch of husbandry which may be denominated horticulture 
 affords an agreeable employment and adds considerably to the scale of domestic 
 comforts, yet the arts of the gardener are not much understood or practiced. The 
 Island cannot produce anything to which a farmer of the middle or eastern States 
 would attach the idea of an orchard. The quantity of fruit-trees is neither re- 
 markable for their number nor variety. This does not proceed from any opposi- 
 tion of soil or climate. The first settlers had flourishing orchards, and were 
 esteemed good gardeners. It proceeds from a disposition in their descendants to 
 consider every act of husbandry as of minor importance that does not afford them 
 the means of profitable exchange. 
 
 The proximity of the Island to Charlestown affords the planters an opportunity 
 
 . of disposing of the various productions of their plantations. But they do not in 
 
 ' every case make the most of their situation and advantages. The soil is favorable 
 
 to the culture of turnip or green crops. These crops might be advantageously 
 
 applied to feeding and fattening for market their superfluous stock ; an enterprise 
 
 that would prove a fruitful source of emolument to those engaged in it. 
 
 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 
 
 In no country place are the arts of the milliner and mantuamaker more gener- 
 ally practiced than they are by the female part of this insular community. And 
 such is the economy or industry of the generality of house-keepers, that soap and 
 candles are manufactured in quantities proportionate to the consumption of their 
 families. There is not a professed baker on the Island, but the art of baking is 
 well understood and practiced. Loaf or wheaten bread or some adequate substi- 
 tute is everywhere presented. A department in the nature of a dairy on a limited 
 scale is connected with every family. Milk is preserved in its various forms. 
 Butter made in this private way is of a good quality, but the cheese does not 
 deserve the same degree of praise. The products of the dairy are consumed in 
 the family circle, or on the Island. If any part be sent to market it is in small 
 quantities. Of the success that attends the attempts made to raise poultry, it is 
 no unfavorable specimen to state, that from four to five hundred fowls, about one 
 hundred turkeys, as many ducks, and forty geese have been reared; and from 
 seventy to eighty dozen eggs have been sent to market by individual families in 
 the course of the year. 
 
 HINTS FOR IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 If any effectual plan could be adopted for rendering Edisto Island healthy, its 
 inhabitants would enjoy a much greater proportion of the good things of this life 
 than ordinarily fall to the lot of man. Much good might confidently be expected 
 from draining its low grounds. Experience proves that in all countries where 
 this has been properly done, an abatement of summer and autumnal fevers has 
 invariably followed ;* and on the contrary, that healthy places have become sickly 
 
 * Of this many instances might be given ; but the following one may suffice : " Before the above 
 drain was cut, the families who lived near the stagnant water were subject in the spring and end 
 of autumn to intermitting fevers of very long continuance, from twenty-three to thirty-three, and 
 sometimes to thirty-nine days. Whole families were to be seen in such distress at the same time 
 that no one could assist the others. They depended on the kind ministration of their neighbors 
 
ST. STEPHENS' DISTEICT. 291 
 
 when from neglect or otherwise they have been suffered to degenerate into recep- 
 tacles of filth and putrefaction. The marshes in the interior parts should be first 
 reclaimed and the good work never discontinued till the whole Island, as far as it 
 is reclaimable, presented a dry or at least an improved wholesome surface. Till 
 this was accomplished, trees of quick growth should be planted between the man- 
 sions of the planters and the adjacent low grounds. 
 
 Much might be done for the improvement of the Island water. That which 
 descends from the heavens in form of rain, if collected and preserved in cisterns, 
 would be infinitely belter than the water that is in daily use. The latter might be 
 cleansed of much of its impurities by being boiled — purified with charcoal,* or 
 filtered through filtering stones, sand, or otherwise. f In one or other of these 
 methods the inhabitants of Edisto Island might, at a moderate expense, procure 
 for domestic purposes a sufficiency of wholesome and agreeable water. 
 
 No. II. — A Statistical Account of St. Stephens' District, drawn up 
 principally from the Communications of John Palm,er, Esq. 
 
 St. Stephens District, situate about fifly miles to the northwest of Charlestown, 
 is bounded by the river Santee on the north, and on its other sides by St. Johns 
 and St. James Santee. It was originally a part of St. James Santee, and was 
 divided from it about the year 1740. The upper and lower part of the parish was 
 distinguished by the names of French and English Santee. What is now St. 
 Stephens was called English Santee. What is at present St. James, was for- 
 merly called French Santee, from the circumstance that the first settlers were 
 French refugees who had fled from persecution after the revocation of the edict 
 of Nantz. Among them was Philip Gendron, who left one son, John Gendron, 
 born in Carolina, who commanded a company or the Charlestown militia. This 
 was the only military force ordered from the capital against the Indians in the 
 
 for the supply of their necessities. Often has the poor's fund been employed to pay women to wait 
 upon such distressed families. Since these stagnant waters were completely drained, those die- 
 eases and the sad train of complaints connected with them, have happily been unknown ; mean- 
 while it is aupposable that the same happy effects must flow from the same causes in every part 
 of the country, and should prove an irresistible motive to draining." — Statistical account of 
 Letuchars in the cminty of Fife- in pages 586 and 587 of the ISth vol. of Sir John Sinclair's Statis- 
 tical Accounts of Scotland, 
 
 * Charcoal dust is of great utility in preserving and purifying water. It must be poundered 
 very fine, and the powder must be kept clean and as free as possible from dust, smoke, or other 
 impurities. 
 
 About three drachms of charcoal dust will preserve four ounces of common river water, or will 
 purify it when actually stinking ; but if a little acid be added, a much smaller quantity of charcoal 
 will do. 
 
 f Freeh water may be extracted from salt by the following simple process : A common hogs- 
 head is provided with a false bottom about three or four inches above the true one. The false 
 bottom is perforated with a number of holes, and over them is placed a filter of flannel. The 
 barrel is then nearly filled with the finest sand beat down very hard. A tube communicating with 
 the space between the two bottoms is extended to a convenient height above the top of the barrel. 
 The sea water is poured into this tube, and pressing every way according to ifs altitudes, it 
 endeavors to force its way through the sand to the top of the barrel, from whence by this mode of 
 filtration it is drawn ofl' fresh and fit for use. Any other filter will do as well as flannel, provided 
 it stops the sand and admits the water. The saline particles being heavier, and perhaps differently 
 formed, meet with obstructions from the sand, and are left behind. In the same manner impure 
 water may be cleansed from foreign admixtures, which being generally heavy, cannot readily be 
 made to ascend. 
 
 Filtration is the process by which nature prepares water for domestic use. Where gravel and 
 sand are in plenty, art can imitate the operations of nature for that purpose. Any contrivance 
 for percolating water through clean sand or gravel will detaoh some of its impurities ; but the 
 detachment is much more effectual and complete by an ascending than a descending process. A 
 pressure from above by an elevated head of water, forcing the lowest part of the column upwards 
 through a proper filtering medium, cannot fail of producing pure water; forits impurities, being 
 spcciflcally heavier, are left behind. Many mat-hincs have been contrived on these principles and 
 with this view. The model of an excellent one may be seen in page 177 of the first volume of the 
 Commercial and Agricultural Magazine for 1799. It occupies very little room— is of simple con- 
 struction—easily cleansed, and yields a constant stream of pure water which in every twenty-iour 
 hours amounts to 300 gallons. , . , , , ,. ^ ■ , 
 
 The following plan may be carried into effect by every planter, which though cheap and simple, 
 would be adequate to the supply of his own family. . , j ^, j 
 
 A small cask, open at both ends, is placed within a larger cask, wanting a head. Clean aand 
 and gravel is put into both, so that the level of the sand within the Inner cask, room being lelt to 
 pour in water, be higher than the bed of sand in the intermediate space betwixt the two casks. A 
 cock is fixed in the outer cask above the sand, at a level, somewhat lower than the surface of the 
 materials in the inner cask. The water poured in at the top of the inner cask, sinks through the 
 mass of sand, and passing also through that in the outer, ascends and is discharged at the cock 
 when wanted. As the surface of the sand in the inner cask becomes loaded with impurities— 
 remove it, and add clean fresh sand. 
 
292 APPENDIX. 
 
 Yamassee war of 171ft. He was sent to the Indian land, now Prince 'Williams, 
 and was in all the severe actions fought against the Indians, until a peace took 
 place At the time of his death, which was about the year 1754, he was the 
 eldest Colonel of militia in the then province, and was generally called Brigadier 
 Gendron. 
 
 OF INDIANS — THE IE ANTIQUITIES AND WARS. 
 
 Persons now living, remember that there were about thirty Indians, a remnant 
 of the Pedee and Cape Fair tribes, that lived in the parishes of St. Stevens and 
 St. Johns. King Johnny was their chief. There was another man among them 
 of the same tribe, who was called Prince. Governor Lytlleton gave him a com- 
 mission of Captain General and Commander-in-Chief of the two tribes, which 
 superseded Johnny. The latter took umbrage at the promotion of the former, 
 and attempted to kill hirii. There were some shots exchanged but no mischief 
 done. The neighbors interfered and made peace ; but there never was, after- 
 wards, any cordial friendship between them. All this remnant of these ancient 
 tribes are now extinct, except one woman of a half-breed. There are several 
 traces of Indian mounds in the neighborhood of Pineville. Some have been 
 opened, and fragments of bone and beads found in them. 
 
 In the Indian war of 1715, St. Johns and St. Stevens parishes were the frontiers 
 of the province. In or near them were three forts, the first on Cooper river, 
 about three or four miles below Monk's Corner, on the plantation of Mr. Thomas 
 Broughton, called Mulberry. One was on Mr. Daniel Ravenel's plantation, called 
 Wantoot. Another on a plantation of Mr. Izard's, called Sc-hinskins, on the 
 Santee river. The garrison at Schinskins were all massacred in consequence of 
 their own imprudence in permitting a number of Indians to enter the fort under 
 the cloak of peace and friendship. They concealed their tomahawks with their 
 blankets. When they got in they butchered the whole of the garrison except one 
 negro, who jumped over the fort. He ran to the garrison at Wantoot and gave 
 the alarm. Col. Hyrne who was in that fort advanced with a party— surprised 
 the same body of Indians at Schinskins fort, and killed the whole of them. They 
 were unguarded and engaged in feasting. In this situation they were surprised 
 and cut to pieces. Colonel Hyrne who commanded on this occasion was the 
 grandfather of the late Major Hyrne. 
 
 A similar act of perfidy on the part of the Indians was committed about the 
 same time a little above the Eutaws, at a place called Barker's Savannah. The 
 commanding olficer, Colonel Barker, from whose defeat the scene of action 
 acquired its name, was drawn into an ambuscade by the treachery of an Indian 
 named Wateree Jack, who, pretending friendship, allured the white people into a 
 snare. In this action David Palmer was killed; and Edward Thomas,* the great 
 grandfather of the two present Dr. Thooias's, was wounded. The cruelties and 
 perfidies of the Indians excited resentments in the minds of the settlers which 
 led to deeds unworthy of a civilized people. 
 
 A man of the name of Donavan lived in the upper part of St. Johns, who stood 
 his ground all the time of this Indian war. He had a strong log house, and a 
 number of large mastiff dogs that kept the Indians ofi", and occasionally killed 
 them. Donovan kept his dogs at home in the day, and turned them out at night. 
 When they killed an Indian, he gave them no provisions. They soon acquired a 
 habit of feeding on the flesh of Indians when dead, and of attacking them when 
 alive. 
 
 AGRICULTURE FKESHETS. 
 
 The inhabitants of St. Stephens began to cultivate indigo about the year 1754; 
 and cultivated it with success, particularly in Santee river swamp, until the year 
 1784. In the beginning of the latter year, St. Stephens was one of the most thriv- 
 ing parishes in the Stale, and in point of size was the richest. The parish then 
 had about five thousand negroes in it, but at present does not contain half that 
 number. The white population has also diminished in a similar proportion. In 
 177ti, '77, '78 the militia company mustered one hundred men under arms; but 
 there are not now above forty, exclusive of alarm men. There are at present 
 many waste old fields both on the high-lands along the edge of the river swamp 
 and in the swamp, which thirty years ago were in the highest state of cultivation, 
 and produced luxuriant crops of corn, indigo and rice. This melancholy reverse 
 
 * This gentleman after living about fifty years in St. Stephens parish, for fifteen years of which 
 period he never passed the limits of his plantation, went to England and died there since the 
 revolution, at the advanced age of uiaety. He communicated the above particulars to Captain 
 Palmer. 
 
ST Stephens' district. 293 
 
 is the effect of freshets. These lands are uncommonly fertile, and were success- 
 fully cliltivated till the year 1784. From that year till 1796, very little was made 
 near the Santee. Many of the planters, discouraged by a rapid succession of 
 freshets, abandoned the plantations subject to their baneful influence. Since the 
 year 1796 these freshets have diminished in frequency and height; and the 
 planters have successfully recommenced the culture of corn and rice, and engaged 
 in that of cotton. The ground is found to ansvi^er for the lattei-, and extraordinary 
 crops have been lately made. 
 
 To account for the uncommon frequency of freshets through a period of twelve 
 years is very difficult. No record of anything similar since the year 1701 has 
 reached us. In that year, we are informed by John Lawson, that a flood came 
 down the river Santee, which raised it thirty-six feet. That none of equal magni- 
 tude has occurred in the eighty-three years which followed, is probable from the 
 silence of records and tradition. Within that period the upper country had been 
 settled and its lands cleared. From its being more generally cultivated, some 
 inferred that the falling rain met with fewer obstructions in passing off from the 
 high land to the nearest rivers; and that these, with their enlarged streams 
 uniting in the Santee, precipitated over its banks a much larger body of water 
 than it ever could have received from above while the upper country was covered 
 with leaves, logs, trees, brush, and other impediments to the free passage of rain 
 and melted snow. This doubtless may have had some influence, but is not equal 
 to the effect, for in that case the progressive clearing of the upper country would 
 have produced a correspondent and accumulating increase of water in the rivers 
 below, and a greater frequency of freshets, which is the reverse of facts, espe- 
 cially since the year 1796. Others suppose that the freshets are the consequences 
 of extreme wet or warm seasons in the upper country, which, from the increase 
 of rain and of melted snow, pour down torrents on the subjacent plains. The 
 alternation of a series of wet and dry years is not without precedent. The cause 
 is not precisely known, but the melancholy effects are obvious. 
 
 KEIJGION — LITERATUKE — PINEVILLE. 
 
 St. Stephens has a large brick church built in 1769 and a wooden chapel. There 
 is no clergyman at present, but the teacher of the Pineville academy performs 
 divine service every Sunday. There have been four clergymen in the parish since 
 the peace of 17S3. First, the Rev. Mr. John Hurt — the second the Rev. Mr. 
 Farrel — the third the Rev. Mr. O'Farrel — the fourth the Rev. Mr. Connor. The 
 first was from Virginia, and the other three from Ireland. Pineville in St. Stephens 
 is a retreat for health in the summer and autumn. It began to be settled in 1794, 
 and is about fifty-two miles to the northwest of Charlestown. It is situated on a 
 level piece of pine land about five miles to the south of the Santee, and two miles 
 from the swamp; which is three miles deep to the river. Pineville contains 
 twenty -two dwelling houses with an academy for teaching the Latin and English 
 languages. The master has a salary of twelve hundred dollars per annum, and a 
 house found. The school is confined to thirty scholars, rates of schooling $50 per 
 annum for subscribers' children, and $60 for non-subscribers ; to be paid half 
 yearly in advance. The Pineville academy is incorporated and under the superin- 
 tendence of five trustees. The tutor is permitted to take boarders not to exceed 
 sixteen, but is restrained from demanding more than $100 per annum for boarding. 
 There are also two private schools in the same place for the tuition of the smaller 
 class of children. The white population of Pineville is 150; the greater part of 
 them under the age of sixteen. The number of blacks is about .300. The water 
 is all from wells from fourteen to eighteen feet deep. It is very excellent, cold, 
 and soft, being filtered through white gravel and sand. 
 
 There is a quarry of stone on a piece of high land about a mile from Pineville. 
 It is a hard brown stone very heavy and has the appearance of iron ore. Colonel 
 Senf used some of the same kind of stone, procured near this quarry, for part of 
 the locks of the Santee Canal. Nothing like it has yet been found in the low 
 country of Carolina. 
 
 AMUSEMENTS — HEALTH. 
 
 , Dances commence in September, and there are generally from two to three in 
 a week in the season of residence in Pineville. They are given by the inhabitants 
 nearly in rotation, with little ceremony and expense, but with great decorum and 
 propriety ; and never continue later than eleven o'clock. 
 
 Pineville has been generally healthy. There are in it but few cases of fevers, 
 and these are chiefly in the month of July. Seldom any regular intermittents 
 originate thfre. Those who expose themselves in visitingtheir plantations, occa- 
 
294 APPENDIX. 
 
 sionally suffer in consequence of their imprudence. There was a fever in the 
 summer of 1803, which proved fatal to six negroes in Pineville, and eleven on the 
 adjoining plantation ; but scarcely affected white people. The symptoms of this 
 fever were a violent head-ache and pain in the back — the pulse was low. The 
 tongue was of a brown or deep red color, and when put out trembled much. A 
 great weakness and dilirium generally attended. The most successful mode of 
 treatment was to give in the first instance one or two emetics and afterwards 
 camphor, nitre and small snake-root. When the patient was very low, wine freely 
 given seemed to be of the greatest service. Bark was injurious. Few old negroes 
 took the disease. 
 
 LONGfEVITY AND FECUNDITY. 
 
 Two of the natives and resident inhabitants are between sixty and seventy. Of 
 the ninety years which Edward Thomas lived, more than one-half were spent in 
 St. Stephens. The district is not remarkable for the longevity of its inhabitants, 
 but there have been of late a few prolific marriages. Five, six, seven and eight 
 children have been raised in some families within the last thirty years. 
 
 MANURE — FISH — STOCK — WILD BEASTS — TREES — MANUFACTURES. 
 
 The planters begin to be careful of their manure and to be sensible of the utility 
 of improving their lands. The best and the most durable manure is derived from 
 herding cattle in pens. This increases the fertility of the land fourfold. Cotton 
 seed is also much used. A pint of it put around or in a corn hole adds greatly to 
 the crop. Santee river is well stored with fish, particularly the trout and the 
 bream. There are also cat-fish, mud-fish, rock-fish and sturgeon. The inland 
 creeks and ponds produce trout, perch, and bream. The stocks of cattle belonging 
 to individuals rarely exceed 150. They decrease in cold winters, but increase in 
 such as are mild. Few own more than fifty head of sheep. These are often 
 destroyed by wolves. Hogs are also often killed by bears. The swamps of Santee 
 afford favorable retreats to these and other wild beasts. There are on an average 
 from 100 to 150 pine trees on an acre of ground. Their ages vary, but in general 
 they live about 200 years. If we may judge by their surrounding rings, a few 
 approach their 400th year. Domestic manufactures begin to increase. Some of 
 the planters clothe their negroes with homespun, and also manufacture coarse 
 cloth from inferior cotton for the envelopment of that commodity. 
 
 STORMS. 
 
 The parish of St. Stephens, jn proportion to its distance from the sea, had its 
 full share of the calamities resulting from the hurricane of 1S04. From minor 
 storms it has frequently sufi'ered. One of the most remarkable and injurious was 
 on the Gth of June, IbOl. A cloud appeared to the northwest with thunder. 
 Shortly after a storm came up with great violence, but without rain. The cloud 
 had a redness like fire, and the dry dust thrown up was dreadful. The wind pros- 
 trated the fences. The growing cotton was materially injured. Its color was 
 changed to brown. The tops were withered and blackened. In St. Matthews the 
 storm was equally violent and blasted the corn and peas. The peach and plumb 
 leaves had an adust black appearance. The weeds and grass were also very 
 much injured. During the storm the wind appeared to have a heat like the blast 
 of fire at a distance. The mercury from being up at 96 degrees at one o'clock, fell 
 in less than five hours to 76. 
 
 EMINENT MEN. 
 
 Colonel Maham, a native of St. Stephens parish descended from Swiss ances- 
 tors who had settled there early in the ISth century, made a distinguished figure 
 in the revolutionary war. He was possessed of considerable natural talents as a 
 military man. At the taking of fort "Watson, on Scott's lake. General Marion gave 
 him the sole direction in carrying on the approaches and erection of a battery for 
 over-shooting the British fort. At the takingof the fort at Motte's above Belleville, 
 General Marion gave to him the sole direction in carrying on the approaches. 
 Both these enterprises were crowned with complete success. Major Pinckney, 
 who examined the works after the surrender of the fort, declared that they had 
 been erected with as much correctness as if they had been planned by the most 
 experienced engineer. The British thought so well of him that they made him 
 an ofier of a regiment if he would join them. Colonel Maham also behaved very 
 gallantly in sundry skirmishes, and particularly at "Watboo and Quinby bridges. 
 
 St. Stephens has given birth to John Gaillard, Senator, and Robert Marion, 
 Kepresentative of Charlestown District in the Congress of the United States, and 
 
PENDLETON DISTRICT. 295 
 
 also to Theodore Gaillard, late Speaker of the House of Representatires of the 
 State, and at present one of the Judges of the Court of Equity. 
 
 SUFFERINGS FROM THE REVOLUTIOKAKY WAR. 
 
 St. Stephens was not the scene of any important action. John Palmer, Sen., 
 and Joseph Palmer, the first sixty-six and the last fifty years old, were taken 
 prisoners in May, 1781, out of the house of the formerby a party of tories— carried 
 to the British post at Biggin Church, and both confined for three days in the 
 family vault of the Colleton's. The reason assigned by the captors was that John 
 Palmer, Sen., had two sons performing military duty with General Marion. 
 
 No. III. — A Statistical view of Pendleton District, chiefly from the 
 Communications of Edward Barrel Smith, M. D. 
 
 NAME — SITUATION SETTLEMENT — ABORIGINES — FACE OF THE COUNTRY — RIVERS 
 
 WILD BEASTS. 
 
 Pendleton District was so named in compliment to Henry Pendleton, a native 
 of Virginia, and one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas in South Car- 
 olina. It forms the southwest extremity of the State, and was obtained from the 
 Indians by treaty in 1777, founded on their conquest in the preceding year; 
 but the settlement of it was deferred till the termination of the revolutionary war 
 in 1783. Its first white settlers migrated principally from the Districts of Abbe- 
 ville and York, in South Carolina ; and from North Carolina and Virginia. Among 
 the most remarkable of them were General Pickens and General Anderson, now 
 living, and Colonel Cleveland, deceased, who bore a command in the engagement 
 at King's Mountain in October, 1780. He was remarkable for his great bulk, 
 being ^^''' '° weigh more than four hundred pounds, and for not having been 
 able to lie down for some years previous to his death. 
 
 The country was formerly occupied by the Cherokee Indians who had a con- 
 siderable town about thirty miles above the confluence of Tugeloo and Keowee 
 rivers, now known by the name of Seneka. There are no settlements of Indians 
 remaining on the eastern side of the mountains. The last of them removed from 
 a small town on Cane creek about the year 1792. Two or three stragglers still 
 live in that neighborhood, residing among the wiiites, and procuring game for 
 them. Their nearest considerable settlement at this time is on the western side 
 of the mountains, about sixty miles from Pendleton Court House. They have 
 lately made some advances towards civilization. Many of them have separate 
 farms which they cultivate with the plough, some of them to a considerable 
 extent. They are also beginning to make homespun for themselves. They raise 
 large stocks of cattle which they frequently drive to Augusta. They still how- 
 ever retain their fondness for spirituous liquors. Travelers amongst them meet 
 with a hospitable reception. These Indians are well acquainted with the value 
 of money, and when transacting business are not easily imposed upon. 
 
 The country is generally uneven and becomes gradually more hilly as it ap- 
 proaches to the mountains. These are said to be a part of the great Blue Ridge, 
 or Back Bone of the United States, and are quite uncultivated. The narrow 
 vallies which run between them are very fertile and covered with canes which 
 afibrd excellent winter pasturage. The cattle which range among them attain to 
 a considerable size, and make very fine beef without ever having tasted a grain 
 of corn. The most level and valuable lands are situated upon the water courses and 
 in their vicinity. The country is generally well watered by some large rivers and 
 numerous small streams which are never known to fail. Amongthe larger rivers 
 may be mentioned Seneka or Keowee, Tugeloo, Rocky river, Little river. Twelve 
 mile. Near the mountains the streams are so limpid that stones can be seen at 
 the depth of five or six feet below the surface. The wild animals are much the 
 same as those in the lower country, with the addition of bears, and some panthers 
 in the vicinity of the mountains. 
 
 VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS — STONES — CAVERNS FALLS — SHOALS — CLAYS. 
 
 Among the useful vegetable productions may be mentioned all kinds of snake- 
 root, and the pink-root. This latter is so abundant in the mountains and their 
 vicinity as to form an article of exportation. From twenty to thirty pounds of it 
 may be gathered in a day by a single person. The gentian root and ginseng are 
 common in many parts of the District. There is a valuable plant commonly 
 known by the name of earth-gall. This has great celebrity for its efficacy in 
 curinn- persons bitten by venomous animals. The root is bruised and one or two 
 
296 APPENDIX. 
 
 table spoonsful of the expressed juice is raixed with milk and poured down the 
 patient's throat. This soon excites violent vomiting and profuse perspiration, 
 which leaves the patient in a state of great langour, but entirely relieved from the 
 effects of the poison. Stones have been found which answer for mills equally 
 well with those that are imported; but there is no one whj makes it a business 
 to prepare them for use. There are some very large stones which are used by 
 the tanners for grinding bark, and also thin fiat ones of a considerable length and 
 breadth which make a tolerable smooth hearth, and would no doubt answer well 
 for pavements- There' are large quantities of a coarse stone which stands the 
 action of fire, and of which rough durable buildings are constructed ; but none 
 are known which partake of the nature of marble. There is a remarkable fall on 
 Conneross creek at Kilpatrick's mill, where a large sheet of water has a perpen- 
 dicular fall of about ten feet over a ledge of rocks. There is a remarkable cavern 
 on the same creek large enough to contain several persons. It formerly served 
 as a retreat for thieves. There is no other mineral yet known but iron, the ore of 
 which is found in several parts of the district. A great deal of white sand is 
 found upon the poor ridges ; and large quantities of blue and yellow clay near the 
 small streams of water; of them good bricks are made, and they would doubtless 
 answer for pottery. The country abounds with large rocks which in some places 
 obstruct the navigation of the water courses, and form a natural pavement for 
 crossing them. One of the most remarkable shoals, known by the name of Port- 
 man's, is in Keowee or Seneka river. These shoals are about four miles in 
 length, and have been lately made navigable. 
 
 AGRICULTURE — MEADOWS — ■ COTTON INDIGO — HEMP TOBACCO — RICE FLAX — 
 
 WHEAT, AND OTHER SMALL GRAINS. 
 
 The cultivation of the ground is chiefly carried on by the plough, and has not 
 undergone any material changes. Within a few years past many persons have 
 turned their attention to the improvement of meadow lands, of which there is an 
 abundance. They cultivate a very fine native grass known by the name of red 
 grass, which is perennial and affords a large quantity of good hay. Cotton is the 
 present staple for market, but the summer is frequently too short for its complete 
 maturation. Indigo was formerly cultivated to some extent, and is still planted 
 in small patches as a domestic dye. Tobacco, in some years, yielded very well; 
 but from its reduced price it is now rarely cultivated for sale. Some few persons 
 have cultivated hemp, and in suitable grounds the product was considerable ; but 
 it has been relinquished for more profitable crops. Small patches of rice have 
 been planted for several years in different parts of the country, but no person has 
 yet attempted to cultivate it to any extent. From late experiments it appears that 
 the lands which can be constantly watered will, under proper management, pro- 
 duce as much rice as those in the lower country, and that it will he a much more 
 certain crop than cotton. Flax, rye, wheat, oats, and barley, are also cultivated 
 with advantage. 
 
 ROADS — BRIDGES — INLAND NAVIGATION. 
 
 The roads are not so much improved as they might be. They are generally too 
 narrow, and also more numerous than can be kept in good repair. There are but 
 few bridges and those not very durable, being all constructed of wood, although 
 there are large quantities of stone in the vicinity. The public attention has been 
 lately turned to opening the navigation of rivers. During the summer of 180S a 
 very important work of that kind has been accomplished. Keowee or Seneka 
 river has been rendered navigable for more than twenty miles above its mouth. 
 Though the expense of this undertaking was less than seven hundred dollars, yet 
 it has answered so well that boats carrying ten thousand weight can be' safely 
 navigated down to Augusta. There are several smaller streams which might be 
 cleared out so as greatly to facilitate the internal intercourse. The principal ob- 
 structions are large trees which have fallen into the water. Their general depth, 
 however, would admit none but flat bottomed boats, except in cases of high 
 freshets. 
 
 EXPENSES— PROFITS — HAZARDS OF AGRICULTURISTS — PRICE OF LAND— AND NATURE 
 
 OF SOIL. 
 
 Where the soil and seasons are of the most favorable kind, twenty acres of corn 
 can be easily and well cultivated by one good ploughman and two hoers; and the 
 product would probably be forty bushels to the acre. The average price of corn 
 may be estimated at half a dollar for the bushel, and thus three laborers' would 
 make from twenty acres four hundred dollars. A similar force might cultivate 
 
PENDLETON DISTRICT. 297 
 
 fifteen acres in cotton. The product of this would give about four hundred and 
 eighty dollars. These are the two staples of the country; but it is to be remarked 
 that corn is less liable to be affected by unfavorable seasons than cotton, and is 
 also more easily prepared for market. In backward springs the river grounds are 
 infested by a black worm, resembling the common grub, which destroys all vegeta- 
 tion untilthey become dormant on the approach of summer. None ofthese worms 
 are found in the high ground. If a market for rice, equal to that of Charlestown or 
 Savannah, could be found at Augusta, it is probable that more money could be made 
 by the cultivation of this article than either of the preceding. In many situations 
 there are small fields with a command of water which, when put into proper order, 
 would yield three barrels to the acre. Three workers could easily cultivate twelve 
 acres, which would produce thirty-six barrels, and this quantity, at the usual 
 prices, would yield between six and seven hundred dollars. Low grounds may 
 be valued in general from twenty to forty dollars for the acre, and high grounds 
 from fifty cents to five dollars. The soil may be divided into high and low 
 grounds, and these again subdivided. The high grounds consist of a rich clay 
 soil with some black mould, best adapted for corn, wheat, tobacco, &c. — a gray 
 soil, consisting of a gray sand, and some clay and mould best suited for cotton — and a 
 white sandy soil, which is very poor and scarcely ever cultivated. The low 
 grounds differ according to their situation upon large or small water courses. 
 The large streams generally have their low grounds composed of black mould 
 with very little clay, sometimes of mould and gray sand, which answer well for 
 cotton. The soil on the smaller streams is composed of clay with a small quantity 
 of mould. They all produce corn very abundantly, and stand drought much longer 
 than the richest high grounds. "With proper management they are said to be in- 
 exhaustible. 
 
 TIMBER QUANTITY OF IMPROVED LAND. 
 
 The natural growth of the low grounds is walnut, poplar, white oak, elm, ash 
 beech, birch, elder, chesnut, &c. High ground of the first quality has nearly the 
 same productions, with hickory, pines, and other species of oaks. The second 
 quality bears a larger quantity of pine, with some hickory and oak, and the third 
 scrub oak and pines, with a few post and Spanish oaks. All the kinds of oaks may 
 be used for difl'erent purposes, excepting the scrub oak, which is good for nothing 
 but firewood. Good shingles are made of the heart of pine, and still better of 
 yellow poplar. Excellent furniture is made of walnut and birch. There is not a 
 'fourth of the land in the district that is cleared, and not more than one-half that is 
 accounted fit for cultivation. 
 
 LABOR-SAVING MACHINEET FISHERIES AND STOCK. 
 
 In almost all parts of the district there are natural advantages for the erection 
 of mills and other labor-saving machinery; but as yet only a few saw and grist- 
 mills, and some cotton gins are worked by water. A fulling mill was erected 
 some years since on the waters of Cane creek, and was in operation for a little 
 while ; but has been idle for some time past, for want of a proper person to con- 
 duct the business. Great quantities of fish are caught by means of traps, both in 
 winter and summer. The most productive fishery is in the latter end of the 
 spring, when shad come up the rivers to spawn. In the vicinity of the mountains 
 stock may be raised with advantage, as there are large pastures of the wild pea 
 vine and green canes; but in other parts of the district the range is indifferent. 
 
 CLIMATE DISEASES — DISTILLED ARDENT SPIRITS. 
 
 During the winter the weather is not so variable as on the sea-coast, nor is the 
 degree of cold much greater, although frost occurs later in the spring and earlier 
 in the fall. There are perhaps about three weeks difference between this climate 
 and that of Charlestown. In the summer the days are sometimes very warm, but 
 the nights are generally cool. The greatest quantity of rain falls during the 
 winter, occasioning at times considerable freshets. Sleet and hail storms are not 
 uncommon, and sometimes occur so late in the spring as to do great damage to 
 cotton and corn. Occasionally there are a few sporadic cases of intermittent 
 fever, attended sometimes with and sometimes without ague. When neglected, or 
 improperly treated, they are often protracted, and materially injure the constitution. 
 Dysentery is the most epidemic disease, and is generally most prevalent in July, 
 August and September, although it occurs at all seasons of the year. It is seldom 
 mortal, except to children or aged persons. Its fatal issue is frequently the result 
 of injudicious treatment. In the winter the usual inflammatory diseases of cold 
 climates prevail more less. Upon the whole this district may be considered as 
 healthy as most parts of the United States. The intemperate use of spirituous 
 
298 APPENDIX. 
 
 liquors produces the same baneful effects here as in other countries, ahhough 
 perhaps not so quickly nor to so great an extent as in more enervating climates 
 and in subjects who are not obb'ged to labor for subsistence. From the inattention 
 of distillers in the preparation of home-made spirituous liquors, a quantity of verdi- 
 gris is frequently formed, which is afterwards dissolved in the liquor, and thus an 
 additional potent poison is conveyed into the system. 
 
 EMIGRATIONS AND IMMIGRATIONS — POPULATION — MANUFACTURES. 
 
 Although there are frequent emigrations beyond the mountains, the immigrations 
 into the district are supposed to balance the account. Population increases from 
 the following causes: the people generally marry young, lead lives of steady indus- 
 try, and live upon plain wholesome food in a healthy countr5^ As an evidence of this 
 there is scarcely a house to be found without several children. The black population 
 increases every year. More slaves are born than die. The surplus of crops is 
 generally vested in the purchase of negroes. Several of the more recent emigrants 
 bring negroes with them. In the census of 1800 the negroes were one in eleven 
 of the whole population, but in 1790 they were one it nine. In the first period, 
 the white population was 8,734; in the last, 17,328: an increase of more than two 
 for one in the course of ten years. In the same period the black population had 
 increased so much that it only wanted 374 to be three for one. Domestic manu- 
 factures are carried to an extent which goes far in supplying the wants of individ- 
 ual families, but few or none are carried on for sale or to any considerable amount 
 but those of iron. Of this metal there are several works in various parts of the 
 district, and an abundance of ore for their supply. These manufactures are as 
 yet chiefly confined to the making of bar-iron, plough-shares, and farming utensils. 
 The bar-iron can be sold equally cheap with any that is imported, and is said to be 
 as good, if not better in quality. Most of the common plantation tools are made 
 by blacksmiths in the country. Several persons in the district make very good 
 rifle-guns for sale, and in some places small manufactories of gunpowder are 
 carried on. The numerous streams and convenient falls which are found every- 
 where, offer great advantages for conducting all manufactories wherein the impelling 
 power of water is needed; but to improve them capital and enterprise are neces- 
 sary. The first is w^holly wanting, and the last very deficient. 
 
 EDUCATION NEWSPAPER, ETC. 
 
 As yet education is but at a low ebb, and very little knowledge is diffused 
 throughout the country. There is but one classical academy in the district, and 
 that has been established within a few years. This academy is under the direc- 
 tion of an able teacher, Mr. Edwin Reese, and superintended by trustees of com- 
 petent abilities. It is situated within a short distance of the court-house, in a very 
 salubrious spot, and has a fine view of the great blue ridge. The price of board- 
 ing is sixty dollars, and of tuition twenty dollars by the year. Several English 
 schools are found in different places, but they are not always provided with suffi- 
 cient teachers. Among the attempts to diffuse knowledge may be mentioned a 
 weekly newspaper which is very well conducted and printed at the village of 
 Pendleton by Mr. Miller. It is a feet worthy of record, that in the frontier district 
 thirty years ago, possessed by Indians, the publication of a newspaper has 
 commenced and is carried on in a manner worthy of patronage. The yearly sub- 
 scription is two dollars and a half 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL STATE. 
 
 The prevailing religious denominations are Baptists, Methodists, and Presby- 
 terians. There are several churches in different parts, but ihey are not all sup- 
 plied with regular pastors. 
 
 FRESHET. 
 
 This district is generally free from freshets. None, but the remarkable one of 
 January, 1796, has been known to do any mischief of consequence. This mate- 
 rially injured the river grounds. Almost every plantation suffered from it more 
 or less. Great quantities of sand were taken up by the waters and deposited in 
 such thick layers upon the surface as to prove very injurious to the soil. In some 
 places large holes were made in the ground eight or ten feet deep. 
 
 The current prices of the following articles in Pendleton in common years, are, 
 Indian corn, 50 cts. per bushel; wheat, 75 do. do.; oats, 50 do. do.; corn blades, 
 75 per cwt. ; hay, 50 do. do. ; beef, 4 do. per lb. ; pork, 5 do. do. 
 
ORANGEBURG DISTRICT. 299 
 
 No. IV. — A Statistical Account of Orangeburg District, chiefly Jrom 
 the Communications of Dr. Jamieson and Dr. Shecut. 
 
 The first settlers of Orangeburg district were Germans, wlio arrived in Charles- 
 town in K735. From the third year of their settlement they had the benefit of re- 
 ligious instruction from the Rev. John Gissendanner. One of his children, born in 
 1142, is still alive. The first child that he christened was born in 1739, and is also 
 alive. This reverend gentleman continued to officiate among these immigrants for 
 twenty-two years after they located themselves in Orangeburg, and his register 
 is now extant. Three or four individuals had previously settled Cowpens in ad- 
 vance north-westerly of the low country white settlers. These and the Cherokee 
 and Catawba Indians were all the inhabitants who had preceded these Germans. 
 Of the aborigines nothing worth relating is known. The district of Orangeburg 
 s situate on the northeast side of north Edisto river, 79 miles north-northwest 
 Charlestown. 
 
 A considerable proportion of the district consists of pine lands. These are di- 
 vided into two kinds, pine and pine barren land. Of the first there are different 
 grades. In the vicinty of most rivers, creeks, and swamps, are found in abund- 
 ance magnolia, beech, willow, ash, elm, oaks, birch, walnut, and hickory trees. 
 In the swamps there are large groupes of cypress, loblolly bay, sweet bay, maple, and 
 tupelo trees and poplars of an immense height and circumference. From the margin 
 of the swamps the lands are gradually elevated, and the more distant the less valua- 
 ble. The best pine lands yield with good husbandry considerable crops of corn, cot- 
 ton, wheat, and the smaller grains ; and the swampy parts yield rice. The pine barren 
 lands are so called from the sandy nature of the soil. In their natural state their 
 timber alone give them value ; but by manuring they may be made to yield from 
 eight to twelve bushels of corn to the acre. On this land the industrious Germans 
 make a decent living; but to the idle they afford little more than high, dry, and 
 healthy sites for habitations. 
 
 The early settlers attended first to provisions and afterwards planted indigo for 
 market. At present cotton engrosses most attention : but some persons continue 
 to plant indigo, although given up in other parts of the State. The average quantity 
 of indigo made to the acre depends greatly on the season and land. Dr. Jamieson 
 has made 56 lb. of prime indigo to the acre, and sold it in Charlestown for $1 each 
 pound ; and the land of which it was made would not sell for more than fifty cents 
 the acre, provided it had been separate from the other part of the same tract. 
 Common pine land will produce 40 lbs. of indigo to the acre, and is more suitable 
 for that article than for cotton. Land, when naturally good, has produced of the 
 latter from 500 to 1000 lbs. in the seed, per acre. Ordinary land well manured will 
 turnout nearly as much. 
 
 Where the land can be watered rice will produce from fifty to sixty bushels per 
 acre. This in its rough state often sells in the vicinity from $1 to $1 25 cents per 
 bushel. 
 
 The district affords some valuable orchards, particularly of peaches. This fruit 
 accords well with a sandy soil. Some old settled farmers have large orchards of 
 peaches, apples, and plums, which produce fruit in good seasons sufficient for 
 domestic use, and a considerable surplus for market. From them are made brandy, 
 cider, and vinegar. 
 
 The planters of this district improve their lands by manuring corn-hills every 
 spring either with cotton seed or swamp mud, thrown up in pens in the fall season 
 to remain during the winter. This, especially when improved by mixing with it 
 cotton seed, stable manure, or decayed vegetables, greatly increases the fertility 
 of the soil. "Wheat on well manured land has produced thirty-four bushels to the 
 acre. Rye or oats much more. 
 
 Few planters have any idea of the great advantages that may be derived from 
 ttiese swamps and bogs. At no very distant day their value will be properly 
 appreciated. „ , ,, 
 
 The high lands in this district have sold from fifty cents to twenty dollars per 
 acre. Great part of it abounds with good mill seats. Several saw mills have been 
 and many more might be erected, and all find profitable employment, provided a 
 canal was opened between Edisto and Ashley rivers. This would double the 
 value of land in the vicinity of the former. There are grist mills which can manu- 
 facture wheat flour of an excellant quality. 
 
 The district abounds with stock; but from their number and from the increased 
 population there are only a few particular spots in which cattle can maintain 
 themselves through the winter. Sheep live and thrive in the barren lands, and are 
 
300 APPENDIX. 
 
 more productive than any other kind of stocic in proportion to their value and the 
 little care they require. 
 
 The population of the district has increased so rapidly that old settlers consider 
 it to have doubled within the last twenty years. Some large families are raised, 
 and health is generally enjoyed by those who live two or three miles distant from 
 low moist grounds. There are several persons now living above seventy. A few 
 approach ninety or one hundred; and three or four are known who have survived 
 a complete century. 
 
 The blessing of health is in this district best enjoyed by those who reside on 
 high open pine lands. Stagnant ponds, bays, river swamps, and mill seats are 
 generally the pests and scourge of country settlements. Inhabitants in their 
 vicinity are almost annually visited with fevers. "While the whole marginal extent 
 of rivers is groaning under these afflictions the pine land settlers are scarcely 
 otherwise affected than with common colds and slight attacks of intermittents. 
 
 An industrious and economical man with his wife, possessed of the same quali- 
 ties, may procure in a short time a comfortable living, though he possesses nothing 
 on his arrival. He may procure a small tract of land on a credit, and in one winter 
 he may cut down and lop off the trees and underwood of eight or ten acres of 
 ground. His neighbors are ever ready to lend him a helping hand; and when he 
 has all in readiness, on signifying'his intention, thirty or forty able bodied men, 
 white and black, assemble on the ground early in the day and with hand-spikes 
 they lift into piles the huge logs, while the children drag away the brush and 
 boughs into heaps. When the light of day retires they kindle a blaze which soon 
 enlightens the dark space around, and reduces to cinders in a few hours what else 
 might have been the work of months. When the land is thus prepared and 
 previously fenced and grubbed, it is broken up with a shear plough, and the roots 
 distributed in piles to dry and consume; after which it is again ploughed and 
 chequered for planting. One man with a good horse will tend from ten to fitteen 
 acres of land in corn, peas, and potatoes, and make provision enough to support 
 his family through the ensuing year. The only difficulty occurs in the first settle- 
 ment ; but this is generally remedied by the hospitality for which the planters are 
 remarkable. Honest industry always finds friendly assistance among them. 
 
 Pine lands, when judiciously managed, in a few years become equally productive, 
 if not more so, than the generality of oak lands. They who plant oak and swamp 
 lands depend so much on the present goodness and strength of the soil that they 
 continue to crowd crop upon crop, impoverishing annually the natural goodness 
 thereof without regard to its improvement, while they who are possessed of pine 
 land, from a knowledge of its general poorness, are induced to supply by art and 
 industry what is natural to the other. The Germans obtain crops from poor pine 
 lands equal in quantity, according to acres and hands, with most farmers on oak 
 lands. The average crops of Indian corn from lands of this quality are from ten to 
 twenty-five bushels to the acre. A method hitherto commonly employed by weak 
 handed planters is to select various eligible levels on a tract of pine land. These 
 are converted into fields in the following manner: the large trees are girted, that 
 is, a ring is cut through the bark to the wood ; by the next spring they all die and 
 cease to draw from the surrounding earth any of its nourishing properties. The 
 smaller trees are then cleared away and burnt up. The ground, broken up with 
 grubbing hoes and the plough without any other preparation, is sown with wheat 
 or rye. Nature finishes the great work of these plantations; for every hard wind 
 brings down more or less of the deadened trees, and fire consumes the whole. 
 Thus in a series of years a large plantation is obtained with very little labor. Al- 
 though this is deemed one of the laziest methods of obtaining cleared lands, it is 
 not without use. In time it occasions a change of the timber. Afterthe pine trees 
 are thus girted they die ; but if the land is suffered to remain a few years without 
 cultivation, there springs up an equivalent of oak and hickory in place of the pines 
 which become extinct : a very acceptable acquisition to the pine land farmer. 
 
 Almost every planter carries on domestic manufactures to a considerable extent, 
 and many clothe their families with cotton, and with a cotton warp filled in with 
 wool which they prefer to white plains. There are planters who own sixty or 
 seventy slaves, and clothe them all from their own resources. They are making 
 great improvement every year both in spinning and weaving. 
 
 The inhabitants generally are becoming more disposed to encourage schools and 
 are more desirous of giving liberal educations to their children than they used 
 to be. 
 
 Since the Methodists have become numerous there is less of that indolence and 
 distress which was common before. Preaching houses are established at almost 
 every five or ten miles, according to population ; and these are well supplied with 
 itinerant preachers. The success attending this plan has been great. 
 
BEAUFORT. 301 
 
 There was a Presbyterian meeting house erected on Cattle's creelf in 1778, and 
 called the Fredencian church, after Andrew Frederick, who was its principal 
 lounder. Another of the same denomination was built at Turkey hill. There are 
 two others of the same denomination in Lewisburgh and one Episcopal church. 
 
 Ihere are four Baptist and about fourteen Methodist churches. The latter are 
 attended regularly by the circuit riders, and often by their local preachers. Both 
 Methodists and Baptists increase. 
 
 The Presbyterians have supplies only from the upper country and the North 
 Carolma Presbytery. From the want of preachers of their own denomination, the 
 descendants of the old stock are falling in either with the Baptists or Methodists, 
 according to the neighborhood in which they live. 
 
 The population, weahh, industry, morals,;learning, and religion of the district has 
 astonishingly improved, especially since the year 1790. 
 
 No. V. — £ Statistical Account of Bemifort, chiefly from the Commu- 
 nications of Br. Finley. 
 
 In Beaufort was established the iirst English settlement in South Carolina, and 
 not far from it the French and Spaniards commenced a settlement soon after 
 the middle of the sixteenth century, as has been already related. Why the Eng- 
 lish abandoned this site for the banks of the Ashley, has never been explained. 
 The former has evidently natural advantages over the latter. It is probable that 
 the present proprietors of Charlestown and the vicinity are indebted to the Span- 
 iards for the advantages that have resulted from the change; for to be more out 
 of their way doubtless had some influence in the dereliction of Beaufort. Whether 
 any of the first settlers remained is uncertain, but it is probable they did not. No 
 evidence of settlement prior to 1700 is now extant. In that year is the dale of 
 the birth of the iirst child which is recorded in the parish register. The iirst lots 
 in Beaufort were granted in 1717. The Episcopal church was built about the 
 year 1720. From that time to the present there have been fourteen incumbents, 
 all of whom were Europeans, except the Rev. Galen Hicks, and the Rev. Mat- 
 thew Tate. In the year 1761, when the Episcopal establishment was in full force, 
 the vestry and church-wardens, in their letter to their correspondent in England, 
 requesting his aid in procuring for them a minister, gave it as their opinion "that 
 a gentleman of a studious turn and regular deportment who would maintain the 
 authority of the church without being austere or rigid to dissenters, of which 
 there were many, would suit better than one of a contrary disposition." There 
 are in Beaufort also a Baptist church built in 1792, and an Independent church 
 bnilt in 1804. All these churches are supplied with ministers of excellent charac- 
 ters and regular education. The members who attend divine service at present in 
 these diiierent churches, far exceed what was common, or what could be 
 accommodated prior to 1792, and among all of them great respect is paid to 
 religious institutions. 
 
 A library society was instituted in 1802, which contains between six and seven 
 hundred volumes. There is also a college, a grammar school, and three other 
 schools for boys, one for young ladies, and three for young children. At these 
 several schools there are about two hundred scholars. The college funds, when 
 brought into action, will amount to sixty or seventy thousand dollars. 
 
 Beaufort is remarkable for the health and longevity of its inhabitants. The 
 complexions of the people are a proof of the former — the parish register of the 
 latter. The records of the church state the interment of sixteen persons 
 whose ages average more than seventy-five. Three are now living whose ages 
 average seventy-nine. 
 
 A causeway and ferry has been lately completed which renders the communi- 
 cation between the Island and the main safe and convenient. In 1795 a company 
 of one hundred persons was incorporated for the purpose, but after expending 
 much money and labor in trying to eflect the object for near ten years they gave 
 up the completion of it to the deceased William Elliot, who soon finished the 
 work. The former company began the causeway on the Island side, and made it 
 of pine logs filled in with mud, but the worms below and the influence of the 
 weather above was continually rendering their work nugatory. There were too 
 many persons to consult, their deliberations were slow, and their eflbrts feeble. 
 William Elliot at length undertook it and began with the causeway on the main 
 side, which he finished entirely of fascines ; and he had begun to face the old pine 
 log work in the same manner when his valuable life was terminated with the 
 universal regret of the whole community. There is now an excellent rope ferry. 
 The length of the causeways, for there is one on each side, and of the ferry ex- 
 
302 APPENDIX. 
 
 ceeds a mile. The ferry is somewhat narrower than the one over Ashley river. 
 The celerity with which this work was finished by Mr. Elliot proves that in public 
 works one head is better than many, and that causeways may be made in Caro- 
 lina more easily and with less expense than has been commonly SLij)posed. 
 
 No. VI. — A Statistical Account of Georgetown, chiefly from the Com- 
 munications of Dr. Levy Myers, Dr. Blythe, and Samuel Smith. 
 
 The ground on which Georgetown stands was originally granted to Mr. Perry, 
 the ancestor of the present family of Kinlocks. It was through mistake granted 
 a second time to the Rev. William Screven, the first Baptist minister in South 
 Carolina, and one of the first settlers in the province. Mr. Screven, early in the 
 eighteenth century, laid off the place in lots and assigned one for the use of the 
 Episcopalians, one for the Baptists, and one for the Presbyterians. Alter this 
 had been done, Mr. Clelaiid, who had married the daughter of Mr. Perry, claimed 
 and recovered the land by virtue of his elder grant, but in the year 1737 confirmed 
 Mr. Screven's sales of lots in consideration of the receipt of a small additional 
 price paid by each proprietor. 
 
 A tradition prevails, that about the year 1700, a large vessel, supposed to be 
 the Rising Sun, with three hundred and forty-six passengers on board, came 
 without a pilot up Sampit creek to the place where Georgetown now stands, but 
 finding no inhabitants there but Indians, the Captain made for Charlestown. On 
 his arriving near the bar, he was boarded by a pilot who told him that his vessel 
 could not enter the harbor without lightening. The Captain being in distress, 
 sent his long-boat with the Rev. Mr. Stobo and some others to solicit assistance. 
 Before the boat returned, a hurricane took place in which the vessel and every 
 soul on board were lost. Tradition states further that the same hurricane broke 
 open the north inlet, and that previously there had been only one inlet from the 
 sea to Winyaw bay. The tradition, as far as respects the loss of the ship, the 
 hurricane, and the preservation of the Rev. Mr. Stobo, is supported by well 
 known historic documents. The other particulars, that a vessel came over 
 Georgetown bar without a pilot which could not cross Charlestown bar with one, 
 if true, is very remarkable. It is rendered probable from the circumstance that 
 the bar of Georgetown has from that time to the present been constantly growing 
 worse. 
 
 Elizabeth Commander, the grand-mother of Samuel Smith, who resided on 
 Black river, fourteen miles from Georgetown, survived her eighty-eighth year, 
 and brought up ten children to be men and women, the greatest part of whom 
 attained to the age of seventy and upwards ; and her eldest son Samuel to ninety- 
 four, at which advanced period he was a strong, robust old man, and his eye- 
 sight good. 
 
 There have been many instances of longevity in the county between Little 
 Peedee and Catfish creek, about sixty miles north of Georgetown. Six very old 
 men died there since the year 1800. One of them, named James Ford, died in or 
 near 1804, at the age of one hundred. The others are, James Munnulyn, Moses 
 Martin, Buckingham Keen, Michael Mixon, and William Watson, who all died 
 upwards of eighty. James Munnulyn served in the otfice of constable at eighty- 
 six — walked fifty miles to serve a process, and returned home again in less than 
 three days. 
 
 Georgetown contains about one hundred and twenty dwelling houses, in which 
 there are between six and seven hundred white inhabitants; the negroes are in 
 the proportion oftwo to one. The public buildings are a gaol, courthouse, and three 
 places of religious worship; one for the Episcopalians, one for the Baptists, and 
 one for the Methodists. There are two institutions of a public nature, the Win- 
 yaw Indigo Society, and a Library Society, of which notice has been taken in the 
 preceding history. 
 
 The diseases of Georgetown bear a striking similarity to those of Charlestown. 
 Fever and agues or simple tertians were about 1790 common, and might be said 
 to be enderaial; but since the population of the place has increased, and the lands 
 in its neighborhood have been cleared and put under cultivation, fever and agues 
 seldom occur. The fever most common is the bilious remittant or double tertian, 
 approximating to that of a continued form. 
 
 In 1807, when the influenza prevailed in Georgetown, several of the aged inhab- 
 itants died of it. Of five such, two of whom were natives, the others Ibreigners 
 who had resided there upwards of forty years, the aggregate of their ages aver- 
 aged seventy-one years for the life of each individual. 
 
 Georgetown is well situated for trade; it is in the neighborhood of very fertile 
 
CLAREMONT DISTRICT. 303 
 
 lands, and an extensive back country depends on it for imports and exports, 
 borne improvements in its harbor, and an extension of inland navigation, would 
 give It much more importance than it has ever possessed. 
 
 By the census of 1&08, the number of families in Georgetown is Wl— of white 
 inhabitants, 624. In the twelve years immediately preceding ISOS, there were 
 399 deaths, or nearly, on an average, thirty-three in each year, or 1 in 19 of the 
 whole white population. Of these 390 deceased persons, b were between 60 and 
 70; 4 between 70 and SO ; 4 between 80 and 90— the eldest b7. 4 were strangers, 
 and 20 had not been residents above two years. 9 were drowned. The greatest 
 number of deaths was in October and September. The least in January, Febru- 
 ary, March, and December. 
 
 JVTrs. Morgan died in 1805, aged 90. She was born in Virginia, but had resided 
 for twenty-eight years in Darbngton district, about sixty miles from Georgetown. 
 At the time of her death, 244 of her descendants were living. She wrote a good 
 hand, and taught reading, writing and arithmetic at the age of 70, was heahhy and 
 active till within a short time of her death. 
 
 No. VII. — A Statistical Account of Claremont District, chiefly from 
 the Communications of Chancellor James and Eev. Dr. Furman. 
 
 The high hills of Santee are singular objects of curiosity, as being not more 
 ihan eighty or ninety miles from the ocean, and rather belonging to the low than 
 the upper country of Carolina. They lie in a ridge from three to five miles wide, 
 have their course from the river Santee in a direction generally between north and 
 northeast, and with the adjacent country bear one common name. They are prob- 
 ably, at their greatest elevation, 300 feet above the level of the river, and aftbrds 
 prospects from twenty to thirty miles in extent. 
 
 Excepting a narrow strip along the river, the lower part of the hills is a bed of 
 barren sand. Below them lies a body of good land. The best on the hills is situ- 
 ated from about ten miles below Statesburg to seven above it. But this extent 
 is considerably diversified in respect of quality. 
 
 The good lands are almost all cultivated, and yield plentiful crops of corn and 
 cotton. The plough is much used. Negro boys and girls, from ten years old and 
 upwards, are trained to guide it. Cotton seed is the principal manure. The trees 
 most common are oaks, hickory, and pines. Some of the latter, from the rings 
 which surround them, are supposed to be above 200 years old. Flowering trees 
 and shrubs are in great abundance. Among these are the locust, the dogwood, 
 the maple, the crabtree, the hawthorn, the honeysuckle, the calico flower, the wild 
 rose, and the sweet shrub; the pinkroot, several kinds of snakeroot, angehca, and 
 wild saifron. 
 
 Most fruits are advantageously raised on the Santee hills; but the cherry, the 
 peach, and the apple, are supposed to acquire there a superior flavor. Kitchen 
 gardens, and the cultivation of exotics, have of late engrossed much attention. 
 
 Wells for procuring water have been dug as deep as eighty feet. From an 
 inspection in a few cases, of the interior of the soil thus brought to view, the strata 
 appear, 1, a slight brick, color or black mould mixed with sand; 2, red clay; 3, 
 white or blue marl; 4, coarse yellow sand, with white pebbles; 5, black mud with 
 a sulphurous smell, containing in it soft round black pebbles. The water of these 
 wells is not so good as that of the springs. The latter are abundant add excel- 
 lent. Two of them near Statesburg are supposed to be impregnated with iron 
 and sulphur. 
 
 The Wateree river, four miles from Statesburg, is navigable at p.ost seasons 
 "■by the Santee canal boats. It might be made much more useful by the junction 
 of the small lakes on the side next to Statesburg. The "Wateree swamp, for 
 more than twenty miles in length, and for more than four miles in width, is almost 
 in a state of nature. It produces canes and forest trees of a prodigious size. Of 
 the latter the white and red oak, the sweet gum, the cotton tree and sicamore are 
 the most remarkable. From a dread of freshets these low grounds have been 
 neglected. They would prove an inexhaustible mine of wealth if by any means 
 thev were secured against inundations. Their mud makes excellent manure. 
 
 There are several considerable streams which issue from the sides of the San- 
 tee hills. These are of force sufficient to be the impelling power of several mills 
 which are erected upon them, and they afford facilities for labor-saving machinery 
 of several kinds. About the year 1750 a colony emigrated from Virginia, and set- 
 tled the high hills of Santee. The preceding settlers were very inconsiderable. 
 But the tide of immigration from the north was so strong that before the revolution 
 these hills were among the most populous parts of the province. For six miles 
 
 37 
 
304 APPENDIX 
 
 round Statesburg country seats are now to be seen within a half mile of each 
 other, which in appearance would do credit to a city. Most ofthese have been built 
 or improved since 1798. About that time it began to be fashionable forthewealthy 
 inhabitants near Georgetown to have at least a summer residence on the hills ol 
 S antee. 
 
 Statesburg as a village was begun in 1783 by a company, of which General 
 Sumpter was the most influential member. Here, or rather in the vicinity, re- 
 fined society may be enjoyed in great perfection. It contains ten or twelve 
 dwelling houses, four or five stores, and an Episcopal church. There is also a 
 circulating library which is increasing. Near to it an academy of great reputa- 
 tion is kept by the Reverend Mr. Roberts. Several pupils educated by him 
 have entered the sophomore, and some tVie junior class in the South Carolina 
 college. 
 
 There are two Baptist chtirches in the neighborhood. These and the Episco- 
 pal church are well attended ; and there is among the rnhabitants generally a 
 growing respect for religious institutions. In this particular they are much al- 
 tered for the better within the last twenty years. The Baptist church was first 
 formed about the year 1770 by the Rev. Joseph Reese, and their house of worship 
 was built on a lot given by Dr. Joseph Howard. The Rev. Dr. Furman now ot 
 Charlestown was their- frrst settled minister, and continued with them from 1774 to 
 1787. Smce )ll>98 they haivebeen under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Roberts. 
 
 The settlers from Virginia were generally Episcopalians. They have had the 
 following preachers in succession — the Rev. Messrs. Woodmason, Walker, Davis, 
 Richards, Tate, and Ischudi. 
 
 The climate of the Santee hills three or four miles back from the "Wateree swamp 
 has been found by experiment to be salubrious. Neither stagnant waters nor 
 musquitoes are found there. Though the neighborhood of Statesburg is very 
 populous, yet only four deaths have occurred in 1807 and 1808.- The mercury in 
 the thermometer has not been known to be higher than the 94th or 95th degree, 
 and even then the nights were cool and pleasant. Few places are blest with a 
 better climate. Large families of children are raised. Four persons are now liv- 
 ing within twenty miles of Statesburg, two of whom are 100 yeaps ©Id and two 
 above 90, and some of them can count upwards of 100 descendants. 
 
 It is worthy of observation that on the most elevated parts of the hills the cold 
 does not make that impression which it does on the adjacent level or low country. 
 Vegetation there is earlier by a week or fortnight, than it is on lands of the latter 
 description, though not a mile distant. The same diSerence is observable in the 
 progress of cold in autumn. Vegetables are alive and thriving on the hills when 
 those in the low lands are entirely killed. The fruit on the hills is also generally 
 raninjured from the frost in the spring. i 
 
 No. Vlf. — ^ Statistical Account »/ Camden, chiefly from the Com- 
 munications of the Rev. Br. Furman. 
 
 Camden was fiist settled by a colony of Quakers from Ireland about the year 
 1750.. The principal of these emigrants were Robert iVIilhouse and Samuel 
 Wyley, sensible and respectable men. A mill op mills were erected by them on 
 Pinetree creek, which, runs jusi below Camden, and from which the settlement 
 was called Pinetree. The Quakers were sufficiently numerous to form a .-ongre- 
 gation. They erected a place of worship which remained till the American war. 
 Milhouse died about the year 1755, but left children ; and hfs posterity still exist 
 about Edisto and the Cypress. Wyley lived several years longer ; and has left 
 a daughter, Mrs. Lang, a respe<rtable lady living in Camden.. He also left three 
 sons- 
 
 About the year 1760, Colonel Hershaw opened % store at JMr. Wyley's in Cam- 
 den. Being prosperous in business he laid out the place in lots,.and in honor of 
 Lard Camden gave it his name. He proceeded to build stores and mills, and to 
 make other improvements. John Chesnut was a co-partner with Colonel Her- 
 shaw, having previously served his time- with hiia,. A considerate quantity of 
 good flour was manufactured at the Camden mills, and a brewery was erected, 
 which for some years promised to be useful. A pottery was also erected by an 
 Englishman of the name of Barllam. Various handicraftmen found profitable em- 
 ployment, and Camden continued to thrive till it was checked by the war. The 
 Quakers as a society decreased continually from the time Camden began to thrive 
 as a village, and are now become extinct. A place of worship was built here for 
 the Presbyterians some years before the war ; but it was burnt by the British. 
 Camdem languished for a considerable time after the peace. It now appears to 
 
UPPER COUNTRY. 305 
 
 be in a flourishing stat.e. It was incorporated in 1791, and has ever since had a 
 regular city police. There are about 150 dwellina: houses in it. About the year 
 1802 a church was built by the Presbyterians, in which the Rev. Mr. Flinn lately 
 preached. The scheme of building it was begun by the late Mrs. Alexander, wife 
 of Dr. Isaac Alexander, who gave £200 sterling towards it. About the year l&OO 
 the Methodists erected a Church in Camdem forty feet by thirty. They are now 
 increasing its size by maldng it double the former length. The Baptists have 
 obtained a handsome subscription for building a church. Mr. Lloyd Champion 
 has given them a suitable lot for its site. 
 
 For several years immediately after the war, Mr. Logue, an aged Presbyterian 
 minister from Ireland, preached statedly apart ofhis timein Camden. Mr. Adams, 
 a young gentleman of the Congregational church, from Massachusetts, preached 
 there, and also had the charge of the Orphan society's academy. 
 
 Camden is one of the largest inland cities in Carolina, and bids fair to become a 
 considerable place of trade and business. It has an easy and quick communica- 
 tion with Charlestown through ttie Santee canal — has the support of an extensive 
 back country in both Garolinas — possesses .many advantages for the erection of 
 labor-saving machinery in its vicinity — and ample materials of the best kind for 
 boat and ship building. Its other advantages, the devastations it underwent in 
 the revolutionary war, and the severe actions that were fought in Its vicinity, 
 have alt been related in their proper places. 
 
 No. IX. — A General View of the Upper Country, chiejly from the 
 Communications of Mr. Anthiony Park and Dr. Davis. 
 
 In the year 17.50, when the settlement of the upper country began, there were 
 so many buffaioe.'i, which have longsince disappeared, that three or four men with 
 their dogs could kill from ten to twenty in a day. Wild turkeys were also in the 
 greatest plenty. Deer were so numerous that a rifleman with a little posvder and 
 shot could easily kill four or five in a day. A common hunter could kill in the 
 autumnal season as many bears as would make froim two to three thousand 
 weight of bear bacon. The waters abounded with beavers, otters and musk-rats. 
 Twenty beavers liave been caught by one man in one season on Fairforest. The 
 country was also overrun willi wolves, panthers and wild cats. There was a 
 great facility of raising stock from the profusion of native grasses and canes. 
 When the whole country was within the grasp of a few settlers, the preference 
 of one spot over another was generally decided by the comparative plenty of 
 canes. Though provisions were easily raised, the labor of raising tbem for sale 
 was but indifferently rewarded, for there was no regular market for any crop 
 nearer than 100 miles. The skins of wild beasts were the most profitable remit- 
 tance to Charlestown : next to them was butter and tallow, afterwards Hour and 
 hemp. In a few years indigo began to be an object of industry. Tobacco and 
 other heavy articies would frequently do little more than pay the expense of 
 bringing them to market. Since the year 1792 the general cultivation of cotton 
 has materially altered the state of the country. The people have, for the most 
 part, passed from a state of depression to easy and comfortable circumstances. 
 By nice calculation it appears that in good seasons, from good lands and with the 
 usual good prices, the clear profits on an acre of land planted in cotton are from 
 ten to thirteeffi dollars, and in a relative proportion under less favorable circum- 
 stances. This surplus, after all expenses are paid or taken into account, will 
 purchase the fee simple of the land, for such is its low price compared with the 
 high value of the commodities raised upon it, that, with few exceptions, one good 
 crop will sell for as much as the ground on which it is raised. The clear 
 profits on other articles of culture are less than on cotton. On wheat they are 
 about $6 to the acre, on corn from $8 to $10. As the same force of hands can 
 cultivate more acres in wheat or corn than in cotton, the profits on each may be 
 made to approach nearer to equality ; but the advantage is decidedly in favor of 
 cotton. This is so much the case that provisions are comparatively neglected. 
 This neglect equalizes the profits still more, for while so many cultivate cotton, 
 the few who plant provisions obtain a better price for what they raise. The 
 cotton planter not only benefits himself but his neighbor, who directs his industry 
 to other objects of culture. This reciprocal dependence and communication of 
 benefits cements the union of all the members of the great family of Carolina. 
 
 In the npper country the proportion of the cleared to the uncleared landis about 
 one acre of the former to eight of the latter. The proportion between the number 
 of inhabitanls and the number of acres is about one of the former to thirty-six of 
 the latter. 
 
306 APPENDIX. 
 
 While the upper country has been growing richer it has been declining in 
 health. "When the interior of this State was first settled by white men, and for 
 many years after, disease was rarely known. The first inhabitants being easily 
 supplied with all the necessaries of life, esteemed the country, especially when at 
 peace with the Indians, as an asylum from the toils, cares and diseases incident 
 to man. This happy and contented state of mind contributed, with the salubrious 
 nature of the climate to procure for them an exemption from disease. This state 
 of things, however, has been gradually changing from that period to the present. 
 Ever since the last years of the eighteenth century diseases have multiplied in a 
 ratio much exceeding the increase of population. Many types and grades inci- 
 dent to populous and older countries have been introduced with their usual 
 force and malignity. The effect of industry, with a greatly increased population, 
 has produced a revolution in the face of the country and state of the rivers, which 
 has brought into action many latent physical causes of disease and generated new 
 ones. The increa-^ed difficulty of procuring the necessaries of life to which the 
 inhabitants are reduced by the diminution of the range for stock and destruction 
 of game — the new modes of pursuit, and oflivingto which they are driven by this 
 change of circumstances — theelTectofa state of society progressing to civilization, 
 all combine with physical changes in the face of the country to render diseases 
 more prevalent than formerly. 
 
 Thf causes of disease, which manifested their effects upon the first inhabitants, 
 were those that were productive ofthe mild intermittent fever. Foralongtime there 
 was only here and there a solitary instance of this, and that amongst the more 
 incautious upon the margins of rivers. These original and indigenous causes of 
 disease, combined with adventitious ones arising from the new order of circum- 
 stances have concurred of late to produce, not only bilious fevers in their various 
 grades from the mild intermittent to a grade nearly approximating to yellow fever, 
 but also other various forms of disease. 
 
 Agues and fevers are more rare than formerly. They seem to have been merged 
 in the more violent forms of bilious fever. 
 
 Thougli the upper country has grown more sickly since it became more cleared, 
 there is ground to hope that when it is better cultivated it will again be more healthy 
 than at present. There are already some hopeful appearances of this in some of 
 the oldest and most highly cultivated settlements. The upper country possesses 
 the natural requisites for health and longevity. Marriages are early and generally 
 prolific. In one district, containing upwards of 17,000 white inhabitants, there is 
 not one woman ofthe age oftwenty-five who is neither wife nor widow. The sky, 
 generally clear and serene, is seldom obscured by a series of moist, misty weather. 
 Rains come on suddenly, fall hastily, and terminate at once, leaving a clear and 
 settled sky. The air is pure and temperate, and although variable, is seldom 
 subject to sudden and great changes. During the summer Fahrenheit's ther- 
 mometer generally fiuctuates from 65 to b6, and during winter from 20 to 53. 
 Every year, however, there are a few days when the mercury rises in summer to 
 94 or 95, and in winter when it falls to 10 or 11. The soil is elevated and dry, 
 except near the edges of the water courses in the most rainy seasons. The water 
 from the declivity of the surface runs off speedily. There is a very inconsiderable 
 proportion of stagnant water ; none except small lagoons near the rivers, and from 
 these there are innumerable retreats on dry and elevated spots, to which the vapor 
 arising from the low grounds cannot reach in a perpendicular ascent. Fogs are 
 rare and readily dissipated by the rising sun. Flies, gnats and other insects, which 
 attend putrid air, mud and slime, are few in number, nor are they in swarms in 
 the most boggy spots. 
 
 The numerous springs afford pure and excellent water. 
 
 Night air must be little noxious. The exposure to it is great and the bad con- 
 sequences few. Metals exposed to the air are but slowly corroded. Butcher's meat 
 may be preserved for several days in the warmest season in a house built over 
 a spring of water commonly called a spring house. 
 
 An unusual proportion of children is raised to maturity. Prom their births they 
 exhibit strong marks of health, which is seldom interrupted by puny habits. Their 
 diseases are generally short and easily managed. 
 
 A considerable number of the inhabitants live to be old. Each district can boast 
 of several who are between 80 and 100. 
 
 Among the first settlers the means of education were very deficient. The first 
 school in the fork between Broad and Saluda rivers was opened in the year 1767, 
 and in it nothing more than reading was taught. Within half a mile of the spot 
 where this first school was opened, there is now, 1808, a seminary in which the 
 learned languages are taught and youth are prepared for entering college. There 
 is also another about fifty miles distant on Fair forest, and near the vicinity 
 
UPPER COUNTRY. 307 
 
 of the spot on which the first cabin was built by white inhabitants in the upper 
 country. There seems to be a general and growing desire among the people to 
 encourage learning. The first preacher among these early settlers was the ReT. 
 Mr. Thain, from New Jersey, who in the year 1754 preached under an oak tree. 
 His congregation consisted of about six families, which was then nearly the whole 
 population of that part of the country. This settlement was broken up by the Indian 
 war which raged between 1755 and 17B.3. Soon ailer the establishment of peace , 
 the inhabitants returned to their deserted cabins. While they re-established their 
 plantations they were equally careful to re-establish religion, and had divine or- 
 dinances administered among them by the Rev. Dr. Alexander, and the Rev. 
 Messrs. Tate and Simpson, and have ever since been an orderly church. Near 
 the spot where the first sermon was delivered in 1754, there is now a large con- 
 gregation and a regular Presbyterian minister. Something similar took place in 
 other settlements. There are now among them many orderly well educated cler- 
 gymen who receive from four to six hundred dollars a year for their ministerial 
 services. Divine service is devoutly performed and decently attended. Among 
 the professors of all denominations there is a growing and general desire to pro- 
 mote religion. 
 
 The first iron works in South Carolina were erected in the upper country by 
 Mr. BufRngton in 1773. These were destroyed by the tories in the revolutionary 
 war; but several have been built since the peace of 1783. 
 
 In the year 1760 a great whirlwind began about King's Mountains and passed 
 in a southeast direction through the Waxhaw settlement. It took off the ivhole 
 roof of a large dwelling house of Mrs. Pickens so completely, that no one shingle 
 of it has ever since been traced. 
 
 In 1808, November 15, at 9 o'clock P. M., a large ball of light about 20 feet long, 
 appeared in the heavens and moved in a southwest direction. The light was so 
 great that a pin might be easily picked up. There was soon after an explosion 
 with a sound equal to that of a cannon. A rumbling noise followed for a few 
 minutes. All this time the horizon was clear. 
 
 It is observed by old settlers that the lands have washed away much more of 
 late than formerly ; and that the spring season is several weeks later than when 
 the country was first settled. 
 
 In the year 1755 the country from the Waxhaws on the Catawba across to Au- 
 gusta on Savannah river did not contain twenty-five families. Within the same 
 limits there are now twelve large and populous districts. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
re:,m