USA > South Carolina > A Contribution to the History of the Huguenots of South Carolina: Consisting of Pamphlets > Part 4
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in close confinement for eighteen months, during which time Mr. Charles Peyre died. On being re- leased from captivity, Mr. Peyre found himself a stranger, in a strange place, in absolute want. A Quaker noticed him in the street, and, struck with something in his appearance, stopped and inquired into his situation. On hearing his story he handed him a purse containing funds amply sufficient to supply his wants and carry him home. Mr. Peyre gratefully and eagerly inquired who his benefactor was, so that he might requite his kindness ; but the Quaker would not satisfy him. "Friend," said he, " I must not tell thee my name, and thou shalt never know me; all I ask in return is this : when thou meetest a fellow-sufferer, do likewise, and give as thou hast received." Mr. Peyre, who had seen his brother die in the prison, found on his return to Carolina that his sister, Mrs. Walter, was dead and her husband already again a married man ; and the whole of his ample fortune was in the hands of a commission of sequestration under the authority of the State. With a few exceptions, the confiscated estates were generally restored to their owners. In this noble work of pacification none labored more zealously than General Marion.
43. Cooper's, so called from the resident, Thomas Cooper. His wife was Jane Harvey. Their daugh- ter was the wife of David, son of Charles Gaillard. Their son Thomas died unmarried ; Maurice mar-
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ried Lydia, daughter of Samuel Lequex ; Charles married Louisa Whitfield ; James died unmarried.
44. Webdo was the residence of Joseph Palmer. He had one daughter who became the wife of Peter Sinkler, and whose daughter Catharine was the wife of Francis Peyre.
Between Webdo and the parish line lived the families of Dutarque, Guerry, Bisseau, etc., all of Huguenot stock, but of whose intermarriages and descendants I am unable to give any account.
The Fair Forrest Swamp is one of the principal feeders of the western branch of Cooper River, into which it flows through Watboo Creek. It rises in the bays within a few miles of Santee Swamp, and once afforded those who lived on its banks rice fields, which were precarious on account of their liability to freshets. Bordered on either side by a wide extent of pine forest, and in its whole length within a convenient distance of Watboo landing, the planters on this swamp had their attention early directed to the preparation of naval stores of all kinds, the prices of which were stimu- lated by the bounties paid by Great Britain for their exportation. The vicinity of this swamp therefore was the busy scene of this department of activity, and nowhere, perhaps, have labor and enterprise ever been so richly rewarded.
45. Beginning at the head of the swamp, the first settlement was the residence of Benjamin Walker.
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His wife was Charlotte, daughter of Charles Cantey of Mattesee. Their daughter Ann married George English of Clarendon.
46. Tucker's, the next plantation, was the resi- dence of the father of Peter and James Sinkler ; after his death the family moved to Lifeland. As an instance of the facility with which property was accumulated at that time, it may be stated that on Mr. Sinkler's death his widow was left in possession of one male slave. When Peter Sinkler died, and he did not pass beyond the meridian of life, he left three plantations and several hundred negroes, be- sides the large amount of property of which he was plundered when taken prisoner by the British. His brother James was no less successful.
47. Gravel Hill was the residence of John Palmer, a gentleman whose successful enterprise in the col- lection of naval stores has caused him to be remem- bered in our days by the distinguished appellation of Turpentine John Palmer. His wife was Mari- anne, daughter of John Gendron, whose father, an emigrant Huguenot, was one of the pillars of the Church at Jamestown. Their children were : Capt. John Palmer, of. Richmond, who married Anne Cahusac; Peter, who lived afterwards at Polebridge, and never married ; and Thomas, who lived at Gravel Hill and married Elizabeth Richbourgh ; after her death he married Amelia Jerman, and after her death, her sister, Harriet Jerman.
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Age and the infirmity of gout prevented both Mr. John Palmer and his brother Joseph, of Webdo, from bearing arms during the revolutionary struggle. But the former had sons who were active Whigs, and the latter was known to be friendly to their cause. They were, therefore, made the victims of cruelty so wanton that it can hardly be credible that it proceeded from a civilized enemy. They were both seized and carried to Biggin Church, which was then a British post, and there inhumanly thrust into the Colleton family vault, without even a blanket to protect them from the unwholesome damps of their gloomy prison. After they were liberated they were two days returning to Gravel Hill, about ten miles distant. Oppressed with pain, infirmity, and anxiety, each brother occasionally carried the other on his back, when strength had failed and the urgency of advancing became or seemed apparent.
48. East of Gravel Hill was Cooper's, so called from a former resident. The place was afterwards a part of the Gravel Hill tract.
49. On Wiskinboo Swamp, a tributary of the Fair Forrest, was the residence of Mr. Edward Greenland, grandfather of William Cain, Esq. His daughter married Robert Cahusac, and was the mother of John, who married Eliza Williams ; of Anne, wife of John Couturier, the father of the late Dr. John Couturier of Pineville; and of Susan,
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who married Col. Robert McKelvey. After Mr. Cahusac's death, his widow married Daniel Cain, by whom she had two sons, Daniel and William Cain.
50. West of the swamp, and opposite Gravel Hill, was the residence of - Boisseau, and afterwards of Mrs. Lehre.
51. Spring Grove was the residence of René Peyre. He was twice married. René Peyre's first wife was Ann Cantey, sister of Mrs. John Peyre, who married Peter Sinkler afterwards. His second wife, Hannah Simmons, was the mother of Francis Peyre, and of Anne, who married Thomas Ashby. Francis Peyre, who succeeded his father on this place, married Catharine, daughter of Peter Sinkler, of Lifeland. Their children were : Elizabeth, who married Charles Sinkler, and after his death, Thomas Ashby ; Anne, the wife of Stephen G. Deveaux ; Catharine, wife of Dr. Theodore Gaillard; Florida, wife of Isaac M. Dwight. Their son Francis mar- ried Mary, daughter of Col. Thomas Porcher of Ophir. After Mrs. Peyre's death, Mr. Peyre mar- ried Mary Peyre, daughter of Thomas Walter, the botanist. Their children were : Isabella, who mar- ried Dr. William Porcher; Thomas Walter and Hannah Ashby, both of whom died unmarried.
Thomas Walter Peyre succeeded his father as proprietor of Spring Grove, and resided on it for some years ; he afterwards removed to Brunswick,
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in St. John's, and spent his summers in Pinopolis in the same parish, where he died in 1851. His vir- tues were celebrated in the sketch of Craven County, published in the Southern Quarterly Review, and I shall not dwell on them here. With him died the name of Peyre. The descendants of that once numerous and respected family exist only in the female line. His plantation is now owned by H. R. Banks, Esq., of Charleston.
52. South of Spring Grove was the residence of Pierre Robert, Esq., who never married.
53. The last plantation to be named in St. Stephen's Parish is LeBois, formerly the residence of - Pinckney, and afterwards of Peter Porcher, son of Philip, and father of Dr. Peter Porcher of Charleston.
Besides the swamp lands, the margin of Biggin Swamp abounds in fertile land, and it was early taken possession of by a dense population, chiefly Huguenot, who cultivated indigo. These were principally the St. Juliens, Marions, Mazycks, Rave- nels, etc., and their descendants still retain the greater part of these valuable lands. It is said that the St. Julien family consisted once of nine brothers, only one of whom married. His two daughters married : the one, General Moultrie ; and the other, Daniel Ravenel of Somerton. This name, like that of Peyre, has perished, and the blood subsists only in the female line.
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A feature characteristic of this country, and one that deserves notice, is the family burying-grounds. After the erection of the St. Stephen's Church, the ground about it was the common cemetery, but many persons to this day continue to bury their dead in the old homestead, and chose to lie in death within the precincts of their ancestors' do- main, even though perhaps they may have been strangers to it in life. The graveyard was near the house, usually behind the garden. As a precaution against the depredation of wolves, a large hole was dug to the depth of about five feet ; a grave was then dug at the bottom of this hole, large enough to hold the coffin. After the coffin was deposited in this receptacle, it was covered with boards, and the whole then filled up. This practice continues to this day. I can hardly enumerate the several grave- yards. Those which have been latest used are : that at Belle Isle, for the Marions and their descendants ; at Mahams, for the descendants of Col. Maham ; at the Old Field, for the family of Philip Porcher ; at Gravel Hill, for the Palmers ; at Hanover in St. John's, for the descendants of the St. Juliens ; and those at Pooshee and Somerton, for the families of the Ravenels and Mazycks. It is not unlikely that there are graves on almost every old homestead in the country.
Black Oak is the central point in a region inter- esting for various incidents connected with the revo-
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lution. These are too unimportant to have found a place in history ; but we are near Eutaw and Quinby ; we are on the highway that led from Charleston to nearly all the scenes where great deeds were performed ; the armies of both friend and foe camped near us, and marched near us, and the people who lived in those days had countless in- cidents to relate, all of which possessed a local or an individual interest, and I cannot but regret that their memory has perished. None of the witnesses of these scenes survive, or if any linger still, he has long passed the limit allotted by the Creator as the period of human life. Would it not have been well had our Legislature appointed commissioners whose duty it should have been to collect and preserve au- thentic anecdotes which could have been furnished by those witnesses ? The expense would have been trifling, and when once sustained would have been ever available in preserving from oblivion much of local interest, which would have been valu- able to posterity. We are in the midst of sa- cred territory ; about us armies were encamped, houses were burned, men imprisoned and brutally murdered ; but as these were merely incidents to more stirring and important events, they have escaped the notice of the historian, and we now tread the ground without a thought of the scenes that were enacted upon it.
And not our own men only, but even our foes can
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furnish incidents both pleasant and painful to re- member. Not two miles from Black Oak, by the roadside is seen the grave of Major John Majori- banks. This officer was one of the most useful and efficient of the British army at Eutaw. Having under his command a flank battalion of infantry, posted on the creek, he rescued victory from our grasp when the day seemed fairly and completely ours. The heat and the fatigues of that day, and the unwholesome condition of the climate at that season, gave him a fever. The British army (after the worse than barren victory at Eutaw) was retreat- ing to Charleston, now become their only place of safety, and his comrades were forced to leave him at Wantoot. Here, in the hut of a slave, this hero, who but a fortnight before had saved the army of his sovereign, now spent with disease, deprived of all comforts, without hope and without sympathy, lay, dependent on the slave of one against whom he was waging a cruel war for all the assistance that his situation required ; and in this humble hut he sank, unwept and unknown, into the arms of death. His remains received more honor from the Ravenel family than from his comrades and associates. The grave was long distinguished from the woody wil- derness around it by a head-board, fashioned out of a cypress plank lying about the plantation, the re- mains of an indigo vat. This head-board with its inscription remained in its place until 1836, and
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everybody admired the durability of the stuff which had so long resisted the elements. In that year it fell, and its place was immediately supplied by a marble slab, erected by the sons of Daniel Ravenel, who had planted the cypress head-board. Majori- bank's fate was that of the soldier ; but yet, as we view his lonely grave, and remember his high char- acter and his unhappy end, we cannot but sigh at the extinction of bright and ambitious hopes, nor refuse our sympathies to the memory of a brave man, whose spirit was yielded, unsolaced by a mother's, a wife's, or a sister's ministering hand ; whose grave was moistened by no tear shed by any one who loved him.
Some distance beyond the St. Stephen's line, and just below the Eutaw Spring, was another settle- ment, chiefly of Huguenot families,viz. : the Coutu- riers, Marions, Gignilliats, Chouvenaus, Gourdins, etc., besides others of English descent, the McKel- veys, Ervines, Olivers, Kirks, etc. All of these in the course of time were connected by intermar- riage. The land was well adapted to the growth of provisions and indigo, and in consequence of the fertility of the high lands they escaped the full measure of the calamities with which their neighbors of St. Stephen's were visited when the river became unsafe. The same picture of a prosperous and hap- py condition with which I have introduced this sketch, may be applied to this neighborhood also, and the
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happiness which is there described, continued to be the portion of the people, until in the course of the revolutionary war the British got possession of the State, and established their military posts over every portion of the country. Then the people became more clearly divided into Whigs and Tories ; and their misery was increased by the proclamation of the British commander, offering to all who would accept it, peace and protection ; and complete ex- emption from the obligation of taking up arms against their countrymen.
Not only the Tories but even some of the most zealous Whigs accepted this delusive protection. With the exception of Marion and his handful of men, resistance had ceased to be entertained, and the State lay prostrate at the mercy of the conquer- ors.' Some of the most sagacious Whigs refused to be deluded by the bait, and when a brief period of repose exposed the hollowness of the protection, they again took up arms and abandoned the cultiva- tion of their lands except for necessary provisions. Their ingenuity was also taxed to conceal their slaves and secure them from the avaricious clutches of their foes. When peace was restored every planter was in debt; no market crops had been made for years ; and where the river swamp was their sole dependence, even provisions had not been made. It was not a season therefore merely of embarrassment ;
1 See Note B., at the end.
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ruin stared many in the face. Besides, with the ex- ception of rice the country had no staple crop ; for since the bounty, which as colonists they had enjoyed on the export of indigo and naval stores, had been discontinued, these products ceased to have any value, and negroes fell in price. Prime gangs were not unfrequently sold for less than two hundred dol- lars per head.
I cannot better illustrate the total depreciation of value than by the following case : Milford planta- tion, consisting of one hundred acres of high land, and between three hundred and four hundred acres of swamp, had been purchased by Mr. Samuel Cordes for six thousand guineas sterling, and at the period of which I now write, was abandoned as worthless. To add to the other causes of distress, those whose property consisted in paper and securities were either not paid at all, or paid in valueless continental money. The people however had gained the great object of their years of toil, and they were sanguine respecting the future. Without relaxation of effort however poorly requited, they were sustained by the buoyant and elastic trait of the Huguenot char- acter ; they had seen hardships before, and did not · sink under these. They strove to reduce their ex- penses to the lowest possible point ; they manufac- tured clothing for themselves and their slaves ; raised abundant supplies of poultry and stock of various kinds, and with these contrived to live in plenty. The
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bitter feelings generated by the war gradually soft- ened down ; hostile families were reconciled, and the intermarriage of their children formed a bond of friendship.
After nearly ten years of unrequited labor, the Santee Canal was projected, and constructed within their neighborhood. Every one availed himself to a greater or less extent of this opportunity of hiring their negroes ; for men they received thirty and for women twenty pounds sterling per annum, besides their food. At times a thousand laborers were em- ployed on this work, which was seven years in being completed. This enterprise, which was disastrous to those who had embarked in it, rescued a large number of planters from ruin. It was commenced in 1792, and finished in 1800. Two or three years after it had been commenced, a few planters in the neighborhood tried the cultivation of cotton on a small scale, but the progress of this enterprise was slow and irresolute, in consequence of the difficulty of preparing it for market. With the improvement of the gins, the cotton culture increased and was ex- tended, until 1799, when Capt. James Sinkler planted three hundred acres at his plantation Belvidere, on Eutaw Creek, and reaped from each acre two hun- . dred and sixteen pounds, which he sold for from fifty to seventy-five cents per pound. Since that period no other agricultural staple has stood in the way of its cultivation.
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Dancing is a recreation in which our people have always indulged. The sports of the turf were eagerly enjoyed, and our fathers were fond of the most manly of all others, the ball alley. Before and some time after the war, there was an alley near the road . by Blueford, which was attended by persons from every part of the State. General Sumter was often there, and he was unrivalled as a ball-player. Barbe- cues were favorite amusements, and always gave occasions for dancing. A certain number of families would by turn furnish these dinners at some con- venient spot affording water as well as shade. The attendance would be general, and after the pleasures of the turf-spread table were over, those who were inclined to dance would retire to the house of some individual near by, and the night, and not unfre- quently the following day, would be spent in dan- cing, the partners being engaged, not as now, for the half hour, but for the season. I can well remember the scenes of these barbecues, and the preparations for the dinner. The spots on which these festivals were held long continued to give unquestionable evidence of the scenes which had been enacted on them.
I feel loath to leave untold a story I have often heard in my youth of two young men, Daniel McKelvey and his cousin Robert, better known as Col. McKelvey, and father of the late Colonel.
A short distance below Eutaw Creek, on the
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river bank, was the residence of a widow lady, whose only companion was an orphan girl, and whose property consisted of a small tract of land and a few negroes. Her neighbors were not re- I mote, but the troubled state of the times and the difficulty of access to her dwelling in the swamp had, ever since the occupation of the country by the British, and the broad distinction now existing be- tween Whigs and Tories, cut her off almost entirely from society. The brutality of the British and Tories in sacking houses, carrying off cattle, abduct- ing slaves, insulting the defenceless, and sometimes burning the dwellings of those who were particu- larly obnoxious to them, was such as to prove that security was cheaply bought, even at the cost of the deprivation of society. A few, however, would oc- casionally seek the hospitality of her roof, among whom were the cousins McKelvey, who would fly from the toils and privations of the continental army to recruit in this garden of peace and of plenty. They were young men of fine talents, good con- nections, and easy fortunes. Robert was witty, hu- morous, and lively ; Daniel, sober, sensitive, and of bland and amiable manners.
Seated in this retreat, at a table well spread in- deed, but which to the ill-fed partisans appeared a display of prodigality, they were startled by a terri- fied negro rushing in with the alarming information that the redcoats were approaching through the
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cornfield, and were then within fifty yards of the house. The two McKelveys sprang through the back window to the ground, and dashed with the speed of hope, goaded by the love of liberty and life, to the river in the rear of the yard.
But nothing is swifter than the instrument of malice, or more circumspect than its foresight. Several muskets were fired in quick succession, and Daniel McKelvey fell. Robert continued his flight, reached the river bank unhurt by the volley of balls which flew about him, and plunged in. The chan- nel, which lay far beneath the bluff, bore upon the bank, and had worn in it a crescent-shaped excava- tion. The pursuers were almost instantly on the bluff. They were eight or ten English soldiers, conducted by some Tories, of whom the leader was one Raburn, who had been in the employment of one of the McKelveys as an overseer. Raburn knew that McKelvey could not swim; and as he communicated this information to his comrades, they left him to his fate. They carried Daniel, who was mortally wounded, into the house, and there, regardless of the tears and entreaties of the widow and orphan, proceeded to plunder. After having finished his arrangements for taking off slaves, horses, cattle, and whatever provisions could be transported in the plantation carts, Raburn turned to McKelvey and said : " I am going now, Daniel, and shall probably never see you again. Will you
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shake hands ? I have nothing against you, but that you are a d-d rebel." The victim was past speak- ing ; but he slowly placed his hand in that of his murderer, exhibiting in his last action the power of the Christian principle, and stamping with the seal of perfection a character which had always been lovely.
It was past midnight, and the two unhappy wo- men were still hovering by the side of the dying McKelvey, when the door opened, and Robert McKelvey gently approached the mourning group. A glance of recognition brightened the eye of the sufferer, and was directly succeeded by the insensi- bility of death. When Robert McKelvey, who could not swim, had cast himself into the river, the current had borne him to the crescent-shaped exca- vation of the bank already mentioned ; and there a tree, whose foundation had been washed away, still floated, attached by a few roots to the earth. Get- ting under this tree, and clinging to it with his hands, its leaves and branches hid him from obser- vation ; and in this retreat he lay until in the silence of night he ventured to come out and witness the havoc which his ruthless enemies had made.
Few of us are able to appreciate the sacrifices en- dured and the heroic resolution exhibited by our mothers of the revolution. True, the pen of the historian has often attempted to do them justice ; but only a few heroic and melodramatic acts can
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find their way into the pages of history. No pen can adequately describe the anguish of mind con- stantly endured for the fate of husbands and sons, exposed not merely to the dangers of the tented field, but to all the horrors of a civil war, in which life was every moment in peril from every quarter. It would be an endless tale to recount the instances of barbarous rudeness which they experienced from a remorseless and an exasperated soldiery, whose discipline was purposely relaxed by the stern policy of our unrelenting foe. No one can adequately portray those heartrending troubles which afflicted the lonely and isolated mothers with their tender offspring to support, not secure that even the meal in actual preparation would appease their craving appetites, for even this was often the prey of the robber soldier. Even the aid of servants was un- certain ; for no one could foresee the moment when it would be necessary to conceal them from his avaricious grasp. All these trials were endured with fortitude which none but women can exhibit. Often in childhood have I hung upon a mother's lap and listened with astonished wonder to the recital of tales of misery like these. Information from the camp was seldom received, and was always uncertain. The ladies adopted a system of tele- graphing, by which it was extended as soon as it reached one of them. Flags were raised upon a pole, which by their shape and color indicated the
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