The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-08-23
SEA ISLAND LANDS.
sT. HELENA PARISH AND ITS
CITIZENS.

A Few Chapters from n Faithful Gn.
published History OF tho War of se-
i5 cession.
-. CHAPTER III.
In 1865, soon after the war, as these poor
refugees could assemble, many of them sent 10
Congress joint petition asking to be allowed
to redeem their homes and lands by the pay
= ment of the taxes imposed by the act of 1862.
It was impossible, they said, for them sooner
to comply with a law of which they were not
and could not be presumed to have been in
formed, and which, had they even known,
they would have been restrained by the gov
ernment de .facto under which they lived
fom obeying; that many OF them at the
breaking out OF the rebellion were aged
and infrm- Incapable of giving aid or
comfort to either side; others mere infants,
whose rights came into existence even
: after their expulsion; while, again, others,
now widows, were then married women, act
ing In subjection to their husbands-that If re-
belliOn was treason against the United States,
forfeiture, the punishment, should follow, not
precede, conviction, and for the life OF the Of
; fender only: That no one had been arraisned,
Z but many whose lands had been wrested from
them had since died, and their helpless chill
dren, in their fathers stead, now asked for the
restoration Of their property. Not more
guilty than the rest OF their fellow-citi-
Zens, they had nevertheless been more
harshly punished. ! believe that this
was followed by another as numerously
signed, and by several from individuals ACTING
6pnar2falv
them. II those whose duty it was TO advocate
them presented them, 1t was as much as was
done. They were hardly noticed in the jour-
nails of the day. The supplcants had no
money. rs They were too poor to fee counsei,
much less had they wherewtth to tickle tne
a scanty subsistence for each day as 1t came
round was the extent OF their means. Long
sand an1Iously they watched for some response
to their applications 1T never came. Tne splrlC
z Of New England, ever hostile 10 South Carolina,
was dominant. The blind fanatics, Stevens,
Wilson and Sumner In Congress, and SeWardf
bloodiest OF all monsters, stanton, out OF Con
gress, smothered their feeble appeals. In the
meantime, the tax commissioners In Beaufort,
followed their volition. How much they and
the other yagrant intruders into the parish had
contributed, An. material aid, to defeat these
petitions, no one win ever know They ex-
ulted In the failure; 1t gave them confidence IN
II
they exhibited their sense OF 1t, in way often,
stye alike to justice and humanity. They offered
for sale certain residence in the town Of Beau
fort, which before had been Knocked of to the
United States. The gentleman who had mad
a Life estate in 1t, died. perhaps IN 1854, 6y
I, which event, in spite OF his treason, the title
deuofred upon his widow; but this was mat
ter Of no moment to them. Itwas known that
she srdently desired TO .repossess. her own
.house-her old homeland was willing to pay
the amount said to be due on 1t. But the favor
shown to others was denied to her, and the
sale was proceeded with. Two freedmen, oy
arrangement With certain interlopers, who de-
sired TO defeat her, ran the property up to an
amount lar above the Widows means It was
knocked off to her agent. Other per-
sons had been permitted to purchase
their houses for very little more than the
amount OF taxes, penalty and costs. They
preferred submitting to this Infamous fraud
But this widow lady belonged to family
whose name was offensive to the government
They had done more, 1t was assumed. than
any other to bring about secession and rebel
lion, and the commissioners resolved to punish
them through her. Unless the price bid Tor
her house was paid within ten days she was
told 1t would again be put up for sale. For
some reason not understood, it was not
again offered until some time In 1856,
when she became the purchaser for
$500, about one-half of the former bid.
~, racaiuinS thia .phoh thav rinidln Yac.cs,
into into their oacn hands, they permitted this lady
70 take possession of her own house. Shame
on their manhood Shame on them as the
officials of O civilized government; ana greater
shame on at least one OF them, as o preacher
Of the religion of Christ, to Cypress poor
widow for the error, If error It was, OF
her dead husband, and those Of his name
Has this money, thus wruns from the SORROWS
and most sacred feelings Of womans heart,
been paid into the Treasury at Washing
ton God have mercy upon govern
ment which can use wealth thus acquired
..Hope deferred maketh the heart SCR. y The
refugees grew tired of waiting amid the ruins
of their former homes for aid from Congress.
They turned their eyes next to the courts OF
the country, anl many Of them have sued for
their lands. Great CONSERVATION and alarm
have recently been occasoned by the result OF
one of these cases, and Messrs. Commission
ers thereupon, backed by those who hold their
certificates OF sale, applied to Congress, at the
last session., to save them !', ~ .he passage 9,
sense of Justice and even decency, than
ANYTHING wnIcn had been yet done.
What amount Of money was used IN
and out of Congress to secure favor lor thls
measure, 1t isd difficult to, say, for politicians,
now that bribery is 30 common. have very un-
certain prices. BuL IL IL uOL uluCuiG w SOY w
whom It was furnished. One thing is certain,
the Door plundered eXiles Of st. Helena, had
neither influence nor money with which TO BE-
cure a fair hearing, nor had they even notice
ofthe intended application. Represented as
the poor State now is, In both houses Of Con-
eress, by New England men. or men whose
sympathies are with New England or with At
rIca, most uuavailing would have been their OPP
position, had they known it, to any application
by the New Englandels who had fastened
themselves upon the unfortunate parish, back
ed by the deluded negro lazaroni. and still
further backed by the commissioners, animat-
ed by sense of approaching trouble. A
sweeping law was necessary, and the one
which passed the Senate was suficieptly SO
to satisfy the most inordlnate. All that had
been done by the commissioners was enacted
to have been well DONE The act OF 1867 ad-
judged constitutional, certificates OF sale de-
clared conclusive proof against the owners
not only OF every thing stated In them, but of
every thing else which might be required to
make out that the unfortunate owners had
been robbed of their lands according to law.
Even the rcsurvey of the town, by order of
the commissioners. and their most ingenious
redivisIon Of 1t luto blocks and capital letters,
were adopted, and some Of the blocks, by their
description, coUlly set apart for some public
Ma NlA