The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-11-20
KERSHAV COUNTY.
Il GLOWING PIcTUhE OF CAMDEN AND
VICINITY
An Historical, Agricultural and Topo-
graphical Enumeration OF its Beau
ties nnd Adyantales.
Correspondence Of the South.l

ties nnd Adyantales.
Correspondence of the south.l
CAMDEN, 8 c., October 28, 1872.
Reader, would you reyel, with me, In q
scene of beauty? Andthen-as 1t is The order
of the day to which desire TO conform
turn to the practical mlnging, "atile cum
dulce"
1t is bright Octobe evening, and the go-
rlous sun sinks to his rst brighter in his part
ing rays. Stand will me-faclng from the
east-on Paint Hill, be loftiest point of the
highlands of Pine Tre Creek, In Kershaw
County. South Carolina Back of us, east and
southeast, for twenty miles, off to Lynche's
Creek and Black Rive, spreads q high table
land, mostly uubrokenfores:, dotted here and
there with snug farms,a country with beauty,
health, wealth and Charms, but with which,
lust now, we have no c,noer0.
We turn 10 The west, north. northeast
and southwest, the lanl breaks of, almost In
a preciplce: and not 9 6urlh of a mile distant.
but an hundred feet bebw US, this noble and
beautiful stream hurEes on to the Wateree.
Northwest and south ttB view is unbr3ken far
as the eve can reach, ssve away off yonder to
the north. As the king of day spreads 1ls
gorgeous, varying hlps over every feecy
cloud, profane not tie scene by talking OF
Italian skies AS you gaze on the valleys OF
the Wateree and its tributaries, and see the
peaceful, bright home,, blessed with such
soil, snch climate and such products, talk
not of life In Andalusla!
know you cannot love this land as I do !
Nv past, present and future on earth are all
here-memory and hope, all Of life, blend here
for me There, 10 the southwest on the first
elevation from the river bottoms, see those
noble oaks, with the glttering marble spark:
ling here and there Is sntasd tns Gld QUAKER q
Burying Groundw SIX generations OF my
people sleep there.
In all those old homes you see, peeping from
among the trees and bvergreens, In that old
Town of Camden, and on the slopes Of Hob
kirk and Kirkwood, cluster memories that are
still nv lows. Here, towards the northeast,
whence flows along is bright valleys this
beautiful stream, have fshed In all lis wa
ters, and chased the deer in all its thickels and
bays with friends, most Of whom have gone
down In the charge. Ah there, the superb,
noble Dickinson, ''near the flashing OF the
puns,n at Cherubusco; the pure young Ca1tey,
at Chapultepec; The lighthearted Melville, at
Manassas; the bright McCaa, at Murfreesboro'.
These are fearful memories, but not 80 sad as
to dwell upon the hard struggles yet borne by
many noble friends Of that day, as high and
noble as those "dead upon the field"
There are sweet memories OF gay and hap.
py lime, too, clustering around these eoenes,
when the silver sheen OF summer moon COW
cred these views. now gorgeous with sunlight;
when the soft, sweet voice OF woman attuned
Itself In sweet accord with The surroundings.
I must think of these, but may not tell Of
them.
header! you cannot love these scenes as
do, but think can interest you 10 their pres-
aDt hpnUIfpa uHps and wealth..
Look upon the rich October hines of the
changing hickory, gum, beech, maple, dog
wood, walnut aud elm; the deep green of the
oak. bay, cedar, cypress, Juniper, pine, &C.,
of the beautiful valleys at your feel; the
bright, dancing, gushing stream. just below
you, trendlng away Oh from the northeast.
and bathing the conanes of the oil town OF
Camden on its entire east ana south. gee
seven magnificent mill sites within six miles
of this spot, four of them just around the
town and near the railroad, with q delivery,
each, per minute, Of six thousand cubic feet of
water-each fall OF IRON sixteen to eighteen
feet-with flue farming lands In abundance, q
most salubriOus climate, and stores OF choicest
timber. The stream, lowing from perennial
springs, is unvaryiDg, unlnluenced by drought
or ireshet, and q stranger 10 the locks and
bolts of Ice; it dances on to old ocean free,
paving no trIbnte to maD, save to grind
grain for his food, aud raw the lumber
for hIs dwelling. II this stream at
our feet were oil our view unfolded,
there would be wealth to build up a city at the
command ol capital aud energy; but it Is only
one small feature on natures face before US;
there to the north, Twenty-Five niles away,
the heights of Hanging Rock bound the view,
celebrated for Its health-gving waters, for lis
freaks of nature, with nicely poised impend-
log rocks, for fertile fields, and as the scene of
Sumter's triumph over the British In our old
revolution, the waters Of this stream go
eastward to Lynche's Creek; little west OF
Hanging Rock, there you zee the neaolands OF
Beaver Creek, which empiies Into our own
Wateree. Ga those beautiful nils Wnsre, lor
near hundred years delightful homes have
been occupied by prosperous, successful, ener-
eetIc. advancing Presbyterian Irish and their
descendants, you can have the braclng climate
of the mountains and the sweet south Winds
OF the tropics. the luest granite In the world
abounds, aud the staple OF its cotton 10 famed
throughout the South. Railroads and labor
are wanting there, and those lands, recently
10 highly priced, productive and healthful,
seek owners at one-thlrd their ante.bellum
prices.
That valleY-next south-shows White Oak
Creek, parallel to Beaver Creek, Its snug
farms and rich plantations telling the same
story of depression.
Just there, at another interval of FIVE miles
south. this side, that long belt of Intervening
pines, are spread out the rich valley and slopes
of Grannyis Quarter Creek. Nearer to Cam
den and the railroad, the depressing Influences
of recent events are somewhat less than
further of.
There. on Granny'5 Quarter. on the middle
road to Lancaster and Charlotte, la the site OF
Rngeley's defeat, where Colonel VIM. WASH
ington made big pine log play "heavy artll.
lery."
Again the heavy pine forest intervenes, and
there you see, seven miles away, the streame,
Gum Swamp and Sanders Creek, where our
Southern summers sun wlthered the Sarato-
ga aurels of Gates In that olden time that
used to be our great war, and there onr heroic
stranger knight, the generous De Kalb, fell,
pierced by eleven wounds, all In front.
Again an unbroken pine forest lnterYenes
until Within three miles Of this point rise the
heights of Hobkirk and Kirkwood-how those
bright villas sparkle In the fading sunlight.
There, around these now peaceful bright
homes, Greene, though driven at length from
the field, commenced that seriea Of battles.
which al Eutsw forever shattered the British
sceptre in South Carolina.
The heights of Hobkirk and Kirkwood are
now included within the corporate llmits ol
Camden, but the old town, rich and dear from
its traditions of hundred and score OF
years, lies on the gentle slopes aud In the
ries and historic traditions. Wide streets, the
rich foliage OF large groves, public squares.
regularly laid off streets, malls, pavements,
&c. and the extended size of the town, all
indicate q greater past than present; while
gaping wounds that war and the torch of
fends made, yet unhealed, prove that we
have not vet recovered. The town proper Is