The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1872-03-21

creeks and> >ranH1B- -Hlternaterwith= =Jles
sertPd, rice fieldas theskalstQns of old
turpentine dibtileries, thenstubble Of
rugged cottonI plantaiods,y some ooi
casionhl Weatherib1atkened shanties
and now and then d Baw- mill oT d
pile offaHsY4wIy 1hewn TIMBER Fiat, hui
mid, gaddmpst- nninhabited,s isa tho
traveler's. first impression Il Of , the
country. But thareeis a apeck oof
light and life at Abbottsville, the
home of exAUnited States Senator
Abbott, who has built up the "Cape
Fear Building Company" to supply
ready-mado houses to The people of
his adopted State, and whose private
residence, of yellow frame, is next to
the ,large mill and dbranch railway Of
the enterprise. a Dl.
Aftory five hours ride we canle to
the 1iweather-blackcned unpainted
town Of Iumbcrton, on the flowing
Lumber river, a branch Of the Pedee.
Lnlnberton is the seat of Robcson
County, the stamping ground of
Lowrey's band. With ono exception
and that disputable rs the act of
tho band-no murder has been COM
mitted by tho Lowreys beyond the
lines of this County. It contains, by
the census of 1870, 3,O42 men above
the age of twenty-one BY tho cen
sus Of 1850, the last preceding cen.
sus available at this point of view, it
contained $50 whites unable to read,
and had ut TINT time LII free
negroes, ,.or more than oven the popu-
lous County in which Wilmington
stands, and quintuple the free negro
population of the adjacent Counties.
Scuffletown, few miles distant from
Lrlnberton, was ono of tho largest
free negro settlements III the United
States before the war against slave
lty, ind it was, besides, an almost I'M
memorial free negro settlement This
being court week, the town of Llm-
berton was full of Scuf1ietowners, and
[ saw and talked with Sinclair Lowrey
and Patrick Lowrey, elder brothers
of the outlaws, and also with .Dick"
Oxendinc, who married the only
sister of Henry Berry Lowrcy, and
who keeps bar room in the court
house village. Besides, I visited the
scene Of the latest exploits Of the
Lowreys, the capture of the most val
liable safe in the town, as well rs the
County official safe, which they con-
temptuoualy rejected on the road.
[ also visited the jail where Hendcr-
son Oxcndine's gallows stood, and
the court room, where q noisy crier
made proclamation from m open
window, and the garrulous Judge
Clarke was delivering a charge upon
the enornlities of these banditti, cry
ing meantime into his pocket handkcr-
chief. Besides I talked with great
number Of the leading citizens, who,
to'a man, we're Of Scotch descent; and
at noon next day, rcsuming the train,
I visited ScufHetown and slept with
courteous entertainers at Shoe Heel,
in tho heart of tho pine forest.
The incidents of these excursions
will appear hereafter. Let me now
address myself to describe the out
lows.
Henry Berry Lowrey, the leader
of the most formidable band of out
laws, considering the smallness of its
numbers, that has been known in
this country, is Of mixed Tuscarora,
mulatto and white blood, twenty-six
years of age, five feet ten inches high
and weighing about $50 pounds.
He has straight black hair, like an
Indian. dark goatco and beard,
graceful in shape, but too thin to
look very black. His face slopes
from the cheek bones to tho tip of
his goatce, so as to give him the
Southern American contour Of physi-
osnomy; but it is lighted with eyes
of different color-eycs of n gray
ish hazel-at times appearing light
blue, with drop of brown in them,
but in agitation dilating, darkening,
and, although never quite losing
the appearance of n smile, yet in
action it is n smile of dcvilish nature.
His forehead is good and his face
nnd expression refined remarkably
SO, considering his mixed race, want