Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1873-02-20

SLdiiest"U, Tic uISt yedi vi IL NAtop|"SN'
and to show the magnitude of the mer-
chant vessels of that period. | will be
permitted to extract the following from
san account of the province ofCarolina,
in America" by Samuel Wilson, Lon
don, 1852. cat til town in November,
1850, there rode at one time sixteen sail
of vessels, some Of which were upwards of
two hundred tons, Q) that came from d.
verse parts of the Kings Kingdom to
trade there, which great concourseQ) of
shipping, will undoubtedly ina short time
make it a considerable town. For ships
OF such tonnage and draft, the bar and
harbor Of Charleston were well adapted
and it was not until after the Revolution
ofl7l9 from Proprietary to Royal govern
ment, that the little town of Beau
fort began 10 put forward her claims. OF
course, it is not to be understood that
previous to that time. Port Royal was
never visited byveSsels from abroad
for | have already mentioned their casual
visits and it will be remembered that it
was to the fortuitous presence of Cit-
ish ship that our people owed their es-
cape fro :. the Yemassee massacre in Ills.
10 l707 an act was passed for regula-
ting the Indian Tr de-" Among its pro-.
visions were the following: That no person
whatsoever shall sell any rum or other
spirits to any Indian that no arms or
ammunition shall be disposed of to any
hostile Indian: that no free Indian shall
be sold as slave; that no one shall trade
with them without a license that the
governor shall receive no presents from
any Indian except for the benefit OF the
public, forwhom they shall be sold. Nine
Commissioners were appointed ito frame
general instructions, and Captain
Thomas Marine was appointed to act as
authorized Agent among them. 1t was
in such capacity that We find Captain
Marine acting at Pocotaligat Town in IL
Is, when he was murdered, as urea ly
narrated, by the Indians. The principal
articles brought in by the savages for bar
ter, were the "skinns aud furrs' Of wild
animals taken in the chase, for which
they received in exchange Lead Powder
coarse cloth, vermillion, Iron Ware AMI
some other goods, by which they the
scttIcrsl have very considerable
Profit.
The most important trade, however,
was that carried on with the West Indies
and other contiguous islands, especially
jamaica; whence were received ''sugar,
rumm melas>es. ginger &C." in exchange
for provisions, pitch, tar and lumber.
Mention is made in tho early annals, OF
the great convenience afforded to the res.
idcnts of the county for getting their pro-
duce to market, by the intercommunica.
ton Of our several vers, ,-now frequent
" spoken of as the ml,md paSsage. The
reader will kindly pardon me forinscrting
IN ecteuso, the following list Of merchan-
hizc, recommended for trade in the PROV
ince. | take it from, ''Carolina or dis
cription of tn. present state Of tina,
Country. -Pubiishcl by 7. A. Gent.
London lGS2," viz. "Cloathing of al
kinds, both Lnncn and woolen, hats,
stockins, shoes, a; all kinds of Ammuni-
ton, Gums, Fowhng pieces, Powder,
Match, Bullet, Nails, Locks and knives
all Harbcrdashcr> ware, Cordage and sails
for shipping, spirits and Spices, viz
Cloves, NutmegS and Cinnamon. This
'De. cription' was intended as a guide to
cmigrants embarking for Carolina and
the above items Of merchandise, especi-
ally Tor .hose trading, or about to trade
in Charleston for, it will be remember
ed as already stated. the settlers at Port
Royal had all removed to the Ash!e'
twelve years before. Having gradually
venturcd in a SoutherIy direction again,
the population of the islands in thi~ i'm
mediate vicinity had reached three hun
lrcd in I7l5. But having been again
driven away by the Indians, they were
not repeopled for several years after the
suppression of the Yemassee lnsurrec
ton and were not sufficiently numerous
to require place of public worship till
l7224.
In l740 an act was passed, 'To encou'
rae the better settling and improvement
Of Beaufort town, on Port Royal Island,
in Granville County" In this act pro.
vision WAS male for the speedy erection
Of dwellings and penalty imposed on
all grantees who should fail, within Hrte
wears after the date Of their grants, to
erect buildings on the f'0at lots The
term for holders Of baci lots was fixed
at four years. 1t will be interesting to
know that the dimensions were to be 1T
,elst fifteen by thirty feet, with one good
brick chimney.
That the commerce Of Beaufort was a;
that time, increasing; and commanding
the attention OF the authorities, is evident