The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1875-09-01
Vol. XII.
SsIefteh Story.
Almost a Centennial Romance

It was Sunday, July Il, 1776-
just ninety nine years ago to-day
and the rudely constructed fort
atBoonesborough lay in drowsy still
ness on the bank of the Kentucky
river. Daniel Boone and his friend
end associate, Richard Galloway,
had been absent since early in the
morning; and the good wives,
sharers in the toll of the early pion-
eer days were enjoying the rest
that the Sabbath brought even to
the unbroken wilderness. In the
! grateful shade of a tree in one cor
ner of the inclosure sat three
young girls, just blooming into wo-
| manhood. and giving an unwonted
| charm to the rough evidences OF civ
ilization which had butrecently for.
| ced themselves upon the primitive
! harmony of the surrounding scene
ry.
The eldest of these maidens was
Elizabeth Galloway. The expert
| ences of life rather than the obsery-
| ance of nature seem to have given
turn to the thoughts and tastes of
the early settlers, so, while the eu-
| phonious name of Bessie might
have harmonized well with the MUIR
muring river and the soft and Ian
guild aspect of nature in her summer
garb, the hard, every day life Of
the adventurous dwellers in the
| dark and bloody ground seemed to
comport best with the harsher name
| of Betsy. So Elizabeth was known
simply as Betsy Callaway-not a
name suggestive Of romance, yet
she was withal a gentle and q
loving girl, and hid maiden fancies
that gave the deep color Of TO-
nance to one of the incidents Of her
life in the wilderness. She was just
turned of sixteen, and as she sat
| under the tree that sultry summer
afternoon, ninety-nine years ago
this day, the sun that now and then
| stole through the foliage and play
| ed upon her rounding form and
athwart her well. set head seemed
to bring out more fully the ithesome-
ness Of her young womanhood, the
glossy blackness of her raven tress-
es, and the rich olive color of her
dark complexion.
| The other girls were younger by
two years, and differed from her in
appearance. Fanny Galloway was
fairer than her sister Betsy, but
not more pleasing in appearance
The third girl, Jemima Boone, was
also naturally fair and, like Fanny,
owed whatever OF fairness she may
have lost to constant exposure to
the weather. Nor were these young
| er maidens without their fancies,t too,
for the wilderness natures it's occu-
pants rapidly, and though but four
[ teen years counted the lives of the
two girls, each had a lover who was a
hardy and bold pioneer and ready
to encounter any danger for his Ia
dy-love.
! Perhaps these young girls were
silent and sat there communing
with their own thoughts or thinking
of their absent heroes, who had
gone out that day with Boone and
Galloway; perhaps they were con-
versing about their matrimonial ar
rangements; perhaps they were idly
chatting about anything, and every
thing, and nothing; for feminine
nature a hundred years ago, and in
| the widest wilderness, was not un-
like it is now,and in the most civ
Iilized communities. But as eve
tning drew near the last lingering
breath of air seemed to lull itself to
Irest, and the July heat seemed to
become still more oppressive. The
quick ear of one of hegirls caught
| the sound of the river as it's subdued
murmurfoated up theriver bank,and
she proposed that they should go a
short distance below the fort to
where a canoe was lying, and drift out
upon the bosom of the river to catch
the rising coolness Of the evening
waters.
| Hardly were they seated, and pre-
pared to push from the shore, when
they detected a slight rustic in the
brush, and in a amomentmorefve stal-
wart and hideously-painted Indians
leaped to the side of the canoe and
pulled it close to the shore. What
girl Of sixteen could be equal to such
an emergency? It was here thai
| the true heroine displayed herself.