Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1875-12-23
Misturp uf $. Garulina.
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
OF THE &
EarIy Settlement of South Carolina.
BY REV. ROBERT LATHAM.


Early Settlement of South Carolina.
BY REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
CONTINUED, FROM LAST WEEK.
1t pity that the history Of nation is 80
often nothing but narration of its wars with
its neighbors of its rebellons and civil strifes
In the history of the human race, war holds
the most prominent place, but by no means
the most important place. The carnage of a
battle field is an awful sight, but sight which
human eyes desire to see. The shouts of vic
tory often drown the cries and shrieks of the
widow and the orphan. The conquerer ex'
cites the admiration of the humble peasant.
and the tale of his blood-bought victories kin.
dies the ambition of the humble sons of toll
The fame of the military hero is borne, by ev-
cry breeze, to the remotest hooks of the globe.
School boys with sparkling eyes, tell of his
reckless daring, and blushing maids sing his
praises. Great as may be the worth Of him
who leads battling armies to victory, infinitely
greater is he who subdues the forest or con.
verts the swamps into corn6eld. He who
constructs fort, from whose walls death and
destruction are hurled into the columns OF
his country's foes, deserves to be held in re-
membrance by all who love liberty and hate
oppression. We should not, however, let the
glitter of the warrior consign to oblivion him
who, in his rude workshop or on his humble
farm, does something which ameliorates the
condition of society.
The first settlers of South Carolina, although
often engaged in war, were not savages.
They did not come to America that they
might satiate thirst for blood. 1t is true,
that for number of years, every man was
soldier. This was the case until after the rev.
olutionary war. The mechanic went to his
shop, the farmer to the field, and the worship
pers to the house of God; each armed and
equipped as a soldier. The circumstances by
which they were surrounded demanded that
each man be soldier. Spaniards, Indians,
French and pirates, watched them as the ca
gle watches its prey. 1t would not be too
much to say that for more than two hundred
years, people had been undergoing process
of training which terminated in the establish
ing of American liberty. 1t may be that
neither the first settlers of Carolina, nor their
descendants, for several generations, did all
they could to beat the sword into plowshare
and the spear into pruning hook. Still they
desired peace, and never ceased to cultivate
the arts of peace. Whilst they were erecting
forts, they were, at the same time, decorating
the city and subduing the forest. They found
the Indians in the country cutivating only
maize or Indian corn. Taught by these chill
dren of the forest, they also engaged in its
cultivation. Oo'y short time after the first
settlement was made, rice was planted, and so
great was its increase that the hunger ridden
nations of Europe soon looked to South Car
olna for food. In less than one hundred
years, although almost continually engaged
in war, the products of South Carolina had 80
increased that several hundred vessels we're re-
quired to export them to the markets of Eu.
rope. Rice, Indian corn, barley, peas, pota.
toes, live stock, beef, pork and bacon, togeth-
er with vast quantities of lumber, tar, pitch
and turpentine, were annually exported.
Charles Town was busy place.
The effort was made, at an early period, to
introduce the cultivation of silk into the colo
ny. The first effort was unsuccessful. The
eggs from which it was designed to propagate
the worms, hatched whilst the vessel which
brought them from Europe, was still at sea,
and no provision having been made for their
maintenance, they all died. The enterprise
was not abandoned. In different sections of
the State, some attention was paid to the cul-
ture of silk. Governor Nathaniel johnson
devoted his attention to this subject as early
as the beginning of the eighteenth century.
In 1855, the mother of Charles Cotesworth
and Thomas Pinckney, took with her to Eng
land, a sufficient amount of silk to make three
dresses, one of which was presented to the
princess Dowager of Wales, another to Lord
Chesterfield, and the third remained in the
family. Not many years since, it was still in
the city of Charleston, and may be there still.
Mrs. Pinckney, although the wife of the Chief
Justice of the State, possessed Of considerable
wealth, and the descendant of an honorable
family, still she prepared this silk with her
own hands. In 1742, eighteen and one half
pounds of raw silk were exported from South
Carolina to England. The Swiss at Purrys-
burg, and the French in what is now Able
vile county, continued to devote some atten-
ton to the culture of silk for a number of
years. The descendants of the French colo
ny that settled on the Long Canes, in Able
Vile county, continued to cultivate silk, for
domestic purposes, as late as 1880. 1t is
worthy of note that European judges pro-
nounced the silk made in South Carolina ex-
cellent. "It was remarkable for its beauty,
irmness and strength" The fact that the
forests of South Carolina were covered with
the mulberry tree, the leaves of which consti'
tute the principal food of the silk worm, sug-
gested to the early settlers the idea that the
country might be we'll adapted to the culture
of silk. The first experiment was made with
in less than ten years after the settlement of
the State.
Prior to the introduction of cotton, indigo
was one of the staple productions of South
Carolina. So favorable were the soil and cli'
mate to the production of this dye, and SO
great was the income accruing from its pro-
duction, that it become a matter of English
4 r