The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-09-06
A Night Scene.
"REMINISCENCES OF ABBEYILLE
BY AN EX-ABBEVILLIAN OF
OVER FORTY YEARS.

AS early as 1880, Abbeville was
blessed with the protection of q Town
Government, and though they had nc
regular police, they rejoiced in a Town
Marshal, whose name was Horton
Duggar or something else. He was
one of the most amiable Of men, and
if there was any ordinance violated he
was apt to see and invite the violatoI
before the Inteudent, unless the per-
son or persons we're belligerently dis.
posed, in this case "rather than hurt
feelings" he would let them 60. A
part Of his duty, and which he per-
formed most CALAMITY, was to ring the
! 8 o'clock p. NJ. bell; for be it remem
bered that at that date too Abbevile had
q market house and . bell ia it. The
building was of the Gothic order Of
architecture and stood between the
! Court House and Dendy's corner.
The original intent of the bell was to
inform the citizens when a beef was
in, which occurred sometimes once in
a month or once 4 week, and at no
particular hour of the day. I have
seen the tap of that bell produce an
effect as moving as the fire bell at
night, and within five minutes have
seen the house besieged by all sorts
and sizes OF people, arrived with trays,
baskets, buckets and dishes-quarrels
common, and on several occasions reg
ular ''set-to's" about the choice OF
pieces. A town ordinance required
the Marshal to ring the bell at s
O'Clock. Why I never read III print,
and it also escaped private explana-
ton or discussion. 1 suppose, howev'
er, there were three reasons: First, 10
let travellers staying an overnight
know that they were in an incorpora-
ted Town ; second, to let the citizens
know the time at which they could lie
down or sit up and third, to notify
such as had to carry passes, that 10
patrol was out. At all events Duggar
performed his duty faithfully and
punctually. l am now about reach
ing the important and pertinent his
t0rical facts.
An unpleasant row" having occur
red between the Marshal aforesaid and
certain naughty boys, the latter took &C.
casion to avail themselves Of the cover
of darkness, to deploy as skirmishes in
front of the Market house, and at the
last tap of the bell to rain down upon
the front and vicinity a shower OF
hail-stones, some as large as hens
eggs. On one occasion the said Mar
shall felt it due to impound himself for
q full hour, and at several other times
for a less period Of time. His pa
tience, however becoming exhausted
and his pluck Increasing, he made so
bold as to 60 armed with a shot gun,
and the storm again opening, he fired,
and soon safely ensconced himself in
the bosom of his family, At this
point his tormentors reinforced by q
size or two larger, plotted against his
peace even under his own shelter.
Among the elder "boys'' was an old
stage driver Tom Tinsley who was
willing to loan himself for o corpse
was enveloped in a sheet we'll satura-
ted with red ink, placed OIL q litter
and carried and laid in front of the
Marshal's house. The official was
called for, and a female voice from
within replied-'Mr. Duggar is not at
home" The leader declared he was,
and had killed Timsley, an innocent
%inoffensive man, and while they had
no warrant and did not propose to ar
rest him, they asked and beseeched
him to come and see the consequences
of his rash act. Just after this some
thing was heard to drop from q back
window, then a sound like rail gently
drawn across q fence, and then a rust
ling among the cornstalks. The fe-
male afterwards came out, and took a
look and declared that some one else
had killed Timsley, that "her husband
shot toards the hevvuns whar no NOR
tai man Was, and nor that hit
had no ballses." This in part the
writer knew to be true for although
not engaged in the first affair, he sdu
the flash of the gun, Told flint and
stcel) and the blaze at the muzzle,
thus proving a leading fact, the posi-
ton of the gun.]
Late in the afternoon of the next
day, after all sorts of assurances, from
ali sources, the Marshal returned from
his distant retreat 4: a reconstruction
satisfactory to all parties was argued
upon, and forever thereafter the Mar
shall rang without fear of wind, rain
or httiI.