The news and herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1876-1881, 1881-05-11
Il STORY or THE hEaULArOLs,

|
How They Checked tho Flood OF Crlmo
that misunderstanding South Carolina
in Colonial Ti,nes "A Loaf from tho His
tory of Old Tairneld,
| WeSSrS. Editors: From 4 manu.
script history Of Fairfield District (tho
, work Of the lato Philip Edward Pear
! son of Matagorda, ToXas,) take tho
liberty of sending You the account,
which will be found below, of the Reg
ulation, ono OF the most important
events of the colonial history Of South
Carolina-an event which caused much
bloodsllcd ut the time, and came NEAR
producing civil war, but which ulti-
mately resulted in great good to the
settlers of tho interior, inasmuch, as
! it led to the establishment Of courts of
justice, the restoration Of peace and
quiet, and tho protection Of private
property. Mr.. Pearson was native
OF Fairfield Distrirt, al eminent law
: yer, and for many years Solicitor of
the Middle Circuit. He took great in
tcrest in everything connected with
the colonial and revolutionary history
Of South Carolina, and his memory
was perfect storehousc Of facts, Incl
dents and anecdotes, relating to those
periods, as well as the carl, admins
tration ofjustice and the practice of
his profession. With the history of his
own district, even to the ninutest par
! ticular, hc was perfectly familiar;
hence, no man was better qualified to
write the record he has left behind him
than himself. OF the "Rcgulation,"
! he says:
| This capital event in the colonial
history OF South Carolina, originated
in Fairfield. The causes and impor-
! tant result will app ar in the sequel. A
fellow by the name Of Brown was az
rested on u stolen horse near the mouth
OF Little River. How he should be
disposed of was question. Thomas
Woodward, Barnaby Pope and Will
tho difficulty. They arrived in good
timc-thcre was the stolen horse, there
the shrinking offender. These most
worthy citizens appeared slow in their
rcsols cs. At length Billy McGraw,
wearicd with delay. arose aud address,
cd the bystanders, ave arc," said he,
"in fix, with q majority Of tho white
population in the colony, and great
deal Of property in hand, and that tast
anu accumulating, we have no courts
with jurisdiction to hear and punish
the grarcr offences. Evil docrs arc
taking advantage of our awkward sit
uatlon and swasming in tic country,
and So ii is, that 10 citizen can call his
life or his property his own. Depre-
dations are daily and nightly commit
ted. The thieves arc banded toge ther.
liza thief is -arrcstcd and forwarded
under guard to Charleston, 140 miles
distance, they waylay tho guard, kill
oil several and arrest the prisoner.
Should the guard arrive in Charleston
with the prisoner, the witnesses have
to attend court ut great Inconvenience
they, too, arc often waylaid and shot
by the thicves-~so that Il conviction of
one of the gang never has and never
will DC effected. Ny voice is for a
prcsentand immediate remedy. | pro-
pose as II punishment for the man
Brown, 75 lashcs, OH the bare back,
well laid on. McGraw's speech, de-
livercd with his peculiar warmth, and
emphasis, and his motion prevailed
nen. con. Brown was forthwith talk
ell up and received the keen reward of
his iniqnity.
This event was signal for the fcl.
ons to consolidate and concert their
military movements. They were de-
termined to vindicate the right to plum.
der ut the rifles mouth. They took
the name OF Modcrators and formed
under the command of John Mus
grove. The ficcholdcrs, and honest
portion of the community, we're not
behind them III preparation. They
formed under a number of military
leaders, and took the appropriate name
Of Regulators, The following cxtraut
is from the Ncwbcrry Sentinel:
"John Musgrovc (Col. Musgrovc, rs
he rs well as his brother Edward was
cnIled,) lived OH the Sa!uda. or him
| | have no personal knowledge, nor do
| know the precise spot where he liv-
cd; At his place the Regulators and
Scofilitcs, in l7Gl, met in battle array.
Happily, however. no battle occurred.
| When, however, all expected u bloody
contest, General Matthew Richardson,
OF tho High Hills. commissioned by the
governor to prevent cNtremitics, rode
up. lie was q man born for authority,
and was the universally beloved Of tho
middle and up country. What bless
ing to people is such parsonage,
endowed with something like didinc
authority, whose presence Cnn strike
multltndcs with awe, and whose voice
| ".'iih IiS i"S ny tulilllI vi nulnull pas
sions. Al his suggcstio,, flags were
exchanged, and they agreed to separate
and petition he Governor tlor re-
dress grievances. This was done,
and after the great delay Of
five years, tho Circuit Court Act
of 1863 was passed, bringing justice
hon q The people. This quicted
domestic disscnsions. Although no
actual battle was fought between the
Regulators and Scoiililcs, have a.
ways understood there was some
firing. The following Amusing anec-
dotc shows that must have been the
case. A rather windy gentleman who
lived on the Beavertlam, joined tho
Regulators, and talked great deal
about the fighting he would do. AS
the parties were nearing one another,
guns were fired. He took the alarm,
flcd, and wearing a long-tailed coat,
with lead inkstand in the skirt pock-
ct, as he jumped gulley it flew Zip
and struck him on the back of the
head; ho fell forward, cxclaiming: 81
am shot, I am dead man, quarters,
gentlemen, quarters, gentlemen %
The man Scofl, who was made colo