The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1883-03-29

These are the graves Of Col. John Adam
Summer (or Sommer) and his wife. He, as
has already been mentioned, was the Oldest
son of him, who, first Of all other white men,
came into the original wiids of the Dutch
Fork.
Ny grandmother, Eve Margaret Mayer
afterwards Steward), the oldest daughter OF
Col. John Adam Summer, has often describ-
ed him TO me; and to her am I indebted for
much of the material out of which attempt
10 reproduce his appearance and manners.
He was q. man of huge body, inperious
temper, and large but rugged generosity.
have in my possession his last bat, (now
seventy.four years at the mercy ofthe moths),
which shows by its dimensions that he had
"a head OF his own; and, suppoSing that
: he was tail and square-set Ike his brothers
William and George, ,-the latter having been
able to hook his fingers under the ends of
hour-barrel and raise il from the floor to the
top ola counter,-he must have been man
of very imposing appearance. II be gave
q command, !" said my grandmother, land
the person receiving the command, no mat
ter who It was, child, or hireiiDg, or slave,
did not set about obeyiDg right off, whatever
was in the CoIonePs hand, whether broad
axe, chisei, plane, or bandsaw, was hurled
With all his might at the head Of the
offender"
As an exemplifcation of his kindness of
heart and his promptress of effort 70 relieve
distress, / will mention what my grand
mother related about ihe first slave that was
brought into the Dutch Fork. Her father,
the Colonel, went 10 Charleston to sell some
portion of his crop. He had not been long
in tie city, before be learned that slave
ship was lying at one of the wharyes His
curiosity forced him 10 visit the ship. As
soon as he stepped upon the deck. q spectacle
met his view that shocked him TO the melting
of his heart Probably, Re had never before
seen black man; nor had he ever seen q
fellow-being in manacles. There upon the
deck in the sunshine sat groups of beings
that had the human shape. Their eyes and
teeth were in gliftering contrast with their
black skin. One OF them. a young man, was
withou: mapaeieS. He fixed his peeriug eyes
upon Mr Summer. (he was notyet coloneD.
a moments gaze was sufficient to determine
the distressed African In bis course He
Sprang forward and threw himself, with his
cheek fat upon the decs, at the white mans
foot which be grasped and placed upon his
Gwn neck, in his willingness TO be q slave
even to the piedging of his life for his fidelity,
to the man who would deliver him from his
thralldom. Gazing up at the white mans
face and seeing tears in his eyes, the young
savage leapt TO bis feet, and commenced skip
piag dance, and chattering song Of wild
delight. Then, TO show The man, whose
feelings he had touched, what he himself
could do in the way ofwork, he went through
The pautomime of chopping, digging, and
lifting. Summer at once purchased the
poor fellow and brought him TO the Dutch
Fork. am not able to say what beesme of
this slave. He must have died long before
was born.
I do not think that many slaves were in
the Dutch Fork until within the last century.
The white people Siere largely i'll the majori-
~, up TO the time when left the cornfield
for the college. Few of these white men ever
drew on their coats, winter or GUNNER, be-
fore the sunrise breakfast. In their shirt
sleeves did they go forth from their beds to
attend to the preliminary work Of the farm
such as feeding the cattle and The horses;
and their shouts and their songs, minglipg
with the lowing of cows, the bleating of
sheep, and the roaring of the Cohec shoals,
form natural harmony which has never
been disturbed in its hold upon my memory
or delight by any Of the artificial com6ina-
tons of sound. through which have passed
1t was not long after Summers purchase of
q slave, before some of his reighborS looked
OCSpCt lulO tue udltcF lu3I NC Qlp, laSl
locked beyond philanthropy as an unbusiness-
like weakness, and one here and another
there, and perhaps Summer himself took TO
rolling Gow and then hogshead of tobacco
70 Charleston, and rolling an African back
to the Dutch Fork. remember no less than
ten native African slaves ir the Dutch Fork,
whep was twelve years old,-that is, in
1880. They were remarkable for their
faithfulness. Three of them belonged TO my
grandmother, Jim, Silly and Maria. The
latter (she never could tell what her name
was in Congo was held in high esteem by
her old mistress, who, well remember, saed
many tears when her servant died. Maria
undertook to teach me some sentences in her
mother-tongue; but have forgotten all,
except the numerals as far as twenty. She
told me that twenty was as far as the good
folks Of Congo had any need 10 count. Hap
py people! hope that Twill not be consider
ed pedantic, as pretending to extraordinary
lore in the Eihiopic dialects, if transmit TO
posteriiy what Maria was at so much pains
TO teach re. win venture: KEELING,
FILLAH, SAwBY, NoNNY, LULU, MORROW,
SEGGY, KASoNTY,
ToHG. ToNG-KELLING, ToSG-FILLAH, ToNG-
sAwBY, ToNG-NoSSY, ToNG-LULu, ToNG-
woRRow, ToSG-woRRow-wILLAH, ToNG-
sEGGY. ToNG-KASoNTY, TONG TONG.
The manners and customs of the first set
Tiers in the Dutch Fork, aud their near de-
SeendantS, were extremely uneouth. 1t is
wonderfully sf:angesthat, in the midst of this