The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-01-04
SEVENTY YEARS AGO.
Recollcctlons CT AN octogenarian.

hecoiicctions CT AN OctoEenarian.
Mr.. EDIroR: thought would give
you sketch of seventy years ago when
l was only seven years old. | have dis.
tlnct recollection of the war of 1872 10
1913, called Jackson's war. About that
time people were in their simplicity and
purity, there was no great difference be.
tween the poor and the rich If "a man
was honest he stood high in society. Our
schooi facilities was poor, in small log
houses, often with the bark on them; il
was as good as the country could do.
Books were scarce. The Dilworth was
the spelling book in ,ha, dav, t0uite i'm.
periect(, aud there were scarcely any
reading books but the New Testament: !:
no newspapers to be had short of Colum.
6ia or Augusta. then lived in South
Carolina, between the two. Our means
Tor going I" church WAS limited. | had
never seen buggy, there was none in
use in that day, they had something they
called gig for the old folks to ride in,
the young folks had to go as best they
could. Sometimes they would walk four
or five miles 10 church eight or ten in a
crowd. The great difficulty was the
wear OF shoes, as they were very costly,
and hard t" get. They would have a
pair OF home made shoes, before they
would get to church at some convenient
place, they would leave their old shoes
anu pu; on their fine ones and go to the
iiodse ithiS WAS ;he young ladies' II
often b@pTened we :"ould take Il sister or
some one else's sister behind us on hc:sc.
back aud go sometimes in fast rack, trot
or Sa!lop until VIC reached ,hc church.
We would ride To the horse block and the
ladies would dismoint.
LISTENING TO THE PREACHER.
The preacher would mount the stand,
After singing would offer solemn prayer,
announce his text snd then preach the
best he could. He would invariably
dwell on the new birth and tell them
they must be born again. He did not
hinder time looking over the notes of
his sermon, for lie often couldn't write his
name. lie would often leave them in.
curing what they must do to be saved ?''
when the sisters would meet together
they would inquire how they spiritually
came on, and talk about the new birth.
Wnen they were with the young they
would point them to the Lamb of God
that take,h away the sin Of the world.
There was not much dressing of that dav.
The dress of the old ladies would be a
white split bonnet of homespun, as white
RI it could be bleached, quilted between
the splits, with petticuat aud wrapper
with pockets 10 carry their flint, punk
and steel They would assemble in the
,ard together after preaching. One
Sould pull out her punk and steel after
giving lick chewwack, blow the punk
and put it i'll her pipe and so to smoking.
llhere were no matches in that day.)
Then would come some Of the older Ia.
dies and borrow some embers and do
Likewise. This was social enjoyment
!hey always made some remarks about
the preaching and prayed it might have
good effect OH the congregation.
GOING TO MARKET.
Our main market WAS Charleston, 100
miles of. lived at or near the road
leading from Charleston TO Ninety six or
Cambridge. 1t was called Ninety-six,
because Gn Indian ran it il twelve hours
from Orangeburg court house TO Cam
bridge, TO carry the news to Gener al
Green of the approach Of the British he.
fore our defeat, which WAS 96 miles.
People living in Greenville district had
to carry their cotton and tobacco two
hundred and fifty miles. Wagons would
haul the cotlon in round bales packed by
hand. The tobacco would 70 in hogs
heads, say one thousand pounds in each
hogshead, with au axle in the center,
shafts fastened to it with deep felloes
around it, and these would go in compe-
ny with the wagons. Old ladies on the
road had become well acquainted with
the wagoncrs and would send by them
for sugar aud coffee. In two or three
weeks they would get it, sometimes cost
ing them fifty cents per pound. Often
you would see IL load of chickens, vast
quantity i'll wagon with different Stories
Or aco-s. T!icy wo,.!l sell fnr large
price. varying often froim iiiiy 10 siaa;;yy
cents each. They would drive their tur-
keys in large droves, some of them would
be belled, the rest would be truincd TO
the bell and would follow it. When
they would get them to town they would
command large price, sometimes from
four to five dollars pair. That was
how we lived sixty "r seventy years ago.
---monfesnmn, Ga, Weekly