Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-05-31
CAR0LRA'S 0LD4RCADIA
M ~ Nj il
PAST AND PRESENT IN THE
BEAUFORT DISTRICT,
Princely Planters of the Folden Time
The Freedmen OF TO-DsS inithe Tenn

Beaufort, Sc, the centre OF 5hef new ne
gro civilization of the &OltsIrl 1t is the
spot wherelthe first expeFTnsenbMas made
of putting thb "bottom rsil sOn top" On
the census, map of popVlatlbiiS Beaufort
county Is in the darkest H0h(Ess' II was
the richest county, excepting one, in
South Carolina; its planters had the larg-
est plantations and counted their negroes
by the hundreds, and not few owned
over a thousand. Beaufort, its principal
city, was the abode Of refinement and
wealth, and its stately MANSIONS still
stand to testify to the character Of its citi-
zens. 1t is said that SO exclusive were
its people that they discouragedmec
and tradespeople from settling in the
town by giving their patronage eXclu-
sively to Charleston or Savannah. Com
munication with the outside world was
kept up by q steamer, the William
Seabrook, which piled once a week be-
tween the two cities mentioned, stopping
at Beaufort. The boat was owned by the
planters, and it went out of its way to
stop at the plantations along the many
rivers that IEtersect the coast to take
them on or put them OF. The Beaufort
district planter Git was a district then,
not county,. ranked in social circles as
high as the bourgeois of Charleston.
HE WAS PROBABLY ENTITLED, IN HIS
OWN ESTIMATION,
to rank higher, as he was not cOntami-
mated by contact with the tradespeople,
who sometimes managed to enter the sa-
cred circle in the commercial entrepot of
the State. The planter was proud of his
lineage, which he traced back to tue days
of the LandgFavate; he was proud of his
broad domains. He WAS generally man of
the best education that the colleges of
A 4 \ 1
had good natural abilities and was a
leader in the councils of the State. The
lower part of South Carolina was divided
into many parishes, eacn entitled to rep
resentation in the Legislature, and one or
two men decided 4whO should be the
representatives, and he WAS usually Sc
lected because of his peculiar
fitness for such duties. The hospitality
Of the planter to well-recOmmended
strangers or to his own class was pro-
verbal. His home had everything that
tended to make life comfortable. The
topography of the seacOast country en-
abled him 10 be exclusive, and he was.
His slaves knew him as IL kind and con-
siderate master, and none mourned more
sincerely at "Old Massa's" death than
they.
THE GUNS OF DUPoNT's FLEET AT PORT
ROYAL
destroyed this Arcadia. The planters
family was driven from the homestead.
The planter and his sons were already in
the Confederate ranks, some in far-otf
Virginia. His slaves, that could not be
carried away into the interior, We're set
free. His houses and lands were sold for
a pittance for taxes, and the handsome
patrimony which had taken centuries to
gather vanished as a dream.
AT the end of the four weary years of
the war the planter, if he had survived
the bullets of the enemy or the ruin of
his fortunes, returned to fad aliens and
negroes in possession Of his birthrIght. 1t
was almost a hopeless task to attempt to
regain even fOOthOld in the community.
Many turned away from their old homes
forever and sought other places to struggle
on through life or die of Il broken heart.
A few, however, Remained to work out
the problem of the sO-called new era" 1t
is well for the negro that they remained,
They set them an example in honesty and
gentility, which has had a marked effect
upon the cOlored people. The descendent
of the planter has recognized all the rights
of the negro and, at the same time. endeaY-
ored to learn the negro to respect the
rights of others. In the daily walks of
life they constantly come together, and
the old time slave finds his master or his
masters sons his safest advisers.
DURING COURT WEEK
these gentlemen take their places upon
the jur es alongside OF their former slaves
"a sort of leaYen in the black mass, the
ignorance and immortality OF watch is yet
very noticeable. Negro lawyers argue
questions of law against the descendants
Of their former masters. The court room,
the vestibule of the hall Of justice, and the
public square outside during court week
are filled with negroes OF ali sizes and
sexes, a motley crowd Of prisoners, jury
men and witnesses. Some, however, are
not on business bent, but have come TO
see the show. Inside Of the railing is the
jet black lawyer and his legal brothers of
several shades lighter, and they address
each other with an the heightened legal DO
likeness incident of such occasions. The
white attorneys are at a little disadVan-
tage in addressing these African Black
stones, but by long practice, probably,
they managei to preserve good
feeling, or at least the ap-
pearance OF it,. The learned Judge,
a venerable gentleman with gray hair,
white flowing beard and rtiddy cheeks,
clothed in judicial robes, listens patiently
TO an endless fO9 Of negro testimony.
INHIs CHARGE TO THE JURY
NE ulubb De very bliuRit IN MS language
so that the colored juryman will be able
to understand the law aud the facts. The
witnesses are the greatest attraction Of
the occasion. Their testimony, given IN
negro dialect, is uninteligible 10 any
one who Is not familiar with
II. During "a recent trial
one of these witnesses described his
friendship for the prisoner against whom
be was testifying, as close as ode
socks TO he fo0t.o Joseph Warren was
on trial for cutting George Washington.
These festive colored youths, bearing
respectively the names Of the "herO OF
Bunker Hill" and the "iather Of his
country" were playing pool and quar-
relied over one cent, aud the Bunker Hill
boy cut George W. with his little knife.
IL probably cost the State several hundred
dollars TO settle that dispute about cent.
CoLoRED JURYMAN
caused a mlstrial lately IN COW case,
where one negro had stolen "A COW from
another. The testimony was quite posi-
tive against the prisoner. Witnesses saw
him with the animal, but the prisoner, in
making his statement, stated that he was
sick at the time the COW was alleged 70
have been stolen, and the eOlOred Juryman
thought the prisoner ought 20 know more
about his own business than any Of the
witnesses. and therefore would not agree
to verdict Of guilty. The Jndge dis
charged the jury and sent The intelligent
juryman homa without hiR Rer, llem and
mileage. 20 gyf ID 90 .I n u4e.
There Is a PROSPECT that In the not far
future Beauiorwill kRaa0a iuawhat ma