The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1888-03-01
HEsTosY OF so!Tlg CARoLlNA.
The Records Of the Past. the Glory
OF tht- s'reSent-;he DOcument+
that SIuld be Preserved.
Special to Ncws and Courier.

Issue CT the 4th instant on the i'm
portanee Of preserving tie historical
! da,a of South Carolina. The arti.
Gle is . timely one. and the fact that
the Neer$ and Conrie, has thus taken
up The subject is an earnest Of gen.
eral awakening OF interest.in topic
which deeply concerns all patriotic
citizens and natives Of the State. s.
To preserve the records Of their
past should be the glory of any peo-
pie, and especially of a people which
have 50 much of which to be proud
as have the people of South Carolina.
E And vet it is a melancholy fact, and
one which cannot be too often i'm
pressed upon the public. that many
Of the most valuable sources Of South
CAROLINA history are in danger OF be-
ing lost through sheer inatten.tion or
negligence. | speak not Of those
| public documents, such as Legislative
enactments, official reports and judi
cial proceeding. which the State has
always preserved with a careful and
generous hand. bnt rather of those
minor details which are forgotten
until they are wanted. Some of the
most important Of these neglected
bits Of history are parish registers.
charters Of charity organizations, the
proceedings OF town councils. biogva.
phies of public mea and local celeb:
rites: old songs and customs and
hundreds Of Gsages and customs
which, if preserved in some substan-
tial and accessible form. would throw
g food of light on tie political and
social life OF TIE State. =.
Now all Of this has in 4 great
measure been already done for the
colonial and revolutionary periods OF
Ramsay, Dalcho, Drayton, Moultrie,
Brevard. Sims, ONeall and others,
Since tbs days OF these men, howev'
er, the science. Of history has, made
such wonderful;progress that many
fields of Investigation have been
opened up which were scarcely
thought Of thirty years ago. In spite,
therefore. OF the careful treatment
Of some subjects by these old histo
rians of the State, there are other
branches Of inquiry for light upon
which the pages Of even the best his
tories Of the State. will be turned
over in vain. Original sources On
such Subjects afford even less. satisfac.
ton, for the few which remain are
often nutilated beyond recognition
| In thus recounting the trials and
tribu!ations Of anyone whose tastes
may incline him to enter the delight
ful and fruitful field of State history
do not wish to discourage him, but
to illustrate the great need Of tracing
the stream to its fountain head, anC
the ease with which that course might
with some care be followed.
The caseis not a hopeless one, anC
the difficulties which present them
selves can be easily overcome. Tc
accomplish this result, however, vii
require prompt and active work. Nc
one man in South Carolina can hope
to achieve the splendid results Of Mr.
| Hubert Bancroft, Of California. whose
researches, believe, called forth the
article in the. Neacs and Courier
Gold mines are nearer to San Fran
cisco than to Charleston. But there
are already workers in the tielG anC
their labors might be encouraged anC
supplemented. The South Carolins
Historical Society has in its library
at Charleston the results Of untirine
and patriotic work. 1t is to be hoped
that your suggestion as to the publ
cation of some of the material thu:
collected will be speedily carried out
Of the Southern States both Mary
land and Virginia baye of late year;
been more active in this matter thar
South Carolina has and the result:
have been most gratifying. AS
matter Of fact. some States which
were unborn wien the history o
South Carolina had been severa
times written. now do more in tll'
way Of collecting and publishing his
torical material than South CarOlin:
does. and ! recently heard OF on
: man. but ! hope that | was misin
formed. who came all Of the way
from tie far West 20 write the lif
} Of one Of the revolutionary heroes o
South Carolina.
And vet everything relating to TIL
history Of the State is accorded
hearty welcome ut home and abroad
This was notably the case with pub
]ication, q few years ago, by tn
State board Of agriculture, of tn
} volume entitled South Carolina,
which as clear and dispassionat
account Of the history, economy, ed
ucational advantages and natural re
sources Of the State was productiv
of more good Influence, and Wa
more bigbIy praised than any singl
book published in the State for man
years.
Another most pleasing and impol
tant work in preserving the histor
; cal material of the State is that whic
has been done by the woman who, b
erecting memorial shafts to recor
the death of those WHO perished i
battle. have at the same time. ful
nished al enduring authority to til
1 stndent Of the civ!: war. | also VI
: derstand that the various regiment
, of soldiers VINO went to the war trol
| South Carolina have for some tim
] past been actively engaged in secu
e in! The names Of all Of their comr:
r des. This work. I am confident.