Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1888-10-10
Mgistellanenns &eaaiua.
For the YOrkville Enquirer.
"REMINISCENCES OF WESTERN YORK. -

ter on ben BONN, Wnlcn may now De Ill
order. Ben was not what we usually call
an eccentric person, though he possessed
peculiarities which few men in this coun-
ty ever knew anything like. Jim Hill
used to say she had the stomach ola hand
saw" I have heard of his doing things
that would nauseate the average Chinee.
For instance, he caught two minnows,
when working for MIR. Smith Sanders, and
swallowed them alive and it was nothing
for him to bite a black snakes head Oft.
''Old George" the colOred miller at Nc
Gill's mill, on Kings creek, owned a very
large dog-a mastitf. This dog would use
up all the dogs that came about the mill.
Ben Bolin agreed to give Georges dog a
regular dog fight. The day was appoint
ed. Ben went to old man Robin Man
ning's and procured what liquor he could
drink, and when he got himself into the
right humor proceeded to the mill to fight
the dog. Ben got down on his "~all-fours"
and crept up to the dog and began to growl.
The dog went off, but Ben would follow
him up, and, in dog style, try to provoke
a fight. At last Ben jumped on the dog
and gathered him by the ear with his
teeth, and shook him in regular bull dog
style, growing all the time with the fe-
rocity Of bear. The dog didn't know
what to make of this new order Of things,
but as his patience ceased to be a virtue, he
began to resent this untoWard conduct and
defended himself as best he could. But
Ben had his arms around him, and pos
sessing unusual strength, held him SO firm
ly that the dog couldn't move, and finally
gave up the contest.
/ Ben Bolin was a tall, spare made, stoop
shouldered, dark-skinned, black-eyed man.
Uneducated, but with more than ordinary
mother-wit, while his physiognomy indi-
Gated Indian blood, his habits of life did
more so. He wouldn't do regular work.
Fishing and hunting were his chief occu-
p%ations. Sometimes he would make shin
giles ordo small jobs of work. Uncle John:
ME Bolin, whose name has already been
mentioned in these "reminiscences, was his
father. He gave Ben a piece of land, but
Ben wouldn't work it himself. He rented
it out. A better set of workers than old
Johnnie Bolin's sons Western York
had, with the exception of Benz.
+. Early in these sketches we told about
old man Lewis Bolin and his sons, and
big" Wash Childers and his party, fight
ing one night at the Brier Patch mus.
ter ground. Ben was in that row, too.
George Morgan, in the %scuftie, got his head
between Ben's legs and threw him Owe
his head. notwithstanding Ben Rolin's
peculiarities, there was nothing in his
conduct to indicate that his character was
full and honest. The harm he did was to
himself. Aside from this weakness, he
was a true representative of his father,
John Bolin, who wa proverbial for his
uprightness. He was a mar who attended
to his own business !; a kind neighbor and
q true friend. He despised a hypocrite. .
u Yhe last time we ever saw Ben BolU
kaSin the camp Of instruction at Camp
Hampton; below C0lumhia-nlI. He
belonged to the 18th S. G.. Regiment. l
think the company was made up both from
eastern and western York, and commanded
by Col. l.. =. Sadler, as captain. The let
ter of his company | disreinember. But 1
do remember one incident that took place
while on the drill ground one day. TO
the same company many of our n%eighbors
belonged, and as the infantry drilled in the
morning and the cavalry in the afternoon,
several of us took OCCASION one morning to
drill with the infantry. The drill masters
were young strips of boys, picked up from
the different military schools in the State,
principally from the Citadel. Ben, as we
have already said, was stoop-shouldered,
anu cOuluQC take Ine proper pOSlliOu Vi
a soldier" The little drill master frisked
around with his spike-tail coat on, and
failing to get Ben to stand erect enough to
suit him, he became impatient. So did
Ben, who said, How do yo4 expect to
straighten q crooked man unless you put
his head on the back of his neck" and
told the disciple of Hardee he would slap
him around if he said anything more to
him.
Ben didn't live long after he went into
the army. In fact, his constitution wa
so impaired by the kind of life he had
lived, that he was in condition to fall by
the diseases incidentto camp life. A Drawer
man, and one more willing to do his duty
as a soldier, I don't suppose ever entered
the Confederate army than Ben Bolin;
and this fact, more than anything else,
gives him a right to the esteem of his coun-
trymen. He was the first man in beat
company No. 4(Brier Patch) to volunteer;
but a medical examination pronounced
him unfit for the service, and subsequent
events a%bundantly proved it. All the dis
sipation of a life time was cancelled by the
earnestness with which he espoused the
cause of his country, and to-day we drop a
tear of sorrow on his unmarked grave, and
call upon a generous people to remember
that virtue, his manhood, which marked
his eventful life. j. L. S.