Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-12-21
HAeERSHAM HISTORY.
Old Time Freshet and Hurrjcane-T,
Cold Sutnraax af rs2a

old Time Freshet and Hurricane-The
Cold saturday of 1888.
The writer of these "reminiscences was born
IN South Carolina July Is, 1929 His father
removed TO Habersham county, Ga, about
the year 1882, and died on the 25th Of March,
1886 The fall Of the meteors was in 1888, and
strange as 1t may seem, never saw anything
OF 1t, neither did any one where | was at that
time, and will therefore not here attempt
recital or recapitulatlon, but merely say that
great excitement prevailed. On the next day
everywhere the opinion was that the sun
would never rise any more The people met
and held meetings and prayed for deliver
ance. This grand phenomenon is very ably
written up by several able divine writers.
The memorable cold Saturday was the 7th
day Of February, 1888, and was the coldest
day we have any account of. The chickens
froze and fell from the roof dead. Trees
froze and burst all that night, making report
like guns. The Thermometer the next morn
ing was from degrees to 10 degrees below
zero.
The stage driver on one of the mail routes
south of Habersham froze, and when the
horses came to postOftice they halted: the
postmaster went out to get the mail and
found the driver in his seat cold and dead
The Indians were the first settlers of Haber-
sham, but in the mountains where / was
raised there were none, and l never saw any
OF them. have seen a great many relics, as
pieces of dirt ovens, pipes and other curious
implements There was said to be an old wo-
man that made a confession upon her death
bed to this effect: That there were once two
tribes and they got TO fighting, and one of the
tribes annihilated the other She went on to
say that the conquerors would bring some of
the others to her tied and blindfolded, and
she would throw them into the river, where
they would go over Toccoa Falls. She also
said that she could get forgiveness for every
thing she ever did but drowning these In
dams, but that her doom was fixed. and that
She was going to hell then to pay the penalty
of her crime
Calvin J. Hanks was killed at Clarksville
Il do not recollect what year., and his muir
derer went to Texas and there went derang-
Ell and died. l do not recollect his name.
Texas at that time was entirely out of the
United States, and was place of refuge
seemed like 1t did not matter what man did.
If he could get to Texas at that time he was
perfectly safe.
Ward killed Roper at a place called the
Chopped Oak about fourteen miles from
Clarksville. Ward was Roper's son-in law,
and they had been out peddling with a wagon
and team, and Roper was killed with a rock
for his money. Ward made his escape and
was gone for some time, but was finally tried.
convicted and hanged, but do not recollect
the wear
Jacob Stroup, from North Carolina. came
to Habersham and erected a furnace on
Soque, below Clarksville, and run it for a
few years and sold out to John r Matthews
and others, who were styled ''The Haber-
sham Iron Works Manufacturing company, i"
and they ran but few years. Jacob
Stroup went to Stamp Greek and put up
furnace in what is now Barlow county.
Habersham furnished her quota of soldiers
for the Creek war of 1885,, and the removal Of
the Cherokee Indians Of 1885.
The great May freshet that is known as the
Harrison freshet was in 1s40 / went to school
that day TO David Hill Considerable damage
was done, the bridges and mill swept away
by the raging waters. Steamboats, run on
Broad street in August. Considerable dam
age was done everywhere. Philip Weeks
lived on an island on the Tugalo river, he
was a young man and lived with his mother,
and when the water commenced rising in the
house they got upon the bed and then in the
loft, and when the water rose up in the loft
they tore hole through the roof and got out
ou III NHt uoust Ut last Wnen the house
began to move this heroic young man told his
mother to hold him and he would make a
death struggle for liberty, and he went
through the surging waters and reached terra
iirma safely with his mother, but the house
went down the river to be heard of no more
In March, le4l, | and my brother, Green,
were IN the field plowing. l was plowing a
little Chickasaw pony, and he was plowing a
steer. We were forty or fifty yards apart,
and the wind had been bowling all day
About o'clock in the evening the hurricane
began in good earnest. The trees commenced
popping and falling and terrible crash en-
sued stopped to see what Green was do
ing. He had cut the hamestring and turned
the steer loose, and at the same time q chest
nut tree fell ON the Chickasaw pony and
killed it. The storm was going toward the
east, and 800 yards from where was it lifted
of the rough and weight poles and piled the
debris about twenty yards from the house
The hurricane then entered the pine ridges
about IA mile east of there, and blowed the
timber in every direction. Considerable
damage was done in the vicinity Harrison
Black in Clarksville (Ga.) Advertiser