The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1892-01-08
GREAT OUfHERNVFA ARMS
Or o sations and STUDIES in Sue,
cessfal Agriculture.
Tho. oonstitution Gives aIsketch Of
Nathan H. awyn, caldwtll coun.
ty, North carolita.
BY NJ. v, MOORE.

70 ,he'c iu All our southland that
mas never heard of tho fsmd,s Happy
Namey OF the fadkin river.
Ihis region has becp the d, tn place o,
iorlnor nome OF many people who have
become famous either ns FARMERS. OF
s@tesncn, or patrios, or Crcat men 9th.
erwise-the country over. Their chill.
dren, or their childrcu's children, or re.
notef progeny, have doubties kept the
name and the ancient associations fresh
'hu green even in other Ihealorics. Tho
upper ladkin yalley-a farm on which
70 pe the subject Of this article was
noted even in the old colonial days and
IN inc later revolutionary eh. Ono of
Ine olu revolutionary hetocs-Gcncral
Leno'r, oil liugucnot family now scat.
'elcu ana distinguished All over the
s"u'h-a Virginia Frenchman, settled at
tne outpost of civilization guarding tho
,ron''er there. lie or his predecessors
quit protecting walls of huge oakcn lors
ON a beautiful eminencc OVERLOOKING the
nay nraley OF the rippling river for miles.
nhcy called the spot '.FSt Defiance.
from Its secure ramparts the carly set.
u ,iets Iehed the daring savag gcs who had
their hunting grounds and maize fields
ooth ABOVE and below. The same valley
was inc nome and carly hunting. ground
,,i,xIS, vi Dln,cl Boone, Who -r,r=is.l- I,orp,
i'i io,''ol'es OF me land to the dark and
bloody grouu Is of Kentucky. and into
the blacker plains of Nlissorri hcvond
The name "Yadkin" is moi Indian NO
many have supposed; the word is n cor.
ruption Of the old English appell,tion
Atkin-for the beautiful st ream wos onco
known rs Atkins river o.collcd from,
the first Engiishmau who settled on IFS
banks near Salisbury. Tie ancient ~
prehistoric Indian title was Soponn ~
nce-Po-hcc, the meaning of which is now
SIMPLY matter Of poetic fancy.
For nclrly a hundred wears tho best of
these Yadkin valley lands werc owned
and operated by noble families, rcnro.
senting, in a happy blending of charac-
;;ol's',cs, English aristocracy and Amer
lcan democracy. The men were courtlv
aua alSnIhed, yet they kept open house
ana n'na: The humblcst citizen could
OBTAIN their greeting, or become their
guest. Inc women were high born
a"%es es WI. and sE9se ssss and beauty. The
and their sons in siy'fSssTE SSTE E&3tms &;}h,.,,
universities of high fame. M.:ss;ssaSt
their broad acres and abundant free slave
labor, none Of them ever nmassed for
tunes, rs we know fortunes today. But
they lived like old time princcs-as old
time princes they were. They had the
fat of the land; their fields tecmcd with
the richest Of golden harvests; and they
never dreamed of liens, nor of CONNER
cial fertilizers, nor of payday for work
hands, nor of the exhaustion of soils. If
a money crisis came, all that was ncccs.
sary was TO sell tho trihngcst niggcr on
the place who could easily De spared
and then things went on easy. The
families drove IL carriages Of stately pro-
portion and finish TO famous watering
places, and displayed dignity and cour-
tcsy, and also generous hearts, that beat
over lace and linen frills. and beneath
high stiff collars and buckram stocks
! The men had buff vests around their
ample waists, and gold dollars in their
ample buckskiu or silk purscs-that old
fashioned purse, with its slit and two
rings in the middle and rich tasscls at
the ends.
Oh, my! how do love to revcl in
these dreams and mcmor ca Of those good
old times, for ! am not(alas y 90 young to
have seen. with my own eyes. the pic
lures would paint Of that glorious past
and these hands that now make this opy
have held in their friendly grasp ia,
fingers of some of the most noble and
courily of the grand old regime. Bu
hold
For the rcadcr wants me TO let alon
my dreaming now, and get to dcalin.
with the throbbng facts Of modern b;rth
Alas! scntimcntalily must yield TO tn
stcrncf issues CT life, and the scribe mus
! l. al 1, I,,, L.
Just in sight Of and mile or abov
the old ''Fort Defiance" there lies TN
farm Of N. ii. GwSn, Patterson posto
flee, n. G. l have selected the cXampl
of this man and his place for Two reason
one is 10 make it a repre- sentative c
Piedmont North Carolina; and the oth6
reason Will. trust, appear when | hav
fully recorded iic history Of the farm i
its ruin and restoration.
In the remorS less carvings Of time an
fate, this farm is now only small pa
Of one Of the old baronial Estates --
vast property Of thousands Of acres slice
\ up-cvcn since the death OF slavery in
+ more than half dozen nice and suflicicl
n plantations. The most melancholy pa
n of it all is the fact that, under our oI
n systems of farming. orc noble man wi
= had titles 10 it all, died in hopeless po
e Crty; and hence the divisions and iii
2 tributions among alicus Of ihc ancic
= possessions. In the cEdcavors Of the 60,
It landlord to hold together his ma9nlicc
C landed estates fatal policies were pu
Is sued, both i'll labor and in cultivatio
4 and when the grave closed over the II
blcman, thoTns and b!amblcs, and bric
and the sassafras bush following in {
wake of neglect and crosivc rains al
crawfsh, had taken possession Of, or We
nigh destroyed, much that was on
tccniug with plenty, and the embodime
of pride aud value.
rs A great hearted Englishman. Col
m Levcnthorpc, once an officer in the Br
A. ish army, aad afterwards a brave geuc
d in the southern confcdcracy, was ten
.c ted by the lovclincss Of the beautiful v
II ley and happy surroundings; and he p
g chased some eight hundred acres in
I partition Of the glcat estate referred to. j
u this genial general was only the III:
n toned English noblcmap, who kn
Il. nothing OF practical farming, althou
ne he knew and prac,iccd everything {
le necessary and worthy the vocation q