The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-02-07
Some Bits Of the History Of Cotton Cul.
ture In South Carolina.

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varied in weight from one to thirty
pounds. In 1887 the Aeecy staple was
taken to the City by the Sea from
Orangeburg, Newberry, and, perhaps,
from Union, and sold at two pence a
pound to the merchants, who resold it,
mainly to the ladies to make "patch-
work bed quilts. ~ About the year
named two or three bags, each weigh
ing near hundred pounds of seed
cotton, were packed in the store of
Wadsworth g. Turpin by Samuel Nav
erick and Jeffrey, blood Indian.
(This Maverick, by the way, claimed
to be the first person that made sugar
in South Carolina. About the year
1900 he planted some ribbon cane,
purchased in the Havana, in his lot
to the east of the present orphan
house. 1t yielded 300 pounds. The
cane was pounded in mortar; and the
juice boiled in iron pots.)
These bags were sent to England as
a sample and an experiment. The
parties to whom they were sent wrote
that the article was not worth produc-
ing, as it could not be separated from
the seed.
In 1894 DR.. James Otis Prentiss
planted cotton for market near Orange
burg Court House. Either in that
year or the next Col. William Thomas,
the Revolutionary soldier, planted
cotton to sell at Bellville, in St. Mat
thew's parish. In 1896 cultivators Of
this crop appeared in several parts of
the State. Among them was Sam
uel Fielder, Of Orangeburg. John May
rant and Asbury Sylvester first grew
cotton in the high hills of Santee in
the year 1898. A year later Gen.
Wade Hamr:on introduced the plant
into Richland district, gathering over
600 bags from 600 acres.
Gen. Hampton was the first man in
South Carolina to use water as the
propelling power Of Whitney's cotton
gin. Fifty years ago Col. Wade
Hampton wrote Whitemarsh B. Sea-
brook: "When Whitney's gin was
exhibited in Georgia none but women
were permitted to enter the room.
An ingenious young mechanic at
length introduced himself into the
apartment in woman's apparel, and,
by minute examination of the ma
chine, satisfied himself that he could
not only initiate but improve on its
construction by making it more eff
cient. This discovery was communi-
Gated to my father by Gen. Gun, who
spoke so confidently Of the capacity
of this individual that my father was
induced to visit him at his residence
in Georgia. This visit resulted in a
contract for three gins, applicable to
large scale of operations and they
were unquestionably the first ever
driven by water power"
It has been written that Gen.
Hampton gins were furnished by an
ingenious artisan of Georgia, assisted
by William Munson, of Richland.
These gins were roughly constructed,
still they were models for others made
in 1901 by William Munson and James
Boatwright, of Columbia. These were
the first of the new machines of home
manufacture. Gen. Hampton was
not, however, the first to use the
Whitney gin in South Carolina. Capt.
James Kinkaid, Of Fairfield, put up
one near Monticello in 1895.
How to dispose Of the cotton seed
was perple1ing problem to some of
the early spinners. 1t was considered
worthless and carelessly thrown on
the ground like. sawdust. The hogs
ate the seed and died. Then it was
put up in pens like shucks. The pigs
got the seed out through the cracks
and soon went the way of their elders.
As last resort and hoping to get rid
of the nuisance" the seed was
dumped into the creeks, but in time
Of low water an odor was generated
which was 80 offensive as to create a
strong feeling of prejudice against the
further culture of the crop.
The fear of "overproduction" is no
new thing. Ninety years ago an opin-
ion prevailed that the supply of cotton
would soon exceed the demand. A
planter of St. Johns, Colleton, look
ing at his frs op, the produce Of a
few acres, after it had been housed,
exclaimed: "Well, we'll, I am done
with the cultivation of cotton ! Here
is enough to make stockings for all
the people in America.
These items, Mr.. Editor and kind
reader, are taken from an essay on the
cotton plant, written two score and