The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-10-01
NEW IMMIGRATION SCHEME.
Mike Browns Plan to Populate
Barnwell COunty--Small Farms
II Many Farmers.

Mike Plan to POpulate
Barnwell COunty--Small Farms
and Many Farmers.
From the Greenville Mountrineer.
The immigration scheme put on foot
by Col. Mike Brown, of Barnwell
County, bids fair to outlive MANY
others that have been brought to light
in recent years. Our people are alive
to the Importance of immigration, and
fall in readily with the idea of bring
ing me from other sections of the
country, who will buy small tracts OF
land and make their own hog and
hominy. There is no lack of interest
in the matter, and thcre are scores of
men in every county who are willing to
soil and In small tracts and on reason
able terms. The trouble is to get men
who will devote their time and money
to the development of plans for the
accomplishment of this object.
Mike Brown is a man of great energy
and foresight, and he has the means
for carrying out any scheme with
which he is connected. He Is the vice
president of the Carolina Midland
Railway, along which he il now settling
farmers from the Northwest, and he
has just organized q company for the
development OF lands aud promoting
~" WIZ w Olilo oGdUo. WI. IL, ID.
Jacobs, u prominent farmer of Green.
vile County, has been in correspon-
dence with Col. Brown upon the sub
Iect, and Is asking for a large number
OF tenants to place upon his lands. but
he Is given to understand that the
company prefers to market the surplus
lands and bring settlers rather than
tenants in South Carolina. His appli-
cation is on file at the company's Office
In Chicago, however. and he NAV
secure tenants.
The Aiken Recorder has had an in
terview with Col. Brown, in which he
stated that he had just made a sale in
Augusta Of $500 acres in Barnwel
County to a syndicate Of five parties,
who VIII Immediately divide it up into
small farms, and settle it with farmers
from Illinois, who have already agreed
to come on. He has sold about 1000
acres altogether, and has brought on
about eighty heads of families, who re-
present four hundred people, all Of
whom Will become permanent citizens.
The colonies have been settled as fol-
lows: One near the town of Barnwell /:
one near BrOwnell's; two at Hagood's
mill, where GOO acres have been bought:
one on the Hicks place of 800 acres
and W on q tract of 200 acres, five
miles from Barnwell. One colony of
four hundred families In Nebraska. re-.
presenting about sixteen hundred peo-
pie, Is now negotiating for q tract of
2,OOO acres, and IL the terms are ac-
ceptable will come on Immediately.
Col. Brown states that the immi-
grafton company which he has Or
gained has just bought 55, 900 acres OF
land, mostly in Aiken, Barnwell, Edge
field and Orabgeburg counties, from
the Land Loan companies, ali of which
Will be offered to settlers at low rates.
He Is ~endeavoring to have u clause in.
serted In the new constitution, exemp-
ting oil immigrants and their pro.
perry from taxation for ~five>years after
arrival in the State
He has had the freight rates on
household effects from Chicago to
Barnwell reduced from $3.50 per car
Va to $lO5, and the passenger rates
for immigrants will be put at about
$40. He says he has no difficulty in
securing low rates from railroads north
OF the Ohio river, as they keenlv
realize that it Is to their interest to
build up the farming interests of the
South, but the moment the Southern
railroads are reached the difficulty ia
met. "
The immigrants that have already
come are said to be we'll satisfied. and
have gone to work industriouslv
putting up houses, &C., aud establish
their farms. Aud from what he
says the movement promises to be a
very important one for our State.