The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-08-19
PROPOSED LAND DEAL.
Many Thousand Acres OF Land TO bc
s,ouverted Info u Beet Farm.

This county, No menuOn Oh INC nct W."
made in these columns for the simple reaSol
thai Hon W p Calhoun wrote TO us nskln'
that we make no reference To IT, as II Pnolcit,
was given TO the matter the sale might De III
terfered with. MI cahoum, , .urt'u, n S"1a Ranna sa
should have an opportunity TO puolish INT
matter as soon as the atlanta papers. ,os
Npt wishing to do anything that mlgat pos
sihIy hurt anybody. and yielding TO the re
quest of our friend, we said nothing about th'
proposed land trade. .-.,, NJ.
Calhoun, but the Atlanta Evening Journa
of last Friday had Il long article which W.
copy. ,,,,,,
ber of people who never fail to make an etlor
to prevent country newspapers from punIisn "a
ing any thing until after II has been printed II
a city paper, and we admit that IN tnlS IN
stance we have been "scooped, and have peer
derelict In publishing local news, but we nave
stated the facts as eXtenuating circumstances
! The Atlanta Evening Journal speaks Of gen
eralitieS without stating particulars puI TIE
main fact Is given away.
| The details, aS they appear to us at tnls enc
| of the line, are somewhat as iollowS;
! The Atlanta syndicate sent Hon. w. L. Cal
| houn here az attorney TO look after titles ano
to take the necessary legal slep looking tl
! the consummation OF the large lanu Sale. ~
the meantime an agent was sent mere 10 spy
out the land, and get options on snch tracls al
! the agent m light deem desirable The Uniform
! price, we believe, being S an acre, except III
|
this estate SD 600 was TO be paid-one-third in
| Atlanta property. and the remainder IN twC
annual install IN money.
The agent who came also secured an option
| ON The Turkey Hill land of perhaps SUI acres
| which belongs to the Gillian estate.
| IL is said an option has been had on the
land known as the Riley tract, but we do not
know the number OF acres.
He sought an option on the estate OF Dr. w
NJ. Taggart, $40 acres, which belongs 10 minor
children, and Is now in the hands OF the Court
While the Court would no doubt readily order
the estate sold for that price, yet the Cour'
| would not go into the option business. ,,
| In the matter of the Haskell estate, 9,OW
acres, no option would be given, though II Is
| possible sale could have been ELECTED at the
option price, S24,0OO.
| bought nothing, as far as we have learned
He merely wanted what Is known as "op
tions" - that is, the payment OF small
sum which would bind the seller to sell. with
out obliga,ing the buyer 10 act otherwise than
| he pleased-he was TO have the option
while the owner OF the land entered into an
obligation.
! The Norwood, or Calhoun land, Is being sur
| yeyed into smal farms, and the surveyor is
reported to have said that forty families-o
Germans. we beieve-have promised 10 come
and will be here by the first of January.
The legal status of the affair cuts figure In
this great transaction. Mr.. w. =. Calhoun
attorney, entered a friendly suit 10 bring the
Norwood land to sale for partition, and to pay
atEse' Tne land was willed to Mrs. E. B. Calhoun
| Miss Lila Norwood. and Miss Bessie Norwood
daughters Of the widowed tesiator. Miss Bes
sic Norwood marrtd Hon. h. Mays CleVeiano
OF Greenvilie, and TO them were born two
children, after which Mrs. Cleveland died. IL
| entering the first suit MIR. Calhoun forgot u
make Il. Mays Cleveland party, and wher
the omission was discovered new suit mac
| to be entered, which suit Is now pending. In
winding up the estate of James A. Norwood
| the large tract was divided into various smal
tracts. II does not appear from tne recorus
that three of the small tracts were sold at oil
and If that be true the testator, his widow
| has no title 10 the unsold part. But this de
feet IL defect there Is, can be easily remedled
Wehave not been informed II the necessary
legal steps have been taken 70 make II rossi
Turkey Hill property. but any sale woulc
have 10 have the sanction OF the Court.
| That part of Abbeville County In which
| these large tracts lie has very small white
| population. These estates in some instances
are as they were before the war, and are oc
cupied chiefly by negroes. There is practical
| ly no demand for the land. 1t lies in the neigh
borhood of the estate OF James Edward Cal
| Eoun which Is Of itself Il, ,0OO acres.
! For a vast stretch of country lying between
I.owudesvile and Mount Carmel there art
few white families; the number of schoo
houses and churches we do not know. In'
land which is not close to the river Is nearly
level, and is reasonably productive Tht
| hea lth Is good and the well or spring water !!
pure. The land is susceptible OF improve
ment, and offers the best possible induce
ments for colonies OF immigrants.
AS we understand, the Atlanta syndicate
proposes TO induce thrifty Immigrants to come
TO this County. 1t is desired to bring such al
| have some money OF their own.
Now, we have told you about all that W.
know Of the subject. 1T occurs TO as that tht
whole scheme Is, at least for the present
high in the air, and Of very doubtful ma
terialization. The Atlanta people seem 10 b'
| "a fr:tid
are willing to make profit, If 1t can be hat
without risk. The plan, 1t seems TO us, II
| feasible. But II may require nerve and tht
application Of practical methods 10 bring
| about desirable results, even alter big money
has been Invested. This com paratively un
settled part of the county, SO far as white peo
pie Is concerned Is crossed by two inporlan
| lines of railway-One going East and West
and one going North and South.
| Before the war, and during slavery the now
almost untenanted part OF Abbeville County
was the garden spot OF Western Carolina.
was the settlement of some Of the richest ant
most aristocratic families of the State. :!
was the home of Calhoun, McDuthe, Burt, anC
scores of other great men who made their I'm
press upon the politics and legislation, no
only OF the Stale. but of the nation.
It was early settled by the wealthest anC
most influential white people Of the country
who were drawn thither because of the fertile
! lands and because OF the advantages o
schools and churches, as well as for the priv
ileges which were vouchsafed in the pol,
boats, which piled regularly between Vienna
and the city Of Augusta.
1t was here where lived many of the mer
who gave fame and glory TO Abbeville Coun
~. Ilustrous statesmen and the mobiles
! warriors that ever defended home spran!
from this section. All that section is historic
ground.
Her citizens were the foremost in the lanc
| They took leading part In whatever looked
to the public or private welfare. But her glor.
and her wealth have departed. Her states
men and her patriots are dead. Her scholar
and her orators have been gathered to thei
fathers. Her teachers and her proud yeo
manry have finished their work, and thei
high cultivation, their refined civilization ant
their glorious manhood have been succeeded
by the civilization and the citizenship of th
unlettered African.
AS far back as 1895 or 1910 the wealthier rea
estate owners began to increase their LANDED
possessions. AS their fields broadened and a
the number of their slaves increased the de
mand for wi de possessions grew apace. Th
rich directed every energy to the enlarging O
their estates. One after another OF the smal
rounded by slaves. They parted with thei
lands, and dreams Of happier homes luret
them 10 the unfelled forests OF Mississippi
Alabama, and other Western States.
AS the white families moved away thei
settlements were dismantled, the wheels O
their grist and saw mills ceased TO turn, thei
school houses were torn down. their churche
were allowed TO decay, and now where thei
grave yards are known, they are only guarded
by bunches OF high grown trees.
When the war broke out, except the sav
;, owners. very few white men remained. Tn
others had sold their estates and had gone t
the hauntS Of the Indian or had made thei
way to the receSses Of the Western wilderness
All that country, under slave labor, pos
pered and tiourlshed. The best known meth
DDS of agriculture prevailed. Intelligence
money and power directed the unlimite
labor aad physical force Of the eimmense hos.
of black men who swarmed from their quar-
ters with the rising sun, and who returned L
their cabins at the CLOSE of the day, after hay
Ing performed the most laborious service, uu
der exacting and sometimes severe TASK mas
ters. A white "Overseer" took charge Of al
the slaves on the plantation. and where th