The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1899-12-27
MAY DAY AT ANDERSON IN,6s
A TRUE STORY OF THE WAR.


Carolina Was Kaided by a Drunken |
General and His Horde OF Bar.
bRrians.
Charleston Sunday News
ln the town of A, situated In |
upper South Carolina, an old gentle |
man, his wife, two daughters and son |
mad taken refuge during the war.
Ibey resided in rooms OF an old hotel |
comparatively comfortably situated to
many who had also lett pleasant and
luxurious homes. Ga the frat day OF
May, 1865 they we're pondering the
gu st'on OF provisions-one OF erea'
consideration in those days OF scarcity.
The larder boasted OF little fl Jur,
small quaHtity OF griSt and well
stripped hambon", and (the great treat
then, some sorghum. An alarm hau
neen sounded tn, evening before, "rh
Yankees will probably reach A-tO.
morro" TO raid tie towu ~ O cour-,
1t Was Illegal, pace having ouen de
clare d, and we ought to nave been free
from a"y molrsta'io OF enemies. S .ic
one Of the ladi :, stately dame y II
the rald"is 90 com there will be sn..,
sa'i-'a"' on ia having nothing fov Than
to take"
Ia" May day dAwned upon US in al,
It's loV ines ; tie air 80 praciug, th,
fragrance IN WOODS aud valleys every
"h"'e yladdeniDg u after sad winters
reign; the sun sGone down as II In
bl s>ing. P,cnics were the order OF
me DAY amomg SCHOOLS all seemed
che ry, at least Tor the morn, for no,
many needed tho rumOr OF the pre-
vluus day Bat, Oh what a reign Of
terror was 10 store ere the day closed :;
none dreamed Uf it. About D. M. the
rumor assumed reality and everyone
oethought ho" they might we Just
what th"y would ed most from tn,
desp"ilers. Ny sister ard busted our
selves co lectlnS some j wtlry prZ,u
putting II In glass Jar auu prOpuseu
10 bury linear spriug n little distance
rom us. y our way we stppp d at u
friends house, asking advice, but BE-
lore we could decide we found our.
seves sur ounded by the raiders. whv
had com" into tae town In al direc
lions. We had gone to the buck OF th,
huu>c To secret our treasures, bu: sax
them across the street. Sis ter (the
oraVest OF the two) hid them about hen
person-it was dangerous act, for we
mad heard OF very rude treatmant in
some Instances. Our friends house
was beset wlta the vandals, coarse. III.
ored, dirty nen, not one who looked
respectable or gentlemanly. They
c)oily TOOK the watch our friend had
op, went to the stable and stole q ine
Pet morse, leaving lame and blind
mule instead. The watch was valued
much for its antiquity in the family,
but they did not heed that. We were
In great perplexity as TO our getting
pacS TO our home on the square. Four
thousand men, under one Gen. Brown,
naa crowded our pretty, peaceful town.
Gen. Brown was not in a condi,iun
during his stay OF two days and nights
TO control or command anything, much
less his men the families of the town
were at their mercy. They tried to
gain protection, asking for u guard in
almost every home. | asked the won.
aerIul conqueror to give Us protection.
He said, There Is such demand for
guards that we could have ever so many
more men,"
We reached our home to find our
dear mother greatly distressed and un.
nerved, having risen that morning for
the first time in three weeks from a
sick bed, being an invalid for some
years. Father, my dear, patriotlc,
good father, had been robbed OF foe
gold watch and roughly handled. TwO
young demons had entered the L lusc
one girdled with numb bers OF dirks,
pistols in6 other articles of violence
began hlnging out everything In q
trunk OF mothers looking for arms and
money, d.stroying clothing and vases
at were put away there; when asked:
Young man, 90 you ever think OF
God 2" he turned and with an oath
pointed pistol at her, saying: "This
is the Yankees Cod" she was alarmed d
and ran to find help; just then a man,
who seemed to be al officer OF SOM
sort, came In and ordered these
wrelches out. One of them stole our
old servants watch, a silver one, tina.
he had given his young master in
charge, hoping to have repaired
When he knew they had taken 1T he
was enraged and said: We'll, we'll,
Is dat all desc yer good for nuttln'
rascals could DO? Tief from a poor
old niger he watch, all he got, and
can't git no odder one. | neber had no
use for de IN kind er people, nohow. :"
Ha was our trusty servant for years
and ever ready to devote his whole soul
to our interests. We entrusted him
with the silver service to be hidden
and we knew il old Daddy G." hid it
no one could ever get 1t. We were
besieged by scores OF men, entering
the kite en- below and ordering our
servants to wait on them kept them
cooking for them ali night. They for
bade their cooking anything for us and
only by tealth did they do 80 in the
morning. They gave the negroes ali
the provisions, clothing, bedding, etc.,
which had been stolen from the whites.
A lady who had started for W with
her little daughter was stripped of her
bonnet and outer wraps these were
given to some negro women who we're
atout the depo her trunk was broken
open, and some fine dres es and money
were also taken. They fired into the
cars and prevented their departure.
Some OF these ruffians entered my
fathers room they found an old rusty
rifle, one he had used years before,
and, after ridiculing it, presented arms
and told him: You can kill as many
rebels as you please with this; we don t
want it." Al about tea time (near
O'Clock d puffy looking irishman, with
tOleraby good face, came into the
passage, ana asked for some water 10
refresh himself from dust and heat.
We told our man servant to put u
basin, soap and towel there for his use.
He seemed v,ry glad to have 1T and
after using he would rest a little. or
course ~ was the best policy to accom-
modate him, 80 my father {" hose cour-
this Capt. c., as he styled himself,
into our sitting room. He took his
seat on our broad, old fashioned sofa
and Piled father with some questions,
asking: DO you know that Lincoln
was killed, murdered ?" And did he
ever hear anything about the war