Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1903-07-01

lished. About one hundred had actually
been made when peace put an end to The
scheme. AS the war contributed to injure
| IT i'm other respects, and checked the
moved away. AT this place there is r W
q store, which collects from the Indians
the spigelia marilandica (pink root)
which ie made up into bundles of about
one pound each, stem and all, which are
pressed into large hogsheads contaipina
600 pounds each. This plant brings, In
Savannah or Charleston. % cents pound.
There are also sent to market from this
place about 900 pounds of ginseng and
several hogsheads of snakeroot, both OF
the black and Seneca kind. The Savan-
nah is here about 400 yards wide.''
The weekly paper" mentioned in
the extract just read, was aThe
Pendleton Weekly Messenger ii
was the first newspaper in Western
South Carolina and was perhaps the
first paper in America published SO
far toward the west. It's founder
and publisher was John Miller, COM
monty known as s.Printer John,o or
"Printer Miller" who left England
on account of his connection with
the publication of the "J1nius Let
ters." His press was one Gen. Ma
thaniel Green had used lin his cam
Ipaigns for publishing military orders.
In an appendix to "Ramsay's His
tory of South Carolina" whose pre-
face date is December 81, 1908, ,Sthe
reader sees'this statement;
"Among the attempts to diffuse know
ledge may be mentioned 9 weekly news
paper which is very we'll conducted and
printed at the village of Pendleton by
Mr.. Miller. 1t is fact worthy of re-
cord that in the frontier district, thirty.
years ago possessed by the Indians, the
publication of a newspaper has COM
menced and is carried on in manner
worthy of patronage. The yearly sub
soription is two dollars and a half
The first Court House was of logs
and stood, we learn, near the railroad
culvert, lot ffaf>, from the junction of
the two branches. Tie, second was
of brick and its site was fiear- ,.he
present Farmers Hall, which was
built of the material of the temple
of justice. A friend, learned in the
law, informs us that among the many
illustrous names on the records of
the Pendleton Courts as practicing
therein appear those of John O.. Cal
houn and George McDufie, Zacha-
.riah Taliafero, q soldier of the Revo-
luton; Warren II. Davis, member
of Congress and a close friend of
Davy Crockett; Joseph Taylor; the
brothers Armsted and Francis Burt,
the last named appointed by Presi.
dent Pierce the first Governor of the
territory of Nebraska, died while in
office, and was brought back to PEN
dleton and buried in the Episcopal
church yard !; and the brothers, Mil
ledge l.. and James Bonham, the
latter an emigrant to Texas and a
victim of the massacre at the Alamo.
Benjamin II. Perry, native of the
district, made his maiden speech in
the Pendleton Court House, and the
last speech of his life; was made from
a stand erected near its site, from
which, while scarcely able to stand
from the weakness of age, he ad-
dressed an immense multitude-The
Farmers Society and it's and his
many friends. On this occasion, but
short time before his death, Gov
ernor Perry was entertained by his
lifelong friend, the late John B. Sit
ton, who, on hearing the aged states
man express wish to see once more
the grave of his father and mother,
sent him In a carriage on that pious
mission.
Truly, as the poet priest of the
Confederacy sings in immortal
strains, in words which men will not
willingly let die:
"There is grandeur in graves,
There Is glory in gloom;
For out of the gloom future brightness is
born,
As after the night comes the sunrise OF
morn"
The best, and best known, histori-
cal novel that relates to Western
South Carolina is J. p. Eennedy's
"Horseshoe Robertson" The hero'e
home was in Pendleton District, and
he lived here a third of century
His house still stands. Hear the
reading of an extract from an old
paper--"Flag of the Union," pub.
lished at Tuscaloosa, Ala, dated
January l7th, 1888;
HORSESHOE ROBERTSON.
Who has not read Kennedy's delight.
full novel of this name, and who that has
read 1t would not give an half days ride