Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1903-05-27
AT THE GRAVE OF sAanARO {. BEE.
Notable Celebration Of Memorial Day a
Pendleton.

4 -
Pendleton, s. c., May 9.-Memorial
Day was celebrated here to-day under
the auspices of the Pendleton Chapter OF
the Daughters of the Confederacy, and
much credit is due TO the President OF
the Chapter, Mrs. w. w. Watkins, and "a
the Secretary, Miss Bessie Morris, for the
success of the days exercises.
Forming at the Presbyterian church,
the procession, consisting of the Clemson
Cadet Band, the speakers, the officers OF
the Camp and Chapter, the school chill.
company of Clemson cadets, followed by
the general public, marched from ceme-
terry to cemetery, decorating the graves
OF the heroic dead, reaching finally the
Episcopal church, where, as culmina-
ton of the decorating exercises, Miss
Louise Simpson, after appropriate re-
marks, by Col. r. w. Simpson, placed
upon the grave of Gen. Barnard E. Bee
beautiful wreath, sent for the occasion
by the Barnard Bes Camp at Aiken. AS
flowers were placed upon the graves al
the various places the company of cadets,
In gray, fired three volleys before passing
to the next.
Proceedings from the Episcopal ceme-
terry, the large number Of people from
many directions assembled in the nearby
grove to listen to the orators of the occa-
sion, Hon. j. S. Werner, of Colum bia,
and Prof. w. s. Morrison, of the depart.
ment of history of Clemson. College.
Col. Il. w. Simpson was chairman and
master of ceremonies, and in a few fit
ting remarks upon the life and career OF
Mr.. Werner, presented him as an old
friend, well known to all, and as the man
who was first to enter the State House
in '76 to break up the Radical Legislature
MIR. Werner spoke forcibly and elo-
quently for some time upon "a plea for a
larger memorial" Speaking of the ira
ditions and history Of the old Ninety. Six
District, of which Pendleton was the
center, he said that this section has ira
ditions and historical facts worthy OF
preservation and transmission; that more
strenuous efforts should be made in that
direction; that instead of or in addition
to flowers that wither away, we should
honor our heroic dead with monuments
and chronicles of history and biography,
preserving and transmitting thereby the
precious names and deeds that grace
our history. He spoke of the need of
biographies of such men as Andrew
Pickens, saying: "Here in old Pendleton
should be monuments of Pickens and
Calhoun, side by side, the one represent
ing the sovereignty of South Carolina
gained, the other .he sovereignty of
South Carolina mail taincd With these
two monuments of these -an
of this part of South Caronu. ....
as witnesses of her valor in vhu gnusg D
liberty, and her zeal and patrio. Sun il
the struggle for constitutional rights, the
significance of this Memorial Day, May
10, the anniversary of the death of Stone
wall Jackson, we can better appreciate
what the day is and what it stands for.
The speakers tribute to the surviving
those who lost their lives in civil strife.
He said: "The valor of the Confederate
soldier since the close of the war is to
me the greatest memorial to their dead
comrades that could possibly be rem
dered. The fortitude which they ex-
hibited in facing tho disastrous termina-
tion of the war, their heroic efforts in
the restoration of their homes, the 10y
atty to their convictions in the darkest
hours of reconstruction, and their deep
devotion to their State in '76, are testi-
monials which time cannot waste or
eternity efface."
Her surviving soldiers, he said, have
done noble service, too, in civil live for
the upbuilding of the State, and we
greater appreciation of their services by
preserving the history they have made.
After Mr.. Werner had spoken Col.
Simpson presented Prof. w. S. Morrison,
of Clemson College, who, he said, was
fifty chosen to discuss "Old Pendleton,'' -
because he delights in ferreting out his
torical facts and tracing traditions of
men and places.
Prof. Morrisons address was a store
house Of interesting historical facts rela-
tive to Old Pendleton District, and he
held his hearers attentively throughou
He spoke of the original Indians-the
Cherokees-who lived in the territory
the early settlement by the whites; OF
the gradual development of the up
country; of Henry Pendleton, for whom
the district was named; of the many
interesting settlements by pioneers; of
the Pendleton Weekly Messenger, the
first paper in Western Carolina; of
Horse Shoe" Robinson, the hero of
Kennedy's famous novel; of the many
illustrous names the district supplied
for war; of the Pendleton Farm
ers' Society, the first in the State
of the Pendleton Factory, perhaps the
first in the State, organized in the thir-
ties of the last century; and closed with
sincere tribute to the men of the dis
trict who fought and suffered for the
Lost Cause.
After the speeches the large attendance
was abundantly feasted in the grove, and
and as fitting close to the days exer-
cises a committee of young ladies was
sent to decorate specially the grave of a
Confederate hero, "Tally'' Simpson.
,, Attractive and appropriate features of
the mornings exercises were the pinning
of bouquets on the Veterans by the
school girls of Pendleton and the address
made to them by little Miss Birdie Lay.