The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-06-15

! which river was the main source
of commercial transportation
The fort was captured from the
British under CORVALLIS by Col
Horny of General Marion's com
mand. Under the cover ofnigh'
Horny marched his followers
through the dense Businesses O:
Santee swamp, until he reached
a point within one hundred yards
there halted and waited unit.
early dawn: when he opened fire
and sprang upon the enemy, at
ter a fierce engagement which
lasted several hours, the enemy
was routed, and the fort captured
for the colonial government.
There is in existence a boos
which tells the whole story OF
Fort Watson in interesting de.
tail but we have not been able tc
see it.
There is a road skirting the
Santee through Wyboo swamp,
which General CORVALLIS built
on his march from the coast to
the Santee river, and when he
was constructing this road, Gen
eral Marion hindered his opera
tions and impeded his progress
by giving him several battles;
even here in our town there are
marks of Marion and his men as
they marched throughClarendon
they cut what was known as the
Georgetown road, crossed Black
river just four miles west of
Manning, at what is now called
Harvin's ford. This band of pa
triots followed closely the
swamp: Marion brought his men
out by what is now known as the
"Clark Place" over "Granny's
Hill," so called because of an old
woman living alone in a house
on this knoll, and who was very
much annoyed by the fear that
the soldiers would rob her bee
hives and steal her chickens:
but few yards from the top of
this knoll now stands Manning's
pride and future hope, the
Moses Levi Memorial institute.
Marion operated up and down
Black river, crossed over to the
Santee, making his winter quar-
ters at Boiling Spring near
Summerton.
We should not leave the San
tee without noting Susie's Lake,
made historic by the following
story. In St. Marks township
at the old Connor home in the
early forties there lived Rev.
Samuel Leard, u Methodist cir
cult rider, the father of Mrs. 6:
H. Higgins of this town. He had
a daughter by a former marriage,
whose name was Susan, and who
became the wife of Rev. Thomas
Raysor; when Susan was about
four years old, she with a negro
girl about the same age were
playing in the yard while an old
mauma was doing the family
washing. the little children wan
dered down a path which led to
the woods, and no longer hear
ing their prattle about her, mau-
ma looked up from her work, and
could not see them: she followed
on down the path and when she
reached the woods, still not
hearing them, she began calling
and searching as she went, but
the little girls made no response
to her now alarmed cries, mau-
ma ran back to the house and re-
ported the loss of the children.
In short while the news scat
tered, and the whole country
turned out and were formed into
searching parties-hundreds of
men took up the cry ':Lost chill
dren;" the search was kept up
night and day for three days,
and when hope Of finding the
little ones was almost despaired
of, late in the afternoon of the
third day the little negro child
was found cold in death; then
another alarm struck the search
ers when Susan's body was not
found by her, it was feared that
Susan. had been devoured by
wild beasts, but the search was
kept up, and as the sun had al
most disappeared behind the
trees, William Tobias, one of the
party who had never lost hope,
rode off from the group that
were meditating around the body
of the dead child, and after go
ing some distance he saw some
thing in a pond, going nearer he
saw it was on a tussock, and
fearing his eyes were deceiving
him, he stood still to assure
himself, and then he cautiously
and prayerfully approached, i'm
agine his feelings when he got
near enough, and saw 1t was Su
san sitting on a tussock. one shoe
off, her little bare foot toying in
the water, and with her thumb
in her mouth. Tobias rushed
forward, took her into his
arms, and she looked in
to his face and feebly said
s'Pease man take me to grand
ma" The little child was al
most exhausted, the thumb
which she had in her mouth was