Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-02-17
HORSESHOE ROBINSON.
Interesting Sketch of a Well Known
Revolutionary Hero.

| hOHSESHOE nOblNSSN.
interesting Sketch of Well Known
Revolutionary Hero.
News and Courier:
The following story Of Horseshoe
Robinson" from the recently publish
ed pamphlet on Revolutionary Sol
diers Buried in Alabama" from the
pen Of Mrs. Patrick Hues Nell, will
prove of much interest to many read
ers. Mrs. Nell is a member Of the
Daughters Of the Revolution and de-
lights in such studies:
The following tribute to Horseshoe
Robinson" Is extracted from a poem,
entitled 1.-THE Day Of Freedom" by
Alexander B. Meek, and delivered as an
oration at Tuscaloosa on the 4th Of
July, 1888:
| Valourously
He bore himself. and with his youth
Chivalrous deeds performed, which in
| a land
OF lengendary lore had placed his
| name,
Embalmed in song, beside the hallow-
ed ones
OF Douglass and Of Percy; not unsung
Entirely his fame, Romance has
| wreathed
With Towering fingers, and with wiz
ard art,
That hangs the votive chaplet on the
heart,
His story, mid her actions. and hath
| given
His name and deeds to afterames.
When last
This trophied anniversary came around
And called Columbia's patriot children
| out
To greet its advent, the old man was
! here,
Serenely smiling as the autumn sun
Just dropping down the golden west
His evening couch. Few months agone
/ saw
Him in his quiet home, with all around
It's wishes could demand-and by his
side
The loved companion of his youthful
| years,
This singing maiden Of his boyhoods
time;
She who had cheered him with her
| smiles WHeH ClOuuS
Were DER his country's prospects;
who had trod,
In sun and shade, life's devious path
with him,
And whom kind Heaven had still pre-
| served to bless,
| With all the fullness Of maternal
wealth,
The mellowing afternoon of his de-
cline.
Where are they now-the old man and
his wife?
Alas! the broadening sun sets into
| night,
The ripening shock falls on the reap
The lingering guest must leave the hall
at last;
The music ceases when the feast Is
| done:
The old man and his wife have gone
from earth,
Have passed in peace to Heaven: and
summers flowers,
Beneath the light of this triumphant
day,
Luxurious sweets are shedding DER
The unsculptured grave Of
| Horseshoe Robinson"
The grave Of James Robertson, Is
in Tuscaloosa county, on the banks
of the Black Warrior river, near San
ders Ferry, in the old family burying
ground. He was the famous Horse
shoe Robinson" Of Revolutionary fame
in South Carolina, and the hero OF the
novel Of that name, written by John
Pendleton Kennedy in 1885. The name
Horseshoe" was given because of a
bend in a creek in his plantation In
South Carolina, shaped like a horse
shoe.
The following inscription is taken
from his tombstone:
Major James Robertson.
A native Of S. c.,
Died April 26, 1888, aged 7s years,
And was buried here.
Well known as Horseshoe Robinson,
he earned just fame in the war for
independence in which he was emil
nent in courage. patriotism and suffer-
ing. He lived fifty-six years with his
worthy partner, useful and respected,
and in hopes Of blessed Immortality.
His children erect this monument as
a tribute justly due a good husband,
father neighbor, patriot and soldier.
James Robertson was born in 1853,
and his epitapl states that he was a
native of South Carolina. He was
married in 1882 and lived fifty-six
years with his worthy partner; she
died in January, 1888, and he
died April 26, 1888. The name Of his
wife was Sarah Morris -; tradition
says her maiden name was Hayden;
they left several children; one daugh-
ter was living in Mississippi a few
years ago. James Robinson was ia
nous scout during the Revolution and
a terror to the Tories. After the war
he settled in Pendleton district, and
was living there when Kennedy met
him in 1918. In the preface to Ken
nedy's novel of Horseshoe Robinson
he gives an account Of the circum-
stances which led him to write the
story.
He says that in the winter Of 1873
19 he had occasion to visit the west
ern section of South Carolina. He
went from Augusta to Edgefield, then
to Abbeville, in the old district Of
Ninety-Six, just at the foot Of the
mountains. His course was still
westward until he came to the Seneca
river a tributary of the Savannah. He
describes how he happened to spend
the night at the home of Col. T,
who lived thirty miles from Pendleton.
Horseshoe Robinson came there that
night. What a man I saw! Tall,
broad, brawny and erect. His home
ly dress, his free stride, his face radi-
ant with kindness the natural grace