The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1909-09-11

81
them did not fire at all at the word
of command. When the shots rang
out this negro fell as though dead
and as soon as the whites went away
he crawled into the high weeds
which were near the road and thus
escaped with only wound in his
thigh. He was afterwards the star
witness against us and the means Of
getting the names of some Of the
men who were there. His name was
Pomp Curry and by strange coincl-
dence he was the boy who, when 1
went to school at Liberty Hill in
1861 and 1852 ard boarded with Mr..
Kiah Edwards, made our fires,
brought wood, blacked shoes, etc.
He disappeared, whether by death or
fright, l do not know. After the
election of 1876 1 never heard of
him again.
1t was now after midnight and
the moon high in the heavons looked
down peacefully on the deserted
F, town and dead negroes, whose lives
had been offered up as sacrifice
to the fanatical teachings and fiend-
ish hate of those who sought to sub
stitute the rule of the African for
that of the Caucasion in South Car
olina.
The party with which I left Ham,
burg was the last to leave the place.
We got our horses and when we ap-
preached the outskirts Of the town
we stopped at the famous Spout
Spring, whose waters gushed from
the bluffs back of the town. In the
better days of the town this spring
had been provided with granite
coping and cover and was always
place for travellers to slake their
thirst as they came in or to guard
against it as they were leaving, the
roads leading through dry and
sandy region. The names of the
men in the party, as l remember,
were: Henry Getsen, chief of our
drum head court martial, Milledge
Horne, who lived two miles below
me, James Lanhan, Gus Glover, Joe
| Mays, Sam Mays, Henry Simpston,
John Swearingen, Dunlap Phinney,
William Cook and myself. Many
of these are dead. When we had
drank and washed, John Swearingen
stepped up on the bank behind the
spring and Selling the post upon
upon which was nailed notice,
Five dollars fine for dipping any
unclean vessel in this spring." broke
| it off at the ground and threw it
into the middle Of the road, saying
with an oath, that Jim Cook would
never arrest another white man for
drinking at that spring.
This was an allusion to an incident
of the preceding year when Rev.
Mahlen Padgett, who was carrying
cotton to Augusta, having no cup
had stopped at the spring and drank
and had been arrested by. Cook and
hurried before the town council,
charged with having broken the or
dinance of the town because having
drank from the spring he had dip
ped an unclean vessel in it. He
was found guilty and fined five dol
lars.
This had been a momentous and
strenuous days work. We were all
tired but more than satisfied with
| the result. When We reached Henry
Getsen's house he asked us to stop
and eat some Watermelons, which
we very gladly did, and as all of the
others except Horne lived further
up the road than myself, we kept
company as We wended our way
homward. The first streaks Of dawn
were reddening the east when l
reached my mothers, where had
! left my wife. My mother was taken
| i'll a short time afterwards and died
the latter part Of August. Most Of
! the men who had organized and car
ried out this program lived in Edge
{ field county, but few were citi
zens OF Aiken living along the Edge
| field line.