The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1910-07-08
FOURTH OF JULY
CELEBRATION.
Crescent City Observes Day
With Basket Picnic and
Games.
Splendid Address by Col. Graham.

| oPtehoio Address by Col. Grahann.
Shortly after nine o'clock on the
morning of the Fourth teams from the
country began TO arrive and by noon
there was quite large assembly of PEG.
pie from all this section on the Audito
rum grounds. Here tables had been
erected and the picnic dinner was
spread.
If the Fourth of July served no other
purpose than to furnish the occasion fol-
the gathering together of the people of a
neighborhood in friendly intercourse il
would be worth a heap.
! The chief value of the day in Ores.
cent City was that we all took day of
and spent the time under the shade OF
the trees eating watermelon and swap.
ping friendly gossip. The result is that
we know each other better.
The games which had been scheduled
to take place in the morning were for
obvious reasons put over to the after
noon and these furnished much amuse-
ment for the younger generation.
The baseball game failed because of
the inability of the local team to secure
a match game on the home grounds with
any of the clubs of neighboring towns.
For this reason the home team went
over to St. Johns Park in the morning
and beat the club at that place by score
of Fl to s.
After dinner the picnic crowd went
into the Auditorium for the program of
patriotic exercises that had been ar
ranged. Hon. ]. H. Harp acted as mas
ter of ceremonies.
Led by choir, the piano, and violin
in the hands of E. L. Mathis, the assem-
bly, stood and sang
"My Country It's of Thee"
After which Rev. John H. Davis of
the Methodist church offered prayer.
Then Mr.. Harp introduced the orator of
the day, Col. G. T. Graham.
Col. Graham briefly recited the causes
which led up to the Declaration of July
4th, 1875, and showed somewhat of the
sacrifices which our forefathers had en-
dured that we might have the measure
of liberty we now enjoy. To make the
sacrifices of our forefathers more realiS-
tic, Col. Graham read incidents in the
childhood of Mrs. Angelica Mott, wife
of Judge Mott of the Supreme court of
South Carolina, and which that lady,
who died in 1858, told relatives many
years previous to her death, and which
these relatives have preserved. These
incidents were recently published in
Charleston in paper prepared by Mrs.
Oze Van Wyck of Anderson, a member
of the Daughters of the American Revo-
luton. The story of Mrs. Mott is as
follows:
81 am daughter of Joab Mitchell, and
was born on Sandy Run Creek, Union
District, December %, III. My father,
one of the earliest settlers of the county,
moved to Tennessee before the war.
My mother, Miss Henderson, was sis
ter of Col William Henderson. When
my parents went to Tennessee was left
with my aunt, Mrs. Potter, on Sandy
Run. Mrs. Beckham was my aunt also.
had an aunt, Ruth Mitchell, who mar
ried John Hale, of Union. | was only
10 years old when the battle of Cow
pens was fought, but | remember ii dis
tinctly. In fact can recall everything
that happened in the county from the
time was until | was IS years of age
much more distinctly than | can events
of later years.
impressions made in childhood are
never forgotten, and especially is this
true of sorrow, suffering, or injustice.
remember how Ferguson looked. He
was small man. | never saw him but
once. When Tarlton was on the march
to meet the American forces he camped
at my Aunt Beckham'S. His soldiers
took away all our bedding except one
quilt, and the Tories following in his
wake took that. Our house had been
burned and we were living in a tent
made of rails and covered with straw.
Often we had no meat, bread, or salt and
subSiSted on green corn. When we
killed a beef we cured the meat with a
little salt and hickory ashes. remem-
Der once when the salt was all gone and
we were obliged to have some that my
aunt, Mrs. Beckham, took gold guinea
and hid il in the coil of her hair and
rode to Cranky, a distance of eighty
miles, and bought buShel of salt and
brought il home on her saddle.
Our neighborS suffered as we did,
and night some Tories went TO the
house of Daniel Jackson, west OF Fair
forest, to plumber. They carried OIL
everything they could in the way OF
bedding, clothes and food. AS one Of
the Tories was going down the
steps, Miss Nancy Jackson kicked him
over. He was enraged and told her he
would send the HesSians TO settle with
her. She was so frightened that she
took five of her girl friends and walked
in The night to my Aunt Potter's, a dis
lance of nine miles. They were afraid
to remain at home, for they might have
been outraged and killed. =.
"Thickety Fort was guarded by Roy
: alists and Tories and the American:
were anxious TO get control OF IT, as the
Tories would go Out from the loTl ane
plumber and destroy the property of the
Wings. There were no men at homt
TO protect the women and children, a:
they were all in the war fighting fol
home and liberty. 1t was good new:
when we heard that Capt Johnson hao
made Capt. Moore, of Thickety Fort, :
prisoner. In personal encounter Capt
Johnson had tied Capt Moore and wa
taking him TO the Wing lines when he
was met by the British forces and Moore
was rescued by them. Johnson escaped
into a thicket aud thus eluded his pur
SuerS.
at is impossible TO describe the hor
rors of that time. We had no shoes ant
would tie rags around our feet TO keel
them warm If we got shoes and stock
ings they would be seized by the Tories
As said before, Tarleton encamped a
- l. &, To ha n