The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1913-07-24

must swell and the blood quicken at
the story Of Gavin Witherspoon
holding single handed the causeway
at Wiboo Swamp, checking the Brit
ish advance, killing the first three
of his enemies to reach him and by
the aid of his good horse getting
away in safety. Here was an ex.
plot equal in glory to that of Hora-
titus at the bridge.
Nor must we fail to mention the
spirited reply Of the patriot maiden,
who, when British officer forcibly
quartered in her fathers house near
the present Salters Depot, spoke in
sultingly of Captain Conyers, her
lover, pulled off her slipper and
flung it in the officers face with the
remark, IF you think that, go and
fight him, you coward"
Nor the heroic action of the wife
of Capt VIM Gordon. For it is ae-
corded by Dr. Wallace that on one
occasion when her home was being
plundered by Hamilton's Tories,
the alarm was given that a body Of
Wings was approaching and the
whole party stampeded. One Of
them in getting over the fence in
some way became fastened and
conld not get across. Mrs Gordon.
seeing this, ran and pulled the fel.
low down on her side of the fence
and held him there until hel
friends came and took charge oi
him. Of such caliber were the men
and women who founded this old
town of Kingstree, who fought back
the inhospitable forest, conquered
the savage wild beast, the treacher.
Gus Indian and the oppressive Brit.
on. Such was the ancestry who
wrought out in blood and iron the
peace, security and liberty which we
enjoy today.
With the close of the war of the
Revolution the town and surround.
ing county devoted its attention te
the peaceful pursuits of the mer-
chant and husbandman and pros
perity smiled upon the land. For &C
years this delightful prospect endur.
ed ,anG then again red battle stamp
ed his foot" and the men ofKingstree
and Williamsburg once more sharp
ened their swords and cleaned up
old muskets in defence of home and
fatherland. Space does not permit
a narrative of the glorious part the
sons of Williamsburg bore in the
awful days of '6l-65.
As glorious as her record for pat
riotism is. Kingstree did not keep
pace in the march Of progress and
civic betterment with her sister cit
les. The third or fourth oldest mu-
nicipality in the State, she Jagged
behind while younger towns pushed
on ahead to become cities and left
her remaining in the village class.
In the last ten years, however, she
has awakened from her long sleep.
In this time she has more than dou-
bled both in population and in tax
able values, ,and both are still on the
increase. She has built and is sue
cessfully conducting a school which
is the ornament and pride OF the
town and would be credit to city
ten times her size. She has substi-
tuted in the place of one-story wood.
en- shacks where merchants showed
their wares, handsome brick stores, OF
two and three stories. In the place
of the old wooden hotel we have a
modern and comfortable hostelry,
an exponent of the civic pride OF
one citizen. No longer does the citi-
zen pick his way home in rainy
weather through mud and slush, but
walks dryshod on broad, smooth &C.
ment sidewalks. New and commo-
dious residences have sprung up on
lots formerly overgrown with weeds
or planted in garden truck. After
one disastrous object lesson two
years ago. when we had to stand idly
by and watch twenty thousand dol
lars worth of property burn up be-
cause the town had no water, Kings
tree suddenly realized that in this
particular essential she was still
asleep. A campaign to vote bonds
for waterworks was promptly insti.
tuted and successfully carried
through, and within fourteen months
from the date of the big fire the wa
ter was turned on. Now there
stands ready night and day to an