The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-01-16
OUR OLD STATE ROAD.
Written for SumtPr'S Home Chantcr
ID. "A. r.. by Ann Catherine Ander.
son Saunders

iH"pS tic story SOUNDS StrC nSe OF
an Indian trail, the pathway of say
ages, whose silent FOOTBALLS scarce eaya
alarm to the wild denizens Of the for.
ests, nor sounded a discOrd among the
Whispering winds.
Perhaps from this savage trail t.
the blazed road OF pioneer trader.
and again TO a Kings highv ay. sounds
stranger still to our democratic ear.
especially just at this period, wh:n
the imperialism of Europe has plung-
ed nations into a vortex of war. de-
struction and desolation, and vet over
this Kings highway our forefathers
fought their battles, winning liberty
and Independence
And so, beginning with the Indian
trail, We will work our way patiently
until we find ourselves on .he old
State road Of the present day, whic
is we'll defined and still used. con-
meeting Charleston with Charlotte. n.
t., passing through Camden.
During the period of stage coach
and tavern, when the weary traveller
welcomed the sight of the wayside inn
as a haven Of rest two OF these inns
were situated in the village of State
burg, one at Manchester, eight miles
below. The beauty Of the country
through which this road lies became
matter of history, attracting the at
| tention of many of the most noted
men Of their day. The historian,
Robert Mills, in his Statistics of
South Carolina, page 747, says: "The
road from Stateburg to Charleston is
the great thoroughfare for all wag-
ons east and west of the Catawba and
should claim the attention of the leg
lslature. a place can hardly be con-
ceived more horrible than Nelson's
swamp in winter, yet in the direct
route to Charleston"
In the year 1900, John Lawson.
then surveyor general CT the province.
travelled by water from Charleston to
the HuguenOt settlement on the San
tee. He found that these settlers
were also connected by a road from
Charleston. Above this point, which
was but forty miles from Charleston,
there was neither road nor settle
ment in South Carolina.
ThlS surveyor travelled on to the up-
per part Of the State, visiting differ
ent Indian tribes, conducted By an In
dian guide, over a trail which even
tually was laid off into a Kings high
way, one of the colonial roads Of the
province. That trail he describes IN
his journal of q Thousand Miles
Travelled Through Several Nations OF
Indians:
"On December %, 1900. 1 began my
voyage for North Carolina from Char
lesion in a large canoe" Then he
describes his trip by water up to the
Huguenot settlement on the Santee.
From there he continued his journey
by land, guided by his Indian pilot
He saw no more settlements of whites.
and his description of the country was
from observation; he had no time for
surveying. He says: 1--WE travelled by
swamp road, which swamp I believe
to be no less than twenty miles over,
the other side being as far as 1 could
we'll discern, there appearing great
ridges of mountains, bearing us W. ~
w. One alp with top like a sugar
loaf advanced its head above the rest
very considerably"
The historian who quotes him a
century ago remarks: The prospect
he describes is evidently the one seen
from the Santee hills. The Old In
dian path passed over a point of one
OF these at Capt. Becker's plantation,
from which the prospect extends
more than twenty miles, and the alp
which was SO conspicuous must have
| been Cooks Mount, opposite State
| burg"
From Historic Sketch, by William
| Dobein James. A. NJ: A few ye;. S
after Surveyor Lawson came William
Saunders, an English gentleman, whc
came to America TO make his fortune
bv trading with the Indians. He en-
ployed several men ana a train of
pack mules in this enterprise, and WAS
said to have been the first man to
blaze Il road between Georgetown and
the large Indian town which was sit
uatcd very near the present site Of
Camden. This blazed road was merg-
ed into the Indian trail through the
greater part of its route. This pioneer
named the creeks in his path from To-
cal associations and incidents occur