The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-07-06
The Mysterious
Sun Spot
II Contained an Impor-
tant Message.
Nv RICHARD MARKIY
BY RICHARD MARKLY

ny NiSI1<AND Ni<ANNLA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
On the South Carolina coast stands
sne Of those imposing colonial edifices
Scr which that state is famous. 1t
Wees built during the times when the
sputhern settlers, requiring laberers to
work ON their tobacco plantations. were
importing large cargoes Of African ne
rgues, who were held as slaves. 1t Is
81 brick. with large pillars In front.
MEd, considering its age, is In re-
Earkable state Of preservation. This
- because recent owner has put 1t
IN repair.
like other houses Of its kind dating
lack to the seventeenth century, 1t
wEs built out of the proceeds Of ne
goes captured in Africa and sold as
Saves In America. But the slave trade
Aaxd its twin brother. piracy, were
ate In that day deprecated as they are,
So rath ,r, would be, today. He who
3ufIt the house referred to became one
40 the most prominent men of his time.
Richard Granville was not his name,
3us In bringing out the antecedents of
3ss descendants 1t Is a far safer name
500 use than his own. He began life as
a sailor, visiting every country where
5SHrr was trading to be done, and a
6sw of his older slaves, who were
3v1Se servants and thus enabled the
xrpxe readily to become conversant
%ah his secrets, handed down astradi-
rSsn that their master started his for
trne in piracy.
Be this as 1t may, up to the middle
SO TIE last century his descendants did
list deny that much Of his money had
5sen made I'm the slave trade. In his
sd age his conscience troubled him,
saa those who were nearest him said
Nat he desired 20 make some repara-
sssn for his misdeeds. He had statue
G himself made Of bronze and set 1t
NJ On pedestal in bay window of
It's library. The left hand rests on an
xsxbor, and the right holds sextant-
aef OF brass, but Of the sar"e material
~ the statue. He left orders that no
3ssdstone should mark his grave, and
ID was supposed that he intended the
syatue as substitute for one. At any
saxe no one now knows where he Is
apred.
Dfnerent generations Of his desc d.
sets discussed the statue and wonder
s6 at the within which led. their progen-
for TO erect It. One thing about II ex-
cited special attention. Every morn
arg the sun. shining In upon 1t, strikes
She eyepiece of the sextant and, pass
nsg through the tube, casts a solar
image on the opposite wall. The track
" this round spot Of light changes
with the season. traversing a slightly
different path each day. There Is an
sther thing that puzzled the owners Of
ne Granville estate. The only in
scriptiOn on the statue, or, rather it's
pedestal, is the date Of Richard Gran
viIie's birth. And not only is the date
given, but the hour and minute.
OF all topics connected with the
statue probably the giving OF this mi
cate information was most discussed.
no one who saw 1t could remember
Aayfng seen any memorial giving either
she hour and minute of birth or the
sour and minute Of q death. But one
generation after another passed away,
md no plausible reason for either the
nj ito sin lof In cntin
suggested.
During the civil war Elwood Gran
gIoe, the owner of the estate at that
Ene, fought for the maintenance OF
tIe system I'm the introduction o. which
kss progenitor took so important a part.
Colonel Granville was religious man
and one of those who traced authority
for slavery from the Bible. After the
war he returned to his plantation and
began to run it anew under the system
Aiat had been born during the struggle.
few papers that had belonged to
Gie original GRANVILLE were handed
Gown through his descendants. They
Fad been preserved time ond again by
different persons. but appeared to con-
5ain nothing to throw any light on the
puzzles connected with the writer or
receiver. One day Colonel Granville,
while amusing himself with these doc
1ments, read letter from the founder
81 his house to clergyman, in which
Che former said that he would like to
leave at his death fund for the bene-
dt Of the negro race In America, but
She time would not come for perhaps
one or two centuries when such be-
quest could be utilized.
Probably the statement had been
read hundred times by Richard Gran.
yiIle's descendants without making any
marked impression. But Colonel Gran
vile read 1t at time when the negro
slave had been just emancipated and
euIled, in all the ignorance induced by
his condition, to citizenship. The
meaning of the statement, "The time
would not come for perhaps one or two
centuries" was plain to him. More
Than one century had passed and
brought the changed conditions. This
led Colonel Granville, who was eager
10 help the negro. now that he had be-
come freeman. onward and upward.
20 think Of the benefits that would ac,.
srue from such bequest as was men
ioned I'm the letter.