Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-07-19
SOUTHLAND STORIES,
Larry CAN'T Gives Some Interesting
ReCOlleCtiOnS.
TELLS OF The MEN OF OTHER DAYS
Dueling Days in South Carolina Re.
caIIed-Cash and Shannon Were Last
to Fisht-The Perry-Bynum Affair.
(For The Yorkville Enquirer).

(For The Yorkville Enquirer).
During DID, ante-bellum y. days In
South Carolina the code duelf9 was as
established and accepted an instttu-
ton as written law and was consid-
cred by hot-blooded members of the
slave-holding aristocracy as the prop
er and only manner in which gentle.
men could settle their differences and
| disputes. And any man who refused
to accept challenge and meet an, an.
tagonist on. the field Of honor hadaasi
well quit the state for the Sbrand1aof.
cowardice was indelibly fixed uponahis
brow and he was ever after a. social
outcast, held in contempt by all men
and women of his class. ,a-.s,ts;ltt SSt;f:,
OF course, no man with a spark Of
pride could afford to accept and live
under such a verdict, and the result
was that many little islands in the Sa-
vannah river, as also certain localt-
ties on the banks of that stream In
both Georgia and South Carolina, were ::
selected as duelling grounds. The er-
roneous idea prevailed that the, Sa-. !.
vannah river, being the dividing line
| between the two states, Its islands
were a no-man's land. and there was
no legal machinery to punish offenses
committed on said islands. But In:
truth the courts have several times
decided that the Savannah river be-
longed to Georgia and its islands were
as much part of the territory of that :
state as its mainland.
The duelling practice also prevailed
in Georgia, but not to the extent as IN
South Carolina. The Georgians claim !
ing the river as their own, crossed the
stream and exchanged their shots on
South Carolina soil. They thus es-i
capped prosecution in their own
state and placed themselves under@theI
jurisdiction of a people who looked.
upon the code duello with condoning:
eve. never knew or heard of man.
being punished for killing an antagon- 4
ist in a duel One Of the favorite, duel-s
ing grounds for Georgians was Sapd-s
Bar Ferry, below Augusta andSfthee
soil there has. often, been crdsnsonBdt,
with the life blood'of' clifraifUuss Geor-:
gians. 49, ''s.r
While duellns was practiced to a
greater or less extent, in yall'-of' tfH.
southern states, but not near to the
frequency as in South Carolina and
Louisiana. s.:s:-, g.
And this characteristic is transpar-*
ent to anyone who has studied the,
early settlement and nativity OF the.
two peoples. Louisiana was first set-F
tied by the French and then acquired.
by Spain, and until several years after
our Civil war preponderating ma
jority of her population constituted. !.
these two -blooded and impulsiVe :
nations and to this day they retain
their characteristics.
The lower section of South Caro-
lima, and until the triumph of T1llman-
ism, the dominating and ruling por-
ton of the Palmetto State was largely
settled by Cavaliers from England and
Huguenots driven from France after
Louis XIV had revoked the Edict OF
Nantes. Both these claimed the blu
est of blue blood, they were brave 10
recklessness and hated tyranny, unless
such tyranny as they themselves ex-
ercised over their black slaves and
the political tyranny through Whicn
they dominated their state. The an
cestors of the English settlers had been
prosecuted by the Puritan oliver
Cromwell and the French by the Ro-
man Catholic Richelieu.
With the blood of such ancestry
coursing through their veins the cooe
duello and secession was as natural
sequence as for water to flow down
hill.
The apologists for duellinS. argue,
and with some reason, too, that FEWER
lives have been lost in such encoun-
ters than in street brawls. Where an
amicable settlement is possible It IS
made without bloodshed. Again, the
| duel puts the SIIldli oIiN' "Se-'> =
an caaulity with the larger and phys'T:
cally stronger antagonist. The duel
ling pistol is. about ten inches long one
and carries a large bullet q,
The last duel fought in South Caro-.
lima was between Cash and Shannon.
The latter was killed at the first fire.
Col. Cash was a hot-brained planter
and Mr.. Shannon a church worker and
a lawyer universally respected. IN
some litigation, Shannon submitted
certain interrogatories to Mrs. Cash
and which her husband declared IN
sulting and would listen to no explain
alton and challenged Mr.. Shannon.
1t is said that Shannon had decided
TO refuse TO meet Cash. as he was
conscicntiously opposed to duellinG,
but one of his sons, a young man just
of age. declared that he himself Woulo
accent the cartel, and rather than have
his sons life endangered. shannon
agreed to meet Cash. +
The duel provoked such an OUT
burst Of indignation that duelling was
outlawed by legislative enactment IN
South Carolina, and the sending or