The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1921-08-23

we'll replied, 81 will not stay here to
be butchered,' mounted his horse and
fed at full speed; and as he went
out at one end of the field, in which
the house was located, he saw Cum
ningham and his men enter it at the
opposite end.
''The surprise Was complete and
! overwhelming. Hays and his men al
most without resistance were driven
! into the house, and Cunningham's
pursuit was so close, that John Tins
Hey, one of the Tories, struck full
blow with his sword at Hays, as he
entered his house. A few shots were
fired from within and without.
F; Lockley Leonard was killed in the
house and one of Cunninghams men
in the yard. A ramrod tipped with
flax and saturated with tar was set
on fire and shot out of musket into
the reof of the house. In moment
t, the house was in blaze. Hays and
his patriots on a promise of good
quarters surrendered. Cunningham
selected Hays and Maj. Daniel Will
liams "a son of Col. James Will
liams who fell at Kings Mountain) as
his victims. He was about hanging
them on the poles of a fodder stack,
when he was accosted by young son
of Col. Williams, Joseph Williams, a
lad of 16 who had known Cunning
ham from the time he was i child.
Captain Cunningham" said he,
Glow shall i go home and tell my
mother that you have hanged my
brother?"
Cunningham Instantly swore that
he should not have that melancholy
duty to perform. He hung him with
his brother and Hays. The pole broke
under the weight of the men. Then
Cunningham drew his sword and lit
orally hacked to pieces the unfortun-
late men. The slaughter did not stop
here. The Tory captain gave his men
permission to slay whomsoever they
pleased. Golden Tinsley and his
brother, James, of Newberry county,
William Dunlap of Huntersville, Lau-
rens county, and John Cummins were
,, the only patriots spared by the bloody
gang. James Tinsley moved to Spar
tanburg and related the facts which
l have given to Judge O'Nea!l as late
at 1882. Verify, William Box and
Joseph Williams were martyre to
the cause of our independence. Let
us turn from these horrible tragedies
to pleasanter things.
Belfast, which 1 incidentally men
toned in connection with the massa-
ere of Hays and his band of patriots,
was the home of the progenitor of
the Simpson family in Laurens. He
came from Belfast, Ireland, and
named his settlement in honor of the
city from which he came. You may
recall James Chalmers of New Gul-
nea; Stevenson calls him the greatest
soul on the Pacific. James Chalmers
named the first bay he discovered on
the coast of New .Guiena, Iverary
bay. Would he have ever dreamed OF
that name had he not spent his boy
hood days on Loeb Fyne. Iverness
in Canada, Belfast in Laurens and
Iverary bay in New Guinea, all SIM
ply express that home sickness of the
soul for the scenes of childhood's
days. 1t is just the soul telling where
lit was born, and unconsciously con-
Tossing that it is just a little home
sick. Belfast was just little effsrt
to give a homelike touch to the far
country. Unconsciously men will
make history, record their impres.
sions and write some times the deep
est longings of their hearts in the
names they bestow. The progenitor
of this honorable Laurens family eth
err wrote the longings of his heart for
the old home, or expressed his con-
viction of the likeness of the kllls and
dales of Laurens to those of far away
Belfast.
No one will ever know the longings
in the hearts of those old pioneers,
but names like Belfast open little
windows into the umecorded past and
we catch little visions of what they
felt and how they thought. One
thing, however, certain the fact abides
that they made good for God and
country, and they have committed to
US most honorable heritage.
Abbeville breathes the sweetest ap-
preciation of the scenes of a French
Fatherland. Bordeaux chronicles the
memories of the home land. These
1of&