Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1921-03-02
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!. STATE HISTORY BY-WAYS. i.
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"A Suggestive Coincidence.
O. w. Daniel, ID. D., in The Chris
tian AdyOcate.)

tian AdyOcate.)
Tymahse. as James Adair wrote
! the name ono hundred and forty
years ago, was an Indian town in
what is now Oconec county, and was
located on the old keeowee trail as it
led from keeowce, the place OF null
berries. to the ovorhill towns. The
site of the town, Tymahse. is still
recognized, and the place whore it
stood still keeps the namo the Cher
okces gave it. The spot which ii oc-
cupied is now the site Of school
maintained by tho Federation Of the
Womcn's Clubs Of the State for the
education Of girls, and that fact sug-
gests the coincidence to which | al
lude, though the two facts are sep
arated by an hundred and forty
years.
Tymahse was seat of learning
for the Cherokees. They went there
for information and help from the
lips Of one Of their great teachers
or prophets. He intcrccded for them
before Ychewah. 1t is now place
whore the maids Of the foothills may
increase their store Of knowledge
and drink from purcr springs of wis
dom than the poor Chcrokccs ever
dreamed to be possible. 1t is indeed
Il suggestive coincidence that one
little hilltop. nesting among the in
Vulnerable hills Of Oconee, over
shadowed by the Sah-kon- na-gas, the
great blue hills, as the Cherokees
called the Blue Ridge Mountains,
should become the alma mater of
the two distinct races which have
occupied that territory within The
memory Of men.
The name has not been translated
so far as l know, but it is easy to
define by one who understands the
usage OF the Cherokee tongue. It's
historic setting also confirms it's
translation into English 1t Is de-
rived from to-meh, sunlight, and
two other component elements, the
locative ee and one syllable of Yo-
he-wah, the god of the Chcrokees.
This tribe Of Indians were very re-
ligious and incorporated one letter,
a, and frequently one syllable, all,
OF the name of their deity in many
or their words as Il note Of admira-
tion for, and an acknowledgment
of, their dependence on the Good
Spirit. In the composition of such
compounds the original word fire.
quently loses all but one syllable,
and sometimes all but one or two
letters. This compound name means
Place of the Sunlight of the Divine
Man; and one Of their wise men, a
rain prophet.gave the town its name
because he lived there. James Adair,
who spent many years among the
Cherokees, says: "In Tymahse,
lower Cherokee town. lived one Of
their reputed great divine men who
had a carbuncle near as big as an
egg, which they said he found where
a great rattlesnake lay dead" (the
rattlesnake was a subject Of Yenera-
ton by the Cherokees), "and that 1t
sparkled with such surprising lustre
as to illuminate his dark winter
house, like strong flashes OF contin-
ued lightning, to the great terror OF
the weak, who burst not on any ac-
count approach the dreadful fire.
darting place for fear of sudden
death. When he died it was buried
along with him, according to Gus
tom, In the town-house OF Tyhmase,
under the great beloved cabin which
stood in the westermost part of the
old fabric. where they who will run
the risk Of searching may luckily
find it," for the Cherokees regard
ed the resting place OF their great
men as doubly sacred.
The venerated carbuncle and the
wise old priest, beloved by his ma
ton, doubtless gave Tymahse its
name. They called 1t. in a worship
full spirit. the Sunlight Of the Divine
Man. because one OF Yo-he-wah's be-
loved prophets lived there and dis
pensed light on the dark problems
OF the red men.