The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1922-03-28

The young Miss Smith who accom-
panied Behethland Foote up the Sa-
luda on her midnight trip may have
been Sophia Smith. James Butler
the father of General William Butler
ha da sister who married Jacob Smith
Sophia was his daughter and there
fore a cousin of General William But
Ter. Miss Sophia Smith married
James Bonham and settled in the ole
Ninetv-Six district in the vicinity OF
the Maysons. Sophia Smith Bonham
was the mother of James Bonhan
wo perished so heroically in the
Alamo. Governor NJ. L. Bonam was
also her son. She was great woman
and richly deserves place among the
great women of the state. Having
like her cousin, by marriage, Beheth-
land Foot Moore, been left widow at
a comparatively early period Of her
married life she conducted her own
business affairs. with excellent tact
and efficiency; and, like the widow OF
General William Butler, spent the
last years of her life in the home OF
her son Governor NJ. L. Bonham, who
lived about midway between the town
of Trenton and .Edgefeld-the lives
of the two women seemed to have
flowed along parallel lines. If Sophia
Smith was indeed the girl who accom-
panied Behethland Moore up the Sa-
luda that night to give information
of the movement of Rawdon's troops
the parallel is very striking.
Only those who were favored by
social contact with General NJ. l.,
Bonham can form any adequate
Judgment of the. fine social qualities
of that old Roman. The writer re-
calls one of the most delightful even
ings of his life, years ago, and not
very long prior to the old governors
death, spent in his company. There
was great disparity, of course, be-
tween our ages-I mere boy and he
an elder with snow-white beard and
hair. We met accidentally at hotel
and long into the night he edited the
almost beardless boy with remlnls-
cences. rich and racy. ] recall one
which reflects the spirit of the times
in which it occurred. 1t was during
that period of the states history
known as Reconstruction. The old
governor was travelling up the Au-
gusta and Charlotte railroad to Co.
lumbia, perhaps from his home near
Edgefeld. When he entrained at
Trenton he discovered that the coach
was filled with Northern men and
women who had spent the winter IN
Florida. 1t was springtlme and the
busy farmers had discarded their
coats but not their boots which were
universally worn by men in those
days. Everybody, almost, carried
pis .ols, and frequently, for conven-
ience, thrust them down their high
bootlegs with the breech protruding
at the knee, their pants having been
already folded into the tops of the
boots. Morton was waving the bloody
shirt in the United States congress
and sensational papers were exploit
ing Bloody Edgefeld,' while the
constituency of our old state went
quietly along but prepared to defend
themselves from saucy and drunken
negroes and the inrolling tide of car
pet-baggers and toughs that drifted
as adventures into the state, yes,
quietly along, trying to make hv-
ing and recuperate their broken for
tunes.
The old train was dilapidated and
labored slowly along the track-stop-
ping for a considerable time at all
little depots along the way. 1t was
frequently the case that bystanders
about the depot would step inside the
coaches and draw a drink of water
from the water-tank.
When the train pulled out Of Tren-
ton, a tall Down-Easter, sitting be-
hind the governor craned his neck ov-
er the back of the seat and asked,
"Can you tell me, sir, what state
we are in?"
The governor recognized his nasal
voice and located his origin.
SIN Rebel South Carolina" was his
reply.
The Down-Easter passed the word
back and a number Of necks craned
out of the car windows to scan the
country, presumably for outlaws,
very much to the amusement OF the
governor.