Another From Buster ::

I've learned far more about the history of Camden in the past few years from Buster than I ever did in school!

On the slope of Malvern Hill is where John Young saved Henry Truesdale's life. Jim Sheorn and W.S. Kirby were on each side of Young. The following questions are to see what you remember from your American history class. How do you make corn pone? What key utensil does one need to make hoe cakes? How did the towns and counties of Union and Abbeville each get its name? Where in S.C. is the other Booger Town located? How many votes difference was there in making Granby's Ferry the S.C. state capital over Stateburg? Which neighboring county hosted the first secessionist meeting? Whatever happened to the Confederate gold? In the 1800's why was 'tar and feathering' popular? After Sherman went through an area, what were the locals dining choices? Where was the last Union officer killed in the War for Southern Independence? On the night before the battle of Malvern Hill, the four above named natives of Westville built a hickory fire, mixed their flour and water into dough which were made into pones which they wrapped in hickory leaves and let the bread cook on the smoldering coals. When the bullets started flying in the next day's battle and the rebs hit the dirt, the long legged Young told the sixteen year old Truesdale to get between his legs. Henry Truesdale was the only Westville survivor and he thought about his buddies every day for the next sixty-four years. In the agrarian south the farm hands would take cornmeal in their pails when they headed for the fields. They would build a fire, add the meal and water, clean a hoe then use the hoe to mix the ingredients. You would want the meal to stick to the hoe before adding additional water. If you peruse antebellum maps of S.C. you will notice that many areas are named for families such as Boykin, Clyburn, and Chestnut in this county. The Chestnut's are was located between Westerham and Pine Grove. Other areas are named for taverns such as DeBruhl's Tavern in Cassatt. The taverns were essentially inns for people and stables for horses. Also some areas were designated by churches, which often served as community centers, voting precincts, and post offices. In the upstate one church was built to serve both the Presbyterian and Episcopal congregations and from this joining Union became the town and the county. Below the state line near Gastonia there was another community union church where the Confederate soldiers met and drilled in Booger Town, which was a community green located next to the church. Nearby Stateburg, a prosperous community was part of Claremont County. When the S.C delegation decided to move the capital from Charleston, Granby's Ferry was chosen as the site of the new capital by one vote over Stateburg. Granby's Ferry was renamed Columbia in a close vote over Washington. A canal was built to link Columbia to Charleston and Camden diminished as a trade center. Claremont County was later changed to Sumter. Neighboring Chesterfield hosted the first ever secessionist meeting and there is a monument which recognizes this note. The town of Abbeville also claims to be both the birth and death place of the Confederacy. Abbeville was settled by French Huguenots who named the town after the city in France. Many Protestant Europeons were granted land in the Carolinas. There is a Secessionist Hill located in the town limits and Jefferson Davis held the last cabinet meeting in Abbeville. Local Pine Grove resident Tom Fort, an Abbeville native, tells of the local legend that the Confederate gold is buried near Abbeville. The only certainty is that when Jefferson's group fled into Georgia the Confederate Seal was tossed into the Savannah River.' Through Georgia and South Carolina Sherman's army left a trail of destruction. Southernners were required to tithe the government in goods or money so as the war concluded there was little wealth. Farming practices had changed because you can not eat cotton. The Union officers got a percentage of the gold and silver which was taken. Quite often the Yankees would sever the feathered mattresses and pillows looking for hidden valuables. With the need for tar to help lubricate wagons and carriages it was easy to "tar and feather' various miscreants. Sherman's troops would take all of the foodstuffs and needed livestock and kill what they did not need. One of the foodstuffs they would usually leave alone was blackeyed peas because they believed it was animal feed. Blackeyed peas are still a stable of Southern cooking. Sherman's troops bivouacked in Liberty Hill and the locals told that they picked the corn kernels from between the barn boards and made lye hominy. Squirrels and song birds were a major source of protien for many southerners. The last Union officer killed in the war was in the skirmish in Boykin. Parker Young's grandmother lived near Boykin and she told Parker that the rebel soldier was as quick to steal a chicken as a Yankee soldier. I would like to thank Kershaw Health's most professional nurse, Gayle Breon, for recomending the collected anecdotal stories which were compiled by the Daughters of the Confederacy for most of the information in this article. Thank you for your attention.