An Interesting Post From Buster ::

I had no idea that Buster had ever had any involvement in this story which has always interested me!

Each of us has various benchmarks in our life. The night of Feb. 17, 1970 was a miserable night. The temperature was in the mid thirties and it had misted and drizzled all evening. It was not a night for man, beast, or fowl to have been outside. I had reported for work at seven a.m. and I knew that Lieutenant Joe Paulk had been the base duty officer for the last sixteen hours. Joe was writing feverishly. I assumed that the weather was so bad that he had an easy night so I said, "I bet you had an easy night." Joe never looked up and the room became quiet and then Sargent Sal Salvatore looked at me and said, "Well Lt. Beckham if you think two young children and their mother being murdered and a Special Forces Captain being in the hospital with stab wounds is an easy night, then Lt. Paulk had an easy night." At 3:50 a.m. Lt. Paulk was on routine patrol he received a call to head to a family housing area. He and the other military police entered to find Collette McDonald and her two daughters, 3 and 5 years old beaten and stabbed to death. The word "Pig" was scrawled in blood on a wall. The father, Captain Jeffrey McDonald, had multiple wounds in his chest and stomach. After McDonald was revived by mouth- to- mouth resuscitation, he described an attack by four intruders: three men and a blonde woman who wore a floppy purple hat. Another Lieutenant and myself quickly drove to the McDonald house to see if we could be of any help, but we also quickly found out that this tragedy was being handled way above our pay grade. While I never was a player in this terrible ordeal, I did know the players. I have followed this story through conversations, personal relationships, television specials, and books for forty years. As background, I had reported to Ft. Bragg as a Second Lieutenant on Jan. 2nd 1970 and was assigned as a platoon leader to C Company of the 503rd Military Police Battalion. The 503rd was a top notch outfit and it was also a mobile unit which means we would be flown to Washington D.C. to protect the Pentagon during the big student anti-war protest. One of my platoon sargents is in the famous picture of a female protester putting a flower down his gun barrel as he stood with a fixed bayonet. If you recall the early 70's were a challenging time. The unpopular Viet Nam war had not started to wind down, the army and soldiers were called 'baby killers' and often spit upon. There were some buddies who would go to college campuses to see girl friends and they would hide their sticker decals so that their car would not be vandalized. All of the military services were having huge racial and drug problems, but the army had more problems due to the high number of draftees. The Viet Cong had made easily available drugs to the in country G.I's, such as 70 to 80 % heroin versus 20% on American streets.Many of the drug dependent soldiers would report back to military camps to finish their military time obligation. We would often have to work in the stockade and you could take a bite out of the hate in the air. These times provided huge learning curves for me. Captain Jeffrey McDonald's wounds were not as deep or severe as those inflicted on his family members. Within days he became the prime suspect and hired a Philadelphia law firm to represent him. The entire ordeal was a public nightmare for the Army, especially coupled the strong anti war sentiment. The abbreviated aftermath of the Capt. McDonald story is well chronicled. He has been in prison since Aug. of 1979. McDonald had left the army and through the efforts of his former father-in-law, McDonald was found guilty of first degree murder in a civil trial. McDonald's father-in-law had initially been his biggest champion and had continually publicly blasted the military administration through the press. In 1983, Joe McGinnis published "Fatal Vision" which is the story of McDonald's trial. McGinnis had access and interaction with McDonald and his attorneys and his original thought was to show how the drug induced hippies had slaughtered the McDonald ladies. "Fatal Vision'' was later published as a television miniseries. In 1990 Janet Malcolm wrote "The Journalist and the Murderer'' which further cemented the belief that an overworked amphetamine influenced doctor killed his family. There recently has been published another book by noted author Errol Morris entitled,"The Wilderness of Error" which says that McDonald may be innocent. There never has been established a true motive for the murders. There was no estrangement between the couple and there was no lucrative insurance contract, plus other facts. In 1970 a military court had dismissed this case for lack of evidence. There are a lot of intricate stories weaved into this intricate web. It will be interesting to see what will become of this publication. Thank you for your attention.

Off Night For The Bulldogs ::

There is no game tonight so I imagine that the team has had this past week and next week to try to regroup. Hopefully something positive will come from this before next week's game with, I think, Lugoff-Elgin.

The Bulldog's Worst Season Ever? ::

The Bulldogs continue to perform poorly, to put it mildly. The score from last night's game: Hartsville--53 Camden--7 This starts me wondering just when Camden had its worst season ever because this is shaping up to be a terrible year!

Camden High Bulldogs ::

I hope that the coaches consider this to be a rebuilding season since last night's game was only marginally better than the first game of the season: West Florence--36 Camden--13

More From Buster ::

I received this from Buster a day or so ago:

Subject: Folk and Homemade Health What do the call letters I and S in WIS TV and radio represent ? The Cherokee Indians would mix and pulverize equal parts unicorn root, turnip, and ash berries and then add to gin in order to cure what body affliction? Why were horses that wintered in South Carolina usually more healthy than others? Frank Goodale and Likie Beleos both contend that taking pure coconut oil will help delay Alzheimer disease and in some cases reverse the stages of cognitive impairment. Frank has a internet site where a doctor used the oil to help her afflicted husband overcome this 'diabetes of the brain.' Ed Walden suffered from indigestion and heart burn for decades. After he began drinking apple juice and eating raisins which had been soaked in gin, his heartburn disappeared. Glen and Nancy Smith had a good friend who loved hot spicy food, but suffered severe heart burn afterwards. A doctor advised him to eat a dill pickle an hour before heading out for some Tex-Mex. Andy Denton's father told him if he drank pickle juice he wouldn't become overweight. Some athletic teams drink pickle juice before hot weather games to prevent muscle cramps. With the huge success of the Camden volleyball program, many young ladies enjoyed the opportunity of playing volleyball in college. Summer Owens Rigsby, Lauren Bowers Miles, Marlee Marsh, and Gretchen Williams Beckham all played at Converse where the coach had brought the practice of taking ice baths from the University of Tennessee. The tubs would be full of ice and the young ladies would sit in them between games.This ice bath regimen is now used by many professional teams. Water therapy is now a common practice for college and pro players to rehab, particularly those who have damaged knees. An athlete can duplicate the cardio workout without using the weight bearing muscles. Many colleges now use tread mills to work out the 300 pounders because it does not put so much pressure on the knees. In the mountains in the winter, the Cherokees would often have someone with a frozen limb. The cure was to put the limb into cold water until the frost was out and then rub bear grease very vigorously on the limb. In 1958 Dr. D.C. Jarvis, a fifth generation Vermonter, wrote the book "Folk Medicine" which sold over three million copies. This book is a treasure of stories concerning the health benefits of honey, apple cider vinegar, iodine, and other foods for health. Here are some tidbits of information. Race horses in South Carolina had better endurance than many others due to the high iodine content in the water. South Carolina is/was known as the 'Iodine State' and this phrase was displayed on the license plates for many years. WIS was one of the first radio stations in South Carolina and the I and S stand for 'Iodine State.' Iodine is used by the military to put into canteens to help purify jungle water. When you are moving through a humid jungle, you need plenty of hydration. Just a personal note, if you ever get overheated and nauseated you can taste the iodine. Trust me on that. Hunting dogs which had drops of apple cider vinegar placed on their food had better endurance than those which did not. According to Dr. Jarvis, a prime pick up drink for lunch is to take two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and two teaspoons of honey in a glass of water. In this way, one can obtain acid taken up from the soil by fruit, berries edible leaves, and roots, and the energy from the sun which exist in honey. He also states that it is beneficial to start a meal with a leafy green salad, which gives you the benefit of the acid from the soil and the energy from the sun stored up in the leaves. One would guess that sunlight is sparse in Vermont winters. Dr. Jarvis also states that many of his aged patients found success by rubbing castor oil on age spots or liver spots that appear on their face and hands. Castor oil can also be used to remove moles. He also writes that one tablespoon of corn oil at mealtime will be helpful in controlling hay fever, asthma and migraines because it helps keep the urine reaction on the acid side. Apple cider vinegar is a useful remedy for arthritis. The honeycomb, without the honey, is good to chew for breathing problems. Folk medicine was developed quite often by watching how animals reacted to certain conditions. An animal with fever quickly hunts an airy shady place near water,then remains quiet and drinks plenty of water. An animal with rheumatism will find a spot in the hot sunlight. The Cherokees used the roots, berries, and turnips to eliminate wind in the stomach. Thank you for your attention.

Camden High Bulldogs ::

Jim Ring nudged me earlier today to let me know that I had missed the score of Camden's first football game from last Friday night. I thought I had seen the score pass through somewhere, probably of a Facebook post, but I tried to confirm it in The State newspaper, but, like most newspapers, having a totally crappy web site I couldn't find a confirmation of the score. As it turns out the opening game of the season was not auspicious with the Camden Bulldogs losing to Cheraw by a score of 51 to 38.

Here's hoping for a better outcome with the next game. I have no idea what the schedule is, but I'll try to look it up.

Well, that was pretty easy. Tomorrow night the Bulldogs play West Florence. I'll update Saturday morning.

More Interesting Information From Buster ::

I got this a couple of days ago and just now found time to post it:

  Herbert Cooke's father worked for the city of Camden. His job was to take care of the city streets. He used either the city's mules, horses, or oxen and a bamboo apparatus to clean the brick streets. Nancy Ogburn and George Sandy can recall the brick streets around the old city hall which was located on Rutledge Street.
  The growth of commerce, trade, and transportation in Kershaw County spins an interesting tale which reflects the commercial history of our country. Teamsters, Indian trails, canals, railroads, trains, cars, boats, ferries, and immigrant labor helped form our history.
 The asphalt paving for most South Carolina roads began in the 1920's. Prior to the roads of Camden being paved, the city fathers covered the major commercial areas with bricks. Henry DuRant can remember when all of the city streets were not paved.
  If you look at the 1855 railroad map of South Carolina,  you will see that a spur (Camden Branch R.R.) ran from the Kingville Junction in Manchester north to Camden almost parallel to the Wateree River. This railroad ran from N.C. to Florence, Sumterville, Columbia, and Spartanburg.  Jim Thornton and George Sandy can recall the old Southern Railroad station terminal and bus station that was located  about where the new Dollar General store is located on DeKalb Street and up from Little Pine Tree Creek where the Camden First Baptist  baptized their new converts in the creek close to the hospital and the Haile Street Grocery.
  The major marketing day was Saturday and mules and wagons, if coupled with bad weather, could cause major traffic problems. The first impression that Gus Beleos had of Camden at the turn of the last century was how many beautiful white horses the local people owned. He thought with this many white horses this must be a rich city.
  The city livery area was in the Pot Licker area beside the the powder house next to Mad's Restaurant. The powder house was where the black powder was stored that was mostly used to blow up stumps. Herb Cooke spent several decades working as a plumber and says that quite often he would come across old stumps underneath some of the older downtown buildings.
  Bill Self, who operates Self Heating and Cooling, says that you can crawl under some of these older buildings and suddenly sink up to your elbow. The late Roderick Cantey told the story when that he was a young tyke he stood at the corner of Broad and Rutledge beside the former B.C. Moore building and watched the workers drain the swamp-like low area where Logan Appliance now sits. Old timers like Billy Nettles and Frank Goodale will tell you that older timers than them  told of good duck shooting holes that were located where Steve Van Horn now owns and operates Kenndey Insurance and  another very close to where the Kershaw County Farmers Market now sits.
 To also encourage downtown trade, the city leaders used bricks for pavement and illuminated the streets with gas lamps. Electricity did not come to Camden until 1913 when Kendall Mill began providing the mill village with electricity but only at night so that the the second and third shift could have some light.
  Removing stumps was a big problem in an agrarian society. Oxen proved to be better than mules for carrying heavier loads and removing stumps. Oxen would get on their knees to remove a stubborn stump. The first suburb of Camden was Boogertown and prior to its development it was a cotton field.
    Dr. Pete McCoy told that in the old days  wagons pulled by oxen would make the three week trip to Charleston and usually return with goods and salt. Salt was much needed to preserve meat. The major problem with taking a wagon to Charleston was getting the oxes, mules,  horses, and wagons across the Santee swamp waters.
  Ancrum Boykin has visited the Wateree Canal near Sawney Creek. The Wateree Canal was part of an intricate system to promote trade and was encouraged by George Washington. Because canal digging was harsh work and unprofitable for slave owners , many Irish workers were imported to dig. In the 1820's, land on DeKalb Street was sold to the Catholic Church of South Carolina so that a Catholic church could be built. This information can be found in Glen and Joan Inabinets’s excellent book, "A History of Kershaw County, South Carolina.'
  Many Irish were also brought to America in the 1840's to build the railroad through the mountains in order to link Charleston with Cincinnati. However, the War Between the States stopped this endeavor but there still remains a significant Irish population around Walhalla.
  Joseph Kershaw laid out the town of Westerham which was located directly across the Wateree River from Camden. The land provided to be more valuable for agrarian purposes, but the area was  called Westerham for many decades until the railroad bridge crossed the Wateree. Ferries were used before bridges were built.
  There is an old mill on the Carrison Canal which was built on what is now on private property north of of I-20 and west of the 521 interstate entrance.  The interstate system is often referred to as Eisenhower Roads because he lead the battle for creating a national interstate system after WWII.
   The earliest public assistance for the colonies was the development of the King's Highway which created an overland route through the major cities from Boston to Savannah.  Part of Highway 17 is still called the King's Highway in some places. George Washington later encouraged the use of canals and waterways to promote commerce and steamboats had their day. The era of steamboats produced two sayings which are still with us today. Starting in the 1820's and 30's many of the backwoods people began using the steamboats to migrate west in order to find cheap land. Since so many of these good citizens had the name of William, the more affluent passengers and the crews would call them Hill Billy's.
   Where you slept on the steamboat was determined by the ticket you could afford. The cheaper the ticket found you closer to the bottom. Many of the more prosperous passengers would be treated to private dining on top of the boat. Since pork was often served and was the most popular and longer lasting meat, the term 'eating high on the hog' became synonymous with fine dining on top of the boat..
  Railroads were able to move goods more efficiently and Atlanta, where the north and south railroads crossed with the east and west tracks, became the first major city in the U.S. which was not a major port. When the transcontinental railroad was finished, it took six weeks to go from the east coast to the west coast rather than six months.
 In the 1950's when commercial airliners could easily move passengers quickly from one coast to the other  the Giants and Dodgers moved from New York to Los Angelas and San Francisco. Babe Ruth always traveled by train to out of town games.
  Thank you for your attention.

A Message From Buster

I got this from Buster just a few minutes ago:

Bumped into Alec Blalock and Jack (Jasper) Walden at the hardware store yesterday afternoon.

Alec has become a vegan and lost 70 lbs. in 14 weeks. Since he retired as a rural mail carrier he has opened  diving operation in the submerged log business-- started before the tv show.

Jack, a retired Marine, is also an attorney and has cut back his practice. Saw Dicky Colvin a couple of weeks ago and he too has retired from his law practice in Georgetown

In the 'whatever happened to' news, Harvey Clarke and I went to lunch and he was telling me that Phillip England- 2 years older- dropped by to see him. Phillip is an international attorney for Phillip Morris. This info prompts the ?------there was a Barbara England in our class- does anyone know whatever happened to her?     B.

I remember Barbara, but I have no clue what happened to her. As I recall, she had a brother who was an actor in L.A., but I don't remember his name.

Heading For Camden ::

If all goes according to plan I will be heading out for Camden early Tuesday morning. I got the news at 1 am that my mother had passed away a couple of hours earlier. Visitation will be Tuesday evening at Powers Funeral Home with burial Wednesday morning at 11 am in the cemetery of Beulah Methodist Church in the Charlotte-Thompson community.

Here is a photograph I just got a short time ago.

Buster Beckham on the left, Johnny Jaynes in the middle, and Tom Davy on the right. Blogger has changed it's interface so posting here is not very intuitive for me 'til I get used to it, which will happen. Bear with me 'til that happens!

Some More Interesting Facts ::

Received from Buster yesterday:

Which current major university was once located in Winnsboro? Which famous Baptist minister regularly preached in Lugoff, Pine Grove, Winnsboro and the High Hills? William Sikes was the first famous person from this area. What was his claim to fame? How did the Lord Proprietors encourage settlers to move in to the S.C. back country? Which major street in Camden is named in honor of the colonial governor who led the fight against the Indians? In the colonial times, the back country in South Carolina started about fifty to seventy miles from the coast. Orangeburg, Camden and Cheraw were the major back country settlements. In the 1750's to encourage settlement, the owners granted free land to many European Protestants. These settlers kept many names from their origins. Dutch Fork, Saxe Gotha, and Orangeburg reflected the names of German and Swiss settlers. New Bordeaux was settled by French Huguenots while the Welsh Tract is on the Pee Dee. Many Scotch Irish settled Long Canes and one will find Scottish names which began with Mc such as McLean and McCaskill settled also around the Pee Dee and Lynches Rivers. The Irish Quakers were some of the original inhabitants of Pine Tree Hill. In one of the unusual ironies of history, the Quakers evolved in to conscientious objectors to war by embracing the commandment of 'Thou Shall Not Kill.' However there are many noted Hebrew scholars who say that the original commandment is "Thou Shall Not Murder.” Most of the African slaves who were in the back country were cattlemen. It was actually an African slave who told the governor of Massachusetts how Africans used the blood of cows in order to control small pox. After the American Revolution the slave trade became almost eliminated and at one point the importation of slaves to S.C. was prohibited. However, that changed with the development of the cotton gin and the need for a large labor pool to work the cotton fields. The profitability of cotton also had an impact on Camden as the major trading center in the midlands. The Camden to Georgetown water and road trade route was the most economically navigable route. The merchants of Charleston would often send their trade goods by water to Georgetown, then on to the midlands. However, when cotton became grown everywhere, the waterway from Charleston to Georgetown became unnavigable due to silt and the merchants of Charleston found another route which led them to Columbia. After that Columbia exceeded Camden as a trade center and eventually became the capital of the state. The inhabitants of the back country often fought Indians. Patrick Calhoun, the father of John C. Calhoun, was a fortunate survivor of a Cherokee massacre. One of the long standing story/rumors of history is that John C. Calhoun was the biological father of Abraham Lincoln. John C. Calhoun traveled through the Asheville area en route to Washington and Lincoln's mother worked as a bar maid in the travel taverns. She eventually married Tom Lincoln, a very short man, and moved to Kentucky. If you are ever in Washington D.C. compare the profile pictures of Lincoln and Calhoun. Under the administration of Governor Lyttleton, the major Indian threat was subdued. The British Crown was slow in developing efficient law enforcement in the inlands and so lawlessness quickly arose. Court cases were tried in Charleston and it took seven days to travel there by horse. Many of the most notorious leaders grew up in Camden including two sets of brothers. Grovey and George Black sold their land to Joseph Kershaw and became outlaw leaders. Thomas and James Moon, who were descendents of the first Quaker family, also sold their land and like the Black's started stealing cattle, horses, deer skins, and abducting women. There became an intercolonial commerce ring. William Sikes broke out of 28 jails from Boston to Savannah. Finally, the government financed and allowed militia units known as Regulators to attack the outlaw camps. The Regulators were successful and drove out many of the outlaw gangs, or at least got them to move to Georgia or the mountains of N.C. However, another problem arose. South Carolina was the only colony which did not have a vagrancy law so this area became a magnet for many less desirables. As the noted Anglican minister and historian Charles Woodmason wrote about Camden, 'the people lived in logg cabins like hoggs' and that 90 out of 100 back country women he married already were pregnant or already had children out of wedlock. Apparently he was not impressed with the local accommodations or the people. One Sunday Woodmason was holding services when the homes and businesses were robbed. The good people of Camden chased the thieves and fought a gun battle with the culprits on Twenty-five Mile Creek. The powerful regulators became vigilantes and routinely flogged those who they felt needed to be 'kept in line.' More judges and justices of the peace finally restored order. The religious churches were used as marking points for judicial administration. This area was St. Mark Parish, Cheraw was St. David, and Orangeburg was St. Mathew. Court houses were often used for religious meetings while churches were common meeting sites and polling centers. The Church of England, the Episcopalians, had not had much growth in the back country. one important reason was that the people did not favor the Stamp Act. There were orders of Lutherans (Newberry College), Methodist (Wofford), Congregationalist, Dunkers, Quakers, Sabbatarians, and the two most popular were the Presbyterians (Presbyterian College) and the New Light Baptists. Richard Furman, a Baptist minister, vigorously preached in this area and Furman University was named in his honor. Furman was a staunch rebel and ministered to the troops and locals about liberty. Cornwallis placed such a high bounty on Furman that he had to escape to North Carolina. Furman University was once located in Winnsboro, but a deranged student burned part of it down and they eventually moved the campus to Greenville. I would like to thank Dean Jordan and Doug McFie for providing much of the information for this article. Thank you for your attention.

What's Left ::

Here's what's left of the old old Camden High School and this will be gone pretty soon.

The photograph was swiped from Johnny Deal's Facebook page.