Pate Family - Bladen County, NC - Biography Submitted for use in the USGenWeb Project Archives by Butch Butler FAMILY HISTORY WRITTEN BY DRUCILLA JANE PATE MEARES - 1923 (copied from poor copy received from Saralyn Perry of Brooks, Oregon, a daughter of Roderick Perry, son of Gertrude Perry, a daughter of Drusilla Jane Pate Meares, by Mattie Baldwin Harvey 1983.) (Page 1) Hallsboro N.C. Aug 30th 1923 I will start writing my history. Grand Father Benjamin Pate & Grandmother Drusilla Johnson Pate and their family came to Columbus County N.C. from Wake County N.C. When my Father Edwin Johnston Pate & his two brothers William Pate & Henry Pate I dont know what age they were when Grand Father came to Columbus County N.C. Father had one more brother & some sisters but if they came to Columbus CO I never heard Father mention them Uncle Henry Pate married Nancy Sessions & Uncle William Pate married a Miss Lewis They (moved?) to Montgomery Alabama I never saw (illegible) them (illegible) (Page 2) Father married Catharine Ann Campbell my mother She was a daughter of Daniel Campbell and Jane Downie Campbell MyGrandparents on Mothers side of the house I have the faintest reccolection of Grandfather Campbell as he gave me a pretty beatten tin pepper pot with a flower on it he is the only one of my grandparents that I ever saw I guess all the rest died before I was born I guess. Grandfather Campbell was a surveyor I remember Uncle Malcom Downie & his wife Aunt Kattie well she was Grandfather Campbells sister & he married Uncle Malcom Downies sister Jane. (Page 3) I was named for both my Grand Mothers Drusilla Jane Mother had one brother Daniel Downie Campbell he married Penny Hays (illegible) three sisters Jane she married Owen Hobbs Mary married Dougald Clark Effie married Daniel Council They all raised families Mother had 13 children 6 boys & seven girls I had four brothers older than I was All her children were living when she died in 1862 except one infant daughter died when she was eight days old her grave is the first grave put in the Cemetary at Shilo Methodist Church which is on the side (illegible) the Wlilmington & Whitevill road (Page 4) The revolutionary.soldiers (cut?) when they came throuph from Wilmington to Whitevill Saspan Swamp is just this side next to Whitevill of Shilo Church got its name from the Soldiers frying Sausage there the next Swamp is Friar Swamp I never heard how it got that name it was a wide Swamp (Crossover?) it on foot logs It is Briged now The first School I ever went to I had to cross Friar on foot logs my brothers had been leading me across the swamp It was wide & deep this morning they told me I had to cross bymyself so I started to go across I went a piece & couldnt (Page 5) go one step further so I jumped to the middle of the road in the deep water got wet nearlyall over my brothers got me out of the water instead of they taking me back home they took me on toward the School house A family lived by the road they took me in there to the fire and I kinder dried & went on to School & staid there wet all day I dont remember what my parents did to my brothers but they lead me after that The next big swamp is Salap (?) Swamp about two miles from Friar Swamp It got its name from the Solders playing Slap when they were camping (Page 6) there cutting the road so I have been told. I crossed Slap Swamp after I was grown in a buggy & it was so wide & deep in the main run We had boards laid across the top of the buggy & the horse swam a good pice The buggy was floting I was badly frighted the Swamp is over half mile wide It is briged now used to cross on foot logs I was born at what is known as the Nye place on the road from Shilo Methodist Churchto Bolton in Columbus County N.C. June 7th 1837 one mile below Shilo Methodist Church My Father was class leader of that Church (Page 7) and remaind class leader as as long as he lived He had prayr meeting evry Sunday at the Church When I was about 3 years old my Father & Mother & my four brothers all older than I moved on this side of Friar Swamp towards Whitvill All I remember about moveing was crossing Friar Swamp the water was deep & it Scared me We moved to a place known as the the Daniel place about a mile from the green Swamp into a big log house I remember the kitchen Mother cooked in had a clay floor in it Father lived there till he could build a new house I was about five (Page 8) years old I can remember well when they were building' the new house about one mile from the Wilmington & Whitvill road When we lived at the Daniel Place Father had a hog pen not far from the house & Bear would come up there out of the Swamp at night and kill hogs & would start to carry the hog off but Father would get out with his gun & dogs and the bear would drop his hog and make for the Swamp Father never had luck to kill one bear I rember when I was a girl 14 or 15 years old Father had a big bunch of cattle & they would go a way in the Green Swamp to eat cain If they didnt come out before night we could hear one bellowing and bells ringing runing (?) to (Page 9) the bear & the cow or yearling he was eating sometimes they would bellow for an hour or more the bear would beein eating as soon as he caught one didnt wait to kill it sometimes the catle would run the bear away from the one he had caught and it would come home with the rest of the catle bit through the sholders sometimes they would get well & have bad scars on them where they were bit The folks if the bear succeeded in killing one would get up a bear drive some would go to stand on the A.C.L. Rail Road and some would take the dogs in to the Swamp to drive for the Bear and (Page 10) those who would drive would go so far in the Swamp they would get lost and they would hollow and I would blow a horn so they could get the course out of the swamp sometimes the dogs would run the bear across the Rail Road but it wouldnt be in shooting distance of the ones who were standing for it as it would be so far a head of the dogs. The bear smelt the men standing & knew how to doge them sometimes the bear wouldnt cross the Rail Road the dogs would give out and quit running it a man that went driveing said the cain in the Swamp was so thick you couldnt stik a fine needle in it. (Page 11) In 1854 Father had a nice two storry house built and he and we children made the brick to build the chimneys to the new house Father would mold them & we children would take them to brick yard and turn them out to dry ready to burn 1 could carry two at a time and my big brothers would carry four or six I can tell you it was a tedious job After he built the new house we used the first one he built for a kitchen & dining room used the shed rooms for bed rooms one for a pantry we had plenty of room then. There were 6 boys and 6 girls Francis Marion William Washington Edwin Arnold Edward Daniel Malcom Downie Preston Johnson The girls were Drusilla Jane Catherine Ann Mary Caroline Euphimia Virginia Majoria Mellissa Orra Emma (Page 12) All were living when Mother died in January 1862 The Civil War started in 1861 brother William volenterd in Captian Munn's Company made up in Bladen Co N.C. We were all born & raised in Columbus Co N.C. William's company went to Fort Fisher I was married Sept 16th 1858 Sister Catharine was married May 13th 1856 Sister Caroline was married in May 1861 I have forgoten the date Brother Marion was married in 1860 I have forgoten the month & date brother Edward was married before any of the rest of the family & I have forgoten the.month and date of his marrage he died in Fla his widow is still living All the rest of my brothers & sisters were living at Fathers. brother Downie went to Wilmington on a A.C.L. Train there (Page 13) was some sick soldiers on the train with Typhoid pneumonia they were from Georgia Downie caught the disease from the sick Soldirs he was taken sick & came near dying All the rest of the family that was at home caught the disease from Downie Father Mother one brother three sisters died in January 1862 Sister Caroline took my baby brother Preston home with her he was very sick but the Docter staid right by him all the chance he could get from his other patients and sister nursed him and he pulled through and got well My oldest brother Marion came from his home & staid to help nurse the sick ones he caught the disease went home & died brother Edward caught the disease waiting on the sick ones and was (Page 14) very sick but pulled through & got well Bro William got a furlough came home when the family all got sick to to help wait on them he caught the disease & came near dying he got better his company gave him a discharge till he could get well when they called him to report his company had gone to Virginia when our folks all died Bro William Arnold Downie were left at home by themselves we were living near Council Bladen Co N.C. on the S.A.L. Rail Road We were making turpentine for a living When the war started in 1861 turpentine went by the board no sale for it My brothers William Arnold Downie begged us to go stay at home with them we moved back.to my home staid there till (Page 15) the War broke We moved to Rosindal Bladen Co N.C. Jan 26 1866 When we were married my husband bought.a tract of land at Rosindale Bladen Co N.C. The S.A.L. waant built then We didnt go to Rosindale to live till after the War broke. My husband leased a turpentine farm (?) near Council Bladen Co N.C. for five years he was to pay in yearly installments But he had the money and paid the whole of it down in 1859 he went to work Bro Edward went in to the buisness whith him they both built them a log house or hut Edward had two children then a boy & girl they they went to work had turpentine boxes cut hired the boxes chiped & diped My husband and Edward made barrels to put the turpentine in (Page 16) They had to haul the turpentine to Cape fear river and send it to Wilmington on flats The War started and then there was no sale for turpentine during the war fire went throgh the woods burned all the timber boxes houses and everything so it was a dead loss to us in 1860 they built S.A.L. Rail Road by Council I had two children born while we lived at Council two daughters It makes me so sad to think about those times After Bro Arnold Downie got well they volenteered and went to Fort Fisher staid there till the Yankees took the Fort in Decr in 1865 1 could hear the cannon bombarding the Fort It was just awful to think I had two brothers in the Fort (Page 17) Arnold was staitioned at the Signal Ch--(?) & was manager and staid at his post till Yankees took prisnor They made him throw his Suit case in a ditch with all the clothes he had except what he had on They carried him to Absayer (?) prison New York he caught the small pox he said the hospital where he knew had a bushel of cooties in it They bit him so bad they made bad boils come on him he had a friend there that was taken prisnor when he was after Arnold got so he could get up they turned him & his friend loose They had no money to pay their way home Arnold had a gold ring he had kept hid They started tramping he sold his ring for a good price (Page 18) to buy somthing to eat he said the Sisters of Mercy were very good to them and would give them somthing to eat They got back home in July 1865 Arnold was nothing but skin & bones so weak he toterd as he walked Bro Downie got wounded with a piece of shell They Put him as they did all the wounded soldiers across the river next to Wilmington he got home after a while My husband William James Meares he worked at the salt works on Cape fear river at what they called river side They would carry water water from the Ocean in flats & boil it to make salt after a while they detached him and other soldiers that were working there to come hime to make barrels to put salt in he (Page 19) worked making barels a while & got orders to report to camp Holmes Raleigh N Co staid there a while they examind him & found he wasnt able to stand hard ships on account of a bad scar on his leg where he cut it cutting turpentine boxes They gave him a discharge at Camp Holmes Raleigh N.C. and he came home & staid till the War closed He had one brother John Meares he was conscripted when they took the 16 year old boys and was sent to Virginia with Iiis Regment and we never did know whether he got killed or what became of him My husband William James Meares Father was Bethel Meares he married Elizabet Ann Council (Page 20) which was my husbands Father & Brother his Mother's Father was David Council he was a soldier in the War of 1812 1 dont know anything about his Father Bethel Meares people They had eight children William was the oldest he had two brothers Mark & John Mark lived to be grown took sick and died in 1869 John went to the War & never returned William had one sister Adaline She married Andrew Perry She died left two sons Gaston & Clem Williams Mother died When & he & What of the children were living were small a negro woman that belonged to them took care of the children When William and Adaline were about grown he married his second wife she didnt live a year (Page 21) in 186l he marrid his third wife They had three children a girl & two boys Williams Mother owned a lot of land she inhereted from her Father David Council and some Negros her husband made her sell her land he bought land with her money and had the deed made to himself made her sell her Negros he bought more negros with her money & claimed them as his own so she didnt have anything she could call her own he lived to be 82 years old I believe before he died he made a Will giving every thing to his last Wife & her three children disinherited William and his two grandsons when the property came by William & Adalines Mother & rightfully belonged to them William & Gaston & Clem Perry the (Page 22) only heirs of Elisabeth Ann Couhcil Meares living. We staid at my old home during 1865 They farmed & made some turpentine that Summer The next winter he went to Rosindale Bladen Co N.C. which was on the S.A.L. rail Road He built a Shelter on the tract of land he bought when we were first married & slept under the shelter at night Went to work & built us a log house The people round there were good they both White & collerd helped him do what part of the building he could not do by himself. I had two children born when I was living at Council Bladen Co N.C. two daghters I had two born while I was living at my old home in Columbus Co N.C. a girl and a boy. (Page 23) All the rest of my children were born at Rosindale Bladen County N.C. I had seven girls & two boys We moved to Rosindale Bladen Co Jan 26th 1866 & my husband began making turpentine again turpentine sold for a good price after the War closed. We raised all of our children to be grown They all got married They are all living now excedt two daughters that died after they married, one of them left a baby one week old a girl I raised her.to be seven or eight years old her father got married to my youngest daughter They went to Jacksonville Fla to live they took our darling Grand child away from us and it broke my and (Page 24) her grand Fathers hearts to part with her They sent her to see us once a year for a while She is married now and is living in Kansas My other daughter that is dead lived in Fla too in Callahan Fla She left three children one boy & two girls I spent two winters with her in Fla after her father died and I was left all alone I never saw her after she got sick I was too feble to take the trip She had a good husband S.J. Baldwin he had every thing done for her that human skill could do But it was the Lords will to take her from him and their children her husband & children live now in Miamia Fla (Page 25) My husband died May 23rd 1907 Was 77 years and a few months old I staid on at my home at Rosindale for a lone time after he died sometimes right by myself some of my grandchildren lived with me some of the time There was a family living in in calling distance My good friends if they hadn't been living there I couldnt have staid there by my self It was so lonesom after my husband died & I was left alone I had to break up house keeping I came to Hallsboro Columbus Co to live with J.D. Meares have been making his house my home ever since I never have been satisfied since I had to leave my home (Page 26) after living there so long We both worked hard all the time and raised our children My husband was a great hand to raise fruit and stock cows sheep and hogs We had a big bunch of Catle and sheep When we moved to Rosindale Bladen Co he couldnt raise many hogs while we lived at my old home the bear killed them so bad after we moved to Rosindale Our catle would go back to the Green Swamp every winter some of them would go back to Rosindale in the spring but as a general thing he would have to take help & go down there and drive the main bunch home & the children would be delighted when they would see the cows coming home for the Summer (Page 27) A company hired hands to go into the Green Swamp to make cypress shingles They stole our nice young hifers & stears & killed them to eat After they got to making shingles in the swamp that ran the Bear further in the Swamp so they didnt bother the cattle so bad. Our sheep went two miles from home they were gentle could take them anywhere when they left home & went & took up in the thick woods & betwn people stealing them & dogs killing them the whole bunch got destroyed It was a good range in summer at Rosindale for stock he and his nighbors would burn woods every spring for the stock to feed on Our oldest son J.D. Yeares decided he would (Page 28) raise goats he made a pastur and raised a big bunch & they got to stroling away from home and soon went to nothing like the Sheep did. A man had a sawmill one mile from home sombody sold him hogs that were effected with cholrea Our hogs that were at home caught the cholrea and evry hog; we had at home died except one pig we had some two miles from home if we hadnt had some away from home we would have been out of the seed of hogs when we moved to Rosindale we hived a lot of bees I wish I had one dollar for evry swarm of bees I ever hived we would take honey evry June and we would have old honey When we would take new we would sell some & give our (Page 29) neighbors that didnt have honey both White and Colerd some I used honey to preserve peaches as we had a lot of nice peaches and apples The blight got among the trees & they all died when I broke up house keeping there wasnt but two or three apple trees alive on the place & no peach trees W had plenty of milk & I made butter throgh the Summer season I was a good hand to make light bread to eat with the honey & butter thrugh the summer season when the cows would go back to the green Swamp we would have to get on without milk.arid butter But we would kill hogs and have pork & I would make sausage & liverpudding (Page 30) and souse for us to eat through the winter We wouldnt kill all of our hogs at one time so we could have fresh meat all a long through the Winter & Spring I had plenty of collards & turnips to cook with the pork It makes my mouth water to think of the good things we had to eat those days The way we got our clothes during the 'War I would spin wool & cotton on my spinning wheel touse for filling I sent wool & honey to Rockingham to exchange for spun thread What was called a block of cotton 5 lbs in a block which would warp about 30 yds There was a cotton & wool mill in the town of Rockingham in Rockingham Co They wove cotton and wool cloth but it was a high price (Page 31 ) I would sit up of nights after my children would go to bed card rolls to spin next day What chance I could get to spin I would have to dye warp with maple & other barkes then size it with corn meal gruel to make it stiff I would have to dampen it rool it up in a cloth then spool it on cane or cob spools on my wheel then put in my place : where I put the spools then warp it on warping bars which was pegs driven in the end of a house I would go up & down up & down till I would emty the spools I had to be very particular not to make mistake when I got through warping I would take it to the loom I had to have two persons to help me put the thread on the beam at the back (Page 32) of the loom When I got it beamed then it was to draw through the hrness one thread at a time then throueh the sleigh that was fstened in the bottom two threads at a time then tie in small pieces to a rod that went across the loom then it was ready to go to weaving I had temples to Co from one side of the cloth to the other to keep it straight and smothe then the filling was to quill on the spining wheel on cane quills just to fit the Shuttle so any body that never had such to do cant imagine the trouble it is to make cloth at home I would.take my children into the woods & pick dye flowers to dye wool thread red to make my (Page 33) woolen frocks to keep them warm & safe from catching afire Their father wasnt satisfied unless they were clothed in woolen clothes in cold weather The first calico I bought after the War closed cost 25 cts a yard Evry body wore homspun during the War it made pretty dresses I also wove jeans for to make my husband clothes. I could weave all kinds of cloth spotted counterpanes & white ones that I had to draw through the hrness by a draft on paper all kid of jeans I quit weavinc: after the 'tyar when I moved to Rosindale as I had no place (Page 34) to put up a loom but I hired cloth woven I would fix it all ready to weave & get sombody to,take it & weave it for me so my children still had woolen clothes My children as well as my self they never got the chance to go to public school but very little Their father built a public school house in the center of the district not far from our home at Rosindale We had one three month's School in it then they the School Manegers tore up the districts-& atached our childred to Boggy branch ditrict The School money that was in the treasury got mising nobody could tell what had become of it (Page 35) The neighbors joined to gather & hierd a teacher to teach a private School in a school house one mile the other side of Rosindale next to Whitehall I have forgoten how long the school lasted one way and anther three of my girls got educatin enough to teach school They went to Boggy brach school & we had two other good private schools one at White Plain, Precher Garriss taught that the children had to walk two & one half miles to that school he was a fine teacher the children got on fine at school The dypteria got in the school and several of the pupils died I had one little girl came near dying with it (Page 36) One family lost three children and the Brother came near dying We had a terible calamity in the neighborhood where I was raised When I was a girl a man named Bithel Mitchell lived two miles below Shilo Church on the Wilmington and Whitevill road He marrid a good woman she died she left two small boys he married the second time a good woman of a good family his people lived not far from Lake Waccamaw They were a good family of people a man named Shaw would come from up the Country in a coved waggon and bring tobaco spun cotton white homspun (Page 37) to sell blocks of spun thread 5 lbs in a block They had a cotton mill up the Contry This man Shaw would buy all the fur hids he could get in his travels They had a shoe factory up the contry He went to Mitchels house late one afternoon he pursaded him to stay all night and he would go to Bolton with him a town on the A.C.L. Rail Road told him he knew he could buy all the hids he he wanted at Bolton so Shaw decided to stay ater supper Mitchel lighted a hand torch he took an ax he said to cut more light wood with Shaw thinking he was on his way to Bolton as he didnt know anythig about (Page 38) the Country Instead of Mitchel going to Bolton he went into a big Bay on an Island Sathing got in his Shoe & was hurting his foot he Shaw sat down on a log & pulled off his shoe while he was stoped over examining his foot Mitchel knocked him on the head with the ax and killed him he dug a hole in the ground just big enugh I guess with the ax to cram the body in with his knees sticking up One of his knees was sticking out of the ground when by brother Marion found him he put the shoe in the hole with the body Mitchel robed him took his (Page 39) pocket book & what ever he had that he wanted So Mitchel had his two muls waggon & everything in his possesion he Mitchel got to peddling on Shaws things The people got suspicous Went on to Mitchel to know where Shaw was he told them he went to Bolton & went off on the night train & told him to take care of his things till he Shaw came back but he said he hadnt come yet So the people suspected him of somthing wrong They investigated at Bolton No body had seen Mitchel nor Shaw so they got out a warrent (Page 40) for Mitchel & arrested him Mitchel My brother Arnold Pate took Whitvill & put him in jail I dont know whether they were walking or not but think they were But when they got across Slap Swamp he Mitchel told Arnold he wanted to stop there was a big log lying side of the road so he let him stop he went behind the log & staid awhile came back in the road they went on to Whitville put Mitchel in jail Arnold was suspious he M wanted to hide somthing as he came back home he went behind the log to see if Mitchel had hiddin anything he found Shaws pocket book with over a hundred dollars in it he carried the pocket book (Page 41) to the Shriff of Colubus County then the people began serching for Shaws body The whole CO was was in a stirr over it evrybody was in the hunt an army of men they hunted every mile and corner they even examind the well of water thought maby he had put him in it When they were hunting him his smalest boy began crying and said My papy didnt kill that man Mitchell hadnt been married to his second wife but a short time then she told the people that Mitchell and Shaw left there to go to Bolton was the last time she had seen Shaw So the people (Page 42) decided to go into the big bay to hunt they went on the Island in the bay scattered all over the Island my oldest brother Marion Pate found where he had cramed the body in a hole one of the mans knees was sticking through the ground I guess M dug the hole with his ax broght there the crowd they got the body out of the hole one of his shoes was off his foot I dont know how they got the body out of the bay they put him in a coffin they carried him to Whitevill carried Mitchell to the coffin had him to straigtin Shaws head in the coffin with his hands Shaws brother came and took charge of his things took his brother home to bury him (Page 43) I dont rember why they carried Mitchell to Wilmington N.C. to try him for his life They tried him convicted him and hung him in Wilmington N.C. They brught him to Lake Waccamaw & buried him somwhere not in a graveyard he told the people under the gallows that he killd Shaw with his own two hands nobody else had one thing to doe with it and he deserved to be hung his first wifes people took her two boys Malcom & Alexander to raise Malcom died when he was a boy Zan as they called him is living now as far as I know people didnt slight him for what his Father had done After he was grown he went to the Sate of (Page 44) Georgia and married was getting on well the last I heard from him Mitchell's second wife went back to her people She had a girl baby but I dont what ever became of them. The place Mitchell lived on belonged to his first wife and her children after her death This ends the.history of the Mitchell case 'When my husband and I moved to Rosindale Bladen Co after the War closed I dont remeber how long we had been living at Rosindale But a terrible thing happened in the neighborhood one of our neighbors Mr Haskett lived about two miles from Rosindale on the (Page 45) Whitehall & Whitvill road he had been a Widwoder a long time he came there from Jones County N.C. he brought his children two daughters two sons the oldest son died he & his daughter and baby boy not half grown that left him the two girls & the boy he & a nother man had a turpentine Still where he lived before the War he never brought his children to Bladen till the War closed as he had to go to the War One Winter he and his youngest daughter his other daughter was working in Willmington N.C. decided to go to Jones Co to spend Christmas with their people (Page 46) so he made his arrangements to go to Jones Co he had six nice hogs he killed them salted down his pork tried up the lard put it in canes hierd a man named Mathews to stay at his house & take care of his things till he came back he expected to be gone a month while he was his son John Haskett about half grown & Monroe Buie a young fellow Staid there When they were not Stroling among the Mulattoes never home of nights having parties at the colerd Peoples houses with the Mulattoes one evening the hired man went to a mans house to get some tobacco (Page 47) said he must hurry back as he left his dinner & supper cooking as he hadnt cooked dinner that day he left in a hurry to go to his cooking That is the last time he was seen by any of the neighbors the man where he went to get tobacco got uneasy and went to investigating to see if he could find out what had become of the man he went to all the ways he could have gone no body had seen him he came from over Cape fear river he had told people The people went to the river to see if any body had put him across the river Nobody had seen him a colerd woman lived not far from Mr Hasketts had over to (Page 48) while the man was gone to get the tobacco to borrow an iron Jhon Haskett & Mnro Buie were there After she got home she heard a terrible fuss over at Mr Hasketts house She didnt know whether they were killing the man or not The people gatherd up & searched evrywhere except in a big bay that was close the house Never found any sign of the man but he never has been seen since that evening when he went to get tobacco the man he went to his house to get tobacco got out a warrent had John Haskett and Monroe Buie arrested They were tried but got clear as they couldnt prove the man wasnt living (Page 49) Mr Haskett & his dauehter got back home just before the boys were tried he was worried nearly to death over the case so much of his rations gone and things out of house After John & Monro got clear of the hierd man they & Ike Young he was nearly White had a free hand to doe what they pleased with Mr Hasketts gike (?). Young carried a shoulder of pork to the Store near where we lived to sell It was cold weather he had Mr Hasketts riding blank. around himself A colerd man was seen the night after the woman heard the row that evening coming from Cape fear river With an empty cart cart his ox puling the cart (Page 50) he was a silly man didnt have good sense people thought they killed Mathews & got this man with the ox & cart to carry the body & throw it into the river John staid with his father & Sister till after he married a young girl he was 62 years old when he married the second time his second wife died she left five small children three boys & two girls Mr Haskett lived to see all of his last wife's children grown John was about grown when he left his father he went to Lumberton N.C. I dont know what kind of work he did in Lumberton but he got into trouble his sisters paid him out of his (Page 51) trouble he drifted on to S.C. the last his people ever heard of him he quit writing home so they didnt know whether he was dead or not I was so sorry for his father and sisters they were our special freinds When I was a girl they were building this divison of the A.C.L. Rail Road through the Green Swamp from Wilmington N.C. The first Engine I ever heard blow when they go The Rail Road built up to the Green Swamp They had to drive down pilling to build the road bed on through the Swamp People went from far & near to see them drive pilling I didnt go to see the work done when they got so they (Page 52) could run the train up to Lake Waccamaw the place was called Flemington there was nothing there then except a pump & a shanty for the pumper to stay in no other buildings of any kind The engineer Tom Carrell's Brother in law Mrs Brothers put up a frame building had it coverd shingles covered (?) two rooms in the end with paper built a dinning room & kitchen it was called the Hotel Mrs Brothers finely finished the building & she and her.daughter Mrs Carrell the engineers wife lived in the Hotel Mrs Carrell had three daughters & one son the son is the only one of the family that is living he has a wife & one daughter I (Page 53) have forgoten where he lives now Miss Lizzie Carrell & old maid staid in that old hotel with an old collerd woman and on 4th of Julys would furnish meals for people Miss Lizzie died 3 or 4 years ago before she died she requsted her brother to take the old collerd woman & take care of her as long as she lived and he did so That old Hotel stood there till not long ago it was proped up in some places My oldest brother Marion set two Elem trees out in front of the Hotel They were great large trees The last time I saw them It was the first building put up at Lake Waccanaw (Page 54) When they were building the State highway road from Charlot N.C. to Wilmington N.C. the old Hotel was in the way & they tore it down & cut the Elm trees down I dont rember what date it was when the train got to running to Lake Waccanaw to Whitvill But the first train I ever saw was at Flemington that was what the Station was called then I was just a girl My cousin Ann Downie she was grown & three of my brothers and Jim McMorton Anns uncle went up to Flemington to see the train one Sat A.M. the first train we ever had seen (Page 55) Cousin Ann & I went to see a woman we were aquainted with lived a mile from the Depot my oldest & Jim McMorton got on the train & went to Whitvill as the train came back we were at the Depot I didnt want to go but nothing would do but Cousin Ann and I must get on the train & go home with her uncle who lived on the other side of the Green Swamp It was the first train we ever rode on My brother Marion rode McMortons horse around about ten miles that evening We came back to my home next day I tell you I was glad to get back home that was the last (Page 56) time I ever went to that mans house he had a mother an old lady and a sister living with him one mile from the A.C.L. Rail Road and to cap everything he went to a mans store that sold whiskey and got drunk he was in bed nearly dead when we left his house I was sorry for his Mother & Sister Old Mrs Blue lived about a hundred yards from the A.C.L. Rail Road where it crosses the Green Swamp She had three daughters & one son Mary Flora & Ann Dougald Mary used to go & stay with Mother She would card wool rolls & I would spin (Page 57) them on a little wheel Father bought for me I was then 12 years old as well as I member I would spin one pound a day to weave into cloth to make our clothes I used to go home with Miss Mary to see her folks She was an old maid her sister Flora looked was sick most of the time I used to like to go home with Miss Mary I would go with Ann to drive their cattle home of evenings they had a big bunch cattle 14ade lots of butter They had a lot of bees too They had a jug that had two handles it held ten or fifteen gallons to put the honey in They had a paddle to run (Page 58) down in it to get the honey out with I never saw a jug like that before nor since I would feast on Jonny cake and butter & honey They lived well They had a farm Mary & Ann both got married Mary married a man about half as old as herself they built a little house on Marys land & moved into it I dont remember what ever became of them One of Ann's sones live over the Swamp from Hallsboro he married Cora Mcdougald Mr Jim Mcdougalds daughter They come over here to Church sometimes the old lady Blue and Flora both died (Page 59) After the Rail Road was built by there Dougald Blue built a house side of the Rail Road & was made Section forman on that section he married Lizzie Sessions She was young a daughter of Isaac Sessions They raised seven daughters No sones his widow is still living The girle's were smart They worked on the farm went to School to Bolton to night School made a good living I think the girls are about all married Dougald Blue was old when he married I heard last Sumer that they had gotten patent hives (Page 60) to put their bees in and one night a bear went there and tore up three of their hives and eat all the honey and they didnt know it till next morning. Dugald ownd a fine horse he & Ann would come to Shilo Church every Sunday to prayer meeting She would ride behind him That was stile those days It was seven miles to where they lived to go round the Swamp two to go through the Swamp (Page 61) I was about to forget to put one of the most horrible things that ever happened in Columbus Co in my history An old Lady named Meedly lived by herself except her Negros She had them clearing new ground The were burning log heaps An old man and a young woma.n they killed their mistress & threw her on the burning log heap. I dont know how much of her didnt get burnd up The people took the negros to Whitville & put them in Jail They tried them in Court convicted them and hung (Page 62 - missing) (Page 63 - missing) (Page 64) My next brother to shoot a bear was Arnold he was older than Edward but was next to him (?) he staid at Uncle Owen Hobbs It was Sunday night he ate supper there went on home at 10 Oclock but on his way home he saw a bear but had no gun When he Got home we were all gone to bed We had hog pen's across a small branch not far from the house Arnold heard a hog sqelling he took a gun ran to the pens met a bear running Towards him he shot it but it ran off to the Swamp next morning they went to see what the bear had he had killed two -End of manuscript- (The preceding was made from a copy of an original manuscript -provided by Mrs. Mattie Baldwin Harvey, wife of Merle Kenneth Harvey, daughter of S.J. Baldwin & his wife Elizabeth Drusilla Meares, and grand daughter of William J. Meares & his wife Drusilla Jane Pate. Drusilla Jane Pate Meares was author of the preceding manuscript. This typed version, essentially true to the original handwritten copy, was made by Owen D. Harrell - june 1984. It was given to H.P. "Butch" Butler in 1986 who scanned it into digital format in 1996.) ====================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogy information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must contact the submitter or the listed USGenWeb archivist.