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Franklin Repository: January 19, 1870Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
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Columbia and Chambersburg
(Column 03)Summary: This letter, written by A. K. M'Clure, describes the state of Columbia, South Carolina, after its partial burning during the war. After contrasting this burning to that of Chambersburg, M'Clure argues that the best hope for the South is for Northerners to move there and take over all aspects of industry, agriculture, and social life.
Full Text of Article:To the Editors of the Franklin Repository:
The blow of the Vandal that doomed Chambersburg in the summer of 1864 was terrible in its rebound, and its fatal fury fell upon the most beautiful city of the South. Columbia is the capital of the State that gave birth to the monster Secession. It was here, in the midst of her green oaks, almost arching the broad streets with their boughs, that the first convention was called to inaugurate the dismemberment of the Union, and it was here that the first ordinance of secession was fashioned and considered. As if to foreshadow the fearful retribution that was to follow the attempt to destroy the government, the passage of the secession ordinance was interrupted, and the convention driven to Charleston, by the appearance of a malignant epidemic in this usually most healthy city. In the winter of 1865 Gen. Sherman came, and his footsteps were marked by desolation. By whose order the capital of the chivalry was doomed to the flames, I will not attempt to decide, but it is not questioned that released prisoners, long tortured and starved in Southern prison-pens, and portions of the legions of Sherman, especially the sons of the Keystone State, flung the torch into many of the palatial and forest shaded mansions of the sublime votaries of disunion. On that dreadful day and night, when the flames were kissing each other above the house tops of Columbia, the cry - "In memory of Chambersburg," carried despair to the inmate of every home at whose door it was uttered. It was the signal of desolation, and the flying mother and children of the South cursed the name of M'Causland as they bowed in agony before the consuming retribution that had fallen upon them. In vain did brigade and division commanders attempt to stop the work of destruction, and Gen. Sherman himself finally appeared amidst the flames and saved a considerable portion of the city. The Convent was swept down in the stream of fire, and the nuns appealed to Gen. Sherman for protection. "Go," said he, "select a retreat and I will guard it." They opened the gates of the Hampton Mansion, and thus saved the parental home of the brilliant confederate trooper. It stands in the middle of a full square, surrounded by a forest of oaks and shrubbery, but it has not escaped the rust and delapidation that reign throughout the South. On the main business street, extending from the capital a mile or more in the North west, not a tenement survived the flames, and for several squares in almost every direction, the escape of a building was exceptional. A beautiful church was fired because it was supposed to be the place the secession convention met, but its parishioners suffered for the sins of another. The old weather-beaten brick church that entertained the fathers of secession, still stands in painful solitude, surrounded by charred walls and the blackened trunks of the once graceful shade trees that beautified the streets. I have walked through the ruins of the main street in Chambersburg, and heard the shrill greeting of the owl from the broken columns and withered bowers of the fated village, and felt that sorrow had reaped its fullest harvest there; but I then did not know how greatly the people of the North were blessed above the people of the South. Chambersburg has recovered. Her people had energy, industry and hope, and they reared new homes over the ashes of their old ones. Here and there the blow was crushing, but as a rule the same people are there enjoying the beautiful structures they have reared to retrieve their adversity. Not so in Columbia. Her people still sit in despair in the midst of their desolation. Her men walk the streets from day to day in sullen, hopeless helplessness, and her mothers and daughters seem to be widowed in pride, poverty and hate. A few of the more enterprising, chiefly of the despised industrial classes, have built stores on the broad avenue of trade but still four-fifths of the street lies in horrid vacancy, and the houses which escaped, all bear the marks of indolence and decay. Not until the Northman comes, with his capital and energy, or until another generation supplants the present, can Columbia be restored to her former beauty and prosperity.
As Gen. Sherman has well said, war is, at best, savage and barbarous. The whole South has felt the force of her memorable sentences written in the ruins of Atlanta; but the measure of judgment meted out to South Carolina is unknown in any of the other Southern States. It was South Carolina that made the sword the arbiter between the North and the South. She would accept no mediation. She spurned the peaceful, constitutional means of redress for real or imaginary grievances. Her guns first thundered against an unarmed vessel bearing provisions to a starving garrison in Sumter, and her hot shot were poured into the little command of Maj. Anderson, before a hostile act had been committed against treason. Here the war began; here it culminated, as Sherman swung across her Northern borders to receive the sword of Johnson, and here have fallen its bitterest fruits. Here the cup of humiliation has been drunk to the dregs. Her people were a people and a law unto themselves. Her lords were the most lordly of all the South, and her serfs the most ignorant and abject. The lowest grade of the negro swarms on the lowlands, along the coast, and the most pitiable and degraded whites I have seen, starve out a miserable existence on her sand hills. And all this is found in one of the most fruitful States in the Union, and enjoying the most salubrious climate. Her plantations embraced whole townships, and poverty and pride were the natural offspring of the madness of her ruling class. Emancipation swept nearly four hundred millions of property away from the few proprietors, leaving them prostrated in bankruptcy, hopelessly ignorant of all rules of industry, and bound by a pride that yet makes them prefer poverty and want, to well earned plenty. If they have been first and deepest in the crime of secession, they have been made to suffer as no other people have suffered. The lordly master of the broad plantation is now the subject and the servant of the bondman. The new capital, commenced by South Carolina, in her boundless pride, long before the war, and designed by the the leaders as the capitol of the southern Oligarchy, stands near the centre of the city, still unfinished, and surrounded by massive columns, many of them broken by the fire that swept by it. Its architectural beauty is not apparent at first glance, as its grand Corinthian pillars, elaborately carved stone cornace, and exquisite marble finish, are still wanting; but a million dollars worth of the finest marble and stone work, designed to adorn the great capitol of the South, now lie as worthless rubbish throughout the capitol grounds. Already more than three millions have been expended on it, and two millions more will be necessary to complete it. On the imposing front, facing the main street of the city, an elaborate marble finish relieves the cold, grey native granite, and in bas relief are sculptured the revolutionary leaders, M'Duffie and Hayne. In a lower range of massive granite blocks, are deep alcoves for life-size statues of Calhoun and his co-laborers in secession, some day to be filled, under the new order of rulers, by statues of those who have been most conspicuous in maintaining the universal brotherhood of man, and the dusky features of some child of bondage, may yet fill the niche designed for a Rhett, or a Hammond. The building has been fitted up temporarily this winter, and the first law makers sitting in the new capital, are the long-despised bondmen, and their few white friends, who, as a rule, are strangers to the State. On its Western walls are the enduring marks of Sherman's round-shot, as they were hurled from beyond the Congaree, to tell of his long dreaded coming. The conqueror sits in her places of power to administer the laws enacted by the recent victims of the lash and chain, and her statute laws are the precursors of a strange people, who are gradually coming to mark her waste places with fruitful fields, and dot her districts with schools to ennoble the coming men of every race, and rear new churches to the living God. Truly -
"The mills of the Gods grind slowly,
But they grind exceedingly small/"Very slowly the more liberal men of South Carolina are learning the lesson of Fate. For nearly five years they have made war against progress. They could not and would not believe that the sacred social and political laws of South Carolina must be changed. They clung to every ray of hope as the drowning man clutches at the floating straw. They had hope in Johnson, but saw all his promises turn to ashes in their hands. They had hope in Seymour, and even in Blair, who shared in the destruction of Columbia, but it vanished as the nation rolled up its great majority for Grant. They took fresh courage from Virginia and Tennessee, but Mississippi and Texas have swept that away. Those who are willing to see at all, now understand that reconstruction is fashioned unalterably, and they would gladly lead their people to wisdom, but it is a hopeless task. They will resist the political rights of the freedman and spurn his counsels and political aid, until a new order of men write the epitaphs of the present leaders of the whites. They will not resist the laws, as a rule. Indeed they profess and mean obedience, but it is the submission of the quarry slave who goes scourged to his dungeon. This wide-spread feeling is the great barrier to the regeneration of the South. The people do not war upon Northern men with violence. The person and property of strangers are safer in South Carolina than in New York city, but, as is most natural, they will war upon the Northern emigrant in a thousand ways. They will shun him socially; they will avoid his place of business; they will not employ him; in short they will render him only civility and deal with him only from necessity. I have now been a month in Columbia, and shared the hospitality of Northern people, but between them and the natives there is an impassable social gulf. A few Southern men lament it, but not one, so far as I know, has been able to open his doors to the most reputable Northern visitors and welcome them to his fireside and family. The attrition of business interests and intercourse gradually makes Southern gentlemen sociable, but their families are beyond the reach of reconstruction. For exercising this fatal influence over the destiny of South Carolina, the women are rather to be pitied than blamed. The Northern women cannot appreciate the sorrows of Southern women. Whether real or imaginary the sorrow is the same. They have been reared in the utmost dependence - not upon themselves, but upon others. They were taught, in theory and in practice, that they were to command and others to obey, that they were to enjoy and others to labor. Of the world they knew nothing, beyond reaping where they had not sown, and now they are bereft of property and service, and are plunged into poverty with utter helplessness to make it perpetual. They dare not learn to be useful to themselves and their children, for that would be disgraceful; they cannot learn, if they would, for there are none to teach them. The independent, self-reliant, progressive woman of the North is an abomination in their sight, and is shunned as an unsexed social monster. Congress may practically reconstruct the men of the South, but what power exists sufficient to the task of reconstructing the Southern women? When this problem is solved, the work is reconstruction can be completed. The solution is a question of years. How long it may take, depends upon the measure of Northern emigration. Northern capitalists are now gradually possessing the Southern railroads. Factories will follow and employ the fine water-powers and cheap labor so abundant here. Farmers will sell their Northern farms at $50 to $150 per acre, and buy equally fertile lands, with the most inviting climate, for from $5 to $15 per acre, and Northern mechanics must come to keep pace with Northern progress. Northern merchants will settle in Northern communities, which will have Northern schools and teachers, and Northern churches and pastors, and necessity will make the Southerner advance. The present generation will move slowly, but the next will be glad to accept Northern ways, and respect Northern energy. The hope of the South is in Northern emigration, and the sooner it comes the sooner will the blessings of peace and prosperity heal the wounds and restore the desolated places of the sunny South. A. K. M.
COLUMBIA, S. C., December 15, 1869.
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The Treasury Swap
(Column 01)Summary: The paper condemns Republicans in the state legislature who cooperated with Democrats in electing a Democratic State Treasurer. The editors hold that they are willing to disagree with the party when warranted, but this is not one of those cases. Divisions within the party resulted in the election of a Democrat.[No Title]
(Column 04)Summary: The Repository clarifies that the letter from the first page was written by A. K. M'Clure from Columbia, a city which, like Chambersburg, was burned during the war.
Full Text of Article:The readers of the REPOSITORY need scarcely be told that the letter on the first page of this number, Columbia and Chambersburg, is from the pen of Col. A. K. M'Clure. Besides the interest which his able articles always possess for our readers, this one has a special attraction in the fact that it is written from the capital of South Carolina, which like our own beautiful town was burned to ashes in the fierce fires of the rebellion. Though no one will rejoice that those who brought our disasters upon us were made to feel even keener anguish than we were, yet they cannot help but feel that there is just retribution in the terrible calamity which befell the city in which secession and the rebellion had its inception. We expect to furnish our readers other letters written from the South by the same able pen.
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[No Title]
(Column 01)Summary: The paper relates an article from the Philadelphia Press commending Franklin judge D. W. Rowe for his commemorative work, "the Sketch of the 126th Regiment." The proceeds of the sale, the article notes, will go towards erecting "a monument to all the deceased soldiers of the county."
(Names in announcement: Judge D. W. Rowe)Full Text of Article:John S. OaksThe Philadelphia Press of Monday last, pays the following handsome compliment to "the Sketch of the 126th Regiment," and to its author, Judge D. W. Rowe. The sketch is now ready for delivery, and there should be a thousand volumes sold in Franklin County in the next four weeks:
COUNTY SOLDIERS' MONUMENT - It is much to be hoped that before many years a soldiers' monument will arise in every county of every State in the Union. These mute memorial shafts, ever pointing upward and recording in enduring form the great sacrifice of the country, will be the best teachers of the coming generation, and the best safeguards of loyalty and freedom.
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, is entitled to the credit of, if not first, at least most practically devising the ways and means whereby such a desirable end might be attained. In that county was raised, among other troops, the 126th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. This body, although volunteering under the nine months call, has always been esteemed at home the representative regiment of the county. Judge D. Watson Rowe, of Chambersburg, lieutenant colonel of this regiment, a gentleman of culture, standing and influence, has written its history, and the book is published and sold for the purpose of raising funds for the erection of a monument to all the deceased soldiers of the county.
Admirably executed in spirit and style, presenting a faithful record of the history and adventures of the regiment, this little volume, readable anywhere, cannot fail to be intensely interesting at home, and its large sale will doubtless effect the end for which it was written.
We commend the idea to the soldiers' organizations which already exist all over the North. It is killing two birds with one stone. Not only is history preserved, but a monument built. The scope of these local works. however, might be the organizations raised in each county or district. All counties would not be so fortunate as Franklin, in obtaining so well-qualified and scholarly a historian as Judge Rowe, but there is not one which could not find in its borders some person who could truthfully and modestly tell the stories of its share in the war.
(Column 01)Summary: This short article corrects a minor error in Judge Rowe's "Sketch of the 126th Regiment."
(Names in announcement: John S. Oaks)Full Text of Article:Blind Tom's ConcertOur attention has been called to a slight error in the "Sketch of the 126th Regiment," in connection with the name of John S. Oaks, who died from wounds received on the field of battle at Fredericksburg.
The remarks opposite his name, in the list of casualties, are as follows "Wounded in action at Fredericksburg, Va., 13th Dec., 1862, died 15th January, 1863, at Washington, D. C. Promoted to corporal."
Shortly before the battle of Fredericksburg, in which fierce conflict John S. Oaks fell gallantly fighting, we think on the 5th of December, an order discharging him from service, that he might accept a commission as 1st Lieutenant in the Pennsylvania service, was issued from the War Department, and a copy of the order was in his possession when he went into the battle. We do not know that the order had reached his Corps or Division Commander before the battle, but that it had reached him and he refused to avail himself of the opportunity thus offered to be mustered out and escape going into the fight, we do know. The commission offered him was awaiting his arrival at Harrisburg. There is also an error we think as to the date of his death. Our impression from memory is that he expired on the 25th day of December, Christmas day. In justice to the memory of one who numbered ourselves among a large list of very warm friends, we make this correction.
(Column 01)Summary: Blind Tom, "the great musical prodigy," will perform in Chambersburg's Repository Hall on the 20th. He is blind from birth and renowned for his mastery of the piano.[No Title]
(Column 01)Summary: Col. James G. Elder has been appointed agent of the Adams Express Company at Chambersburg in place of Jacob L. Dechert. John W. Elder will have charge of the business of the country.Court Proceedings
(Names in announcement: Col. James G. Elder, Jacob L. Dechert, John W. Elder)
(Column 02)Summary: This weekly article describes the court cases for the county, including defendants, verdicts, and punishments.
(Names in announcement: George F. Miller, Nancy Bigger, George W. Barnes, John Hasson, Harman Patterson, Samuel F. Kuhn, John Sell, Samuel ReiderJr., John Nelson)Full Text of Article:Philip PhillipsThe January term of Court opened on Monday last, his Honor Judge King presiding. Associates Ferguson and Armstrong were also on the bench.
The following cases have been disposed of:
Com. vs. Geo. F. Miller. Assault and Surety of the Peace. Case dismissed, and Nancy Bigger to pay the costs of prosecution.
Com. vs. Nancy Bigger. Assault and Battery. Verdict guilty. Sentenced to pay a fine of one cent and costs.
Com. vs. Geo. W. Barnes. Fornication and Bastardy. Plead guilty.
Nolle Prosequies have been entered in the following cases: Com. vs. John Hasson; Com. vs. Harman Patterson; Com. vs. Samuel F. Kuhn; Com. vs. John Sell; Com. vs. Samuel Reider, Jr.; Com. vs. John Nelson.
(Column 02)Summary: Philip Phillips will give a concert at the First Methodist Church on Friday. Admission is 35 cents, 20 cents for children under 12. Testimony to his wonderful singing is included.Sheriff's Sales
(Column 02)Summary: This article describes the results of the recent sheriff's sale.
(Names in announcement: Uriah P. Smith, Christiana Smith, Robert Boyd, George Hollins, Oliver Knode, John Carl, Eli S. Smith, J. McD. Sharpe, Samuel Brandt, John R. Orr)Full Text of Article:Presentation to Mercersburg CollegeOn Friday last the following real estate was sold at Sheriff's sale:
One hundred and fifty acres of land in Peters township, belonging to Uriah P. and Christiana Smith, were sold to Robert Boyd and George Hollins for $2,050.
A lot of ground in Antrim township, belonging to Oliver Knode, was purchased by John Carl for $296.
A tract of land in Green township, seized as the property of Eli S. Smith, was bought by Hon. J. McD. Sharpe for $600.
The property of Samuel Brandt, on West Market street, Chambersburg, was purchased by John R. Orr, Esq., for $230.
(Column 02)Summary: The friends of Mercersburg College donated philosophical and chemical apparatus to the school in a ceremony held in Diagnothian Hall on the 11th. E. E. Higbee and T. G. Apple made the presentation and Prof. A. F. Bechdolt demonstrated the uses of the apparatus.[No Title]
(Names in announcement: E. E. Higbee, T. G. Apple, Prof. A. F. Bechdolt)
(Column 02)Summary: Thad M. Mahon and W. H. Patton passed their bar examination and celebrated in the dining rooms of John Gelwicks' restaurant.Re-Union of the 126th Penna. Vols.
(Names in announcement: Thad M. Mahon, W. H. Patton, John Gelwicks)
(Column 02)Summary: A reunion of the members of the 126th Pennsylvania Volunteers will be held in the Court House on May 3rd. They will also hold a general reunion on December 13th, the anniversary of the battle of Fredericksburg.Admitted to the Bar
(Names in announcement: Lt. Col. D. W. Rowe)
(Column 02)Summary: Thad M. Mahon and W. H. Patton were admitted to the Chambersburg Bar on motion of Col. McGowan. The two studied law with McLellan and Kimmel.[No Title]
(Names in announcement: Thad M. Mahon, W. H. Patton, Col. McGowan, McLellan, Kimmel)
(Column 02)Summary: The Silver Cornet Band and the Housum Zouaves left to take part in the innauguration of Gov. Geary.[No Title]
(Column 02)Summary: Chambersburg Lodge No. 75, I.O.O.F., donated $50 to the poor of the town at a recent meeting.[No Title]
(Column 02)Summary: Franklin County currently has $154,650 invested in school property.Married
(Column 05)Summary: Josiah Wilson of Indiana and Miss Elizabeth Fraker of Franklin County were married at the National Hotel on January 5th by the Rev. F. Dyson.Married
(Names in announcement: Josiah Wilson, Elizabeth Fraker, Rev. F. Dyson)
(Column 05)Summary: George Coover of New Franklin and Miss Mary E. Herchelroad of Guilford were married on January 11th by the Rev. M. Kieffer.Married
(Names in announcement: George Coover, Mary E. Herchelroad, Rev. M. Kieffer)
(Column 05)Summary: K. Ransom and Caroline Taylor, both of Chambersburg, were married on October 26th by the Rev. B. S. Schneck.Married
(Names in announcement: K. Ransom, Caroline Taylor, Rev. B. S. Schneck)
(Column 05)Summary: Christian Strock and Amanda R. Etter, both of Franklin County, were married on January 13th by the Rev. B. S. Schneck.Married
(Names in announcement: Christian Strock, Amanda R. Etter, Rev. B. S. Schneck)
(Column 05)Summary: W. Elliot M'Cartney of Spring Run and Miss Nancy M. Skinner, daughter of William Skinner of Dry Run, were married on January 12th by the Rev. William A. West.Married
(Names in announcement: W. Elliot M'Cartney, Nancy M. Skinner, William Skinner, Rev. William A. West)
(Column 05)Summary: John A. Rhine and Miss Margaret A. Sweeney, both of Metal, were married on January 13th by the Rev. William A. West.Married
(Names in announcement: John A. Rhine, Margaret A. Sweeney, Rev. William A. West)
(Column 05)Summary: Alvin R. Alexander and Miss Susan Butterbaugh, both of Fulton County, were married at A. Martin's St. Thomas Hotel on November 30th by the Rev. S. A. Mowers.Married
(Names in announcement: Alvin R. Alexander, Susan Butterbaugh, A. Martin, Rev. S. A. Mowers)
(Column 05)Summary: Michael T. Plum of Montgomery and Miss Margaret E. Long of Hamilton were married at the U. B. Parsonage on January 11th by the Rev. J. G. Schaff.Married
(Names in announcement: Michael T. Plum, Margaret E. Long, Rev. J. G. Schaff)
(Column 05)Summary: Joseph R. Kreighbaum and Miss Caroline V. Reside, both of Chambersburg, were married on December 16th by the Rev. I. N. Hays.Died
(Names in announcement: Joseph R. Kreighbaum, Caroline V. Reside, Rev. I. N. Hays)
(Column 05)Summary: Mrs. Maria Fetter, wife of Jacob Fetter, died in Chambersburg on January 13th. She was 69 years old.
(Names in announcement: Maria Fetter, Jacob Fetter)
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