No Church Services

There will be no services in either the Baptist, the Presbyterian or the Methodist churches next Sunday.

The County Record, May 6, 1897

Benson

Benson is a thriving section in the central part of Williamsburg county. Its farmers are getting along nicely at present, though it is becoming rather dry. They are fairly well up with their work and have nothing to do but fish (fishing time, you know), but I presume that they will "come out at the little end of the horn" if they don't "stick to their bush."


The County Record has fallen into the hands of a new man, and he has made considerable improvements on it; it's worth twice, if not thrice, its previous value.

BENTON

The County Record, April 29, 1897

Confederate Veterans

The surviving soldiers of the Confederacy in each township in Williamsburg county are requested to meet at some convenient place in their respective townships on Wednesday, April 28, 1897, for the purpose of organizing township boards under a recent act of the Legislature. The meeting will elect three persons (old soldiers) in each township to be known as the township board, to whom all applications for pensions must be made. Ten days after said meetings, say, Monday, May 10, the chairmen of the respective township boards are required to meet in Kingstree for the purpose of organizing a county board and to take action in all new applications for pensions. It will not be necessary for old pensioners to present new applications, nor can pensioners be members of any of the several boards

G.J. Graham

Chairman of Old Board

The County Record, April 22,1897

The Right Stuff

Supervisor B.B. Chandler is in Florence today looking after the chains, guns, etc. for the county chain gang. Mr. Chandler says there are several convicts from this county who are now in the penitentiary, whom he can have brought here to serve on the chain gang, so he will not want for material to organize a squad. The only trouble he anticipates is in getting a suitable man to act as guard. This man must be made of the right sort of "stuff," and Mr. Chandler says he cannot decide upon one.

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Lynches River Bridge contract

The supervisors of Williamsburg and Florence counties will meet at Johnson's ferry, Lynches river on May the 4th for the purpose of letting the contract for building a bridge across the stream.

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Spectators and Suspicion

As soon as the news of this horrible murder reached Kingstree, scores of our citizens went to the scene and viewed the bodies. Almost every man in the enormous crowd around the murdered men was heavily armed. Suspicion was attached to three strange negroes who had committed other criminal acts around Salters, and a description of them was telegraphed in every direction. Armed men watched the streets of Salters, Kingstree and Lake City all of Sunday, but the murderers then had had a 24-hour start on their flight. Three negroes fitting the description of the supposed murderers passed through Lake City early Sunday morning, but no one there knew anything at that time of the murders.
(To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Inquest

About four o'clock Sunday afternoon, Magistrate J.G. Lifrage summoned a jury and held an inquest. The autopsy was made by Mr. L.N. Boyd. His testimony was all that was brought out before the coroner's jury. The examination showed that the young man's throat was cut in three places; his skull was fractured, and a rifle ball had passed through his body, piercing his heart. The old man's throat had been cut from ear to ear, the head being almost severed from the body. The jury returned the following verdict:
We, the jury, find that two unknown men came to their death, one from a gunshot wound, and the other from having his throat cut by parties unknown to the jury."
In the meantime, possés had been organized and sent in every direction to search for the murderers. The sheriff was notified, and he wired to Florence for bloodhounds, but, for some reason, did not get them. (To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Belongings Found

By this time all was excitement. No one seemed to know just what to do. The murdered men were total strangers, seemed to be tramps, and no motive could be found for the murder. It was afterwards learned that the men were peddlers and had been seen with a peddler's pack.
In the search for more bodies a valise was found. This was described to us by Magistrate Lifrage, who held the inquest, as a canvas-covered telescope about fifteen by twenty-four inches in size. This was near a rail fence in a thick portion of the woods. The valise had been opened and nearly everything taken away. A coat, a pair of gloves and one or two other little articles were found nearby. A certified copy of naturalization papers was found in the valise, bearing the name Terge Veregence which probably was one of the murdered men, but there is nothing whatsoever to show which of the men the papers belonged to.
(To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Murder Most Foul

Perhaps the most dastardly deed ever committed on Williamsburg county soil was the double murder, causing the death of two apparently harmless Italians, which occurred about four miles below Kingstree near Salters last Saturday night. Both the murdered men and the murderers are unknown.
The murder was discovered by Mr. Ed. McClary, a young farmer who lives near Salters, about seven o'clock Sunday morning. Mr. McClary was passing the scene totally unaware of any terrible crime having been committed when his dog began a loud barking and howling near a ditch. Mr. McClary went over to the ditch to see what was attracting the dog's attention and was horrified to see lying in the ditch the body of a white man, cold and stiff in death. Mr. McClary hurried to Salters and reported his discovery. At once a large crowd went to the scene and viewed the remains of the unfortunate foreigner. The crowd rapidly increased in numbers, almost everyone being armed. One of the party strolled into the edge of the woods nearby and there found another dead body, that of an old man with gray beard. Immediately a search for more bodies was initiated, but, of course, none were found.   (To be continued)

The County Record, April 22, 1897

Chain Gang

Supervisor Chandler received the chains for use on the chain gang last Monday. The chain is long enough to accommodate a dozen lawbreakers and a squad will doubtless be organized next Monday.

The County Record, April 29, 1897 

The Largest Pear Tree

Perhaps the largest pear tree in the south is in Williamsburg county. Mr. J.T. Brown, who travels for a Waycross, Ga., nursery, and who has traveled in every southern State, and who has made a life-long sturdy of fruit trees, says that the largest pear tree he has ever seen is one on Rev. Henry Haddock’s place in the Indiantown neighborhood. Mr. Brown was in that section last week, and, hearing of the tree, went to Mr. Haddock’s and requested that gentlemen to show it to him. Mr. Haddock and Mr. Brown proceeded to the tree, and Mr. Brown asked for a rope to measure it, saying that it was undoubtedly the largest pear tree in existence. The tree was measured by the two gentlemen, and it was found to be six and on-half feet in circumference, and measured forty-five feet across the branches. The height was estimated at forty feet. Mr. Haddock has gathered as much as sixty bushed of matured fruit from the tree in one year, besides that picked before the end of the season. Several of Mr. Haddock’s neighbors say that there is no doubt that the tree has borne seventy-five bushels of fruit in a single season.

The most remarkable thing about the tree is that it has never “blighted;” that is, the branches have never died and decayed back to the truck of the tree. Mr. Brown, who is well up upon such matters, and who may be quoted as a reliable authority, says that the fact of the tree having never “blighted” is the most wonderful thing connected with it, as he, in all his career, as a fruit tree salesman, has never before seen a pear tree that has not suffered in this way.

Who can beat this in the way of a pear tree?

 The County Record, April 15, 1897