The Dillon Herald
May
20, 1909
MR. ALLEN
REVIVES
MARION HISTORY
A Visit to His Old
Home Recalls
to Mind Some Incidents of His Youthful Days.
A Brief Sketch of the Osborne Lane
Lands.
Some Excuses for
Opposing the New County.
Other Matter of
General Interest.
The
write a few days ago took a trip to Marion. He
left Dillon and spent Sunday night with
his brother, B. F. Allen, at the old homestead. This place known as the Allen place is known
by old residents at
the Osborne Lane land. The
parents of
the writer were married March 19th, 1849, and moved to this
place
soon thereafter. This was then an old
settled place as Osborne Lane the owner from whom it took its name and
who is
buried on it was a man grown during the Revolutionary War and was shot
as a
Tory and had an arm broken, but escaped and live it is said until 1840. On of the daughters of this old man was the
first wife of the writer’s grandfather, Samuel Smith from
whom many Smiths
around Mullins and Latta sprang. John
L.
Smith was born in 1817, and Stephen Smith in 1813. This
tract of land has never left Allen family though the writer
and his sister sold their interests to their brothers.
In
the partition of said land B F. Allen, the youngest son,
got the old home. He has now under
course of construction a very neat seven room cottage.
Mr. J. V. Mitchell doing the work.
The writer has often heard it spoken of as
the site of some old church and grave yard and the write now thinks
this is
true as several places have caved in while his brother was hauling
material to
construct his house. From there he
went to the Sand Hill School house. It
was at the place when a mere boy the writer taught his first school. There is no sign of the old house but in its
place a very neat and commodious one has been erected.
There was an election held there a few days
ago and it was carried by only 5 majority.
The writer is
informed that certain parties will contest the election
but two of the contestants will after August be in the new county.
The
road from near Temperance Hill to Marion is in good condition
and the writer was at home in Dillon before 4 o’clock.
The writer spent a few minutes on his return
with his friend, Ex-Sheriff W. T. Evans.
He has now him many years, and can say he has always known him
as a polished
gentlemen, one who could make you feel at ease. He
left college and volunteered in his country’s service and made
a good soldier. He with the late A P.
Edwards and perhaps others walked home when the war closed. He
married Miss Lucy Stith of Wilson, N.C.
who did not live long.
The
writer’s recollections of her is that she was a very
delicate lady, very highly cultured and moved in the best circles. She
died leaving only a small child, a
daughter, who often visited the writer’s place of business in 1882 and
1883.
She
married Mr. H. I. Gasque,
but died after a few years of
married life.
David
S. Allen.
The
decision by the Governed to allow the boundary lines to
be amended so as to take in Latta was received by no one in Dillon with
more
pleasure than the writer.
At
the time of holding the first election for the New County
he resided on the line and did not then know the section of county
nearly so
well as at present.
A
residence of nearly ten years in this section enables him
to see the necessity and will say that if spared he will cast his first
vote
for it and will do what he can to help along the movement.
He
would suggest that good men – men in whom their fellow
men have confidence – should hold public meetings and explain the need
for the
new county and who will be able to meet any objections that may be
raised by
any one.
The
writer is glad to be able to say that he has found only
a very few above the Railroad that did not sign the petition when
presented.
Some
of the opponents have very flimsy, foolish and I may
say unjust reasons. One man said that
the Editor of the Herald was a Yankee, etc.
Now the writer will
say that he has made a personal inquiry and has
found that this in untrue, as he is a South Carolinian but because the
Editor
of the paper at Latta is said to be a Yankee from Chicago that is no
reason
that Latta shall be cut off and left out in the cold.
One
man bellow says that a man in Dillon paid him only $5.00
for some stable manure that was worth $15.00 and that he would vote
against the
new county to get even.
Another
says that he lost $25.00 on the tobacco ware house several
years ago, hence he will oppose the new county. The
writer could not sell him tobacco flues sold by the Dillon
Hardware Co.
Such
are the reasons that I have met with in my
travels. Hurrah
for the new county.
David S.
Allen.
At the end of the article by Mr. Allen was this addendum, obviously written by the editor
A.
B. Jordan.
(A man seldom gives his real reason for opposing another politically, and the complaints Mr. Allen refers to can be taken with a grain of salt. However – there is nothing discreditable in the fact that a man is a Yankee. There are good Yankees and bad Yankees just the same as there are good Southerners and bad Southerners. This is not the first time the editor of The Herald ahs been called an alien – one who has noting in common with the people of this section. It ahs been used by unscrupulous politicians before and he wishes to state there that he was born and reared in South Carolina and spent all his life in this state, with the exception of a few years. His paternal grandfather sold part of his lands to assist in equipping a South Carolina regimen, his father although a mere boy, fought in the army of the Confederacy and one of his maternal ancestors was a member of the Secessionist Convention. This ought to be evidence enough to establish his title as a citizen of South Carolina)