A view of the first settlement of the French Protestants on
the Santee. Lawson's account of them. The ancestors of
General Marion emigrate among them.
The revocation of the edict of Nantz, by Lewis XIV., though highly detrimental to France, proved beneficial to Holland, England and other European countries; which received the protestant refugees, and encouraged their arts and industry. The effects of this unjust and bigoted decree, extended themselves likewise to North America, but more particularly to South Carolina: About seventeen years after its first settlement, in the year 1690, and a short time subsequently, between seventy and eighty French families, fleeing from the bloody persecution excited against them in their mother country, settled on the banks of the Santee. Among these were the ancestors of General FRANCIS MARION. These families extended themselves at first only from the lower ferry at South Santee, in St. James' parish, up to within a few miles of Lenud's ferry, and back from the river into the parish of St. Dennis, called the Orange quarter. From their first settlement, they appear to have conciliated their neighbours, the Sewee and Santee Indians; and to have submitted to their rigorous fate with that resignation and cheerfulness which is characteristic of their nation.—Many must have been the hardships endured by them in settling upon a soil covered with woods, abounding in serpents and beasts of prey, naturally sterile, and infested by a climate the most insalubrious. For a picture of their sufferings read the language of one of them, Judith Manigault, bred a lady in ease and affluence:—"Since leaving France we have experienced every kind of affliction, disease, pestilence, famine, poverty, hard labour; I have been for six months together without tasting bread, working the ground like a slave." They cultivated the barren high lands, and at first naturally attempted to raise wheat, barley and other European grains upon them, until better taught by the Indians. Tradition informs us, that men and their wives worked together in felling trees, building houses, making fences, and grubbing up their grounds, until their settlements were formed; and afterwards continued their labours at the whip-saw,* and in burning tar for market. Such was their industry, that in fourteen years after their first settlement, and according to the first certain account of them, they were in prosperous circumstances. In the year 1701, John Lawson, then Surveyor General of the province, visited these enterprising people, and as there are but two copies of his "Journal of a thousand miles travelled through several nations of Indians", known at present to be in existence, no apology appears to be necessary for presenting extracts of the most interesting parts of it to the reader:—
* Gen. Horry states, that his grandfather and grandmother
commenced the handsome fortune they left, by working
together at the whip-saw.
"On December 28th, 1700, I began my voyage for North Carolina, from Charleston, in a large canoe. At four in the afternoon, at half flood, we passed over the breach through the marsh, leaving Sullivan's Island on our starboard; the first place we designed for was Santee river, on which there is a colony of French protestants, allowed and encouraged by the lords proprietors."—After passing through Sewee bay and up Santee, the mouth of which was fresh, he visited the Sewees; "formerly," he says, "a large nation, though now very much decreased, since the English have seated their lands, and all other nations of Indians are observed to partake of the same fate. With hard rowing we got that night (11th January, 1701,) to Mons. Eugee's *1* house, which stands about fifteen miles up the river, being the first christian dwelling we met withal in that settlement, and were very courteously received by him and his wife. Many of the French follow a trade with the Indians, living very conveniently for that interest. Here are about seventy families seated on this river, who live as decently and happily as any planters in these southward parts of America. The French being a temperate, industrious people, some of them bringing very little effects, yet by their endeavours and mutual assistance among themselves (which is highly commendable) have outstript our English, who brought with them larger fortunes. We lay all that night at Mons. Eugee's,*1* and the next morning set out further to go the remainder of our voyage by land. At noon we came up with several French plantations, meeting with several creeks by the way: the French were very officious in assisting with their small dories, to pass over these waters, (whom we met coming from their church) being all of them very clean and decent in their apparel—their houses and plantations suitable in neatness and contrivance. They are all of the same opinion with the church of Geneva. Towards the afternoon we came to Mons. L'Jandro's,*2* where we got our dinner. We got that night to Mons. Galliar's,*3* who lives in a very curious contrived house, built of brick and stone, which is gotten near that place. Near here, comes in the road from Charleston and the rest of the English settlement, it being a very good way by land and not above thirty-six miles."*4* After this, our author gives a long description of his difficulty and danger in crossing the Santee in a small canoe, in time of a freshet. He then goes on as follows:—"We intended for Mons. Galliar's jun. but were lost *************. When we got to the house we found several of the French inhabitants, who treated us very courteously; wondering about our undertaking such a voyage through a country inhabited by none but savages, and them of so different nations and tongues. After we had refreshed ourselves, we parted from a very kind, loving, affable people, who wished us a safe and prosperous voyage." Our traveller had now arrived at the extreme boundary of the white population of South Carolina, and consequently of the United States, and this was but forty miles from Charleston. In the course of one hundred and twenty years what a change, and what a subject for reflection! But, to return to the French refugees. The same persevering industry and courteous manners which distinguished the ancestors, were handed down to their children, and are still conspicuous among their descendants of the third and fourth generations. Most of them may be classed among our useful and honourable citizens, and many have highly distinguished themselves in the state, both in civil and military affairs: but in the latter character, the subject of these memoirs, General FRANCIS MARION, stands forth the most prominent and illustrious example.*5*
*1* Huger, who lived in the fork between South Santee and
Wambaw Creek.
*2* Gendron.
*3* Gaillard's.
*4* Near this place the French laid out a town, and called
it Jamestown; whence the name St. James', Santee.
*5* After leaving the house of Bartholomew Gaillard, jun. on
the east side of Santee, Mr. Lawson saw no more
settlements of the whites. He visited the Santee Indians,
who, from his description of the country, must have lived
about Nelson's ferry and Scott's lake. In passing up the
river, the Indian path led over a hill, where he saw, as he
says, "the most amazing prospect I had seen since I had been
in Carolina. We travelled by a swamp side, which swamp, I
believe to be no less than twenty miles over; the other side
being, as far as I could well discern; there appearing great
ridges of mountains bearing from us W.N.W. One Alp, with a
top like a sugar loaf, advanced its head above the rest very
considerably; the day was very serene, which gave us the
advantage of seeing a long way; these mountains were clothed
all over with trees, which seemed to us to be very large
timbers. At the sight of this fair prospect we stayed all
night; our Indian going before half an hour, provided three
fat turkeys e'er we got up to him." The prospect he
describes is evidently the one seen from the Santee Hills;
the old Indian path passed over a point of one of these at
Captain Baker's plantation, from which the prospect extends
more than twenty miles; and the Alp, which was so
conspicuous, must have been Cook's Mount, opposite
Stateburgh.—Our traveller afterwards visited the Congaree,
the Wateree, and Waxhaw Indians, in South Carolina, and
divers tribes in North Carolina, as far as Roanoke; and it
is melancholy to think, that all of these appear to be now
extinct. They treated him with their best; such as bear meat
and oil, venison, turkeys, maize, cow peas, chinquepins,
different tribes always took charge of him as their guest.
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