The Dismal Swamp and Lake Drummond, Early recollections | Page 2

Col. Josiah
Riddick, deceased, and running west to what is called the "Reese
Farm," on the Edenton road, about seven miles from Suffolk. A large
quantity of juniper timber was brought through this ditch, which was
hauled to the Nansemond river for shipment. We were told by one of
the agents of the company, W. S. Riddick, Esq., that at one time all the
business of the company was transacted at the "Reese Farm," that being
the point at which the Ditch ended. This mode of getting the lumber to
market was found too slow and tedious, and a more direct way sought.
How long the Washington Ditch was used for bringing out the timber,
we have never heard. That will make no difference, for after the Jericho
Canal was cut the Ditch was abandoned, and a direct communication
opened to Nansemond river by the way of Shingle creek. Millions of
feet of timber was shipped annually. The shareholders at that time were
few in number, and their profits were very large. The company
consisted of a president, agent and inspector, he living at or near
Suffolk, and had charge of the work in the Swamp. He employed the
hands, furnished all the supplies, sold the lumber, received all monies,
and paid all bills. He was, in fact, the principal officer of the company.
At a stated period, annually, a meeting would be held for a general
settlement of the year's accounts. The president would preside, and as
there were no banks at that time in which to deposit money, the agent
would have a very large amount to turn over to the stockholders. That
place is no longer of much value to its owners, as it is a source of but
little revenue. The shares have been divided and sub-divided, until
some of its holders get barely enough to pay the postage on a letter.
Ex-Senator Wm. Mahone is probably the largest shareholder. The
Swamp has been leased to Jno. L. Roper, Esq., of Norfolk, for several
years, during which he has had employed a large number of hands,
consequently most of the valuable timber has been cut off. When this
Swamp was first opened, it became a harbor and safe refuge for
runaway slaves, and when one reached that dense place, unless he was
betrayed, it would be a matter of impossibility to catch him. Long
before the war you could not take up a newspaper published in this part
of the State but what you would see several cuts of a negro absconding
with a stick on his shoulder and a pack on one end of it, with the
following advertisement:

"Notice! $500 Reward! Ran away from the subscriber, on the night of
June 18th, my negro man, Simon. He had on, when last seen, a pair of
light pants, with a black patch on the seat of the same. He is slue-footed,
knock-kneed, and bends over a little when walking. He may be making
his way to the Dismal Swamp. I will pay the above reward for his
apprehension, or his lodgment in some jail, so that I can get him again.
"JOE JONES."
I knew of an instance just before the late war where a gentleman by the
name of Augustus Holly, Bertie county, N. C., had a slave to run away,
who was known to be a desperate character. He knew that he had gone
to the Dismal Swamp, and to get him, his master offered a reward of
$1,000 for his apprehension, dead or alive. The person who caught him
is still living. I saw the negro when he was brought to Suffolk and
lodged in jail. He had been shot at several times, but was little hurt. He
had on a coat that was impervious to shot, it being thickly wadded with
turkey feathers. Small shot were the only kind used to shoot runaway
slaves, and it was very seldom the case that any ever penetrated far
enough to injure. I know three persons now living who were runaway
slave catchers, but the late war stripped them of their occupation. They
were courageous and men of nerve.
CHAPTER II.
TO GROW UP AGAIN IN A JUNGLE.
But little work is now done in the Dismal Swamp, and it will again
soon become a howling wilderness, a hiding place for the bears,
wild-cats, snakes and everything hideous. The bamboo and rattan will
rule supreme, and, like the banyan tree, will form an impenetrable
jungle. But a few years will be required for its accomplishment, and
without an axe you could not move a foot.
G. P. R. James, the British Consul, who was stationed at Norfolk when
he wrote his novel entitled "The Old Dominion," and which was a
history of "Nat Turner's War,"