The Memories of Fifty Years | Page 6

the holy
office of his preacher, sanctified in her estimation any and every one.
She had seen him, and it was the especial glory of her life. Yes, she had
seen him, and remembered minutely his eyes, his hair, his mouth and
his hands--and even his black horse, with a star in his face, and his one
white foot and long, sweeping tail. So often did I listen to the story, that
in after boyhood I came to believe I had seen him also, though his
death occurred twenty days before I was born. My dear, good mother
has often told me that but for an attack of ague, which kept the
venerable lady from our home for a month or more, I should have been
honored with bearing the old hero's name through life. So intent was

she in this particular, that she never liked my being named after Billy
Crafford (for so she pronounced his name) for whom the partiality of
my father caused him to name me. Few remain to remember the horrors
of this partisan warfare. The very traditions are being obliterated by
those of the recent civil war, so rife with scenes and deeds sufficiently
horrible for the appetite of the curious in crime and cruelty.

CHAPTER II
.
PIONEER LIFE.
SETTLEMENT OF MIDDLE GEORGIA--PROWLING
INDIANS--SCOUTS AND THEIR DOGS--CLASSES OF
SETTLERS--PROMINENCE OF VIRGINIANS--CAUSES OF
DISTINCTION--CLEARING--LOG-ROLLING--FROLICS--TEACH
ERS CUMMINGS AND DUFFY--THE SCHOOLMASTER'S
NOSE--FLOGGING--EMIGRATION TO ALABAMA.
The early settlement of Middle Georgia was principally by emigrants
from Virginia and North Carolina. These were a rough, poor, but
honest people, with little or no fortunes, and who were quite as limited
in education as in fortune. Their necessities made them industrious and
frugal. Lands were procured at the expense of surveying; the soil was
virgin and productive; rude cabins, built of poles, constituted not only
their dwellings but every necessary outbuilding. Those who first
ventured beyond the Ogeechee generally selected some spot where a
good spring of water was found, not overlooked by an elevation so
close as to afford an opportunity to the Indians, then very troublesome,
to fire into the little stockade forts erected around these springs for their
security against the secret attacks of the prowling and merciless Creeks
and Cherokees.
Usually several families united in building and living in these forts. As
soon as this protection was completed, the work of clearing away the
surrounding forest was commenced, that the land should afford a field
for cultivation. While thus employed, sentinels were stationed at such
points in the neighborhood as afforded the best opportunity for
descrying the approach of Indians, and the watch was most careful.
When those employed in hunting (for every community had its hunters)

discovered, or thought they had discovered signs of the presence of the
savages, scouts were immediately sent out to discover if they were
lurking anywhere in the neighborhood. This was the most arduous and
perilous duty of the pioneers, and not unfrequently the scout, or spy as
he was usually termed, went to return no more. When seed-time came,
corn, a small patch of cotton and another of flax were planted, and
cultivation continued under the same surveillance.
The dog, always the companion of man, was carefully trained to search
for the prowling Indians; and by daylight every morning the clearing,
as the open lands were universally termed; was passed around by a
cautious scout, always preceded by his dogs, who seemed as conscious
of their duty and as faithful in its discharge as was their master. If he
reported no Indians, the work of cultivation commenced, and the
sentinels repaired to their posts. These were usually changed whenever
the slightest sign of Indians anywhere in the country could be found,
lest their posts might have been found and marked, and ambushed at
night. Yet, despite this prudent caution, many a sentinel perished at his
post. The unerring arrow gave no alarm, and the sentinel slain, opened
an approach for the savages; and not unfrequently parties at labor were
thus surprised and shot in full view of those in the fort.
Occasionally an emigrant brought with him a slave or two: these were
rich, and invariably were the leading men in the communities. Those
from Virginia were more frequently possessed of this species of
property than those from the Carolinas, and, coming from an older
country, had generally enjoyed better opportunities and were more
cultivated. A common necessity harmonized all, and the state of society
was a pure democracy. These communities were usually from twenty to
fifty miles apart, and about them a nucleus was formed, inviting those
who sought the new country for a home to locate in the immediate
vicinity. Security and the enjoyment of social intercourse were more
frequently the incentives for these selections than the fertility