https://johnsonvilleschistory.org/files/original/d9eebf5e668fa2f21d25969f8a4d0221.pdf 90ca27fd53fa01bb7b54b95d7c29b02c PDF Text Text Page 2-THE WEEKLY OBSERVER, Hemingway, S. C., Tbunday, January 29, 1976 • • • ore order, on the northern route. Cargoes were picked up on the return trip from Cheraw. Lawrimore recalled that a Capt . D. R. ''Ed'' Smith opened a saw mill at Smith's Mill, from whence it derived its name , where he also operated a store and post office . He had about 300 employees and a regular town. It was scattered over a large area and was not as big as Hemingway . Capt. Smith sawed only cypress timber and shipped the lumber to Richmond, Virginia for sale. The lumber was shipped to Georgetown by schooner . He brought in Yankee Negroes to load the schooner, a task which took two to three weeks, and sometimes• a month. The hatches of the schooner were loaded first to prevent the boat from turning over. The last schooner up the river was a fourpoint vessel, and it took a long time to load this boat. At Georgetwon, the schooner was pulled out into Winyah Bay by a tug boat. There the tug cut loose and the schooner depended on the wind to carry it into New York where it would unload its cargo of shingles and lumber. Capt. Smith's son was the tug boat captain, hauling cypress logs from Cheraw. Lawrimore recalled that he butchered and sold beef at Smith's Store, which was operated by Ed Grizzle, where turpentine and cross ties were also bought. He recalled killing a steer and taking it to the store on one of his rounds. While there, Capt. Smith said, ''Miley, one thing I want you to make sure of is that you never bring me any ''bwl'' beef.'' He ''indicated'' that he wQuldn't, only to be told the next week that that was the ''best beef I have ever eaten.'' By MILDRED B. HUGHES When Miley K . Lawrimore of Hemingway reaches back into his mind's eye to weave a colorful tapestry of the bygone era, he spins quite a yarn and keeps his listeners . captivated with tales of first hand knowledge. Lawrimore is one of Georgetown County's senior citizens , having been born May 26, 1885 at the Lawrimore Plantation about three miles from Pee Dee River. Some of his first memories are that of hearing the old steamboats blow their loud horns as they plowed back and forth, up and down the Pee Dee River. He said recently that he remembered hearing the shrill blast one day as a little tyke, and not knowing what it was, he inquired of his father as to the source of the noise. His father told him of the two big riverboats, Ethel and Merchant, which were the means of transportation between Cheraw and Charleston. .As he grew older, he learned that these boats would pass each other at the widest part of the river. The Merchant was piloted by Captain Hawkins, and the Ethel's captain was Lawton Poston. The boat headed up the river would begin sounding its horn about Pitch Landing and continue until they met. The boat without any cargo would slow down and let the loaded boat pass. The old steamboats burned lightwood, Lawrimore recalls. He said after he became a yoqng man he contracted to furnish the wood needed at the Pine Bluff stop, while other men, including ''Uncle'' Rollin Pope, Adkissen Bruroton, and others would put it at other landings. He recalled that he would have three ''hands'' in the woods cutting the wood while he hauled. They would· supply eight stacks in four foot cords at a cost of $2.50 or $3.00 a cord for the trip up the river and for the return trip. That was enough wood to take the boat into Charleston. The boats' cargo, Lawrimore said, was fertilizer and they ran both day and night. The run up the river was made t.wlce a "week during the busy season and once a week when things were slack. Yuahanna was the main stop for these boats, but they also made stops at Peters Field, Pitch Landing, Ports Hill, Ray's Landing, Pine Bluff, Brower Landing, Smith Mill, Ellison Ferry, Stone's Landing, and Godfrey's Ferry Bluff, in that • • ' Capt. Smith never paid his laborers in money, Lawrimore said, only in tickets which couldn' t be spent anywhere but in his store. Capt. Smith had his men build an ''ice pit'' up under a hill in the bank of the river. He then had some ''hands'' go up the river where the ice had frozen to a thickness of four inches. When the boats would break up the ic~, the hBna would cull it out, bnng it bacK, -and store·it in the pit for use the next summer. Lawrimore said remains of the pit can be seen today. · He recalled that Capt. Smith had an argument with a man over some timber and both men pulled guns. When the shooting was over, the other man lay dead. There ·was a trial in Marion and Smith was • • acquitted , but this ended the Capt . Poston was staying at the lumber business for Smith hotel to arrange for him to haul the ~ although he stayed on for several timber. Capt. Poston was anxious years . When Capt. Smith went to make the haul , but it would take broke, Capt . Thompson continued , three cords of wood to get the boat to keep the post office open at from Pine Bluff into Georgetown. Smith's Mill and the steamboats Also, there was a wedding about to take place of a prominent ·young continue to run up and down the river. woman of the Poston Community - After Gapt. T~ompson , that night, and Capt. Poston returned to his home in Marion, Ed wished to be present for the Grizzle became post master, a job ceremony. It was agreed that he he held until the post office moved would stay over ;inother night for to Hemingway. the wedding, thus giving Lawrimore also talked of Lawrimore time to get home and Tanyard, a taning place when his get the wood cut and to the landing father was little, at the mouth of by the next day, when Capt. Poston Little Pee Dee. The central was to meet him at Pine Bluff. building was a hotel where people That was the last time the old ate as they came down the river . . steamboat ever plowed the waters Turpentine was the chief crop in of the Pee Dee. that day and area as tobacco is Today, Lawrimore owns Pine today. People also carried cow Bluff, while International Paper hides to Tanyard to be tanned and Company owns Smith's Mill. shipped them from there to Lawrimore, a man with markets where they were made extensive farming interests, was a into shoes. mail carrier for Smith's Mill in the He recalled that his father was old days . He would travel a star a soldier in the Confederate A1·111y. route to Ard's Crossroads, where While be · was away fighting, Seph Venters would meet him and General Sherman's boats would carry it on to Prospect Church . come up the river where they where he \Vas met by the next man. stopped at all landings to get the He retired from farming last honey and meat. Lawrimore said year at the age of 90 after suffering his grandfather would take their a light stroke in May 1975, and a meat and carry it into the woods to slight one before that. hide it from the Union Ar1ny . He is married to the ·ror1ner The last trip the steam boats Ellen Matthews. They are the made up the river was March 24 , parents of four children, W. J. 1915. The trains were now running <Dubl Lawrimore, Mrs. Luther into He i gway from Ha let!•'N'._~· ..- - - 'l ary lCa rY,n> Daniel, both o( • C: to . Georgetow"n and us ff_ie · 11einiflgway, Mrs. Raymond riverbb<i'ts were'"'no longer needeO. (Janicel Duke of Columbia, and Lawrimore recalled that he Mrs. Freddie CEllenl Young of had 50,000 feet of timber cut at Pine Myrtle Beach, all college Bluff and needed to get it to graduates with Dub funishing Georgetown shortly after that Presbyterian College at Newberry date . The Ethel was tied up at . and the girls finishing Coker at Ellison Ferry waiting to get a load Hartsville. Also to add much joy to of cargo, so as to make the trip his life at 91, and the most avid back into Georgetown profitable. listeners as he weaves his yarns. He made the trip to Poston where are his 14 delightful grandchildren . � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Weekly Observer Description An account of the resource The Weekly Observer was published out of Hemingway, SC from 1973 until printing ceased in 2012. The paper continues as an e newpaper on scnow.com Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-2012 Subject The topic of the resource Local Newspaper covering the Johnsonville and Hemingway communities. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Weekly Observer Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lawrimore recalls bygone era WO 1-29-76 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Weekly Observer News Newspaper Weekly Observer