Clearing land of stumps in today’s world is much easier than in years past. Backhoes, trackhoes, and large bulldozers can clear acres of land in days, compared to months or years to clear by hand. The task of clearing fields of trees and stumps was very difficult for our forefathers. According to one early settler, the “first clearing was done in a...
Read MoreA Walk Down Memory Lane
This summer I had my timber cut around my house and the farm. There were probably close to twenty acres of trees. The loggers clear-cut and ground just about all the trees into chips. This means even the limbs and leaves were ground. They left our small farm with only stumps and a few small limbs lying on the ground. Before the clear-cut grows up with...
Read MoreThank You from a Southern U.S. Navy Sailor
As a writer, you sometimes think, “Is all this time and research on a book or column worth it?” An average writer or author makes very little money, especially when he or she counts the time and effort to get something published. It is so nice when someone tells you that they enjoyed reading your work, how they can relate to your stories, or how it helped...
Read MoreBattle of Swift Island Bridge (Part 2)
Last week I told you the story of a sick Confederate soldier returning home by way of the Swift Island Ferry. After crossing the ferry, he tried his best to make it home but died only a mile away from it. I also told you about how in 1922, a new state-of-the-art cement bridge replaced the old ferry, but only lasted for four years. You know progress works...
Read MoreBattle of Swift Island Bridge (part 1)
Unless you have an airplane, the best way to cross the Pee Dee River, or any other river or creek, is by bridge. Like I stated in a previous story, the first bridge across the Pee Dee was built in Cheraw, SC in 1823. Until then, about the only way to get a load across the river for many years was by ferry. Ferries were located all up and down the river....
Read More