Friday, January 28, 2022

Historic bits...

Our State was one of the original 13 colonies...



and it had some failures  trying to gain Independence from the British Empire, the Revolutionary War.  The history is lengthy today I want to share this little bit.  



Unfortunately the stately tree fell down about 10 yrs ago during a bad storm.....these plaques stand on this site and are written as if the Old Oak was a witness to the history that took place all around it, so have a quick read of these plaques...


Our town grew from a Catawba Tribe foot  path and was founded in 1733.  Joseph Kershaw a local merchant had a trade route from the nearby Wateree River,  to the ports in Charleston, named for King Charles II the path became  the Kings Road.  Now it's called US Highway 1. 



German national Baron Johann de Kalb had come to the colonies to spy for the French against the British and he returned to the colonies with the Marquis Lafayette ...to help the Americans with their fight for freedom.  He was made a Major General in the Continental Army and  was unfortunately killed at the battle of Camden here in our town  after having success in Maryland and Delaware.



The Hero  Baron DeKalb was originally buried on this spot...when the Old Oak was 10 yrs old...after he was and most of the Patriots led by Horatio Gates were killed.   Gen Cornwallis,  whopped us good and then he moved on down to Charleston!    I found it interesting to learn the name of the White Stallion we always see George Washington riding, was named Prescott!  He came thru the town feeling obliged to do so due to the huge loss suffered by the Continental Army and he stopped here to pay tribute to the Baron de Kalb. His remains were later moved to the Presbyterian Church in town which was designed by the famous Robert Mills....who also designed the town's Court House and  the Washington Monument..


And if you look to the east of this spot and across the highway up on the hill is  a replica of the Joseph Kershaw - Cornwallis House which was built on the original foundation of the building. 
 British General Charles Cornwallis used this as his command center when he had siege of the town from 1780-81.  Cornwallis had the Baron brought to his surgery in this mansion that had belong to the merchant Joseph Kershaw...but he passed away. 




 Gen Cornwallis moved south about one year after he took control of the town with his roughly 4000 redcoats.....and left the town in shambles.
  all this history is just outside the gates of the Quaker Cemetery where I go birding sometimes, and its only yards away from this historic grounds.  



There is a new HQ building under way one day when it's all done I will go photograph it. 

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The cemetery is full of old Live Oaks, and other nice trees..



the birds I found after  my little history tour....





White throated Sparrow


The rest are some yard birds from over the weekend...


Hermit Thrush



And the large Pileated Woodpecker, these birds are  crow sized and quite striking and have a  loud piercing call. 

The Northern Cardinal 


the  snow over the weekend....it was pretty but it was COLD,.



And now it's gone, Im happy to report! 
BUT we may get more on the 28th which is Today!! So I hope to include more town history in some future posts and you can get a feel of how our town has kept some of the history alive. 


 

PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.

12 comments:

  1. Hello,
    Interesting history post, the Cornwallis House is beautiful. I love the big old Oak trees. Beautiful collection of birds, the Towhee is one of my favorites. We are getting snow today too, not sure how much. Take care, enjoy your day! Have a happy weekend!

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    1. Hi Eileen, The Cornwallis house is quite stunning, people do use the grounds for weddings and such sometimes. I love Towhee's the male and female are both gorgeous birds! Hope you don't get too much snow we expect a skiff or up to an inch not as much as last week.

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  2. That was an interesting piece of history Sondra. Old oak trees certainly have some tales to tell, I wonder if they will plant another oak tree to remind future generations.
    Snow is good when it comes and goes quickly, we dont handle snow very well here, everything just grinds to a halt.
    That Northern Cardinal is striking and its a favourite.
    All the best and have a good weekend.

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    1. Hi Dave the same thing pretty much happens here if it's a lot of snow as we don't have the equipment or manpower to deal with removing it. When I lived in NYC each of the Trash Trucks had plows on the front so they serve double duty! I had about 10 cardinals in the yard going for the snowy feeder. Have a great weekend.

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  3. An interesting piece of history with beautiful pictures. You live in a place full of historical memories including the period 1861/1865. I have always been interested in learning about the events of both periods.
    Love the photos of the birds.

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    1. Our history is not nearly as old as European history but it's almost like a continuation of the story..as in the story of the Baron, he was A German, spying for the French against the English...and died here in America. Our little town has a lot of blood mixed in the soil for sure.

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  4. Nice to have learned about the history of your area. To bad about the tree being blown over. Loved the snow around your place but I'm sure your glad its gone. Stay warm and have a great weekend!

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    1. Hi Jo, And we had more snow last night but the sun came out and it's all gone but in the deep shade. NOW it's a cold wind which I am inside avoiding. Yes I recall when that tree blew was taken down by a strong storm...at one point I had a photo of it laying there but I guess it's lost in the shuffle. Enjoy the last bit of January!

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  5. It's nice to read a little of the history (and of course see the birds!). I discovered recently through my genealogy research that some of my ancestors built a town in the suburbs of Chicago and i've enjoyed reading through the history of that.

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    1. Hi Pam, history is our story we are one of the bricks of the space we occupy. Its fascinating to learn that your family has ties to the Chicago area. It's really such a small world. I hope you're having a good week.

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  6. Enjoyed the history tour immensely -- such a delightfully easy way to learn. We didn't visit this site, but when we visited Revolutionary War sites, I was amazed at how small they seemed -- fields where big battles took place and small enough I could walk across them easily. The movies give a different perspective from the real thing. Hope you are still warm and cozy -- the storm doesn't seem to be letting up too much from what I read. We have our summer weather back here south of you!

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    1. Hi Sallie, you are so right...sometimes the "glorifying" of the battles grows with time...too bad they couldn't just say "Hey we want to be free" and the other side just say "OK".
      Money is always at the root of war...giving American freedom meant the King lost wealth. We have a warm rain today then back to colder next week...At least the hard freezing is gone probably for the remainder of the year.
      SUNSHINE on!!

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