Memorable May 5, 1860 part V

for Taphophile Tragics
Boykin Mill Pond Tragedy Part V
May 5, 1860

.... this is the last Memorable May 5th post about the  Boykin Mill Pond Tragedy at least for now....due to a couple of reasons:

• firstly, you are now up to date (after reading this) with what Ive uncovered,
• secondly,  I'm running out of steam and its SPRING.... time to dig in the garden, hike, and get out of digging in the archieves every weekend for a while
• thirdly, because I'm at a wide spot in the road with my findings!! The leads I have now are many but they are vague and it will take me a while to connect all these dots.....

One victims name was listed as R J Huggins.  NOW this was a real stroke of luck...as most of you may know I am a volunteer photographer for Find A Grave.  I get requests to go photograph headstones up to a 20 mile radius of where i live. About 3 weeks ago I got a request for a grave in a cemetery near Bishopsville, SC.(a few miles away)  So off I went to get that photo. The deceased one I hunted was William James Barrett.  When I got there and found the grave it was a double headstone he and his wife... check out the wife's maiden name.

OF course the minute I saw this stone I saw that name HUGGINS the same last name of one of the Boykin Pond victims...when I uploaded the photo to Find A Grave for Mr. Barrett  the wife's headstone had not been requested, but as I normally do with a double stone,  I uploaded it to her memorial page also...and when I got to her memorial page I noticed there was a link to her Mother's  (who was a Huggins) memorial page....and that link took me to Mt Elon Baptist Chruch and I saw lots of Huggins listed in that cemetery! I had read that my Mr. R J Huggins was from Sumter county and MT Elon was in Darlington County...so I figured it was no use looking but I did....I clicked "show me all Huggins in Mt Elon cemetery" and there was a half page long list, I scrolled down only checking the death dates and ILL BE DAMNED IF I DIDNT SEE

 

To the Memory of
ROBERT JOSEY HUGGINS

Who died on the 5th of May, 1860  in the 20th year of his age,

one of the unfortunate number
drowned near Camden!!!

I couldnt believe my eyes!!

...with  more reasearch I learned this part of Darlington County, where he was buried, used to be part of what was called the OLD SUMTER DISTRICT but years later was divided  into different counties ...SO thats why my Sumter County search was in vain...as the old records had him listed in Sumter Co. but he was actually now in Darlington County!!

 SO thats number 13 found!! And in this case 13 is a lucky number as it takes me over the halfway mark!!

After many trips to the Archieves one fellow asked me "have you checked  a book called
 The History of Camden,  (Kirkland and Kennedy c-1905)?"
NO I hadnt!!!.....so I did and in Volume II Chapter 23, I found a COMPLETE LIST OF THE NAMES with a short passage about the tragedy and all the lives too soon taken from this Earth.
As you know I have already found 12 of long forgotten...and  without the aide of this remarkable list of names which it appears came from an official inquiry and the testimony of two of the Rail Road workers...one who was a hero and saved several people....
SO here are the ones I have YET TO FIND:

1. Selena Crobsy, of Camden (born in England)
2. Mary E. Hinson, of Camden
3. Benjamin F. Hocott, of Arkansas (student at McCandless School)
4. Sarah Ann Howell, of Camden
5. Jane Kelley, of Boykins (she may be in Rembert the others from Boykins were)
6. Louise McKeown, of Camden
7. Margaret McKeown, of Camden
8. John Oaks, of Camden
9. T. S. S. Richbourg, of Sumter (maybe he is in Darlington Co also?)
10. DORCAS PAGE, a free negro
11. PENDER CIPLES, a negro slave

AND I know you nearly died as I did when I saw the names of the 2 negroes! Finally a name to put to their watery fate.  I was told that Dorcas is probably a female name. There was a plantation here at that time owned by the Ciples family...called White Oak Plantation and many slaves took the  last names of their owners.  Hot lead to follow here is to find out if there  is a Ciples family cemetery, and if so were slaves  buried there? Most times when slaves were buried  the graves were marked only with a small field stone that could be carried and placed by hand...with no inscription since most slaves were illiterate--Ive been warned by other researchers not to have ANY hopes of finding the negroes burials or even a written mention in documents of any kind...:o( 

SO as I continue to follow the many leads-- too many to list here and bore you with, I close with this part V, but I promise to update with each one that I find...until then I leave you with this passage from the old Sumter Watchman article...

"Camden is shrouded in gloom, and many of its citizens overwhelmed by the most severe affliction and bereavement"

PEACE

Memorable May 5th, 1860 Part IV

for Taphophile Tragics

Part IV: Boykin Mill Pond Tragedy 24 drowned

More from the Sumter Watchman Article of May 5th 1860.

A flat boat of considerable size had, a short time previous, been built and placed upon the pond for purposes of pleasure. A goodly number (thirty or more) of the company embarked upon this boat, intending to pass over and around the pond. These consisted chiefly of young ladies, there being but a sufficient number of gentlemen, as was supposed, to manage the boat and afford company and protection for the ladies.

As you recall from parts 1-3, I had found 11 burial spots ...going with the names that I thought I would have the best chance of finding were the complete names and the ones who had also listed Family members names...so in the original list of names was this one:

  Miss Minnie Alexander daughter of Dr Isaac Alexander of Camden.

What was  unusual about this one was while I was researching the story of the Duel between Mr Nixon and Mr Hopkins that took place in 1829,  I discovered Mr Nixon was buried at the old Presbyterian Burial Ground and I recalled seeing this sign when I went looking for his grave...

DO YOU see WHAT I SEE?? Grave of Dr Isaac Alexander----he was a  Dr. and the father of Minnie Alexander one of my VICTIMS!! SO HE** YEAH -----she was buried right here...!!!

Excuse my excitement...lol

Ms Amelia "Millie" Adamson Alexander, the daughter of Dr. Isaac Alexander....(her name is misspelled on this stone, which was placed later by the historical society) she was the widow of William Adamson,  so a young widow and MOTHER drowns at age 32..

            

this stone was placed by her son, I am assuming that WA means William Adamson( II. ) ..that's #12 located!!!!!!

Meanwhile back at the achieves old copies of the Camden Weekly Journal issue dated May 15, 1860  a transcript lists:

Among the many sufferers in the accident on Boykin's Mill Pond, was Benjamin Franklin Hocott, in the 20th year of his age.

Died on Saturday May 5, 1860 Miss Sarah A Howell in the 27th yr of her age, she has left an aged grandmother, and joined Camden Baptist Church in December 1853..{SO this one I may be able to find out something via the church which is now the First Baptist Church of Camden.} 

Died on Saturday May 5, 1860, Misses Margaret and Lousia McKown, daughter of Mr. John McKown, in the 19th and 17th years or their ages.

 {I found so many variations of the spelling of this last name, from McKown, to McCown, to McKeown and it is the latter that is the correct spelling according to the 1850 census)
While researching online I found a diary of Mr. Ralph LeLand Goodrich.  He was a teacher at the Old McCandless School, I have written about the school before..  This is his account of  that horrid day.

After tea, heard that quite a number of the May party about eight miles away were drowned. Mr. Manget and I started to go down street. Mrs. Mack and Miss Carpenter wished to go to Lucy Fisher’s. We went up with them. Manget left. I stayed. Returned. Found Mr. Manget. A (train) car load had started about two o’clock. 26 were drowned. Hocott, one of our scholars was one of the number.

I have since found that Mr Benjamin Hocott was from Arkansas, probably from an influential family since he was attending the school here in Camden, away from his own home state...
So although no grave site for these 4 named above... (as of yet) I have found their complete and proper names!!
AS much as I would like to say that I FOUND all 24 victims burials as of today I have not..sadly!! ....and trust me I am still following every lead, its like any investigation when your leads dry up or become exhausted you really have to DIG in and GO back through your original research.....and I have no way of knowing IF I will ever find them all but Ive come a long way...
Stay tuned to Part V for the most recent findings...

Meanwhile IN closing more from Mr GOODRICH'S DIARY there are some tips in this paragraph, (the funeral of 10 at the Methodist Church and one at the Espiscopal Church.)

May 6, 1860
Came home about half past five this morning, feeling sick and tired. I never want to witness such a scene again. It was heartrending. Only 24 were drowned. Attended church in the morning. Afternoon attended the funeral of 10 at the Methodist church. A great many were present [and there were] hundreds of carriages. Walked down to the burying ground. In lowering the coffin [of] one lady, the fastenings broke, & it fell and; broke off the lid. The body nearly came out. It was solemn to see so many buried at once. So many people — so sad. There is a general lamentation. The loss almost entirely falls on the Methodist society. One young girl, a member of the Episcopalian denomination was amongst the number of the dead. She was the staff and comfort of her poor old mother. Mr. Manget worked very hard and; is sick tonight. He went to bed early.

                                              This is the pond as it is today where the drownings occurred. 

...the bridge is a remnant of the Old Charleston Highway as it crosses the Boykin Mill Pond....George Washington himself traveled this old historic and now defuncted highway during 1791 when he rode in his coach on the way to Savannah during his "goodwill tour" of the South.  So this bridge was here on that fateful day in May when the 24 were struck down in the prime of their youth.

PEACE