No Laws or Rules - The Backwoods of Early South Carolina
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- Опубліковано 10 січ 2018
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As a native South Carolinian, I know that the backcountry and swamps of the South Carolina low country can be a tough and unforgiving area. The challenges of living off the land would be much different here than in most areas in the colonies, but people learned to live in these areas. How would people, such as the legendary Francis Marion during the Revolutionary War, keep mosquitoes and such pests at bay in the 18th century? It can be a challenge even today.
SC native here in the upper most part of the state . Family goes back over hundred years.
Great question that most don’t know the answer to! They would get powdered sulfur and mix it into molasses and eat it. Every spring, parents would mix up a batch of it and everyone in the family would eat some. They’d eat some everyday for a couple weeks in the spring and it would keep mosquitoes and ticks off of them for the summer. We were instructed to drink water with a little sulfur in it at a summer camp to keep the bugs off us. I don’t remember the water tasting bad, but I do know that it works! The only time I got bit by a bug that week was around noon the day that I didn’t drink any of the camps water. I complained to a councilor and they replied with ‘you haven’t drank any of the water today have you?’ I made sure to drink it everyday after and never even got bit by a single mosquito. Camp was in the swamp, it wasn’t from a lack of mosquitoes, I assure you.
@@pattymcadootaylor5566 awesome 👏🏻 thanks for the information. Me & my ancestors have been here for many generations & I’m sure it was a well known fact of everyone in the swamp land (we live at the bottom of the map, myrtle beach area) but like everything else got lost through the years (I really want to go back to my roots & find out my history & see how they lived day to day)
Real SC native here. As in Native American. The answer is birch tar.
Birch tar and apple cider vinegar, also lime or lemon juice works, but not as good as birch.
My ancestor who first came to South Carolina was one of the regulators in the back country. He fought in the Revolutionary War and was a judge afterwards.
And by the way, let me know if my ancestor, Col. James Mayson, is mentioned. He came to America in 1760 from Scotland. I do plan to buy this book to see how he would have lived. Thank you so much for introducing this book to us.
Southern Wanderer An article on the Regulators would be very interesting.
Check out an organization called "Sons of the American Revolution," and their sister organization, "Daughters of the American Revolution." We would love to have you as a member.
@@OSRSBrachydios He lived in McCormick County but also a house in Newberry County.
How about Kirklands?
Gotta love it. I have a picture of my grandmothers family from 105 years ago. My great grands posed in front of a sod house in Oklahoma with their 14 children. Amazingly they only lost one to childhood disease. The other 13 went on to live prosperous, long lives, most living into their nineties. Those settlers were a tough breed.
elk hunter that is so cool to have that piece of family history.
They did not eat TONS OF SUGAR ...but very little...
and good genes too! i bet it was the diet
@@timbatimbero3934 but they did have maple syrup and sugar also they knew you could make syrup from any nut tree walnuts pecans butternuts etc they just did not have much cane sugar but that was not long in coming.
@@miketaylor5212 Agree, but nothing compared with the hyperconsume of sugars we have today in the techno-industrial society. In the ee.uu there are 120.000.000 diabetics..... in a total population of 365 millions? year 2019. Way too much.
Ancestors on my father’s side settled in the South Carolina backwoods in 1750. They were German Lutherans, small farmers and woodsman from the south of Germany, invited to settle there by the German king of England, George II (I think it was II). German Protestants and Protestants from German speaking countries were invited to settle the South Carolina frontier and backwoods. They were given so many acres per person in the family, plus a little money to get started. After ten years they had to pay back the crown. They lived there with other German Lutheran families for 100 years, and then their descendants traveled by covered wagon to settle in Mississippi. My great grandfather was a boy on that trip.
That area is still called the Dutch Fork to this day. Some of mine were in there, too. It's the area NW of Columbia up to around Lake Murray. Also into Newberry County. Neat stuff.
@@edgardeese Yes! The Dutch Fork area is where my ancestors settled. One of them, the son of the one who first settled there, was in the SC militia in the war for independence. Records don’t report whether or not he was given a choice in his service, but he was paid. I like to think it was his free choice. 😏
@@Slivings911 I have a big book of my family that settled there. I can't remember if I read it there or online that they'd come into Charleston, gone as far as the mountains, and turned around and came back to settle there. Very interesting how many changed the spelling of their names to anglicized versions.
@@Slivings911 Another thing I found funny, as he began to read about "the back country," I envisioned way up in the Greenville/Clemson area in the far NW of the state, where I also had relatives - who incidentally married into the German line we're talking about, but he's talking about the dead middle of SC. That WAS the backwoods 280 years ago!
Mine too!
Frankly many of those people had been displaced by the Enclosures Act and agricultural revolution in England.
To them escaping a semi feudal existence, and starvation, in England was a relief.
My ancestor invented the enclosure act in England. 😃
I love these first person accounts of the time. Please do some more.
I agreed man
That’s life perfect happily time spand life love it so much hahaha
I am from Lexington County, South Carolina. My family has been here for over 200 years. We are starting to lose some of our "flavor" as newcomers are moving in but it is still (for now) a place where just about everyone is related in some way. The trick was that older women in the family would keep the history of the family to make sure while you were marrying your cousin that cousin was not to closely related. My parents were 3rd cousins but through marriage not blood. I've been studying family history and found it fascinating how these people lived. You could have a Patriot supporter as a neighbor and on the other side of you a Loyalist or a Regulator. Worse, the majority of families had mixed loyalties so even trusting your own family was sometimes dangerous. They all made people swear allegiance so one week you were a Patriot and the next week a Loyalist and the next week whatever you had to be to keep your family alive and your farm from being burned to the ground. Most of their houses had back doors. If strangers came upon them the adults would keep the strangers occupied and the children were taught to sneak out the back door and go to a designated meeting place where provisions were stored. Then after the strangers left the oldest child would guide the little ones back home or an adult would come get them. If that was not possible (parents dead, house burned) the children had been drilled on getting through the woods to a relatives house. I can't imagine living in that kind of fear. Basically, during the time you describe here South Carolinians lived through not only a revolutionary war but a civil war also, right in their backyard. There was no law except what was found in Charleston - 100 miles away and Charleston didn't care what was happening in the backwoods as long as goods were being delivered and taxes paid. Of note, they had to pay the same taxes as people in Charleston where all the services and paved streets were. They had no churches, no schools, no police protection and they trusted no one but their own kinfolks or people they spent years getting to know. The regulators became popular because the backwoods people got fed up with taxation without representation (not so much from England but from their fellow citizens). They banded together and would walk 100 miles - through snake invested swamps - to Charleston to vote. Only the politicians in Charleston had canceled the vote or moved the date, whatever was needed so the backwoods people didn't get to vote. A lot of the shenanigans because of fear the backwoods people would vote to move the capital to a more central location. Which did eventually happen. The regulators started out as a good thing but ended up being bad at least partly. Sometimes it's a thin line between providing justice and becoming vigilantes, thieves and criminals. Not all but some of the regulator groups became the problem not the solution. Some folks today talk about another civil war, Lord I pray not. Study South Carolina's history from about 1760 - 1865 and how people lived in fear where you couldn't trust anyone and the possibility of death was a regular visitor. That might change the minds of some people who want to romanticize that time period. ~Sherrie in South Carolina
Sooo interesting. 😊
This was beautifully written and very interesting!!
The fear, hardship, and death is WHY we romanticize that era. Because we are where we are today because people overcame such hardships and now here we are.
Even worse than your loyalist or regulator or patriot....the squatters who stole the land from the tribes that were there originally. 'Newcomers' 🤣 That's a joke.
@@matildagreene1744 ooh kay then..
As a lifelong resident of the upstate of South Carolina, seems to be an accurate description for many areas of the state even today.
This was the same stock that kept the flames of the rebellion alive after Horatio Gates' Continental Army was routed at Camden in 1780 and defeated the Loyalists at King's Mountain.
Not a description of a particularly nice way of life, but I for one find it kind of amazing that people are so resilient in the conditions under which they can live. And with another 50 years or so, the area would become considered relatively "civilized", with the wild west actually being pushed further west.
Thanks for this discussion of this journal.
keith moore sounds like my thoughts when I walk through your average trailer park
Love this video. I was raised in the "sticks" of Dentsville in the 50's and am happy to say things had improved by then. We even got electricy when I was 12.
My great, great grandma lived in the Ozarks in a cabin with no doors n Windows, 1 night she had to find off a cougar with a flaming torch. They didn't have flashlights back then...
No gun?
As someone who lives in the back country of South Carolina, I can promise you that our culture and etiquette has improved..... a little. HAHA! Well thank you for this recommended read. I will definitely be checking this out. Several lines of my family have been in SC since the Revolutionary War so I am quite interested. Thanks man!
I'm a North Carolinean but lived in Beaufort and Mt Pleasant for a few months each, when I was in the Navy a half century back. I liked SC and SC folks and SC history and anytime I find myself in SC, I enjoy it. I feel a kinship to SC. I grew up on the coast of NC. I'm an 11th generation American whose paternal ancestor came thru Plymouth, MA in 1638 and my maternal ancestor came about the same time thru Jamestowne, VA. That period, in both cases, was known as the Puritan migration. Thanks for this video.
I am glad you are unbiased in your videos. I am a student of both southern and northern culture. This is a breath of fresh air.
This dudes the man. He’s a dedicated, warm man. I appreciate you, Buddy! 👍🏼
I live in Greenvillle county, which is the largest city in the upstate now, but you would be hard pressed to find anyone who is actually FROM this area now. LOL. I am 30 yrs old and i remember when i was a kid, most of the land around my parents house was empty farmland. Old barns, old farm houses, cows, horses, etc. Now 80% of that land has been turned into neighborhoods, the old country roads with no lines painted on them have now all been widened to 4 lanes with a median and are lined with Costco's and Walmarts. I think i saw somplace where the population has increased over 260,000 since the year 2000. Feels more like 750,000 to be honest. Needless to say, my wife and i have decided to move LOL. We found a nice farm property in NewBerry that we really have taken a liking to. Its in the 96th Historic district, so its more up our alley anyhow. Love the book, going to grab a copy of my own. Thanks!
Yeah, I was born and live here in Greenville and I do agree that it has become a bit too big. I may end up moving someday... I don't know though.
My ancestors lived in the 96th back in the late 1700 's/early 1800's. Lived there myself in the early 1960's. I remember when they built I-85. Somebody forgot to put up the barrier and we drove for miles, just us, down that concrete ribbon that was NOT open to traffic.
Matt, we must be kin! My story is verbatim yours, except I grew up in NE GA about an 1hr from SC boarder. My road was dirt until I started High School and almost everyone around had acreage. Now I'm surrounded by thousands of homes on, at most, 1/4 acre. I'm hoping to move soon. I like the upstate. Not really sure what the soil is like up there. Don't want a lot of clay, but also don't want to pay more than around 5k an acre. Any suggestions?
Matty Duncan Anderson county born and bred.
Hell yeah travelers rest represent
Oh boy, talking about my area now. We were pretty hardcore back in the day.
Carolus Rex pretty sure we always were. :P
Times haven't changed much.
My area too. Love hearing about what life was like for my ancestors in this area
It doesn't sound like Woodmason had a heart for the people he was "serving". The fact that he would want to be touching the Stamp Act suggest he might have had a character flaw.
He was exaggerating the circumstances also just to get money from the church to convert these "savages"
Typical
I've read other diaries of British clerks and administrators from early America and they sometimes addressed colonials as "cromwellites" or "parliamentarians" and deemed them untrustworthy, because many of them were ancestors of parliamentarians and New Model Army people, who were forced to flee England after Restoration of monarchy in 1666.
Colonies in America were full of not only people searching better life but also criminals, radicals, republicans and Irish, not kind of people, who liked the Crown, so British were suspicious of them and were hard on them. I think Americans like to overlook these less pleasant aspects of their colonial history just to point at British as being the bad guys. My ancestors, living under Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary and German Reich would very gladly switch places with any American colonist and be better off. I don't think British burned down villages and killed all their inhabitants just to keep their Cossacks occupied like the Russians practiced...
My ancestors immigrated to the Back Country of South Carolina in 1735. My ancestor Martin Friday(Fridig) ran one of the first ferries across the Congree river in the area of the area now known as Columbia.
You don't look native...so your ancestors were squatters ?
A dose of realism. I think many of us, particularly the generation like me that grew up with Walt Disney's "Davy Crockett" and later TV's Daniel Boone, got a very romanticized image of the Frontier. The truth is it was a very hard life and many people only went to the frontier because the good land further east was already taken, while others went there because the lack of law and order suited their less civilized inclinations. It's a tribute to the settlers who managed to bring order to the chaos.
I mean, that's the impression I got from Daniel Boone.
It was a very complex process. The settlers came from a Europe where land was scarce and mostly controlled by a handful of aristocrats. Even wild game belonged to the aristocrats. And they came from rigidly hierarchical social systems. There was a lot of tension between the government in London and the colonial authorities who were trying to replicate the way things were in Europe and the colonists who realized they could pack up and move further west, claim some land, and no one would arrest them for shooting deer. It was a major cultural shift. It came at a tremendous cost. It certainly wasn't fun and games. But enough settlers saw it as worth the work, privation and risk that it became the norm through the 19th century. It really is our national epic.
Agreed, but pretty sure the natives had a pretty good idea of how to live
Early frontier settlers may have had a "wild" existence but commercial enterprise inevitably followed in their wake. Life was harsh until it wasn't free.
Im almost certain that even then, they would get a romanticized image of the Frontier. Nobody really knew what it was there until they went there themselves, and Im sure they were lots of stories to go around to give them an idea, but most likely, exaggerated or romanticized, as we humans, often do. Just like I have a very good idea of what it is to live in Australia, and I have lots of stories and footage to show me, Il still never know until I get there. Anyway just my thoughts.
Jon,
Come to an event at Fort Ninety Six sometime, and see the Upcountry of South Carolina! It was the seat of government for the Upcountry, and the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War to take place in the Southern colonies. The city of Greenville is built on the Cherokee land that was settled by Richard Pearis, a Loyalist. Patriot forces sacked his plantation and razed it to the ground during the Snow Campaign, and the Falls Park area of today is where it was. Also, the only battle to ever take place in recorded history in the land that is now Greenville County, is the Battle of Great Cane Brake, which kicked off the Snow Campaign.
Richard Sabo WOW! I LIVE IN GREENVILLE HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?!?!? Thanks for the info!
ChibiPanda8888
I didn't either until I was researching for homeschool materials. If only history teachers had bothered with teaching tangible, local history...
A guy who owns a local nursery just did an article several pages long on the Battle of Great Cane Brake, just let me know if you want me to email you a copy.
that would be pretty awesome. Yeah, i even went to school here in Greenville and they didnt tell us any of that. I'd like to go to our local library here when I have a little extra time and read some about Greenville.
History is mis-taught - all of it. What I love most is the slant given. According to what is passing as History, the world began with the Mayflower. Any history before that is only taught on college level.
ChibiPanda8888
Shoot me an email at sabo954@gmail.com and I'll send you the article. :)
My family emigrated from England in 1640 to Isle of Wight County, Virginia and then to Bertie County, North Carolina. These videos are a time machine back to my own family history. Wonderful. All of them.
John, My 10th great grandad came from N.E. England in 1640 His name was Steven Durden settled in around Isle Of Wight, Virginia his descendants moved to North Carolina in the 1700s and to Ga. in late 1700s or early 1800s. I had one grandad who was a captain in the revolutionary war and one uncle who served in both rev/war and war of 1812, he was only a private after all that time serving he would think he would had more rank who knows.
This is material that should be reading in school....learning factual history about America's beginning and the hardships and importance of Individual Liberty and Common Sense Law and Order.
We South Carolinians do tend to be a little on the rebellious side. But after 30 years in Law Enforcement I can truly tell you that there are some back woods people today that would shock you. These people stay to themselves and don’t want to be bothered. And it’s best not to. When Hurricane Hugo barreled in to here they found people living on some of the barrier islands like they were in the 1800’s. But even in the desolate heavily wooded areas of the state people are there living off the land.
Sounds like a great book, thanks very much for bringing it to our attention. My paternal ancestors actually lived in that area at the time the book was written, so it will be great to read an account of typical life
You should read “Breaking loose Together” by Marjoleine Kars, it’s a pretty in depth look at life in the Carolina back country, specifically the Regulation movement.
This has become one of my favorite UA-cam sites. I have shared it with friends and family. You make history come alive. Thank you so much!
There is a type of peace within your personality and videos. Thank you for reminding me to look back at my family history and the things that brought us to now.
My people first came to America in South Carolina, in 1690. I should get the book to get a sense of what they might have found.
My family left Pennsylvania in the early eighteenth century to build farms in the western Carolina's. Thanks for the look back.
I just ordered a copy of the journal.
The Pennsylvania Road was the I-95 of it's day
YES! A video on South Carolina! 🌙🌴❤ thank you Jon! So much information and it all means so much to me! Definitely will have to check out that book as well :)
I love this type of video, and appreciate the heads up on first hand journals and diaries. They are great! Thank you for sharing.
I love, " real life stories" since I was little. I preferred to sit with the adults and listen to their real life stories than play with the kids...I know that sounds odd but that's the way it was. I wanted to learn how things were...
unionrdr - i feel ya. Non-fiction is much more interesting than fantasy. 👍🏼
I liked hearing old people talk
That’s how I am . I’m a gen xers (24) born into the WRONG generation.! 😶😵💫 I always say man I wish I could time travel 🧭 🧳 🥺
How about the real life story of the tribes who's land the squatters with help from their guns and alcohol....took by genocide ?
@@matildagreene1744 I have one foot in both camps. My g-g-g grandfather was an Apache chief. The others were German at that time. We've been here since 1728 on the German side. My 2 ancestors fought in the Revolutionary war too.
My ancestors fought there during the Revolution (Cowpens, Kings Mountain, etc.). I've been binge-watching your channel. Man are your videos fascinating! One of my backcountry ancestors was a descendant of the famous Dutch painter, Jan Steen.
Please consider the source. Charles Woodsman, an Anglican and a loyalist, was horribly biased against the Scots Irish who settled the parts of the Carolinas in question. He carried with him from England pro-Cavalier sentiments. It was only natural for him to revile those he saw as the descendants of the hated Roundheads. (Woodsman even tried, and failed, to become a government distributor for the hated Stamp Act.) It was the Scots Irish, (or Ulster Scots, as they describe themselves still in Ulster) who settled the frontier east of the Appalachian mountains from the Carolinas to Pennsylvania. It was also the Scots Irish who were most stubborn in their devotion to the Revolution against England. Washington even wrote or commented once during the war that, if all was lost, he would retreat to Ohio with the Scots Irish whom he knew would never surrender.
Any serious student of history must take into account the author's utter lack of objectivity, and digest this book with a healthy dose of skepticism, especially regarding his tendency towards hyperbole.
One should not expect refined civilization in a wilderness where families must scrabble to survive.
Take away our electricity and running water, and I doubt many posting here would be recognizable by their friends inside of one year.
Those are excellent points and analysis.
Added to that, as in any frontier area, there is a substantial number of individuals in the population who are running away from things in the settled areas which were generated by problems in their own personalities. They end up there because the "law" was after them or they don't see the problems in themselves and think they are the victim of the people in the settled location. Since they can't run away from themselves, their "new lives" just turn out to be their old lives in a new location.
It is my understanding that many of the people in the Upcountry (Backcountry) region of SC remained loyal to the crown until the war came south. I've heard it explained that the low country merchants and planters had more to lose and were quicker to take arms than those who were more isolated. Thoughts?
chevy well those who had something to benefit from staying loyal were sorely outnumbered by the regular people who would have rather died than give up
I think the reverse may have been true. My ancestors in the back country carried on after Charleston fell, while the one family was represented by a Charleston merchant who was not particular which side won so long as there was order; he ended up being a minor functionary in the Charleston government and had to leave with the British. Rather sad in that he wanted to return (which the true Loyalists did not) but was not allowed to. Fortunately, his children did not participate and remained here.
Well, you know what they say. Civilization is two missed meals away from anarchy.
I adore when you share these readings. It makes me all the more interested in history. Back in school I found it dry and boring. The way you present it makes it so interesting and alive! So relevant and compelling!
I really enjoyed this, please do more! Really amazing to hear these stories. Thank you!!
The government wouldn't do anything about bands of thieves... But when people got together to protect themselves, the government tried to supress them...
Sounds familiar...
basically every anti-capitalistic revolution ever..
@@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis Has nothing to do with capitalism.
@@mrd7067 Talk to your history teacher thats not from the united states and it get interesting
@@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis I have never been in the US and studdied history to the level history teachers do. It`s autoritarianism, often hunger/food shortage, big buissness & goverment and that doesn`t do its job and not the economic system by itself.
Concurrency doesn`t equal causality.
@@mrd7067 If you want to be taken seriously, spell correctly. You who say one economic system or the other is good/bad miss the point. It's all a process. What wins out becomes the victor. It's not a team vs team thing. It's the next step.
Alexis de Tocqueville in his Democracy in America (1835) toured the back country. De Tocqueville described the typical settlement as a crude log cabin in a clearing. The settlers were very poor and had very little, and they resented sharing it with visitors. However, they were desperate for news from outside because they were so isolated.
Subscribed a few weeks ago, I really am enjoying this channel! Thank you!
I love that you guys bring history back to life, keep up the good work T&S!!!!!!
Thank you for your work. These videos are so interesting and informative. You and your team are appreciated.
love this channel! one reason this channel is so enjoyable is you Jonathan. I'm not trying to be cheesy but the host is of utmost importance. you are great and very knowledgeable. thanks Jonathan for all these great videos.
I live near several historical colonial homes and my church, Abner Creek Baptist, has the original log cabin house church located on its property. I love watching your videos, Jon, while sitting in that log cabin. Thank you for bringing history to life.
Bless you for giving us all these fascinating journal entries! Thanks also for warning us about exaggeration and perspective on Woodsman’s background and probable biases. You’ve really whetted my appetite for the rest; sounds like he attained some understanding of the poor people he was trying to help. The account really depicts the setting and times of the Revolutionary War and fills in the mood of the settlers; what’s often just dry dates and battles really comes alive.
As a native upstate South Carolinian (current North Carolinian) this is absolutely fascinating! I wonder how many places I would recognize the name of. Will have to get this book ASAP. Thanks you for sharing it!
Proud to be from the backcountry of South Carolina and proud to be a descendant of these original settlers!!!
William J. Vaughn Me too. Proud descendant of Joseph Howell,r.s.
same here. I think it's in our blood to be proud :)
Proud to be a Chastain! Started the olenoy Baptist association and help settle pumpkin town
Me too!
Yes sir proud British decedent, from Georgia 13th colony , cheers !
you had better check out The Backwoods of Canada - by Catherine Parr Traill she lived from 1802 to 1899
Jon is familiar with the book - he quoted it in connection with his videos on Dutch ovens or 'bake kettles' and the scarcity of of bake ovens and iron stoves in pioneer regions.
Upon arrival in SC, Rev. Woodmason thought he would be assigned to one of the more prestigious parishes along the coast but instead was sent to Pine Tree Hill, which is now Camden SC. His area of ministry was the area between the Catawba and Pee Dee Rivers over to the present day area of Sumter, and no further north than the State Line. It was primarily called the Backcountry because it was the area that began at the Fall Line, along the inland and western edge of the Low Country. It didn't have the huge old Plantations of the Low Country. A lot of territory for one man and one things is for sure, Rev. Woodmason was "working for The Lord" based upon the miles he traveled and horses he rode to death. He was quite prone to seeing everything through the eyes of a Londoner when he first arrived, hence some of his embellishment to the state of things, although they were rough Frontiersmen. He did eventually find redemption of sorts and had changed his perspective of the locals, by the time he came to help them with The Regulator Movement. He even talks about how glad he was to have learned how to pray extemporaneously. This is something he would have learned from his Baptist and Presbyterian friends that he initially saw as the enemy to all things related to The Crown and The Church of England. The people of the area consisted primarily of newly arrived Scots-Irish, a lot of German settlers mainly having come down from the Philadelphia area, i.e. Lancaster, Chester and York counties, others also from there being Welsh Quakers. Many French Huguenots were there also. One of the largest segments of the population, in the specific area he worked, and the people that he loathed the most were what he called The Virginians. He despised them the most because many were of English descent, like him, but had already been in Virginia for over 100 years(4 generations) and lost their "Englishness", be it high or low. Some of the Virginians were also tri-racially mixed peoples, being of varying degrees and combinations of European, Native American and African Americans from down-east Virginia. If you're commenting here without having read this book and only having watched the video, you owe it to yourself to read the book. Seriously. It's not Hollywood's history or Revisionist history of today. It's real time and real history albeit from the perspective of one man, right or wrong, calling it like he saw it. It's also not the Complete History of Western Civilization, just one man's journal. I'm from the exact area he ministered in and knew exactly where he was when he described his travels. Over the years I've probably owned a dozen copies of this book and keep giving it away to friends to read. I was very excited to find this video. Great job on the video.
THIS is great! Thank you, Jon! xoxo
As someone born, raised, and still residing in South Carolina...sounds about right
I hear that intro and me, a resident of North Carolina, goes "He could be describing my state right now."
Still the same ... Lived in Newberry SC for about 9 years .... Hated it but loved it at the same time
I could listen to you read and tell these stories all day long!! Very interesting!
This was most interesting and appreciate your critique of the book. Looking forward to more of these types of videos.
I love these type of videos, thanks a lot!
Fantastic stories. Thank you so much
I love this channel. I think a bit more editing and cleaner takes would make for a crisper show overall, but not if it would mean sacrificing the genuine, intimate vibe that you get from these videos. Thanks for sharing your research and work, Townsends--it's really worthwhile!
Abbeville SC here. In the Backcountry 🤗
So interesting! I'm a Hoosier transplant living on the border of NC/SC. Thank you for sharing this! Your channel is one of my favorites on UA-cam.
Local boy from family's for over hundred years . I'm in Pickens grew up in blue ridge area
The "unseemly" people whom the good Reverend considered under-dressed may well have *had* only one garment, because of the unavailability of cloth and/or because of simple poverty. But did he ever think that people might dress "indecently" because of the hot, humid summers in that region? While the "civilized" folk of the cities sweltered in layers of shirts, shifts, waistcoats, petticoats, stockings, and hats, the poor folks in the backwoods made a virtue out of necessity and stayed cool in their minimal clothing.
Ace Lightning if the backwoods today are anything akin to what he was seeing then I can't disagree. Have you ever seen mountain folk in the south? Sheesh.
and the harder life is the less you care about all that "civilized" nonsense. who would have had the time and money for it?
Exactly. If you have nothing to eat but cornmeal mush and dandelion greens, you're not going to care about the latest fashions, never mind abstract concepts like "modesty".
Exactly what I was thinking. Those ladies going to church “indecently dressed” may in fact be wearing their best clothing. He’s awfully judgmental, after all they showed up for his sermons, the least he could do is appreciate that.
They may have been wearing their *only* clothing! (As late as 1969, country singer Wanda Jackson recorded a song including the lyrics "...you say... I look a mess, but it's never dawned on you, this is my only dress...")
I like these videos from the Townsends that do a history explanation..Very well done and nice....
If you go to the South Carolina back country some places are still pretty lawless and primitive.
If they were, I would leave my South Carolina area and move there for the freedom. But there is law enforcement throughout South Carolina. You can't escape government now in South Carolina, or any other state.
William Kennison
I've been there, nice people.
Amen, brother...and that's the way I like it. Home sweet home.
@@southernwanderer7912 you can in Alaska
Yep, and we mostly like it that way.
No wonder we still rally together today. In the beginning we were all we had.
The author looked down on these folks, but they were the backbone of the nation. We're what they built.
@john Mullholand You can say that twice.
Not really. This country was built by men with strong morals, good character, and had to WANT a nation of schools, churches, and law. These were not the men who built this country, these were the men others had to fight to build this country.
I laughed so hard at the opening lines of Charles Wood Mason! Because I live in a very different place than i am originally from and when I have had a hard time, I basically say the very same things about my neighbors and neighborhood!! Seriously, I find it shocking that this kind of society existed just 16 years before the Revolution; in school and reading it's always about Boston, Mt. Vernon etc.--it's easy to forget it was a new country for many different kinds of settlers.
"Wild backwoodsmen", eh? Well I'd say, guilty as charged! South Carolina born & bred & I'm not ashamed of my heritage one bit!
The Regulator movenent in not only SC but in other states made many people seriously question the relationship with England.
Jody Dorsett
Regulators meant something different in the different colonies. North Carolina's situation with that was particularly odious on the part of the civil authorities.
Richard Sabo Yes, I know. In NC there were sheriffs and courts and they were used to extort the people. In particular in tax collection. Gov. Tryon in particular allowed sheriffs and baliffs to run rampant.
But this sort of movement is seen inland in western Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New England.
Hey! I actually read this exact account years ago! I found it in the library and expected something boring and mostly based on contemporary opinion. Ended up reading it and being blown away by what a clear window into colonial frontier life it really was.
man i just love your videos keep going god bless you
Thank you for this video. Bought the book. Found a First Edition, First Printing, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1953. Marvelous journal. Remarkable people.
Don't let the rude people get you down. You have a very interesting channel and I quit enjoy learning about the way things were done back then. Even if some people may point out mistakes nobody is perfect and you are out there trying to figure it out and pass it along. Congrats! Keep up the good work .
He’s like the Rick Steves of historically informative videos - kind voice, even tone, and obvious passion. Nicely done!
How very interesting! I can't wait to read the book. Thanks so much for telling about it. I very much appreciate & enjoy your videos!
A fantastic reminder of how far the entire new world has come. From these beginning settlers, and many others, to huge cities and metropolises spread about the America's. If only the rest of the world knew at the time the future of these backwater lands, from Argentina to Canada, quite fascinating.
I love the great descriptions
whoa this was very interesting to learn . Thank you for all you do.
I just love to hear this. It gives me a view of my relatives
One thing that I enjoy about your pieces is that the narrative is so descriptive that I can listen in the car or use like a podcast.
Thanks for the info. Love what you do.
Love this channel. Love this dude.
I cannot help but compare this "missionary" with Hudson Taylor, who evangelized China in the late 1800's.
Hudson Taylor arrived in China quite set in his English ways. And he had a hard time of it, until he finally decided to "become Chinese" in every way possible. He adopted Chinese dress, even down to the long braid hanging down his back. He took on the Chinese peasant lifestyle, eating the same foods they did. And from that point, he began to actually touch the Chinese people.
But at the same time, his adoption of Chinese ways - and especially Chinese dress and hairstyle - turned many supporters in England against him.
Because to them, Christianity was married to lifestyle, dress, and appearances. They were more interested in exporting their culture, than their God.
Very good and very interesting, so thank you. Some pictures from the time, line drawings etc, would be a good addition. As a Lay Preacher in the Anglican Church of England, in Suffolk, I found this one very interesting. I am glad that the preacher helped by recognising the reality of the big problems confronting the people there, of that time. Governments are often wrong I find !
Wow... this is really interesting. I'm gonna hafta read that book! Love learning more and more about my home state and what it was like back in the colonial era. Thanks for the video!
Love your videos I watch everyone of them don't miss any of them you make I even have your magazine to buy stuff it's awesome ! I' am your 1# fan ...Mrs.Ricki Wolfe. 💜
My 5 times removed grandmother, Mary Ross, came from South Carolina. When I started my genealogical researches, I assumed that her husband Henry Hall was probably illiterate. After all, family accounts recall him as an Indian fighter and great bear hunter. He fought in the battle of Cowpens, and was awarded land in Georgia for his service (also a stud, bridle and saddle for saving an officer's life) so I rather imagined him as that backwoods fellow in The Patriot. (John Billings, played by Leon Rippy)
Imagine my incredible surprise to learn that he was highly literate!
Also, he and his wife were Scots-Irish, but had converted to being Baptists, along with most of their neighbors.
So I hold the account of an Anglican preacher to be rather suspect, but I'll certainly read this book...with a grain of salt.
Thank you for sharing with us!
Southerners were never the illiterate bumpkins they are portrayed as today. They were actually one of the most literate societies of that era.
Thank you for showing Great examples of people in American History who worked to preserve our unique idea of Freedom and Individual Liberty!
I have recently subscribed to your channel. It is really educational, and entertaining. It's what the History Change use to be. Keep up the good work!
I'll admit I'm hooked on this guy great description of the early days of the United States
I enjoy your videos very much. Thank you!
Great video, thank you for the wonderful information!
Thanks for this great historical video !
Being a native of SC I'm the piedmont region around the upper side of Lake Murray I enjoyed this alot!
I love how historical this guy is! He brings in original source material, confronts the authors bias, and places within greater historical context. A lot of history youtubers are very biased and use outdated research and do not half the stuff he does.
Ma, get mah blunderbuss! That fussy preacher is coming up the walk agin!
I coulda been born anywhere, but Thank God I was born in Camden, SC!!!!
I live in western NC and it is still like that.
I love this channel!
Yea! Another Townsends vid. Woot! Woot!