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Remembering the Way it Was at Hilton Head, Bluffton and Daufuskie
Remembering the Way it Was at Hilton Head Bluffton and Daufuskie Author:Fran H. Marscher In the hundred years separating the Civil War and the 1950s, the Lowcountry was a world unto itself. The big plantations were gone, and for those remaining life had to be wrenched from the soil and the creeks. But for some, these isolated barrier islands offered heaven on earth: virgin maritime forest, pristine saltwater, sand roads and plentifu... more »l wild game. This fascinating collection of stories speaks to us of life in a simpler time, of raising hogs, guineas and children on abandoned plantations; growing sweet potatoes, okra and sugar cane; trapping mink and picking oysters; pulling 12-pound flounder and 79-pound drum from the creeks; making feasts of Loggerhead turtle eggs, crab and conch meat; picking musk; and taking the steamer to Savannah to see the ?big city? lights. Our narrators were born between 1881 and 1941, and, though their stories overlap and intertwine, each has a unique perspective on life in the Lowcountry. Georgianna Barnwell tells a family legend of runaway slaves heading for ?free? Hilton Head; Rose Williams Chisholm remembers the men around Braddock?s Point (now Sea Pines) ?working up? a school for the children after the crops were harvested; Edmond Hudson of Barataria describes Bluffton as ?outlaw country? in the 1920s; Harry Cram reminisces fondly about the Thanksgiving horse races on Palmer Stretch (now Burnt Church Road); Frances Jones offers sharp recollections of Pat Conroy teaching on Daufuskie Island after desegregation. Fran Heyward Marscher, a Hilton Head journalist, grew up hearing these precious memories and sought out the storytellers when she realized that the way of life they described was in danger of dying out with each generation. Though Hinson White of Daufuskie Island worried that ?Dere?s a lot of rascality dese days?, the Lowcountry is immensely popular, and this book will prove delightful to ?bin yeahs? and ?come yeahs? alike.« less