South Carolina, Food, and Roots, Part Two
I took the nephews back to Lancaster, South Carolina this past summer. Agnes Kirk Hughes is the youngest of 11 children; her parents (Elizabeth Harper and Dick Kirk) move to a farm north of Winfield in 1877. Agnes got on the granite kick 50 years ago; replacing tombstones here and we find her work there with a large monument to her grandmother listing the names of all the sons and the battles (Civil War) where they fell.
Mary Davis, member of the FCHA and long-time friend of mine, found out I was going to Lancaster. Turns out she is a McKeown; her roots are in Lancaster (the county boasts the earliest inland settlement in South Carolina; her son is named Kirk – go figure. So she gives me James Webb’s book: Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America. Pretty interesting reading. Some speculation. But certainly a lot of truth. And he gets to the Andrew Jackson family burial at Old Waxhaw in Lancaster County, and I was just there with the boys, and our people are buried next to the Jacksons. Next I’ll tackle Albion’s Seed about the folkways and customs which have followed us to America and I think I’ll understand a bit more of the peculiar ways of my clannish folk (Kirks and Harpers). I’d wager 90 percent of our membership have a good bit of Scots-Irish blood, and so I recommend the Webb book for all of you; in fact, I’ll donate a copy to our FCHA library and a copy to the Genealogical Society library.
And some storm has toppled a vast tree and it has broken tombstones from the 1700’s. And I’m still fretting over cemetery maintenance here and now I need to try to put in some granite markers to insure that the graves of my ancestors can be found in another generation.
Our mobile society has insured that we don’t stay even remotely in touch with the ancestral lands. I do find great comfort in looking through clear glass windows out at the farm of my great-grandparents on a Sunday morning. To leave work and attend the afternoon funeral of 97-year-old Lorene Thomas Owens recently held in our little church.
I read Maxton, Harvey, Harper and Brown history recently and found with surprise that their ancestors come over on the Earl of Donegal in December 1767; the same boat that brought my ancestors (I know the boat’s name from memory, it’s a frequent question in our family history bowl at the annual Kirk Reunion on the second Saturday in July; visit to get an idea of how to do one right; and my cousins are doing it – I just take food and I bring in “Bible” with entries from 1787 for our annual exhibition.
Would I have removed the tree, had I known it would fall and break tombstones? Possibly. But I do love trees. It’s all a balance. I’ll try to get some small granite markers installed. I understand Old Saltillo Cemetery is now putting in granite; kudos to Darwin McGill, Vivian Dennis Monzingo, and the rest of that board.
To be aware of our roots. To preserve our history. One more resolution for 2011: To do more research; to preserve the memory and find some way to instill an awareness of our heritage in the next generation.
