11 



pestle iu woodeu mortai-s liyldiug oue-lialf bushel or three- 

 quarter peck, this last was geuerally giveu to the slaves as 

 au extra task to be performed iu morniugs aud eveuiugs 

 before or after other Avork was done. A little later a rude 

 machiue was coutrived with several pestles, called a 

 ''pecker" machine, from up aud down mjovement of same, 

 and worked by oxen. This slow i^rocess of preparation was 

 continued until just after the Revolutionary War, when a 

 young and ingenious Englishnuin, by name Jonathan Lucas, 

 came to Charleston and was asked by one of the Lynches if 

 he thought he could put up a machine to clean rice in quicker 

 manner* than was then done, the reply was : "That he 

 thought he could, and would attempt it." The result was 

 the designing and putting up of the first pounding machine 

 or mill iu the world on Peachtree plantation, on Lower San- 

 tee River, grind-stones and brushes w^ere then added to the 

 pestles and water from reserves were used as the motive 

 power. This gave great impulse to the pursuit of rice-plant- 

 ing, and ere nmny years had elapsed nearly every planta- 

 tion was eqiiipped with pounding plant. One was even 

 erected on Tibwin place, on coast, and used to pound such 

 rice as was then ])lanted on inland swamps near by. 



Threshing mills were soon added aud the prosperous era 

 of the grain began. These latter were also, at first, worked 

 by water let into adjacent fields at high tide and machinery 

 turned by it at the ebb. Steam was not used for the purpose 

 until a later time than which I speak. 



Before leaving the subject, I will mention that the l»ar 

 rels then used for shi})ping clean i)roducts were made at 

 plantation cooper sho])s, with ]>ine staves, birch and white 

 oak hoops as material, and were large enough to hold 000 

 pounds, this being the weight of the marketable package 

 of the day. 



Now I come to the great staple of the I'arisli, of our State 

 and of our South — Cotton — and we will see from what a 

 small baby the giant of our day s])rung. Can you imagine 

 the time when cotton was not planted here and little known 

 in our country? Yet. such is the fact, for less than t-^>0 

 vears aeo it was not ]>lanted in our parishes, and if it was 

 heard of, little notice was taken of it. Xow please. Iwar 



