CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. II3 



divlduals, by name Roberts and Brown, organized 

 it and conducted it as a matter of business. One, 

 or both, of these men was hanged in Charleston, 

 in 1789. They had their agents and depots ar- 

 ran-^ed and organized ; and from the Santee to the 

 wilds of Florida, they and their confederates were 

 at once the nuisance and the terror of the country. 

 Mr. Thomas Palmer lived on his plantation on 

 Fair Forest Swamp. Like other planters of the 

 times, he possessed a large and valuable collection 

 of horses, one of which, called Fantail, was an 

 especial favorite. Early one morning he discovered 

 that his stables had been opened in the night, and 

 his best horses stolen. The alarm was quickly 

 spread, and in a few hours a party of gentlemen set 

 off, under the lead of Col. Maham, in pursuit of the 

 stolen property. It was difficult to track the fugi- 

 tives, but as suspicion naturally rested on Roberts 

 and his gang, they directed their course towards 

 Orangeburg, which was one of his head-quarters. 

 After" travelling a few miles, they met Mr. Rene 

 Ravenel, who, being informed of the object of their 

 search, informed them that, having been out early 

 that morning, he had seen a horse, about a quarter 

 of a mile off, crossing the road ; that a momentary 

 glance at the hinder part of the animal, which was 

 all that he saw, convinced him that it was Mr. 

 Palmer's horse. The circumstance would have 

 passed from his memory but for this meeting. He 



