154 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SKETCH OF 



cess to the end of his Hfe. He entertained a high 

 opinion of the value of the lands in Santee Swamp. 

 He inherited a large estate in it, and made numer- 

 ous additions by purchase, all of which he deter- 

 mined to secure from the freshets by means of an 

 embankment. To this work, therefore, he ad- 

 dressed himself, and resting his bank on the south 

 bank of the Santee Canal, he continued it four 

 miles down the river, where it now stands, the 

 greatest result of private enterprise, perhaps, in the 

 southern country. The embankment is four miles 

 in length, its base is thirty feet, its height nine feet, 

 and is so wide at the top that two persons may 

 very conveniently cross each other on horseback. 

 By means of this embankment he has reclaimed the 

 upper portion of the swamp, which now yields large 

 crops of corn and other grain. All that is wanting 

 to render the work thoroughly successful, is a con- 

 tinuation by his neighbors to the next bluff or 

 headland on the river. If this were done, some of 

 the best lands in America would be redeemed for 

 cultivation. The Major was one of the happiest, 

 the most amiable, and the most popular men in the 

 State. At the age of twenty-one he married his 

 cousin, Harriet Porcher, and they lived together 

 more than fifty years. She died in 1843. Their 

 home was the abode of elegant and of heartfelt hos- 

 pitality. In winter they were rarely without guests, 

 and at Christmas the house seemed to overflow 



