FLAT ROCK COMMUNITY 117 
tain settlement was that of the Rev. John G. Dray- 
ton, for many years rector of St. John-In-the-Wil- 
derness, and to whom the dignified and noble estate 
of Ravenswood at Flat Rock owes its origin, as well 
as those wonderful magnolia gardens on the Ashley 
River near Charleston, gardens where one wanders 
away into a dreamland of flowers unlike any other 
dreamland in the world. 
Then there was the Secretary of the Treasury of 
the Confederate States, Mr. G. C, Memminger, 
loved for his generosity and public spirit, who also 
had a home in the fortunate land of flowers and 
fresh air. 
And always, when talking to any of the old resi- 
dents of Flat Rock, comes forth the name of Dr. 
Mitchell C. King, who, for more than half a century, 
was the greatly loved physician of the community, 
and who, while a student at the University of Got- 
tingen, formed so warm a friendship with a fellow 
student, known as Otto von Bismarck, that, for 
many years after, a regular correspondence was 
carried on between the greatest statesman Germany 
has ever known and the genial and kindly physi- 
cian of the little mountain settlement, these letters 
being carefully preserved by the descendants of the 
doctor. 
The estates at Flat Rock have changed hands with 
the passing of time, yet many of them retain their 
original form, and new estates have been added by 
the "quality" of to-day; also new roads, beautifully 
planned, and beautifully bordered with the choicest 
