Part 1
American Historic Towns
Historic Towns of New England
Edited by LYMAN P. POWELL. With Introduction by GEORGE P. MORRIS. Fully illustrated. Large 8^o, $3.50.
Historic Towns of the Middle States
Edited by LYMAN P. POWELL. With Introduction by ALBERT SHAW. Fully illustrated. Large 8^o, $3.50.
Historic Towns of the Southern States
Edited by LYMAN P. POWELL. With Introduction by W. P. TRENT. Fully illustrated. Large 8^o, $3.50.
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS, New York and London
American Historic Towns
HISTORIC TOWNS
OF THE
SOUTHERN STATES
Edited by
LYMAN P. POWELL
Illustrated
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS NEW YORK & LONDON The Knickerbocker Press 1900
COPYRIGHT, 1900 BY G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
[Illustration: _The Library of Congress, Washington, D. C._]
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PREFACE
The triad of volumes dealing with the older _American Historic Towns_ along or near the eastern coast is now complete. The three volumes, like the chapters of which they are composed, have their inevitable limitations. While neither in historical value nor in literary quality has it proved practicable to secure a uniformity of standard, editor and contributors have done the best they could, and they now feel assured that the series has proved its right to exist. It is quickening interest in our historic towns, bringing to light important facts, picturing for the patriotic reader who may not be free to make personal visits the places he would visit if he could, and making clear to him many things he would not be likely to learn in the towns themselves, however long a stay he might be free to make.
Like the preceding issues, this volume has a patriotic and educational purpose, but it goes forth also on an irenic mission. The editor’s father, dead almost a quarter of a century, lived in a little border town where in war times love and hate alike were hot. An avowed and fearless Unionist, he was also a true and faithful pacificator. As Mr. Rule has said of Louisville, James B. R. Powell “occupied a position similar to that of Tennyson’s sweet little heroine, Annie, who, sitting between Enoch and Philip, with a hand of each in her own, would weep,
“‘And pray them not to quarrel for her sake.’”
In planning and in shaping this volume, the editor hopes that he is proving himself worthy of an honored father, whose name he would connect in this way with the work and with the series.
His special acknowledgments are due to his wife, Gertrude Wilson Powell, for discriminating and invaluable assistance at every stage, and to Professor W. P. Trent, who, in addition to the preparation of a comprehensive Introduction, has ever been ready with such counsel and suggestions as enhance in many ways the value of the volume.
LYMAN P. POWELL.
ST. JOHN’S RECTORY, LANSDOWNE, PENNSYLVANIA.
August 10, 1900.
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CONTENTS
PAGE BALTIMORE St. George L. Sioussat 1
ANNAPOLIS Sara Andrew Shafer 47
FREDERICK TOWN Sara Andrew Shafer 75
WASHINGTON Frank A. Vanderlip 101
RICHMOND ON THE JAMES William Wirt Henry 151
WILLIAMSBURG Lyon G. Tyler 185
WILMINGTON Joseph Blount Cheshire 219
CHARLESTON Yates Snowden 249
SAVANNAH Pleasant Alexander Stovall 293
MOBILE Peter J. Hamilton 327
MONTGOMERY George Petrie 379
NEW ORLEANS Grace King 411
VICKSBURG H. F. Simrall 433
KNOXVILLE Joshua W. Caldwell 449
NASHVILLE Gates P. Thruston 477
LOUISVILLE Lucien V. Rule 503
LITTLE ROCK George B. Rose 537
ST. AUGUSTINE George R. Fairbanks 557
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ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D. C. _Frontispiece_
BALTIMORE
OLD COURT-HOUSE (1768) AND POWDER MAGAZINE 5 From an old print in the possession of the Maryland Historical Society.
EDWARD FELL, IN UNIFORM OF PROVINCIAL FORCES 9 From original painting in possession of William Fell Johnson.
MOALE’S SKETCH OF BALTIMORE IN 1752 13 From the original in the possession of the Maryland Historical Society.
BATTLE MONUMENT 17
MOUNT CLARE, 1760, RESIDENCE OF CHARLES CARROLL, BARRISTER 19
BOOS HOUSE, NEAR WHICH LAFAYETTE’S TROOPS ENCAMPED 23
JOHN EAGER HOWARD 27 From the painting by Rembrandt Peale, owned by R. Bayard.
ST. PAUL’S CHURCH 31 From an old copper print, owned by Rev. J. S. B. Hodges.
BELVIDERE, 1786, THE HOME OF COLONEL JOHN E. HOWARD 35 From the original in the possession of the Misses McKim, Belvidere Terrace, Baltimore, Md.
BUST OF JOHNS HOPKINS 43 From the original in Johns Hopkins Hospital.
SEAL OF BALTIMORE 45
ANNAPOLIS
GEORGE CALVERT, FIRST LORD BALTIMORE 48 Reproduced from an old print.
CECILIUS CALVERT, SECOND LORD BALTIMORE 49 Reproduced from an old print.
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE AND THE TREATY TREE 55
THE STATE HOUSE 57
CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON, 1737-1832 60
THE OLD HOUSE OF BURGESSES, NOW USED AS THE STATE TREASURY 61
THE BRICE HOUSE 62
THE PEGGY STEWART HOUSE 64
THE BURNING OF THE “PEGGY STEWART” 65 From the painting by Frank B. Mayer.
THE NAVAL INSTITUTE 69 (Where the battle-flags are kept.)
THE OLD GOVERNOR’S MANSION, NOW THE NAVAL ACADEMY LIBRARY 72
THE SEAL OF THE NAVAL ACADEMY 73
FREDERICK TOWN
PROSPECT HALL. THE DULANY MANSION 81
ROSE HILL, THE HOME OF GOVERNOR THOMAS JOHNSON 86
GOVERNOR THOMAS JOHNSON AND FAMILY 89 From the painting by Charles Wilson Peale.
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY 91
CHIEF JUSTICE ROGER B. TANEY 92
THE OLD REFORMED CHURCH 95
BARBARA FRIETCHIE 96
HOME OF BARBARA FRIETCHIE 97
THE HATED BRITISH TAX-STAMP, 1765-1766 99
WASHINGTON
PIERRE CHARLES L’ENFANT 105
STATUE OF GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT, WASHINGTON 118
THE CAPITOL 123 From the Congressional Library.
THE CITY OF WASHINGTON IN 1800 127 From an old print.
THE WHITE HOUSE 129 From the northeast.
STATE, WAR AND NAVY BUILDING 133 From the southeast.
THE “OCTAGON HOUSE” USED BY PRESIDENT AND MRS. MADISON DURING THE REBUILDING OF THE WHITE HOUSE IN 1814 137
GRAND STAIRCASE IN THE HALL OF THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY 139
THE UNITED STATES TREASURY 143 From the southwest.
ROTUNDA OF THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY, WASHINGTON 145
WASHINGTON MONUMENT 149 Looking across the “flats.”
THE SEAL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 150
RICHMOND ON THE JAMES
GRAVE OF POWHATAN ON THE JAMES 153
COLONEL WILLIAM EVELYN BYRD 157 From a painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller.
OLD STONE HOUSE, BUILT IN 1737 160
BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF RICHMOND 163
WASHINGTON MONUMENT AND CAPITOL, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 167
HENRY CLAY 169
THE MARSHALL HOUSE, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 172
RICHMOND IN FLAMES 177
MONUMENT TO GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, RICHMOND 179
THE WHITE HOUSE OF THE CONFEDERACY, RICHMOND 180
MONUMENT OVER CONFEDERATE DEAD AT HOLLYWOOD 181
SEAL OF RICHMOND 183
WILLIAMSBURG
“OLD POWDER-HORN” 186
INTERIOR OF BRUTON PARISH CHURCH AT WILLIAMSBURG, VA. 189
COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY 193
JACOBUS BLAIR 195 The founder of William and Mary College.
BENJ. S. EWELL 197
JOHN TYLER, SR. 200
MARY CARY, WASHINGTON’S EARLY LOVE 205
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL 209
GEORGE WYTHE 213
JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 215
SEAL OF WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE 217
WILMINGTON
RESIDENCE OF JAMES SPRUNT 223 Formerly the residence of Governor Dudley.
ST. PAUL’S CHURCH, EDENTON, N. C., FROM THE SOUTHEAST 225 Begun in 1736.
HARNETT’S HOUSE, “HILTON,” NEAR WILMINGTON 230
“ORTON HOUSE” 232
THE WALLS OF ST. PHILIP’S CHURCH, BRUNSWICK 234 Showing part of the corner-stone broken out and rifled by Federal soldiers in 1865.
COMMISSION OF LOUIS DE ROSSET AS CAPTAIN IN THE FRENCH ARMY, SIGNED BY LOUIS XIV., AND COUNTERSIGNED BY TELLIER 237
HUGH WADDELL 239
WILLIAM HOOPER OF NORTH CAROLINA, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 241
HEADQUARTERS OF LORD CORNWALLIS, WILMINGTON 243
COMMISSION OF LOUIS DE ROSSET AS CAPTAIN, GIVEN BY WILLIAM AND MARY 245
SEAL OF WILMINGTON 247
CHARLESTON
PLAN OF CHARLESTON 253 From a survey by Edward Crisp in 1704.
ST. PHILIP’S CHURCH, CHARLESTON 255
A MODERN CHARLESTON RESIDENCE 259
DEFENCE OF FORT MOULTRIE 263 From a painting by J. A. Oertel.
THE ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE BY THE BRITISH FLEET, 1776 265
PHILADELPHIA STREET (COON ALLEY) 279 Scene in rear of St. Philip’s Church.
THE ATTACK ON CHARLESTON BY THE FEDERAL IRONCLAD FLEET, APRIL 7, 1863 281
MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE 285 From a painting by Col. J. Trumbull.
ST. MICHAEL’S CHURCH, CHARLESTON 289
SEAL OF CHARLESTON 292
SAVANNAH
THE POST OFFICE 295
HOUSE WHERE THE COLONIAL LEGISLATURE ASSEMBLED IN 1782 297
HEADQUARTERS OF WASHINGTON DURING A VISIT TO SAVANNAH 299
THE JASPER MONUMENT 303
THE BURIAL PLACE OF TOMOCHICHI 307
CHRIST CHURCH 309
OAKS AT BETHESDA ORPHANAGE UNDER WHICH WHITEFIELD PREACHED 310
GREAT SEAL OF GEORGIA IN COLONIAL DAYS 312
OLD FORT, WHERE POWDER MAGAZINE WAS SEIZED IN 1775 314
GENERAL OGLETHORPE 316
COUNT CASIMIR PULASKI 319
FORT PULASKI 321
R. M. CHARLTON, POET, JURIST, U. S. SENATOR 323
SEAL OF SAVANNAH 325
MOBILE
FACSIMILE PAGE OF BAPTISMAL RECORD (1704) WITH THE AUTOGRAPH OF BIENVILLE 333
PLAN OF MOBILE AND OF FORT LOUIS IN 1711 337
THE BAY SHELL ROAD AT LOVERS’ LANE 343
MOBILE IN 1765 349
THE ELLICOTT STONE 351
PLACE WHERE AARON BURR WAS CAPTURED 354
JOHN A. CAMPBELL 362
RAPHAEL SEMMES IN 1861 364
C. S. S. “FLORIDA” ENTERING MOBILE BAY, SEPT. 4, 1862 367 From a painting by R. S. Floyd.
HOME OF AUGUSTA EVANS WILSON 373
AUGUSTA EVANS WILSON 376
SEAL OF MOBILE 378
MONTGOMERY
OLD CANNON OF BIENVILLE 380
DEXTER AVENUE DURING A STREET FAIR 387
OLD BUILDING IN WHICH LAFAYETTE BALL WAS GIVEN IN 1825 389
ALABAMA STATE CAPITOL WHERE PRESIDENT DAVIS WAS INAUGURATED 396
FIRST PAGE OF THE PERMANENT CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES, AS REPORTED BY THE COMMITTEE 401
This is in the handwriting of Gen. Thos. R. R. Cobb, who was a member of the committee. Taken from the original, which is in the possession of Mr. A. L. Hull, Athens, Ga.
THE PERMANENT CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES 403
As reported by committee and amended by Congress, is in the possession of the daughter of Mr. Alex. B. Clitherall, Mrs. A. C. Birch, Montgomery, Ala.
THE POLLARD RESIDENCE, BUILT BEFORE THE WAR 406
MONUMENT TO CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS ERECTED ON THE CAPITOL GROUNDS BY THE LADIES’ MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 407
JEFFERSON DAVIS 408
SEAL OF MONTGOMERY 410
NEW ORLEANS
TOMB OF AVAR, CITY PARK 413
THE CUSTOM-HOUSE, NEW ORLEANS 415
CHARTRES STREET AND CATHEDRAL 419
THE URSULINES CONVENT 421
THE JACKSON MONUMENT 423
CANAL STREET, NEW ORLEANS 427
THE CABILDO, OLD COURT BUILDING, JACKSON SQUARE 428
ST. FRIES CATHEDRAL 429
SEAL OF NEW ORLEANS 431
VICKSBURG
MEETING OF GENERALS GRANT AND PEMBERTON AT THE “STONE HOUSE” INSIDE THE REBEL WORKS ON THE MORNING OF JULY 4, 1863 435
(From an actual sketch made on the spot by one of the special artists of _Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper_, now in the collection of Major George Haven Putnam.)
GENERAL U. S. GRANT 442
PLAN OF THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG 445
SEAL OF VICKSBURG 447
KNOXVILLE
JOHN SEVIER, FIRST GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE 450
WILLIAM BLOUNT, GOVERNOR OF SOUTHWEST TERRITORY 452
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE 459
HUGH L. WHITE 464
ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 465
WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW, THE “FIGHTING PARSON” 467
BATTLE OF FORT SAUNDERS 473
SEAL OF KNOXVILLE 475
NASHVILLE
JAMES ROBERTSON 481
THE FIRST RESIDENCE OF ANDREW JACKSON 483
FORT RIDLEY, AN OLD NASHVILLE BLOCKHOUSE 485
ANDREW JACKSON 489
THE HERMITAGE MANSION, RESIDENCE OF ANDREW JACKSON 491
JAMES K. POLK 493
TOMB OF JAMES K. POLK, NASHVILLE 495
THE STATE HOUSE 497
THE PARTHENON, NASHVILLE, TENN. 499
SEAL OF NASHVILLE 501
LOUISVILLE
GEORGE D. PRENTICE 505
From an old painting owned by the Polytechnic Society of Kentucky.
DANIEL BOONE 508
From a painting in the possession of Col. R. T. Durrett, Louisville, Ky.
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 510
From a painting in the possession of Col. R. T. Durrett, Louisville, Ky.
BLOCKHOUSE AND LOG CABINS ON CORN ISLAND, 1778, FIRST SETTLEMENT OF LOUISVILLE, KY. 513
From an old print in the possession of Col. R. T. Durrett, Louisville, Ky.
RESIDENCE OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK ON THE INDIANA SHORE, OPPOSITE LOUISVILLE 515
From an old print in the possession of Col. R. T. Durrett, Louisville, Ky.
THE CITY HALL 519
ON THE TOBACCO BREAKS 523
THE KEATS HOUSE (THE ELKS BUILDING) 527
THE COURT-HOUSE 529
A SCENE AT THE WHARF 533
SEAL OF LOUISVILLE 535
LITTLE ROCK
THE “LITTLE ROCK,” TO WHICH THE CITY OWES ITS NAME 539
LITTLE ROCK LEVEE 540
NEW STATE HOUSE 543
OLD STATE HOUSE 545
THE HOUSE WHERE THE ARKANSAS LEGISLATURE WAS HELD IN 1835 546
ALBERT PIKE 547
ROBERT CRITTENDEN 548
THE OLD FOWLER MANSION 549
Now the residence of John M. Gracie.
THE CRITTENDEN RESIDENCE 550
The first brick house built in Little Rock. Now the home of Governor James P. Eagle.
THE OLD PIKE MANSION 551
Now the residence of Colonel John G. Fletcher.
CUSTOM-HOUSE AND POST OFFICE 554
LITTLE ROCK UNIVERSITY 555
ST. AUGUSTINE
THE OLD CITY GATE 558
PEDRO MENENDEZ DE AVILES, FOUNDER OF ST. AUGUSTINE 560
OLD FORGE 562
OLD SPANISH FORT ON MATANZAS RIVER 565
THE OLDEST HOUSE IN ST. AUGUSTINE 569
RUINS OF THE OLD SPANISH FORT AT MATANZAS INLET 573
HOTEL PONCE DE LEON 579
SEAL OF ST. AUGUSTINE 581
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INTRODUCTION
BY W. P. TRENT
Probably the first feeling of the reader who glances over the table of contents of this volume will be one of surprise at the number of Southern towns of historical importance that the editor has seen fit and been able to include. Neither from our study of American history nor from our study of geography have we been led to look upon the Southern States as a region characterized by urban development. Those of us who took the pains to examine the statistics of the census of 1890 remember that the South stood far behind the other sections in this respect. We remember, too, to have seen in our histories the thickly settled New England township contrasted with the large, sparsely settled Southern county. In literature the South has figured as a region of plantations and manor houses inhabited by cavaliers and chatelaines and old family slaves, possessors of all the feudal virtues, or else as the home of a curious race, presumably Caucasian, known as “crackers,” and of equally curious mountaineers known as “moonshiners.” An exception is made, of course, in favor of New Orleans, the home of the Creole and the carnival; of Charleston, the home of secession; of Richmond, the home of the Confederate government; and of St. Augustine, the home of hotels; but on the whole it is probable that the average American of other sections, unless he be a drummer or a valetudinarian tourist, rarely thinks of the South from the point of view of its towns, historic or unhistoric.
For this state of affairs no one is to blame. The great growth of municipalities in the North, East and West--the colossal development of New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, of Boston and Baltimore and a dozen other great cities--has naturally cast in the shade the urban status of a section that contains no city of three hundred thousand inhabitants. It is true that much is heard of the New South with its commercial future; but probably the pushing Atlanta is almost the only Southern city that has in the last few decades impressed itself to any marked degree upon the nation’s consciousness.
Nor is it surprising that it is only since the Civil War that the urban development of the South has begun to be of importance even to close students of the past and present of the section. From the time of the earliest settlements to the present day agriculture has been the dominant industry. Virginia tobacco, Carolina indigo and rice, far Southern and Southwestern cotton--these staples have meant more to the South than manufacturing or commerce. She developed seaports, which gradually lost their relative standing among the ports of the country and administrative and distributing centers; but there was no crowding of operatives into manufacturing towns, no haste on the part of country-bred youths to leave their native fields for the shops and warehouses and offices of the city. The gentleman’s son looked forward in most cases to being a planter; the small farmer’s son grew up in an environment that did not stimulate ambition. Cotton was king, and his court was bound to be a rural one.
It is not to be supposed, however, that during the period from 1820 to 1860, which witnessed the amazing growth of manufacturing and commercial centers in the North and East and the still more wonderful rural and urban development of the West, the South was entirely content with the spread of her cotton-fields and oblivious to the stagnation or the slow growth of her towns. Her country-gentleman class was doubtless content with this state of affairs, and her politicians actually boasted of it, being put on the defensive in all respects on account of the attacks made upon slavery; but the leading inhabitants of the towns regretted the backwardness of their section and devised various schemes for remedying it, while the merchant class openly complained of the fact that young men were taught to look down upon every pursuit other than planting. This is but to say that the people of the South were not so different at bottom from their hopeful, energetic fellow citizens of other sections as has sometimes been imagined. They were Americans tied down to one occupation and rendered unprogressive by the hampering influences of a belated institution.
This fact does not appear on the surface; indeed it becomes apparent only to the careful student of sources of which the Southern historian has not yet made full use. These sources are the local newspapers and the fairly numerous magazines--particularly the financial and commercial De Bow’s _Review_ published at New Orleans. The Southern historian, like his brothers of the North and East until recently, has laid disproportionate stress upon the colonial history of his section or else upon its political history, and thus has failed to bring out the interesting struggle between the old and the new economic orders of things that took place in the South down to the time of the Civil War. Hence it is that in the present volume we find in many chapters the gap between the surrender at Yorktown and the firing upon Sumter covered by only a few paragraphs. Some of the towns had a most interesting history during these years,--as we may judge from Dr. Petrie’s chapter on Montgomery,--but it has not yet been written.
When it is, we shall get abundant evidence of a heroic if, on the whole, unsuccessful struggle for urban development. Charleston in particular made a most gallant fight to recover the importance as a port which she had lost through the rivalry of Baltimore and New Orleans. Her leading citizens, some of whom labored for the cause of public education and of literary and scientific development with an earnestness that should not be forgotten in spite of the paucity of results, saw clearly that something must be done to enhance the city’s wealth and growth if the State herself, or, indeed, the section, was to maintain an important place in the union of rapidly developing commonwealths. They saw, furthermore, what this something must be. The cotton of the South and the agricultural and other products of the great West must be drawn away from Northern ports to ships lying in the harbor of Charleston. The distance to be traversed and the mountain barriers made all thought of a canal similar to the one that had brought fortune to New York out of the question, and the hopes of enterprising citizens centered on the newly invented railway. As early as 1831 the first steam locomotive used successfully on rails in this country was put on its tracks at Charleston by the South Carolina Railroad Company, and, as Mr. Snowden tells us in his chapter, the longest railway in the world was at one time contained within the borders of what is not familiarly known as a progressive State. It was but a short time before ambitious plans were set on foot to connect Charleston with Cincinnati and the West.
The full story of these plans--of the faithful labor expended upon them, and of their ultimate failure, through no fault of the unselfish promoters--belongs to another place; but a few words upon the subject may be pardoned here on account of the light that will be thrown upon the difficulties encountered by every ante-bellum Southern city in its efforts at progress. The first steps taken by the friends of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad Company were comparatively easy. Charters were obtained from several States, enthusiastic conventions of promoters were held, engineers were put into the field to decide between competing routes, and popular subscriptions to the stock were opened in most of the towns and villages. By November, 1836, South Carolina alone had subscribed for nearly $2,775,000 of the $4,000,000 needed to start the enterprise. Within a few days this latter amount was made up, and everything looked bright. But Governor McDuffie in his annual message pointed out unforeseen obstacles. Kentucky had subscribed only $200,000, and yet claimed six directors out of twenty-four; Ohio had subscribed almost nothing. Why should South Carolina cover Kentucky with railroads? Why, again, should the promoters of the enterprise wish for banking privileges when the whole country was crowded with banks already? He urged the legislature to withhold the desired subscription of $1,000,000 until the success of the road was more fully assured. His advice was not followed, but we may learn two important facts from his remarks: first, that the South suffered from the crude financial methods and the fever for speculation that afflicted the rest of the country. Second, that State jealousy was a rock upon which any great Southern scheme was liable to split. The theory of States-rights united the Southern commonwealths politically against the other sections, but in internal matters it was a disintegrating agent of great potency.
The promoters of the road were not discouraged, however, by Governor McDuffie’s pessimism. They organized their bank, purchased the road which already connected Charleston and Augusta, known as “The Charleston and Hamburg,” began a branch to connect the State capital, Columbia, with this road, and commenced to realize on the popular subscriptions to the stock. But they had not counted on the panic of 1837 and the continuing financial depression, in the midst of which their bank was forced to suspend, nor had they expected to lose by death their efficient president, Robert Y. Hayne, Webster’s famous opponent. The great interstate scheme soon shrank to state proportions; and by 1842 people were congratulating themselves that they had at least a gratifying extent of railway mileage within the borders of South Carolina itself. This seems a small return for a large outlay of energy, yet after a careful study of the complicated history of the road it can scarcely be said that General Hayne and his associates made as bad a compromise with their magnificent dreams as the majority of our more recent railway promoters have done. Certainly the way in which the public responded to their efforts spoke well for the energy and the civic intelligence of a people of planters. The effects of the panic and of Western indifference could hardly have been foreseen; the banking attachment was natural enough in an era of wild banking to which the lessons of experience were wanting; and, finally, the method of securing capital by instalments of subscription, crude as it may seem, was almost the only available one among a people whose capital was in the main locked up in land and negroes. We are warranted, therefore, in concluding, from these early efforts to connect Charleston with the West, and from later railroad enterprises of other Southern cities that cannot be treated here, that the failure of the _ante-bellum_ South to show a marked urban development was due not to the backwardness and inertia of its influential citizens, but rather to unfavorable economic conditions that could not be speedily overcome.