berries and all kinds of gifts, including money, and when told that the
Red Cross never received pay for its work, it was hard for them to
understand; but as weeks passed, they learned it and tried to help each
other as they had been helped. On the first of June the medical
distributing department of the American National Red Cross was closed
and all the officers were ordered to headquarters, where the field was
closed and the president and staff left for Charleston, to repack and
ship to the northern district, June 7, 1894. Then came a few weeks at
the Charleston Headquarters. Through the courtesy of Mr. Kaufman, his
long warehouse (150 feet by 40 feet) was at the disposal of the Red
Cross from the time it received the Charleston Committee to the close of
its field, with privilege of occupying it as long as they wished.
Tents were pitched in this room and Miss Barton and her staff lived
there until June 30, when the field was officially closed.
Miss Barton and her party went to Washington, leaving Dr. Hubbell, the
general field agent and myself.
Crops of vegetables and corn, building and ditching were in progress and
instruction was necessary, and this instruction was given as follows:
Each day we would meet from fifty to three or four hundred people and
give them a good practical talk, with about these headings for notes:
"Owe no man anything."
How to keep out of debt.
Don't sell cotton before it is picked.
Plant more vegetables, and why.
Divide cottages into rooms.
Don't mortgage, which was a continuation of the instruction given daily
from the beginning of the field.
These talks were of much help and the islanders would drive miles to get
the advice which they knew was given unselfishly.
RELIEF METHODS IN THE FIELD.
However brilliant may be the scintillations lighting up the descriptions
of the worker who sees a field for the first or the first few times, it
is always to the steady-burning flame of the veteran of all the fields
from the earliest to the latest, that we look for the steady light, by
which we shall see the calm facts, and so far as possible, the machinery
that moves the whole.
It will be remembered that Dr. Hubbell was the agent of the Red Cross in
the Michigan fires of the North in 1881. We saw him in the snows of
Russia, and now find him at the Islands. The doctor's reports are always
an unknown quantity. They may be but a few sentences; they may be many
pages, but never too much. I will ask of him that he give his report
independently, and not to me. The various topics which he will touch,
render this preferable:
DR. HUBBELL'S REPORT.
On this field there were many _first_ things to be done. Among these
were the feeding of the people, rebuilding the houses, cleaning out the
wells, draining the land of salt water, clothing and placing the people
in ways to help themselves; half a million feet of lumber to be rafted
down to accessible points, from the mills on the rivers which emptied
into the waters of these island inlets. While this was being floated
down, the well men and women were instructed in different kinds of work:
to take care of the helpless, rebuild their homes, and to provide
shelter and food for themselves.
While the people of these islands, in great measure, own their little
tracts of land, they retain the old plantation name for their home.
These plantations usually contain from twenty to forty families. The
inhabitants of each plantation were directed to select a representative
from their own number who should be the representative and committeeman
for that plantation, whose duty it should be to communicate with the Red
Cross, receive and distribute supplies for his people, and be the
director of the various kinds of work that should be carried on among
his people. These committeemen from all over the islands would come to
headquarters to receive their instruction--food, seeds, tools, clothing,
and learn the methods of work.
These committeemen were received at headquarters by Miss Barton
personally as well as by her officers, and careful explanations given to
them that the supplies and the help that we were to give were in no way
from the government, as many supposed from their memory of the old
"Freedmen Bureau" days, but that they were the contributions very
largely of poor people from over the country, who themselves had little
to give, for the times were hard, but these had heard of the pitiable
condition of the storm sufferers, and were willing and glad to divide
the little they had to help them into their homes again. The funds we
had in hand, they were made to understand, were very small, far less
than we could wish, not likely to be much increased, and we should
depend upon them to help us to use them to the very best advantage, and
we would do our best in the same way to help them.
Among the early contributions were a quantity of garden seeds. More were
sent for, particularly of those vegetables that would grow there
profitably during the late autumn and winter. It may not be generally
known that it was not the custom of these people to plant anything but
cotton, corn, sweet potatoes and rice. Hence they knew almost nothing
about the raising of other field or garden products.
These committeemen were carefully instructed and directed how to prepare
the ground and plant the various kinds of new seeds which were put up in
packages for families, which he would take home and in turn instruct his
people what to do with them; in this way lettuce, onions, and garden
peas were planted, and in a few weeks these plantings began to supply
them with a vegetable food to go along with their grits and meat.
From among those who could handle tools, building committees were formed
whose duty it was to repair and rebuild the houses, first, of widows and
the infirm, and afterward, their own. These committees were furnished
with nails, lumber, and the necessary hardware; tools were purchased,
marked with the insignia, and loaned until their work should be
finished, when they would be returned and another committee would take
these same tools and begin work on another plantation.
At the same time a foreman for ditching would be elected from a
plantation, who would select his force of men, clean out the wells and
ditch the lands of his plantation, working jointly with adjoining
plantations, so that the ditching of one piece of land should not flood
his neighbor. Spades, shovels, axes, hoes, mattocks, were furnished
these men, who, when their work was finished, would return the tools to
headquarters for others to take and work with in the same way.
Men acquainted with the building of flood gates, or "trunks," as they
are called, and dams, built and put these in to protect the openings of
the ditches from the incoming tides.
Through their committees each man was instructed to split out palings
from the fallen timber and fence in a large garden, so that it should be
secure from his chickens and pigs. Nails and tools were likewise
furnished for this work, frows, crosscut saws, axes, hatchets, hammers,
etc.
As the season advanced, in February, the planting time, seedmen of New
York and Philadelphia, as well as other cities, hearing of the success
of these amateur gardeners through the winter season, sent generously
from their stores, and the Congressmen of several districts joined them
in directing the seeds in the Agricultural Department apportioned for
their distribution to be sent direct to the Red Cross for the Sea
Islanders. Again these committeemen, as formerly, were called and
instructed in the manner of preparing the ground and planting _each
kind_ of seed, with instructions to communicate what he had learned to
his neighbors, as before. As these people had never before made gardens,
even the leading business men and merchants laughed at the idea of
attempting to "make truck gardeners out of these people."
Notwithstanding this, Miss Barton bought nine hundred bushels of Early
Rose potatoes. Women were set at work carefully cutting these into one
or two eyes each for planting. This provision also removed any possible
temptation, with their scant provisions, to use them at once for food.
The seed corn, like everything else in all this vicinity, had been
destroyed by the storm. Again Miss Barton sent to the Ohio valley for
two carloads of seed corn. This was distributed over the entire
storm-swept section, and many of these people at harvest time said that
if the storm had brought them nothing but this new variety of seed corn,
it would have been a blessing, for their crop was double what it had
ever been before.
In order to preserve the quality of the famed "sea island cotton," which
is a special variety, with long, silky fibre, used for making thread,
the furnishing of this seed was given to the care of the local cotton
merchants, who were directly interested in preserving its high standard
and market value.
[Illustration: Copyright, 1898, by Clara Barton.
RECEIVING ROOM FOR CLOTHING, S.C. ISLAND RELIEF,
1893-94.]
[Illustration: Copyright, 1898, by Clara Barton.
SOUTH CAROLINA SEA ISLAND RELIEF.
_Distributing day for St. Helena and Ladies' Island at
Massey's Ferry opposite Beaufort. Beaufort in the
distance at the right._]
In the feeding and "rationing" of these people they were as carefully
instructed in the principles of economy and care as in other lines of
work. Where a fisherman could be found, he was furnished with a boat or
net to supply his people with fish to help out with the living, and this
was a great aid. The living ration for a family of seven was half a peck
of grits a week and a pound of pork, simply as an insurance against
starvation for those not having work. Those who were at organized work
under a regular foreman received double that amount, _i.e._, two pecks
of grits or meal and two pounds of pork a week for each man.
At all times these people were cautioned about going into debt for any
purpose, and so faithfully did they follow these suggestions that when
we questioned them in their churches when their corn was ready to use,
no more than one in thirty had contracted debts for food or living
supplies,--a matter of special interest in view of the fact that it has
always been the custom of the country, to go into debt for food supplies
until the crop should be ready for market. True, on some of these
islands additional help was received from other sources, notably on St.
Helena, Ladies and Port Royal, through the influence of some of the
resident merchants and other friends--local merchants rebuilding their
stores and warehouses gave employment to some, shipping to others, and
later, a partial reopening of the phosphate industry brought labor to
others.
It will be remembered that these people were constantly receiving
lessons in practical economy, and suggestions in improvising and turning
to best account what they might have at hand. These instructions, coming
from Miss Barton direct made a deep impression on the minds of these
people, and they were faithfully followed up by her representatives, who
had received their lessons beforehand in practical, common sense
economy. I recall an incident. After showing a number of the
committeemen through the office and living apartments at headquarters,
where they saw desks, working tables, book shelves, washstands,
wardrobes, commodes, all neatly covered with manila paper or hung with
tasty calico curtains or draperies, with neat and attractive effect--and
then when shown the constructions they were amazed to find that nearly
every piece of furniture before them was made from various sizes of dry
goods boxes (that are usually broken up for kindlings) with shelves
inside or on top, as occasion required. One of these committeemen made
the practical remark that this half-hour observation and instruction was
worth just seventy-five dollars to him, for it showed him how for the
present he could save that amount of debt, which he considered necessary
to make his house furnishing comfortable for his family.
Careful reports of tools borrowed and returned, of work done each week,
as the basis of additional food support, encouraged accuracy, system and
responsibility.
I hope it may not prove too tedious if a few average reports of
committees are here given from different sections of the field and a
sample "labor sheet" to more clearly show some of the kinds of work
done, and the character and spirit of the people. The labor sheet is
intended to be a record of the tools given out and returned, the number
of men at work, the kind of work done--whether ditches, bridges, roads,
dams, repairing wrecked houses, or building new ones, digging wells,
building chimneys, fencing gardens, splitting boards or shingles, etc.,
and also the record of the condition as observed by the visitor or
inspector of the work.
The following sample is the work of Committeeman Jackson Gillison, of
Stuart Point, Port Royal Island, being one of the first who began work:
LABOR ON PORT ROYAL ISLAND.
Committee, Jack Gillison. Stuart's Point, Place.
BUILDING AND REPAIRING.
Tools
Taken Tools Number
Out. Returned. Number. of men. DESCRIPTION.
----- --------- ------- -------
1893
Dec. Sandy Brown's House, 12 x 18, Rebuilt.
1 15 12 Abby Hamilton's " 12 x 15, "
Shalcot Mack's " 10 x 15, "
Thomas Devoe's " 10 x 15, "
Robert Marshall's " 15 x 15, "
August Dunkin's " 12 x 18, "
Storm Jackson's " Shingled.
Sanford Howard's " All except
shingles.
Thomas Williams' " " " "
Tissey Small's " Rebuilt.
Sibby Robinson's " moved 200 feet on
hill and blocked
up.
April Alfred Davis' " finished to the
shingles.
27 12 24 Dick Bright's " finished after
frame has been
put up.
DITCHING.
1894
Feb. Width. Depth. Length.
16 24 24 1 Dike 15 3 400
1 " 15 4 700
1 " 6 4 500-1600 feet Dikes.
1 Ditch 2 3 1500
1 " 2 3 700
1 " 3 2 800
1 " 3 2 600
1 " 2 1 400
1 " 2 2 700
1 " 2 3 500
1 " 2 2 400
1 " 3 2 400
1 " 2 3 600
1 " 2 1 300
1 " 3 2 200
2 Ditches 3 2 600
2 " 2 3 800
2 " 2 2 150-8650 Ditches.
April 1 Trunk (Tide Gate), repaired
27 24 24 2 Trunks (" " ), made 3 Trunks.
On Ladies Island George Barnwell, foreman for Eustis Place and
Hazel Farm, reports four houses built, ten repaired, 87,870 feet of
ditching, fifty feet of dam, three miles of road across the island, thirty
feet wide, cleared up and repaired; this latter required seventy-five
men at work three weeks cutting out fallen trees, rebuilding bridges,
and filling in washed places. Barnwell says, in closing his report:
The improvement of the land that is redeemed and put in good order
for the farmers on Eustice Place, including the houses, is worth
about three thousand dollars. July 20th, 1894.
At that time we endorsed on this report the following:
August 4th we inspected this work and found all well done, but we
found several buildings that Barnwell had begun were not mentioned
in his report because they were _not finished_ when he made it.
Houses and ditches give evidence of good practical work.
From two plantations on St. Helena's Island Rev. D.E. Washington's
report shows 32,331 feet of ditching, two houses built, four repaired.
The close of his report has this:
To the Red Cross officers: We, the undersigned sufferers, return a
vote of thanks to you for the goodness you have done for us by
giving us ditches to save our crops. The value to us is $2000.
D.E. WASHINGTON,
_Agent of the Mary Ann Chaplin,
Tom Fripp and Village Plantations_.
I find this observation on the back of this report, after a visit to
look at his work and to speak to his people:
August 13th, 1894, went over this work in part. The ditches are
doing excellent service and have been of great value to the
plantations during the wet season. It may be that the width of the
ditches is hardly sufficient in all places, but the condition of the
people is most gratifying, and the work of Reverend Washington has
been markedly unselfish.
On reaching his place we learned for the first time that his own
house, a large plantation building of former years, had been burned
just before the storm, and he has since been living in his stable.
This personal loss he has never mentioned to the Red Cross people,
although his duties as committeeman brought him in contact with them
every week for nearly a year.
From the mainland Rev. Wade Hampton, in returning his tools, after
making nearly one mile of canal and ditches, and 330 feet of causeway,
says:
We, the committee on said places (Chaplin, Fripp, Toomer, and Tom
Rhodes), return our sincere thanks to you for the rations and the
tools to work with, for it was just the same as if you had given us
a hundred dollars apiece. This is to the Red Cross, by your
committee. Most respectfully,
WADE HAMPTON,
_Agent Chaplin Plantation_.
From another section of the mainland, William Grant, of Pocotaligo,
reports nearly two miles of canal eight feet wide, and about the same
amount of ditches, and the building of four houses.
Jack Snipe, a young man, almost a boy, after building 5 chimneys,
getting out over 4000 shingles and clapboards, and repairing 11 houses,
began and made 2000 feet of ditches, and we find this endorsement on his
paper. "July 27, I went over part of Jack Snipe's work to-day. He was a
hard working, conscientious man, but not very strong physically. After
his work of building and repairing as the leader of his men, he took
charge of the ditching; got sick from working in the water, and died
soon after. Mrs. Barker, one of our volunteer trained nurses, worked
faithfully during all his illness to save him, but in vain."
Ben Watkins, on Baker Place, shows 19,562 feet of ditches, 1 house
built, 2 repaired, 3 large gardens fenced, 7 wells dug. "July 24, 1894,
inspected this work, both buildings and ditches, and found the work well
done, the ditches being new and important, carrying the water from three
large ponds. One main ditch is from four to seven feet deep, equally
wide at the top. The crops are in excellent and promising condition, and
Watkins' work is more than he has claimed for it, besides being
practical and well done. The Gregorys and Browns on Baker Place have
attractive homes, neat and orderly, with appearances of thrift and
industry."
These quotations taken at random from a list of a hundred reports serve
to give an idea of the kind and quality of the work done over the entire
field, as well done in one district as another from Charleston to
Savannah, a distance of 150 miles, including a large area of the
mainland as well.
While these people are in large measure cut off from the advantages that
come from travel and contact with the outside world, they have a
peculiar style of expression, and a musical sweetness of voice that is
unusually attractive. They are of different origin and type from the
Virginia or "upland people;" many are good scholars, due largely to the
schools of Miss Batoum and Miss Murray on St. Helena, and others
established soon after the war. Nearly all read and write. Still, there
are some that retain the old-time style of expression, as in the
following: "We's de bes garden I eber seen sence I was a man grown."
"All de squash, de tomaty and de watermillion seed gone died, but de
Lo'd's will must be done."
"All de house (houses) is done ractified." "I couldn't tell a lie, for
I'z deacon in de chuch. I has to be respectable." Another says: "I'v ben
dar from de fust upstartment, and dar ain't ben de fust rag gin to dose
people."
Another: A man who had seen the Red Cross staff getting on the boat to
go to Charleston said: "I tell you, doctor, when I see Miss Barton
gettin' on the boat to go away I just _felt_ so, my eyes couldn't help
leakin' water, for you all have saved us people."
After the general relief had closed, and the body of the Red Cross staff
had left, Dr. Egan remained with me to help finish the distribution of a
remnant of supplies and tools that could be kept in use, and to
encourage the continuance of the general improvements so well begun.
Considerable attention was given to visiting the work, and the people on
the different islands in their churches, where practical suggestions
were made on the line of the instructions they had received from
headquarters at first. These talks were always preceded by an inspection
of the fields, gardens, buildings and work which had been done on the
place, for the purpose of better judging what kind of suggestions would
be of most profit to the people; but the subjects usually taken up would
be headlined thus:
PROSPERITY.
Keep out of debt. Debt is a burden and a hindrance to prosperity, the
cause of much trouble and bad feeling. "Owe no man anything."
How to keep out of debt. Keep the garden producing something to live on
the entire year. The climate here will allow this to be done.
Then a list of vegetables suitable for the soil and the climate that
experience has shown can be raised with success.
On the farm keep some kind of profitable crop growing the entire year,
both for profit and for feed for the stock. Follow the regular corn crop
with a second one for fodder, or with some of the root crops, as
turnips, beets, rutabagas, cabbage or collards.
Plant such things as the fowls will injure inside the garden fence.
Fruits; figs and grapes grow from cuttings, and are easily raised, if
only protected from the pigs, the goats, or the cattle. Pears, peaches,
apples, oranges, pomegranates, pecans, walnuts, grow with a little care.
(Fine samples of vegetables and fruits raised on the islands, often by
their own people, were shown in evidence.)
Let each one raise and preserve his own meat, or have a neighbor who has
been successful, put it up for him until he learns how for himself. This
point was particularly made, because the general custom of the country
is to sell hogs for three or four cents a pound and pay twelve to
sixteen cents a pound for pork.
Homes:--Make them neat, light, attractive; have trees, flowers and the
simple conveniences, any and all of which can be had by a little
thought, labor and interest.
In the line of health, use less pork, more vegetables, fruit, milk,
eggs, and pure water. Good wells are necessary, ditches are necessary
for health as well as for agricultural development. If all the
plantations are well drained, it will in large measure banish fevers
from the islands.
Observe among your people which one succeeds best in any undertaking,
whether it is in the raising of a particular kind of crop, or the saving
of it, the successful curing of his meat, the raising of fruit, the
breeding of good stock, or having attractive home--go to _that one_ for
that particular kind of information or instruction that you want. Strive
to improve the moral standing, which is necessary for physical as well
as social advancement.
No one who has been with these people, worked with them as we have, but
must be pleased to observe their gratitude, their gentle manner of
expressing it, their desire to improve and their attention to
instruction or suggestion, their cheerful disposition and their faith in
God and the Red Cross.
ON THE CHARLESTON GROUP.
Among those who lived the storm and later brought their experience and
quickened sympathy to us for such help as they could give to their still
suffering companions in danger and woe, was our tireless and faithful
assistant, Mr. H.L. Bailey, of Charleston.
It has never been my good fortune to find one who--entirely new to the
work and to its conception--has grasped more readily the field of labor
presented to him. The success attending his work and the satisfaction
attested by his beneficiaries are rich stores of memory for a lifetime.
The Red Cross could not have asked for better service.
REPORT OF MR. H.L. BAILEY.
In order to make the following narrative more complete I deem it not
amiss to preface it with a short account of my own experience in the
great Cyclone of 1893, and a few incidents relating thereto.