Monthly Archives: February 2015
Twelve Years a Slave: A Life-Changing Book
By Dr. Thomas Cloer, Jr.
Special to The Courier
hen I heard that a slave narrative existed, I had to have a copy. First published in 1853, readers now can obtain a copy of Solomon Northup’s narrative “Twelve Years a Slave” from Penguin
twelve-years-a-slave
Books or your local library. Some readers of books may be familiar with the phenomenon of reading something that changes oneself forever. The narrative of Northup, a free black man kidnapped in Washington in 1841, sold into slavery and not rescued until 1853 from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana, changed me forever.
I knew of some of the horrors related to that tragic part of our history in the South, but I had never heard it firsthand from someone who had endured it, survived it and then written eloquently about it in great detail.
I have also never read a personal diary of a Cherokee living in Eastatoee, Jocassee or Keowee. It would be as precious as gold to have such a perspective. It might cause others to look at Indian fighters from a different point of view. Sequoia first invented “talking leaves” with the Cherokee syllabary in
African-American firsts
Government
Local elected official: John Mercer Langston, 1855, town clerk of Brownhelm Township, Ohio.
State elected official: Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1836, the Vermont legislature.
Mayor of major city: Carl Stokes, Cleveland, Ohio, 1967-1971. The first black woman to serve as a mayor of a major U.S. city was Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly, Washington, DC, 1991-1995.
Governor (appointed): P.B.S. Pinchback served as governor of Louisiana from Dec. 9, 1872-Jan.
County council honors former Dacusville Fire Board members
Pickens County councilman Tom Ponder, who represents the Dacusville Fire District, recently presented awards to Dennis Bauknight and Sid Miller and for their leadership on the Dacusville Fire Department Board of Directors.
DACUSVILLE — The Dacusville Rural Fire Department has grown from a quonset hut at the edge of a parking lot to its present day, state-of-the-art facility.
Dennis Bauknight and Sid Miller both served on the fire department’s board of directors for more than 20 years each, giving selflessly of their time and knowledge to help ensure the
Duke’s World of Energy to host 6th annual orchid show Feb. 27-28
UPSTATE — The World of Energy at Oconee Nuclear Station will host a free orchid show and sale Feb. 27 and 28.
The annual event is a partnership with the Blue Ridge Orchid Society of South Carolina.
This year’s show will feature beautiful displays of orchids of all shapes, sizes and varieties. Society members will be available to answer questions about growing and caring for orchids.
Courier Legals 2-18-15
NOTICE OF SALE
2014-CP-39-1076
By virtue of an Order of Foreclosure in the Court of Common Pleas for Pickens County, South Carolina, granted in the case of Ermiena M. Miles vs. Bobby Owens a/k/a Bobby M. Owens a/k/a Bobby M. Owens, Jr., et al., Daniel E. Hunt, Special Referee for Pickens County will sell on Monday, March 2, 2015 at 11 o’clock a.m. at the Pickens County Courthouse, Pickens, South Carolina, to the highest bidder, the following described property, to-wit:
“All those certain pieces, parcels or lots of land, with any and all improvements thereon, situate,
Notice to Creditors 2-18-15
The publisher shall only be liable for an amount less than or equal to the charge for the space of the item in error in the case of errors in or omissions from any advertisement, and only for the first incorrect insertion.
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NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATES
All persons having claims against the following estates MUST file their claims on Form #371ES with the Probate Court of PICKENS COUNTY, the address of which is 222 MCDANIEL AVE., B-16 PICKENS, SC 29671, within eight (8) months after the date of the first publication of this
Courier Classifieds 2-18-15
Announcement
Sell your structured settlement or annuity payments for CASH NOW. You don’t have to wait for your future payments any longer! Call 1-800-446-9734. SW
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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS. Unable to work? Denied benefits? We Can Help! WIN or Pay Nothing! Contact Bill Gordon & Associates at 1-800-404-5928 to start your
Deep Winter Blues set for Saturday at Hagood Mill
PICKENS — It has been cold and bleak outside, so to heat things up, Hagood Mill will present “Deep Winter Blues” from noon until 3 p.m. this Saturday.
Steve McGaha
Upcountry South Carolina is a historical Mecca for the Piedmont blues. Throughout the 1920s and ‘30s, the streets of Laurens County, Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson reverberated with the music of bluesmen/street preachers as they were strolling with their tin cups extended.
Many of these musicians became famous on the streets of New York City in the folk revival of the ‘50s and ‘60s. It is that tradition that is celebrated each February at Hagood Mill.
This year’s lineup features Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award
Courier Classified 2-18-15
HELEN SCRUGGS HOWLAND
PICKENS — Helen Craig Scruggs Howland, 93, of 519 Wolf Creek School Road, died Thursday, Feb. 11, 2015, at Manna Health & Rehab in Pickens.
Born in Pickens, she was the widow of Merle Howland a daughter of the late Rev. Clarence Craig and Ada Brown Craig.
She was a member of Blue Ridge View Baptist Church and throughout her life one of her
