Short Stories About Life in Berkeley County South Carolina

This book is written to enlighten people about life in Berkeley County, South Carolina, a small Southern town that might have been Anywhere, USA in the ole days. I pick on the fun and fallacy of human beings, not to mention the hard times had by one and all. This book is not historical in the sense of many books, but it can certainly be considered historical for its’ richness in the spirit of ‘down to earth people in this neck of the woods.’  I have written true stories (the names have been changed) about people I have known or stories that were passed down to me by family and friends; stories that ole men told while they sat around the wood stove in the little country store, often telling lies and spitting tobacco; or ones the women passed around while they quilted in a quilting ‘bee’ and passed out a bit of gossip as the needles bounced back and forth. These same stories might have been bantered back and forth on a Sunday afternoon after church, when things were quiet and working on a Sunday was not considered the right thing to do.  Even most moon-shiners respected Sunday back then and after church, which most of them attended regularly, they sat on their porch and only occasionally sold a bit of brew.

      Berkeley County is the largest county in South Carolina, which consists of forty-six counties. We struggled through the depression, which was caused by the stock market crash in 1929, and bounded its’ way to South Carolina and the corn fields. Most of us had never heard of the stock market until life began crashing down around us. We outsmarted many of the revenue agents, while making moonshine whiskey in the thick swampy areas of Hell Hole, probably the same swamps traveled by Francis Marion during the Revolutionary War. We learned to be wary and clever in order to survive. Not only did we have to dodge the revenuers, but we also had to outsmart the crooked politicians who practically over-ran this area.

     I would like to say at this point that a good politician has to be able to speak out of both sides of his mouth. He has to be able to tell everyone what they want to hear, knowing he can’t fulfill his promises and he has to be sincere about it. It is amusing even in this day and age, to watch our politicians before an election as they hug the ladies and kiss the babies, (or is that ‘kiss the ladies and hug the babies’??? I’m never quite sure on that point). Regardless of the progress of our times, some things never change.

     Berkeley County has made steady progress since the power plant, known far and wide as Santee Cooper, was born right after World War II. The job market has increased by leaps and bounds, much of it accredited in the last few years to the unrelenting work of Jim Rozier.

      There is no excuse to be unemployed very long if you really desire to work for a living. But there again, I guess it all depends on what you want in life. As I take everything under consideration, having been on this Planet Earth nearly 82 years, I believe Berkeley County is seeing some of its’ best days now. I also believe Santee Cooper was responsible for the change in many of our lives, from abject poverty to being able to find decent jobs and educate our children. Santee Cooper and the outreach it gave our community by bringing in other jobs, has enabled many of us to live our senior days in moderate comfort.

     I have decided that this will be my last book. To the young people I would like to leave this advice: honor your parents, stay away from drugs and alcohol and let the Holy Bible be the rule and guide for your lives. A good creed to live by is: ‘I shall pass through this world only once, so therefore any good I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Do not let me defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.’ Remember it is not the fast pace of life that bothers us, but the sudden stop at the end. I would also like to give some old advice to the young unmarried women of our County. It is the same advice given for ages in the South. ‘Young lady, never set your china and silverware in front of a man who will not say Grace’. Of course, it could easily be changed to: ‘Son, never turn your bedcovers down to a woman who does not pray first.’ I guess this is one method of birth control that would work every time if it was used!

     A tribute to my family and friends: It was my pleasure to be born and raised in Berkeley County and if I had to choose another place in the good Ole USA, I would still choose this place. I have met and made friends with many men and women during my lifetime and I must say there are many good folks living in Berkeley County. I had friends who committed serious crimes and spent time in jail or on the chain gang but I can truthfully tell you some good things about them. I guess when you come right down to it, everyone has some good in them (some less than others) and everyone has some bad in them (some more than others).

     Some of my family members and many of my friends were involved in the moonshine whiskey trade. There were shoot-outs between rival bootleggers that caused this area to rival Bloody Harlan County, Kentucky with the name Bloody Berkeley County, South Carolina. Both names brought chills to many who knew their history. Those days are gone now, and are nothing but memories for us ole folks, memories that I want to preserve by putting as much as I can remember (or dare to tell!) on paper.

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