"He was employed as Manager on the farm of Mary Sweet Vaught,
nee Wall, the wife of Washington Bradley Wall, who died, 1856,
leaving his wife with 8 children and a large number of slaves,
and a large farm that was then where Wampee, South Carolina is
now. It was in Wampee that her Wall children, as well as two of
her first Jordan children were born. It was after handling her
farm and business affairs that they were married in 1860. Soon
after their marriage war broke out, and as his sympathies were
with the southern cause, he enlisted at the beginning of the
conflict and was with Lee's army when the surrender at
Appomattox Court House took place in 1865. He fought the entire
time of the conflict without getting as much as a scratch.
However, I, as a child, delighted in listening to him tell of
experiences he had. An experience that he enjoyed telling most
was, that after the war, a northern and a southern general, by
reason of their close business association, became very close
friends. After a long friendship, the southern gentlemen invited
his northern friend to spend a vacation with him on his large
southern farm, where he had all that it took for anyone to have
a good time; such as hunting, fishing, horse back riding, and
the like. His friend had a most wonderful experience and as he
was preparing to leave for New York, he insisted that his friend
pay him a visit at his New York mansion, which housed a very
fine selection of art, in the pictures of the Generals of the
war, all life size, and the finest that money could buy. The
only difference was that as you entered the main hall, the most
prominent places were given to the generals of the northern
army. As you entered you faced Abraham Lincoln, then General
Grant, Sherman, and other northern Generals. Being asked what he
thought of the arrangement, he said, "Fine, wonderful. " He was
then led downstairs, where life size pictures of southern
Generals such as Longtree, McClellan, Wade Hampton, and other
southern Generals were natural. He was at last led to the door
of the toilet area, where, as they entered they faced Robert E.
Lee, and as he turned around, he faced Stonewall Jackson. When
he was asked what he thought of this arrangement, he replied,
"Of all the sights I have ever seen, this is the most
appropriate. There is nothing that would scare a Yankee half to
death like the sight of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. "
Often times he would laugh till he was sick at the thought, as
it fitted his ego to the limit.
He returned home after the war was over to the greatest
devastation and ruin he had ever heard of. Slaves free, no money
to be had to re-establish the economy. The future for the
farmer looked so dark that they closed out their holdings at
Wampee, giving many of their slaves tracts of land (some of
which are still owned by their descendents). They then moved to
Marion County and settled in what is known as Gapway, where
their three younger children were born, and joined his father in
the timber business in 1867. In 1870 he moved to Mullins where
he still spent his time in their farming and timber business
until the timber was exhausted, then turning their cut over
lands into farms which he operated until 1910, when he retired,
spending the balance of his life writing life insurance. In
addition to his farming interest, he had as a very profitable
hobby, making chairs, all sizes, in what was called the farm
chair shop. Many of the chairs he made are still in use. He was
the most even-tempered man I ever knew, and the most lovable. If
he had an enemy he never knew it. We dedicate these pages to his
memory. We, his grand-children, , affectionately called him
Grand-Pa. His children called him Pa."
Pauline Young's Abstracts of Old Ninety Six and Abbeville Dists,
SC: P. 476----(gr.grandson of Nathaniel) McCants, David Jas. Box
119----Pk. 3509. Nathaniel McCants, in 1766 married Elizabeth
Gotea, sister to his brother Alexander's wife, Margery, both
daughters of John James Gotea and his wife Elizabeth McConnell
Gotea.
Unhappy marriage to Searh E., died young. Est. adm. 1 Jan 1850,
Abbeville, SC.
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