1847 LEGAREVILLE SC GHOST TOWN !! CHARLESTON SC STAMPLESS LETTER PLANTATION Finn

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SUPERB STAMPLESS LETTER HEADLINED "LEGAREVILLE" 1847, SIGNED BY NEPHEW WITH LAST NAME WHITE, ALSO NOTE FROM MOTHER MARY B FINN, SENT TO WILLIAM HENRY FINN AT PHILLIPS ACADEMY IN ANDOVER MASS, GREAT CHARLESTON SC WITH PAID 10 POSTMARK (LEGAREVILLE ONLY HAD A POST OFFICE FOR ONE YEAR IN 1876 IN CHARLESTON COUNTY), GREAT TEXT ABOUT LIFE ON THE ISLAND, MENTIONS MATHEWS PLANTATION, CROPS OF COTTON DESTROYED, COLLEGE, CONGRESS, CHURCH, ETC. -- FRAGILE LETTER IN ONE PIECE WITH SOME FOLD LINE SEPERATION, HANDLE CAREFULLY, AMAZING ITEM !!� SEE PHOTOS !!! NO RESERVE, SHIPPING AND HANDLING IS $2.00 IN USA, OR $3.00 FOREIGN. ITEMS NOT REGISTERED OR INSURED ARE SENT AT BUYERS RISK. ALL ITEMS OVER $40.00 IN USA MUST BE INSURED AT BUYERS COST. ALL ITEMS OVER $80.00 FOREIGN MUST BE REGISTERED AT BUYERS COST. I COMBINE SHIPPING COSTS ON MULTIPLE ITEM TO SAVE YOU MONEY. CHECK MY VERY HIGH FEEDBACK !!!!! ------------------------------------------------------- Abbapoola Creek is a lazy, winding tidal creek on the Stono River side of John's Island, a classic Lowcountry setting of live oaks, Spanish moss and salt marsh. The vista is remarkably unchanged from the time when this was home to the coastal Indian tribe called the Stono. Abbapoola, sometimes spelled 'Appapoola,' is an Indian word meaning 'the running water,' no doubt for the tidal flow of the creek where it meets the river. As quiet as this setting is today, on Christmas in 1863 the air was sizzling with artillery fire from two Union gunboats, the USS Marblehead and USS Pawnee, whose powerful cannons were aimed at Confederates near the little village called Legareville. It was a hot fight. Yet like so many actions of the Civil War, neither side really won. The Confederates lost ground; Union casualty rates were high. While this Legareville action was small compared to other Civil War engagements, it stands apart in the annals of military history. Four men aboard the Marblehead - a former slave from Virginia, a boy from Maine, an immigrant from Ireland and another from Norway - would receive the coveted Medal of Honor for exemplary bravery during this fight. The Confederates were on home soil. Most were Lowcountry boys, and the little village of Legareville meant far more to them than a battle site. Many had spent their childhoods there summering with friends and relatives, fishing the creeks and hunting the woods. When they faced the Marblehead, they were fighting for home. If you have never heard of Legareville it is probably because the town no longer exists. Yet there was a time before the guns of the Civil War when this picturesque village was one of the most beloved summer retreats in the Lowcountry. Legareville's story began in the 1830s when a group of planters from Johns Island and Edisto Island decided that the Appapoola Creek location was an ideal place to establish a summer colony. In those days, families left their plantations during the warm months because of the malarial illnesses caused by the mosquito-infested lowlands. Every May, plantation families 'resorted' to healthier places - the seashore, the pine barrens or the mountains, where they stayed until the first frost of October. The Abbapoola Creek location was a perfect summering place. It was close to the home plantations near the town of Charleston, and in a spot that took in the cooling breezes off the river and creek. The names of the homeowners at Legareville read like a who's who of Lowcountry families - Walpole, Whaley, Legare, Roper, Stevens, Burden, Trenholm, Tennant, Townsend and Fripp - most of whom were nearby planters. Working out an arrangement in 1837 with Solomon Legare, who owned the property (thus the name Legareville), there soon arose a substantial village of 23 homes, a schoolhouse and two churches, accessible by road through Solomon Legare's property. There was also a deep-water landing so people could get to and from Charleston by boat, an easier and faster mode of travel in those days. Only one painting of Legareville is known, done by Portia Ashe Burden, daughter of one Legareville fou... read more

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