Gents,
I am new to your Forum, nice website. It may be some time before I share the feild with you since I am in Minnesota. I have been Federal for many years and last fall, I fell in with what may very well be the northern most Confederate unit. In the course of learning about the Cherokee Pond Volunteers, 1st SC, Gregg's Brigade, I found the unit roster. I take my living history pretty serious and I like to adapt actual persons for my portrayl. I found one Abner T. Davis Kershaw District SC. One reason I chose him is the Davis surname and he was 48 years old at time of enlistment at Camden late 1861. Since I am a "chronologically mature" fellow myself, his age makes my impression more believable. Sadly, the 15 lbs I put on this winter detract from the overall impression. Oh well. I am hoping to learn a bit more about the area Abner came from, what sort of occupation would have been most common, is there actually a Cherokee Pond (village or body of water) that type of thing. Since it is really not feasible for me to physically travel to SC, does anyone have a suggestion of some assistance? I realize your protrayl is not the same brigade but this is the closest unit to Kershaw district that I have found.

First thanks fo those high compliments. In regards to Cherokee Pond, the area you are describing was the domain of the Catawba Indians but, there could have been a Cherokee that lived there and hence the name. Many of the old names and references will change with the topography and shifting of the inhabitants. My grandfather use to say that the only thing that grew well in the sand hills was misery and poverty and that it was a hard scrabble life. The Catawbas that lived there mostly hunted and fished, their name meant "river people", I guess they were smart enough not to farm the place. I would check for any period maps or census data that could be scanned.

Glad to see you visit, all my ancestors were from the old Lancaster District, now partly Kershaw County.

I have some census data, I pretty much know Abner's lineage. What I find so interesting is that he was 48 with a wife and several children when he enlisted. The persona I use as a Federal soldier was 43, wife 4 young kids and a 120 acre farm. What drove these two men to do this at their age? I understand my Federal soldiers' reasoning since being in the area there are existing letters from others in his company and one can surmise some similar reasonings. I am not a Southerner by birth so my understanding of why Abner went off to war is based on the understanding of state rights and his alligiance to his state and I would suppose, his kin. Two men so similar yet so different in their own cause. Actually, probably not so different. Many of the men from my area were recent immigrants and so, were fighting with a sense of obligation to their new chosen country. Learning about the Southern view has been a real eye opening experience, I recommend it to anyone that has the desire to go beyond the uniforms and the battles. I look forward to the day that I can get back east to some of your events. We just dont have the larger events out here in the west.

Oh, forgot to ask. What would have the primary crops & livestock of a farmer in Kershaw district at the time of the war? Still using single plows with oxen I would suppose? What do you guess would have been the acreage of a typical farm at the time?