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Subject: [SCMARION-L] Alakkaman Swamp
Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2000 12:28:19 EST
In reply to Sam West:
I've searched various maps and old records, and can find no Alakkaman Swamp,
nor anything similar in Dillon, Marion, or Horry.
Ashpole Swamp immediately comes to mind. Do you have a copy of the original
document? Is it possible the transcriber could have misread Ashpole in the
old hand for Alakkaman? possibly including a word that came after it?
The Barfields, of Loyalist Militia infamy, resided on Bear Swamp and on
Ashpole Swamp in what is now Dillon County. For those who don't know (though
I'm sure Sam does), Ashpole enters Dillon County just a little east of Lake
View, between Lake View and Fair Bluff, and has its confluence with Lumber
River (Drowning Creek) just a little north of Nichols, right at what is now
the Dillon/Marion County line. Part of Ashpole would have been "below" (that
is, downstream from) Amis' Mill. I have seen mention in various sources of
skirmishes being fought on Ashpole in this area, some of them involving the
patriot officer Thomas Brown. (There is reference in the Robeson County deeds
of a lawsuit that Thomas Amis later brought against David Barfield. I don't
know what the suit was about, it's beside the point, and I'm sure Sam's aware
of it, but interesting, I thought.)
The Barfields also had land grants in Horry County a little later, and
probably had a presence there prior to the war, as well as in Marion. (Some
of these grants may have been regrants of lands they had purchased or
inherited prior to the war - records lost.) These Horry lands were on Gapway
Swamp at the state line (Stephen Barfield), on Gapway near Spring Branch
(Joshua Barfield), lower down on Cedar Swamp (Joshua Barfield), and near
Green Sea on Mitchell Swamp (Luke Barfield).
Also, The Topozone.com map shows an Alligator Bay in Horry County, below
Amis' Mill, and southeast of Nichols near Sandy Bluff Bridge. Sometimes the
bays were referred to as swamps. Could this perhaps be your Alakkaman Swamp?
It is in a very isolated area, off the beaten track, just a little north of
Cedar Creek.
Another far-fetched possibility that just occurred to me is Gallivant - as at
Gallivant's Ferry. Could there have been a swamp named for Gallivant? Or
even perhaps Waccamaw? (Though I've not heard of any skirmishes near
Gallivant's or on Waccamaw.) Sometimes that old script can play really bad
tricks on anyone trying to decipher it.
Those are my best guesses....
It's very interesting to learn that the militia apparently camped out at
Amis' MIll for some prolonged period of time. Thanks for the information, Sam.
Jo Church Dickerson
Sam West wrote:
Sorry about not getting back sooner. In the text that Alakkaman Swamp is
mentioned, Lewis Powell stated that during his Revolutionary War Service that
he was at Amis' Bridge [Amis's property was near the state line adjoining
Gapway Swamp] on Drowning Creek [now Lumber River] below presentday Fair
Bluff, N.C., and that Alakkaman Swamp was below that place.
....That he entered service of the United States, to wit: In the county of
Robeson in the State of North Carolina, some five or six months before the
Capture of Charleston, South Carolina, the day and year not recollected, the
depenent was drafted and mustered into service under Captain Ralph Reggin and
proceeded to Amy's Bridge on Drowning Creek in Bladen County, North Carolina,
where the said company joined several other companies raised in Bladen and
the adjacent counties and remained stationed there (except when in pursuit of
Tories) nine months, Major Thomas Owens, Colonel Thomas Robeson and General
Brown commanded the militia, stationed at the above place. The object of the
above embodyment of the militia was the counteract and defeat the operations
of the Tories, who had assembled together below there at or near a swamp
called Alakkaman......
Thanks in advance for any insight! Sam
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