Happenings from Camp Jackson  Stories related to John J Howell, by his mother. She was born in 1900 and was a wealth of information on the old days. John J. Howell, 4/27/2008...   The Fallen Horse This gentleman was riding his horse down the road near Colonel’s Creek and John Wise’s store around 1917. You could hear in the background the thunder of the cannons and an occasional chatter of machine gun fire. The army had secured the land for the new army camp and had begun training. Many of the landowners were still on their land after have been given time to finish up their personal business. All of a sudden the horse reared up and fell down. After examination of the horse a single bullet wound was found. One of the stray bullets had somehow gotten off range and struck the horse. Incident At The Store John Wise had turned his store over to his son Henry Wise to operate. On this day there were several men in the store. One gentleman, Mr. S________ came in with his shotgun and told Wise he was going to kill him. As he pointed the gun at Wise another gentleman fell across the barrel of the gun forcing it down. The gun went off and struck Henry Wise in his hip area. A mattress was placed into a wagon and Wise was transported into Columbia to the old Columbia Hospital, some 16 miles. Henry Wise survived but lockjaw set in. He had to be fed through a straw for several weeks. No motive ever was given for the attempted murder. Both men were brother in laws. A Hunting Incident John Wesley Wise was hunting one day around 1900. As he walked through the underbrush he fell into an old abandoned well. He always carried his gun crosswise his chest. This may have saved his life. As he fell both ends of the gun had caught the edges of the well preventing him from falling on down. He pulled himself up to hunt yet another day. He said later that if not for his rifle no one would ever have known what happened to him. The Blackbirds Flew Henry Wise said that blackbirds would sometime fly in a flock so thick that they would block out the sun as if on a cloudy day. On this particular day around 1890 a flock such as this came over. Henry fired once with his 12 ga. shotgun and picked up over sixty birds. This is hard to imagine but he swore this was true. An Adoption Was Made Around 1907 David Beauregard Wise was eating lunch at a Greek Restaurant on Main Street in Columbia. As he ate, this little Greek boy around four years of age stood by his table the entire time. Finishing his meal, Wise told the Greek restaurant operator that he might take this little fellow home with him. The Greek gentleman told him that was okay, that he had five more children home. With this Wise walked out of the restaurant with the little boy to be raised as his own. It is believed that this restaurant was the same as the Capitol Restaurant on the first block of Main Street from the state house. The Civil War Volunteer As the civil war was ongoing, John Wise decided to join the Confederacy. As he was walking down the driveway of his home near Cedar Creek he looked back to find his young son, Deril Wise, running after him. Deril was saying that he was going to fight those “Yankees” also. He was carrying his squirrel rifle. Both returned home after the war but Deril was wounded in the leg. Blood poison set in and claimed his life. He is buried in the Andrew Patterson Graveyard. The Horse & Train Incident My grandfather, John Henry Wise would routinely travel to Columbia to purchase merchandise for his store on Colonel’s Creek. He bought most of his inventory from the old Lorick & Lowrance Wholesalers. Many times my mother, Myrtle, would travel with him in his one horse wagon. All of these trips would include stopping at the Quinine Hills Springs for water for traveler and beast. This was at the corner of today Beltline Blvd. and Forest Dr. In those days Forest Dr. was known as Old Camden Rd. Traveling on down the Old Camden Rd. (Taylor St.) the horse froze on the railroad tracks after hearing the train whistle. This is one block past Harden St. toward Main St. As the train neared, the horse would not move and it was evident the train could not stop. John Wise stood up in the wagon and came down hard on the horse with his whip. The horse bolted out of the way as the train passed by.