Swamp Victim

  Chapter 7

  At one time Flood’s Place was a small country store that had been there since the mid-1940. It had always been known as Flood’s Store and was owned and operated by Alvin Flood and his wife, Dora. Al died in 1985, and his wife continued to run the business by herself. She sold gas, a few groceries, and other staples available to people who didn’t want to travel the 12 miles to Warrenton. Being located at the junction of two main highways, it had always been the center of the small country community. Al and Dora lived in the three upstairs rooms of the building. On one side of the downstairs space was a large wood burning stove that provided heat in the winter. Originally, it was customary every morning for six or eight local retired people to congregate around the stove to visit and swap stories. The “Gabfest” had been as much as part the community as the Salketcher Swamp itself. Over the years, the gathering attracted a different group of people. Dora, being in good health kept the store open until she was well into her 90s. Eventually, she sold the store and adjoining property, which included a second house and 40 acres of fallow farmland.

  Oats Schoenfeld heard about the property and snapped it up. At one time, Oats owned several logging trucks and had made a small fortune by cutting and selling timber throughout the Lowcounry. However, in recent years, large national companies had bought up most of the timber property and timber for small businesses was not profitable. He had always been something of an entrepreneur and was quick to see the potential of Flood’s Store at the intersection of two major travel routes.

  Right away Oats converted the place from a country store into a honky-tonk serving an entirely different group of patrons. A new sign outside announced the establishment as, “Flood’s Place.” Initially, beer, wine, and lottery tickets accounted for much of his income. Then he got a liquor license and set up a bar serving mixed drinks. A small dance floor and a pool table enhanced the venue. Oats also had oysters, shrimp, or some other seafood special prepared in the small kitchen. On weekends, football games and other sports activities could be heard blaring from the two TV sets any time of the day. Two antlered deer heads and several stuffed fish were mounted on the walls, all products of nearby residents. Oats still sold a few groceries, but alcohol and lottery tickets were the staples. The NASCAR and sport-fishing crowd frequently packed the joint. There was a huge live oak tree in the back, which provided a shady respite in the hot summer weather. Beneath the tree were two picnic tables, which were often occupied during favorable weather to complete the tranquil setting. It wasn’t long before Flood’s Place had a reputation for drawing a rancorous group from all over the area. The Friday and Saturday night crowd alone made the Oats’ venture profitable. The rest of the week’s activity was just icing on the cake.

  Oats himself was involved with local politics by making contributions to the most conservative candidates. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, he held the position as Council Leader of the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK membership was around 50 people, all white and all of them were the last generation dyed-in-the-wool white bigots. He knew the KKK had been on the FBI watch list for a long time and was always careful to stay within the law when he went public on an issue. In spite of wearing masks when they committed their unlawful deeds, most people knew who the members were. Every black man or woman in the area did their best to stay clear of the KKK. The white supremacists were always quick to use incidents involving black residents to further their objectives. “Helping the depressed white population,” is how they put it. The group’s headquarters were in Birmingham, Alabama. Oats was the initial organizer of the area chapter. As the views of the KKK lost its appeal to most southern white people in the late ‘70s, the unit disbanded. For years, he wasn’t very active in politics or racist activities. After buying Flood’s Place, he decided to turn back to his old evil ways. As the owner of one of the local juke joints and having a place for people to gather, he thought it would help increase his business. Deciding to continue his activism, he created a new organization with views similar to the old KKK group. He called it the Cobb Club. Many of the initial members were from the former KKK chapter. The only different was that they didn’t wear white sheets and burn crosses.

  The Cobb’s first organized campaign was a miserable failure. The effort involved their opposition to a local black man who ran for county sheriff. Overall, the county’s white and black population got along very well, thanks to changing attitudes throughout the state and nation. In fact, the Cobb’s opposition to the sheriff probably helped him get elected since he not only got most of the black vote but the white citizen’s vote as well.