Part two - Intro To Robot Army

Thanks to all who provided feed back to part i. If you missed part 1, here is the link. https://shopping-feedback.today/fiction/introduction-the-robot-army%3C/p%3E%3Cstyle data-emotion-css="14azzlx-P">.css-14azzlx-P{font-family:Droid Serif,Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:1.1875rem;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.01em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.01em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.01em;letter-spacing:0.01em;line-height:1.6;color:#1A1A1A;margin-top:32px;}

Now on to part 2. feedback is appreciated. Remember the main story is in the 2030's, this is just background history that explains the family fortune.

2.0 THE PATRIARCHS / December, 1819.

By 1819, Robert and Jeffrey had exceeded even their own lofty expectations. They hit found success after success, and they established the Carson Works (CW) in June of 1818. Within eighteen months of arriving in America, both were among the richest men in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The McGregor Brothers proved to able enforcers as the Irishmen showed their worth with fists and guns on a number of occasions in the rough early days. Robert and Jeffrey worked without rest to make the Carson Works successful and they succeeded. As the end of 1819 neared, CW had a workforce of two hundred miners and the brothers had pulled a fortune out of the Pennsylvania hills.

Robert chose wisely when he picked Pennsylvania as a base. The country was expanding west, and the commonwealth was in a perfect position just West of the big cities in the Northeast. Sensing another opportunity, Robert guided CW towards construction for the first time, upgrading many of the roads and bridges coming from the East.

Robert exchanged his rough miners clothes for jacket and tie. He somehow managed to look more intimidating as few men in the business rooms had a physique like Robert, his chest and shoulders seemed to be trying to bust out of his suit. The miners CW employed said his tailor made him extra long ties to get them around his thick neck.

Despite his brutish appearance, Robert was a success in business circles, thanks to the tutelage of Linton Bradley back in Yorkshire. Jeffrey suggested Robert as the first chairman of the Carson Works, settling for the . He recognized Pennsylvania was ripe for investment. He calculated that in a few years the Carson Works would be positioned for huge profits in the next decade. The Industrial Revolution was coming.

While Robert took care of the business end with lethal precision, Jeffrey took care of the mining operation, which was still the big earner for CW. Jeffrey was always hands on, visiting mines to see the miners, he wasn’t afraid to get covered in soot. He felt he took care of the front line for the business, and like Robert, he was excellent at what he did. The two complemented each other perfectly.

Every month back home in Yorkshire, Catherine their mother and Linton Bradley their mentor eagerly read letters both boys sent home. As early as 1820 plans were in the works for Linton Bradley to send two of his grandsons to the USA as apprentices. Robert was just twenty three years old and Jeffrey was twenty but their tireless work and focus saw them well respected, and most importantly they were well liked. Once they became rich, money became their most fervent pursuit, but because of their strong bond, their employees and business associates wanted to be a part of what they were doing rather than oppose it or compete against them. The brothers were on top of the world.

In February of 1821, Jeffrey was on one of his typical tours visiting mines CW worked in Eastern Pennsylvania when he heard a piece of news that would change the course of his life. There was a big mine in the Lehigh Valley that he usually stopped at for a few days. He was sitting in the cafeteria with some of the management of the mine and Michael McGregor, who usually accompanied him eating a meal. Miners shuffled in and out, eating and taking there breaks. He liked to listen in on some of the conversations among the common men, the miners’ small talk sometimes gave him insight into problems and issues he needed to address.

Four miners sat at the table next to them, sooty from the morning’s work. The meal consisted of porridge and cornbread provided by the mine’s kitchen, and the men sat largely in silence while they ate. Jeffrey didn’t recognize the men. They were probably some of the newcomers the mine had been bringing in and the men didn;t know who they were sitting next to either.

“Georgie, you still thinkin’ of headin’ back on down to the Carolinas?” one of the men said as he chewed up the last bit of cornbread. “This place ain’t half bad, ya know?”

The man called Georgie responded “Nah, you right, it ain’t half bad here, but when I was there miners from the Blue Ridge kept sayin’ about how you could get rich, you know, how a bunch of ‘em kept findin’ gold. I might still head down there when it starts to get warmer…”

Jeffrey felt like he heard a magic word when he heard the man say “gold.”

Jeffrey exchanged a knowing look with Michael McGregor, as if confirming that McGregor heard the word “gold” as well, Then he got up and approached the table with the Georgie and his three friends.

“Gentlemen, sorry to interrupt your conversation. Allow me to introduce myself.” Jeffrey took his hat of with a flourish and continued “I’m Jeffrey Carson, and this is my associate, Michael McGregor.” He knew the men would know the names and he gave them a second to take them in.

The men stood and removed their hats as well, Georgie spoke up for the group while the other three fidgeted and looked at the floor “What can I do for you, sir?”

After a good conversation, Jeffrey cut his tour short and rushed back to the Harrisburg offices to talk to Robert. Back in England, the last significant deposits of gold were found two hundred years ago in the early 17th century, and whenever any gold was extracted it sent ripples through the mining communities from Cornwall, to Yorkshire to Scotland. Jeffrey spent the trip back to Harrisburg making plans to head south.

As soon as he arrived back in Harrisburg, he sat down with Robert to discuss his plans. Robert was a bit taken aback, but he could see his younger brother was motivated anew.

Robert and Jeffrey rarely disagreed and never fought, the bond they forged as children endured into adulthood. Robert’s business sense told him Jeffrey’s idea had potential, even if he found no gold. There was iron down south, and there were also clay deposits so there were business reasons to expand the Carson Works. In his heart, Robert did not want to see his brother go, but he knew his brother had received as much tutelage from “old man” Bradley back in England and he could run the business in the south as well as Robert.

They were on the same page from the very start, and they began planning expansion. They started making plans immediately, because they knew the allure that came with gold and miners from all corners of the States were likely already heading to the Carolinas.

Along with Michael McGregor, Jeffrey took two more trusted men, Ken Ogilvie and Marion Price. Jeffrey also made Georgie, whose last name was Weathers, a part of the team heading south. They were all experienced miners and would help Jeffrey move fast. If the stories about down south could be believed, they were heading to a wild place and Jeffrey wanted to be prepared.

The party of five traveled by horseback to Baltimore, where they boarded a steam ship to Savannah, Georgia. From Savannah, it would be a week or so to get to the settlement of Anderson, South Carolina where Jeffrey had learned there was a vast amount of land available. Until he could get settled, Jeffrey would set up base at the lone inn Anderson, a small settlement in the far northwest of South Carolina.

Anderson wouldn’t be founded as an official town until 1826, but the settlement sat close to the Georgia border and North Carolina borders and gave relatively easy access to the highlands.

When Jeffrey arrived in Anderson, he found a settlement with a population of nearing one hundred. Jeffrey was generous spending money on room and board at the inn, so the locals did not offer any resistance or animosity. They tried to help, warning Jeffrey that looking for gold here was crazy, that gold had been struck in North Carolina, but none had been found in this area. With the backing of Robert and money from the coffers of the Carson Works, Jeffrey had purchased two small copper mines as well as a substantial iron mine near the Saluda river. Periodically, Jeffrey would head into the hills to the west of Anderson to survey for gold, but the first month he was in Anderson was consumed with making contacts and expanding the mines already under the Carson Works flag. In the second month, he sent Michael McGregor into Georgia with the intent of buying up a handful of clay mines that had popped up.

It had become something to do in the mornings for the residents of Anderson. Head towards the inn for breakfast and watch the northerners leave at six AM. Then, back for supper around seven PM when the party would be making their way back to the inn.

As activities around the new mines expanded, Jeffrey started construction on a building in Anderson to house offices. It would be the biggest building in tiny Anderson by far, and he employed most of the men in town to help. Though gold never left his mind, this left the surveying activities for the weekends.

It was a weekend at the start of his third month in Anderson that Jeffrey had taken his men into the hills to look for gold when the party found themselves in trouble. On horseback, they were several hours up into the hills, with the noon sun overhead. It happened suddenly, but they were suddenly surrounded by a Seminole hunting party of fifteen warriors.

Jeffrey new the south was wild and he was prepared. These Seminoles had strayed far from their home in Florida, but he had read enough to remember this tribe was fiercely resisting the Union’s encroachment. Jeffrey was more prepared to deal with outlaw types, but there were guns and arrows pointed at him and he had to do something. He dismounted.

Jeffrey was a bit surprised to see Georgie Weathers dismount with him. On these trips, jeffrey’s party had their horses and they had several additional animals carrying equipment, so Georgie always made himself helpful, minding an watering the the horses. Jeffrey had gotten to know Georgie, whom he knew to be from the deep south, but he was surprised to hear Georgie speak to the part in their own language. Georgie was born in the deep south of Georgia along the Florida border and his family had traded with the Seminoles when he was a boy and he had picked up a little of the language. Georgie didn’t speak it well but he caused the Seminoles to pause.

The leader of the Seminoles spoke a little English as well, and when he and Georgie started talking back and forth, Jeffrey acted.

From first contact, Jeffrey noticed these men had living rough far away from home for a long time. Jeffrey asked Georgie to explain that he was British and not a part of the Union that waged war on them and he was willing to help.

Jeffrey shared cheese, smoked meat and bread from his supplies, and he had some spare clothes on the pack horses he gave the leader and he promised more. As they ate together, he could tell the Seminoles were half starved. They had been living this far North since the Seminole war, more than two years with orders to watch over the white men and send word if they saw troops being mobilized again. It was a mean existence, and Jeffrey was generous with them.

Carson history says that the Seminoles were generous back. In a biography written about Jeffrey many decades later, he told the author that he would never have found gold if it was not for the help of the Seminoles who knew the hills Intimately when his party made contact with them.

For the next two days, Jeffrey took his men back into the hills to feed and clothe the Seminoles. He took a doctor and a veterinarian to give them and their horses check ups and he gained their trust.

On the third day, Georgie along with Ken Ogilvie and Marion Price headed into the hills with more gifts for the Seminoles, while Terence McGregor head to Georgia’s capital of Augusta Jeffrey went to Colombia, South Carolina. Both miners hired wyers and started the process of buying up all the land parcels in the area. Within weeks, Jeffrey Carson was the biggest landowner in the state of South Carolina, buying up more than three thousand acres of woodland along the border with Georgia. The Carson Works had struck gold.