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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02317 2833
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Men of Mark in South Carolina
Ideals of American Life
A Collection of Biographies of Leading Men of the State
J. C. HEMPHILL Editor of "The News and Courier" Editor-in-Chief
VOLUME I
Illustrated with Many Full Page Photo-Steel Engraved Portraits
MEN OF MARK PUBLISHING COMPANY Washington, D. C. 1907
Copyright, 1907 by Men of Mark Publishing Company
MEN OF MARK IN SOUTH CAROLINA
J. C. HEMPHILL, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF. 1390206
ADVISORY BOARD
HON. WILLIAM H. BRAWLEY, LL. D., . Charleston Judge United States District Court, Ex-Congressman.
HON. WILLIAM A. COURTENAY, LL. D., .
Columbia
President Courtenay Cotton Mill.
A. E. GONZALES,
Columbia
President The State Company.
J. C. HEMPHILL,
Charleston
Editor The News and Courier.
HON. J. H. HUDSON, LL. D., . Bennettsville Ex-Judge Circuit Court, South Carolina State Senator.
J. E. McDONALD, EsQ.,
Winnsboro
Ex-President South Carolina Bar Association.
HON. W. D. MORGAN, . Georgetown Banker, Mayor of Georgetown.
REV. J. A. B. SCHERER, PH. D., LL. D., . Newberry President Newberry College.
HENRY NELSON SNYDER, LITT. D., LL. D., . Spartanburg President Wofford College.
BRIGHT WILLIAMSON,
Darlington
Banker and Planter.
BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION
"MEN OF MARK IN SOUTH CAROLINA" is not history but biography; biography, however, that is absolutely essential to the making of history. Its special purpose is to tell the story of the men who have attained some distinction in the complex life of the state; those who have builded better than they knew, and who have been regarded by an advisory board of fair-minded and accomplished men as worthy to be included among the builders of a great state. The unit of measurement adopted in their selection was not ancestral distinction, or great possessions, or political preferment, or social station, but individual achieve- ment; so that in this work account is given of those who have lived to some purpose, whether in country district or populous community, whether in industrial enterprise or professional occupation.
Naturally and unavoidably, the character of its citizenship is influenced largely by the history of the state. The self-reliance of the pioneers who redeemed this territory from the wilderness, their patience under suffering, their complete mastery of adverse and apparently hopeless conditions in the beginning of things, their genius for government, their military prowess, their purity of life, their loyalty to principle and their simple faith in the eternal verities, have set their seal indelibly upon the life and character of the state. In the many revolutions, political, mili- tary and social, through which South Carolina has passed since the first settlement of the French colony under Ribault at Port Royal in 1664, its people have remained steadfast to a remarkable degree in their loyalty to principle. There have been many and sore dissensions among them at times, changes in government and political forms, invasions by hostile and predatory enemies, great depressions in commercial and industrial activities, and regularly recurring periods of political irresponsibility ; but out of all these afflictions the state has been delivered by the inherent virtue of its people. From the Founders, with their high conceptions of obedience to constituted authority, of fidelity to the family, of faith in God, the state has taken its character. Its part in resistance to British tyranny and in the making of the Republic,
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INTRODUCTION
its devotion in opposing the more insidious and destructive encroachments of the Federal power, created largely by its own unsuspecting faith in the good morals of other commonwealths, its courage in victory and its fortitude in defeat, these and other phases in the development of South Carolina have been amply set forth in other works. From the formation of the colony to the close of the War for Southern Independence, South Carolina dominated the political thought of the country, and the principles of government formulated by its statesmen are the principles which must prevail if government of the people, by the people and for the people is not to perish from the earth.
Notwithstanding that so much of the intellectual energy of the state was employed in the higher reaches of politics, there was never a time in the history of colony and state when South Carolina did not also lead in industrial and commercial achievement. It was in this nursery that the cultivation and manufacture of cotton received its initial impetus, that practical railroading in America began, and in the defence of Charleston that the utility of armored vessels and torpedo craft was first demonstrated.
Not only did South Carolina lead in government, but like- wise in finance and commerce. It was not until after alien hands had been laid upon her that any shadow rested upon the public credit of the state or lustful touch upon the integrity of the family.
South Carolina today is what South Carolina was in the past. There have been many changes. It has seemed that the better days of the state would be forgotten in the confusion of the times, but even the winds and waves of popular tumult obey the command of a great people with character. The energy which in former times was devoted to the science of politics and government is now employed in the development of the larger and more varied life upon which the state has entered. The Men of Mark in South Carolina are the men who are doing something for the state. The story of their lives and work will be told in these volumes. They are worthy of the state only to the extent that they are loyal to the best traditions of the state.
J. C. HEMPHILL, State Editor for South Carolina.
Men ofMath Publishing Co. Washington, D.C.
Martin J. Ausel
MARTIN FREDERICK ANSEL
A NSEL, MARTIN FREDERICK, governor of South Caro- lina, was born in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, December 12, 1850. His father, John J. Ansel, of Wur- temburg, Germany, came of a good and prosperous family, and when quite a young man sought his fortune in America. He was a skilful master mechanic, having received his degree in a celebrated technical institute of that country. He married, in Philadelphia, Fredrika Bowers, of Germany. They settled first in Charleston and later went, with a colony of friends and coun- trymen, to Walhalla, where the old home is still occupied by members of the family. Mrs. Ansel was a woman of great force of character and exerted a most potent influence in directing the energies and efforts of her children, who reflect great credit on the careful home training they received.
Martin F. Ansel inherited a strong constitution, which was developed and strengthened in his youth by outdoor sports and a fondness for riding and driving horses. He was about four years of age when his parents removed to Walhalla, and his early life was spent in that village, engaged in the usual home tasks. Later the discipline of the workshop developed strength and gave ideas of precision, exactness and regularity. He afterwards clerked in a village store and here had the opportunity of studying human nature and learning something of people. His educational advantages were limited to attendance at the village school, reading, and the privileges of the literary society in New- berry college, which was, for a time, located in Walhalla.
Mr. Ansel studied law under Major James H. Whitner, was admitted to the bar before he was twenty-one years of age, prac- ticed nearly four years in Franklin, North Carolina, and went to Greenville, South Carolina, in January, 1876. He took an active part in the exciting Hampton campaign of that year. In 1882 he was elected a member of the legislature from Greenville county and was reëlected in 1884 and in 1886, each time heading the ticket in the Democratic primary election. In 1888 he was elected solicitor of the eighth judicial circuit, which office he held
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MARTIN FREDERICK ANSEL
for twelve years, voluntarily retiring at the expiration of his third term, January, 1901.
Mr. Ansel has always enjoyed a large and lucrative practice at the bar. He has been associated from time to time with some of the most prominent lawyers in the upper part of the state; among them, James S. Cothran, George G. Wells, and Thomas P. Cothran. He is a fluent, forcible speaker, and is learned in the law. As solicitor of the eighth judicial circuit, and as the state's prosecuting attorney, he was fearless, impartial and faithful in the discharge of his duties.
Mr. Ansel is a member of the Masonic fraternity, including Blue Lodge, Royal Arch, and Knights Templar, and is also an Odd Fellow. He is an elder in the First Presbyterian church of Greenville. In politics he has always been a Democrat, and has taken an active part in political affairs. In 1902 he made the canvass for governor before the Democratic primary and received a very handsome vote. So much strength did he develop that his friends persuaded him to make the canvass again in the summer of 1906, and he received the nomination in the primary election, leading his competitor, Honorable R. I. Man- ning, by over ten thousand majority. One of the main issues in the campaign was the state dispensary for the sale of liquors. Mr. Ansel's platform was in opposition to the state dispensary, and in advocacy of county local option, as between prohibition and county dispensaries. His nomination was followed by his election, and he entered upon the duties of his office in January, 1907, for a term of two years. The vote he received was very flattering and clearly showed that he had a large place in the esteem and confidence of the people.
Mr. Ansel is a man of high ideals, is deeply interested in young men, and is cordial and courteous to all. He is a strong supporter of the schools and of all benevolent and charitable institutions. He is eminently a man of the people, and is fre- quently called upon to address public gatherings in all parts of the state. Able and conscientious, and having the courage of his convictions, he is proving himself worthy of the high honor conferred upon him by the people of his state.
Mr. Ansel has been twice married. His first wife was Ophelia Speights, daughter of the late Mr. A. M. Speights, for
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MARTIN FREDERICK ANSEL
many years editor and proprietor of the Greenville "Daily News." Mrs. Ansel died, leaving three children, of whom two daughters are (1907) living. The present Mrs. Ansel was Mrs. Addie Hollingsworth Harris, daughter of Mr. C. L. Hollingsworth, a leading attorney of Pickens, South Carolina, and a man of influ- ence and unusual strength of character.
Mr. Ansel has a most delightful home in Greenville, South Carolina, to which he is strongly attached, and he also has large interests in Pickens county. He is interested in agriculture, and is frequently in the field and on the farm. By close attention to business, careful management and economy, he has accumu- lated a good property. He has always taken an active interest in the material development of his city and state, has been a recognized factor in the industrial development of upper South Carolina, and is directly interested, as stockholder and director, in a number of enterprises.
DUNCAN CLINCH HEWYARD
H EYWARD, DUNCAN CLINCH, ex-governor of his native state, was born in Richland county, South Caro- lina, June 24, 1864. His parents were Edward Barn- well and Catherine Maria (Clinch) Heyward. A few years before the War between the States his father removed from Colleton county to his plantation in Richland county, where the family remained while military operations were in progress in the lower part of the state. His mother was a daughter of General Duncan L. Clinch, United States army, a worthy repre- sentative of one of the most prominent families in Georgia. The Heywards have long been distinguished in the history of South Carolina. The first known ancestor in this country was Daniel Heyward, who came from England about 1672. For several generations the Heywards lived in what is known as the "low country" and were extensive rice planters. They were very suc- cessful in the management of large plantations upon which large numbers of negro laborers were employed. As was the case with other families in that section, the control of hundreds of slaves and the management of large estates developed in them the ability and gave them the training for command which has brought them to the front in times of war and fitted them to direct large enterprises of other descriptions since the profits of the rice industry have been reduced by the opening of extensive rice fields in Louisiana and Texas.
In childhood and youth Duncan Clinch Heyward was strong and well. His tastes and interests were such as were common to the sons of South Carolina planters. He was fond of hunting, fishing, and horseback riding, and in each of these sports he was recognized as an expert. After the war the family returned to the plantation in Colleton county and within a few years the father and mother of the subject of this sketch were removed by death. Thereafter his home was with his grandmother, Mrs. Clinch, who spent the winters in Charleston and the summers in the mountains of Georgia. The youth attended private schools in Charleston, the Cheltenham Military academy in Pennsyl-
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DUNCAN CLINCH HEYWARD
vania, and completed his public education in Washington and Lee university, Lexington, Virginia.
The active work of life was commenced in Colleton county, in 1887, at which place and time Mr. Heyward took up the ancestral occupation of rice growing on the plantation which he had in part inherited. While conducting his planting operations he resided at Walterboro, where he soon became known as a studious and thoughtful as well as a practical and forceful citizen. In the "low country" the maintenance of a military company of whites in the midst of an overwhelming population of negroes is absolutely necessary. Mr. Heyward was elected captain of the Combahee Mounted Riflemen, Troop F, South Carolina volunteers, and discharged with signal ability the duties of that difficult position. He also became a member of Knights of Pythias, of the Masons and Odd Fellows. In the Pythian order he rapidly rose from one office to a higher until he was made grand chancellor of the grand domain of South Carolina. In this position he formed many warm friendships and attained a popularity which was the beginning of the efforts to make him governor of South Carolina. At the solicitation of his friends, he announced himself a candidate in the fall of 1901, the Demo- cratic primary election being held in the summer of the following year.
His race in 1902 was one of the most remarkable in the history of the remarkable state of South Carolina. He had never been a candidate for political office, and to the vast majority of the voters he was personally a stranger, while his opponents were men who had been in politics for many years and were generally known by reputation and personally to the electors. But Mr. Heyward had formed a strong organization throughout the state among his personal friends, who exerted themselves in his behalf without reward or hope of reward, and as the campaign pro- gressed he was soon looked upon as the leading candidate for governor. He went into every county in the state, following the South Carolina custom in which the candidates for all state offices canvass the state together, debating the issues and pre- senting their claims. In the first Democratic primary election none of the five candidates received the necessary majority, and a second election was held, in which the candidates to be voted for were Heyward and W. J. Talbert, former congressman and
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DUNCAN CLINCH HEYWARD
one of the most experienced politicians in the state. In this first election Heyward received 36,551 votes and Talbert 18,218. In the second primary two weeks later Heyward received 50,830 votes and Talbert 40,494, Heyward being nominated by a major- ity vote of 10,336. Mr. Heyward was subsequently elected governor, without opposition, as the Democratic candidate, and took office on January 22, 1903. At the expiration of his two- year term he again received the Democratic nomination for governor, this time without opposition, something which had not happened in South Carolina for at least a score of years. He was, of course, reelected also without opposition.
During his administration as governor Mr. Heyward strengthened his hold upon the people of the state, but soon after his second election he announced that he would retire from politics at the end of his term. His administration of the office was marked by firmness, conservatism, and business judgment. He stood strongly for the education of the masses, for the com- mon schools, and for the colleges; he recommended the passage of the law against child labor in the factories, and urged the enactment of a compulsory education measure, but without suc- cess. In the campaign in which he was first elected the whisky question was not an issue, inasmuch as all the candidates then agreed upon the support of the dispensary system. While Gov- ernor Heyward adhered to his support of the dispensary, he, in his message to the general assembly, did not hesitate to call attention to the dissatisfaction with certain matters in connection with the system. In the matter of pardons he was extremely conservative, and he recommended the passage of the act creating the board of pardons at the session of 1906.
Throughout his administration Governor Heyward main- tained a firm stand for the enforcement of the law. In one of his messages he urged the general assembly to make an especial appropriation for the enforcement of the law in cases of lynching and similar crimes where the evidence is difficult to obtain. He pledged his own credit to obtain money for the employment of detectives to secure evidence against white men who were accused of lynching a negro at Eutawville, and in all cases of this character he was active in sustaining the prosecuting officials to secure convictions. His policy had a marked effect in bettering
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DUNCAN CLINCH HEYWARD
conditions in South Carolina, making lynching much less safe and easy.
In the fall of 1905 Governor Heyward was elected president of the Standard Warehouse company, capital $500,000, with headquarters at Columbia. He then announced that he would reside in Columbia and engage in business at the expiration of his second term as governor of South Carolina-a plan which was carried out at the appointed time.
JAMES ALDRICH
A LDRICH, JAMES, judge, was born in the village of Barn- well, South Carolina, July 25, 1850. He is the only son of the late James T. and Isabel C. Aldrich. His paternal ancestors in America, George and Catherine (Seald) Aldrich, emigrated from Derbyshire, England, to Massachusetts Bay, landing on November 6, 1631, thence removed to Mendon, Massachusetts, where the family resided and some of the descend- ants still live. In 1799, Robert, the grandfather of James Aldrich, left Mendon and settled in Charleston. For more than forty years he had charge of the commercial wharves of that city; and, upon his death, in 1851, the owners of the wharves erected a monument to his memory in old St. Philip's church- yard.
James Thomas, the fourth son of Robert and the father of James Aldrich, was born in Charleston, but moved to Barnwell, South Carolina. Here, in 1847, he married Isabel Coroneous, the fifth child of the late Angus Patterson. He was a leader of the South Carolina bar, and was often urged to aspire to high political position, but accepted only a first lieutenancy in the Confederates States army, serving during the war. He died in 1875. He was characterized by love for the law and general literature, and by integrity and sincerity.
Alexander and Elizabeth Patterson, the maternal ancestors of Mrs. James Aldrich, were of Scotch extraction and lived in Robeson county, North Carolina. Here her father, the Honorable Angus Patterson, was born in 1790, but in 1807 he moved to Barnwell. He was an honored and successful lawyer. To Angus Patterson belongs the unique distinction of having represented his county, Barnwell, in the general assembly continuously from 1818 to 1850. The first four years he served as a member of the house of representatives, and the remaining twenty-eight years as senator, during the last twelve of which he was president of the senate.
The subject of this sketch possessed, in childhood, a sound physique, and was devoted to boyish sports. He was fond of reading, especially of biography. His mother, an intellectual
Men of Mark Publish Company Washington, D C
Yours truly
James Aldrich
Y
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JAMES ALDRICH
and educated woman, guided his reading and aided him in every way. His father was of decided literary ability and often read to his children, explaining as he read. The subject of this sketch attended the preparatory school of the Rev. B. F. B. Perry until about 1862, when, his father being in the Confederate service, the family lived on a plantation upon the Edisto river. Here he studied under the guidance of his mother until the fall of 1864, when he, with the family, returned to Barnwell.
In 1865 the Federal army, under General Sherman, was marching upon South Carolina, and Barnwell was in the line of march. James Aldrich, then but fourteen, volunteered to join first a Confederate States company and then a state company, but was both times rejected because too young. President Davis had recently declared that "the seed corn of the Confederacy" must be preserved. He then joined an independent company known as a "cradle and grave company," composed of boys and old men. Dr. Roper, founder of the Roper hospital in Charles- ton, was a refugee in Barnwell, and, in the winter of 1864-65, raised such a company, which the youth joined. The company served until the Federals had passed through and beyond the vicinity of Barnwell.
James Aldrich took with him, for the use of the company, his father's carriage horses and wagon. On returning home he went among his father's farmer friends in a part of the country where the Federal troops had not been, and collected a partial supply of sorely needed provisions for his destitute family. These troops had destroyed the South Carolina railway from Branchville to Montmorenci, taken or killed the mules, horses, etc., and destroyed the wagons. The merchants of Barnwell had been burned out and were anxious to procure new goods. Here he saw his opportunity to provide for the necessities of his family. He hauled goods for the merchants from Branchville to Barnwell, about forty miles, until the railroad was rebuilt. He then farmed for two years, working as a laborer.
From 1867 to 1869 he studied in the village schools of Barn- well, after which he entered Washington college at Lexington, Virginia. General Robert E. Lee was the president of the college; but, upon his death and in his memory, Washington and Lee university was established. James Aldrich remained at the university until June, 1872, when, his means becoming exhausted,
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JAMES ALDRICH
he had to abandon his hope of taking the A. M. degree. While in college he was an active member of the Graham-Lee Literary society, representing it on several occasions. In 1872 he returned to Barnwell, where, under his father, he studied law; and, on January 20, 1873, was admitted to the bar. He settled in Aiken, where he practiced law up to 1889, and early became one of the foremost attorneys at the bar.
Soon after settling in Aiken, Mr. Aldrich aided in organizing the "Palmetto Rifles," of which he was elected first lieutenant and afterwards captain. This company, during the "Radical" days, kept the peace in the city and county. It took part in numerous fatal Republican riots, such as Ellenton, Rouse's Bridge and others. The Republican governor disbanded the Palmetto Rifles and called in their arms, but the men reorganized as a social organization, purchased sixteen-shooting Winchester Rifles, and continued to protect life, society, and private property until after Governor Hampton was inaugurated.
Like most Southern men, Judge Aldrich, prior to 1876, took an active part in public affairs. He opposed fusion tickets, and advocated a straight-out Democratic nomination. In the May, 1876, Democratic convention he urged the nomination of a Demo- cratic ticket and cast the first vote in that convention for a straight-out nomination, but the convention was not ripe for the move. In the same year, however, the fight prevailed, and Governor Hampton became the nominee of the "unterrified Democracy" and redeemed the state. The subject of this sketch took an active part in that ever-memorable campaign.
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