USA > South Carolina > Men of mark in South Carolina; ideals of American life: a collection of biographies of leading men of the state, Volume IV > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02317 2866
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Men of Mark Publishing Company
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Men of Mark in South Carolina 1
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 IV
Illustrated with Many Full Page Photo-Steel Engraved Portraits
MEN OF MARK PUBLISHING COMPANY Washington, D. C. 1909
Copyright, 1909 by Men of Mark Publishing Company
1390209
Men of Mark Publishing Co Washington DC
your faithfully, B. Labruy
BENJAMIN LIVINGSTON ABNEY
A BNEY, BENJAMIN LIVINGSTON LINDSAY, (the last word is usually omitted by Mr. Abney in signing his name), was born on the 25th of February, 1859, near the Saluda river in Edgefield district, now county. He was educated at Newberry college, at one time located at Walhalla, South Carolina, and at the University of Virginia. He was admitted to the bar on December 13, 1880. He practiced law one year at Edgefield, South Carolina, and from there he removed to Columbia on the 1st day of January, 1882, and he has continu- ously practiced his profession at Columbia since that time.
Mr. Abney has never held any public position, except that he served for six years (three terms) in the state legislature as a representative from Richland county. He has devoted his entire time to the practice of his profession, and has achieved some measure of financial success, and a well-recognized position at the bar.
ROBERT ADAMS
A DAMS, ROBERT, D. D., since 1907 president of the Presby- terian college of South Carolina at Clinton, South Caro- lina, traces his descent on his father's side to an English ancestry, while on his mother's side he is descended from Welsh stock. David Adams came to this country from England shortly after the War of the Revolution, and made his home in Georgia; while an ancestor of Doctor Adams's mother was Nicholas Meri- wether, who came from Wales and settled in Virginia about the year 1750. From Nicholas was descended James A. Meriwether, who served as congressman at large from Georgia, and was a judge of the superior court of that state. Judge Meriwether's daughter, Susan, married Jefferson Adams, who afterward held the office of state senator, and was known among his fellow-citizens of Georgia as a man of firm character and of industry in his profession. Doctor Adams's ancestors have been prominently identified with the legal and political life of his native state.
He was born in Eatonton, Putnam county, Georgia, March 24, 1852. He received his earliest training in a private school kept by his mother, whose influence, both intellectual and spiritual, he regards as perhaps the strongest factor in all that is best in his life's achievement. Having completed his preliminary studies in the academy at Eatonton, he entered the University of Georgia, where he took the full course; and he was graduated from that institution in 1873. Like many another ambitious youth of limited means, he supported himself in part during the years of his college course by his own efforts in teaching.
Having decided that it was his duty and his privilege to take up the work of the ministry, Mr. Adams entered the Presbyterian seminary at Columbia, South Carolina, where he remained for two years, but was not graduated. Licensed to preach by the presbytery of South Carolina, Mr. Adams entered upon the active duties of his calling in 1876. Two years later he married Miss Eudocia M. Hammond. Six children have been born to them, all of whom are now (1909) living.
Doctor Adams's career has been marked by steadily increasing influence and usefulness. He has ministered to congregations in
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ROBERT ADAMS
Macon, Georgia (1886-1889), and in Americus, Georgia (1889- 1895). In 1895 he accepted a call from the Presbyterian church of Laurens, South Carolina; and until 1907 he held this pastorate with constantly widening influence for good in his community and in the state.
In the wider circles of the councils of his denomination, Doctor Adams has held positions of usefulness and honor. He has served as stated clerk in two presbyteries; and repeatedly he has been chosen moderator of the presbytery of Macon. In 1903 he was chosen to preside over the synod of South Carolina, which met that year at Cheraw. For some years before he was elected to his present position he was president of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian college of South Carolina, from which insti- tution he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1904.
ROBERT ALDRICH
LDRICH, ROBERT, lawyer, orator and statesman, the son of Alfred Proctor and Martha Ayer Aldrich, was born in Barnwell, South Carolina, September 25, 1844. His father was a lawyer, at one time commissioner in equity, adjutant in the Florida war, a member of the state legislature, speaker of the South Carolina house of representatives, and a circuit judge.
The Aldrich family in America are of English stock. They early settled in New England, and number among their members poets, jurists and many men of prominence.
Young Aldrich was a boy of large physique and good health, who entered heartily into the ordinary sports of hunting, fishing, and the like. His early life was passed on a plantation near the town of Barnwell. He attended the private day schools of that town, and at thirteen became a student at King's Mountain Mil- itary school, at Yorkville, South Carolina, of which Micah Jenkins, the distinguished Confederate general, and Asbury Coward, now superintendent of the South Carolina Military academy at Charleston, were principals. Later, he studied at the Arsenal academy at Columbia, and at the Citadel academy at Charleston, which institution he left at the age of nineteen, to enter the Confederate army, spending in camp and field the years that would have been spent in the college classroom. He was first lieutenant and adjutant of the Sixth regiment South Caro- lina cavalry under Wade Hampton, and was division inspector- general on the staff of Major General P. M. B. Young of Georgia, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in the Army of Tennessee, which position he held at the close of the war.
In 1866, he was admitted to the bar; and he commenced the practice of law at Barnwell, in January, 1867. As lawyer and judge he has remained at that place until the present time.
Colonel Aldrich is one of the most distinguished lawyers in his state. He was presidential elector on the Tilden and Hen- dricks ticket in 1876, and on the Cleveland and Hendricks ticket in 1884; a member of the house of representatives of South Caro- lina from 1876-1878; a state senator from Barnwell county, 1898- 1904; a member of the Constitutional convention of 1895, as a
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ROBERT ALDRICH
delegate from Barnwell county, and temporary chairman upon the organization of the convention.
In January, 1906, he was elected president of the South Caro- lina Bar association. He displayed great interest in bringing the association up to a higher state of usefulness than it had ever known before. Several novel and interesting features were intro- duced into the meetings and exercises, among which were a reception to the ladies of the families of the members and the reading of papers by one justice of the supreme court and one judge of the circuit court at each meeting on such subject as they may select with the view of advancing the efficiency of the courts in the interest of the bar and the profession. The constitution of the association requires each meeting to be opened with an address by the president. The address of Colonel Aldrich upon Magna Charter attracted marked attention. The annual meeting and banquet during his term of office was conceded to have been the most brilliant in the history of the association.
In January, 1908, Colonel Aldrich was elected by the legisla- ture of his state to the office of circuit judge of South Carolina for the second circuit, and in the time he has occupied this posi- tion he has achieved success and added to his otherwise fine reputation by his efforts to elevate the administration of the laws to the highest plane of dignity and efficiency.
It is interesting to note that his father, A. P. Aldrich, was reelected judge of this circuit in 1877 (having been previously elected in 1866 and removed from office by the military power of the United States for his refusal to recognize its usurpations) ; he held this office until 1892, when he retired voluntarily on account of the infirmities of age, and was succeeded by his nephew, Hon. James Aldrich of Aiken, South Carolina, who served faithfully and successfully until 1908, when he resigned on account of impaired health. The legislature filled the vacancy by electing the subject of this sketch. Thus for over thirty years the office of circuit judge of the second circuit of South Carolina has been filled by these three members of the same family.
Judge Aldrich is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias. In politics he has always been a Democrat. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. His relaxation is found in the cultivation of flowers; and he has a rose garden of exceptional size and beauty.
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ROBERT ALDRICH
To young Americans, Judge Aldrich commends patient industry, the spurning of the prevalent idea of trying to get some- thing for nothing, and a realization of the truth of the immortal maxim of Cicero that "Nothing is valuable that is not honest."
On October 15, 1872, Judge Aldrich was married to Miss Sophie Bonham, daughter of ex-Governor Milledge L. Bonham of Edgefield. They have had five children, one son and four daughters.
The address of Judge Aldrich is Barnwell, South Carolina.
HENRY PURSE ARCHER
A® RCHER, HENRY PURSE, superintendent of the Charles- ton public schools, was born in Charleston, January 3, 1839, son of Benjamin R. and Elizabeth Mary Archer. His father died while he was still very young, and his training and education devolved upon his mother. He attended the schools of Miss Mary A. Weyman, and of Mr. B. R. Carroll, and, after completing the course in the College of Charleston, he was grad- uated from that institution in 1858, as the second honor man in his class, receiving the degree of B. A.
In the years just prior to the War between the States, Mr. Archer held the position of assistant in Mr. Carroll's school, and of vice-principal of the Friend Street public school. On the breaking out of hostilities between the North and the South, he entered the Confederate army, and served throughout the war as a member of the Palmetto guard, under the command of Major George Lamb Buist. Shortly after the conclusion of peace, Mr. Archer resumed the work of teaching, becoming an assistant in the high school of Charleston. In 1867 he became principal of the Bennett public school; and for eighteen years he discharged the duties of that office, until (in 1885) he was appointed super- intendent of the Charleston city public schools, which position he still (1908) holds.
Mr. Archer is regarded as one of the leaders in the cause of collegiate as well as secondary education, not only in Charleston, but throughout the state. He is a trustee of the College of Charleston, and was president of its Alumni association in 1905-06. In 1867 his alma mater conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. For many years (1876-1890, and 1901-1905) he was a member of the state board of education.
He has always been a great reader, particularly along the lines of the theory and practice of education; and has made himself familiar with all available literature bearing upon the subject of his chosen profession. A member of the Episcopal church, he has served his denomination in various capacities in both parish and diocese. He is senior warden of Christ church in Charleston, and a delegate to the Diocesan council. In 1887
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HENRY PURSE ARCHER
he was elected secretary of the standing committee of the diocese of South Carolina, and he served in that capacity for ten years. He holds this position at the present time (1906) having been reëlected in 1902.
Mr. Archer is in every sense a representative man. A public- spirited citizen of the widest interests, he is generally recognized as one of Charleston's leading sons. During the troublous period of reconstruction Mr. Archer played an active part, acting as "leader in his ward of an organization formed for the purpose of suppressing violence and lawlessness on the part of the negroes."
He holds honorable and responsible positions in a number of educational, charitable and religious organizations, in addition to those which have already been mentioned. He is secretary and treasurer of the Charleston lyceum, and chairman of the executive committee of the Vanderbilt Benevolent association. He is also an ex-president of the Charleston Bible society.
His love of his native city, as well as his intense interest in all that concerns her, are evidenced by his volume published in 1889 under the title of "Local Reminiscences of Charleston."
On April 2, 1872, Mr. Archer was married to Mrs. Emily L. Miler.
His address is Charleston, South Carolina.
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Yours Truly aule
ELBERT HERMAN AULL
A ULL, ELBERT HERMAN, editor, was born in Newberry county, South Carolina, August 18, 1857. His parents were Jacob Luther and Julia (Haltiwanger) Aull. His father was a miller and farmer, who was well and favorably known, but who neither held nor sought public office. The earliest ancestors of the family, both paternal and maternal, to settle in America came from Germany. The exact date of their settlement here is unknown. Probably the most distinguished man on the paternal side was the Reverend Herman Aull, grand- father of the subject of this sketch, who was a pioneer Lutheran minister.
In childhood and youth Elbert H. Aull was strong and vigor- ous. His home was in the country and when not in school he performed various kinds of labor, including work at the car- penter's trade, on the farm, and in the flour mills and saw mills. He attended the country schools and in 1877 entered the sopho- more class of Newberry college, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of A. M., in 1880. The same year he commenced the active work of life at Abbeville, South Carolina, where, with D. B. Johnson, he taught in the city schools for one year. During the next two years he taught in Newberry college and at the same time and place he studied law. In 1883 he was admitted to the bar, but, having become interested in newspaper work, he never commenced legal practice. In 1885 he became editor of the Newberry "Herald and News," a position which he still (1909) retains. Since March 7, 1887, he has been owner or part owner of this paper, and since September, 1907, he has been editor of "The South Carolina Pythian," a monthly publication issued by the grand lodge of the Knights of Pythias of South Carolina. In 1894 he was elected president of the South Caro- lina Press association, an office which, by successive reëlections, he has since continuously held. He has also been prominent in public affairs. In 1899 he was the journal clerk of the state senate and from June of that year to January, 1903, he was private secretary to Governor McSweeney, on whose staff he held
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ELBERT HERMAN AULL
the office of lieutenant-colonel. In 1903-04 he was a member of the state legislature and 1905-06 was chief clerk of the engrossing department. He rendered a great service to the country districts by introducing and securing the passage by the legislature of an act establishing free libraries for public schools in the rural communities. In November, 1906, he was again elected to the state legislature for a term of two years.
In choosing his life work he followed his own inclination. While at college he intended to be a lawyer, but circumstances were such that he commenced work as an educator instead of as a legal practitioner. When he had almost determined to continue teaching for an indefinite period conditions changed and he was gradually drawn into newspaper work. Finding that he could not carry on both lines at the same time, and believing that the newspaper field offered the most immediate returns, with, per- haps, better opportunities for advancement, he gave up teaching and for the past twenty-four years has been doing efficient work in the editorial profession.
Mr. Aull is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Odd Fellows and of the Red Men. In politics he is a Democrat. His religious affiliation is with the Lutheran church. In reply to a request for suggestions as to the best means which young people can use in their efforts to become successful in life he says, "Stick to one thing, be honest, deal frankly, never try to fool the people."
On February 14, 1881, Mr. Aull was married to Miss Alice Kinard. Of their six children four are now living.
The postoffice address of Mr. Aull is Newberry, South Caro- lina.
CASSIUS MERCER BAILEY
B AILEY, CASSIUS MERCER, of Clinton, Laurens county, South Carolina, since 1902 treasurer of the Lydia Cotton mills, was born in Laurens county, South Carolina, on the 22d of November, 1876. His father, Mercer Silas Bailey, is a banker and manufacturer, who has never taken any active part in politics, but has devoted himself entirely to his large and varied business.
From his boyhood he has felt himself strongly drawn to business and to financial management. He attended the village schools as a boy; but he chose to work in a general merchandise store or a bank during the summer months. He was prepared for college at Pantops academy, Charlottesville, Virginia. Matricu- lating at Davidson college, at Davidson, North Carolina, in 1892, he was graduated in 1896, with the degree of A. B. Immediately after graduation he identified himself with the manufacture of cotton. He is one of the many young men in the new South who have seen in the rapidly developing manufactures of South Caro- lina the most promising line for doing business on broad and sound principles. He was appointed paymaster of the Clinton Cotton mills in 1896. From 1898, for four years he was the assistant treasurer of the Clinton Cotton mills. Since 1902, he has been treasurer of the Lydia Cotton mills at Clinton, of which he was one of the organizers and is one of the principal owners.
On St. Valentine's Day, the 14th of February, 1902, Mr. Bailey married Eloise Davenport, of Norfolk, Virginia. They have had three children, two of whom are now (1909) living.
Always since he began to vote, Mr. Bailey has been identified with the Democratic party in his state. By religious conviction, he is a Presbyterian. So far in life he has kept the good health which he knew in boyhood by giving himself opportunities for open-air exercise; and his favorite forms of recreation are walk- ing, riding, and driving the automobile.
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SIDNEY CALHOUN BALLENTINE
B ALLENTINE, SIDNEY CALHOUN, minister, was born at Pine Ridge, Lexington county, South Carolina, July 4, 1865, the son of John William Ballentine, an indus- trious, frugal and conscientious farmer, and of Mary Derrick Ballentine. His ancestors came from Holland to South Carolina early in the eighteenth century, and settled in Lexington county. His boyhood was passed upon a farm. From his earliest recollec- tion he was exceptionally fond of books, and he "does not remember the time when he did not expect to be a preacher of the Gospel." Accustomed in boyhood to habits of daily industry upon the farm, when he began his studies at school he "went at it in the same way, possibly not missing more than half a dozen classroom appointments in seven years." In the theological seminary he did not miss one roll call. And in a pastorate of eleven years in which he preached nearly every other day, often making long drives to reach an appointment, he missed but five services.
Determined not to take help for himself from the charitable funds of his church, he taught through all his vacations, to give him the means of self-support while studying. He attended the Pine Ridge academy, at Pine Ridge, South Carolina, in 1888, and was there fitted for entrance to the sophomore class at Roanoke college. In 1890 he took the faculty medal in Greek at that college, and he was graduated with the highest distinction in 1891. He received the degree of A. M. from Roanoke in 1896. His course in theological study was pursued at the Evangelical Lutheran Theological seminary in Philadelphia, where he was graduated in 1894, completing the studies of the three years' course in two years. He was married to Miss Emma Julian, on October 30, 1894, and they have six children.
He became pastor of the Lutheran church at White Rock, South Carolina, upon his graduation in theology in June, 1894; and he continued in that pastorate nearly eleven years, having been ordained May 28, 1894. In April, 1905, Mr. Ballentine was called to the pastorate of the Lutheran church at Rural Retreat,
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SIDNEY CALHOUN BALLENTINE
Virginia. In the efforts which have been in progress during the years 1904, 1905 and 1906, to bring together into one body the two synodical bodies of the Lutheran church in South Carolina, Mr. Ballentine has been a leader among the younger pastors.
ZACCHEUS WRIGHT BEDENBAUGH
B EDENBAUGH, ZACCHEUS WRIGHT, of Prosperity, South Carolina, known and loved throughout his state as the state secretary of the American Sunday School union, was born in Newberry county, South Carolina, October 15, 1846, the son of John Adam Bedenbaugh, a farmer, an elder in the Evangelical Lutheran church and for forty years the super- intendent of a Sunday school. His father was of German descent. His grandfather served in the Revolutionary war as one of Marion's men, living near Pomaria, South Carolina, on a tract of land which had been directly granted to him and his associates by King George III. His mother, Lucy Caroline Bedenbaugh, was of a Scotch-Irish family, and left the influence of her pure, strong character upon the moral and spiritual life of her son.
His boyhood was passed in the country, and he says that the first strong impulse to make the most of his life came to him from the influence of "the good and true men who were constant visitors at my father's house, and with whom I had personal contact." From early boyhood he was especially interested in reading and public speaking. The four books which he names as most influ- ential in his life, he began to love to study while he was still a boy; and perhaps no four books could be named which have done more to shape to serious and high purpose and to stimulate to fruitful usefulness the men and women who have spoken the English language for the last two hundred years,-"the Bible, Milton's Paradise Lost, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, and Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ."
He served for ten months in the Confederate army, at first on guard, and in the signal service; and later, in the last year of the war, in Hampton's cavalry.
His college training he received at Roanoke college, at Salem, Virginia, where he was graduated in June, 1873, with the degree of A. B. His alma mater conferred on him the degree of A. M., in 1876. He studied theology at the Evangelical Lutheran Theo- logical seminary of the South.
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ZACCHEUS WRIGHT BEDENBAUGH
On May 9, 1874, he became pastor of the Ebenezer Evan- gelical Lutheran church at Columbia, South Carolina, remaining in that pastorate until the fall of 1876, when he became pastor of the Beth Eden church, in Newberry county, South Carolina, continuing in that work until November, 1888.
Although his occupation for the last twenty years as state secretary of the American Sunday School union has made him a wider acquaintance throughout the state than often comes from a settled pastorate, it is doubtful whether any of his friends feel more deeply attached to him or watch his work with warmer interest than do his former parishioners in the churches to which he ministered while still a young man. Those who were his parishioners felt then, as others who have known him in his Sunday school work since those years have come to understand, that he is by nature sympathetic; and his strong sympathy with the young as well as with the aged and the afflicted, in the com- munities which he has served as pastor, won for him many friends; while his plain, practical, straightforward method of preaching the Gospel, made his hold upon his friends, and upon the community, strong for good.
In November, 1888, he was chosen state secretary for South Carolina for the American Sunday School union. In his work for Sunday schools as the representative of this most useful society, Mr. Bedenbaugh has been most active in those parts of the state and among those classes of her people which are less widely known. His labors among the humble have made him known and loved in every county of the state; and those who believe in the sound influence for morality and good citizenship which comes through the early and prolonged study of the Bible, understand how much has been accomplished in these twenty years for the moral and spiritual uplift of the people of South Carolina, as well as for their material progress and their best physical development, by the faithful efforts of Secretary Bedenbaugh.
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