USA > South Carolina > History of South Carolina > Part 10
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HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In the same year he displayed what at the time was considered much boldness in causing the erection of a new bank building at the intersection of Main and Washington streets of modern steel construction, twelve stories in height, being the only banking and office huilding of that size in this section of the country between Baltimore, Maryland, and At- lanta, Georgia, and he was in a way the main factor and pioneer of the growth of his native city. He was also interested in the organization of the State Bank and Trust Company during these years, but afterward disposed of the same and it is now rep- resented by the National State Bank of Columbia, which occupies a granite building on Main Street erected by Mr. Robertson'in 1893 and is said to have been the first building in Columbia to ever have used plate glass in its windows. He also helped to organize the Columbia Savings Bank and Trust Company, the Columbia Real Estate and Trust Company, and the Equitable Real Estate Com- pany.
In January, 1904, Mr. Robertson and his associates acquired controlling interest in the Columbia Elec- tric Street Railway, Light and Power Company, which furnshed ito the City of Columbia street rail- way and lighting service, and he became its presi- dent and treasurer. In 1905 he purchased the Co- lumbia Gas Light Company, and later on in the same year the Columbia Water Power Company, all of which interests were practically consolidated in July, I911, into what is now known as the Co- lumbia Railway, Gas and Electric Company, of which Mr. Robertson is president and treasurer. At this time Columbia began to show marked prog- ress, and Mr. Robertson, recognizing the need of more electrical power to still further her growth, built in 1912 a hydro-electric plant on Broad River at what is known as Parr Shoals, offering 25,000 horse power electrical power additional for the use of the citizens of Columbia.
In June, 1905, Mr. Robertson was selected by the trustees (Grover Cleveland. George Westinghouse and Judge O'Brien) of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United State to be one of its di- rectors, which position he holds at this time.
In August of the same year the Union Cotton Mills and the Buffalo Cotton Mills at Union, South Carolina, became financially involved and Mr. Rob- ertson, at the request of the creditors, was made president and treasurer of both mills, and afterward of the Union Manuafeturing and Power Company and the Union and Glenn Springs Railroad Com- pany. He held this position through the period of the reorganization, when he voluntarily retired to devote his time to liis other interests.
In 1913 Mr. Robertson was elected a member of the graduate advisory committee of Yale University, his old Alma Mater.
In the beginning of the World war he took an active interest in everthing pertaining to the wel- fare of our country, and having familiarized him- self with the organization and working of the Mil- itary Training School at Plattsburg, New York, he diligently took up the question of securing a similar training camp in or near Columbia, which resulted in the location of Camp Jackson, just east of Co- lumbia.
Beginning with the first Liberty Loan campaign, Mr. Robertson accepted the chairmanship of the central Liberty Loan committee of South Carolina and continued his labors in this field and in this capacity through the first four Liberty Loan cam- paigus, in each of which the state loyally exceeded its quota. In the fifth, or Victory Liberty Loan campaign, he was called to Richmond, Virginia, to take the position of chairman of the Fifth Federal Reserve District, and continued actively at the head of this work until the close of the campaign on May 10, 1919, with the satisfaction of seeing the district under his management go "over the top."
On September 20, 1886, Mr. Robertson married Evelyn Perkins Titcomb, of Kennebunkport, Maine, and they have four children: Evelyn, born in 1889, Helen, born in 1891, Frances, born in 1896, and Thomas James, born in 1897. Evelyn is now Mrs. J. B. S. Lyles of Coulmbia. Helen is now Mrs. Edward B. Cantey, of Columbia, and Frances is now Mrs. Basil de Hwoschinsky, her husband hav- ing been a lieutenant-commander in the old Impe- rial Russian Navy. Thomas James is a member of the class of 1921, Academic Department, Yale Uni- versity. At the spring term of his freshman year he volunteered in the aviation branch of the United States Navy, and after a technical course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts, was assigned to the Key West, Flor- ida station, and afterward to the naval station at Pensacola, Florida, where he received his commis- sion as ensign and became an instructor. At the conclusion of hostilities he returned to Yale Uni- versity.
WASHINGTON CLARK HILLS. The record of the gentleman whose name appears above, a successful farmer of Johns Island, is that of an enterprising gentleman whose life has been very intimately asso- ciated with the material prosperity and moral ad- vancement of this locality during the most progres- sive period in its history, and he has always been found on the right side of questions looking to the development of his community in any way.
Washington Clark Hills was born on August 3, 1873, on James Island, South Carolina. This local- ity has been honored for many years by the citizen- ship of the members of the Hills family, the sub- ject's grandfather. George Washington Hills, who was of English descent, having been one of the first settlers on James Island. The subject's father, also named George Washington Clark, was a soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil war, and . lived to the age of about sixty-five years. He was married three times. His first wife was Martha Clark, also a native of James Island and the daugh- ter of Capt. Ephraim Clark, of English descent, who came to the Islands many years ago and because of his activity and success in building up the Sea Island cotton industry he was popularly known as the "Cotton King." To George W. and Martha Hills were born three children, Flora ( Mrs. Beck- el1), Washington Clark, the immediate subject of this sketch, and G. Watters. For his second wife George W. Hills married Susan Waring Webb, to which union were born five children, three of whom
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HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
are still living. After the death of the mother of these children Mr. Hills married Viola Beatty, to which union no children were born.
Washington Clark Hills was reared on James and Johns Islands, the family having removed from the former to the latter island when he was quite young. He received a good common school education, and at the age of eighteen years began working on his own account. He was steady, industrious and wisely economical, so that eventually he was enabled to buy a tract of land on Johns Island, to the operation of which he has since devoted himself. He has about seventy-five acres, practically all of which is culti- vable, and here Mr. Hills raises all the crops com- mnon to this locality .. He is progressive and up-to- date in his methods and has made a very com- fortable farmstead of the island home.
In 1895 Mr. Hills was married to Isabelle Lofton, the daughter of J. M. Lofton, of Mcclellanville, South Carolina, and to them have been born three children, Washington Clark, Jr., Isabelle and Julia. Mrs. Hills' paternal grandfather, Lofton was left an orphan at an early age. Eventually he became a planter and married Eliza Ann Morrison, the daugh- ter of Richard Tillia and Elizabeth Ann (Yenning) Morrison, of Charleston and Mount Pleasant respect- ively. They became the parents of eleven children. After the death of his first wife Mr. Lofton mar- ried Eliza Toomer, of Mount Pleasant, who bore him five children. Mrs. Hills is one of nine children born to her parents, two of whom died in infancy, and seven are still living, namely: Abbie Morrison, the wife of W. A. Moose, of Charleston; Gertrude, the wife of Julius Seabrook, of James Island; John Marion, who married Harriet Gadsden Lucas, of Mc- Clellanville; Jane Tabor, who became the wife of G. Watters Hills, of Johns Island and brother of the subject; Eugenie Isabelle, who became the wife of W. C. Hills; Mary Whilden, who married G. R. Lunz, of Charleston; and Ethel Moore Lofton, at home.
Mr. Hills is not only busily engaged in the op- eration of his farm, but is also in the government service, in the tick eradication work, a most im- portant department of the federal aid to farming in the South. He is a well informed and up-to-date business man, and has achieved a well-earned success. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and is a popular member of the circles in which he moves.
G. WATTERS HILLS. Throughout an active and interesting career duty has ever been the motive of action with G. Watters Hills, a well-known farmer and representative of one of the oldest fam- ilies on Johns Island. Usefulness to his fellow men has by no means been a secondary consideration with him. Thus strong and forceful in his relations with his fellows, he has gained the good will and com- mendation of his associates and the general public, retaining his reputation among men of integrity and high character, and never losing the dignity which is the birthright of the true gentleman.
G. Watters Hills was born on James Island, South Carolina, on October 9, 1875, and is a son of George Washington and Martha (Clark) Hills. The father was a native of James Island, and his father, Wash- ington Hills, was one of the first settlers on the
island. Martha Clark Hills was the daughter of Ephraim Clark, one of the prominent early cotton men and the man who originated the world-famous Sea Island cotton industry. To George W. and Martha Hills were born three children, Mrs. Flora Beckell, Washington Clark Hills and G. Watters Hills. For his second wife George W. Hills married Susan Waring Webb, to which umon were born five children, three of whom are still living. After the death of the mother of these children Mr. Hills married Viola Beatty, to which union no children were born.
G. Watters Hills received his early training and education on Johns Island, to which the family had removed in his early childhood. He was reared to the life of a planter and farmer, to which he has consistently applied himself during practically all his active years, and his persistence and untiring industry have been amply rewarded in a fair measure of pros- perity, so that today Mr. Hills is very comfortably situated. Ile owns about eighty-five acres of fine cultivable land, all of which is maintained at a high state of cultivation. The farm buildings, which are ample in size, are characterized by convenient ar- rangement, and the general appearance of the place indicates the owner to be a man of progressive ten- dencies and modern methods.
On December 12, 1907, Mr. Ilills was married to Jemima Tabor Lofton, of McLelwell, South Caro- lina, and to them have been born four children, namely : Lila Lofton, Ethel Marion, George Wash- ington and Watten Allen.
For many years Mr. Hills has heen numbered among the public-spirited citizens of Johns Island, and has given his support to every movement for the advancement of the best interests of the community. He has rendered effective service as a school trustee and local register. His fraternal membership is with the Knights of Pythias. Because of his many excellent personal qualities Mr. Hills has won a host of warm, personal friends.
ALICE RAVENEL HUGER SMITH, whose work as an artist and author has brought her well deserved recognition, was horn at Charleston, a daughter of D. E. Huger Smith and Caroline Ravenel Smith. Her father was born in Charleston, a son of William Mason and Eliza (Huger) Smith, also natives of Charleston, William Mason Smith being a prominent merchant and planter of the city. D. E. Huger Smith is a retired exporter. His wife, now deceased, was the daughter of James Ravenel and Augusta Win- throp. All these represented families long identified with Charleston. D. E. Huger Smith has five chil- dren : Eliza Huger, Caroline Ravenel, William Mason, Alice Ravenel Huger and James Ravenel.
Alice, an artist, and Caroline, a musician, have their studio on Chalmers Street. Both were educated at the Mfisses Sass School. Miss Caroline went to New York to finish her musical education and studied in the Lambert College of Music, and later under Joseffy.
Miss Alice's talents have been developed at home and in the cultured atmosphere of Charleston. She finished her education at the Sass School. She and her father produced the "Dwelling Houses of Charleston, South Carolina," Miss Alice making the
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HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
drawings for that artistic work, published in 1917 by the J. B. Lippincott Company. Her water-colors and wood-hlock color-prints are well known throughout the country.
JOHN GARY EVANS, who was elected governor of South Carolina in 1894 to succeed Benjamin R. Tillman, who then became United States senator, and served until the beginning of 1897, has laid his native state in deep and lasting debt not only for his services while governor but in many other public capacities. He has been a prominent lawyer for thirty years, and for twenty years has been a resident of Spartanburg.
Governor Evans was born in Cokesbury in Ab- beville County October 15, 1863, second son of Gen. Nathan George and Ann Victoria (Gary) Evans. He is a first cousin of Judge Eugene B. Gary of the State Supreme Court of South Carolina, and was named for his uncle John Hilary Gary, who went into the war as captain of the South Carolina Col- lege Cadets and lost his life at Battery Wagner. His uncle Gen. M. W. Gary was a Confederate sol- dier and a leader of the red shirt democracy which secured the triumph of white government in 1876 by the election of Wade Hampton. No family con- tributed more of its members to the Confederate canse. The father of Governor Evans and eleven uncles were officers in the Southern army.
Gen. Nathan George Evans was appointed a cadet at West Point by John C. Calhoun, and distinguished himself as a soldier in the Indian wars in Texas and the West. The state awarded him a hand- some sword for valor at the battle of Washita. In the war between the states he was appointed ad- jntant general by Governor Pickens, and was at the bombardment of Fort Sumter and opened the fight at the first Manassas, where the troops under his leadership contributed materially to the success of the Confederates. He was also awarded a gold medal by the General Assembly of South Carolina for gallantry at the battle of Leesburg, Virginia. During the last year of the war he was promoted to the rank of major general.
John Gary Evans like many other prominent South Carolinians received his early training in the Cokes- bury Conference School, and in 1880 entered Union College at Schenectady, New York. He was elected president of his class in his junior year. He had been enabled to go to college largely through the benevolence of his uncle and guardian Gen. M. W. Gary and upon the latter's death he had to leave Union College and finished his law education with his uncle Judge William T. Gary, at Augusta. Georgia. He was admitted to the bar in 1886 and at once opened an office at Aiken in his native state. He has long been prominent as a lawyer, and is a member of the South Carolina and American Bar associations, and the Union College Alumni Associa- tion.
However, South Carolinians know him best for his public career. When in 1888 he was elected to represent Aiken County in the Legislature he was the youngest member in the House. He was re- elected in 1890. and his attitude toward public ques- tions during those two terms is well indicated by the legislation which he worked for and advocated,
including the repeal of the civil rights law, a felic of carpet bag government ; the separate school act, allowing school districts to levy extra taxes for school purposes; the county government act, which was designed to meet the growing protest against the contract system of handling convicts by allowing the prisoners to work on the roads and highways; the act opening South Carolina College to the women of the state; a resolution calling for a constitutional convention ; a "Jim Crow" law providing separate coaches on railway trains for whites and blacks; and a bill regulating hours of labor in manufactur- ing and industrial institutions.
In 1892 Mr. Evans was elected a member of the State Senate, again being the youngest member of that body. Perhaps his most persistent interest through all his public and private carcer has been in behalf of better and broader educational advan- tages for all the people. He supported Governor Tillman's proposal for the establishment of a free dispensary system as the most feasible plan at that time for controlling the sale of liquor.
He had served out only half his term as senator when he was nominated in 1894 and elected gov- ernor. He came into the office at a peculiarly trying time, when the panic was at its height, when cotton prices were at a low ebb, and when there was a great period of political and industrial unrest. He incurred the bitter hostility of the liquor element by his rigorous enforcement of the dispensary law. When the Constitutional Convention of 1895 was called, he carried out the plan to give all factions in the state representation in the convention, and furthermore he defied an injunction from a Federal judge against holding the convention. When that convention assembled in September, 1895. Governor Evans was elected its president by acclamation and he has always taken the liveliest satisfaction in hav- ing presided over its deliberations in producing the present fundamental law of the state, abrogating the Convention of 1868, largely a product of the carpet bag regime.
In his politics Governor Evans might be de- scribed as a democrat of the old school, hostile to the protective tariff, and at the same time believing that all branches of government should aid and not hinder legitimate business and social progress. In some particulars he was at one time regarded as a radical, though his views are now a settled policy of the Federal Government. He has long been a political and personal friend of William J. Bryan, and was the first delegate from South Carolina to support Mr. Bryan for President. He served as dele- gate at large to the national convention in 1896, when Bryan was first nominated, was a delegate to the convention of 1900, and was again a delegate at large in the conventions of 1912 and 1916, working faith- fully for the nomination and election of Woodrow Wilson. In 1914 he was chosen chairman of the Democratic State Executive Committee, and under his leadership the primary rules were changed and the plan of personal registration of voters was de- vised by him. In 1918 he was made national demo- cratic committeeman from South Carolina.
While Governor Evans did not favor the entry of the United States into the war against Spain, he tendered his services to President Mckinley and was
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HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
commissioned as major and inspector general upon the staff of General Keifer, First Division, Seventh Army Corps, under Gen. Fitzhugh Lee. He exer- cised his authority particularly in safeguarding the health of the soldiers while in this country. On go- ing to Cuba he was transferred to the staff of Major General Ludlow, military governor of Havana, and put in charge of the civil government of the city, and had the distinction of organizing the first municipal court of the island after American ideas. Governor Evans also exerted himself in the matter of counsel and leadership in behalf of many auxil- iary war movements during the World war. Among other professional interests he is a director and attorney of the Bank of Commerce of Spartanburg. He is a member of the South Carolina Historical Society, the Delta Phi college fraternity and of a number of clubs. Mrs. Evans has been prominent in woman's movements in South Carolina, and has served as an officer of the Spartanburg Equal Suf- frage Club and of the State League for Equal Suf- fragc.
December 17, 1897, Governor Evans married Em- ily Mansfield Plume, daughter of Hon. D. S. Phime of Waterbury, Connecticut, a former member of the Connecticut Legislature and a manufacturer and banker. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have one daughter, Emily Victoria, born August 10, 1899.
HENRY B. GRIMBALL. In touching upon the life history of Henry B. Grimball, of James Island, where for many years he has been numbered among the leading planters and public spirited citizens, the writer aims to avoid fulsome encomium and extrava- gant praise ; yet he desires to hold up for considera- tion those facts which have shown the distinction of a true, useful and honorable life-a life characterized hy perseverance, energy, broad charity and well de- fined purpose. To do this will be but to reiterate the dictum pronounced upon the man by the people who have known him long and well.
Henry B. Grimball has been a life-long resident of James Island, his birth having occurred there on August 28, 1860. He is the son of Thomas H. and Sarah Eaton ( Bailey) Grimball. The father was a native of Johnis Island, as was his father. Paul C. Grimball. The mother was the daughter of Benjamin Bailcy, a native of Wadmalaw Island, and an early settler in South Carolina. Thomas and Sarah Grimball were the parents, of three sons Arthur, Mortimer and Henry B., of whom the last- named, the subject of this review, is the only sur- vivor. The latter was reared in Charleston until eighteen years of age. securing a good practical edu- cation in the schools of that city. When twenty- one years of age he started farming operations on his own account on James Island, and has con- tinued his agricultural operations to the present time, his first modest attempts were meager indeed as compared with his later operations. He today is the owner of 500 acres of as fine land as can be found in the Carolina Sea Islands. The original plat was 1,600 acres, a grant to the family from their earliest days. At one time there was a peach orchard of 6,000 trees, also a large acreage in cotton and several hundred acres of pasture. Mr. Grimball gave considerable attention to the raising of cattle,
but in later days he also raises great quantities of vegetables, such as peas and cucumbers.
In February, 1885, Henry B. Grimball was married to Lula P. Habenicht, the daughter of Louis and Francesca ( Fisher ) Habenicht. To this union have been born four children, three sons and a daughter, namely: Raymond F. ; Beulah M., wife of J. T. Rob- inson, of Charleston; Burmain Austin and Alfred Hunstombe. All of these children received good educations, and are cultured members of their social circles. Raymond is farming for himself on part of the home farm. Burmain A., is a graduate of The Citadel and of the Annapolis Naval Academy, and now holds a commission as first lieutenant. He made a splendid service during the World war and is now stationed at the Great Lakes Training Station. He is regimental commander. Alfred H. is a student.
Mr. Grimball is a man of impressive personality, broad of mental ken and possesses to a marked degree the characteristics which ever beget objective esteem, confidence and friendship. He is fond of travel, and is not a club member.
WILLIAM H. FRAMPTON, M. D. A prominent young physician and surgeon, an honor graduate of South Carolina Medical College, Doctor Framp- ton was for one year during the war a naval sur- geon, and now busy with a growing practice at Charleston.
He was born at Summerville, South Carolina, De- cember 1, 1892. His father, the late Herbert Gran- ville Frampton, was also a physician, a native of Hampton County, a graduate of the Medical College of South Carolina in 1885, and practiced at Sumi- merville until his death in 1901. This is one of the prominent old families of South Carolina. Doctor Frampton, the elder, was a son of John E. Framp- ton. one of the signers of the ordinance of secession of South Carolina. He lived at Hermitage. The great-grandfather, John Frampton, was a planter.
The mother of Dr. William H. Frampton was Marie Louise Horbeck. Her. father, Dr. William C. Horbeck, was a prominent physician and a Con- federate soldier and a grandson of Peter Horbeck, a pioneer builder who erected the old postoffice at Charleston. William H. Frampton was the second in a family of three children. His brother, Joseph Mayhank Frampton, died at Fort McPherson while in the service of his country at the age of twenty- seven. The only daughter is Eliza Lucas.
Dr. William H. Frampton was educated in the grammar and high schools of Charleston, graduated from Clemson College in 1913, and from the Med- icai College of South Carolina in 1017. In the same vear he also completed his training in the Naval Medical School at Washington, and was assistant surgeon in the navy until the fall of 1917. During 1012-14 he was assistant in chemistry at the College of Charleston. Doctor Frampton won several prizes while in school, including a gold medal for oratory in the Calhoun Literary Society at Clemson College. also the John L. Dawson cun at the Medical College. Recently he endowed the Porter Military Academy with a perpetual silver cup given annually to that member of the graduating class whose life, bearing and conduct while a student set the hest example to. his associates. The award is made by election in
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