USA > South Carolina > History of South Carolina > Part 19
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JAMES R. CANTWELL. Practically coincident with the improved industrial and commercial era of Charleston, beginning after the great war, was the inauguration of a thoroughly progressive city ad- ministration, committed to the best interests and ideals of this new era. When John P. Grace be- came mayor of Charleston in January, 1920, one of his first acts in forming his cabinet was to appoint James R. Cantwell chief of police. In announcing that appointment he said that he had given the mat- ter of appointment his most serious study and was convinced that Mr. Cantwell was the proper man to assume the heavy responsibilities of the office, not only with a view to the problems that lay ahead, but also on the score of Mr. Cantwell's previous efficiency in the same position.
Probably no one name has been more prominently associated with the history of the police department of Charleston than that of Cantwell. The present police chief is a son of the late Edward P. Cant- well, who for thirty-eight years was a member of the police department and several years of that time chief. Edward P. Cantwell compiled and wrote the History of the Police Department of Charleston from its origin in about 1791. This his- tory was published in pamphlet form, and is one of the valuable documents of city history.
James R. Cantwell was born in Charleston November 15, 1876, being a son of Edward P. and Mary ( Howard) Cantwell. As a hoy he attended parochial schools, but acquired most of his educa- tion by active experience and contact with the world. For a time he was employed as messenger for a telegraph company. He also worked in the print- ing house of Walker, Evans & Cogswell, and later learned the machinist's trade. That for several years was his regular occupation. He was one of the prime movers for the local lodge of the Machinist Union Lodge No. 183 and was one of its charter members.
When John P. Grace was mayor of Charleston from 1912 to 1916 Mr. Cantwell was his chief of police, and after an interim of four years he was again called to the office, one of great responsibility. when the problems and difficulties of policing a
JAMES R. CANTWELL
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port city like Charleston was considered. He has always consistently taken a prominent part in the labor movements and has held various offices. He was the first man to originate the idea and promul- gate the plans for a labor temple, which is now being carried forward to completion.
Mr. Cantwell was a volunter in the United States Navy during the war with Spain and served in Cuban waters on the supply ship Celtic. He is a popular citizen of Charleston, and is known as a man of much executive ability, and of great per- sonal courage and prompt in decision and action. He married Miss Mary A. Sheridan, of Charleston. Their five children are Edward J., James R., Jr., John J., Thomas J. and Marie Theresa.
PATRICK CARTER came to Charleston, South Caro- lina, a boy, in 1880, and accepted and adapted him- self to the circumstances of a youth who must make his own way in the world. A persistent cheerfulness, readiness to work and serve, with an ability in busi- ness widening in each year's experience, have brought him a high place in local business and also as a substantial factor in his city community.
Mr. Carter, who is a member of Molony & Carter Company, dealers in hay, grain, manufacturers of molasses feeds fertilizer and fertilizer materials, was born in County Leitrim, Ireland, May 12, 1863. His parents, Francis and Ann (Moran) Carter, both died in Ireland. Patrick Carter at the age of sixteen came alone to America, landing in New York, and soon afterwards came to Charleston, where he had several. uncles, and secured employ- ment from Hart & Company, in which firm his uncle Patrick Moran was a member. His uncle then withdrawing in 1882 to establish a hardware business of his own at Meeting and Hayne streets. Patrick Carter continued with him, assuming in- creasing responsibilities four and a half years. A fellow employe with the Moran store, its bookkeeper, was H. A. Molony and eventually the two young men put their capital and experience together and as a partnership of Molony & Carter entered the hay and grain business in May, 1886, which is one of the oldest firms of its kind in the state, and its reputation is based on the integrity and high char- acter of both the original partners. For about twenty years they continued as a partnership, and some twelve years ago incorporated as the Molony- Carter Company, of which Mr. Molony is president. Patrick Carter vice president and treasurer and John C. Molony secretary. For many years they have handled a tremendous volume of hay, grain, feed, fertilizer and fertilizer material, and they ship and distribute feeds and fertilizer to farmers and livestock men all over South Carolina and in Georgia and North Carolina.
In 1890, at Charleston, Mr. Carter married Miss Ella Casey. One child was born to that union, Ella, wife of Doctor MeGuire, of Charleston. In 1900 Mr. Carter married Mary E. Reynolds, a native of Connecticut. To their marriage were born seven children : Francis P., a student in Georgetown University at Washington, D. C .; Gerald M., Mary V., James A., William J., John Ferrell and Patricia Ann. All are living except John Ferrell. Mr. Carter . He followed farming, but was especially influential is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians,
the Knights of Columbus, Trustee of the Charles- ton Museum, secretary St. George Land & Lumber Company, and secretary of the Stokes Lumber Company, and with Mr. H. A. Molony is heavily interested in highly developed farming lands in Charleston County, and has a summer home in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Mr. Carter has always lived a consistent Christian, being an active member of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church. In politics he has been interested in the welfare of the democratic party, and has never held or sought public office.
J. WESLEY CRUM, JR. Though a member of the bar only a few years, J. Wesley Crum, Jr., has achieved a reputation in his profession and is one of the men of Bambert County most often looked to for leadership in that community.
Members of the Crum family have long figured in the Legislature as representatives of the old Barnwell District. J. Wesley Crum, Jr., was born at Denmark, in Bamberg County, January 1, 1889. His paternal ancestors are supposed originally to have come from Switzerland about 1736. Ances- tors of Mr. Crum on both sides took part in the War of the Revolution. The family settled in Orangeburg County in the years 1735, 1736 and 1737, there being record of three different parties in as many different years coming into that section of the state containing members of the Crum family. Orangeburg County record show the marriage of Henry J. Crummy (one of the original spellings of the name) in 1752. He was the ancestor of the Barnwell branch of the family. The presentment of the grand jury to the Court of General Sessions of Orangeburg County on May 20, 1776. approving a constitution independent of the rule of Great Britain contains the signature of Henry Crum.
The great-grandfather of the Bamberg lawyer was Lewis Crum, who was born in 1814 and died in 1896, and was a local minister of the Methodist Church. The grandfather was John Wesley Crum, Sr., who was born in Orangeburg County and is still living at the age of eighty-two years. He was all through the war as a Confederate soldier, a member of Butler's cavalry, his colonel being Col. John Donovan. He finished his education in The Citadel at Charleston and married Miss Re- becca Hartzog, a daughter of Henry Hartzog, of Bamberg, in Barnwell County. One of his daugh- ters is the wife of I. W. Bowman, a circuit judge of Orangeburg County.
Henry Hayne Crum, father of J. Wesley, Jr., was born in Bamberg County in 1864 and died in 1904. He represented for ten years Barnwell County and Bamberg County in the Legislature, and at one time was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the House. The place he vacated in the Legislature was taken by his father, John W., Sr., who served two years. The legislative record .of the family also includes J. Wesley Crum, Jr., who was elected to the Legislature in 1914 and served through the session of 1918. He was a mem- ber of the important ways and means committee.
Henry Hayne Crum had only a common school education, but was a man of force and great ability. in raising the livestock standards in his section of
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the state. He had more to do with putting regis- tered stock, especially Berkshire and Poland China hogs in the county than any other man. He devoted 600 acres to stock raising and diversified farming. He was an intimate, personal friend of the late Senator Tillman and was a stanch figure in the early Tillman movement and in that faction of the democratic party. Henry Hayne Crum at the age of eighteen married Henrietta Elizabeth Milhous, a native of Barnwell County, now Bamberg County, and daughter of Charles H. and Sarah (Hane) Milhous.
J. Wesley Crum, Jr., was educated in local schools and graduated from Wofford College with the de- gree of A. B. in 1908. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1910, at the age of twenty- one, and began practice at Denmark, but in 1918 moved to Bamberg. He served as mayor of Den- mark from 1913 to 1915, and still has important interests in that town, including the Bank of Den- mark and the Citizens Exchange Bank of Denmark, of both which institutions he is attorney.
Mr. Crum takes a great interest in the Methodist Church and has been one of its stewards for the past six or seven years, and is a substitute teacher in the Sunday school. He is a past master of Denmark Lodge No. 246, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and at the 1919 session of the Grand Lodge he was appointed grand steward. In 1913 Mr. Crum married Priscilla Hart, daughter of Samuel N. Hart of Hampton County. To their marriage were born two children, Henry Hayne and Caroline Hart.
MISS MARY V. MCBEE is founder and principal of Ashley Hall at 172 Rutledge Street, Charleston. It is a high class girls' boarding and finishing school and many young matrons in the city and state take pride in referring to it as the source of their educa- tion and early advantages. The school occupies a beautiful site surrounded by a wooded grove, and in its equipment and appointments is a perfect model of boarding and day school. Miss MeBee is an educator to the manner born and brings to her present work a rare equipment of personal character and early training in the best American schools and universities.
She is a member of an old and prominent family of Lincolnton, North Carolina, a daughter of Silas and Mary Estelle (Sutton) McBee. Her mother was a native of Jackson, Mississippi. Miss Mary McBee was. the second of the children. Her sister. Miss Emma Estelle, is the assistant principal of Ashley Hall. Her brother, Silas, Jr., was a major in the American Expeditionary Forces in France and now ranks as lieutenant colonel in the Reserve Force.
Miss Mary McBee was educated in the Fairmount School at Monteagle, Tennessee, attended Smith College at Northampton, Massachusetts, and finally Columbia University at New York City. She estab -. lished her school at Charleston in 1900, and now presides over the work of a faculty of sixteen teach- ers. The school has a complete curriculum of studies both academic and college, with departments of elocution, music and art. Nearly 150 pupils are enrolled every year.
MAJ. CHARLES E. LITTLEJOHN spent more than two years in the American army during the World war, and as his record shows rendered a service highly efficient and frequently commended in the zone of war activities both before and after the armistice. Major Littlejohn is a graduate of South Carolina's noted agricultural school, Clemson Col- lege, and this together with his training and expe- rience overseas is a splendid qualification for his present forceful activities as county demonstration agent under the Federal Government in Charleston County.
Major Littlejohn was born at Jonesville, Union County, South Carolina, in 1895, son of Samuel and Katharine (McGowan) Littlejohn. The Little- john family is one of the oldest in Upper Caro- lina, where they have lived since prior to the Revo- lutionary war. Some of them were soldiers on the American side in the struggle for independence. The ancestral home of the Littlejohns is in the old Pacolet River section not far from Jonesville. . Samuel Littlejohn is a wealthy and prominent citi- zen of Jonesville. Katharine McGowan, mother of Major Littlejohn, is a near relative of the late Gen. Samuel MeGowan, commander of the famous McGowan's Brigade in the war between the states.
Major Littlejohn after completing his education in the local schools of Jonesville entered Clemson College in 1912, and graduated with the class of 1916, making a special study of the various practical sciences and technical problems bearing upon ad- vanced agriculture. He had been out of college less than a year when America entered the war with Germany. In June, 1917, he enlisted in the Coast Artillery and in August, 1917. was transferred to the Second Officers Training Camp at Chickamauga. He was commissioned captain and assigned to the Sixth Ammunition Train. Early in July, 1918, he arrived in France, where he was assigned to duty with the Fifty-fourth Infantry, Sixth Division. For nearly two months he was in the quiet sector in the Vosges Mountains, and was then detached from his former command and placed with the Seventy-eighth Division on active front line duty in the Argonne Forest. While with the Fifty- fourth Infantry he was promoted to major, commanding a battalion. The particular service for which he fitted himself was to command an ammti- nition train. He developed exceptional skill and efficiency in motor engineering and internal com- bustion. Major Littlejohn was at Verdun the day after the armistice was signed, but was not released from the army until August, 1919, more than two years after he had enlisted.
On returning Maior Littlejohn became agricul- tural agent for the Seaboard Air Line Railway with headquarters at Charleston. Then, in December, 1010. he accepted his present place as demonstra- tion agent for Charleston County under the Federal Government. He regards this position as a splen- did opportunity for a great and vital work along the lines of his previous training and his partici- lar ahilities. As a result of the threatened boll- weevil. South Carolina agriculture is undergoing a comnlete reorganization. esnecially along the line of diversified crops, and Major Littlejohn is con- centrating his attention upon inducing the farmers
6.6. Kursy They
JEleur Martin
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of Charleston County to go in for more and better livestock and using some of their land for the forage crops to which the locality is especially adapted.
Major Littlejohn married on Thanksgiving Day, 1917, Miss Marion Brown, of Spartanburg, and they have one son, Charles E., Jr.
FRANKLIN PIERCE SEABROOK. Few can draw rules for their own guidance from the pages of Plutarch. but all are benefited by the delineation of those traits of character which find scope and exereise in the common walks of life. The unostentatious rou- tine of private life, although in the aggregate more important to the welfare . of the community than any meteoric publie career, cannot, from its very nature, figure in the public annals, though each locality's history should contain the names of those individuals who contribute to the success of the material affairs of a community and to its public stability; men who lead wholesome and exemplary lives which might be profitably studied by the on- coming generation. In such a class must consistently appear the name of Franklin P. Seabrook, one of the leading planters of James Island, a man who leads a plain, industrious life, endeavoring to deal hon- estly with his fellow men and contribute somewhat to the general public good in an unobtrusive manner.
Franklin Pierce Seabrook was born on the place where he now lives on December 23, 1855. The Seabrook family has long been identified with this section of the South, the first immigrant members of the family having come from England and settled in South Carolina in 1680. The subject's father, William Benjamin Seabrook, was born and reared on Edisto Island. After his marriage he settled on James Island, where he followed planting during the remainder of his life. He was twice married, first to a Miss McLeod, to which union were born two sons, both of whom were soldiers in the Confederate Army during the war between the states and one of whom was killed at the Battle of Fredericksburg. The second marriage of the sub- ject's father, which was to E. Mary Royall, resulted in the birth of three sons and three daughters, namely: Martha Love, Cornelia R. and Josiah Mc- Leod, all of whom are deceased; Franklin P., Jane Oswald and George Rivers. The mother of these children was born on James Island and was the daughter of Croskeys Royall, who is supposed to be of Scottish descent. The subject's paternal grand- father, Joseph Baynard Seabrook, was born, reared and died on Edisto Island.
Franklin P. Seabrook had only limited educational advantages, owing to the disorganized condition of the schools at the close of the Civil war, but availed himself of such privileges as were obtained in a private school. When eighteen years old he began working on the plantation, and in 1874 he took charge of his father's estate in the interest of his widowed mother. This arrangement was continued for five years, at the end of which time he received his portion of the real estate. He then began farm- ing on his own account, and in 1886 he added by purchase his mother's interest in the farm. He is now the owner of 250 acres of land, the place being known as Secessionville and being of some historic
importance from the fact that on June 16, 1862, one of the battles of the Civil war was fought there. Mr. Seabrook makes a specialty of the raising of Sea Island cotton and employs an average of forty hands on his farm. In connection with his farm he also conducts a small store. He is up-to-date and progressive in his ideas and has been thereby enabled to achieve notable results in his farm operations.
On February 16, 1880, Mr. Seabrook was married to Lydia Seabrook, the daughter of Joseph B. Sea- brook, and they have two children, Franklin Pierce, Jr., and Josephine Baynard. Mr. Seabrook is an active member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been treasurer for over thirty years. He is also president of the Agricultural Society of James Island. At one time he was active in the State Militia, being a inember of the Sea Island Battalion, in which he held a captain's commission. This commission was issued by Governor Hugh Thompson and Adj. Gen. A. M. Manigualt on May 19, 1885, and was for the captaincy. of the Haskell Mounted Kiffemen of the Sea Island Battalion of the State Militia. He was captain at the time the State Militia became the National Guard under the Dick law. The Edisto Island Company and the Haskell Mounted Riflemen, neither having enough inen to comply with this law, were merged into one cavalry troop and Capt. M. M. Seabrook, of Edisto Island being the senior captain; was made captain of this new troop and F. P. Seabrook, of James Island was made first lieutenant, which commis- sion he held until this troop was put on the retired list. Mr. Seabrook has been identified with prac- tically every phase of the island's history since he attained his majority and been conspicuous in his support of every movement having for its object the advancement of the best interests of his fellow citi- zens. Genial and unassuming in manner, he has won and retains a host of loyal friends.
REV. MICHAEL J. REDDIN has been pastor of St. Patrick's Catholic Church at Charleston since 1914. This is one of the largest and most prosperous con- gregations of the Catholic denominations in the state. Its membership is 1600, and the parish maintains a number of institutions, including the parochial school attended by 175 children. The assistant to Father Reddin is Rev. Daniel O'Brien.
St. Patrick's Church was built by Father Mon- tague Quigley. The parish has been served by many well known priests, including Father Wright, Father Kelly, Father McElroy, Father Mahoney, Father Murphy and Father Kennedy.
CAPT. J. ELMORE MARTIN. A continuous public service covering twenty-eight years since January, 1892, though largely devoted to and within the City and County of Charleston, has given Captain Mar- tin a very wide acquaintance and he is probably one of the best known men in the state today. For many years he has been sheriff of Charleston County. That office he has handled with utmost impartiality and vigor so as to steadily retain the support and favor of the best citizens. The conduct of his office and his active co-operation rendered the army and navy officials during the war has been
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again and again favorably commented upon by those in authority.
Ilis career has been in keeping with the tradi- tions of some of the fine old families of South Carolina. Captain Martin was born at Allendale, in Barnwell County May 30, 1859, a son of Capt. John Vincent Martin and Mrs. Mary Harrict (Bostick) Martin. His mother was a daughter of Benjamin Robert Bostick of old Beaufort, now Hampton County. His grandfather was Judge William D. Martin, whose remains are interred in St. Michael's churchyard in Charleston. Capt. John Vincent Mar- tin was a brother of Gen. William E. Martin, a prominent Confederate officer who lived in Charles- ton. Capt. John Vincent Martin was also very active in the war of secession and raised a company of men in Barnwell County said to have been the first company raised in South Carolina. Concern- , ing his military service an old friend, W. R. Dar- lington of Allendale, writes: "He was the most en- thusiastic and patriotic captain of the First South Carolina Regiment. I have heard it said that he agitated and raised the first company in Hagood's First South Carolina Regiment of Infantry. He
took his company on the night of April 11, 1861, to Charleston and on the 12th was mustered in at Morris Island, where he had the pleasure of hear-
. ing the first cannon fired at Fort Sumter. When General Hagood conceived the idea of raising a regiment Capt. John V. Martin being a kinsman and recognized by General Hagood as a man of iron, I feel certain that he was the first to take the initia- tive in raising a company for that regiment. When this regiment failed to reorganize at Orangeburg and was disbanded, Captain Martin went from there to Virginia, where he had the opportunity of enduring the hardships of the first battle of Manassas." On the lawn of his home in Charleston, Sheriff Martin has two old style shells which were fired at the troops under Capt. J. V. Martin during one of the engagements of the war.
J. Elmore Martin has been a resident of Charleston since 1881, and since the first ten years in the city has been interested in public affairs. In 1891 he was elected to represent the Eighth Ward as an alder- man. During the Ficken administration he was appointed chief of police. Subsequently he served under the metropolitan police system and contributed much to its standard of efficiency. In the fall of 1897 Governor Ellerbe appointed him sheriff to fill the vacancy cansed by the death of Col. Hugh Fergn- son. He was elected and re-elected to that post five successive times, and in 1920 was a candidate for re-election without opposition. At his first election his majority was a little more than a hundred and in each successive term his majority steadily increased until it reached within a fraction of 2,000 majority in 1916.
Sheriff Martin is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and the Masons, being a Shriner, also with the Odd Fellows, Elks and several other societies. He was at one time a member of the Board of Visitors of Clemson College. He is active in St. Paul's Episcopal Church at Radcliffeborg, Charles- ton, having been a member of the vestry for many years and still serving in that capacity.
Captain Martin has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Daisy Vincent, of Charleston, who
died leaving one son, J. Elmore Martin, Jr., now active in his business carcer at Charleston and liv- ing at home.
J. Elmore Martin later married Martha Haward, a daughter of Mr. Thomas Heyward Haward and Mrs. Annie (Webb) Haward. Mrs. Martin is highly connected socially and possesses the talents and accomplishments that make her one of the lead- ers in Charleston society. Her parents were distant cousins and cach had the same great-grandfather, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mrs. Martin is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and is eligible by any one of six different lines to this order and also to the Colonial Dames. Captain Martin has five living children: J. Elmore Martin, Jr .; Annie Webb Martin, wife of William P. Tillinghast, Esq., a prominent attorney of Charleston, South Carolina; Daisy Vincent Martin, wife of Commander P. B. Hammes of the United States Navy; Nattie Ilaward Martin, wife of Capt. R. A. Fairless; and John Vincent Martin, a student in Clemson College.
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