USA > South Carolina > History of South Carolina > Part 53
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David Wistar Daniel, who was born in Laurens County May 23. 1867, is a son of Lemuel Thomas Harrison and Elizabeth Florence ( Balentine) Dan- iel, both of whom were natives of Laurens County. Lemuel T. H. Daniel was a planter, but spent the greater part of his life as a teacher in the old field schools. At one time he served as county superin- tendent of the schools of his native county. Ile lived in Laurens County for many years, but is now living in Greenville. For one year he was Confeder- ate soldier.
ـاهد متيدية
ـقطـ
دينة معقد
IN Dadd.
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David Wistar Daniel was reared on a farm, and has a vivid memory of his experiences in the old time country schools. At the age of nineteen he taught his first term of school, and as a teacher paid for his higher education. He graduated from Wofford College in 1892, received his Master of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 1902, and has also done post graduate work in the University of Chi- cago. The degree of Litt. D. was conferred on him by Wofford College in 1914.
Mr. Daniel was connected with a number of schools in different parts of South Carolina until 1898, when he took up his duties as teacher of Eng- lish in Clemson College. For a number of years he has been director of the English department. He was for thirteen ycars on the state board of education and has been an instructor in many sum- mer schools. He is devoted to his work at Clemson, enjoys the happiest associations with the community and student body, and for that reason largely has declined many flattering offers from other schools.
Mr. Daniel is both a scholar and thinker, has di- gested the fruits of long experience, and these at- tainments combined with his notable eloquence make him a source of inspiration wherever he appears as a speaker. He has lectured at scores of farmers in- stitutes and as a platform orator he has appeared in many cities both North and South. Hundreds of audiences have heard him in his popular lectures on "The Forces that Build Communities," and "The Measure of the Man," and "Delivering the Goods." He has been much in demand as a commencement orator, and has spoken on different occasions before Chambers of Commerce, bankers' conventions. teachers' associations, Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation meetings and other bodies. For several years he has been one of the favorite lecturers with the Radcliffe Chautauqua.
His ability to convince and inspire large audiences made him a very useful man to the government during the recent war. He spoke in behalf of every Liberty Loan, and was frequently sent as an enter- tainer to the army camps. Mr. Daniel is a Master Mason and Knight of Pythias and in religion a Methodist. In 1903 he married Miss Eva Jones of Batesburg, South Carolina. They have one daugh- ter, Evelyn.
WILLIAM N. DODD. Thirty years ago William N. Dodd became a brakeman on a line of railway in- corporated a few years later as the Southern Rail- road System, and has been continuously with that great transportation corporation. The thirty years of his railroad service constitute practically two- thirds of his lifetime, consequently, while a veteran railroad man, he is still comparatively young in years.
Mr. Dodd, who for several years past, has been general yardmaster of the Southern Railway at Greenville, was born at Shelby, in Cleveland County, North Carolina, in 1872, a son of D. C. and Jane (Wesson) Dodd. His father was a native of Arkan- sas. He joined an Arkansas regiment in the Con- federate army and served throughout the war. After the war he located near Shelby, the county scat of Cleveland County, North Carolina, and spent the remainder of his life as a farmer and was known
and esteemed for his good business ability and the substantial influence he exerted as a citizen. He had much to do with the politics of Shelby and Cleve- land County, and was honored as a friend and associate of such prominent families as the Dixons, Webbs and others whose names have made Shelby a noted community.
William N. Dodd received most of his educa- tion in the military school conducted by the late Capt. W. T. R. Bell at Shelby. He was seventeen years of age when in 1889 he went to work as a brakeman on the old Charlotte & Atlanta Line Railway. The division terminal point of his run was Charlotte and Central. Later he was promoted to freight con- ductor, served in that capacity about twelve years, was then passenger conductor for two or three years, and in 1907 was appointed general yardmaster of the Southern Railway for the Greenville Terminal. This is one of the most important points on the system be- tween Washington and Atlanta. Mr. Dodd has on his force a day yardmaster and a night yardmaster, bc- sides large crews of switchmen and other employes. The terminals at Greenville include the branch lines and switches that reach all the great textile and other industries of Greenville, and comprise 30 or 40 miles of track.
Mr. Dodd not only has a responsible place in the transportation system of Greenville, but is highly popular among railroad and business men generally. He is a member of the Order of Railway Con- ductors. In June, 1919, he was elected as alderman for the Third Ward. He is a Knight Templar Ma- son and Shriner and with his wife and family is identified with the Central Baptist Church of Green- ville. Mr. Dodd married Miss Mamie Martin. Their two children are Hattie and James.
ROBERT EDGAR BABR. In the Laurens County Bar conspicuous for the many sided talents and abilities of its members, Robert Edgar Babb has enjoyed a place of high standing for twenty years.
He was born and spent his early life on a farm in Laurens County. His birth occurred November II, 1872. He is a son of Messer and Laura J. ( Hellams) Babb. both natives of Laurens County, and a grand- son of Sampson and Nancy ( Mahaffey) Babb. His father was a soldier in the Confederate army with Hampton's Legion and after the war farmed until 1896. In that year he was elected county treasurer, serving two terins, and early in that period remov- ing his home to Laurens. After retiring from the office of county treasurer he was a member of the hoard of county commissioners and was a clerk of that board when he died in 1905 at the age of sev- enty. He and his wife were active members of the Methodist Church. His widow survives him and six of their children grew to mature years.
Rohert Edgar Babb graduated with the class of 1804 from South Carolina's Military College, The Citadel, at Charleston. He studied law in the office of W. R. Richey of Laurens and was admitted to the bar in 1898. He first engaged in practice as junior member of the law firmn Irby, Cooper & Babh, the second member being the present governor of South Carolina. When Mr. Cooper withdrew the firm of Irby & Babb continued until the death of Col. J. L. M1. Irby in 1900. The following four years Mr.
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Babb and W. B. Knight practiced as Babb & Knight, and since 1904 Mr. Babb has been junior member of the firm Simpson, Cooper & Babb, a firm of widely extended and well justified prestige, not only in Laurens, but in many other counties of the state.
Mr. Babb has steadfastly abstained from politics so far as office taking is concerned. For fifteen years he has served as a member of the Laurens County board of education. He is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner and with his wife is a member of the Methodist Church. He married Miss Donie Adams in 1903. She was formerly a resident of Hampton, Georgia. They have three children.
MAYES. The first Mayes to settle in this coun- try was Rev. William Mayes, whose name is his- torical. He was a Church of England clergyman, Rector at Kekoughton, the Indian name of what is now Hampton, Virginia, in the year 1617, about four years before the celebrated Mayflower expedition. There is no doubt ahont him. His name is mentioned as being the minister in charge of that congregation, in a letter written by John Rolfe to the King of England, describing the state of the colony in Vir- ginia. This letter is published in the appendix to Bishop Mead's "Old Churches and Families of Vir- ginia." In some records his name is spelled Mease. but this difference of spelling amounted to nothing at that period, when often in the same document a man would spell his name in two or three ways, and so we find various forms of his name in records of that time. Mays, Mayes, Mease, Maze, Mais, Maes, are used apparently without choice by these early mem- bers of the family in Virginia. The German Maas is probably the same name. The forms Mays and Mayes are now used exclusively by many families scattered through most of the Southern states-the second form being preferred by the majority. Strange to say, the name in any form seems to have become extinet in Virginia, in communities where it was once well known. Mayse occurs elsewhere. It is known that in some form the name existed in Ireland at the Colonial Period, and there is a tradi- tion that three brothers emigrated from Ireland to Virginia, one of these brothers heing named Matthew. This tradition cannot be substantiated, but as late as thirty years back from present date (1917) there were those of the family in Ireland who believed it. The Rev. John Maze of Ireland, a frequent con- tributor to columns of the "Southern Presbyterian" published at Columbia, S. C., under the nom de plume "Hibernicus," was interested in the matter and corresponded For some time about it with Dr. Junius A. Mayes of Mayesville, S. C. In the absence of records, however, nothing could be definitely set- tled as to the Irish origin of the Maves family of Sumter County. . S. C., in the paternal line. In pass- ing it may be mentioned however, that it is certainly known that the descendants of Matthew Peterson Mayes had Irish ancestors in the maternal line named Moore who came to South Carolina in those early days; also that the Irish strain is doubled in the de-
NOTE :
The letter seal used by family of Rev. John Maze mentioned above is a "Cross clasped by two hands." with legend "Teneo et Teneor,-I hold and I am held."
scendants of Dr. Junius A. Mayes as in their mater- nal line ( Ruberry) also appear Irish ancestry named Moore. This coincidence in the ancestry of Doctor Mayes and his wife, not known until after their mar- riage leads almost conclusively to the belief that in the maternal line their ancestors were of the same Irish Clan, it heing known that the Clans kept dis- tinct the spelling of their clan name- the Moores be- ing of a different clan to the Mores. The connection of this Moore ancestry with the family of Dr. I. A. Mayes is shown in sketches of the MeBride and Ruberry-Vardell Families.
The origin of the Mayes family of Sumter Coun. ty, S. C., whether English or Irish, is not clear ; evi- dences seem to point both ways and the lack of early records of this particular branch of the family makes it difficult to decide, As before stated there are many of the name in the South-in South Caro- lina. North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, are families who spell their names Mays or Mayes, with no positively identi- fied relationship. yet with a common nativity in Vir- ginia, which makes it almost sure that they were of the same stock.
With Matthew Mayes, born in 1720 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, begins the earliest record now ob- tainable, of the Sumter County branch of the family. S. S. W. Mayes, Florence, S. C.,
July : 28, 1917. Matthew Mayes was a native of Dinwiddie Coun- ty, Virginia, born in 1720. Records of the War De- partment at Washington show that he served as private in an organization of Virginia troops in War of Revolution, his name being on a list of soldiers who had received full pay for services. He mar- ried Frances Brown, an Englishwoman. His chil- dren were Irwin Mayes, Matthew Peterson Mayes, Mary Thweat Mayes, and Martha Mayes.
Irwin Mayes left several children, but no grandsons so that none of his descendants in Virginia now bear his name. Mrs. Bettie Mayes Tredway of Em- poria. Va., (in 1017) is the only representative of the family of his son, Irwin Brown Mayes, and Mrs. George Jackson and children are the descend- ants of his son Joseph. The daughters of Irwin Mayes were: Mary. Emma, and Louisa, the last named married Mr. Nixon of North Carolina. Her only child Mollie Lou Nixon (Mrs. Bert) is now living at Raleigh, N. C., ( 1917). Martha Mayes. daughter of Matthew, became Mrs. Pritchard of Petersburg, Va., and members of her family still live there and elsewhere in Virginia. Emma Mayes, daughter of Irwin, was a woman of marked business ability. Most of her life was spent in Petersburg. She and her sister Mary never mar- ried. Matthew Peterson Mayes, planter, founder of the town of Mayesville, S. C., member of the Legislature from Sumter County, and signer of Ordinance of Secession, was the second son of Matthew and Frances Brown Maves. He was born in Greensville County, Va., on November 24, 1794. He left Virginia when about eighteen years of age. going to Raleigh, N. C. He enlisted in the War of 18:2. but after a month's service was relieved from further military duty on account of wound in should- der, received while hunting ; accidental discharge of
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comrade's weapon. While at Raleigh he married Martha Bradley of Sumter County, S. C., who was attending school there. She was an orphan, a ward of Dr. Robert Muldrow of Sumter County, Salem (Brick Church) section and possessed of consider- able property. Soon after the marriage they came to Salem and there the young wife died, "in lier seven- teenth year" as is recorded on her tombstone in Sa- lem cemetery. It was not till several years after her death that the first home was built in what is now the town of Mayesville by M. P. Mayes, he having mar- ried Henrietta Warner Shaw, daughter of William David and Rebecca MeBride Shaw. She was the mother of his children, all of whom lived to maturity, and several to old age. Mrs. Mayes, herself died in early middle life from the terrible scourge of fever which afflicted the family the year after the railroad was opened through that section. Two other inem- bers of the family died, James and Mary Frances, the wife Dr. J. A. Mayes; and the others were desperately ill.
In 1851 M. P. Mayes was married to Mrs. Martha Matilda McBride (nee Ruberry) widow of Samuel MeBride of Salem. Throughout his long and useful life Esquire Mayes, as he was popularly known and entitled, possessed the confidence and respect of all who knew him. His wise conservatism, high principle, and native force of character made him a safe counsellor in matters of church and state. He was for many years a ruling elder in Salem (B. R.) Church and as Christian and citizen per- formed well his part. The most modest and un- pretentious of men, he was yet distinguished by an innate dignity and courtesy that proclaimed him one of Nature's noblemen-a true gentleman. He died November 1, 1878, at eighty-four years of age.
The children of M. P. and Henrietta Shaw Mayes are named below. Mrs. Sarah Jane Grant is now ( 1917) the only survivor of this family group. Called by the fortunes of her life to go further from the homestead than any of the other children, after many years of absence from her native place. she now lives with children and grandchildren. a few rods from the site of her native home. The old home was struck by lightning and burned to the ground a few years ago-a picturesque landmark lost to the community.
Fumnius Alceaus-1822-1901, physician.
Thomas Alexander-planter.
Robert Peterson-merchant and planter.
Marv Henrietta-Mrs. J. Milton Cooper.
Margaret Elizabeth-Mrs. Roderick Bethune.
James Samuel Bradley-died at twenty-one years of age.
Sarah Jane-Mrs. Thomas Grant.
William David Shaw-died of wounds received in battles before Richmond.
Frances Ann-Mrs. T. L. Burgess.
Matthew Peterson, Jr .- planter.
Family of Dr. Junius Alceaus Mayes.
Dr. J. A. Mayes and Mary Frances Muldrow, daughter of Matthew E. and Sophronia Anderson Muldrow of Salem, were married in 1844. Children : Carolina Constantia, Mrs. Rhame, 1845-1901.
Charles Franklin-1847-1858.
Infant son-1850-1850.
Mrs. Mary Frances Mayes died in 1850 aged twen- ty-five years.
Family of Dr. Junius Alceaus Mayes.
Dr. J. A. Mayes and Sarah Elizabeth Vardell, daughter of Robert and Sarah Elizabeth Vardell (nee Ruberry) of Charleston, S. C., were married in 1851. Children :
Francis James-1852-1893-physician.
Mary Henrietta-1853-1891-Mrs. David Brainard Gregg.
Martha Matilda -- 1855- -Mrs. Joel E. Brunson. Matthew Peterson -- 1857-1903-planter and post master.
Sarah Susanne Wilson-1859-
Junius Albert-1863- -druggist.
Grandchildren.
Children of Dr. Francis James and Louise Hud- son Mayes :
Charles Francis Mayes-chemist of Greenville, S. C.
Mary Frances Hudson Mayes-Greenville, S. C. Children of David Brainard and Mary Henrietta Mayes Gregg :
Francis Whitlock Gregg-Presbyterian minister. Carolina Elizabeth Gregg-Mrs. S. Moses Gregg. Mattie Mayes Gregg-teacher.
Alfred Dickson Gregg-physician.
Ruth Gregg-Mrs. W. H. Price.
Mary Henrietta Gregg-stenographer.
Children of Joel E. and Martha Matilda Mayes Brunson :
Margaret Landsell Brunson-teacher and stenog- rapher.
Mary Stuart Brunson-Mrs. J. H. Mills.
Annie Louise Brunson.
James Edwin Brunson-editor.
Winifred Henrietta Brunson-stenographer.
Joel Edgar Brunson, Jr .-- photographer.
Children of Junius Albert and Pauline Wells Mayes, Savannah, Georgia :
Francis Vardell Mayes-died, age two years.
Dorothy Mayes-trained nurse.
Raymond Payne Mayes, son of Junius Albert and Rosalie Rembert Mayes, Savannah, Georgia. Great-grandchildren.
Children of Rev. Francis W. and Elizabeth Cole Guy Gregg :
Frances Wardlaw Gregg.
Alva Mayes Gregg.
Margaret Henrietta Gregg.
David Brainard Gregg.
Samuel Guy Gregg.
Children of S. Moses and Caroline Elizabeth Gregg:
Ruth Brittania Gregg-died 1917, aged eight years. Moses Elmo Gregg.
Francis Mayes Gregg.
Mary Stuart Mills, daughter of Dr. J. Henley .and Mary Stuart Brunson Mills, Mayesville, S. C., James Edwin Brunson, Jr., son of James Edwin and Leila Ballenger Brunson, Greenville, S. C.
S. S. W. Mayes, Florence Infirmary, Florence, South Carolina.
FRANK HARRISON CUNNINGHAM is one of the widely known architects of upper South Carolina, and his professional work can be seen in many sec-
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tions of the Carolinas and Georgia. He is a pro- gressive business man also, a leader in promoting the best interests of his home city of Greenville, and he and his brother and professional associate are responsible for giving Greenville its Imperial Hotel and more recently two cotton mills.
Born at Anderson, in Anderson County, in 1880, a son of Joseph Gilbert and Sarah ( Harrison) Con- ningham, he represents two of the oldest families of the Piedmont section of the Carolinas. The an- cestors of both the Harrisons and Cunninghams came into this region prior to the Revolution. The paternal grandfather was Thomas Hood Cunning- ham, a large cotton planter of Anderson County. The maternal grandfather was Col. Frank Harri- son a son of James Harrison. James Harrison, a native of Virginia, and from the same orig- inal stock as the William Henry Harrison family, settled in Anderson County at Andersonville where the Seneca and Tugaloo rivers form the headwaters of the Savannah River, a home site that is one of the most beautiful and picturesque in the entire Piedmont section. Here he became an extensive cotton manufacturer and planter, and also owned boats that carried his cotton down the Savannah River to market. There were many splendid Amer- icans, of the best Scotch-Irish blood, in the various generations of the Harrison and Cunningham gen- calogy.
Frank Harrison Cunningham graduated from Clemson College in 1903. He had studied architect- ure, and began the practice of that profession soon after leaving college. His brother Joseph G. Cun- ningham, though a year and half his junior, had graduated in the same class, and they entered the profession together and opened offices under the name of F. H. & J. G. Cunningham in Greenville in 1908. Since 1908 the brothers have been closely associated as architects and in various business en- terprises, and have designed and built many struct- ures in the Carolinas and Georgia, including school- houses, hotels and other public buildings.
In 1912 the Cunningham Brothers and Mr. W. M. Jordan erected the Imperial Hotel at Greenville, later building the annex which makes it one of the larger hotels in the South. These three men still own this splendid property, which is conservatively valued at considerably more than a quarter of a million. But its value to the community cannot be estimated in dollars, since a hotel of this description can without exaggeration be said to rank a close second with any industry or other institution as a source of real prosperity to a growing city like Greenville.
Under the difficulties and restrictions of wartime conditions the Cunningham Brothers in 1918 built two new cotton mills in Greenville, and are now suc- cessfully operating them. They are the Saluda Mill and Okeh Mill, manufacturing weaving yarns, the former equipped with 4,000 spindles and the latter with 3,000. The brothers have also built, adjoining, beautiful homes on East Park avenue in Greenville. Frank Harrison Cunningham married Miss Eoline Ligon, daughter of Mr. H. A. Ligon of Spartanburg, well known as a banker, merchant and cotton manu- facturer. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham have three
children, Frank Harrison Jr., Eoline Ligon and Sarah Lucie.
LAWRENCE L. RICHARDSON, M. D. In addition to the conscientious care, skill and abilities he has di- rected to his work as a physician and surgeon at Simpsonville in Greenville County for a quarter of a century, Doctor Richardson is also the present mayor of his home town, and in his individual career has measured up to the fine traditions associated with the Richardson family.
The old home place of the Richardsons where Doctor Richardson was born in 1808, is in Fairview Township, five miles from the Town of Simpson- ville in Greenville County. The Richardsons are of Scotch ancestry. Through the various generations they have been known as people who accumulate and conserve their resources and in each generation have been most useful citizens. Some of them have beconie wealthy, while all have been known as "comfortably well off." Doctor Richardson's great- grandfather came to Greenville County from Vir- ginia in pioneer times. The grandfather was Jona- than Richardson, a native of Greenville County. Doc- tor Richardson is a son of George W. and Lou C. (Cox) Richardson. His father, who died in 1908, was born at the old Richardson homestead, served in the Confederate army, was a planter, and at dif- ferent times was honored with public positions. Ele served as County Commissioner of Greenville Coun- ty and for about six years before his death repre- sented his county in the State Legislature.
Doctor Richardson acquired a good common school education, and graduated in 1894 from the Atlanta Medical College. Since then he'has prac- ticed his profession at Simpsonville and is the lead- ing physician and surgeon in that part of the coun- ty. He is a member of the County, State and Amer- ican Medical associations and is a Baptist. He is also a director of the Farmers' Bank of Simpsonville, and as mayor is giving a well ordered and economi- cal administration of municipal affairs.
His first wife was Miss Burgess Rollins, who is deceased. She was the mother of four children, Rollins, Jeff, George and Evelyn. Doctor Richard- son married for his second wife Miss Bessie Harri- son, daughter of John H. Harrison. The Harrisons are a prominent family of lower Greenville County. Doctor and Mrs. Richardson have two children, Bruce and Orrin.
BEN HILL BROWN. The community of Spartanburg lias often and in divers ways shown its appreciation of the talents and leadership of Ben Hill Brown, one of the most successful members of the local bar, and with a wealth of public spirit that seems undimin- ished the greater the demands placed upon it.
He was born at the historic town of Cowpens in Spartanburg County in 1882, son of Randolph R. and Louise ( Wood) Brown, both now deceased. The Browns were among the earliest settlers on the Pac- olet River, and a number of them have been promi- nent characters, including the late Major John Jones Brown and Capt. Adolphus Brown, both uncles of the Spartanburg lawyer.
Randolph R. Brown, who was also born at Cow- Dens and died there in 1910, saw service in the lat-
2.2. Rick andrive,
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ter part of the war in the Confederate armny. He was a farmer, later a merchant at Cowpens, and finally organized the Cowpens Manufacturing Com- pany, which built and operated one of the leading cotton mills of this region. Ile was president of the company until his death, and in all things a most substantial character and a bulwark in community affairs in his section of the county.
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