USA > South Carolina > History of South Carolina > Part 58
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ville a city of distinct importance. His associates speak of Mr. Hobbs as possessing a genius for mer- chandising, and what he has accomplished in twenty years seems to prove every assertion that might be made on this score.
Mr. Hobbs is a member of the board of gov- ernors of the City Hospital, is a director of the Greenville Board of Trade, director of the Bank of Commerce, is a member of the Poinsett and Rotary clubs, is a member of the Baptist Church and is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner. He is a son of Robert R. and Julia ( Sturdivant) Hobbs. Mr. Hobbs married Miss Alberta Jones of Atlanta, and they have a family of four children named Jane, Cas- well O., Jr., Nicholas F. and Jones.
COL. ROBERT BRIGGS WATSON. The greatness of a state might well be measured by the character of its people and the importance of their productive energies in contributing to the enlightenment, the comforts and the prosperity of themselves and the world at large. Measured by this standard one of the important and conspicuous men of South Caro- lina is Col. Robert Briggs Watson of Ridge Spring, Saluda County. Colonel Watson was a Confederate soldier and officer until disabled by wounds at the battle of Gettysburg. He is eighty-three years of age. For half a century he has been working every day on his plantation, and has been the personal example and initiative in introducing some of the agricultural and horticultural crops which, after the staple industry of cotton, have contributed most to the good fortune of South Carolina.
Today Colonel Watson is tall, straight, vigorous and active, showing none of the usual signs of age. His continued activity and well preserved manhood are a source of wonder to his friends and a remarka- ble tribute to the kind of life he has lead. He comes of a strong race of people to begin with, and has made his own life one of simple living, industry and content with his environment. Ile has been free from all forms of dissipation or immorality, and has never used tobacco or liquors.
Colonel Watson was born in Pickens County, South Carolina, in 1836, during a temporary resi- dence of his parents, Elijah and Elizabeth (Briggs) Watson in that county. Elijah Watson was born and reared on the ancestral Watson plantation in Edgefield County and brought his family back to that place in 1841. In this environment Colonel Rob- ert Briggs Watson spent practically all his life. His present home is only a short distance away from the place where his great-great-grandfather, W:1- liam Watson, planted a home in the wilderness in 1744.
William Watson came from Wales with several brothers, all of whom located in South Carolina, and their descendants in each generation have been wealthy and prominent leaders in the community, and altogether constitute a strong race of men whose influence and deeds have been a mighty lever of civilization. Their character is reflected very noticeably in that community of Saluda County, where literacy, intelligence and progressiveness are practically synonymous with the population. There has never heen a homicide among white people at Ridge Spring or vicinity, and even during the try- ing days of the reconstruction period the peace
and good order of the community were never dis- turbed by rioting or killing of negroes. In that particular epoch Col. R. B. Watson was himself a figure, and his influence prevented and mitigated conditions that might otherwise have resulted in bloody encounters such as were characteristic of other districts of South Carolina. The countless instances of mob riot throughout America serve to emphasize the assertion that such outbursts of vio- lence might in the great majority of cases have been prevented had there been present even two or three men of stern. and determined character, ready to act fearlessly in keeping down the mob spirit just as Colonel Watson performed that duty several times in the days following the war.
The old Watson plantation is one of the few tracts of land in South Carolina that have been continuously in the ownership and possession of one family for more than a hundred and seventy- five years. Originally in Edgefield district, later Edgefield County, the Watson farms are now in Saluda County, and upon and near them have grown up the rich and prosperous town of Ridge Spring. Colonel Watson's great-grandfather, Capt. Michael Watson, was a patriot officer in the Revolutionary war, and was killed by Tories at Bull's farm in Orangeburg County shortly after the close of the Revolutionary struggle. The Watsons have fought in all wars on American soil beginning with the In- dian wars of colonial days.
As a boy Robert Briggs Watson attended a private school at Ridge Spring, and was one of the earliest students to enroll in Furman University at Greenville, where he graduated with the second class of 1856. Early in 1861 he volunteered in Com- pany B of the Fourteenth South Carolina Regiment in what was at first known as Gregg's, later McGow- an's, Brigade, the famous organization that played such a conspicuous part in the victories of the Con- federacy. He went out as a lieutenant later be- coming captain, in command of Company D. He was first wounded in one of the battles around Richmond, and later while leading his company at Gettysburg was entirely disabled, and afterwards could act only in a non-military capacity.
Aside from his participation in war and civic affairs the deepest interest of Colonel Watson's career has been in agriculture and horticulture. He made his first planting of peach trees at Ridge Spring in 1867, and in 1870 he shipped peaches, the first from that section, to Richmond and New York. He was thus a pioneer in developing peach growing on a commercial scale. About 1887 he produced asparagus commercially, thus founding the famous asparagus industry of Ridge Spring, now one of its most valuable agricultural crops. Through all the years Colonel Watson has been a cotton and corn planter, and has made his own study and observa- tions of value to southern agriculture in general. Many times he has been an authority in investiga- tions and reports in which such institutions as Clemson College and the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture have figured.
Colonel Watson organized the first Sunday school at Ridge Spring in 1857, and was Sunday school superintendent for over half a century. The Wat- sons are a Baptist family and Colonel Watson has been a deacon of the Ridge Spring Baptist Church
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since 1856. Before the present Saluda County was formed he represented Edgefield County in the state senate, and was a member of the State Con- stitutional Convention in 1805.
Colonel Watson married Miss Lucy Melver. Her death occurred in 1916. The living children of Colonel and Mrs. Watson are: Mrs. Kate Edwards, Miss Cornelia D. Watson, Miss Lucy Severance Watson, Oscar M., Richard F., Roderick M., and Miss Sarah P'. Watson.
ROBERT BEVERLEY HERBERT. For twenty years since he was admitted to the bar, Robert Beverley Herbert has been called to many of those distinctions and services which represent the ideal and true fune- tions of the able lawyer. He has had a successful and profitable practice and in connection therewith has rendered a number of important public services.
Mr. Herbert, who was born at The Plains, Vir- ginia, July 25, 1879, is of old and prominent south- ern stock. His father William P. Herbert, son of Edward and Mary (Barrett) Herbert of Baltimore, Maryland, was descended from John C. Herbert, who represented Maryland in Congress from 1814 to 1816. Mr. Herbert's mother was Rebecca Bev- erley, a daughter of Robert and Jane (Carter) Beverley of The Plains, Virginia. She was deseen- ded from Robert Beverley, author of "History of Virginia" published in London in 1705, and one of the earliest authentic works on the Old Dominion.
Robert Beverley Herbert attended Rockville Academy at Rockville, Maryland, and later entered the South Carolina College, from which he was graduated LI. B. in June, 1899. Subsequently he took a short law course at the University of Vir- ginia. Since then he has been in practice at Colum- bia, and from 1903 to 1907 was a partner of Christie Benet, under the name Herbert & Benet. He was associated with William Elliott under the name Elliott & Herbert from 1909 to 1916. He is now engaged in individual practice and is attorney for the Columbia Railway Gas & Electric Company and the Parr Shoals Power Company.
As a young lawyer Mr. Herbert served as chief clerk of the Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Immigration of the State of South Carolina. In 1904 and again in 1906 as representative of that department he made an official trip to Scotland, England and Belgium. Mr. Herbert represented the City of Columbia at the Railway Rate hearing before the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1912. In 1917 he represented Mr. W. H. Gibbes in the Game Warden controversy, which attracted stich wide attention over South Carolina. Still later in 1918 he represented Governor Manning before the Senate Investigation Committee on the veto of the Game Warden Bill.
Mr. Herbert served as president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce from 1910 to 1912. He is a democrat and a member of the Episcopal Church. August 25, 1915, at Augusta, Georgia, he married Georgia Rucker Hull, daughter of Dr. James M. and Mary Lyon Hull of Augusta. To their marriage were born two sons, Robert Beverley, Jr., and James Hull Herbert.
STONEWALL. J. CRAIG. While it is only a modest distinction to call a man a merchant, it is possible to say a great deal of Stonewall J. Craig in referring to him as the merchant who was one of the founders of the Craig-Rush Furniture Company of Greenville, and as active manager of one of the largest and most successful furniture houses in the South.
Mr. Craig is at the height of a very successful career and hardly at the meridian of life. He was born in Pickens County, South Carolina, some forty odd years ago, son of John and Susan Caroline ( Rob- bins) Craig, also natives of Pickens County. He had a common school education and as a boy went to work to earn a living. For a time he clerked in the store of the Norris Cotton Mill Company at Catecchie. His next position was in a store at Pickens, and subsequently at Seneca in Oconee County, he had larger responsibilities in the depart- ment store of Ruskin Anderson. For several years after this he was in business for himself at Seneca.
In 1914. seeking a larger field, Mr. Craig came to Greenville and this city has since been his home. He became one of the organizers of the Craig-Rush Furniture Company, of which he is secretary-treas- urer and active manager.
The record of this store's growth and expansion is a remarkable one and forms an interesting chap- ter in the history of mercantile affairs in South Carolina. The secret of the growth of the business has been not only in quantity and volume of sales, but in modern mercantile practices such as only the greatest stores of the kind in the country have successfully exemplified. The firm specializes in medium and high grade furniture, carries a stock valued at over $100.000, and from the very first the firm has consistently held to the principle of buying and selling for cash. Probably the credit system has been more abused in the furniture trade than in any other line of merchandise, and nothing has done more to create confidence in this Greenville house than the strictly cash basis, with one price to every- body. The firm has also been exceedingly progress- ive in what might be called its publicity and display work. This has been particularly true of the group- ing method followed on several floors of the store. Some fifty or more booths have been arranged, each furnished with a complete outfit, representing the standard furnishing for dining room, bed room, liv- ing room or other home quarters.
The business was started on a fairly modest seale, and nearly every year has seen some increase in facilities and space requirements. In April, 1919. the firm acquired another building directly opposite the main store on Laurens Street. the three floors of which were remodeled and fitted up as display and salesrooms, including a separate store room on the ground floor, for the display of office furniture.
Mr. Craig himself has supplied much of the orig- inal genius in the upbuilding of this splendid insti- tution. His partners are C. C. and W. E. Rush. Mr. Craig is a member of the Methodist Church. He married Nan (Nimmons) Craig, and has a fam- ily of two children, Sue Elizabeth and Stonewall Jackson, Jr.
GILLIAM MARTIN BOLT. The life of Gilliam Mar- tin Bolt is an illustration of the possible control
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over early limitations and the wise utilization of ordinary opportunities. His career has been identi- fied with Anderson County during more than half a century, and the substantial position which he occupies in a material way, and the high position of esteem in which he is held are the natural result of his years of unremitting industry and his main- tenance of a high standard of ideals in his daily life.
Mr. Bolt, who is now known as one of the most progressive farmers of Fork Township, was born on a farm in Anderson County, South Carolina, May 4. 1861, a son of John K. and Miriam (Sherer ) Bolt. His father was born in Laurens County, this state. and was a son of Asa and Hannah (Crombie) Bolt, also natives of Laurens 'County, who removed in 1851 to Anderson County, where they spent the rest of their lives and passed away. They had nine sons and three daughters, and all of the sons fought in the war between the states as Confederate soldiers. They were: William ; Tolliver: John K .; Thomas, who was killed in battle; Crombie C., who also met a soldier's death on the field of battle; Abram; Lewis Martin, who died of fever contracted in the service ; Edmund, who met his death from the same cause ; and Oliver.
Asa Bolt, the paternal grandfather of Gilliam M., was a son of John and Nancy Bolt, the former of whom was a Virginian by birth and an early settler of South Carolina, whence he came with his father and two brothers, Abram and Edmund, all settling in Laurens County. The daughters of Asa Bolt were Elizabeth, Mary Caroline and Teresa Ade- line. John K. Bolt, the father of Gilliam M., was a farmer by occupation, and was a man of industry and ability who would have probably made a marked success of his life had he been spared to carry out his plans. He was called to his final rest when he was but thirty-two years of age, leaving six children : Sarah Jane, James Childs, Gilliam Martin, Mattie, Julia and Lou, the last two named heing now de- ceased. The father and mother were Methodists. After the death of the father the courageous and capable mother kept her children together and reared them on the farm to lives of usefulness. She was a woman of strong force of character and left a deep impression for lasting good on the minds of her children.
Gilliam M. Bolt was but eleven years of age when his father died, and as his services were needed in the work of the home place his education in the public schools was of a somewhat limited character, although he made the most of his opportunities and secured a much better mental training than some of the less serious minded youths of his community. Farming has been his life pursuit, and to indicate the success which he has gained therein it may be stated that he started life as a poor man and today is accounted one of the well-to-do agriculturists of his community. He began the battle of life for him- self at the age of twenty-one years, having re- mained on the home farm with his widowed mother until the attainment of his majority, and at that time began his operations in Centerville Township, where he remained until 1896. In that year he re- moved to his present farm in Fork Township, which consists of 200 acres of well-improved and tilled
land. He is a man of substantial business qualities and exceptional character, and is one of the most successful and prominent citizens of his locality.
In 1885 Mr. Bolt was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca Keasler, a daughter of David Keasler, of Pendleton, South Carolina, and to this union there have been born the following children : Daisy, the wife of Anderson Cromer, a farmer of Fork Township; Prue Oliver, a farmer of the same town- ship, who married Lois Carson, a daughter of J. T. Carson ; Claude Eugene, likewise a farmer of Fork Township, who married Ethel Embler, a daughter of Jeff Embler; George Keasler, who entered the United States army service July 15, 1918, and went to France and saw service as a member of the Pio- neer Regiment in the American Expeditionary Serv- ice; Minnie Eva, the wife of Lee Swittenburg; Iber, who married Addie Gerard, daughter of Sam Ger- ard; and Albert Gilliam, Enla, Kate and Ervin, who reside at home with their parents. Mrs. Bolt is a member of the Baptist Church. Her husband is fraternally affiliated with the local lodge of the Woodmen of the World, among the members of which he has numerous friends.
J. HART COKER has found many opportunities for usefulness and honorable service in his home county of Darlington, which he is now serving as clerk of conrts.
He was born at Society Hill in that county Janu- ary 19, 1871. His father, T. H. Coker, was a well known merchant of Society Hill, South Carolina. The grandfather, Thomas Coker, was also born in Darlington County. The mother of J. Hart Coker was Ellen Hart, daughter of Capt. John F. Hart, who was killed while a Confederate soldier.
Of five children J. Hart Coker was the oldest. He grew up in Darlington County, was educated in the home schools, at St. David's at Society Hill and the Patrick Military Institute and finally in Furman Uni- versity at Greenville. As a young man he clerked in stores, was a bookkeeper, and was for several years engaged independently in the mercantile busi- ness and as a farmer. He was elected clerk of courts in 1916. and has given a splendid administration of that office.
He is active in the Masonic order, the Wood- men of the World and the Loyal Order of Moose, and at one time was secretary of his Masonic lodge. He is a member of the First Baptist Church at Darlington, South Carolina.
In March, 1897, he married Miss Janie Coker, a daughter of Hugh Coker. They have six children, Ellen, J. H., Jr., Hugh, Elizabeth, Hannah Sue and Rachel.
WILLIAM A. MCSWAIN, present insurance com- missioner for the State of South Carolina, is a resident of Newberry, and for a number of years has been prominent in business and civic affairs in that community.
Mr. MeSwain has attained success from rather humble beginnings. He was born at Cross Hill in Laurens County, son of Dr. Eldridge Tracy and Janie ( McGowan) McSwain. His early life was spent on a farm at Cross Hill. He attended the
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public schools there, and in 1892 was a student in the conunercial department of Kentucky University at Lexington. In the meantime he had clerked in a general store and for a time was bookkeeper for a manufacturing concern. Efforts, accumulat- ing experience and sound ability brought him con- tinued advancement, and he has served successively as secretary, vice president and president of the Security Loan and Investment Company of New- berry. He is interested in several other financial institutions and but for these connections might well be classified as a leading farmer. He owns much land and is deeply interested in its cultiva- tion and improvement.
Mr. McSwain was elected insurance commissioner for South Carolina in January, 1918, and assumed the duties of that office at Columbia on the first of March of that year. For a number of years he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Newberry City Schools and chairman for the last five years. He is an active democrat, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, serving as member of the Grand Lodge for South Carolina, and has a demit from the Masonic Lodge. He is an elder of Aveleigh Presbyterian Church of Newberry and for a number of years served as superintendent of the Sunday school.
In 1898 Mr. McSwain married Miss Caroline Thompson Lee of Seneca, South Carolina, daughter of Mr. L. B. Lee. She died in 1913. In 1916 Mr. McSwain married Miss Drucilla Cromer of Newberry, daughter of Mr. Charlton C. Cromer. Mr. McSwain's children, all by his first marriage, are Eldridge Tracy, Lucius Lee, William A., George Reid, and Janie-Belle.
CAPT. EDWIN F. LUCAS, one of South Carolina's gallant soldiers in the recent war, whose services have since been reintegrated into the business affairs of his home state, is a resident of Columbia where he is president of the Columbia Grain and Provision Company, and Adbuh Milling Company.
Captain Lucas was born at Spartanburg in 1894, son of W. F. and Cora C. (Cox) Lucas. His father was of English ancestry and a native of Darlington County. Edwin F. Lucas graduated in 1915 from Wofford College at Spartanburg. He was then twenty-one years of age, and nearly five years have elapsed since he completed his college work. He at once engaged in business at Spartan- burg, and about two years later in May, 1917, left civil life to enter the first training camp at Fort Oglethorpe. At the close of the period of training he was commissioned second lieutenant. He was at Camp Jackson, Columbia, with the One Hundred and Fifty-Sixth Depot Brigade, later with the Three Hundred and Twenty-Third Infantry of the Eighty-First Division, and finally served as adjutant of the Eighty-First Infantry, Sixteenth Division, being stationed at Camp Kearney, San Diego, Cali- fornia. Captain Lucas, who in the meantime had been promoted captain, was discharged in December, 1918.
In January, 1919, he located at Columbia and has identified himself and surrounded himself with a group of enterprising business men who are doing some big things in the capital city. He is president
of the'Columbia Grain and Provision Company, a wholesale house, while in September, 1919, he be- came one of the re-organizers of the Adbuh Mill- ing Company, which does a general milling busi- ness. This company is now building a large grain elevator at Columbia.
Captain Lucas married Miss Mabel F. Simpson of Columbia, daughter of John W. Simpson of that city and granddaughter of the late Governor and Chief Justice Simpson. Captain Lucas is a lien- tenant colonel on the staff of Governor R. A. Cooper and is a member of the Masonic order and belonged to Chi Delta Epsilon fraternity in college.
JAMES R. DURHAM who was in the active prac- tice of dentistry for a number of years, has founded and is proprietor of a dental laboratory at Columbia, a laboratory which furnishes a specialized service and technical facilities.
Doctor Durham was born at Blythewood in Ker- shaw County in 1866 and is a son of Dr. A. K. and Emma D. (McGrew) Durham. His grand- father Edmund Durham married a Lee, member of the noted families to which Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis belonged. This branch of the Durhams is related closely to the North Carolina family of Durham of English ancestry. The Dur- hams have been people of great strength of char- acter and of material achievement through a num- ber of generations. Rev. Plato Durham, D. D., now head of the theological department of Emory University at Atlanta, is a member of this family, and others of equal distinction both in the present and past generations might be noted.
Dr. A. K. Durham, who was born at Cleveland County, North Carolina, and died at Greenville, South Carolina, in 1900, founded at Columbia the paper that was the predecessor of the present Bap- tist Courier. He was also associated with the late Doctor Bookhart in conducting a private school at Blythewood. He also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Furman University, and the Greenville Female College, at Greenville, in which city he lived for several years, principally for the purpose of educating his children. He took a keen interest in and was an active participant in the varied affairs of his church, pastoral, edu- cational and journalistic, and in these departments of usefulness his services were looked upon as invaluable.
A brother of Dr. A. K. Durham was Dr. I. D. Durham of South Carolina. His life of usefulness was divided between the professions of physician, dentist and minister of the gospel. He resided in Columbia when the city was occupied and burned by General Sherman's army.
Dr. James R. Durham gained his carly educa- tion in Captain Patrick's Military Institute at Green- ville. He studied dentistry in the University of Maryland at Baltimore, in the Atlanta Dental College, graduating from the latter in 1905. He began practice at Kershaw. In 1917, he established his dental laboratory at Columbia.
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