USA > South Carolina > History of South Carolina > Part 61
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Son of these parents, B. A. Butler was horn near Douglasville, Georgia, in 1870 and died December 6, 1919. When he was a small child his father and grandfather moved from Douglasville to Marietta, where Mr. Butler attended school and also worked on a farin. At the age of sixteen he went to work in a store at Marietta, and in ISgo became interested in the marble business at Marietta, and in that busi- ness he was successfully engaged for nearly thirty years. For several years he was associated with his father and brothers in this business at Marietta. Marietta is the center of the famous Georgia marble district, producing marble that in quality if not in reputation is the equal of the most famous marbles of the classic world. Mr. Butler founded the Butler Marble & Granite Works at Greenville in 1908. He was a resident of that city, and since then was presi- dent and treasurer of the company. The business has grown into a large and important industry, in fact the largest of its kind in upper South Carolina. It employs many skilled workmen and artisans and the output is distributed over a large surrounding territory. While building up a successful business Mr. Butler also constituted himself a public spirited citizen of Greenville.
He married first Miss Pearl I. Mozley of Georgia. To her six children were born as follows: Virgil N., Maude, Bertie A., Herbert M., Helen and Joe. Mr. Butler married for his second wife Mrs. Pearl Mc- Bryde, and one child has blessed this union, James G.
Virgil N. Butler, who returned in April, 1919, from active service with the American Expeditionary Forces in France, enlisted in Greenville in 1917 in the Butler Guards. This hecame a part of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Infantry in the Thirtieth or Wild Cat Division. Later he was transferred to the One Hundred and Fifth Supply Train, and with that organization saw much active and dangerous service immediately behind the fighting front in France.
SAMUEL B. CRAIG. For a young man who has been in active practice only five years, Mr. Craig has enjoved some unusual honors in his home com- munity at Pickens. He was elected and served a term as mayor of Pickens about the time he attained his legal majority, and before he had finished his college work. In the spring of 1919 he was again chosen executive head of the Municipal Government of Pickens. He has a large private practice, and has achieved the reputation and stand- ing of a high class lawyer.
Mr. Craig was born in Hurricane Township in the western part of Pickens County in 1886, and rep- resents an old and prominent family of that section. His great-great-grandfather was granted land in Pickens County for his services as a soldier in the Revolution. Mr. Craig is a son of W. S. and Nancy (Allgood) Craig. His mother is still living.
His father was a Confederate soldier and served throughout the war in Orr's Regiment.
Mr. Craig received most of his literary education in the North Greenville High School at Tigerville in Greenville County. He took the law course of the University of South Carolina and graduated in 1914. He is affiliated with the Masons, Knights of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men and is a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Craig mar- ried Miss Mary Lewis of Pickens. They have two children, Robert Lewis Craig, born in 1916, and Elizabeth Craig, born May 3, 1919.
RICHARD GANTT STONE has been one of the out- standing members of the Greenville bar since 1902. The home in which he resides at Greenville has been the place of residence for five generations of the Stone family.
His great-grandfather Stone was an extensive planter on the Savannah River and came to Green- ville County about the close of the Revolutionary war. Mr. Stone's grandparents were Dr. Charles Benjamin and Elizabeth (Earle) Stone, the latter being a daughter of George Washington Earle and member of one of the oldest familes in Greenville County.
Richard Gantt Stone was born in Greenville in 1877, son of Eugene Earle and Floride Lydie (Croft) Stone. Both the Crofts and the Stones are families of English origin. Eugene E. Stone was a student in The Citadel at Charleston and left that school at the age of sixteen to enlist and serve in the Con- federate army. Richard G. Stone and two of his brothers were also educated in The Citadel, the famous military school of the state. Mr. Stone read law in the office of his uncle, Hon. George W. Croft of Aiken, South Carolina, and was admitted to the bar in 1902. He has built up a large general client- age and an unusual degree of success has attended his professional career. At one time he served as judge of the Recorder's Court.
Judge Stone married Miss Eleanor Winstead of North Carolina. They have five children, Floride Lydia, Engene Earle, Richard G., Jr., Eliza Winstead and Theodore Croft.
DUPONT GUERRY, JR., is an electricial engineer of over ten years practical work and experience, his home during that time being in Greenville. He is now member of Huntington & Gnerry, Incorporated, electrical engineers and contractors who have al- ready developed great facilities and have plans under way for the establishment at Greenville of one of the largest electrical contracting industries in the South.
Mr. Guerry, who was horn at Americus, Georgia, in 1883, has a number of distinguished South Caro- lina connections, and the family has been identified with this state for several generations, and the family has furnished many of the prominent men of the South. The Guerreys originally were French Huguenots.
One branch of the family removed from Sonth Carolina to Georgia, and representing that branch is DuPont Guerry, Sr., who has had a distinguished career as a lawyer. He was born at Americus, Georgia, in 1848, son of William Barnett and Sarah Amanda (Dixon) Guerry, his mother being a con-
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nection of the Robert family of South Carolina. DuPont Guerry, Sr., entered the Confederate army when only fourteen years of age and was com- missioned a lieutenant at the age of sixteen. In 1868 he was admitted to the bar, served as a member of the Georgia Senate, as United States attorney, and in 1902 was defeated for nomination for gov- ernor on the state prohibition platform. From 1903 to 1909 he was president of the Wesleyan Female College of Georgia, and then resumed practice at Macon and is judge of the City Court. He married in 1876 Fannie Davenport of the Davenport family of Virginia,
DuPont Guerrey, Jr., attended public schools at Macon, and began the study of law in the University of Georgia. His father's campaign for governor drew his services away from that institution for a period of several months, and when he came to resume his education, he decided to take up electri- cal engineering. He was graduated electrical engi- neer from the Alabama Polytechnic College at Au- burn in 1906, and his work in that institution acere- dited him for post-graduate work in the school of the General Electric Company at Schenectady, New York. Opportunity to attend that school is a great prize in a young electrical engineer's career, and Mr. Guerry made the utmost use of this advantage. With this training he came to Greenville in 1907 and for nearly ten years was associated in electrical and general engineering work with the J. E. Sirrine organization. In January, 1916, he became a member of the firm Huntington & Guerry, Incorporated. The senior member of the firm and company is R. S. Huntington, whose sketch on other pages of this work contains many interesting details as to the com- pany's business and professional connections.
Mr. Guerry is a member of a number of techni- cal organizations, a member of the Rotary, Country and Poinsett clubs, and is looked upon as one of the men of thoroughly dependable enterprise and public spirit in Greenville. He married Miss Mary Ola Gregory of Lancaster, South Carolina, and they have two children, DuPont III, and Mary.
OSCAR HODGES. Twenty-five years of continuous work has solidly fortified Oscar Hodges in the suc- cess and the attainments of the able lawyer. Mr. Hodges throughout that time has had his residence in Greenville and is a member of one of the oldest and most highly respected families in that section of the state.
The old Hodges homestead where he was born in 1870 is located on the Saluda River in the upper part of Greenville County. His grandfather. Col. John Hodges, raised an entire company in Green- ville County and led them in the war against the Indians in 1812 under General Jackson. The wife of Col. John Hodges was the daughter of Benjamin Merritt, for whom Merrittsville was named. The Merritts and the Hodges were among the earliest settlers on the North Saluda in the upper part of Greenville County.
The parents of the Greenville lawyer were David S. and Susan J. (Davis) Hodges, both now de- ceased. David S. Hodges, who died in 1910, raised a company which became Company H of the Six- teenth South Carolina Regiment of Infantry, later
was transferred to Charleston where he raised a company and did coast duty. He was also born at the old Hodges homestead on the Saluda River. He was one of the best known and highly honored cit- izens in that section of the county.
Oscar Hodges attended Judson College at Hen- dersonville, North Carolina, graduating in 1892. His law studies were directed by the late Col. J. S. Cothran at Greenville, and after his admission to the bar in May, 1894, he practiced for a time with B. A. Morgan, then withdrew and has been alone since, meeting with success in his profession. For eight years he served as county attorney of Greenville County and since 1914 has been city attorney of Greenville. He has a large general practice in all the courts.
The wife of Oscar Hodges was Miss Mary Townes of Greenville, daughter of Col. S. A. Townes and a direct descendant of Samuel Allan Townes of Vir- ginia, who settled on the Townes plantation in what is now the southwest suburbs of Greenville, in 1792, five years before the Village of Pleasantburg, now Greenville, was founded. Samuel Allan Townes has extensive property interests and was really a man of large affairs, able in business and strong in character, and left a permanent impress upon the community. He married Miss Rachael Stokes, daughter of Jeremiah Stokes, another early settler. Mr. and Mrs. Hodges have two children : Oscar, Jr., and Samtiel Allan Townes Hodges.
HENDRIX RECTOR of Greenville was one of the noted peace officers of South Carolina. Before he was twenty-one years of age he was performing duties as executive of a minor conrt, and for eight years was sheriff of Greenville County. He rep- resents many of the sturdy qualities of the sturdy mountaineers of Upper South Carolina-fearless and outspoken, possessed of the highest persona! and physical courage, vigilant and efficient, and withal among his freinds known for his mild manner and amiableness. He never shirked a duty and no post of danger ever intimidated his quiet and, resourceful courage.
He was a civilian soldier to whom death came as only an incident of duty. He was killed at Green- ville July, 1919. He was only thirty-seven years of age. He was born in 1882 in Glassy Mountain Township in the upper part of Greenville County, son of John W. and Rebecca (Barton) Rector. Both the Rector and Barton families have long been identified with Greenville County in the Pied- mont section. His maternal grandfather was Jef- ferson Barton. The Rectors are Scotch people and on coming to America first settled in Virginia and later moved to the upper part of South Caro- lina. Sheriff Rector's great-grandfather Rev. Lewis Rector located in Greenville County more than 110 years ago in what is now Butler Township. He was a pioncer Baptist preacher in the county and founded the Rocky Creek Church, the second oldest church in the county. The paternal grand- father of Sheriff Rector was Nathaniel Rector.
Hendrix Rector spent his early life on a farm. He was thirteen when his father died and family circumstances early brought out his qualities of self reliance, and from youth he approached and
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surmounted the difficulties of life without fear or favor. He had limited opportunities to attend school, but made the best use of such opportunities as came to him. He worked for the education he acquired at the North Greenville Academy. When he was twenty years old he was made a magistrate's constable and the following year was elected magi- strate and thus early earned the confidence and respect of his community as a capable official.
At the age of twenty-four he moved to Green- ville and became a member of the police force, serving twelve years. In 1912 he became a candi- date for the nomination for sheriff against a mem- ber of the family which had held that office con- tinuously for thirty-two years and was supposedly invincibly entrenched in the office. Hendrix Rector received the nomination by a margin of sixteen votes. While he had several other interesting cam- paigns the quality of his first term's administra- tion gave him the unalterable confidence of a great majority of the people of Greenville County.
He acquired the reputation of a fearless officer while a policeman and maintained it throughout his service in the sheriff's office. His activity in capturing criminals who temporarily escaped the toils of the law and in destroying illicit distilleries and arresting persons for operating them was well known throughout this section.
He was probably the most active man in politics in Greenville County, not only in his own behalf but for others whose canse he espoused. He was regarded as a leader in the county in what has come to be known as the "reform party" in South Carolina politics, and as such he spoke to a number of audiences in the interest of the various candi- dates who have run for office as members of that faction. He never sought any office other than that of sheriff, though he was mentioned as a possible candidate for railroad commissioner and also for Congress. He was very popular, especially with the people who live in the mountainous section of the county, and in the cotton mill villages.
All these many friends and followers agree with and endorse the opinion written of him editorially in the Greenville News after his death. "He was an active, fearless, aggressive officer. His career gives the lie direct to any alien propaganda that American policies and institutions withhold oppor- tunity from the lowliest citizen who has the ability and the grit to rise. His was one of the countless cases of remarkable success and achievement from small beginnings. Such cases constitute a large measure of the greatness and glory of our country.
"The thing that will be remembered longest about him-that will outlive every other memory-was the warmth and largeness of his heart to the many who found their way into it. He was a big-hearted man. His short and brilliant civic career was filled with the intense turmoil of political partisanism, through which he fought his way to remarkable success. Through it all he held his friends and they held to him. Unfortunately, he did the same with those who were not friendly.
"His life is a lesson of encouragement and in- spiration to young men in that having the qualities of leadership he found the means and the oppor- tunity to rise and use them. His tragic end carries
a warning that the success which endures makes friends and foes.
"The people of the county are stricken with horror and regret at the manner of his taking off and deeply deplore it. Their sympathies go out to his family in their loss and grief. Faction and fend are forgotten as we stand together in spirit by his grave where he shall rest in peace, and silently counsel us to peace which was denied him living."
Mr. Rector married November 19, 1902, Miss Evie V. Fleming of Greenville County. He was survived by four brothers, Rome Rector, Jeff M. Rector, Jim Rector and Carlos A. Rector, and a sister Miss Virgie. He was a regular attendant and member of the Central Baptist Church of Greenville and was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Wood- men of the World, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Red Men and Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
JOHN THOMAS TAYLOR, of Pickens, has an almost unique place among railway officials in South Caro- lina. He has been a railroad man for over thirty- five years, and in 1898 was called to the position of manager of the Pickens Railway, then in course of construction. While this road was built and financed by local people, it might be called alinost a one man railway, since Mr. Taylor has been man- ager of every detail of its operation from the beginning.
It is not a big railroad, and is not included in the system operated by the United States Railway Ad- ministration. It extends a distance of about ten miles from Easley on the main line of the Southern Railway to Pickens. Contrary to the usual history of such enterprises, this road has paid its way from the start, has never been in the hands of a receiver, and what is really remarkable has never had a dam- age suit brought against it. This is due, no doubt, to the fact that under Mr. Taylor's management the company has always shown a generous spirit toward the people of Pickens County, every courtesy and reasonable accommodation granted the patrons of the road, and avoiding anything that might arouse antagonism. The road was promoted and built by local interests, and has never changed hands, and is one of the very few, if any, paying small roads in the South.
Mr. Taylor, its general manager, was born at Tay- lors in Greenville County in 1858, a son of Alfred and Melinda (Bowen) Taylor, both deceased. The Taylor family has been identified with Greenville County since the close of the Revolutionary war. It was founded hy James Taylor, a native of Cul- peper County, Virginia, a kinsman of President Zachary Taylor. The descendants of James Tay- lor still live at the old homestead at Taylors, nine miles east of Greenville. A son of James Taylor was Thomas Taylor, who in turn was the father of the late Alfred Taylor.
Alfred Taylor was born at Taylors in 1822 and died at his home there in 1912 at the age of ninety years. He was one of the fine characters of his community, always active, enterprising and pro- gressive. He owned extensive lands and plantations, and continued until beset with the infirmities of age as a leader in his community and county. It was
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through his influence that the old Air Line Rail- way, now the main line of the Southern, was built through Taylors. He gave that road the right of way 100 feet wide through the Town of Taylors. Many years later he was equally generous when the Piedmont & Northern Railway was built through the town. This road was not completed until about the time of his death. He also aided in building the Baptist Church at Taylors and was one of its deacons for a long number of years. Alfred Tay- lor built a mill on the Enoree River in 1845. This was first a saw mill and later a flour and grist mill. Nearly everything he did had some phase of bene- fit and usefulness to the community.
His first wife was Miss Melinda Bowen, a sister of Col. R. E. Bowen and Capt. John H. Bowen, both of whom were prominent Confederate officers. His second wife was Sarah Goodlett, daughter of Spartan Goodlett of upper Greenville County. Spar- tan Goodlett was a large farmer and for many years prominent in public affairs, being a member of the General Assembly.
John Thomas Taylor spent his early life on the old homestead. His first business experience was as a merchant in his home village, but he soon left that to become a railroad man, and for fifteen years was passenger conductor between Atlanta and Charlotte on the Southern Railway. His experience and proved abilities were such as to make him the logical choice of the local interests who built the Pickens Railway for the position of manager. Mr. Taylor owns some extensive farm lands in Green- ville, Oconee and Pickens counties.
In 1884 he married Miss Fannie C. Brandon of Suwanee, Georgia. They have three children, A. B. Taylor, Mrs. Arline Folger and Miss Leona Taylor.
JAMES HARRISON MAXWELL. Some of the family lines of the greatest historic prominence in South Carolina converge in the person of James Harrison Maxwell, who for his own part has proved a valu- able factor in the state's great textile industry, with which he has been indentified during the greater part of his residence of thirty odd years in Green- ville.
His great-grandfather, Col. Robert Maxwell, was born at Londonderry, Ireland, and with his parents came to America prior to the Revolutionary war, landing at Charleston, and proceeding to upper South Carolina, locating in Greenville district, now Greenville County. Although a young man at the time Robert Maxwell proved one of the most daring soldiers of the patriot army in the cause of inde- pendence, and was an ardent whig in his politics and sympathies. Finally a price was set upon his head by George III. He was an officer under Gen. Robert Anderson in the defense of Star Fort at Ninety-six, against the Indians. Afterward Colo- nel Maxwell married Mary, oldest daughter of Gen- eral Anderson. Immediately following the Revolu- tion, Colonel Maxwell settled on Grove Creek in the lower part of Greenville County, not far from Pelzer, and was buried on the plantation there. At his expressed wish, the following inscription was carved on his tombstone: "A Christian, a Soldier, a Whig." He was indeed one of the strong men of his day. He was the first high sheriff of Green-
ville district. His two sons were Robert M. and John Maxwell.
Capt. John Maxwell, who was born at Grove Creek, established his home at what became known as Maxwell's Ferry on the Seneca River in Ander- son County. In the Indian war of 1812 he com- manded a company under General Jackson, and nearly fifty years later was one of the signers of the South Carolina ordinance of secession. He married Elizabeth Earle, and one of their sons was the late Dr. John H. Maxwell of Greenville, and another was Dr. Robert Maxwell.
Dr. Robert Maxwell gave all his mature years to the arduous work of the physician in the rural com- munity around his home on Beaver Dam Creek in Anderson County. He married Lucy Sloan. Her family was also one of historic prominence.
Her father, William Sloan, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and was a child when his parents came to South Carolina and settled on the present site of Fort Hill. His father was not only a man of rare sagacity in business matters, but possessed a rare genius for dealing with the Indians. He was accepted as the "great friend" of the Cherokees, his advice was sought in many of their dealings with the white settlers, and he was an arbitrator of their personal and inter-tribal disputes. At times hun- dreds of them gathered at his plantation for con- sultation.
James Harrison Maxwell, a son of Dr. Robert and Lucy (Sloan) Maxwell, was born at the Maxwell place on Beaver Dam Creek, Anderson County, in IS53. He has been a resident of Greenville since 1886, and during most of that time has carried heavy responsibilities in the textile industry. For several years he was connected with the F. W. Poe Manufacturing Company, later was president of the Reedy River Manufacturing Company, and for some years past has been the southern representative of the Keever Starch Company, dealing exclusively with cotton mills.
Mr. Maxwell married Miss Fannie Wallace. Her father, the late Judge W. H. Wallace of Union Coun- ty, has a lasting place in the modern history of South Carolina as speaker of the House of Representatives at the historic session of 1876, known as the "Wal- lace house," which restored white men to the control of the government. Mr. Maxwell, then a very young man, had the honor of being journal clerk in that session, and is therefore well informed on that vital epoch of the state's history.
WILLIAM GEORGE SIRRINE. In the profession of law, which he has represented continuously at Green- ville for a quarter of a century, William George Sir- rine has found all those opportunities for service which the man of sound ambition and public spirit craves. He has not been much in politics, though through various appointive and nnremunerative po- sitions has exercised a beneficent influence upon the life of his city and state.
Mr. Sirrine was born at Americus, Georgia, De- cember 30, 1870, a son of George W. and Sarah E. ( Rylander) Sirrine, hoth of whom are living at Greenville. The former was a native of Connecti- cut. and the family was established in Georgia by his father William Sirrine in ante-bellum days. Wil-
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liam Sirrine served as a Confederate soldier, and when wounded his place in the ranks was filled by his sixteen year old son, George, who was in the war as a fighting man during 1864-65. Not long after the war he made his permanent home in upper South Carolina, and for many years has been a prominent figure in the business affairs of Greenville, formerly engaged in the implement and vehicle business and latterly associated with financial and real estate in- terests. His wife is a daughter of Matthew E. Ry- lander, who owned a large plantation in Sumter County, Georgia.
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