USA > South Carolina > Men of mark in South Carolina; ideals of American life: a collection of biographies of leading men of the state, Volume I > Part 10
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In 1902, Mr. Henderson resigned from the State senate in order to become a candidate in the Democratic primary of South Carolina for the Democratic nomination for the United States senate, to fill the seat of John L. McLaurin, whose term was to expire March 4, 1903. In that contest he was unsuccessful, but ran third in a race in which there were six aspirants, the highest of whom was only a few thousand votes ahead of the lowest.
In 1904, Mr. Henderson was elected president of the State Democratic convention, defeating ex-Governor McSweeney by a handsome vote.
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Mr. Henderson's law practice is one of the largest in the State. He is associated with his brother and a son, under the name "Hendersons," and their business extends to all parts of the state. He is one of the most graceful speakers in South Carolina, and is popularly described as "silver-tongued." He is a man of fine presence, one of the foremost South Carolinians of today.
His address is Aiken, South Carolina.
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DANIEL OSCAR HERBERT
H ERBERT, DANIEL OSCAR, lawyer, banker, colonel in the South Carolina militia, in 1902 elected member of the house of representatives of his state, and reelected in 1904 by the highest vote ever received in Orangeburg, was born in Newberry county, South Carolina, April 19, 1857. He is the son of Captain Chesley W. Herbert, a farmer and magis- trate, who was captain of Company C in the Third South Caro- lina regiment during the war, from 1861 to 1865, and lost his life in the troublous times of 1866. His son speaks of him as a man of "quiet and even temper, of stern integrity, and of a strongly religious temperament." His mother, Mrs. Elizabeth S. Herbert, was his principal teacher in his youth, and he had no other teacher until he was fifteen years of age. He says: "I owe my education almost entirely to my mother, who devoted herself to the education of her children." Her son owes her a deep and lasting debt for intellectual and moral influences, which have helped to ennoble his life.
The Herbert family came from England more than two hundred years ago, and settled in New York and New Jersey. The great great-grandfather of Colonel D. O. Herbert, Walter Herbert, was born in New Jersey in 1742, and was living in Newberry county, South Carolina, at the time of the Revolu- tionary war. His son, Walter Herbert, Jr., born in 1773, was a prominent man in that county, a magistrate, and for several years a member of the state legislature. His son was also prominent as a planter, a magistrate, and a member of the legislature.
Spending his boyhood in the country, robust of health and always well-grown for his age, D. O. Herbert's taste and interest in childhood and youth centered first in reading and study; but he enjoyed keenly hunting, fishing, and all out-of-door sports. He was trained in his boyhood to regular tasks upon a farm. This developed a strong physique. He says: "I followed the plow and hoe at thirteen and fourteen, and cultivated my own crop of cotton and corn when I was fourteen."
After studying at home under the inspiring direction and the careful teaching of his mother, he was for a time in the
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preparatory department of Wofford college, and he was gradu- ated from Wofford college in 1878 with the degree of A. B. and with the first honor in his class. After a year of post-graduate study at Wofford, he received, in 1879, the degree of Master of Arts. Two years of professional study followed, in the law school of Vanderbilt university, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Law in 1881. He taught school for one year. His own preference and choice, after mature deliberation, led him to the profession of the law. After some years of practice, from 1887 to 1890, as United States postoffice inspector he traveled widely through the United States, becoming well acquainted with many towns and cities in many of the different commonwealths of our country. He has been practicing law in Orangeburg since 1890.
He is president of the People's Bank, which he organized in 1901; president of the Cameron Oil mill; president of the Building and Loan association, and of other organizations. In 1899 he was elected alderman of Orangeburg; in 1901 he was appointed a member of the county board of education, and from 1902 to 1906 he served in the South Carolina house of represen- tatives, but declined to be a candidate for reelection. While a legislator he worked earnestly in the interest of education. He was the author of, and strongly supported, the Clemson Scholar- ship bill; and the "Dog Law," under which dogs of the state are so taxed as to contribute twenty thousand dollars toward the support of the common schools of the state. Every man who loves a dog has, in South Carolina, a double reason for caring for the good dogs which help to keep open the public schools for poor men's children.
For fifteen years Colonel Herbert has served in the state militia of South Carolina, at first in the ranks of the Edisto Rifles, in which he has filled every position, from private to captain. He served for six years as captain of the Rifles, and commanded the company in the Spanish-American war, where it was known as Company C of the Second South Carolina regi- ment, from 1898 to 1899, and, by all who knew it, was regarded as one of the best companies which went from South Carolina under Colonel (now General) Wilie Jones. After the company and its captain had been mustered out of the United States service, Captain Herbert was elected lieutenant-colonel of the
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Second regiment of South Carolina militia, and on January 1, 1903, he was elected colonel of that regiment. On July 1, 1905, Governor Heyward appointed Colonel Herbert inspector of small arms for the state militia-a position which he still holds with the rank of colonel.
By religious conviction he is allied with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South. In his political affiliations he is a Democrat. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Woodmen of the World, etc. His favorite forms of exercise have been base- ball, football, and tennis. He says, "the influences of my college life and studies at Wofford have been preponderant in such success as I have won"; and he places the influence of his home as the next strongest in impelling him to success and qualifying him to attain it.
On January 25, 1893, he was married to Miss Julia S. Salley, daughter of Mr. A. M. Salley, and granddaughter of Dr. Alex- ander S. Salley, of Orangeburg, South Carolina. They have had five children, all of whom are living in 1907.
His address is Orangeburg, Orangeburg county, South Caro- lina.
JOSHUA HILARY HUDSON
H UDSON, JOSHUA HILARY, son of Dabney and Narcissa Cook Hudson, was born at Chester, South Carolina, January 29, 1832. Dabney Hudson was a tailor by trade, a man small of stature, handsome of person, genial and social. Joshua Hudson, the earliest known ancestor of this family, the great great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, and a man of English parentage, settled in Amherst county, Virginia, in 1745.
Young Hudson was, as a boy, strong and healthy, fond of the usual sports and amusements of boyhood, and devoted to books. His early life was passed in the village of Chester. For- tunately, regular manual labor was required of him. Serving in every way in which a poor boy can help a poor mother, gave him the useful discipline which can come only through toil.
Young Hudson's life was, in every way, greatly influenced by his mother. She was a devout Christian, a member of the Baptist church, and a woman whose religion rose above form and ceremony and became a matter of character and life. She, in part, directed his reading, and thus deepened the impressions she had otherwise made upon his mind and heart. He early became interested in that greatest of classics, the Bible, which he supple- mented with those other inexhaustible reservoirs of wisdom and inspiration, history and biography. School, early companionship and private study cooperated with the influences already named. In these circumstances the boy early developed an ambition to become a worthy and useful member of society, and his later asso- ciations with men in active life helped him greatly in carrying out his purpose.
The road to an education proved by no means a royal one to Joshua Hudson. Straitened circumstances, lack of free time, and indifferent school facilities, combined to retard his progress. He found it possible, nevertheless, to attend the village academy at Chester. Later he was enabled to attend South Carolina col- lege. Here he showed the results of his earlier training, for he not only completed the college course in December, 1852, but received first honors. His alma mater, in which he had thus
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distinguished himself in early life, did not forget him, or lose sight of his later career. In June, 1903, the college conferred upon him the degree of LL. D.
Doctor Hudson's serious life work began when, after leav- ing college, he accepted the position of teacher of the school in Bennettsville, South Carolina; this work he continued from 1853 to 1857. Meanwhile he had occupied his spare time with the study of law, and, in 1857, he entered upon the practice of this profession.
From 1857 until January, 1906, when he retired from prac- tice, the law, in one or another of its various aspects, demanded the attention of Doctor Hudson. From 1857 to 1878 he was a regular practitioner in the courts of his state. In 1878 he was made circuit judge of the fourth judicial circuit, in which posi- tion he continued until 1894, when he was made counsel for the receiver of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley railroad. The latter position he held until 1900. In January, 1907, he was chosen president of the South Carolina Bar association for the regular term of one year. He served as member of the South Carolina house of representatives in 1858-59, and, again, as state senator in 1905-06. In 1896 and 1897 he presided over the Bap- tist State conventions. He has also seen military service, having served in the Confederate army from 1862 to 1865. Entering as a private, he was advanced to the post of drill master in the Twenty-first regiment, and then, successively, to the ranks of adjutant, major and lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-sixth South Carolina volunteers.
In the midst of his legal, public and other duties, Doctor Hudson has found time for literary work, having published a volume of "Sketches and Reminiscences," and, also, in 1903, an autobiography. He is a Mason, in which order he has held the position of worshipful master. In politics he has, through life, been a consistent Democrat. In religion he is, like his mother, a Baptist.
Doctor Hudson's life has been too full of labor to allow much place for diversion or relaxation. In college he was inter- ested in gymnastics. His alternative now to work is rest. In answer to the question whether he had in any degree failed to accomplish what he had hoped to do in life, and, if so, what lessons might be drawn therefrom, Doctor Hudson said : "I have
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been a worker all my life, but feel now that I might have suc- ceeded better if I had been more persevering." The advice he has to offer the young is temperance in all things, sobriety, morality, piety and diligent toil.
On May 4, 1854, Doctor Hudson married Miss Mary Miller. Of this marriage fourteen children were born, four of whom are living in 1907.
His address is Bennettsville, Marlboro county, South Caro- lina.
JOHN PIERCE HUNTER
H UNTER, JOHN PIERCE, from 1880 until 1894 sheriff of Lancaster county; from 1894 to 1898 United States marshal for the district of South Carolina, headquar- ters at Charleston, appointed by President Cleveland; and from 1900 to the present time (1907) by election and reelection sheriff of Lancaster county, is a striking and interesting personality. He has hosts of friends in his county and throughout the state; and many of them feel that through all his public life he has given evidence of living in the spirit of these words of his: "While I have always tried to make friends, it is a source of gratification to me to know the fact that I have never forsaken an old friend in order to make a new one, and that I have always tried to be true and square in all my dealings with my fellow- men."
He was born on a farm in Lancaster county, South Carolina, October 8, 1855. His father was James R. Hunter, a farmer, for four years coroner, for twelve years tax collector, and for eight years sheriff of Lancaster county-"a benevolent, kind-hearted man, always ready to lend a helping hand to the poor and needy, and writing many official documents gratis, such as leases, deeds, etc." His great great great-grandfather, Isaac Hunter, was Scotch-Irish, and, coming from Ireland to the colonies, settled in Wake county, North Carolina, eight miles above Raleigh. Isaac Hunter's grandson, James Hunter, married Amelia Chives, and they settled in Lancaster county, South Carolina, in 1818. The histories of North Carolina and the history of the United States, written by Alexander H. Stephens, mention several of the kinsmen of Captain Hunter who were distinguished in the political life of the colonies and the states, as well as in the Revolutionary war.
John Pierce Hunter in his boyhood had very delicate health, and has never had a vigorous physique; but he has done such work and endured such hardships as would have tasked a man of the most vigorous constitution. Living as a boy on his father's farm in the country, he describes himself as in these early years "a dear lover of horses," his greatest pleasure being to ride,
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drive, fish and hunt. From early boyhood he was trained to do his share of the farm work, and he liked it, although he was not physically strong enough to hold his own with the older laborers. His parents were in moderate circumstances, and the help he could give in making crops was needed by them and was freely given by him. When the crops were in the ground he would attend the "old field log cabin schools for a few weeks" before gathering crops; and would go to the same kind of schools for a short time during the winter. For a time he attended the high school at Lancaster court-house.
His first public work was carrying the mail by star route from Lancaster court-house to Camden. This he began to do when he was eighteen, in 1873. In the fall of that same year he commenced to serve as trial justice, constable and deputy sheriff under his father, James R. Hunter, sheriff of Lancaster county. He also rode as constable for two trial justices at Lancaster court-house. As constable and deputy sheriff, he succeeded in "slipping on and arresting some very bad and desperate violators of the law, and in almost every case without assistance, as he was more successful when he went alone." Of his ambition to succeed in public office, he says: "My farm work was done from necessity, my public work was brought about by the persistent encouragement of friends who wished me to do such work; and after engaging in such service, I had a desire always to be suc- cessful, to do my work well, to render to my friends and the county my best services. And I appreciated commendation more than money consideration."
He continued to serve as deputy sheriff under his father until the fall of 1880, when he was elected sheriff to succeed his father, who had served for two terms and declined to run for the office again. His discharge of the duties of the office was fear- less, and he carried into it so much of politeness, consideration for the rights of others, and prompt and decisive enforcement of the law, that he was extremely popular throughout his county. He resigned the office of sheriff on April 1, 1894, to accept the appointment tendered him by President Cleveland as United States marshal for the district of South Carolina, with head- quarters at Charleston. This office he held for four years; and he made no secret of the fact, when a Republican administration succeeded the Democratic, that he was ready to vacate the office.
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He wrote: "Having served under a Democratic administration, I cannot afford to go to the Republican party for a job."
Returning to his old home at Lancaster in April, 1898, he engaged in farming; but at the next election for sheriff he was again chosen to that office; and he was reëlected in 1904. His present term of office will expire in 1908.
Captain Hunter married Mrs. Laura A. Hickson (née Laura A. Fraser), daughter of Rev. Elias L. Fraser, January 13, 1881. Their only child, a daughter, is living in 1907. Mrs. Hunter died on January 1, 1895. While he was serving as United States marshal, Captain Hunter married a second time, Miss Florella Meynardie, daughter of Rev. Dr. Elias J. Meynardie, November 3, 1898.
Captain Hunter was reared by Methodist parents and speaks most respectfully and reverentially of their Christian character and their influence upon him. He is a Democrat in his party relations, and has always supported the candidates and measures of that party. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. As in his early boyhood, so in his manhood, his favorite forms of exercise are horseback riding, hunting and fishing.
He says to young fellow-citizens : "Honesty, strict adherence to what is just and right; sobriety, and the avoidance of the popular dissipations of this age," will contribute invariably to success in life; and he adds: "I set for myself as an ideal worthy of attainment, genuine charity and cordial hospitality; and I have had no cause to regret this aim in my life."
It is very interesting to notice the fact that Captain Hunter, after so many years of experience in riding the county and his state as constable, deputy sheriff, sheriff and collector, should have written recently for one of the newspapers of the state a strong article under the caption, "How to Solve the Race Prob- lem," in which he advocates very effectively the view that the difficulties between the races can be made to disappear "by instill- ing morality, politeness and industry into every child, both white and colored." In this article he lays great emphasis upon the value of politeness and its little forms in the ordinary casual meetings and in all the social and business intercourse of fellow- citizens with one another. He thinks that people are apt greatly to underrate the moral effect of politeness upon character and will-power, since will is constantly directed, molded and rein-
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forced by feeling, and politeness in intercourse has a vast effect upon the feelings of the man who exercises it as well as upon those toward whom politeness is shown. A steady, habitual and morally intentional politeness between black people and white people, he believes, can be maintained without the slightest approach to "social equality"; and instead of endangering race purity and the control of affairs by the white race, he believes that the inculcation of politeness of manners as a moral duty will go far toward abating the gravest dangers of the race problem.
Taken altogether, the views, and the executive and official life and deeds of this exceptional South Carolina sheriff and marshal, are exceedingly interesting, and are such as to render him in the best sense of the word a "Man of Mark" in his state. His address is Lancaster, South Carolina.
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JAMES FERDINAND IZLAR
I ZLAR, JAMES FERDINAND, was born November 25, 1832, at Orangeburg, South Carolina. His parents were William Henry Izlar and Julia E. A. Izlar. His mother was Miss Pou. His father was a farmer, but was interested in mechanical pursuits. He was intelligent, pious, honest, upright and temperate, a noble Christian gentleman of the old school.
The earliest known ancestor in America was Jacob Izlar, the great-grandfather of James Izlar; he came to this country before the Revolutionary war. He was a native of either Germany or Switzerland. At any rate, he was German-Swiss. James F. Izlar's mother's great-grandfather came from Scotland in 1740. Gavin Pou held a position under the king. James Izlar's health in childhood was good; he enjoyed books and was greatly inter- ested in home and parents; his early life was passed in the country. His father, being a farmer, naturally believed in the gospel of work, not only for himself, but for his children. He, therefore, saw to it that his son, James, until ready to begin his preparation for college, lacked no opportunity to enjoy this valu- able discipline, especially in the multitudinous lines afforded by a farm and farm home.
James Izlar was blessed with good parents, both of whom he tenderly loved; the influence of his mother was especially helpful in shaping his character. He was a believer in home study, and to the training thus derived he owes much of his later success. He was a great reader, devouring books and periodicals of all kinds, especially history, biography and law.
In the acquirement of an education James Izlar encountered many difficulties, but energy and perseverance overcame them all. In early life he attended the "old field" schools, though these were irregular. He prepared for college in Barnwell county and was graduated from Emory college at Oxford, Georgia, in the class of 1855, with the degree of M. A.
After graduating, Mr. Izlar taught school at Branchville, South Carolina. Next, having a strong bent toward the legal profession, he studied law at Orangeburg, South Carolina, under
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Honorable Thomas J. Glover. Mr. Glover was colonel of the First South Carolina volunteer regiment; he was killed in battle.
Mr. Izlar's business in life has been the study of law. Save in his office and on the bench, he has done no professional work. For twelve years he held the position of state senator for his county, and during eight of these was president pro tempore of that body. His retirement from the state senate came only with his election, in 1889, by the general assembly, to the bench as judge of the first circuit of South Carolina. This position he held four years, until the Tillman revolution, when he was defeated for reelection. He was, however, at a special election held shortly after, elected to the fifty-third congress to succeed Judge William H. Brawley, who resigned to accept a federal judgeship. Judge Izlar received a majority of about five hun- dred votes over his competitor, J. William Stokes, who ran as an Alliance Democrat and Reformer. Judge Izlar's majority was afterwards cut down by the state board of canvassers to one hundred and eighty. He took his seat in congress April 5, 1894.
Judge Izlar has served as chairman of the Democratic Exec- utive committee of his state, as delegate to the National Demo- cratic convention of 1884, and as trustee of the South Carolina college. The latter office he deems an especial honor.
Judge Izlar has also been a soldier. He first volunteered for twelve months in the First South Carolina volunteers- Hagood's old regiment-and served out this period. The three years following he was captain of the Edisto rifles, Hagood's brigade, and was a member of the Twenty-fifth regiment, com- manded by Colonel C. H. Simonton. Judge Izlar is an Odd Fellow and also a Mason. He is a past grand master of the state of South Carolina; in the order of Masonry he has filled all the chairs in Masonry and Odd Fellowship. For twelve years he was the master of Shibboleth Lodge, No. 28, A. F. M., of Orangeburg, South Carolina. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason, and is the representative near the grand lodge of South Carolina for the state of Mississippi. He is a lifelong Democrat, and would not on any account change his political faith. He is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, holding to this faith by conviction rather than heredity.
Judge Izlar feels that he has encountered disappointments, many and grievous, that his fond ambitions have failed, but that,
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despite reverses, energy, perseverance, and a desire to succeed, will conquer all things.
To the young American he says: "Be sober, be temperate in all things, be a Christian gentleman, be honest and truthful, be upright in walk and conversation. Read the best authors. Study hard. Understand what you read. These are some of the things one must do, and live up to, if he would succeed."
Judge Izlar has been twice married; first, on February 24, 1859, to Frances M. A. Lovell. They had ten children, seven of whom are now (1907) living, and are scattered among three states. His second marriage was on November 1, 1906, to Miss Marion P. Allston, of Charleston, South Carolina.
His address is Whitman street, Orangeburg, South Carolina.
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