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 19
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When a boy, William J. Roddey enjoyed good health. He took part in various outdoor sports, but was especially fond of reading. His preparatory studies were carried on at Rock Hill. When sufficiently advanced, he entered Erskine college, from which institution he was graduated in 1880, with the degree of A. B. Later he passed two years in post-graduate study at the University of Virginia.
The active work of life was commenced in 1884, when he became a partner with his father in the banking business, under the firm name of W. L. Roddey & Son. Three years later he organized the First National bank of Rock Hill. This succeeded the above-named banking firm. Mr. Roddey was the first cashier, and later became vice-president of the bank. Soon after the First National bank was succeeded by the National Union bank, in 1898, he became president of the latter institution, a position which he still holds. Since 1889 he has been general agent and local manager of the Equitable Life Assurance society. In July, 1904, he became vice-president and active manager of the Victoria Cotton mill, of Rock Hill. He is also a director in various other local enterprises. In 1895 he was made a trustee of Winthrop college, and in 1905 he was elected to a similar position in
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Davidson college. In May, 1906, he was elected president of the South Carolina Bankers association.
On August 6, 1890, he married Miss Perry D. Roddey. They have six children living in 1907. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias. In politics he has always been a Democrat. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian church. In the choice of his life work, Mr. Roddey was free to follow his own inclination. He still retains his early love for books. Outside of reading, and the simple pleasures of the home circle, he finds his principal relaxation in hunting and other field sports. In all of his affairs Mr. Roddey has been characterized by strong common sense and well-balanced business judgment, as well as by a sterling integrity of character and fidelity to principle. As a typical, level-headed business man, of clear mind and energetic disposition, he is fairly representative of the young men who are building up the South upon a basis of greater prosperity than it has yet known.
The address of Mr. Roddey is Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Johnson- Wynne-Co Publishers.
Washington Boston
yours sincerely. James a03. Scherer.
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JAMES AUGUSTIN BROWN SCHERER
S CHERER, JAMES AUGUSTIN BROWN, Ph. D., LL. D., president of Newberry college, author of "Four Princes," "Japan Today," "Young Japan," "The Holy Grail," and "What is Japanese Morality ?"-while one of the youngest college presidents in the country, has already won for himself an honor- able distinction as author, preacher, missionary, lecturer, and successful administrator and executive. The college of which he is president is the property of the Lutheran synod of South Carolina, and was chartered by the legislature on the 20th of December, 1856, having developed naturally and vigorously from the "Classical and Theological Institute," which had been main- tained by the Lutheran church for many years at Lexington. The preparatory department was opened in October, 1858; and the college proper began its work in February, 1859. Before the outbreak of the War between the States there were one hundred and seventy-five students in attendance and the prospects seemed most flattering. But a very large proportion of students volun- teered for service in the Confederate army, and the institution was greatly hampered for several years. Occupied by a Federal garrison, in the summer of 1865, the original building was seriously damaged and the school removed to Walhalla. In 1898 the Federal government appropriated fifteen thousand dollars to the college in somewhat tardy reparation for the loss thus expe- rienced. It was not until 1877 that the institution was reopened in Newberry, citizens of that town having offered grounds and funds for a building.
The college has had six presidents, Reverend Theophilus Stork, D. D., 1859-60; Reverend J. A. Brown, D.D., part of 1860; the Reverend J. P. Smeltzer, D. D., 1861 to 1877; the Reverend George W. Holland, D. D., 1878 to 1895; and Doctor George B. Cromer, from 1896 to 1904. Finally, in January, 1904, after the resignation of President Cromer, Doctor Scherer, who was then pastor of Saint Andrew's church, of Charleston, was elected president, and his administration during the last three years has tended to the prosperity of the college financially, in numbers,
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in its hold upon the denomination and upon its alumni, and in its influence on affairs in the state and throughout the South.
Doctor Scherer comes of good stock. His father, his grand- father, and several of his uncles and great-uncles were Lutheran preachers; and he has three brothers in the Lutheran ministry. He was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, on the 22d of May, 1870. His mother was a sincere and devout Christian woman, whose influence on the character of her son was strong. The first known ancestor of the Scherer family in America came from Germany in 1748. President Scherer's mother was Miss Harriett Isabella Brown; and her ancestors came to the Carolinas from Great Britain, early in the eighteenth century. His father, Reverend Simeon Scherer, a preacher and synodical debater of great force, and a man of the strictest integrity and of sound business judgment, died when his son was very young. But the lad was not to be prevented from acquiring an education by any difficulties with his surroundings or his mother's lack of means. When a boy of but eleven years he took a place as clerk in a store, and soon learned the lesson of hard work. For a short time he was a student in the preparatory department of Pennsylvania college, at Gettysburg. The climate proving too severe, he con- tinued his studies at Roanoke college, and in 1890 was graduated with the degree of A. B.
During his college course at that institution he not only made many friends, both among students and professors, by his genial, social nature and his lovable character, but he also distinguished himself for scholarship. As a writer he was recognized as easily the first man in his college. He took the scholarship in English literature; received a medal for oratory; and gained the distinc- tion of graduation with absolutely perfect marks in English, as well as with "first distinction." He took a prominent part in all the Christian work of the undergraduates during his college course.
After graduation from Roanoke, he was engaged in mis- sionary work in Pulaski City, Virginia, for a year and a half, meanwhile reading theology. He was examined and ordained to the Christian ministry by the South Carolina synod in 1891. The next year he was sent by the Southern Lutheran church as their pioneer missionary to Japan. There he continued the careful reading of theology while most actively engaged in the
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study of the Japanese language and of mission methods. After some months spent at Tokio he removed to Saga and inaugurated the work of the Lutheran mission. He made rapid progress in the language and was soon a ready speaker to the Japanese in their own tongue. While at Saga he performed a most valuable piece of work for missions in Japan, in the translation into Japanese of Luther's "Small Catechism." For several years this was the compend of theology regularly used in the Lutheran missions in Japan; and through this book Doctor Scherer is still a missionary force in that country.
On the 5th of July, 1894, he married (in Japan) Miss Bessie Brown, a talented and accomplished missionary teacher, daughter of the Reverend Faris Brown, of New Concord, Ohio. Two children have blessed this union. In the spring of 1896, to the great regret of all friends of missions in Japan, Doctor Scherer's health broke down. Several months spent in the cooler climate of North Japan did not effect any permanent improvement; and after some time in Tokio he was compelled to follow the advice of his physicians and permanently withdraw from the field. During four or five years spent abroad, Doctor Scherer was in the employ of the Japanese government, while engaged in his duties as missionary. After some time spent in rest and recuper- ation at home, he accepted a call to the pastorate at Cameron, South Carolina; and after a year of successful work there he was unanimously called to Saint Andrew's church, Charleston, where for six years he was the useful and beloved pastor of a united people, discharging at the same time the duties of professor of church history in the Southern Theological seminary.
While in Japan he had taken up one of the post-graduate courses prescribed by Pennsylvania college, at Gettysburg, and he received from that institution the degree of Doctor of Phil- osophy in 1897. Roanoke college had already conferred on him the degree of A. M. in 1895, and in 1905 South Carolina university gave him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. President Scherer is not only known as a strong and eloquent preacher and a thorough scholar, but he has made a reputation for himself as an author, especially by his books on Japan, which have been read by the thousand, both here and abroad, several being published in Europe. Besides writing the books mentioned in the first sentence of this sketch, President Scherer has contributed to many
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magazines and periodicals, writing especially upon historical and literary themes. As a public lecturer he is well known and is warmly welcomed in various parts of the country. In describing a great international convention which assembled at Toronto in the summer of 1905, the editor of the "Sunday School Times" wrote as follows: "The program at Massey Hall was a fitting climax to all that had gone before. A young college president, Dr. James A. B. Scherer, of Newberry college, South Carolina, virile and keen in the fire and consecration of young manhood, sounded the call of Japan. He drew a picture, forceful, burning, flaming, of Japan's leap, as the 'fore-ordained leader of the Far East,' from the medievalism of half a century ago into the civilization of today."
In politics Doctor Scherer is a Democrat of the Cleveland stamp.
While in college he was a member of the Phi Delta Gamma fraternity. He is chaplain of the Washington Light infantry, at Charleston; and belongs to many learned societies. Under his able and inspiring leadership, the reputation of Newberry college is spreading from year to year, while all the work of the institution and the life and character of the students feel the effect of his sound scholarship, his high character, and his gifts as a writer and public speaker.
OSBORNE LAMAR SCHUMPERT
S CHUMPERT, OSBORNE LAMAR, son of Jacob Kinard Schumpert and Harriet Abney Schumpert, was born at Newberry, South Carolina, July 26, 1845. His father was a mechanic and farmer, a trustee of Newberry college, and for many years, and to the day of his death, an elder in the Lutheran church, of which he was a member. He was a man to whom religion was a matter not only of observances, forms and cere- monies, but of life. He was temperate in all things, and con- scientious to the minutest detail, in the discharge of every duty.
The father's practical bent manifested itself not only in his personal character and life, but in the training he gave to his children. Like the Apostle Paul, he believed that if any man would not work neither should he eat, and he required of his children regular work fitted to their several capacities. The subject of this sketch, healthy and robust, and passing his early life in the country, was trained to labor on the farm, a discipline for which he has many times in subsequent life been grateful. Work, however, was mixed with play and outdoor sports, includ- ing the riding and training of horses, hunting and fishing.
The mother was a woman of strong characteristics, and impressed herself upon the plastic nature of her son. "Whatever of good," he says, modestly, "there be in me, I owe in major part to her influence and discipline."
Among others of the formative influences which affected his tastes and life should be mentioned "Todd's Students' Manual," and addresses of great men, both of which aroused his deepest interest and enthusiasm. To them, in fact, he traces his first strong impulse to accomplish results in life. He also enjoyed the privilege of association with eminent public men.
The subject of this sketch found the path to academic culture prepared for him. When ready, he attended Pagesville academy, Newberry college, and the University of Copenhagen, in Den- mark, from which he was graduated in June of 1871. Newberry college conferred upon him the honorary degree of A. B.
Mr. Schumpert's active life work began at Newberry, in 1871, when he entered upon the practice of the law. Among the
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positions to which he has been called, and the activities which have claimed his attention, may be noted the following: Member of the general assembly of the state of South Carolina, 1884-85; solicitor of the seventh judicial circuit from 1888 to 1896, and special judge to hold Spartanburg court in the fall of 1903; the latter position he owed to his appointment by Chief Justice Pope, which was confirmed by Governor Heyward. Mr. Schumpert was also elected a trustee of Newberry college in 1872, a position which he still holds. He was also a member of Governor Hagood's staff. In 1876 he was president of the Democratic club of his county, and in connection with this office he delivered numerous political addresses in his section of the state. He was also commandant of Newberry county's quota of clubs to Columbia in 1876-77. In addition he has served as a delegate to state and county conventions.
Mr. Schumpert served in the War between the States in the Third regiment of infantry, Kershaw's brigade, Longstreet's corps. He served as private, sometimes as a courier for General Kershaw and General Longstreet, and as the orderly of the regiment. He is a Mason and Knight Templar, and has held the office of master of his Masonic lodge for four years.
Mr. Schumpert has always been a Democrat. In religion he is a Lutheran. His principal exercise and amusement is walking or riding in the country. Of his accomplishments in life, he speaks in terms of reserve and self-depreciation, holding that what he has done would be of little interest or inspiration to any one-a view with which his friends do not coincide.
On the 5th of January, 1876, Mr. Schumpert was married to Miss Mamie Estelle Pool. Four children were born of this marriage, two of whom are still (1907) living.
Mr. Schumpert's address is Newberry, South Carolina.
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Men of March Publishing Co. Washington, DC
very Lovely fonce Intelecignacio .
JAMES MARSH SEIGNIOUS
S EIGNIOUS, JAMES MARSH, cotton factor, banker, financier and expert accountant, was born in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, November 4, 1847, son of Francis P. and Martha Hester (Wightman) Seignious. He is of French lineage on his father's side, and English and Scotch on his mother's side.
His paternal grandfather was born in Alsace, France, and during the Revolution of 1789, in the reign of Louis XIV, with other Huguenots, he fled from his native country and took refuge on the Island of Martinique, near Hayti. Shortly after his arrival in Hayti the historical negro insurrection in San Domingo took place, in which he was wounded. Subsequently, he took passage, with other refugees, in an American vessel bound for the American coast, suffered shipwreck shortly thereafter, and was finally rescued by a passing vessel and landed in Charleston, South Carolina. Here he lived, married, and died, both he and his wife having been interred in Trinity church cemetery, Charleston.
His maternal grandmother (mother of Martha Hester Wight- man), Eliza Stoll, was born in Charleston, January 25, 1800, and died in the same city, August 13, 1834. She was a daughter of Elizabeth (Douglas) Stoll, who came from England in the seventeenth century, and was of English and Scotch parentage. Her father, Justinus Stoll, was a man of large wealth, and owned a large part of the South Battery, of Charleston, in his lifetime, a relic of which is Stoll's alley, which bears his name at the present time. His wife was a noble and remarkable woman, the history of whose life reads like a romance.
John Thomas Wightman, Sr., Mr. Seignious' paternal grand- father, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, March 25, 1784, and there died August 28, 1875. He was a son of Major William Wightman, who was major of a regiment in the American Revo- lutionary army, and a son of William Wightman, of Harrow- on-the-Hill, County of Middlesex (near London), England, who was consul at Tunis, Algeria, under the British crown, about the year 1735.
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Major Wightman owned considerable property at the corner of Chalmers and Meeting streets in Charleston. He resided in a large brick house just north of his place of business, both of which buildings are still (1907) standing in their original places. He is described as a portly and handsome man, of quiet demeanor and moral repute. His wife was a daughter of an old Charleston family, whose mother, during the battle of Fort Moultrie, when the troops were drawn up along the battery, passed along the line encouraging the soldiers and fresh recruits in their struggle against the British.
The Wightmans are from a very old family stock, both in this country and England. It is thought that they originally came from the Isle of Wight. Books of heraldry give three families-English, Scotch and Welsh-but the Charleston branch comes direct from the English, and was one of three branches to be established in this country. Of the other two, one settled in New England, and one in New Jersey. The New England Wightmans were loyal to the British crown, fought in the Amer- ican Revolution, and Captain John Wightman was wounded at the battle of Hobkirk's Hill, South Carolina. He was a son of Colonel John Wightman, of the "Loyal New Englanders," who returned to England at the close of the war, where he died.
The coat-of-arms and crest of the Wightman family were granted to William Wightman, Esquire, of Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex county, England, in London, on July 14, 1562. The crest of the family was still retained and used on the family coach by Mr. Seignious's great-grandfather, during his lifetime, in Charleston. Mr. Seignious has in his possession a copy of the coat-of-arms and crest.
Four of the Wightman brothers left the old home in Eng- land, namely, John, Thomas, William, and Nicholas. The two former were the founders of the Northern branch of the family in America, and William of the Southern branch. Nicholas was murdered in Charleston, South Carolina, about 1788. A full account of this event is inscribed on his tombstone in the old St. Philip's church graveyard in Charleston, South Carolina.
Major William Wightman, and Elizabeth, his wife, had two sons, whose names were William and John Thomas, named, respectively, after their uncles, both born in Charleston. William
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was the head of the Bishop William M. Wightman branch of the family, which had numerous descendants.
John Thomas, the other son, founder of the Charleston branch, and who, as before stated, married Eliza Stoll, had the following named children : Martha Hester, born 1819, died 1905; William Edward, born 1821, died in California, 1870, unmarried; Reverend John Thomas Wightman, D. D., born 1825, married and now (1907) living in Baltimore, Maryland; Harriet Eliza- beth, born 1830, widow, residing with her son in the West; Ann Eliza, born 1832, married, and died a few years ago; and Charles Christopher, born 1834, married, died 1905.
The Southern branch of the Wightman family has been remarkable for the number of wives of ministers that it has supplied to the different churches. They were a highly educated and intelligent family, of high moral character, and held high positions in the domain of military, literary, and civic affairs.
The early life of James Marsh Seignious was, for the most part, passed in the city of Charleston. The influence of his mother was particularly strong on his moral and spiritual life, and his father's personality impressed upon him the more rugged virtues. His father was a manufacturer and merchant, who confined himself closely to his business interests. He was a man of firm and sincere friendships, conservative in his opinions, fearless in the discharge of duty, prompt in meeting every obli- gation or promise made, industrious, persevering, quick in action, genial in manner and of a pleasant and jovial temperament.
There were eight children in the family, four of whom are now (1907) living. James M. was the fourth child. He was of robust constitution, fond of outdoor sports, studious of habit, ambitious to succeed, and was particularly fond of mathematics, debate and oratory. He attended the public schools of the city, later studied under private tutors, and in 1863 entered the first class of the Charleston high school, from which he was graduated in his seventeenth year, with high honors, and delivered the class anniversary address.
Immediately after his graduation he entered the Confederate army, and remained therein until the close of the war. Upon his return home he found that his father had suffered the loss of all his property, except his home and place of business, and was without means to conduct his former enterprises. The son,
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thus placed upon his own resources, accepted a position, at a small salary, in the office of the Charleston "Daily News." Later he was promoted assistant bookkeeper, and became cashier and general office manager, at a good salary, before he had reached his majority.
In 1868 he was a tutor in what is now the Porter Military academy, intending to study during leisure hours, but in the following year he entered the bookkeeping department of the First National bank, of Charleston, and continued there until 1870, when he formed a copartnership with J. B. E. Sloan as a cotton factor. In 1881 he established an independent business of his own in the same line, which has been so successful that at the present time (1907) he is ranked among the leading cotton factors and commission merchants of the state.
Mr. Seignious, in addition to his cotton interests, is a member of the board of directors of the Bank of Charleston, National Banking association, and chairman of the examining committee of said association; director of the Bank of Orangeburg, South Carolina, since its organization in 1887; and for many years was director of the Bank of Edgefield, South Carolina; and vice- president of the Royal Bag and Yarn Manufacturing company, of Charleston, South Carolina, to which latter position he declined reelection in recent years; president of the Charleston Cotton exchange for seven years, and president now; member of the board of harbor commissioners; member of the dock commission for Charleston; was made manager of the ways and means department of the South Carolina Interstate and West Indian exposition, during 1901-1902, by unanimous request and vote of the directors; is a member of the Charleston chamber of com- merce; the Young Men's Business league; Commercial club, and many leading societies, and has represented the city of Charleston in many business conventions in other cities.
Politically, Mr. Seignious is an unswerving Democrat. He has been a delegate to the county and state Democratic conven- tions, representing the county of Charleston, in nearly all the conventions held during the past twenty years. In 1902 he was appointed to the Danish vice-consulship for South Carolina by the foreign ministry of Denmark, and confirmed by the president of the United States.
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In 1895 Mr. Seignious was solicited by representative citizens of Charleston to become a candidate for mayor, but he declined to enter the race under the conditions that then obtained. Four years later he entered a vigorous but unsuccessful contest against the administration candidate, who was in complete possession of the political machinery.
To his tireless efforts not a little of the success of the Charleston exposition in 1901-1902 is due. He served without pecuniary compensation throughout the entire period of the exposition. At its close, resolutions were passed speaking in the highest terms of the services rendered by him in its behalf.
The name of Mr. Seignious is a synonym of progress and public spirit. He has given of his time and energy and money to almost every movement for the advancement of the educational, the civic, the commercial, and the moral life of the city.
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