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 21
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He is a frequent contributor to magazines and reviews on literary and educational subjects; a member of the Southern Historical society, the Modern Language association of America, the Religious Educational association, and of the college frater- nities, Chi Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. In politics he is a Demo- crat. His favorite form of exercise and outdoor recreation is playing lawn tennis.
On July 9, 1889, he married Lula Eubank; three children have been born to them, two of whom are now (1907) living.
His address is Spartanburg, South Carolina.
CHARLES EDWARD SPENCER
S PENCER, CHARLES EDWARD, of Yorkville, South Carolina, lawyer and bank director, was born July 30, 1849, in Sumter (now Lee) county, South Carolina. His father was Elisha Spencer, who married Mary Alice Fraser.
Attending in his boyhood the country schools within reach of his home, and, like other boys of his age, losing, through the troubled years of the War between the States, many of those opportunities for study which in the years between twelve and sixteen are so important, he was, nevertheless, prepared to enter college in 1867, and he was graduated from the University of South Carolina, with the degree of A. B., in June, 1869. He received the degree of Bachelor of Laws from that institution in June, 1872.
In February, 1870, he was appointed to an instructorship in the King's Mountain Military school, at Yorkville, and he remained connected with the teaching corps of that institution, meanwhile reading law, and for the last three years practicing law, until January, 1877. Beginning the practice of his profes- sion in 1874, in 1877 he laid aside teaching, and for the last thirty years he has devoted himself exclusively to the practice of his chosen profession. In that year (1877), he formed a partnership with the late Judge I. D. Witherspoon, which was dissolved when Mr. Witherspoon was elected to the bench in 1882.
Mr. Spencer was secretary of the York county Democratic executive committee during the memorable campaign of 1876; and for several years, in the early eighties, he was a member of the state Democratic executive committee. His character and his devotion to his profession early gave him the confidence of his fellow-townsmen; and he was intendant of Yorkville for two years, in the late seventies. Since 1900 he has been a trustee of the University of South Carolina, his alma mater. He is a Presbyterian. He is a Knight of Pythias and a Mason; and for several years he was the chief officer of the Masonic lodge of Yorkville. Since the reorganization of the Yorkville Loan and Savings bank, in 1900, Mr. Spencer has been a director of that bank.
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Very Truly yours,
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In April, 1873, he married Miss Sallie H. Clawson, of York- ville, who died in February, 1883. Five years later, in December, 1887, he married Miss Agnes Currell Moore, of Yorkville.
Mr. Spencer's principal law office (as well as his residence), is at Yorkville, South Carolina; but he is also a member of the law firm of Spencers & Dunlap, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, where his son, Charles W. F. Spencer, and Walter M. Dunlap, are the resident members of the firm.
LEROY SPRINGS
S PRINGS, LEROY, banker and merchant, was born on Springfield plantation, near Fort Mill, York county, South Carolina, November 12, 1861. His parents were A. Baxter and Julia B. (Baxter) Springs, who were third cousins. His father was educated for the law, but in early life he turned his attention to planting on an extensive scale and also became largely interested in banking and in railroad affairs. He held the office of president of one railroad and was a director in two other roads, and while conscientiously performing the duties required by these positions he also managed his plantation with intelligence, care and skill. The qualities which made him successful in private business led to his election as representative and later as senator in the legislature of South Carolina and to membership in the convention which passed the ordinance of secession. As a man as well as an official he was widely known and greatly esteemed, for his high aims and upright life. The earliest ancestors on the paternal side to come to America emigrated from Holland and located in New York about 1700. Later they removed to Pennsylvania and to Delaware. Two brothers removed from Delaware; one to Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, and the other to the Panhandle of Lancaster county, South Carolina. The family of the latter did much to build up the town of Charlotte, where many of his descendants now reside. On the maternal side the ancestors came from Scotland, settled in Penn- sylvania, removed to Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, and afterward settled in Georgia, in the country tributary to Sparta, about 1810. The great-grandfathers of the subject of this sketch, on both sides, were officers in the Revolutionary army, and his grandfather Baxter was an able and distinguished lawyer and became a member of the supreme court of Georgia.
Leroy Springs passed his early life in the country. His health was good and his tastes and interests were those of the average boy of his age and locality. He was taught to be indus- trious, and even when quite young he had duties to perform before and after school hours, and as he grew older he passed
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his vacations working the farm crops. This outdoor work main- tained his health, and the knowledge of practical agriculture which he thus obtained he considers of great value. His education was commenced at an "old field" school on his father's plantation and was continued there until he was thirteen years of age. About this time his father moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and there the son attended the high school for a time and then entered the sophomore class in the University of North Carolina. Here he remained through the junior year and then went into active business as a clerk and salesman for a large wholesale grocery house of Charlotte. In January, 1884, he moved to Lancaster, South Carolina, and opened a wholesale and retail mercantile business under the name of Leroy Springs & Company. In September, 1885, this business was merged with that of Heath Brothers under the name of Heath, Springs & Company, and at the same time, and by the same men, the business of Springs, Heath & Company, Camden, South Carolina, was organized. The business improved from year to year, and in 1888 Mr. Springs bought out two of his partners, but continued the business under the same firm name. At the same time he organized the Kershaw Banking and Mercantile Company, at Kershaw, South Carolina, and the firm of Springs & Heath, at Heath Springs, South Carolina, taking J. M. Heath into partnership with him. In 1899 he bought out J. M. Heath's interest in all these firms and incorporated the Lancaster house under the name of the Lancaster Mercantile Company, the Heath-Springs house under the name of the Springs Banking and Mercantile Company, the Kershaw house under the name of the Kershaw Mercantile and Banking Company, and the Camden house under the name of Springs & Shannon, associating with him in these various enterprises several young men who had been faithful employees for years. Mr. Springs is now (1907) at the head of these institutions. In addition to the above, the following named corporations were organized by him, and, largely on account of his excellent judg- ment and wise administration, have been very successful; in 1889 the Bank of Lancaster, of which he became president; and in 1896 the Lancaster Cotton mills, of which he was made president. In the year last named he reorganized and became president of the Lancaster and Chester railway, which was purchased by
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himself and his associates, and in 1904 the Bank of Kershaw, of which he also became president. He is also president of the following named corporations, all located in South Carolina : The Springstein mills, and the Eureka Cotton mills, Chester; the Millfort Mill company, Fort Mill; the Columbia Compress company, Columbia ; the Landsford Water Power company, Lan- caster. He is connected, as a director, with the following named financial institutions in the same state: National Loan and Exchange bank, Columbia; Exchange bank, Chester; Bank of Rock Hill, Rock Hill; Southern Trust company, Spartanburg; Commercial bank, Camden; Savings bank, Fort Mill; Peoples Bank and Trust company, Rock Hill; and Bank of Fairfield, Winnsboro. At the time it was merged with the Southern rail- way he was a director of the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta railroad. He is a member of the New York and New Orleans Cotton exchanges, and a trustee of the Mutual Life Insurance company.
Throughout all his active life he has been interested in political affairs and has always been a Democrat. In 1888 and again in 1904 he was a delegate to the National Democratic convention, and at the one last named he was a member of the notification committee. He served for four years on the staff of the late Governor John P. Richardson, with the rank of colonel. Much of his success in life he ascribes to the influence of home and early companionship, and he has been greatly helped by the knowledge of human nature which he has acquired by contact with men in active life. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Springs believes that the best suggestion that can be made to young Americans in the direction of the strengthening of sound ideals in our American life is the formation of good habits, strict attention to all business responsibilities, good asso- ciates, strict integrity, and honest dealing, and setting business before pleasure. His ambition in life is to make a success of his every undertaking, let it be small or great. He believes that South Carolina is badly in need of a compulsory education law and of good public roads throughout its domain. These two things he considers essential to the prosperity of the state and the development of a higher civilization.
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On December 28, 1892, Mr. Springs was married to Miss Grace Allison White, daughter of Captain Samuel E. White, of Fort Mill, South Carolina. They have one child, Elliott White Springs, living in 1907.
The address of Mr. Springs is Lancaster, South Carolina.
ALEXANDER SPRUNT
S PRUNT, ALEXANDER, D. D., Presbyterian clergyman, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, July 10, 1852. His father, Alexander Sprunt, a merchant, whose marked character- istics were rigid exactness and faithfulness to every trust committed to him, came from Scotland to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1853, where he served as British vice-consul. His mother, Jane Dalziel Sprunt, was a woman of strong intellect, high morals, and great piety, and to a great extent she molded her son's character after her own. The family left Wilmington in 1862 and went to live on a farm in Marion county, South Carolina, where they remained four years. Of this, the hardest period of young Alexander's life, he says: "Though a mere child, I plowed many a day, but never regretted it in after years."
In 1866 the family returned to Wilmington and he again entered school. In 1869 he went to Upper Canada college, Toronto, Canada. He returned to the United States and entered Davidson college, North Carolina, from which he was graduated A. B. in June, 1875. Later he took a course at Union Theologi- cal seminary, Hampden-Sidney, Virginia, graduating in 1878. Davidson college conferred the degree of D. D. upon him in 1897.
He began his career as minister in Winchester, Virginia, in 1878, as assistant to Reverend H. M. White, D. D., pastor of Loudon Street Presbyterian church; the following year he became pastor of Augusta church, Augusta county, Virginia, where he remained until 1885, when he went to Henderson, North Carolina, to take charge of the Presbyterian church, remaining there until 1891. In 1891-92 he was superintendent of evangelistic labor in the synod of North Carolina; in 1892 he was the stated supply of the First Presbyterian church, Memphis, Tennessee, and from 1892 to 1901 he was pastor of the First Presbyterian church, Rock Hill, South Carolina. In the year last named he became pastor of the First Presbyterian church, Charleston, South Caro- lina, which position he still (1907) retains.
Doctor Sprunt thinks the most potent influences in his life have been his home and his contact with men leading active lives.
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Faithfully yours alexander Sprint
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He finds his most enjoyable and healthful relaxation in athletics, for which he acquired a love during his college days.
As so frequently occurs, "circumstances over which he had no control," and not himself, chose his profession, but he is composed of the stuff of which successful ministers of the Gospel are made. His faith is of the same sturdy and uncompromising kind that enabled the original Scotch Covenanters, among whom some of his ancestors may have been, in spite of the most bitter persecution, to uphold their church and increase its membership. He is what has been aptly called a "Bible-preacher," which means that he seeks inspiration for his sermons in the Scriptures rather than in sensational newspapers. Charleston is proud of him, both as a citizen and as a minister. No movement for the better- ment of the city or any class of its people ever asks in vain for his moral support or his active personal assistance.
He was married to Ellen Richardson Peck, second daughter of the late Reverend T. E. Peck, D. D., LL. D., of Union Theological seminary, in Virginia, April 30, 1879. They have had six children, five of whom are now (1907) living.
His address is Charleston, South Carolina.
JAMES STACKHOUSE
S TACKHOUSE, JAMES, son of E. T. and Anna E. Fore Stackhouse, was born January 17, 1849, near the town of Marion, Marion county, South Carolina. His father was a farmer, and a member of the house of representatives from Marion county. He was characterized by great energy and firm- ness of character.
The earliest known ancestors of the family in America were Herod and Isaac Stackhouse, from Pennsylvania, whose ancestors came from Glasgow, Scotland. One of the later members, E. T. Stackhouse, was distinguished as a planter, and as a soldier in the Confederate army.
James Stackhouse was brought up in the country, where, among wholesome surroundings, he laid the foundation of sound physical health. Reared on a farm, he was trained to do all kinds of farm work. His habits were regular, and to these, thus early formed, he attributes the physical vigor which has blessed him through life. In addition, he was the son of a noble mother, whose influence upon him was all that a mother's influence could be. The War between the States interfered materially with his early education, inasmuch as it prevented his father from sending him to school. He found it possible, nevertheless, to attend the common county schools, from which, alone, his schooling was obtained. His active life work was begun as a clerk for J. W. Dillon & Son in their store at Little Rock, South Carolina. For a time he engaged in mercantile business on his own account; but during the past twenty-five years he has dealt in live stock and agricultural implements. For two terms, 1876 to 1880, he was mayor of Marion, and in 1900 he was elected to the state senate; in 1904 he was reëlected to this office. He was elected chairman of the Marion county Democracy, 1902, 1904 and 1906, which position he now holds.
In 1865 Mr. Stackhouse belonged to a battalion of Citadel cadets, but was paroled in the following April. He is a Mason, a member of the Blue Lodge, of the Chapter and Commandery, and is also a Shriner. He declares his political faith in the
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laconic but expressive phrase of the statesman from New York, "I am a Democrat." In religion he is a Methodist.
On June 8, 1871, Mr. Stackhouse married Florence E. McAlister. Of the eight children born of this marriage, six are now (1907) living.
His address is 107 South Main street, Marion, South Caro- lina.
J. THEODUS STONE
S TONE, J. THEODUS, of Honea Path, Anderson county, South Carolina, member of the board of aldermen of his town, and secretary and manager of the Honea Path Lumber company, was born in Anderson county, South Carolina, on the 1st of August, 1868. His father, Laban M. Stone, was an industrious farmer descended from English immigrants to South Carolina. His mother, Mrs. Luany (Martin) Stone, was of Irish descent. Born on a farm and passing through a healthy and happy boyhood, in which he describes himself as "strong and ready for mischief," he worked upon a farm until he was twenty years old, being accustomed from his boyhood to systematic daily labor, and early counting as a regular "hand" in the farm work. During a part of each year he attended the country schools which were within his reach.
From his early boyhood he had been fond of "making useful things with his hands, and attempting to build things." This inclination toward building led to the choice of a life work, and in early manhood he became a contractor and builder.
Among the more important buildings which he has con- structed, he names the Brogan mills at Anderson, South Carolina, whose building in 1903 he superintended; and he has erected many other buildings in Anderson and in different parts of the county.
He has interested himself for some years in lumbering, and since its organization, in September, 1904, Mr. Stone has been secretary and manager of the Honea Path Lumber company.
He is a Woodman of the World, and a Mason. He belongs to the Democratic party.
On September 1, 1887, Mr. Stone married Miss Celestine Lena Strickland, daughter of M. S. and Ebbie Strickland, of Anderson county. They have had five children, four of whom are living in 1907.
Mr. Stone offers to the young people of South Carolina as two most important suggestions if they would win true success
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in life: "Be strictly honest, fulfil every promise made; select early some profession or trade, learn it thoroughly, and follow it earnestly ; do not be changing from one occupation to another."
His address is Honea Path, Anderson county, South Caro- lina.
THOMAS TALBIRD
I ALBIRD, THOMAS, attorney-at-law, for several years attorney for the county commissioner, for two terms judge of probate, and from 1897 to 1905 state senator from Beaufort county, South Carolina, resides at Beaufort, where he was born on the 3d of July, 1855. His father, Franklin Talbird, was an architect and builder who volunteered at the outbreak of the War between the States, enlisting in the Beaufort Volunteer artillery, and had charge of the "hot-shot" battery in the fight of Port Royal entrance, in Fort Beauregard, against the Federal fleet. After two years of active service in the artillery he was employed in the war department at Columbia. Marked ability, a high sense of honor, and yet a retiring disposition, seem to his son to have been his leading characteristics. He had married Miss Joanna M. O'Grady. The earliest American ancestor of the Talbirds was Henry Talbird, who came from Ireland to Charles- ton, South Carolina, early in the eighteenth century, and soon removed to Beaufort county. His son, Thomas Talbird, great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a captain in the Continental army in the Revolutionary war.
At the outbreak of the war, when he was a boy of but six years, he left Beaufort with his father's family and took refuge at Chick Springs, Greenville county, upon an estate in which his father then owned a half interest. Here the family remained while the father served in the army during the war. In 1865 they returned to Beaufort, where Thomas Talbird has since resided.
The disturbances which attended and followed the war had most seriously hampered his father's property; and he had to encounter such difficulties as stood in the way of a liberal educa- tion for most boys of his years in the decade which followed the war. But he was able to complete his preparation for Washington and Lee university, at Lexington, Virginia, and after two years passed in the study of the law he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1879. He at once began practice as an attorney at Beaufort, South Carolina. His early inclinations would have led him to qualify for the work of a civil engineer; but the
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strong desire of his mother that her son should be a lawyer, he writes, "influenced me more than anything else in the choice of my profession. Home influence was the strongest in my life; school and college, private study, and contact with men engaged in the active affairs of life ranked after home influence with me."
Continuing to reside at Beaufort in the practice of his chosen profession, he served for several years as attorney for the county commissioner, and also as attorney for the town of Beaufort. A Democrat in his political convictions and relations, he has always voted for the candidates and measures of his party; and he has served for several years as chairman of the Democratic county committee. He was judge of probate for Beaufort county for two terms, from 1897 to 1905. In 1897 he was elected state senator from Beaufort county; and in 1901 he was reelected. Thus for eight consecutive years he served his county in the state legis- lature, interesting himself actively in all measures for the improvement of the schools, the enlarging of the manufacturing interests and the bettering of the social conditions of the people of his state. In 1900 he was a delegate to the National Demo- cratic convention at Kansas City, which renominated Mr. Bryan for president.
Mr. Talbird served as captain of the Beaufort Volunteer artillery for several years, from 1888 to 1895.
He was married to Miss Josephine J. Canter, daughter of William Canter, of Nice, France, on the 28th of June, 1888. Mrs. Talbird died in 1893, leaving two daughters, both of whom are living in 1907. Mr. Talbird has not married again. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church. Asked for his "favorite sport, amusement, or form of exercise," he writes: "I find more pleasure in general reading than in anything else."
Mr. Talbird, as a stimulus to his young friends and to the young people of South Carolina in general, commends these virtues: "Sterling integrity, faithfulness and fearlessness in the performance of duty, loyalty to country and to friends, and a lively faith in the justice of God."
JAMES HENLEY THORNWELL
T HORNWELL, JAMES HENLEY, D. D., Presbyterian clergyman, lawyer, educator and soldier, was born May 13, 1846, in Columbia, Richland county, South Carolina. His father, Reverend James H. Thornwell, D. D., LL. D., Pres- byterian clergyman and educator, president of South Carolina college, professor of theology in Columbia Theological seminary and pastor of the First Presbyterian church, Columbia, was a many-sided man, distinguished as a student, an orator, a philos- opher, a teacher, a preacher and a theologian; his mother, Nancy White (Witherspoon) Thornwell, a talented woman of the highest character and ideals, was a powerful and lasting influence on all sides of his life. His blood is Welsh and Scotch; the Thornwells came from Wales, and the Witherspoons, who can trace their ancestry to King Robert, "The Bruce," came from Scotland. The founder of the American branch of the family, his triple great-grandfather, John Witherspoon, born in 1670, in Scotland, settled in Kingstree, South Carolina, in 1734; his great-grand- father, Captain James H. Witherspoon, commanded a company in the War of the Revolution and fought so well that he was commended by General Marion for gallantry in action; his grandfather, Colonel James H. Witherspoon, was lieutenant- governor of South Carolina in 1826, and his uncle, Colonel J. H. Witherspoon, was a prominent member of the Confederate States congress.
He was reared in the city of his birth. He was rather frail and delicate, fond of reading and filled with an intense love for his state and the South. At the breaking out of the War between the States he was only a boy, but he simply could not be kept out of the Confederate army; he was a lieutenant at sixteen, one of the youngest, if not the youngest, commissioned officers in either army, and served most creditably as such until the surrender of Smithfield, North Carolina, where he was doing duty.
He received his primary and preparatory education from some of the best instructors in Columbia, Professors Ford and Brumby, J. W. Davidson, and Boyd and Stuart; then went to
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South Carolina college; studied law, was admitted to the bar, and in 1869 began the practice of law. Though the law had been his own personal choice for a profession, after a year or two of practice as good as a young lawyer could expect, he decided to abandon it, follow in his father's footsteps, and become a Pres- byterian minister. In 1871 he entered Columbia Theological seminary. He completed the prescribed course in 1874, and was ordained a minister. Davidson college, North Carolina, and the Presbyterian college of South Carolina, conferred upon him the honorary degree of D. D. in 1889.
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