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 22
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His first charge was the Poplar Tent Presbyterian church, near Concord, North Carolina, and he has had the churches of Fort Mill and Ebenezer since 1882. From 1902 to 1905 he was the chancellor of the Presbyterian college of South Carolina, at Clinton, a position he filled with credit to himself and profit to the college. In the performance of its duties he found his experience as a lawyer useful.
Looking back over his career, he has regretfully expressed the opinion that timidity and lack of self-confidence have kept him from doing his full share in the work of life. The books in general literature that helped him most when fitting himself for his life work were Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, and the writings of Moody, and standard novels. He is a Mason; a member of the Knights of Pythias, of which he has been grand keeper of records and seals, and of the Woodmen of the World. In politics he is a Democrat.
On October 26, 1869, he married Florence Earle, daughter of Elias and Harriet Earle. Ten children have been born to them, of whom nine are now (1907) living.
His address is Confederate street, Fort Mill, South Carolina.
BENJAMIN RYAN TILLMAN
T ILLMAN, BENJAMIN RYAN, industrial, educational, and political reformer, and statesman, was born at Edge- field, South Carolina, August 11, 1847. He is the youngest of eleven children and the son of Benjamin Ryan Tillman and Sophia Ann (Hancock) Tillman. His father was a farmer, a man of bright mind and nervous temperament, and a great reader; he died when his son and namesake was but two years of age.
Mr. Tillman's ancestors, both paternal and maternal, came to South Carolina from Virginia before the Revolution. The paternal ancestors were German and Irish; the maternal, English.
As a boy, young Tillman was strong and healthy. He early developed a taste for good reading and was fond of all outdoor sports. His early life was passed in the country. Brought up on a plantation of eighty slaves, he worked, as did other Southern boys similarly placed, only when he pleased. The striking traits which have characterized this remarkable man are to be traced primarily to the influence of his mother. She was a woman of phenomenal strength; mentally, morally and physically, and, in every way and for good, she impressed herself powerfully upon her son. All he is, he attributes to his mother and his wife.
The son's schooling was obtained at Bethany academy, under George Galphin. Much of his early education was received from reading. He had access to a good library, and from it drew at will. He read voraciously and omnivorously, especially works of fiction and poetry.
Mr. Tillman's active life began in 1866, when he assumed the management of his mother's farm at Edgefield, South Caro- lina. Shortly after she bought a farm in Florida, to which her son removed in 1867; he was married the following year, but the climate disagreed with him; his health failed, and he returned to the South Carolina farm, and continued on it until the evolution of conditions in his state forced him, contrary to all his previous expectations, tastes, and ambitions, into politics. The Rubicon once crossed, however, he has continued uninterruptedly in this absorbing pursuit until the present time (1907).
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Before entering politics, Mr. Tillman was devoted to the peaceful pursuit of agriculture, a work which, though entered upon from necessity, he has always loved. In this, however, he saw more than mere individual sowing and reaping. Farming in the South he recognized to be in a backward condition, and he set himself to solve the problem of its redemption. The solution, he finally decided, lay in education, but of a different sort from that which consists chiefly in second-hand knowledge of dead languages and in abstract studies in general. He became con- vinced that the farmer boy should be taught to farm. This necessitated a school providing facilities, it is true, for general culture, but focusing its energies upon the work of preparing young people to live normal lives in the country and extract their livings from the soil. This conviction once formed, Mr. Tillman started an agitation for the establishment of an agricultural college in South Carolina, a work greatly facilitated by the passage of the Morrill Agricultural and Mechanical College Act of 1862 by the national congress. Mr. Tillman's efforts culmi- nated in the establishment of the Clemson Agricultural and Mechanical college, at Calhoun's old home, "Fort Hill."
The demand for educational reform now broadened into a demand for other changes in state affairs. The conditions which in the West and South developed the Farmers Alliance and Peoples Party were present in South Carolina. Mr. Tillman became a leader of what was called the "farmers movement" in his state. In 1890 he became a candidate for governor. After an exciting and heated canvass, he received the nomination in the Democratic convention by a vote of 270 to 50 cast for his opponent, and was elected in the following November. This was his first political office. In 1892, before the expiration of his first term, he was reelected by an overwhelming vote.
Governor Tillman's administration was especially signalized by the passage of the dispensary law for the control of the liquor traffic by the state.
The success of Clemson college, exclusively for men, created a demand and prepared the way for the establishment of an institution on similar lines for women. This demand was vigor- ously voiced and its supply made possible by the action of Governor Tillman; the result being the establishment in 1891 of the Winthrop Normal and Industrial college for women, also at
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Rock Hill. This institution now bids fair to lead all similar schools. In 1894, Governor Tillman entered the race for United States senator against General M. C. Butler. The choice was referred to the people of the state. The two candidates canvassed the state, county by county, and presented to throngs of listeners their respective views of public policy. The result of this campaign was the election of Governor Tillman by the state legislature by a vote of one hundred and thirty-one to twenty-one for his opponent. In 1901 he was reelected, no one opposing him.
The independence which through life has characterized him, Mr. Tillman displayed as United States senator against the national administration, although it represented the party to which he belonged. Some of President Cleveland's policies clashed with the Senator's conception of the public good, a fact to which he gave utterance in the senate chamber in no uncertain tones. In consequence he became a leader of the independent wing of the Democracy, which repudiated the Cleveland admin- istration, and, at the Chicago convention of 1896, adopted the famous Chicago platform and nominated William Jennings Bryan for president. Senator Tillman, who had participated in the national Democratic convention of 1892, was a prominent factor in the convention of 1896, and an active campaigner in the subsequent contest. He was a delegate to the national Democratic convention in 1900, which met at Kansas City and renominated Bryan; and again he participated actively in the campaign, speaking in various states. In 1904 he was a delegate to the St. Louis convention, which nominated Alton B. Parker for president. The celebrated "gold telegram" sent by the candidate immediately following his nomination at first aroused Senator Tillman's vigorous resentment, but, after consideration, he accepted the situation and was selected by his fellow-delegates to pour oil upon the troubled waters of the convention, an act which he performed with singular tact. He also campaigned for Parker as he had done for Bryan.
Mr. Tillman is a staunch believer in the doctrine of white supremacy, and is one of its leading champions. He encouraged the suppression of the negro vote and promoted the calling of South Carolina's State Constitutional convention in 1895. This convention, strongly representative of his views, drafted the constitutional amendment under which, since that date, by means
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of educational or property qualifications, the large numerical negro majority is controlled by law. In 1903, Senator Tillman, in company with Senator Burton, of Kansas, traversed several states discussing the question of negro disfranchisement, Senator Tillman advocating the repeal of the fifteenth amendment of the national constitution.
Senator Tillman was the first prominent man in the South to give voice to the doctrine of white supremacy on the floor of the senate. In a speech of five hours, in February, 1903, he challenged the Republican view of the negro with such an array of facts and force of argument that no one even tried to answer, and frequently, before and after, he in short speeches dwelt on the subject in connection with our policy in the Philippines. His speech in the senate is considered his masterpiece. Not only has Mr. Tillman been a conspicuous figure in the United States senate, to which he was reelected for the full term of six years by the South Carolina legislature in January, 1907, but he has also attained considerable distinction as a platform lecturer. During the present (1907) recess of congress, as in several pre- vious years, he has discussed the race question in many and widely separated localities. He has commanded the attention and held the interest of a multitude of hearers, but his views have been too extreme to be accepted by the great majority of conservative people in his native state or in the country at large.
Senator Tillman has also seen military service, having been private, lieutenant and captain in the militia fourteen years. His chief relaxation is the culture of flowers.
Senator Tillman's advice to young Americans is to be in earnest; to be willing to work and to stick to it; to learn to speak the truth and practice no guile; to deal honestly with all men, and to live soberly and simply.
Senator Tillman was married, January 8, 1868, to Sallie Starke, of Elbert county, Georgia. They have had seven chil- dren, five of whom are living in 1907.
His address is Trenton, Edgefield county, South Carolina.
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DANIEL ALEXANDER TOWNSEND
T OWNSEND, DANIEL ALEXANDER, was born July 19, 1837, in Robeson county, North Carolina. He is the son of Jacob Rhodes and Sophronia Buie Townsend. His father was a farmer, characterized by honesty and good, hard sense.
Daniel Townsend's health in early life was good. This was fortunate, for his youth was one of unremitting toil, unvaried by the sports and pastimes which render the lives of many boys joyous and glad. This labor was performed on a farm, side by side with the negro hands; and so continuously that, to the boy, hard work appeared to be the natural and inevitable lot of youth.
The influence of his mother upon the development of his higher nature was helpful. No serious difficulties were encountered by him in securing the rudiments of an education. He attended the county schools, and, July 15, 1858, was graduated from Davidson college with first honors and the degree of A. B. His choice of occupation was determined in part by the wishes of his parents, but more, doubtless, by necessity. His serious life work was begun as a teacher in the schools of Marlboro county in 1856. He pursued this calling in Marlboro county in 1859-60-61. For a time his work as a teacher was interrupted by the call to arms. During the early part of the war he served in the infantry in the Confederate army. When the war was ended he returned to the schoolroom, teaching in Marion, South Carolina, from 1865 to 1870. From 1876 to 1878 he was county school superintendent, and from 1882 to 1885 mayor of Union, South Carolina. On December 4, 1890, Mr. Townsend was appointed assistant attorney- general by the then attorney-general, Y. J. Pope, now Chief Justice Pope of the supreme court of South Carolina. In Decem- ber, 1891, he was reappointed assistant attorney-general by the then attorney-general, John L. McLaurin. In December, 1892, he was elected attorney-general of South Carolina, and filled this high position so acceptably that on December 11, 1893, he was elected by the general assembly of South Carolina judge of the seventh judicial district for four years, beginning December 15,
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1893. In this work his record was so acceptable that he was reelected until he had served three terms.
Judge Townsend is a charter member of the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity. In politics he is an unchanging Democrat. In religion he is a Methodist.
The severe experience of his boyhood but foreshadowed the subsequent history of Judge Townsend. Amusement, relaxation, rest and recreation, have found no place in his life; for, year in and year out, the task master of toil has driven him like the galley slave at the oar. Fortunately, he has not fallen short of his expectations. To the young he commends sobriety, honesty, and steady work. He possesses all the qualifications of a judge. Not only is he well versed and learned in the law, but he knows how to apply it, always taking care of the unprotected. He is honest and upright in all his dealings with his fellow-men.
On November 4, 1864, Judge Townsend married Sallie Belle Douglass, daughter of Doctor George Douglass. Of their three children, two are now (1907) living.
The address of Judge Townsend is Mountain street, Union, South Carolina.
CARLOS CHANDOS TRACY
T RACY, CARLOS CHANDOS, of Walterboro, Colleton county, South Carolina, intendant of Walterboro from 1880 to 1884, school commissioner of Colleton county from 1885 to 1888, and one of the presidential electors of South Carolina in 1892, was born at Grahamville, Beaufort county, South Carolina, on the 27th of January, 1856. His father, Clemm C. Tracy, was a lawyer, who married Miss Emma H. Parker, daughter of H. M. Parker, of St. Luke's parish, Beaufort district. The earliest known American ancestor of the family was Lieutenant Thomas Tracy, who came from England in 1679 and settled at Norwich, Connecticut. Judge Thomas Heyward, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who had been educated at Temple Inn, London, was his maternal great- grandfather. His mother also numbers among her ancestors Arthur Middleton.
As a boy he was feeble in health; and since he was thus cut off from many of the active enjoyments of boyhood, perhaps his natural love of reading and books became more intense by reason of his poor health. His early years were divided between life in the country and in a village. His mother died when he was but eleven. Her influence had been strong in shaping his intel- lectual life. The circumstances of his father were such as to make easy for him the way to good preparatory schools and to college. He began his preparation for college at Mt. Zion insti- tute, Winnsboro. He entered Washington and Lee university, at Lexington, Virginia, but he did not complete the course of study for a degree.
He was admitted to the bar in February, 1875, by especial act. He began his active work as a man by serving as an organizer of Democratic clubs in 1876. In 1880 he was chosen intendant of Walterboro, and he filled that position until 1884. In 1885 he was made school commissioner for Colleton county, serving in that capacity for three years. He had been secretary of the Democratic executive committee of his county from 1878 to 1882. He was made one of the presidential electors of South Carolina for the Democratic party in the campaign of 1892. He
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has represented his party in several state conventions. He served as supervisor of registration for Colleton county from 1892 to 1903. From 1878 to 1880 he was captain of a troop of cavalry in the state militia.
Mr. Tracy is a Knight of Honor. In politics he is a Demo- crat; and he uniformly supports the platform and the nominees of his party. By religious conviction he is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church. His favorite form of amusement and relaxation has always been hunting.
On the 20th of April, 1880, he married Miss Annie Caroline Williams, daughter of O. P. Williams, of Walterboro. Of their five children, two are living in 1907.
CHARLES STUART VEDDER
V EDDER, CHARLES STUART, D. D., pastor of the Huguenot church at Charleston, South Carolina, was born in Schenectady, New York, October 7, 1826. His father was Albert A. Vedder, and his mother Susan Fulton Vedder. His father was a farmer in early life and was for many years a magistrate in his native county. He was a man of sturdy integrity, as became his Holland-Dutch extraction, and of great gentleness and courage. The first paternal ancestor to come to America was Harmen Albert Vedder, who emigrated from Hol- land and settled in New York city in 1562. Two ancestors, John and Albert Vedder, were carried captive to Canada in the French and English wars. John subsequently fought in the Revolu- tionary war in 1776.
The subject of the sketch was a studious youth and possessed a passionate love of reading. His health was vigorous from early childhood until his twentieth year, when it was impaired by overstudy. His early life was passed in the cities of New York and Schenectady. He determined to train himself for editorial life, and left the academy at which he was studying to learn practical printing with a view to that end. He spent four years at the Harpers' establishment and in the offices of the New York "American" and "Evening Gazette." At this time he had no taste for other professional life, and chose printing as most likely to be useful to him in his future career. Home influences, especially the influence of his mother, were very efficient in the development of his character. He had no difficulty in acquiring his education except such as arose from his impaired health. All through his life he has set the Bible above all things, and that book and the Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis, were most potent and helpful in his intellectual development. He entered the Schenectady Lyceum academy at an early age, and subsequently Union college, Schenectady, from which latter insti- tution he was graduated in the year 1851, becoming, after his graduation, one of the tutors of the college. He took a post- graduate course at the Theological seminary at Columbia, South Carolina, from which he was graduated in 1861, and was licensed
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to preach the same year. He has received the honorary degree of D. D. from the New York university and the Charleston college, and also the degree of LL. D. from the latter institution. On the 7th of June, 1854, he married Helen Amelia Scovel.
Doctor Vedder began the active work of life in New York city and Schenectady. His impulse toward the ministry was wholly spontaneous, though the early influences of the Sunday school had suggested it. His service as a minister of the Gospel began in Summerville, South Carolina, in 1861, and he remained there through 1866, at which time he was called to the pastorate of the Huguenot church in Charleston, South Carolina, a post which he has held for forty years and which he now (1907) occupies. He has been the president of many social and civic societies, such as the New England society, of Charleston, the Charleston Ministerial union, the Howard association, the Train- ing School for Nurses, the Charleston Bible society, and the Charleston lyceum.
During the War between the States, Doctor Vedder served as chaplain of the Eighteenth regiment of state troops, and is now chaplain of Camp A. Burnet Rhett, United Confederate veterans. He has written and published many sermons, poems and addresses. He has been a Mason for fifty years and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society for a like period. Among the official positions he has held are those of president of the New England society for twenty years, and master of St. George's lodge, F. A. M. He has always been a Democrat and a Presby- terian, and while giving no especial attention to athletics, he is able to enjoy a good game of baseball.
A leading belief of Doctor Vedder's has always been that God helps those who help themselves, and any failures that may be chargeable to his own account are traceable only to the neglect of this maxim. His favorite motto has been those words of John Ruskin, "All things beautiful and good are possible to him who believes in their possibility and who will bend every energy to make them realities." In this belief he has lived, and he would commend it to all who desire to form a sound ideal and to attain true success in life.
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A brief biography of Doctor Vedder has been published in the "Presbyterian Cyclopedia," to which reference may be had for further particulars as to his long, busy and useful career.
His postoffice address is 116 Church street, Charleston, South Carolina.
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WILLIAM HENRY WALLACE
W ALLACE, WILLIAM HENRY, editor and teacher, was born in Newberry county, South Carolina, Novem- ber 4, 1848. His father, John Wallace, was a farmer, well known for his industry, honesty and kindness. He brought up his son to the ordinary labor of a farmer, requiring systematic labor on the land when the boy was not at school, and expecting daily attention to "chores" even in school-term time. A strong, healthy boyhood with its share of outdoor sports, and particularly with much horseback exercise, gave to the growing youth a sound constitution, which has stood him in good stead in the later labors of life.
His father sent him to a good preparatory school; and later to Wofford college, from which institution he was graduated in 1871 with the degree of A. B.
He pursued post-graduate studies under the advice and direction of the faculty, and in 1874 received the second degree in arts, A. M., in recognition of this work.
As a boy he had been fascinated by the style and subject- matter of Macaulay's History of England; and to the essays of Macaulay, as well as to study of law books, he feels that he owes much of such power as writer as his editorial work in middle life has shown.
From 1871 to 1876 he taught; for the first year in the Reid- ville male school in Spartanburg county, and for three succeeding years in Columbia Female college. From 1876 to 1893 he edited a newspaper published at Newberry. Teaching claimed him again, and he filled a chair in Columbia Female college from 1893 until 1895. He was superintendent of the Newberry schools for five years, 1895 to 1900. He edited the "Greenville Daily News" for a year, 1900-1; and since 1901 he has been the editor of the "Newberry Observer," using wisely that relation (of friendly critic of the life of the community and guide to public opinion) which gives so much of influence to the local editor when he is a man of character whom his fellow-citizens respect.
During the War between the States, Mr. Wallace served for
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six months in the Confederate army, although he was but sixteen when the war closed.
He was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity, as an under-graduate at college; he is a member of the Knights of Honor; and in both fraternities he has held official positions of prominence. He is identified with the Southern Methodist church.
On December 26, 1872, he married Alice A. Lomax, daughter of Lucien H. Lomax, of Abbeville. Of their two children, one is still (1907) living.
Mr. Wallace was led by personal preference to his life work as editor. The profession of teaching and superintending schools, which has claimed several years of his time, he has regarded as closely allied to his work as editor in shaping public opinion and chronicling and endeavoring to better the life of the communities in which he has lived. It would be hard to say whether a larger number of "old pupils" or "old subscribers" are to be numbered among the host of friends who feel personally indebted to Mr. Wallace for instruction and good influence.
His address is Newberry, South Carolina.
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JOHN EDWARD WANNAMAKER
W ANNAMAKER, JOHN EDWARD, planter and farmer, who has a firm and most cheerful faith in farming as a paying business, and in modern, intelligent farm- life as the very best school for character, in these years when manufactures, trade and town-life attract most Carolinians, is an interesting character. Not only by reason of his pronounced convictions upon the attractiveness of farming and planting, but also by reason of his public spirit and his active interest in education and public morals, John Edward Wannamaker has made a place for himself among the men of mark in South Carolina.
He was born at Poplar Spring, near Orangeburg, South Carolina, on September 12, 1851. His father, John Jacob Wan- namaker, was a local preacher and farmer, whose honesty and fidelity to duty had won him the respect of all his neighbors, and led to his election as a member of the state convention which passed the ordinance of secession. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary K. Salley, was a most potent influence in forming his character and his ideals of life. His mother was of Scotch lineage, his father of German stock.
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