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 8
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His address is Clemson college, South Carolina.
Vol. I-S. C .- 7
CHRISTOPHER SCHULZ GADSDEN
G ADSDEN, CHRISTOPHER SCHULZ, second vice- president of the Atlantic Coast Line railroad, was born in the town of Summerville, state of South Carolina, on the 15th day of August, 1834. He was the son of the Reverend Philip Gadsden and his wife, Susan Brantford Hamilton. His father was rector of the Protestant Episcopal church of St. Paul's, Summerville. His character was marked by the qualities of simplicity and piety.
The ancestors of the Gadsden family in South Carolina were Thomas and Elizabeth Gadsden, who came from England in 1720 and settled in Charleston, South Carolina, Thomas Gadsden being the king's collector of customs. Among Mr. C. S. Gads- den's distinguished ancestors were Brigadier-General Christopher Gadsden of Revolutionary fame, Bishop Gadsden of South Caro- lina, and General James Gadsden, who negotiated the Gadsden purchase when minister to Mexico. General James Gadsden was aid-de-camp to General Andrew Jackson in the Seminole war.
Christopher Gadsden's physical condition in childhood was healthy and robust. His tastes were for laborious outdoor exer- cises, such as cutting trees and wood for family use, and the enjoyment of outdoor sports. Up to the age of fourteen he lived in Summerville, attending his father's school, and then went as a cadet to the South Carolina Military academies in Columbia and Charleston. Graduating at the age of eighteen at the South Carolina Military academy, he joined a party of engineers engaged in railroad surveying in Mississippi, Ohio, and other parts of the West. In 1854 he returned to South Carolina and was employed in early surveys of the Charleston and Savannah railroad, now a portion of the Atlantic Coast Line railroad; and on completion of this line, took charge of the surveys of what was then the Port Royal railroad, now the Charleston and Western Carolina railroad. He was engaged in this survey and construction up to and including the War between the States. During that war Mr. Gadsden was in the military service for a short time along the coast of South Carolina, but upon urgent representations as to the necessity of the construction of the
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Port Royal railroad for the purpose of coast defence, returned to the construction of said road, and was thus employed when Sherman's march through South Carolina terminated all enter- prises of this character.
Mr. Gadsden's mother was of a strong intellectual and moral character, and had large influence upon the development of the life and character of her son. His father's means were limited, and he, therefore, accepted a beneficiary cadetship of the South Carolina Military academy. The thorough mathematical train- ing obtained by him at that academy fitted him for the pursuit of civil engineering in connection with the railroad work referred to above. He was graduated fifth in a class of nineteen at the South Carolina Military academy in 1852. He was largely influ- enced in the choice of his profession in life by General James Gadsden, his uncle, then president of the South Carolina railroad and afterwards minister to Mexico.
On the 9th day of May, 1861, he married Florida I. Morrall. Seven children have been born to them, of whom four are now (1907) living.
The main influences which have impressed themselves upon Mr. Gadsden's career have been, first and foremost, the influence of his home life; next, the exacting discipline of military train- ing, and the association in railroad service with men of high and strong character. After the close of the war, Mr. Gadsden was again associated with the Charleston and Savannah railroad in its reconstruction, then was in charge of it as superintendent for thirty-four years. Afterwards, in the consolidation of the Plant System and the Atlantic Coast Line railroads, he occupied the positions, respectively, of vice-president and president of different sections, and finally as second vice-president of the consolidated railroads known as the Atlantic Coast Line System.
He has held various public positions, having been an alder- man of the city of Charleston for twenty successive years, and chairman of the board of visitors of the South Carolina Military academy. Mr. Gadsden's life has been mainly devoted to rail- road construction and management, but he has found time to give much thought and labor to current local, municipal, and state affairs, and has rendered great service to his native city in these regards. He is a member of the association of the Sons of the Revolution, being president of the South Carolina branch,
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and is also vice-president of the Alumni association of the South Carolina Military academy. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Outdoor exercises on horseback and in walk- ing have been his special modes of relaxation. He believes that the true principle of success in life is to be careful in the selection of one's life work, and to be constant in carrying out the object selected. His own career is a striking example of the soundness of this philosophy.
The address of Mr. Gadsden is Number 64 Hasell street, Charleston, South Carolina.
GEORGE WILLIAMS GAGE
G J AGE, GEORGE WILLIAMS, lawyer, was born Feb- ruary 4, 1856, near Fair Forest, Union county, South Carolina. His parents were Robert J. and Martha (Williams) Gage. His father was a planter who was noted for his kindness of heart, clearness of intellect, and sound judgment. In 1835 he was a member of the general assembly from Union, and in 1863 he served on the board of visitors of the South Carolina Military academy. His mother, though an invalid nearly all of her life, was a woman of fine intellectual endow- ments, remarkable social charms, and deep piety. She was a great help to her children in their studies, even after they reached the higher grades, and was kind and helpful to all to whom she could render service. The first paternal ancestor in this country was John Gage, who came from Coleraine, Ireland. His father was Robert Gage, who lived and died in the old country. John Gage located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1800, and two years later removed to Union, South Carolina. He was the father of Robert J. Gage. On the maternal side, the first ancestor in America was Richard Williams, who came from Glamorganshire, Wales, and was living in Taunton, Mas- sachusetts, in 1637. Edward Williams, father of Martha Wil- liams Gage, was fifth in the line of descent from him. For a long period this branch of the Williams family resided in Maine, and several of its members were prominent in public affairs.
In childhood and youth George Gage lived in the country. His health was delicate, but his tastes were for outdoor work and sport, and being much in the open air gave him increased bodily vigor. The devastation caused by the War between the States placed the family in limited circumstances, and made it necessary for him, at a comparatively early age, to take up the various kinds of work which a boy on the farm is able to per- form. This experience taught him "the value of doing things for one's self," and proved of great benefit in later years. From 1864 to 1871 he attended the inferior schools which at that time the country supplied. In the year last named he entered Wofford college, from which institution he was graduated in the summer
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of 1875 with the degree of A. B. In the following October he entered the employ of the Carolina Savings Bank, Charleston, South Carolina, where he remained for three years. Afterward he studied law at Vanderbilt university, from which institution he was graduated in 1880 with the degree of LL. B. In this course he also won the "Founder's Medal" for scholarship in law. Immediately after his graduation he opened a law office in Chester, South Carolina. For a time he was associated with his uncle, by marriage, the late Giles J. Patterson, and the late T. C. Gaston, and afterward for several years with J. K. Henry. His natural ability, thorough preparation, and excellent judg- ment, soon won for him a large and lucrative practice. In 1898 he was elected circuit judge, which office he still holds, having been reelected by the legislature in 1906. The political honors that have come to him are those of member of the Chester City council, 1884; presidential elector, 1888; member of the State Constitutional convention, 1895, and member of the State legis- lature, 1897.
His principal difficulties in acquiring an education came from the necessity of strict economy. During the five years in college his expenses were only eleven hundred dollars. The books which he has found most helpful in fitting him for and aiding him in the work of life, he names as the Bible, works on history, psychology, biography, and law. His first strong impulses to strive for the prizes he has won came from his admission to college at the age of fifteen and a day spent in a court room at Spartanburg about 1873. He was left free to choose his profession, and his purpose to study law was formed during his second year in college. In estimating the relative strength of various influences which have helped him in attain- ing success, he names those of home first. He states that his mother exerted a strong and inspiring influence upon his life, and that his parents had almost constantly at their country home men and women of culture and character. Next came the influ- ence of college, especially for its bringing him into contact with Doctor Carlisle, who then became, and who still remains, a great force in his life. Since marriage, his wife has been most encour- aging and helpful.
Judge Gage has never joined any fraternal order or social club, finding his best entertainment with his family, his books,
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and his friends. In politics he is a lifelong Democrat. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He has never paid attention to athletics, but he enjoys horseback riding as a means of exercise and relaxation. His public services have been largely in the line of efficient and fruitful efforts to improve the streets, secure and maintain public utilities, keep the schools of his town to a high standard, and to strengthen the church with which he is identified. He is quick to see the merits of a case, and he states his views concisely and convincingly. Though never attempting to force his opinions upon others, he is free to state his convictions at suitable times, and he does so without regard to their effect upon his popularity. When they are in the right, he is always ready to take the part of the weak, and he cheerfully commends good conduct of the obscure and unknown.
In order to help young people who may read his biography, Judge Gage says that any falling short of what he had hoped to do in life has been due to "the failure to always realize that the prizes of life lie in 'this day.'"
On December 21, 1881, Judge Gage was married to Janie, daughter of Captain J. Lucius and Margaret Hemphill Gaston, thus becoming allied with some of the oldest and most highly honored families of the South. Of their seven children, six are living in 1907.
The home of the family is in Chester, South Carolina.
THOMAS McDOWELL GILLAND
G ILLAND, THOMAS McDOWELL, lawyer, ex-member of the house of representatives, and for a term, from 1884, solicitor of the third circuit, was born in Oakley, Chester county, South Carolina, July 6, 1848. He is a son of Rev. James R. Gilland, a Presbyterian minister and a teacher, at one time professor in Davidson college.
He was born in the home of his grandfather, Dr. W. S. Gibbes. His mother, Mrs. Mary Caroline (Gibbes) Gilland, was a daughter of Dr. Wilmot S. Gibbes, a granddaughter of Chan- cellor DeSaussure, and a descendant of Robert Gibbes, chief justice of South Carolina in 1708.
His father, who was and is a practical teacher as well as a preacher, prepared him for college. His son writes: "It was while I was under my father's training that I acquired a con- tempt for all meanness and prevarication which has followed me I trust as a characteristic throughout my life." At the time when he would naturally have entered college, the breaking out of the War between the States, and the call of his state for the service of its old men and its boys, took him into the South Carolina state troops, where he served as first lieutenant of his company. At the close of the war there was little opportunity for well-paid employment, and he continued at home prosecuting his studies. In 1866 he taught school for a year in the lower part of Richland county, and in this year saved enough money to take him to college. In 1867 he entered the South Carolina university, and continued a student there for one year-as long a time as the funds at his disposal would support him. He then taught school for a year in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. The next year he taught at Hagerstown, Maryland; and while teach- ing he began the study of law in the office of Major Henry Kyd Douglas, formerly a member of the staff of General Stonewall Jackson, by whom Mr. Gilland was prepared for the bar.
Returning to South Carolina in the early part of 1870, he took up his residence for the practice of law at Kingstree, in Williamsburg county. In 1880 he was elected to the house of representatives from that county, serving for one term. In 1884
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he was elected solicitor of the third circuit and served for one term. In 1895 he was a member of the Constitutional convention called to prepare an amended constitution for the state of South Carolina.
He is allied with the Democratic party. By religious con- viction he is connected with the Presbyterian Church, South.
On April 1, 1877, he married Miss Louise Brockinton. They have had eight children, two of whom died in infancy, while six are living in 1907. The oldest son of the family, having taken an academic course and a professional course in law at the South Carolina college, is now associated with his father in the practice of law.
His address is Kingstree, Williamsburg county, South Caro- lina.
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JOHN LYLES GLENN
G LENN, JOHN LYLES, lawyer and banker, was born in the country, where the present village of Lowryville stands, Chester county, South Carolina, April 26, 1858. His parents were Ephraim Lyles and Louisa Holmes (Carter) Glenn. His father was a physician in Chester county for many years. He was successful in his profession, and by his high character and kindly disposition won the confidence and esteem of those who knew him. His health becoming impaired, he removed to York county, South Carolina, and gave most of his time to the cultivation of a farm. The earliest ancestors of the family to settle in this country came from the north of Scotland. Of these, Nathan Glenn, who lived in Cumberland county, Vir- ginia, about 1735 bought a large tract of land along Broad river in what is now Union county, South Carolina. His brother, James, purchased a tract on the other side of the river, now Chester county. The Glenn family was well represented in the war of the Revolution. James Glanton Glenn, a son of Spillsbey Glenn, and grandson of Nathan Glenn, just named, married Eliza Lyles, and from this marriage was born Dr. Ephraim Lyles Glenn, the father of John Lyles Glenn. Eliza Lyles was a daughter of Ephraim Lyles, who was a son of Colonel Aromanus Lyles, of the Revolution. The Lyles were among the earliest settlers along Broad river, and one of the family, Aromanus, who was born in 1748, was the first white male child born in Fairfield county. He reached the rank of colonel in the Revolution. The family has long been prominent in public affairs. The Carter family, into which the father of the subject of this sketch mar- ried, settled in Maryland, but about the time of the Revolution they removed to Chester county, South Carolina, and have always been respected and influential.
In childhood and youth John Lyles Glenn was well and strong. His home life was pleasant; and though she died when he was only thirteen years of age, his mother exerted a powerful and enduring influence upon him for good. Among other things, she helped him to overcome a naturally indolent disposition. At that time the schools in his neighborhood were very poor, and he
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JOHN LYLES GLENN
had to change schools or teachers every year. Because of this his early education was defective. He succeeded, however, in preparing for and securing admission to Wofford college. He took the full course of study in this institution and was grad- uated therefrom, with the degree of A. B., in 1879. Having read law for a year in the office of Patterson & Gaston, in Chester, South Carolina, he then studied for one year, 1880-81, in the law department of Vanderbilt university. In the fall of the year last named he commenced the practice of law in Chester, South Carolina, which he has continued with great success. For a number of years he has given a large part of his time to railroad and other corporation cases, in which line he takes a high rank among the lawyers in his state. He has long been district counsel for the Seaboard Air Line railway, and attorney for the Lan- caster and Chester railway and for local cotton mills. Mr. Glenn was associated in the first years of his practice with T. E. McLure, Esquire, the firm being Glenn & McLure. This partnership was dissolved by the untimely death of Mr. McLure. Mr. Glenn then practiced alone until the formation of the firm of Glenn & McFadden in 1894, S. E. McFadden, Esquire, being the junior member of the firm. This firm is one of the best known and most successful in upper South Carolina.
For some years prior to 1903, in which year he became its president, he was a director and the attorney for the Exchange Bank of Chester, South Carolina. He has always taken a deep interest in the welfare of his town and state. For several years he was chairman of the board of trustees of public schools in Chester and did much to elevate the character and increase the efficiency of these schools. He was chairman of the commis- sioners of public works when water, sewerage and electric lights were installed in Chester. He was active in the building and improvement of the church of which he is a member. He was a member of the Constitutional convention of 1895, and is now (1907) a trustee of Wofford college. In 1898 he was elected to the state senate, but at the end of the term he declined a reëlection.
In regard to the influences, aside from those of home, which helped him greatly in his struggle for success, Mr. Glenn says that entering college was a turning point for the better in his life. It awakened an ambition to do something in the world,
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and the faculty of Wofford college did much to help him. In the choice of a profession he was free to follow his own inclination. He has never taken a course in physical culture, but finds plenty of exercise and recreation in looking after the affairs of his farm. When in college he joined the Chi Phi fraternity, and he is now a member of the Blue Lodge and Chapter Masons, at Chester. In politics he has always been a Democrat. His religious con- nection is with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is an active and efficient member.
In response to a request for suggestions which will help young Americans to win success in life, he says: "Too many desire and expect success without being willing to work sufficiently for it. They expect that which they do not really deserve. They are not willing to labor and wait. They expect results too quick." Mr. Glenn is a man of strong convictions, but he is always tolerant of the opinions of others.
On April 26, 1883, Mr. Glenn was married to Miss Alice Hall. Of their nine children, eight are now (1907) living. Mrs. Glenn, on her father's side, is a descendant of the Halls of Fair- field, and, on her mother's side, of the Hardins of Chester.
The postoffice address of Mr. Glenn is Chester, South Caro- lina.
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Men of Mark Publishing Co Washington, D. C.
Respectfully
JAMES PLEASANT GOSSETT
G OSSETT, JAMES PLEASANT, son of Pleasant Tollison and Elizabeth (Steen) Gossett, was born at Rich Hill, Spartanburg county, South Carolina, September 23,
1860. His father was a planter and breeder of live stock; & Jeffersonian Democrat of the old school; and a firm believer and advocate of the doctrine of "states rights and a general govern- ment of carefully defined powers."
According to tradition, the family is of Norman origin, and were strong Protestants. A branch settled in France, but took refuge in England upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Mr. Gossett's paternal great great-grandfather, John Gossett, is supposed to have descended from this family and to be related to the family of the same name now in England. He came to America just prior to the Revolution and settled in Virginia. In 1777 he enlisted in the Continental army and served throughout the war. The name "Steen," the mother's family name, is Scandinavian and indicative of solidity and strength of character. The early possessors of the name lived in Norway and Denmark, one being an officer in the army of Gustavus Adolphus at the time he invaded Germany to rescue the Protes- tants from the tyranny of the house of Hapsburg. Mr. Gossett's maternal great great-grandfather, James Steen, was born in Ire- land, near "The Vow" in County Antrim, Province of Ulster, about 1734. He came to America about 1755, and settled in Union district, South Carolina, where he married. He fought in the Revolution and was killed in the battle of King's Mountain, October 7, 1780.
The Steens are Scotch-Irish, and have a family crest, or coat-of-arms, which has been in use for more than two hundred and fifty years. Its rightful color is Presbyterian true-blue, which symbolizes fidelity. It represents the fabled Phoenix bird rising from its own ashes, with extended wings ready to fly away-an emblem of faith in God and hope of immortality. They also have a genealogical history which runs back for several hundred years and includes the celebrated Dutch painter, Jan
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Steen, whose paintings are on exhibition at the Royal Museum and Picture Gallery at The Hague.
Young Gossett was brought up in the country; he was strong and robust, and fond of athletic sports of all kinds. His father, at the time of his son's birth, was a prosperous planter and slave owner, but he lost all in the war. The mother died in 1869 and the father in 1870, leaving eight children. Their property was sold at ruinous prices to satisfy pressing debts, in consequence of which the children were left homeless. This was during the trying days when the state was overrun by the negro and the carpetbagger, then by the Kuklux Klan, and later by the Federal troops; each, at such times, thought first of himself, and little provision was made for the destitute. There were no charitable institutions in which the orphans could take refuge and they were scattered among neighbors and relatives. James was assigned to Eli Bryant, a farmer, near Glendale, Spartanburg county, to work until twenty-one years of age, at which time he was to receive "a horse, bridle and saddle, and $50 bounty," with no mention made as to the quality of the horse. The old man was unlearned, but a hardy and rugged yeoman, who, by hard labor and economy, had accumulated means. He rose before day, and, with plow in the field, waited for light to run the furrow. Here he remained until the stars came out at night. The boy was with him, learning all kinds of farm work. He loved work and the fields, but longed for books and school. These, to the old man, were vain and hurtful. Realizing that if he were ever to be more than "a hewer of wood and drawer of water" it must be by his own efforts, the boy pressed the old man time and again either to send him to school or release him. Both alter- natives being refused, James deliberately and openly left, without a change of clothing or a cent in his pocket. He finally settled at Colerain, Union county, with C. P. Brown, an old friend of his father, who paid young Gossett seventy-two dollars, with "board and washing," for his first year's work. Mr. Brown was a prosperous merchant and planter and encouraged the boy's ambition for an education. He aided him in saving, in three years, one hundred dollars, with which sum the youth, on Jan- uary 1, 1878, entered the high school at Pacolet, South Carolina, under Professor L. B. Haynes. Though eighteen years old, James was assigned to class work with children of ten and
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twelve; but his determination to succeed overcame all obstacles. He bought provisions, hired his cooking done, and paid his own way with the proceeds of his earlier savings and of cotton raised while in school. In his teachers, especially Professor John G. Clinkscales, he found fast friends. In 1880 he secured a first grade certificate to teach in Spartanburg county, and taught for three months with complete success. He then accepted a position as salesman in the store of Rogers & Clinkscales, remaining during 1880-81. In 1882 he accepted the position as salesman and traveling agent with Wilkins, Poe & Company, of Green- ville, South Carolina, remaining until 1886, when he entered the service of William Brice & Company, wholesale hardware mer- chants of New York City, as traveling salesman. Upon the death of Mr. Brice, in the fall of 1887, Mr. Gossett went with the Bay State Shoe and Leather company, of New York City, traveling for them until 1902. He assisted in the organization of the Williamston Oil and Fertilizer company, and served as its president from 1895 to 1902. In 1899 he organized the Bank of Williamston, and became its president January 1, 1900. He also became president and treasurer of the Williamston mills December 14, 1901, both of which positions he still holds.
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