USA > South Carolina > Men of mark in South Carolina; ideals of American life: a collection of biographies of leading men of the state, Volume II > Part 10
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190
ROBERT PICKET HAMER, JR.
preparation, systematic methods, careful use of opportunities and of time. Always be sure before you take your stand; but when you have once taken it, stand firm and go forward. Be on the side of right and justice, and not on the side of policy."
His address is Hamer, Marion county, South Carolina
Men of Mark Publishing Co Washington, D. C.
yours Truly
JAMES DAVID HAMMETT
H AMMETT, JAMES DAVID, by reason of his executive ability and his familiarity with the details of all the business connected with a cotton mill, has been pro- moted within the last fifteen years from clerk in a mill office through the entire range of offices connected with the business management of a mill, until in 1902, at the age of thirty-four, he became president and treasurer of the Chiquola Cotton mill.
He was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on March 16, 1868. His father, Henry Pinckney Hammett, was a cotton manufacturer, a member of the state legislature, and mayor of Greenville-a man of sterling integrity, indomitable energy and great loyalty to his state and people. He believed that devotion to his own business was the best means of helping those who at the close of the War between the States were left poor and fatherless; and this conviction led him to withdraw from the management of railroads to engage again in cotton manufactur- ing, that he might furnish employment for as large a number as possible of his fellow-citizens who needed it. His mother, Mrs. Deborah Jane Hammett, influenced her son "for good in all things," and he says, "I owe more to her than to all others." Jesse Hammett, the first ancestor in America, from whom the family trace their descent, came to this country from England just before the Revolutionary war and settled in Maryland. The family have been planters in successive generations, until Mr. Henry Pinckney Hammett, with his father-in-law, William Bates, began the manufacturing of cotton.
Born in Greenville, "which at that time was no more than a village," J. D. Hammett had a healthy and happy boyhood, greatly enjoying out-of-door sports and hunting. With reference to the good influence upon a boy with regular engagements and occupations when not busy in school, he writes: "In my youth it was my business to drive my father to his office and to remain there with him when not engaged in school; and although I then regarded this as a hardship, I now see the wisdom which my father displayed in carrying out this policy and giving me an insight into his business."
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JAMES DAVID HAMMETT
He attended the Patrick school, of Greenville, South Caro- lina, and the Bingham school, in North Carolina; and for the college course he was matriculated a student at Furman univer- sity ; but he did not complete the course of study which leads to a degree. Instead, he became a clerk in a wholesale and retail grocery store in Greenville. After serving as a clerk in 1888, he became collector in a bank in 1889. In 1890 he served as a clerk in a mill office for a year. From 1892 to 1899 he was paymaster of the cotton mill. He became secretary and assistant treasurer of the mill in 1900; and two years later he was made president and treasurer of the institution.
His only military service has been as a private in the militia of his state. He is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow and a member of the order of Red Men. In his political relations he is identified with the Democratic party. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His favorite reading has been history.
On April 20, 1902, he married Miss Lula Scott. They have had three children, all of whom are living in 1907.
Mr. Hammett is still a comparatively young man; but this makes none the less interesting the suggestions which he offers to young Americans: "Do not be afraid to work, and do not try to pick out for yourself the easy positions too early in life. Show that you are willing to do the work, and let the pay take care of itself. I worked for two years as a clerk in a wholesale and retail grocery, did the hardest manual labor of my life, and did not know what salary I was getting until I was about to leave my employer."
Mr. Hammett's address is Honea Path, South Carolina.
GODFREY MICHAEL HARMAN
H ARMAN, GODFREY MICHAEL, of Lexington, South Carolina, since 1870 editor and proprietor of the "Lex- ington Dispatch," for many successive years mayor of . Lexington and a member of the city council, was born in the city where he still resides, on the 4th of June, 1845. His father, Reuben Harman, was postmaster, sheriff, magistrate and assistant clerk of the court-"a fine business man, generous and popular." The ancestors of the family came from Germany and settled in Lexington county, about four miles from the court-house.
A sturdy boy, passing his youth in the village of Lexington, he was taught as a boy to be industrious and regularly employed. The War between the States broke out when he was but fourteen. He volunteered for service in the Confederate army in April, 1861, and continued in the volunteer service until 1865. He joined the First South Carolina regiment (Gregg's), then entered the Thirteenth South Carolina regiment (from which he was discharged because he was under age), but he later reënlisted in the Twentieth South Carolina regiment, with which he remained until the close of the war.
In 1870 he entered the newspaper business at Lexington, convinced that here was a good opening for a newspaper which would grow to be influential in that section of the state. He has given his time and confined his attention almost entirely to the publishing and editing of the "Lexington Dispatch" for the last thirty-seven years. This has given him a wide acquaintance with all classes of people in his county and throughout the state; and his influence as a writer and publisher has had much to do with shaping the life of the community in which he has lived for the last generation. The confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens has been shown in his election and his repeated reelection to the office of mayor of Lexington.
On the 24th of November, 1864, he married Miss Pauline Lavinia Boozer, youngest daughter of Judge Lemuel Boozer, of Lexington, South Carolina.
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GODFREY MICHAEL HARMAN
Mr. Harman is a Mason. He is an Odd Fellow, and for twenty-six years he has served as a secretary of his lodge. He is a member of the Royal Fraternal union.
Fully identified with the Democratic party, for forty years he has advocated its principles and supported its nominees. He is a member of the Lutheran church. He professes himself a follower of Izaak Walton in his devotion to the piscatorial art. Throughout his life he has abstained from the use of intoxicants and tobacco; and he suggests to young South Carolinians who wish to attain true success in life, first of all, "abstinence from drink and tobacco." He adds this advice: "Never be idle-for idleness is the source of many crimes."
WALTER HAZARD
H AZARD, WALTER, lawyer and legislator, was born in Georgetown, South Carolina, December 25, 1859. His parents were Benjamin Ingall and Sarah Freeborn (Ingall) Hazard. His father was a merchant who was noted for his integrity, energy, firmness of will and business sagacity. He held the office of city and county tax assessor, and also served as assistant chief of the fire department of Georgetown. The earliest ancestors of the family in this country were Thomas Hassard (or Hazard), who came from England, in 1639, and settled in Aquidneck, Rhode Island. None of the immediate family were specially distinguished, but Rowland G. Hazard, a collateral kinsman, was a well-known woolen manufacturer and an eminent writer.
In childhood and youth Walter Hazard lived in the small town in which he was born. His health was good and he was interested in outdoor sports, though he was especially fond of reading and the study of languages. He had no regular tasks to perform and no difficulties to overcome in acquiring an education. His preparatory studies were taken at Winyah Indigo Society academy, Georgetown, after which he attended Princeton univer- sity, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1877. Three years later he received from the same institution the degree of A. M. The active work of life was commenced in 1878 in the office of Congdon, Hazard & Company, merchants, in Georgetown, South Carolina. In 1880 he founded the "Georgetown Enquirer" and edited the same until 1889, when he retired from journalism. He had studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1882. He entered the political field in 1882, as a member of the state house of representatives, in which he served for two yars. He was again elected for a like term in 1888, and was reëlected in 1890. At the close of this term, in 1892, he was elected to the state senate, in which he served until 1894, when, on account of ill health, he resigned. In 1890 he was a delegate to the famous anti-Tillman convention. He was appointed orator of the day for "South Carolina Day," June 28, 1907, at the Jamestown exposition and delivered the address on that occasion.
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WALTER HAZARD
Of the books which he has found most useful in preparing him for and carrying on the work of life, Mr. Hazard mentions the Bible, English literature, works on sociology, and the sermons of Frederick D. Maurice, Arthur Cleveland Coxe, and Charles Kingsley. When asked to name the source of the first strong impulse to strive for the prizes of life, he said that it could not be definitely stated, but was the outgrowth of school-day influ- ences and of sermons preached by the late Reverend W. T. Capers and Reverend John A. Porter, members of the South Carolina conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In the choice of his life work he was left entirely free, but his inclina- tions coincided with the wishes of his parents. In estimating the relative strength of certain specified influences upon his success, he places, first, school; second, home-in which the example and precepts of his mother had a beneficent and enduring effect upon his intellectual, moral and spiritual life; third, private study ; fourth, contact with men in active life; and fifth, early compan- ionship. His favorite means of amusement and relaxation are boating, hunting and fishing. He is a member of various societies and fraternities, including the Winyah Indigo society, of which he was secretary for five or six years and afterward president and is now its attorney and escheator; the Palmetto club; the South Carolina Bar association; and the Red Cross society. Among other services to his home city may be named that of chairman of the board of trustees of the Winyah Indigo school district, and president of the Georgetown board of trade. He is greatly interested in popular education, and hopes to secure the erection of a new graded school building and the establishment of a public library and a high school. In politics he has been, a lifelong Democrat. His religious affiliation is with the Protestant Epis- copal church, of which he has long been an honored member. He has several times been a delegate to the diocesan conventions, and in 1903 and 1905 he was a delegate to the general convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States.
On October 17, 1882, Mr. Hazard was married to Jessie Minnie Tamplet. After her death he was married, December 7, 1897, to Florence Adele Tamplet. Of his four children, two are living in 1907.
When asked for advice and suggestions to help young people to attain success in life, he says that "concentration of purpose
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WALTER HAZARD
and self-denial, undeviating adherence to conviction, absolute truthfulness, unselfish devotion to duties, high ideals and will- ingness to accept God's will in all things," are essential to the highest success.
The address of Mr. Hazard is Number 1171/2 Screven street, Georgetown, South Carolina.
EDWARD PALMER HENDERSON
H ENDERSON, EDWARD PALMER, son of Daniel S. and Charlotte Fraser Henderson, was born at Walter- boro, South Carolina, January 31, 1854. His father was a lawyer, who represented the Colleton district in the state legislature several terms before the War between the States. Daniel Henderson was a man of gentle, kind, serene spirit, fond of his children and most sincerely devoted to his state, for which he gave up all his property and, finally, life itself.
The earliest known ancestors of the family were Daniel Henderson, who in 1790 emigrated from the north of Ireland to Charleston, South Carolina; and John Fraser, who about 1700 came from Scotland and settled near Coosawhatchie.
Edward Henderson's early life was passed in a village; as a boy he was healthy and robust, fond of reading, of hunting, of work in the garden and of active games. He was early inured to toil. When the war ended he was but eleven years of age, and he at once found it necessary to do hard manual work, and plenty of it. He attended to the chores at home, worked some two years as a laborer in the fields, cared for the family garden, clerked in stores, etc., when opportunity offered, and learned to feel that all manual labor is honorable. This feeling was of great benefit to him, enabling him to work better for the benefit of those he loved, and also to improve his own opportunities of acquiring an education.
The influence of the boy's mother was strong upon all the aspects of his life, but especially upon the ethical and spiritual sides. For reading he turned to history, but more especially to biography. The lives of men of energy and character, for exam- ple, William of Orange, and George Washington, interested him greatly and helped him. He was also interested in Walter Scott's novels and poems, Hugo's Les Miserables, some of Stevenson's works, some of Dumas's, which, like "The Three Guardsmen," are marked by snap and energy. Tennyson's poems, especially "In Memoriam," the poems of Longfellow, and of Henry Timrod, were also helpful. Education came to young Henderson with difficulty. He was able, however, to take the course in the high
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EDWARD PALMER HENDERSON
school of Charleston, from which he was graduated. This course he followed with a post-graduate course of one year under Mr. William Kingman, principal of the Charleston high school.
Mr. Henderson began the actual work of life when, in 1874, he became clerk on a wharf in Charleston; this he followed up with the work of wharfinger, and later that of bookkeeper. He had, however, from his earliest years, felt a strong drawing toward the law, the profession of his father and of his two elder brothers. As opportunity afforded, he pursued the study of law, and in 1880 was admitted to practice. He now formed a copart- nership, at Aiken, South Carolina, with his brother, D. S. Hen- derson, and has since that date constantly practiced his profession at that place. From January 1, 1880, the Henderson law firm was entitled "Henderson Brothers," and was composed of D. S. and E. P. Henderson. On January 1, 1899, P. F. Henderson, son of D. S. Henderson, was admitted, and the firm name was changed to "Hendersons," and so continues.
Edward P. Henderson has never sought nor held political office. From 1876 to 1883 he served in a rifle company. In 1882 he was appointed by Governor Johnson Hagood as judge advo- cate of the Second brigade, first division of the volunteer state troops, and served two years. Since 1884 he has been a deacon in the Presbyterian church, and since 1886 treasurer of his church in Aiken.
Mr. Henderson commends to young Americans the observance of the Sabbath, the cultivation and preservation of the home as one of the chief foundations of American liberty, the maintenance of strict integrity in business relations, the care of the body and physical health, observance of regular hours of work and rest, respect for the laws of the land, trust in God, and earnest effort to win the approval of the Divine Presence.
Mr. Henderson's life for twenty-eight years has been largely absorbed in the work of the law. His firms have been engaged in all of the important cases in and near Aiken county. The published reports of the supreme court of South Carolina, and records of the United States court for that state, show the number and nature of the cases engaged in. Mr. E. P. Henderson has given personal attention to nearly every case his firm has man- aged in that period, and he has appeared in the trials of a large majority of them. His special talent is in the preparation of
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EDWARD PALMER HENDERSON
cases, and in the management of the lucrative practice of the business of his firm. He has taken part in many of the business enterprises in his locality and is adviser for many corporations in his county. He was elected one of the vice-presidents of the State Bar association for the year 1906.
The community in which he lives respects him as a man and trusts him in every way. His record with all the judges of the courts of his state is that he is competent, careful, always prepared, and fair. By his own efforts he has acquired a com- petency in his life work, and his financial credit is excellent. He is a responsible officer in the Presbyterian church and values highly this position. He is very happy in his family relations and feels that God has been good to him indeed.
On October 11, 1883, Mr. Henderson married Miss Harriett Lee Johnson. They have had five children, three of whom are living in 1907.
His address is Aiken, South Carolina.
CHARLES HAMMETT HENRY
H ENRY, CHARLES HAMMETT, son of J. B. and Mary E. Henry, was born at Greenville, South Carolina, Sep- tember 19, 1871. His father was engaged in the cotton business.
Charles Henry as a boy enjoyed excellent health and was fond of outdoor exercise. His youth was passed in Greenville, South Carolina. He attended Furman university two years, but did not graduate, withdrawing on account of temporary trouble with his eyesight. The lines of reading which most appealed to him were history, political economy and psychology.
Among the influences which have most affected the life and character of Mr. Henry may be named: home, school, and asso- ciation in early life with able business men. His choice of occupation was determined by circumstances. His active life work began in 1890. He accepted a position as bookkeeper at the Camperdown Cotton mills in Greenville. After two years spent at this work, he went into the newspaper business in 1891, and, with the exception of two years, he has followed this work continuously ever since. In 1900 he established the "Spartanburg Journal," a daily newspaper which has achieved great success. Of this paper he is sole owner, editor and manager.
Mr. Henry is a member of the Chi Psi fraternity and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. His views are liberal and tolerant on all subjects. To the young he commends, above all things, the development of character, supplemented by habits of energy, system, persistence and deter- mination, and the cultivation of resourcefulness and self-reliance.
On September 29, 1897, he married Ruth Petty, daughter of Captain and Mrs. Charles Petty, of Spartanburg. Two children are still (1907) living.
His address is Spartanburg, South Carolina.
WILLIAM GODBER HINSON
H INSON, WILLIAM GODBER, planter, and a pioneer in practical agricultural drainage and in the use of commercial fertilizers in South Carolina, was born on James Island, Charleston county, December 23, 1838. His father, Joseph Benjamin Hinson, was a planter "whose keen sense of jus- tice and the judicial fairness of whose mind" strongly impressed those who knew him. His mother was Mrs. Juliana (Rivers) Hinson, and through her he is descended from Captain Robert Rivers, who came from England about 1710 and settled on James Island. Benjamin Stiles, who came from England a little later and settled on James Island, as well as Captain Joseph Hinson, who came from Bermuda in 1797 to make a home for himself on James Island, are among the more prominent of his kinspeople in earlier generations. To his mother he feels that he is greatly indebted for the elements of moral and spiritual training.
Born in the country, he had for the most part good health in his childhood, and he knew the interests and occupation of boys who grew up upon a farm or plantation in the second half of the last century. The circumstances of his father's family were such as to relieve him from the need of working to secure the means for an education. He attended the schools of James Island, Bluffton and Greenwood; and, later, he was for a time at Mount Zion academy, at Winnsboro.
The outbreak of the War between the States found him promptly enlisted under the banner of his state, and as lieutenant- of Company G in the Seventh South Carolina cavalry he served throughout the war, from 1861 to 1865, and surrendered at Appo- mattox with the Army of Northern Virginia. During the war he was wounded three times. In the year after the close of hostilities he took up his father's business, that of a planter, at James Island. His own personal preference and circumstances, and the interests of his family, led him to follow his father in this line of life.
In enumerating the influences which have been strongest in his life he places first the home of his childhood and the influence of his family circle, and second, contact with men in active life.
1
Washington DC
yours truly
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WILLIAM GODBER HINSON
He has interested himself especially in the drainage of agri- cultural land. Not only has he studied this for himself, and for the management of his own property, but he has disseminated information among the farmers and planters of his state upon this subject, and he has used his influence in the different agri- cultural societies with which he is connected to promote scientific drainage and the use of commercial fertilizers. When he began to agitate in favor of these forms of scientific agriculture, imme- diately after the war, there was great need of public enlighten- ment upon these matters, which are now much more thoroughly understood by all farmers and planters through the influence of the state agricultural colleges and the agricultural experiment stations, and the literature which these institutions prepare and circulate. Mr. Hinson deserves much credit for his early and prolonged advocacy of drainage and scientifically selected ferti- lizers.
As a planter he has found that most of his interests, and many of his strongest personal friendships, led him toward mem- bership in agricultural societies. He is a member and director of the Commercial club, but with that exception the organizations to which he belongs are the State Agricultural and Mechanical society (the oldest agricultural organization in the United States, though not chartered until a year after a society in Massachu- setts), of which he has been an officer more than thirty years; the South Carolina Agricultural society, in which he has held office nearly as long; and various other organizations which have for their end the advancement of the agricultural interests. For some time, when it was a large and influential body, he was president of the Farmers' Alliance, which, in recent years, has been largely superseded by other organizations.
His religious associations and convictions identify him with the Protestant Episcopal church. He is a Democrat, and has never acted with any other political party or organization. He has never married.
While Mr. Hinson speaks with great modesty of his own life as "simple and retired," those who have watched the development of the agricultural interests of South Carolina give him credit for example and achievement which have been of very material advantage to his neighborhood and to the state.
His address is Charleston, South Carolina.
Vol. II .- S. C .- 10.
GEORGE JUDSON HOLLIDAY
H OLLIDAY, GEORGE JUDSON, farmer, merchant and dealer in real estate, a lawyer by professional study, although he has never practiced his profession, and a state senator, was born June 10, 1875, at Galivant's Ferry, South Carolina, where he still (1907) resides. His father, Joseph William Holliday, a farmer and merchant, had been county commissioner of Horry county, and left a considerable estate. He had refused several political honors; and he is described by one who knew him as "a man of great strength of character, possessed of a wonderful amount of energy and determination, and of a great store of common sense-a man whose pungent and practical sayings are still quoted in Horry county." His mother, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Grissette Holliday, strongly influenced his moral and spiritual life, although she died on his fourteenth birthday.
His father's ancestors were of English and Welsh descent, while his mother's family, Huguenots, came from France and settled on the southern coast of South Carolina. Among his father's kinspeople several have been prominent in the history of Virginia as statesmen and educators. Governor Holliday was known as "the governor with a conscience." His mother's father, R. G. W. Grissette, was a state senator from Horry county.
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