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 11
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Born in the country, having frail health as a boy, George Holliday grew stronger by indulging in out-of-door sports, hunt- ing, fishing and horseback riding. While the circumstances of his family were such that he did no work from motives of self- support, he was required by his father to work on the farm, "to hoe and to plough," and he was charged with the especial duty of looking after the cattle, to see that they were properly fed and housed. Entirely apart from reasons of economy, his father required all his children to work, "the daughters to learn to cook and sew and do housework," the sons "to do thoroughly well any work that came to hand, if their assistance were needed, in farm or store."
The family removed to Marion when he was twelve years old, especially to secure better school facilities for the children.
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His father purchased the old Planters hotel; and as a boy he served as clerk there, and among the guests and traveling men from various states and counties he formed many interesting acquaintances; and he believes that his acquaintance with trade and business interests of all kinds, and whatever facility he has in meeting men for the transaction of business, is in large part due to the early experience and the wide acquaintance which he acquired in hotel life there.
He first attended the public county schools of Horry county, then the Marion graded school, the Bethel Military academy, Bethel, Virginia; and he took the last two years of the college course at Center college, Danville, Kentucky, from which insti- tution he was graduated with the degree of B. L. in 1897.
He had already been for two years a member of the faculty of the Hogsett Military academy, of Danville, Kentucky, and he was admitted to the bar of Kentucky at the age of twenty-one, before his graduation from college, and proceeding to Harvard university, he did post-graduate work in law and English from 1897 to 1899. In 1899 he became a clerk and assistant in his father's business of farming and merchandising and real estate at Galivant's Ferry. He had expected to practice law, but his father's health was already undermined, and feeling that he ought to relieve his father as much as possible from business cares and feeling always that strong desire to succeed in whatever he undertook, which had won for him prizes, medals and distinction in his course of study, he soon became deeply interested in busi- ness, and after his father's death he purchased from the other heirs the business of his father at Galivant's Ferry.
Mr. Holliday is still a comparatively young man, and the care of his father's estate (of which he is an executor), and his service as guardian of the younger children, together with the prosecution of his own business, has engrossed most of his time. From 1900 to 1902 he was a member of the county board of education in Horry county. He has been a delegate to several of the state Democratic conventions. He is also state senator from Horry county. He has been zealous in the upbuilding and development of the schools of his county, and worked for the interests of the county and state at large.
He is connected with the Baptist church. He is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias. While at school and college he was
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much interested in athletics, and took several medals and prizes, having represented Center college at the amateur athletic asso- ciation at Chicago, where he won two medals in the sprinting race, and equaled the world's record for the hundred-yard dash. At Harvard he won several athletic distinctions. He is very fond of hunting and fishing, but of late years he declines to take time from business and professional duties to indulge his fondness for these amusements.
On June 19, 1901, Mr. Holliday married Miss Flora Johnson, daughter of Solicitor John Monroe Johnson, of Marion, South Carolina. Of their four children, two daughters are living in 1907.
His address is Galivant's Ferry, South Carolina.
DANIEL EDWARD HYDRICK
H YDRICK, DANIEL EDWARD, was born August 6, 1860, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He was the son of Jacob H. Hydrick and Margaret Hildebrand Hydrick. His father was a farmer, a man of marked character, noted for honesty, truthfulness and tenacity of purpose. His mother, who was possessed of more than ordinary intellectual attainments, devoted herself to the education and moral training of her children. To her influence, and to the inspiration derived from her high ideals of life and character, more than to anything else, Daniel Hydrick attributes what measure of success he has achieved.
Daniel Hydrick's maternal grandfather was Jacob Hilde- brand, whose wife was Jemima Leonard. His paternal grand- mother was an Evans.
Daniel Hydrick's early life was uneventful but pleasant. He enjoyed good health, was fond of reading, but never took much interest in boyish or outdoor sports. His youth was passed in the country on his father's farm. He did all sorts of farm work, and was clerk in a grocery store, and later in a drug store, seeking always to do as well as he could whatever he undertook.
Daniel Hydrick's opportunities for schooling were meager, the terms being short and irregular, but he was determined to obtain a collegiate education and so made the most of the limited opportunities afforded by these schools. He attended Captain Hugh S. Thompson's Columbia Male academy about one-half session. In October, 1876, when sixteen years of age, he entered the preparatory department of Wofford college at Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Early in the spring of the next year he went home on account of his mother's last sickness. He kept up his studies at home, however, without the aid of a teacher, returned to Wofford in the fall of 1877 and entered the freshman class. In Wofford he continued until the completion of the junior year, when he was awarded the medal offered by the alumni association for the highest proficiency in general scholarship. Leaving Wofford,
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Daniel Hydrick went to Vanderbilt university, Nashville, Ten- nessee, and pursued a classical and literary course. At the end of his first year he was given a scholarship for proficiency in Greek. He was graduated in May, 1882, with the degree of A. B. He took with him, also, certificates showing that he lacked but two branches of having completed the course leading to the degree of A. M. He was offered a post-graduate fellowship in the department of English language and literature, but declined it.
The studies which have done most for Mr. Hydrick are the classics, the English language, literature and history. The masterpieces of thought and expression are, in his judgment, of inestimable value, and, at the head of the list, he unhesitatingly places the Bible and Shakespeare. The influences of his mother, private study, school, contact with men, and early companionship, may be noted as the forces which have most affected his life.
In October, 1882, he accepted the principalship of the Dar- lington Male academy, where he taught for three years. At the end of this time he gave up the school, studied law, and in 1886, at the spring term of the supreme court, was admitted by that body to the bar. He practiced in Spartanburg until elected circuit judge. For about eight years he practiced with Captain John W. Carlisle, as Carlisle & Hydrick. From 1894 until 1905 he practiced at Union, South Carolina, with J. A. Sawyer, as Hydrick & Sawyer, and from the fall of 1895 to January, 1900, he practiced with Honorable Stanyarne Wilson, at Spartanburg, South Carolina, as Hydrick & Wilson. From 1895 to 1900, Mr. Hydrick served as county attorney. In 1897 he was elected to fill the unexpired term in the South Carolina house of represen- tatives; in 1898 he was reelected for a full term; in 1900 he was elected state senator, and in 1904 was reelected.
As an able, scholarly and conscientious lawyer, Mr. Hydrick won a commanding position at the bar and in the councils of his state. In 1905, by an act almost unprecedented in the legislative annals of South Carolina, a judge whose term was expiring was set aside; and on the first ballot Mr. Hydrick was elected judge of the seventh judicial circuit.
Judge Hydrick is a member of the Masonic order, of the Knights of Pythias, Red Men, and the State Bar association. Since 1902 he has been eminent commander of Spartanburg Commandery, Number 3, Knights Templar. He is a member of
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Oasis Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He was also a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Wofford college.
Judge Hydrick is a lifelong Democrat, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He enjoys horseback riding and is fond of bird shooting, but he has not devoted much time to outdoor sports. Upon every young American he would impress the conviction that there is no royal road to success, and the necessity of being honest, sober and industrious. These virtues, he believes, coupled with even a moderate degree of ability, with high ideals of the duties and responsibilities of life and a tena- cious purpose to do something worth while, will not only insure success, but peace, happiness and wealth.
On October 24, 1882, Judge Hydrick married Rosa Lee, daughter of Major John A. Lee, of Spartanburg. Four children have been born of this marriage, two girls and two boys. All are now (1907) living.
His address is 47 Lee street, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
JOHN MURCHISON JACKSON
J ACKSON, JOHN MURCHISON, merchant and farmer, residing at Bennettsville, Marlboro county, South Caro- lina, was born at Clio, in that county, on the 23d of May, 1853, the son of Owen Jackson.
His mother's family trace their descent from Philip Murchi- son, who married Miss Margaret McRae, and emigrated from Inverness, Scotland, about 1775, settling first at Wilmington, North Carolina, shortly afterward removing to Fayetteville, North Carolina, and subsequently to Selkirk, Marion county, South Carolina. His father's grandfather, Edward Jackson, came from Virginia just at the close of the Revolutionary war and settled on Cat Fish creek, in Marion county, South Carolina. The history of Marion county, by W. W. Sellers, contains sketches of several members of the Jackson family.
In his early years slender of physique and frail in health, he feels that he owes his later good health to the out-of-door country life he knew in his boyhood. Fishing and shooting were his favorite sports; and to the work which he did on the farm, in assisting his father and brothers in the support of the family, he attributes his good health, while it gave him business-like habits which have been of value to him in later life. His oppor- tunities for attending school were limited, and the facilities offered by the country schools within his reach were meager.
When he was nineteen he left home to take the position of salesman in a country store near Marion, South Carolina. In the fall of 1873 he entered a store at Bennettsville, which was owned by his uncle, John D. Murchison, whom he succeeded in business, January 1, 1884. His attention to business and his integrity and public spirit led his fellow-townsmen to choose him an alderman of the town; and he served as chairman of the first board of public works, which installed the electric light plant of the town. He has also been a trustee of the graded schools of Bennettsville for the last eleven years, and is now chairman of the board.
On the 10th of November, 1887, he married Miss Elizabeth Walker Duval, daughter of Mareen H. H. Duval, who came from
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Maryland and settled in Cheraw, Chesterfield county. They have had seven children, all of whom are living in 1907. A member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Mr. Jackson has served as a steward (and recently chairman of the board) of the Methodist church at Bennettsville for the last twenty years.
Having acquired a competence, Mr. Jackson now exercises only a general supervision of his large business, leaving the details to his employees. He is a Democrat in politics and has uniformly supported the principles and nominees of his party. Horseback riding has been his favorite form of exercise, and the raising of poultry his diversion from regular business. He suggests to the young people of his state, as a key to success in life : "Be perfectly honest in small things as well as great; finish every undertaking which you begin; and never play any game of chance."
JOSEPH TRAVIS JOHNSON
J OHNSON, JOSEPH TRAVIS, lawyer, and member of congress from the fourth district of South Carolina, was born in Brewerton, Laurens county, South Carolina, Feb- ruary 28, 1858. His parents were Benjamin and Mary (Medlock) Johnson. His father was a farmer by occupation, and was a. highly respected citizen, but never sought or held a public office. The grandfather of the subject of this sketch removed from Virginia to South Carolina about the year 1820.
In childhood and youth Joseph T. Johnson lived in the country. His father died in 1860, and the War between the States swept away nearly all of the property he had accumulated. A little land was left, however, and as soon as he was able to work, the youth was required to assist regularly in its cultivation. His health was good, and the outdoor work, though it seemed hard at the time, promoted his bodily growth and mental devel- opment, and, as he was convinced later on, proved of great and permanent benefit. When he was fourteen years of age he sus- tained an irreparable loss in the death of his mother. From infancy she had exerted a powerful influence upon his moral and intellectual natures, and her last words to him were the expression of a strong desire that he should lead an irreproachable life. He was anxious to obtain a thorough education, but being left alone in the world at this early age, and with very limited means, it was exceedingly difficult for him to make satisfactory progress in his studies. He attended country schools for a while and then entered upon a course of study at Erskine college, from which. institution he was graduated in 1879. Afterward he studied law and on June 1, 1883, he began the practice of his profession at Laurens, South Carolina. Here he was successful from the first and became well known as an able advocate. This, however, did not satisfy his ambition. From early years he had felt a strong desire to enter political life. Even when he was only a lad he told people with whom he came in contact that he intended sometime to go to congress, and perhaps to reach even a higher position. While he now feels that all of his early hopes cannot be fulfilled, he has the great satisfaction of having carried out
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his plan of becoming a member of congress. In this capacity he has served his constituents repeatedly and ably. He was elected to the fifty-seventh congress in 1900, and, by reëlections, became a member of the fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth and sixtieth congresses. As he has always been a Democrat, he was a member of the minority party in congress and was thus prevented from taking an active part in shaping legislation. But in spite of this handi- cap he rendered excellent service to the country at large, and was especially helpful to the district which he more immediately represented. He has been a careful student of matters of current interest, and has paid special attention to financial affairs. The results of his studies in the last named line may be found in his book on "The Money Question," which was published in 1895, and which was well received.
Mr. Johnson is a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar, a Shriner, and a member of the Knights of Pythias. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Earlier in life he found his principal mode of relaxation in playing chess, but of late years he has had very little time for this or any other amusement.
On July 30, 1890, he was married to Sarah Anderson, and of their six children, five are now (1907) living.
The address of Mr. Johnson is 136 North Converse street, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
ADAM CRANE JONES
J' ONES, ADAM CRANE, merchant, was born in Laurens, Laurens county, South Carolina, June 2, 1855. His parents were Benjamin F. and Katharine F. Jones. His father was a farmer,-honest and energetic, with decided convictions, who served in the Confederate States army throughout the war, and was severely wounded in the battle of the Wilderness. The earliest ancestors of the family in this country came from Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and settled in the vicinity of the old Ninety-Six district. They bore the family names of Jones, Mac- beth, Wilks, and Blakeley. A. C. Jones, a great-grandfather on the paternal side of the subject of this sketch, was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. His grandfather on the maternal side was of Irish descent, who married a Wilks, settled in Laurens county, and was a Whig in politics. The Macbeth family came from Scotland before 1789. They were stanch Presbyterians, and brought with them their family Bible, which was printed in Scotland in 1642 and contains family records about as far back as 1600. This Bible is now in possession of Mrs. J. H. Oliver, of Cherokee Springs, South Carolina, who is a lineal descendant of John Macbeth, its first owner.
In childhood and youth Adam Crane Jones lived in the country, but within a few miles of a thriving town. He was well and strong. His tastes and interests were divided between books, of which he was very fond; hunting and other outdoor sports, and work on the farm. He was religiously inclined and had a strong desire to obtain an education, but the circumstances of the family were such that he was obliged to spend a considerable part of his time in farm work. Even in boyhood he had to plough and do nearly all the various, and in some instances difficult, kinds of farm labor. The country schools of those days gave very meager educational advantages, but they were the best that were within his reach. Even these were closed to him more than half the time, for he was obliged to work on the farm one year and could attend school only a part of the next year. In 1869, when only fourteen years of age, he attended school in Union county, and there completed his public education. As he could take only a
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part of the prescribed course of study, he was never graduated. After leaving school he returned to his father's farm in Laurens county. There he remained until September, 1871, when he became a clerk in a store. He chose this occupation in hope that he could support himself and could also have some time in the evenings which could be devoted to study. For two years from 1871 he was clerk in a dry goods store in Clinton; during the next four years he was a clerk in dry goods stores at New- berry. He then became a merchant in Newberry, which business he followed until 1882. In 1883 he was appointed clerk to Captain James N. Lipscomb, secretary of state of South Carolina, which position he held for four years and declined the offer of a reappointment by Major Leitner, who then succeeded Captain Lipscomb as secretary of state. In 1887 he became a salesman, and from that time until 1900 represented various firms, working mostly in South Carolina, but in some instances also in North
Carolina. From November, 1900, to March 31, 1905, he was traveling salesman for Arnold, Constable & Company, for South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. At the end of his term of service for this company he again engaged in the mercantile business at Newberry, where he still remains. Of the books which have been most helpful in preparing him for and in enabling him to carry on his work most successfully he names: the Bible; history, especially that relating to the United States and to South Carolina; newspapers and magazines, together with the current literature of the day.
The first impulse to strive to secure the prizes of life came in early youth in the desire to pay his way and to increase his educational advantages. His choice of an occupation was due to his own personal preference. In estimating the relative value of certain specified influences upon his success in life he names, first, that of home, where he was taught to reverence the Bible and honor God; second, school; third, early companionship; fourth, private study ; fifth, contact with men of high principle and noble purpose. The sports which he finds most helpful for relaxation are hunting and driving, and he enjoys all kinds of innocent amusement, but he adds that his time has been so completely occupied with business affairs that he has for many years been able to give very little attention to any of them. Mr. Jones is affiliated with several fraternities and societies, including Amity
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lodge, No. 87, of which he is past master; member Signet Chapter, No. 18; member Columbia Council, No. 5; Oasis Temple, Char- lotte, North Carolina; Columbia Commandery, No. 2; Knights of Pythias, No. 75, and member board of trustees; member United Commercial Travelers; the Travelers' Protective association; member Interstate Committee Young Men's Christian association, and has been connected with association work since 1877. His first active work in politics was during the Hampton movement in 1876. He was at this time vice-president of the first young men's Democratic club organized in his county, and strongly advocated the policy of nominating a "straight-out" Democratic party ticket, which policy finally prevailed. Except on the free silver issue, he has always adhered to the Democratic party, but from 1892 until the cause was successful he was earnestly engaged in efforts to secure a prohibitory law in place of the state dispen- sary. In order to further this interest he decided in April, 1905, to become a candidate for governor in the Democratic primary for 1906. His appeal to the Democrats of the state was "to vote the dispensaries out county by county, and at the same time to elect men to the legislature who will enforce the law and give the people a clean, economical, business administration." He thus represented all Democrats who were opposed to the dispensary system, and all Prohibitionists who would prevent the sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage in any form. The election was held in November, 1906, and resulted in the overthrow of the dispensary system. His religious affiliation is with the Presby- terian church, in which he has held the office of deacon since 1877.
Mr. Jones was married on November 15, 1877, to Lula M. Greneker. Of their four children, three are now (1907) living.
In reply to a request for suggestions as to principles, methods and habits which will most help young people to attain true success in life, he says: "First, a due regard to health; second, the importance of a well-rounded Christian character; third, to learn to do everything in school and in business well; fourth, after learning to do well, learn to do quickly; fifth, to perform the smallest duty as carefully and as well as if much depended upon the manner it was done; sixth, to let your word be as good as your bond in every transaction in life; seventh, to be loyal to your friends, yourself, and your country."
The postoffice address of Mr. Jones is Calhoun street, New- berry, South Carolina.
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WILIE JONES
J ONES, WILIE, banker and brigadier-general of the South Carolina militia, was born at Hillsboro, Orange county, North Carolina, on the 17th of October, 1850. His father's name was Cadwallader Jones, and that of his mother, Anna Isabella Jones. His father was a farmer, a lawyer and a soldier. He held the office of solicitor in North Carolina for thirty years, and subsequently removed to South Carolina and became a mem- ber of the senate of that state, from York county. During the War between the States he was a colonel of the Twelfth South Carolina regiment, Confederate States army. The earliest ances- tors of Mr. Jones' family emigrated to America during the seventeenth century, from Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland. His great-grandfather, James Iredell, was associate justice of the supreme court of the United States, and his grandfather, James Iredell, Jr., was governor and United States senator from North Carolina.
The early life of Mr. Jones was passed on his father's plan- tation near Rock Hill, in York county, South Carolina, where he ploughed cotton and corn when a youth. His health was good and his tastes and interests soon turned to business, political and military life. The whole course of his moral and intellectual life was shaped by his mother, who was a devout member of the Episcopal church. He received a common school education, but was never able to attend college. He began the active work of life as a clerk in a store at Rock Hill, but subsequently, at the age of nineteen, obtained a position in the Carolina National bank, in Columbia, South Carolina, and has remained in this bank ever since, being cashier for twenty-three years, and rising finally to the office of vice-president, which he now holds. Mr. Jones was the architect of his own fortune. He has been a great student of human nature, and much of his success is due to his knowledge of men. He was a member of the state Democratic committee of South Carolina, and has been secretary and treas- urer thereof, and its chairman for the past twenty-five years. He was a member of the Constitutional convention of South Carolina in 1895, and colonel of the Second South Carolina
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