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 6
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HENRY MONTGOMERY DIBBLE
nearly $50,000. He is a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, and also of the Phi Beta Kappa society. In Michigan he was a Republican, but when he became a citizen of South Carolina he became convinced of the necessity for the supremacy of the white race, and on that issue has since supported the Democratic party. In religion he is an Episcopalian. His relaxation is found in farming and landscape gardening. He has never been married. His address is Aiken, South Carolina.
JAMES W. DILLON
D ILLON, JAMES W., of Marion county, South Carolina, merchant, president of J. W. Dillon & Son Company, a mercantile corporation, was born near Little Rock, Marion county, November 25, 1826. His father, William Dillon, was a farmer. His grandfather, Joshua Dillon, came from Ire- land about 1775, settling in Virginia and afterward removing to South Carolina and settling in upper Marion county.
Born on a farm, he was early trained to do farm work, and he learned with some thoroughness the use of carpenters' tools. From boyhood he was accustomed to regular tasks of useful labor. From 1834 to 1844 he attended the country schools which were within his reach. He had to provide the means to pay for his board and tuition by working upon the farm in vacation time. Like thousands of Americans who were boys in school in the first half of the last century, he feels that he owes a debt to Webster's spelling book, with its practical maxims of life, and such brief lessons of morality as "no man may put off the law of God."
In 1853, at the age of twenty-seven, he began business for himself, keeping a store at Little Rock, South Carolina. His business at Little Rock increased slowly but steadily, and in 1882 his son, T. A. Dillon, was taken in as copartner and J. W. Dillon & Son succeeded. For several years Mr. Dillon was post- master of Little Rock.
In 1891 he removed from Little Rock to Dillon, South Carolina. This town had been established upon land owned by Mr. Dillon and his son, T. A., and from the beginning he was actively interested in promoting the welfare and the business prosperity of the town. The postoffice and town were named after him. In 1889 he and his son, T. A., had established there a branch store; by 1891 the business of this branch had become so important that he made Dillon his permanent residence. In January, 1903, the business was incorporated under the name of J. W. Dillon & Son Company. Beside the capital which is invested in the mercantile business, Mr. Dillon and his son, T. A., are owners of valuable real estate in this part of the state.
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JAMES W. DILLON
Mr. Dillon had capital invested in other interests when he came to reside in the town which bears his name. The settlement then might fairly have been described as "in the woods." Within the last twelve years it has grown to be a flourishing town with a ยท population of about two thousand. At every point in its progress Mr. Dillon has been prominent in assisting and guiding the growth of the community by liberal advances for agricultural purposes and otherwise.
In April, 1851, he married Miss Harriew Jones; they had four children, one of whom is living in 1907. Some time after his first wife died, Mr. Dillon married Miss Sallie McLaurin; they had two children, both of whom survive their mother, and are now living in 1907. In April, 1889, Mr. Dillon married Miss Sallie I. Townsend.
Mr. Dillon is a Mason. In his political relations he is identified with the Democratic party. By religious conviction and training he is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which he has long been a member.
Mr. Dillon's business record as a merchant affords another noteworthy instance of the fine enterprise and energy with which men of business in South Carolina, who were already past middle life when the new manufacturing interests in South Carolina began to be developed, interested themselves in new lines of manufacturing interests which have done much to create the new era of business which characterizes the history of the last fifteen years in South Carolina.
JAMES THOMAS DOUGLASS
D OUGLASS, JAMES THOMAS, farmer and state senator, is a native of Goshen Hill, Union county, where he was born, April 23, 1838, the son of a physician, George Douglass, M. D., and of Frances (Jeter) Douglass, of Scotch descent.
His boyhood was passed on a farm in the country, and from his earliest years he delighted in the life and the business of a farm, and was fond of hunting as an amusement. He feels that agricultural labor, with which he early became familiar, helped to give him the strong physical development which has served him well in later life.
He studied at Mt. Zion academy, under Professor J. W. Hudson, and afterward studied at the University of North Caro- lina, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1860 with the degree of B. S.
He began the active work of life for himself as an agricul- turist, in Union county, South Carolina, in 1865. He had a strong wish to study medicine, but he was compelled by circum- stances to take up the business of farming, which he has pursued for forty-five years. He entered the Confederate army as a private in 1864, and was later elected captain, serving in that capacity until the surrender at Appomattox. He was in all the principal battles of the Virginia and East Tennessee campaigns, and was three times severely wounded.
He has served as county commissioner of his county for three terms. He was a member of the South Carolina Constitutional convention in 1895. Elected a member of the senate of South Carolina in 1894, he has been repeatedly reelected, and he still (1907) serves as state senator.
In college he belonged to the Chi Psi fraternity. His party relations are with the Democrats. In church relations he "is inclined to the Presbyterian denomination." He has found exer- cise and relaxation in hunting, in its various forms.
Senator Douglass is one of the large number of South Carolina farmers and planters who, while managing their own business affairs successfully, have found time and inclination to
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serve with acceptance and fidelity as representatives of their fellow-citizens in the senate of their state.
He married Miss Mary Jane Jeter on December 5, 1866, and their only child is living (1907).
To his young fellow-citizens he commends: "Doggeu perse- verance" as a winning virtue. " 'Be sure you are right, then go ahead,' and keep steadily at it."
The address of Mr. Douglass is Union, South Carolina.
MAREEN WALKER DUVALL
D UVALL, MAREEN WALKER, merchant, was born near Cheraw, Chesterfield county, South Carolina, May 26, 1856. His parents were Gideon Walker and Sarah Rebecca (Powe) Duvall. His father was a planter who was highly respected in the section in which he lived and who was of sufficient importance to be elected a member of the state senate. The first ancestor of the family to come to America was Mareen Duvall, a French Huguenot, who in the summer of 1659 settled in Anne Arundel county, Maryland.
In childhood and youth Mareen Duvall lived in the country. His health was good and he took part in and enjoyed the sports and pastimes in which his youthful companions participated. After obtaining the rudiments of education at the neighboring schools he studied at Cheraw academy and later at the Porter Military academy, and the high school, at Charleston, South Carolina. He began the active work of life as a bookkeeper for a firm in his native town. He thoroughly learned the details of mercantile business, in which he has long been successfully engaged. In politics he has always been a Democrat. His relig- ious affiliation is with the Protestant Episcopal church.
On October 17, 1877, he married Margaret D. Evans. Of their six children, five are living in 1907.
The postoffice address of Mr. Duvall and his family is Cheraw, Chesterfield county, South Carolina.
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JULIUS RICHARD EARLE
E ARLE, JULIUS RICHARD, lawyer, from 1894 to 1896 member of the state house of representatives, and since 1904 member of the state senate of South Carolina, was born in Anderson county, South Carolina, November 4, 1863. His father, Rev. Julius Richard Earle, was a Baptist minister, who served in the Confederate army throughout the War between the States with the rank of major, and represented Franklin county, Georgia, in the legislature of his state from 1890 to 1892.
His mother was Lucy A. M. (Brockman) Earle. His earliest ancestors in America were John and Mary Earle, who emigrated from England and settled in Westmoreland county, Virginia, in 1652. This John Earle traced his descent through Earles and Newtons to the Earle of Newton, afterwards Earle of Shrews- berry, who came to England with William the Conqueror. Three separate families of Earles in America trace back to the same English stock. One of these groups of families is descended from Ralph Earle and his wife, Joan, who settled in Rhode Island in 1638. The second group trace their descent from John and Mary Earle, the ancestors of the subject of this sketch. The third group are descended from James and Rhody Earle, who settled at Easton, Maryland, in 1683. John Earle, of Westmore- land county, Virginia, received a grant of sixteen hundred acres for the transportation of a colony of thirty-two persons in 1652. Through the subsequent colonial and revolutionary periods, as well as during the three or four generations since the Govern- ment of the United States was established, members of this family have been prominent and useful citizens, residing chiefly in Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mis- sissippi and Texas.
Farm work learned in boyhood helped to develop in the sub- ject of this sketch a strong physical constitution and good health. From his earliest recollection he felt a strong desire for learning, which helped him to overcome the difficulties he encountered in acquiring an education. After studying in country schools and at home he entered South Carolina college, but he did not com- plete the undergraduate course. He was thirty years old when he
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began the practice of law at Walhalla in 1893. In 1894 he was magistrate at Walhalla. In the autumn of that year he was elected to the South Carolina house of representatives, serving until 1896. In the autumn of 1904 he was elected to represent his county in the state senate of South Carolina for the term 1904 to 1908.
Mr. Earle has published a compilation of business and law forms designed to be of practical use to business men and farmers as well as to lawyers. In 1894 he served as captain of the Blue Ridge Rifles in the state militia. He is a Mason. He is identified with the Democratic party in his political affiliations. He is a member of the Baptist church, in which his father was a useful minister.
He has been twice married: First, to Miss Lula Perry Hix, of Fair Play, South Carolina, who died August 10, 1891, leaving one child. He was married a second time to Eva Merritt, of White county, Georgia, October 26, 1892, and they have five children living in 1907.
His suggestions to young Americans are brief, and are given in these words: "Truthfulness is the greatest lack of the day. Abhor commercialism."
The address of Mr. Earle is Walhalla, South Carolina.
SAMUEL HENRY EDMUNDS
E DMUNDS, SAMUEL HENRY, superintendent of the city schools of Sumter, South Carolina, was born at Mill Grove, Richland county, May 28, 1870. His father, Reverend Nicholas William Edmunds, D. D., was for twenty-five years pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Sumter; and his son remembers him and many of his former parishioners describe him as "a man of deep consecration and high intellec- tuality." His mother was Mary Claudia (Leland) Edmunds. Her family were from Massachusetts and trace their descent from John Leland, of the time of Henry VIII., in England. To her, her son ascribes a deep and strong moral and spiritual influence upon his entire life. His earliest known ancestor in America was Martin Marshall, who came from England to South Carolina in 1785.
His boyhood was passed in the country or in a village. He was fond of "all the sports of the field, the water and the woods." His parents, by their own sacrifices, made the way to a liberal education easy for him, so far as pecuniary matters were con- cerned. After studying in the common schools of Sumter, he was admitted to Davidson college, and was graduated in 1890 with the degree of A. B. Since his graduation he has followed some post-graduate courses in literature under Professor Currell, now of Washington and Lee university.
He began the work of teaching, his chosen profession, as principal of the city schools of Sumter, in 1890, holding that position until 1893. He was principal of the high school at Rock Hill, South Carolina, from 1893 to 1895. From 1895 until the present time (1907) he has been superintendent of the Sumter city schools. He is also a member of the Sumter county board of education.
On December 24, 1896, he married Miss Eliza Champion Davis; and they have had five children, all of whom are now (1907) living.
He is affiliated with the Democratic party. He is connected with the Presbyterian church. Throughout his professional life
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he has found his favorite relaxation, exercise and sport in hunting. He is a Knight of Pythias.
Superintendent Edmunds feels, as do many others who study the tendencies of the last two decades in American life, that a great danger threatens the oncoming generation of our young people in the prominence now given in public thought to "prac- tical commercialism." His advice to young Carolinians is that they make business life and money making "a means and not an end"; and that "consecration to a lofty idealism is needed; and realization of the truth-a deep-seated and positive realization- that our life here is but a school of discipline to fit us for some- thing higher and better."
His address is Sumter, South Carolina.
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CYPRIAN MELANCHTHON EFIRD
E FIRD, CYPRIAN MELANCHTHON, lawyer, state senator, state reporter, and author of Efird's "Digest of South Carolina Reports," is a type of the lawyer of high purpose and sound character to whom his fellow-citizens intrust not only legal business, but the responsibility of acting upon boards of trust for their colleges and seminaries, and of representing them in the legislature of their state. He was born in Lexington county, South Carolina, December 18, 1856. His father, the Reverend Daniel Efird, was a minister of the Gospel and a forceful preacher in the Lutheran church, whose ancestors, coming from Germany, settled in central North Carolina; his mother, Henrietta M. Dreher, was the granddaughter of Godfrey Dreher, who was also a Lutheran preacher, well remembered still in Lexington county, South Carolina. His early life was passed in the country; and as a boy he was "required to do regular work about the house and the farm," and was thus "aided in forming habits of industry."
Preparing for college at the Pine Ridge academy, in Lex- ington county, he pursued his college studies at Newberry college, taking the degree of A. B. in 1877, and receiving the degree of A. M. four years later. He taught school in Newberry and Lexington counties after his graduation from college. Drawn by his own personal preference to the practice of law, he completed a course of law studies by private reading, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1882. At once he began the practice of his profession at Lexington, where he has ever since resided, and from whose citizens he has received many evidences of confidence and esteem. In 1892, but ten years after he began the practice of his profession, he was elected upon the Democratic ticket as state senator, serving for four years. When the Constitutional convention of 1895 was called, Mr. Efird was chosen a member of the convention. In 1896 he was appointed state reporter, a position which he still (1907) holds.
Connected with the Lutheran church, of which his father and his grandfather were ministers, he has for some years been a member of the board of trustees of Newberry college. He is
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also a member of the board of directors of the Theological seminary of the United Synod of the South; and he acts as treasurer of the endowment fund of that institution.
In 1904 he published Efird's "Digest of South Carolina Reports," covering Volumes XLIII-LX.
On December 28, 1882, he married Miss Carrie Boozer, daughter of Doctor Jacob and Eva C. Boozer, of Lexington county, South Carolina. They have had four children, all of whom are living in 1907.
He advises the boys of South Carolina, in planning for, success in life, to "make it their steadfast purpose, first, to adhere to correct moral and religious standards; second, to acquire a thorough preparation for their chosen life work; and third, to give assiduous attention to business."
The address of Mr. Efird is Lexington, South Carolina.
JAMES EDWIN ELLERBE
E LLERBE, JAMES EDWIN, member of congress from South Carolina, was born on the 12th day of January, 1867, in Marion county, South Carolina, from the mar- riage of William S. Ellerbe and Sarah E. Haselden. His father was a farmer by occupation and never held a public office. He was a man of absolute honesty and marked devotion to his chosen occupation. Mr. Ellerbe's earliest ancestor in America was Thomas Elerby, who emigrated from England to Virginia in 1737. Another Thomas Ellerbe, of Revolutionary fame, was also a member of the family. The subject of this sketch grew up in the country in the enjoyment of perfect health. While the necessity therefor did not exist, he nevertheless passed much of his time in hard work upon his father's farm. His education was easily acquired. Morally and spiritually his mother's influ- ence upon his life was very marked. He attended a preparatory school at Pine Hill, South Carolina, and in June, 1887, was graduated from Wofford college, South Carolina, with the degree of A. B. On the 23d of November, 1887, he married Nellie Converse Elford, by whom he has had five children, three of whom are living in 1907. He began the business of farming and merchandising in Marion county in July, 1887, continuing the same until December, 1891, when he discontinued the merchandise business and devoted himself wholly to farming. He served in the state legislature from 1894 to 1896, in the state Constitutional convention in 1895, was elected a member of congress in 1904, and is still (1907) a member of that body.
His success in life has been largely due to home influences and to private study, as well as to his contact in public life with eminent men. Mr. Ellerbe is an active Mason, having taken the Shriner degree, and is a member of the Chi Phi fraternity. He is a member of the Democratic party, and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
His postoffice address is Sellers, Marion county, South Caro- lina.
WILLIAM ELLIOTT, JR.
E LLIOTT, WILLIAM, JR., attorney at law, lieutenant in the navy during the period of the war with Spain, special commissioner to codify the laws of South Caro- lina, general manager of the Street Railway, Light and Power company of Columbia, South Carolina, at which city he resides, was born at Beaufort, South Carolina, on the 30th of March, 1872. He follows the profession of his father, William Elliott, Esquire, a lawyer, and a member of congress, who represented the Seventh and the First South Carolina districts (the latter including Charleston) for fourteen years. His mother was Mrs. Sarah (Stuart) Elliott. A sketch of his ancestors' life is found in the biography of his father, Honorable William Elliott, in these volumes.
As a boy he had excellent health, was fond of hunting and of all athletic sports, and developed into a young manhood physically robust and vigorous. His family circumstances were such as to open the way to courses at preparatory schools and at the university without need of effort on his part to provide for self-support. In securing an education he says that he had "no difficulties to overcome except an excessive enthusiasm for foot- ball!" He studied for several years at the Episcopal high school at Alexandria, Virginia. In 1891 he entered the University of Virginia, and was graduated in 1893, having found his chief interest in the study of law. Admitted to the bar, he began to practice at once in his father's law office, at Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1893. In 1898 he was commissioned a lieutenant of the navy, and he served until October, 1898, throughout the period of the war with Spain. In 1901 he was appointed code commissioner of the state of South Carolina, charged with the duty of codifying the laws of the state. Since 1901 he has published the acts of the legislature of South Carolina.
Mr. Elliott is attorney for the Capital City mills, for the Richland Cotton mills, the Granby Cotton mills, the Olympia Cotton mills, and for several other corporations. He is also general manager of the Street Railway, Light and Power com- pany of Columbia, South Carolina.
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At college he was a member of the Delta Psi fraternity. He is a Mason. He is identified with the Protestant Episcopal Church. In his party relations he is a Democrat; and he has never swerved in his allegiance to the principles and the nominees of that party. In addition to his youthful enthusiasm for foot- ball, to which reference has been made, Mr. Elliott has found, and still finds, a favorite form of exercise and amusement in hunting.
On the 15th of November, 1900, he was married to Miss Leila G. Sams, daughter of Barnwell S. Sams, of Beaufort, South Carolina. They have had three children, all of whom are living in 1907.
Mr. Elliott does not yet feel that he has reached a time of . life which would justify him in offering formal advice to the young people of South Carolina who hope to attain true success in life; and he declines to go upon record as a giver of such advice. But it is not too much to say that in his devotion to his professional work and in the measure of success which he has already attained at the age of thirty-four, his younger fellow- citizens may find certain suggestions as to the conditions and the secret of success.
BARNETT ABRAHAM ELZAS
E LZAS, BARNETT ABRAHAM, scholar, author, critic, editor, historian, and rabbi, was born at Eydkuhnen, Germany, December 7, 1867. He is the son of Abraham and Hinda Lewinthal Elzas. His father was a clergyman and author, a minister of the Jewish congregation and master of the Hebrew school at Leeds, England. Abraham Elzas was born and educated in Holland, and went to England from Russia about 1867. He traveled extensively, visiting for purposes of study many parts of the world. In 1871 he removed from Leeds to Hull, where he became master of the Hebrew school, and for some years filled the post of minister to the congregation. Failing health led him to resign in 1877. For some years previous to his death, in 1880, he was occupied in literary as well as scholastic pursuits, and he published translations of several books of the Bible, including "Proverbs" (1871), "The Book of Job" (1872), "The Minor Prophets" (1873-1880), with critical notes. The early life of Barnett Elzas was passed in England; he enjoyed the best of health; in youth he developed a taste for the study of natural science and history ; he was an omniverous reader, his reading including the Bible, Shakespeare, Macaulay's works, the latter being cultivated for English style. Schooling was his for the taking. He was educated for the Jewish ministry at Jews' college, London, of which he is an "Associate." He held several scholarships while a student in that institution. His secular education he received at University college, London, where he was the "Hollier Scholar," in 1886. He is a first B. A. of the University of London.
From London Mr. Elzas went to Toronto, Canada, to take charge of a synagogue. While in Toronto he studied Semitic languages under Professor McCurdy, and graduated with first class honors from the University of Toronto in 1893. From the South Carolina college he received, in 1905, the honorary degree of LL. D. In Charleston, South Carolina, he studied medicine and pharmacy at the Medical college, receiving the degree of M. D. and Phar. G. in 1900 and 1901 respectively.
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Sincerely yours, Barnett A. Czas
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BARNETT ABRAHAM ELZAS
Doctor Elzas is by profession a rabbi. His first charge was the "Holy Blossom" congregation at Toronto, to which he was appointed by Doctor H. Adler, chief rabbi of the United Hebrew congregations of the British Empire. Here he remained for three years, 1890-93. From here he received a call to Sacra- mento, California, in 1893, and remained one year, when called to the pulpit of the historic congregation of Beth Elohim, of Charleston, South Carolina, which he still occupies.
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