USA > South Carolina > Men of mark in South Carolina; ideals of American life: a collection of biographies of leading men of the state, Volume III > Part 16
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When the plan of primary elections for South Carolina was discussed, Mr. Jones favored the system. He was a member of the taxpayers' convention to raise funds for the Hampton government, when the question as to whether the state should be ruled by Republicans or Democrats was the issue, and he was first lieutenant in the Rock Hill red-shirt company.
Mr. Jones had a share in the farmers' movement, 1886 to 1890. He assisted in organizing against the Tillman movement, which, in his view, sought to inject politics into the legitimate effort of the farmers to better their industrial conditions. He was made chairman of the first opposition state convention, and he refused to call the farmers together to send delegates to the March convention of 1890.
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IREDELL JONES
Mr. Jones is a third degree Mason. In college he was a member of the Euphradian society, and belonged to the Delta Psi fraternity. With five others who had left their college course to serve in the army, he received his diploma forty-four years afterward, in 1906 instead of 1862. He is now commander of Catawba camp, Confederate Veterans' association, Number 278. He is a life member of the State Fair association and a member of its executive committee.
In politics Mr. Jones is a stalwart and unchanging Demo- crat. In church relations he is an Episcopalian. Music is his amusement.
Mr. Jones has been twice married: First, on November 4, 1869, at Live Oak, South Carolina, to Ellen, the fourth daughter of ex-Governor Adams of South Carolina; second, on November 22, 1882, at Aiken, South Carolina, to Laura, daughter of R. P. McMahon, of Alabama. Four children have been born of these marriages, of whom three are now (1908) living, namely: Mrs. Frank Butler, Iredell Jones, Jr., and Chafee Jones,-the latter being the child of the second marriage.
His address is Rock Hill, York county, South Carolina.
WILLIAM HENRY KENNEDY
K ENNEDY, CAPTAIN WILLIAM HENRY, merchant and planter, of Kingstree, Williamsburg county, South Carolina, was born in Sumter county, on the 26th of November, 1834. His father, David Richard Kennedy, was a merchant. His mother was Mrs. Margaret Ann (Holleman) Kennedy. He is descended from sterling Scotch ancestry.
His early life was passed in the country; he had good com- mon school advantages, and he studied at the Camden academy; but his father's means were not sufficient to permit him a more advanced course of study at college.
At seventeen he obtained a clerkship in one of the large dry goods houses at Charleston, and he continued in the employ of that house until the outbreak of the War between the States. Enlisting promptly in the Confederate army, he served in the Rutledge Mounted Rifles, and later in Captain Z. Davis's com- pany from Charleston, South Carolina. After the war he became a merchant, and incidentally a planter, settling at Indiantown, Williamsburg county. Prospering in his business, he purchased a valuable plantation which he worked in such a way as to give him wide influence among the farmers and planters of his section.
In the gloomy days of 1876 Mr. Kennedy was elected captain of a large company which was organized near where he lived; and that company rendered valuable service in the threatening months of political and social disturbances in that year.
On the 10th of November, 1867, Captain Kennedy married Miss Julia Everet Scott, daughter of John E. and Mary Macrea (Gordon) Scott, of Williamsburg. She was a graduate of a woman's college; and they have had six children, all daughters, who are also graduates of women's colleges. Three of their daughters were living in 1907.
Captain Kennedy is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In political convictions he is a Democrat, and he adds: "I was a strong and uncompromising 'straight-out' in 1876; chairman of the Williamsburg county delegation to the convention which nominated Wade Hampton, and a charter member of the Democratic party of my county; for thirty-six
Men of Mork Publishing Co. Washington D. C
Sincerely Yours W He Kennedy
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years a member, and often chairman, of the Democratic executive committee for the county." He was mayor of Kingstree for one term. He is an extensive land-owner, possessed of about three thousand acres. In 1892 and 1893 Captain Kennedy was elected to the legislature; declining to run again, although his constitu- ents earnestly desired him to continue to represent them. He is an aide-de-camp on General Zimmerman Davis's staff, United Confederate veterans.
Captain Kennedy has found travel to the mountains or to the sea for a month or two in the summer the form of relaxation and change which has enabled him to do effective work.
To the young men of South Carolina he commends as the key to success, "thrift, industry, promptness, and absolute sobriety."
JAMES HAMPTON KIRKLAND
K IRKLAND, JAMES HAMPTON, Ph. D., LL. D., D. C. L., Chancellor of Vanderbilt university at Nashville, Tennessee, and since 1886 professor of Latin in that university, was born at Spartanburg, South Carolina, on the 9th of September, 1859. His father, Reverend W. C. Kirkland, was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His mother was Mrs. Virginia Lawson (Galluchat) Kirkland, whose ancestors were among the French Huguenot immigrants to South Carolina. His father's family is of Scotch-Irish descent.
His boyhood was spent in a village where he combined with his studies regular duties in light work, and in "doing chores" about the home. He was graduated from Wofford college with the degree of A. B. in 1877; receiving from the same institution the degree of A. M in 1878. In 1878 he was appointed tutor of Latin at Wofford college. Two years later he was made assistant professor, and in 1882 was elected professor of Greek and Ger- man. He resigned that position in 1883, when he determined to spend three years in post-graduate work at German universi- ties. He attended lectures at Leipsic and Berlin from 1883 to 1886, and from the University of Leipsic he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1885. He was called to the chair of Latin at Vanderbilt university in 1886, and in addition to his duties of that professorship he was charged with the responsibility of the chancellorship of the university, and has filled that hon- orable position since 1893.
The University of North Carolina conferred upon Professor Kirkland the honorary degree of LL. D. in 1893, and the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee, conferred on him the degree of D. C. L. in 1902.
Chancellor Kirkland is the author of numerous scholarly review articles upon philological and educational subjects. He has also edited, with notes, "The Satires and Epistles of Horace" (1893).
By religious conviction he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In his political relations he acts and
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votes with the Democratic party. He finds his favorite forms of amusement and out-of-door exercise in hunting, fishing, golf, and mountain climbing.
Chancellor Kirkland was married on the 20th of November, 1894, to Miss Mary Henderson, of Knoxville. Tennessee. They have had one child, Mary Eliazbeth, who is living in 1908.
THOMAS HART LAW
L AW, REVEREND THOMAS HART, D. D., was born in Hartsville, Darlington county, South Carolina, August 26, 1838, the son of Thomas Cassels and Mary Westfield Law. His father was a successful planter, systematic, untiring in effort, and a public-spirited citizen. He held no public posi- tions but those of country postmaster and commissioner of public schools. He revered religion and brought up his family to fear God and to strictly observe every religious duty. The first paternal ancestors to come to America were Scotch-Irish, who settled in lower South Carolina, and the noted French Huguenot, DuBose. The maternal ancestors came from Wales and located at Welsh Neck, near Society Hill, South Carolina. The subject of this sketch, while healthy in childhood and youth, was never of robust physique. From his earliest years he was fond of reading and keenly observant of persons and things. His early life was passed on his father's plantation; and, although no special tasks were assigned, his father always encouraged him in such employment as would aid in his physical development. His deeply pious mother exercised a particularly strong influence on his moral and spiritual life. He found the Bible and books on Christian experience most helpful to him in fitting him for his work.
He graduated at the South Carolina Military academy (Citadel), April 9, 1859, with first honor. He subsequently took a course of professional study at the Presbyterian Theological seminary, at Columbia, South Carolina, graduating in 1862.
On March 16, 1860, he married Miss Anna Elizabeth Adger, daughter of William Adger, of Charleston, South Carolina. Of their eleven children, seven are now (1907) living.
He was led by personal preference, and a controlling sense of duty, to the choice of the Gospel ministry for his life-work. The first strong impulse for success in his career was to obey God and to serve him acceptably and usefully, and he ascribes the success he has attained to his "home training of the strict old Presbyterian kind, and the rigorous discipline at the Citadel." His first charge in the Gospel ministry was in Florence and
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Lynchburg, South Carolina, which pastorate he held from May, 1862, to October, 1865, serving also during this time for a few months in 1863 as chaplain at Fort Caswell, North Carolina. He accepted the call to the Spartanburg Presbyterian church in August, 1869, serving acceptably and with fruitful results till November, 1886. For several years previously he served also as evangelist of the Charleston presbytery. In April, 1887, he became the active field worker of the American Bible society, and in this sphere of usefulness he continued till July, 1907, with increasing beneficent results. He has served as stated clerk of the South Carolina Presbyterian synod since October, 1875; was stated clerk of Enoree presbytery from April, 1898, to October, 1905, and has also served as permanent clerk of the Southern Presbyterian general assembly since 1904.
He has been constantly identified with the Democratic party and has done what he could to further its policy and for the best interests of his section and our nation. In 1889, as a recognition of his useful and comprehensive labors, the Presbyterian college of South Carolina conferred upon him the degree of D. D.
He has had but little time for so-called sports or amusements, finding all requisite physical exercise in his appointed work.
He lays down as the maxims of life, and talismanic to true success, to our American youth :
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. To fear God and keep his commandments is the whole duty of man." "Self-control, industry and system are the principles and habits I would commend."
His address is Spartanburg, South Carolina.
JAMES HENRY LESESNE
ESESNE, JAMES HENRY, lawyer and legislator, was born August 8, 1867, in Santee township, Clarendon county, South Carolina. His father, Henry H. Lesesne, was a farmer, who entered the War between the States as captain of Company I, Twenty-third South Carolina regiment, was promoted major, and surrendered with Lee at Appomattox. At the time of his death, in 1891, he had been sheriff of Clarendon county for fourteen years. His mother, Letitia M. (Wells) Lesesne, was a most estimable Christian woman, whose influence upon her son was beneficent and enduring. The American ancestors of the family were of Huguenot stock, and were among the early settlers on the Santee river, in St. Mark's parish, South Carolina.
Until he was fifteen years of age James Henry Lesesne lived on a farm and did his share of the work. He then moved to Manning, attended the common schools of the county, and in 1885 completed the regular course at Manning academy. His ambition from early boyhood was to become a lawyer, but he was the eldest of eight children, and the death of his father made it necessary that he should engage in some productive occupation. For several years he was a bookkeeper for a mercantile firm. He then studied law, and in 1891, after an examination before the supreme court, he was admitted to the bar.
Since reaching the voting age he has been active in politics as a Democrat, and has been elected by the people of Clarendon county to both branches of the state legislature, where he served with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents; he has been for six years a member of the county board of education; he is commandant of Camp Henry Lesesne Sons of Confederate veterans, named in honor of his father. He is past- master of St. Peter's lodge A. F. & A. M., and a Royal Arch Mason. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he has been a steward of his church since he attained his majority. He has always taken an active and prominent part in the social affairs of his town.
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JAMES HENRY LESESNE
On the 27th of November, 1907, he was married to Miss Gertrude Gee, of Union county, South Carolina.
His favorite books are history and biography. He finds his outdoor recreation in riding, hunting, and fishing, in all of which he is an expert.
His address is Manning, Clarendon county, South Carolina, where he is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession.
Vol. III .- S. C .- 15.
ASBURY FRANCIS LEVER
L EVER, ASBURY FRANCIS, member of congress for the seventh district of South Carolina, was born in the county of Lexington, in the state of South Carolina, on the 5th day of January, 1875. His parents were Asbury Washington Lever and Mary Elvira (Derrick) Lever. Mr. Lever is of Ger- man-English ancestry, his maternal ancestors, the Derricks, being of German, and his paternal ancestors, the Levers, of German- English descent. His maternal grandfather, J. J. Derrick, was for several years prior to 1860 treasurer of Lexington county, South Carolina.
The subject of this sketch grew up in the country. His health was poor, but he was fond of horseback riding and of other outdoor sports. When not in school he worked regularly on his father's farm, an occupation which was of the greatest service to his health, and taught him valuable lessons in persever- ance, self-restraint, and self-help. It was difficult to obtain an education, and throughout his college course he was obliged to practice a rigid economy. He was graduated from Newberry college in South Carolina in June, 1895, with the degree of A. B. He subsequently took a law course at the Georgetown Law school, Washington, District of Columbia, and was graduated from that institution in 1899. Shortly after his graduation he taught for one session a country school near his home. At that time his preference was for teaching, but the excitement of the first Till- man campaign for governor of the state in 1890 gave him the first strong impulse to strive for the prizes of a public career.
Since his twenty-first year Mr. Lever has devoted all his time and attention to political life. He is identified with the Democratic party. He is a member of the Lutheran church.
His address is Lexington, Lexington county, South Carolina.
HENRY ARTHUR LIGON
1 IGON, HENRY ARTHUR, druggist, manufacturer and financier, was born October 15, 1856, in Sandy Run, Lexington county, South Carolina. His father, William J. Ligon, teacher of Male academy (old school), Anderson, South Carolina, was noted for strictness in discipline and thoroughness in instruction, and is remembered gratefully for both by many living South Carolinians; his mother, Louisa C. Ligon, was a pious and industrious woman, and greatly influenced his moral and spiritual character, in addition to teaching him invaluable and indelible habits of thrift and economy.
He passed his early life in the country, and when his father did not have him studying, his mother kept him busy with house- work; when quite young he developed a strong ambition to get up in the world, which grew stronger as he grew older, and, knowing that the finances of his parents made it out of the question for them to render material assistance, he determined to win success by his own efforts; and at no time did he permit himself to entertain the slightest doubt of the ultimate result. The only education, in the academic sense, he received was from his father, at home and in his schools, but that was thorough and made a firm foundation for the practical education in business he has since acquired, and which has made it possible for him to say, at the age of fifty, that he had never failed in any under- taking.
In 1874 he began his business career as clerk in a drug store in Anderson; two years later he secured a better paying clerkship in a drug store in Columbia, where he remained until 1879, when, only five years after his start in business life, he moved to Spartanburg and established Ligon's drug store, of which he has since been sole proprietor. This was successful from the start, and has long been one of the best known business establishments of the city. Slowly but surely he made his way to the front rank of the most progressive business men, saving his money and displaying unusual financial acumen in choosing profitable investments from time to time. In 1902 he organized and became president and treasurer of the Arcadia (cotton) mills, built and
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equipped the mills with the most improved machinery to be had, and has conducted them with marked success; he is also president of the American National bank and of the Southern Trust com- pany, at Spartanburg, two of the prominent financial institutions of the state.
He has not been so absorbed in his commercial career, busy and successful as it has been, as to overlook his duties as a good and public-spirited citizen. While a young man, in Columbia, he served three years as a member of the Governor's guard, a military organization known throughout the state. He has served four years as a member of the Spartanburg board of aldermen; for eleven years he has been a trustee of the city graded schools, in which he takes much interest, and for nine years he has been a trustee of Converse college. In religious connection he is an Episcopalian, and he has been a vestryman in the Church of the Advent at Spartanburg for about twenty years. In politics he has always been a Democrat. He is a Mason. He considers the strongest influences upon his success in life to have been, in the order named, those of home, study, and early companionship.
On November 8, 1882, he was married to Lucie E. Reed, daughter of Judge J. P. Reed, of Anderson, South Carolina. Of their four children, all are now (1908) living.
His address is Spartanburg, South Carolina.
ARCHIBALD HUGH McARN
M CARN, ARCHIBALD HUGH, since 1893 pastor of the Presbyterian church at Cheraw, South Carolina, was born in Chesterfield county, South Carolina, September 21, 1865. His father, Daniel Blue McArn, was a merchant, mayor of Cheraw, well known for his integrity, firmness and public spirit. His mother, Mrs. Nannie Pope (Hunter) McArn, came of a distinguished Kentucky family, and had a strong influence upon her son in forming his moral and spiritual ideals and shaping his life.
His father's family are descended from Archibald McArn (his father's grandfather), who came from Scotland and settled in what is now Scotland county, North Carolina, in 1760. His great-grandmother, whose maiden name was Blue, was a daughter of John Blue, who also came from Scotland to North Carolina, in 1740. On his mother's side his great-grandfather, Christopher Greenup, governor of Kentucky, came from England to Ken- tucky about 1765. Another great-grandfather on his mother's side, James Hunter, was a judge in Kentucky and wrote law books which were considered authorities in his time.
Born in the country and trained to regular tasks of farm work while still very young, he had a normal boyhood. He was fond of all out-of-door sports, but he had also inherited a taste for books, and he was an omnivorous reader. Poetry and fiction were his delight in boyhood and youth. Since he became a man, history and English literature, in its development as well as in its great masterpieces, have been his favorite lines of reading.
After a high school course, he was admitted to Davidson college, North Carolina, and was graduated in 1888 with the degree of A. B. For a year, 1888 to 1889, he studied theology at Union seminary, in Richmond, Virginia. From 1889 to 1891 he continued his theological studies at Princeton seminary, New Jersey, and received the degree of B. D. in 1891. Post-graduate courses in philosophy, under ex-President James McCosh and President Francis L. Patton, were pursued without regard to an advanced degree.
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His first pastorate was at Wilson, North Carolina, where he was settled in June, 1891, as pastor of the Presbyterian church. In January, 1893, he accepted the call of the Presbyterian church at Cheraw, and for the last fifteen years he has been the active, effective and well-loved minister of that church. He has filled but two pastorates. The local newspaper of Wilson said of Mr. McArn: "During his sojourn here he stamped upon all hearts the imprint of a pure, high-toned, most excellent minister"; "he is a brilliantly gifted speaker." And when he was called to the First Presbyterian church of Rock Hill, South Carolina, after he had been for nine years pastor at Cheraw, his church passed a remarkable series of resolutions in asking the presbytery not to dissolve the pastoral relation: "He has shown the activity of youth combined with the judgment of mature years. He has been known as a pastor and presbyter without any taint of bigotry, and has studiously pursued the peace and harmony of the church and of other denominations without yielding any doctrine or condoning any breach of church discipline." "During the nine years of his pastorate the membership of the church has increased nearly forty per cent." "It is the unanimous desire of the church and congregation that he decline the call and remain with us." He remained at Cheraw, where his work seems to be prospered; and his hold upon the people of the community grows stronger with every added year of service.
Mr. McArn has been since 1894 stated clerk of the Pee Dee presbytery. He is a trustee of Davidson college, North Carolina. He was moderator of his presbytery in 1895, and moderator of the synod of South Carolina in 1905. He is chairman of various executive committees of the presbytery.
He has been a member of the board of education of Chester- field county, a member of the board of trustees for the Cheraw schools, and he represents Chesterfield county on the executive committee of the Pee Dee Historical association. An address which he made in 1893 as a member of the Union of Confederate veterans of Chesterfield county was by them published in book form.
In political preference he is a Democrat. At college he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. While in college and seminary, baseball and football were his favorite forms of
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exercise for recreation; but since student days, tennis has taken their place.
He was married January 7, 1894, to Mary C. Malloy; and they have two children.
To young men he says: "Have a purpose in life. Study all questions for yourself, and, having reached your own convictions, strive for them, without regard to popularity or reward."
DAVID PINCKNEY McBRAYER
M cBRAYER, DAVID PINCKNEY, manufacturer, was born in the country in Cleveland county, North Caro- lina, October 17, 1864. His parents were Reuben Hill McBrayer and Elizabeth McBrayer. His father was a merchant and farmer who was noted for his energetic disposition and his sound common sense. The first ancestor of the McBrayer family in America was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who came from Scotland and settled in Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century. One of his sons located in North Caro- lina about one hundred years ago.
The early life of David McBrayer was passed on his father's farm. His health was good. He had a marked taste for reading and was also fond of outdoor exercise. His educational advan- tages were limited to such study as he could find time for at home, and attendance at the inferior country schools in the vicinity. When not in school he worked as a regular farm hand until he was about twenty years of age, when he commenced the active work of life for himself as cotton buyer for a manu- facturing firm in Gaffney, South Carolina. He served in this capacity until 1890, when he accepted a similar position with one of the largest cotton buying firms in the United States, which was also located in Gaffney. After five years of service he resigned, and was a buyer for other prominent firms until 1902. His long experience had given him an excellent preparation for the management of business on his own account, and his industry, energy, and the excellent judgment he had displayed, had secured him the confidence and good will of the community to such an extent that he had no difficulty in obtaining sufficient capital with which to put up and equip the Riverside Cotton mills, near the city of Anderson, South Carolina, in 1900, and soon after- ward to establish the Toxaway mills in the same vicinity. He was at once elected president and treasurer, and he holds these positions at the present time (1908). His management of the affairs of the mills has been eminently satisfactory to all con- cerned, and the prospect for the future is most encouraging. In 1906 Mr. McBrayer was elected president of the Pendleton
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