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 2
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J. H. MEANS BEATY
Work by day and study by night will bring success to any one of average mind. Show what you can accomplish before you ask for additional compensation. Too many will not work if they cannot get a good salary from the very beginning."
His address is Columbia, South Carolina.
JOHN RICE BELLINGER
B ELLINGER, JOHN RICE, son of William Cotesworth Pinckney Bellinger and Jane Elizabeth (Rice) Bellinger, was born in Walterboro, Colleton county, South Carolina, March 14, 1851. His father was a merchant and planter of unusual strength of character, noted for absolute integrity, fidelity to every duty, sobriety, industry, faithfulness and loyalty to friends and in every relation of life.
Mr. Bellinger's forefathers on his father's side came from Northumberland county, England, in the seventeenth century. Among the earlier arrivals in America was Edmund Bellinger, the landgrave. J. R. Bellinger's mother's people came from Wales, to which country they had migrated from Ireland. The mother's family name was originally Rhys. The family are descendants of King John, the last king of independent Ireland. Among the family ancestors are also to be counted Charles Cotes- worth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, and Thomas Pinckney, dis- tinguished in statesmanship and law.
Though small of stature, the subject of this sketch was as a boy strong and healthy. His early life was passed in the town of Walterboro, with occasional visits to the country. He was regular in his habits, was fond of books, and, though it was often self-imposed, he enjoyed the discipline of labor. He split rails for a pastime, cut and hauled most of the wood used by the family for some time after the war, and also beat rice.
He had serious difficulties in obtaining an education. He attended a preparatory school taught by ladies, and the Walter- boro Male academy; but was obliged to leave school at the age of seventeen, and he was never graduated from any institution. What he has since learned has been the result of his private studies. He read law under Colonel Carlos Tracy, of Walterboro, finishing in 1872. His reading, earlier and later, included history, Shakespeare, the Bible, books of law, and a few novels. From his earliest recollection he wished to be a lawyer, and to earn success. To home influence, private study, and contact with men, Mr. Bellinger attributes, in large part, the bent of his character;
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JOHN RICE BELLINGER
religion, however, he believes has been the chief force in molding his life.
His active work began on April 21, 1872, in the practice of law at Blackville, South Carolina. He has practiced law constantly since his admission to the bar, keeping books a part of the time in early morning and at night. He practiced at Blackville until March 19, 1880, at Greenville, South Carolina, from March 21, 1880, to March 24, 1896, and since that time at Bamberg, South Carolina.
He has been a trustee of public schools both at his present home and in Greenville, and has several times acted as solicitor. He is very prominent in Masonic circles. He has been grand master of Masons in South Carolina. He is, and for eight years has been, most excellent president of the grand convention of anointed high priests of South Carolina.
In politics Mr. Bellinger is a Democrat. In religion he is a Protestant Episcopalian, and he was for several years a vestry- man and lay reader in Christ church, Greenville. He enjoys whist and other card games, also riding and driving. He has experienced the vicissitudes which have taught the necessity of prudence and economy. His advice to the young is: "First, endeavor to find the calling for which you are best fitted, then bend every energy for success therein. Obey conscience; main- tain the highest principles of integrity; and live soberly, indus- triously, and morally."
Mr. Bellinger is opposed to the present tenure of the judicial office, believing that judges should hold for life or good behavior and be paid at least five thousand dollars per year.
On October 23, 1872, he married Miss Martha Cornelia Rice. They have had twelve children, four of whom are still living.
His address is Bamberg, Bamberg county, South Carolina.
HUGH RATCHFORD BLACK
B LACK, HUGH RATCHFORD, M. D., was born in - Cleveland county, North Carolina, December 4, 1856. His parents were Jefferson and Eliza (Borders) Black. His father was a planter and merchant, and for several years was also superintendent of the Buffalo (North Carolina) paper mills and iron works. He was noted for his honesty and unaffected piety. The mother of the subject of this sketch spent all of her married life in Cleveland county. She was a woman of fine character and kindly disposition, and she exerted a powerful influence for good upon the moral and spiritual life of her son.
The great-grandfather of Doctor Black, on his mother's side, was Mike Borders, who was born in York county, South Carolina, and settled at the mouth of Buffalo creek, where it empties into Broad river. His father was killed in a skirmish near Blacks- burg, in the gap of Whitaker mountain, the day before the battle of King's Mountain. Major Hugh Borders, the maternal grandfather of Doctor Black, was born in York county, South Carolina, August 7, 1804, and died December 22, 1888. He was noted for his practical philanthropy, and especially for his consideration for the poor.
On the father's side, Dr. Black's great-grandfather, Robert Black, was born in Dublin, Ireland. He landed in Charleston, South Carolina, just after the Revolutionary war, and settled on Allison creek, seven or eight miles from Yorkville court-house, South Carolina. His wife, Elizabeth Carroll, was the daughter of Thomas Carroll, who moved to South Carolina from Penn- sylvania before the Revolution. He was a Whig and fought all through the Revolutionary war. His clothes were cut more than thirty times, but his skin was never marked. He always carried his Psalm book in his vest pocket. On one occasion a musket ball struck and lodged in his book without harming himself. Hugh R. Black's grandfather, William Black, was born June 19, 1795, in York county, South Carolina. He was in the War of 1812, having volunteered in Captain Beaty's company, which was sent from Yorkville to Charleston, South Carolina.
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HUGH RATCHFORD BLACK
In childhood and youth Hugh R. Black enjoyed excellent health. His home was in the country, and when he was not in school he was required to perform the various kinds of work that usually fall to the lot of a boy or young man whose home is on a farm. Although not entirely pleasant at the time, Doctor Black now believes that this work, a large part of which was in the open air, did much to keep him strong in body, while, by causing him to form industrious and temperate habits and keeping him out of the way of temptation, it has aided him greatly in his efforts to win success. After studying at the common schools in the neighborhood in which he lived, he attended for three years the high school at King's Mountain, North Carolina. In 1879 he taught school for four months in Gaston county, North Carolina, and in the following year he entered the University of Maryland, from which institution he was graduated in 1883 with the degree of M. D. His post-graduate courses were taken at the Polyclinic hospital in New York city in 1891, 1895 and 1899. Immediately after his graduation he commenced the practice of medicine and surgery in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he soon won a high standing in his profession and where he still remains. He was president of the Spartanburg Medical society, 1901-1902; physician and surgeon to the county alms-house and hospital, and is now (1908) president and surgeon to the Spar- tanburg city hospital. He is also first vice-president of the South Carolina Medical association. To some extent he has also engaged in business affairs, having been president of the Bank of Spartanburg, 1902-04, which office he resigned on account of the pressure of professional duties; and for several years from 1902 he was first vice-president of the Spartanburg chamber of commerce.
In obtaining an education the subject of this sketch had serious difficulties to overcome. Though from childhood he had a natural ambition to succeed, he traces his first strong impulse to strive for the prizes of life to contact with the family physician and with public men, while for the early training of his moral and spiritual nature he owes a great debt to his parents. The most powerful influences which have helped him in his struggle for success in business and professional life he names as school and contact with men in active life. His favorite method of relaxation has been fox hunting. The only fraternal order of
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HUGH RATCHFORD BLACK
which he is a member is the Knights of Pythias. He has always been a Democrat, but he has never been active in political affairs. His religious affiliation is with the Associate Reformed Presbyte- rian church. In reply to a request that from his own experience and observation he would offer suggestions as to the principles, methods and habits which he believes will contribute to the strengthening of sound ideals and will most help young people who read this sketch of his life to attain true success, he says : "Honesty, truthfulness, and close application, will produce an ideal life and bring true success to young Americans."
On January 2, 1899, Doctor Black was married to Mary Louise Snoddy. Of their six children, five are now (1908) living.
The postoffice address of Doctor Black is Number 93 North Commerce street, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
JAMES BENJAMIN BLACK
B LACK, JAMES BENJAMIN, M. D., for eight years a member of the South Carolina house of representatives, and in 1905 elected state senator from Bamberg county, was born in Colleton county, South Carolina, July 19, 1849. His father, Robert Black, was a farmer who had served as captain in the Confederate army, and was sheriff of Colleton county until the time of his death, which occurred in his twentieth year of consecutive service in that office. His mother, Elizabeth Black, was the granddaughter of Thomas Caldwell, who came from Ireland and settled in Colleton county about 1800; while Robert Black, his paternal great great-grandfather, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and settled in South Carolina about 1760, serving in the Revolutionary army.
His early life was passed in the country, and to this, in part at least, he owes a sound constitution and good health. He says of himself, "I worked on a farm, and learned how to make a living." Such difficulties as lay in the way of his acquiring an education he overcame by his industry and his ability to earn his own way. To biographical reading he attributes much of the stimulus to achievement in his own life. He completed courses of study in the high schools of his county, and was grad- uated from the University of Maryland, school of medicine, in 1872, with the degree of M. D.
On August 1, 1872, he married Miss Hattie Ayer, and in the same year he began the practice of medicine in Colleton county. With the practice of medicine he has combined the business of a druggist; and for eighteen years he has served as director in the Bamberg bank. He is also a director of the Bamberg Cotton mills.
He served as captain of a company in the state militia from 1877 to 1880, although he saw no active service. He was the prime mover in the creation of the county of Bamberg, and he has often been styled in the local press "the father of Bamberg county." For eight years he has served in the house of represen- tatives of the state of South Carolina, and he now represents
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JAMES BENJAMIN BLACK
Bamberg county as senator. He has also served as intendant of the town of Bamberg.
Of the ten children of Dr. and Mrs. Black, eight are now living. Dr. Black is a member of the following fraternities: Masonic, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World; and he has filled the highest official positions, in his own locality, in several of these orders. He is an ex-president of the Barnwell County Medical society, of which he is still a member. His political affiliations are, as they have always been, with the Democratic party ; and in religious convictions he is a Baptist. He finds traveling his most enjoyable and helpful recreation. To his young fellow citizens he says, "Be honest; abstain from the use of intoxicants and narcotics; do not smoke cigarettes; keep good company."
WILLIAM CLIFTON BLACK
B LACK, WILLIAM CLIFTON, M. D., physician and surgeon, formerly vice-president of the South Carolina Medical association, now president of the Greenville County Medical association, proprietor and manager of the W. C. Black Private Sanatorium and Training School, of Greenville, South Carolina, was born in Buffalo, Cleveland county, North Carolina, on the 18th of October, 1860.
His father, Jefferson Black, was a merchant, a planter, and a manufacturer of iron-a man of great energy and of sterling principle, who had married Miss Eliza Borders, daughter of Major Hugh Borders, of Cleveland county, North Carolina. The ancestors of both his father and his mother were of Scotch-Irish descent.
Passing his boyhood in the country, he was taught from his earliest years the importance of regular work, done as a system- atic factor in the formation of character, as well as for the sake of support, and of acquiring property.
He attended King's Mountain high school, at King's Moun- tain, North Carolina, for some time; and in 1883 he became a student of medicine at the University of Maryland, from which institution he was graduated in 1886 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. But he was not contented with the regular course of study which admits men to the practice of his profession. In 1890 and in 1891, and again in 1892 and 1894, he attended lectures and demonstrations at the New York Polyclinic; and for the last fifteen years there has not been a year which has not seen him in New York or Philadelphia visiting hospitals, clinics and lecture rooms, in order to keep in touch with the latest discoveries in medicine and surgery. On the 15th of November, 1891, Doctor Black married Miss Nannie Hoke Lester, daughter of William F. Lester, of Columbia, South Carolina. They have had three children, all of whom are living in 1908.
Doctor Black was for some years chairman of the board of health of the city of Greenville. He has contributed a numher of articles to scientific and medical journals. He is a member of the American Medical association; of the Tri-State Medical
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WILLIAM CLIFTON BLACK
association (Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina) ; of the South Carolina Medical association; and of the Greenville County Medical society, of which he has been president. He is a director in the Greenville Real Estate, Loan, Insurance and Trust company, and in the Corbett Home, which is one of the largest sanatoriums in the state.
By religious conviction he is identified with the Baptist church.
In politics he is a Democrat, and he has never swerved from allegiance to the nominees and the principles of that party.
Doctor Black confines himself entirely to the practice of surgery, and is considered one of the leading surgeons in the South, and his sanitorium is one of the most successful in the country.
WHITEFORD SMITH BLAKENEY
B LAKENEY, WHITEFORD SMITH, president of the Bank of Union, Monroe, North Carolina, was born at Cross Roads, Chesterfield county, South Carolina, on May 4, 1865. His father was John Blakeney; his mother's maiden name was Rosanna Vick. His father was a farmer and was noted for industry and fair dealing. His grandfather, John Blakeney, emigrated from Ireland about 1750 and settled in Pennsylvania, removing subsequently to Chesterfield, South Carolina, where he acquired much land. He numbers among his ancestors an admiral in the English navy; others have been planters and soldiers.
His early life was passed in the country. He was a healthy boy and loved active sports, but was always fond of reading. When not at school he worked regularly on the farm, acquiring experiences which went far towards shaping his character. His favorite line of reading through life has been history and biography. After careful preparation at "old field" schools and the North Carolina college at Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, he was graduated from Davidson college, North Carolina, with the A. B. degree, at nineteen years of age, in the year 1884. Subsequently he took a course at the South Carolina college in Columbia, South Carolina, and was graduated therefrom with the degree of LL. B. in 1887. He also took a post-graduate course at the South Carolina college and received from that institution the A. M. degree. From 1888 to 1902 he farmed and practiced law at his country home. In the year last named he became president of the Bank of Union, Monroe, North Carolina, and in the same year was made president of the Mutual Benevolent association, of Chesterfield, South Carolina. In 1903 he was elected president of the Bank of Chesterfield, South Carolina, and in 1904, president of the Jefferson Bank, Jefferson, South Carolina. In the same year he became president of the Florence Skirt Manufacturing company, of Monroe, North Carolina. He served in the South Carolina legislature as state senator from Chesterfield county, South Carolina, from 1888 to 1902. In politics he is a Democrat, and in religion a Methodist. He has never given special attention to athletics, but was an enthusiastic
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WHITEFORD SMITH BLAKENEY
baseball player in early life, and still retains his interest in the game. He believes that success in life can only be attained by close attention to business, coupled with the strictest integrity and promptitude in meeting engagements.
On December 28, 1905, Mr. Blakeney was married to Miss Virginia May Cole. They have two children-a son and a daughter-living in 1908.
The address of Mr. Blakeney is Monroe, Union county, North Carolina.
CHARLES WILLIAM BOYD
B OYD, REVEREND CHARLES WILLIAM, minister of the Protestant Episcopal church at Cheraw, Chesterfield county, South Carolina, was born at Union, Union county, South Carolina, April 28, 1863. His father, Charles William Boyd, was a lawyer by profession, who served throughout the War between the States as captain in the Confederate army. His mother, Mrs. Maria (Goudenlock) Boyd, was a descendant of General Grant, of the British army, and of the Fernandez family, Spanish political exiles who settled near Port Tobacco, Maryland; of whom Henry Fernandez came to South Carolina and married a daughter of Judge Henderson, brother of Colonel Henderson of Revolutionary fame. The first American ancestor of his father's family was Archibald Boyd, who, with his brother Alexander, immigrated from Kilmarnock and settled in Mary- land.
After preparation for college at schools within reach of his early home, Charles W. Boyd entered Union college at Schenec- tady, New York; but he did not continue his academic course at that institution beyond the second year. He studied law for a year at the University of Virginia. He began the practice of law at Darlington, at the age of twenty-two, in 1885; and for ten years he followed the practice of that profession. But he writes, "through experience and reflection, and the conviction that it is best to live for the highest ends," he "was brought into the ministry." Private study and contact with men in active life, he feels, have been upon the whole the most potent influences in shaping his life and his work.
Upon reaching the conviction that he ought to devote his life to the Christian ministry, he took up the study of theology in the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1896. While pursuing his studies there he was the winner of the Sewanee-Vanderbilt debate, in 1898. He also served as editor of the "Sewanee Review," a periodical published by the University of the South which has a high reputation among the literary publications of that section of our country. He completed his course in theology and was graduated from the theological depart-
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CHARLES WILLIAM BOYD
ment of the University at Sewanee in 1899. Since that date he has applied himself assiduously to the work of the Christian ministry, to the pastoral duties of his church, and to such reading and study as would fit him to be useful through his sermons and in his relations with the community where he preaches. He has occasionally written articles for the papers and periodicals of his church, but has not attempted any other literary publications.
On the 1st of January, 1903, Mr. Boyd married Miss Marion Godfrey, daughter of Mr. Gillespie Godfrey, of Cheraw, South Carolina. They have had three children, all of whom are living in 1907. Mr. Boyd does not interest himself actively in politics, but votes with the Democratic party. He is grand chaplain of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He is a master Mason.
His favorite forms of exercise are tennis, hunting, and boating.
To the young people of South Carolina he commends "a clear purpose in life; placing the aim of duty and usefulness first; the determination to do at least one useful thing excel- lently, and to look on the bright side of things; reacting quickly against discouragement and temporary defeat; and a clear appre- ciation of the word 'duty,' in social relations and in political life."
JOHN CHAPEL BOYD
B OYD, GENERAL JOHN CHAPEL, of Columbia, South Carolina, most prominently connected with the militia service of South Carolina, and elected adjutant and inspector-general by the largest vote ever given to a candidate who ran with any opposition, having received 65,591 votes against 3,162 for his opponent, was born in Selma, Dallas county, Ala- bama, November 15, 1848. His father, William Harvey Boyd, was a merchant and the son of a Scotch-Irish immigrant who came from Ireland to Chester, South Carolina. His mother was Mrs. Martha Ann (Lee) Boyd; and to her, her son feels himself greatly indebted for much that is finest and best in his life.
His early life was passed not in the country, but in a city; and his tastes and interests, even in early boyhood, were strongly toward admiration for and care of horses, and an active partici- pation in military affairs and military display. He says that it was rather this taste for all things military than a distinct feeling of loyalty or patriotism to his state, which led him when a boy of fifteen to leave school and enter the Confederate army as a courier and drill-master. But a deeper perception of what was involved led to more serious and earnest interest in the issues of the war; and in January, 1863, he enlisted as a private in Company A, Sixth Alabama cavalry, Captain C. S. Lee; and later in Company D of the Sixty-second Alabama infantry, Captain George D. Shortridge. He saw much of active service; and he was taken a prisoner at Fort Blakely, Alabama, in March, 1865, and was confined on Ship Island (the prison being guarded by negro troops), until June, 1865.
Upon his release from prison he became a clerk in a store at Selma, Alabama. In 1866 he removed to Atlanta, Georgia, and acted as a traveling salesman for nine years until 1875, when he removed to Greenville, South Carolina, and engaged in the flour and grain business, residing there until October, 1906. In that month he removed to Columbia, South Carolina. While he resided at Greenville he was elected alderman of the city in 1877. In 1906 he was elected adjutant and inspector-general by the phenomenally large vote referred to above.
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JOHN CHAPEL BOYD
Probably no man in South Carolina has given more time to the militia service of the State than has General Boyd. He has seen thirty years of service in the South Carolina militia, passing through all grades of promotion, from first sergeant in the Inde- pendent Rifle club to the rank of colonel in the regular militia. He feels that in one critical period in the history of South Caro- lina it fell to his lot to discharge a duty which was painfully disagreeable to him at the time, yet which he felt, nevertheless, to be a duty of vital importance. It was a time when any failure on the part of officers of the state militia to obey their superiors in command, even if the orders issued were contrary to their own convictions of what was wisest, and repugnant to their own feel- ings, would have been a course fraught with gravest dangers to South Carolina. He writes: "When I responded to Governor Tillman's order, and went to Darlington in command of the troops during the dispensary riot, when many of the militia officers refused to obey, I was neither a supporter of Governor Tillman nor of the dispensary, and, like many others of the state, my sympathy was with the Darlington people. This was one of the most unpleasant episodes of my life; and yet it was one in which I rendered the state my best service. The conception of my duty as militia officer was all that made me obey the order. I considered this a most critical period in the history of South Carolina. The white people were sadly divided at that time, and if the anti-Tillman officers of the militia had not obeyed the orders of the governor there would have been civil war, since people were worked up to a higher pitch of excitement than they have ever been since 1861."
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