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 22
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When the comparatively recent development of manufac- turing in South Carolina received so remarkable a stimulus from the determination of the men of the Palmetto State to manu- facture on their own soil the cotton goods for which they had long furnished the best of staples to the factories of the world, Mr. Sitton was one of the far-seeing men who early determined to engage in this line of manufacture. From 1876 to 1879 he was the manager of the Pendleton Manufacturing company's cotton mills at Autun, South Carolina, and he still retains his connection with that business.
Mr. Sitton saw something of military service in the War between the States, having acted as quartermaster sergeant for
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AUGUSTUS JOHN SITTON
four years in the Palmetto Sharpshooters. In the campaign for reform under Wade Hampton in 1876, Mr. Sitton claims to have been the originator of the red shirt uniform which was so famous in that campaign. After the election of Wade Hampton as governor, Mr. Sitton was appointed to a place on the governor's staff. with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and he served in that capacity for four years.
On the 6th of August, 1884, he married Miss Leela Eugenia Aull, daughter of John Aull, of Newberry, South Carolina. They have had three children, of whom two were living in 1907. Mr. Sitton has been for years an active Mason, and for eleven years in succession he was worshipful master of the Blue Lodge, and king and high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, of Pen- dleton.
In politics he is a Democrat, and he has at no time swerved from allegiance to the principles and the nominees of his party. By religious conviction and association he is affiliated with the Baptist church.
To the young men of South Carolina who hope to succeed in life, Mr. Sitton commends thorough knowledge of the business they undertake, from the bottom to the top, and the strictest integrity, with persevering industry.
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EARLE SLOAN
S® LOAN, EARLE, son of Colonel J. B. E. Sloan and Mary Seaborn Sloan, was born October 18, 1858, at Cherry Hill plantation, near Old Pendleton, South Carolina. His father was a planter and cotton factor, and was colonel of the Fourth regiment, South Carolina volunteers, of the Confederate army. The more prominent of his ancestors in this country comprised the following: Among the three great-grandfathers, Samuel Earle, Esq., a member of the house of burgesses (1744), from Fairfax, Virginia, major of militia and high sheriff, who was the grandson of John Earle, Esq., of Westmoreland, who settled a large crown grant with thirty-two attendants in 1652. Of the two great-grandfathers, Colonel Samuel Taylor, who served with General Sumter. Among the great-grandfathers, Captain David Sloan (first of his family in America), and General J. Baylis Earle, soldiers of the Revolution; the latter was adjutant-general of South Carolina for sixteen years, and subsequently (1803) member of congress. The grandfathers were Benjamin F. Sloan, Esq., planter and founder of one of the earliest cotton mills established in the state, and George Seaborn, Esq., planter and editor.
Earle Sloan was in youth well and hardy, fond of hunting, fishing, boating, and reading, but was possessed of an ingrained aversion for school. His early life alternated between the plan- tation and Charleston. Such work as he performed in youth was rendered, not as a volunteer, but as a conscript in the ranks of the industrious. His mother exerted a decided influence on his life and character, and his father's influence, which controlled his early companionships and his advanced studies, was chiefly responsible for his subsequent success.
In acquiring an education he encountered no physical diffi- culties. His early reading was influenced by his interest in nature. He attended numerous "old field" schools, Professor A. Sach- tleben's classic school, the Carolina Military institute, and the University of Virginia. In 1878 he entered the scientific schools of the latter institution, graduating in 1882. His undergraduate course was followed in the same institution by post-graduate work
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in chemistry and geology, including field work; travel was then directed to regions of instructive geological and mining interests.
Mr. Sloan's studies, and his association in the laboratory and the geologic field with men of high attainments and great renown in their respective departments, developed in him a deep and abiding interest in chemistry and geology and led to his entrance upon the work of mining engineer, geologist and chemist in the mining states of the West, and in Alabama and other Southern states. He has been active and consulting engineer to numerous mining and chemical enterprises; assistant United States geolo- gist; he is state geologist of South Carolina, having been appointed to the latter office May 1, 1901. Among the positions of honor to which he has been called is the first presidency of the South Carolina branch of the University of Virginia Alumni association. He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and of various societies and clubs.
He has written: "A Preliminary Report on the Clays of South Carolina," "Marls and Other Coastal Plain Formations of South Carolina," "A Catalogue of the Mineral Localities of South Carolina," and "Artesian and Other Underground Waters of South Carolina." As assistant United States geologist he made the investigation of the Charleston earthquake of 1886, its causes and effects.
The principal public services he has rendered have, in his judgment, consisted in voting for the best men offering for public trust.
Mr. Sloan is regarded as of pronounced and independent convictions, is a trenchant writer, and has frequently boldly criticised public economic measures.
In politics Mr. Sloan believes the question of white supremacy to be paramount in importance, appreciation of all other political principles and issues being largely suspended by the exigencies of the absorbing question of race preservation. For exercise and rest he enjoys hunting, fishing, boating, and horseback riding.
He was married, October 11, 1894, to Alice Reeves Witte, the daughter of Charles O. Witte and Charlotte Sophia Reeves. Three children have been born to them, all of whom are now (1908) living.
His address is 64 South Battery, Charleston, South Carolina.
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CHARLES AURELIUS SMITH
S MITH, CHARLES AURELIUS, president of the Citizens Bank of Timmonsville, of Timmonsville, Florence county, South Carolina, was born in Hertford county, North Caro- lina, on January 22, 1861. His father, Joseph Smith, was a farmer whose ancestors were North Carolina people. Born on his father's farm, and passing all his early years in the country, he had excellent health in his boyhood and early manhood; and while a boy he became familiar with the work done on the farm and with the management of farm help. After attending the country schools near his home, in order to complete his prepara- tion for college he was sent to the Reynoldson Male institute in Gates county, North Carolina. While attending this institution he definitely determined to secure for himself, no matter at what cost, the better preparation for life which he believed would be his if he received a college education.
Through family friends he was able to borrow the money to defray the expenses of his college course. Admitted to Wake Forest college, North Carolina, in 1879, he was graduated from that institution in 1882 with the degree of A. B. The determi- nation to repay as promptly as possible the money which he had borrowed to enable him to secure a college education led him to begin work as a teacher at once after he was graduated from college, and he accepted a position at Timmonsville, South Caro- lina.
On January 3, 1884, he was married to Fanny L. Byrd. They have had nine children, of whom eight are living in 1908.
After a few years of teaching, Mr. Smith became actively connected with several of the important business enterprises in Timmonsville. The earnestness of his devotion to these enter- prises, and the cordial recognition on the part of his fellow- citizens of his business enterprise and public spirit, are shown in the list of offices which he has occupied in the past, most of which he still fills. He is president of the Citizens Bank of Timmons- ville; president of the Timmonsville Oil company; president of the Charles A. Smith company (general merchandise) of Tim- monsville; president of the Smith-Williams company, of Lake
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City, South Carolina; and he is also president of the Bank of Lynchburg, South Carolina, which was organized in November, 1907. In 1903 he was chosen mayor of Timmonsville, and he still discharges the duties of that office.
In his political affiliations he is actively identified with the Democratic party; and he has never departed from strict party allegiance.
By religious conviction he is a member of the Baptist church. In 1903 he was chosen president of the Baptist state convention, and he still occupies that position. In 1905 he was made a vice- president of the Southern Baptist convention; and since 1902 he has served as moderator of the Welsh Neck Baptist association.
It is a natural consequence of his proved executive ability, as well as of his own interest in all that concerns education and his own record as a successful teacher, that he should have been chosen trustee of several important institutions for the higher education. He is president of the board of trustees of Furman university; trustee of Greenville Female college, at Greenville, South Carolina, and a trustee of the Welsh Neck high school, at Hartsville, South Carolina.
While Mr. Smith understands the need of physical exercise for most boys and men, if they are to acquire and enjoy good health, and feels it to be the duty of every man to keep his body in condition to serve well his mind and will, he does not care to declare himself as particularly addicted to, or as favoring, any one particular form of exercise or amusement. And he feels that the estimate which he places upon the civic virtues of truthful- ness, strict integrity, promptness in meeting obligations, and sympathetic helpfulness in the life of the community, he would have others infer from his own manner of attempting to meet and discharge the duties of the various offices he has filled and is now filling, rather than have others listen to anything which he might say, or read anything which he might write upon these subjects.
His business life at Timmonsville might, perhaps, be taken as a type of the quiet and faithful discharge of duty by a conscientious business man who wants to be helpful to his fellow- citizens, while he fills with faithfulness and energy the offices to which he has been called, and does the work with which he feels himself especially entrusted.
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Very truly yours I.F. Smith,
JEPTHA PIERCE SMITH
S C MITH, JEPTHA PIERCE, president and treasurer of the Liberty Cotton mills, was born in Anderson county, South Carolina, April 1, 1853. He is the son of James Monroe Smith and Hester Watkins Smith. His paternal ancestors were of Scotch-Irish descent and his maternal of Welsh. His father was a merchant and farmer, known as a man of strong mind and great energy.
Mr. Smith spent the early years of his life in the country, where, as a healthy and vigorous youth, he worked on his father's farm, performing all kinds of tasks incident to farm life. This work, however, was not permitted to interfere with his school training. After attending private schools he took a course of study at the Thalian academy, of which the Reverend John L. Kennedy was then the principal. During this formative period of his life the influence of his mother, on both his intellectual and moral life, was very strong.
In 1875 Mr. Smith began to earn his own livelihood as a farmer in Anderson county. Later he became principal of a school in the same county, a position which he held for five years. In 1890 he became secretary of the state agricultural department under the board of trustees of Clemson Agricultural college. He retained this position until 1901. In 1900 the Liberty Cotton mills were incorporated with a capital of $175,000. Within a year their large two-story buildings were erected, and their ten thousand spindles set in motion by a powerful steam plant. In the organization of these mills Jeptha Pierce Smith was chosen president and treasurer. Under his careful management the mills have prospered, and their prosperity contributes largely to the material welfare of the town of Liberty.
In looking back over his past life, Mr. Smith declares: "Private study and contact with men in active life contributed largely to what success I have obtained." In politics he is a member of the Democratic party. He is a member of the Pres- byterian church.
In 1875 Mr. Smith was married to Cornelia Glenn. They have had five children, four of whom are now (1908) living,- two sons and two daughters.
His address is Liberty, Pickens county, South Carolina.
SAMUEL MACON SMITH
S MITH, REV. SAMUEL MACON, D. D., was born at Hampden-Sidney, Prince Edward county, Virginia, July 26, 1851. He is the son of Rev. Jacob Henry Smith, D. D., and Catherine Malvina (Miller) Smith. His father was for forty years one of the most popular and effective preachers in the state of North Carolina. His grandfather, Heinrich Schmidt, emigrated from Hanover, Germany, to Maryland, removing later to Augusta county, Virginia, where he became a successful planter. The ancestors of his mother came from England, and the Miller family has for generations been prominent in Middle and Southern Virginia. His maternal ancestors were also promi- nent. Among them was General Charles Scott of the Revolution, after whom Scottsville was named. The family was intermarried with the Custis and Washington families. Senator Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, was of the same stock.
Samuel Macon Smith was taught by his father until he was fourteen years of age. He then attended for several years the Greensboro (North Carolina) high school, and the famous Bingham school. He took elective courses at the University of Virginia in Latin, Greek, German, mental and moral philosophy, and chemistry, becoming especially fond of Greek under that celebrated teacher of the classics, Professor Basil L. Gildersleeve.
He was ordained to the ministry by the Orange presbytery in October, 1876. He spent a year as evangelist in Chatham county, North Carolina, residing at Pittsboro. In the summer of 1877 he accepted a call to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church in Washington, North Carolina, which he served until September, 1889. While in this charge he received calls to larger churches, but declined them, until a change of location was necessitated by the state of his wife's health. In 1889 he accepted a call to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian church, of Columbia, South Carolina, to which church he still ministers.
He married Miss Ella Friend Daniel, of "Ingleside," Char- lotte county, Virginia, daughter of John W. Daniel, a leading planter and a member of the distinguished family of that name.
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SAMUEL MACON SMITH
In his early career Doctor Smith was a frequent contributor to the theological "Quarterlies," his articles being widely read and some of them reprinted in Europe. He was selected by the general assembly of the Presbyterian church to deliver the address on "The New Theology" in the great celebration on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Westminster Confession. He also delivered numerous commencement addresses and bacca- laureate sermons in the states of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. He was selected to deliver the oration at the unveiling of the monument to the murdered Editor Gonzales in Columbia. The degree of D. D. was conferred on him by David- son college in 1888.
Doctor Smith has several times declined a professorship in a theological seminary or a college.
The five sons of Doctor Jacob Henry Smith have all become eminent. The four brothers of the subject of this sketch are Doctor Henry Louis Smith, widely known as the president of Davidson college, North Carolina; Doctor Charles Alphonso Smith, professor of the English language in the North Carolina State university, and author of several widely used school-books in his department; Doctor Egbert Watson Smith, for many years past a minister of eminence in North Carolina, and at present pastor of the leading Presbyterian church in Louisville, Kentucky; and Reverend Hay Watson Smith, the youngest of the brothers, now pastor of the Congregational church at Port Chester, New York.
Doctor Samuel Macon Smith has had one son, Reed Smith, who follows the lines of his forebears, having received degrees with distinction from the following institutions of learning: Davidson college, the South Carolina college, and Harvard university; and he was elected in 1905 to the chair of English in the Alabama Presbyterian College for Men, a position which he still fills.
The address of Doctor Smith is Columbia, South Carolina.
WATTIE GAILLARD SMITH
S MITH, WATTIE GAILLARD, born May 19, 1861, at Williamston, Anderson county, South Carolina, and for the last fifteen years prominently connected with the leading business interests of Orangeburg, South Carolina, was one of the group of South Carolinians who early foresaw the great possi- bilities of manufacturing cotton where it was raised, and organ- ized those factories which have given an impulse to Southern industrial and commercial life, and a new era of prosperity to South Carolina and the other cotton-raising states.
He is of Scotch descent. His grandfather came from Scot- land and landed at Charleston. His father, Henry J. Smith, was born in Charleston, and practiced law at Williamston and at Greenville. He lost his life in the War between the States, in which he served as captain of the Gist Rifles. His wife was Miss Sallie E. Cobb, whose parents were descended from Irish settlers in Virginia and North Carolina.
Wattie G. Smith lost his father while he was still an infant. His earliest boyhood was passed upon a farm. In the crisis that confronted so many Southern women after the war, his widowed mother showed the courage which characterized Southern life in those trying years. She became a teacher. Her little son was taken to live with his father's brother, Dr. Whitefoord Smith, who cared for his schooling at the Marietta Street grammar school, Atlanta, and later sent him to Wofford college, Spartanburg.
After his college course he took a position in the office of the Clifton Manufacturing company, at Clifton, South Carolina. Here he continued to read and study all the books and periodicals he could secure which dealt with the manufacture of cotton, convinced as he was that prosperity for the people of his state lay not in merely raising but also and chiefly in manufacturing cotton. After twelve years spent at Clifton, Mr. Smith organ- ized (in 1890) the Bamberg Cotton mills, becoming president and treasurer of that company. In 1900 he organized the Orangeburg Manufacturing company, of which he is still (1907) president and treasurer. He is a director of the Edisto Savings bank, of
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WATTIE GAILLARD SMITH
Orangeburg, and president of the Business Men's league and of the Business Men's club.
Mr. Smith has served as first lieutenant of the Morgan Rifles, Spartanburg, and as captain of the Edisto Rifles, of Orangeburg. On the staff of Governor Heyward he was commissary-general. He has always been fond of hunting as a recreation. He is a Mason and a Shriner, a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and a member of the grand lodge. He is a past exalted ruler of the Elks, and has represented the local body at meetings in New York, Buffalo, and Denver.
He is a member of the Methodist church. By political con- viction he is a Democrat, and he has always been identified with that party.
Mr. Smith married, in 1885, Miss Mary A. Begg, daughter of James and Mary A. Begg, of Spartanburg county. They had four children, all of whom survived their mother and are still (1908) living. He was married a second time, on October 19, 1898, to Miss Lucia C. Weathersbee, daughter of T. F. S. and Annie Weathersbee, of Barnwell, South Carolina.
His address is Orangeburg, Orangeburg county, South Caro- lina.
ELLISON ADGER SMYTH
S MYTH, ELLISON ADGER, son of Thomas Smyth, D. D., and Margaret Milligan (Adger) Smyth, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, October 26, 1847. Thomas Smyth was characterized by indomitable will and energy. He was the pastor of the Second Presbyterian church of Charleston for over forty years, and author of over thirty books.
Mr. Smyth's earliest known ancestor was his great great- grandfather, William Ellison, who came to America from County Antrim, Ireland, in 1741. The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Robert Ellison, was a major in the Continental army, and was later state senator, and one of the founders of Mount Zion society, established in aid of education in the state. James Adger, the grandfather of Ellison A. Smyth, was a mer- chant and banker of Charleston, South Carolina.
Young Smyth's early life was passed in Charleston. He studied in Professor Sachtleben's classical school in that city, and later became a cadet in South Carolina Military academy ; he was also a cadet at the close of the War between the States.
Mr. Smyth's active life-work began with his entrance, in 1866, with J. E. Adger & Company, upon the hardware business in Charleston. Since 1882 he has been actively identified with the business interests of South Carolina. He was chosen presi- dent of the Pelzer Manufacturing company in 1882, president of the Chicora Savings bank in 1885, and president of the Money- wick Oil mill in 1890. In 1899 he was made president of the Belton mill, at Belton, South Carolina, and in 1904 president of the Ninety-Six Cotton mill, at Ninety-Six, South Carolina. He is president and treasurer of the Anderson Phosphate and Oil company, at Anderson, South Carolina. He is a director in some thirty-five or forty other corporations, including cotton mills, insurance companies, and banks. On its organization, in June, 1906, with one hundred members, he was elected president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of South Carolina.
In 1896, Mr. Smyth was appointed by President Mckinley to the United States Industrial commission, in which position he continued two years. He was also captain of the Washington
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Artillery Rifle club, of Charleston, from 1875 to 1879; vice- president of the Carolina Rifle club, of Charleston, in 1870-1875, and captain of the Greenville guards from 1888-1892. During the year 1864-65, Mr. Smyth served in the Third regiment of the South Carolina state militia.
He is president of the Sans Souci Country club, of Green- ville, South Carolina, and is a member of the Metropolitan club, of Washington, District of Columbia; the Maryland club, of Baltimore; the Manhattan club, of New York; the Columbia club, of Columbia, South Carolina; the Manufacturers club, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Greenville club, of Greenville, South Carolina. He is a Democrat in politics, and a Presby- terian in religion.
On February 17, 1869, Mr. Smyth married Miss Julia Gam- brill. They have had twelve children, five of whom are living in 1908.
His address is Greenville, South Carolina.
JAMES ADGER SMYTH
S® MYTH, JAMES ADGER, merchant and ex-mayor, was born in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, on the 8th of June, 1838. His parents were Thomas Smyth and Margaret Milligan (Adger) Smyth. His father was a noted theologian and Presbyterian minister. For forty-two years he was the pastor of the Second Presbyterian church of Charleston, South Carolina, his first and only pastoral charge. Among his marked characteristics were an indomitable will, persevering industry and indefatigable study. He was a preacher of remark- able eloquence and was the author of numerous theological works, some of which are now standard text-books in theological semi- naries. Mr. Smyth's earliest known maternal ancestor in America was James Adger, who came from the neighborhood of Belfast, Ireland, to Charleston, some time before 1800. His father's family also came from Belfast and settled in New Jersey, Indiana and Tennessee. Among his distinguished ancestors were Major Robert Ellison, his grandmother's father, an officer in the Conti- nental army who was imprisoned in the "old postoffice" building in Charleston by the British in the same cell with Colonel Isaac Hayne. His own grandfather, Mr. James Adger, was a lieu- tenant in the United States army in the War of 1812.
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