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 8
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Identified with the Democratic party from his earliest man- hood, he has not swerved in his allegiance to that party. His religious convictions have led to his identification with the Bap- tist church. On April 15, 1885, he married Miss Annie K. Gordon.
Mr. Cummings is a type of the South Carolina business man who, beginning as a day laborer, by his systematic faithfulness in his attention to the duties nearest at hand, and by his intelli- gent interest in the larger aspects and relations of the business concern which employed him, has made his way to a successful management of large business interests of his own, and to posi- tions of trust and of financial influence in his community.
The address of Mr. Cummings is Hampton, South Carolina.
CHARLES GLOVER DANTZLER
D ANTZLER, CHARLES GLOVER, lawyer, formerly a member of the house of representatives of South Caro- lina and now circuit judge, was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on March 19, 1854. His ancestors, on the paternal side, came from Germany before the Revolution ; on the maternal side he is of English descent. Inspiration for the hard, con- scientious and successful work he has done, he feels came largely from the personal influence of his mother and his father and from what he saw in their lives. His father was Hon. Olin M. Dantzler, who was graduated in law, although he did not pursue the practice of that profession, but was a planter. His son seems to have inherited a judicial mind, due, no doubt, in part to the legal studies and the thoughtful outlook on life of his father, who was a member of the house of representatives of South Carolina and later was a state senator from Orangeburg county; a man of strongly marked characteristics, noted for his prompt, efficient and fearless discharge of duty.
The life of his mother (before her marriage Caroline Glover) was very strong in its inspirational effect on his life, as has been the case with so many men who are characterized by devotion to high ideals. She was a daughter of Dr. Charles Glover, and a niece of Judge T. W. Glover.
No life stands absolutely alone. Inheritance and environ- ment play important roles. Charles Dantzler was not without an inheritance that was influential in his life. His grandfather, Jacob M. Dantzler, was distinguished as a statesman, and his father rendered noteworthy service to his state in peace and in war. While he was in command of the Twenty-second South Carolina volunteers, he was killed in battle in 1864. Dr. Charles Glover, his maternal grandfather, was eminent in his profession, the practice of medicine.
As a boy he was not strong. He began his training at school in preparation for college, at Mt. Zion institute, Winnsboro, South Carolina, and later he attended the King's Mountain Mili- tary school at Yorkville, South Carolina, under the superintend- ency of Colonel Asbury Coward.
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He entered Wofford college in 1871, from which institution he was graduated A. B. in June, 1875, with honors. At present he is one of the trustees of his alma mater. Next to the influence of his father, his mother and his wife, he reckons the influence upon him for good of Dr. James H. Carlisle, of Wofford college.
In 1876 he married Laura A. Moss. They have two children living in 1908, Carrie M. Dantzler, and Annie W. Dantzler.
For nine years he practiced the profession of the law, and by 1884 he had so entirely won the confidence of the people of Orangeburg county that they chose him as their representative in the house, where for six years he served his state.
In January, 1902, he was elected circuit judge of the first judicial circuit of South Carolina, and he still discharges the important duties of that office.
He is a Democrat and a Mason. In his religious affiliations he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Speaking of what will contribute most to the strengthening of sound ideals in American life, and will especially help young people to attain true success, he says that he believes in "an unalterable purpose to live a pure life and a determination to add to one's knowledge from every source, and to cultivate the mind by every means within reach and always with a definite object for achievement."
His address is Orangeburg, Orangeburg county, South Car- olina.
MANLY JACOB DANIEL DANTZLER
D ANTZLER, MANLY JACOB DANIEL, M. D., of Elloree, Orangeburg county, South Carolina, was born at Orangeburg, South Carolina, on the 14th of May, 1840. His father, Isaac Dantzler, was a school teacher, and later a merchant, who served as captain in the militia of his state, and was judge ordinary for Orangeburg county, South Carolina. His great-grandfather, Heinrich Dantzler, emigrated from Germany and settled at Savannah, August 7, 1754, and four years later removed to Orangeburg district, South Carolina; and his son, John Henry Dantzler, was a dragoon in Rumph's company at the battle of Eutaw Springs, September 8, 1781, and lived to be one hundred years old. His four sons were John, Philip, Jacob, and Daniel. Jacob Dantzler, born in 1766, married Miss Christiana Strock, whose father was born in Holland. Jacob Dantzler's sons were Henry, Jacob B., Isaac, and Solomon Abraham. Isaac Dantzler, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1804; married Miss Caroline, daughter of Daniel O'Cain in 1838, and died in 1844.
Born in a village, reared on a farm, he learned to work in his boyhood. He says: "My mother taught me to work, so that if my education failed to make me a living I could fall back on the plow." His father had died when he was but four years old. He received his classical training at the Holly Hill high school in Charleston county, South Carolina; and was graduated with the degree of M. D. from the South Carolina Medical college in March, 1861.
From August 23, 1861, to the end of the war he served as a private for a year, as hospital steward for six months, and as full surgeon in the Confederate army, ranking as captain and major from February 19, 1863, to April 9, 1865. He was surgeon in the military hospital at Savannah and in the hospital at Thunderbolt, Georgia, in 1863.
After the war he settled in Orangeburg county for the prac- tice of medicine and surgery, and he also managed a farm. He is a member of the Orangeburg Medical society and of the South Carolina Medical association. In 1868 he performed, for the
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first time, a certain notable operation in obstetrics, the branch of surgery in which he has specialized. His published professional articles include, "A Thesis on Inflammation" (1861) ; "Arm and Shoulder Presentation" (1868) ; "Hemorrhagic or Swamp Yellow Fever" (Transactions South Carolina Medical association, 1905) ; "Incubation Period of Malaria" (ditto, April 19, 1900) ; and "A Retrospect of Fifty Years' Medical Progress" (Journal of the South Carolina Medical association, 1906), and several important papers upon obstetrics.
Dr. Dantzler has been twice married. In 1868 he married Miss Emma McMillan, by whom he had two children, neither of whom has survived. She died in 1870. In 1875 he married Miss Dora Shingler, of Charleston county, South Carolina. They have had nine children, eight of whom are living in 1907.
Dr. Dantzler served as secretary of the Jamison Democratic club from 1875 to 1881; as president of the Providence Demo- cratic club from 1881 to 1892, and as president of the Horse Range Democratic club 1892 to 1893. He was president of the board of school trustees of Jamison from 1875 to 1881, president of the Providence board of school trustees from 1881 to 1892, secretary, and later president, of the board of trustees of the Elloree graded schools from 1882 to 1900.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and has served as a trustee and steward of that church for a number of years.
MARION DARGAN
D ARGAN, REVEREND MARION, pastor of the new Bethel church now being built in the city of Spartan- burg, South Carolina, at a cost of thirty thousand dollars, and chairman of the board of managers of the "Southern Christian Advocate," was born in Darlington, South Carolina, on the 28th of April, 1857.
His father, Julius A. Dargan, was a lawyer, a member of the state legislature, a member of the secession convention, and a signer of the historic "Ordinance of Secession."
Marion Dargan attended the schools of Darlington and later was a graduate of the Charleston high school. Before and after his graduation from that institution he spent a few years in mercantile work as a cotton buyer, then yielding to the hitherto resisted call to the Christian ministry, he entered Vanderbilt university, Nashville, Tennessee, where he was graduated in theology, and took a special course in literary study, graduating in several courses of his chosen lines of study. He entered the South Carolina conference in 1884.
As a pastor and a preacher he was soon in demand among the churches of his denomination. The messages which he deliv- ered from his pulpit were followed by marked changes in the lives of many of his hearers, and on some occasions it is believed that scores and even hundreds of persons were converted to the Christian life by his presentation of the Gospel. The experience which he had acquired in business life, and his native good judgment and practical common sense, united with his preaching power to make him a leader in his denomination. A steadiness of purpose and action which inspired confidence, and a whole- hearted enthusiasm in the work of his chosen profession have made a mark upon the communities where he has lived as a minister. Churches were increased in numbers, church buildings were erected, and church debts liquidated as a result of his pastoral work and preaching.
When in more recent years he became presiding elder, which position he filled for nine years and has but recently returned to the pastorate, his qualities of leadership served to quicken the
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ministry and invigorate the pastorate of many who were under his supervision; and the churches in his conference uniformly felt the power of his character and his administration. While he was presiding elder of the Orangeburg district the salary of every preacher was paid in full, and all the claims-for all purposes-on every pastoral charge were also paid in full. The amount called for, for both home and foreign missions for the entire year, was raised by every station, circuit, and mission church and paid into the conference treasury in the early spring.
On March 5, 1884, he married Miss Annie H. Hicklin, a daughter of Dr. J. W. Hicklin, of Chester county. They have had three children, all of whom are living in 1908, one of whom, Marion Dargan, Jr., has been a Methodist preacher for the past two years. He is finishing the junior class at Wofford college, and is president of the Y. M. C. A. of the college. In the vacation .
he preaches wherever needed, and without pay.
JOHN HODGES DAVID
D AVID, JOHN HODGES, physician and manufacturer, of Dillon, Marion county, South Carolina, was born at Bennettsville, Marlboro county, South Carolina, on the 23d of July, 1856. His parents were William J. David and Rebecca Spears, daughter of James Spears, of Marlboro county, South Carolina. The father was a surgeon in the Eighth South Carolina regiment and in the Fiftieth Georgia regiment, from 1861 to 1865. He owned a small farm, and combined the practice of medicine with the care of his land. He is remembered not only as a competent and kindly physician, but as a man who kept himself exceptionally well informed upon all public matters, and was most ready and interesting in conversation. His great- grandfather, Owen David, the earliest ancestor of the family in America, emigrated from Wales and settled in the Welsh Neck, on the Great Pee Dee river, in 1737.
John Hodges David spent the first ten years of his life at Bennettsville; and from the age of ten to twenty he lived on his father's farm near Blenheim. He knew a healthy and happy boyhood. The oldest in a large family of children, whose father had no fixed income apart from that which came to him from the practice of medicine and from the small farm on which he lived, it was inevitable that his opportunities for systematic schooling should be limited. He attended for a part of each year the schools at Bennettsville, and later the country schools near his home; and when he was nineteen he spent two terms in attendance at the Ansonville high school, at Ansonville, North Carolina, before he began the systematic study of medicine. In his boyhood he had learned thoroughly the routine of work upon a farm; and he had also been taught to use effectively a full kit of carpenter's tools. His knowledge of farming and of carpentry has been of practical use to him in many ways in his later life.
Deliberately choosing the profession of medicine, not merely because it was the profession of his father, but chiefly because he felt himself strongly drawn to the art of healing, when he was twenty-one he began the systematic attendance upon lectures in the chemical and physiological laboratory at the Charleston
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Medical College. After three years of these professional studies he was graduated from that institution in March, 1879.
In April, 1879, Doctor David settled at Little Rock, South Carolina, and began the practice of his profession. In addition to his medical practice, he also established a business at Little Rock as a retail druggist. From 1879 to 1889 his attention was given to this new business, so closely allied with his profession, and to the practice of medicine and surgery. During the summer of 1889 he helped in the organization of the Dillon Oil mill; and, removing to Dillon, South Carolina, with his brother, the late F. B. David, he established and conducted the first drug store at Dillon, and practiced medicine for two years, 1889 and 1890. But the business of the Dillon Oil mill increased rapidly and made larger and larger demands upon the time of Doctor David. In 1890 he withdrew from the active practice of his profession, in order that he might take the position of secretary and treasurer of the Dillon Oil mill, and might give to the development of this business all his time and attention. A little later he became president of the company; and he held this position until the Dillon Oil mill was sold to the Southern Cotton Oil company in 1901; since which time Doctor David has been the local manager of the Dillon Oil mill.
Ten years ago a writer in the Charleston "News and Courier" spoke of Doctor David as "prominent in everything that promotes the interests of Dillon"; and the article added: "Three times he has served Dillon as mayor. He has been and is president of some of her leading business enterprises; and he is one of the largest merchants in this section."
Doctor David served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Dillon high school for several years; and from 1881 to 1895 he was one of the trustees of the Dillon graded school. He is a member of the Mackey lodge of Masons and is a Royal Arch Mason. He is a Knight of Pythias.
On the 11th of December, 1879, Doctor David married Miss Arletta Ione Manning, daughter of Thomas J. Manning, of Little Rock, South Carolina. They have had nine children, six of whom are living in 1908.
In politics Doctor David has always been associated with the Democratic party, giving to its candidates and its measures his unswerving support. By religious profession he is a member of
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the Baptist Church, South. Throughout his life he has found needed and most agreeable recreation in travel and in reading.
Asked to make definite suggestions to the young men of his state who are looking out upon life, eager to attain true success, Doctor David offers this brief suggestion: "Close application to the trade or profession which you select."
Men of Mark Publishing Ca. Washington , D.C.
yours truly Jw. De Vore
JAMES WILLIAM DEVORE
D EVORE, JAMES WILLIAM, lawyer, and member of the South Carolina house of representatives, is one of a family which for several generations and as early as colonial days has had in its circle large slave-owners and wealthy planters in Virginia and the Carolinas. He was born at "Fair- view" plantation, Edgefield county, South Carolina, on May 6, 1856. His father, James Adams DeVore, M. D., was a physician possessed by nature of so much energy and perseverance that prominence in the community as well as success in his profession were inevitable. His earliest known ancestors in America were Matthew DeVore, who came to South Carolina from France and settled at Edgefield, South Carolina, and Edward and Rachel Holloway, who came from England and settled in Caroline county, Virginia.
In his boyhood and youth he was exceptionally fond of riding and hunting. He lived on "Fairview" plantation, the homestead of his parents, until he was sixteen years old. His mother, Mrs. Rachel Brown (Prescott) De Vore, was very influential in forming the ideals and guiding the life of her son through his early boyhood, and he owes her much for intellectual and spiritual impulse and uplift. Under her guidance he early learned to love history and the standard works of literature. He attended the Edgefield village academy, where he completed his preparation for college. After several terms spent at Washington and Lee university, Virginia, he read law under J. C. Sheppard, and began the practice of law at Edgefield court-house, South Caro- lina.
For those who have learned to value the influence which noble-hearted and inspiring women exert, as mothers, sisters and wives, it is interesting to note that Mr. DeVore, at the age of fifty, writes: "While I was naturally inclined to the course of study and the profession which I chose, I was influenced by my sister, Mrs. Kate DeVore Butler, who is regarded as one of the best educated women of her state, under whom I took a course in literature after I left school." He adds: "I owe more to the influence of my wife than to any other influence, since my
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marriage; and before my marriage I owed most to my sister, who took unusual interest in me at a time when my mother, on account of failing health, could no longer care for me."
In 1902 he was elected a member of the house of represen- tatives of South Carolina, and in 1904 and in 1906 was reelected from Edgefield county. While serving his third term in the state legislature he was, on February 20, 1908, elected judge of the eleventh judicial circuit of South Carolina for a term of four years. He has taken an active part in putting upon the statute books of his state the new immigration laws, and he is especially interested in such immigration laws as affect agriculture, believ- ing that if the provisions which he was instrumental in getting into the last immigration law of South Carolina are carried into effect, "they will do more toward the upbuilding of the rural districts of South Carolina than has ever been accomplished up to this time by any act passed by the law-makers of the state."
Mr. De Vore does not hesitate to profess his strong belief that every honest citizen should stand boldly for his own convictions and express them clearly, even when he is in what seems like a hopeless minority, doing his best to bring his fellow-citizens to his way of thinking, and not spending his time in the effort to find out in what direction the majority will vote, with the pur- pose of falling into line to be upon the popular side. He writes: "I was bold enough to be the first legislator to introduce a concurrent resolution instructing and requiring our representa- tives to use their best efforts to secure the repeal of the fifteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, even if the Southern states should be cut down in their representation in congress as a result." He believes that if this were done the greatest possible step would be taken toward a solution of the race question, and the "solid South" would be broken up, white supremacy would be maintained in the South, and (as Mr. De Vore believes) with the cordial support of the North, when its people should come to understand the situation. He believes that the South would be more prosperous if the whites of the South were divided by natural party lines instead of acting solidly; and by the breaking up of the "solid South," and by that assured dominance of the white race which he thinks would follow upon the repeal of the fifteenth amendment, Mr. DeVore declares "We of the South should throw the yoke of slavery off ourselves."
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He also advocates very strongly a more thorough and system- atic teaching of the English language in the schools and colleges of the South.
On November 11, 1896, he married Miss Sarah Dozier, youngest daughter of James A. Dozier, Esquire, a prominent member of the Edgefield bar.
Mr. De Vore has published one book, under the title, "Some- what of a Liar Myself" (1901). To young South Carolinians his advice is: "Select a business, then be punctual, persevering and honorable in all your dealings."
His address is Edgefield, South Carolina.
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Vol. III .- S. C .- 8.
NATHANIEL BARKSDALE DIAL
D IAL, NATHANIEL BARKSDALE, banker and manu- facturer, was born in Laurens county, April 24, 1862. His father, Albert Dial, was a farmer and president of a bank, and his example and his precepts impressed upon his son the value of hard work, truthfulness, and the habit of paying all obligations promptly. His father's ancestors came from England in the eighteenth century and settled in Eastern Pennsylvania. Later they moved southward and settled in Salisbury, North Carolina, where several of the members of the family were killed by Indians in the troublous times which preceded and immedi- ately followed the War of the Revolution.
Born in the country, working in his boyhood upon a farm, after studying in the country schools he entered Richmond college, Virginia, and later pursued a course of study at Vanderbilt university at Nashville, Tennessee. He completed a course of professional study in the law at the University of Virginia, and was graduated in 1883. In the same year he began the practice of law at Laurens, South Carolina. Not only by the successful practice of his profession, but perhaps still more by his interest in all the business affairs of the community and by his executive and administrative ability, Mr. Dial has made his way to positions of marked prominence in his town and county. He is president of the Reedy River Power company, and also of the Laurens Cotton mill with 50,000 spindles. He is president of the Laurens Warehouse company. He organized the Enterprise bank, at Laurens, South Carolina, with capital of $100,000, and has been its president since 1900. He has also been president of the Ware's Shoals Manufacturing company, capital $1,000,000, and has been its president since 1902. This last corporation is a large cotton mill and power plant, which has been developed on the banks of the Saluda in Greenwood and Laurens counties. A town grew up there within a few months, where "a year before the boys had been hunting squirrels." The stone dam is about five hundred and forty feet wide; a horse power of five thousand for every other twelve hours has been made possible by the storage of water, and the Ware's Shoals Manufacturing company owns some
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one thousand three hundred and fifty acres of land on both sides of the Saluda. The fall of the stream is forty-five feet within a half mile. The dam is of the design known as the "turtle-back," the water rushing against a nearly perpendicular face, while the top of the dam is an oval, and the curve is continued to the base, this construction breaking the fall of the water as it runs over the dam, lessening the vibration and strain. This power plant is in the center of a district which produces from seven to ten thousand bales of cotton, which can be hauled directly to the door of the factory; and the twenty-five thousand spindles of the factory will require some six thousand bales. The water of the Saluda, thus utilized, was found capable of developing far more power than the cotton mill alone could use, and other manufac- turing enterprises have sprung up, to which power from this plant is furnished.
Mr. Dial has been three times chosen mayor of Laurens, declining another reelection. Under his administration an elec- tric light plant and a system of water works, both owned by the city, were introduced.
Mr. Dial is allied with the Democratic party and has never failed to render party allegiance to its measures and its candi- dates. He was a delegate to the national Democratic convention in 1888, and was for years a member of the Democratic county committee.
When asked for his favorite form of sport, amusement, exer- cise or relaxation, he answers: "Hard work." His advice to young people is: "Have a purpose, and work to attain it."
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