USA > South Carolina > Men of mark in South Carolina; ideals of American life: a collection of biographies of leading men of the state, Volume IV > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
position with a firm engaged in the manufacture and sale of lumber, he worked for very small pay for a year; but he made himself familiar with the business, and after a year he received a handsome increase in salary and promotion in the importance of the work entrusted to him.
After two years as sawyer with this firm, he organized, with his brother and brother-in-law, a company, and bought a sawmill from the firm for whom he had been working. With various changes in the firm name and in the membership of the firm, this business was continued at Eagle Springs, North Carolina, until 1899, and the firm afterward operated at Halliston, North Caro- lina, and at Spies, North Carolina, as well as at Middendorf and at Angelons, South Carolina.
In 1899, Mr. Maynard organized a company which has done a much larger and more successful business, under the name of William Godfrey and company. The main office was at Hoffman, North Carolina. Mr. Maynard, from the beginning, has owned one-half of the entire business. In 1900, the principal office of the firm was removed to Cheraw, South Carolina. The firm does a sawmill, planing mill, and wholesale lumber business; and it is understood that their profits since 1900 have amounted to about one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.
Mr. John William Maynard was general manager of the Maynard Brothers Lumber company for two years. He then organized the firm of William Godfrey and company and was general manager of its manufacturing department and purchas- ing agent for the firm of all its material. He also organized the Peedee Iron works, of Cheraw, machinists, manufacturers of engines and dry kiln trucks; and he still has an interest in that business. He has stock and is actively interested in the following enterprises at Cheraw, outside the lumber interest of his principal firm, the Cheraw Door and Sash company; the Peedee Iron works; the Southeastern Life Insurance company, of Spartan- burg; the Town Site company, of Gness, South Carolina; the Town Site company, of Pageland, South Carolina; the Henry Lumber company, of Gurley, South Carolina ; the Mutual Lumber company, of Wade, North Carolina; the firm of W. T. Brower and company, at Cheraw, and the firm of C. C. Maynard and com- pany, at Ruby, South Carolina.
249
JOHN WILLIAM MAYNARD
Mr. Maynard married Miss Eva Lillian King, on the 29th of April, 1902. They have had two children, both of whom are now (1909) living.
While he has never had any aspirations for political office, Mr. Maynard has always worked for the Democratic party of his state and county. He is a Free Mason, and an Odd Fellow, and he is a member of the Cheraw board of trade.
His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
ALEXANDER ROBERT MITCHELL
M ITCHELL, ALEXANDER ROBERT, archdeacon Protestant Episcopal church, was born September 1, 1860, in Charleston, Charleston county, South Caro- lina. His father, Alexander Robert Mitchell, merchant and owner of cotton compress, served during the War between the States in the Confederate army as custodian of magazines for coast defence, and was a man of sobriety, staunch in his friend- ships and lived and died without an enemy; his mother, Ann Rebecca (Magill) Mitchell of Waccamaw, South Carolina, a woman of refinement and exalted character, was a strong influence in his moral and spiritual life. His descent is English on the paternal side, and Scotch-Irish on the maternal; his grandfather, A. R. Mitchell, the founder of the American branch of the family, came from England early in the nineteenth century and settled in Charleston, South Carolina, where he was a prominent merchant, married Miss Saylor and reared a large family; his maternal grandfather, John Daniel Magill, M. D., physician and surgeon and large rice planter, came from Scotland in 1730, settled in Williamston county, South Carolina, and married Mary Vereen, daughter of Irish parents.
He spent his early life in the city of his birth; was healthy, strong and active and devoted to all sorts of athletic sports; he has retained his early tastes and good health throughout his career (during twenty-one years in the ministry he has lost only two Sundays by reason of sickness). He received his preparatory education at and was graduated from the celebrated school of Professor Sachleben, in Charleston; then, having decided to study for the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church, entered the Holy Communion church institute (now Porter academy), but the financial condition of his mother made it necessary that his studies should be suspended for a period of eighteen months, during which he worked for the old Charleston and Savannah railway as ticket agent and in the freight department; as soon as his finances would permit he returned to the institute and com- pleted the course, going thence to the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee, where he took elective studies bearing on
251
ALEXANDER ROBERT MITCHELL
his course, and entering the Theological seminary, was graduated B. D. in 1880.
In 1885 he was ordained to the diaconate in Rock Hill by the Right Reverend W. B. W. Howe, D. D., Bishop of South Caro- lina; and in 1886 was ordained by the same bishop to the priest- hood in Christ church, Greenville, South Carolina, of which parish he is now rector. His first charge was the Church of the Good Shepherd, Columbia, South Carolina, where he remained for fourteen and-a-half years. While there he organized a parochial school, established St. Timothy's mission as a memorial to Bishop Howe, and was for twelve years chaplain of the Rich- land Volunteer Rifle company. Since 1900 he has been arch- deacon of the Greenville convocation, one of the three in the diocese, and has charge of Christ church, the largest Episcopal church in the upper part of the state. Since he has been in Greenville he has established two large and flourishing missions known as St. Andrews and St. James. He has been secretary and treasurer of the diocesan board of missions since 1897. He is a member of the standing committee of the diocese and has been one of the examining chaplains of the diocese. He was elected a deputy to the general convention which met in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1904 and also to the convention in Richmond, Virginia, which met in 1907.
At the diocesan council which met in 1907, he was one of those who were nominated for bishop coadjutor to the Right Reverend Ellison Capers, then bishop of South Carolina.
While in Sewanee, he was general secretary of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternity.
The ecclesiastical positions he holds and has held show his standing in the church, and he has the esteem of the general public as a patriotic, public-spirited and progressive citizen. He thinks the dominating influence in his life has been that of his personal associates. He gets his most enjoyable and helpful recreation and relaxation from playing baseball, hunting and horseback riding, in all of which he is an enthusiast and an expert; is also generally interested in and a patron of all forms of clean athletics. He is and has always been a Democrat, and in early life he was much interested in politics.
Vol. IV-S. C .- 14.
252
ALEXANDER ROBERT MITCHELL
He thinks the young should cultivate sobriety, honesty, con- scientious conviction of duty, firm faith in Almighty God, devel- opment of character and be over careful in all things.
On October 1, 1899, he married Harriet Couturier Thomas, daughter of Colonel John P. Thomas, of South Carolina, who died June 20, 1906. Eight children were born to them, all of whom are now (1909) living.
His address is Greenville, South Carolina.
VICTOR MOSS MONTGOMERY
M ONTGOMERY, VICTOR MOSS, cotton manufacturer, was born May 13, 1861, on a farm in Spartanburg county, South Carolina. His father, John H. Mont- gomery, cotton manufacturer and hardware merchant, was noted for candor and openness in all his dealings, and was stern, but just, in standing for what he thought right. His mother, Susan (Holcombe) Montgomery, a refined and cultured woman of the purest character, was a strong influence in his life. His ancestry is Scotch-Irish, a wholesome combination which has produced many distinguished Americans in all walks of life. The family was founded in America by emigrants who came first to Pennsyl- vania, but removed to South Carolina in the decade before 1760, and settled on the Tyger river, where its members have since been known as industrious, energetic, patriotic and useful citizens. A marked physical trait of the family has been its unusually tall men. Until the last two generations they have been mostly planters and merchants.
A story has been handed down of a division among the early Tyger river settlers as to the site for a church which was amicably settled by each faction choosing a tall Scotchman and starting them simultaneously from opposite ends of their section of land, each to walk toward the other as fast as he could, and agreeing that the church should be erected where they met. The church then built is still in use and within its walls there regularly gathers one of the largest congregations in the county.
The first fourteen years of the life of Victor Montgomery were spent in the country, where he enjoyed all outdoor sports, when not at school, or at work. He had regular tasks of manual labor on the farm from the time he was large enough to work. This, not because his help was necessary, but because his father thought it beneficial to his physical condition and conducive to his future material welfare to become accustomed to regular habits of industry.
When he was fourteen years of age the family moved to Spar- tanburg and he entered the high school of the city. The following session, 1877-78, he attended King's Mountain Military
254
VICTOR MOSS MONTGOMERY
school, and in 1879-80, Richmond (Virginia) college, but did not graduate. Hereditary business tastes were too strongly intrenched in his mind for him to take the proper interest in any line of education not likely to be necessary in the conduct of commercial affairs. He, therefore, declined to study for a profession and determined to make business his life-work-a determination he has never regretted.
He began his business career in the Pacolet Manufacturing company, Pacolet, Spartanburg county, South Carolina, being associated with his father, who built this and other cotton mills. He has made a reputation as one of the foremost cotton manu- facturers of the state. He learned the business thoroughly in all its various branches. Beginning in the mercantile department, he was promoted to cotton buyer, then to assistant treasurer, and since the death of his father, in 1902, he has been president and treasurer. While holding these offices his reputation for business and executive ability, and unswerving integrity, has increased and the company has prospered. He is treasurer of the Gansville cotton mill at Gansville, Louisiana. In June, 1903, both the above named mills were practically destroyed-the one at Pacolet by a flood and the one at Gansville by a cyclone, but they were promptly rebuilt. Mr. Montgomery is also a director of the Spartan and Drayton mills, Spartanburg, South Carolina, and vice-president of the Bank of Spartanburg. He is deeply inter- ested in educational affairs and is president of the board of trustees of Limestone college. His religious affiliation is with the Baptist church, in which he is an active member.
The principal interests of Mr. Montgomery have been cen- tered in his business and his family. He owes his success to his natural ability, strict attention to business, a rare capacity for quick and correct comprehension of manufacturing and financial problems, and to hard and well directed work. As a man he is approachable and courteous, but extremely modest about anything relating to his personal life.
On December 20, 1881, Mr. Montgomery married Mamie Griffith, daughter of Professor H. P. Griffith of Limestone college. She died in 1905. On April 16, 1907, he married Lillian Earl, daughter of the late Senator J. H. Earl, of Greenville, South
255
VICTOR MOSS MONTGOMERY
Carolina. Two children, one by each marriage, are now (1909) living.
His address is 229 East Main street, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
WALTER SCOTT MONTGOMERY
M ONTGOMERY, WALTER SCOTT, manufacturer and merchant, was born June 8, 1866, on a farm in Spar- tanburg county, South Carolina. (For information regarding his ancestry see biography of his older brother, Victor Moss Montgomery, which appears on preceding pages of this volume.)
The first eight years of his life were spent on a farm. The family then moved to Spartanburg, though still passing the summers in the country. He was always healthy and robust, liked boys' sports, and had a strong leaning to mechanics. He was educated at private schools, the Spartanburg high school, and Wofford college, leaving the latter at the end of his sophomore year, to gratify his desire to get into business. He applied for and was given the position of receiving clerk in the hardware store of Lethco and Montgomery, in which firm his father was a partner. At the end of three years, having by hard work and strict attention mastered all the details of the business, he received his father's half as a gift and bought the Lethco half. He suc- cessfully continued the business as sole proprietor until 1897, when he sold an interest in it, in order to give all his time to manufacturing, in which line he had become interested.
Since then, though retaining a proprietary interest, and an advisory part in the management of the hardware business, he has taken a high place among the successful financiers and manu- facturers of the state. He is president and treasurer of the Spartan (cotton) mills; president and general manager of the Laurens (cotton) mills; president of the Salley Oil mill; presi- dent of the Green River Power company ; second vice-president of the Merchants and Farmers bank. He is a director in the companies above named and in the Southeastern Life Insurance company, the Glenn Springs company, the Lockhart mills, the Pacolet Manufacturing company, the Fairforest Oil mill, and in the Lockhart railroad.
His father has been the most potent single influence in his remarkably successful business career. They were closely asso- ciated in all matters relating thereto, conferring frequently and
---.
257
WALTER SCOTT MONTGOMERY
fully upon every step before it was taken. At college he was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. He is a member of the Spartan City club, but seldom visits the club house, preferring to spend his leisure time with his family as he finds that home life gives him his most enjoyable indoor recreation. He is a Demo- crat in state politics, but voted twice for Mckinley for president, believing that his election would best serve the industrial interests of his own immediate section as well as those of the country at large. He is a member of the Baptist church.
Though young himself, he has some very decided opinions as to the needs of young men. He thinks they should show more individuality in their work and be more self-reliant; that they too easily allow themselves to be led into living at too high a pace and its consequent extravagance, and that from the time a youth begins to earn money his earnings should be protected until he learns to use money so as not to lead him into habits of idleness, which so often lead to disaster.
In July, 1891, he married Bessie Gibbes of Florida, daughter of James G. Gibbes and R. E. Waller of South Carolina. Six children have been born to them, five of whom are now (1909) living.
His address is Spartan Mills, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
GORDON BEVERLEY MOORE
M OORE, REV. GORDON BEVERLEY, D. D., was born in Amherst county, Virginia, April 1, 1854. He is the son of W. W. Moore and Maria Louisa (Taylor) Moore. His father was an architect and a farmer. His marked characteristics were indomitable energy, independence of thought, and attractive conversational powers. His ancestry in Virginia, both the Moores and Taylors, have been held in the highest social esteem, and their worthy deeds have been interwoven with its history from the first settlement of the colony.
Gordon Beverley Moore grew up a healthy and vigorous youth, on the farm of his father, which was near the county seat, now Amherst, and he was early accustomed to the steady manual labor of all kinds incident to farm life. This tended to develop physical strength and dexterity in the use of all kinds of tools. The influence of his mother, a woman of strong intellect and of finished accomplishments, was particularly strong on his intel- lectual life, inspiring in him a taste for literature. He attended as a preparatory school White Gate academy, and successively Richmond college, at Richmond, Virginia, and the Southern Baptist Theological seminary, receiving from the last named in succession the degrees of A. B. and Th. M. He subsequently took a professional course at the Chicago university in 1898-99. Later still he took a post-graduate course at the University of Penn- sylvania.
He married, September 28, 1882, Miss Virginia Carpenter. They have had three children, of whom two are now (1909) living.
He commenced the active work of his life as pastor of the Baptist church in Darlington, South Carolina, in 1883. He served in this charge acceptably until 1891, when he accepted a professorship in Furman university at Greenville, South Caro- lina-the department of philosophy and political science. In 1903 he became superintendent of the Anti-Saloon league of Virginia with headquarters at Richmond. This position he con- tinued to fill until 1904, when he accepted the chair of history in the South Carolina college, where he remained until 1906, when
259
GORDON BEVERLEY MOORE
he was elected head of the department of philosophy in the University of South Carolina, which position he now occupies.
He has been constantly identified with the Democratic party.
Work on his mountain farm in North Carolina he has found sufficient exercise, helpful and recuperative.
The honorary degree of D. D. was conferred on him by Rich- mond college in 1892. He is a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity of Richmond college.
His address is Columbia, South Carolina.
ALTAMONT MOSES
M OSES, ALTAMONT, business man and legislator, was born in Sumter, South Carolina, August 5, 1846, and died there December 8, 1905. His parents were Montgomery and Catharine (Phillips) Moses. His father was a lawyer who was noted for his systematic methods and remarkable memory, and who held the offices of intendant and circuit judge. His mother exerted a strong and beneficent influence upon his intellectual and moral nature. The earliest known ancestors of the family in this country were Meyer Moses, who came from England about 1740 and settled in Charleston, South Carolina, and Jonas Phillips who came from Germany and settled in New York in 1756. A son of the first named, also Meyer Moses, was a major in the War of 1812 and a member from Charleston of the South Carolina legislature.
During the years of childhood and youth Altamont Moses lived in the village of Sumter. His health was good and he had no regular tasks involving manual labor to perform. His tastes and interests were those of the average boy of his place and age. He was fond of books, but also took an active interest in outdoor sports and games. He studied at the Sumter Male academy, and for a short time at the Columbia arsenal, but the outbreak of the War between the States made it impossible for him to complete the educational course which he had planned. The active work of life was commenced in 1863, as a telegraph operator, and the following year he served in the South Carolina reserves, Con- federate States army, as a military telegrapher. After the close of the war he became a clerk in a store. Later he became a merchant and cotton buyer. His success led to his appointment as secretary, treasurer and buyer for the Sumter Cotton mills. In these positions his service was eminently satisfactory, but the political field offered far greater opportunities for usefulness and he entered public life. He served the city of Sumter three terms as alderman; was chairman of its board of education ; was mem- ber of the state house of representatives sixteen years, and of the state senate four years; and he was a delegate to the Democratic national conventions of 1888 and 1904. As a legislator he ren-
261
ALTAMONT MOSES
dered valuable service in numerous ways. He was active in securing a law prohibiting Sumter county from issuing bonds for railroad construction, and he strongly opposed all unnecessary expenditures, though always favoring adequate appropriations for objects which he believed were for the public good. He was author of the enabling act creating graded schools and providing for the erection of school houses of a modern type, and through- out his legislative career the cause of education always found in him a wise and faithful friend.
Mr. Moses was married January 11, 1871, to Octavia Cohen. Of their seven children six survive him.
In the choice of his life work Mr. Moses was allowed to follow his own inclinations. Among the various aids to his suc- cess he named the influences of home, school, and contact with men in active life. In his later years his favorite forms of relaxation were reading and poultry raising. He was a member of the principal fraternal orders, including the Masons, Knights of Pythias, Elks, American Order United Workmen, and Knights of Honor, and in most of them he held important offices. In politics he was always a Democrat. His religious connection was with the Jewish church. In response to a request for suggestions to young people who desire to attain true success in life he said : "Do right for right's sake and always oppose doing wrong that right may come. 'To thyself be true.'"
His public record was one of which any man might well be proud, and Mr. Moses will be remembered for his long-continued, faithful, and efficient service as a legislator. His large circle of friends will keep in mind not only his work for the state, but they will also hold him in high esteem for his excellent qualities of mind and heart.
HENRY MULLINS
M ULLINS, HENRY, lawyer, president of the Bank of Marion and of the Bank of Mullins, residing at Marion, South Carolina, was born at Mullins, Marion county, on the 16th of November, 1864.
His father, William Sidney Mullins, was a lawyer who had served as a state senator of South Carolina and was a member of the house of representatives of that state; and had won for him- self a reputation as an orator. His mother was Mrs. Sarah (Hodges) Mullins. His father's family trace their descent from "Priscilla Mullins, who came on the Mayflower."
Henry Mullins passed his early life on a farm, where he became familiar with such light work and helpful tasks as usually fall to the lot of a boy in farm-life. His mother died while he was still very young; and in recounting the influences which awakened his ambition and have shaped his life, he writes, "my friend and teacher, Arthur H. Harllee, was the strongest influence in my early life."
He attended school at the Mullins academy, and at Hopewell academy. He was graduated from the South Carolina university with the degree of A. B., in 1887. He had chosen to be dependent to a large extent upon his own exertions; and he worked his own way through college.
The example and the wish of his father had much to do with his choice of a profession; and he read law for several years in the office of Associate Justice C. A. Woods. After his admission to the bar, in June, 1901, he began the practice of law at Marion, forming a partnership with W. J. Montgomery, under the firm name of Montgomery and Mullins.
While he has devoted himself first of all to his profession, he very soon made for himself a place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens which led to his becoming president of the Bank of Marion, and in 1902, president of the Bank of Mullins.
Mr. Mullins married, on the 4th of November, 1891, Miss Louisa Norwood, daughter of George A. Norwood of Greenville, South Carolina. They have had six children, four of whom are living in 1908.
Yours truly. Henry .
1
265
HENRY MULLINS
By religious conviction and ecclesiastical relations, Mr. Mul- lins is identified with the Protestant Episcopal church. He is warden of the Church of the Advent in Marion.
He has always taken an active interest in matters connected with schools and education; and he is chairman of the board of trustees of the Marion high school.
Mr. Mullins is a Mason. He is a Knight of Pythias; and a Shriner.
In politics Mr. Mullins is identified with the Democratic party.
Hunting and fishing, and camping-out, have been his favorite forms of recreation and exercise.
Identified with the interests of his town and the surrounding country, trusted and respected as president of the Bank of Marion and the Bank of Mullins, maintaining, as his father had done before him, traditions of honor, and of faithfulness to the interests of his clients and to the principles of justice in the practice of law, Mr. Mullins, although he has but just reached middle age, has already made for himself an honorable place among the men of mark in South Carolina.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.