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 6
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Mr. Dendy has never married. He has been devoted to the editing and management of his paper. His favorite forms of relaxation and exercise have been hunting and fishing.
WILLIAM ERSKINE DENDY
D ENDY, WILLIAM ERSKINE, educator, superintendent of city schools, was born in the village of Richland, Oconee county, South Carolina, on December 14, 1869.
He is of Scotch-Irish extraction, his parental great-grand- father, Jacob Dendy, having come from Scotland and settled in Virginia, where, in 1783, James Dendy, his grandfather, was born. His grandmother, Elizabeth Knox, was the daughter of John Knox, of Irish descent, in the same line with James Knox Polk, president of the United States.
His father, Thomas H. Dendy, was a farmer of Oconee county, an unassuming man who would never consent to run for office although he was often urged to do so. He was a man of marked piety whose strong and godly character was a power for good with all who knew him. The close association of father and son as they worked together on the farm, while the boy was growing up, had a strong influence in shaping the character of the young man.
A godly father, and a mother (Mrs. Lucy Terrell Dendy) whose influence for good was exerted for over thirty years, are powerful factors in character building. To good associates, and to the character and the faithful work of his teachers he attrib- utes much that is best in his life.
As a boy he was strong and well; and he had regular tasks of work on the farm, the careful performance of which he believes gave him valuable training for his future.
He was prepared for college at Richland school. For three successive years he received the prize at this school for perfect attendance. His collegiate course was at the North Georgia Agricultural college, Dahlonega, Georgia, a branch of the State university, from which he was graduated in 1891. Since that time he has trained himself in normal courses at summer schools, and has frequently assisted in conducting such schools.
Immediately after graduation he became secretary to H. A. Strode, at Clemson college. It was largely a personal preference which led him to take up such work, because it threw him actively
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into association with educators and with the interests to which he wished to devote himself in his life work.
In 1893, he became principal at Walhalla. From 1894 to 1897 he was principal at Greers, South Carolina. For the next three years he was superintendent of the school at Yorkville, South Carolina. In 1900 he took charge of the Pickens graded school, where he was again superintendent.
During this same year he was married to Jessie Lee Latimer. They have had two children, both sons.
His interest in educational matters, and his efficiency in directing educational work, led to his appointment as a member of the Pickens county board of education, in which he has served for three years, conducting the county normal schools. After having been superintendent of Pickens graded school for five years, he was elected president of Douglasville college, Douglas- ville, Georgia, in 1905, which position he now holds.
He is an enthusiastic student of natural science, a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a member of the Woodmen of the World, and of the Knights of Pythias. He is a Presbyterian, holding the office of deacon, and he is an active member of the Young Men's Christian association.
The improvement of one's opportunities for self culture in boyhood and young manhood, and the early formation of a definite purpose in life, followed out by special preparation for the accomplishment of that purpose, are, he believes, the keys to success. "'Three Ps,' which are as important to a young man as the 'three Rs,'" he says, "are Punctuality, Preparation, and Per- severance."
JOHN NICHOLS DRAKE
D RAKE, JOHN NICHOLS, farmer, warehouse proprietor, ex-member of the legislature of South Carolina, residing at Bennettsville, Marlboro county, South Carolina, was born in that county on the 9th of December, 1851. He is a son of Zechariah Alford Drake, a planter who was characterized by integrity, energy and good judgment, and was major of a battalion in the state militia. His mother was Mrs. Sophia (Alford) Drake. The first known American ancestor of the family was James Drake, who emigrated from England and settled on the coast of Virginia. Albertson Drake, great-grand- father of John Nichols Drake, was an officer in the colonial army during the Revolutionary war. His home was in Nash county, North Carolina. His descendants have satisfied themselves that he was in direct line of descent from Sir Francis Drake, England's great admiral.
Born with an excellent physique and knowing good health throughout his boyhood, he passed his early years in the country and was taught something of farm work and of the management of a plantation. He attended the country schools which were within reach of his early home, and passed one year in the mili- tary academy at Mayesville, South Carolina. But the common schools and such reading as was within the reach of a boy on the average country plantation in the years that preceded the War between the States, gave him his only opportunities for an educa- tion.
While still very young he assumed the duty of regular and responsible assistant to his father in the management of a large farm. He feels that such success as he has attained in life is chiefly due to the example and influence of his father.
On the 18th of October, 1878, Mr. Drake married Miss Sarah Jane Gibson. They have had five children, four of whom are now (1909) living.
After his marriage, he assumed the entire management of the large plantation which his father had owned. The business of his warehouse on the Pee Dee river required more of his time
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from year to year; and he did something of a general mercantile business in connection with his farm.
In 1886, he was elected to the legislature of South Carolina ; but he did not stand for reelection.
He is a member of the Democratic party and has served continuously as president of his township Democratic club, and as a member of the central executive committee, since 1876. He is also chairman of the county Democratic committee, an office which he has held for four years.
He has been for about a quarter of a century chairman of the board of school trustees of his district.
He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, South, and for twenty-six years has been a ruling elder in that church. He is a trustee of Chicora college, South Carolina. He was appointed upon the staff of Governor Ellerbe, with the rank of colonel. For several years he served as a lieutenant in the state militia. Mr. Drake is a Knight of Pythias, a Knight of Damon, and a Knight of Honor.
ARTHUR MASON DUPRE
D UPRE, ARTHUR MASON, was born at Abbeville, South Carolina, November 22, 1869. His father, J. F. C. DuPré, of French descent, as the name indicates, was professor of horticulture at Clemson college.
His early life was passed in the city of his birth; and as a boy he learned the value of habits of systematic toil. The circum- stances of his father's family were such as to leave him dependent upon his own efforts to earn the money for his education. By making the most of the opportunities for earning which were within his reach in his boyhood and early youth, he was enabled, after preparatory studies at country schools, to enter Wofford college; and he was graduated therefrom with the degree of A. B. in the class of 1895. Continuing his studies, he received the degree of A. M. in June, 1896. In his early professional studies he specialized particularly in Latin and mathematics. He began his life-work of teaching in September, 1895, at Spartanburg, South Carolina. In June, 1897, he became headmaster of the Wofford College Fitting school, which position he now (1909) holds.
He feels that the influences of his home were strongest in impelling him to work for success in his chosen line of life, and to the teachers who directed his studies in his preparatory school life he feels that he owes a debt of gratitude. But private study, as continued since he began to teach, he feels has had perhaps the greatest influence in shaping his life.
By conviction he is allied with the Democratic party, nor has he ever found himself inclined to change his party allegiance.
He is connected with the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias. In college he was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity.
He married Miss Caroline E. Chambers, June 11, 1905. They have one child, a son.
Professor DuPré offers to his younger fellow-citizens of the state of South Carolina these suggestions as to success in life:
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"Absolute truthfulness in word and life is the first consideration. A firm belief in the sacredness of duty, and the courage to do it, will insure the truest success."
His address is Spartanburg, South Carolina.
DANIEL ALLSTON DUPRE
D UPRE, DANIEL ALLSTON, professor of physics and geology in Wofford college, Spartanburg, South Caro- lina, was born in Mecklenberg county, Virginia, May 15, 1848. His father, Warren DuPré was professor of chemistry in that institution, and served one term as a member of the legis- lature of South Carolina. Most of Professor Daniel A. DuPré's life has been spent "upon the campus of Wofford college at Spar- tanburg." His mother was Mary Ann (Sydnor) DuPré. Josias DuPré was his earliest ancestor in America. He emigrated from France about the middle of the seventeenth century and settled near the Santee river.
Daniel DuPré's boyhood was spent in the country and in villages. He was robust, and especially fond of hunting and fishing. The circumstances of his family were such that prepara- tion for college and the acquisition of a liberal education seemed for him the natural career; and in his case this career opened easily and naturally before the boy whose early inclination to study, notwithstanding his enjoyment of sports, inclined him to the life of a student and teacher. He was graduated from Wofford college with the degree of A. B. in 1869. He at once began his life-work of teaching. At Georgetown, South Carolina, from 1869-71; in the Asheville Male academy, from 1871-72; and as instructor in mathematics in the preparatory department of Wofford college, from 1872-75, he taught, in his chosen lines of study.
In estimating the influences which have been strongest in his life, he places home first, and college life second; while he feels that "occasional contact with the great investigators in natural science" has given to his study and his purpose in life a strong impulse.
He had received the degree of A. M. from his alma mater in 1871. In 1875 he went to Scotland for two years of study at the University of Edinburgh, where advanced work in mathe- matics and the natural sciences brought him into touch with leading minds and leading men in the scientific world of Great Britain. He returned in 1877, to take up the work of professor
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of physics and geology at Wofford college; and this chair he still holds.
Although he was but sixteen years of age when the War between the States closed, he served as private for two months in the South Carolina militia, in the latter part of the war.
He is a member of the Chi Psi fraternity. He was for many years a member of the American Association for the Advance- ment of American science. By political conviction he is a member of the Democratic party. He is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
While his own inclinations and the nature of his professional work have made Professor DuPré's life that of the student and the college professor and lecturer, he has not allowed himself to be "cribbed, cabined and confined" to the study, the class-room and the laboratory. He has all his life found amusement and recreation in music. During his vacations he is fond of sea- fishing, and of tramping in the mountains, to which he is inclined quite as much by his love of nature in all her phenomena as by the especial interest in the crust of the earth which is felt by all students and teachers of geology.
Professor DuPré married, January 8, 1880, Miss Helen Capers Stevens. They have had four children, all of whom are now (1909) living.
His address is Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Men af Mark Publishing Co Washington, D. C
Jours W. J. Foxwisch
WILLIAM STACY FOXWORTH
F OXWORTH, WILLIAM STACY, dealer in general merchandise and real estate, of Marion, South Carolina, is one of the small but growing group of Christian men in business who, after reaching a moderate limit in the acquisition of wealth, have learned the joy of acquiring money with the definite purpose of giving away all that they make, for the sup- port of Christian missions and the uplifting of their fellowmen through Christian institutions and Christian work.
He was born near the town of Marion, in Marion county, on the 23d of April, 1854. His father, Wesley Samuel Foxworth, was a farmer, whom his son remembers as "a humble Christian gentleman, courteous, unassuming, sympathetic, and helpful." His mother, Mrs. Ann Eliza Foxworth, was the daughter of Michael Woodward, of Marion county, South Carolina.
Until he was twelve years old his health was perfect. He was "as robust as a mountaineer,"-a regular athlete,-a great lover of the fishing rod and the gun. He gladly walked two miles each day to attend school in the town of Marion. Before he was twelve he managed the plough for one summer. But in 1866, as the result of an accident, he lost his right arm. For some time this grievous interruption of all his activities, with the sad prospect which it seemed to open before him in the future, greatly depressed his spirits, and he was despondent for several months. But he was sent by his mother to a private school at Marion, conducted by Miss W. H. Witherow and Thomas E. Mitchell; and he acquired enough of education to enable him to teach in the country schools of that time. This in a measure restored his confidence in himself by assuring him that he could at least support himself, notwithstanding the accident from which he suffered.
His father had enlisted in Tucker's cavalry at the outbreak of the War between the States, and as the result of service he died during the war. His mother was thus left a widow with five children, of whom William was the oldest. The results of the war, and debts which his father had incurred while acting as security for friends, had left the mother almost helpless; and
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it was because of his ambitious desire to show himself the head of the family, and to prove a helper to his mother, that the accident from the loss of his arm affected his spirits so deeply.
At twenty-five he began the mercantile business for himself (in 1879) with less than a thousand dollars of capital. For three years he merely held his own in a financial way, accumulating nothing. But at the age of twenty-eight Mr. Foxworth met with one of those deep spiritual experiences which change the life of a man. He became a Christian and joined the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South. He feels that since he took the life and the standards of Jesus Christ as his source of confidence and his standard of living, his capacity for business and his ability to serve his fellowmen have been greatly increased. His business began to prosper in a remarkable way, and his accumulations of property steadily increased.
When he found himself worth one hundred thousand dollars he was impressed with the conviction that it should be his duty, as it certainly has proved to be his keenest pleasure and his great delight, to cease to accumulate anything more for his own use, and to use every additional dollar which he should make in the legitimate conduct of his business for the spread of the Gospel and the building up of the kingdom of God among his fellowmen.
With a few friends whom he has interested in his projects he has built a mission in Marion; and he has built two missions in China. He has given systematic help to a number of boys and girls in educating themselves, and he cares for a number of native boys and girls in China and in India. He contributes regularly to the rescue work in our large cities.
From the satisfaction and the keen joy he feels in giving away all that he makes from year to year, he is satisfied that there is a wonderfully rich Christian experience for the man who will enter into the meaning of the text, "God loves a cheerful giver."
His fellow-townsmen have three times elected Mr. Foxworth city alderman. He is a member of the board of directors of the Farmers and Merchants bank, and he is also one of the directors of the Marion Manufacturing company, each of these institutions having a capital of one hundred thousand dollars.
On the 4th of February, 1882, he married Miss Catherine Smith, daughter of James Smith, of Robeson county, North Car-
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olina. They have had six children, four of whom are living in 1909.
After serving more than twenty years as steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Mr. Foxworth was, in May, 1908, elected by the church to the important position of district lay leader of the Layman's Missionary movement for the Marion district of the South Carolina conference. In his political rela- tions he is connected with the Democratic party.
Believing as he does that in his own life the Bible has been incomparably the most valuable book, and the characters in Bible history the most inspiring examples and the most wholesome warnings, while the life of Jesus Christ has been the inspiration of his life, it is not strange that Mr. Foxworth should offer as the best advice he can give to his younger fellow-citizens of the state of South Carolina who wish to attain true success in life: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew vi:33.)
MINOR CLINTON GALLUCHAT
G T ALLUCHAT, MINOR CLINTON, son of Joseph and Rebecca M. (Gill) Galluchat, was born March 6, 1856, at Lancaster, South Carolina. His father was an attor- ney at law. He eschewed politics and refused several public offices, including a seat on the circuit bench of South Carolina. He was noted for integrity, fidelity and purity of life.
The oldest known ancestor of the family in America was Joseph de Galluchat, of the province of Coligny, France. He settled in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1799.
The Galluchat family are of French, Bourbon extraction and of the Catholic faith. They relinquished their attachment to the Pope of Rome when Sixtus V. threatened to excommunicate Henry III. of France, and when the king was shortly thereafter assassinated by the Guises at St. Cloud (1589), they joined forces with Navarre and fought with the Huguenots at Arques and Ivry. Upon the elevation of Henry of Navarre to the throne of France (1594), and his promulgation, after joining the Papacy, of the Edict of Nantes, the family returned to the mother church.
During the nine months' Reign of Terror (1794) at Paris, Joseph de Galluchat, of the province of Coligny, a great-grand- father of Minor Clinton Galluchat, fell a victim to the ferocity of the Jacobins. His widow and children settled upon their planta- tions on the islands of Santa Domingo and Martinique. One day in the winter of 1798, the widow and her two maiden daughters, Jeanette and Francois, her only son, Joseph, and her son-in-law, Monsieur Bossieur, with his wife and three children, were at dinner about twilight in their country home near the city of San Domingo, Dunsy, a trusted African servant, suddenly rushed in crying, "Fly! fly! They kill! They kill !" Another insur- rection had broken out, and the white people were being slaugh- tered as in 1791. In the confusion, Dunsy hastened his mistress and her little boy into a small fishing boat near by and had them rowed to sea. In front were pitchy darkness and the terrors of the deep; behind, a flaming inferno and the shrieks and screams of their loved ones being brained and burned in their homes.
me salenchat
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MINOR CLINTON GALLUCHAT
It was now night. Return was impossible. Toussaint had decreed death to whomsoever should give aid or comfort to the doomed whites. The night was spent at sea. Morning revealed a sail, and mother and child were rescued and carried to Charleston, where they were taken in charge by the family of Doctor S. Henry Dickson. All the other members of their family were supposed to have been massacred. Some time afterwards, how- ever, it was discovered that Dunsy, at the cost of his own life, had gotten the two girls away in a similar manner, but on separate fishing boats. They drifted apart, but were saved by vessels plying contrary courses. Francois landed at New Orleans; Jeanette at Baltimore. The others were slain and burned in their dwelling. The widow resided in Charleston the remainder of her life. Joseph Galluchat, grandfather of Minor Clinton Galluchat, was thoroughly educated, and married Vir- ginia Lawson, of Santee, Sumter district, South Carolina.
Being converted to the Protestant faith, Joseph Galluchat pursued a theological course and was admitted to the ministry. The event of his life was a five-day debate in which he engaged with a representative of the Roman Catholic faith. For this, though wholly without the sanction of his opponent, he was brutally assaulted. He, however, forgave his penitent assailants and besought the court in their behalf. He died April 8, 1825, leaving behind him his widow, one son, Joseph, and one daughter, Virginia.
Joseph was born on Santee, near St. Paul, December 21, 1813. In 1839, he was graduated in medicine from the College of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, and formed a copartnership with Doctor John L. Felder, with whom he practiced on the Santee. On October 22, 1846, he married Rebecca M. Gill, of Lancaster, South Carolina, and practiced medicine there with Doctor John D. Wyley until 1852; then, after a course of legal study, he formed a law partnership with his friend and preceptor, Major Minor Clinton. When Clarendon district was established in 1855 he located in Manning, the county seat, near his home. Here he rose to eminence at the bar in that section of the state. He would accept no political office, but he spoke and wrote freely on the important issues of his time. He was active with tongue and pen in the national Democratic campaigns of 1860, 1868, and
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1876. In 1861, he joined the Confederate service, Kershaw's regiment. From youth to the close of life, he frequently filled Methodist pulpits. He was a life-long worker in the cause of temperance.
In youth, Minor Clinton Galluchat enjoyed robust physical health. He early manifested a passion for court house proceed- ings and law trials. At the early age of six he went through the form of drawing a jury. The only labor required of him in youth was that of gardening for his mother. In his judgment, excessive activity in early life tends to make against the best work in more mature years.
To the acquirement of an education the war proved, in the case of Minor Clinton Galluchat, a serious obstacle. He was fond of reading, however, and studied especially the Bible, "Black- stone's Commentaries," "Montaigne's Essays," "Blair's Rhetoric," "Shakespeare's Plays," "Peter Parley's History of the World," and "The Charleston News and Courier."
His early bent toward the law has already been indicated. His father's argument in the case of Burgess vs. Carpenter (South Carolina Reports, Volume V), aided in directing him to this profession. He studied law under his father and A. G. Magrath, ex-United States judge. He began active life in 1876 by engaging in merchandising; since 1882, however, he has been attorney at law. In 1900 and 1902 he served in the house of representatives of his state. While a member of the Irby com- mittee for his congressional district, in 1892, Mr. Galluchat, in a manner too unusual among public men, turned his back upon political preferment. He was a reformer, but conservative. Though heartily in accord with the people who clamored for individual recognition in the campaigns of 1890 and 1892, he did not approve of the billingsgate so freely employed. He attended all the state conventions as delegate from Clarendon county, and was urged by the leaders to accept the judgeship of the then third circuit. Judge T. B. Fraser at that time occupied the position, but was out of favor. Mr. Galluchat, however, declined to com- pete for the position because, as he stated in "The Charleston World," December 12, 1902, "No attorney of ten years' experience was fitted to supersede the judge, and because Judge Fraser was
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his father's life-long friend." Judge Fraser was elected without opposition, but O. I. Buchanan succeeded him four years later.
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