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 8
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The Southwestern Presbyterian university at Clarksville, Tennessee, conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1870, and in 1905 the honorary degree of LL. D. was given him by the Presbyterian college of South Carolina.
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In 1895 he was elected to the professorship of theology in the Presbyterian Theological seminary at Columbia, which position he continues to fill acceptably.
In 1863, he married Miss Frances E. Witherspoon, daughter of Hon. James H. Witherspoon, of Lancaster, South Carolina. He was married a second time to Miss Ellen Handy, daughter of John Handy, Esq., of Canton, Mississippi. Of his four children three are now (1909) living.
SAMUEL THOMAS HALLMAN
H ALLMAN, SAMUEL THOMAS, D. D., now the Pied- mont missionary of the South Carolina Lutheran synod, with charge of mission congregations in Spartanburg and Greenwood, was born in Lexington county, South Carolina, September 3, 1844. His father, David Hallman, was a farmer and mechanic, a man of decision of character, sobriety and uprightness. Andrew Hallman, the grandfather of Dr. S. T. Hallman, was the son of German settlers who had come to South Carolina before the Revolutionary war, and he lived to the ripe old age of ninety. He was a courier in the army of the Revolu- tion, too young to bear arms, but serving his country in the role of army messenger.
The piety, industry and energy of his mother, Mrs. Annis H. (Robertson) Hallman, made a deep and lasting impression upon her son and have inflenced his whole life.
Born in the country, as a boy he worked upon the farm, and often at the forge and at the wheelwright's bench with his father. He learned to tune and to repair reed instruments. He says, "In this way I was developed physically, and by a sturdy life on the farm was in other respects prepared for my life work." He early showed a marked fondness for skilled mechanical work, and as a boy he thought out and constructed several mechanical devices and inventions.
He studied in the common schools which were within his reach, and for a time took a select course of studies in Newberry college, from 1866 to 1868; and he later received the degree of A. M. from that institution, which still later in his life (in 1896) conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity "in consideration of literary attainments and services, and theo- logical ability." Not only the limited circumstances of his father's family, but also the outbreak of the War between the States, interfered with his college course. Leaving college in 1862 he joined the army and served until the end of the war, returning to college in 1866, but he was "compelled through poverty" to leave before graduation. He then took a course in
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the Lutheran Seminary of the South, from which he was grad- uated in 1868. From his boyhood he had had a deep desire to preach the Gospel, and it is recorded of him that "he used to fasten Luther's catechism to his plow and read and study it as he turned the soil." Later in life, when he was offered the heirship of the estate of his uncle and god-father, Samuel Hallman, he refused it in order to go back to college and enter the Christian ministry. His first charge as a clergyman was at Edgefield county, South Carolina, as pastor and preacher, in 1868.
He was for eight years secretary of the South Carolina Lutheran synod, served three years as its president and has been one of its representative men for over forty years. He was editor and publisher of the "Ladies' Missionary Journal of the United Synod South" from its organization as a monthly until its matter was transferred to the columns of the "Lutheran Visitor," which paper he edited more than ten years. He left this paper to become the Piedmont missionary of the South Carolina synod, which position he has held for more than eight years and which he now occupies. In every field in which he has been placed he has been successful. In a ministry of forty years he has never had a "pastoral vacation," and it is said that now "he does as much work as any young minister in his synod."
He has been twice married, the second time July, 1883, to Miss Lillie L. Brown. They have had eight children, all of whom are now (1909) living. The only son by his first wife, who was Miss Sallie J. Wingard, died several years ago.
He has acted with the Democratic party, but he says, "I am in no sense a politician or an extremist." He has always identified himself with every reform movement in the community, and with the best interests of all his parishioners. He has been a master Mason for thirty-eight years, and a member of the Knights of Honor for twenty-seven years. For more than thirty-three years he has been a member of the board of trustees of Newberry college.
He has always found relaxation and recreation in some kind of skilled mechanical work with his hands, such as interested him in his boyhood and youth. He says, "The one helpful lesson I would emphasize from my life is fixedness of purpose and per- sistency of effort." "The most striking experience in my life has
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been in the answers to prayer, and in God's special guidance. In fact, my life has been one of prayer and unceasing toil. Work, not genius, is the keynote to all success." To young Americans he offers this advice : "Refrain from all excesses. Never sow wild oats. Aim high; be true to manly purposes; be worthy of your own esteem. Follow Christ in His pure life and teaching."
His address is Spartanburg, South Carolina.
JOHN WILLIAM HAMEL
H AMEL, JOHN WILLIAM, editor of "The Kershaw Era," sometime member of the legislature of South Carolina, and in 1895 a member of the State Constitu- tional convention, was born at Charlotte, North Carolina, on the 18th of June, 1861. His father, Henry C. Hamel, was a tailor, highly esteemed for his honesty ; his wife, Mrs. Dora Hamel, died when their son was but four years old.
His early life was passed in a city; and the circumstances of his father's family were such that he was "required to help in every possible way in home duties." He worked in the garden, cut wood, and did other work out of doors. He recalls a strong boyish interest in observing people; and he early learned the delight of reading, not only papers and magazines, but history and biography. But he does not hesitate to say that the study of the Bible has been the most helpful part of his preparation for life.
There were no free public schools in his early days, and to the private pay-schools of Charlotte, his father was able to send him only until he was twelve years old, when his school-days ended. He did not attempt to get a college education, but, like many other leaders of public thought in our broadly democratic land, Mr. Hamel has acquired some of the best results of a liberal education through writing for the press and editing a newspaper.
In February, 1875, at the age of fourteen, he took a place as an errand boy in a fancy grocery store in Charlotte. In March, 1876, he became an apprentice boy in a bakery in the same place. His choice of his present occupation, that of editor of a news- paper, he says was made at the suggestion of friends who stimu- lated his ambition; and has been "influenced by circumstances over which I had practically no control."
He was appointed assistant postmaster of Lancaster, filling that position from 1883 to 1891. He became postmaster of Ker- shaw in 1891, holding the office for four years. In 1891 he became the editor and publisher of the "Kershaw Era," and of this paper he is still the editor. He was appointed magistrate by Governor Tillman in 1893, and held the office for six years. He served in
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the Constitutional convention of South Carolina, in 1895. He was elected to the house of representatives in the state legislature in 1904, and he was twice reelected. With his pen, and by the policy which his paper has advocated, he has worked for educa- tion and for prohibition in his state; and for some time before its work was taken up by local or county organizations, and it, for that reason became inactive, he was president of the South Caro- lina Temperance, Law and Order League. In 1888 he was appointed by Governor Robertson captain of the Lancaster guards. He is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias. In politics he is a Democrat.
In his religious convictions he is a member of the Methodist church.
He finds his favorite relaxation and amusement in floricul- ture.
On October 25, 1882, he married Miss Molly J. Clark. They have had five children, all of whom are living in 1909.
To the young Americans of his state he says: "Keep the hands and mind constantly employed in honest labor and in clear thinking. As a help to that end, read the biographies of men who have achieved something in the face of great difficulties."
MARK BERNARD HARDIN
H ARDIN, MARK BERNARD, analytical chemist, and since 1890 professor of chemistry and director of the chemical department at Clemson college, South Caro- lina, is a native of Alexandria, Virginia, where he was born August 14, 1838. His father, Lauriston B. Hardin, was registrar in the United States navy department at Washington, District of Columbia; and his integrity, impartiality and exactness in the discharge of all duties and in the keeping of records perhaps gave to his son a hereditary bias in favor of the exact methods and measurements of the analytical chemist. Upon his father's side, the family tradition is that three brothers, probably French Huguenots, emigrated from France to Canada and later removed to the colony of Virginia ; while Professor Hardin's grandfather, Mark Hardin, resided in North Carolina. The ancestors of his mother, Mrs. Anna M. H. (Howe) Hardin, trace their descent from Rice Howe, an Englishman by birth who came to Virginia in 1620. A daughter of that family married Samuel Hanson, who was a member of the Maryland legislature in 1716 and whose father, Colonel John Hanson, was born in Sweden in 1630, came to Delaware in 1642 and removed to Maryland in 1653. The family of both his father and his mother in colonial times num- bered among its members several burgesses, magistrates and judges.
His early life was passed at the national capital, Washington. His health was rather delicate, and his early tastes were for liter- ature and art; reading, drawing and painting. When he was seven years old the death of his mother was a blow which he felt deeply. His early schooling was in academies at Washington, District of Columbia; and he later became a member of the Vir- ginia Military institute, from which he was graduated July, 1858, with the first honor of his class. No degrees were given by the institute at that time; but the honor he received was conveyed in the words, "the first distinguished graduate of his class."
In July of the same year he became an assistant professor in the Virginia Military institute. This early appointment strength- ened an inclination toward scientific studies which had developed
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during his course of study at the institute and subsequently became a strong personal preference in favor of his chosen profes- sion, chemistry. In 1860 he was made adjunct professor of chemistry in the institution; and he held that position until the outbreak of the War between the States. For four years he served in the Confederate army-as a major of artillery in the active volunteer forces of Virginia in 1861; as major of artillery in the provisional army of the Confederate States, in 1862; and from 1862 to the end of the war he was commander of the Eighteenth Virginia battalion.
At the close of the war, for two years he practiced as an analytical chemist in New York city. In 1867 he was made pro- fessor of chemistry at the Virginia Military institute, holding the position until 1890, in which year he was elected professor of chemistry in Clemson college, South Carolina; and this professor- ship he still holds in 1909.
In addition to his work as a teacher and professor of chem- istry, Professor Hardin is chief chemist of the fertilizer control in South Carolina and is in charge of all the state analytical work done at Clemson college. He has been director of the analysis of ores, minerals, waters, etc., for the state geologist, and for indi- vidual citizens of South Carolina.
He is a member of the American Chemical society, and of the Association of Official Agricultural chemists, and he was formerly an active member of the Lyceum of Natural History in New York city.
He has always been identified in political convictions and action with the Democratic party. He is a commmunicant of the Episcopal church.
He was married at Warrenton, Virginia, August 4, 1869, to Miss Mary M. Payne; and of their ten children eight are living in 1909.
Like many other officers in the Confederate army who as students or in active service had found themselves instructed or commanded by General Stonewall Jackson, Professor Hardin felt the highest respect and the warmest admiration for that great Christian warrior, whom he had known and loved as an instructor and under whom he served. In the "Confederate Military His- tory," South Carolina volume, published in 1899, edited by
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General C. A. Evans, is a sketch of Professor Hardin in which by typographical error his first name is given as "Frank" instead of "Mark"; and referring to that article, Professor Hardin, with characteristic modesty, says that "its reference to his 'friendship' with Stonewall Jackson might possibly be misunderstood; as my relation with him would be better expressed by reference to kindness on his part and respect and admiration on mine." The words of one who has had a distinguished career as an instructor of youth, and a man of science, should have especial weight when he says, as does Professor Hardin to the young people of his state, that the only path to success in life is through "purpose in life, and faithfulness in the discharge of every duty."
His address is Clemson College, South Carolina.
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WINFIELD SCOTT HARVIN
H ARVIN, WINFIELD SCOTT, of Manning, South Carolina, mill owner, manufacturer of yellow pine lumber, proprietor of the Manning Hosiery mill, and since 1903 owner of the electric light system of Manning, which he installed in that year, was born near Manning, in Clarendon county, South Carolina, on the 4th of May, 1854.
His father, Charles Richard Harvin, planter and manufac- turer of lumber, was the son of Samuel Harvin, who was a planter and a manufacturer of shoes upon a large scale in the Sumter district. Samuel Harvin also raised the first tomatoes ever seen in his section. They were regarded as a curiosity, many people coming several miles to see them. Charles Richard Harvin married Miss Ann Scott Tindal. He is remembered for his energy, his honesty and his natural mechanical skill, which was marked. The earliest known American ancestor of his father's line was Richard Harvin, who came from England and settled in Newberry, South Carolina, about 1740; and at a later date removed to the Sumter district. His son, Richard, was born in 1746, married Miss Frances Ragin on August 3, 1775, and died in 1807. During the Revolutionary war he was a soldier under Colonel Matthew Singleton, "Light Horse Harry" Lee's regiment. The original form of the name is understood to have ยท been DeArvin, and the family, originally of French descent, had been for many generations established in the North of England. The first immigrants of this family name came to America with the family of Governor Manning; and friendly relations between the families have always continued.
Winfield Scott Harvin spent his boyhood in the country, had the best of health, and the advantage of early life in a family circle where his attachment to his mother and his sisters was so deep and intense that the love of home has always been the leading interest in his life. He lost his father just after the close of the War between the States, when he was but twelve years of age; and, with his brothers, he had to work on the farm and in the mill to support the mother and the sisters of the family. His training at school was limited to attendance at the public
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schools at Manning for a few years; but he early acquired habits of reading and of observation which have led him to make all the subsequent years of his life contribute to his education and his intellectual training. History and the religious books which were within his reach in the home were early his favorite lines of reading.
In 1867 he began to work steadily and systematically in the business of the mill and the farm which belonged to his mother. For thirty years he has been identified with the lumbering business at Foreston and at Manning. After 1879 Mr. Harvin gave his attention almost entirely to the mill business, estab- lishing in that year a small lumber mill. He has enlarged the mill and increased its capacity for work until it is now one of the largest of its kind in the state, the mill and the cottages about it occupying nine acres, and being furnished with a fine drying kiln and with the latest improved machinery for the manufacture and putting upon the market of the best kiln-dried flooring, ceiling, German siding, molding, etc. The principal shipments of lumber are made to the North and East.
In 1896 Mr. Harvin took up a new enterprise, constructing a mill for the manufacture of hosiery, known as the Manning Hosiery mill. With a daily capacity of three hundred and fifty to four hundred dozen pairs of stockings, this mill has made a reputation for its own grades of brown and fast-black hosiery, shipping its output principally to Charleston, Baltimore, Chicago and New Orleans.
He has served as intendant of Manning for four years; and for a number of years he was warden of the town.
On the 3d of February, 1878, Mr. Harvin married Miss Lula Fanny LeGrande, daughter of Lucius R. LeGrande, of Camden, South Carolina, was descended from a titled Norman gentle- man of that name from Cain, who landed in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1690. Of their seven children, all are now living. Their mother died on the 17th of January, 1896. Nearly five years later, on the 28th of November, 1900, Mr. Harvin married Miss Mary Amanda Thomas, daughter of Stephen Thomas, of Charleston, South Carolina, is of French Huguenot descent. Of their three children, two are now (1909) living.
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In politics Mr. Harvin is a Democrat, and he has never swerved from allegiance to the principles and nominees of that party.
By religious conviction he is identified with the Presbyterian Church, South. His keenest pleasure he finds in his home and family and in his business.
The patient persistence with which in his early boyhood and early manhood he overcame the difficulties which were in his way; the enterprise which he has shown in inaugurating new business in Manning; and the steadfast integrity which he has always displayed in his business relations, make Mr. Harvin very truly a "man of mark" in his county and his state.
HENRY J. HAYNESWORTH
H AYNESWORTH, HENRY J., lawyer, was born August 10, 1859, on a farm, in Clarendon county, South Caro- lina. His father, John R. Haynesworth, lawyer, very pious, of a social and affectionate disposition and one of the most popular men in his section, was killed in the first battle of Manassas, early in the War between the States; his mother, Mary (Oliver) Haynesworth, a refined and highly cultured woman, was a potent influence in the formation of his moral character. His family has been well known in South Carolina for a long period. His paternal grandfather, William Haynesworth of Sumter county, was a prominent lawyer, and his maternal grandfather, Peter Oliver of Williamsburg county, was one of the large planters of the state.
His early years were passed in the country and, like the average boy, he was fonder of play than of study until he reached the age of discretion; then he began to perceive the advantages offered the ambitious young man by the gospel of hard work and the perception grew until he became, and has continued to be, one of its most faithful devotees. He was prepared for college at private schools, and was graduated A. B. by Furman university, Greenville, South Carolina, in 1879. Heredity determined his profession and at once after leaving college he began the study of law under private instruction. He was admitted to the bar and began to practice in Greenville.
Since that date he has been one of the busiest and most successful lawyers in that section. From the first he made a specialty of corporation practice, though he has been successful in other lines. Two celebrated court causes in which he appeared are worthy of mention here: As attorney for township bond- holders, after the state supreme court, in 1888, declared those bonds unconstitutional, he, in 1892, entered suit in the Federal court and in the United States supreme court and three times brought it to a successful issue. The state legislature passed acts and the state constitution was actually changed to prevent it, yet he won. As attorney for Mrs. Franklin he brought suit against
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HENRY J. HAYNESWORTH
the Southern Railway company for damages on account of an assault made upon her while traveling alone, the conductor per- mitting (this case through the newspapers was widely known as the "hugging case"), and secured a verdict for $25,000, which was set aside by the supreme court on the ground that it was excessive, but that did not lessen his triumph as a lawyer in winning it against the strong array of legal talent which represented the railroad company.
In the natural course of his practice he has been drawn into business and has acquired large interests in some of the most profitable corporations in the state. He is attorney for and a director of the City National bank and the Bank of Fountain Inn; a director of Monadan cotton mills, Huguenot cotton mills and of the Caroline cotton mills; president and treasurer of the Riverside Land company of Greenville and the Spartanburg Realty company of Spartanburg; and attorney for a long list of boards, cotton mills, and other corporations. No lawyer in his section has a larger or more profitable corporation practice.
He has been twice president of the State Bar association, 1895-1896 and 1905-1906; treasurer of Furman university since 1886; was a member of the State Constitutional convention, 1895; and is a member of the Sans Souci Country club. His religious connection is with the Baptist church, of which he is a member. In politics he is and has always been a Democrat.
"Keep healthy" is his motto and he lives up to it, believing that a sound body as a rule means a sound mind; without both it would be an impossibility for him to be the indefatigable worker he is, and has been throughout his successful career. He goes to the mountains occasionally, but during ordinary working hours, and frequently long after, can usually be found in his office when not in court.
On December 16, 1884, he was married first to Anna Furman, daughter of J. C. Furman, president of Furman university ; and second on December 8, 1897, to Rhoda Livingston, daughter of Colonel Knox Livingston. Four children, one by the first marriage and three by the second, are now living.
The address of Mr. Haynesworth is Greenville, South Caro- lina.
EDMUND LEE HERNDON
H ERNDON, EDMUND LEE, lawyer, judge of probate, state senator, was born in Oconee county, South Caro- lina, June 16, 1864. His father, Samuel George Hern- don, was a farmer who served as county treasurer of his county and was also county commissioner. His grandfather, a Virginian by birth, was a member of the Constitutional convention of 1865, and a member of the state legislature in 1872 and 1873.
His mother, Rhoda (Billingsley) Herndon, bore most of the responsibility for the training and education of her son, since his father died when Edmund Lee Herndon was but twelve years old. He was already considered a studious boy, and especially fond of reading; but this was qualified by a hearty love of out-of-door sports which helped to keep him in good health throughout his boyhood. He was early trained to systematic work with his hands; and he writes, "I am satisfied that the work of my early life gave me the strength and endurance for my professional work in later life."
He was a student at Adger college from 1879 to 1881; and at the Citadel, from 1882 to 1885; but he was not graduated from either institution. After he left the Citadel school he taught for two years. In 1887 he read law, and he was admitted to the bar in 1888. He had a marked personal preference which was decisive with him in choosing his profession for life. He at once began the practice of law at Walhalla, where he has since resided. He has held the offices of magistrate, coroner, and judge of probate; and for several years (from 1900 to 1904) he has served as a state senator of South Carolina.
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