Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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\ i Houses From Yesteryear—Still Standing YOUNG HOUSE—This house was built by Mr. R. N. S. Young in the 1840s and has been owned by his descendants until the present. It is now in the possession of his great-granddaughter, Mrs. J. M. Dick. It is the oldest house in town still in the same location and owned by the samfc family. Mr. Young gave land for the location of the college with the request that the main building be so constructed that its front door be directly in front of his front door. He died before the main building (Nevill Hall) was built, but his request was carried out. The boys in the windows are college boys who roomed in the house, and he and his wife are standing on the front steps. FERGUSON HOME—Shown above is the home of Charles Madison Ferguson and Frances El mira (Abrams) Ferguson. The house, which is still located on Musgrove St., was built prior to 1864.—(Photo courtesy of Mrs. Harold 0. Mc Cord, Rt. 2, Gray Court, granddaughter of Madi son Ferguson). WHAM HOME—This house on West Main Street was built by John Wham about 1900. Mr. Wham, a farmer and dairyman, is in the picture above, along with his wife, Belle, and their children. The house later was bought by the Bond family. Bailey Family History Intertwined With Clinton’s Industrial Growth The history of Clinton’s in dustrial and economic growth is tied closely with the history of the Bailey family. Mercer Silas Bailey, who had operated a mercantile business and other businesses, started Bailey’s Bank in 1886 with $20, 201 which he received for a cotton shipment. In 1896, he es tablished the Clinton Cotton Mills with himself as presi dent and sons William J. and Cassius M* Bailey as treasur er and bookkeeper-paymaster, respectively. The original Clinton Mill had 5,000 spindles and 150 looms. Today, Clinton Mills includes more than 225,000 spindles and about 4,500 looms. Lydia Mill was begun in 1902 with 40 employees, 4,000 spind les and 150 looms. The bank and the two mills all were launched on February 1, the birthday of M S. Bailey’s oldest daughter, Toccoa. When the modern Bailey Plant was built in 1967, ground was broken on February 1. On February 5, 1970, Clinton Mills announced it had acquired a substantial financial interest in the Elastic Fabrics of America, a Pennsylvania based Raschel Knitting Company. Later this year, Clinton Mills announced the merger of Sup erior Knits of Greensboro, N.C. In 1948, Clinton Mills, es tablished its own sales organi zation, Clinton Cottons, Inc., in New York. This is the sales headquart ers responsible for marketing the fabrics produced by Clinton Mills. M. S. Bailey was president of the organization until his death in 1926. W. J. (Will) Bailey was named president ofClintonCot- ton Mill and C. M. (Cad) Bailey was named president of Lydia Mills. Will Bailey also assumed the presidency of M. S. Bailey and Son, Bankers, in 1926 and became president of Lydia Mill upon the death of C. M. Bailey in 1935. Will Bailey headed the ORIGINAL BAILEY BANK—The original Bai ley’s Bank building, constructed in 1886, is shown above. three organizations until his death in 1948. He was succeed ed by P. S. (Si) Bailey, a nephew of W. J. Bailey, as president of the two plants and Robert M. Vance, another grandson of the founder, became president of the bank and assistant treasurer of the textile companies. From its original $20,201.40 capital, the bank has grown to a present capital and surplus of about $1,250,000. It was one of the few banks to survive the depression. ANDERSON HOSIERY Clinton’s Industrial Park, Whit mire, Prosperity and Hender sonville, N. C. The Anderson Division was merged into Collins & Aikman in 1969. Collins and Aikman operates 36 plants in the U. S., Canada, Belgium and France. Products range from broad- loom and contract carpeting, fabrics and carpets for the nation’s automotive manufac turers and the world’s major airlines, gossamer tricot fa brics for lingerie and other uses, plush upholstery fabrics and a wide selection of specia lized yarns. Mr. Anderson credits his em ployes with the success his plants have enjoyed. He said, “People build a business. There’s no such thing as a self-made man. And anyone is foolish to claim that he is. For whatever success we have at tained here, we must give credit to the people.* TORRINGTON The Clinton area’s economy received a major diversifica tion boost in 1961 when produc tion started at the Clinton Bearings Plant of The Torring- ton Company. A primary producer of anti friction bearings, the Clinton Bearings is a subsidiary of the Torrington Co. which was organized in 1866 in Torrington, Conn. It was the first company to mas-produce dependably uni form needles for the sewing machine. Today, the company’s largest product line is anti friction bearings. As mayor ofClinton, Si Bailey guided the town through the de pression and later war years. Si Bailey died in 1958 and was succeeded by Mr. Vance who continues to head the Clinton Mills and M. S. Bailey and Son Bankers organizations. Mr. Vance has led the com pany into the synthetic fiber field--with construction of the Bailey plant---and into the knitted fabrics market. C. W. (Collie) Anderson, who started his business career in 1930 “with a $75 Essex auto mobile and a few dozen men’s socks to sell for Scents a pair," built a plant in 1946 to manu facture stockings. His first plant, the Dapper plant in Clin ton, had limited equipment and eight employees. By 1951, the plant had 120 employees and produced two million pairs of nylon hosiery a year. Today there are four more plants in the C. W. Anderson Hosiery Division---modern plants in The company serves such in dustries as textiles, auto motive, farm equipment, two- cycle engines, construction, bridges, heavy machine tools, electronics, home appliances, power tools, business mac hines, steel and other metals, rubber, petroleum and the air craft and missile industries. In 1969, the Torrington Com pany merged with another great corporation—Ingersoll Rand. Clinton Public School System Started Around Turn Of Century “With a fund of “Several hundred dollars*, the Clinton High School Association was begun on August 31, 1872 with Dr. William Plumer Jacobs as president. The first school was on aca demy Street and included all grades in one building. Mr. Nichols J. Holmes and his sister were elected teachers. Mr. Holmes was succeeded by Wil liam States Lee. Later, the words “high school* were stricken from the association constitution and the word “college* was inserted in its place, thusly Presbyterian Col lege came into existence. However, it was not until around the turn of the century that the public Clinton school system actually came into existence. In the days before the War Between the States, there were no public schools in the sense we know them now. The state contributed to the education of poor children but everybody else paid tuition. The minutes of the Clinton Schools Board of Trustees date back to 1920 when J. Harvey Witherspoon was superin tendent. Prior to that, there had been at least three public school superintendents. A Mr. Aycock was superintendent, fol lowed by E. H. Hall. Mr. A.C. Daniel was superintendent from 1913-1920. Mr. Witherspoon was super intendent from 1920 to 1935 and W. E. Monts served from 1935 to 1942. Pat H. Hobson was superintendent in 1942-45 and W. R. Anderson served from 1945 to 1964. Mr. Anderson was succeeded by the current super intendent. R. P. Wilder, in 1964. During Mr. Daniel’s tenure as superintendent, the entire school system was still locat ed in one building, on Academy Street. Today, the system has over 4,000 students and a budget of almost $1.5 million. There are now four elementary schools, two junior high schools and one high school in the district which encompasses the area from Jo anna to west ofClinton and from Lake Greenwood to the county line on the north. In the 1940s, Mountville and Cross Hill high schools were consolidated with Clinton High and Bell Street High. This year, Bell Street High was consolidat ed with Clinton High School and the rural area elementary schools were consolidated with Clinton Elementary, Florida Street Elementary, Bailey Ele mentary and Joanna Ele mentary. Piedmont Presbyterian Began In Brush Arbor In slavery days Liberty Springs Presbyterian Church was the only church of the de nomination in the Cross- Hill-Mountville area. Messrs. Isaac Pitts, Carey Jones, Thomas Nance, EdmondNance, Anthony Jones, C. W. Tones, Hampton Bartee, Allen Watts, Thomas Jones, Martin John son, Emanuel Floyd and their families became members and grew up in Liberty Springs Church. These families belong ed to the Nances, Williams and Dr. Phillips. This section was owned primarily by these three families until 1826 according to a history prepared by the late Dudley Jones, A.B., D.D., who was Professor of Phi losophy and Psychology at Presbyterian College, Clinton, S. C. In 1844 there were forty-six white and fifteen Negro mem bers of the church. In 1859 there were two hundred and one whites and two hundred and twenty-four Negroes in mem bership. By 1866 there were only one hundred and sixty communicants ninety-eight Negroes and sixty-two whites. In the spring report of the Presbytery of 1869, the Negro membership was omitted for the first time. The Negroes had withdrawn from Liberty Springs and were using abrush arbor for a place of worship. This meeting place was later destroyed by fire, but this did not discourage the worshippers they continued on. They now built Piedmont Presbyterian Church, with Isaac Pitts as leader and preacher. Dr. Jones gives us the beginning of this great church and the many things it ha§ accomplished down through the years. At the Presbytery which convened at Liberty Springs Presbyterian Church when the Rev. F. T. McGill was pastor, in the history that was read at the meeting, it was stated, ‘There is a church in affiliation with the Pres byterian Church in the United States of America. This is a congregation of Negro people, the Piedmont Presbyterian Church.’ Piedmont Presbyterian Church has been a strong, ac tive, intelligent, Christian people for more than one hund red years. It is gratifying to. learn some of the historical facts of the work our slave- parents began.