1911+-+1915


 * __ An everyday history of Upstate South Carolina from 1911 - 1915 __**

The General Assembly adopted Henry Timrod's "Carolina " as the state song of South Carolina
 * __February 11, 1911__**

__**August 27-28, 1911**__ A severe hurricane destroyed the rice crop, marking the end of the commercial growth of rice in South Carolina []

__**April 1911**__ Hartsville, April 8.-One of the most horrible accidents that have ever occurred in Hartsville happened this morning at 5 o'clock in the baggage coach of the negro show, "Silas Green." which was sidetracked in the Atlantic Coast Line yards. After closing an engagement of two days here, the troupe had packed and was ready to leave when fire was discovered in the baggage car. In this car were eight negro men, five Shetland ponies, a horse, a mule, trunks and other paraphernalia. It appears that the men, having worked hard, had fallen asleep. The doors of the car were closed, as a heavy rain had fallen during the night. As the fire burned on top and on the side, a natural inference would be that the fire was caused from ignited gas, but it is denied that there was any gas in the car. Two Dead. One man was taken from the car dead, being horribly burned about the face, hands and feet. One of the injured, WILLIE DUNDEE, Hartsville negro, died later. The others, six in number, were sent to the hospital at Sumter. All are very seriously hurt. Three are thought to be fatally injured. The physicians of the town have done all in their power to relieve the suffering of the injured, the wounds have been carefully dressed, and it is hoped that three will recover. []

__**1911-1915**__ Governor Coleman Livingston Blease openly endorses lynching as well as many other activities looked down upon by the General Assembly as well as those who were referred to as "do-gooders". He declared he would pardon any mill workers accused of lynching or many other violent crimes. []

__**1912**__ Capital punishment was ushered in with the installation of the electric chair in prisons.

__**March 27, 1912**__ Incident involving two black men and one white man. Heavily under the influence of alcohol, the white man (Joe Childers) is coerced into doing "unmentionable acts; by the two other men (Joe Brinson and Frank Whisonant).

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The **1912 South Carolina gubernatorial election** was held on November 5, 1912, to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. Governor Coleman Livingston Blease won the Democratic primary and won the general election to earn a second two-year term. Senator Ben Tillman felt that Blease had greatly damaged the reputation of the state and was morally unfit to be governor, but because his re-election was on the same ballot he feared to openly oppose Blease so as to cause his own political downfall. Nevertheless, Tillman published a letter at the last minute stating his opposition to Blease. It was rather ironic because Tillman was essentially aiding the very people he had opposed in his 1890 gubernatorial contest. Despite Tillman's objection, Blease won the primary election on August 27 and avoided a runoff election by obtaining over 50% of the vote.
 * __1912__**

__**1912**__ Performances of the Russian Ballet come to South Carolina

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__**November 1913**__ Kingstree, Nov 18--Train No 212, a northbound through freight, was derailed exactly opposite the passenger and freight depot here this morning at 4 o'clock. The train was running about 20 miles per hour, and the momentum was so great that cars were piled up three deep and towered above the depot. The wreck was caused by the arch bar on the rear truck of the third car from the engine breaking, falling down and catching up a board on the railway crossing just south of the station, and before the derailed car left the track and the train could be stopped, 13 cars were derailed and piled up across the track and cotton platform. About 75 feet of the covering on the cotton platform was knocked down, and the car doing this damage was piled up on top of the wreckage. Five cars were completely demolished, and the contents, consisting of lumber, phosphate rock, shingles, building material and kaolin, was scattered promiscuously along the track for a distance of 100 yards. No estimate can be made just now as to damage to the freight, but the damage to the rolling stock approximates $3,000. There was no loss of life and not a single injury, the crew being back in the cab. The most thrilling experience in the whole wreck was related by a tramp who was riding in a car that was piled upon two others. When he awoke and crawled out, he could survey the whole town from his vantage point. Sedately picking a few splinters from his wool hat, he climbed down and called down dire fates upon a railroad system that would allow a gentlemen's rest to be thus disturbed. []

**__1913__** Twenty-seven years after the 1886 Charleston earthquake and subsequent after shocks, another strong earthquake occurred in South Carolina. This quake was on the afternoon of January 1, 1913, at 1:28 p.m. near the town of Union in Union County with an estimated magnitude of 5.5 (Figure 1). Shock waves moved out from the western portion of South Carolina into adjacent Georgia and North Carolina, and even up into parts of Virginia. Fortunately, damage was minimal and no deaths resulted. This event is significant because it demonstrates that large, destructive earthquakes can strike the Piedmont region. []

Two wealthy black brothers executed for killing a white Confederate army veteran in 1913 have been given the first posthumous pardon ever issued in a South Carolina murder case. Thomas and Meeks Griffin were ruled to have had no connection to the killing of John Lewis, 73, who was shot to death at his home. Researchers and descendants of the brothers, who were aged 26 and 24 when they were sent to the electric chair, were convinced they were convicted by a racist judge who resented their success. One of the key pieces of evidence to help overturn the conviction was the discovery of a petition to the state's governor pleading for the Griffins' freedom. It was signed by more than 100 whites including the Blackstock's mayor, a former sheriff, two trial jurors and the jury foreman. []
 * __1913__**

Medical College of the State of South Carolina became a state institution []
 * __1913__**

__**1914**__ The 1914 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 3, 1914 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. It was the first election in South Carolina in which the voters were able to choose the candidate in the general election. Incumbent Democratic Senator Ellison D. Smith won the Democratic primary and defeated nominal opposition in the general election to win another six year term. Coleman Livingston Blease, Governor of South Carolina from 1910 to 1914, was barred from seeking another term by the South Carolina constitution. He wanted to continue holding a public office so he challenged incumbent Senator Ellison D. Smith in the Democratic primary election for U.S. Senator. However, the voters were tired of Blease and he and those allied with him suffered defeat in the 1914 Democratic primaries on August 25.

Medical College of the State of South Carolina campus moved to its current location []
 * __1914__**

__**1914**__ Richard I. Manning wins the race to be Governor of South Carolina, introducing the states first progressive governor.

__**1914**__ Beginning of the first world war. Production of weapons and war machines increase to support the war in Europe.

__**January 14, 1915**__ Governor Blease resigned just five days before the end of his second term []

__**1915**__ South Carolina citizens voted in a referendum to establish a prohibition on the sale of all alcoholic beverages.

__**1915**__ //Birth of a Nation//, a film portraying of South Carolina in the Reconstruction-era, premiered

__**1915**__ February 20, 1915, The General Assembly passed the state's first compulsory education legislation []

__**1915**__ The 1915 South Carolina 4th congressional district special election was held on September 14, 1915 to select a Representative for the 4th congressional district to serve out the remainder of the term for the 64th Congress. The special election resulted from the resignation of Representative Joseph T. Johnson on April 19, 1915. Samuel J. Nicholls, a former state Representative from Spartanburg, won the Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election.