Kingstree's First Brick Store

Bessie Britton began a newspaper column published in The County Record in January 1952 with these words: The first brick store in Kingstree was Reddick's Red Hot Racket Emporium at 110 West Main Street. She then broke down the name to explain that "red hot" meant goods priced to sell; "racket" meant departments; and "emporium" meant dry goods of every kind in stock.

Reddick's store in an undated photo from the Williamsburgh Historical Museum.

That name certainly has a ring to it, but I suspect Miss Bessie may have gilded the lily a wee bit. In newspaper articles and advertisements, the store was called Reddick's Broadway Racket Store, or Reddick's Racket Store, or just H.D. Reddick's.

Henry D. Reddick went into business in Kingstree, along with his brother, William J. Reddick, sometime in the 1890s. The store was originally three stores that he acquired over a period of years. In 1899, he remodeled them into one big, for the time, brick store. George S. Barr, as Kingstree correspondent for The State newspaper, noted that when completed, it would be "one of the finest stores in the county."

In a June 1898 profile of Kingstree in the Charleston Evening Post, Reddick's was described like this. "In any town there are merchants who lead and never follow. Such is the case in Kingstree with the enterprising concern known as the Broadway Racket Store, of which Mr. H.D. Reddick is the proprietor. Mr. Reddick deserves a great deal of praise, starting as he did with a capital of only $300, and viewing now his large commodious establishment."

Reddick's, like many other merchants in Kingstree, always operated on the proverbial shoestring. In 1901 and again in 1910, he declared voluntary bankruptcy. Both times, he was able to satisfy his creditors and re-open. In 1901, he re-opened in the middle of December, only to have vandals break his quarter-inch-thick plate glass window two weeks later.

The 1907 "Going Out of Business" ad run for Reddick's by the Mutual Clearance Co.

Henry Reddick appears to have been a restless soul. In 1907, he decided to move away from Kingstree, and went so far as to turn all of his worldly goods over to the Mutual Clearance Company for a huge "Going Out of Business" sale. Whether or not his decision to move had anything to do with his wife's illness is unknown, but Isadora Reddick died in October of that year after what was described as a "lingering illness." And, after her death, Henry Reddick remained in Kingstree.

In 1908, he installed a new awning on his store which The County Record said added to the storefront's appearance and "is also an interesting proposition from a mechanical standpoint." If you look closely at the photo above, you can see that the awning is rolled back, and there appears to be a system of ropes to unfurl it when needed. In 1909, he rented a store on the opposite side of Main Street as a coffin repository for the undertaking business he ran out of the Racket Store. He also spoke of plans to add two additional floors to the storefront, which would have made it the largest store in town. He apparently thought better of that idea as the additional floors never happened. He also remarried in 1909.

Meanwhile, he opened branches of his store in Denmark, Bamberg, Lake City, and Hartsville. None of these stores appears to have stayed open very long.

After his 1910 bankruptcy, W.I. Nexsen bought the store, remodeling it in 1913. Reddick continued to operate out of the building after it was remodeled. However, in the early morning hours of April 2, 1915, the town's night watchman, Harry Bradley, discovered a fire in the store. It was obviously an attempt at arson as there was evidence that kerosene had been poured around the desk where the fire started. Thanks to Bradley's early discovery and quick action by the Kingstree Fire Department, very little damage occurred. However, The County Record announced in mid- April. "Mr. H.D. Reddick will leave Kingstree  as soon as his losses sustained by the fire of April 2 can be adjusted and will make his future home in Andrews where he has opened a store known as the Andrews Dry Goods Company, now under the management of his son, Mr. Cordie Reddick. Mr. Reddick is one of the pioneer merchants of Kingstree, and we view with regret his approaching departure."

Advertisement for Lewis & Carter's grand opening in 1915.

By July 1, 1915, a new grocery store, Lewis & Carter, had opened in the building. Although no first names were given, they were described as both being "popular young Kingstree boys."

Henry Reddick continued to visit regularly in Kingstree after his move to Andrews, as his brother, Billy, still lived here. But he didn't stay in Andrews long. By 1916, he had moved to Easley. He remained in the upstate the rest of his life, dying in Greenville at age 70 in 1933.

But the memory of Reddick's store lived on. For the March 31, 1954, issue of The Florence Morning News, Ann McIntosh wrote a human interest story on Arthur Dukes' hat. The story began: "Uncle Arthur Dukes took the black hat from his head and turned it fondly in his gnarled hands. He has worn it for 40 years, so long that his white friends cannot ever remember seeing him without it..."

The hat was a John B. Stetson he said he bought from Mr. Henry and Mr. Billy Reddick for $1.50 back before the first World War. He had taken good care of the hat and it continued to serve him well. He was 87 years old in 1954 and had clear memories of the 1886 earthquake. He also remembered that W.I. Nexsen's Hudson was the first automobile he had ever seen.

Reddick's old store today is the home of the Sabb Law Group.

Today, while Reddick's Broadway Racket Store is not a landmark most of us would recognize, the building in which it operated still stands on the north side of West Main Street. It is now owned by State Senator Ronnie A. Sabb and is home to his law practice.

For Some, Boswell's Beach Was "Hallowed Ground"

The final Kingstree Live of the summer drew a large crowd to the depot August 10. After July's Kingstree Live, we looked at the Wee Nee Beach Pavilion and its 20-year run as Kingstree's playground on Black River. It was, however, not the river's only playground.

All photos from August Kingstree Live

Located five miles from Kingstree, off what is now Martin Luther King, Jr. Highway, Boswell's Beach offered a dance pavilion and a dining room, which were used regularly by Kingstree residents, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s. Located at a point where Black River makes a sharp turn,  leaving a wide expanse of sandy beach on the opposite side of the river, the property was developed by Charles William Boswell, a Clarendon County native who resided in Salters. Mr. Boswell worked as assistant cashier for the Bank of Williamsburg until its failure in the 1920s. He then worked as telegraph operator for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

Before Boswell took possession, the beach had for years been used as a seine yard by area fishermen and had played its role in both the American Revolution and the Civil War, according to an article, published in the News & Courier on July 1, 1928. This article noted that stories passed down from generation to generation told that during the Battle of the Lower Bridge in March 1781, Francis Marion had his men stationed all along the river from the bridge to the seine yard. Marion's men burned the bridge, and a large number of British troops were killed that day by McCottry's Rifles. Legend says their bodies were dumped into Robinson's Hole, a deep hole in the river.

During the Civil War, Col. James Pressley's men also lined the bank to keep Potter's Raiders away from Kingstree, which they, too, accomplished by burning the bridge. And because of these two events, many locals considered the area from Boswell's Beach to the bridge to be hallowed ground.

The article continued, "Today it is called 'Boswell's Beach.' People from near and far come there to enjoy the river in more ways than one. It is a good bathing spot. Fishing is desirable. There are the advantages of a country club, and many pleasant dances are held here. The wide white beach just across the river is an ideal spot for the frolic of little children. But to many it is still the old seine yard."

The first mention I have found of Boswell's Beach in a news account was in the Charleston Evening Post in August 1924. It read, "Boswell's Beach on Black River is proving itself an attractive resort." During the 1920s, regular Tuesday evening dances were held there, with many Friday night dances as well. Picnics, bridge parties, fish suppers, swimming parties, and wiener roasts were also popular events. Some "society items" in statewide newspapers on occasion called it "Boswell's Country Club." Bands such as the Carolina Ramblers, the Junior Collegiates, and the local high school orchestra provided music for the many dances held at Boswell's. C.W Boswell, Jr., better known as "Soup," led a small orchestra that often performed at these dances. Sadly, he was found shot to death near St. Stephens in November 1928.

On at least two occasions, Boswell's Beach played a role in scavenger hunt parties. In October 1926, Lena Whittle, a faculty member at the Kingstree school, entertained her co-workers at such a party which began at the home of Mrs. L.D. Rodgers. Clues were distributed at Mrs. Rodgers' home and the guests then took their automobiles throughout Kingstree searching for other clues which eventually led them back to the piazza at the Rodgers' home, where the prize box of candy was discovered by Marion McFadden. Afterward, everyone gathered at Boswell's Beach for a picnic and marshmallow roast around a bonfire. 

In January 1927, 50 college students gathered at the home of J.C. Kinder, where they, too, were given clues which led them first to the river bridge, then to the cemetery, the athletic field, the cafe, and finally to Boswell's Beach, where Jack Meadors discovered the prize, which also happened to be a box of candy. They, too, enjoyed a marshmallow roast around a bonfire on the beach after their hunt.

Sarah Nunnally, the home demonstration agent for Williamsburg County, staged a day-camp for boys and girls at Boswell's Beach in 1925. 

In August 1925, the Kingstree Kiwanis Club was organized with 50 members in a meeting at Boswell's Beach. W.H. Welch was elected the first president of the club. The Kingstree Chamber of Commerce held twice yearly membership meetings at the Beach and also entertained the tobacco warehousemen who came to town each summer to work the tobacco market. Churches held their annual picnics there, and such businesses as Consolidated Telephone and GMAC often held meetings there, as well. 

In January 1930, C.W. Boswell suffered a stroke while on his way back home from an evening in Florence. Boswell became ill while driving, and as his companion did not drive, they flagged down a cabbage truck which took him back to Florence to the hospital, where he died about 10 minutes after being admitted. He was 56 years old at the time of his death. 

Boswell's Beach continued operation under the management of Charlie Blakely, but it seems from newspaper reports that during the 1930s, it became more of a meeting and dinner venue than a place for picnics, parties, and dances.

During those years, the American Legion, the Kiwanis, the Kingstree Chamber, the Williamsburg County Medical Association, Carolina Power & Light, the Pee Dee Medical Association, the staff at Kelley Sanatorium, and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad all held regular supper meetings at Boswell's Beach.

Perhaps the one event that made Boswell's Beach known throughout the state was D.J. Epps' twice yearly pine bark stew and barbecue feasts. In spring and fall, Mr. Epps invited 150 to 300 of his friends from all over the state to enjoy barbecue and his very famous pine bark stew. These dinners started sometime in the nineteen-teens when they were held in one of the warehouses and were still going strong in the 1930s.

There was also an artesian well at Boswell's Beach, which in 1928, Clemson College had analyzed and found to be pure water containing magnesium and sulphur. One of my own earliest memories involves that well. During the ice storm of December 1958, we were staying with my grandparents, who lived about two miles from Boswell's Beach. They had heat but no water, so my mother and  grandfather went to Boswell's to fill up several jugs from the well. As my grandfather rarely drove over 20 miles an hour in the best of times, it was little wonder that it seemed to my young mind that it took them hours to bring the water back. It probably did.

Invitation to Wander

Main Street, Kingstree's Design Committee received training recently from architect Randy Wilson, owner of Community Design Solutions and consulting architect to Main Street, South Carolina. The presentation introduced the committee to a number of relatively low-cost ways to enhance downtown while simultaneously educating more members of the community on the importance of preserving the downtown business district as Kingstree's unique calling card.

Flowers in front of an Academy Street business earlier this summer.

Wilson urged the committee to find ways to infuse the downtown with color and activity, layering bright, inviting colors with places to sit and differing textures to give residents and visitors alike a place where they can feel welcome and safe.

As homework, he encouraged committee members to explore their own town as if seeing it for the first time. I echo this in encouraging all of you who live in Kingstree, or if you can visit, to take the time to wander the downtown. Do it not just once, but several times at different times of day. Take photos with your camera or your phone of things you've never noticed before, unexpected spots of beauty, architectural details you find attractive. If you want to share them on the Royal Town Rambles Facebook page, please do so. I've done this for a number of years now. Here's a random sampling of things that caught my eye over the last few months.

Arch on W. Main Street at the site of Kingstree's first bank, the Bank of Kingstree.

If you have a photo-editing program, feel free to add some interesting filters to your photos.

Play with your images. Have fun.

Jarrito's in early morning light.

A "Shop Local" window display on Academy Street.

Architectural details on a W. Main Street building.

Lamp on recently renovated DSS Building, Hampton Avenue.

In front of Polly Ann's Florist on Main Street.

Kingstree Live at the Depot draws a crowd of all ages to spend

a Friday evening with friends listening to live music.

Lighted windows of the Kingstree Depot at dusk.

Randy Wilson noted that all too often we either forget about or overlook the simple things because we tend to focus on the bigger, splashier projects. But a number of small projects can have just as big an impact in the end as a large, expensive undertaking.

Randy Wilson, Sulondia Hammond, and Mary Jean Holt 

at the Design Committee training session.

Again, I encourage you to, over the next few months, take some time to take a closer look at downtown Kingstree. Find things you like; note things you think could work better. Get involved. All of us working (and playing) together can have a huge impact on our town's future.

Civic League Led the Way on Beautification, Other Improvements

At the recent training session for Main Street, Kingstree's Organization Committee, discussion centered for awhile on the possibility of the group's getting permission from property owners in the designated area downtown to clean and beautify some neglected spaces. Main Street Committee Members Deanne Russo and Rod McCants recently walked the area, noting places that could use a little more love. They suggested that if all members of the committee pitched it, it would be possible to draw one each month from those selected and spend a few hours sprucing it up. I suspect that when the ladies of Kingstree were forming the Civic League in 1908, they engaged in similar discussions.

The Williamsburg County Courthouse when azalea were banked on the Courthouse Square.

The ladies, frustrated with the way the town looked, set as their mission beautifying the streets and public places, with the long-term goal of establishing a playground for the town's babies and young children. Their first act was to write the Grand Jury, asking that it order the removal of a stairway attached to a building on the eastern boundary of the courthouse grounds as it was situated on county property, and the League had set its sights on the courthouse square.

Although it was a ladies' organization, they offered Kingstree's male population honorary membership for $1 per year. They quickly collected $80 to give them funds to begin landscaping the downtown streets and make plans for the courthouse square. 

In March 1909, The County Record noted, "The work of the Civic League is beginning to show to advantage on the sidewalks and especially is it noticeable on the courthouse square. Recently a macadamized driveway has been completed around the square, and the entire area has been broken up preparatory to arranging the ground in parterres in which will be planted flowers and grasses. The work of these ladies in transforming an unsightly place, grown up in ragged weeds, into a verdant and beauteous park, should be appreciated by the public in a substantial way... ."

By summer 1909 the courthouse square sported green stretches of lawn, cement walks, gravel drives, and beds of bright flowers. And although the ladies faced difficulties in getting permission from the Atlantic Coast Line to work on areas around the depot, they planted evergreens and canna lilies there anyway.

In 1910, the group hired a man to clean the sidewalks on Academy and Main streets, as well as pick up trash that blew into those streets. They also placed trash cans on Main and Academy. But by October 1911, the newspaper stated, "Lately it seems that the League has relaxed its efforts in keeping downtown clean." The League responded quickly, informing Editor Charles Wolfe that they had fired their hired hand because he did not do satisfactory work "and the League does not have funds to squander on substandard work, particularly work that should have been handled by town council." They reiterated that they had hired someone to clean the sidewalks because it was apparent to them that unless they did the work, it would not get done at all. They had appealed to newly-elected Mayor Percy Kinder and were waiting to see if the town council would act.

I presume the grassy space in front of the depot was the spot the ACL agreed to pave.

The same side of the depot in summer 2017.

The ACL finally agreed to cement an area at the depot, leaving a flower bed in the center of it to be planted and cared for by the League. The ladies were grateful and expressed hope that the ACL would eventually agree to their dream of putting a fountain at the depot. Also, in late 1911, they formed a committee, chaired by Freda Jacobs, to look into beautifying the space between the two roads leading to the river. The town looked with favor on beautifying what has become the median between the lanes on Main Street toward the river, and the ladies soon set to work clearing the property.

The League regularly sponsored "Clean-Up Days" for the entire town, urging all residents to clean their property and their neighborhoods. In June 1911, the ladies expressed gratitude to African-American residents who had turned out in far greater numbers to clean their neighborhoods than had their white counterparts. In 1912, the League cooperated with the town in "Fly Killing Day." Also, in 1912, when they noticed that an infestation of mistletoe had killed a number of trees in town, they commissioned a hook to be made to enable them to have the mistletoe removed from trees. They told the town they would provide the hook and supervise the work if the town paid for the labor.

In 1912, their dream of a playground appeared to be coming true. R.H. Kellahan donated property on the corner of Kelley and Epps (now Live Oak Ave.) streets for use as a park during his lifetime. The League quickly began to clear underbrush and put in benches and swings. Less than a year later, Kellahan deeded the property to the town, with the stipulation that if the town ever ceased using it as a public park, it would revert to his estate.

A recent view of Kellahan Park.

As time went by, the ladies got involved in other civic ventures, which also served as innovative fundraisers for the League. They set up an exchange in a corner of M.L. Allen's Drugstore which enabled local women to sell handmade apparel, fancywork, cakes, and other goods each Saturday. The women could keep the proceeds, but were asked to contribute $1 a year to the Civic League for the privilege of using the space. In March 1912, they partnered with the N.K. Fairbanks Company to sponsor a cooking contest at Jacobs & Scott's grocery store. All ladies in Kingstree and surrounding areas were eligible, but they were restricted to using Cottonlene, a vegetable shortening product of the Fairbanks Co., in their entries. After the judging, all the entries were auctioned with proceeds going to the Civic League. 

In April 1915, they sponsored a Better Baby Contest at the Central Warehouse. This was a unique contest in that the winners were scored on their good health. Each of the 25 entrants was examined by doctors and a dentist and ranked according to their health. The top five babies were A.C. Swails, Jr., Robert Claude McCabe, Emory Clifton Kinder, Margaret Florence Kelley, and John F. McFadden, Jr.

In 1916, the Civic League joined forces with the Library Commission to form the Civic and Library Commission which worked tirelessly on the building and stocking of the new Carnegie Library.

The Williamsburgh Museum is part of the Civic League's legacy to us.

We certainly don't know the names of all the ladies who participated in the Civic League. Some who were officers were Cornelia Gamble, Eva Lee, Nell Gilland, Maud Logan, Marie Thorn, Jimmye Britton, Julia Fairy, Freda Jacobs, and Eleanor McCabe. We owe all of them much gratitude that so much of their work remains with us today. This summer hydrangeas brought bright splashes of color to the median between the lanes on Main Street. Kellahan Park still rings with the laughter of children, and although the library has moved to newer facilities, the building they worked toward now serves as a repository for the area's history as the Williamsburgh Museum.

The Importance of Stories

Recently, Johnsonville author Sherman Carmichael talked about his research techniques during a book signing at the Williamsburgh Museum. He has written a number of books, all dealing with ghosts, UFOs, legends, and mysterious stories centered in the Carolinas. Carmichael, who also had a career in law enforcement, said he is known for his Joe Friday, "just-the-facts, ma'am," brand of storytelling.

Local author Sherman Carmichael speaks at the Williamsburgh Musuem.

His presentation brought to mind how fascinating it is to see the local human interest stories that were picked up by the Associated Press over the years and how many newspapers in other parts of the state and the country ran those stories of happenings in our small community. It's also interesting how one such story can lead someone on an adventure to discover more about the person or the event, uncovering more stories along the way.

One that especially caught my interest recently involved a 10-year-old African American lad named Melvin McClam and his encounter with a snake. In June 1911, Melvin was, as many small boys did and do, fishing in Black River. At some point during the afternoon, he decided to swim across one of the "lakes" in the river as it was described in The County Record. While swimming, he was bitten on the neck by a "water rattle," according to the paper. Melvin was apparently a pretty tough, courageous kid because instead of panicking, he grabbed hold of the snake and returned to shore with it in tow. Once on the bank, he used his pocketknife to kill the snake, slit it open, and remove the liver. He then placed the liver on the bite. The newspaper noted that, aside from a little swelling at the site of the wound, Melvin suffered no ill effects from his adventure. His story, however, caught the attention of the AP, and subsequently numerous papers in South Carolina and across the United States.

Black River in 2013 in an area near where Melvin McClam was probably swimming.

Curious to see if I could find out what happened to Melvin, I searched for him on Ancestry.com. Through census records, I determined he was the youngest of Harvey and Stacie McClam's seven children. I learned that he stayed in Kingstree after he grew up, becoming an auto mechanic who owned his own business. But what sent me back to the newspapers was his death certificate. Dr. E.T. Kelley listed his cause of death as homicide. I wanted to see if I could find out more.

In the July 30, 1946, Florence Morning News, I found what I was looking for. It was only a paragraph, but it told the sad story. "Sheriff (Pearless) Lambert is holding John T. (Moot) Speights, Negro farmer, in connection with the fatal shooting of Melvin McClam, well-known Negro man, at an eating place on State Highway No. 52 near here last night. Speights, carrying the .32 pistol which is said to have shot McClam, and the .45 automatic, which he said McClam drew on him, according to Sheriff Lambert, gave himself up to Policeman James Benton immediately after the shooting affray." The little boy who survived a snake bite had become a murder victim 35 years later.

I filed it away, thinking I could tell the snake story along with the misadventures of other long-forgotten citizens in Black River. But I was to find out that I wasn't finished with the McClam family.  Less than two years later, Melvin's father Harvey died on January 19, 1913. The County Record's obituary was most impressive.

It should be noted that sad-to-say, in those days few African American residents' passings were published in the newspaper. There were some, but usually it was a line or two acknowledging the death and its date. Harvey McClam rated approximately 14 column inches in the January 23, 1913, issue. And, oh, what a tribute it was! He was called "one of the truest and most loyal citizens of the Town of Kingstree." His funeral at Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church was largely attended by both black and white citizens, including Mayor Percy Kinder.

Harvey, according to his obituary, was born into slavery in 1851 on the Singleton plantation just north of what was then the Town of Kingstree. Today, Williamsburg Presbyterian Church would be the southern border of the plantation, which encompassed all of the old Kingstree Elementary School property, much of Kellahan Park, the old W.I. Nexsen home, the site of today's Kingstree United Methodist Church and westward all the way to Gilland Memorial Park.

These are two of three small houses that sit on property that runs from 

W. Academy Street to Singleton Avenue. I've often wondered if they are

what remains of outbuildings from the Singleton Plantation. From what I've

read, they would have been located to the right of the original

 T.D. Singleton house, if looking at it from today's Jackson street.

If anyone knows the origin of these houses, please share it.

The obituary notes that when Harvey was five years old, he fell into a fire, suffering burns that would leave him with scars he carried the rest of his life. After that incident, Virginia Singleton, who had by that time married Dr. James Brockinton, took Harvey to her home, where he became an inseparable companion to her children. After the Emancipation Proclamation, Harvey decided to remain with the Brockintons, although when Louise Brockinton married Thomas McDowell Gilland in April 1877, Harvey moved with them to the old Scott place, where he used his talent for cooking, skillfully managed the Gillands' pair of spirited horses, helped look after the Gilland children, and after T.M. Gilland was paralyzed from a stroke, served as his primary caregiver for 15 years. T.M. Gilland survived Harvey by barely 11 months, dying in December 1913.

The home of Dr. James and Virginia Brockinton. I will now always 

wonder if the man at the far right of the photo is Harvey McClam.

The home situated on the Brockinton property today was built

by W.I. and Barbara Nesxen.

But Harvey also had a life of his own. He married Stacie, and they had seven children, two daughters, Etta and Virginia; and five sons, Harvey, Jr., Gilbert, Arthur, Louis, and Melvin. In the 1900 census Harvey listed his occupation as farmer. By 1910, he was also working as a waiter at the Kellahan Hotel.

One small section of Harvey's obituary was also picked up by the Associated Press wire and reprinted in a number of papers across the state. That small section included the names of Harvey's pallbearers–six white men who carried their black friend to his final resting place. They were Louise and T.M. Gilland's three sons: Wilmot, Louis, and Dessie, with Hugh McCutchen, Edwin Hirsch, and Otis Arrowsmith. Melvin McClam, whose middle name was Hirsch, was no doubt named for Edwin Hirsch's father, Melvin.

These two stories illustrate so well that history is more than the "big" events that make it to the history books. It is also the small, everyday things that show how inextricably connected we are to each other and to the events that have gone before and to those that will occur long after we're gone. And sometimes if you pull on one tiny thread, you find more stories, more questions–more evidence that everyone plays an important role in the overall history of a community. 

UPDATE: On April 4, we looked at three African-American barbers who were much a part of Kingstree in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of them, John D. Mouzon, ran the barbershop in both the Coleman House Hotel and later the Kellahan Hotel. He disappeared for a time but re-opened the barbershop at the Kellahan Hotel in 1911, announcing in an ad in The County Record, "Thankful for past favors, I respectfully solicit a share of your patronage." Not long afterward, though, the shop was again closed. I now know he moved to Asheville, NC, where he was a barber at the Buckeye Parlor. Charles C. Mouzon, perhaps a relative, also worked as a barber at that shop in Asheville. John Mouzon appears in both the 1912 and 1913 Asheville City Directories. On March 1, 1913, he died there. The County Record announced his death but did not elaborate on its cause. His remains were brought back to Kingstree for burial. The Record did note that in addition to barbering, Mouzon was also a musician and the leader of the Mouzon String Band that played at many, many dances at the Coleman Hotel and other places during the 1890s and early 1900s.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

AUGUST 7:  Training session for the Design Committee for Main Street Kingstree. Randy Wilson and Jenny Boulware will explain the Design Committee's role in the overall Main Street approach to anyone interested in joining the committee. Design will work on helping downtown present an inviting appearance, pedestrian orientation, signage, parking management, and master planning. The session is from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Main Street office at the depot.

AUGUST 9:  Training session for the Economic Vitality Committee for Main Street Kingstree. Jenny Boulware will explain this committee's role in the Main Street approach to all who are interested in volunteering to serve on this committee, which will work with demographics and statistics, business retention, business expansion, and business attraction. The committee will meet from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Main Street office at the depot.

AUGUST 10:  Main Street Live at the Depot will present its big back-to-school bash from 7-10 p.m. The Band Punch will provide music. There will be food trucks, face painting, and free shaved ice available.

AUGUST 14:  Training session for the Promotion Committee for Main Street Kingstree. Jenny Boulware will provide background information on this committee's function to anyone who wishes to serve on the committee. The Promotion Committee will work with image and branding, special events, and retail promotion. Time is 5:30-7 p.m. in the Main Street office at the depot.