The Herald from Rock Hill, South Carolina • 52

Evening Herald Mon March 4 1985 James Morrow Ivy was early businessman local farmers and the Indiana Ivy renewed many of tlu old tiu of his boyhood The town of Rock Hill wu shocked when CoL Ivy died on SepL 11 1888 at the age of 48 He left two sons and two daughters One of the sons Janus Morrow Ivy died in the great flu epidemic of 1911 Inncaster County aide of the Catawba River Adam Ivy had been a state-appointed Catawba Indian agent in Janus' youth well an active Methodist preacher (he founded thru cburchea) Jamea Morrow Ivy the only son of age during the UNs probably accompanied his father and gained a first-hand knowledge of the ty Certainly it wu the first steam engine powered milL Ivy bought only a few shares of stock in the milL The major investors were CapL AE Hutchison and membera of the White family When his elderly father moved to Florida to live with a daughter Ivy tods over the l40fracre family plantation and the Ivy Mill place on the Jones in 1872 When the paper nearly went under Ivy took over the editorship and eventually changed the name to the Rock Hill Herald the forerunner of the Evening Herald In 1881 Ivy initiated a drive that ended in the establishment of the Rock Hill Cotton Mill the first cotton mill In town and probably the first post-Civil Wu cotton mill in the coun a forerunner of the new generation of Southern entrepreneurs by five to 10 years busineu methods were so successful that they were copied by many others including his first cousins the Heath brothers who were eariy partners of Leroy Springs of Fort MilL The Heath brothers James Morrow Heath and Benjamin Dawson Heath gave their name to the town of Heath Springs in Lancaster County They too established mills and mercantile houses across the Piedmont The one closest to Rock Hill wu built in saifing away lazy afternoons the very first day you step on campus 'til the very last It's dressing up to dance the night away the Harbor collection ARIENS REAR-TINE TILLERS -A TILLER DRIVE GEAR CASE DESIGNED FOR DEPENDABLE SERVICE CANDICE $3499 Narrow A Medium Ariens Rear-Tine THIers feature a tiller drive gear case that puts more power at the tine point with less loss of engine power The gears run in an oil bath to ensure extra long dependable service Also helps tiller rotating parts remain trouble-free And double seals on the shaft keep dirt out and oil in Thah just one part of the Ariens Advantage Ariens Rear-Tine Tillers also feature: independent wheel drive and tine clutch Taction-treaded tires Adjustable handlebar heightand more! Also Benjamin Dawson Heath copied some elements of banking system Heath's bank in Charlotte eventually evolved into North Carolina National Bank now one of the region's largest banking systems While Jamea Morrow Ivy did not invent the system of dealing in cotton futures it is most likely that he wu the first cotton trader to become involved in futures trading in the Carolina Piedmont The Yorkville Enquirer of July 11 1879 described his trading practices: began his purchases by this method early 1872 and haacon-tinued to study improve and develop the system until it is now reduced to comparatively a state of complete-ness It is the system of selling' in advance and purchasing to cover and purchasing and selling to cover that hu enabled him to deal so largely in spot cotton and with comparatively perfect Actually system did not afford perfect security Ivy eventually lost his estate But system if not subjected to financial panics and depressions on a large scale wu alluringly attractive in its promise of huge profits for thou who were able to master its complexities Years later another Heath brother Osgood Pierce Heath tried to corner the world market in cotton using a refinement of system OP Heath probably would have succeeded if he had not been betrayed by his Liverpool agent Before Ivy entered Rock cotton market the town's merchants handled about 2000 bates annuity Within seven years Ivy wu shipping more than 12000 bates annually He sold the cotton to mills in the north shipping the bates by rail usually on the same day he purchased them Ivy conducted his general merchandise busineu in a manner he termed sates and short A later phrase that described the same technique wu and carry" The Belk brothers built a large chain of department stores based on the same PHONE 385-3126 mmmmJ Ike IVh See your Ariens dealer today and see al the great garden tillers from Ariens! REED'S SERVISTAR HARDWARE 182 Gadsden St Chester SC' By LOUISE PETTUS Wtethrop GoUegt School Education la 1880 the town of Rock Hill had only 809 resident! Among the names the ceniua taker wrote down that year were Andenon London Fewell Poag Moore McFadden Roddey Avery Ward Hutchison Farris Miller Crawford Boyd Oaig Simpson Frew May Roach Sadler White Pride Cobh Jones McCoah Fried-ham Steele Rawla Rateree and Ivy Collectively these names represent a group that can be called Rock Hill's town-builders That group would dominate the business and social life of Rock Hill for decades to come They would turn Rock Hill into a banking and cotton mill center for York County and surrounding counties Of all the town-builders none wu more admired or more representative of his own time than James Morrow Ivy A sketch of Ivy's life reveals much about the growth of the city of Rock Hill from the village status it held in the 1170's census James Morrow Ivy was born Nov 5 1838 across the Catawba River in Inncaster County's Indian Land section His father was the Rev Adam Ivy who owned a large plantation and held a major interest in a flour and corn mill called the Turkey Head Mills James Ivy wu 4 when his mother Ann Morrow died and his father remarried The second wife wu Jam Spratt Ezell Phifer She brought to her third marriage a dowry of a gold mine and a sack of gold dust With his newfound riches Adam Ivy wu able to build a spacious mansion for the family Adam Ivy had seven children by his first wife Jam Phifer had a daughter and by Ivy she had eight more children James Ivy the only son from the first marriage wu sent to Rock Hill when he wu ready for college preparation He studied under WH Tho-masson CoL JM White and Gen JA Alston The next year Alston moved on to Mount Zion Academy in Wlnnsboro a distinguished school in its day Ivy went with Alston but stayed only one session John Shurley's Ebeneser Academy equally distinguished a college-preparatory school beckoned and Ivy returned to thia area By the time he enrolled in South Carolina College now the University of South Carolina Ivy wu well prepared and older than most of his classmates He wu a student at South Carolina College during the period when South Carolina seceded from the Union When a hastily assembled student militia company wu formed Ivy wu made sergeant and accompanied the group to Charleston He wu a witness to the Fort Sumter bombardment company became a part of the famed Hampton's Legion In the battle of Seven Pines Ivy wu aevere-tly wounded in the left shoulder He yiever fully recovered the use of his left arm Ivy left the army but did not return to Rock Hill immediately First he married Ann Conner the daughter of -one of his commanding officer He iook up residence with her family In Lincoln County NC while managing her father's business In 1868 after his father-in-law's death Ivy returned to Rock HilL At St time he had been a silent partner the firm of Ivy Roach Jones for Jwo years Upon his return he reorganized his interests and established 4M Ivy and Co Allen Jones wu to become frequently Involved in Ivy's numerous enterprises In 1877 Ivy's firm and Fewell Merchandise combined with Fewell concentrating more on the retail market And Ivy devoting himself to an extensive fertilizer business banking and primarily the buying and selling of cotton I should be noted that In Jvy's day wu in no way equivalent to modem banking Ivy used his chiefly a mean of controlling his Swn cash flow Ivy's buslneu partnership is an example of the methods that were used Jo accumulate capital in the small down of Piedmont Carolina in the 3870s 1880s and 1890s In fact Ivy wu b4kzns HARE'S CLOTHING INC 148 Gadsdon St Chester SC Phone 803-385-3262 A CUT ABOVE THE REST IP IS B8C9B' 'QAnUIIR STOIBCaB fJL7 SJMSBSBS (sIGNsI 1 3" TV Dual Mode Remote 130 Channel Capability KeyboardScan Quartz Electronic Tuning Jack Pack 1 Available Option: TV-VCR-Stereo Storage cabinet with speakers In feet William Henry Belk and John Montgomery Belk were born leu than a mite from where James Ivy wu born neighbors but much younger than Ivy It la another interesting occurrence that the first Belk partner Allen Watson Heath wu another of the Heath brothers Again we have a good example of how kinship neighborhood and school tlu eventually linked together If we probe base of political well financial long enough we begin to recognize that he wu adroit in bringing together his various ties into a system complex his system for trading in spot cotton Classmates from Ebenezer Academy and South Carolina College fellow Confederate officers and a half-dozen energetic creative and ambitious cousins all played their parts Old newspaper! supply ample testimony that Ivy wu highly respected and popular with the people in general He wu twice elected intendant (the equivalent of mayor) of Rock HilL Ivy wu Involved in other Rock Hill businesses from time to time In feet if it appeared that a worthwhile busineu wu in financial need Ivy would take it over and then sell it to others when it wu financially sound again In this way Ivy wu involved with a drugstore operated under the name of Ivy Robertson He founded a newspaper the Lantern and placed it under the editorship of Gen Johnstone ffi 1 9" LE1 TV Automatic Adjustment System Automatic Frequency Control High Contrast Picture Tube Solid State Chassis In-Line Black Matrix Picture Tube GE VIDEO CASSETTE RECORDED 2 Event 14 Day Programming Remote video scan Slow motionpause still control and frame advance GE WE BRING GOOD THINGS TOUFE IHIomo SeaffoUiffo DyaBoms Bne 1915 BUICK SKYLARKS S1900 par day tax or 71-12 MODEL Intarmodiato or sub-compacti From 1950 to $1309 Par Day ERVICEllSIOURfSTRONGESTlPOINT 3 ALL CARS havo 50 milas par day fraa 12 par mila thara altar COOK'S II-SAV6 AUTO RENTALS 520 SALUDA STREET 328-2451 261 Anderson Road 21 By Pass Call Wayne Jerry or Gerald in The Mini Mall Rock Hill 329-1404 ir 4- ft.