Poe Family Papers
Mss.0242

Summary Information

Repository
Clemson University Libraries Special Collections
Creator -
Poe, H. T. , (Harris Tinker), 1856-1931
Title
Poe Family Papers
ID
Mss.0242
Date [bulk]
Bulk, 1938-1939
Date [inclusive]
1884-2000
Extent
2.0 cubic feet consisting of 45 folders, 1 scrapbook volume containing 188 photo-graphs, 6 photographs, 2 oversize photographs and a negative, 4 compact disks, and 36 oversize items in 3 folders and 1 oversize box.
Language
English
Abstract
The Poe Family Papers document the lives of H. T. (Harris Tinker, or "Hal") Poe; his son, Harry Tinker Poe, Jr.; and his daughter, Isadora R. Poe. H. T. Poe (1856-1931) played an important role in the development of Greenville, SC because of his involvement in the city's public utilities, such as the Paris Mountain Water Company, the Greenville Gas and Electric Light and Power Company, and the Greenville Traction Company (the city's first street railway). The material relating to Harry T. Poe (1882-1942) centers around his work on the Santee-Cooper Project. Isadora R. Poe's papers are mainly concerned with her investments, especially in local textile mills such as Woodside Mills. The Poe Family Papers are important for documenting the Santee-Cooper Power and Navigation Project; the Poe family; the history of Greenville, SC; the economic development of South Carolina, especially in the central and northwest portions of the state; and the history of South Carolina public utilities in general.

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Biographical Note

Harris Tinker Poe was born in Pendleton, SC on March 21, 1856, the son of William and Ellen Taylor Poe. He came to Greenville, SC in about 1881 and became a cashier for the First National Bank. Poe was secretary, superintendent, and treasurer of the Greenville Gas and Electric Light and Power Company; general superintendent of the Greenville Traction Company; and superintendent of the Paris Mountain Water Company before these utilities were acquired by the City of Greenville and the Southern Public Utilities Company. He was also secretary of the F. W. Poe Manufacturing Company, a mill owned by his brother F. W. Poe, and an agent for the South Carolina Railway Company. Poe was instrumental in securing Greenville's first street railway system. He married Isadora Sloan (April 5, 1860-March 10, 1918), the daughter of Ben Frank and Rebecca Galliard Benson Sloan, and they had five children: Baylis, Harry Jr. (see below), Isadora R. (whose papers also form part of this collection), Nell, and Thomas. Harris Tinker Poe died in Greenville, SC on December 28, 1931.

His son, Harry Tinker Poe, Jr., was born in Greenville, SC on November 15, 1882. He graduated from Clemson College in 1902 with a degree in Textile Engineering. Poe worked for the J. E. Sirrine Company for a number of years; from 1937-1940 he was the Senior Engineer (and briefly Acting Project Engineer in 1939) for the Santee-Cooper Power and Navigation Project. He married Julia May Swift (April 27, 1890-March 5, 1968) and they had five children: Ann, Frank S., Hal T. III (September 19, 1914-December 31, 1928), Nell, and William N. Poe. Harry Tinker Poe, Jr. died in Greenville, SC on November 21, 1942.

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Scope and Content Note

The Poe Family Papers consist of account books, bills, budgets, charts and diagrams, check stubs, compact disks, Confederate currency, contracts, correspondence, engineering drawings, lists, maps, memos, orders, an ordinance, photographs, receipts, reports, a scrapbook, tables, time books and sheets, trial balances, and other material.

The H. T. Poe material in the collection documents his activities with the Greenville Gas and Electric Light and Power Company, the Greenville Traction Company (a street railway), the Paris Mountain Water Company, and the South Carolina Railway Company. The power and water companies were major public utilities that facilitated the economic growth and development of the city of Greenville in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Much of the correspondence-mostly incoming-in this part of the collection is with the with the American Pipe Manufacturing Company and the National Gas and Construction Company, both of Philadelphia, PA. The American Pipe Manufacturing Company owned the Paris Mountain Water Company until 1918, and because of its link to George M. Bunting & Associates of Philadelphia, helped organize the other Greenville utilities. There is also material on Keowee Farm, a farm he owned that was located in Pickens County, SC at the confluence of the Seneca and Keowee Rivers and Twelvemile Creek, just north of Clemson.

Harry T. Poe's papers relate almost exclusively to his role as Senior Engineer of the Santee-Cooper Project, with a few items documenting his activities as an engineering student at Clemson College. The Project provided work relief for thousands of unemployed South Carolinians during the Depression, facilitated rural electrification in the middle and coastal portions of the state, and created power generating capacity which stimulated economic development in the communities it served. Isadora Poe's papers are concerned with her investment in local textile mills, other financial activities, and her interest in the history of the Sloan family.

Harry T. Poe Jr. compiled two volumes of "general information" and a scrapbook of photographs about the Project. The volumes consist of budgets, charts and diagrams, correspondence and memos (both incoming and outgoing), maps, orders, photographs, reports, and other material for the period 1933-1940-with most of the items dated between 1938 and 1939-relating to all aspects of the Project arranged alphabetically by topic. The scrapbook chronicles the construction of the Pinopolis and Santee dams and reservoirs from April to December 1939. Digital copies of the scrapbook photographs were made by Santee-Cooper and are available on four compact disks.

In addition to the maps documenting the Santee-Cooper Project are maps of South Carolina, Charleston County, Greenville and the surrounding area, and Keowee Farm.

Significant topics documented in the collection include the Santee-Cooper Power and Navigation Project; the Poe family; the history of Greenville, SC; the economic development of South Carolina; and the general history of South Carolina public utilities. The papers include information relating to the history of specific utilities such as the Greenville Gas and Electric Light and Power Company, the Greenville Traction Company, and the Paris Mountain Water Company, as well as the South Carolina Railway Company. There is also material relating to Anderson, SC; the Sloan family; and Woodside Mills in the collection.

Major correspondents include H. Bayard Hodge, Secretary of the American Pipe Manufacturing Company and the National Gas and Construction Company, both of Philadelphia, PA; Joseph S. Keen, Jr., General Manager of the American Pipe Manufacturing Company; F. A. Dale and L. F. Harza of the Harza Engineering Company; Kenneth Markwell, Project Engineer for the Santee-Cooper Project; F. R. Sweeny, Chief Engineer of the South Carolina Public Service Authority; Joel D. Justin of Philadelphia, Consulting Engineer to the Project; and Stephen Taber, professor of geology and mineralogy at the University of South Carolina and consultant to the Harza Engineering Company.

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Arrangement

The material in the collection is arranged alphabetically by individual, then alphabetically by folder title. The Santee Cooper Project cost report and the compact disks containing digital images of the photographs from the Harry T. Poe, Jr. scrapbook are filed at the end of the collection.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Clemson University Libraries Special Collections 2010 July 31

Provenance

The bulk of the collection was donated in May 1996 by William N. Poe of Greenville, SC and accessioned as 96-54. The scrapbook was donated by William N. Poe via Neal Campbell in April 1997 and accessioned as 97-66; the compact disks duplicating the scrapbook and the copy of the Santee-Cooper Project Cost Memorandum Report were donated by Jerry Stafford of Santee Cooper in October 2000 and accessioned as 00-181.

Processing Information

James Cross processed the Papers and wrote the finding aid in 2001.

The conversion of this finding aid to Encoded Archival Description format was made possible with a grant from the South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board in 2009-2010. The finding aid was prepared for encoding by Jen Bingham.

Jen Bingham rehoused the scrapbook and rolled maps in November 2011.

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Related Materials

Related Material

Material relating to Santee Cooper can also be found in Mss 76, the Quattlebaum Family Papers; Mss 90, the James F. Byrnes Papers; Mss 91, the Edgar A. Brown Papers; Mss 100, the Strom Thurmond Collection; and Mss 212, Santee-Cooper Navigation and Hydro-Electric Project.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • American Pipe Manufacturing Company..
  • Clemson University. College of Engineering. -- History
  • Clemson University. -- Students
  • Greenville Gas and Electric Light and Power Company..
  • Greenville Traction Company..
  • Paris Mountain Water Company..
  • Santee-Cooper Hydroelectric and Navigation Project.
  • South Carolina Railway Company.
  • Woodside Mills (Greenville, S.C.).

Family Name(s)

  • Poe family.
  • Sloan family.

Genre(s)

  • Account books
  • Compact discs
  • Maps
  • Paper money
  • Photographs
  • Scrapbooks
  • Technical drawings.

Geographic Name(s)

  • Anderson (S.C.)--History.
  • Charleston County (S.C.)--Maps.
  • Greenville (S.C.)--History
  • Greenville (S.C.)--Maps.
  • Pickens County (S.C.)--Maps.
  • South Carolina--Maps.

Personal Name(s)

  • Dale, F. A.
  • Harza, L. F.
  • Hodge, H. Bayard
  • Justin, Joel De Witt
  • Keen, Joseph S.
  • Markwell, Kenneth
  • Poe, Harry T., (Harry Tinker), 1882-1942
  • Poe, Isadora
  • Poe, William N.
  • Stafford, Jerry
  • Sweeny, F. R., (Francis Raymond)
  • Taber, Stephen, b. 1882

Subject(s)

  • Economic development--Environmental aspects--South Carolina.
  • Public utilities--South Carolina.

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Collection Inventory

Harris T. Poe 

Greenville Gas and Electric Light and Power Company 
Box Folder

Account Book 1899-1900 

 1 1

Bills and Receipts for Company 1892-1893 1900-1901 

 1 2

Check Stubs 1889 1891-1892 

 1 3

Construction Account-Account Book and Weekly Time Book 1899-1900 

 1 4

Contracts 1891 

 1 5

Correspondence 1890-1892 

 1 6

Correspondence 1899-1900 1909 

 1 7

Deposits to secure gas bills 1901 

 1 8

Electric and Gas Bills 1891-1892 

 1 9

Financial inventories, memos, lists, statements, and trial balances 1891-1892 

 1 10

Gas and Electric Lights Bills Book 1891-1892 

 1 11

Minutes April 1892 

 1 12

Labor costs 1919, no date 

 1 13

Miscellaneous 1891 1899, no date 

 1 14

Promissory Note 1893-1895 

 1 15

Reports 1891 1893 

 1 16

Sundry Work Time Book/Sheets 1900 

 1 17

Weighing tickets for old cast iron sold to Cely Brothers 1900 

 1 18
Box Folder

Greenville Traction Company 1901 1909-1910 

 2 1

Ledger/Wood book 1889-1891 

 2 2

Paris Mountain Water Company 
Box Folder

 1892-September 1895 

 2 3

 October 1895-1898 1900-1901, no date 

 2 4

O. W. Cole, wood and cash orders 1895-1897, no date 

 2 5

Frank W. and Mattie L. Harry 1889-1896 

 2 6

Miscellaneous no date 

 2 7

K. N. Northrup [former superintendent] 1891-1895, no date 

 2 8

Time Books and Time Sheets 1894-1896, no date 

 2 9

William Wright 1891-1892 

 2 10
Box Folder

South Carolina Railway Company 1884-1885, 1889, 1900, 1906 

 2 11

South Carolina Railway Company-Rates 1886-1889, 1891, no date 

 2 12

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Harry T. Poe, Jr. 

Santee-Cooper General Information, Vol. 1 1924, 1933-1940 
Box Folder

[A-C] 

 3 1

[D-F] 

 3 2

[G-K] 

 3 3

[L-M] 

 3 4

Santee-Cooper General Information, Vol. 2 1924 1933-1940 
Box Folder

[N-P] 

 3 5

[P-R] 

 3 6

[S-T] 

 3 7

[U-W] 

 3 8
Box Folder

Poe Scrapbook Compact Disks from Santee Cooper 2000 

 4 7

Scrapbook, Santee-Cooper construction photographs 1939 

Existence and Location of Copies note

Scans of the scrapbook may be viewed online at http://media.clemson.edu/library/special_collections/scrapbook/Introduction.html

5

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Isadora Poe 
Box Folder

Anderson, SC [booklet] circa 1923 

 4 2

Financial Information 1905-1910, 1920-1926, 1931-1935, 1944-1947 

 4 3

Par Dividend Record-Woodside Mills 1923-1924, 1931, 1935, 1945, no date 

 4 4

Sloan Family Information 1892, 1904, 1908, no date 

 4 5

Santee-Cooper Project (No. 199-S.C.) Cost Memorandum Report circa 1944, 2000 

 4 6
Folder

Confederate currency January 6, 1862 

Description

A 25 cent bill and a fifty cent bill issued by the Pendleton Manufacturing Company and signed by B. F. Sloan [in Original Letters]. From Box 4, Folder 2, Isadora Poe: Sloan Family Information.

 1 (vault)

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Oversize 
Folder

Typed copy of "Supplement of an Ordinance 'To grant the American Pipe Manufacturing Company ... who are to procure the organization of a Water Company and enter into contract with the Water Company to construct a system of water works for the City of Greenville ... approved August 2, 1890'", ratified in council assembled April 5, 1892 

 1

Drawings of 5 Horse Power, 110 Volts, 1800 R.P.M. Direct Current Shunt Motor designed by Thomas R. Phillips, Harry T. Poe, Jr., M. A. Sitton, H. G. Stokes, Mech. & Elec. Engineering, Clemson College, S.C. circa 1898-1902   6.0 item(s)

Description

Envelope; end elevation (two sheets); side elevation; details of armature and communicator; details of shaft, bearing, rocker arm, brush holder.

 1

Map of Property belonging to Messers Feagan & Moseley on Richland Creek, Greenville, South Carolina/Surveyed by R. E. Dalton July 1911   two sheets

 1

[Map of] Charleston County, S.C. with portions of adjoining country showing Public Roads under the direction of the Sanitary & Drainage Commission for Charleston County, Reid Whiteford, Eng'r/compiled by J. R. Inman July 1917 

 1

General Map of Greenville Section December 14, 1917 

 1

Map of Greenville, S.C. distributed by Greenville Chamber of Commerce/Copyright 1928 by the Sanborn Map Co. 

 1

Map of Greater Greenville [showing Metropolitan District]/South Carolina/Distributed by Greenville Chamber of Commerce and the Greenville News-Piedmont Co./reproduced with permission of Dalton & Neves circa 1930s 

 1

[Map of] Metropolitan District of Greenville, S.C. circa 1930s 

 1

South Carolina Public Service Authority/Santee-Cooper Project, PWA Docket No. 4329/General Project/General Construction Program/Harza Engineering Company/ Charleston, South Carolina/DWG NO. 00B10r June 26, 1939 

 1

South Carolina Public Service Authority/Santee-Cooper Project, PWA Docket No. 4329/ Project /General Plan of Structures/Harza Engineering Company/Charleston, South Carolina/DWG NO. 00N7r August 11, 1939 

 1

Tennessee Valley Authority/ Project Planning Division/Hydraulic Standard/Chezy-Kutter Diagram/ n=0.030 October 21, 1933 

 1

Tennessee Valley Authority/General Engineering Division/Hydraulic Standard/Chezy-Kutter Diagram/n=0.040 March 21, 1935 

 1

Tennessee Valley Authority/ Project Planning Division/Hydraulic Standard/Chezy-Kutter Diagram/ n=0.035 October 21, 1935 

 1

Harza Engineering Company/Charleston/August 11, 1939/ P101 B63/Gage readings Santee River and Little River 1939 

 1

Copy of "General Plan of the Canal and its Environs between Santee and Cooper Rivers in the State of South Carolina/Commenced in the Year 1793 and finished in the Year 1800 by Christian Senf, Colonel Engineer and Director in Chief of the Canal" [original circa 1800] 

 1

Mechanical Analysis/Site: Pinopolis Earth Dam/Hole: 6Ag223/Plotter: Brockett/Date: December 2, 1938/Harza Engineering Company/Charleston, S.C./P301 B14 Stamped "Received Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works/Project Engineer/Santee-Cooper Project/Charleston, S.C./July 14, 1939" 

 1

Mechanical Analysis/Site: Pinopolis Dam/Hole: 6Ag115/Plotter: C. H. B. & W. H. C./ Date: January 11, 1939/Harza Engineering Company/Charleston, S.C./P301 B36 Stamped "Received Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works/Project Engineer/Santee-Cooper Project/Charleston, S.C./July 14, 1939" 

 1

South Carolina Public Service Authority/Santee-Cooper Project, PWA Docket No. 4329/General Project/General Construction Program/Harza Engineering Company/ Charleston, South Carolina/ June 26, 1939/DWG NO. 00B10r [blue on white version] 

 1

South Carolina Public Service Authority/Santee-Cooper Project, PWA Docket No. 4329/Pinopolis Tail Canal/Proposed Crossing, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad/Harza Engineering Company/Charleston, South Carolina/Bauer July 20, 1939/ DWG NO. 600B1 

 1

South Carolina Public Service Authority/Santee-Cooper Project, Santee Basin, PWA Docket No. 4329-PR/Tabulation of Timber Bids/DWG NO. ED-15 December 12, 1939 

 1

Superelevation tables for 18 feet, 20 feet, 22 feet surfacing no date 

 1

Map of Santee-Cooper Project no date 

 1

Official County, Township and Railroad Map of South Carolina/Compiled, Printed and Engraved by R. O. Evans & Company, Chicago, Ill./Drawn by William H. Butts, C.E. & Draughtsman, St. Paul, Minn. 1898/Copyright 1898, by R. O. Evans 

 2

Map of Greater Greenville/South Carolina/Dalton & Neves, Engineers/Greenville, S.C. January 1927 revised to June 1, 1931 

 2
Roll

South Carolina Public Service Authority Engineering Dept./Composite land map of Pinopolis Reservoir/ED-4 July 21, 1938   2.0 item(s)

 1
Folder

South Carolina Public Service Authority/Santee-Cooper Project, PWA Docket No. 4329/ Project/Gen'l Map of Project/Harza Engineering Company/Charleston, South Carolina/ DWG NO. 00N10 R3 August 22, 1938 

 2

South Carolina Public Service Authority/Santee-Cooper Project, PWA Docket No. 4329/Investigation/Topography and Drill Hole Locations/Pinopolis Area/Harza Engineering Company/Charleston, South Carolina/DWG NO. 301N1r/ THIS DWG SUPERCEDES DWG P301N1 September 16, 1938 

 2

South Carolina Public Service Authority/Santee-Cooper Project, PWA Docket No. 4329/Pinopolis Investigation/East and West Dams/Log of Borings/ Ranges B, D, X, Y & Z/Harza Engineering Company/Charleston, South Carolina/DWG NO. 301N5r November 28, 1938 December 21, 1938 

 2
Roll

Santee-Cooper: Murray & Fludd map, #213244, [Pinopolis] July 10, 1939 

General note

Map shows land owners and acreage for estimated/tentative area (now Lake Moultrie) to be flooded by the construction of the Pinopolis Dam.

 1
Folder

South Carolina Public Service Authority/Santee-Cooper Project, PWA Docket No. 4329/Santee Reservoir/Land Map No. 20/Berkeley County/St. Johns Parish/Harza Engineering Company/Charleston, South Carolina/ DWG NO. 106N20r [circa 1930's] 

 2

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Photographs 
Box

"X-Sectional view of dragline excavation being made in gumbo section of West dam foundation, sta. 23/00 at approx. center line of dam. Note: Area covered by rule is sand material with gumbo lenses." circa 1939   2.5 inches x 4.5 inches Black-and-white print

 1 (photos)

"Gumbo deposit-West dam foundation, sta. 26/00, 75' left center line looking south at dragline cut face." circa 1939   Black-and-white print 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches

 1 (photos)

"Gumbo deposit-West dam foundation. Sta. 26/00, 75' about center line of dam. Looking south at dragline cut bank." circa 1939   Black-and-white print 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches

 1 (photos)

"Spring head in north bank of dragline cut in gumbo area west dam foundation, sta. 23 to 28. Picture in face of cut near center line and at sta. 25. Showing erosion caused by spring. This spring is from a strata of decomposed vegetable matter, roots nuts, etc. approx. 1 to 2' thick." circa 1939   Black-and-white print 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches

 1 (photos)

"Gumbo deposit-West dam foundation, sta. 27/00. South bank cut off trench approx. depth gumbo 4.00 ft. Note: Sand material above shovel. Top of sand is original Valley Elev. Minus vegetable matter which has been stripped." circa 1939   Black-and-white print 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches

 1 (photos)

"Gumbo deposit-West dam foundation, sta. 27/50. North bank of cut off trench." circa 1939   Black-and-white print 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches

 1 (photos)
Folder

Map of Keowee Farm, property of H. T. Poe, Pickens County, S.C./Dalton & Neves, Eng'rs, Greenville, S.C. October 1927   Black-and-white prints with negative 16 inches x 18.5 inches; 16 inches x 20 inches

 1

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