Joshua Craig Poole

James F Poole

Joshua Craig Poole was born on 27 Jun 1898 in the Scuffletown township, Laurens county, South Carolina, the seventh surviving child of Thomas Pitts Poole (1861-1926) and Jemmie Elizabeth Alexander (1861-1937). 1

On 12 September 1918 Josh was required to register for the World War I draft. He reported his occupation as farmer, living at Rte 2, Laurens. The registrar reported him to be of medium build, with brown eyes and red hair.2

The 1920 Census enumerates Joshua as a farm laborer, living with his parents in Scuffletown, along with his elder brother Martin and younger sister Mattie Bobo.3 Continue reading “Joshua Craig Poole” →

Like Father, Like Son

James F Poole

In the summer of 1912, James Furman Poole, called Furman by his family, had a more complicated visit to North Carolina than he expected. As the 3 July 1912 edition of the Laurens Advertiser noted, his intention was to attend the wedding of James A. Poole:

Mr. Furman Poole left last Friday [June 28] for Benson, NC to attend the marriage of his cousin James A. Poole of Clinton [SC] and Miss Dora Hodges.

James Augustus Poole was the son of William Augustus Poole (1854-1928) and Mary Duval. He was Furman’s second cousin.

On Monday July first, Furman’s father Thomas Pitts Poole received a message: Continue reading “Like Father, Like Son” →

Arthur Russell Pool

James F Poole

Arthur Russell was born to George B. Pool and Mary Farrow on 29 December, 1870, their fourth child.  Nothing is known of his life until 1887, when a somber announcement appeared in the Laurens Advertiser:

On Saturday last, Russel Pool, a 15 year old son of Mr.  George Pool of this place, while handling a shot gun, accidentally let it fall and the contents of  both barrels were discharged into his right side and thigh. Fears are entertained for his recovery. Continue reading “Arthur Russell Pool” →

George B. Pool… “a man of extraordinary energy and faithful to his friends…’’

James F Poole

On May 16, 1900, the Laurens Advertiser published the obituary of George Berry Poole (1838- 1900).

This good citizen died at his home in this city on the 8th instant after a protracted illness, aged sixty-one years. His remains were buried at Langston’s church, where he held his membership in the Baptist church. He leaves a widow and three sons and was a brother of Dr. Poole, of this city and Mr. M. B. Poole, of the Enoree. He was a veteran and after the war diligently pursued the arts of peace, a man of extraordinary energy and faithful to his friends.

“He was a veteran’’ …for a long time, I thought that this obituary was in error.  I had searched the Laurens County Veteran records and did not find his name.  And his name was missing from the occasional newspaper accounts of Laurens county veterans.

Continue reading “George B. Pool… “a man of extraordinary energy and faithful to his friends…’’” →

A Ghost in my Tree

James F Poole

On Sunday, October 30, 1988 The Sumter Daily Item published an article by George Georgas titled Haints asserting that:

“Along the beauteous bends of S. C. 261 outside Rembert, a large plantation house about two miles from a church seems to be a repository for what appears to one owner as a bevy of harmless, but ever apparent apparitions.”

The ” large plantation house” is Dixie Hall Plantation.  The article mentions two members of  the Sanders family- original owners of the plantation-  as likely ghosts since they died in the house.  After a few more paragraphs about “bangs, taps, and goosebumps” and occasional sightings of “the quiet woman wearing an old fashioned, lacy, white dress” and a man in “khaki-colored clothes” with a “strange haircut”, there is the following account of a “haint” :

“I was telling (Charlie, a plantation employee)  that I hear (a short series of) footsteps that sound like someone’s using a walker.  And he told me, ‘Miss Fanny used a walker the latter part of her life.’” Continue reading “A Ghost in my Tree” →