The students of the Radical University: Milton McLaurin

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The Marlboro democrat, June 10, 1885, p. 6

Milton McLaurin (b. May 25, 1852; August 30, 1918)

South Carolina.  White.
Occupation: Farmer, lawyer.
Father's occupation: farmer.

Milton McLaurin was born in Marlboro County, South Carolina in 1855 to Daniel Calhoun and Elizabeth Stanton McLaurin.  The mother Elizabeth was Daniel's second wife. His first wife Mary died in the mid-1840. 

The father Daniel was a well-regarded resident of Marlboro County.  He had immigrated from Scotland.  In American he worked as a farmer. In 1826, he purchased land in Clio, SC (in Marlboro County) that became the McLaurin-Roper-McColl Plantation. As was typical in the region at the time, the Milton family produced a diverse range of products.  In addition to raising livestock and growing cotton, they also grew wheat and corn. 

The family saw considerable success in farming.  By the mid-1850s, they owned  roughly 500 acres of land which they farmed with the help of 22 enslaved workers. 

This financial success marked the McLaurin family's entrance into the planter elite. In addition to achieving the financial success expected of a planter, Daniel appears also to have displayed the values that were expected. One county history says that he was "kind-hearted, hospitable, and ever ready to serve his country in any position with conscientious fidelity."

The family's fortunes took a negative turn in 1858 (when Milton was 6 years old).  That year Daniel died.  By this point, the family had grown so large that it was impossible to divide up the land among the heirs.  The entire farm was sold and the financial asserts split up.

When the Civil War broke out, Milton was too young to serve.  However, several of his siblings were in the Confederate army.  His half-brothers Alexander Lauchlin and James W. were both privates in 4th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment (Rutledge's Cavalry).  James enlisted on June 28, 1862, Alexander about 9 months later, on March 7, 1863.  

Milton's brother Dudley Phillip enlisted on August 12, 1864.  He served was a private in the 23rd Regiment, South Carolina Infantry (Hatch's Coast Rangers).

By 1870, Milton (now 15 years old) was living on his own and working as a farmer at Red Bluff in Marlboro County.  He enrolled as a college freshman at the University of South Carolina on April 1, 1874.  The university closed before he completed degree. His university attendance is mentioned in a short biographical entry in a 1902 encyclopedia of influential South Carolinians. Intriguingly, the entry just states that he attended "South Carolina University" and makes no mention of the fact that he attended during Reconstruction, when the university was racially integrated.

Milton returned to Marlboro County after the closure of USC.  By 1880, he was working as a lawyer in Bennettsville.  He remained in the town, working in the legal profession for the remainder of his life.  He also served as Bennettsville's clerk and treasurer and was appointed as trial justice (a position similar to a justice of the peace). Milton's former classmate E. J. Sawyer also settled in Bennettsville, although there is no record of any interactions.

By 1891, Milton had been made U.S. Commissioner for the Fourth District. He held the position until at least 1899.  The office of the U.S. Commissioner no longer exists, but it was responsible for routine judicial duties like taking testimony and taking bail.  It was similar to a modern magistrate judge.

Milton also served as the county Probate Judge. He served in this position from 1878 until 1884, when he resigned, and then from 1888 until his death in 1918. He was originally appointed to the position because the elected candidate was unqualified, but thereafter he was regularly elected. 

One of the most interesting legal cases Milton was involved with was a 1908 arson case.  On October 12, 1908, a Bennettsville store run by resident Zephry P. Wright caught fire.  Wright appeared to be drunk and fought residents who tried to put out the fire. When police tried to subdue him, he tried to run away but was caught and jailed.

Wright was immediately suspected to have set fire to his store and was charged with arson.  Normally, Milton would not have become involved because he dealt with civil law.  However, probate judges had the ability to declare residents insane. After receiving affidavits from medical doctors and others, Milton declared Wright insane and issued an order that he be confined to the state asylum. 

Milton's order that Wright be transferred from jail to an asylum was abandoned. The Court of General Sessions insisted that the matter be adjudicated there because Wright was already under indictment. After over half a year of further legal proceedings, the court found Wright guilt and sentenced him to 10 years in the state penitentiary. However, the court also requested that a commission evaluate Wight's sanity. The commission reported that Wright was "a man of constitutional inferiority." On the basis of the recommendation, Wright was confined to the state asylum instead of being sent to the penitentiary.

Beyond his work for the government, Milton was an engaged member of the community.  In 1907, the United Daughters of the Confederacy worked with the Veterans of Camp Henegan (another Confederate veterans group) to erect a monument to Marlboro's "Confederate heroes."  Milton served on an 8-person special committee charged with raising funds to the monument and related activities.  The monument was erected on July 11 and remains in Marlboro. 

Milton began to experience health problems in Summer, 1918.  That summer he experienced a series of a paralytic strokes.  The second stroke left him unconscious.  He remained unconscious until a week later when he died.  The death was attributed to kidney problems (uremia and interstitial nephritis). 

An obituary published in The State newspaper said that Milton was "one of Marlboro County's best citizens . . . and was a man of remarkably broad sympathies and generous impulses. He was diligent in the practice of Christian virtues and a more charitably inclined man did not have in the county."  He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Bennettsville.

Sources 

1). 1870; Census Place: Red Bluff, Marlboro, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1504; Page: 398A; Family History Library Film: 553003

2)  1880; Census Place: Bennettsville, Marlboro, South Carolina; Roll: 1235; Page: 416C; Enumeration District: 105

3)  Official Register of the United States, Containing a List of the Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military, and Naval Service Together with a List of Vessels Belonging to the United States. 1895, 1897, 1899

4)  1900; Census Place: Bennettsville, Marlboro, South Carolina; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0088; FHL microfilm: 1241535

5)  1910; Census Place: Bennettsville Ward 2, Marlboro, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1467; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0079; FHL microfilm: 1375480

6)  South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1900-1924; Death County or Certificate Range: Marlboro. Certificate Number: 015617. Volume Number: 33.

7)  1860; Census Place: Marlboro, South Carolina; Page: 178; Family History Library Film: 805223

8)  Thomas, J. A. W. A History of Marlboro County with Traditions and Sketches of Numerous Families. The Foote & Davies Company, Atlanta GA (1897). p. 138, 142.

9)  "Death in South Carolina." State (published as The State). August 31, 1918. p. 2.

10) "Wright is declared insane."  State, October 16. 1908, p. 10.

11) "Papers in the Wright case." State, October 20, 1908, p. 9

12) National Register of Historic Places Nomination form for McLaurin-Roper-McColl Plantation (2011).

13) "Attempted Arson by Z. P. Wright." State, October 15,. 1908, p. 8.

14) "Wright Declared Insane By Commission Appointed to Inquire Into His Sanity." Columbia Record, 4 P.M. ed., July 21, 1909, p. 8.

15) The Marlboro democrat, April 25, 1890, p. 4.

16) "A Worthy Appeal to All" The Marlboro democrat, July 5, 1907, p. 3.

17) "The Confederate Monument." The Marlboro democrat, July 5, 1907, p. 3.

18) Garlington, J. C. (1902). Men of the Time: Sketches of Living Notables, A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous South Carolina Leaders. Garlington Publication Co. p. 288.