Belton Allen Bennett
Belton Allen Bennett, Sr.[edit | edit source]
Born: 16 Dec 1881 in Reidville, SC.
Father: Belton O'Neal Bennett, M.D.
Mother: Minerva Lamira Bennett
Spouse: Lula Adams Bennett
Child: Belton Allen Bennett, Jr.
Died: 26 May 1964
Buried: Mountain View Cemetery, Greer, SC
B.A. Bennett was born in Reidville, SC, son of a country physician. He attended preparatory school in Reidville, then graduated from Wofford College in 1902. His first job was with the First National Bank of Spartanburg. His father moved to Greer and Bennett soon moved to Greer as well. Here, accepted a position with the First Bank of Greer. He helped organize the Citizen's Building and Loan Association in 1913 and was its first secretary. He started the B.A. Bennett and Co. Insurance Agency in 1928. With the banking turmoil of the Great Depression, the Bank of Greers was organized in 1933; Bennett was made president, a position he retained for decades. He was elected president of CBL in 1949. Bennett served as mayor of Greer from 1922 to 1932 and was a member of the Greenville County Board of Commissioners for eight years. He was named "Citizen of the Year" for 1951 by the Kiwanis Club of Greer; their citation read in part:
"Seldom indeed is there found one who attains the degree of prominence, financial and business success, or civic leadership, and yet gains and holds the respect and affection of those who know him; but in this CITIZEN OF THE YEAR these attributes are exemplified."
Bennett lived in Greer for 55 years.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett donated the land for the Allen Bennett Memorial Hospital, which they asked to be named after their son. Allen Bennett graduated from VMI in 1934. He then graduated for the University of Virginia School of Medicine, then interned and served as a resident surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, PA. In 1943 Dr. Bennett entered the Navy as a lieutenant, junior grade, and was assigned as chief medical officer aboard the destroyer Cooper. A year later, on the night of December 3, 1944, the Cooper was torpedoed in Ormoc Bay, Leyte, and Dr. Bennett was killed.
