Marchant family

Before M.L. Marchant

M.L. Marchant Sr., the first Marchant in the Greer area, came from a long lineage going back to early founding days of the colonies. Eight generations earlier, John Marchant III was born 1600 in Yoeville, Somerset, England. He came to the colonies, possibly via the Barbados, and was admitted as a freeman in Newport, Rhode Island on June 2, 1638. He went to Mt. Wollaston, Braintree, Massachusetts, and is mentioned living there in 1645, and made his way to Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts, where he is chosen Constable of Yarmouth on June 7, 1648. The full 8-generation record can be found in the GHM Ancestry.com Marchant family tree; along the way, the family name was just as commonly "Merchant."

So where did John Marchant III come from? His parents were John Marchant II and Joan Surbridge, who were married in Oxted, Surrey, England July 14, 1566. Beyond that, reports are sketchy and unreliable. Many in the family were engaged in the maritime industry, and John is variously referred to as "Captain" and "Lieutenant." How he relates to the Captain John Marchant who sailed with Sir Francis Drake on his West Indian Voyage, 1586, and stopped over at Roanoke on June 26, 1586, is unknown — but many amateur genealogists are happy to claim the connection, regardless, and many believe John Marchant II to be this Captain. We have not yet seen sources for that claim.

M.L. Marchant's father, John Wesley Marchant, was born in North Carolina but moved to Edgefield, SC where M.L. was born.

Martin Luther Marchant Sr., 1832-1897: the patriarch

M.L. Marchant was born August 14, 1832 in Eutawville, S.C. — a small town roughly halfway between Columbia and Charleston.

Richardson's History of Greenville County, South Carolina states: "For more than half a century the name of Marchant has stood out in the Greer community of Greenville County as a beacon light pointing to business success and professional integrity. Back in the days of the War Between the States Martin Luther Marchant was engaged in the manufacture of cotton for the Confederate army at the Batesville mill, located only a few miles from the present town of Greer. He and his wife, Mary (Smith) Marchant, were the parents of a family of boys who were to play a conspicuous part in the building of Greer."

In 1864, he bought 300 acres of land in Greenville County for TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS! (!!!!), deed Z-940. In January of that year he bought another 576 acres 22-18, though I haven't tracked down the original record.

In January of 1874, he purchased two lots in the new town of Greer's Depot from William Shumate for $185 FF-352. From what I've found so far, these were the first lots sold in Greer that didn't get repossessed (possibly related to the railroad bank crash a few months earlier). These were lots 4 and 12 on Dickson's plat map. Lot 12 is the triangle of land that now holds Wild Ace Pizza & Pub; lot 4 is now the parking lot behind CBT and some of the lot across from Wild Ace. In November of 1884, he purchased another small piece of land across Randall from the triangle; that plot is now CSX (P&N) railroad tracks and right-of-way.

In May of 1889, he bought lot 35 from William Shumate VV-121; this was on the other side of the tracks, which is now part of the Victor baseball field at the corner of Park and Moore. At some point previously he had bought the rest of the field, because he sold that half to T.W. in February of 1889 YY-189.

In 1890, he was the top cotton producer in the county; he picked and ginned 24 bales from 25 acres with about a bale left to be done, raised with one mule; he also raised corn, wheat, oats, and meat. "He is a great believer in homemade manure and uses it almost exclusively." In 1889, he raised 48 bales on 52 acres. (Anderson Intelligencer, Jan. 9, 1890, p.4)

• Dr. Robert Lee Marchant 1866-1933 [Emma Wham]
• Martin Luther, Jr. Marchant 1868-1936 [Sallie Leona Few, then Kathleen Morrah]
• William Wesley Marchant 1873-1928 [Julie Agnes Wood]
• Nancy “Nannie” Marchant 1875-1919 [Benjamin Few Zimmerman]
• Thomas Mood Marchant 1880-1939 [Jessie P. Speed]
• Mary Bessie Marchant 1882-1898
• Mary Louise Lilyann Marchant 1885-1959 [Arthur Hallam Cottingham, Sr.]
• Kate L. Marchant 1886-
• Clara Marchant 1878-1927 [Malcolm Clifton “Cliff” Davenport]

Dr. Robert Lee Marchant and Emma Wham

R.L. Marchant was born in the Batesville community and went to school in Batesville and in Greer. He graduated from the Kentucky School of Medicine with an M.D. He moved from the family home near Pelham to Greer about 1898; he practiced medicine there until his unexpected death in 1933. He married Emma about 1893. A Mr. Wham came to Greer in 1900 to work for the Westmoreland-Marchant Drug Co., likely her father John Wham; her mother Elvira Wham was living with them in 1910.

Westmoreland-Marchant Drug Co. reflects that Dr. Marchant partnered with Dr. Henry Varias Westmoreland, who had been practicing in the Greer area for many years prior to the town's formation. In October, 1902 the company moved to 220 Trade Street, a narrow building just to the right of Smith & James (we are not certain of the prior location). There's an interesting ad for the company placed in the November 10, 1903 edition of Greenville News, promoting a miraculous blood-purifying elixer called "V. V. V." Somehow H.V. Westmoreland seems to have left the business, as a 1904 photograph shows the building signage to simply read "Marchant's Pharmacy" and I have found no further record of the joint business.

The October 20, 1910 issue of Manufacturer's Record shows that Robert awarded a building contract to J.C. Cunningham of Greer for the construction of a 3-story business building: 28x90 feet, ordinary construction; cost $8,500; plans by Thomas Keating, Greer." This building, on the corner of Trade and Victoria Streets, was the only 3-story building in downtown Greer until 2022, when the Hampton Inn opened. It was called the "Marchant Building" and housed the Greer Drug Company, of which he was a founding partner. The building came to be commonly known as the Rexall Drug, simply because of a Rexall sign on the building. The first floor held Marchant's pharmacy; the second floor was doctor and dentist offices (there was not yet a hospital or medical clinic in Greer); the third floor was used by Bailey's Masonic Lodge.

Robert also served as a vice president of the Bank of Greer. The Marchants lived in a large home on Trade Street for several years, before moving to their final home on Church Street.

• Hortense Marchant Stallworth, 1893-1971 (William Stallworth)
• Mary Lucille Marchant, 1894-1975 (William Sheib)
• John Luther Marchant, 1896-1938 (Mildred Thompson)
• Fitzhugh Lee Marchant, 1898-1943 [Gertrude Thompson -Mildred and Gertrude were sisters]

Martin Luther, Jr. and Kathleen Morrah (and Sallie Few)

He married twice: Sallie Leona Few, 1870–1898; and Kathleen Morrah, 1890–1971. It amazes me that this man had two wives, one of which died in 1898 and the other in 1971. Kathleen was 22 years younger than him.

He joined with his brother-in-law B.F. Zimmerman as founding partners with Lewis Parker of the Beaver Dam mills in Edgefield.

• Martin Luther Marchant, III, 1914-2005 (Josephine Owens)
• John Bradley Marchant, 1918-1979 (Anne)
• Mary Marchant, 1920-1999 (Edward Burdette)
• Francis Morrah Marchant (Sr.), 1921-2016 (Mary Cowan)

Benjamin and Nannie Marchant Zimmerman

From roughly 1897-1909, B.F. Zimmerman was the cotton buyer for Victor Mill. In July 1909, Lewis Parker purchased the Edgefield Manufacturing Company, which contained a cottonseed oil factory and a textile factory; B.F. Zimmerman became manager of the mill. B.F. Zimmerman joined with ML Marchant Jr as founding partners with Lewis Parker of the Beaver Dam mills in Edgefield. Benjamin arrived at Edgefield in August; his family joined him a month later. This was a successful venture for him. Eventually he became head of the cotton departments of Spartan and Drayton Mills in Spartanburg, where he worked for another 28 years.

• Marchant LeGrand Zimmerman, 1897-1953 (Francis Anderson)
• Rosa Few Zimmerman, 1903-1998 (Samuel T. Reid)

Nannie died in 1918, and in 1923 Benjamin married Minnie J. Adams.

Arthur and Mary Marchant Cottingham

A. H. Cottingham Sr. worked at the Victor Mill for a while, then took a position as overseer in the card room of Ottaray Mill; he took over as superintendent after death of the predecessor. He moved from there to become superintendent of the Apalache Mills of Arlington, NC (not Greer's Apalache!) in August, 1911.

• Arthur Hallam Cottingham, Jr., 1911-1993 (Marjorie Roberts)
• Marchant Colin Cottingham, 1914-2005 (Caroline Blackmon)
• John Luther Cottingham, 1918-1918
• Walter Lee Cottingham, 1919-2008 (Helen Dale Parrish)
• Mary L. Cottingham, 1924-2008 (Dick Newkirk)

Thomas Mood and Jessie Marchant

In 1911, Thomas Marchant moved from Union to Greenville, where he became employed at the Victor-Monaghan Company. He became president of the company in 1925, following the death of his predecessor William F. Beattie. This placed him over all of the southeastern-US mills in the company. He died of a heart attack just after the end of a Clemson-Wake Forest football game in 1939.

• Thomas Mood Marchant, Jr. (1915-2001)
• Preston Speed Marchant (1918-2003)

Cliff and Clara Davenport

At her death, Clara left $1,000 for building a city library; her children gave $5,000 and a plot of land. It was called the "Davenport Memorial Library." Prior to this new building, the Greer library had been in a small one-room wooden shack with a pot-bellied stove in the middle. She also left $1000 to Wofford College, and $500 to Seaborn "Sebe" Lynch, a Black gardener who had served D.D. Davenport, Miss Clara, and then Miss Constance.

• Constance Davenport 1901-1982 [Oscar Earle Dooly Jr]
• Malcolm Clifton Davenport Jr. 1903-1972 [Maude Givens]
• David D. Davenport 1904-1906
• Luther Marchant "Pete" Davenport Sr. 1907-1987 [Dorothye Romaine Lincoln Barnes]
• Thomas West Davenport 1910-1911
• Martha Ann Davenport 1912-2003 [Robert S Edmund (Edward) Josephy]
• Daniel Denby Davenport 1914-1969 [Ruby Ellen Wiggins]

[category:People]