In Memory of
William Duke Craig
(1845-29 April 1935)[1]
General William D. Craig died suddenly of heart attack at about 4 o'clock Monday afternoon while in the store of John T. Hurst and Son, on Main Street. Though in feeble health for some months past, his death was not believed imminent. It had been his custom to visit frequently among his friends in the business section and it was while thus engaged that death overtook him. General Craig was 89 of age. As a leader among Confederate Veterans he was prominent throughout the State. He was former State Commissioner with the rank of Major General. He enlisted in the Confederate army at the age of 18. He was assigned to the Twenty-first South Carolina Regiment under Gen. Johnson Hagood. He was first under fire in the battle of Fort Sumter. He was later transferred to Virginia and was seriously wounded in the battle at Drury's Bluff, while his regiment of about 700 defended the Petersburg railroad against several thousand Federals. From the wound received at this time Gen. Craig was crippled for the remainder of his life. His brother, Lieut. John Craig in the same company was killed at almost the same instant that General was wounded. The close of the war found him still on crutches but throwing the weight of his personality and ingenuity into building a new country on the ashes of the old. He was of sturdy pioneer stock. His grandfather came here in 1787 at about the same time as the Chapman's and Robeson's from Chesterfield County, Virginia. They are said to have discovered this section while on a campaign during the Revolutionary War. They liked it so well that when the war was over they came here to make their home, naming the County, when it was formed after the county they had left in Virginia. With a flare <sic> for invention and engineering General Craig late in life gave Chesterfield her first electric lights from water power generated by a plant which he installed. This equipment was sold to the town. He next turned his attention to ice-making, using water power, thus giving Chesterfield her first ice plant. He had given much thought and time to the development of a cotton picker, but failing health interrupted this labor. Always fascinated by water power, he was studying the problem of utilizing the ocean tides for power at the time of his death. His donations to the church and community life were many and liberal though seldom were these gifts known to the public. His most recent gift, however, will bear his name and will give pleasure to generations yet to come. It was the plot of ground which he had long dreamed of building into a public park. This plot was recently given to the community and he lived to see it almost completed, a community house erected and the grounds landscaped and otherwise beautified. General Craig was a man of positive convictions on religious and moral lines. His personal life was above reproach and his word was literally as good as his bond. In fact he possessed to a high degree all those manly virtues that characterized the old South. He was universally loved and respected and his memory will long endure. Funeral services were held late Tuesday afternoon in the Chesterfield cemetery, conducted by his pastor, the Rev. D.N. Busbee, who was assisted by the Rev. J.J. Stevenson, former pastor and friend, the Rev. Samuel Long and the Rev. J.A. Mclntyre, All the offices and stores were closed at two o'clock and business in town was at a standstill until after the funeral. A vast concourse from far and near gathered to pay their last tribute of respect to this noble man of the old South. The floral tributes were all but overwhelming in profusion and beauty. At the request of his family every Confederate grave in the cemetery received a beautiful spray of flowers. Occupying a position at the grave side near the ministers were the following Veterans Messrs. Monroe Gaskin and Henry W. Funderburk, of Pageland, the two remaining veterans in the County; with them were Mr. W.M. Perry, of Wingate, NC, and Mr. Charles Rivers, of Peachland, NC. A request that was typical of General Craig, that "America" be sung at his funeral, was complied with. The United Daughters of the Confederacy were in charge of the flowers, assisted by the Children of the Confederacy. Members of the American Legion were pall bearers. They were Dr. R. L. Gardner, Messrs. Kirby Melton, L. A. Munn, Carl Gaskins, Martus Rivers, and W. J. Douglass. He is survived by one brother, H. C. Craig, of Austin, Texas; three daughters, Miss Cora Craig, Mrs. Madge Curtis and Mrs. C. L. Hunley, Chesterfield; two sons, W. H. Craig, of Atlanta, and J. L. Craig, of Lincolnton, NC; the following grandchildren: Margaret, Katherine Charles, Billie Craig, Frank, Bettie Byrd and Mary Louise Hunley. Among the out of town relatives and friends to attend the funeral were: W.H. Craig, Atlanta, Ga; J. L. Craig and wife, Lincolnton, NC; T. P. Young and wife and three sons, Duncan; T. L. Hanna, Anderson; R. E. Hanna and wife, Cheraw; C. B. Hanna, and daughter, Blacksburg; Mrs. E. C. Bailey, Columbia; John DuRant and wife and Edwin Durant and wife, Lynchburg; George K. Craig and wife, Wadesboro, NC; Felix Cannon, Hamlet, C; Thos. L. Lucas and wife, Charlotte, NC; Marion DuRant and wife, Bishopville; Dr. S. H. Trotti and Leila Trotti, Whitmire; Tom Trotti, Citadel; Margaret and Katharine Hunley, Winthrop; Sara Trotti, Wadesboro; Charles Lucas, High Point, NC; John Durant Jr., Lynchburg; Wash Keels, Miss Jessie Curtis, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Curtis, Paxville; Mrs. B. L. Robinson and daughter, Rosa, Morven, NC; Mrs. Flax Huntley, Mrs. J. E. Tillman, Wadesboro, NC; Mrs. Irene Reid, Cheraw; Mr. and Mrs. Philip Robinson, Miss Christine Robinson, Wadesboro, NC; T. V. Hardison, Mrs. Battle Hardison, Mrs. Henry Robinson, Jr., Morven, NC; Mrs. M.W. Duvall, Miss Elise Duvall, Cheraw; Mrs. Nettie Humphries and daughters, Sumter; Mrs. Sara Owens, Hamlet, NC; Mrs. Joe Reid, Cheraw; W. L. Marshall, Sr., W. L. Marshall, Jr., Elie Griggs and wife, Mrs. Bolton, Wadesboro, NC; Mrs. Roy Smith and Mrs. Georgia Stratton, Charlotte, NC; Mrs. J. J. Davis, Morven, NC; Dr. J. A. Bunch, J. H. Wannamaker, Cheraw; Miss L. Boggan, Mrs. Paul Teal, Wadesboro, NC; Robert Blakeney, Pageland; Mrs. J. C. Huntley, Mrs. Robert McCreight, J. S. McGregor and wife, of Ruby; Mrs. T. B. Wall, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Griggs, Wadesboro, NC; Mrs. William Mellice, Fort Bragg; Mrs. Jim Crawford, Cheraw.
William Alexander Smith
(11 Jan 1843 – 16 Apr 1934)[2]
Ansonville, NC, Taps were sounded Wednesday for General W. A. Smith, commander of the North Carolina department, United Confederate Veterans. Funeral services were held at Smith home here, and burial followed at Wadesboro. General Smith died shortly before midnight Monday night. Death was attributed to a heart attack. He was 92 years old. His widow, the former Nannie Flake, of Anson County, survives him. General Smith was born January 11, 1842, on the Nelms homestead, near here.
After attending a school near his home he went to a nearby academy and later matriculated at Davidson College. In 1861, soon after the outbreak of the war, he enlisted in the Anson Guards, a company raised by Captain R.T. Hall, which was later consolidated with the Bumcombe County Rough and Ready guards. This company was captained by Zebulon Baird Vance, who later became North Carolina's war governor. Young Smith served with the company until July 1, 1862, when he was seriously wounded in the Malvern Hill engagement. For six months he hovered between life and death but finally recovered. When the war was over, he found his family fortune had been swept away and, still a young man, he entered the mercantile business in 1866. Three years later he was married to Miss Mary Bennett. Five years later, with a capital of $1000 he set about organizing a cotton mill and obtained a good water site on Yadkin Falls in Montgomery county. After this successful venture he organized the Eldorado cotton mills. He remained president of the two enterprises until 1887 when he retired to his 1,500 acre plantation and engaged in modem farming. He succeeded his brother-in-law, Captain Frank Bennett, one of the heroes 0f the civil war, many times wounded, as commander of the Anson Camp, U.C.Y. Later he served as inspector general of the Second Brigade, U.C.V., before becoming commanding general of the North Carolina department. -- General Smith was well known in Chesterfield. He usually attended the Memorial exercises here on May 10th, and was frequently a guest of our own General W. D. Craig.
Obituaries From the Chesterfield Advertiser 1932 - 1936, Chesterfield County, SC, James Pigg, page 51 & 73.[3]
[1] Find A Grave, http://www.findagrave.com, Accessed on 7 July 2011; Headstone for William Duke Craig ; Memorial # 45652037
[2] Find A Grave, http://www.findagrave.com, Accessed on 7 July 2011; Headstone for William Alexander Smith ; Memorial # 43733543
[3] James C. Pigg, Obituaries from the Chesterfield Advertiser 1932-1936; Self-Published, 2004, Chesterfield County, South Carolina. W. A. Smith, Chesterfield Advertiser, April 19, 1934, page 1, col. 3; page 51 and W. D. Craig, Chesterfield Advertiser, May 9, 1935, page 1, col. 1; page 73..
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