James Lide Coker
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Major James Lide Coker (born January 3, 1837 in Society Hill, South Carolina- died June 25, 1918 in Hartsville, South Carolina) Civil War veteran, founder of Sonoco, Coker College, businessman, merchant, banker, railroad man, industrialist, philanthropist. Affectionately known by all as "Major Coker" after his service in the Confederate Army. Major Coker married Sue Armstrong Stout in 1860, and they were the parents of nine children, six of whom survived childhood: Margaret, James Lide Jr., David, William, Jennie, Charles Westfield, and Susan.
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[edit] Education and War Service
Educated at The Citadel, prior to starting his career in agriculture, he attended Harvard University for a year to study the scientific principles of farming. After answering the call to defend his state when the Civil War began, in October 1863, he was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga, and after a time as a prisoner of war, returned home to spend the rest of his life nursing a shattered hip.[1]
His wounds did not dampen his ambition. He entered into the plantation economy of the day with the stubborn conviction that the South's future hinged on the introduction of scientific principles to farming, coupled with the development of industry.
In March of 1865, Coker set out with a large box of food supplies for the Confederate forces in Richmond. On his return to Hartsville, he learned that General Sherman's army was in the Pee Dee, but Sherman's troops had already destroyed his farm, the livestock driven away or requisitioned, and everything of value in their home had been taken away. Operation Anaconda devastated the local economy.[2]
[edit] Business Acumen
At the cessation of armed hostilities in April 1865, the Coker family began rebuilding. Although Sherman's army had left no work stock, Major Coker had cotton seed and seed corn, which he planted with the use of an old mule and a pair of oxen borrowed from an uncle. He planted 60 acres of cotton and 40 acres of corn, which yielded 25 bales of cotton and 300 bushels of corn. At the prevailing prices, 25 bales of cotton brought $1,700, a small fortune in that time.
Using those funds and others derived from mortgaging some of his land, he founded other businesses which were highly successful. Sonoco and Hartsville, South Carolina have enjoyed lasting benefits from his decision to build his own railroad spur (at his own expense) when other town merchants wouldn't agree to help fund construction. In 1881, he became the largest stockholder and first president of a bank in Darlington, the only bank in the area.
In 1890, Major Coker and his eldest son, James, began a search for a way to turn Southern pine trees into pulp for papermaking, and three years later, they had perfected a process. Shipping costs for the pulp made this business unprofitable, so Coker purchased his own papermaking equipment. That resulted in the formation of Carolina Fiber Company. With precious few nearby customers for paper, in 1899, the Major organized the Southern Novelty Company, later renamed Sonoco Products Company, to use some of the paper to produce cone-shaped yarn carriers.[3]
[edit] Philanthropy and Altruism
Major Coker was the driving force in the establishment of Welsh Neck High School, which later became Coker College in 1908; he gave the college a $50,000 endowment, which has played a large part in ensuring its continued existence.
Coker served his community as mayor of Hartsville and as a member of the state House of Representatives, where he introduced the state's first legislation seeking free public schools.
Of all that has been said and written about Major Coker, the words that best describe his philosophy came from his grandson, Charles W. Coker. "Major James L. Coker had some pretty definite ideas about a variety of things. His strongest principle, however, was an absolute inflexibility between what was right and what was wrong. He believed very strongly in the dignity of human beings, and this has been one of the basic philosophies of Sonoco's employee relations policy, customer relations policy, and our stockholder relations policy throughout the years."
He was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1986
