Resources for Samuel Thomas Clowney
Samuel
Thomas Clowney 1863--1942
(Transcribed from hand written original by his daughter, Meynel
Clowney Cato)
Samuel Thomas Clowney was born in the Buckhead section of Fairfield County, S.C. near the site of Mobley's Meeting
House, March 6, 1863. His father was Moses Clowney, (Confederate soldier) of County Down, Ireland. His mother was
Susannah Elizabeth Yongue Milling, widow of Robert Millling, and daughter of Robert and Hester Mobley Yongue. She
and Moses married December 18, 1951.
Born during the hectic days of the Civil War, and growing up in the equally hectic Reconstruction Era, the boy
Sam early learned self reliance, dependability, obedience and duty. Tho too young for regular membership in the
group, he rode proudly with the "Red Shirters". He was educated in the old county schools and at Crosbyville
Military Academy, under the tutorship of the well known Professor David Busbee. While at Crosbyville, as in subsequent
years, he excelled as an athlete, being especially adept at lancing and other forms of horsemanship. His fine physique,
with the erect and commanding carriage of the expert horseman distinguished him thruout his long and active life.
On November 12, 1891 he was married to Miss Emmie Louise Wolling, daughter of John George and Maria Louisa Feaster
Wolling, of the Feasterville section of Fairfield County. To this union were born seven children as follows:
George Moses Clowney, born July 30, 1892, married Elizabeth Berry Martin.
James Russel Clowney, born August 20, 1894, died November 2, 1937.
L. Sam Clowney, born December 1, 1896, married Alice Czarnitzki.
Meynel Clowney, born August 27, 1899, married William Leon Cato.
Cleora Clowney, born March 19, 1902, married John Bratton Hall.
Bessie Frances Clowney, born April 29, 1904, married Clifford Hayne Shimmel.
Emmie Louise Clowney, born February 22, 1915, married William Jackson Senn.
Mr. Clowney spent practically all of his life in Fairfield County. For many years he was prominent in agricultural,
business, and civic enterprises. He inherited from his Irish forbears a passionate love of the land. Around the
nucleus of a portion of the Robert Yongue plantation, he acquired a sizeable plantation of his own, the rolling
acres of which he constantly improved. His farming methods were advanced, his knowledge and appreciation of fine
livestock justifiable.
His home offered hospitality to many guests. The campaigning politician, the weary peddler with his pack, relatives
and friends from far and near, all found a cordial welcome there. Among the guests were youthful relatives from
Columbia, Chester, and Winnsboro, who spent many weeks reveling in the joys of country living. Riding was chief
among these pleasures. Spirited saddle horses and Indian ponies, slow moving mules, donkeys and oxen, the be-whiskered
Angora Billy and even the homemade "flying Jenny" served as steeds for the town youngsters.
Mr. Clowney was a Presbyterian, a Mason, a Woodman of the World, and a member of the Order of Knights of Pythias.
He was for more than a quarter of a century chairman of his local school board. Tho always active in political
campaigns, he never sought public office until 1912 when he was elected on first ballot to serve in the South Carolina
Legislature. During his one term he instituted the referendum method of legislation for the voters of Fairfield
County.
Sam Clowney, possessed of a genial personality, generous nature, keen mind and quiet wit, numbered his friends
by the score in both races.
On April 9, 1942, he passed on at the age of 79, and was laid to rest in the Clowney plot in Salem Presbyterian
Church yard, only a few miles from the place of his birth.
NOTE (hand-written by E.C.P.): "OBIT / Found in papers of Meynel Clowney Cato".
