“Outspoken politician and local Lancaster County M.D.”
The Lancaster News of June 10, 1930 carried an article about the Senate Election of 1910 – “The main issue was over state highway 26. Mr. T.Y. Williams was defeated by Dr. T.J. Strait. Strait was an opponent of the highway and called it the King’s Royal Highway. Strait won 401 votes.”
City Directories and History: Dr. T. J. Strait – Representative from South Carolina; born in Chester District, S.C., December 25, 1846; attended the common schools of Mayesville, S.C., and Cooper Institute, Mississippi; during the Civil War entered the Confederate Army in 1862 and served throughout the war, first in Company A, Sixth Regiment of Infantry, and later as sergeant in Company H, Twenty-fourth Regiment, Gist’s brigade; engaged in agricultural pursuits; taught school in Ebenezer, York County, S.C., (famed Ebenezer Academy) in 1880; was graduated from South Carolina Medical College at Charleston in 1885 and practiced medicine; member of the State senate 1890-1893; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-third, Fifty-fourth, and Fifty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1899); unsuccessful candidate for re-nomination in 1898 to the Fifty-sixth Congress; resumed the practice of his profession in Lancaster, S.C., and died there on April 18, 1924; interment in Westside Cemetery. (http://bioguide.congress.gov/)
View the document and history of Dr. Strait under the MORE INFORMATION link, found under the primary image. Dr. Strait not only was a practicing physician but also served in the U.S. Congress. One of his lasting legacies was the adoption of a number of children, including Clara Barrett Strait, the
Thomas Jefferson Strait, M.D. Courtesy of the Strait – Gaston Collection, 2015
noted S.C. artist. WU’s Pettus Archives states, “Clara Barrett-Strait (ca. 1867-1948) was one of the foremost portrait painters in South Carolina during the first half of the 20th century.” Clara Barrett Strait was one of four children who were formally adopted by Dr. Strait. Clara was found in Mississippi, where the Straits lived for several years. She studied art at Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington when her father was a Congressman and became a noted portrait painter. Dozens of politicians, and often their wives, sat for her. She also painted many of the Confederate generals. Her artwork has been collected and exhibited by Winthrop University and a record of much of her work was cataloged by Edwin S. James of Rock Hill, S.C. see the, C.B. Strait Group.
The Rock Hill Record reported on Oct. 5, 1908 – taken from the Columbia Record – “Gen. Willie Jones received a handsome oil portrait of the late Gov. Wm. H. Ellerbee of Marion Co., who died in June of 1899. The painting is the work of Ms. Clara B. Strait of Lancaster, and was done from a photograph by Mr. W. A. Reckling of this city (Rock Hill).
The RH Herald reported on Oct. 24, 1941 – “A portrait of Dr. Jane Price Guignard, prominent M.D. of Columbia has been painted by former Rock Hillian, Clara Barrett Strait. The portrait was presented to Columbia Hospital.”
Stoneboro was at one time called Russell Place because of a well known family living in the section. The name was changed to Stoneboro after granite rock was quarried there about 1912. (Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC)
Dr. Samuel L. Strait of Lancaster, S.C.
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R&R HISTORY LINK: the Strait Family in Chester County SC
R&R HISTORY LINK: the Clara B. Strait Collection at Winthrop University
R&R HISTORY LINK: the Strait family in Rock Hill…., a history.
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