The 1912 Filbert Woodmen of the World picnic was held on August 1 with 1,200-1,500 in attendance. Master of Ceremonies that year was candidate for solicitor, J. Harry Foster, who allotted 40 minutes to gubernatorial candidates and 30 to all others. And he permitted them to speak on any topic of their choosing. The Yorkville Coronet Band returned that year to provide musical entertainment.

Interior of the 1912 Cloud’s Dry Goods store in York. Courtesy of the Historical Center.
Invited guests included Hon. J. E. Swearingen, Superintendent of Education; Judge Ira B. Jones, candidate for governor; W. P. Pollock, a candidate for Congress; F. H. Hyatt, president of the South Carolina Good Roads Association; and John G. Richards, candidate for Railroad Commissioner. Governor Blease was again invited but declined by telegram the day before. Others who declined the invitation were Senator Tillman, W. J. “Tieless Joe” Talbert, and Nathaniel B. Dial (who would become a South Carolina congressman in 1914).
Swearingen, an unopposed incumbent superintendent of education, believed the major obstacle to public education in South Carolina was the shortness of the school term. “The average country school in South Carolina,” he said, “ran for four months, and was practically a waste of time and money [because the terms] did not continue long enough to be of very great benefit. This must be changed to get the best educational advantages, the farmers need better education to enable them to take advantage of their opportunities; they need it in business and in their social lives. Better schools will contribute to the solution of the back to farm movement by keeping the boys and girls on the farm.”
Illustrating the dire situation York County education was in, Swearingen said that Winthrop officials had recently examined 500 entrance exams from young women who wanted to secure scholarships, but out of 26 applications by York County girls, only two passed the exam.
Judge Jones came to the speaker’s stand complimenting Swearingen on the job he was doing and promised if elected governor he would give his strongest support to the development of rural schools. Jones advocated better roads and believed that a good highway system in the state was possible through federal aid. Jones spoke on the need for cheaper money for the farmer who needed to obtain loans. This, he said, could be accomplished if life insurance companies lent or invested their surplus funds in the state. While he hoped this would come about voluntarily, if elected governor he would use the law requiring investments in the state as a prerequisite to doing in business South Carolina.
Jones would not make it to the governor’s mansion, and at the time Jones was speaking, Governor Blease, some miles away, was predicting before 800 supporters, “I will beat Ira B. Jones by 18,000 or 20,000 votes as certain as God Almighty let the 27th of August come!”
Hyatt then spoke and agreed with Jones that the state was in need of better roads and knew most of the state would also agree. He reminded his audience that some years earlier the people of South Carolina were not concerned about roads, and 15 years earlier

Image ca. 1912 – Courtesy of the YC Historical Society
when he was campaigning with Senator Latimer, they had been hissed and booed for being strong advocates for better roads. To fund better roads and a new highway system, he recommended a 10% tax on tobacco and liquor, tagged for roads.
Hyatt did not agree with Washington’s foreign policy and wanted the federal government to reduce its budget for the army and navy. He also said that the money spent in the Philippines should be spent on making life better at home.
Pollock and Richards were the last speakers before dinner. Pollock, who was running against incumbent congressman Finley, one of York County’s own sons, made a valiant plea for the votes of his listeners. Pollock supported the top issues at the time — the parcel post system, federal aid in road building, and the state warehouse plan. The candidate presented himself as a young, vigorous, fighting representative and was convinced he was the most capable man for representing the people of the county and state and was just the kind of man the Fifth District needed.
Richards portrayed himself as a friend of the farmers, state colleges, and public schools. With what would become the mantra for future state office seekers, he declared his devotion to the development of the state’s schools and colleges, advocating for longer terms, better equipment, and better-paid teachers.
The 1912 picnic closed late in the afternoon, following the usual bounteous noontime meal and a lot of flesh pressing. The general behavior of the crowd was said to have been “admirable,” and there had been an absence of liquor — at least it was out of sight from the reporter covering the picnic.
Relishing in the day’s festivities, no one that evening could have imagined the devastation and ruin that would fall on Clover two days later. On Saturday, August 3, around five o’clock in the afternoon, a storm (termed a cyclone) swept the area causing a quarter of a million dollars ($5 million today) in damage. (Editor’s Note: One dollar of purchases in 1912 would cost just under $21 today.)
At that fateful time, a huge, black, threatening cloud with purple fringes rose up out of the northwest with an estimated speed of 100 miles an hour. Heavily loaded with rain and hail, the cloud released its burden over Clover and the surrounding area. Fury came without warning; sudden gusts were quickly followed by a stiff, steady wind that rapidly gathered strength. Rain fell in torrents with a mighty outpouring of hail.
Chimney flues toppled, trees fell flat, and the air was filled with flying shingles, tin roofing, and debris of every description. Families huddled motionless in their homes with all the courage they could muster and hoped for the best. Some, fearing their home would not stand the blast, ran into the yard. Unable to stand, they fell down and clung to the ground.
Minutes before the cloud’s fury was unleashed, Aboline Lingerfeldt was busy doing her farm chores when she looked up and saw the black, rolling clouds and felt a gusty, cold wind. Aboline quickly gathered her children and hurried down the road to a storm cellar. On the way she saw an old lady sitting on her porch calmly rocking and reading the Bible. As she continued to run for cover, she called out to the woman to come to the shelter. The old lady explained that her husband had gone to the store and she had to stay until he returned. “I’ll be just as safe as you ‘er,” she called out.
When the storm was over, Mrs. Lingerfeldt and her children walked back up the road to their home, and when they got to the old lady’s house, they saw a strange sight. The old woman was still sitting in her rocker with her Bible in hand, and though everything had blown away around her except for the porch, she was safe as could be.
Within minutes, Clover Cotton Mill No. 1 had been demolished — only the smoke stack and the four-story tower were left standing. Part of the roof of Mill No. 2 was blown away, but Mill No. 3 withstood the storm with minor damage. Five houses in the mill’s village were flattened, and 18 others suffered structural damage. W. T. Robinson and 11 others occupied one of the flattened houses. The entire framing of the Robinson house was snatched away by the wind, and the roof came crashing down. Miraculously, no one was seriously injured. The roof was held off the family in one place by the headboard of a bed and by a broken chair in another. Two other houses in the village were completely carried away. Fortunately, a family had moved from one of the homes the day before, and the family living in the other house was away visiting at the time.
The home of Mrs. James Hedgepath on Main Street suffered more damage than any other in town. Two African-American churches were blown down, and two others outside the city limits were badly damaged.
Being Saturday, a group of people was gathered in one house, having some kind of “to-do.” When the storm struck and the building began to creak and lean, the crowd panicked, and a number of men jumped from a second-story window.
An estimated 5,000-6,000 acres of crops in a four-mile-wide strip running northwest to southeast and four to five miles long were utterly destroyed. Hail did equally as much damage, cutting a path over two miles long and four miles wide south of Clover, beyond Bethel Presbyterian Church.
With a $50 estimate to an acre of crops, the aggregate value of the loss was $250,000-$300,000 ($5 million to $6 million today). Many were in dire straits with gardens destroyed and all wild fruits (persimmons, locust, plums) beaten from the trees. Worse yet, there was no crop to be planted that would mature before winter. Without a harvest there was scant need for laborers, and many moved from the area. Many farmers were left with a dubious future, finding themselves in debt for fertilizer and other farm supplies, with no prospect of being able to pay.
Storm relief committees were formed across the county, but cash money was hard to come by during that time of year. Governor Blease appointed a committee to receive and distribute contributions: G. W. Knox, chairman; A. J. Quinn, Vice Chairman; J. A. Page, secretary and treasurer; along with J. B. Robinson, John Bank Jackson, James A Clinton, and W. D. Grist. All these men were from Clover, with the exception of Grist, who was editor of the Yorkville Enquirer. Many would’ve liked to help their neighbors, but had no means other than crops. Within days the rubble of the No. 1 Mill was being cleared for a new factory. Homes were repaired or rebuilt, farmers scratched their way through the winter. Gradually, the cyclone of 1912 passed from memory and faded into history.
J.L. West – Author
This article and many others found on the pages of Roots and Recall, were written by author J.L. West, for the YC Magazine and have been reprinted on R&R, with full permission – not for distribution or reprint!
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