Eugene Whitefield Dabbs is remembered by his children and grandchildren as an astute and shrewd business man. His son, James, devotes the second chapter of his book, The Road Home, to his father describing him as a man of action who demanded perfection from all around him. “He worked hard both because he was trained to work and because as a landless newcomer to an aristocratic community he had to succeed. I don’t think he thought himself better than others, but he knew that no one was better than he. One of his typical remarks was the old Jacksonian saying; Every man is as good as every other man, and maybe a darned sight better.”
His efforts to be accepted by the aristocracy obviously succeeded. In a letter from James Henry Rice, Jr., to Dabbs on June 10, 1926, Rice states: “But I am, none the less, grateful that my youth was passed in royalty and that I was born in the purple, amid the landed gentry of his Late Majesty’s Province of South Carolina, as you were.” He continues, “It is a part of life’s eternal tragedy, of its inscrutable mystery, that I have been denied the only life I care to live. From my own point of view, a life in the country – a good ways in the country and off the public road at least two miles – five would suit better – is the only one that stirs my heart.”
In July 1904 he wrote the following letter to the Pastor and Elders at Salem (B.R.) Church;
Dear Brethren: I desire to call your attention to what I consider a very serious hindrance of the Church and Sabbath School Sabbath School
One cannot help but wonder what Eugene Whitefield Dabbs would say about the current schedule of Salem Black River Church that now meets every other Sunday with no services in August, and has no Sabbath School
By all reports, Eugene Whitefield Dabbs was adored by his two wives and two daughters, respected by his sons, and feared by at least some of his grandchildren. There is no doubt in numerous letters of correspondence that he could be a crusty soul who sometimes angered others with his direct language. It is not uncommon to see one of his letters begin, “I must apologize for the words which I used when we last met.”
Each of Eugene and Maude’s sons and daughters became well educated and left the Crossroads for higher education and other careers. They all ultimately returned within a few years to live the majority of their lives where they were born. James Dabbs quotes Emerson when he says, “Traveling is a fool’s paradise.” There was a “tendency to stay at home and let the mind travel.”
Eugene Whitefield Dabbs had a reputation as a tough, no-nonsense farmer who from time to time angered more than one neighbor. He expected a lot from those who worked for him and was known to cuss and fuss quite a bit when things weren’t going well. Mother Sudie, who always referred to him as “Father”, would quietly put a hand on his shoulder and say, “Now, Father,” and he would calm down. A man who did a lot of the work in the outside garden and barn, Mr. Julius Mitchell, frequently caught the brunt of his anger, but had grown quite used to it and seemed to accept the tirades with a good sense of humor. At the corner store, those sitting around the pot belly stove would inquire of Julius, “So how’s old man Dabbs doing today?”
Julius would roll his eyes and respond daily, “He’s full of hisself today, yessir, full of hisself.”
In his book, The Road Home, his son, James, tells the story of when the railroad line built a track across his father’s land, he agreed to it only if they would be sure to open and close the gates consistently when the train went through so that his livestock wouldn’t stray. He tired of the engineer failing to keep the bargain and one day in exasperation yelled at his two oldest boys, Eugene, Jr., and James, to grab their guns. “ Come on, boys. We’re going to hold up a train,” he called to them as they followed him out the door. And that he did. At gun point he ordered the engineer and passengers off the train and sent them walking back to Mayesville. He took custody of the train and there followed a law suit which evidently went on for years. There’s no report of how it was settled, but since there’s no train sitting on Dabbs land today, we can assume it was returned to its rightful owner eventually.
The notes and letters of EW Dabbs reveal a man involved in a wide variety of activities. He kept detailed records on small 2x4 notepads that fit into his shirt or pants pocket. Writing down what he paid for every item, from fertilizer to a loaf of bread, he accumulated a vast record of his receipts and expenditures. He rented out land for small crop farming and charged for tenant housing. One record shows over 34 rental properties. He sold fishing licenses on the Black River Swamp for $3.00 a piece and in one letter he chided the McFaddins when he discovered they were selling licenses also on swamp property that he owned. He was elected to the State Legislature for a two year period beginning in 1906 and ran unsuccessfully for Commissioner of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industries. In stating his qualifications for the job he listed, “Secretary of Sumter County Agriculture Society for two years, Secretary of the Sumter County Farmers Alliance, Member Cotton Association, Helped to start the Department of Agriculture in 1904, Vice President and then President of the Sumter County Farmers Union, Member of the National Farmers Union Committee, Member of the Cotton Seed Division of the Food Administration and as such saved the cotton seed industry at the end of the war and caused to be refunded to farmers many thousands of dollars for seed sold under the fixed price.”
In an exchange of letters between Hugh Humphreys of the Dixie Brand Cotton Seed Meal in Memphis, Tenn., Mr. Humpreys confirms that politics pretty much remain the same when he writes on April 15, 1921; “Apparently the Democrats must oppose any measure offered by the Republicans, although it may be for the best interest of the country that such measure passes. I observe this morning Senator Cochran states that on account of the tariff – largely designed to protect the American producers – that we will have Soup Kitchens; whereas there is enough grain and meats in the United States to last about two years, not to mention our supply of cotton, etc. However, these Democrats – although mostly from the producing territory – would have the country flooded with Oriental oils and Oriental produce produced by Coolie labor, because in some years past we followed the wrong theory.
I think you will agree that a wise man changes, and a fool never does.”
Eugene Whitefield Dabbs is also listed as being a member of the Sumter County Democratic Executive Committee, Clerk of the Board of School Trustees for 25 year and a Deacon and Treasurer of his church.
And still his letters show a deep sense of warmth and love for his two wives and his children. On May 7, 1915, he wrote to James while he was a student at USC in reference to his dead mother, Alice Maude, “I hope your dear Mother can see how fine you are – how handsome – and what a credit to her loving prayers and training and blood – for blood will tell – you are.” To his daughter, Elizabeth, who was away at Columbia University, he wrote on August 21, 1921, “If I had a million dollars to give you it would not represent my love,”…….”so I am just writing this little note to tell you that I can not say how much I love you, how much your beautiful life has been to me these years that are so rapidly passing.”
On June 10, 1915, he wrote to James, the heir to Rip Raps, “I am afraid you have too exalted an idea of what a rich man you will be when you inherit ‘Rip Raps’, and I fear Rip Raps may not be there for you before the end of the year.” While his letters convey deep concern about the farm and the financial burden that came with it, it is important to realize that at his death he left little debt for others to carry.
Eugene Whitefield Dabbs died May 31, 1933, at 69 years of age, waiting for breakfast. He had dressed, said good morning to his youngest son, Guy McBride (Mac), and went out on the piazza to look across the field. When Mac went to get him five minutes later, he was dead, sitting upright in a rocker, his walking stick hung over the arm and his head slumped forward. At his funeral one of the members of the community spoke. “Mr. Dabbs was an honest man,” he said. “He wasn’t only honest himself, he made everybody around him honest.”
Eugene Whitefield Dabbs left a very detailed will replacing one he had written prior to Mother Sudie’s death and stipulating that should he marry a third time, his third wife would be taken care of for the remainder of her life. (What is interesting is that at 69, having suffered a stroke, he was still considering the possibility of a third marriage.) In this will he left to E. W. Dabbs, Jr., the gold berry spoon awarded to his father (John Quincy Adams Dabbs) sixty years ago in 1872 for the best bale of cotton at the Darlington fair. To James McBride Dabbs the spoon awarded to his father the following year for the best bale of cotton. The rest of the silver was to be divided equally among his children.
In particular he included detailed specifications of land distribution stating specifically that, “In as much as the late Mrs. McBride made special provisions for my son, James McBride Dabbs, I desire the land that I inherited from her daughter, my late wife, to be so divided among our children that the inequality thereby caused may be remediated as far as possible.” This balancing act of trying to equalize distribution of land among the off-spring has remained within the family since this time.
Eugene W. Dabbs looking at a picture of his Grandson with second wife, Sudie Furman
Poem by Elizabeth Dabbs Thompson 5/31/1934
In Memoriam – Eugene Whitefield Dabbs
Died 5/31/1933
He went forth in a glorious way
The morning of the last of May
The day before him open wide
He sat down in his chair and died.
A prince among strong men was he.
He did so love good company.
Now he can journey with – he’ll see
His heroes – Calhoun, Hampton, Lee.
I’m glad twas early morn he went
For then before the day was spent.
He did have time to travel far.
To the most distant heavenly star
To see what it was all about.
Travel on in the dawn, dear one, travel on.
Into the dim, mysterious far beyond.
But each night come back
where you’re known the best.
Come home to your own dear pines to rest.
Eugene Whitefield Dabbs was interested in journalism, even entered college for one year with intentions to major in journalism. The death of his father, however, brought him back home to take care of his mother. He continued to write throughout his life leaving volumes of information on farming during that time in history. As a farmer he kept precise and informative records concerning his crops and animals. In addition, he never hesitated to write letters on a regular basis to whomever he thought would benefit from his opinion, including the State newspaper, the Governor, the Commissioner of Agriculture, John D. Rockefeller, and the various Presidents of the United States University of South Carolina Columbia
Yet, the Eugene Whitefield Dabbs family lived alone on their land with most of their farm help coming from the black community in the area. During those days the major road was the
Kingstree Highway that went north to Bishopville and south to Kingstree. A school house sat across the road from the original home that Eugene Whitefield Dabbs and Maude McBride Dabbs lived in on
Kingstree Highway (now called Highway 527) and thus the children had all they needed within walking distance of the Crossroads. To get toSumter Sumter
Kingstree Highway that went north to Bishopville and south to Kingstree. A school house sat across the road from the original home that Eugene Whitefield Dabbs and Maude McBride Dabbs lived in on
Kingstree Highway (now called Highway 527) and thus the children had all they needed within walking distance of the Crossroads. To get to
Eugene Whitefield Dabbs was interested in journalism, even entered college for one year with intentions to major in journalism. The death of his father, however, brought him back home to take care of his mother. He continued to write throughout his life leaving volumes of information on farming during that time in history. As a farmer he kept precise and informative records concerning his crops and animals. In addition, he never hesitated to write letters on a regular basis to whomever he thought would benefit from his opinion, including the State newspaper, the Governor, the Commissioner of Agriculture, John D. Rockefeller, and the various Presidents of the United States University of South Carolina Columbia
Yet, the Eugene Whitefield Dabbs family lived alone on their land with most of their farm help coming from the black community in the area. During those days the major road was the
Kingstree Highway that went north to Bishopville and south to Kingstree. A school house sat across the road from the original home that Eugene Whitefield Dabbs and Maude McBride Dabbs lived in on
Kingstree Highway (now called Highway 527) and thus the children had all they needed within walking distance of the Crossroads. To get toSumter Sumter
Kingstree Highway that went north to Bishopville and south to Kingstree. A school house sat across the road from the original home that Eugene Whitefield Dabbs and Maude McBride Dabbs lived in on
Kingstree Highway (now called Highway 527) and thus the children had all they needed within walking distance of the Crossroads. To get to
