January 17th I see dead people #2 Pitchfork Ben Tillman, Trenton SC

When I was at Carolina doing a graduate course in History, I wrote a term paper on the illustrious Pitchfork Ben Tillman, who was responsible for developing the "dispensary system" for South Carolina, that is, putting the state as the dispenser of hard liquor. It was a short lived experiment. 

Got a twofer here, his homeplace site and his gravesite as well.  

First the home site, which is just a field now:

Inscription. [Front] Benjamin Ryan “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman (1847-1918), governor of S.C. 1890-94 and U.S. senator 1894-1918, bought this farm just before he left the governor’s office in 1894. He lived here until his death. Tillman, a farmer himself, grew deeply concerned about the economic problems facing agriculture in S.C. He became politically active in 1885 as the farmers’ principal advocate.

[Reverse] A spirited and controversial orator, Tillman was a champion to the many small farmers who elected him governor in 1890. He called the convention which drew up a new state constitution in 1895 and was also instrumental in establishing Clemson College and Winthrop College and in creating a state liquor dispensary system. He is buried at Ebenezer Church cemetery just south of here.





And then, down the road a piece, was the Ebeneezer Church, where the old Pitchfork is buried:

All very nicely maintained: