SC Governors – Benjamin Ryan Tillman, 1890-1894

Biographical Overview

• Born: August 11, 1847 in Edgefield County near Trenton, SC
  
• Died: July 3, 1918 in Washington, DC
  
• Buried: Trenton, SC in Ebenezer Cemetery
• Religion:
• Political Party: Democrat
  

Education

• Left school at 17 to enlist in the Confederate States Army
  

Occupation

• Farmer
  

Major Events and Accomplishments, 1st Term, 1890–1892

• 1890 – Governor Tillman never held a government office prior to being elected governor
  
• 1890 – The 1890 census revealed that the state's population was 59.9% black and 40.1% white
  
• December 11, 1890 – Governor Tillman's supporters replaced Wade Hampton with John L. M. Irby in the US Senate
  
• February 18, 1891 – The first issue of the anti-Tillman newspaper The State was published under the editorial control of N. G. Gonzales
  

Major Events and Accomplishments, 2nd Term, 1892–1894

• December 24, 1892 – The General Assembly established the Dispensary system of selling liquor, giving the state government a liquor monopoly that lasted until 1907
  
• 1893 – Clemson Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Clemson University) admitted its first students
  
• 1893 – The last of the justices appointed during Governor Wade Hampton's administration were replaced with appointees of the Tillman administration
  
• 1894 – Governor Tillman was the keynote speaker at the laying of the cornerstone for the Winthrop Normal and Industrial School of South Carolina (now Winthrop University)
  
• March 30, 1894 – Citizens in Darlington rioted after liquor Dispensary constables fired a shot into a crowd, killing a bystander
  
• March-April 1894 – Governor Tillman called up the militia to restore order following the unrest over the Dispensary system, but militia companies from Charleston, Columbia, Manning, and Sumter refused to answer the governor's call to duty
  

Other Government Positions

• US Senate, 1895-1918
  

Other Accomplishments, Honors, Distinctions

• Tillman became seriously ill after leaving school to join the Confederate States Army, resulting in the loss of his left eye - 1864
  
• Tillman was censured while serving in the US Senate for assaulting fellow Senator from South Carolina John L. McLaurin in the US Senate chamber - 1902
  
• During World War I Tillman served as Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Naval Affairs
  
• Tillman was also known as "Pitchfork Ben," either for his defense of farmers' interests or because he wanted to "stick" a pitchfork "into President Grover Cleveland"
  
• The South Carolina General Assembly erected a monument to Governor Tillman - 1940
  
• Clemson University's Benjamin Ryan Tillman Society was named for Governor Tillman
  
• Tillman Hall at Winthrop University was named for Governor Tillman
  

Web Resources

• Portrait - SC General Assembly
  
• Biographical information - US Congress
  
• Biographical sketch - Research OnLine
  
• Listing of records available at SC Archives and History Center
  

Election Results