Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-06-16
r.. GOODWIN RHETT.
Facts About Latest Entry In Senatorial

II
Men of Mark:
Robert Goodwin Rhett, lawyer
banker financier, was born in Column
ba, Richland county, South Carolina,
March 25, 1862, son of Albert Moore
and Martha (GOodwyn) Rhett. He is
descended from an old colonial fam
lily, whose earliest American represen-
tatives were Thomas Landgrave
Smith, who came to Charlestown
Mass. about 1910. These two Smiths
were the grandsOns of Sir George
Smith, of Exeter, who was also the
grandfather of George Monck, duke OF
Albemarle. The grandson of George
Smith came to Carolina and married
his second cousin, Sabina Smith, the
granddaughter of Governor Thomas
Smith. In 1744 their son, also named
Thomas, married Sarah Moore, the
granddaughter Of Col. William Rhett,
and his grandchildren, amongst whom
was Thomas Moore, the grandfather
of Robert Goodwin, adopted the name
of Rhett. about to become extinct.
William Rhett attained to most
creditable distinction in the pioneer
days Of the colony of South Carolina,
and in 1706 was speaker of the house
Of commons of that colony. In the
same year he received a commission
as vice admiral Of an English colonial
fleet fitted out against the French, and
in I'LL he commanded the expedition
which resulted in the capture of the
pirate Bonnet.
The paternal grandfather of Mr..
Rhett, Thomas Moore, was a planter,
and took no part in public life. Two
of his brothers, however, attained con-
siderable distinction-Albert Moore
and Robert Barnwell.
The rise of Albert Moore Rhett in
his profession and in public life was
one of remarkable rapidity. In the
the bar he entered the state legisla-
ture, where he took rank with the
ablest debaters i'm the state, and at
the end of his four years service he
had risen almost if not quite 10 the
head of his bar In 1S43 he removed to
Charleston, and i'm October Of that
year was stricken with yellow fever,
and died at the early age Of thirty
four years.
In an article from the pen of an
early friend of Albert Moore Rhett,
high praise is given to his abilities as
a public speaker. In his address"
says this writer, Mr.. Rhett was self
possessed, grave and earnest; but
when he was warmed by debate his
logic and inVective were overwhelming.
His fine voice and tall, handsome per-
son added not little to the graces of
his elocutiOn; while his choice and
pregnant English reminded one by
turns of the terseness of Tacitus and
the solid periods of Milton. He was as
severe in the selection of his phrases
as in the order of his logic, and when
!, hn of
or after much preparation, no link ever
dropped from the chain of his argu-
ment, and his periods were filled up
and rounded with all the completeness
that rhetorical art can impart. If he
had lived to old age, he would have
been one of the first men and one Of
the finest orators of South Carolina"
Robert Barnwell Rhett was also a
lawyer and advocate of
states rights He was in congress for
a number of years, and upon the death
of John c. Calhoun, he succeeded the
latter in the United States senate. He
was a rival of Jefferson Davis for the
of the Confederate states
of America after the ordinance of Sc
cession had been passed.
Robert Goodwin Rhett's father is a
native of South Carolina and was born
in the manufacture of fertilizers from
the phosphate rock discovered near
Charleston in the late sixties, and con-
the largest of the factories
there. Upon the acquisition Of nearly
all the fertilizer factories in South
Carolina by the Virginia. Carolina
Chemical company. he was placed in
charge of them all, which position he
now occupies.
His mother was a daughter Of DR..
Robert Goodwin of Virginia, who
fought with gallantry in the Florida
war; and afterwards settled in Colum-
bia, where for more than twenty years
he was president of the branch Of the
state bank located at. that place.
The early life of Mr.. Rhett was spent
in and about Charleston, South Caro-
lima, where he grew up amid a cul-
tured environment. He fitted for COL
lege at Porter academy Charleston
and at the Episcopal High school near
Va, and entered the uni
versity of Virginia in the fall of 1879.
In 1888 he was graduated from that
with a degree of Nj. A, and
in the following year took his degree
in law. Immediately thereafter he en-
tered the law offices Of Brawley &
Barnwell of Charleston. In 1886 he
formed a partnership with George M.
Trenholm, under the firm name OF
Trenholm & Rhett In 1898 w. c.
Miller and in 1899 R. S. Whaley, were
admitted to the firm, which was then
Stvled Trenholm, Rhett. Miller &
1t was not long after his admission
to the bar before Mr.. Rhett attained
q prominent position in the profession,
but his energies were not confined to
the practice of law. The business OF
fertilizer manufacturing attracting his
attention as one of which could be
profitably extended he became instru-
mental in the establishment of two
large factories, and continued to take
an active and leading part in this
industry until it was concentrated in
the ownership of the Virginia. Carroll
ma Chemical company.
In 1896 he was elected president of
the South Carolina Loan and Trust
and in 1899 he acquired
interest in and became
head Of the Peoples National Bank OF
Charleston, the oldest national bank
in Charleston. The latter position ne
still retains.
Mr.. Rhett's faith in the future of
Charleston has never wavered. His
interest in it's commercial life has been
wide and deep. In the relation of a
private citizen he has touched the
business Of the city at many points,
and has unsparingly devoted his time,
thought and means to its support He
has been at one time on the board of
directors of not less than twenty five
Charleston companies.
Believing that building and loan as
sOciatiOns, when honestly and intel
ligently managed, are important fac
tors in the upbuilding of a community,
he has lent them his hearty sup
port and has himself been the presi-
dent of eight such associations. One
of the most notable achievements by
the business men of Charleston in re-
cent years has been the establishment
of the Commercial club of Charleston.
This club was shaped and organized
under the directions of Mr.. Rhett, and
he enjoyed the honor of being its first
president.
In politics. Mr.. Rhett is a cOnserva-
tive, though aggressive, Democrat,
and has taken an active part in local
state and national campaigns. He was
alderman from 1895 To 1903: mayor of
Charleston from 1903 to the present
and has again been reelected for an
other term of four years in the office
of mayor; and was delegate at large
to the Democratic national convention,
held in St Louis in 1902. In 1905 he
was elected president Of the League Of
American MunicipalitieS. The most