Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-04-06
HEAD MAN WAS ONCE END MAN.
Governor Anser Receives Interesting
Letter from Old-Time Friend.
COLUMBIA State.)

w
halla. One of the star end men was
Martin F.. Ansel, now Governor of
South Carolina, and the other was
9. B. Steers, now a we'll known the
atrical man. That was nearly forty
years ago. Recently Governor Ansel
received letter from his boyhood
friend asking if he was the same
Mart Ansel who sat at the other end
of the line Of entertainers at the
minstrel show given by the boys of
Walhalla for the benefit of the Pres
byterian church. The correspondence
between the two old friends is inter-
esting.
Mr.. Steers first letter Is as fol-
lows, under date of Clifton, Ohio
Il trust this letter will reach you
personally. Quite by accident l saw
your name In the roster of Cover
nors who convened in Washington a
short time since. l then wondered
If you were the same (eXcuse formal
ity) Mart Ansel whose parents, bro
theirs and sisters lived In Walhalla,
and who himself was forensic aspi-
If you are the same, do you remem-
Der the minstrel entertainment we
gave when you sat on one end and |
on the other? Sam Dendy, Harry
Hubley and your brother, John,
were the orchestra. If mistake not,
the performance was for the benefit
of the Presbyterian church. / often
think Of the dances in Ansel's hall.
! can see YOU now as you mounted
your horse to ride away to Franklin
after your last visit to Walhalla to
which | was witness.
81 have been In dramatic business
for the last % years with varying
success. Sometimes | almost thought
myself star, then a turn in the
wheel brought me to the level of old
mother earth.
81 trust this intrusion will be par
doned, but l could not refrain from
making the effort to ascertain if you
were Mart for the sake OF Aud
Lang Syne. My signature will de-
clare my identity as the son of Col.
"Thos. Steers, the contractor on the
Blue Ridge road
"lf you have time would be more
than pleased to receive a reply. Ac-
cept my congratulations. You de-
serve the height you have attained,
and then some, for know the Ansel
friend OF my boyhood days was Sans
peur ct sans reproche.
"Trusting for a reply and wishing
you years of prosperity, while fully
realizing that this effusion Is a very
unorthodoX manner Of addressing the
Chief Magistrate Of Common
wealth, am sincerely yours" etc.
Governor Ansel's Reply.
Governor Ansel addressed the fol-
lowing letter to Mr.. Steers:
II am just in receipt of your kind
favor Of the 26th instant, inquiring
If | am the same Mart Ansel who
was reared in Walhalla, who took
part in the minstrel show you refer
IL, N.
to practice law, to all Of which de-
sire to answer, 81 am the man.
81 think it very kind indeed Of YOU
to write me this pleasant letter,
wishing to know who am and what
have been doing. | will say that,
after | mounted my horse asd rode
away to Franklin, l stayed there four
years, practicing law with reasonable
success. | then went to Greenville,
S. c., having formed a partnership
with member OF the bar at that
place, and | lived in Greenville 81
years to day, when | came to CO.
lumbia to take the. oath Of Office as
Governor OF this, the greatest State
in the Union. From 50 to 'SS | was
a member Of the Legislature from
Greenville county, and from '8S to
1901, | was solicitor Of the Eighth
Judicial Circuit, which comprised the
counties Of Greenville, Abbeville,
Oconce, Anderson and Pickens. The
people have always been kind to me
much more so than | deserve
and | have tried TO do the best |
knew how in tie different positions
which | have occupied. | was elect
ed Governor in November, 1906, and
was inaugurated on the 18th Of jan
uary, 1907. ] was reelected in No
vembcr. 1908, and am now serving
the second year Of my second term.
My time eXprise in January, 1911,