Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1914-06-11
Who is
w. F. Stevenson?

Mr.. w. F. Stevenson is running Tor
Congress IN the Fifth District. Most
newspaper readers know something
about MIN, but he has been abusy man
and his contact with the district has
not given the people of the district
the intimate knowledge of him that
they shouldhave. We propcce in a
few articles to do this.
He was :aised on form and worked
in the field each year until he entered
college at the age Of eighteen. he
read law and taught school at the
same time and became an active law
yer in May, 1887. He was elected TO
the legislature in 1896, 1898 and l9OO
He was elected Speaker of the House
in January, 1901. and served until he
quit the House for that time. On his
election, one of the leading daily pa
pers made the following comment:
I'm the election of Mr.. w. F.
Stevenson, of Chesterfield County
to the speakership Of the house
Yesterday the expected has hap
pened. The expected by us at
least, although the result Of the
vote seems to have afforded sur
prise in other quarters. On the
18th of last May we said, we have
before referred to MIR. Stevenson
of Chesterfield County as one OF
the rising men in South Carolina
politics. He has all the essentials
for success as his career in the
House of Representatives has
shown. For the last two sessions
he has easily been the leader OF
that body. '+s
He has never been defeated in any
candidacy. He is a quick debater
with an incisive manner, and pc
culiarly attractive. although awk-
ward delivery"
The statement that he has never
been defeated has to be now qualified,
since he ran for Attorney General in
1902 and was beaten by small ma
jority. The Yorkville Yeoman said
then that he was being urged to run
for McLaurin's place and added,
...-zs ''Thsre- -ie- no. doah. that -eandt =
dates for Congress from this the
fifth congressional district would
feel greatly relieved to see him in
the senate"
The Fort Mill Times of January 80.
1901, after a visit Of its editor to the
legislature, said of him:
Tall, slender and loosely made,
with thin crop of sandy hair,
stubby moustache of the same hue
and a head that appears none too
large, one is not apt to guess the
ability of this remarkable man.
In all South Carolina he is per-
haps the most forceful speaker
and debater. with perhaps one
exception. and his elevation to
the speakership was due solely
to the recognition of his ability"
So now having left the incumbent
quietly in office for sixteen years
he asks for the opportunity to serve
his State and the Nation as a loyal
lieutenant of Woodrow Wilson.
Having in four years reached the
top in the House of repres entatives
and having also developed and shown
increased ability in the subsequent
years, both legal and legislative, we
ask why he should not be given ar
to do the same in the
House of Representatives at Wash
ington? AS a man says, who has
been present at every session of every
legislature since 1900 and knows Mr.
Stevenson and the other public men
of the State from personal acquain-
tance and observation. He will put
the fifth district on the map
Look out for a continuance of this
story next week.
Even in as big town as New York