The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1919-09-17
FUNERAL FOR MIR.
". =. HARRIS SUNDAY
Hundreds Present to Pay Last Re.
sprrts to Esteemed Gray Court Cit

Hundreds Present to Pay Last Re.
spccts to Esteemed Gray Court Cit
izen.
Gray Court, Sept. l4.-Thc funeral
services of w. P. Harris were held at
the Methodist church here this fore
noon at eleven o'clock. Mr.. Harris
passed away at his beautiful country
home, "Greystone," Friday night at
eleven o'clock. The exercises here
today were conducted by. Rev. f. E.
Dibble of Bethel Methodist church,
Spartanburg, assisted by Rev. w. Fl.
OWNS. Of the First Methodist church,
Woodruff, Rev. Mr.. Brooks, of the
Gray Court Methodist church and Rev.
Mr.. Hopkins, Of the Gray Court Bap-
tlst church. The numerous and ex-
quisite floral tributes and the crowd
ed church bore testimony to the high
esteem in which the deceased was
held by his fellow man. The news Of
his demise had become widely known
and many were in attendance from
Laurcns and adjoining counties. Mr..
D!bb,c. for many years a close friend
and admirer Of Mr.. Harris, paid
beautiful tribute to his memory. both
as an unusually successful business
man, and as man who wrought into
his daily life the religion which he
profcased. Indeed great man has
fallen"
y pathetic feature in connection
with the funeral was the presence of
several negroes OF the antc-bcllum
type who had lived on the place own
ed by Mr.. Harris and had come to pay
the last mark Of respect to their late
employer.
William Pinckney Harris was born
at Waterloo, S. c., June 8, 1S47. AZ
ter his marriage to Miss Lula Gray,
of Gray Court, in 1878, he moved to
Youngs Township, where he acquired
extensive property. Mr.. Harris was
a son Of Richard Harris and Jane
league Harris, the latter being a
niece Of Major McJunkin Of Revolu-
tionary fame. AS a youth of seventeen
Mr.. Harris enlisted under the colors
of the Stars and Bars and served un-
til the end Of the war While South
erner at heart, Mr.. Harris was never
biased simply because Of sectional
lines to the extent Of allowing his
heritage and environment to dull his
vision in national affairs, either in re-
gard to men or measures, IL such
measures made for better, happier
and more prosperous people. Though
devoted to his church and dcnomina-
ton Of which he was a strong sup
porter, he was a strong advocate Of
vocational training for men and wo-
men, as a result Of which he educated
four Of his hvc daughters at Win
throp and all four sons at Clemson
Up to the time Of his death he was
staunch believer in the Improvement
and development OF our public school
system and the cduaticn Of the mass
civic and religious problems.
Early in life Mr.. Harris did a great
deal Of experimental farming, en-
ploying the most improved machin-
cry, and was a contributor to agri-
cultural Journals, mainly giving to
others the benefit Of his own export
rnppS and On ono orcociOn won fret
prize offered by an agricultural pa
per by preparing the best paper on the
use Of improved machinery on the
farm. In this paper the writer SIM
ply stated what results he achieved
on his own farms. His reputation for
farming has spread from coast to
coast, and he always gave a great deal
OF thought to the growing Of small
grain and winter cover crops. He
was a strong believer in pure bred
hogs and cattle, and was one Of the
first mcp to introduce registered Jcr-
scy cattle into Laurcns county.
In 1918 Mr. Harris was honorcd by
Clemson College by having conferred
upon him certificate for "Distin-
gushcd Service to the State of South
Carolina in Agriculture" This sig
nal honor had como at that time to
only five men in the state. Mr.. Iiar-
rs is survived by Mrs. Harris and
nine children: Misses Madgc, Daisy
and Louise who live at the old home.
McssrS. r. G., r. A., j. G. and n. G..