James Lide Coker

Front: James L. Coker (1837-1918) came here from Society Hill ca. 1858 as a planter. While serving in the Civil War as a captain in Co. E, 6th Regiment SC Volunteers, he was seriously wounded. Promoted to major in 1864, he was a member of the SC House 1865-66. In 1865 he founded J. L. Coker & Co. and was a founder of the Bank of Darlington (1881); Darlington Manufacturing Reverse: Co. (1881); Hartsville Railroad (1884); Carolina Fiber (1890) and Southern Novelty (1899), both now Sonoco; Hartsville Oil Mill (1900); Hartsville Cotton Mill (1900); Coker's Pedigreed Seed Co. (1902); and the Bank of Hartsville (1903). Major Coker's generosity resulted in the founding of Coker College in 1908. His home, which burned in 1922, was located here.