Hartsville My Town by Carson Steen
Edited by
Betty Sue Wilkie
Hartsville
My Town by Carson Steen.
Carson W. Steen was lifetime lover of all things historical, and
most particularly the events and everyday occurrences that shaped the history of
his hometown, Hartsville. For many
years Steen quietly collected a variety of impressions and facts concerning the
town. Many topics were of
interest to Steen, the day-to-day routines of the citizens of Hartsville; the
institutions of the town, its factories, stores, schools, churches, civic clubs,
and city government; and stories from a bygone time.
A keen observer, Steen noted the events, both monumental and the trivial,
which shaped the town’s character. His
observations and interviews were collected in a series of loose-leaf notebooks
during his lifetime. These
notebooks were broadly organized into “chapters” with titles such as “My
Town,” “Model T Ford,” “Country Folk,” and “Streets and
Buildings.” After Carson W.
Steen’s death in 1987 the late Alfred Brown recognized the value of these
notebooks and encouraged the Hartsville community to preserve them. At the
urging of Brown this collection was placed with the Hartsville Museum with the
view it should be published. Under the guidance of Brown (and others) portions
of Steen's interviews with several of Hartsville's oldest citizens were
published in 1991 in Milestones: Centennial Histories of Hartsville. Several
years passed before the Old Darlington District Chapter of the SC Genealogical
Society was asked to undertake the transcription and editing of the remainder of
the Steen materials. Betty Sue
Watkins Wilkie agreed to take on this project.
Wilkie is best known to longtime Hartsville residents as one of the
former hosts of the popular WHSC radio program, “Trading Post.”
The notebooks were transferred to the genealogical chapter and Wilkie
began her work. She soon found the Steen materials to be a treasure trove of
Hartsville’s history with hundreds of details to be researched. We are
indebted to Betty Sue Watkins Wilkie for her unselfish devotion to this project.
It was surely a labor of love. Hartsville is a unique town, progressive in
character, yet mindful of preserving its history.
Carson W. Steen also recognized these facts. His memories and impressions
of Hartsville will ensure that we don’t lose sight of the significance of
those things, great and small, that help define its character.
This is Carson W. Steen’s legacy to his hometown. On Sunday, February
6th, the Old Darlington District Chapter will present a program at 3:00 p.m. at
the Hartsville Genealogical Research Library (old Hartsville Train Depot)
entitled, "Selections from Hartsville My Town by Carson Steen." The
public is invited to attend. Copies of the book will be available at that time.
Price $35.00 if picked up at the Hartsville Genealogical Research Library,
or $39.00 if mailed. 416 pages, © 2004, hard cover, full name index,
Library of Congress Number 2004106096. Order from Old Darlington District
Chapter, SCGS, P.O. Box 175, Hartsville, SC 29551-0175.
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New book on
Hartsville a delight for all readers
[Hartsville
Messenger, Friday, February 4, 2005]
Ardie Arvidson writes today in the Lifestyles section about a new book titled
Hartsville, My Town, by the late Carson Steen, compiled by Betty Sue Watkins
Wilkie.
There will be a reading and discussion this Sunday, Feb. 6, at 3 p.m. at the
Hartsville Genealogical Research Library, 114 S. Fourth St., Hartsville, (Train
Depot), where the book will be for sale.
As the story explains, Mr. Steen was a prolific chronicler of Hartsville's
people, places, events and things, and the book contains fascinating details and
historical notes that give insight into the evolution of daily life here over
the past 150 years. The most specific information spans Mr. Steen's lifetime,
from his birth on Christmas Day 1907, to his death in 1987.
Hartsville genealogist, teacher and city councilman Johnny Andrews dropped off a
copy to me last week, and I took it home to check it out. This turned into one
of those experiences in which I started reading it, and suddenly more than an
hour later I was still reading, mesmerized by the often raw, unflinching and
intimate details of everything you can imagine, including the city's smells,
sanitation procedures, diseases of the time, race relations, schools, food and
water supplies, historical notes about world events pertinent to the various
stories, social customs and often hilarious, grim and even brutal tales of
everyday life.
There are lists of the city's phone numbers, mayors and city councilmen, sports
teams and their records, short but highly detailed descriptions of local
churches, businesses and the people who owned and ran them, what they sold, and
what various jobs paid at various times.
There are lists of firemen, people who worked at Sonoco, and the names of those
who fought and died in wars dating back to the Civil War.
Most important and interesting, however, are the people Mr. Steen and others
describe. There are countless incredible characters, some telling tales
themselves and others the subject of first–hand stories. It's an invaluable
addition to the history of this town, and one that can be enjoyed by anyone from
anywhere.
There are too many great specific examples to recount here, so I'll share just
one of my favorites. Mr. Steen, in his typical style, writes about the Sam Fung
Chinese Laundry.
Sam Fung, a Chinese, ran a laundry on Sixth Street, behind the present
McCoy's Service Station (Tripp's Mini Mart today). I would take Father's shirts
to him for laundering and he would give me a slip of paper with Chinese writing
on it and wave his hand and talk in English and Chinese that I had better not
lose it.
When I went back to get the shirts he would take the piece of paper and check
the shelves behind the counter, that were filled with packages wrapped with
paper. If he could not find my package immediately he would wave his hands and
shout in Chinese until he found it.
He went to First Baptist Church and greeted people as they came on the church
grounds and gave a little money every Sunday. He sounded rough but was a kind
and gentle man.
I was told that he wanted to return to China, so some people in town donated the
necessary money for him to go.
Mr. Fung was in Hartsville in the 1920s.
Congratulations to Betty Sue Watkins Wilkie and the many others (see the book's
Acknowledgements) who made this work possible.
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