The Ann Harllee Fulmore Chapter of the UDC met November 12, 2015 at the home of Mary Mac Stephens. Mrs. Mattie Strickland opened the meeting with prayer, after which everyone enjoyed refreshments of apple cake, cheese wafers, ham biscuits and punch.
The business session was called to order and the members joined in with the club ritual which was closed with prayer by Mrs. Phyllis Hagan. The minutes were read and approved, and a treasurer’s report was given by Mrs. Fay Sloan. It was reported that Mrs. Strickland and Mrs. Sloan attended the 119th Division Conference which was held in Columbia October 1-3, 2015. Everyone was reminded that the Pee Dee Division conference will be held in Myrtle Beach in February 2016.
The program for the afternoon was given by Mr. Bob Jones, a local resident, who has accumulated a wealth of historical information involving 19th century American history especially involving the Civil War years. His topic for the afternoon focused on Simon Baruch and his four sons and the great influence they had on America.
Simon Baruch, of Jewish heritage, was born in Prussia in 1840. In order to avoid mandatory service in the Prussian Army, he came to America at the age of 15 and lived with his aunt and Uncle Mr. and Mrs. Baum in Camden, South Carolina. There he worked in his uncle’s general store and learned the English language from his aunt. Because Simon was such a good student, the Baums sent him to Charleston to medical school. When Charleston was under siege in 1862, Simon went to Richmond to finish his medical training.
Upon graduating, Simon joined the Confederate Army with the 3rd Battalion led by Kershaw. During his Civil War service, Simon was twice briefly captured and imprisoned by Union troops, the second occasion being after the Battle of Gettysburg. At Gettysburg he had been one of only three Confederate surgeons ordered to stay behind to care for some 225 seriously wounded Southern soldiers left after Lee’s retreat.
Simon remained in the South until he moved with family to New York in 1881. His medical work in New York included supporting the establishment of public baths as a hygiene measure and investigating the effects of medicinal springs, as well as the treatment of appendicitis and malaria. He was the first person to perform an appendectomy.
Baruch’s family included his wife, Isabelle Wolfe of Winnsboro, and his four sons: financier and stock speculator Bernard Baruch, physician and diplomat Herman B. Baruch, actor Hartwig Baruch and banker and stockbroker Sailing Baruch.
Dr. Herman Baruch was born in South Carolina, graduated the college of New York City, attended the University of Virginia and received his medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Herman practiced medicine in New York City and later became a partner with his brothers in Baruch Brothers, an investment bank and stock brokerage. Among his other accomplishments, he served as United States Ambassador to Portugal and the Netherlands. Herman Baruch died in New York in 1953.
Hartwig Baruch was a famous actor in the 1890’s and played in theaters in Boston and New York under the stage name Nathaniel Hartwig. He and his brother Sailing Baruch did not finish college, but both of them joined the rest of their family in the financial business in New York.
Of all of Simon Baruch’s sons, the most well known was his second son, Bernard, who was born in Camden, South Carolina in 1870. He was an American financier, stock investor, philanthropist, statesman and political consultant. After his success in business, he devoted his time advising U.S. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt on economic matters.
Among Bernard’s many accomplishments and legacies, perhaps one of his greatest is Hobcaw Barony which is located in Georgetown County. Between 1905 and 1907, Bernard Baruch systematically purchased approximately 15,560 acres formerly known as Bellefield Plantation which is located on a peninsula called Waccamaw Neck between the Winyah Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Baruch developed sections of the property as a winter hunting resort. Many distinguished and well-known people such as Franklin D. Roosevelt visited there. President Roosevelt stayed there for a month in 1944. This property was later transferred to Baruch’s daughter, Belle. Upon Belle’s death in 1964, the property was transferred to the Belle W. Baruch Foundation as the Hobcaw Barony nature and research preserve. The property also includes more than forty historic buildings representing the 18th and 19th century rice cultivation industry and early-mid 20th century winter resorts. The entire property was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The Trustees of The Belle W. Baruch Foundation selected the University of South Carolina and Clemson University as educational institutions with a mandate to preserve and study the Hobsaw Barony, including the estate’s coastal ecosystems. Both universities have also formed partnerships with other schools in South Carolina that carry out research and educational programs which contribute to knowledge of coastal ecosystems.
Many books and articles have been written about the Baruchs, and many structures bear their name. They always claimed their southern United States background, and as fellow South Carolinians they have given us much to claim or disclaim.
Following the program, the meeting was adjourned.