~~The Index-Journal (Greenwood, SC) Sunday, 31 Mar 1996
"Ninety Six Author honored with posthumous induction"
Elliott Crayton McCants and he was born in 1865 at "Silent Hill" Plantation (4 months after the final Confederate defeat) (died in 1953). The Plantation was the home of his maternal grandfather and was located close to Ninety Six."
Elliott Crayton McCants was the son of Confederate Surgeon (Nathaniel) Stephen McCants
Confederate Surgeon (Nathaniel) Stephen McCants was the son of Squire Nathaniel McCants
("Thomas and Nathaniel McCants were sons of James and Jean McCants (first cousins), Justice of the Peace for Craven County (NC). James McCants was the son of David McCants. Both James and David McCants were immigrants who arrived in Charleston in the 1700s")
Charleston - Ninety Six author Elliott Crayton McCants, was honored recently by being inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors. McCants grew up near the old village of Ninety Six, attended the village's schools, taught for his first year in an old field school in Abbeville. His second year of teaching was at Greenwood Male High School, where he was an editor of one of the town's newspapers.
He came to Anderson in 1900 as Principal of Anderson High School. In 1907, he became Superintendent of Andersons Schools. He served as Superintendent through the Depression and through two world wars, until he retired in 1945 at the age of 80.
McCants Middle School in Anderson is named for him.
He heard relatives tell of the Indian trading post and of the bustle when the village became the courthouse town for the Ninety Six District. Astride a colt, he broke himself, he often rode to Star Redoubt and explored - his childhood imagination peopling the garrison with British troops under Cruger and rebels under Greene.
Education came first from his mother, who taught him at home, then from neighborhood schools. High school classes were held in the back of a store building, where Thomas Duckett, who had done graduate work in Germany, was his master.
Because his father was dead (his father died in 1875) and the family was poor, McCants assumed that his education would end with High School. But, his teacher urged him to take the competitive exam to The Citadel which was reopening after the Civil War. He and his step-father (His mother, Ettie Elliott Poole McCants married again to Thomas Lake Moore) rode in a horse-drawn buggy to Abbeville where he took the exam and won first place in Abbeville County.
When he graduated from The Citadel, he owed the state two years of teaching, because he had received a "beneficiary scholarship" with "a solitary fifty-cent piece" in his pocket, he came home.
His first job was in Abbeville, teaching 30 to 35 boys in an old field school in Dr J W Marshall's yard on Magazine Hill. Pay for the year was $75. Until he made enough money to buy a suite, he taught in his Citadel uniform.
Shortly after that, McCants and Tressa Lipscomb eloped in a buggy from Ninety Six to the Presbyterian Rectory in Greenwood, where a Mr Matthews performed the wedding ceremony.
For the next 11 years, McCants taught throughout the south - in Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, Arkansas and Blackville.
In 1927, the University of South Carolina bestowed on McCants an honorary doctor of literature degree. In 1929 The Citadel conferred on him an honorary doctor of laws degree.
E C and Tressa were the parents of 8 children.
Elliott Lipscomb McCants (1890-1960) 179367830
Mattie Lou McCants Mellichamp (1893-1963) 101990587
Edwin Clyde McCants (1894-1969) 110937820
Tressa Lipscomb McCants (1897-1947) 101990952
Mary M McCants Crawford (1899-1982) 19310073
Nelle McCants Hair (1901-1999) 125952521
Robert Crayton McCants (1907-1968) 173017704
Thomas Coleman McCants (1908-1954) 28835560
~~~Elliott Crayton McCants' Death Certificate shows:
Born: 2 Sept 1865 in Ninety Six, SC
Husband of the late Tressa Lipscomb
Died: 23 Oct 1853 at his home: 1009 Power Street, Anderson, SC
Father: Dr Nathanial S (Stephen) McCants
Mother: Ettie E Poole
~~~The Greenville News (Greenville, SC) Saturday, Oct 24, 1953
Anderson, SC - Oct 23 - Dr Elliott Crayton McCants, 8, superintendent emeritus of Anderson City Schools, died tonight at his home here.
A native of Ninety Six, Dr McCants joined the faculty of Anderson Schools in 1900 and was elected superintendent of schools in 1907. He served until 1945 when he retired. He continued affiliated with school affairs until ill health curtained his activities several months ago.
He was secretary of the South Carolina Teacher's Association from 1910-13, and President from 1920-22.
He was the author of several books dealing with South Carolina history, especially pertaining to old Ninety Six District.
He was graduated from The Citadel in 1886. He held honorary degrees from both The Citadel and the University of South Carolina. In 1940, he received the Distinguished Service Plaque of the South Carolina American Legion.
Survived by 4 sons and 3 daughters.
~~~The Index-Journal (Greenwood, South Carolina) · Mon, Nov 2, 1953
An educator who truly believed in education was Dr Elliott Crayton McCants. When he retired in 1949, he had been teaching 58 years, most of the time as superintendent of schools in Anderson. He died there recently at the age of 86.
A graduate of The Citadel in the class of 1886, Dr McCants held a scholarship which required that he teach school two years in the county from which he was appointed. He started in Abbeville, and with the exception of a year when he went to farming, was a teacher and superintendent the rest of his active career. The year he was farming was a bad one for crops. He went broke and returned to the classroom.
"Ninety Six Author honored with posthumous induction"
Elliott Crayton McCants and he was born in 1865 at "Silent Hill" Plantation (4 months after the final Confederate defeat) (died in 1953). The Plantation was the home of his maternal grandfather and was located close to Ninety Six."
Elliott Crayton McCants was the son of Confederate Surgeon (Nathaniel) Stephen McCants
Confederate Surgeon (Nathaniel) Stephen McCants was the son of Squire Nathaniel McCants
("Thomas and Nathaniel McCants were sons of James and Jean McCants (first cousins), Justice of the Peace for Craven County (NC). James McCants was the son of David McCants. Both James and David McCants were immigrants who arrived in Charleston in the 1700s")
Charleston - Ninety Six author Elliott Crayton McCants, was honored recently by being inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors. McCants grew up near the old village of Ninety Six, attended the village's schools, taught for his first year in an old field school in Abbeville. His second year of teaching was at Greenwood Male High School, where he was an editor of one of the town's newspapers.
He came to Anderson in 1900 as Principal of Anderson High School. In 1907, he became Superintendent of Andersons Schools. He served as Superintendent through the Depression and through two world wars, until he retired in 1945 at the age of 80.
McCants Middle School in Anderson is named for him.
He heard relatives tell of the Indian trading post and of the bustle when the village became the courthouse town for the Ninety Six District. Astride a colt, he broke himself, he often rode to Star Redoubt and explored - his childhood imagination peopling the garrison with British troops under Cruger and rebels under Greene.
Education came first from his mother, who taught him at home, then from neighborhood schools. High school classes were held in the back of a store building, where Thomas Duckett, who had done graduate work in Germany, was his master.
Because his father was dead (his father died in 1875) and the family was poor, McCants assumed that his education would end with High School. But, his teacher urged him to take the competitive exam to The Citadel which was reopening after the Civil War. He and his step-father (His mother, Ettie Elliott Poole McCants married again to Thomas Lake Moore) rode in a horse-drawn buggy to Abbeville where he took the exam and won first place in Abbeville County.
When he graduated from The Citadel, he owed the state two years of teaching, because he had received a "beneficiary scholarship" with "a solitary fifty-cent piece" in his pocket, he came home.
His first job was in Abbeville, teaching 30 to 35 boys in an old field school in Dr J W Marshall's yard on Magazine Hill. Pay for the year was $75. Until he made enough money to buy a suite, he taught in his Citadel uniform.
Shortly after that, McCants and Tressa Lipscomb eloped in a buggy from Ninety Six to the Presbyterian Rectory in Greenwood, where a Mr Matthews performed the wedding ceremony.
For the next 11 years, McCants taught throughout the south - in Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, Arkansas and Blackville.
In 1927, the University of South Carolina bestowed on McCants an honorary doctor of literature degree. In 1929 The Citadel conferred on him an honorary doctor of laws degree.
E C and Tressa were the parents of 8 children.
Elliott Lipscomb McCants (1890-1960) 179367830
Mattie Lou McCants Mellichamp (1893-1963) 101990587
Edwin Clyde McCants (1894-1969) 110937820
Tressa Lipscomb McCants (1897-1947) 101990952
Mary M McCants Crawford (1899-1982) 19310073
Nelle McCants Hair (1901-1999) 125952521
Robert Crayton McCants (1907-1968) 173017704
Thomas Coleman McCants (1908-1954) 28835560
~~~Elliott Crayton McCants' Death Certificate shows:
Born: 2 Sept 1865 in Ninety Six, SC
Husband of the late Tressa Lipscomb
Died: 23 Oct 1853 at his home: 1009 Power Street, Anderson, SC
Father: Dr Nathanial S (Stephen) McCants
Mother: Ettie E Poole
~~~The Greenville News (Greenville, SC) Saturday, Oct 24, 1953
Anderson, SC - Oct 23 - Dr Elliott Crayton McCants, 8, superintendent emeritus of Anderson City Schools, died tonight at his home here.
A native of Ninety Six, Dr McCants joined the faculty of Anderson Schools in 1900 and was elected superintendent of schools in 1907. He served until 1945 when he retired. He continued affiliated with school affairs until ill health curtained his activities several months ago.
He was secretary of the South Carolina Teacher's Association from 1910-13, and President from 1920-22.
He was the author of several books dealing with South Carolina history, especially pertaining to old Ninety Six District.
He was graduated from The Citadel in 1886. He held honorary degrees from both The Citadel and the University of South Carolina. In 1940, he received the Distinguished Service Plaque of the South Carolina American Legion.
Survived by 4 sons and 3 daughters.
~~~The Index-Journal (Greenwood, South Carolina) · Mon, Nov 2, 1953
An educator who truly believed in education was Dr Elliott Crayton McCants. When he retired in 1949, he had been teaching 58 years, most of the time as superintendent of schools in Anderson. He died there recently at the age of 86.
A graduate of The Citadel in the class of 1886, Dr McCants held a scholarship which required that he teach school two years in the county from which he was appointed. He started in Abbeville, and with the exception of a year when he went to farming, was a teacher and superintendent the rest of his active career. The year he was farming was a bad one for crops. He went broke and returned to the classroom.
~~The Index-Journal (Greenwood, SC) Sunday, 31 Mar 1996
"Ninety Six Author honored with posthumous induction"
Elliott Crayton McCants and he was born in 1865 at "Silent Hill" Plantation (4 months after the final Confederate defeat) (died in 1953). The Plantation was the home of his maternal grandfather and was located close to Ninety Six."
Elliott Crayton McCants was the son of Confederate Surgeon (Nathaniel) Stephen McCants
Confederate Surgeon (Nathaniel) Stephen McCants was the son of Squire Nathaniel McCants
("Thomas and Nathaniel McCants were sons of James and Jean McCants (first cousins), Justice of the Peace for Craven County (NC). James McCants was the son of David McCants. Both James and David McCants were immigrants who arrived in Charleston in the 1700s")
Charleston - Ninety Six author Elliott Crayton McCants, was honored recently by being inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors. McCants grew up near the old village of Ninety Six, attended the village's schools, taught for his first year in an old field school in Abbeville. His second year of teaching was at Greenwood Male High School, where he was an editor of one of the town's newspapers.
He came to Anderson in 1900 as Principal of Anderson High School. In 1907, he became Superintendent of Andersons Schools. He served as Superintendent through the Depression and through two world wars, until he retired in 1945 at the age of 80.
McCants Middle School in Anderson is named for him.
He heard relatives tell of the Indian trading post and of the bustle when the village became the courthouse town for the Ninety Six District. Astride a colt, he broke himself, he often rode to Star Redoubt and explored - his childhood imagination peopling the garrison with British troops under Cruger and rebels under Greene.
Education came first from his mother, who taught him at home, then from neighborhood schools. High school classes were held in the back of a store building, where Thomas Duckett, who had done graduate work in Germany, was his master.
Because his father was dead (his father died in 1875) and the family was poor, McCants assumed that his education would end with High School. But, his teacher urged him to take the competitive exam to The Citadel which was reopening after the Civil War. He and his step-father (His mother, Ettie Elliott Poole McCants married again to Thomas Lake Moore) rode in a horse-drawn buggy to Abbeville where he took the exam and won first place in Abbeville County.
When he graduated from The Citadel, he owed the state two years of teaching, because he had received a "beneficiary scholarship" with "a solitary fifty-cent piece" in his pocket, he came home.
His first job was in Abbeville, teaching 30 to 35 boys in an old field school in Dr J W Marshall's yard on Magazine Hill. Pay for the year was $75. Until he made enough money to buy a suite, he taught in his Citadel uniform.
Shortly after that, McCants and Tressa Lipscomb eloped in a buggy from Ninety Six to the Presbyterian Rectory in Greenwood, where a Mr Matthews performed the wedding ceremony.
For the next 11 years, McCants taught throughout the south - in Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, Arkansas and Blackville.
In 1927, the University of South Carolina bestowed on McCants an honorary doctor of literature degree. In 1929 The Citadel conferred on him an honorary doctor of laws degree.
E C and Tressa were the parents of 8 children.
Elliott Lipscomb McCants (1890-1960) 179367830
Mattie Lou McCants Mellichamp (1893-1963) 101990587
Edwin Clyde McCants (1894-1969) 110937820
Tressa Lipscomb McCants (1897-1947) 101990952
Mary M McCants Crawford (1899-1982) 19310073
Nelle McCants Hair (1901-1999) 125952521
Robert Crayton McCants (1907-1968) 173017704
Thomas Coleman McCants (1908-1954) 28835560
~~~Elliott Crayton McCants' Death Certificate shows:
Born: 2 Sept 1865 in Ninety Six, SC
Husband of the late Tressa Lipscomb
Died: 23 Oct 1853 at his home: 1009 Power Street, Anderson, SC
Father: Dr Nathanial S (Stephen) McCants
Mother: Ettie E Poole
~~~The Greenville News (Greenville, SC) Saturday, Oct 24, 1953
Anderson, SC - Oct 23 - Dr Elliott Crayton McCants, 8, superintendent emeritus of Anderson City Schools, died tonight at his home here.
A native of Ninety Six, Dr McCants joined the faculty of Anderson Schools in 1900 and was elected superintendent of schools in 1907. He served until 1945 when he retired. He continued affiliated with school affairs until ill health curtained his activities several months ago.
He was secretary of the South Carolina Teacher's Association from 1910-13, and President from 1920-22.
He was the author of several books dealing with South Carolina history, especially pertaining to old Ninety Six District.
He was graduated from The Citadel in 1886. He held honorary degrees from both The Citadel and the University of South Carolina. In 1940, he received the Distinguished Service Plaque of the South Carolina American Legion.
Survived by 4 sons and 3 daughters.
~~~The Index-Journal (Greenwood, South Carolina) · Mon, Nov 2, 1953
An educator who truly believed in education was Dr Elliott Crayton McCants. When he retired in 1949, he had been teaching 58 years, most of the time as superintendent of schools in Anderson. He died there recently at the age of 86.
A graduate of The Citadel in the class of 1886, Dr McCants held a scholarship which required that he teach school two years in the county from which he was appointed. He started in Abbeville, and with the exception of a year when he went to farming, was a teacher and superintendent the rest of his active career. The year he was farming was a bad one for crops. He went broke and returned to the classroom.
"Ninety Six Author honored with posthumous induction"
Elliott Crayton McCants and he was born in 1865 at "Silent Hill" Plantation (4 months after the final Confederate defeat) (died in 1953). The Plantation was the home of his maternal grandfather and was located close to Ninety Six."
Elliott Crayton McCants was the son of Confederate Surgeon (Nathaniel) Stephen McCants
Confederate Surgeon (Nathaniel) Stephen McCants was the son of Squire Nathaniel McCants
("Thomas and Nathaniel McCants were sons of James and Jean McCants (first cousins), Justice of the Peace for Craven County (NC). James McCants was the son of David McCants. Both James and David McCants were immigrants who arrived in Charleston in the 1700s")
Charleston - Ninety Six author Elliott Crayton McCants, was honored recently by being inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors. McCants grew up near the old village of Ninety Six, attended the village's schools, taught for his first year in an old field school in Abbeville. His second year of teaching was at Greenwood Male High School, where he was an editor of one of the town's newspapers.
He came to Anderson in 1900 as Principal of Anderson High School. In 1907, he became Superintendent of Andersons Schools. He served as Superintendent through the Depression and through two world wars, until he retired in 1945 at the age of 80.
McCants Middle School in Anderson is named for him.
He heard relatives tell of the Indian trading post and of the bustle when the village became the courthouse town for the Ninety Six District. Astride a colt, he broke himself, he often rode to Star Redoubt and explored - his childhood imagination peopling the garrison with British troops under Cruger and rebels under Greene.
Education came first from his mother, who taught him at home, then from neighborhood schools. High school classes were held in the back of a store building, where Thomas Duckett, who had done graduate work in Germany, was his master.
Because his father was dead (his father died in 1875) and the family was poor, McCants assumed that his education would end with High School. But, his teacher urged him to take the competitive exam to The Citadel which was reopening after the Civil War. He and his step-father (His mother, Ettie Elliott Poole McCants married again to Thomas Lake Moore) rode in a horse-drawn buggy to Abbeville where he took the exam and won first place in Abbeville County.
When he graduated from The Citadel, he owed the state two years of teaching, because he had received a "beneficiary scholarship" with "a solitary fifty-cent piece" in his pocket, he came home.
His first job was in Abbeville, teaching 30 to 35 boys in an old field school in Dr J W Marshall's yard on Magazine Hill. Pay for the year was $75. Until he made enough money to buy a suite, he taught in his Citadel uniform.
Shortly after that, McCants and Tressa Lipscomb eloped in a buggy from Ninety Six to the Presbyterian Rectory in Greenwood, where a Mr Matthews performed the wedding ceremony.
For the next 11 years, McCants taught throughout the south - in Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, Arkansas and Blackville.
In 1927, the University of South Carolina bestowed on McCants an honorary doctor of literature degree. In 1929 The Citadel conferred on him an honorary doctor of laws degree.
E C and Tressa were the parents of 8 children.
Elliott Lipscomb McCants (1890-1960) 179367830
Mattie Lou McCants Mellichamp (1893-1963) 101990587
Edwin Clyde McCants (1894-1969) 110937820
Tressa Lipscomb McCants (1897-1947) 101990952
Mary M McCants Crawford (1899-1982) 19310073
Nelle McCants Hair (1901-1999) 125952521
Robert Crayton McCants (1907-1968) 173017704
Thomas Coleman McCants (1908-1954) 28835560
~~~Elliott Crayton McCants' Death Certificate shows:
Born: 2 Sept 1865 in Ninety Six, SC
Husband of the late Tressa Lipscomb
Died: 23 Oct 1853 at his home: 1009 Power Street, Anderson, SC
Father: Dr Nathanial S (Stephen) McCants
Mother: Ettie E Poole
~~~The Greenville News (Greenville, SC) Saturday, Oct 24, 1953
Anderson, SC - Oct 23 - Dr Elliott Crayton McCants, 8, superintendent emeritus of Anderson City Schools, died tonight at his home here.
A native of Ninety Six, Dr McCants joined the faculty of Anderson Schools in 1900 and was elected superintendent of schools in 1907. He served until 1945 when he retired. He continued affiliated with school affairs until ill health curtained his activities several months ago.
He was secretary of the South Carolina Teacher's Association from 1910-13, and President from 1920-22.
He was the author of several books dealing with South Carolina history, especially pertaining to old Ninety Six District.
He was graduated from The Citadel in 1886. He held honorary degrees from both The Citadel and the University of South Carolina. In 1940, he received the Distinguished Service Plaque of the South Carolina American Legion.
Survived by 4 sons and 3 daughters.
~~~The Index-Journal (Greenwood, South Carolina) · Mon, Nov 2, 1953
An educator who truly believed in education was Dr Elliott Crayton McCants. When he retired in 1949, he had been teaching 58 years, most of the time as superintendent of schools in Anderson. He died there recently at the age of 86.
A graduate of The Citadel in the class of 1886, Dr McCants held a scholarship which required that he teach school two years in the county from which he was appointed. He started in Abbeville, and with the exception of a year when he went to farming, was a teacher and superintendent the rest of his active career. The year he was farming was a bad one for crops. He went broke and returned to the classroom.
Gravesite Details
Anderson County Cemeteries, Vol. 6, p. 29.
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