Industry
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James L. Coker (1837-1918) came here from Society Hill about 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 in 1865-66. In 1865 he founded J. L. Coker & Co. and was a founder of the Bank of Darlington (1881), Darlington Manufacturing 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.
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Hartsville, South Carolina · United States
