1904

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1904 in Clemson History

Events that occurred in 1904:

  • Scabbard and Blade is founded at the University of Wisconsin.
  • January 1: The Bank of Central is founded in Central, South Carolina, by Jeptha Norton Morgan with his brother Francis Burt Morgan, and three other businessmen, J. R. Falls, C. B. Smith, and T. M. Norris, with deposits of $22,500, Jeptha Morgan was the first president of the bank and was later succeeded as president by his brother. The Bank of Central played an integral role with the development of Central's economy during the first three decades of the twentieth century. The Bank of Central did not survive the Great Depression of the early 1930's. The bank had numerous loans on agricultural crops that it failed to collect during this time.
  • January 2: College reopens after Christmas break. Gen. James Longstreet dies in Gainesville, Georgia after contracting pneumonia. He was the last of the high command of the Confederacy.
  • January 4: "Smoking allowed - pipe in every mouth." (The Oconeean, Volume Two, 1904, page 77).
  • January 19: The cornerstone for Agricultural Hall is laid on January 19, 1904, (January 19, 5904, by the Masonic calendar), by Grand Mason J. R. Bellinger, A.F.M., and completed that same year. It is now named for Clemson's sixth president, Enoch Walter Sikes.
  • January 29: Snow falls on Clemson.
  • February 29: Baseball practice begins.
  • March 12: According to The Oconeean, Volume Two, 1904, page 78, and The State newspaper, Columbia, S.C., February 22, 1948, an incident took place on campus in which a Confederate flag was raised on the new flagpole in front of the administration building, much to the consternation of the military Commandant, First Lieutenant Edgar Alexander Sirmyer, when he returned from a day trip to Anderson, who hauled it down. The students regained control of the flag, 14 feet by 16 feet, and made by "[T]he women of the campus," and began to raise it again while the college band played "Dixie". "Observing what was going on, the commandant rushed forth and lent his feeble efforts on the other end of the lanyard in an attempt to restrain the hoisting. When he was three or four feet from the ground he let go." He then charged the cadet in charge of the rope with insubordination. The Oconeean observes on page 78 that on the following morning at inspection - "everybody burnt - trouble around flag pole."
"Then", according to the February 22, 1948 article in The State, "someone better acquainted with South Carolina youth gained the ear of the commandant and told him that the proper procedure was not force, but to talk to the boys. This the commandant did, in an hour-long eulogy of the Confederacy and the argument that now all was one nation so the Confederate flag would be lowered with full military honors. To this the students agreed and the commandant was so pleased with himself that he cancelled all demerits."
"But this did not end the incident. Some publicity was given the occurrence and the war department heard about it. The commandant was relieved of his post and it was a considerable time before congressional pressure was able to obtain a new one." Records indicate that Lt. Sirmyer served at Clemson until September 1, 1904. He was assigned the post on August 28, 1902, according to a biography published by The Oconeean, Volume Two, 1904, page 17.
  • March 18: Calhoun Society day.
  • April 7: The Anderson Traction Company is chartered by J. A. Brock to construct a streetcar system in Anderson. (Klosky, Beth Ann, "Six Miles That Changed The Course of The South", The Electric City Centennial Committee, Electric City Printing, Anderson, South Carolina, 1995, no ISBN, page 57.)
  • May 1: Field and Palmetto Society day.
  • June 5: Baccalaureate sermon given.
  • June 6: Alumni address given.
  • June 7: Commencement held.
  • September 30: New Head Coach Alonzo Sheck Shealy takes over and begins drilling his team. A former football player, four years at Clemson and two at Iowa State, he remains the only Clemson graduate (1899) to have become head football coach.
  • October 8: In a game played in Birmingham, Alabama, Clemson blanks Alabama in the teams' second meeting, 18-0, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the series.
  • October 15: Clemson drops the first home game of the season to Auburn, an 0-5 shut-out, giving Auburn a 2-1 series lead.
  • October 22: In the eighth meeting between the two teams, Clemson defeats Georgia on Bowman Field, 10-0, putting the Tigers ahead in the series, 5-3.
  • October 25: Cadet W. W. Couliette, from Clarendon, South Carolina, Clemson Class of 1908, dies this date. (TAPS 1908, page 55.)
  • October 27: In the only meeting with Sewanee, the Tigers fall, 5-11, in a match played in Columbia, South Carolina. All time record is 0-1-0.
  • November 5: Georgia Tech and Clemson play to an 11-11 tie in Atlanta, putting the series record at 4-0-1 in favor of the Tigers.
  • November 12: The Tigers defeat Tennessee, 6-0, in a road game. The Tigers hold a 2-0-1 series record.
  • November 24: In a road game, the Tigers fall to North Carolina State, 0-18, leaving Clemson ahead in the series, 3-1. Clemson has, therefore, a 3-3-1 season outcome.
  • December 24: Cadet J. P. Gossett, from Anderson, South Carolina, Clemson Class of 1908, dies this date. (TAPS 1908, page 55.)



1903 The 1900's 1905