Bio: Charles William Creighton
Details: Charles William Creighton
***Charles William Creighton***
(b. January 1, 1857; d. February 10, 1943)
South Carolina. White.
Occupation: farmer, lawyer,
Father's occupation: preacher
Charles William Creighton was born in South Carolina to Frances E. Creighton and George W. M. Creighton. The father was a Methodist preacher. In 1860, the family was living in Edgefield, but they had moved to Winnsboro by 1870.
Creighton evidently entered late to the University of South Carolina. He is listed as a freshman on the classical studies track in January 1876, but he is not listed in a February 23, 1875 report. The university closed before he finished his degree.
By 1880, Creighton had returned to Edgefield and was working as a lawyer. In September, 1885, a man was lynched near Creighton's home. Edgefield resident O. T. Culbreath had been arrested for the murder of W. H. Hammond. The night of the arrest, while conferring with his lawyers, Culbreath was seized by a group of about 10 men who dragged him out of town, shot him, and left him for dead. However, Culbreath was alive, although seriously injured and was able to walk back to Edgefield. On his way back, he stopped by Creighton's house and asked for help, but Creighton thought he was a drunk acting obnoxious and did not response. Culbreath died the next day of his injuries. His murder was condemned both by Creighton and by local newspapers.
Around the late 1880s, Creighton became involved in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and moved to Cokesbury. He was made a Methodist preacher in 1887 and a presiding elder in 1904. He received appointments to the Lexington Circuit, the Santee Circuit, Newberry, Walterboro, Bennettsville, and Cokesbury.
In 1903, Creighton founded a Methodist newspaper – The Christian Appeal – and served as the newspaper's editor. The Christian Appeal had an estimated circulation of 3,000 and was based in Greenwood, South Carolina. Creighton moved to Greenwood around the early 1900s.
Creighton's newspaper work brought him in conflict with regional Methodist officials. As newspaper editor, he published articles and editorials critical of them. The presiding elders, he said, abused their authority to remain in power and increase their salaries at the expense of their preachers. One editorial that presiding elders found especially offensive stated that
When we take into consideration the competency and efficiency of the presiding elders and the amount of service which they render to the church, we discover a clear case of graft.
Church officials took action against Creighton in December, 1905 at the annual state Methodist conference. At the conference, a presiding elder preferred charges of falsehood and slander against Creighton. These charges were publicly debated for the next 5 years.
Over the course of the next year (in 1906), a committee of church officials investigated the charges in closed sessions. Ultimately they recommended that Creighton be tried on charges of falsehood and slander and immorality at the next annual conference.
At that conference, held in December, 1906, an appointed committee of 13 church officials tried the charges made against Creighton. The committee's deliberations concluded with a closed session that lasted 63 hours. At its conclusion, the committee sustained two charges of gross immorality, one based on the original complaints about falsehood and slander and one based on false and slanderous statements made after the previous annual conference. Based on this finding, Creighton was dismissed from the ministry and expelled from the Methodist Church, South.
The church's decision was hotly debated in newspaper Letters to the Editor over the next year. The matter finally came to an anticlimactic conclusion in May, 1910 (roughly 5 years after the original complaint). Creighton had appealed the South Carolina Conference's decision to the General Conference. The Committee of Appeals disallowed his appeal on technical grounds (that he had preached after taking the appeal).
Around the time he founded The Christian Appeal newspaper, Creighton became involved in politics. In September, 1904, he gave a sermon in which he spoke out against a proposed bill (the Brice Bill) to change the state liquor law. At the time, alcohol could only be purchased at state-run dispensaries, and the proposed bill would have given individual counties greater control of the dispensaries (for example, a county could forbid dispensaries). The dispensary system was largely the creation of then Governor Benjamin Tillman and was an important source of patronage for him. Both Tillman and then state Representative Coleman Blease opposed the bill.
Creighton said that he strenuously opposed the proposed bill because he supported prohibition and thus supported stronger restriction on alcohol sales. The proposed bill, he argued, would weaken existing restrictions. Creighton was criticized in a Letter to the Editor of The State newspaper. The letter writer objected to Creighton taking the same stand as Governor Tillman, a man he felt should be objectionable to any religious leader.
Creighton's later actions showed him to be a strong ally of Blease. For example, Creighton gave speeches in Greenwood in support of Blease and entertained him when he was in town. Their relationship caused them both problems in March, 1912. That year Blease was governor, and newspapers revealed that he had paid Creighton $900 (roughly equivalent to $23,000 in 2020) from the governor's contingency fund. Creighton was evasive when reporters questioned him about the payment, saying "I have absolutely no statement to make."
Governor Blease later explained that the payments were for Creighton's work as a special detective, but newspapers continued to cast suspension. They reported that the comptroller general challenged the payments on the grounds that they were not properly itemized (Creighton had simply written that the payments were for "special services rendered"). The nature of Creighton's detective work remained obscure, and some newspapers suggested the work was largely campaign work for Blease's reelection.
Blease was successfully reelected. After the election, newspapers cast further suspicion on Creighton. They reported that Creighton had submitted a bill to the comptroller general for publishing election notices, but the comptroller general held that the bill was an overcharge and only provided partial reimbursement (of $51.92 instead of the requested $81).
Newspapers largely ignored Creighton after Blease's reelection. He remained in Greenwood, and continued his work as newspaper publisher, farmer, and lawyer. In 1915, he represented a group of African Americans who claimed to have been refused voting certificates by the county board of registration. Creighton's advocacy for African American voting rights is notable in light of his support for Coleman Blease as the denial of African American rights was central to Blease's politics.
Creighton died on February 10, 1943. He is buried in Elmwood cemetery at Ninety Six in Greenwood County, South Carolina.
Sources
1). State (published as The State), February 11, 1943. Page 14.
2). 1860; Census Place: Edgefield, Edgefield, South Carolina; Page: 75; Family History Library Film: 805219.
3). 1870; Census Place: Township 3, Fairfield, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1496; Page: 73B
4). 1880; Census Place: Edgefield, Edgefield, South Carolina; Roll: 1228; Page: 1A
5). 1910; Census Place: Greenwood Ward 2, Greenwood, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1459; Page: 1B
6). 1920; Census Place: Greenwood, Greenwood, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1694; Page: 1B
7). 1930; Census Place: Greenwood, Greenwood, South Carolina; Page: 7B
8). 1940; Census Place: Greenwood, Greenwood, South Carolina; Roll: m-t0627-03815; Page: 2A
10). Edgefield Advertiser, August 28, 1879. p. 5.
11). "Rev. C. W. Creighton to Answer Charges." The State, December 15, 1905. p. 1.
12). "The Creighton Case is Now Being Heard Committee." The State, March 23, 1906. p.1.
13). "C. W. Creighton Was Expelled Upon Recommendation." The State, December 6, 1906. p. 1.
14). "Creighton Case Now is Settled Methodist Committee." The State, May 11, 1910. p. 1.
15). "Opposes Brice Bill. Cokesbury Preacher Takes." The State, September 6, 1904. p. 2.
16). ""Replies to Rev. Me. Creighton." The State. September 9, 1904. p. 4.
17). "Blease Men Meet. Some 200 Voters Form Club." The State, July 28, 1912. p, 9.
18). "Strictly a Personal Matter Rev. C. W. Creighton." The State, March 17, 1912. p. 5.
19). "Expense Account Must be Itemized. The State, May 10, 1912. pp. 1–2.
20). "Gov. Blease Interviewed in Newberry." Columbia Record, March 19, 1912. p. 6.
21). "Election Claims Reduced." The State, December 17, 1912. p. 12.
22). "Jea' Mus' Vote." Columbia Record, August 11, 1915. p. 4.
Posted 4/16/20 w/ ad for legal services from Edgefield Advertiser