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S. Herbert Campbell
By: Jerry Campbell
Over the last two or so years I have enjoyed the many stories, etc.
related to our hometown, Clemson, that my friends have shared from their memory.
These colorful events, places, and times come alive again as they roll
over in my mind. Memories we have held on to in this sort of way
somehow seem better than the actual situations, if that is at all
possible. Never the less, they were, indeed, the best of times and we
are fortunate to have been born to grown up in such a place and time.
Many of my friends will remember the original red brick, Esso Station,
(garage, gas station, and general store) which several have mentioned
in their correspondence as the original "Esso Club". It is of this time
and place that I wish to share a bit of history as I remember and as it
related to me and my Mother and Father, Herbert and Grace Campbell.
(Dad attended CCH and Mother attended Seneca High.)
The earliest information that I have is that in 1937 the Esso Station
belonged to a Mr. Stevenson who lived up the Highway across from the
old baseball field near our friend Rose Jones' home. Mr. Stevenson had a Mr.
Finestine managing the business for him at the time and Mr. Finestine
wanted to retire and move back to Spartanburg to live with family.
My Mother and Dad were newlyweds and both were working for the College
as the operator managers of the "Clemson College Roadside Market",
which everyone knew as the "Fruit Stand". The Fruit Stand was located
between the forks of the roads to Greenville and Anderson where we all
went to get a famous Clemson ice cream on a hot summer afternoon. I
have been told that Mr. Stevenson ask them if they would be interested
in operating the service station for him. Dad had some experience in
this as he and two of his brothers had for a year or so operated the
service station that use to stand in front of the restaurant which
became known as "Dan's" and next door to Hoke Sloans' Store". Mother
and Dad told him that when the "Fruit Stand"
closed for the winter season we will see if the job is still open. A
few days before they were to close, as Dad told me, Mr. Stevenson was
back with his offer. They agreed to operate the station until spring at
which time dad would be going to work for the Texaco Oil distributor in
Seneca which serviced Oconee, Pickens, and parts of North Carolina and
Georgia . Mr.
Stevenson agreed that this wold give him time to find someone to take
over the operation of the business. Herbert and Grace moved from their
apartment in Calhoon to the small cottage behind the Station in the fall of 1938.
Soon
they had the Esso Station back in operation and going well. I was born
in January of 1939 in that little cottage at the rear during an
unusually heavy snow and sleet storm with Doctor Bearden from Central
arriving just in the nick of time for the delivery. Early that spring
of 1939 some one was found to run the store for Mr. Stevenson and we
moved to Seneca where Dad went to work for Texaco.
Well, you would think that this is the end of Herb and Grace's
involvement with the Esso Station but this was just not the case. Late
that year I think it was in November Mr. Stevenson came to see Mom and
Dad with a proposition.
If you can just take this business over, I will let you have the
remaining inventory, live in the cottage and you need do is just rent
just rent the building from me. . Well, to shorten this story, Mom and
Dad (Herbert and
Grace) went to work at the "Esso Station" and moved into the three-room
cottage that stood to the left in the rear of the station. To Mr.
Stevenson's amazement, business was soon booming at the place that had
earlier been on the verge of closing. Dad hired a mechanic, a Mr. Jack
Garrison, to help him and soon they were in the auto repair business as
well as selling gasoline, oil and tires. Mom begin to order all sorts
of things and soon she was selling, cloth, clothing, sewing items, all
sorts of can goods, sugar, dried beans, rice. As a tot I can remember
the bins of goods all through out the store. There were items hanging
on the walls and racks and shelves full of every sort of item one could
ever think to see in a store of this sort - even work shoes, socks and
overalls- and yes - there were candy bars and soft drinks in one of
those cold water type coolers. I remember also that there was a barrel
full of cookies, the cream filling type, that mom told me she sold two
for a penny.
Soon after this we moved into our new home on Houston Drive, a little
dirt and gravel trail off the end of Sunset Avenue. Bob Polk lived just
across Sunset from where our lane turned off, and Joe Bailey, Nancy
Dillard, and Virginia Cowan lived on Sunset. Bob moved to their new
home on Dogwood soon after. Well, almost all of our Calhoon Clemson
chums lived with in a few blocks of one another.
Dad, Herb, as he was referred to, built two long wooden benches with
backs, one sat near the potbelly stove in the front of the store and
the other sat just out side the door under the windows in the drive
through service canopy. The Esso Station was the only place of business
in Clemson with a beer permit so these benches soon became so popular
with the locals that Professor Hodges, who showed up for a beer or two
almost every afternoon after his last class of the day. named the place
The Esso Club. He would tell new "club members" that the doctor said
that he needed a beer or two a day for his health, and usually stayed
on until late in the evening and then walked or got a ride to his home
on the other side of town. (Note: It was not unusual for people to walk
most places they needed to go due to the rationing of gas, oil, and
tires.) Dad has told me many the tall tales, practical jokes, and
strange things that he remembered that came from these "meetings"
around the stove - one short tale - One afternoon Mr. Roark, who lived
next door to the Catholic Church, was showing everyone the strange and
large wart that he had on the back of his hand and several of the
members told of different ways they had heard of to get rid or a wart
when Professor Hodges up and said, "I can get that off you in a few
minutes and there won't be any thing to it, no pain or any thing!"
Every one was in agreement to give him a try - even Mr. Roark - time is
wasting, this must be done! So Professor Hodges and four or five others
piled into Roark's pick-up truck and took off for the Chemistry
Building. Upon arrival Professor Hodges escorted all into the Lab and
put some Nitric Acid into a test tube and placed the tube over the wart
and gave it a slosh, when the tube came away the wart and a large piece
of flesh fell off on the table smoking. A white faced Mr. Roark
shockingly looked at a large hole in the back side of his hand - the
sore took much over view and several beer drinking weeks to heal.
The wart never returned! The brain power present at The Esso Club
during those times could have solved the mysteries of the Universe and
possibly did bring us victory in WWII.
Well, with WWII well into swing, Clemson Cadets were off to the
services, OCS training was taking place at the College, and rationing
of almost every thing requiring stamps, which were issued to every
family for accompaniment with the limited purchase for each and every
item. Dad, in addition to operating the business was working for the
Rationing Board. Sometimes I would ride with him as he went around to
the gather information from the tenant farms in the area, number of
persons in the family, each child's name, etc. I recall Dad telling me
that beer did not require rationing although the supply was limited and
with the OCS students around the demand increased along with the
membership of The Esso Club. After Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, I
can remember, the crowd of men with their beers gathering around the
stove to hear the war news from the radio. Discussion of "The War" and
related news items from every place around the globe were constant topics of discussion.
I find it amazing that even though I was a pre-school child I can
recall certain visual images in detail as related to this time in my
life. Of course, what boy would ever forget the "Merita Bread" delivery
man stepping out of this van dressed as the Lone Ranger!, also I do
remember many of the faces and names of those who gathered at the
meeting of "The Esso Club" in the early 1940's. I will not reveal any
more names but will say that many have already been named by others,
and as generations have come and gone many more have being added to the list.
Even with the 9/11 state of affairs and war in the middle east and
terrorism around the world and a threat to us presently here at home it
is still difficult to understand the mind set of our parents during
those WWII years.
During those days it was even more intense, as most people were just
recovering from the depression years and the shock of German, Italian,
and Japanese aggression surrounding us on what seemed every front. Many
young men had joined the services and the draft was in effect, thus
effecting almost every family in some way. When Dad got his draft
notice he was told that he had a deferment because of being married and
having two children and he would only be called after those with fewer
dependents in his age group had been called up. The notice also
indicated that he should get his business and personal affairs in order
for the call up. Dad found some one to take over the business and took
a job in the Naval shipyards in Jacksonville, Fla. We closed up our
home in Clemson and moved to Jacksonville Beach Florida for about 10
months or so until he received his notice to report for service. At
that point we came back to Clemson, dad went off to serve in the Army
Air Corp and I started school at Calhoon Clemson the next fall.
By: Mary Campbell Cline
My Mom, Grace, and brother, Jerry Campbell, are in the center of the picture.
The Esso Station is the brick building on the right side of the photo.
My Dad, S. Herbert Campbell, owned and ran the Esso Station during
World War II. My mother, Grace assisted him in managing the business.
During the war, the Esso station was the only local business that was
granted the right to sell automobile tires. (Automotive tires were
rationed at that time.) My parents lived in a small house that was
located behind the service station.
My oldest brother, Jerry Campbell, was born in the little house. (My
parents built and moved into a new home on Houston Drive about 1940.)
My Dad sold the Esso Station when he was drafted into World War II
(about 1944). Dad retired from Clemson University around 1979.
My Dad and I visited the Esso Club last Monday (March 6, 2006). Dad is
eighty-nine years old and has Alzheimer's disease, but he understood
where we were visiting. We enjoyed our visit.
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