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Tillman, Benjamin Ryan

legislator, governor, United States senator, was born Aug. 11, 1847, in Edgefield county, S. C. He followed farming as a pursuit and took no active part in politics till he began the agitation in 1886 for industrial and technical education which culminated in the establishment of the Clemson Agricultural and Mechanical college at Calhoun's old home, Fort Hill. educational reform demand for other a The demand for broadened into changes in state affairs, and he was put forward by the farmers as a candidate for governor in 1890, and was elected in November following. This was his first political office, and he was re-elected in 1892 by an overwhelming vote. His term as governor was signalized by the passage of the dispensary law for the control of the liquor traffic by the state and by the establishment of another college, the Winthrop Normal and Industrial college for Women, at Rock Hill. He was elected as a democrat to the United States senate. His term of service will expire March 3, 1901.