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Langdon Dinkins Jennings was Mayor of Sumter, S. C. for ten years. He was a lawyer of long standing and had a large practice. He was also a banker of Sumter, S. C., having organized The People’s Bank early in 1900. He spent his boyhood on his father’s farm. He attended public schools and studied law at home; admitted to the bar in 1896 and was first elected Mayor of Sumter, S. C. in 1910; President of The People’s Bank, director of the Booth-Boyle Live Stock Co. and of Jennings-Blending Live Stock Co; also director of the Jennings-Gaines Furniture Co. He owned 3,500 acres of farming land in Sumter Co. He was a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Sumter, South Caroina
The original Mr. Sumter: Langdon D. Jennings
Posted: Sunday, September 14, 2014 6:00 am
BY HUBERT D. OSTEEN JR.
This column first appeared on Sunday, Sept. 10, 1989.
Try answering this history quiz:
What's the name of the man who had the longest tenure as mayor of Sumter?
No, it wasn't Bubba, nor was it someone with the last name of Creech, although the grandfather of the present mayor was in office for 12 years.
If you guessed Langdon D. Jennings, you guessed right and earned a gold star.
If you thought Bubba McElveen was colorful and controversial, you should read up on the life and career of Lang Jennings, mayor of Sumter from 1910 to 1924. He came out of semi-retirement in 1932 to run again for mayor, but Fulton B. Creech also wanted to be mayor. The confrontation between the former mayor and a rising political force on the local scene brought out 91 percent of the city's registered voters to make a choice. Imagine that - over 90 percent of the voters turning out for an election. You couldn't get that kind of response today if you had free beer at the polls.
Jennings fell short by 400 votes, Creech was elected, and the rest, as they say, is history. It was the first and certainly not the last successful venture by a Creech in Sumter politics.
But Lang Jennings deserves a place in the history books not only for serving longer than any other Sumter mayor, but also for many significant milestones occurring in Sumter during his tenure.
For one, he was the first mayor elected under the council-manager form of government established in Sumter in 1912.
What's more, he was instrumental in getting most of the city and county roads paved. By the time he left office in 1924, Sumter had more than 100 miles of paved roads radiating from the city to the county line. It was said that at that time, Sumter County had the most complete county highway system in the United States. Until the Jennings era, both city and county had lousy roads; in a period of about 10 years, we had some of the best in the United States. Indeed, Jennings' reputation as an "aggressive progressive" was well-earned.
Another notable public project that Jennings was given credit for was the construction of a new power plant for the city in 1921. Up until that time, private operators had supplied power to the city. Jennings pushed for the city to build and operate its own plant. But the plant became overloaded within a year, the transmission lines were outmoded, and the city had no money left for improvements. Having over-reached, Jennings was voted out of office in 1924 in the midst of a political upheaval over the failing power plant. His former law partner, R.D. Epps, was elected mayor.
As for the power plant, it was eventually taken over by the Yadkin River Power Co. of North Carolina, which was then absorbed by Carolina Power & Light Co. The building itself is still being used today by Sumter Electric Rewinding Co. on South Main Street next to the overhead bridge. Its tall smokestack was a Sumter landmark for years until it was removed in the '60s.
Who exactly was Lang Jennings? According to John S. Hoar, who wrote about Jennings for a Fortnightly Club paper, from which this column heavily borrows, he was a businessman, bank president, lawyer and farmer. He was highly respected and prosperous at one time until the depression of 1920 brought hard times on him and a number of clients whose money he invested, sometimes not too wisely. His financial dealings were the only blot on an otherwise illustrious public career.
A robust, red-haired man with a booming voice, Jennings was well-fitted for his role as a lawyer. Known for his litigious nature, Jennings reputedly kept other lawyers in Sumter from starving to death during the depression.
He was a generous man who put a lot of Sumterites through college with loans, many of which were never repaid, and contributed heavily to charitable and civic appeals. His support of public education was unflagging, even when it conflicted with his beloved road building. In noting where his priorities lay, Jennings once argued that if Sumter spent all its money for roads and streets without a similar commitment to education, most of Sumter's young people would be using those roads without a single thought in their heads.
Even after his financial difficulties in the '20s that led to disciplinary action by the state Supreme Court in 1931, Jennings still had a strong following in Sumter and managed to win election in 1940 to the state Senate to fill out the unexpired term of Sen. J.B. Britton, who had been killed by an automobile in Columbia. This was to be his last hurrah. He ran for re-election in 1942 and lost to Alfred Scarborough. In November of 1943, he died of a heart attack at the age of 72.
If he were around today, Jennings would be known as an entrepreneur as well as a lawyer and politician. He had his fingers in a variety of enterprises in addition to his interest in farming and banking, such as insurance, furniture and a car dealership. It seemed that Jennings dabbled in just about anything and everything going on in Sumter during his heyday.
For 14 years, he was "Mr. Sumter," and great strides forward were made while he was mayor. He may have overreached and bit off more than he could chew in his zeal to move Sumter ahead, but no one could say he wasn't in there pitching throughout a career in public service spanning some 50 years.
A mover and a shaker - and a well-meaning citizen - that was Lang Jennings.
Reach Hubert D. Osteen Jr. at hubert@theitem.com. [3, 5] |
1871 - 1943 (72 years)
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