ATMI Presidents

1930-1940

B. E. Geer, 1930-1931, was a professor of English at Furman University when the death of his brother called him to 20 years service in the textile industry, as president of Easley Cotton Mills, Easley, S.C. for a short time, but principally as president of Judson Mills (then called Westervelt Mills), Greenville, until 1933 when he became president of Furman.

Carson J. Callaway, 1931-1932, worked closely with the Cotton-Textile Institute during his administration to establish National Cotton Week. He served for 20 years as president or chairman of the board of Callaway Mills, retiring in 1938. He served as president of the Georgia Cotton Manufacturers Association. While he was serving in the Navy in World War I, his father, Fuller E. Callaway, was ACMA president, 1917-1918.

B. B. Gossett, 1932-1933, was the son of James P. Gossett, ACMA president in 1926-1927. He was born at Williamston, S.C., educated at Clemson College and the U.S. Naval Academy and served with the Marines in the Army of Cuban Pacification until 1907 when he joined Williamston Mills as assistant secretary. He served in the Army as a captain in the Chemical Warfare Division of World War I. Later he was president and treasurer of Chadwick-Hoskins Co., Charlotte, and the Gossett Mills, Anderson, S.C. He died November 18, 1951.

T. M. Marchant, 1933-1934, had to cope during his administration with the National Industrial Recovery Act, Cotton Textile Code No. 1 and other matters resulting from the Roosevelt administration’s depression measures. He first worked at Victor Manufacturing Co., Greer, S.C., then in Greenville as purchasing agent for the mills headed by Lewis W. Parker, later running Ottaray Mills, Union, S.C. He served as president and treasurer of Victor-Monaghan from 1923 until his death in 1939. He served three terms as president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of South Carolina and was a founder of the Cotton-Textile Institute.

W. D. Anderson, 1934-1935, known as Colonel Anderson, was founder and first chairman of the Print Cloth Group of the Cotton Manufacturers, and was a life member of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of Georgia board. His administration was much involved with the depression era federal regulations. He joined Bib Mfg. Co. as a salesman in his early 20’s, soon after being admitted to the bar, and progressed with Bibb until it became one of the country’s outstanding textile firms. He served as first chairman of the board of regents of the University of Georgia and also as chairman of the board of trustees of Wesleyan College. He died at 82, January 30, 1957.

T. H. Webb, 1935-1936, helped build Eno Cotton Mills, Hillsboro, N.C. in 1896 when he was 25, then became its first superintendent and manager. He was an officer in mills operated by W. A. Erwin and, in 1932, succeeded Erwin as president of Locke Cotton Mills, Concord, N.C. He was born in Orange County, N.C., March 5, 1871 and died April 10, 1939. He served as president of the North Carolina Cotton Manufacturers Association.

Donald Comer, 1936-1937, was son of a governor of Alabama who later became a U.S. Senator. The father, Braxton Bragg Comer, took charge of newly organized Avondale Mills in 1897 and with his sons built it into one of the foremost textile companies. Donald Comer became president and treasurer of Avondale in 1927 after the death of his father, later becoming chairman. He served the Cotton-Textile Institute as a director and as Southern vice president.

R. E. Henry, 1937-1938, was a textile executive of wide experience and a renowned civic leader in Greenville, where he made his home after graduating from Hampden-Sydney College and Philadelphia Textile Institute, working in mills in New Jersey, New Orleans, Utica, New York, and Chester, S.C. He became treasurer and general manager of Dunean Mills in Greenville in 1919 and was elected president in 1921. He was also serving as president and treasurer of Watts Mills, Laurens, S.C.; Aragon Baldwin Mills, Whitmire, S.C.; and Victor Monaghan Mills, Greenville, when they and Dunean were merged into J. P. Stevens & Co., Inc., just after World War II. He was chairman of the Greenville County Board of Commissioners in Depression days, a member of the State Board of Bank Control and president of the S.C. State Chamber of Commerce.

J. H. Cheatham, 1938-1939, faced many problems of federal legislation in his administration and gave outstanding service to the industry on the Fair Labor Standards Act. He entered the industry as secretary of Easley Cotton Mills, Easley, S.C., took over management of Hartwell Mills, Hartwell, Ga., in 1916 and then headed mills at Griffin, Toccoa and Hartwell, was president and treasurer of Dundee Mills, Inc.; Lowell Bleachery; South; Rushton Mills and Hartwell Mills. He also served as president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of Georgia and as a vice president of the Cotton-Textile Institute.

K. P. Lewis, 1939-1940, played an important part in the development of Erwin Cotton Mills Co. He was a past president of the North Carolina Cotton Manufacturers Association.