Governor of the State of South Carolina




Benjamin Ryan Tillman
54th Governor of the State of South Carolina 1890 to 1894

Date Born: August 11, 1847				Date Died: July 3, 1918
Place Born: Edgefield District, SC (near Trenton, SC)				Place Buried: Ebenezer Cemetery in Trenton, SC
Residence: Edgefield District, SC				Occupation: Farmer

Left school at 17 to enlist in the Confederate States Army Governor Tillman never held a government office prior to being elected governor US Senate, 1895-1918 Tillman became seriously ill after leaving school to join the Confederate States Army, resulting in the loss of his left eye - 1864 Tillman was censured while serving in the US Senate for assaulting fellow Senator from South Carolina John L. McLaurin in the US Senate chamber - 1902 During World War I Tillman served as Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Naval Affairs Tillman was also known as "Pitchfork Ben," either for his defense of farmers' interests or because he wanted to "stick" a pitchfork "into President Grover Cleveland" The South Carolina General Assembly erected a monument to Governor Tillman - 1940 Clemson University's Benjamin Ryan Tillman Society was named for Governor Tillman Tillman Hall at Winthrop University was named for Governor Tillman Tillman, Benjamin Ryan, a Senator from South Carolina; born near Trenton, Edgefield County, S.C., August 11, 1847; pursued an academic course; left school in 1864 to join the Confederate Army, but was stricken with a severe illness; engaged in agricultural pursuits; Governor of South Carolina 1890-1894; established Clemson College and Winthrop College while Governor; member of the State constitutional convention in 1895; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1894; reelected in 1901, 1907 and 1913 and served from March 4, 1895, until his death; censured by the Senate in 1902 after assaulting another Senator on the Senate floor; chairman, Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Fifty-seventh through Fifty-ninth Congresses), Committee on Five Civilized Tribes of Indians (Sixty-first and Sixty-second Congresses), Committee on Naval Affairs (Sixty-third through Sixty-fifth Congresses); Tillman was known as “Pitchfork Ben” during his years in the Senate; died in Washington, D.C., July 3, 1918; interment in Ebenezer Cemetery, Trenton, S.C.

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