From These Roots

“An excellent student, success is not rare with his ambition and intelligence”- Quote about Mr. Batson from his 1948 senior yearbook page at North Greenville.

If you are at all interested in Greenville County history, you have probably heard of Mann Batson. For many years, he was known as a local historian and wrote five books about the area including “A History of the Upper Part of Greenville County”. He also had a career in public schools and served as the mayor of Travelers Rest. Not many people know, however, that Mann Batson was also an alumnus of North Greenville. He graduated from NGJC in 1948 and served as the first vice president of the Alumni Association. He later served as president of the Alumni Association in 1970 and was given the “Distinguished Alumnus” award of 1974.

William Mann Batson was born in Greenville County on December 1, 1925 to parents William “Tave” Batson and Lillie Brookshire Batson. He grew up in Travelers Rest and graduated from Travelers Rest High School before joining the military and serving in World War II. During his military service, he fought as a rifleman with the 99th Infantry Division at The Battle of the Bulge. Once the war had ended, Mr. Batson came to North Greenville Junior College where he graduated in 1948. During his time at North Greenville, he married fellow North Greenville student, Elizabeth Hand. The couple welcomed their son, Stephen, in 1952. He finished up his education at Furman where he received a B.A. in history in 1950 and later received a master’s degree.

Once he finished college, Mr. Batson began a long career in education. He served as a teacher at Tigerville Elementary School before becoming a history teacher at Travelers Rest High School. He served as the magistrate for Bates Township for a couple of years and then took a position as superintendent for Dacusville Schools. In 1961, he moved to the Lowcountry and became the superintendent of St. George Schools in Dorchester County where he stayed until around 1979.

After retiring from his career in education, Mr. Batson returned to Travelers Rest where he owned Williams Hardware for several years and served on the Greenville County Council for two terms from 1982-1990. During his second term, he served as chairman of the council and helped to preserve Campbell’s Covered Bridge. He took a break from politics for a few years and focused on writing books about local history before serving as the mayor of Travelers Rest from 1997-2001.

Mr. Batson fought hard for the preservation of The Poinsett Bridge which was given Heritage Trust Preserve status in 2003. He was also instrumental in the founding of The Travelers Rest Historical Society and pushed for the preservation of the Blythe-Goodwin-Hagood House on Highway 11. He passed away in 2017 at the age of 91 and is buried at Mountain View Memorial Park.

“I’ve never wanted to be far from the mountains. I guess that’s the reason I came back from Dorchester County; I couldn’t see Paris Mountain from there.” – Mr. Batson in a 2009 interview with The Greenville News

You can purchase some of Mann Batson’s books on the Travelers Rest Historical Society website or by visiting the History Museum of Travelers Rest.

Below is a video of Mann Batson discussing the history of The Poinsett Bridge.