From These Roots

“As the shadows touch the mountains, so the shadows of those who have loved North Greenville touch the school. And the lengthened shadow upon that hill is that of Benjamin Franklin Neves.” – Jean Martin Flynn

Benjamin Franklin Neves was born in Tigerville on March 19, 1852 to parents Alsey Neves and Ann Pool Neves. He was the youngest of 10 children known as “The Big Ten”. The Neves family owned a lot of land in the Mush Creek community and Alsey Neves built a small log schoolhouse on his property to provide an education for his own children and the other children in the community. Once the schoolhouse was in place, Ann Neves began asking traveling pastors to make Mush Creek one of the stops along their route. Eventually, in 1882, Alsey and Ann donated some of their land to Mush Creek Baptist Church when it was formally founded. Several years later, Alsey officially became a member of Mush Creek Baptist Church when he was baptized at the age of 72.

Ben Neves married Lucinda McKinney in 1874 and the couple had five children together- Emma Cora, William, Elsie, Carl, and Ralph Grady. Shortly after their marriage, Ben began studying to become a surveyor and would become one of the best in the area. In addition to becoming a successful surveyor, he also become a landowner of roughly 800 acres, a farmer, and businessman. For around 35 years, he owned the “B.F. Neves & Company” store which is today the Wood’s General Store. He was also involved in public affairs and served as the chairperson to Draft Board No. 1 in Greenville County during World War 1, served on the building committee for the Greenville County Courthouse building, and was a member of the Greenville County Charities and Corrections Commission.

Mr. Neves did not attend school beyond grammar school, but he was passionate about the education of his children and the other local children. So, when the North Greenville Baptist Association began seeking a location for a new high school in 1891, Ben Neves offered $500 and 10 acres of his own land for the project. Through his donation and the financial donations of others in the area, Tigerville was chosen as the location for North Greenville High School and Benjamin Neves was named one of the first trustees.

Throughout his life, Mr. Neves did everything he could to keep North Greenville open. He frequently served on the board of trustees and financially contributed when times were hard. There was one occasion when his daughter wanted a piano, but the school needed money for a boy’s dorm and the school won out. There was another time when Mr. Neves was going to sell property to another local man. When Dr. Donnan found out about the sale and let Mr. Neves know that North Greenville could really use that land, Mr. Neves sold it to the school instead. Timber from the Neves property was often used to build on campus.

One of the family’s biggest sacrifices for the school came around 1900 when space was needed for some male students and the principal. The Neves family moved out of their large nine-room house into a smaller five-room house down the road so that the students and principal would have a place to stay. His smaller home was located on the corner of Tigerville Road and Chinquapin Rd where the brick house is today. His larger home sat further down Tigerville Road and across from where Wood’s store is today. The larger house burned and Ben Neves replaced it with a smaller home that still stands today. The smaller house was eventually sold to North Greenville. It was used as a student center for a while before being torn down in the 1950s.

Benjamin Neves passed away on February 5, 1940 at the age of 87. He is buried in the Mush Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. His final contribution to North Greenville came after his death when his family sold his farm to the school for less than market value. In 1952, the second oldest building on campus was named in honor of Benjamin Neves. His name and legacy continue to impact North Greenville today.