• Born: Aug. 5, 1858, on Edisto Island. His father, Ambrosio Gonzales, was a general in the first revolution for Cuban independence. His mother, Harriet
  Rutledge Elliott, was a member of the S.C. aristocracy.

  • Education: Only two years of formal school, at which he excelled. Otherwise, tutored and self-taught

  • Occupation: Telegraph operator in Hampton County who wrote occasional stories for the Charleston News & Courier. Success with those stories
  launched his journalistic career. He became correspondent in Columbia, then Washington, for the Charleston paper. In 1891, he and others launched The
  State in Columbia.

  • Public office: None, but he allied himself with the former Confederate establishment while crusading for progressive change

  • Died: Jan. 19, 1903, in Columbia. Buried, Elmwood Cemetery