Glendale's Palmetto
Ramblers
Story furnished by Clarence Crocker
The Glendale “Palmetto
Ramblers” was a Country/Western String band composed of
Paul Crocker, J. C. Quinn, Eugene White and Clarence
Crocker (this writer) of Glendale, S.C. We played over
Spartanburg’s WSPA am Radio for a few months in 1938.
Going on the air February 17, 1930, WSPA am radio was
the first commercial radio station in S.C. As I
remember, the station was located just off Main Street
about half block down on South Liberty street. Mr.
Virgil Evans was the owner. Scotty The Drifter, Cliff
Gray (Farmer Gray), Fred Gentry with Hal Moore at the
organ were all big names in local radio at that time.
Crazy Water Crystals, Vim Herb and Scalf’s Indian River
Medicine were big radio advertisers.
Crazy Water Crystals
were supposed to aid in relieving the pains of some 10
different human ailments, everything from sore eyes to
rheumatism. Scalf’s Indian River Medicine was a tonic
supposedly made from some 22 different herbs which was
supposed to help appetites while Vim Herb was supposed
to be the best natural laxative available. As a matter
of fact, many a bottle or package of these products were
sold in the Glendale Mills Store in the thirties,
forties and fifties.
Paul the leader,
played the fiddle which was featured at least once in
every program. He delighted in playing such tunes as, The Orange Blossom Special,
Old Joe Clark,
Turkey In The Straw,
or Little Liza Jane.
It was in fact an old type violin which most people
called “fiddle“ in that day. It was hand crafted and had
a rattle snake rattler inside which was supposed to give
it certain special sounds.
J.C. and Eugene who
were brothers, played guitar and I must say, they played
them well. They had terrific musical voices and did all
our solos and duets. For the most part, I played the
banjo. Except for the fiddle which only Paul played, we
all exchanged instruments from time to time, playing the
guitar, banjo, mandolin and the ukulele. Of course we
all sang as a group at least once on most every
program.
Our program was aired
once a week. Our theme song was, “Put On Your Old Gray
Bonnet”. The chorus went something like this,
"now Lisa sat down on her bonnet with a bumble bee upon
it, she did not know the bumble bee was there, the
bumble bee got busy and stung poor Liza..on her golden
wedding day day”.
We played bluegrass,
ragtime, polkas and sang popular country western. Also
popular folk songs of that day such as, Blue Moon, Tumbling, Tumble Weeds,
Back In The Saddle
Again, Buffalo
Gals, Home
on the Range, You are My Sunshine, Listen to the Mockingbird,
Goodnight Irene
and Mama Won’t Allow.
One of the most popular songs of that day was an old
folk song which I believe came out of the 1800s entitled
“Wabash Cannonball
”. Roy Acuff recorded the song about 1936 and it was
reported that 10 million copies were sold. We always had
one or two gospel songs about the middle of our
programs.
Though we had
invitations to play on other programs, we had to turn
them down due to work and other interests, (I was still
in High School). As these began to claim more and more
of our time, not allowing for practice, it resulted in
our disbanding since we had no interest of making music
our goal of life.
J. C. Quinn and Eugene
White were blood brothers but due to their mother’s
death, (appendicitis) they were adopted by their aunts
and their husbands when they were just small children.
J. C, was about 2-1/2 years old and Eugene was about 6
months old. They were both born in Converse, S. C. and
were the sons of Mr. Ernest and Mrs. Rosy Mae Crossley
Quinn.
J. C, Quinn was born
June 2, 1918 and was adopted by Mr. Minor and Mrs. Pearl
Crossley Riddle of Glendale. They did not choose to have
his name changed.
J. C’s first job was in Glendale Mill’s weave
room. He entered the Army during WW2, doing service in
Germany under the Command of General Patton. He also
did service in Korea, retiring from the army in 1970
after 26 years of service. Moving to Georgia, he was
employed by the Georgia State Department of
Corrections.
J.C. was first married
to Miss. Edith Frances of Glendale, S. C. and they were
the parents of seven children; Eddy, Gene, Jimmy,
Robert, Dorothy, Judy and Sue. Following their divorce,
J. C. married Miss. Merline Kuehnle in Germany. They
were the parents of one child; Jackie. Following their
divorce, J. C’s third marriage was to Miss. Ute Roewer
of Neustrelitz, Germany. They have been married some 40
years and have no children . Moving back to Glendale in
2010, they bought the house on Jackson street located
directly in front of the house J.C. lived in with his
Aunt and Uncle when coming to Glendale as a child.
In my visit with J.C.
and his wife in Glendale on January 3, 2011, I was
greeted with a big smile and a warm welcome. It had been
over 50 years since we had been able to sit down and
talk. I found J.C. to be the same friendly and jovial
guy I had come to know some 75 years before. It was hard
to believe that he was 92 years old. His wife has a
wonderful personality and a big smile. She was gracious
to both J.C. and myself during my visit. She was quick
to get info and pictures of J. C. together for this
article. My deep appreciation is extended to them for
their assistance in pulling this story together,
Eugene Quinn White was
born December 11, 1920 and was adopted by Mr. Boyce and
Mrs. Della Crossley White of Glendale and chose to have
his name changed.
His first job was with
Glendale Mills where he worked in the cloth room.
Leaving Glendale Mills, he was employed by Duke Power
Company as a bus driver which he continued to do until
he was moved inside as a sales representative.
Eugene had
married Miss Lee Mira Sherbert of Spartanburg, S. C. and
they were the parents of three children, Dianne, Sandra
and Gerald. He was a member of the Glendale Baptist
Church, the Spartan Masonic Lodge #70 and the Hejaz
Temple. He was a WW2 Army Veteran and served also in the
Korean conflict.
One day while driving
with his son he saw a lady have a very bad wreck. The
car burst into flames. Eugene stopped, ran over and
pulled the lady out of the car preventing her from
burning to death. For his act of compassion and heroism
he received Duke Power’s highest Robinson Award and was
moved to the sales office where he became the top
salesman.
He was working with
Duke at the time of his death. His obituary appearing in
the Spartanburg Herald and Journal on January 15, 1975
stated that he had died on Tuesday January 14, 1975 at
5:15 PM in the Mary Black Hospital at the age of 54.It
also stated that he had been a salesman for Duke for 31
years.
His funeral was held
at Floyd Mortuary with interment following in the
Greenlawn Memorial Gardens in Spartanburg. He was
survived by his wife Mrs. Lee Mira White and two
daughters; Mrs. Dianne Fowler of Lima, Ohio and Mrs.
Sandra Crowe of Lake Bowen, S. C.; one son, Gerald White
of Spartanburg; one brother, J.C. Quinn of Atlanta, Ga.
and six grandchildren.
Eugene was a peach of
a guy, friendly and always dressed immaculately. During
the days of our radio program he drove a new red and
white Plymouth pickup truck. Continuously washing and
polishing the truck, it sparkled like new money. His
brother J. C. jokingly told him that he had washed and
polished the truck so much, it turned to a pale
pink.
J.C. and Eugene
were two of the nicest and best friends anyone could
ever have. I am glad they were my friends.
Incidentally, they
have a sister Ethel Smith who at 84 years of age, has a
“Dixie Jazz Band” in which she plays the banjo and
sings. Among other places, they perform on an Alaskan
Cruise Ship from time to time.
My appreciation to
Dianne and her husband, Newell Fowler, another good
friend of old times, for their help in getting dates and
pictures together for me.
Paul Revere Crocker
was the son of Albert E and Ella Elnora Crocker and was
the brother of this writer. He was born September 25,
1919 in the family home on the Glendale/Clifton
road.
Paul married Miss.
Nellie Geneva Johnson daughter of Mr. John Jessie and
Mrs. Eliza Melinda Neely Johnson. She was born in their
home in Hancock, Tenn. Paul and Nell became the parents
of one daughter, Martha Ann.
Paul’s first job
outside the family farm, was in Glendale Mills for a
short while. He was self employed, operating a dry
cleaning route at the time we were playing as a band. In
September of 1939 ,at the age of nineteen, Paul was
employed by Liberty Life Insurance Company as a
Insurance Salesman where he remained, except for a three
year tour of military service, until he retired.
Paul was a veteran of
WW2 having served in the U. S. Army in numerous places
in the Pacific theater. He was credited with silencing a
Japanese machine gun position in Okinawa. He was
discharged as a Technical Sgt. (First Class) having been
awarded a Purple Heart for injury received in action and
a Bronze Star for Heroic Action.
Paul was a member of
the Glendale Baptist Church for 54 years and had served
as a member of the choir, taught the Young Men’s Bible
class and had served as Sunday School Superintendent
during which time the Sunday School experienced it’s
largest attendance in history having 602 persons in
study one Sunday morning. He received a 47 year perfect
attendance Sunday School pin.
Following the death of
his wife, Nell Johnson Crocker on September 23, 1987,
Paul married Mrs. Janie Sprouse of Clifton, S. C.
Paul died on October
19, 2000 from pancreatic cancer. His funeral was held in
the Glendale Baptist Church with interment following in
the Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, Spartanburg, S. C. I was
honored by being asked to bring the message for the
service. He was survived by his wife, Janie; his
daughter Martha and her husband, Ben Dearybury and two
grandchildren.
