Volume 10, Issue 2 - Fall Edition | 2026

Honoring Those Who Serve: Remembering Elliott Harris

September is Law Enforcement Appreciation Month. The story of Elliott Harris reminds us of the daily risks that police officers face in keeping our communities safe.

Sunday, July 17, 1932, began quietly, like most days in the little town of Fort Mill. Before the day ended, two policemen would die, and a woman would set herself on a path to become the first woman sentenced to death in South Carolina’s electric chair.

Elliott “Abie” Harris grew up in Fort Mill. His father was Magistrate Robert P. Harris, and Elliott came from a large family with four sisters and five brothers. Elliott joined the Fort Mill Police force as a constable, and at age 23, he joined the York County Rural Police Force. On that fateful Sunday afternoon, he was patrolling outside Fort Mill.

Near the Flint Hill area, Patrolman Harris stopped a Ford roadster for reckless driving. The driver, Clyde Snipes, was accompanied by his wife, Beatrice, and two other passengers. Officer Harris attempted to arrest Clyde Snipes for reckless driving and driving without a license. As Patrolman Harris began handcuffing Snipes, his wife, Beatrice, came up behind Harris, grabbed the pistol from his holster, and shot him four times. With Harris critically wounded, Beatrice and Clyde took Harris’s car and drove away.

The other two passengers placed Patrolman Harris in Snipes’s car and drove him to Fennell Infirmary in Rock Hill, where he died from his wounds. After hearing that Harris had been shot, Fort Mill Patrolman Lewis Potts rode his motorcycle toward the Harris home to notify Harris’s wife. Before he reached the house, a vehicle turned in front of Potts, throwing him from his motorcycle. He later died at the same infirmary.

Beatrice Snipes surrendered to police in Charlotte. She was tried for murder, convicted, and sentenced to the electric chair. Her sentence was later commuted to life in prison. She was pardoned and released in 1945.

Patrolman Elliott Harris, 26, was buried on July 18 at Unity Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and four children. In 1996, Elliott Harris was inducted into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame.

The Fort Mill History Museum is proud to honor Elliott Harris and all of the law enforcement officers who have served our community.

Michael & Cheryl Hill

FMHM Guest Writers

In February of this year, the Fort Mill History Museum Board and I began the process of developing a new strategic plan for the Fort Mill History Museum. While our current plan has served the museum well, we recognize that as our community and museum continue to grow, our goals and priorities must evolve as well.

To help guide this process, we engaged Leadership Simplified, an outside consulting firm, and are working with its CEO, Doug Van Dyke. We have completed multiple in-person interviews and are now seeking input from the community.

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey and share your thoughts. Your feedback will help us determine the future direction and priorities of the Fort Mill History Museum. If you have additional thoughts you'd like to share, please email us at admin@fmhm.org.

Thank you for taking the time to participate. Preserving and sharing our history is an important part of understanding where we have been, supporting our community today, and helping shape where we are going tomorrow.

Christia Humburg

Executive Director

Partner Events

York County Library

Genealogy & Family History Expo

Free w/ Registration

Friday & Saturday, October 23 & 24

Courtyard by Marriott, Fort Mill

Experience the Whole Journey

As we celebrate our role in SC250, we’re reminded that we’re one meaningful piece of a much bigger story unfolding across our beautiful state. As you explore what we’re doing here, we encourage you to travel across South Carolina to experience the battlefields, historic sites, and communities that highlight the people, places, and pivotal moments that shaped our nation. Discover more and start planning your journey HERE!

Loretto and the Colonel: The Story of a Legendary Rail Car

Colonel Elliott White Springs, president of Springs Cotton Mills, made a unique purchase in May 1939. He bought a railroad car owned by steel magnate and philanthropist Charles M. Schwab for a reported cost of $2,376.50 (roughly $57,100 in 2026 dollars). Although it was suggested that it would be available for use on the Lancaster and Chester Railroad, which connected cotton mills operated by the Springs Company, there is no evidence that it ran on the railroad. It primarily sat on a railroad spur in Fort Mill near the Springs Home. In fact, by September 1939, air-conditioning had been installed in the car, and it was connected with the city water system. Colonel Springs was using it as his private office.

After the rail car’s purchase, during the summer of 1939, the train car was sent to Spartanburg, SC, for repairs. It was then sent to Lancaster, SC, and then on to Fort Mill, where it stayed for almost 40 years. During its stay in Fort Mill, the rail car was used as Colonel Springs’ office, an executive dining room, and was headquarters for the South Carolina Civil Air Patrol after Colonel Springs was named commander of the state’s organization in 1951. After his resignation from his position in 1952, the headquarters was moved back to Rock Hill. The railcar also served briefly as a temporary residence for Bill and Anne Springs Close.

 The story of the rail car purchased by Springs began in 1901, when millionaire and recently-named president of United States Steel Corporation Charles M. Schwab commissioned the private railroad car from the Pullman company. It was to be named the “Loretto,” a nod to Mr. Schwab’s boyhood home. The car contained an observation room, two bedrooms with a full bath between them, a dining room, an open section, a half bathroom, a porter’s room, and pantry and kitchen. The woodwork was done in Cuban mahogany with elaborate inlays and carvings throughout the car. Both bathrooms were finished in Italian marble. The bedroom ceilings were hand-painted, and intricate stained glass adorned the windows.

 In 1912, the Loretto was rebuilt by the Pullman Company at their shops in Calumet, Illinois. Steel underframe and sides were added and the car was reduced in size so that it would fit through the tunnels leading into New York City. In 1916, Schwab placed an order for a second private rail car, which was also to be named “Loretto.” The original rail car was subsequently renamed “Bethlehem,” in reference to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation that Schwab founded in 1905.

 Perhaps one of the Springs’ rail car’s most famous passengers was Winston Churchill. During a visit to the United States in 1929, Schwab loaned one of his private rail cars for his travel during part of the journey. Although it is hard to know for certain which of Schwab’s two private cars he lent to Churchill, some researchers believe it was the “Bethlehem.” Churchill travelled in the Schwab’s rail car from outside Yosemite in California to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and then made an 1,800 mile trip to Chicago.

After serving the Springs company for nearly 40 years (and being renamed “Lancaster and Chester 10,”, the rail car was donated to what is now the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, where it is on permanent display.

Read Full Article HERE.

Megan Brinton

FMHM Research Team

Discover What Your Membership Can Do for You!

When you join the Fort Mill History Museum, you're not just supporting our mission—you're becoming part of a our community. Enjoy exclusive access to exciting members only events, special discounts in our gift shop, and savings on select programs. Your membership helps preserve our history while offering you unique experiences! In addition to supporting the museum, here are three membership benefits that our members receive:

1. Invitation to Member Only Events - After multiple successful members only events in 2025, we look forward to introducing many more in 2026!
2. Access to Early Ticket Sales - For several of our annual events, tickets have sold out. Our members receive early access to purchase tickets for selected events.
3. A Fort Mill History Museum membership, at the Enthusiast level or above, includes a membership to the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association. NARM gives you the opportunity to explore over 1,100 museums and cultural institutions across the country at a free or discounted rate. Check out this link for more information: https://narmassociation.org/

To see other membership benefits or to become a member, please visit our website or Email krista@fmhm.org for more information.

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