Volume 6, Issue 2- Summer Edition | 2022 |
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The Best There Ever Was: "Tackhole Lee" |
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Perfection is a rare thing, but Thomas Lee achieved it a couple of times. Thomas Kirkpatrick Lee was born in 1888 on Doby’s Bridge Road, just south of Fort Mill. Like most boys of his time, he owned a rifle and liked to hunt. Unlike most boys, Thomas had a sharp eye and a steady hand. At age 24, he began entering competitive shooting meets. |
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Competing in a Championship Match in 1913, Thomas Lee set the world rifle record, scoring 1999 bullseyes out of 2000 shots. The next year he bested that score with a perfect 2000. Thomas earned the nickname “Tackhole Lee” because of his ability to drive a tack into a board from 30 feet with a shot from his rifle.
By the time the U. S. entered World War I, Lee’s fame was such that he was commissioned into the Army as a Captain without ever going through basic training. He was assigned as a rifle and pistol trainer at Small Arms School at Camp Perry, Ohio.
After the war, Tackhole Lee moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and continued his career as a championship marksman with rifle, pistol, and shotgun setting more than 28 world records and winning over 900 trophies. No one was ever able to collect on Lee’s standing offer of $15,000 to anyone who could beat him in combination rifle, pistol and shotgun competition.
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Joe Cantrell with just a few of the many trophies
and awards presented to Tackhole Lee over his marksmanship career.
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Tackhole Lee was dedicated to his skill, practicing four hours a day. A newspaper in 1921 reported that in a brave show of trust, Lee’s wife would hold a quarter between her fingers and Lee would shoot the coin out. There is no report of her ever being injured.
Lee used his expertise to form the T. K. Lee Company in Birmingham where he created the “Lee Dot Gunsight”. Lee found that by sandwiching very thin crosshairs between two lenses, he could create a far more accurate gunsight. After many experiments, he found that spider webs worked best for the crosshairs and even raised Black Widow spiders to supply the webs.
Lee was the son of David Ayers and Sara Bennett Lee. He was the sixth of eight children and one of his brothers, Dr. Robert Green Lee, became a famous Southern Baptist evangelist. While he developed his early marksmanship skills in the woods and fields around Fort Mill, Alabama also lays claim to his fame with Lee’s election into their Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.
Three members of Lee’s family are still in the Fort Mill area, great-nieces Barbara Cantrell Garrison and Ann Cantrell Harris and great-nephew Joe Cantrell. Barbara is an active supporter of the museum and Joe is a museum volunteer who also has many of Tackhole Lee’s awards.
Note: Information for this article was gathered from several news articles and from an article by Dr. Louise Pettus in her “Nearby History” column. Information on the Cantrell Family provided by David Ward.
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Mike & Cheryl Hill
Fort Mill History Museum Research Team
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Upcoming Pioneer Craft Dates:
June 4, 18
July 2
August 6
September 3, 17
October 8, 22
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FMHM Welcomes Amanda Baer as the Communications Coordinator |
The museum would like to welcome Ms. Amanda Baer as our new Communications Coordinator. Amanda is a full time History teacher at Catawba Ridge High School. She will be handling our newsletters, E-blasts, website, social media, and any other miscellaneous communications. Amanda is very enthusiastic for the opportunity to learn new programs and has already learned quite a bit about Fort Mill History. Amanda is married to Justin, has one dog named Brutus, a cat named Vader, and is originally from Gaffney, SC. In her spare time, she likes to shop, watch TV, travel, and enjoys a Broadway show when she can. Please welcome Amanda and let her know if there is anything that you find interesting that you think she should post about. Her email is Amanda@fmhm.org |
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FMHM Thanks & Congratulates Sarah Loyd
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The museum was thrilled to have Sarah Loyd from Winthrop University as our Spring 2022 intern this year. Sarah has worked over 150 hours on FMHM social media, museum communications, a transcript project, fundraising event and more. She graduated from Winthrop on May 7th with a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree with a major in History and a minor in Criminal Justice. She has plans to return to her hometown of Columbia, SC where she hopes to attend grad school at Columbia College and eventually work for SLED. Sarah is a very motivated and driven young woman, and we were very thankful to have had her at the museum this semester. We would like to wish Sarah the best as she pursues her dreams and makes a difference in the world.
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Welcome to our New Sponsors!
The Andy Bovender Team
Foremest Pest Control
G&G Landscape
Thank you for supporting the museum!
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Strawberry Festival & Fest-i-Fun Posters Needed |
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The museum is on a quest! Strawberry Festival and Fest-i-Fun have always had a beautiful unique poster painted by a local artist to represent each year of the festival. Prints were then made available to the public. The museum is now updating the poster collection and need many to complete the collection. Please see below the years of the posters needed and if you have any that you would like to add to the museum collection contact Carson Cope at carson@fmhm.org.
Thank you in advance for helping to preserve Fort Mill's unique history!
Strawberry Festival Posters Needed
2011-2022
Fest-i-Fun Posters Needed
1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
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Giving to your local museum ensures that your dollars stay in your community along with supporting programs for you, our children and our neighbors. Please consider giving to help us enjoy more programs and activities and improve our quality of life. |
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Fort Mill History Museum
Needs Volunteers!
If you would like to be a museum docent, a team lead or work at our special events,
the museum has a place for you! You can jump on board at the museum to
help by volunteering for one of these vital positions.
Front Desk Volunteers
Exhibits/Presentations Team Lead
Please contact the museum today!
info@fmhm.org
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Who is Vernon Nine? He is a dedicated volunteer, historian, world traveler, storyteller, explorer of battlefields, curious about everything, likes to laugh, a veteran, loves cookies, a retired aircraft mechanic and great hunter – but only of a certain squirrel in the attic of the museum.
Vern has been a front desk volunteer for more than four years. Realizing the first day that he had much to learn, he began reading and taking notes. His notebooks are stuffed with underlined information, as one piece of history leads him to read about another.
Always glad to meet visitors, Vern makes sure they get a good grounding in Fort Mill history and more. He enjoys telling them about Col. Elliott White Springs and his bravery as a pilot in WWI. “I would have loved to meet him,” said Vern.
Vern likes a history challenge and will search until he finds an answer. He is always available to take an extra shift, patiently helps “rookie” volunteers and will stop by just to see what’s going on. He is always willing to help.
As a valuable member of the Facilities and Properties team, he can be found raking leaves, mowing grass, painting the porch or in the attic squirrel hunting or with repair people. If the museum had an aircraft, he would fix that too. Vern’s dad was in the Army and the family moved frequently. While in Japan, Vern got bored with kindergarten and wandered out into the surrounding suburbs. He laughingly said the Japanese people didn’t quite know what to think of a 6-year-old, red-headed kid and at first thought he was a girl. He was taken in and treated kindly.
After high school, Vern joined the Army, serving 14 months in Viet Nam. He noted that he joined at 18, but his service matured him quickly. Afterward, he worked repairing helicopters, then joined a commercial airline as a mechanic. That job took him to many different places and he retired from American Airlines after more than 26 years. A daughter and grandson live in the area.
“Vern is an unselfish and sacrificing individual who provides a solid foundation on which this museum is based. We are very fortunate to have him,” said David Ward, FMHM Board Chair.
Pat Crigler
Volunteer Coordination Team
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Do you have any unique items significant to Fort Mill’s History you would like to donate to the museum? If so, please send an email to Carson Cope– Collections Manager at carson@fmhm.org with a description of the item(s) and picture if possible. Thanks for
helping to preserve Fort Mill’s past.
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Did you know? A plane flown during World War II was named “The City of Fort Mill” by Fort Mill native C.B. Earnhardt who was a Flight Officer for the United States Army Air Corps. Officer Earnhardt, stationed in England, wrote to Mrs. J.B. Mills, Jr., that he had named his plane after Fort Mill. Prior to joining the Army Air corps, C.B. was a pilot in the Royal Air Force and had been in England for many months. He requested the names and addresses of several Fort Mill boys who were also stationed in England so he could contact them. In his closing paragraph was the following: “Speaking of your prayer meetings. I think I almost hold the record, for I must pray a dozen times each time I go into combat.” – Fort Mill Times January 20, 1944 |
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Hello members and friends of the Fort Mill History Museum! My name is Avery Bivens and I currently serve on the FMHM’s Board of Directors. Fort Mill is a town that holds a special place in my heart - it is not only my hometown, but has been home to my family for many generations. As a fourth generation descendant of Elliott White Springs, I grew up surrounded by the history of Springs Cotton Mills and the role the company played in shaping Fort Mill into the community that it is today. After graduating from Nation Ford High School in 2012, I went on to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in History and Art History from Wofford College and a Master’s degree in Art History from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, both of which were fueled by my love for history that developed right here in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
To me, Fort Mill is unique for its extensive, well-documented history, which the FMHM works hard to preserve and make available for future generations. I consider myself lucky to play a small role in helping to perpetuate this legacy and provide a place for our citizens, as well as those passing through, to learn more about this incredible town. I credit my devotion to community service to my late grandmother, Ms. Anne Springs Close, and there is no community she loved more than our own. I currently reside in Charlotte, North Carolina with my husband, Will, and our precious French bulldog, Dennis, but you can often catch all three of us on a walk around Lake Haigler or grabbing a snack from the ASC Greenway Gateway. Fort Mill will always be my home and I look forward to continuing to work with the FMHM in preserving the history that makes this town of ours so special.
Avery Close Bivens
FMHM Board of Directors
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- Jennifer Morton who was the Team Lead for the Scavenger Hunt.
- Fort Mill Economic Partners for teaming up for the Runner's Village.
- Amber Smith who was the Team Lead for the Strawberry Fest Beer sales.
- All of the volunteers for the Strawberry Jam & Festival, we couldn't have had such a successful event without you.
- Tamara Osborne and all of her work that she did on the Strawberry Soiree.
- Selena Keleman of The Clebourne House & The Fish Market for the venue, food, and just being so easy and accommodating to work with on the Strawberry Soiree.
- Debbie Keener for the beautiful Strawberry Soiree decor.
- Birgit Taylor of White Paw Studio for her design work on the Soiree
- Stephanie Devaney & Beth Vandewalker for partnering with the museum to represent the pageant history for the Soiree.
- Nothing Bundt Cakes for the delicious desserts.
- The Bovender Team & Wink Rea Investments for Soiree sponsorships.
- Ron Edwards and his green thumb for the amazing sweet strawberries this year.
- All of the businesses that donated to the Soiree silent auction.
- All of the volunteers that helped with the Soiree.
- DJ Tony & Ruth for driving all the way from Orlando to DJ the Soiree.
- Andy Bovender Team & Rea Investments for sponsoring the Soiree.
- The Doraskis and their Pioneer Crafts.
- Coltharp & The Doraskis for the Three Sisters Garden.
- And last but not least all of our FMHM Volunteers that continue to provide great programs for our community.
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107 Clebourne Street, Fort Mill, SC 29715 | phone: 803-802-3646
Located in the Fort Mill Historic District
FMHM.ORG
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The Fort Mill History Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Support for this project is provided by the SCPRT TAG,
Town of Fort Mill & York County Accommodations Tax, FMHM members and donors.
For visitors information including lodging, contact Visit York County at 803-329-5200.
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