James Lide Coker

Major James Lide Coker (January 3, 1837, in Society Hill, South Carolina – June 25, 1918, in Hartsville, South Carolina) was a businessman, merchant, industrialist, Christian philanthropist, and Civil War veteran, and the founder of Sonoco Products Company and Coker College. He was called "The Major" after his service in the Confederate Army.

Coker was the son of Caleb and Hannah Lide Coker and the great-grandson of Revolutionary War Captains Robert Lide, who moved to South Carolina from Roanoke, Virginia, in 1740, and Thomas Coker, who moved to South Carolina from Brunswick, Virginia, in 1735. Both men fought in Francis Marion's 2nd South Carolina Regiment at Fort Sullivan in 1776 and the Siege of Charleston in 1779 and were awarded tracts of land along the Pee Dee River following the war.

Coker and his descendants' contribution to economic, political, and cultural life in South Carolina is the subject of George Lee Simpson's ''The Cokers of Carolina: A Social Biography of a Family'' (UNC Press 1956). Coker's life and accomplishments have been documented in Dr. Will H. Joslin's ''God, Guts, and Gallantry: The Faith, Courage, and Accomplishments of Major James Lide Coker'' (Westbow Press 2021). Provided by Wikipedia