| From the Unknown newspaper |
| |
| June 4, 1909 |
| |
| Col. J. H. Averill Dead |
| Prominent Railroad Man Passes
Away |
| In Summerville -- Originator
of the Charleston Exposition Idea |
| |
| Charleston, June 1. Col. John
H. Averill, a well known railroad man, and the originator and director
general of the South Carolina Interstate and West Indian exposition,
died shortly before midnight at his home at Summerville. |
| Col. Averill was
one of the best known railroad men in South Carolina. He practically
spent his entire life in this kind of work. Before the civil war he was
engaged in railroad work and during the war he held the responsible
position of master of transportation in the Confederate Army, having
charge of the movement of men and supplies of this section of the
country. Col. Averill was for many years the superintendent of the old
South Carolina railroad, before the Parsons control. For a long time he
was the receiver of the Port Royal & Augusta railroad. At the time of
his death Col. Averill held the position of stock and fire claim agent
and agent of the land department of the Charleston division of the
Southern railway. |
| It was Col.
Averill's suggestion that Charleston should give a great exposition. He
urged it in the newspapers and when the scheme was determined upon he
was made director general and to his large powers of administration and
executive control and his great store of energy, the exposition was
planned and conducted on a scale larger than anything ever before
attempted in the South and one of the big shows of its kind in the
United States. |
| As intendent of
the town of Summerville he rendered several successful administrations
and when not in office he was always ready to serve the interests of the
pineland resort where he always made his residence. |
| Col. Averill is
survived by a widow, three sons and two daughters. |