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, philanthropist, and Civil War veteran, and the founder of Sonoco Products Company and Coker College. He was affectionately known by all as "The Major" after his service in the Confederate Army.

Major 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.

Major 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).

Educated at St. David's Academy and The Citadel in Charleston, prior to starting his career in agriculture, Major Coker attended Harvard University to study heredity, genetics, and the scientific principles of farming. He married Sue Armstrong Stout in 1860, and they were the parents of nine children, six of whom survived childhood: Margaret, James Lide Jr., David, William, Jennie, Charles Westfield, and Susan.

Major Coker answered the call to defend his state when the Civil War began, and fought for the 6th and 9th South Carolina Regiments at First Manassas, the Battle of Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, the Battle of Harpers Ferry, and Antietam. In October 1863, Major Coker was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga, and after a time as a prisoner of war, returned home to spend the rest of his life nursing a shattered hip.

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