In the 1870s, when railroads intersected in Seneca, a village about 70 miles northwest of Greenwood, it surged to life. Lots went on sale, businesses opened, and the village received a state charter as a town. By 1880, it boasted 15 merchants. 57 The Coleman and Jordan (Ludie’s sister and her husband) families were among the newcomers who prospered. Mathew partnered in the town’s first store with brother-in-law L.W. Jordan. 58 When Mathew died, he was a partner in a hardware company in Charleston where he and Ludie had planned to move. 59 Ludie “was a firm believer in the advancement of women.” She founded a women’s club in Seneca. “Through her influence and generosity,” the club kept traveling libraries circulating through its own and nearby counties. Ludie wrote a book and several short stories. Her club was instrumental in founding the State Federation of Women’s Clubs of which she was the first president. 60 Ludie was buried in Seneca where Mathew had been buried almost two decades before. 61 Eleanor Brownlee Merriman, the fourth child, was born 18 November 1853 in Greenwood and died 9 April 1933 in Los Angeles, California. 62 Her nickname 57 1880 U.S. census, Oconee County, South Carolina, population schedule, Seneca Township, p. 401B (stamped), enumeration district (ED) 125, dwelling 519, family 526, Mathew Coleman; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 23 August 2020), citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 1236. Also, 1880 U.S. census, Oconee County, South Carolina, population schedule, Seneca Township, p. 401A (stamped), enumeration district (ED) 125, dwelling 510, family 516, Lambert W. Jordan; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 28 August 2020), citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 1236. Also, Donna K. Roper, “Seneca,” in Walter Edgar, editor, The South Carolina Encyclopedia (Columbia: The University of South Carolina Press, 2006), 859. 58 “Death of L.W. Jordan,” The Greenville (South Carolina) News , 12 April 1903, online archives (https://www.newspapers.com : 28 August 2020), p. 1, col. 5. 59 “Death of M.W. Coleman,” p. 7, col. 2. 60 “Local News from Seneca,” Keowee Courier (Walhalla, South Carolina) , 13 April 1921, online archives (https://www.newspapers.com : 29 August 2020), p. 1, col. 6. 61 Ancestry, Find A Grave , database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : 1 September 2020), memorial 120270396, Ludie Merriman Coleman, Mountain View Cemetery, Seneca, Oconee County, South Carolina; gravestone photograph by Frank Strickland. Also, Ancestry, Find A Grave , database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : 20 September 2020), memorial 120270371, Matthew Wills Coleman, Mountain View Cemetery, Seneca, Oconee County, South Carolina; gravestone photograph by Rodney Franks. 62 “California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99SV- V5K?cc=2001287&wc=FPQ7-829%3A285176601%2C285569701 : 4 September 2020), Los
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