Asbury Francis Lever Papers
Collection
Identifier: Mss-0095
The Lever papers consist primarily of correspondence with constituents, businessmen, leaders in government, and educators. His career in Congress (1901-1919), organizer of the First Carolina Joint Stock Land Bank (1922-1929), his unsuccessful bid for governor of South Carolina (1930) and for Congress (1932), as a member of the Federal Farm Board (1930-1933) and his affiliation with the Farm Credit Administration (1933-1940) are covered in this collection. There is also material relating to Lever's unfinished biography of Seaman A. Knapp and to Mrs. Lever's unfinished biography of her husband. The Lever papers hold numerous opportunities for research on South Carolina politics, national politics, and the progress of agriculture and agricultural legislation through the first half of the twentieth century.
There are no restrictions to the use of these papers beyond those of Special Collections.
A. Frank Lever was born January 5, 1875 near Spring Hill in Lexington County, South Carolina. He was the son of Francis Asbury Washington Lever and Mary Elvira Derrick Lever. In 1911, he married Lucile Scurry Butler. Together they had two children, Asbury Francis and Mary Catherine.
Frank graduated with honors from Newberry College in 1895. He taught school for a short while before 1897 when his political career started. He became secretary to Congressman J. William Stokes from the 7th Congressional District. While serving as secretary, Lever studied law and received his bachelor of laws from Georgetown University in 1899. The next year he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. In 1901, Lever was elected to the U.S. Congress after the death of his former employer, Congressman Stokes. He defeated some strong candidates, including the future Senator Ellison Smith.
On his election to the House, Lever sought and received membership on the Committee of Agriculture. He served as a member until 1910, when the Democrats regained a majority in the House. At this time, Lever had established himself as the most knowledgeable member and was appointed chairman of the Committee. He served in this capacity until he left the House in 1919.
Lever excelled as a leader on the Agriculture Committee. He sponsored and supported many acts of legislation which aided agriculture. Lever and Senator Smith co-authored the Cotton Futures Act. He also helped formulate the Federal Farm Loan act of 1916 which was the forerunner of the Farm Credit Administration. The legislation for which he is best remembered is the Smith-Lever Act of 1914. This established extension services at state agricultural colleges to aid the farmer with new techniques of farming. The Lever Act also helped transform the face of agriculture from 19th century modes to more modern and scientific 20th century modes of farming.
In 1918, Lever announced his intentions to run for the Senate seat of Benjamin Tillman. The thought at the time was that Lever could and would beat anyone running against him. He had all the necessary papers to file when an urgent message reached him at his Lexington home. President Wilson, worried about losing leadership in Congress during the war period, made a desperate plea to Lever not to run for the Senate, but to remain in the House and in his capacity as chair of the Agriculture Committee. This was a tragic mistake because Tillman won the election, but died soon after.
Lever left the House in 1919 to accept a position on the Federal Farm Loan Board offered him by President Wilson. He remained on the Board until 1922. In 1922, he was named president of the First Carolina Joint Stock Land Bank and served until 1929. Although still in public life, Lever desperately wanted to get back into a position of political prominence. He ran, unsuccessfully, for the governorship of South Carolina in 1930 and for his old Congressional seat in 1932. Lever served as a Field Represntative for the Federal Farm Board from 1930 -1933. When the Farm Credit Administration was formed in 1933, Lever was appointed director of public relations for the southeast. In this capacity, Lever made many speeches and addresses informing farmers of the Farm Credit Administration's duties and of the legislation that was important to the farmer. He served in this position until his death in 1940.
Frank Lever had other interests as well. He was a trustee of Clemson College and chairman of the board of trustees of Newberry College. Lever was active in Epsilon Sigma Phi, the honorary extension fraternity; the Tuberculosis Society (Lever was stricken with the disease and wanted to help eradicate it); and the Finnish Relief Fund of 1940. Lever started an extensive research project on Dr. Seaman A. Knapp intending to write a biography, however he died on April 28, 1940 before its completion.
36 Cubic Feet (including scrapbooks, oversize material, and photographs)
English
The papers are arranged in ten series: Congressional, Gubernatorial, Federal Farm Board, Congressional Campaign, Farm Credit Administration, Speeches, Personal Correspondence, Mrs. Lever's biography, Knapp biography, and Scrapbooks. Each series is described individually.
There is some overlap among the series. The Speeches Series contains many speeches from his years in Congress and as public relations director for the Farm Credit Administration. Correspondence between notable South Carolinians--such as James F. Byrnes, Benjamin Tillman, Ellison Smith, and Richard I. Manning--can be found in Lever's Personal Series, Farm Credit Administration Series, and his Congressional Series.
The papers were donated by his son and daughter, Judge A. Frank Lever, Jr. and Mary Catherine Lever Sanders, in 1967, accession number 67-1. Additional material was added in 1982, accession 82-10.
Lucile Butler Lever, wife of Mr. Lever, actually processed some of the material when starting her biography of her husband. The collection was re-processed in 1987-1988 and the register was prepared by Christopher M. Poteat in 1988.
Part of the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository