Septimus Harvin Sr.

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Biography

Septimus Augustus was born in 1907. He passed away in 1983 and is buried in Sumter Cemetery, Sumter, Sumter County, S.C.

• Septimus Augustus Harvin, 76, retired owner of Harvin Packing Company, and former mayor of Sumter, died Wednesday.

Born in Sumter County, he was a son of the late S A and Harriette Ann Harvin. He was a member of St James Lutheran Church and a 1929 graduate of Clemson University.

Mr Harvin served as mayor from 1956 to 1960 and was also a former member of the Sumter City Council.

He was a Shriner, a member of the Rotary Club, the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, Ancient Free Masons, and the Sumter Progressive Club.

Surviving are his widow, Mrs Mary Ellen Suber Harvin; a son, Septimus A Harvin, Jr of Sumter, a daughter, Mrs Virginia Anne McLaurin of Wedgefield; sisters, Mrs Alfred T Heath, Jr of Sumter, and Mrs Harriette Jordon of New Bern, NC, and grandchildren.

• • • Former Sumter Mayor Septimus Augustus Harvin died this morning, December 21, 1983 at The Tuomey Hospital.

He was 76 years old.

Born at Cedar Hill Farm in Sumter County, he was the son of the late S.A and Harriette Ann Harvin.

Harvin was elected to city council in 1952 and served as city councilman until 1956, when he was elected Mayor of Sumter. He served as Mayor from 1956 until 1960.

He was also the founder and retired president of Harvin Packing Co. and a noted farmer.

Harvin received his early education in Sumter's grade schools and graduated from Sumter High School in 1925. He attended Clemson College from 1925 until 1929, when he received his bachelor of science degree.

In 1940, Harvin bought an interest in the Kirkland Division Co., a meat packing company in Sumter. After the plant was rebuilt following a fire in 1945, Mr Harvin bought the remaining interest in the company.

Harvin was a member of the Rotary Club, the Elks Lodge, the Masons, the Shrine and the Sumter Progressive Club. He also was a member of St. James Lutheran Church.

City Councilman Morris D Mazursky, who began his first term on council while Harvin was mayor, said Marvin was "one of our most outstanding mayors."

"He was probably responsible for getting Sumter into the modern age as far as capital improvements." Matursks said.

He said Harvin promoted and initiated the issue of general obligation bonds that enabled the city to build a new fire station, water plant and law enforcement center and to improve water and sewer service.

"I always thought that his encouraging of that bond issue was the beginning of the industrial expansion we now have in Sumter." Mazursky said.

"He was a man of action rather than words, an able businessman and an able mayor. He really taught me a lot." Mazursky said.

Former City Manager Wade S. Kolb Sr. called Harvin "a dedicated public servant."

"He was not a politician, he was everybody's mayor." Kolb said. "It was a pleasure to serve as city manager while he was mayor because you always knew where he stood."

"It was his desire to do what he thought was best for the community as a whole." Kolb said.

Former Clemson Extension Service agent T.O. Bowen Sr. called Harvin "one of the county's largest and most outstanding farmers."

"Sep Harvin was one of Sumter's leading citizens in many respects. He had a keen sense of humor and a deep sense of loyalty to all those who were associated with him." Bowen said.

"He was a strong leader in civic affairs and always had the interests of the people at heart." he added.

Mayor W A. "Bubba" McElveen said Harvin "came from one of those families who always had a lot to do with the affairs of Sumter and Sumter County."

"The Harvins have always been contributors to public affairs and trying to make life a little easier and better for their fellow man," McElveen said.

He said that Harvin's term in office came during "a period of change in our way of life, and I thought he did a good job of kind of keeping everything calm and keeping it going."

"You could catch Mister Harvin working at four-thirty, five o'clock in the morning. He was a hard worker." McElveen said.

Surviving Harvin are his wife, the former Mary Ellen Suber; a son, Septimus Augustus Harvin III of Sumter; a daughter, Virginia Anne McLaurin of Wedgefteld; two sisters, Mrs. Alfred T. Heath Jr. of Sumter and Mrs. Harriette Harvin Jordon of New Bern, N.C.; and six grandchildren.

Sources

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 02 October 2020), memorial page for Septimus Augustus Harvin Jr. (15 Sep 1907–21 Dec 1983), Find a Grave Memorial no. 131700817, citing Sumter Cemetery, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Anna (contributor 47329432) .