Lawrence Daniel & Ola Hill
Lawrence Daniel was the youngest child of Lawrence and Savannah-Jay Daniel. He was known as Lawrence (sounded like “Launce”) when pronounced by his wife, Ola Hill Daniel, and close friends, Papa to his four sons, Pa-Pa or Papa-Daniel to his grandchildren, “Boy” and “Sugar-Lump” to his sisters.
Lawrence and Ola had four sons: Carey, Lafayette (who was called Lannie), Lawrence Jr. (who was called Billy), and Herman (who was called Peepsie or Peep). Lawrence was a successful farmer acquiring 44 acres of land in Saluda County. In 1949 he opened Daniel & Sons Funeral Home in Ninety-Six, SC to avoid competing with his friend’s funeral home in Saluda. The family lived upstairs, and the funeral home was downstairs. His wife Ola Daniel was also an entrepreneur opening a club in Ninety-Six. He chose Ninety-Six because it was close to the farm. He wanted to continue farming as well as operating a funeral business. However, the distance and the amount of land that needed attending was extremely challenging.
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Daniel and Sons was the only funeral home in Ninety-Six, SC. Initially, there were some tough times. Eventually, the Daniel & Sons Funeral Home expanded to include a second location in Belton, SC. operated by his son Billy. Papa Daniel borrowed somewhere between $1200-$1400 to build the Belton funeral home.
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Lawrence loved wrestling. His grandchildren recall him sitting in front of a black and white television set watching wrestling with his fists balled up as if he were in the wrestling ring. He would fuss at the television as if the wrestlers could hear him. He would become agitated when told the wrestling was staged. He went to a few live wrestling matches in Augusta, GA. On one occasion when taking granddaughters Rosalind and Audrey with him, he did the strangest thing while traveling down the road under a full moon, He took out his money and showed it to the moon! He remarked “Showing your money to the moon makes it multiply.” He later came back and said, “The only way to make your money multiply is by hard work.” He had other advice for his children, he said, “Always try to get a house of your own otherwise you will be paying for someone else’s.” Children of Lawrence and Ola Daniel: Carey, Lafayette “ Lannie”, Lawrence Jr.” Billy” and Herman “ Peepsie or Peep”.
Carey Daniel
Carey worked in the funeral business and was also a talented brick mason. He was married to Mildred Valentine and raised four sons. Carey, Jr., Donald, Twins Kenneth and Kelvin. Carey died in 1988 and his wife Mildred died in May 2010.
Lafayette “Lannie” Daniel
Lannie married Dorothy Cunningham and raised three children in Laurens, SC. Reginald (Skipper or Red), Benjamin Lawrence (Ben), and Deborah Faye Barber. He died in 1988 at the age of 71. His wife died in 1977.
Lawrence “Billy” Daniel
Billy served a tour of duty in the military but spent most of his adult life in South Carolina. Billy is retired from the family funeral home business. His wife Josephine Lewis died in1987. They had four children: Audrey Daniel, Rosalyn Daniel Walker, Maurice Daniel, and Dianna Robinson.