Mention Robert Quillen to any Fountain Inn resident and they’ll know exactly who you’re talking about. Despite being a native of Kansas, the editor + publisher of the Fountain Inn Tribune made his name in journalism in the small city south of GVL, becoming known for nostalgic humor + local stories.
Quillen moved to Fountain Inn in 1906 after he was released from the military (he joined at 16, claiming to be 21). An ad was posted by a Fountain Inn publisher hoping to start a weekly paper, and Quillen took the job.
By 1910, he was married + had bought ownership of another weekly paper from his brother-in-law. Quillen took out a $200 loan to buy his own press + type and used his news experience to launch the Fountain Inn Tribune: “a well organized publication overflowing with news from Fountain Inn and outlying communities.” A man after our own hearts.
Quillen’s pieces for the newspaper caught national attention (even though he was once so frustrated with the time it took to run, he sold the paper for $1 then quickly bought it back).
He was famous for his two-panel cartoons – Fountain Inn’s fall festival is still named after the character Aunt Het – editorials and opinion pieces, and one-liners like “diplomat: a liar who draws a salary for it” + “physician: a scientific guesser.” Although some locals weren’t too happy when they recognized themselves in the paper.
The 400+ papers, like the Baltimore Sun and Literary Digest, who republished his work saw him as a small-town voice with Mark Twain vibes, earning Quillen an estimated $25,000 from syndication as early as 1924 ($350,000+ today).
He later tried his hand at writing novels without much success, but once he and his wife adopted a daughter, his series of letters to her called “Letters from a Bald-Headed Dad to His Red-Headed Daughter” became some of his most well-known writing.
Robert Quillen passed away in an assisted living facility in North Carolina in 1948. He was buried in Fountain Inn and was inducted into the S.C. Press Association Hall of Fame in 2009 and the S.C. Academy of Authors in 2014.
See photos of Robert Quillen from the Fountain Inn Museum here.
I can’t believe I made it so long as a Fountain Inn native without knowing who Robert Quillen is – I only discovered him last year when I visited the Fountain Inn Museum, which covers the city’s history (everything from stagecoaches and arrowheads to textile history and the Civil War). I definitely recommend stopping by.
P.S. His office and library building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 – if you stroll past, you can see his “Monument to Eve,” which reads: “In memory of Eve, the first woman.”
– Kendall
