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This part of the country has had its fair share of noted and notorious politicians down through the years, and without a doubt, one of the most colorful was Mountain Lion Sloan. 

Born Clarence Erbin Sloan on May 28, 1887, near Simpsonville, SC, his family soon moved to northern Greenville County at the edge of Spartanburg County, where they grew cotton, peaches, and corn. As he got older, Clarence learned the fine art of mule and horse-trading, and he was good at it. And this seemed to be the perfect entrée for entering a life of politics. 

The year was 1924 when Clarence announced to his wife Annie that he was throwing his hat into the ring for a seat in the South Carolina State Legislature. And he surprised her, and probably himself too, when he won the election that November. It was during that campaign he picked up the nickname Mountain Lion. The story goes he was on the stump making a speech and someone in the crowd commented, “He roars like a mountain lion!” And the name stuck!

Without a doubt, Mountain Lion’s greatest political legacy was his introduction of the infamous swimming pool bill in 1926. Mountain Lion contended that swimming pools were cesspools of immoral behavior and should be banned completely from the state of South Carolina. Folks in Columbia had learned not to take the Mountain Lion too seriously, and this proposed legislation didn’t help change their opinion of the man from the edge of the Dark Corner. The Greenville News reported: “Representative C.E. Sloan of Greenville succeeded tonight in getting his famous ‘swimming pool’ bill passed by the House of Representatives. The House derived considerable merriment out of the measure tonight when Representative Sloan managed to get his bill up for discussion about 10:30 o’clock. Mr. Sloan made the only speech on the bill. He referred to the alleged “immoralities” of the swimming pools and said he wanted to prevent them.” 

Somewhere along the line, the bill lost steam, and South Carolina swimming pools survived to live another day! 

Sloan also opposed the construction of the downtown Greenville airport in 1925. He contended, “I have nary airplane, none of my neighbors have and don’t intend buying any and I would wait and build the stable after I get the mule if I was you fellows.” Not only was the airport built, but Mountain Lion also lived to see the construction of the Greenville/ Spartanburg Jetport.

When Mountain Lion first ran for election in 1924, he promised his electorate, “I’m going to Columbia to get all I can for myself and if there’s anything left, I’ll divide it up with the rest of you.” What Mountain Lion lacked in progressivism, he seemed to make up for in populism. In fact, in 1932, he won the state Senate seat in his district, defeating the popular Greenville attorney Joseph Bryson, who later went on to serve several terms in Congress.  

The Mountain Lion’s roar was forever silenced on January 13, 1968. He and his wife, Annie, are buried in the cemetery of Mount Lebanon Baptist Church just north of Greer.