Into this milieu came James L. Sims. The Charleston, South Carolina, native learned the printing trade at "The Charleston Courier" and subsequently purchased an interest in "The Spartanburg Herald". When his wife died, Sims sold his interest and moved to Orangeburg. In 1878, he purchased "The Edisto Clarion", successor to "The Tax-Payer", and changed its name again, to "The Orangeburg Democrat". Sims' editor at the Democrat was Stiles R. Mellichamp, who after a short period left to start his own newspaper, "The Orangeburg Times". In 1881, Sims and Mellichamp came together again to merge their newspapers into "The Times and Democrat".