| Thurmond left money, papers AIKEN - Even in death, Strom Thurmond managed to touch lives in the style that made him a political legend. In a nine-page will and three-page codicil filed Monday at the Aiken County Courthouse, the nation's longest-serving U.S. senator bequeathed a $200,000 estate to family, friends and longtime aides and employees. Mr. Thurmond also left the papers from a political and military career that spanned seven decades to his alma mater, Clemson University, and his personal library to the Edgefield County high school that bears his name. One of his gifts - $3,000 to former aide and lay minister Harry S. Dent, who now has Alzheimer's disease and lives in a nursing home - brought tears to the eyes of Mr. Dent's wife, Betty. "He said, 'All of my aides have done well, Harry, but you're the only one that's a preacher. When I die, I want you to speak at my funeral. Unless you die first, then I'll speak at yours,"' Mrs. Dent said of an exchange between Mr. Thurmond and her husband. "I just cried because neither one of them could help the other." Mr. Thurmond's donation of his personal library to Strom Thurmond High School was news to Edgefield County educators. They don't know how many books to expect and don't have a place to house them. "It's a surprise to us. We didn't know it was coming," Principal Chris Clancy said. "We don't know if it's 10 books or 10,000. We're certainly delighted. It says something about Sen. Thurmond for him to leave us a gift like this." Through the years, Mr. Thurmond, who died June 26 at age 100, gave away many of his assets to charities, relatives and Clemson University. The passage of Mr. Thurmond's will that donates his papers to Clemson finalizes an agreement struck in 1981. More than 5,000 cubic feet of paper and photographs - enough to fill 2,500 file cabinets - document Mr. Thurmond's career as a circuit judge, governor, combat officer and U.S. senator. The bulk of Mr. Thurmond's will, signed March 2, 1999, deals with cash gifts to relatives, friends and former employees, including $5,000 and a Ford station wagon to his wife, Nancy, along with his retirement benefits as senator, Army veteran and governor. He gave his daughter, Juliana, $50,000, but didn't specify a cash amount for his two sons, U.S. Attorney Strom Thurmond Jr. and Paul Thurmond, a Charleston lawyer. Along with Mr. Dent's gift, Mr. Thurmond left $4,000 each to Robert J. "Duke" Short, his Senate chief of staff, and Warren Abernathy, the director of his state offices. Other gifts include $2,000 to his longtime Washington, D.C., driver, James Graham and $1,000 to longtime correspondence secretary Kathryn A. Hook. An inventory of Mr. Thurmond's assets will be filed in 90 days. Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395 or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com.
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