Charles Ezra Daniel was born in Elberton, Ga., November 11, 1895, to James Fleming and Leila Mildred Adams Daniel. The family moved to Anderson, S.C., in 1898. Daniel attended The Citadel 1916-1918 before joining the Army and serving in WWI. Daniel married Homozel "Mickey" Mickel on November 25, 1924.

Returning to Anderson after the war, Daniel worked for Townsend Lumber Company until he founded Daniel Construction Company in 1935. By 1938, the company had an annual volume of more than a million dollars. He opened a branch in Birmingham, Ala., and in 1942 moved his company headquarters to Greenville.

Daniel was appointed on September 6, 1954, to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Burnet R. Maybank, and served until his resignation December 23, 1954. He received honorary doctoral degrees from Furman University, Clemson College, The Citadel, and Lander College.

Daniel served as a director of many national corporations, among them the Chemical Bank of New York Trust Company, Eastern Airlines, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Graniteville Company, Prudential Insurance Company, Southern Bell Telephone Company, and J. P. Stevens & Company.  

Daniel died in Greenville, S.C., September 13, 1964.

Mrs. Daniel, an Elberton, Ga. native, majored in music at Georgia State Woman’s College before she married. She had a lifelong interest in the fine arts, and generously gave her financial resources for facilities, scholarships and programs in music and drama. Furman University gave Mrs. Daniel an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in 1974. She was a notable contributor to the Charlie E. Daniel Little Theatre and the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. Mrs. Daniel died on June 22, 1992.

White Oaks is the former home of the Daniel’s. Designed by architect Philip Trammell Shutze of Atlanta, it was built by Daniel Construction Company in 1957, and was based on the restored Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. The entry hall and dining room feature carvings by master craftsman Herbert Millard. Mrs. Daniel bequeathed the home to Furman University upon her death in 1992 to be used as the President’s home. Dr. and Mrs. John E. Johns moved into the house in October 1992.