USA > South Carolina > Historic houses of South Carolina > Part 22
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From 1804 to 1806 Paul Hamilton was Governor of South Carolina, and became Secretary of the Navy in 1809, which position he occupied until 1813. Another Hamilton. James.
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occupied the gubernatorial chair from 1830 to 1832, one of the most exciting terms in history, because of the Nullifica- tion Movement.
Miss Mary S. Hamilton, a noted educator of Beaufort, and daughter of Colonel Paul Hamilton, now occupies the Ham- ilton house, and gives the following account of it: "Colonel Hamilton's house on the point was built in 1856, and planned by his wife and himself. We lived there for five years, and when the fleet entered the harbor in November, 1861, left the house until September, 1866. The story of its recovery may be of interest. The United States Government refused to rent any property to a former owner. They sold the homes in Beaufort for taxes and even when they paid the war tax back to the owners they only gave one-half the tax value and five dollars an acre for the land. Our home had been retained by the government for a hospital. I proposed that my uncle (Dr. Gibbes) who was living with us should write and offer to rent it. as the war was over and hospitals no longer required. He did so, and it was rented at once to him, so that in September, 1866, we returned in a wagon drawn by mules, and lying on mattresses, a happy crowd as we reached our old home after an absence of nearly five years.
"In November the house was put up at auction for sale. My father stated to the crowd gathered that it was his wife's and her children's and he would bid it to a million against another bidder who wanted it as a normal school for negroes. It was, however, knocked down to him at fifteen hundred and fifty dollars, a fortune in those days. He asked the court to allow him three days to visit Charleston and sell several lots my mother owned there from her English ancestors. We had no railroads to Beaufort then, only steamers, and it required three days for the round trip. They consented and he went to make the necessary arrangements. On the second day near sunset my brother of ten years came running in to tell us that at sunset the house was going to be sold. I went downtown to see if the Mayor, Colonel William Elliott, could stop the sale. While waiting at his home my uncle came in to announce the good news that Mr. Simpson, the express agent, and Mr.
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"THE POINT," THE HAMILTON HOUSE, BEAUFORT From a print
BEAUFORT
Holmes, a merchant, had heard of the proposed sale, raised the money among the business men and just before sunset paid for the home in the name of Colonel Hamilton. I had said that I would never shake hands with a Yankee, but that night across the counter I offered mine in thanks to Mr. Holmes. My father was successful and they were repaid on his return the follow- ing day. A Frenchman paid for the Edgar Fripp house back of ours, and would not allow the money to be returned, going away and leaving no address."
The house on the Point now occupied by the Crofuts was built by Dr. Barnwell Sams in the latter part of the fifties, and was taken during the Confederate War for a hospital. The Sams family bought it at the U. S. Tax sale, and sold it to Mr. Wilson the sheriff. It passed through many hands and was bought finally by the Crofuts.
This residence has been selected as a good type of the ante- bellum residence of Beaufort. Its heavy brick column, sup- porting the flat roof to the galleries, give a rather massive effect to the establishment.
Near the Point also is the Christensen residence, a beauti- ful type of the conventional house, set upon a high, gracefully arched brick basement. Both up and down stairs the house has large fine piazzas which extend around the building on three sides. The front piazza on the lower story is broken to admit of a flight of steps leading into the garden, which is adorned with many fine trees and shrubs. The house is supposed to have been built by a Mr. Ledbetter, a Methodist minister. It was bought by Stephen Elliott, sold to Dr. Louis DeSaussure (who married for his second wife Miss Jane Hutson) and the house was later acquired by the Christensen family.
HOMES ON THE BAY
Beaufort is a place of many historic memories, one of her proudest being that she had the honor of entertaining General LaFayette on his visit to this country in the early part of the nineteenth century. The town extended to him an invitation which he accepted, and extensive preparations were made for his reception. Upon his arrival, on the evening of March ?,
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1805, he was conducted through a bower of roses, attended by the Beaufort Guards. From the balcony of the John Mark Verdier house on Bay Street just opposite the wharf he spoke to the crowd gathered to welcome him. This is one of the oldest houses now left in the town.
A great ball was arranged in his honor to be given in the "Barnwell Castle," which house was used as a Court House after 1866 and accidentally burned about 1879. An authentic account taken from an old letter written by a member of the Barnwell family, who entertained him, reads :
" We went into Beaufort last Thursday evening expecting LaFayette would come there on Friday. We had lent our house to give the ball in. The ball committee requested us to dress the rooms, as he was expected at two o'clock. We were obliged to leave the rooms half dressed, to go down to the bay to see the procession. We had a very good position as we went to McNeston's Balcony where the arch was erected, but all our trouble was in vain, for after waiting there about an hour we returned to our home. We were afraid that he would not come at all. However, at about twelve notice was given that he had come. We were, of course, deserted by the Guards, who went to conduct him to the house, The procession was then so handsome that I scarcely regretted his not coming in the day. All the boys in the town had lights in their hands, which had a beautiful effect, shining on the long, white plumes of the Guards. He stayed just long enough to shake hands all around and eat supper. As it was the first time that LaFayette had entered any place at night at least it had the effect of novelty !"
After the Civil War every house in Beaufort was sold, and the Elliott house on the Bay passed into the possession of Admiral Beardsley, who was stationed near there, and who gave the place the name of the Anchorage. This house was built by one of the Elliotts, Ralph E. Elliott, a brother of Wil- liam, who married Phoebe Waight. Phoebe and her husband lived at what is now the Anchorage in their younger days, and the two magnolias on each side of the house were planted by the former, Mrs. William Elliott. An obituary notice pub- lished in 1855 follows :
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" THE ANCHORAGE," ON "THE BAY" BEAUFORT
Spitany of the widow of Admiral Beardsley, formerly the Elliott boy " Further on are to be seen the Edmund Rhett (Maxey) and the Stuart residences
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BEAUFORT
Died in Beaufort (S. C.) on the Ist of June, 1855, Mrs. PHOEBE ELLIOTT, in the 84th year of her age.
This venerable lady, the oldest inhabitant, save one, of her native town, has passed the boundary of "four score vears"': yet her strength was not "labor and sorrow." Her eye was hardly dim, nor her brow wrinkled. She enjoved life to its close, actively discharging its relative duties. Her spirit was bouyant ; her affections ardent ; and her heart filled with kind- ness towards her follow-creatures. She walked before God humbly, thankfully, devoutly. She loved His house, and fre- quented His courts, and not many days before her' death, occupied her place at the table of the Lord. A liberal steward of the property God assigned her, she was ready "for every good work, " and did her full share in the Missionary efforts of the zealous congregation to which she belonged.
A long line of descendants encircled her with filial love, and three generations gathered around her dying bed. Her body was borne to the tomb by six of her grandsons, and sur- viving friends rejoice, in their sorrow, that God hath granted her "long life and good days." and grace to "glorify His name, " and adorn her Christian profession.
One son, one grandson, and three nephews (including the Bishop of Georgia) are preachers of the everlasting gospel. Charleston, June, 1855.
One of the Mr. Elliotts abandoned law for the gospel. The history of the law office which he used is remarkable. Its first occupant was the Rev. Dr. Fuller, a distinguished minister of Baltimore, who abandoned a lucrative practice in Beaufort to devote himself to the ministry. Rev. W. Johnson, late rector of a church on Edisto Island, was in this same office, leaving it, with Stephen Elliott, to enter the Theological Seminary in Virginia; and C. C. Pinckney, another law practitioner in that office abandoned law for the gospel. James Elliott, who finally became an Episcopal bishop, was at one time rector of St. Michael's Church in Charleston.
In the year 1790, by William Elliot, Sea Island cotton was said to have been first raised-on the exact spot where Jean Ribault landed the first colonists. In connection with the El- liott family is another place of scientific interest-on Devils Elbow barony. Upon this is found the village or summer set-
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tlement of Bluffton, situated on a bluff fronting the River May. It was the scene of much of the botanical work of Stephen Elliott, who frequently refers to it in his "Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia, " and in later years it was the field for the botanical observations of Dr. James H. Mellichamp.
Stephen Elliott, the botanist, married Miss Habersham, of Georgia, and their child was Stephen Elliott, who afterwards became Bishop of Georgia. This Bishop Elliott had a very distinguished daughter. Sarah Barnwell Elliott, a leader of the suffrage movement in Tennessee, and a well-known writer of to-day, some of her best-known works, among other novels, being "Jerry," "The Durket Sperret," "The Felmers," and "The House on the Marsh." There have been five bishops in the Elliott family, and there have been warriors also, Elliott's torpedoes being a notable contribution to the science of naval warfare.
There is as much discussion about the spelling of the Elliott name as there is about the Simons and the Hazzards. One of the number, at a recent family reunion, dropped into poetry anent the orthography of the name :
"They have doubled the ' I' To make it swell ; They have added the't' To be odd, you see. Some have put a 'y' In the place of an 'i,' But still it spells E-l-i-o-t."
Opposite the Anchorage is the building known for years as the Sea Island Hotel, which was built by Dr. Stoney and occupied for some time by Nathaniel Barnwell Heyward. Im- mediately behind the hotel, on Craven Street, was the Thomas Rhett house, and immediately behind the Anchorage, on Craven Street, were two other Rhett houses, the one now used as a rectory, and the Edmund Rhett house, which was the old Maxey house, and came into the possession of the Rhett fam- ily when Edmund Rhett married the daughter of Mrs. Tom
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HOUSE IN BEAUFORT, S. C., FROM THE PIAZZA OF WHICH LAFAYETTE SPOKE
KITCHEN AND WALL MADE OF " TABBY " The Same' Home, Beaufort, now the Crofut House
"WOODLANDS," THE RESIDENCE OF W. G. SIMMS, BARNWELL From an old engraving
BEAUFORT
Stuart, whose home lay across the street. Mrs. Stuart was a Miss Williamson, and was twice married, first to a Mr. Cuth- bert, and then to Dr. Tom Stuart. The grounds on which the Stuart home stood were extremely spacious, extending to the Bay.
The Onthank residence, also on the Bay, is an interesting brick building with a small square portico. Before the Con- federate War it was the home of Mr. H. M. Fuller, and was later the dwelling place of the Onthank family. While an interesting structure, it is by no means historie, except as having been connected with the Fuller family.
The history of this family is associated with lands in St. Andrew's Parish, as well as with Beaufort, and the Fullers have married among all the old families of the town, Dr. Thomas Fuller, a well-beloved physician of this community, being the last to reside there. A distinguished Baptist divine of national reputation was also a member of this Fuller family.
At the time of the Civil War the houses in Beaufort were deserted ; furniture, silver, priceless paintings and valuables of all descriptions were left to the mercy of the victor. In one case a dinner was left smoking on the table, and was devoured by the incoming army. The old homes were not burned, but the treasures in them were stolen by the negroes and soldiers, and passed into alien hands. During the rest of the struggle the Union forces occupied Beaufort and Port Royal.
At Barnwell, below Beaufort, stands the home of William Gillmore Simms, the noted writer.
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CHAPTER XIII ON THE ROAD TO COLUMBIA AND COLUMBIA AND ITS HOMES
THE WILLSON HOUSE
N the road from Charleston to Colum- bia about fifteen miles above. Carnes Cross Roads, stands a fine old resi- dence of the farm house type. The material used was of cypress and the house has two large brick chimneys at either gable end. It was built by Dr. John Willson, who came to this country from Monaghan, Ireland. He resigned as ship surgeon because he opposed the brutality of the captain toward his men. He landed at Georgetown, went to Indian Town, in Williamsburg District, married there, moved to St. Mark's Parish, Clarendon : and after a few years crossed the river and located at this place and built his home. Dr. John Willson, 2nd, was born there and so was John O. Willson. The building was constructed by slave labor.
Dr. John Willson died in 1856, but was well-known as a Union man. The Northern troops, spared the house from four raids during the Civil War. It seems a little singular that these Union troops should have known his opinion when he had been dead nine years. Dr. John Willson, the 2nd, was distinguished for his remarkable kindness to his slaves and the needy around him and for his public spirit. His son, John O. Willson D. D., says : "The only times I ever saw my father angry were when a patrol punished one of his negroes, and when a school-master severely chided his oldest daughter." This farm property is still in the Willson family and is now owned by John O. Willson D.D., president of Lander College.
John O. Willson Donaldson, a descendant of Dr. John Will- son the 2nd, and a grandson of John O. Willson D.D., during his service in France in the World War, seems to have upheld
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HOUSE ON THE ROAD TO COLUMBIA Built just after the Revolution by the grandfather of Rev. John O. Willson
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"FORT GRANBY," NEAR COLL MBLI
COLUMBIA
the record of his progenitors. In Harper's Magazine for July, 1919, is found an account of Mr. Donaldson's capture by the Germans, his escape from prison, his recapture and second escape, constituting one of those extraordinary narratives in which luck, misfortune and persistent daring have been so art- fully ordered by Fate as to seem almost incredible. "John O. Willson Donaldson is the son of Brigadier General T. Q. Don- aldson of the Inspector General's Department at Tours, France. He received his instruction in flying at the ground school, Cornell University, then with the Royal Flying Corp at Thanto, with subsequent gunnery practice in Texas. In June, 1918, as a member of the 32nd Royal Flying Corp, Don- aldson, Jr., was sent to France, and during the following two months he brought down nine German planes, of which he was officially credited with five (i.e., witnessed by four observers). Lt. Donaldson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Field Marshal Haig and has received two citations by General Pershing. He has also been recommended for the Distin- guished Service Cross."
GRANBY
Granby, a settlement about two miles below Columbia, was a point of departure from the wilderness and into the Cherokee country. In the immediate vicinity of Fort Granby is found a primitive wooden house.
The Reverend Mr. Guignard, whose grandfather surveyed the city of Columbia and who is familiar with this section of the State, having spent many happy days at Granby, declares that the description given of it in Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution and the names of the owners are perfectly correct. Mr. Guignard says that it is safe to use the description of the house as given in Lossing and adds some interesting data, which is included in the following account.
The house of James Cacey, Esq. (pronounced Kazie), the Fort Granby of the Revolutionary War, is two miles below Columbia on the Congaree River. It is a strong frame build- ing, two stories in height and stands upon an eminence near the Charleston Road, within three-fourths of a mile of Friday's
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Ferry upon the Congaree. It overlooks ancient Granby, one of the forgotten settlements of the State, and the country round about.
The house itself is of the prevailing type in the up-country, very similar to the Willson place found on the road between Charleston and Columbia and repeated, with slight variations, all over the upper part of the State. It consists of a two-story building with a tall pitched roof and has large chimneys on either gable end, the peculiarity of the chimneys being the enormous flues. The entrance into this establishment is directly from the piazza and a hall running through from front to rear, but upstairs the arrangement is slightly different, the hall being traverse, extending from gable to gable.
Some gentlemen of Pine Tree of Camden constructed this dwelling as a storehouse for cotton and other products of the up-country, which they wished to send down the river upon flat boats to the domestic and foreign market situated at the sea- port towns. When the chain of military posts from Camden to Charleston was established, this building. strategically lo- cated for defence, was fortified and called Fort Granby. There a ditch was dug, a strong parapet was raised, bastions were formed, batteries were arranged and an abatis was con- structed, all of which transformed the place from a trading station into a military post, first occupied during the Revolu- tionary War by a garrison of three hundred and fifty men, chiefly Loyalists and a few mounted Hessians, under the com- mand of Major Maxwell.
Such was the importance of this place that Sumter made a demonstration against Fort Granby, but finding it too strong for his small arms, retired. Later Lee arrived in the vicinity on the evening of May 14th, 1781, the day on which Sumter took possession of Orangeburg, and on the edge of a wood within six hundred yards of Fort Granby he began the erection of a battery and a dense fog next morning enabled him not only to complete it but to mount a six-pounder brought by Captain Finley from Fort Motte, before being discovered.
When the fog rolled away Captain Finley discharged his cannon, and, at the same moment, the legion of infantry ad-
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vanced, took an advantageous position, and opened fire upon the enemy's piekets. This sudden announcement of the pres- ence of an enemy and this imposing display alarmed Maxwell excessively so that he consented to receive an American, Cap- tain Eggleston (the ancestor of the Winnsboro Eggles- tons), who was sent with a flag to demand the surrender of Fort Granby.
After a brief consultation with his officers, Major Maxwell agreed to surrender the Fort, on condition that private prop- erty of every sort, without investigation of title, should be left within the hands of its possessors. This peculiar condition is ascribed by Lee in his Memoirs to Maxwells' desire to fill his purse rather than to gather military laurels. With various other conditions and after waiving of some of the exceptions by Lee (the American commander), capitulation took place, Maxwell surrendered and vacated, and Captain Rudolph raised the American flag on one of the bastions before noon while the captive garrison with its escort marched away.
The house yet bears "honorable scars" made by the bul- lets of Lee's infantry, for in the gable which points toward the river, between the chimney and a window, is an orifice formed by the passage of a six-pound ball from Finley's fieldpiece, and Mr. Guignard says that, as a little boy during his frequent visits to Granby, the first thing he did was to investigate the cannon-ball hole to make sure that it was still there. Not only is this hole still evident, but in one of the rooms are numer- ous marks made by an axe, used in cutting up meat for the garrison.
The house is still in the possession of the family of Caceys, whose ancestors, with those of his father-in-law, Mr. Friday, were the only Whigs of that name in the State, and they often suffered insults from their Tory kinsmen. Mr. Friday owned mills at Granby, and the Ferry ( Friday's) still bears his name. The British garrison that occupied Fort Granby paid him for the flour, poultry, cattle and other things which it took, so that it is evident that Major Maxwell dealt fairly with him in this matter at least.
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Among the interesting possessions of Granby is a picture of Emily Geiger, a kinswoman of the Caceys, and one of the heroines of the Revolution. She lived with her father, John Geiger, at his home at the forks of the Enoree and Broad Rivers. Although her father was a patriot, he was an invalid and unable to bear arms for his country. His daughter who served her country well was as ardent a patriot as himself. General Greene wished a letter to be carried to General Sum- ter. That no man could be found to volunteer for this duty is due to the fact that Rawdon was approaching the Congaree. Emily Geiger undertook the service, during the execution of which she nearly lost her life. General Greene was delighted by the boldness of this young girl, not over eighteen years old. He accepted her offer of service, but with his usual caution he made her memorize the message, so that if she should be com- pelled to destroy it, she could repeat it verbally to Sumter.
Mounted upon a strong and fleet horse Emily then took her departure, her aim being to cross the Saluda at Kennely's Ferry, the Congaree at Friday's Ferry and to proceed as di- rectly as possible to General Sumter, who was then on the Wateree River. Nothing of moment happened to her during the first day's journey, but on the evening of the second day, when more than two-thirds of the distance had been safely passed, three men in the British uniform appeared suddenly before her in the road. Being unable to escape she was then arrested by them and carried before Lord Rawdon, whose camp was about a mile distant. His lordship questioned her closely as to where she was from and where she was going. Her answers not being direct, but evasive, did not satisfy his lord- ship, who ordered that she should be locked up in one of the upper rooms of the guard house. It was fortunate that she was left here alone for a short while, as she had the opportunity, which she embraced, to destroy the dispatch. She tore it into small bits, chewed and swallowed them. The last morsel was scarcely gone when a woman, prepared to search her and her clothing, appeared. But as nothing of a suspicious character was found upon her, Lord Rawdon, as he was in honor bound, permitted her to pursue her journey unmolested.
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Not only did Rawdon release her, but furnished an escort to the home of one of her friends a tow miles distant, where she partook of some refreshments and rested a few hours. Fear- ful of further delay she set out with a fresh horse and a guide who showed her a shorter and safer way than the one she had intended taking. By riding all night Emily found herself far from the neighborhood of Lord Rawdon and at sunrise the guide left her to pursue her journey alone. On and on she rode steadily, hot as it was, until about three o'clock in the after- noon of the third day when she suddenly came upon a file of soldiers, who from their dress she knew to be her friends. By them she was conducted to General Sumter, to whom she delivered her message.
It may be of interest to know that Emily Geiger afterwards became the wife of Mr. Thurmits, and is very properly re- garded for her service as courier to the Continental Army as one of South Carolina's heroines. The picture is justly a source of pride to her relatives who reside at Granby. An- other interesting relic of this house is a card table said to have been used by Lord Cornwallis at his camp.
There are several old burying grounds in that neighbor- hood, but most of them have gone to decay. In the iron gate of one is plainly discernible the name of "Hayne." Upon one of the old graves the inscription gravely rebukes the beholder in the following quaint words :
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