Historic Cross Keys – Stop #8 Jefferson Davis Trail

Jefferson Davis Trail Stop #8 – A stop for his officers…

“Cross Keys, one of four stops made by CSA President Jefferson Davis’s troops, on their escort of the President through Union County, S.C.  It is highly questionable if the President actually visited Cross Keys but rather, upon leaving the Giles home, went further south to the Oaks Plantation near present day Whitmire and then on….”  James Gettys, Jr., Erskine College Historian – Retired 2019

The following day the fleeing Confederate Government, (not necessarily the President himself), left the very modest Giles home, and moved through Cross Keys where the party obtained their noonday meal, (the Davis group reportedly ate dinner at the home of at Mr. Warren Davis at Cross Keys, who was living at the old Bobo house at the time), reported to be lamb, before continuing on to Martin’s Depot in Laurens County, reaching there during the late afternoon of April 30. From Martin’s Depot they continued in a southwestwardly direction to the home of Lafayette “Fate” Young where Davis spent the night of April 30. *** Jefferson Davis himself never visited the Bobo House, see “Without Tap of Drum”, on Roots and Recall for extensive research on Davis’s route from Virginia to Georgia.

Jefferson Davis in S.C. by Sam Thomas, 1998 the Palmetto Conservation Foundation (See book in PDF form this page.) And further research: Synopsis of Jefferson Davis’ 1865 Route by James Gettys

IN ROUTE: Jones Ford Road

IN ROUTE: The Brick House Crossroads

IN ROUTE: Old Duncan Creek Church

See additional information on Jefferson Davis as well as local history below…

City Directories and History: This extremely fine home, Cross Keys Plantation, was constructed for Barrum Bobo in circa 1812-14 on the Old Buncombe Road, an important transportation corridor leading from Columbia, SC to the South Carolina mountains. It was along this road he setup his home, business, plantation, post office and more.

The artisanship exhibited at the Bobo home is outstanding. Note the remains of early moldings and staircase frets as well as the lovely brick design. This home is open to the public and is well worth visiting.

The work of fine artisans went into the construction of this dwelling. The brick exterior is made with locally fired brick, molded corner and chimney brick, dark headers for inlay, and hearth tiles for the interior. The framework is all mortise and tenon work, a common practice throughout the 19th century. But it is the details of this carpentry that set it apart and make it one of the best in the region. Local materials were at hand to build the home, a mill was close by for cutting timber, and at that time a large number of skilled Quaker artisans remained in Union County. Unfortunately, there are no records as to who constructed the home. Much of the interior designs can however be attributed to architect-designers Owen Biddle and Asher Benjamin.

R&R HISTORY LINK: the Wm. J. Bobo, M.D. House, (that of Barrum Bobo’s son), down the road….

Bobo’s business location was ideal, at the crossing of two important roads. Here he ran a mercantile business, distillery, operated the Post Office, and ran his successful plantation. The Union County Historical Commission had worked diligently to restore the home, bring original furnishings to the site, and reconstruct facsimiles of the outbuildings.

“Built 1812-14 by Barrum Bobo, a prosperous merchant of an influential Union County family, the Cross Keys House is a fine example of a Georgian Colonial in common bond brickwork. Located on a knoll, the tall house with two full stories plus attic and basement is an area landmark. The house features a gabled roof with identical pairs of end chimneys, a massive raised first-story portico, and beautiful carving in its wainscoting, molding, and mantel. Between each pair of end chimneys a date stone is placed beneath the gable. On one of these is carved the date of the house’s completion (1814), original owner’s initials (B.B.), and crossed keys thought to be the insignia of the builder. Located at the intersection of the Old Buncombe Road and Old Ninety-Six Road, the Cross Keys House, center of a large and prosperous plantation, provided a welcome stop for travelers. As early as 1809, a post office was established at Cross Keys under the supervision of George Gordon, the first postmaster. Two old milestones indicating the distance to Union and Columbia remain in front of the house as evidence of early highway system. Tradition supported by diaries hold that Jefferson Davis, his cabinet and military escort dined here on their flight from Richmond. Listed in the National Register June 24, 1971.” [Courtesy of the S.C. Dept. of Archives and History]

“In Lower Union county, on a commanding site overlooking the town of Cross Keys, there stands a house of weather-beaten brick. Buffeted by the winds and rains for more than 150 years, its tall end chimneys, set in pairs, still tower toward the sky.

Looking upward, high between each pair of chimneys, you see plaques of stone upon which are carved the emblem of two crossed keys, and the dates, 1812- 1814. Five miles to the west, in Spartanburg County, on another commanding site, once there stood another house—a house of tall chimneys; deep, wide verandas and a steeply sloping roof. Destroyed by that ravager of landmarks, fire, it went up in flames in 1932 after looking down upon the town of Cross Anchor for- nearly 20 years.

But the people of Cross Anchor still talk of the slabs of stone, mounted under each of its gables, that bore the salty symbol of the sea—two anchors— crossed.”

Also: “Jefferson Davis was a luncheon guest in this house as he traveled from Richmond, Virginia, to Abbeville, South Carolina, during the last days of the Confederate War.”

The official South Carolina historical marker in front of the house records that Jefferson Davis passed through Cross Keys, South Carolina, on April 30, 1865, during the retreat from Richmond, and that Mrs. Mary Whitmire Davis, who owned the house at that time, afterwards related to her descendants the story of President Davis’s luncheon at the house.

Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC

R&R NOTE: The Union Daily Times, April 28, 1967 reported: “Cross Keys… home of Mrs. Warren (Mary) Davis, formerly Mrs. Jessie Whitmire.  The Davis party ate their midday meal there. In addition to Mrs. Davis entertaining guests there was hers son, Eldridge Davis and her children by her former marriage: Calvin Whitmire, Sarah, Macie and Sophronia Whitmire.”

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R&R HISTORY LINK: the NR IMAGES

R&R HISTORY LINK: S.C. Agriculture Map – 1883

R&R HISTORY LINK: Whitmire – Burton House Connection

R&R HISTORY LINK: Colton’s 1854 Map of Union Co., S.C.

R&R HISTORY LINK: PADGETT’S CHURCH

R&R HISTORY LINK: A LINK TO DAVIS’S TRAVELS

Image taken in ca. 1960 – photographer Neilson. Courtesy of the FCHS.

Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.

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