City Directories and History: “The Honorable William Henry Trescot built this house on his Barnwell Island plantation ca. 1858. In 1876 Congressman William Elliott bought the house, floated it down the river to Beaufort and erected it at 1011 Bay Street. Threatened with demolition in 1975, the house was moved for a second time to its present location.
W.H. Trescot was born on November 10, 1822. He was educated at the College of Charleston, receiving his B.A. in 1841 and his M.A. in 1846. In 1843 he was admitted to the South Carolina Bar. On February 3, 1848, Trescot married Eliza Natalie Cuthbert, daughter of Thomas Heyward Cuthbert of Barnwell Island. In 1852 Trescot served as Secretary of State under President James Buchanan. Following the war Trescot resided in Pendleton. He held several important postwar diplomatic posts throughout his life, including special envoy to Chile, Peru and Bolivia. In 1889 he was one of ten Americans sent to the first Pan American Conference. Trescot was the author of numerous publications prior to his death (1898) in Pendleton.
The Trescot house was referred to by W. H. Russell in My Diary North and South (1861) as “the mansion of the Trescots on Barnwell Island.” The two-story frame house has double verandahs across the facade, each supported by six columns. Each of the four bays on the facade is a door, providing easy access to the verandahs. The roof is gabled with interior chimneys.”
Information from: Historic Resources of the Lowcountry, The Lowcountry Council of Government, Cynthia C. Jenkins, Preservation Planner – Published, 1979
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