City Directories and History: “James Shropshire Thompson (1815-1897) was born at what is now known as the Brewer Place in the Flatrock Township, on the headwaters of Beaver Creek, about nine miles east of Liberty Hill. He married Charlotte Patterson (1816-1890), who was born a few miles nearer Liberty Hill, but also across Beaver Creek.
James S. Thompson may have secured land from his wife’s relatives as it is said the Pattersons owned land in the upper part of
Liberty Hill. James Thompson acquired the track of land at the time plantation owners were building houses and moving their families to Liberty Hill in order to be nearer a school and church. This land was bounded on the south side by lands of Robert Brown Cunningham. Before moving his family, Mr. Thompson first built a large four room house with front and back porches, and also a two-room kitchen a short distance north of this house. These two buildings were located in what would become the backyard of the Big House.
The family occupied the four room dwelling while the Big House was being built. This family was a large one, as there were six children born on the big plantation on Beaver Creek, the ages ranging from fifteen years to one year. The one year old, John born in 1850,may have been born at Liberty Hill as 1850 was the year the family moved there. Two of the children, Mamie, 1852, and James Ross, 1854, were born in the four-room house.
It took four years for it to be completed, 1850-1854. The architect was (Reuben) Robert Hamilton, a noted master builder at that time, who also worked on Cool Springs Plantation and is recorded by the S.C. Artisans Database as also having worked in Chester County. The house is a large square building with large fluted columns across the front and back porches. It is three stories as there is a cellar under the house on the ground floor and also a finished room known as the ironing room. From this room a stairway leads up to the second floor to enter the back hall, under the main stairway.
The ceilings in the hall, parlor, dining room and bedrooms on the main floor are thirteen feet, and the double windows in each room reach from ceiling to the floor. All windows have heavy weights which aid in raising the large sashes. Also all the windows have double green shutters on the outside. The room next to the dining room was originally the Butler’s pantry and a Lock pantry. Because of the danger of fire, long ago the meals were prepared in the kitchen located some distance from the house, and brought to the Butler’s pantry, and from there they were served. The china and serving dishes along with glasses and goblets were kept in a large closet in the Butler’s pantry.
By 1890 the original kitchen in the backyard was no longer used. The backroom that was originally the nursery was made into a kitchen as that had a chimney and fireplace. By that time wood stoves were used for cooking. It wasn’t until the mid-1920s that the kitchen was moved again to its present location, the Butler’s pantry Just off the dining room. The big china cabinet which was in the original pantry was used in the new kitchen.
The big house and surrounding property has passed down through the succession of generations of James Shropshire Thompson: William Kilgore Thompson, Lewis Patterson (Pat) Thompson, John Anderson Thompson, John Anderson Thompson, Jr.. At the present John. Jr. and his wife V.V. and their two sons, John III and James, are living in the big house. These two sons are the sixth generation to live in the ancestral Thompson home.” (This information is courtesy of Long Ago At Liberty Hill, by Mary Ellen Cunningham, 1997 – Midlands Printing Company)
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