Daniel Cannon Archives - Charleston County

Charlie Sanders’ Esso Servicenter – 211 Rutledge Avenue

City Directories and History: The re-purposed gas station at the northwest corner of Rutledge Ave. and Cannon St. was built on the former gardens of one of the grandest houses built in the “suburbs” of Charleston in the early 19th century. When the original gas station was built in the 1920s, the gas station was designated 211 Rutledge Ave., leaving the Daniel Cannon Webb House in place at 213 Rutledge Ave., slightly to the north. In 1949, when the gas station expanded, the house was demolished, and the entire parcel became known as 211 Rutledge Ave. What follows is the history of both 211 and 213 Rutledge Ave.

In the late 18th century, master builder Daniel Cannon owned an enormous swath of land between Calhoun Street and Spring Street on which he operated a wood mill known as Cannon Mills. At some point before 1788, he had some of his property platted into smaller parcels for development. On October 28, 1788, Mr. Cannon conveyed Lots 76 and 77 on the Charleston Neck to his stepdaughter’s son, Daniel Cannon Webb,[1] but because he was still a minor, the title was held by Mr. Cannon’s daughter, Martha Cannon, in trust for Mr. Webb.[2] The two lots were both 117 feet wide and ran all the way from Rutledge Ave. (then known as Pinckney Street) through the block to Ashley Ave. (then known as Thomas Street). The house at 213 Cannon Street was built on the front of Lot 76. The transfer of the two lots was recorded on November 23, 1802.

The transfer of the lots to Mr. Webb in 1802 included no reference to any buildings or other improvements to the parcels. How soon after the transfer the house was built is unclear. In the 1810 United States census, the census takers did not record street addresses; however, based on the names of his neighbors with known addresses, Mr. Webb was likely residing elsewhere, perhaps the Daniel Cannon House at 274 Calhoun Street (begun about 1802).

The first reference to Mr. Webb’s residence with more detail came only a few years later. In 1813’s city directory, Mr. Webb was identified as a factor living in Cannonborough, likely a reference to the house at 213 Rutledge Ave. A little more information came in the 1816 Charleston directory, when Mr. Webb was listed as living on the west side of the Cannon Bridge Road (as Rutledge Ave. was sometimes described). He consistently appeared in subsequent directories starting in 1819 as a resident of the corner of Cannon and Rutledge Ave. Over the years, his occupation was identified as factor and a partner in North, Webb & Co.

Daniel Cannon Webb died in 1850 and left the property to his wife, Eliza Ann Ladson Webb, for the term of her life and then to their children. His will referred to the “prudence and good judgment” in which he had “for near forty-three years, placed implicit confidence,” and he gave her the power to sell any portion.

By 1858, the house was available as an eleven room rental with furnishings and outbuildings,[3] but there is no evidence that it was ever actually rented out. During the Civil War, Mrs. Webb tried to sell the house; an ad on April 18, 1863, in the Charleston Mercury describing the house as a “commodious and elegant three and a half story HOUSE on a brick Basement, containing 12 Rooms.” The house was “finished in the best manner, and furnished with gas, grates, and bell fixings.” The house included an eight-room dependency for servants, accommodations for horses and carriages, and a flower garden.

Mrs. Webb eventually sold the house to her son William Ladson Webb,[4] a crockery and glassware merchant, for $9000 on August 26, 1867.[5] Mr. William Webb received the house but held it in trust for the benefit of his wife, Susan Winthrop Webb, and their children. During his more than thirty years of ownership, the only known image of the house was prepared. In the 1872 Bird’s Eye View of Charleston, the dwelling is shown, but with very little detailing. The image confirms a three-story house with a dependency with an area for a garden to the south of the house.

On November 27, 1900, the house was sold at a public auction as a result of a lawsuit over the title to the property. George Gadsden Creighton,[6] the president of a lumber company, bought the house for $6700.[7] The transfer was recorded on March 19, 1901. When the 1902 edition of the Sanborn Insurance maps was released, the footprint for the property showed that the house and dependency were still extant. Mr. Creighton and his wife, Hattie Creighton, occupied the house for about a decade.

Mr. Creighton sold the house on February 10, 1912, to Washington H. Zeigler, a professor at the Medical College. The deed included a covenant that no building would be built on the rear of the property that would obstruct the views from the adjacent house on Cannon Street.[8] The covenant was removed in a later deed on March 14, 1919, which adjusted the property line between the parties.[9] By at least 1920, the family began renting two apartments in the house.[10]

Although the finely built house enjoyed strong ties to a very notable Charleston family, it was no match for the arrival of gas stations. Many of the most famous houses in Charleston were built on prominent corners of major intersections where they would be the most eye-catching. Unfortunately, the same aspects that made those lots choice locations for houses also made the lots choice locations for service stations.

Courtesy of the AFLLC Collection – 2019

Mr. Zeigler sold the property in November 1922 to the Standard Oil Co. for $24,000.[11] A plat dated July 1922 showed the three-story frame house on a brick foundation with a three-story piazza; a smaller frame building with porch behind the main house; and an unidentified building (perhaps a garage) was near Cannon Street at the rear of the property. Standard Oil had already pulled a building permit in the summer of 1922 for a $5000 service station.[12] An advertisement appeared in the Evening Post on January 20, 1923, and announced the new station would open on January 24, 1923.

The new station seems to have been a small one located in the former garden of 213 Rutledge Ave. The station, carrying the new designation of 211 Rutledge Ave., was a single office with pumps similar to the station built at the Joseph Manigault House on Meeting Street by Standard Oil at the same time. Over the years, the Rutledge Ave. station was always associated with the Esso brand, but its name changed with different franchise operators.[13]

Meanwhile, throughout the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, the house itself was home to a string of renters[14] while the ground floor was converted into a grocery store. An Atlantic & Pacific grocery store opened in 1923 and remained in operation until at least 1929 when it was replaced by a Rogers Grocery.

The old house seems to have met its demise when the current gas station was constructed in 1949, expanding the size of the station to occupy the entire lot. Part of the old house, though, lives on. When the house was torn down to make space for the larger station, a salesman for Standard Oil named Hugh Wilson acquired its interior features. When he built his own house at 10 Greenhill Street, he built a very different house than 213 Rutledge Ave., but the architects at Halsey & Cummings incorporated the paneling, wainscoting, flooring, and staircase from the Rutledge Avenue house into the new dwelling.[15]

The current gas station had its grand opening on January 21, 1950 as Charlie Sanders’ Esso Servicenter. The station was a classic example of mid-century modern design with slick horizontal design including an office area with floor-to-ceiling windows and two garage bays. After a few years, the service station became Al’s Esso (1956).

Regrettably, within only a few years, the gas station that brought down the historic house closed. The station was soon retooled to serve many different purposes: N&P Pantry (a grocery) (1958), George’s Snack Bar (1958), McKenzie’s Fine Art Studio (1968-1977), Goodwill Nursery (1977), St. Joseph’s Nursery Center (1979-81), Sparkly Day Care Center (1984), and Step Ahead Clothing (1986-89).

Between the many different uses, on June 16, 1978, Isiah William Haynes bought the property for $40,000.[16] He continued renting the property out to different commercial purposes, but by the 1990s the building was vacant, and the property was used as overflow parking for a nearby parking garage.

Mr. Haynes died August 21, 1995, and the representative of his estate sold the premises to Gerard Mallon for $245,000 on May 1, 2000.[17] Mr. Mallon sold the property for $387,500 to New Cannonborough, LLC on August 30, 2002.[18]

New Cannonborough, LLC sold the station on February 28, 2011, to Petrol Holdings, LLC for $810,000.[19] The vacant gas station had a small addition made to its southern façade and a slightly larger addition to the north side in 2012, but otherwise the features of the building remained intact during a rehabilitation of the structure. The gas station took on a new life following the 2011 rehabilitation as a Caribbean restaurant named “Fuel” which remains in place today.

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SOURCES:

[1] Mary Trusler, the widow of Thomas Doughty, married for the second time to Daniel Cannon in 1755. Among her children by her first husband was Mary “Polly” Doughty (1749-1782) who married John Webb (1744-1807) in 1769. Among the Webbs’ eight children was Daniel Cannon Webb (b. Aug. 6, 1782; d. Nov. 1850). Daniel Cannon married Eliza Ann Ladson on November 30, 1805.

[2] Deed book G7, page 431

[3] Charleston Mercury, Feb. 15, 1858, at 3

[4] William Logan Webb was born on January 19, 1821, and he died on October 24, 1901. He was married to Susan Winthrop Webb (1820-1897).

[5] Page 584

[6] (b. Sep. 27, 1870; d. Mar. 18, 1948)

[7] Deed book F23, page 273

[8] Deed book H26, page 79

[9] Deed book ___, page 667

[10] Residents included J.F. Lucas (1920), E.K. Dunham (1920), P.B. Whisnant (1921), and Joseph Benedict (1921).

[11] Deed book ___, page 549

[12] Charleston Evening Post, Aug. 21, 1922, at 3

[13] In 1936, it was known as Lee Landrum’s Esso Service Station; and Messervey’s Esso Station in 1938, Sanders’ Esso in 1948-49.

[14] Residents included H.E. Harley (1923-24), E.L. Chassereau (1923-25), V.H. Price (1925), H.J. Graham (1927), A.H. Brouthers (1928-29), Karl A. Fredrickson (1928-32), William Lasley (1930), Pate M. Murray (1932-34), L.F. Rhen (1934), Robert W. Jacques (1938-42), and Charles D. Hodge (1938-48).

[15] “Do You Know Your Charleston?” Charleston News & Courier, July 25, 1949

[16] Deed book C116, page 30

[17] Deed book L346, page 428

[18] Deed book C417, page 817

[19] Deed book 0174, page 338

[Research and written by Kevin R. Eberle, Sept. 2016]

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Ashley Hall School – Charleston, S.C.

Courtesy of the Wingard Postcard Collection – 2013

City Directories and History: ASHLEY HALL
Constructed circa 1802-16; various nineteenth-century additions

George A. Trenholm Mansion, 172 Rutledge Avenue, Charleston – HABS Collection

“Although this building’s exact construction date remains in question, it is known that Patrick Duncan, a wealthy tallow chandler, purchased a lot in 1798 from Daniel Cannon and yet another lot in 1807 to the south from Elizabeth Combe. The purchases were made at the time when the neighborhood was becoming the fashionable suburb of Cannonborough. After his return to England in 1828, Duncan sold the house to James Nicholson for $11,800 in 1829.

In 1836 the property and building passed into the hands of James Reid Pringle, leader of the Unionist Party during the Nullification controversy. In 1845 George A. Trenholm, a noted Charleston merchant and onetime secretary of the treasury of the Confederacy, acquired the property. After the Trenholm tenure, the property was in the hands of Charles Otto Witte. Since 1909 the house has served as the home of Ashley Hall, a private school for girls.

The architecture of the building is be lieved to show the influence of William Jay. The house is entered through the basement portico, which has been glass enclosed to form a conservatory. The exterior of Ashley Hall is stuccoed and is probably original, as most homes such as this one from the Regency era were finished in this manner. The elaborate architectural detail in the Regency style, soaring elliptical stairway, curved walls and doors, round-headed openings, grandiose portico, and rounded balconies are similar to designs in Savannah by William Jay.

The three pointed arch windows in the pediment of the building’s portico, defined by four Ionic columns, and the vaulted ceil-ings of the interior add Gothic motifs also used by Jay’s contemporary, Robert Mills. An 1819 account describes the richness of Patrick Duncan’s garden, but Charles Otto Witte is responsible for the present botanical diversity of the garden as well as the garden building clad with shells.”

Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston – Author, for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997

“Ashley Hall School. Built c. 1816 by Patrick Duncan, this Regency villa was, according to tradition, designed by an English architect. lt is similar to the work of William Jay in Savannah. After 1838, it was the home of James R. Pringle, Speaker of the S.C. House and customs collector. lt was later owned by George A. Trenholm, wealthy shipping merchant, owner of Civil War blockade runners, and Confederate Secretary of the Treasury. From 1870 to 1907, it was the home of Charles O’Witte, the German consul. ln 1909, Miss Mary Vardrine McBee established the school.” (Smith & Smith, Dwelling Houses , pp. 332-333; Charleston Grows , pp. 285-286; Rhett & Steele, pp. 86-87; Ravenel, Architects , p. 115; Stockton, DYKYC, Oct. 17, 1977; Nepveux,George Alfred Trenholm , pp. 7-9; Stoney, This Is Charleston , p. 91) – CCPL

(Ashley Hall School) Constructed ca. 1816, Ashley Hall was once the home of wealthy Charleston merchants. Distinctive architecturally, it has served since 1909 as a preparatory school for girls. James Nicholson owned the property from 1829 to 1838. In 1838 James Pringle bought the house. Pringle was a prominent Unionist during the Nullification controversy and a member of the state legislature from 1808 to 1818. At the time he bought the house, he was the collector of customs for the Port of Charleston. Pringle sold the house to George A. Trenholm in 1845. Trenholm was a wealthy merchant and financier who became Secretary of the Confederate Treasury in 1864. The Classical Revival building was constructed of stuccoed brick painted white and is two stories over a high basement with rusticated masonry. The portico is supported by four giant-order unfluted Ionic columns with Renaissance capitals in Palladian stance upon balustraded pedestals. The pediment is denticulated and has in it triptych Gothic windows. The basement’s front elevation has a central segmented arch flanked to either side by a semicircular arch. Originally open, the arches have been glazed. The portico façade is a deeply-convex apse with second story balconies and wrought iron railings. The water table is sandstone. After decades of use as a private residence, Mary Vardrine McBee found Ashley Hall in 1909, a preparatory school for girls. Listed in the National Register August 30, 1974. (Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History)

Other sources: Charleston Tax Payers of Charleston, SC in 1860-61, Dwelling Houses of Charleston by Alice R.H. Smith – 1917, Charleston 1861 Census Schedule, and a 1872 Bird’s Eye View of Charleston, S.C. The Hist. Charleston Foundation may also have additional data at: Past Perfect

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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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Samuel and Mary Prince House – 84 Cannon Street

City Directories and History: The simple, one-story frame house at 84 Cannon Street was built in the late 1880s by Samuel H. Prince, but the lot—unaltered since 1799—had been the location of a residence earlier. The current house has flip-flopped between owner occupancy and rental property several times during its 130 years.

The Lot

The land, like all of the lots within Cannonborough, was once owned by Daniel Cannon, a wealthy builder and sawmill operator. He divided his large holdings into lots (still very large) and began selling the suburban parcels off in the 1790s. On January 17, 1795, James Custer bought Lot 1 at the northeast corner of Cannon Street and Rutledge Avenue for 100 pounds sterling.[1] The parcel was about 335 feet along Cannon Street and 120 feet deep. Mr. Custer added to his holdings when he bought another of Mr. Cannon’s parcels on June 24, 1795, acquiring the neighboring Lot 2 to the north for 50 pounds sterling. Lot 2 was smaller—only about 57 feet along Rutledge Avenue and 318 feet along Lot 1.[2] The combined parcels would eventually become 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, 96, 96 ½, and 98 Cannon Street as well as 210, 212, and 214 Rutledge Avenue.

Mr. Custer sold Lots 1 and 2 to Edward Brown Nowell for 100 pounds sterling on December 24, 1798.[3] (The price cut from what Mr. Custer had paid for the same two lots was perhaps accounted for in a simultaneous sale of property in Ansonborough by Mr. Nowell to Mr. Custer.) Although the two lots were originally oriented east-west, Mr. Nowell began selling off pieces of this property so as to form the modern, north-south lots along Cannon Street. On March 12, 1799, Mr. Nowell sliced off the easternmost 40 feet of his holdings and sold the new parcel to Daniel Defoy for 50 pounds.[4] The resulting lot was the same 40 foot wide and 175 foot deep parcel that has continued to exist to the current date.

The First House

On June 12, 1799, Daniel Lefoy (joined by this wife, Ann) sold the property to William Lee for 80 pounds sterling.[5] On December 31, 1800, William Lee (joined by his wife, Harriet) sold the property to William Friday, a free person of color, for 80 pounds sterling.[6] Until the sale to Mr. Friday in 1800, none of the deeds expressly referred to a house, although the quick run-up in price before to sale to Mr. Lee might suggest that a house was added then. Certainly, however, a house was added to the land at least by 1806, when Mr. Friday was listed as a butcher (“victualler”) living on Cannon Street.[7] Mr. Friday did face a tax delinquency issue in 1819 which risked the house,[8] but in the 1820 census, the Friday family consisted of seven free black members there. In the 1830 census, Mr. and Mrs. Friday were recorded at the house along with 15 slaves. Finally, in the 1840 census, the family included seven free people of color and two slaves.[9]

The Friday family owned the parcel throughout the first half of the 19^th century, but the apparent heirs of Mr. Friday (who died about 1840) seem to have lost the house to settle debts. Richard E. Dereef bought the property for $600 at a judicial auction on February 5, 1849, after a suit against John Friday and A. Friday (possibly William’s widow, Alicia).[10] Mr. Dereef flipped the house and sold it for $830 to Thomas N. Gadsden on January 30, 1850.[11] Interesting, the deed specifically described Mr. Dereef as “a person of Indian descent,” explaining in a special note that he had objected to signing a paper describing himself as a “free person of color.”

Mr. Gadsden, one of the city’s most active real estate investors and most active slave auctioneers, lived on the lower peninsula and would have kept it as a rental property.[12] Regardless, he did not keep the house long and sold it to Samuel Morrison on April 17, 1855 for $1350.[13]

The Current House

The story of the current house at 84 Cannon Street begins with the next transfer of the land. Mr. Morrison sold the property to John S. Riggs in 1863.[14] Mr. Riggs[15] was a self-made man who had been the Father of Charleston Trolleys. By 1860, Mr. Riggs paid taxes on over $60,000 in real estate (an very large sum at the time), owned 23 slaves, and had other property as well. Most notably, he was the president of the Charleston City Railway Co. from its creation in 1866 when it first ran the first horse-drawn trolleys in Charleston until his company was acquired by the later trolley company in 1898 and the operation went electric.[16]

Mr. Riggs did not occupy the simple wooden house on Cannon Street; in 1864 he bought the elegant Joseph Manigault House at 350 Meeting Street and resided there. Instead, Mr. Riggs seems to have used 84 Cannon Street as a rental property.[17] Although the Cannon Street house was certainly liveable, it must not have been a particularly stylish house even among its neighbors on Cannon Street. In 1873, it was worth only about ¼ the neighboring house at 86 Cannon Street.

The early 19^th century, two-story house that appeared in records is not the house that occupies the lot today. Rather, sometime between August 1886 and August 1887, Samuel H. Prince pulled a permit to erect a single-story house on the property for $900.[18] (His permit was listed among a recap of permits issued between August 1886 and August 1887.) Mr. Price’s wife, Mary Elizabeth Price, was the sister of Mr. Riggs, and the Princes lived in their house from 1887 through their deaths.

The 1888 Sanborn Co. maps showed the one-story house with a front porch at the front of the property. The much older, two-story building with one-story piazza stood in the back. By the 1902 edition of the maps, the piazza had been removed from the back building, and the rear house was completely gone by the April 1944 Sanborn maps.

How the back building was used during the Princes’ time is unknown. No records show renters occupying it. Additionally, it seems odd that the wealthy president of the Charleston trolley would live in the Manigault House himself while his sister occupied a simple frame house that shared a lot with a workforce rental. A contemporary (2018) floorplan of the current house reveals that it was likely a very simple four-room house with a central hall. On the right of the central hall, the two rooms have been joined by removing the wall between them; evidence of a fireplace mirroring the one across the hall exists where the floorboards have been patched. The rear section of the house has been changed during its existence; the rearmost room at the northeast corner is probably original, but the northwest corner is in-fill (indicated in red in the diagram).

Meanwhile, Walter Riggs, a son of John S. Riggs, died of a cerebral hemmorhage on December 22, 1888, at the age of only 34, leaving two minor children, John S. Riggs, Jr. and Alma Shingler Riggs. To provide for his grandchildren, Mr. Riggs wrote a will in 1894 which left his two-story house on Cannon Street to them, but only at the expiration of a life estate in favor of his sister.[19] Mr. Riggs’ will specifically mentioned that the two-story house was still on the property but that his brother-in-law Samuel H. Prince had built a one-story house on the property as his residence. When Mr. Riggs died on February 2, 1899, the title to the property passed to his sister, but only for the duration of her life.

Mr. Prince,[20] a clerk with the South Carolina Railway, died on June 10, 1896. His widow, Mary,[21] remained in their house until she died on September 9, 1906. Mr. Riggs’ grandchildren John and Alma[22] then received the property, but John very quickly sold his interest in the Cannon Street house and other real estate to his sister for $1129 on November 7, 1906.[23] On July 31, 1908, Mrs. Alma Riggs-Sanders sold for $2000 to the executors of Frances K. Merrill (who had died in 1896) for the benefit of Ms. Merrill’s siblings, Sarah Kinsman and Warren Kinsman.[24] During those short ownerships after the Princes, the house seems to have been used as a rental property again.[25]

Warren died in 1909, and Sarah became the undivided owner of 84 Cannon Street. When Sarah herself died in May 1912, her estate sold the property for $2800 to grocery clerk Theodore F. Gruber[26] on February 19, 1914.[27] Mr. Gruber and his wife, Elizabeth, returned the house to owner-occupation and lived there until 1924; thereafter the Grubers began using their own house as an income property again[28] while renting a house for themselves in Ansonborough.

Mr. Gruber sold the house for $6500 to Palmetto Shipping employee Harry[29] and Daisy Simmons Rhett[30] on July 25, 1955.[31] The Rhetts once again returned the house to owner-occupation. Mr. Rhett, on March 21, 1968, conveyed his interest in both the Cannon Street house and also 7 Kennedy Street to his wife.[32]

Mrs. Rhett sold the house for $15,500 to James and Ethel S. Brown on April 2, 1971.[33] James Brown, a worker at Morris Motors, lived at the house with Ethel for nearly twenty years before he died on May 20, 1991. Ethel S. Brown took the house by a deed of distribution on January 6, 1992.[34]

The house has maintained its basic form over time, although some alterations have been made to the rear. The building is a simple, frame house with gable, metal roof. The front of the house has unfortunately had its wood siding covered with (but not replaced by) a brick veneer, but only on the front. The framing indicates that there were two windows on either side of the front door, and two more along the sides in each room. Additionally, the front porch has had metal columns installed instead of wood and mid-20^th century windows have been used as replacements. One original two-over-two window remains in the back corner room. Happily, what seems to have been an original turned column was found under the house, giving a basis for recreating the original porch.

[1] Deed book M6, page 290 (recorded Mar. 24, 1795)

[2] Deed book P6, page 79 (recorded Oct. 28, 1795) (the lot tapered to 309 feet wide along with northern edge)

[3] Deed book X6, page 18

[4] Deed book Y6, page 5

[5] Deed book Y6, page 109

[6] Deed book E7, page 477 (recorded Mar. 9, 1802)

[7] Despite the lack of street numbers in many early census records, it can be shown that Mr. Friday was living at 84 Cannon Street. Census records consistently identified neighboring property owners adjacent to Mr. Friday’s own entry. And, while city directories also often omitted street numbers, Mr. Friday did not own any other property on Cannon Street.

[8] Southern Patriot, Sep. 11, 1820, at 2

[9] The Fridays’ use of slave labor despite being freed people of color is briefly mentioned by Larry Koger in Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790–1860.

[10] Deed book C12, page 82

[11] Deed book F12, page 111

[12] Francis Manning was living at the house (then known as 56 Cannon Street) in 1861 for the municipal census.

[13] Deed book R13, page 88 (recorded on Nov. 22, 1855)

[14] Deed book T14(2), page 16

[15] (b. Oct. 3, 1823 in Norfolk, Va.)

[16] “The Late John S. Riggs,” News and Courier, Feb. 6, 1899, at 8

[17] Between 1870 and 1873, the house was rented to Terrance and May McMahon (McMann).

[18] “How the City Was Rebuilt,” News and Courier, Sep. 5, 1887, at 1

[19] Charleston County estate case number 423-0024

[20] (b. Dec. 21, 1824)

[21] (b. Oct. 22, 1831)

[22] Alma Riggs (b. abt. 1887) married Edward Rembert Sanders (b. abt. 1887) on November 26, 1905. They seem to have lived in Chatham, Georgia in 1910 and maybe Savannah, Georgia until about 1922.

[23] Deed book H25, page 1

[24] Deed book O24, page 613 (recorded Aug. 10, 1908)

[25] Occupants included Mrs. John Dukes (1908), Rev. R. Maynard and Hattie Marshall (1910-1912), and J.H. Scott (1912-1914).

[26] (b. Aug. 6, 1881)

[27] Deed book R26, page 485

[28] Occupants included railroad yard master William P. and Geraldine Cahill (1925-1932), John J. Howard (1934), Clarence R. Ashworth (1938), Benjamin and Ida Viorde (1940), Vernon Viorde (1940), Carrol and Marie Tumbleston (1940), Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Lee Powell (1941-1942), Ernest A. Park (1942), Mrs. William E. Enter (1943), Charles H. VanGlahn (1948), Miss Joan Nelson (1951), and Mrs. Margaret Hendricks (1955).

[29] (b. Oct. 30, 1903; d. Mar. 10, 1989)

[30] (b. abt. 1910; d. bef. 1994)

[31] Deed book O60, page 452

[32] Deed book G76, page 178

[33] Deed book H96, page 284

[34] Deed book K209, page 301

[Researched and written by Kevin Eberle, September 2018]

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R&R THREAD: RIGGS LIVED AT 350 MEETING STREET

76 Cannon Street

City Directories and History: John L. and Mary M. Linsser House – c. 1811

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———–

In the late 18th century, Daniel Cannon carved his large swath of property into large lots and sold them off. The house at 76 Cannon Street was built on the southeast portion of Lot 5—100 feet wide on Cannon Street and 350 feet deep, running all the way through the block to Spring Street (known as Gadsden Street at the time). Through later subdivisions, the single lot would become 76 Cannon Street, 78 Cannon Street, 99 Spring Street, and 101 Spring Street.

The deed for Daniel Cannon’s first sale of Lot 5 has not been located, but James Caveneau had certainly acquired it before 1795; on October 1, 1794, when Mr. Cannon agreed to sell Lot 4 (to the west), that deed named Mr. Caveneau among the adjacent property owners.[1] When Mr. Caveneau died, his executors had a plat of Lot 5 prepared in June 1807 which did not include any indication of any improvements.[2] They auctioned the property, and James Harvey and Leslie Thompson placed the high bid of $1600, acquiring the property on June 25, 1807.[3]

When Messrs. Harvey and Thompson defaulted on their mortgage, the lot was sold to Dr. Philip Moser at an auction taking place on October 1, 1810, for $2680. The sale was recorded on March 20, 1811, most likely to give Dr. Moser the time to first pay off the purchase price.[4] Soon Dr. Moser resold the property for $6000 to the editor of the Charleston City Gazette, printer Ebenezer Smith Thomas, on July 19, 1811. Not only does the enormous increase in value in less than a year suggest that Dr. Moser had the house built, the deed to Mr. Thomas included a reference to a building on the lot for the first time.[5]

Mr. Thomas sold Lot 5 for $5000 to John Lewis Linsser on February 25, 1812.[6] According to the 1813 city directory, Mr. Linsser (misspelled as John L. Lindsay) was living on Cannon Street and working as a butcher. Mr. Linsser was a German immigrant, born on August 26, 1782, who had arrived in Charleston in about 1804. Once in Charleston, he must have been extremely successful; not only was he able to purchase a fine house, but according to the 1820 census, his household included not just his family but also eight slaves. Mr. Linsser died on June 25, 1839, leaving Mary Margaret Linsser[7] as his widow. She remained in the house until at least 1861 when she was recorded in a municipal census at 50 Cannon Street (as the house was known before a street renumbering).

Mrs. Linsser died in the early 1860s, and her estate was opened in August 1863. On February 27, 1861, Mrs. Linsser had executed a will leaving her house to James and Geraldine Beattie. (The relationship between the Linsser and Beattie families is unknown, but one of the Beatties’ children had “Linsser” as a middle name.) Mrs. Linsser also left five shares in the Bank of Charleston to the Beatties specifically to fund repairs to the house. Some of the details on the house including its piazza screen and porch columns were likely reworked at that time; they are stylistically certainly not original to the early 19^th century house.

James Beattie,[8] a butcher, does not appear to have lived in the house himself and instead used it as a rental property while he bounced back and forth to Florida.[9] Mr. Beattie had moved to Alachua County, Florida by1857 and was conducting experiments with producing syrup from Chinese cane.[10] Then, he was back in Charleston by July 24, 1860, when his contact information was given as Cannon Street in a real estate listing; he and his family lived in Ward 8 for the 1860 census, but the precise address is unknown. In the June 1870 census, James and his wife, Geraldine (Lutz) Beattie,[11] were again living in Alachua, Florida with their children.

On December 29, 1870, a deed (made March 11, 1868) was recorded by which James Beattie gave the house at “50” Cannon and some other lands to Geraldine for her life and then to any of their own children plus his children from an earlier marriage to Mary Ann Teresa Kinsey.[12] The deed to Geraldine did not include specific measurements and referred only to the house that had belonged to Mary “Lindsay.”

It seems that there was some lawsuit over the property, and a judicial sale was held on December 7, 1880, at which 76 Cannon Street was sold separately from the house at 78 Cannon Street for the first time.[13] David Maybank,[14] a cotton factor, was the highest bidder for 76 Cannon Street at $2400, and the sale of the lot—reduced to its current 55 feet by 205 feet—was recorded on January 6, 1881.[15] He lived there from 1882 to 1886 at least, although he transferred the house to Mary Pope (Frampton) Maybank[16] on May 23, 1882.[17]

On March 4, 1887, Mrs. Maybank sold the house for $3050 to John Wilke Messervy.[18] Soon after the Messervys’ purchase, the house was recorded in the June 1888 edition of the Sanborn Insurance Co. maps. The house was shown in place with a two-story dependency behind it with a one-story masonry structure even further back on the lot.

Immediately upon purchase, Mr. Messervy[19] and his wife, Adeline E. (Kuck) Messervy,[20] began a long occupancy of the house. Mr. Messervy was trained at the Medical College and worked as a pharmacist for ten years before changing careers entirely and starting in the horse and mule trade. When he died on January 15, 1932, his wife remained in the house for several more years. In her later years, she inherited stock in the Arcade & Attica Railroad, becoming its only female director in 1941. In addition, she was also elected to membership in the New York Jockey Club following the death of her husband. Mrs. Messervy was active in politics too, holding Republican leadership positions and trying to get a two-party system going in the South for those opposed to the New Deal.

In 1944, the Sanborn Insurance Co. released a new edition of its maps. By the time of the new edition, the buildings at 76 Cannon Street had been joined together with infill to make one long building. By that time, the house had been converted into apartments. Mrs. Messervy had moved to Rutledge Ave. and short-time occupants lived at 76 Cannon Street instead.

Mrs. Messervy sold it to Joseph L. Roper for $7200 on July 6, 1950.[21] Mr. Roper operated an auto shop at the house known as Roper’s Automobile Repairs and also lived in the house with his family. During his ownership, the house retained as many as six rental units in the main house and back buildings. Mr. Roper died on January 13, 1973, and the house was inherited by his wife, Phoebe Roper, and his son, Joseph Roper, Jr. After a series of transfers of fractional interests, Rev. Alonzo Middleton and Margaret Jenkins own the house (75%/25% respectively).[22]

[1] Deed book O6, page 209

[2] Deed book E8, page 92

[3] Deed book U7, page 214

[4] Deed book D8, page 93

[5] Deed book D8, page 312

[6] Deed book E8, page 92

[7] b. abt. 1792

[8] b. abt. 1824; d. abt. 1873

[9] Renters included E. Bull (1867), J.T. Erwin (1869-1872), Lewis E. Conner (1875), William McKee (1878-1879)

, and Henry Cutter (1880-1881).

[10] Charleston Courier, Oct. 28, 1857, at 2

[11] b. abt. 1833, Charleston; d. Feb. 2, 1908, Charleston

[12] Deed book W15, page 68

[13] Charleston News & Courier, Nov. 23, 1880, at 3

[14] b. Dec. 10, 1841; d. June 13, 1925

[15] Deed book W18, page 1

[16] d. Aug. 23, 1929, Hendersonville, N.C.

[17] Deed book L18, 314

[18] Deed book G19, page 282

[19] b. Apr. 15, 1854

[20] b. Dec. 1, 1856; d. Mar. 30, 1941

[21] Deed book G52, page 379

[22] Phoebe Roper transferred her one-half interest to Alonzo Middleton and Margaret Jenkins on April 7, 1982, for love and affection. (Deed book C128, page 229) Joseph Roper, Jr. conveyed a one-half interest in his own one-half interest to Miriam Roper on December 7, 1987. (Deed book Y170, page 116) Joseph, Jr. and Miriam both sold their one-quarter interests to Alonzo Middleton on September 8, 1993, for $30,000 each. (Deed book R231, page 739; deed book R231, page 779)

[Researched and written by Kevin Eberle, May 2017]

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68 Cannon Street the Riggs-Baldwin House

City Directories and History: Riggs-Baldwin House

68 Cannon Street, c. 1855

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———-

The large, wooden house at 68 Cannon Street is certainly not the first dwelling on the site. Because of a paucity of antebellum records, some of the house’s history is circumstantial; however, a strong case can be made for the construction of the house in the 1850s by the Sires family, replacing an older house from the turn of the 19^th century. Although 68 Cannon Street has periodically been owner-occupied, the house has mainly been used as a rental property.

Daniel Cannon—for whom Cannonborough is named—owned a tract of several acres outside the densely populated downtown near his family’s mill. He had the property platted into at least 18 smaller (although still large by modern standards) lots and sold them for development.

Philip Hart sold Lot 7 of the Daniel Cannon tract (100 feet wide and extending all the way through the block to Spring Street) to merchant Alexander Jones on for 135 pounds in 1795.[1] Ten years later, butcher David Cameron bought the property for $1200.[2] Mr. Cameron probably did not live at the site; before he bought Lot 7 in 1805, he had already purchased the neighboring lot (Lot 8) to the east and was living there by 1800.

Mr. Cameron died in 1809 or 1810, and Lot 7 was acquired by his widow, Elizabeth, and his adopted daughter, Elizabeth Smith.[3] The inheritance would ultimately go to whichever outlived the other. His adopted daughter, Elizabeth Smith, must have married William Burn; Elizabeth Burn,[4] acquired the property through David Cameron’s estate, and in late 1813, her husband, William Burn, sold about one-quarter of it to Thomas Critzbourg[5] for $600. The portion that was sold was the first time the property assumed its current dimensions of 45 feet on Cannon Street by 175 feet deep. Additionally, the deed specified that the property had “two small houses” on it. Whether the two small houses had been built for the Burns family or for Mr. Cameron is unknown.

In 1814, Mr. Critzbourg sold the property with two small houses for $675 to Sarah Remmington (on behalf of her son, school teacher John K.N. Runciman).[6] In the early 19^th century, street numbers were irregularly used, especially in the more sparsely populated areas above Calhoun Street. In various years, city directories and censuses showed either Sarah Remmington (1816, 1830, 1831, 1840) or John Runciman (1819, 1835, 1840) living at least on Cannon Street, likely in one of the former dwellings.

Mr. Runciman died in 1848 while residing on Cannon Street and left the property to his widow, Sarah Runciman, and their four children.[7] The property then saw several quick resales. First, to settle the estate of Mr. Runciman, on July 3, 1848, a public auction for the property was held. Stone cutter James E. Walker[8] paid $700 for the lot with buildings on it, but in the 1849 directory, he was listed as living on Meeting Street with William, David A., and James E. Walker.[9] Then, less than a year later, Mr. Walker sold the property to his brother, Rev. Charles S. Walker,[10] for only $750.[11] Next, in 1851, the property was bought by Thomas Norman Gadsden[12] for $995.[13] (The property was possibly sold when Rev. and Mrs. Walker moved away; they were living in Anson County, North Carolina at the time they sold the property to Mr. Gadsden.) Mr. Gadsden was a very wealthy Charlestonian who lived on lower Church Street and was heavily invested in real estate holdings and development.

On April 17, 1855, Mr. Gadsden sold the property to Martha M. Sires,[14] the wife of bookkeeper Peter Sires,^[15] for $1250.[16] Property tax records began being kept in 1852, and the lot was listed as having only a single building on it, suggesting either that one of the earlier “two small houses” had been removed or that both had been replaced with a newer dwelling. In the 1850s, two-story, wooden houses on similarly sized lots along Cannon Street were valued between $1000 and $2000, strongly suggesting that whatever house was on the land when Mrs. Sires bought it was an unexceptional dwelling.

While no concrete evidence exists, 68 Cannon Street was likely built by the Sires family as a replacement for whatever simpler house had served earlier owners. First, new construction frequently coincided with changes in ownership, and, indeed, the assessed value of the parcel increased dramatically between 1854 and 1855. Second, the Sires family (especially carpenter Francis Sires, the brother of Peter Sires) added several very similar houses to nearby parcels including 156, 158, and 160 Spring Street, all of which were two-story houses with central halls oriented lengthwise on their lots. Third, the classical style of the house is certainly consistent with 1850s taste and not early 19^th century architecture.

Assuming that the house was built for Mrs. Martha Sires, the dwelling was probably intended as an investment and not a personal home for her and Peter Sires. In 1857, Francis Guerrin Cart paid $5500 for the property; the more than quadrupling of the price in less than two years is further evidence that the current house was built during the short ownership by Mrs. Sires.

At least at the very start, the house might have been used for owner occupation. Mr. Cart was the trustee for the marriage settlement of John Cart Glover and Jane Glover,[17] and in the 1859 city directory, J.C. Glover was living on Cannon Street, somewhere west of Coming Street.

In 1859, auctioneer John S. Riggs paid $5000 for the house.[18] Mr. Riggs, who already owned nearby 60 Cannon Street, seems to have lived in that house and rented his new acquisition. In the 1861 municipal census, “42 Cannon” (the house’s first street number) was home to Capt. Shirley C. Turner.

Mr. Riggs quickly sold the house to wood factor Thomas W. Riggs[19] for $5000 in 1862.[20] Thomas was only two years younger than John, perhaps a brother, but he seems to have died not long after buying the house. In the 1872 assessor records, Thomas’s widow, Matilda Friend Riggs,[21] was the owner. Renters apparently occupied the house in 1874,[22] but a member of the Riggs family lived in the house in 1875.

During the Riggs’ ownerships, the first visual representation of 68 Cannon Street was produced. In the 1872 Bird’s Eye View of Charleston, the large, laterally oriented house can be seen just west of Felix Street amid neighboring houses and dependencies.

The house was next sold at a sheriff’s sale on March 23, 1876, for $1330 to J.D. Zerbst[23] following a suit by the heirs of Thomas W. Riggs to settle the estate. The Zerbst deed referred to a two-and-one-half story wooden house with outbuildings on the 45 by 175 foot lot.[24] The Zerbst family occupied at least part of the house in 1893-1895, but otherwise they seem to have rented the house out.[25]

In June 1888, the existing two-and-one-half story house was shown on the Sanborn insurance maps. The house had a square footprint with a two-story pizza overlooking Cannon Street. A rather large, two-story dependency with a single-story porch stood behind the house and was labeled as 68 ½ Cannon Street. The rear building had not been moved next door by 1908 when a plat for 70 Cannon Street showed only the single house there and nothing in the rear. By the 1929 update to the Sanborn maps, the rear building had been spun 90 degrees and moved to the back of the neighboring lot.[26]

In 1899, J.H.W. and Dorothea Zerbst (heirs of J.D. Zerbst) sold the house to Anna R. Rohde[27] for $3000.[28] (Mrs. Rohde lived next door with her nephew[29] Edward Bulcken’s family at 66 Cannon Street until her death.) When Mrs. Rohde died in March 1912, she left her real estate to Carolina S. Bulcken (nee Petermann), the wife of her nephew, Edward Bulcken. Carolina died in 1914, and Mr. Bulcken (the sole devisee of his wife) sold the house to Joanna E. Bulcken in 1919.[30] (The relationship between Edward Bulcken and Joanna Bulcken is unknown.)

By the 1920 census, Haynes Lennon Baldwin[31] was there with Johanna E. Baldwin.[32] Despite the house’s being owned by Ms. Bulcken, it was the home of the Baldwin family from 1920 for almost twenty years. Indeed, when Ms. Bulcken died, Haynes L. Baldwin served as her executor.

As the result of a lawsuit brought by Mr. Baldwin (as the executor of Joanna E. Bulcken) against James F. Baldwin and Oran S. Baldwin (minors), the house was sold to Carolina Realty Corp. on August 15, 1939 for $4021.75.[33] Carolina Realty Corp. sold the house to John Baldwin on October 13, 1939, for $6200.[34] John Baldwin sold the house to his brother Charles Franklin Baldwin[35] on March 8, 1943 for $1500 and the assumption to two mortgages.[36]

Although Charles F. Baldwin shortly lived in the adjacent house at 70 Cannon Street, the house at 68 Cannon Street was otherwise converted to a purely rental property starting in about 1940.[37] Charles Baldwin sold the house along with both 70 and 72 Cannon Street (which he had acquired in 1943)[38] to J. Palmer Gaillard on April 30, 1946 for $10,227.30 and the assumption of a mortgage.[39] Mr. Gaillard sold the three houses to Violet (Voyles) Rubin (Mrs. Joseph Rubin) for $21,000 in June 1953.[40] Rubin sold the three properties to Hadco Realty Co. for $18,500 on April 27, 1962.[41] (Hadco Realty Co. was a real estate firm that was owned, in part, by noted contractor Herbert A. DeCosta.)

Hadco Realty Co. sold just 68 Cannon Street at its 45 by 175 foot property to track and cross country coach for the College of Charleston Amy S. Seago for $415,000 on January 13, 2011.[42] At first, plans included an addition to the rear of the house, but the Board of Architectural Review rejected the plans. Instead, in 2013, additional space was created by adding a partial basement (the property is 13 feet above sea level already).[43] At the end of the project, the basement became the home of Ladles Restaurant in the summer of 2016; the main floors were expected to house the Seagos’ residence and a bed-and-breakfast.[44]

On December 28, 2017, Mrs. Seago conveyed to In Charleston, LLC in return for a membership interest in the business.[45]

SOURCES:

[1] Deed book O6, page 357 (recorded on September 21, 1795)

[2] Deed book Q7, page 56 (recorded on June 5, 1805)

[3] Charleston County will book 31, page 397

[4] (b. Elizabeth Smith; d. 1825 leaving her husband, William; son George Burn, Ann A. Burn, Charles Burn, Edward Burn) (Given the fact that she left several children by William Burn, one may assume that this was the adopted daughter and not widow of David Cameron. Additionally, David Cameron’s widow held only a life estate in the property and would not have been able to convey a title to the property.)

[5] Deed book I8, page 120 (recorded on November 29, 1813) (“Critzbourg” is often spelled “Chrietzburg” elsewhere.)

[6] Deed book H8, page 404 (recorded on August 29, 1814)

[7] John outlived his mother but died, leaving a wife named Sarah Runciman and four children–John W. Runciman, Harriet A. Runciman Lawrence, Mary Ann Runciman, and Vanderhorst Runciman.

[8] This was probably James Evans Walker, who was born on April 3, 1808 in Charleston to Thomas and Margaret Walker. He was married to Rebecca Schenk Brewer. He died March 13, 1883, in Charleston.

[9] Deed book A12, page 425 (recorded on Oct. 9, 1848) On the same day that the sale to Mr. Walker was recorded, a quitclaim deed by the Burn clan was recorded to the Runcimans to resolve any issues arising from William Burn’s earlier sale on behalf of his wife. Deed book B12, page 221

[10] Rev. Charles Saunders Walker was born on January 22, 1815, and he died on January 18, 1857 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

[11] Deed book C12, page 2 (recorded on May 30, 1849)

[12] Thomas Norman Gadsden (b. Nov. 16, 1808; d. Jan. 7, 1866)

[13] Deed book N12, page 375 (recorded on January 19, 1852)

[14] Technically, the house was bought by B.S.D. Muckenfuss, a trustee for Mrs. Sires upon her marriage to Peter Sires.

[15] Peter Joseph Sires was born in 1794. He first married Sarah Ann Smith and had two children with her. His second marriage to Martha Ireland generated 12 children. He died on May 13, 1867.

[16] Deed book R13, page 79 (recorded on November 14, 1855)

[17] Deed book V13, page 472 (recorded on March 19, 1857)

[18] Deed book W13, page 751 (recorded on February 16, 1859)

[19] Mr. Riggs had died before 1877.

[20] Deed book R14, page 71 (recorded on September 4, 1862)

[21] Mrs. Matilda Riggs was born about 1836. She died in January 1901, a resident of 39 America Street. Her children were Thomas, Susan, and Henry Riggs.

[22] Renters in 1874 included Carol and Sarah Weaver, Oscar Kanapaux, and Mrs. Mary Mazyck.

[23] Both Julius and his wife, Julia, had middle names that began with D, so the owner of the property could have been either.

[24] Deed book X16, page 195 (recorded May 22, 1876)

[25] Occupants included Charles Y. Richardson and William Richardson (1877-79), David Fickling (1884), George Fisher (1884), Alonzo Coburn (1884), gunsmith Joseph L.N. Beaudrot (1887-92), Edward D. Bulcken (1887-91), William Mehrtens (1896-97), M.S. Stopelbein (1898-99), Mrs. M.J. Sellers (1900-05), Saxby Chaplin (1902), F.W. Rivers (1902-04), David M. Burns (1906-07), J.H. Gruber (1908), J.K. Gunter (1908), T.N. Ladd (1910-15), Mrs. Edith Lockwood (1916), and F.W. McKenzie (1917-1919).

[26] All of the properties were owned by the same family at that point, so the movement of the dependency from one parcel to the other is consistent with that.

[27] (b. Dec. 6, 1835; m. Heinrich B. Rohde; d. Apr. 29, 1912)

[28] Deed book N23, page 274 (recorded on July 19, 1899)

[29] Mrs. Anna R. Rohde (1835-1912) was Anna Bulcken before her marriage to Rohde. Her siblings included John G. Bulcken, Gessie Bulcken (1832-1879), Julius Bulcken (1845-74), Wilhelmina Bulcken (Wohltmann) (1842-91), Augusta Bulcken (Janssen), and Meta Bulcken (Nimitz). Anna Bulcken married Heinrich/Henry Rohde (1838-1877), and her sister Wilhelmina married Diedrich Rohde (1839-1919).

[30] Deed book Z28, page 209 (recorded on October 7, 1919)

[31] Haynes Lennon Baldwin was born on March 8, 1868, to James and Mary (Lennon) Baldwin in North Carolina. For 40 years, he was a partner in Walker & Baldwin until it was liquidated. He then operated H.L. Baldwin & Sons, poultry dealers, for the final five years of his life. He died June 17, 1954, living in McClellanville.

[32] Mrs. Baldwin was born March 23, 1881, to Peter and Joanna Bowles.

[33] Deed book Y36, page 683

[34] Deed book V40, page 296

[35] Charles Franklin Baldwin was born on October 27, 1915. He died September 28, 1948, when car drove off a bridge and he drowned.

[36] Deed book B44, page 47

[37] Renters included heating engineer John M. and Melba Wyndham (1940-42); carpenter Robert and Birdie Pogue (1940); Leo J. Barrett (1942-48); Samuel Smith (1948); Ernest Williams (1955); James W. Rast (1955); Miss Violet Rubin (1958); Joseph Washington (1968); William Cherry (1968); Ernest J. Murray (1968); Mrs. Eva Pierce (1968-91); John Bowman (1970-71); Clarence Coaxum (1970); Walter Pinckney (1970); Margaret Johnson (1971-76); Mrs. Dorothy Watson (1971); Mrs. Rosa Gadsden (1972-94); Ben Gadsden (1973-86); Wilhelmina Chisolm (1974-89); Karen Wright (1977); Carmen Wilkey (1981); Wilhelmina Cunningham (1982-2011); Genevia Gantt (1992-96); Eva Smalls (1993-94); Elliott Beckett (1994); Ross Hare (1996); Charles Scaffe (1996); Deirdra Y. Black (1997); Jackie Ficco (1998-2000); Gay Yates (1998); Joshua Dorman (1999-2000); Eddie Smith (2000); Jeffrey S. Ridenoure (2001); Gerald Pressley (2004-07); Randi M. Isaacs (2004-06); and Mukundadura Perera (2010).

[38] Deed book R41, page 275

[39] Deed book S46, page 201

[40] Deed book J57, page 345

[41] Deed book M76, page 47

[42] Deed book 166, page 436

[43] Robert Behre, “Dig it: Cannon St. home gets something novel,” Post and Courier, Aug. 10, 2013, at SC Features-1

[44] Dave Munday, “Charleston tourist district continues to expand with changes on Cannon Street,” Post and Courier, at D1

[45] Deed book 688, page 770

[Researched and written by Kevin r. Eberle, June 2018]

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274 Calhoun Street – Home of William Gregg

City Directories and History: The wealthy contractor – lumberman Daniel Cannon apparently commenced construction of this large two-and-a-half-story wood house

R&R HISTORY LINK: HIRAM HUTCHISON – ADVISOR

on a high brick basement in 1802, and after his death the structure was completed by his estate some years later for his daughter. The house retains some of its original exterior

Graniteville Textile Mill – Images(s) and information from: The Library of Congress – HABS Photo Collection

elements, including hipped roof and fenestration, and there are splendid Adamesque features on its interior. William Gregg, jeweler and founder of Graniteville Manufacturing Company, the South’s most innovative antebellum industrial facility, lived here from 1838 to 1855. The property has notable Greek Revival additions, including the piazza columns and a Victorian cast-iron fence. A double brick dependency survives northwest of the main house. Mr. Gregg was a long term associate of S.C. banker, Hiram Hutchison of York County, Columbia, Cheraw and Hamberg, S.C. It was Mr. Hutchison who served as Mr. Gregg’s financial manager and business partner until Hiram Hutchison moved to New York City in the early 1850’s. Click on the highlighted Hutchison name above to read an extensive history of his associations and business dealings.

Also see #77 Nassau Street for other housing built by William Gregg.

Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston – Author, for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997

Daniel Cannon prospered as a building contractor, property owner and part-time planter. He was among those who joined Christopher Gadsden under the Liberty Tree and was a member of the Congress of South Carolina in 1775. He was captain of the Cannon Volunteers during the Revolution. Cannon lived on Queen Street next door to the Dock Street Theatre and started construction of a new residence in 1802. Only the basement was completed before his death. Cannon’s daughter Martha finished construction of the house, one of the finest examples of Federal architecture on the Charleston peninsula. After her death, the house was owned by a series of planters, including Henry A. Middleton of Georgetown, before it was acquired by William Gregg in 1838.

Image of the home by photographer – Neisler, ca. 1950s

William Gregg was born in Virginia and is considered one of Charleston’s outstanding entrepreneurs. Apprenticed to his uncle, he learned watch making and textile spinning in his uncle’s Georgia mill. When England flooded the market with cheap imported goods after the War of 1812, the mill failed. Gregg was then apprenticed to a friend of his uncle who lived in Lexington, Kentucky. When he was twenty-one, Gregg moved to Petersburg, Virginia, where he worked for a silversmith named Blanchard. Three years later, he moved to Columbia, South Carolina, and prospered by importing fancy goods, silver, watches and military paraphernalia. In 1829, he married Marina Jones from Edgefield.

The story is told that Gregg once went on a trip to Iowa and traveled in a coach driven by a white coachman and four horses. The cost of feed in the sparsely populated West forced him to sell two of his horses before he returned to South Carolina. Gregg turned a struggling textile factory in the Edgefield District into a highly profitable enterprise. He moved to Charleston in 1838 and went into business as a jeweler and silversmith with Nathaniel Hayden and his brother H. Sidney Hayden. Hayden, Gregg & Company became the leading supplier of luxury goods and jewelry in Charleston. The partners remained in business until Gregg devoted himself full time to the cotton industry.

Courtesy of the New York J.H. Colton and Company, 1856; from Colton’s Atlas of the World

A man of vision, Gregg understood the economic advantages of having mills located near the cotton fields. In 1844, Gregg toured the textile manufacturers in the North. He wrote a series of articles for the Charleston Courier, advocating that the South end its reliance on agriculture and start investing in manufacturing. The articles were published in pamphlet form and were widely circulated in the 1850s and 1860s through journals such as DeBow’s Review and Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine.

By 1845, Gregg and several partners had secured a charter from the South Carolina General Assembly and established the Graniteville Manufacturing Company in the Edgefield District. The factory quickly became the most successful textile factory in the entire South. It had 9,245 spindles and a capital base sufficient to hold its own witli northern competitors. Gregg provided a church, library and quality housing for his workers. Medical care was available for a modest fee. He also created what is thought to be the first compulsory educational system, providing teachers and books for children from six to twelve years of age. Parents were fined five cents a day when their children were absent from classes. Gregg was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1856, where he argued for industrial development. He was a member of the Secession Convention in December 1860 and signed the Ordinance of Secession. The Graniteville mill produced cotton cloth for the Confederacy.

When the Greggs lived in the mansion, the house was still surrounded by water. The family used a boat for exit and entry; crabs used to nibble at the bare toes of the children when they came down to the water’s edge. In the front yard were two palmettos that Mrs. Gregg had raised in doors from seed. The garden was a showplace, and drivers from the city would bring visitors to admire it. Gregg installed handsome rectangular pillars from Graniteville at the entrance to his driveway.

In 1855,Gregg sold the house to John Rutledge, son of the accomplished chief justice. The younger Rutledge married the daughter of eminent Patriot and educator, the Reverend Robert Smith, rector of St. Philip’s Church, and his second wife, Sarah Shubrick. Smith was at St. Philip’s Church for forty tumultuous years and is known for his active participation in the Revolution. He was the first bishop of South Carolina and helped establish the American Episcopal Church. He also started a school that later became the College of Charleston and was its first president. (Courtesy of author and historian, Peg M. R. Eastman – Hidden History of Old Charleston, History Press – 2010)

Other sources of interest: Charleston Tax Payers of Charleston, SC in 1860-61 and the Dwelling Houses of Charleston by Alice R.H. Smith – 1917 Also see Gregg’s Charleston Textile Mill site on Drake Street.

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

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R&R HISTORY LINK: Kitchen house for the Gregg Residence

R&R HISTORY LINK: COTTON MILL SUPT’S HOUSE

R&R HISTORY LINK: WM. GREGG – CHARLESTON JEWELER

R&R HISTORY LINK: SC ENTREPRENEUR MR. HIRAM HUTCHISON

The HCF may also have additional data at: Past Perfect and further research can be uncovered at: Charleston 1861 Census Schedule

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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From the Porch

Southern Queries – Forum