City Directories and History: The William A. Caldwell Building is one of the few antebellum structures in Charleston whose date of construction can be confidently pinpointed: January 1841. The structure, located at the southwest corner of Chalmers and State Streets was built as a commercial property to replace an earlier building, but it has been used for residential purposes since the 1920s.
The location of 1 Chalmers Street was in the center of Charleston’s commercial activity, and the land was almost certainly developed very early. A map of Charleston dating to 1739 (left) shows long ranges of buildings along State Street, although the actual corner of State and Chalmers Street had not been improved yet. For most of the 18th century, 1 Chalmers Street left no clues about its use, but it was likely put to at least some use.
The current lot for the building was not assembled until 1836 when Mr. William A. Caldwell acquired two smaller lots facing on State Street. Mr. Caldwell was born in Ballymoney County, Antrim, Ireland on February 16, 1787, and emigrated to the United States at only 12 years old. At first, he lived with his father’s family in New York before settling in Charleston in 1806. Once in Charleston, he was consistently engaged in the mercantile trade. In Charleston, he remained a part of the Irish community and served as the president of the Hibernian Society of Charleston at one point.[1]
Mr. Caldwell began buying up property in the French Quarter in the late 1810s. Two lots were bought and put together to form the current parcel upon which 1 Chalmers Street was built. First, on October 9, 1818, Mr. Caldwell paid $1500 to Edward Thwing for a property that was about 28 feet wide on State Street and 60 feet deep.[2] How that property was used by him is unknown, but he expanded the lot on March 7, 1836, when he bought the neighboring lot to the north at the corner at a public auction for $1265.[3] The new lot was a very thin parcel only about 12 feet wide but 60 feet deep; it had likely been reduced in width when Chalmers Street was widened by the City in 1819. Despite the narrow lot, the corner parcel already had a dwelling on it when Mr. Caldwell bought it.
Mr. Caldwell built a three-story brick store on his new lot, but it seems that he might have first had to clear the properties of possible renters. In an advertisement appearing in the Charleston Courier in 1837, Mr. Isaac Willis, who lived at 1 Chalmers Street, let readers know that he would pick up passengers at any location and shuttle them to the train station.[4] Lacking the efficiency of an Uber service, passengers had to leave their names and addresses at Mr. Willis’s residence ahead of time. The fact that the address was Mr. Willis’s dwelling indicates that the property was the same structure that had been sold at auction in prior year, but Mr. Willis moved to Rutledge Ave. by early 1838.[5]
Coinciding with Mr. Willis’s departure, a real estate advertisement appeared on February 28, 1838, which described a “new three story Brick STORE and LOT.”[6] The “new” building had possibly been built as early as 1836 with Mr. Willis as its first resident. (The construction of a new building immediately after the sale of the property was very typical.) The advertisement gave the dimensions of the building as 38 feet on State Street and 60 feet on Chalmers Street, which tracks the footprint of 1 Chalmers Street.
Although the advertisement described the property as being on the southeast corner, [7] that was clearly an error since there is no southeast corner of Chalmers and State Streets. Moreover, coincidentally, the northwest corner of the intersection was being sold at the same time; an advertisement for that property described a wooden house and other buildings on a lot that was 25 feet on State Street and 60 feet on Chalmers Street.
Starting by 1839, the new building began appearing in advertisements as a sales house, where a variety of merchants operated businesses over the years. The first identified sale appeared in 1839 for a sale at 1 Chalmers Street of “about Forty likely VIRGINIA NEGROES; among which are House Servants, Field Hands, Plough Boys, Washer and Ironers.”[8] Slaves were certainly not the only subject of sales at the spot. In 1846, R. & A.P. Caldwell, a brokerage firm formed by two of Mr. Caldwell’s sons, had an operation at the southwest corner at which shippers’ inventory damaged during transport was being sold off.[9]
Surprisingly, the 1838 real estate advertisement for a new, three-story brick store was not an advertisement for the building that occupies the corner lot today. Curiously, whatever building was mentioned in the February 1838 advertisement lasted only two years. On January 12, 1841, Mr. Caldwell signed a contract with master builders J.A. and S. Sanders to construct a new three-story brick building to replace an existing building on the lot.[10] The contract did not hint about the reason for replacing the only-two-year old building, but the contract made references to basically replicating the earlier building. The new building was to be “put up in conformity with the present building.” Specifically, the window pattern was to be the same, and some materials were even to be salvaged and reused. Nevertheless, the building was a completely new building since the contract specified that the “foundation must start from the natural ground to make the building permanent.”
The contractors charged $1350 for the new building. Their very detailed contract specified dimensions of lumber, the types of hinges to be used, the specifics about doors, and other information about the building they would build. On Chalmers Street, the structure was to be five bays wide and one door on State Street; the walls were to be pointed brick, two bricks thick on the first floor and one-and-one-half bricks on the upper floors. Windows were to have shutters but no sashes (strongly suggesting a dedicated commercial purpose). Each floor would have an arched opening on the Chalmers Street side with a hoist affixed to the roof for hauling goods upstairs. All of the materials—except the bricks—were to be supplied by and at the charge of the builders.
No evidence has been found explaining the replacement of the “new” 1838 brick building with another building built along the same lines and even using some of the same materials. However, the fact that the bricks were being supplied by the owner himself (even though the contractors were especially well known for their masonry work) perhaps indicates that the existing walls were being torn down and the bricks salvaged. One possible explanation is that a fire might have gutted the building, but that theory is unsupported other than with circumstantial evidence.
Mr. Caldwell died on October 1, 1846. His sons John W. Caldwell and William S. Caldwell sold the property on behalf of the estate for $5500 to their brothers Richard[11] and Andrew Parks Caldwell[12] on October 7, 1847.[13]
The next description of the building came in the early 1850s. The Bridgens & Allen map (shown left), produced in 1852, indicates a building with the same footprint as the existing structure. In addition, the first municipal tax documents, reflecting property information as of 1852 through 1856, recorded 1 Chalmers Street as a three-story building.
The Caldwell brothers sold the property to Wilbur & Son for $7500 on June 4, 1860.[14] Wilbur & Son was an auction house created by Mr. William W. Wilbur. Mr. Wilbur was born in Virginia in 1796, but he was working in Charleston by 1830 selling combs and fancy goods on King Street. By 1849, he had taken on a new profession and was identified as an auctioneer. In 1859, his son joined him in the business, newly christened as Wilbur & Son. The auction house, known publically as the Brokers’ Exchange, sold everything from crockery to plantations.
Mr. Wilbur’s own business and then his new venture with his son, Wilbur & Son, had been located at the corner at least since 1856. After buying the property in 1860, a large remodeling of the property was undertaken. The new owners hired Mr. Benjamin Lucas, a contractor well known for both private and public buildings, to remodel the existing building, and the work was completed within just a few months. The first floor was outfitted as office space and a showroom for inspecting the general merchandise that the company would offer. The second floor was altered to include a large room especially devoted to the sale of slaves, real estate, and stocks and bonds. The second floor sales floor was fitted up with desks and tables and had its own private entrance from Chalmers Street. The top floor was reserved for storage.[15]
In early November 1860, the newspaper offered a brief review of the new auction house before it opened to the public. Without even a hint of irony about the building’s reworking for use as a slave market, the newspaper remarked how comfortable the new facility would be: “The design of the Messrs. WILBUR has been to produce a building of utility, every way adapted to their own wants and to the comfort and accommodation of the trade.”[16]
On November 16, 1860, the new establishment opened. The opening day was quite an event with lawyers, brokers, merchants, journalists, and politicians all attending. At 2:00, three shots were made from the “Secession Gun,” a small cannon that had been ceremoniously fired to celebrate the secession of each Confederate state.[17]
William W. Wilbur died on November 29, 1861, at his home at 60 Anson Street, but the auction house continued. The heirs of William Wilbur were sued by the Caldwells, likely for defaulting on an installment purchase of the property, and sold the building back to the Caldwells on August 17, 1868, through a master’s deed.[18]
Andrew P. Caldwell, as the surviving partner of R. & A.P. Caldwell, sold the property to Mary Ann Wirth for $1980 on June 23, 1871.[19] During Ms. Wirth’s ownership, the famous Bird’s Eye View map of Charleston was created, offering a somewhat reliable view of the city, albeit with highly simplified building forms. The building was drawn with a gable roof at that time.
Ms. Wirth sold the property to John G. Bulcken, a merchant, on March 6, 1876, for $2500, but he resold it to her for the same price later that same year on November 20, 1876.[20] A few months later, Ms. Wirth sold the property to the Longshoremen’s Protective Union Association for $1900 on March 20, 1877.[21]
Former slaves organized the Longshoremen’s Protective Union Association in 1869 and, through a series of strikes, forced shippers to pay union wages. Surprisingly, the organization included both black and white members until 1890 when a group of its white members formed a splinter group. The LPUA was important both economically and politically. The group helped establish the United Labor Party in 1887 to challenge the Republican Party in post-Reconstruction Charleston, and political conventions were among the events held at the hall during the longshoremen’s ownership. The 1884 Sanborn map (shown below) shows that the union used the second floor as their headquarters while the first floor was vacant; large meetings probably would have taken place on the second floor.
On August 31, 1886, the Great Charleston Earthquake struck, causing tremendous damage, especially to masonry buildings. The building at 1 Chalmers Street was particularly badly damaged. A photograph taken by George Cook in the aftermath of the disaster (shown above) shows the building with severe damage, supported by wooden braces. According to a survey of damage done by the City, the north wall (facing on Chalmers Street) needed to come down to the first floor, the west façade (now facing a parking lot) needed to have the top floor removed, and the entire State Street wall needed to be removed. The overall assessment pegged the damage at $2100 and recommended rebuilding the structure above the first floor.
How extensive the rebuilding was is difficult to estimate. The trim over the third floor windows (at least on the State Street façade) was changed from a flat cap to an arched design, similar to those seen on the lower floors. Also, the photograph captured the structure for a gabled roof which seems to have been a victim of the earthquake. However, the presence of earthquake bolts above the second floor indicates that at least the first two floors were restored rather than completely rebuilt.
The extensive work needed to repair the building was perhaps beyond the financial ability of the union at least in the short term; when the 1888 edition of the Sanborn map was released (shown below), the building was still described as “dilapidated.”
Despite the condition of the building, activities continued. In 1898, labor conditions deteriorated in Charleston during a labor strike, and workers were imported from Savannah to compete with the union workers. Violence broke out repeatedly with much of it happening around the group’s hall. After an imported worked was stabbed, the newspaper described the danger: “The longshoremen’s hall is on the corner of State and Chalmers street. It is the rendezvous for several hundred white and colored longshoremen, and this is probably the most unsafe part of the city for the imported laborers, especially since the intimidation process has been resorted to.”[22]
The union sold the property to Alfred T. Jennings for $2500 on April 23, 1912,[23] starting a series of quick transfers. After less than seven months, Mr. Jennings sold the property to The Welling Corp., a real estate business, on November 16, 1912.[24] The corporation, in turn, sold it to King Street clothier Hyman Fechter on March 28, 1913.[25] He signed a two-year lease for the storefront at 15 State Street on March 31, 1916, which provided for the subdivision of the first floor into two spaces.[26] Mr. Fechter next sold it to E. Tracy Becker on May 30, 1917.[27] Throughout the 1910s, the building appeared in city directories only as 15 State Street and was rented out as a commercial storefront.
The building’s first known resident was its next owner. Mr. Becker sold it to roofing contractor J. David Sherrill on April 19, 1920.[28] Sherrill and his family lived in the building and began renting apartments out by 1922; a furnished apartment could be had for $50 per month, and an unfurnished unit for half that. His business seems to have run into trouble, and Mr. Sherrill amassed debts owed to several creditors. The Protestant Episcopal Church for the Parish of St. Philips sued Mr. Sherrill, and the Chalmers Street property was ordered sold at a public auction taking place on November 6, 1923. The church was the high bidder at $8100, and the property sold on November 24, 1923.[29] On November 28, 1923, all the rest of Mr. Sherrill’s property was conveyed to a trustee to be used in satisfying debts.[30]
The church seems to have used the property as rental housing, a use which continued for several decades until the property was converted into owner-occupied condos.[31] The church sold the property to C. Stuart Dawson for $10,500 on May 15, 1945,[32] but he very quickly resold the property to Beverly DuBose Stoney[33] for $11,000 on October 17, 1945.[34]
Mrs. Stoney (the wife of Mayor Stoney) died in 1976, and her three sons divided her property amongst themselves. On October 27, 1981, Laurence O. Stoney and Randell C. Stoney conveyed their interests in the Chalmers Street property to their brother, Theodore D. Stoney, Jr., [35] as part of his share.[36] When he died on January 7, 1982, the property was placed in trust for the benefit of his wife, Lois Middleton Stoney,[37] for the term of her life, then to be divided amongst their children.[38] Mrs. Stoney died on April 22, 1994, and the property was received by their children, Richard Smith Whaley Stoney; Theodore Stoney, Jr.; and Beverly Stoney Johnson on December 14, 2000.[39]
The property was then sold to Properties of Historic Charleston on June 19, 2001, with each heir receiving $525,000.[40] The building was then converted into a set of condominiums as of June 3, 2003,[41] and the units were sold off. The building is used as a series of condominiums today.
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SOURCES:
[1] Southern Patriot, Oct. 8, 1846, at 2
[2] Deed book B9, page 15
[3] The corner lot was sold in satisfaction of a mortgage taken by James McAlister in favor of Patrick Duncan for $2020 in 1826. (Deed book S9, page 103) Typically, the penalty for a defaulted mortgage was twice the actual value of the loan it secured. The deed to Mr. Caldwell was recorded three days after the auction. (Deed book M10, page 326)
[4] Charleston Courier, March 15, 1837, at 2
[5] Charleston Courier, Feb. 22, 1838, at 2
[6] Southern Patriot, Feb. 28, 1838, at 3
[7] Charleston Courier, Feb. 28, 1838, at 3
[8] Charleston Courier, Jan. 21, 1839, at 3
[9] Southern Patriot, Sept. 30, 1846, at 3
[10] Deed book E11, page 398
[11] (b. 1815; d. 1879)
[12] (b. Oct. 26, 1819; d. Jul. 16, 1883)
[13] Deed book Y11, page 572
[14] Deed book L14, page 293
[15] “The New Brokers’ Exchange,” Charleston Courier, Nov. 3, 1860, at 1
[16] Id.
[17] “The New Broker’s Exchange,” Charleston Courier, Nov. 19, 1860, at 1
[18] Deed book D15, page 259
[19] Deed book A16, page 73
[20] Deed book B17, page 72; deed book X16, page 416
[21] Deed book Y16, page 569
[22] “More Violence from Strikers,” Evening Post, Nov. 22, 1898, at 5
[23] Deed book Y25, page 157
[24] Deed book N26, page 84
[25] Deed book O26, page 145
[26] Deed book Z26, page 547
[27] Deed book Y27, page 274
[28] Deed book E30, page 121
[29] Deed book U30, page 50
[30] Deed book Q32, page 58
[31] Some of the many occupants included John Henry Meyer (1926); John Wheishunt (1927-30); Herman Staubs (1931); William McIlyaine (1928); Julius Von Der Leith (1931); Hardin J. Smoak (1934); John Francis Caldwell (1935); John Patrick Chapman (1937); Mrs. Emily Tavel (1938-40); Mrs. Carmen Beaton (1938); Elliott E. Botzis (1938); Christo Thomas (1938); James and Elma Jennings (1939); Thomas Benton (1940); William D. Chassereau (1940); Archie Hatchell (1940); Gilbert S. Ott (1940); Miss Lillie V. Hughes (1942); James Torlay (1942); Eugene and Lily Hughes (1943); George T. Driggers, Jr. (1948); Woodrow W. Jarriel (1948); James Hagen (1948); Mrs. Nona Peach (1948); Evelyn H. Bissett (1955-58); Mrs. Jessie M. Hill (1955); James E. Bise (1955); Eugene Cross (1958-61); Mrs. Mary L. Anderson (1958); Gertrude Henebery (1958); Randall S. Barre (2000); Deb Bennett (2000); Russell French (2000); Katie Milner (2000); and Nathan Dapore (2001).
[32] Deed book J44, page 399
[33] (d. Dec. 12, 1976)
[34] Deed book B46, page 265
[35] (b. Mar. 31, 1918)
[36] Deed book Y126, page 366
[37] (b. Jun. 11, 1921; d. Apr. 22, 1994)
[38] Deed book V203, page 821
[39] Deed book H360, page 153
[40] Deed book R374, page 649; deed book R374, page 654; deed book R374, page 659
[41] Deed book K451, page 875
[Researched and written by Kevin R. Eberle, Oct. 2016]