A 1938 ad for milk coming from the Steele’s dairy in Ebenezer.
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on March 24, 1870 – “Fire burned a barn on the Harris Plantation belonging to Dr. E.T. Avery four miles from Ebenezerville. The fire also destroyed five hundred bushels of corn and some forage.”
The Yorkville Enquirer of Aug. 4, 1870 reported – “Dr. E.T. Avery found four negroes on his plantation near Ebenezer who had no business there. He ordered them to leave and fired a shot which hit one of them, Duffy Harris. Dr. Avery came to town and surrendered himself to the Sheriff.”
The Rock Hill Herald reported on Aug. 20, 1885 – “Dr. E.T. Avery is busily employed in making grape wine. He has already made over 500 gallons.” Later on Nov. 6, 1885 the paper announced – “The S.C. Commissioner of Agriculture has appointed a committee to select a farmer in York County to experiment with the culture of tobacco. The committee has selected Dr. E.T. Avery of Ebenezer who has already been giving tobacco some attention.”
The Rock Hill Herald reported on Aug. 2, 1888 – “Mr. John Newton Steele has established a dairy and will be ready to supply customers next week.”
City Directories and History: The Colonel Edward Avery house was one of the most important structures remaining in
LINK TO HISTORY: YORK COUNTY’S WEALTHY – 1850
Ebenezerville at the time it became part of Rock Hill in 1961. Perhaps constructed in the 1820’s, it went through several periods of remodeling prior to its demolition in 1962.
RAILROADS COME TO YORK COUNTY – Several additional facts about the rail line from Columbia to Rock Hill may be of interest to the reader. First, the men from York District who attended the convention concerning the building of a railroad from Charlotte to Columbia were Colonel W. C. Beatty, William A. Latta, John Miller Ross, Robert Gadsden McCaw, William Moore, W. Giles, J. Beatty Smith, and Joel W. Rawlinson. This initial meeting of interested parties was held at Winnsboro on May 24 and 25, 1847.
Subscribers for stock in the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad Company on September 9 and 10, 1847, were these: Colonel W. C. Beatty, John Miller Ross, Colonel William Wright, John S. Moore, W. I. Clawson, William A. Latta, George W. Williams, Colonel Edward Avery, Harvey Hugh Drennan, Rev. Archibald Whyte, Thomas D. Spratt, James D. Spratt, A. M. White, George P. White, William E. White, and Captain John Massey.
(Along the Landsford Road, by Wm. B. White, Jr. Vol., I – 2008)
The Herald reported on Aug. 29, 1900 – “Mr. E.R. Avery has leased the Meldau cottage in Oakland and is arranging to move his family there in a few days.” (Location of this home is unknown.)
*** The Herald reported on Sept. 5, 1903 – “Mrs. E.R. Avery was to have left last night to join her husband in their new home in Siluria, Alabama, about 22 miles from Birmingham. Their son Ivy Avery will not leave, but will enter the Catawba Male Academy. Mrs. Avery is one of the best women raised in Rock Hill. Their removal leaves Rock Hill with one representative of each family (Ivy and Avery families), both having been prominent families since Rock Hill was only a small village. Left are Mr. J. Morrow Ivy, and Mr. Julian Avery.”
OLD AVERY HOME AT EBENEZER, BUILT BEFORE 1832, NOW OWNED BY STEELES
Excerpt For Addition of Wing, House Is Little Changed – Dec. 16, 1948 The Evening Herald
The date of the construction of the Avery home in Ebenezer has been lost in the pages of time. However, the lovely old two story home was built before 1832 and was for many years the home of the Avery family. Early owners and residents of the home were Col. And Mrs. Edward Avery. [The 1850 Federal Census of York County states, that Mr. Avery born in Virginia was then, a fifty-seven year old farmer, worth the sum of $20,000. A short ten years later the census recorded a worth of some $70,650. (both personal and property), a vast sum of money for the period.]
Sometime during the latter part of the 19th century the property was bought by Robert Morrison, who had only one leg.
During Morrison’s ownership of the property fertile field between the home and old Ebenezer Church were planted in grapevines. Morrison was known for miles around for his grape wine. The full story basement was use for storing of wine barrels and for the curing of the wine. Morrison had one son, Thorn.
Avery Home: Courtesy of the WU Pettus Archives – 2023
Morrison was also well-known as the owner of race horses and had a race track in the level field across the road from the house. In December of 1900 the house and adjoining land were purchased by Edward Partlow Steele and his wife, Mrs. Etta Hutchison Steele. They sold their home and land in the Concord section when the Duke Power Company entered the area with plans for their big dam.
Mr. and Mrs. Steele built a wind to the lovely old home but otherwise they changed the structure little. For the most part the house stands today as it was more than 50 years ago and as it perhaps was for many years prior to that time.
The house is now the residence of Joe H. Steele and his sister, Miss Allene Steele. Features of the home include the interesting basement, once the home of the salves, with its huge hand made brick walls and large fireplace. Mr. and Mrs. Steele were also the parents of Earle Partlow Steele who died in 1933. He married the former Miss Katherine Brandon, who lives next door to the large Steele home place. The couple was the parents of two daughters, Mrs. Millard Stafford and Miss Dorothy Steele of Ebenezer.
Remembered widest of all the residents of the home through its many years is beautiful Mary Avery Toland, who was born within its wall in 1832. So beautiful was Mary Avery Toland that she received the title of South Carolina’s most lovely woman and today the lines, now fading from her tomb in historic Ebenezer cemetery, can be seen — “No one so beautiful as she, perfect in form and face, a queenly mien with modesty, crowned every other grace.” The fact that Mary Avery Toland’s history goes back to another century does not seem so long when one can step into the old Ebenezer graveyard and see the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers dated as early as 1750. Mary America Avery was the daughter of Col. Edward Avery and Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Vaughn Avery. As a child she must have played in the churchyard adjoining her home and pondered upon those buried within its tombs.
She grew into a breath-takingly beautiful woman, whose oval face and graceful form have been preserved in a portrait painted by an artist of the time. At about the age of 21, Mary America Avery made her debut at the state ball held in Columbia, the outstanding event of the state’s social life. Dr. Hugo Toland of Columbia, one of the state’s prominent and wealthy citizens, met her at the ball and declared that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He said, “I expect to marry her.” And, although Dr. Toland was an older man, he did marry the fair Mary after a whirlwind courtship. As a physician, Dr. Toland realized that his bride was not in robust health and prescribed a complete change of climate as a means of improving it and giving the couple as extended honeymoon.
That was before the day of railroad travel. So Dr. Toland fitted out a regular caravan for their use, complete even to silver mounted pistols. So the couple started out, accompanied by Mrs. Toland’s brother, Dr. E.T. Avery.
Evidently there was no need for the silver mounted pistols and the couple made their leisurely ways across the continent. But an enemy lurked in route that they had not dreamed of. One September night, six months after they had left South Carolina, the couple camped near San Francisco. Cholera was prevalent in the area and Mary Avery Toland was stricken September 19, 1852 with the dreaded disease and died three days later.
Avery Plantation – Heritage Plat Map by Mayhugh. All rights reserved R&R.com
Mary’s mother must have had a premonition of her daughter’s death. Before she left home Mrs. Avery extracted a promise from Dr. Toland that if anything should happen to Mary he would bring the body back to Ebenezer cemetery.
Dr. Toland took the body into San Francisco and although embalming was in its infancy, he had her body embalmed according to his directions. It seems that he himself remained in San Francisco where he built up a successful practice, re-married, and eventually founded Toland University. Some say that during this time the body of his beloved first wife remained in his office; and others say, that it was placed in a mausoleum.
He did not forget his promise to Mary’s mother and in 1877 he decided to fulfill that promise. This time the body of Mary Toland traveled across the continent on a train… finally to reach its permanent resting place in Ebenezer. Dr. Toland said that when the body left California Mary Toland “was as beautiful as on the day she died.”
There are today no living members of the Avery family bearing that name. Living until a few years ago were two nieces and a nephew, Miss Ella Avery, Mrs. Mecca Avery Laughlin and a nephew, Julian Avery. S. K. Lowery and E. B. Lowery of York are great grandsons of Colonel Edward Avery.
R&R Notes: The lovely Avery Home was demolished in July of 1962 when I was eleven. However, I well remember how this event saddened so many in the community. The house remained in good repair but failed to meet the standards of comfort its owners had come to expect. Ebenezer was also slated for commercialization.
The story of Mary America Avery Toland is indeed interesting but has little to do with the history of the house and its architectural merit. The unusual placement of the chimneys, one on the end of the main section and one on the rear back wall of the main house, are clearly indicative of a structure being built in multiple phases. From the available photographs, I would suggest the home was built in three or four phases. The last of which would have included the bay window and other striking features from the 1850’s that were common additions to early plantation homes. Millard Stafford, a Steele family decent, and I have discussed this point and agree that unseen portions of the house could easily be as late as the early 20th century.
Mr. Stafford was also very helpful in providing the photograph and plat of the lands that Mr. Avery owned. I have included just the section around the house site which also included that of Ebenezer Church. One of the photographs that we were unable to use also is remarkable in that it is a view of the surrounding areas from the Avery House at the time it was destroyed. Not one building is in view!
Dr. Alton Brown wrote, ” In the house next to the manse lived Mr. and Mrs. Earl Steele. She taught school and he had a large dairy farm. He and his bachelor brother, Joe ran the dairy. I well remember that one of the boys who worked in the dairy was Gene Hutchison. He later owned a farm in the country and ran a dairy on his own. Joe Steele lived with an old-maid sister in a big house some distance from early Steele’s, about 1/4 miles from Ebenezer Church.”
Click on the More Information / PLATS > link found below the picture column for additional data or pictures.
*** Edward Avery served as the Postmaster of Ebenezerville from 1837 thru the Civil War.
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R&R HISTORY LINK: HOME OF J.N. STEELE – SQUIRE ROAD
R&R HISTORY LINK: EBENEZER CHURCH
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“BEAUTIFUL MARY” OF EBENEZER by Louise Pettus
The story of “Beautiful Mary” of Ebenezer is a favorite one of this area. Her full name was Mary America Avery Toland and she was said to be the most beautiful woman in South Carolina.
Postal account of David Hutchison at Ebenezer PO; Edward Avery Postmaster – 1836
Born ca. 1818, she was one of seven children of Col. Edward and Mary Elizabeth Vaughn Avery, residents of the small village of Ebenezerville, now a part of Rock Hill. Colonel Avery, a Virginia native, was well-to-do and could afford the best for his lovely daughter. The breathtaking beauty made her debut in 1849 at the annual State House Ball held at the governor’s mansion. It was the social event of the year. At the ball, Mary’s dark blue eyes and long black lashes set in a perfectly shaped oval face attracted the attention of Dr. Huger H. Toland, a wealthy and prominent citizen of Columbia. Dr. Toland told a friend that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and that he intended to marry her. They were married after a short courtship. Apparently, Mary had some health problems. Dr. Toland, decided that she needed a change of climate and that they would go to California. The recent discovery of gold had brought California much attention as the “land of milk and honey.”
Dr. Toland outfitted a caravan for the long, overland trip. Mary’s mother was frightened at the prospect of her delicate daughter making such an arduous journey. Toland promised her that if anything should happen to Mary that he would bring her back to Ebenezer cemetery. Dr. Edward T. Avery, Mary’s brother, accompanied the Tolands on the long trip through unsettled country. It took six months to reach the west coast. They camped on the outskirts of San Francisco. The first night in the camp Mary contracted cholera. She died three days later, September 22, 1852. Dr. Toland took Mary’s body into San Francisco and had her embalmed. Then he ordered the construction of a vault for her body. Some old accounts say that Toland kept her casket in his office; others say it was kept in his home. In any case, it is certain that the body was not interred while in California.
For twenty-five years Toland built a thriving medical practice. He founded San Francisco’s Toland University. He also remarried and had a son, Arthur Toland, who became a famous actor. In 1877, 25 years after the death of Mary, Dr. Toland decided to keep the promise he had made to Mary’s mother to return her body to Ebenezer. By that time both of her parents were dead; the mother died in 1862 and the father a year later. In the 25 years since Mary Toland’s departure in a covered wagon many changes had improved American transportation. Transcontinental railroad lines were in place. The body was shipped by train to Ebenezer, placed in “seven coffins.” Dr. Toland and his second wife accompanied the body. Dr. Toland said that Mary was “as beautiful as on the day she died.” He composed the inscription for her tombstone: “No one so beautiful as she, Fairest of form and face, A queenly mien with modesty, Crowned every other grace.” In 1971, the late U. S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, a relative of Mary Toland, came to Ebenezer and visited the grave of the “most beautiful woman in South Carolina.”
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