Colonel Cadwallader Jones (1813-1898), constructed his fine plantation home called, Mount Gallant, on his farm of some 1874 acres. It is reported that he had as many as 91 slaves to work the farm and certainly lived handsomely prior to the Civil War. Mt. Gallant became one of the regions most successful farms and was know widely for their lavish entertainment. The census taker of 1860 reported that Mr. and Mrs. Jones had a net worth in excess of $70,000. This was an enormous amount of money for the period, few in York County could compare with Mt. Gallant’s wealth.
Named for the Jones plantation on the Roanoke River in North Carolina, this place in York District, South Carolina was built in 1858. The photograph shown here reveals what the big house looked like in the 1930‘s, when it was long past its glory days from the nineteenth century. The Jones family lived in the grand manner and entertained here with dances, parties, and hunting expeditions. An invitation to Mount Gallant was coveted by all those aspiring to gentility. The author once heard an elderly Rock Hillian says that in the 1800‘s everybody around Rock Hill always bowed three times each day in the direction of Mount Gallant. Mrs. Cad Jones was born Annie Isabella Iredell, (1816-1897), the daughter of Governor James Iredell of North Carolina. She and Colonel Jones were the founders of the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Rock Hill, SC. The earliest Anglican church services in the Rock Hill area were held in the drawing-room of Mount Gallant in the years from 1858 to 1860. Most of the Joneses moved to Columbia, S.C., at the beginning of the twentieth century. [Along the Land’s Ford Road, Vol. I – Wm. B. White, Jr.]
This magnificent home was surrounded by large open fields and barns. As late as the 1960’s the Ross family maintained a riding facility at the Jones large barn. The property where the home originally sat was later converted into the District offices of the Rock Hill School District #3. Part of the Jones family lands included that of Iredell Jones plantation just outside of Rock Hill named Strawberry Hill.
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Sept. 26, 1878 – “The home of Capt. Allen Jones at Rock Hill has been destroyed by fire. The Jones family was unharmed and most of their furniture was saved.” (Strawberry Hill)
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Feb. 18, 1886 – “Capt. I. Jones has erected a shingle mill. He proposes to make shingles from our native wood. He doesn’t see the need of paying freight on shingles brought from a distance when our local forests abound with timber suitable to there manufacture.”
The Herald reported on Nov. 25, 1896 – “Capt. Iredell Jones has removed from the Steele house at the Graded School to his country home at Strawberry Hill.”
The Herald reported on Nov. 21, 1930 – “The account of the land sale carried by the Herald recently, was mistaken when it was stated that the Iredell Jones homeplace on Strawberry Hill was sold. This property was not sold but the adjacent farm property was sold. The Strawberry Hill land consists of 100 acres all within the city limits and includes the home of Iredell Jones.”
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