755 Falls Road – Moore & Merrit Home

The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Oct. 24, 1872 – “The gin house of Capt. W.S. Moore, near Rock Hill, together with 20 bales of cotton, was destroyed by fire on Oct. 12.  The fire originated from the spindle of the brush becoming heated.”

The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Dec. 8, 1886 – “On the death of Aaron Moore, age 70, a well known colored man in the S.W. section of Yorkville.  He was once the slave of John S. Moore, and since emancipation has lived on land belonging to Mr. W.A. Moore where he cultivated fruits and vegetables.”

The RH Herald reported on Dec. 1, 1887 – “Mr. J. Leonidus Moore and Mr. W.S. Starr, both of the Bethesda Township, intend moving to the village of Ebenezer soon.”

The Rock Hill Herald reported on July 12, 1888 – “Two children of Mr. Gus Spake and the daughters of Mr. Tom Neely, who live of Dr. J.B. Patrick’s plantation were poisoned by eating fly paper treated with arsenic and cobalt. The paper had been covered in molasses.  Dr. Erwin attended the children and believe they will recover.”

The Herald reported on March 10, 1916 – “The barn and woodshed on the farm of C.S. Merritt on the Bethesda Road were destroyed by fire.  Mr. Merritt was killing hogs and a spark from the fire ignited the woodshed, his house was saved.”

City Directories and History:  History of the Moore – Merritt Home on Falls Road from Elizabeth Reed as well as others who recalled the home in the mid 20th century before it was destroyed.

A stately drive of elms and oaks leads to the century old Merritt home on the Bethesda road near Rock Hill.  For more than 100 years members of the Merritt and Moore families have lived in the spacious old home and have had charge of farming the fertile acres of land nearby. Mrs. Clarence Merritt is the present owner of the 230 acre farm and lives in the lovely old home with her 88-year-old mother-in-law, Mrs. M.E. Merritt –  The Rock Hill Herald reported on Sept. 30, 1899 – “Mr. B.F. Merritt has contracted for the repainting of his home.”

An interesting thing about the two-storied house with its wings at either end, is that the house has been changed very little in exterior appearance within the memory of those now living.

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Early History:  It is believed that contractor-mechanic, Mr. Henry Alexander (1772-1842), the builder of the Homestead House at Historic Brattonsville also built this house ca. 1808, as well as perhaps the Robertson Homestead, the Gordon House and other fine dwellings in the Bethesda community.

The Yorkville Enquire reported on Oct. 18, 1877 – “Dr. J.B. Patrick, Jr., of Charleston announces that he maybe found at Rawlinson’s Hotel until Oct. 27 and solicits anyone who requires the services of a dentist. He has visited Yorkville on several occasions.”

The exact date of the construction of the home is unknown.  However, Dr. J.B. Patrick of Oakland Avenue, well-known retired Rock Hill dentist, believes that the home was built before 1829 by his great grandfather, Dr. W. S. Moore. [See More Information > for data on the Moore family.]  Mrs. Merritt’s deed to the estate gives an affidavit by John H. Steele that members of the Moore family owned the property before 1858.  Dr. Moore moved from York to the Bethesda section to establish his practice.

Dr. Moore (1791-1861) was married to Miss Harriet Baxter Springs (1802-1832) (Ms. Springs was the sister of two of York County’s most influential citizens; Andrew Baxter Springs and Richard Alston Springs.)  The couple had three sons: Baxter Moore, a Charlotte lawyer; Capt. W. S. Moore, Lt. Fred Moore, who was killed in the War Between the States and one daughter, Miss Harriet Springs Moore. (In 1850, Dr. Moore was  living in York. He remained there and in the 1860 census, his wealth was recorded as $123,000. From what I can ascertain, Dr. Moore rarely stayed at his country farm in Bethesda preferring the stately surroundings of his elegant York home.)

 

Capt. W. S. Moore lived in the home until after the death of his wife. (The 1850 census states he was twenty years of age farming the property for his father. The census states he was worth $6,500.) He then moved to Rock Hill to make his home with his daughter, Mrs. J.B. Patrick after the death of Dr. J.B. Patrick.  Both the late Dr. J.B. Patrick and Dr. W.M. Patrick were born in the lovely old home.

The Rock Hill Herald reported on Nov. 25, 1886 – “Mr. J. Leonidas Moore, executor of the Estate of the Late Prof. W.S. Moore, sold the house and lot belonging the Prof. Moore in Rock Hill to Mrs. E.J. Moore for $635. The house is currently occupied by Capt. Mills.”

Dr. W. M. Patrick remembers visiting the home as a boy.  He recalls the huge plantation of approximately 1000 acres, the large smokehouse where meat was cured for the many hired hands, and the spacious avenue of elms and oaks leading in a graceful curve to the home.  He recalls the gin where cotton was processed and the number of farm animals, notably the goats.

Mrs. B. F. Merritt and the late Mr. Merritt moved to the home from Mecklenburg County, N.C., on Thanksgiving Day in 1894.  Living with the family was Miss Mae Armstrong, a niece of Mrs. Merritt, now Mrs. E. R. Shannon.  Mr. and Mrs. Merritt’s only daughter is now Mrs. J. S. Wilkerson of Hickory Grove.  Their only son, Clarence Merritt, died nine years ago and Mrs. Clarence Merritt now carries on the work of managing the place.  B. F. Merritt died 35 years ago.

The house is in a remarkable state of preservation.  The two rooms at either end of the home formerly had small porches with doors leading from the interior to them.  A part of the original farm of 1000 acres remained in the possession of Mrs. Jennie Moore until about 1906 when it was sold to J. H. Milling.  That section of the farm is now known as the Milling farm.

Dr. Patrick remembers that in his boyhood Dr. Moore’s office stood about 30 yards from the house and a little to the side.  Although, he does not remember his great grandfather, he has heard his grandfather, Capt. W. S. Moore, tell of the skeleton of a youth that Dr. Moore kept in an upstairs room.  Dr. Moore used to dangle the skeleton from an upstairs window to tease the small fry among the Negro slaves on the plantation.  He also remembers hearing that on one occasion, Dr. Moore amputated the hand of a Negro slave after it had been mangled in the cotton gin.  When Dr. Moore threw the hand into a group of small white and Negro boys playing outside the office window, he frightened them considerably.  (The Merritt home, shown on Walker’s 1910 postal map – left.)

Another interesting thing about the Patrick family, is that there were four, Dr. J. B. Patrick’s in direct succession. Dr. J. B. Patrick, first, had seven sons; all became dentists, Dr. J. B. Patrick, fourth (the last Dr. J. B. Patrick) is now dead and his widow lives on Hampton Street.  Capt. Moore also planted the graceful avenue of oaks and elms that leads to the home.  The late B. F. Merritt planted the two huge water oaks in the back yard.  What was originally the kitchen (not separated from the house however) has been pushed back from the house and is now used as a dairy.  Banisters for the upstairs porch and ornamentation for the porch on the first floor, are hand carved and of a graceful design.  The front door is surmounted by a glass panel.

A striking feature of the home is the graceful stairway with its hand carved scroll work.  The balustrade ends in a most unusual circular scroll, still in perfect condition.  The home is finished inside with smooth wide boards.  The rooms now have wallpaper above the wainscoting.  The floors, ceilings, doors and even the hardware, in most cases, are the original.  Locks for the doors are about twice the size of present day hardware.  The front door hinge of hand-forged iron extends the full width of the door.  The two mantels in the main rooms are exquisite.  They are similar, though different in design, and have delicate hand carving and a central medallion.

Many lovely pieces of old furniture are in the home today.  One is a large secretary, more than 150 years old that originally belonged to Mrs. Merritt’s ancestors, the McMullens. (In 1930 the census recorded that Clarence S. Merritt and his mother Mary E. Merritt remained on the farm.)

Although York County abounds in homes of the period (ca. 1950), of the War Between the States or older, few are to be found of a more graceful setting.  Few can be found today in the same perfect condition. [Article with additional facts added by Elizabeth Reed, The Evening Herald]  The old Moore – Merritt home has been replaced by a lovely modern home on the corner of Bridgewater Road and Falls Roads.

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MOORE FAMILY OF YORK COUNTY (The following account is an excerpt taken from a typescript, “Data on the Harris and Allied Families,” probably written by L. A. Harris of Havana, Cuba, ca. 1931-35. Three copies were made of the typescript. The copy from which the following is taken is in the South Carolina Historical Society in Charleston, S. C. )
…. Scotland was not indigenous soil to these Irish Moores, and the sons of James Moore, early in 1700 began to contemplate the feasibility of crossing the Atlantic, and mending their fortunes in the New World. They all seem to have fairly good educations, and to be possessed of sufficient judgment and decision of character, to take respectable positions on their advent in America. Alexander Moore was the eldest son of James Moore, and a married man at the time of his migration. . . . James Moore, my great grandfather, was a child of three years. That was about the year 1715, or 1718, certainly not later.

The brothers at first settled in Pennsylvania, in that section known as York, Chester or Buck counties. Here James Moore grew up to early manhood. When about twenty-one years of age he, with Aunt Mary’s son, who was about his own age, John Adair, went into Virginia, presumably to visit some relatives, perhaps one of his father’s brothers who had moved there. While in Virginia, he met and married Rachel Black, whose father was an Englishman. He remained in Virginia until his first child was born; when Alexander was not more than a year old, he determined to remove southward. This was about 1757. He probably thought of the Carolinas because his kinsman, James Moore, had been in 1705 Governor of that State. Governor Moore’s son, James Moore, the second was Governor in 1719, held the position of Secretary to the Governor of South Carolina. Besides these, there were several colonies of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who were making settlements in Mecklenburg [N.C.], York, and Chester, S. C. His cousin, John Adair, had a brother, William Adair, married Mary Erwin, living in York. Adair had also married a Miss Black, and a relationship between them, being cemented by the newer connection, as brothers- in-law, it was natural that James Moore should be influenced by Adair to settle in York, S. C. . . . After Braddock’s defeat, a number of the graduates of Edinburgh and Glasgow began to do the work in upper Carolina that the scholars of Oxford and Cambridge had done for the coast region. These men were Scotch-Irish, and went with and among their own people, opening schools, and identifying themselves with communities for generations. Such instructors gave the sons of James Moore scholastic training better than could be obtained now in the same neighborhood from its county pedagogues. . . . As James Moore was the founder of our family of Moores in South Carolina, it does not seem amiss to give such ideas of his personality as gathered from his grandson, Dr. Maurice Moore, and granddaughter, Mrs. Pratt. He (they were told, as he was an old man as they remembered him) was a good-looking, dark-haired, ruddy- faced man, with a soft voice. This voice is said to be characteristic of the Moores as far back as tradition runneth. Rather deliberate in speech, of fair intelligence, and irascible temper; proud and pugnacious, and I am sorry to tell it, but truth prevails, somewhat penurious. He had a good education, was devoted to the study of the Bible, was well versed in old ballads, which he occasionally repeated with good effect to his grandchildren. He was a gloomy man, however, and not fond of having his grandchildren about him. They had vivid recollections of how, when romping in the yard, the old man would send them trooping home, by calling out sternly, ‘Begone, ye little rascals, what mischief are ye up to?’ He was square-built, erect, rather below the medium height. He was a devoted Presbyterian, and kept the Sabbath with Mosaical strictness. From the birth of his eldest son, Alexander, he and his wife devoted the child to the ministry. For this purpose it was determined that he should have superior education advantages.

The absence of commercial facilities made money very scarce in the backwoods settlements. There were teachers who could give the foundations of Alexander’s education, but for the higher culture necessary for a ‘parson’ money must be accumulated to send him for ‘lamin,’ as the common phrase expressed it, to the College of New Jersey or possibly back to Old World schools. The virgin soil produced an abundance of food, but there was no market for the surplus. The fields of flax, and flocks of sheep provided raw material for the necessary clothes and the industry of the wives, daughters and servants spun, wove and made it into garments, but problem how to make and save money to educate Alexander, was the burning question to the hearts of his parents. James Moore solved it by turning his hand to the saddle business. To make it profitable, he put up a tannery for the purpose, and made the new industry a paying one sufficiently as to make the way clear to give Alexander the requisite education. Besides Alexander, there were nine other children; five sons and five daughters. Excepting the youngest son, Josiah, the other children had no educational advantages, beyond that afforded in the settlement in which they lived, by the educated Irishmen before alluded to. The youngest brother, Josiah, was educated by his brother Alexander, became a physician and died while comparatively a young man, leaving no descendants. He had a fine voice, played well on the violin, was a handsome, cultivated man—superior socially and mentally to the descendants of James Moore. All of James Moore’s daughters married, except Rachel (the eldest), Polly (Mary) married first a Major James Moore, one of the Leinster family (White Moores). She had two sons by this marriage, James and Philander. Their descendants are still in York, in the Bethesda congregation. Polly Moore married a second time to Francis Ervin (son of William Ervin and brother of Dorcas the wife of Alexander Moore). The descendants of this marriage are also in York County. Jane Moore married Rev. James Mcilhenny; her only child married her cousin Alfred Moore. This child was named Jane. Two others sisters married but left no children. William Moore married and moved to Kentucky. He had a grandson, William Henry Moore, of Memphis, Tenn. and some great grandsons. John Moore never married. He was quite a character; large, over six feet, and modest; redheaded, and a fine fiddler; so contrary that if you asked him to play one tune, he immediately played another; owing to his timidity, to keep from speaking at meeting, always left the Meeting House as they were singing the last hymn. He was not quarrelsome, but a fearless and determined man. James Moore, “Jimpsey,” as he was called, according to the old Irish usage, was the very reverse of his brother, small, alert, brown-eyed, spare, merry. He too never married. He was proud of his family lineage, loved to tell stories of the O’Moores, knew all the ramifications of the clan, and the degrees of kinship existing, full of tales, and devoted to his young nephews and nieces. He, too, was a timid man. It is told that for fifteen years he rode home from meeting (all on horseback, though) and she [a girlfriend?] declared on her word of honor, after she was married to someone else, that in all those years he had never said one word of love to her. Rachel Moore, after her mother’s death, kept house for father and bachelor brothers. Uncle John was lazy but Uncle Jimpsey was not, and the little family of elderly folk kept a comfortable home and modest fortune around them. They were all intelligent but clung to the superstition innate to the Irish blood. In this quiet and primitive household the pewter plate, mugs and bowls were bright as silver. There was milk to overflowing and butter without end. (Information courtesy of and from: YCGHS – The Quarterly Magazine)

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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)

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R&R Notes: The original section of the home, the two story “I” house, with its end chimneys,  is obscured by the more modern porch additions.  But the home dates to the same period as that of the Robertson, Roddey and Gordon houses and may well have been executed by the same mechanic – contractor.  Though historian Wm. B. White, Jr., gave York contractor, Mr. Andrew Giles credit for having constructed the Roddey House, to R&R’s knowledge, this was based on no written information-documentation.  The description of the features by Eliz. Reed (above), do however strongly suggest that the same artisans were at work, whomever they were, at three of the four houses.  It would be nice to emphatically prove that Mr. Giles constructed each of these dwellings but other known artisans were also very capable and lived in the Bethesda area, not in York as did Mr. Giles. Though there is no documented evidence of Mr. Giles building this fine home, it appears that Giles work frequently with master builder Thomas B. Hoover of York. Roots and Recall suggests that besides building the 3rd YC Courthouse in conjunction with one another, it was also likely they continued working together to build impressive dwellings across York County. This may have included both the Roach and Moore-Merritt homes.

The importance of these dwellings does not lay in their contractor but rather that they are so similar and came from the same pattern book.

Click on the More Information > link (articles below primary image), found below the picture column for additional data.

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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.