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York County

Connecting people with their physical past.

The Gill home by Elizabeth Reid – The Herald Newspaper, ca. 1952

My particular objective on this trip was the “Old Gill house.” Been going into Bullocks Creek for fifty years, more or less, and have been hearing tales of the “Old, Gill house” for more than forty of those years, but I had never visited the place. I have always heard of it as a wonderful old house. It is built of brick, two stories high and sits up on an eminence that gives it a view over a wide scope of country. Many, many tales have I heard of this old house; but with all of that I don’t know much about it yet.   Of one thing I am sure, however. Regardless of what it is today it is quite evident that in its heyday it was quite some place. Its early owners were people of wealth as wealth in those days was counted—lands and slaves. Just who built the Gill house or when no one now knows. One of the oldest of Bullocks Creek’s ladies, now well past here four-score years, tells me that the house was “started” by the mother of John G. Gill, and was completed by him. But that doesn’t get us very far toward locating the house that was built. But judging from its style of architecture and the fact that there are no longer in York county great-great-grandchildren of Mrs. Gill, I would say that the house was built in the very early part of the last century or the last part of the previous century. It might even go back to Revolutionary days. John G. Gill died in York county about 1871.

No doubt some of the stories told about the Gill house today are just legends, but even so they are interesting. One story is that the brick used in building the house was made right close by and signs of the old brick yard are yet to be seen there. Another story is that the builder of the house was to be given a slave for his work when the house was completed. The slave died before the house was finished and then the builder was paid with a suit of clothes. Another legend was that the attic of the house was used as a sort of hospital for slaves and when one of these died the body was taken down to a nearby graveyard where the slaves were buried.

The elderly Bullocks Creek lady also tells me that in the basement of the old house there was when she was a child a brick oven for baking, and in another room of the basement was set up as a loom where cloth for clothing was woven for the Gill household. Among the Gill slaves in that day were Uncle Dick, Cringo and Peggy, all of whom were native born Africans. Uncle Dick was the weaver and made the cloth used by the Gill family. [Grist then writes that he looked up John G. Gill’s will and found it probated Jan. 9, 1871. He continues with the names of the heirs mentioned in the will.] “. . . . and equally divided between my children living, viz.: Mrs. E. E. Pagan, Mrs. Mary G. Wallace, James M. Gill, J. T. M. Gill, the children of my deceased daughter Martha Ann Hawkins, to take amongst them the share their parents would have taken if alive… ,” . His remains are buried at Bullocks Creek cemetery.

There are a few people living in York county who bear the name of Gill at this time. Just what relation if any they bear to this Turkey Creek clan of Gills… .a visit to the place now is rather disappointing. The place is run down at the heels—that is the old brick house, and the farm thereabouts isn’t such as would be set up as a model; but still as a relic of the past it is quite interesting.  (The following is taken from A. M. Grist’s weekly column, “Just A-Rolling Along the Way,” published in the Yorkville Enquirer, May 10, 1932.)

Location of the Gill House on the Walker Postal Map of 1910.
Corner block of the original structure.

Corner block of the original structure.

 Remains of the dry stacked rock foundation and cellar.

Remains of the dry stacked rock foundation and cellar.

 Fireplace’s stone lintel made for the Gill’s fine home.

Fireplace’s stone lintel made for the Gill’s fine home.

3775 Hord Road – Gill House Ruins in York County, S.C.

Get Directions Latitude: 34.9059441     Longitude: -81.3274356

R&R HISTORY LINK: YORK CO’s WEALTHY

City Directories and History: Elizabeth Reed, writer for the Evening Herald, in 1947 distinguished the Gill House as a defyer of time; but time caught up with the home in the early 1960’s when it was leveled for its hand-made bricks.  Supposedly, the house was built in 1811 by John Gaston Gill, (Aug 5, 1791-Jan 2, 1871) a wealthy, middle-class planter, who owned more than a thousand acres and over one hundred slaves; and the son of the Irish immigrant and Revolutionary War Soldier, Captain James Gill (1755-July 25, 1809) and Mary Gaston Gill.  If the date of the construction is correct, this would make John G. Gill only nineteen at the time.  It is surmised that he and his widowed mother had the house built according to the plans drawn by Captain Gill who had died two years earlier.

One interesting feature of the four story home was the attic’s “bulls eye” windows that flanked the chimneys on both ends.  An adjoining neighbor took quite a fancy to these windows and decided to ad the feature to the house he was building.  During the construction, the neighbor suffered a painful fall from the house to which his wife scorned, “I knew you’d get hurt for aping old man Gill!”

The house contained a full basement and attic and was built of handmade brick.  The front door was flanked and crowned by glass panels.  The main room sported a mantel of fluted columns.  From a small hallway to the side of the parlor, the stairs ascended to the two rooms above.  From there a smaller stairway leads to the attic.  (The rooms to the right of the stairs are smaller on both levels.)  The chimneys were flush with the outside of the house and extended into the rooms.  The wainscoting downstairs was “grained” to resemble a finer wood and the rooms were crowned with a heavy moulding.  The basement contained two large rooms with a high fireplace at one end.  It is believed that this may have been used as a warming kitchen and afforded sleeping quarters for the household slaves.  (A slave cemetery was, at one time, evidenced across the road from the house.)  The ell on the rear of the house, which may have been added some time later, was of frame construction.

John Gill is said to have built his own coffin, constructed of seasoned walnut, four inches thick.  The coffin was stored for many years in the basement of the house, awaiting its occupant.  He, in his walnut coffin, lies in Bullock’s Creek.

A R&R NOTE: R&R’s Carolina Artisan Database does not list a John Gill as a cabinet maker but does show a Samuel Gill who was making furniture as well as coffins as early as the 1820’s.  Co-founder, W.B. Fairey visited the site with Cherokee County historian Melvin Ware in the fall of 2014 to take images and measurement of the home’s original foundations.  The walls of thick local stone were dry stacked but the corners were carefully formed and cut to be very precise.  The building measured approximately 34 – 34 feet. Mr. Ware also states, “it was the 1950’s, during which time the brick from the house were salvaged for use in a Charlotte, N.C. home.”

R&R HISTORY LINK: GILL PLANTATION – TOO

Also see the History Thread links on this page and further historical data at: http://sciway3.net/clark/gill/SCIrish.html

SOUTHERN QUERIES: I know that race relations historically were of issue in the South for various reasons.. However, my African-American ancestors lived in Bullock’s Creek, York County, South Carolina from the early to late 1800s. They were the Amzi Rainey family (may have been spelled “Amzie”. It’s my understanding that they lived on an area of land owned by a Mr. Gill. Please pass on any historical information you may have on the Rainey family and their contributions to Bullock’s Creek, York County, South Carolina. Thank you. Posted on 7.8.17 by Glenda Watson.  If you have information on these queries, pleased email R&R at queries@rootsandrecall.com, data will be forwarded to the appropriate party.

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R&R HISTORY LINK: NEARBY HISTORY – MUSKET HILL FARM

R&R HISTORY LINK: NEARBY HISTORY – RAINEY PLACE

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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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. Do you have information to share and preserve? Family, school, church, or other older photos and stories are welcome. Send them digitally through the “Share Your Story” link, so they too might be posted on Roots and Recall.

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