Mount Gallant Plantation – Rock Hill, S.C.

“A distinguished piece of mid 19th century architecture – now gone and nearly forgotten.”

The Herald reported on Sept. 18, 1884 – “Last week we were shown an excellent oil portrait of Col. Cad Jones which was painted by his daughter, Mrs. Dr. T.G. Robertson. She has now gone to Columbia where she will devote herself to portrait painting.”

The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Dec. 21, 1887 – “Fred Pride Jones, colored, the family servant of Cad. Jones and who accompanied him and his sons through the late war, died on Tuesday night.”

Rock Hill Herald, August 8, 1897: R. W. Featherstone, brother-in-law of F. W. Culp and a
prominent farmer of Fairfield County, is the new renter of the old Jones property, “Mount
Gallant.”

City Directories and History:  With the removal to York District, near Rock Hill, of the family of Col. Cadwallader Jones of North Carolina, we see the beginning of worship services for the few local Episcopalians who lived in the neighborhood. Mrs. Jones, who was born Annie Isabella Iredell, daughter of Gov. James Iredell of North Carolina, issued the first call to service in the name of the Episcopal denomination in 1857, the year of the family’s arrival there. In 1858 the Joneses built their home, “Mount Gallant,” east of Rock Hill on a tract of land joining the lands of David Hutchison, the widow Rebecca Hart, Nathan Kimbrell, Stephen McCorkle, James Moore, Mrs. Cynthia Sturgis Neely, and others.

Col. Cadwalader Jones was born in North Carolina, lived in Ebenezer township, was a 47 years old planter with $15,500 in real estate, $55,810 in personal property, who owned sixty-five slaves. (Census of 1860)

R&R HISTORY LINK: EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN ROCK HILL, S.C.

Colonel Jones and his late father, also named Cadwallader Jones, had been buying York District land since about 1813-16, even though they themselves continued to live in North Carolina, at least until 1857. “Mount Gallant” became the principal ante-bellum scene of elaborate entertainments and dances in the Rock Hill area. The local inhabitants all coveted invitations to the Jones plantation, which, at two thousand acres, was the largest farming operation in the area. Anglican services were first held in the drawing-room at “Mount Gallant” and then at the building of the Rock Hill Academy, in White’s pasture. On every fifth Sabbath the Rev. J. D. Gibson, rector of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, at Yorkville, would come to Rock Hill to read the services from the Book of Common Prayer. The Joneses were ably assisted by the family of Halcott Pride Green, who lived near Land’s Ford.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CADWALLADER JONES:

Col. CADWALLADER JONES of Mount Gallant Plantation (1874 acres). He was born on August 17, 1813, at Mt. Gallant (in North Carolina), to Col. Cadwallader Jones (1788-1861) and wife, Rebecca Edwards Long (1795-1881). He was graduated from the University of North Carolina when he was nineteen years of age. He studied the law and was active in public affairs in North Carolina. On a number of occasions he served in the Assembly and acted as Solicitor of the Fourth Judicial Circuit.

Colonel Jones moved to York District, South Carolina, in 1857, taking up residence on the plantation which his father had acquired by purchases dating back to 1816. The land was within the Catawba Indian Land portion of York District. He gave the place the name “Mount Gallant”, after his father’s place in North Carolina. Most of this 1800-acre tract is today within the corporate limits of the City of Rock Hill.  Colonel Jones planted on a large scale and involved himself in local and state political affairs. In 1864 he was elected senator from York without opposition. He also helped to write the South Carolina Constitution of 1865.

In 1861 he raised a company and served as captain. When the Twelfth Regiment was organized, he was made major, then lieutenant-colonel, and then colonel. He had four sons in Confederate service. Colonel Jones was married on Jan. 5, 1836, to Annie Isabella Iredell, daughter of North Carolina Governor James Iredell and wife, Frances Johnstone Tredwell. Annie I. Jones was born on Apr. 10, 1816, at Edenton, N. C. She died at Columbia, S. C., on Jan. 4, 1897, and was buried in Trinity Churchyard there. Colonel and Mrs. Jones built the house at Mount Gallant in 1858. She was the principal founder of the Episcopal Church at Rock Hill (The Church of Our Savior). A marble mural tablet declares that “she made the first call to service in the name of the Church”. Anglican services were first held in the drawing-room at Mount Gallant and then in the Rock Hill Academy building, located in White’s pasture in Rock Hill. At other times in the early days of the congregation services were held in the Methodist and Presbyterian houses of worship.

The vestry of the “Church of Our Saviour,” at Rock Hill, in a memorial to him, said: “This noble old man and his beloved wife were the first Episcopalians in this section. They were the first to organize the church here, and with zeal and love to work for its building. We thank our Heavenly Father for the good example of these saints and for the privilege of worshipping with them at the same altar. Col. Jones was a leading citizen, a brave officer in the Confederate War, but above all, he was a Christian gentleman.”

The postal map of York County, S.C. in 1896 – Courtesy of the UN. of N.C.

The Joneses had ten children:

I. Frances Iredell Jones. Born Feb. 5, 1837. Married on Oct. 14, 1856, to George Erwin.

II. Rebecca Cadwallader Jones. Died in her youth.

III. Capt. Iredell Jones. Born Feb. 8, 1842, at Hillsboro, N. C. Married (1) Ellen Adams, daughter of South Carolina Governor James H. Adams; (2) Laura Ella McMahon, daughter of William Preston McMahon and wife, Laura Chafee. Captain Jones was involved in many important engagements during the Civil War. In 1870 he was elected intendant (mayor) of Rock Hill. He also served in the South Carolina legislature. Also, he was regent of the board of trustees of the Rock Hill Graded School. He farmed on a large scale at his homeplace, Strawberry Hill, located in the eastern part of Rock Hill (where Jones Avenue is located today). Strawberry Hill was considered the finest of the individual farms that made up the Mount Gallant tract of Col. Cadwallader Jones. Captain Jones was senior warden of The Church of Our Savior (Episcopal) for many years. He died at Strawberry Hill on July 17, 1914, and was buried in Laurelwood Cemetery.

IV. Cadwallader Jones. Born Dec. 3, 1843. Married on Feb. 3, 1871, to Emily Skinner Johnson, daughter of Dr. Charles E. Johnson and wife, Emily Skinner.

V. Allen Jones. Born Aug. 23, 1846. Married on Oct. 15, 1874, to Augusta H. Porcher, who was born Aug. 30, 1852, to Augustus Henry Porcher and wife, Eliza Marion DuBose. Capt. Allen Jones and his family moved from Rock Hill to Columbia in 1888.

R&R HISTORY LINK: John Springs III – York County Slave Trader

VI. Gen. Johnstone Jones. Born Sept. 26, 1848. Married on June 26, 1873, to Betty Watters Miller, daughter of Thomas C. Miller and wife, Annie Davis, of Wilmington, N. C. Johnstone Jones was Adjutant General of North Carolina for many years. He had served in the Confederate Army when he was only fifteen years of age. When The Herald was founded in Rock Hill in 1872, Johnstone Jones was the first editor. He eventually moved to California, where he practiced law until the end of his life.

VII. Wilie Jones. He was born in 1850. He was colonel of the Second South Carolina Regiment, which fought in the Spanish-American War. Colonel Jones was married on May 20, 1886, to Annie Reaux Caldwell, daughter of John D. Caldwell and wife, Lucy E. Davis (daughter of Henry Davis). Wilie Jones was for many years cashier of the Carolina National Bank of Columbia.

VIII. Annie Isabella Jones. Born Nov. 10, 1852. Married Dec. 15, 1875, to Dr. Thomas Couturier Robertson, who was born Aug. 22, 1849, to Dr. Thomas T. Robertson of Fairfield County, S. C., and wife, Sarah Palmer Couturier. The Robertsons first lived at Rock Hill, where Doctor Robertson operated one of the early drug stores there. They moved to Columbia before 1900. Mrs. Robertson was well-known as a portrait painter.

Cad. Jones and Whyte Plantations (rt) Heritage Plat Map by Mayhugh. All rights reserved R&R.com – SEE ENLARGEABLE MAP

IX. Halcott Pride Jones. Born Feb. 14, 1855.

X. Helen Iredell Jones. Born July 17, 1858, at Mount Gallant, near Rock Hill. She was married on Oct. 15, 1879, to John Stricker Coles, Jr., who was born Jan. 21, 1856, to Capt. J. S. Coles and wife, Eliza Pickens, daughter of South Carolina Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens and wife, Margaret Eliza Simkins.

Col. Cadwallader Jones (b.1813) had a brother named Robin C. Jones, born on Jan. 18, 1826, at West Hill, in North Carolina. The latter moved to York District, S. C., in 1859. When the Civil War began, he raised a company of cavalry, which became a part of the First South Carolina Regiment, Hampton’s Brigade, and was made captain. He died at the head of his regiment on June 9, 1863, at the Battle of Brandy Station. He was married April 24, 1855, to Sarah R. Polk, eldest daughter of Gen. Lucius J. Polk and wife, (–) Easton, grand-niece of Mrs. Andrew Jackson.

Robin C. Jones and his family planted Strawberry Hill near Rock Hill. After the War, the place had to be sold in order to satisfy debts Captain Jones had incurred in financing his personal troop of cavalry (he had given his personal notes for these obligations). Capt. Iredell Jones eventually came to live at Strawberry Hill and died there in 1914. While he lived there, Strawberry Hill was the scene of many elegant social gatherings of the descendants of the ante-bellum leaders of the community.

For a definitive history of the Joneses and their connections, please see A Genealogical History, by Col. Cadwallader Jones (b. 1813), privately printed in 1900 in Columbia, S. C. See also Supplement to A Genealogical History, privately printed in 1940 in Columbia, courtesy of Caldwell Jones.

The original holdings in land of the Jones family amounted to about 1874 acres, as given above. By December, 1894, the total acreage was about 2,400, to wit:

1. The “Mount Gallant” place – about 850 acres [formerly Moore land].

2. The “Knox” place – about 233 acres.

3. The “Armstrong” place – about 165 acres.

4. The “Black Jack” place – about 465 acres.

5. The “Robin Jones” place – about 400 acres [formerly Neely land].

6. The “Strawberry Hill” place – about 275 acres [formerly Schooly land].

OBITUARY OF ROBIN AP CADWALLADER JONES
“Robin Ap Cadwallader Jones, fourth son of Col. Cadwallader Jones, who owned Mount Gallant plantation on the Catawba River near Rock Hill. Robin Jones attended Hillsborough Academy in N. C. and finished the University of North Carolina in 1846. He married Sarah Polk, the daughter of Gen. Lucius J. Polk, Maury County, Tenn. When his father died in 1861, Robin along with his wife and children, moved in with his widowed mother at Mount Gallant. His three older brothers joined the Confederacy. Col. Allen Jones of Alabama, Col. Cadwallader Jones of S. C. arid Capt. Pride Jones of Orange, N. C. He stayed home with his mother but soon raised a company of cavalry and for 12 months guarded Charleston. In the fall of 1862 he joined Hampton’s Legion.

“Capt. Jones fell at the head of his command in ‘a dashing charge, and it is said that he was most foully slain by a base and treacherous Yankee whom he had in person captured and disabled, and to whom he generously yielded quarters; and supposing that had surrendered in full faith, he was about turning to the charge, when the vile dog drew a revolver and shot Captain Jones in the side of the chest’ – “Strikingly handsome and graceful in person, he was well suited, by his early training and sports, for that branch of service to which he gave a decided preference for no man was more perfectly at home in the saddle __”He went down in his stirrup…. Over his stricken wife and live little ones we draw the mantle of affection _______ ”
Yorkville Enquirer, June 24,1863.

(Information courtesy of and from: YCGHS – The Quarterly Magazine)

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