Millwood (Columbia)

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Millwood Ruins (1960)

Millwood is the name of the site and the ruins of a plantation in the antebellum on Garner's Ferry Road 6100 ( US Highway 76 ) in Columbia , South Carolina . It belonged to Colonel Wade Hampton II and was the house where the later Confederate general, Governor of South Carolina, and US Senator Wade Hampton III. spent his childhood. After his father's death, the house went to his four unmarried daughters. It was burned down on February 17, 1865, probably by General Sherman's troops . The ruins of the structure were added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 18, 1971 .

The Hampton family

Wade Hampton I (1752-1835) was a lieutenant colonel in the American Revolutionary War , brigadier general in the War of 1812 , MP for the 4th Congressional District of South Carolina and a wealthy planter. When he died in 1835, he was considered one of the richest men in the United States. He owned plantations in Mississippi , Louisiana, and South Carolina.

Wade Hampton II (1791-1858) served in the militia and served two terms in the South Carolina Senate . He did not seek further political office, but played an important role in the politics of the state. He was a successful hunter and horse breeder.

Wade Hampton III (1818-1902) was the first son of his father Wade Hampton II. He served in the Confederate States Army , where he commanded Hampton's Legion , and achieved the rank of lieutenant general. He later became Governor of South Carolina and Senator of the United States.

architecture

Various sources suggest that Millwood was built in 1817, others say it was built in 1830, after 1815, or probably in the 1830s. Since various buildings of this time have been expanded over the years, it is possible that all of these time determinations apply more or less.

After Wade Hampton II took Ann Fitzsimons to his first wife in 1817, his father gave him the part north of what is now Garner's Ferry Road. His father's house was the original Woodlands south of the road. Wade Hampton II built a two-story cottage before his son was born in 1818 . In 1837 or 1838 Millwood was rebuilt in neoclassical style. The blueprint by Nathaniel Potter of Rhode Island saw a wing of the building with three pillars on each side of the central section with six two-story pillars. The renovation took two years. During this time the family lived near White Sulfur Springs , West Virginia.

An artist's impression of the house shows the central part of the building with the prostylos - portico . This part of the illustration is reminiscent of the main house still in existence at Millford Plantation , which was built by Hampton's youngest sister and her husband in Sumter County . This building and the renovation were carried out by the same architect.

A floor plan was drawn up and published on the basis of stories from the family. The floor plan shows a central hall with two rooms on each side at the front of the house, connected by folding doors so that the entire front of the house could be connected for social entertainment and dancing. Behind these rooms there was a cross-shaped hall, through which the two side wings were connected. A curved staircase to the second floor of the house was at the end of the hall. The side wings protruded beyond the rear of the central wing.

Millwood's importance to South Carolina

Because of its elegant surroundings and powerful guests, Millwood was known as the "social center of South Carolina" before the Civil War . In addition to influential politicians and planters from South Carolina, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were guests at Millwood.

The inauguration ceremony for Governor William Aiken, Jr. was held here in 1844.

Destruction in 1865

Detail view of the ruins

Before General Sherman's forces entered the area, the family brought cutlery, china and crystal glasses, as well as family portraits and Edward Troye's horse paintings, to York , South Carolina. The family's plantings, including Millwood, Woodlands, and Diamond Hill, were set on fire. It has not been established that this was done on Sherman's orders, however these properties are quite a long way from central Columbia to be accidentally on fire. The Hampton-Preston House in Columbia was spared.

Only the twelve pillars, the smokehouse, an adjoining house and part of the stable remained from the original building. Some time later the six pillars in front of the former side wings were torn down. One of the round pillars collapsed around 1930. Two square and three round pillars are still standing.

After the Civil War, the unmarried daughters of Hamptons built a cottage nearby. This was by arson after the bitterly contested gubernatorial election in 1876, from the Wade Hampton III. came out victorious, a victim of the flames. They then built a new two story house around the old kitchen and laundry near the Millwood ruins.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Millwood, Richland County (US Hwy. 378, Columbia vicinity) ( English ) In: National Register Properties in South Carolina . South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f William Seale: Millwood ( English , pdf; 439 kB) In: National Register of Historic Properties . National Park Service. August 28, 1970. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  3. ^ A b c d Walter Edgar, The Humanities Council SC : South Carolina Encyclopedia ( English ). University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina 2006, ISBN 1-57003-598-9 , pp. 420-422.
  4. ↑ a b c Robert Kilgo Ackerman: Wade Hampton III ( English ). University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina 2007, ISBN 1570036675 , pp. 6, 8-9, 11-12, 77, 83.
  5. ↑ Federal Writer's Program of the Works Progress Administration : South Carolina: A Guide to the Palmetto State ( English ). Oxford University Press, New York 1941, ISBN 1603540393 , p. 375.
  6. ↑ a b National Register Information System ( English ) In: National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 16, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h Virginia G. Meynard: The Ventures: The Hampton, Harrison and Earle Families of Virginia, South Carolina and Texas ( English ). Souther Historical Press, Easley, South Carolina 1981, ISBN 0893082414 , pp. 149-150, 159, 172-173, 240-241, 262-263, 265.
  8. ↑ Russell Maxey, Historic Columbia Foundation: South Carolina's Historic Columbia: Yesterday and Today in Photographs ( English ). RL Bryan Company, Columbia, South Carolina 1980, ISBN 0934870020 , pp. 42-43.
  9. ^ Richard Hampton Jenrette, John M. (PHT) Hall: Adventures With Old Houses ( English ). Gibbs Smith, 2005, ISBN 0941711765 , pp. 196-201.

Coordinates: 33 ° 59 ′ 16 "  N , 80 ° 57 ′ 45"  W.