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BVL HPR Sample of a Hardcover House History 1

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OLD ST. MICHAEL’S RECTORY


OLD ST. MICHAEL’S RECTORY

39 Meeting Street Charleston, South Carolina


TABLE OF CONTENTS To The Reader �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 7 Historic Timeline ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 9 Introduction ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������15 The Construction Period ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������21 The Antebellum Period ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������31 The Postbellum Era ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 39 The Twentieth Century ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������47 Recent History ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 59 Appendix A ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������61 Appendix B ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������67 Appendix C ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 75 Appendix D ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 79


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INTRODUCTION From an exiled Loyalist in 1776 to Cupid, an enslaved carpenter during the antebellum period, and a 1920s Charleston Renaissance poet to a Dutch consul, the dwelling and outbuilding of today’s No. 39 Meeting Street served as the primary residences for a myriad of diverse individuals over the course of nearly three centuries. The large Georgian-era dwelling survives as an important architectural relic of Charleston’s pre-Revolutionary development, and each generation’s occupancy remains palpable through distinct yet sensitive alterations to the overall original design. Deemed by many historians as “the most documented major dwelling of Colonial Charleston,” the story of No. 39 Meeting Street in downtown Charleston, however, is so much more.1 The Old and Historic District of Charleston, South Carolina is considered one of the nation’s finest architectural inventories of America’s past. The streets are lined with buildings from nearly every decade in the nation’s history, encapsulating the stories of a three-hundred-year-old city and its diverse inhabitants. Many have deemed the ambiance of Charleston’s historic district unlike any other in the world, and the “Old St. Michael’s Rectory” at No. 39 Meeting Street is an important contributor to the district’s legacy.

EARLY HISTORY OF THE LOT The Charleston peninsula began as a piece of uncharted territory – fertile land shaped by winding waterways and a lush coastline. It soon became the desire of foreign influence, and in 1663, King Charles II of England granted the land, as part of the “Carolina” colony, to eight of his Lords Proprietors, many of whose names can still be seen throughout the towns and counties in South Carolina today. In 1680, the settlement of Charles Towne was established on the peninsula as Carolina’s capital, welcomed its first colonists, and was divided into narrow lots, which were granted to those appointed by the King’s Lords Proprietor. The drawn lots, collectively known as the “Grand Modell,” served as the foundation for the city’s original grid and has dictated the urban landscape of Charleston for over three hundred years.2 The property now known as No. 39 Meeting Street occupies a portion of Lot 278 in the Grand Modell (Figure 1). Situated along one of the colony’s earliest and most-traveled thoroughfares, Lot

1 “Old St. Michael’s Rectory,” Part 1 Historic Preservation Certification Application, 1999 March 3, South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, Columbia, SC. 2 Poston, Jonathan. Buildings of Charleston. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1997. 23-24.


EARLY CONSTRUCTION accurate to the original specifications. The construction of the parsonage did not end smoothly. At the building’s completion in late 1767, the vestry found the exterior painting “done in a most scandalous and unworkmanlike manner,” and the arched windows at the stair hall incomplete.37 When Miller & Fullerton were confronted about the issues in December of 1767, they stated the work was “never agreed for” and they had “done more than they should.”38 Despite this, Cooper moved in.

Figure 7: “Compass-headed window” at stair landing (photo by BVL HPR, 2021).

As tension between England and the colonies intensified, the urge to identify Loyalists within Charles Towne increased. In a 1774 sermon, for example, Assistant Rector of St. Michael’s John Bullman claimed that “every silly clown and illiterate mechanic” or those who could not “govern his own household or pay the debts of his own contracting” were not qualified “to dictate how the state should be governed.”39 The vestry, finding his statements inappropriate, excused Bullman from his position. By December of 1775, Bullman returned to England.40

On June 30, 1776, two days after Charlestonians defeated the British in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, the vestry met to discuss the loyalty of Cooper, also a native of England. According to the vestry minutes, Cooper refused to take “the Oath prescribed by His Excellency the President.”41 The oath, created by the president of the Continental Congress John Hancock, stated allegiance to the United States of America and was used to further identify Loyalists in positions of authority throughout the colonies. Ultimately identifying him as a Loyalist, St. Michael’s dismissed Cooper

37 “39 Meeting Street,” Property Vertical File, Margaretta Childs Archives, Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston, SC. 38 “The Minutes of St. Michael’s Church Of Charleston, S. C., From 1758-1797,” 64. 39 Sabine, Lorenzo. Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1864. 274. 40 “The Minutes of St. Michael’s Church Of Charleston, S. C., From 1758-1797,” 120. 41 “The Minutes of St. Michael’s Church Of Charleston, S. C., From 1758-1797,” 124.

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THE ANTEBELLUM PERIOD

Figure 15 (left): Excavated pig and bovine bones (photo taken by BVL HPR, 2021); Figure 16 (right): 1850s soda water jug from ale merchant Christian J. Schlepegrell (photo taken by BVL HPR, 2021)

in the antebellum period. All uncovered bones contained butchered cuts, suggesting that Read’s enslaved workers purchased large sections of meat and customized the pieces on the property (Figure 15; see Appendix B). Through his will, Read bequeathed the Meeting Street property to his son John Harleston Read (1788-1859).75 A few months later in September of 1845, No. 39 Meeting Street was advertised for “sale or rent” and was described as a “commodious and eligibly situated dwelling house.”76 In 1847, however, Read’s grandson John Harleston Read, Jr. (1815-1868) requested an $8,000 mortgage for the property and took over ownership of the dwelling.77 Throughout the 1850s, Read, Jr. advertised rooms for rent within the dwelling while residing in Georgetown, SC with his wife Esther Jane Lance (1822-1877) and their seven children.78 By 1861,

75 “Dr. William Read,” 1845 July 7, Charleston Will and Inventories, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC. 76 “For Sale, or to Rent, 1845 September 20, Charleston Courier, Charleston, SC. 77 Charleston County Register of Deeds. Deed Book Z11, Page 170. Charleston County, SC. 78 “To rent,” 1856 November 14, Charleston Courier, Charleston, SC; 1850, 1860 U.S. Federal Census.

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OLD ST. MICHAEL’S RECTORY

DIANA’S STORY Since the publication of this report, additional research has provided new insight into the life and journey of Diana and her children following their disappearance from No. 39 Meeting Street in 1847. These findings draw on the expertise of Washington, D.C.–based genealogist Lisa Buckner and the book Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor, written by Diana’s great-great-grandson, William Benjamin Gould IV. According to Gould, Diana was the mistress of William Read, and her daughters, Cornelia and Julia, were his children. Following Read’s death, Diana and her daughters were likely illegally smuggled out of the port of Charleston and resold into slavery in Wilmington, North Carolina. By this time, Diana’s sister, Julia Ward Williams Garnet (1811–1870), was living as a free woman of color in Massachusetts. A committed abolitionist, she became active in several anti-slavery societies and established herself as a leading Black activist in the years leading up to the Civil War. Between 1857 and 1858, Julia and her family arranged for the purchase and manumission of Diana, Cornelia, and Julia, thereby securing their freedom. By 1860, Diana, then 45 years old, was living in Nantucket with prominent free Black civic leader Rev. James Crawford (1811–1888), along with her daughters Juliana and Cornelia, the latter recorded in the federal census as “Cornelia W. Read.” Although much research remains to fully understand and honor the journey of Diana and her daughters, Cornelia’s life is more thoroughly documented through Gould’s publication. Following the Civil War, she married Union Navy officer William B. Gould, with whom she raised several children in Massachusetts, pictured below in the 1880s. More than a century later, her great-greatgrandson, William B. Gould IV, carried forward her legacy, becoming the first Black professor at Stanford Law School.


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