Drayton Hall Fall 2020 Edition of Interiors Magazine for Friends of Drayton Hall

PA I D O

F R I E N D S of D R A Y T O N H A L L

INTERIORS FALL 2020

Upcoming Events

New in The Shop & available online

OCTOBER OCTOBER 30 Landscape Walk/ In Person Event with Cameron Moon: Historic Maps and Terrain NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 5 & 6 A Preservation Retrospective: A Webinar Symposium in honor of Stephen Wood NOVEMBER 12 The Problems with the Search for “Africanisms” in Archaeology: A Webinar NOVEMBER 18 and 19 Exploring Race, Place & Identity through Lowcountry Collections Symposium

DECEMBER 2 Drayton Hall, Phosphate Mining, and Postbellum Industrialization in the Lowcountry Webinar DECEMBER 5 Virtual Wreath Making Workshop DECEMBER 10 Transferware Patterns from Archaeology Webinar DECEMBER 12 and 19 Virtual Spiritual Concerts DECEMBER 17 Historic Entertaining and Wine Webinar For more information and registration visit draytonhall.org

DECEMBER

DECEMBER THURSDAYS, FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS Candlelight Tours of Drayton Hall by pre-registration

Sponsorship packages can be tailored to align with your strategic and marketing priorities. To learn more, please contact Caroline Schultz at cschultz@draytonhall.org or 843-769-2611.

Festive, fresh, and classic, each magnolia wreath is handmade to order.

The perfect gift for clients, friends, and family. 100% of the proceeds support the mission of Drayton Hall.

To order visit shop.draytonhall.org.

3380 ASHLEY RIVER ROAD | CHARLESTON, SC 29414 | 843.769.2600 | draytonhall.org | @draytonhall

An Enduring Community

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f note

Celebrating your philanthropy

FALL 2020

At Drayton Hall, 2020 will be memorable for so much more than COVID-19 and it is all thanks to you! Upon our temporary closure in March, you helped reopen Drayton Hall’s gates on May 21st. More than 600 new members joined our loyal Friends of Drayton Hall, while 350 donors from 39 different states contributed over $200,000 to the Drayton Hall Fund. As other revenue streams plummeted, this outpouring of support meant we could continue researching and interpreting the history, context, and culture of Drayton Hall.

CONTENTS

Thanks to your philanthropy, our progress never slowed. While working from home, our curators made some exciting discoveries about where the enslaved community may have lived on the property. Meanwhile, having spent months pouring over Charles Drayton’s diaries, our education staff assembled all references to enslaved individuals into a single resource and began unveiling details about the lives and contributions of Drayton Hall’s enslaved residents. Without you, it would be impossible to realize the full potential of this resource.

02 LETTER FROM PRESIDENT CARTER C. HUDGINS

As our team reimagined the Drayton Hall experience for a more socially distanced world, you helped us reach more than 60,000 individuals through Facebook live videos, webinars and tours of the property.

Through our phased approach to reopening Drayton Hall, it became clear how important the House you care for is to the visitor experience. Initially restricting tours to the landscape only, we saw visitation double upon the late June reopening of the main House.

Thank you for your ongoing stewardship of this historic treasure.

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ear Friends,

Here is hoping this issue of Interiors finds you and your loved ones healthy in what can only be described as one of the most challenging years in memory. From the Coronavirus Pandemic to the civil unrest following the murders of George Floyd and Breanna Taylor, our society has faced many difficulties, and Drayton Hall has not been immune. Closed to the public from March through June, and now welcoming just 50% of average daily visitation on a limited schedule, Drayton Hall continues to navigate challenging financial circumstances.

Throughout this time however, your philanthropic and moral support have been vital to ensuring Drayton Hall endures for years to come and I extend my heartfelt appreciation of your continued generosity and encouragement.

While we are in no way out of the woods, the pandemic has offered opportunities for Drayton Hall to innovate. New virtual programming with our curators has reached new and distant audiences, and technology is being incorporated into our public tours in more powerful ways. What is more, we have greatly expanded our research, and have continued to uncover significant evidence of Drayton Hall’s enslaved community. As you will read in this issue, Assistant Curator of Historical Architectural Resources, Cameron Moon, puts forth a compelling hypothesis regarding the location of Drayton Hall’s enslaved community and their late nineteenth century descendants. Encouragingly, preliminary surface surveys of the area have identified previously unknown concentrations of bricks that likely represent the remains of housing for the enslaved. With your continued support, we are optimistic that we will be able to take the next steps in our investigations and conduct a complete archaeological excavation of this significant portion of the site in the months ahead. If our theories are correct, we could excavate and honor one of the largest and most complete eighteenth-century enslaved communities in the United States.

In closing I wish you all well, and I thank you for your loyal dedication to this invaluable part of American history. Drayton Hall is and will continue to be a survivor thanks to our collective stewardship, and I hope I can personally welcome you back on site very soon.

Sincerely,

Carter C. Hudgins, Ph.D. President and Chief Executive Officer

FINANCE

Board of Trustees

Paula Marion, Chief Financial Officer Michelle Johanek, Finance Associate

William B. Bodine has been elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Drayton Hall Preservation Trust. Mr. Bodine was the Director of the Frick Art & Historical Center in Pittsburgh, PA, for 12 years before retiring in July 2014. Before directing the Frick, he held positions at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, S.C. Mr. Bodine served as Chairman of the Board of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, and on the executive committee of Visit Pittsburgh. Mr. Bodine pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies in art history at the University of Virginia.

A DVA N C E M E N T

B OA R D O F T RU S T E E S William B. (Bill) Bodine, Chair Marilynn Wood Hill, Vice Chair Thomas W. (Woody) Rash Jr., Vice Chair H. Montague (Monty) Osteen Jr., Treasurer Betsy Halstead, Secretary Richard Almeida Nathan (Nate) Berry Mary (MeMe) Black Catherine Brown Braxton John T. Cahill Amelia (Mimi) Cathcart Matthew Cochrane-Logan P. Steven (Steve) Dopp Frank B. Drayton Jr. Shannon C. Eaves Katherine Malone-France Benjamin P. (Ben) Jenkins III Risè Johnson Cynthia (Cynnie) Kellogg Kristopher B. King Douglas B. (Doug) Lee Benjamin F. (Ben) Lenhardt Jr. Fulton D. (Tony) Lewis Jr. W. Hampton Morris Margaret Beck Pritchard Henry B. Smythe Jr. Anthony C. (Tony) Wood

Halley Cella Erickson, Director of Philanthopy Caroline Schultz, Advancement Manager Lela Gee-Boswell Solomon, Advancement Manager

MUSEUM PROGRAMS Sarah Stroud Clarke, Director of Museum Affairs Amber Satterthwaite, Curator of Education and Museum Programs Historical Interpreters: Zachary Ford, Rosemary Giesy, Bev Hildreth, Nicole Houck, Lauren Ketelhut, Mary Jo Lautier, Betsy McAmis, Diane Miller, Veronica Pieretti, Shanon Stroer, Jordan Yale

Halley Cella Erickson joined the staff of Drayton Hall Preservation Trust in May as Director of Philanthropy. Prior to joining Drayton Hall, Halley served as a major gifts officer for College of Charleston where she raised unrestricted dollars, secured funding for a million dollar renovation of the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library, and increased giving to the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. Halley began her career in development with the Charlotte Museum of History and the 1774 Hezekiah Alexander Homesite. Since moving to Charleston in 2011, Halley has raised millions of dollars for local nonprofit organizations, including the South Carolina Historical Society and Roper St. Francis Foundation.

P R E S E RVAT I O N Sarah Stroud Clarke, Acting Archaeologist and Curator of Collections Patricia Lowe Smith, Curator of Historic Architectural Resources Eric Becker, Manager of Landscapes, Horticulture, and Modern Facilities Cameron Moon, Assistant Curator of Historic Architectural Resources Corey Heyward Sattes, Wexler Curatorial Fellow Raymond Nesmith, Landscape and Horticulture Technician Tom Eline, Landscape and Horticulture Technician

Michael B. Prevost, Trustee Emeritus

C O M M U N I C AT I O N S AND MARKETING

Carter C. Hudgins, Ph. D., President and Chief Executive Officer

Catherine Coughlin, Communications and Marketing Manager

Pamela Brown, Executive Assistant

An introduction

04 - 05 AN ENDURING COMMUNITY 06 THE CARETAKER’S HOUSE 06 WOOD FAMILY FELLOWSHIP 06 A WORKING SITE FOR DEVELOPING KNOWLDGE: RICHARD AND JILL ALMEIDA GALLERY 07 THE BOWENS FAMILY 07 CATHERINE BRAXTON: A PROFILE 08 UPCOMING EVENTS

Increased Site Hours Drayton Hall is now open to visitors weekly Wednesday through Sunday from 9 am to 3:30 pm . The admission gate closes at 2:30 pm. Drayton Hall will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Please check our website for any changes: draytonhall.org/visit/.

Did you know that Drayton Hall is picnic and pet-friendly? You’ll want to watch for alligators near the ponds but our beautiful landscape and grounds are a great place for a stroll with your furry friends!

Shopping by appointment

G U E S T S E RV I C E S

Members of the Friends of Drayton Hall are invited to shop The Shop at Drayton Hall by appointment this holiday season. Enjoy a welcoming and safe shopping experience in our beautiful museum store by emailing your preferred date and time to shop@draytonhall.org.

Kate Ludwig, Director of Retail and Admissions Emily David, Event Coordinator Guest Services Associates: Caroline Cannon, Christine Cline, Fran Hummel, Marilee Mohr

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03 OF NOTE

On the Cover: DECORATIVE GABLES OF THE CARETAKER’S HOUSE Page 2: DRAYTON HALL PHOSPHATE MINES LOCOMOTIVE, WILLIAM P. DOWLING, CA. 1889.

DRAYTON HALL PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION. ALL IMAGES ARE COURTESY OF DRAYTON HALL PRESERVATION TRUST UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

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as a part time job. They negotiated with managers, many of whom were former slave-owning planters, over their schedule, pay, and tasks. Managers attempted to enforce the same rigorous schedule on miners as they had during slavery, but the miners refused to submit to those conditions. To entice workers to live and work at the mines year-round, managers begrudgingly instituted benefits like better housing, stores, and medical facilities.

n Enduring Community

In February of 1865, Dr. John Drayton fled Charleston to escape the impending Union occupation of Charleston. Five years earlier, the 1860 Census Slave Schedule reported that he owned thirty-two enslaved people who lived in ten houses on the Drayton Hall property. When he fled, what happened to those people? He may have taken some with him but left many behind; and those left behind were alone on the property for four months.

In January of 1865, General William Sherman issued Special Order Number 15, which set aside 400,000 acres of land in the Lowcountry for the exclusive settlement by African American families. Land that had been abandoned by White Confederates was seized by the government and redistributed to freed people.

Had the formerly enslaved people left behind at Drayton Hall heard of Special Order 15? If they had, did they take over the property and maintain it as their own? That question will never be answered, because President Andrew Johnson overturned the order in May of 1865, returning the seized lands to their former owners, including Dr. Drayton.

FIGURE 2, ABOVE: HOUSES ALONG MACBETH ROAD THAT MAY REPRESNT FORMER SLAVE HOUSES. THE OTHER HOUSES THAT ARE MORE SPREAD OUT ALONG THE END OF MACBETH ROAD AND THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MAIN AVENUE WERE LIKELY CONSTRUCTED BY A PHOSPHATE MINING COMPANY IN THE 1870s OR 1880s. ADAPTED FROM “CONTINUATION OF ASHLEY RIVER” FROM THE US COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY, 1896.

- Cameron Moon Assistant Curator of Historic Architectural Resources

Figure 2: WINE GLASS WITH MOULDED PEDESTAL STEM INSCRIBED WITH ‘GOD SAVE KING GEORGE’, ENGLAND, 1714 - 1720, CERAMICS COLLECTION OF VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM

Among the people who remained on the property were Frank and Nancy Smith, Caesar Bowens, and Nancy and Quash Notes (Figure 1).

Freed people poured into the city of FIGURE 1, ABOVE: Charleston, seeking family, access to SMITH, NOTES, AND BOWENS FAMILIES. 1880 CENSUS, SAINT ANDREWS PARISH, S.C. schools, economic opportunities, and assistance from the Freedmen’s Bureau.

Work was scarce, so the Bureau facilitated agricultural labor contracts between freed people and White planters. Often, people returned to work on the same plantations where they had been enslaved. By June of 1865, Dr. Drayton returned to Charleston and attempted to revive a small farming operation at Drayton Hall, but he was outraged that he no longer had absolute control over his workers. Among those workers were likely the Smiths, Bowens, and Notes. Dr. Drayton resisted the new wage labor system and struggled to operate in a society without forced labor. As a result, he moved to Texas at the end of 1865 to join his two brothers, James and Thomas and never returned to South Carolina.

He left control of his property to the firm of Clifford and Mathews, which leased Drayton Hall to various phosphate mining companies beginning in 1868. Phosphate mining and manufacturing flourished because it provided a supplemental source of employment for freedmen. Those who signed agricultural labor contracts sought work in the off-season, so they treated mining Continued 0 4

The Smith, Bowens, and Notes families lived along MacBeth Road (Figure 2), which bordered the cemetery that was used by enslaved people from at least 1800. The enslaved community likely lived along this road as well. A sketch from circa 1800 shows a slave settlement of ten separate plots of land, which likely corresponded to 10 houses (Figure 3).

Recall that the 1860 Slave Schedule recorded 10 slave houses on the property as well. When we compare this sketch to a map from 1896, the row of houses along MacBeth Road on the map could represent what remained of the ten slave houses on the sketch. The Smiths, Bowens, Notes, and many others centered their community around the cemetery where their ancestors were buried. While they did not choose to live in this area during slavery, that part of the property was their domain and they continued to live there after Emancipation to cement their claim to the land.

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FIGURE 3, LEFT: SKETCH OF A SLAVE SETTLEMENT SHOWING TEN GARDEN PLOTS, CA. 1800, POSSIBLY DRAWN BY CHARLES DRAYTON (1743 - 1820).

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The Caretaker’s House Exhibit The exhibit in the Caretaker’s House (top left) provides space for visitors to bridge the gap between the antebellum vision of Drayton Hall with the historic site they visit in the 21st century. Visitors move through the house learning about the residents of the home (bottom left), the phosphate mining industry, and the African American miners who formed a thriving community that remained on the property until 1960. The exhibit uses the architectural fabric of the house to translate the stories of the people who lived here. A mantel that once adorned the central chimney was restored and reinstalled; and the framing of an interior wall was left uncovered to illustrate how the house was constructed and how it changed over time.

Life-size historic photographs of individuals and collections objects allow visitors to connect with these stories on a more personal level. The simple act of being in the Caretaker’s House illuminates the shared but vastly contrasting experience of the Black residents at Drayton Hall compared to the White Drayton family in the 20th century. The exhibit examines the societal and physical effects of the phosphate mining industry and its labor force comprised of freedmen. African Americans had limited mobility and options for work after the Civil War, and the exhibit recounts the stories of how individuals navigated that reality. Most importantly, it demonstrates how the African American community preserved the property by living here for generations, maintaining their houses and the landscape, cooking, farming, gardening, and raising children.

Active Preservation Threat

Wood rot on the exterior walls and porch of the Caretaker’s House allows water and pests to enter the building, threatening its preservation. Please contact Halley Cella Erickson at herickson@draytonhall.org or 843.769.2601 if you are interested in helping with this urgent need.

The exhibit would not have been possible without the generosity of Richard and Jill Almeida. In 2019, it won the Gold Award in the Exhibitions Competition hosted by the Southeastern Museums Conference, and it will remain in the Caretaker’s House permanently.

Wood Family Fellowship Drayton Hall Preservation Trust is pleased to make a most exciting and happy announcement; Cameron Moon is the 2020 Wood Family Fellow.

Established by Anthony C. Wood in memory of his brother and fellow preservationist, Stephen Wood and his parents Tanya and Leonard Wood, the Wood Family Fellowship is awarded annually to a rising professional in the field of archaeology, architectural history and conservation, landscape studies or collections management. Since 2005, graduate-level preservation professionals have benefited from this formative experience. Thanks to the Wood Family Fellowship, Cameron continues her ground-breaking research into Drayton Hall’s residents during the postbellum period.

Cameron is the Assistant Curator of Historic Architectural Resouces at Drayton Hall, contributing to the research and conservation of the site’s extant structures and architectural fragments. During her time at Drayton Hall, she has advanced the organization’s understanding of the postbellum and twentieth century history of the site, focusing on phosphate mining on the property and the African American community that lived there from 1866 to 1960.

A Working Site for Developing Knowledge Upon retiring to Charleston from Chicago fifteen years ago, Richard and Jill Almeida immersed themselves in the thriving local arts and culture offerings, first visiting Drayton Hall to experience its architecture and landscape. They quickly came to realize Drayton Hall had much more to offer than aesthetics. Recognizing Drayton Hall as a “working site for developing knowledge about people’s lives,” Richard became a partner in discovery and education through his volunteer leadership and philanthropy. In 2015, when Drayton Hall’s Preservation Team approached Richard and Jill about supporting the exhibit in the Caretaker’s House, they saw it as an opportunity to tell a bigger, more inclusive story. Viewing the exhibition as a springboard to learning about Drayton Hall’s African American residents, Richard and Jill were grateful for the opportunity to bring greater exposure to their lives and contributions. The Richard and Jill Almeida Gallery is located in the historic Caretaker’s House where our award-winning permanent exhibit examines the postbellum history of Drayton Hall’s residents.

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owens Family

The curatorial staff uses many types of documents to gather information about the people who lived at Drayton Hall. In 1860, a tax return for Drayton Hall recorded thirty-two enslaved people, one of whom was a 14-year-old named Caesar. After Emancipation in 1865, Caesar was listed with the surname Bowens on census records; while he may have used that surname while enslaved, it was not recorded until 1880. The Bowens family is one of dozens of families that lived on the Drayton Hall property between 1865 and 1960.

Several families lived here for generations, while others left by 1920 because phosphate mining ceased in the area. These families were part of a larger African American community that lived on former plantations along the Ashley River, including Magnolia Plantation and Middleton Place.

Caesar Bowens married Ella Campbell in 1867 and they had fifteen children together. One of their sons, Richmond Bowens (Figure 1), moved into a new house constructed by a phosphate mining company after 1910 with his wife, Anna Bryan. Richmond and Anna Bowens had four children, Richmond Jr., Frank, Lucille, and Emilee Bowens. Mr. Bowens worked as a machine operator for Charleston Mining and Manufacturing Company, which operated mines on land along the Ashley River, including Drayton Hall. He was also a minister at Springfield Baptist Church located across from Saint Andrew’s Parish Church on Ashley River Road, a barber, an agent for Sears, and operated the local corn mill. At night, he attended classes at Magwood Chapel, a school formed by freed people located two miles south of Drayton Hall along Ashley River Road. Anna Bowens was a seamstress and worked as a cook for the Drayton family when they stayed at Drayton Hall.

Several of Richmond Bowens’ siblings married and lived on the property through the 1950s, including Mary Fenneck, Julia Washington, and Samuel Bowens (Figure 2). Some of their descendants continue to stay connected to Drayton Hall. Catherine Brown Braxton, who descends from Caesar Bowens’ sister, Catherine Bowens Johnson, serves on the DHPT Board of Trustees.

Figure 1, top right: RICHMOND BOWENS, SR. (1880-1920). DRAYTON HALL PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION. Figure 2, middle right:: CHARLES BOWENS AND MARY FENNECK, CA. 1920. DRAYTON HALL PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION.

Bottom right: CATHERINE BROWN BRAXTON, THESIS CONTENT, 2020.

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atherine Braxton: A Profile

For Drayton Hall Trustee and Charleston native Catherine Brown Braxton, Drayton Hall’s history is personal. Her maternal grandfather, Willis Johnson Sr. was born at Drayton Hall and worked on the property during the phosphate mining era (c.1868 – 1910). Willis ultimately moved to downtown Charleston to build a family and home of his own but returned to the property many times throughout his life. On these visits, he would walk his children through the grounds and show them where their ancestors were born, reared, and in some cases buried in the African American Cemetery at Drayton Hall.

Following a 30-year career providing protective services to children and adults in New York City, Catherine retired to Jacksonboro, SC in 1992. She now focuses her attention on historic preservation and family research. With the assistance of their cousin, Richmond Bowens Jr., who was born at Drayton Hall in 1908 and was also a gatekeeper and historian of the site, Catherine and her sister Rebecca traced their family’s connection to Drayton Hall. According to their family’s oral history, their ancestors were likely brought from Barbados to the Carolina colony by the Drayton family in the 1670s as enslaved people.

When asked why she initially got involved with Drayton Hall, Catherine says, “This is my history.

My ancestors lived and worked there, and I wanted to learn more about their daily lives. My namesake and great, great grandmother, Catherine Bowens Johnson, was in charge of the kitchen, including meal preparation, service and more.” After more than two decades, Catherine continues her commitment to the discovery and interpretation of all sides of the Drayton Hall experience.

As a Friend of Drayton Hall and member of the Board of Trustees, Catherine participated in the 2019 strategic planning effort that redefined our mission as follows: Drayton Hall Preservation Trust fosters a deeper understanding of colonial America and the evolution of life in the South by discovering, researching, conserving, and interpreting the history, context, and culture of Drayton Hall. To Catherine, supporting this mission means “bridging a divide between people of different races and cultures which requires that we share with each other our differences and understand them. You first have to hear a person before you can understand them.” she says.

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