Historic Market Analysis of 95 Broad Street Charleston SC - December 2017

The Major Peter Bocquet Jr. House, 95 Broad Street, Charleston SC A C OMPRE H E N S I V E H ISTO RY OF A CI R CA 1 7 7 0 CHA RLES TON HOU SE

Compiled by Christina R ae Butler, Butler Preser vation L.C. 2017

Table of Contents INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………3 SETTING……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4 ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION………………………………………………………………………………12 HISTORY: CONSTRUCTION, OWNERS, AND OCCUPANTS……………………………………..19 ALTERATIONS………………………………………………………………………………………………………….36 CONCLUSION: SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANCE………………………………………………….…….44 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………………………………..45 APPENDICES o Appendix 1: Chain of title……………………………………………………………….……………………47 o Appendix 2: Historical newspaper references…………………………….……………….……50 o Appendix 3: Wills and Estate Records………………………………………………..………………54 o Appendix 4: Ward Book Tax Records………………………….…………………….………………55 o Appendix 5: Preservation Progress Magazine Entries…………………………….…..……55 o Appendix 6: City Directory Listings……………………………….……………….……………..……56 o Appendix 7: Transcriptions for SCHS Manuscript Records…………………..…….……58

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INTRODUCTION Situated on the South side of Broad Street in the heart of Charleston’s Historic District sits 95 Broad Street, a significant early American house that has accommodated and been owned by noteworthy Charlestonians since its construction. 95 Broad Street was a favorite with physicians from that late eighteenth into the mid-twentieth century -- several Charleston doctors used the first floor for their offices and the upper floors as residences for they and their families. The circa 1770 masonry building has witnessed fires in the neighborhood, shelling during the Civil War, the Earthquake of 1886, and several hurricanes, surviving unscathed. The house exhibits beautiful original Georgian and Adams details inside, and there are telltale signs throughout of the skill and handcraftsmanship that went into its construction almost 250 years ago. For example, the first-floor south parlor and second floor have mantels, cornices, and paneling that are original to the house, and there are hand carved joiner’s marks in the garret indicating how the roof structure was assembled centuries ago. 95 Broad Street has been lovingly restored by skilled artisans and is a perfect home for the connoisseur of fine colonial architecture on one of Charleston’s most historic streets.

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SETTING 95 Broad Street lies between Meeting and King Streets on a block of Broad Street that bustles with activity during the day and is quietly peaceful in the evening. The intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets- known today as the Four Corners of Law- keeps colonial era Broad Street well tread with visitors and local professionals on their way to visit some of the city’s most significant architecture or to conduct business in Broad Street’s prestigious law offices and real estate firms.

Moving south on Meeting or King Street toward South Battery, residents find an assortment of important colonial and antebellum residences with quaint gardens and historic character. Broad Street was one of the first to be laid out in colonial Charleston and was the city’s principal east/west thoroughfare.

Charlestown was one of only three walled cities in the British North America. The earliest brick and earthen fortifications were constructed by the majority-English colonists to keep out Spanish settlers who might sail northward from Florida, French settlers who were colonizing lands to the west of Carolina, Native American tribes who called the Lowcountry and the peninsula home before the English, and as protection in the event of a slave insurrection from the outlying plantation district. 95 Broad Street lay just outside the westernmost wall of the city, within sight of the ravelin (triangular shaped fortification with surrounding moat) and drawbridge at the intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets, which provided the only way into the town by land during the colonial period.

The 1739 Ichnography of Charlestown shows the block of Broad Street where 95 Broad Street lies. Visible at the intersection of Meeting and Broad are the “Old Church Ground”- today St. Michaels Church- and the ravelin and drawbridge to enter the walled city.

Wharves and docks lined the blocks of East Bay Street at the eastern foot of Broad Street where the circa 1771 Customs House and Provost Dungeon stands today, while the west end of Broad Street beyond King Street was home to tidal marshes, small farms, and pleasure gardens in the late colonial era. 95 Broad would have been a highly desirable lot in the early days of Charleston, for its location

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close to commercial King Street but in the South of Broad area, a quiet residential neighborhood then and today.

View of Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, constructed in 1771.

During the Civil War, 95 Broad and its neighbors survived the Great Fire of 1861 that destroyed St. Finbarr Catholic Cathedral just a block away. The “Charleston Mercury reported “that the whole of Broad Street is on fire from Mr. Gadsden’s to Mazyck [Logan] Street. The flames have now crossed Broad Street and as the wind has not lulled, it is impossible to say where it will stop, short of the river. The flames seemed to devote their whole fury against the elegant private houses which for so long have been the pride of the southwestern portion of our city. As their beautiful homesteads succumbed, one after another, the resistless march of the destroying element, the scene was awful . . . the cathedral, which was filled to overflowing with the silver, clothing, and furniture and valuables of scores of people, believing it to be fireproof, [was lost]." 95 Broad also seems to have survived 587 days of Union artillery bombardment during the American Civil War with no damage.

The ruins of St. John and St. Finbarr Cathedral, looking north from the intersection of Legare and Broad Street, 1865. Photo courtesy of LOC

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After the Civil War, Broad Street resumed its hustle and bustle as the civic and business hub of Charleston. Disaster struck again with the Great Earthquake of 1886, which was estimated to be a 7.3 on the Richter scale and caused wholesale damage across the city during the inopportune hard financial times of Reconstruction. Fortunately, the blocks of Broad Street from East Bay to Logan Streets suffered lesser damage because the stately masonry buildings there were constructed on original high land of the Charleston peninsula, rather than filled marshes and creeks (which liquefied during the earthquake and experienced widespread structural damage.)

A 1906 postcard shows the Bishop’s House on the north side of Broad Street, looking east toward King Street.

Courtesy of CCPL The Four Corners today boasts some of Charleston’s most famous landmark architecture. This includes St. Michaels Church, the oldest church building in the city begun in 1752, the circa 1800 Charleston City Hall, the historic County Court House of the 1790s, and the late 1880s imposing granite Federal Post Office. The corner of King and Broad Street features Berlin’s Clothing store, housed in a late colonial building, the Dr. John Lining house, believed to be the oldest surviving wood frame house in the city constructed circa 1715, and two other historic corner business buildings that house an art gallery and furniture boutique.

City Hall, constructed circa 1801 as a bank building.

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Charleston County Courthouse, designed by famous Irish architect James Hoban in 1790.

Image E: St. Michael’s Church with the Federal Post Office in the foreground.

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Image F: The imposing granite Post Office, constructed in the 1880s. Its steps are a favorite place for the iconic sweet grass basket makers to sell their wares.

The John Lining House is believed to be the oldest wooden house in the city, dating back at least to 1715.

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There are several significant houses across the street from 95 Broad, most notably the David Ramsay House at 92 Broad Street and the Blake tenements just to the east. The Ramsay house dates to before 1740, making it the oldest house on the block. Its namesake Dr. David Ramsay was a prominent physician, and was a practicing contemporary of Dr. Clitherall and Dr. Samuel Wilson (who both resided in 95 Broad Street near the turn of the nineteenth century) in addition to a State Representative during the American Revolution and a State Senator from 1801 to 1815. The Ramsay House is a three-story wood framed double house with a two-story entry portico and surviving Georgian paneling inside. The Daniel Blake tenements at 4 Court House Square are high style Georgian twin units under a hipped roof. The two units have matching entry doors with pediments and transom lights, and symmetrical window openings. They were built by planter Daniel Blake circa 1760 and are of English bonded brick construction.

Directly next door to 95 Broad Street are the Peter Bocquet Senior House (93 Broad) and the circa 1835 Mordecai Cohen tenement (at 97 Broad). The Cohen house is a Greek Revival two and a half story masonry house and is the only one extant of three twin houses. The other two fell prey to demolition for the Piggly Wiggly grocery store that nearly claimed 95 Broad Street as well for a parking lot. Both 93 and 97 Broad were in a state of near-collapse and had been boarded up for decades when James Meadors of Meadors Construction fully restored both in 2009. They are both LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. They are also extremely accurate restoration projects, with slate and copper roofs, traditional windows, and great attention paid to preserving any remaining original materials.

Broad Street in the 1890s; MM: Broad Street in 1973- from Charleston Then and Now. Views for Broad Street from 1890 and 1973 show the changes to the streetscape. 93 and 97 Broad Street had begun their decline by the 1970s. The sister houses of the Cohen tenement at 97 Broad had been demolished for the Piggly Wiggly grocery store by the 1970s. 95 Broad Street looks much the same in each era.

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The Bocquet Senior 93 Broad Street as it appeared in 1996, awaiting restoration. 95 Broad appears to be lovingly maintained. Courtesy of HCF.

93 Broad Street as it appeared in 1998 when HCF staff photographed the loss of several outbuildings to make way for additional parking for the Judicial Center, which was then under construction. 95 Broad Street’s dormers and chimneys peek over the roofline in the background.

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One notices the historical ambience along gaslight-lined Broad Street, especially in the evenings when St. Michael’s Church steeple is illuminated. The beautiful Georgian steeple is visible from the cozy apartments in the garret of 95 Broad Street. The house lies in the original Old and Historic District, the first protected historic area to be designated in the nation in 1931. As such, it and its neighbors will continue to retain their character into the future.

Š Ellis Creek Photography

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ARCHITECTURE DESCRIPTION 95 Broad Street is a three and a half story brick house with a stucco façade that has been scored to resemble stone block, which was a common faux finish in the early nineteenth century. The oftcited circa 1770 construction date is derived from the era of popularity for some of the stylistic details of the house, interior features that bear close similarity to circa 1770 Stewart House at 106 Tradd Street, and the fact that Peter Bocquet Jr. received the lot at that time. The house features Georgian and Adams style details throughout (so named for the famous Adams Brothers architects that were all the rage in the mid to late eighteenth century in England and were known for their delicate neoclassical ornaments and curving Rococo details.)

© Ellis Creek Photography

© Ellis Creek Photography

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The bricks below the stucco rendering with its fiery red lime wash would have been handmade and fired by enslaved people on the nearby Lowcountry plantations. “Charleston grey” bricks earned their name because of the color of the organic pluff mud and clay extracted from the Ashley and Cooper Rivers and their tributary creeks. The bricks were hand shaped in wooden forms and then stacked loosely to create a temporary kiln or “clamp.” Brick makers lit fires within and tended the kiln for up to two weeks, until the bricks had been baked through. They were then shipped to Charleston on flat barges for sale and construction in the city. It is unclear whether the bricks were exposed on the façade of 95 Broad at the time of construction, or whether the stucco render was original to the exterior plan.

The house features a simple gable roof running transverse to Broad Street, with several dormer windows looking out toward St. Michael’s church steeple. There are nearly thirty windows on the facades of the house, organized in well-spaced bays that allow natural light to flood into each story of the house. Most are nine-over-nine-pane double hung windows that are accurate to the age of the house, with a larger eighteen-over-eighteen pane window on the first floor in Broad Street, reflecting the building’s historic use as a shop on the ground floor.

In 1886, the house had a traditional slate tile roof. Sometime in the twentieth century, it was replaced with a standing seem terne metal roof, which was replaced again in kind with slate and copper flashing after Hurricane Hugo. The original material for a circa 1770 house would have been either wood shake shingles or imported slate, so the replacement roof is accurate to the colonial period. The chimneys retain their “bishop cap” Tudor arches along the skyline.

The house has many unique, high style features that speak to its late colonial construction. An oftmentioned element in architectural histories is the rare surround of the front easternmost entranceit appears to be stone from a distance but is actually sculpted stucco work. There is a second entry door on Broad Street with Adams style detail elements including fluted pilasters. While the two entry doors have unique surrounds, both have hardwood traditional six panel doors and intricate transom windows with a fanlight pattern set within the square frame. These features were popular in the Regency era and likely added around 1815.

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© Ellis Creek Photography The windows on the eastern façade of the first floor are fitted with Georgian raised panel shutters hung with hand-forged strap hinges and secured with traditional S-shaped shutter dogs, while the upper stories on the east and front façade have louvered shutters. All are operable, and in historic Charleston they would have been used to allow breezes in while blocking out the light (and the dust from busy Broad Street on the first story.)

There are wide plank longleaf and heart pine floors throughout. The six panel interior doors are hung with cast iron mortised hardware today, but there are ghost marks from the original hand forged H-L strap hinges that mounted the doors originally.

The house has a modified central hall plan. The stair from the first to second floor have been reconstructed to bring back the original layout of the house, and the stairs between the upper floors are original. The reconstructed stairs from the first to second story have Colonial Revival details similar to what may have been present on the original stairs: carved scroll applique below each tread, simple turned newel posts and balustrades. The treads are heart pine.

95 Broad Street’s interior moulding would have been viewed as the latest showpiece of architectural taste in the 1770s, and continues to catch the attention of architectural historians in the twentieth century. Noted carver and architectural historian John Bivins researched 95 Broad’s trim and wrote a 1986 article in the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA comparing it with other contemporary Charleston houses. He noted similarities between the carving style and architectural details in colonial cabinetmaker and carpenter Humphrey Sommers’ house on Tradd Street, the Miles Brewton House on King Street, other Sommers commissions, and the Peter Bocquet Jr. house at 95 Broad Street. Each have delicate Rococo details in their mantel surrounds, intermingled with simple but elegant neoclassical details elsewhere. The interior of 95 Broad boasts several Georgian and Adams style original features that Bivins concludes were most likely completed by John Lord, a London artisan to emigrated to Charleston to take part in the high style building boom of the 1760s.

The complexity of the delicate carving found at 95 Broad Street indicates that the shops making the 14

pieces would have had a diverse set of complex hand tools and in-depth knowledge of the latest architectural trends of England.

First floor The simple but elegant mantel in the front parlor has been recreated in a historically accurate mode to frame the original fireplace, which has been restored and is fully functional. Modern elements such as the glass vestibule beyond the wooden entry door are tastefully installed and are easily reversible, while bringing a contemporary flare to juxtapose with the handcrafted original features.

The casing trim around many of the doors and windows on this and the upper floors features crossettes, or decorative projections that accentuate the opening by adding a level of complexity and three dimensionalities to the layered trim work.

The window casing, mantels, and paneling in the rear parlor are original to the house.

Š Ellis Creek Photography

Š Ellis Creek Photography 15

Second floor The front parlor features three eras of handcraftsmanship: Georgian (original construction phase), 1810s (Regency era updates), and 1850s (Tudor inspired bookshelves.) The original work includes elegant cornice molding, wainscot paneling, case trim, the mantel piece, and chimney breast. The dentil and modillion designs in the cornice work and mantelpiece were carefully hand-carved in the eighteenth century to achieve the neoclassical elegance sought after in that era, and were lovingly restored in the 2013 renovation (when workers hand scraped over a dozen layers of paint with dentil picks and hand tools to bring back the profiles of the original woodwork.) The dado and upper fields of the walls have hand-raised Georgian paneling similar to Drayton Hall’s famous entry stair hall and parlors.

The fireplace surrounds and over-mantels on this floor are very ornate, with urns, garlands, scroll carvings, console brackets, rinceaux (a French style foliage), and a broken ogee pediment above the chimney breast with a swag in the center that engages with the modillion-ornamented cornice and dentiled architrave. The intricate neoclassical details would have been chosen by local artisans from eighteenth century pattern books featuring the latest Georgian and Adams details. They then carefully replicated design motifs in customized ways to fit the scale and personal preferences desired for 95 Broad Street. The fireplace facing around the firebox is marble.

The paneling below the center of the three north-facing windows is actually a jib door that extends to the floor to allow access to the handmade wrought iron balcony in the center of the north facade.

The balcony is believed to be original to the house; the hand wrought scrollwork, small cast floret details, and delicate style are in keeping with late eighteenth century tastes in ironwork. The iron would likely have been locally forged; while fine ironwork was occasionally imported to Charleston from England in the colonial era, the city had a robust community of skilled artisans working in iron forging, carving, masonry, timber framing, and myriad other building arts-related trades. The ironwork has Gothic-inspired forms were popular in the late eighteenth century, and delicate scrollwork. Such pieces were created by heating square bars of iron imported from Europe, beating the bar by hand at the forge, and repeating the heating and shaping process until the desired curves and tapered profiles were achieved.

Š Ellis Creek Photography

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The rear parlor has floor to ceiling original pine paneling. The white pine was imported from New England, which was common because carvers preferred the soft, workable nature of the northern varieties of pine for carving. The trim work framing the fireplace in this room is some of the most intriguing in the house and is also original. It has low relief fretwork that, when applied against a solid backdrop, gives a lacelike effect. The interlaced design found in 95 Broad is thought to be an original creation of the local carver rather than a pattern book copy, making it all the more unique and significant. The windows have been fitted with wooden operable plantation shutters that are most likely not original (they were not designed to tuck back into the window jamb) but are of high quality construction and have been in place for some time. There is a chair rail separating the dado of the wall from the upper field; both feature original raised panels set in carefully joined frames.

The multi-level cornice work in this room features a clean neoclassical ogee profile above delicate dentil molded architrave. There were originally jib doors on the south wall that opened onto the piazza, but they were modified after the piazzas were removed in the 1950s and replaced with an enclosed wood framed rear addition.

© Ellis Creek Photography Third floor The third floor has flat plaster walls and simple trim, which is in keeping with the more private upper stories of early Charleston houses. The mantels on both parlors were recreated in a Georgian mode in keeping with the rest of the house. The partition walls on this and the second floor are thin and hollow, indicating that they are original or early (there is no stud cavity of electric wiring, and thin walls for room division was a common historic practice mostly out of mode by the mid nineteenth century.) The stairs from the third floor to the garret are original.

Garrett In the attic space lies one of the most interesting features of the house- a chance to see traditional timbers of the historic building exposed. Each ceiling joist and rafter are carved with “marriage marks” that joiners and timber framers used to make sure all of the custom-cut joints were installed in the correct bays when the frame of the house was being assembled on site and raised into place.

The gable roof has subtle “kick rafters”, which create a slight flare of the roof near the intersection with the walls of the house. This flare was a popular high style colonial American feature. There are

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several elegant dormer windows that offer lovely views of St. Michaels Church steeple to the east and St. John the Baptist Cathedral to the west. Details in the roof framing such as the lack of sill beam above the dormer indicates that they are an addition, although likely an early one.

Further architectural documentation, descriptions, and photographs are available in the Historic American Buildings Survey completed in 1958 and available online through the Library of Congress, and in John Bivins’ article in the MESDA Journal of 1986.

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HISTORY OF 95 BROAD: CONSTRUCTION, OWNERS, AND OCCUPANTS Charleston’s addresses have changed many times over the centuries as lots were subdivided, the city grew, and the numbering system was updated and regularized. 95 Broad Street’s was known at 43 Broad in the eighteenth century, 45 in the early 1800s, 79 Broad in the mid nineteenth century, 85 Broad for a brief time, and finally its current number by 1886.

To encourage people to relocate to Carolina and settle Charlestown, the Lords Proprietors who owned the colony in the 1670s began granting town lots on the Charleston peninsula. 95 Broad Street was part of lot 104 in the original Grand Modell of Charlestown. In the early colonial period, the lot was subdivided and sold as smaller parcels. Major Peter Bocquet Senior owned what would become 93 Broad and 95 Broad (both within lot 104) in the eighteenth century.

Grand Modell. 95 Broad Street is on part of lot 104 of the original Grand Modell of Charlestown, laid out in the 1670s.

Bocquet purchased 93 Broad in 1751 from Paul Smyser, when the lot was described as fronting 26 feet on Broad Street. At that time, the lot was vacant. William Hopton bounded Boquet’s lots to the west, and the Moody, Hodsden, and Smyser families owned the lots bounding to the east. There was a house on part of Bocquet’s lot, which he rented to Peter Valois. Valois a dancing master who visited private homes, boarding schools, and taught in a “convenient room at Mr. Bouquet’s [sic] in Broad Street” in the 1760s. He also had a spinet at the house to play the latest pieces for his dance lessons. There is no deed on record to indicate whom Bocquet purchased 95 Broad Street from, or when.

Bocquet Sr. was a French Huguenot baker who arrived in Charleston around 1739 and married Barbara (maiden name unknown) at St. Philips Church. The couple had several children, including Anne (wife of John Wagener), Mary Sadler (widowed by 1780), Catherine (wife of Edward Trescott), and Peter Bocquet Jr. who was born in 1744 and would receive 95 Broad Street from his father.

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The elder Mr. Bocquet deeded the Broad Street lots to Peter Bocquet Junior, in 1770, who constructed the current house at 95 Broad Street around that time. The deed of gift was not recorded with the county, but was referenced in Bocquet Sr.’s will. When Bocquet Sr. died in 1783, he freed his Negro manservant Tom for his “faithful service” and divided his estate among his children. He then noted in his will that, “Whereas in consideration that I have already given by deed of gift unto my son Peter Bocquet part of my lot of land in Broad Street and as I think that a full proportion of my estate I give and bequeath unto my said son Peter the some of 10 shillings currency.”

1788 map. The Phoenix Fire Map of 1788 shows several buildings on Broad Street between Meeting and King Streets. The arrow points at 95 Broad Street.

Bocquet Jr. was a planter and merchant who briefly formed a partnership with his brother in law John Wagner to export deerskins, which were an early commodity of South Carolina trade. He served in the American Revolution as a major in the South Carolina militia and was captured in Philadelphia and held prisoner. When the British captured Charleston in 1780, they confiscated Bocquet’s estate for his loyalty to the Patriot cause and banished his family from the colony. The family returned in 1782 when the British evacuated Charleston after more than two years and seven months of occupation. It is possible that the British could have used 95 Broad Street while the Bocquet family was in exile, as they were known to seize property of Patriots for their own residences. After the war, Bocquet continued to serve in the General Assembly representing St. Andrew’s Parish, where the family owned a 1230-acre plantation on the Stono River, and as state treasurer. Peter and his second wife Elizabeth had two children, George Washington and Mary.

Sadly, Bocquet died intestate in March of 1793 and left his young wife with debt and a mortgage on 95 Broad that she was unable to satisfy.

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A nineteenth century copy found in the Simons and Simons Law Firm papers at the SCHS for one of Bocquet’s mortgages on his Broad Street house.

A month after Bocquet’s death, 70 cattle, 23 sheep, breeding mares and colts of the “English breed,” plantation horses and tools, and household furniture from the family’s country property were offered for auction to settle debts against the estate. In August of 1793 to settle the mortgage held by William Higginson of London, several lots on Harleston’s Green and the Broad Street house were offered for sale. 95 Broad was described as “all that brick tenement and lot of land, in Broad Street, occupied by Dr. Clitherall, fronting on Broad Street 38 feet, and 208 feet in depth. Also, the adjoining house and lot, occupied by Messrs. Corre and Co., 37 1.2 feet front and 209 ½ feet deep,” indicating that Bocquet had owned both 93 and 95 Broad Street, whose subdivision lot numbers at that time were 43 and 44. 95 Broad Street sits on lot 43. Dr. Clitherall was listed in the 1794 City Directory at 45 Broad Street, as a physician. It is unclear whether the house was his office and residence, or just his place of business.

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1793 sale ad in the Charleston Gazette for Bocquet’s Broad Street property.

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McCrady plat 7091 from 1791 shows the buildings on 97 Broad Street as they appeared at the time. Broad Street is to the left. The top of the plat depicts 95 Broad as a house “3 story brick, brick offices 2 story, [and a] brick wall, of Peter Bocquet�. 97 Broad was a two-story brick house with a passageway between it and 95. The current house at 97 Broad was constructed in 1835.

J: McCrady plat 553, surveyed in 1791, showing same area.

Dr. Samuel Wilson (January 1763 -13 March 1827) purchased 95 Broad Street in September 1796.

It is likely that he rented out the Broad Street house during part of his ownership, either as a

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residence or business. Wilson was listed at 45 (now 95) Broad Street from 1796 until 1809, when he relocated to Archdale Street.

Wilson was born to Scottish physician Robert Wilson, who arrived in Charleston in 1755 and married in the colonies. Samuel attended medical school in Edinburgh and Glasgow before returning in Charleston in 1786 to practice medicine with his father, brother, and son Samuel Jr. Wilson served as president of the Medical Society of South Carolina in 1801 and as a Commissioner of Streets and Lamps in the 1820s. Wilson had several children with his wife Catherine Mazyck: Isaac Mazyck Wilson, Samuel Wilson Jr. (also a physician), William Handy Wilson, Stephen Wilson, and a daughter named Margaret.

When Wilson made his will in 1823, he owned 95 Broad, at least two properties on Archdale and Magazine Streets, Shipyard Plantation (in North Charleston) and La Costa Plantation (in St. James Goose Creek.) He died in March 1827 and was buried at First Scots Presbyterian Church graveyard at the corner of Tradd and Meeting Streets. Dr. Wilson left “Samuel and Mary Catherine, children of my late son Stephen Wilson: my lot and buildings on the south side of Broad Street at present in possession of Jacob Ford Esqr.” Samuel Wilson Jr. was also a physician and follows his father’s footsteps in civil service as a Commissioner of the Marker in the 1850s.

A portrait of Dr. Samuel Wilson, by Cephas Thompson, held by the Waring Medical Library.

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None of the Wilsons appeared in the City Directory at the Broad Street house after Dr. Wilson’s death. In 1840, a Joseph Thompson was listed at the address.

Dr. Peter C. Gaillard (1815-1859) bought 95 Broad from the Wilson heirs for use as his office and home in 1855. He was born in Charleston and graduated from South Carolina College (the forerunner to University of South Carolina) in 1835. He then studied medicine in Paris and Philadelphia before returning to Charleston to marry Henrietta Wragg and open a local practice.

Simons and Simons Law firm handled Gaillard’s real estate affairs, including conducting a chain of title and the closing for 95 Broad Street. In 1858, Gaillard made an agreement (through Simons and Simons) with his neighbor at 97 Broad Street, Thomas Mordecai. Mordecai agreed to let Gaillard install four sets of shutters on the third-floor windows that overhung the gable roof of his two-story house that adjoined 95 Broad Street. There are still shutters adorning those upper story windows today.

1852-1870 ward book. The tax assessment ledger book from 1852 to 1870 shows Peter C. Gaillard as the new owner of 79 [now 95] Broad Street.

Dr. Gaillard’s obituary described him as, “A scientist by nature, training, and experience, he made many valuable contributions. He was especially interested in yellow fever investigations when little was known about this disease and was said to have been the first man in the South to discover and prove that it was an imported disease. He was writing a book upon the results of hit research at the time of his death 14 January 1859, at age 44.” The city death ledger indicates that he died at home on Broad Street of consumption and was interred at Magnolia Cemetery. At that time, he had his business and residence in 79 Broad (95 Broad Street today.)

Dr. Gaillard’s estate papers provide insight into his family and belongings that would have been in 95 Broad Street in the antebellum era during his ownership. He left his wife Henrietta his wine, the household and kitchen furniture, his general library books, and slave Easton. His son Samuel received a dressing case and son Robert a gold watch and signet ring. His son George received a gun and his daughter Mary a slave girl named Susan. He left several pieces of silverware to his sister and sister in law. The bulk of his real and personal estate were to be divided among Henrietta and her 25

children. His will indicates that he had a large library of books, so perhaps he is the resident responsible for constructing the Tudor-arched book cases on the second floor. Next door neighbor James Simons and friend Robert Gourdin were to select two sets of books and plats of their choosing, while his physician friends Dr. Wragg, Dr. Dessaussure, Dr. Huger, and Dr. St. Julien Ravenel were each given two sets of books from the medical library. After Gaillard’s death, the house was purchased by George Trenholm, of John Fraser and Company. The lot at that time measured 37 feet on Broad Street by 206 feet deep and was known at 79 Broad Street. The threestory brick house was valued at $8,000, a significant amount of money in the 1860s.

George Trenholm was a cotton broker for Fraser and Company who had worked his way through the ranks, becoming one of the richest men in the United States. He was involved in factoring (import/export), railroad development, and hotel/real estate speculation. During the Civil War, Fraser Trenholm and Company was the overseas banker for the Confederacy and Trenholm served as Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury. He was most famous for his blockading activities, and many people believe he was the basis for the fictional character of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. It is difficult to know how Trenholm used the house during his ownership because of the onset of the Civil War, but given the location on Broad Street (and the fact that Trenholm had a residence on Rutledge Street) it was likely intended as a business office or investment. During the Union siege of Charleston from 1863 to early 1865, 95 Broad Street would have been in shell range and dangerous to occupy. Most of the city south of Calhoun Street was deserted during those years, and 95 Broad Street probably was as well.

George Trenholm in 1860. “Documenting the American South”, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

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Blockade Runner on display at 95 Broad Street. Š Ellis Creek Photography Dr. Edward H. Kellers (1836-1906) purchased 95 Broad Street in 1873 from Circuit Court, as part of a settlement against Trenholm and Fraser & Co. He had his office on the ground floor and lived with his wife Emma Jeffords Kellers and children in the rest of the house. During the American Civil War, Kellers was an assistant surgeon in the Confederacy. Following the war, he continued his work as a druggist and doctor at 95 Broad. The 1880 census lists Dr. and Mrs. Kellers at their Broad Street home with children William Henry, Ruth, Emma, and Francis, and two household servants, Emma B. Williams (age 50, black) and Eliza Fields (age 40, mulatto.)

1872 Birds Eye Map of Charleston. With a bit of artistic license (or slight inaccuracy of rooflines of the neighboring houses) 95 Broad Street is seen here in 1872. At the intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets, St. Michaels Church and the old Guard House (site of the Post Office today) are visible.

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1892 advertisement. Dr. Kellers advertised his physician’s office and drug store at 95 Broad Street in the Charleston News and Courier in 1892.

City Directory 1900. The 1900 City Directory lists Dr. Kellers’ office and residence at 95 Broad Street.

We know from ads placed by the Kellers family in local newspapers around the turn of the century that they employed a waiting man, nurse for their children, and young men to help in the pharmacy.

Dr. Kellers applied for a permit for $200 in repairs to the house in 1891, which unfortunately were not described in the papers. The family rented part of the house to a lawyer named RB Mathews in 1896, and owned other properties around the city as well; they regular placed advertisements offering the other properties for rent.

Dr. Kellers died at home at age 71 in 1906. His obituary read, “Dr. EH Kellers dead. Well known physician and pharmacist expired suddenly yesterday while in his home on Broad Street . . . he expired at 5:30 yesterday afternoon in the parlor of his residence, 95 Broad Street. He was 71 and had been a prominent physician and pharmacist for over 35 years. He went to South Carolina College and took a course in medicine at South Carolina Medical College. He left behind a widow and two sons and two daughters. Member of Camp Sumter, United Confederate Veterans, Ancient Freemasons, and Landmark Lodge.”

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Death record. A City of Charleston Return of Death for Dr. Kellers.

After Edward’s death, Emma Kellers and her daughter Emma continued to live in the house, leasing the bottom story for commercial use and other parts of the house as residential apartments. Mrs. Kellers advertised an apartment suitable for four ladies in 1906, a large furnished room “suitable for a gentleman” in 1912, a large, dry room for storing furniture in 1932, and an apartment with use of the garage in 1936. In the 1920s, E.H. Shubrick Pinckney rented offices at 95 Broad Street for their real estate firm.

1906 ad. An advertisement placed by Emma Kellers offering part of 95 Broad for rent following her husband’s death.

Mrs. Kellers’ longest tenant was dentist R McIver Wilbur who was listed in the City Directories at 95 Broad Street from 1911 until 1951. Roderick McIver Wilbur was born in 1881 in Charleston and attended Furman University before pursuing his Doctorate in Dental Medicine. In addition to running his practice at Broad Street, Dr. Wilbur also served on the medical faculty at the Charleston Orphan House. He died at home on Lamboll Street in 1958 and was interred at St. Paul’s in Summerville, SC. Emma Kellers died at home on Broad Street of heart and renal failure in 1940. She was survived by her sons, Lt. Commander Henry C Kellers of Cincinatti, Dr. Frank Kellers of Clinton, SC, daughter Mrs. Green of Anderson, SC and her daughter Emma Kellers (who never married). Emma Kellers Jr. remained at the house until the early 1950s. Like her mother, she offered parts of the house for rental apartments. Emma sold 95 Broad in the early 1950s and died in 1957, when she burned to death in her residence on Congress Street. She was interred at Magnolia Cemetery.

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1929 Sanborn. The Sanborn Map from 1929 shows the three-story brick house with is wood frame side and rear piazzas. Note the “Dentist” heading on 95 Broad.

The Kellers family sold 95 Broad to John Fromberg in 1953. He was a lawyer who used the building for his office for a brief time before selling to Roland H. Momeier in 1954. At this point, the beautiful house was the most at risk it had ever been- it was nearly lost not to a natural disaster but to demolition for a parking lot. Momeier owned the Automatic Red and White Grocery (later bought up by Piggly Wiggly) a few doors west of 95 Broad. He purchased the house with the intention of razing it for grocery parking, but fortunately the Preservation Society of Charleston convinced him of the house’s architectural significant, and he spared it. He sold the back half of the lot, removed the piazzas on the east side of the house to allow access to the rear of the lot, and demolished the outbuildings, but the main house survived intact and he and his wife Juanita and their children moved into the upper floors. Momeier leased the bottom floor to Hartnett Realty.

The dimensions of the front parcel, 95B Broad Street, became 27 feet by 83 feet deep, with an easement to use the 10’ right of way to access the parking to the rear. 95A comprised the back portion of the property, and is still an open parking area today. Barbara Bowman bought 95 Broad from the Momeiers in 1973, and left it to Thomas R. Bennett in her will.

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1958 HABS. A 1958 HABS shows 95 Broad with a Victorian shop window on the main floor and stamped metal shingles in the gable area. The piazza had been removed by this time.

Charleston County Plat AC page 21 surveyed in 1973 shows the partition of the lot.

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1973 photo. A photograph taken by the city preservation planning department shows 95 Broad Street in 1973.

A 1976 sale ad for “Notable Peter Bocquet House, circa 1770.�

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Thomas R. Bennett (1930-1987), general partner of Courts and Company Investment Bankers, owned and lived in 95 Broad from the 1970s until the early 1980s. By 1977, he was leasing part of the house to John F. Ragsdale, who purchased the home shortly thereafter. She renovated it, operating her antiques shop from the bottom floor and living upstairs.

Ragsdale was raised on a Florence, South Carolina plantation. Following her debutante debut and studies at Mt. Vernon College in Virginia, she married Robert Lee Taylor Larus in 1961 (although she kept her maiden name, quite uncommon in that era.) They lived in Richmond following their marriage, although they eventually separated and Ragsdale returned to Charleston. Larus remarried and died in 1991. Ragsdale started a decorative finial company out of Broad Street in the 1980s, which were features in Southern Accents magazine.

1978 HABS photo. A HABS photograph taken in 1978 shows the unique sculpted stucco door surround, with a Preservation Society plaque to the right and Ragsdale’s business sign to the left.

Ragsdale interiors. A newspaper ad from 1990 for Ragsdale Interiors, 95 Broad Street.

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John F. Ragsdale in 1984, from the News and Courier.

Ragsdale sold the property to her daughter, Caroline Ragsdale Poston, who lived at 95 Broad with her. John F. Ragsdale died in March of 2002. Her obituary stated, “she practiced interior design for 26 years, working on numerous Charleston and Georgetown residences as well as several commercial installations. Surviving is a daughter, Caroline R. Poston of Charleston.� Ragsdale was a dedicated preservationist and supporter of both Historic Charleston Foundation and the Preservation Society.

Caroline sold to Spruce International in 2000, who transferred 95 Broad to Bridge Charleston in 2012. Luxury Simplified real estate and development company has owned the house since 2013.

They use the house as offices, event space, and maintain apartments in the garret for visiting clients and guests.

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© Ellis Creek Photography

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ALTERATIONS There have been changes to the interior layout of the house in the course of the centuries. A bay was added to the rear of the house to accommodate bathrooms and kitchens after indoor plumbing became available; the original exterior wall is still visible where one steps down slightly to enter the back rooms of the house. Historic Charleston Foundation house tour notes from 1992 state that, “there were originally three openings on the south façade that were only accessible through jib doors, or doors that were made flush with a wall and blended into the finishing of the wall, that opened onto the rear piazza when the kitchen was at the back of the house.” The third story rear addition was added by Momeier in 1957. Momeier told Historic American Buildings Survey researchers who documented the interior of the house in 1962 that the central stairway between the first and second floors was removed and enclosed and a new stair was built in the side hall during an undated earlier renovation.

Floor plan. A scaled drawing of the current layout of 95 Broad Street, with its stair hall restored to original location by Carl Lounsbury of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Courtesy of HCF. Architectural historians speculate that the Tudor arched book cases were added in the second-floor front parlor in the 1850s. Given the style (Gothic Revival details were all the rage in the 1840s and 1850s) and Dr. Gaillard’s large medical library, this date is likely accurate.

The house received some damage in the Earthquake of 1886, but the Kellers family was well off and did not need to apply to the City of Charleston for repair aid as so many other residents did. The earthquake caused $250 dollars in damage to the house, which had already been repaired when the city engineers inspected ward two for earthquake damages a month after the quake. Their report notes that the chimneys had been rebuilt and the house had been “anchored”, or reinforced with earthquake rods and bolts. The washers from the repair are still visible on the exterior of 95 Broad.

This common earthquake repair entailed workers running rods through the floor joists of the house, with washers and bolts on opposite exterior facades of the house, to pull any structural fissures in the masonry walls back together and reinforce the building.

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Damage to the John Rutledge House and the Bishop’s House a block west of 95 Broad Street in in 1886. Materials on the Earthquake of 1886, microfilm, CCPL.

A photograph from 2000 shows the earthquake bolts and slight dip in the masonry wall near the chimneys, as a result of settling during the earthquake. This view also shows 97 Broad Street in a state of deterioration in the foreground. Courtesy of HCF. Thanks to the Kellers family renting parts of 95 Broad, there is a considerable paper trail for understanding how the house was used and when it was updated between the 1890s and 1950s. The 37

downstairs office was “newly papered and painted” following Dr. Kellers’ death in 1906. The house also had indoor bathrooms and hot and cold running water by that time. 1906 might seem late for piped water in a high style house like 95 Broad Street, but Charleston did not have a public, piped water system until 1905. By 1911 the house had telephone service. Tenants in 1916 who rented the second-floor rear apartment had access to the newly screened piazza (which was demolished in the 1950s.) Edward Holmes pulled a permit in 1916 to construct a rear building at 95 Broad, likely the garage that was mentioned in later “for rent” ads. By 1949 the house bore the effects of years of rent; Emma Kellers applied for a permit for $3000 in repairs to the house. She sold it to Fromberg four years later, who offered the ten unfurnished upstairs rooms for rent.

1884 Sanborn map.

1955 Sanborn maps. A comparison of the 1884 and 1955 Sanborn Fire Insurance maps shows the loss of the outbuildings and creation of the rear lot and parking area.

There were limited changes to the masonry main block of the house over the years, but the wood frame porch and piazzas sections of the house are gone. The two-story brick kitchen house (which had been attached to the main house by a two-story wooden hyphen) and a one-story rear brick building mostly likely used as the carriage house were also demolished in the 1950s for the grocery 38

parking lot. In an interview with Historic American Buildings Survey architectural historians in 1962, Richard Momeier described the following changes: “at an undetermined date, apparently a long time ago, the stairway between the first and second floors was removed from the central hall. A new stairway was arranged in a side hall. The central entrance was closed up. In 1957 the two-story piazza on the east and the south end was removed, and a modern three-story wing added at the south end.” The side hall stair was removed and the central stair block recreated. Today the rear addition on the rear of the house where the piazzas used to be houses luxurious bathrooms and kitchens

87-97 Broad Street as they appeared in 1970. Courtesy of HCF. Any house that has been standing for 250 years is bound to encounter changes and alterations, but fortunately at 95 Broad, the recent restoration efforts during Ragsdale’s ownership and the 2013 renovations by Luxury Simplified have reversed many of the changes in favor of period accurate details. Sometime in the late nineteenth century, the original small pane windows were replaced with four-over-four pane Victorian windows, visible in photographs from the 1950s. They were replaced with period-accurate nine-over-nine windows by John Ragsdale. An article from 1982 summarized her extensive preservation efforts at 95 Broad: “interior designer John F Ragsdale established her home above a Broad Street shop before she thought of opening her own business in the 1770 building. The Georgian moldings, ornate fireplaces and mantels, wide planks of pine floors and high ceilings captured her- even though the now elegant second floor was Pepto Bismol pink, she says with a shutter/ her plan was top pen a studio on the fourth floor, an unheated attic at the time, and to live on the second and third floor. And although she was renting, she was hoping to buy. I wanted to be downtown and I wanted an old house. I would choose this house of all the houses I have ever seen in the world for my own needs. The building had suffered Victorian modifications and Mrs. Ragsdale was eager to complete a restoration. The building was sound, but it needed a lot of love and care. The residential floors had stood empty for years until she moved in during the spring of 1977. Soon she was drawn to the idea of having her own shop on the first floor. When she purchased the building, however, the bottom floor didn't look promising. In fact, she remembered sinking knee deep through the decrepit floor.

The shop required extensive renovation from stem to stern. But the result today is a shop with handsome woodwork and 18th century flavor, as well as a home so striking it was featured in the March 1982 edition of House Beautiful. “its comfortable house and a fun house in which to entertain. I adore it.” She says. For a businesswoman which is in the shop six days a week and often working on Sundays, living mid floor between shop and studio is ideal.”

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Hurricane Hugo made landfall to the north of Charleston in September of 1989 as a strong category 4 storm. It was one of the worst in the city’s history, causing widespread wind damage and flooding.

It did considerable damage to 95 Broad Street, but provided an opportunity to rectify previous poor repairs or unsympathetic changes to the house. The chimneys were damaged and took in water during the hurricane, and much of the plaster in the house was damaged by water intrusion from the storm. Ragsdale embarked on a two-and-a-half-year renovation that included extensive interior work and roof repair, which was documented in a Washington Post article. She also moved the stairs back to their original location. Noted carpenter and carver John Bivins supervised the restoration of the paneling and mantels in the house, taking careful attention to allow the paneling to dry and reacclimatize before reinstallation. He re-carved any elements that could not be salvaged by hand with traditional tools, out of the same New England white pine used by the original artisans. The repaired pieces were reinstalled with traditional hide glue. Workers from Atlanta slept on the floor for weeks during the restoration because most of the hotels in Charleston were not yet operable after the storm. They donned respirators to avoid lead paint inhalation while they stripped twenty layers of paint off the original woodwork in the house with heat guns and dentil picks.

Eighteenth century paint expert Frank S. Welsh came from Philadelphia and determined that the original color of the wall paneling and trim at 95 Broad was a deep hue best described as blue-greengrey. This was the first documentation of the color in Charleston, which was popular in northern colonies but rare in the South. Ragsdale added the rear iron balcony and metal access stairs at the rear of the building during the Hugo repairs.

1990 renovation slide. An artisan at work in the front second floor parlor in 1990. Courtesy of HCF.

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A restoration specialist works to strip dozens of layers of paint off of the centuries-old woodwork with a head gun during the 1990 renovation. Courtesy of HCF.

Broad in 1996. An HCF survey photograph shows 95 Broad in 1996, after Ragsdale had completed Hugo renovations. 97 Broad stands in stark contrast before its rehabilitation.

In 2003 under the guidance of noted preservation architect Eddie Bello, workers from Mitchell Construction removed shoddy stucco repair patches and re-rendered the house with an accurate stucco coating before applying a traditional lime wash to the exterior. A poor-quality metal roof installed by Raleigh Roofing after the hurricane was also replaced at that time.

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Luxury Simplified completed further renovations to 95 Broad in 2013. These included repainting the interior with colors close to those found through conservation paint analysis. John Paul Hugeley commissioned traditional iron working students from the American College of the Building Arts to design and create a hand-forged shop sign and gas lantern brackets for the Broad Street façade. They drew inspiration from the famous ironwork at the Sword Gates house around the corner on Legare Street.

The company’s modern updates to the interior were minimal and reversible. For example, the glass vestibule doors inside the front entryway on the main floor and an enclosed glass space at second floor landing accessed through a salvaged, imported hardwood door from Argentina did not alter the original woodwork. During the renovation, workers rediscovered the original rafters carved with Roman numerals and the decision was made to leave these unique carvings exposed. Even more interesting is the fact that some of the crewmen or their apprentices in 1770 apparently could not read Roman numerals- the rafters were installed in the wrong order!

Luxury’s craftsmen also salvaged the hand-painted historic chinoiserie wallpaper sections installed by Mrs. Ragsdale and created frames for the artwork that is now in movable partition panels in the rear section of the first floor. According to Chris Leigh Jones of Luxury Simplified, almost none of the plaster in the house survived the wrath of Hurricane Hugo. His workers installed modern sheetrock in the renovation, carefully finished on the ceilings with a smooth render to mimic traditional plaster.

The last alterations made by Luxury Simplified were tasteful updates to the kitchens and bathrooms of the house, with custom tile work, reclaimed flooring, and period style fixtures.

© Ellis Creek Photography

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© Ellis Creek Photography

© Ellis Creek Photography

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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANCE The Peter Bocquet Jr. House is a well preserved late colonial house that retains much of its original character, craftsmanship, and charm. The circa 1770 building has been home to several prominent physicians in its past, and in the opinion of Butler Preservation L.C., is worthy of inclusion on the National Register for its architectural character and significant early owners and occupants. The house is a story of preservation success, having been nearly demolished for a parking lot but instead restored at the zero hour. It has received Carolopolis Awards from the Preservation Society for superior restoration and preservation, has been surveyed by the Historic American Buildings Survey, garnered the attention of architectural historians writing for the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, and turned the head of noted interior designer John F. Ragsdale in the 1980s. In recent years, it has been cared for and curated by Luxury Simplified and now awaits the next owner to share the house’s illustrious past and beautiful historic character.

Abbreviations: - CCPL: Charleston County Public Library - HCF: Historic Charleston Foundation - HABS: Historic American Buildings Survey, compiled by National Park Service - LOC: Library of Congress - SCHS South Carolina Historical Society

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Bates, Susan Baldwin and Harriett Cheves Leland. Proprietary Records of South Carolina, Volume III. Charleston: History Press, 2007.

Behre, Robert. “Back from the Brink: 93 and 97 Broad Street.” Post and Courier, 25 October 2009.

Bivins, John. “Charleston Rococo Interiors, 1765-1775: The Sommers Carver.” MESDA journal, 1986.

Burton, Milby, ed. Streets of Charleston, Vol. 1-2. Charleston: Charleston Museum, 1980.

Calloway, Elements of Style: an encyclopedia of domestic architectural details. Buffalo: Firefly, 2012.

Charleston City Directories. 1785- present. Various printers 1861 City Census.

Charleston County Deed Books, 1700s- present. Held at the Charleston County Register of Mesne Conveyances.

Charleston County Estate Inventories.

Charleston County Will Books. Microfilm, South Carolina Room, Charleston County Public Library.

Charleston Evening Post. Microfilm, South Carolina Room, Charleston County Public Library.

Charleston Evening Post. Charleston, S.C.: its advantages, its conditions, its prospects. A Brief History of the “City by the Sea.” Charleston, 1898.

Charleston Mercury. “95 Broad: Proud Revolutionary” 10 September 2009 Charleston News and Courier.

Charleston Post and Courier.

Charleston Ward Books (tax assessment records), 1852-1902. Held by Charleston Archive at Charleston County Public Library.

City of Charleston, Preservation and Planning Office. Board of Architectural Review permit files, 95 Broad Street. Accessed November 2017.

City Engineer’s Earthquake Damage Assessment, completed in 1886. Charleston Archive, Charleston County Public Library.

City Engineer’s Plat Book, 1670-1949. Charleston Archive, Charleston County Public Library.

Earthquake Vouchers, Records of the Executive Relief Committee of the Earthquake of 1886, City of Charleston Records, Charleston County Public Library.

Findagrave.com. Accessed November and December 2017.

Historic Charleston Foundation. “Hurricane Hugo Damage Assessment Survey, 1989-1990”, 95 Broad Street.

Historic Charleston Foundation. “Property files, 95 Broad Street.”

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Historic Charleston Foundation. “Property files, 93-97 Broad Street.”

Chris Leigh Jones, president of Luxury Simplified. Interview with author, 8 December 2017 on site at 95 Broad Street.

Jervey, Elizabeth Heyward. “Marriage and death Notices in the City Gazette of Charleston.” South Carolina Historical Magazine. Vol. 49 (October 1948), 208-215.

Langley, Clara B. South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1719-1772. Volumes 1-4. South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 2000. Reprint.

McCrady Plats. Charleston County R.M.C. National Park Service. Historic American Buildings Survey: Major Peter Boquet Jr. House, SC-264. Report compiled 1962 and housed at the Library of Congress.

Poston, Jonathan. Buildings of Charleston. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996.

Rhett, James Moore. Charleston Then and Now. Charleston: R.L. Bryan Company, 1974.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Charleston, 1888-1955. Accessed through www.ccpl.org Simons & Simons case records, G, 1800-1878. (431.02 (G)) South Carolina Historical Society.

Smith, Alice Ravenel Huger. Dwelling Houses of Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston: History Press, 2007. Reprint.

Smith, Henry A.M. The Historical Writings of H.A.M. Smith, Vol. 1-3. Spartanburg: Reprint Company, 1998. reprint.

South Carolina Gazette, 1732-1776. Accessed through AccessibleArchives.com South Carolina Death Records, 1819-1955. Accessed through ancestry.com Stoney, Samuel. This is Charleston. Carolina Art Commission, 1940.

Thompson, Jack. Charleston at War: A Photographic Record, 1861-1865. Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 2000.

United States Census records, South Carolina, 1790-1940. Accessed through ancestry.com, June 2015.

Vertical File, 95 Broad Street. South Carolina Room, Charleston County Public Library.

Vertical File, George Trenholm, South Carolina Room, Charleston County Public Library.

Waring Medical Library. “Waring Portrait Collection Conservation Program: Dr. Samuel Wilson.” http://waring.library.musc.edu/portraits/SWilsonThompson.php Whitelaw and Levkoff. Charleston Come Hell or High Water. Self-published, 1992.

Washington Post. “Historic Homes Recover”, 14 July 1990.

Wilson, Samuel, d. 1827. Charleston property records, 1811-1813. (33/115-04) South Carolina Historical Society.

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APPENDIX 1: CHAIN OF TITLE 2H-346 [93 Broad] Francis Guichard and BD Harriette executors of James Vouloux to John Martini 3 July 1749 A lot 19 feet two inches in front and 208 feet deep which Vouloux purchased from Anthony Mathews and Ann his wife, north on Broad, south on lands of French Church, east on another part of the same lot sold by Vouloux to Paul Smyser and west on Peter Bocquets lots.

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Bocquet was the owner of the lot described by Peter Bocquet Jr. as conveyed to him in 1770. As early as 1748 Vouloux lot sold to Martini is certainly the lot owned by Mrs. Mackay and Smysers lot is that of Mrs. Lockwood for Paul Smyser in 1786 by will devised his lot of Dorothea Lee.”

I2-350 [93 Broad] 22 October 1751 Paul Smyser to Peter Bockett, baker. (Both of Charleston) Part of a lot in Charleston bounding 25 feet 10 inches on Broad Street; west 200 feet on Mrs. Fisher (formerly James Vouloux) S on land belonging to the French Church, and E on Matherin Guerin.”

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Vouloux died in 1749 and the lot is advertised for sale in the papers: two story brick house in Broad Street.

P2-281 [part of lot 104; 91 Broad vicinity] 5 December 1754 Joseph and Catherine Moody to John Hodsden Part of lot 104 measuring 19 feet 2 inches on South Side of Broad Street, sold to Moody by widow Fisher, bounding E 208 feet on part of same lot occupied by Paul Smyser; W on Peter Bocquet.

Y3-293 [lot 103, west of 95 Broad] October 1771 Charles Strother to William Hopton. East part of lot 103 bounding north 22 feet on Broad Street west 211 feet. E on Peter Bocquet Not recorded at RMC Peter Bocquet Sr. to Peter Bocquet Jr. 28 July 1770 - deed of gift; reference in Bocquet Sr.’s will D6-566 Peter Bocquet to William Greenwood Mortgage of lots 43 and 44.

27 October 1790.

Lot known as 43 in the plan and model of the city on the south side of Broad Street, bounding part on the east on a lot of Bocquet, south on the church, west on land of Stother and north on Broad Street, measuring 38 by 208 feet. Also Lot 44, measuring 37.5 feet frontage and 209.5 feet in depth. Bounding east on land of James Fisher. And west on land of Bocquet which piece first described was conveyed to said Peter Bocquet by lease and release 28 July 1770 by his father Peter Bocquet, deceased. And the other lot by deed of sale from James Kennedy late Sherriff of Charleston.

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S6-204 William Hasell Gibbes Master in Equity to Dr. Samuel Wilson 30 September 1796 Claims filed between Greenwood Higginson 28 May 1786 (evident error meaning 96) against Elizabeth Bocquet widow and Mary Bocquet and George Washington Bocquet, children of Peter Bocquet. “That Peter 28 October 1796 made bond and mortgage of premises to complainant, that Peter died march 15 1793.

Leaving Elizabeth Bocquet his widow and children, and that he died intestate.”

Answer filed by the Bocquets and John Glen (husband of Mary Bocquet).

- Bill states that Greenwood had been in possession of the premises, that lot was sold to Dr. Wilson and public outcry that described as “all that lot of land situate on south side of Broad Street known as 44.”

- “all that lot of land situate on the south side of Broad Street in Charleston at present numbered 43 now in the possession of Dr. James Clitherall containing in front on said street 37 feet two inches and on the back or south line the same, and in depth 208 feet. Bounding north on said street, east on lands of john Francis Delorme, south on lands of French Protestant Church, and westwardly on land of Ann Heabrowski.”

Z12-370 Samuel Wilson and James M. Wilson and Mary E Wilson his wife to Dr. Peter Cordes Gaillard January 1855 U14 #1-11 6 June 1863 Henrietta E. Gaillard, Robert Gendron, DW Wragg, of PC Gaillard to George Trenholm Sold as settlement of Peter Gaillard’s estate.

- Description the same; bounding west on land formerly of Ann Hebrowski

U16-9 Samuel Lord Jr. (referee) to E.H. Kellers 9 May 1873 Claim against Fraser and Co. and its representatives (including George Trenholm) in Circuit Court. “all that lot of land on the south side of Broad Street and three-story brick house thereon” measuring 37’2” on Broad Street.

I38-373 22 May 1935 Emma Kellers to Emma Kellers Jr. Description same as above.

- conveyed to Emma Kellers by estate of E. H. Kellers Cited in NC, 3 January 1953 1953 Emma Kellers to John Fromberg C135-356 Fromberg to Roland H. Momeier 1954 P70-139 Momeier to Momeier

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1960 -

Lot measured 27 on Broad Street by 83 feet deep.

O102-250 Roland and Arthur Momeier to Barbara Bowman 1973 - Parcel 95 B Broad Street; measuring 27 feet on Broad Street by 83 feet deep, and rights to an easement to use the 10’ passageway between 93 and 95 Broad Street to access the rear parking area.

U124-296 Thomas R. Bennett Jr. to John F. Ragsdale 1981 - Bennett received the property by will from Barbara Bowman E317-293 John F. Ragsdale to Caroline Ragsdale October 1998 N348-562 Caroline Ragsdale Poston to Spruce International June 2000 $1.6 million 0296-104 Spruce International to Bridge Charleston December 2012 $1.6 million

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APPENDIX 2: NEWSPAPER REFERENCES -

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1793: To be sold at auction: 70 head of stock cattle, 23 head sheep, breeding mares and colds of the English breed, several plantation horses, plantation tools, and household furniture. Seized as the property of Peter Bocquet, Esqr., deceased.1 1793: “all that brick tenement and lot of land, in Broad Street, occupied by Dr. Clitherall, fronting on Broad Street 38 feet, and 280 feet in depth. Also, the adjoining house and lot, occupied by Messrs. Corre and Co., 37 1.2 feet front and 209 ½ feet deep. Also four lots of land in Harleston’s Green, No 26 and 27, 28, and 35. All of the above sold as late the property of Peter Bocquet.2 1795: The original numbers for the Broad St. houses were 43 and 44 (44 bounded to the east of 43)3 1810: Dr. Samuel Wilson is a commissioner of Board of Health4 1823: Dr. Samuel Wilson was a Commissioner of Streets5 1843: Dr. Samuel Wilson Jr. served as Commissioners of assessments for ward 2 in 18436 1861: Dr. Samuel Wilson Jr. died. “We regret to announce the death of Dr. Samuel Wilson, which occurred at his residence in New Street. He age was 70 years. For some time a successful practitioner of medicine in our community, he relinquished practiced more than thirty years ago. Since then he has acted for a long period as one of the commissioners for our Market, in which capacity he has rendered many important services.7 1886: Wanted a lad who has some knowledge of the drug business. Apply at 95 Broad8 1888: Wanted a respectable colored girl who can read and write to mind two children9 1888: Wanted a man to wait in house and attend a house.10 1891: Improvements permit: Edward Keller, 95 Broad, 20011 1892: Wanted by a middle age man a position in a store in any capacity. Apply 95 Broad.12 1893: A gentle and fast mare, suitable for saddle or draft, with top buggy and harness. Also two seated canopy top buggy. Apply 95 Broad.13 1896: RB Matthews of 95 Broad Street is lawyer retained by 6 rioters.14 1896: For sale, residence at 95 Broad Street, $600015 1905: Mrs. Clark is home from Anderson spending time wither her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Keller, 95 Broad16 1906: “Dr. EH Kellers dead. Well known physician and pharmacist expired suddenly yesterday while in his home on Broad Street . . . he expired at 5:30 yesterday afternoon in the parlor of his residence, 95 Broad Street.” He was 71 and have been a prominent physician and pharmacist for over 35 years.

He went to South Carolina College and took a course in medicine at South Carolina Medical

1 CGDA (City Gazette and Daily Advertiser) 15 April 1793 2

Columbian Herald 17 August 1793 CGDA 31 October 1795 4 CG (City Gazette) 2 July 1810 5 CGDA 25 July 1823 6 SP (Southern Patriot) 21 February 1843 7 CM (Charleston Mercury) 4 July 1861 8 NC 22 (News and Courier) July 1886 9 NC 21 June 1888 10 NC 6 December 1888 11 NC 2 September 1891 12 NC 27 December 1892 13 NC 8 March 1893 14 CEP (Charleston Evening Post) 5 August 1896 15 NC 6 October 1896 16 NC 8 July 1905 3

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College. He left behind a widow and two sons and two daughters. Member of Camp Sumter, United Confederate Veterans, Ancient Freemasons, and Landmark Lodge. 17 1906: Office to rent, consisting of three rooms newly papered and painted. Apply 95 broad18 1906: Three or four ladies can be accommodated with nicely furnished rooms, good board. Bath, with hot and cold water, at 95 Broad Street19 1908: By Mrs, EH Kellers: Large cool front room, nicely furnished suitable to two ladies, with or without board, at 95 Broad20 1911: To rent nicely furnished room suitable for gentleman. Use of bath and phone21 1912: To rent large furnished room, second floor front, with piazza. At Mrs. Kellers22 1915: Permit, Edward Holmes, to construct building at 95 Board, 25023 1916: Porch screened24 1927: Room for rent “near post office and all car lines” 1932: 95 broad large dry room for storing furniture25 1936: 95 Broad, furnished bedrooms, near PO. Azalea parade passes the house. garage26 1937: large brick garage, Mrs Kellers private yard27 1940: Mrs Kellers obituary: “Emma Lee Jeffords Kellers died in a local hospital, of 95 Broad Street.

Daughter of Samuel and Mary Jeffords. 85, native of Charleston. Attended Grace Episcopal. Sons: Lieutenant Commander HC Kellers of Cincinnati; son Dr. Frank Kellers of Clinton; daughters Mrs. Charles F. Green of Anderson, and Emma Kellers of Charleston. Several grand and great grandchildren.” 28 1949: Mrs. Emma Kellers, to repair dwelling at 95 Broad, $300029 1953: Joseph Fromberg has purchased the office and residence building at 95 Broad Street from Miss Emma Kellers for $18,00030 1953: For rent, 10 rooms unfurnished, 95 Broad31 1954: “historic house to be spared: with Charleston’s once great wealth of 18th century buildings being wasted year after year, this decision is gratifying indeed and boon to preservation. In thanks the Messrs. Momier and Peters for their consideration to the city of Charleston in preserving No. 95 Broad, we add the earnest hope that others will follow their leadership.”32 1954: Brief article on the history of 95 Broad stated that the house bears close resemblance to 106 Tradd Street which is how they dated it to circa 1770.33 1955: Furnished apartment 4 rooms kitchen and private bath of 95 Broad34 Multiple ads for Hartnett Realty’s listings, based at 95 Broad Street.

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NC 6 April 1906 NC 15 June 1906 19 NC 4 November 1906 20 NC 26 April 1908 21 NC 1 1April 1911 22 NC 14 July 1912 23 CEP 30 June 1915 24 NC 3 September 1916 25 NC 3 July 1932 26 NC 12 April 1936 27 NC 25 April 1937 28 NC 4 June 1940 29 NC 25 May 1949 30 NC 3 January 1953 31 NC 3 March 1953 32 NC 13 December 1954.

33 NC, “Do You Know Your Charleston”, 1954. Found in vertical file at Charleston County Library 34 NC 25 April 1955 18

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1961: Future owner “John Fulmore Ragsdale weds Robert Lee Taylor Larus.” Ragsdale went to Mr. Vernon College and was presented at Exchange Plantation in 1952. She was a member of the DAR and First Families of VA. Larus went to UVA. They were to live in Richmond.35 1976: “Notable Bocquet house is for sale”36 1982: Friday tour for Preservation Society of Major Peter Bocquet’s house.37 1982: summary of Ragsdale’s restoration of 95 Broad38 1986: Ragsdale designed and made traditional style finials for hanging drapery at her Broad Street shop. Made of resin and wood to look like carved wood and then had painted or stained by her.39 1990: John Ragsdale advertised that she moved her design shop upstairs at 95 Broad due to Hurricane Hugo damage.40 2000: “Interior Designer John F. Ragsdale dies. She practiced interior design for 26 years, working on numerous Charleston and Georgetown residences as well as several commercial installations.

Surviving is a daughter, Caroline R. Poston of Charleston.”41 o “entered into eternal rest 4 March 2000, John Fulmore Ragsdale. Services at St. Philips Church. Memorials in lieu of flowers to Colonial Dames and Historic Charleston Foundation.”42 2009: Tudor arches added circa 1850 and were only major change to second floor; First floor south fireplace and mantels on second floor are original.43

[Image T: 1954 article, “Historic House to be Spared.”]

Biographical entries: -

NC 29 August 1949: “Today is the birthday anniversary of Dr. Peter Cordes Gaillard, scientist and teacher. Son of Theodore and Rebecca Foster Gaillard, he was born in Charleston in 1815. He attended private schools in Charleston and in 1835 was graduated from SC College. With Dr. JC Nott he studied for two years in Paris. After his graduation from Medical College of South Carolina, he attended a course of medical lectures in Philadelphia, studies again in Paris and in 1839 returned to Charleston where for the next two decades he devoted himself of the practice of medicine, research, and teaching. In 1844 he married Henrietta, daughter of Samuel and Mary Ion Wragg. Dr. Gaillard ranked high among Charleston physicians and had a large local practice. He served first as consulting physician later as head of Roper Hospital. A leader in forming medical associations of his time, he was often chosen to represent bodies and his professional colleagues at conventions abroad, and he was prominent among those who established the Charleston Medical Journal. He was chair of the Institute of the Practice of Medicine. A scientist by nature, training, and experience, he made many valuable contributions. He was especially interested in yellow fever investigations when little was known about this disease and was said to have been the first man in the South to discover and prove that it was an imported disease. He was writing a book upon the results of hit research at the time of his death January 14 1859, at age 44.”

Early references to Peter Boquet/Bocquet Sr. on Broad Street

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Florence Morning News 8 January 1961.

NC 10 October 1976 37 CEP 14 October 1982 38 NC 25 April 1982 39 Southern Accents, November 1986, pg. 198: 40 NC 19 January 1990 41 PC 5 March 2000.

42 PC 5 March 2000: 43 Charleston Mercury. “95 Broad: Proud Revolutionary” 10 September 2009: 36

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1745: TO BE LETT, and enter'd upon immediately, the Brick House, and Shop belonging to the Subscriber, in Broad street, with a good Garden and other Conveniencies. The Shop is well fitted, and in it are some Goods &c. which will be sold reasonably to any Person inclined to purchase, by James Vouloux.44 1763: “William Patterson, Pastry Baker, Having taken the house in Broad-street lately occupied by Mr. Leonard Bodell, next door to Mr. Peter Bouquett’s [sic], Gives this Public Notice, That he there intends to follow his business, and will be obliged to gentlemen and ladies for their custom. ¶ He likewise proposes to keep his oven hot every day between 10 and 11 in the forenoon, to bake for dinner whatever may be sent to him for [that] purpose, at the reasonable price of one shilling and three pence per dish.”45 1764: “A spinnet [sic] to be sold cheap, and may be seen at the House of Mr. Peter Bouquet [Bocquet] in Broad Street. Inquire of Andrew D’Ellient [French teacher].”46 1765: “M. Valois, Dancing-Master, just returned from England, gives notice, that he intends to continue to teach Dancing, and to attend the Boarding-Schools (as he formerly did) twice a day. His capacity for teaching being well known, he hopes to be favoured [sic] with such of his former scholars again as require further improvement, and will be very much obliged to them, as well as others, that employ him, having (for the present) a convenient room at Mr. Bouquet’s in Broad-street, where he attends his HOME-SCHOOL, every Tuesday and Friday, forenoon and afternoon.47

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SCG (South Carolina Gazette) 30 December 1745 SCG 30 April-7 May 1763 46 SCG 3-10 December 1764 47 SCG 7-14 September 1765 45

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APPENDIX 3: HISTORIC WILLS Will of Peter Bocquet.

Volume 20, pg. 199 In the name of God amen I Peter Bocquet the elder of Charleston . . .

Frees his Negro fellow named Tom for faithful service.

Sale of his estate of support daughter Anne wife of John Waggener Mary Sadler widow, Catherine wife of Edward Trescott, and Sarah Bocquet.

Whereas I consideration that I have already given by deed of gift unto my son Peter Bocquet part of my lot of land in Broad Street and as I think that a full proportion of my estate I give and bequeath unto my said son Peter the some of 10 shillings currency. And appoint daughter Mary as executrix.

9 December 1780; proven 11 July 1783 Will of Samuel Wilson Volume 37, pg. 211 - son Isaac Mazyck Wilson, lot and buildings on corner of Magazine and Archdale - son Samuel Wilson lot and buildings on the north side of Broad Street now in occupation of Thomas S Grimke Esqr.

- - son William Handy Wilson lot and buildings on Archdale where I reside - son Alexander Baron Wilson, Shipyard Plantation on the Neck and La Costa Plantation in St. James Goose Creek.

- Samuel and Mary Catherine, children of my late son Stephen Wilson: my lot and buildings on the south side of Broad Street at present in possession of Jacob Ford Esqr.

- Written July 1823, with 1825 codicil - Mentioned daughters Margaret “I give and devise to my two grandchildren Samuel and Mary Catherine, children of my late son Stephen Wilson and to their heirs when they shall reach 21 or are married, to be equally divided among them my lot and buildings on the south side of Broad Street in Charleston at present in the occupation of Jacob Ford Esq. and until that period it is my will that the accrued income of the rents which may accrue after the payment of other contingent expenses shall be appropriated to their support and education and to the support of their mother Mrs. Martha Wilson during her widowhood.”

Will of Dr. Peter Cordes Gaillard (copy found in Simons and Simons Law papers, SCHS) proven January 1859 “I give to my wife all the ready money in my house, my wine all the household and kitchen furniture pictures and place except as herein after mentioned, and all my library books also my slave Easton.

I give to my son Robert my gold watch chain and signet ring.

I give to my son Samuel my dressing case I give to my son George my gun and I give to my daughter Mary my negro girl Susan I give to my mother five hundred dollars To my brother all my personal wearing apparel of every kind My sister my large silver goblet inside the small silver waiter To Ann Wragg my several silver goblet and largest silver waiter My friends Robert N Gourdin and James Simons each two sets of my books or plates to be selected by them out of my literary library To my friends Dr. MW T Wragg, Dr. W Desaussure Dr. MW Huger and Dr. St Julien Ravenel each two sets of books to be selected from my medical library.

I give all the rest and residue of my estate real and personal to my wife and children to be equally divided between them to share and share alike forever.

Wife is guardian of the persons and estate of my children Wife, Robert N. Gourdin and Dr. Wm Wragg are executors.”

9 January 1859

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[image Y: The first page of Gaillard’s will, found in the Simons and Simons papers, SCHS.] Will of Edward H Kellers MD 465-0007 14 April 1906 left everything to his wife Emma and appointed her executrix.

APPENDIX 4: WARD BOOK TAX ASSESSMENT LISTING FOR WARD TWO. 1852-1856, UPDATED THROUGH 1870.

Owner: Steven Wilson, now Dr. Peter C. Gaillard, now John Frazier and Co. Dimensions: 37 feet by 206 feet.

Description: 79 Broad Street, 3 story brick Value: 5,000, increased to 8,000

APPENDIX 5: REFERENCES TO 95 BROAD STREET IN PRESERVATION PROGRESS (QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF THE PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF CHARLESTON) 1958 Volume, Issue 2, page 4: House spared from demolition 1979 Volume, Issue 1, page 7: Bennett received a Carolopolis award for preservation of 95 Broad 1982 Volume, Issue 2, page 5: Ragsdale received a Carolopolis award for restoration of 95 Broad [image BB: An article highlighting new plaques for 95 Broad Street and its neighbors, 1958.]

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APPENDIX 6: SELECTED CITY DIRECTORIES 1790

1794 1796-1806

1840

Peter Bocquet, planter.

Lived on Wentworth Street but owned Broad Street

James Clitherall, physician. *45 Broad Street Samuel Wilson, physician. *45 Broad Street -

By 1809 he had relocated to Archdale Street, but the still owned Broad Street

Joseph Thompson, *45 Broad Mrs. Margaret Mackey and US Quarter Master, *79 Broad

1855 1859 1874- 1906 1911-1920

1924-1934

Peter Gaillard, physician with Gaillard and Huger EH Kellers, physician - Emma Kellers - R McIvers Wilbur, dentist - Emma Kellers - William C. Wilbur, Dentist - R McIver Wilbur, Dentist

Peter C Gaillard, physician. 60 Broad Street Residence and business at *79 Broad Street

Wilbur residence, Summerville RM Wilbur residence, Lamboll Street

1938-1951 1955 1961-1972

1977

Kellers lived upstairs; dental office on ground floor

Mrs. Emma Keller R McIver Wilbur, Dentist

Joseph Fromberg, lawyer - Roland Momeier, Auto Red and White Grocery - Hartnett Realty - Factors Walk Antiques and Gifts - Ragsdale Interiors

Residence, 43 Bull Wife, Juanita 2 dependents under 16

Momeier resided upstairs; Hartnett office on ground floor

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1984-1989

1993 1999

2003

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The Ground Floor - Ragsdale Interiors The Ground Floor division of Ragsdale Interiors) - The Ground Floor Interiors - Caroline Ragsdale No listing

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APPENDIX 7: TRANSCRIPTIONS FROM SIMONS AND SIMONS RECORDS, 1800-1878. 0431.02 G, 04 “Peter c. Gaillard legal papers, 1855-1863”, schs. [image W: abstract copy. The docket cover from the 1850s chain of title for 95 Broad Street conducted in preparation of Gaillard buying the house.]

Letter from Simons to Dr. Gaillard: “Charleston January 17, 1855 Dr. P.C. Gaillard My dear Sir, I have purchased for you Mr. Wilson’s house and lot in Broad Street, next west of the residence of Honr. James Simons. For six thousand five hundred dollars, and twenty-five dollars the insurance.” shutter encroachment agreement: “the state of South Carolina. Memorandum of agreement between Dr. PC Gaillard and Thomas Mordecai both of Charleston Dr. Gaillard has caused to be hung on the west side of his residence in Broad Street four pair of shutters to the four windows on that side of the house.

These shutters overhang the land of Thomas W. Mordecai- Mr. Mordecai having agreed to permit the use of these shutters to be opened and shut to and fro. Dr. Gaillard hereby expressly agrees and declares that the use of the same shall never mature into a right and that he will never claim and such right form such use of the same.

27 April 1858

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