A history of the University of South Carolina online

report that the committee had succeeded with great difficulty
in making the contract desired. At the expiration of the
time first set, March 10th, for receiving the bids only one
bidder had offered ; but his figures had been too high. When
a second set of bids had been called for, there were two new
proposals, one of which was adopted. However, when the
contract was about to be closed, the party was frightened at
what seemed precarious payment and declined to sign. At
this hopeless juncture the governor came to the help of the
committee. He advanced f 10,000 from the contingent fund
at his disposal. On the 7th of April, Professor McCay being
surety, Mr. Ferdinand Connover of Charleston contracted
to build the chapel and East Rutledge and rebuild West
Rutledge by October 1st. The whole work was to cost
|22,450, exclusive of old material. At the meeting of the
board in February President Thornwell had presented a set
of plans, which were substantially those now being followed.
Every effort was to be used by the board to obtain the neces-
sary appropriation from the Legislature. No difficulty was
experienced in securing at the meeting of the Legislature in
December the sum necessary to replace the $10,000 borrowed
from the governor's contingent fund and the balance
required to satisfy the contract.

Two years later Rutledge College was reported as in such
a condition that the walls were ready to fall. The executive
committee was directed to have the repairs made necessary
to secure it against further dilapidation.

This building was turned into a hospital at the time the
Confederate government took possession of the buildings
of the South Carolina College. When the Federal troops
occupied the college buildings in May, 1865, East Rutledge



OF SOUTH CAROLINA 151

and the chapel were taken as quarters for Colonel Green and
his staff, and part of the rooms were used by United States
authorities till the early months of 1869.

The House of Representatives of the General Assembly of
South Carolina sat in the chapel during the regular sessions
of 1865 and 1866 and the extra sessions of October, 1865, and
September, 1866.

In a portion of the building immediately west of the
chapel were recitation rooms of the normal school that was
established in 1873.

DESAUSSURB COLLEGE.

From the minutes of April 29, 1804, it is evident that
DeSaussure College had not yet been started. Two years
later the standing committee reported that all of the original
$50,000 had been expended and also f2,000 from the annual
funds, and that an additional $1,000 would be needed to put
in floors and staircases in "North Building." The contractor
had to take down at his own expense all the plastering in the
east tenement of this building. Mr. Clark charged for so
many extras that Mr. Bennett of Charleston was asked to
act as arbitrator in regard to certain of them, and finally
the standing committee reported in November, 1806, that a
suit at law would be necessary; but at a later meeting the
board of trustees decided to ask the Legislature for permis-
sion to refer all matters of dispute between them and Mr.
Clark to umpires. Mr. John Horlbeck, Jr., was chosen
arbitrator on the part of the trustees. Mr. Clark was to
have met him in May, 1807; but a minute of November of
that year says that he was now ready to meet Mr. Horlbeck.
Apparently the differences were then adjusted, as there is
no further record concerning the matter. The Legislature
in session at this time granted $10,000 for finishing and
repairing. It is stated that it was necessary to finish the
center building of the north range for the reception of
students. In December, 1808, this center building was to
be completed "in the manner originally contemplated." The



152 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY

last mention of repairing and finishing college edifices is in
a minute of April, 1809.

The name of this building was at first "North," or "North
Building," then "Old North," or "Old North Building," after
the erection of Elliott and Pinckney Colleges, finally
"DeSaussure College."

In the center building of DeSaussure College was the
Euphradian Society's hall. The roof over it was in a bad
state of repair in 1843 ; the ceiling had always been too low.
Eli Killian repaired the roof and raised it so that the ceiling
was twelve feet high and charged f 300 for the work.

Six years later the executive committee was directed at the
May meeting of the board of trustees to spend $4,000 on
repairing and rebuilding the center of "Old North Building."
The committee's report in November stated that the whole
south wall and the whole interior of the center building had
been removed and rebuilt. The upper story, the Euphradian
Society having moved to its present quarters, had been fitted
up for students ; the second story had been arranged like that
in the two new buildings. J. N. Scofield did the work for
$3,000 ($4,000 in the printed report). Repairs to the wings
were said to be very greatly needed. The third story was
fitted up for classrooms in 1898, and has been again in 1909
remodeled for students. Before the abolition of fraternities
in 1897 the rooms on the third floor had been used for
fraternity halls.

President Preston reported to the trustees on the 7th of
May, 1851, that the west wing of "North College" had been
destroyed by fire in the previous March : a spark had caught
the roof, which was blazing so furiously in a few minutes
that the students who occupied the top floor were unable
to save their furniture. The fire was stopped at the wall
of the center building. This and the president's house had
been in great danger. While the fire was raging some
unknown persons carried off the college bell. Hon. W. F.
DeSaussure, Dr. R. W. Gibbes, and Col. John S. Preston,
appointed to make a contract for rebuilding the burnt wing,
reported three days later that they had contracted with



OP SOUTH CAROLINA 153

Killian and Fry to rebuild it by the 20th of September.
These men completed the work a few days before the time
specified. The west wing was made a little wider than the
east wing. The contract was for f 4,800, to which $18 was
added for extras.

President Thornwell stated in 1852 that the east wing of
DeSaussure College was regarded as unsafe and should be
rebuilt; but at the November meeting of that year he said
that Mr. Graves, a local architect, would report the wing as
not unsafe. However, it must have been abandoned about
this time, for Dr. LaBorde, acting chairman of the faculty
in December, 1857, recommended to the board the propriety
of setting it in order, as it had not been used in many years :
fifty-five students had been admitted, and there were only
four or five rooms to receive them. The renovating of this
wing was immediately carried out at a cost of f 1,016.

DeSaussure College formed part of the general hospital
into which the college was turned from 1862 to 1865. The
central portion was occupied by the Federals from May,
1865, to the end of that year, when it was cleaned and
repaired to be opened in January, 1866, as a part of the new
University of South Carolina. During the summer of 1909
the interior of the eastern wing was completely remodeled.

STEWARD'S HALL.
[See chapter on the Steward's Hall.]

PRESIDENT'S HOUSE.

At the meeting of the trustees in April, 1805, President
Maxcy was boarding with a Mrs. Brown. The standing
committee was directed to rent a house for him until one
could be built, the advisability of which the Legislature of
that year was to be asked to consider. Next year the sum
of $8,000 was granted "for building a president's house for
the South Carolina College." On the 25th of February, 1807,
the board "adopted in outline" the plans of Messrs. Yates
and Philipps and appointed a committee of three to "desig-



154 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY

nate and fix the style of it and of the offices and other
buildings to be attached to it;" but when the board met on
the 23rd of April it approved the plans for this building
as offered by Captain Wade, making a few alterations and
leaving out the porticoes. The standing committee was
then authorized to build the president's house and advertise
at once in Mr. Faust's paper for bidders.

President Thornwell had urged the repairing and improv-
ing of the president's house. In May, 1856, the year follow-
ing his resignation, the sum of $4,000 was set aside for this
purpose. Mr. Niernsee's plans were followed, and the work
was completed by November. Porticoes were added in front
and rear, and the roof was raised.

Dr. Maxcy occupied this house till his death in 1819, when
it was taken by Dr. Thomas Cooper. In 1835, after the
latter's withdrawal, Professor Henry Junius Nott lived here
until Hon. E. W. Barnwell was elected president the same
year. Presidents Henry (1842), Preston (1845), Thornwell
(1851), McCay (1855), Longstreet (1857) had homes in it.
From 1861 to 1863 it seems to have been vacant. Daniel
Heyward, Esq., rented it from the 1st of April, 1863, for
fl,200, which was increased to f5,000 in December, 1864.
He vacated it before General Sherman reached Columbia.
At that time it had been rented by the Confederate authori-
ties for an officers' hospital and was occupied by the chief
surgeon of the hospital. Mr. W. F. DeSaussure, who had
been made homeless by the great fire of February 17th, was
allowed to occupy the president's house and remained till
November. Messrs. Starke and F. W. Fickling then rented
it together at the rate of $600. The former stayed only a
short time; the latter remained till the end of 1866, when
the house was wanted for the new professor of modern
languages, Professor Sachtleben. He was succeeded by
Dr. John Darby of the medical faculty. After the departure
of Professor Darby in 1872, Mr. C. D. Melton, professor of
law, and his son-in-law, Mr. W. A. Clark, occupied this resi-
dence. This building and Rutledge College were rented in
1873 by the radicals to the normal school authorities for



OF SOUTH CAROLINA 155

ninety-nine years. Dr. J. L. Girardeau occupied it in 1878
and 1879. After the reopening of the institution in 1880
President W. Porcher Miles lived here two years. Professor
W. B. Barney made it his home one year. Since then the
following presidents have successively occupied it : John M.
McBryde (1883), James Woodrow (1892), F. C. Woodward
(1897), Benjamin Sloan (1902), vacant 1908, S. C. Mitchell
(1909), occupied by several members of the faculty
(1913-14).

FIRST PROFESSOR'S HOUSE.

Inasmuch as the professors were required to live on the
campus, the trustees thought they should provide homes for
them. The first house was built in 1810 from an appropria-
tion of $8,000 granted for that purpose. A committee
appointed at the meeting in April to select a site reported
that in their opinion the most proper place for it was in the
south range. The standing committee was then directed to
have a house of two tenements to accommodate two families
erected at a convenient distance of the west end of the south
range of the college buildings, and to report at the next
meeting. Philipps and Yates were the contractors for this
house, being perhaps also the architects. They had it com-
pleted by the end of the year.

A committee of the board visited this house in May, 1853,
accompanied by a local architect, Mr. J. Graves. They
reported that it was in a dangerous condition : the walls had
receded much from the perpendicular, which made it ques-
tionable whether the house could be repaired. The executive
committee was empowered to rent houses elsewhere for
Professors Pelham and Reynolds and to rebuild or repair
their house. As it was thought best to rebuild, the Legisla-
ture at its next session granted $11,000 for that purpose.
By May of the following year a contract to rebuild it for
$11,000, exclusive of architect's fees, had been made with
Mr. Clark Waring. Mr. Hammarskold of Charleston had
been employed as architect on the recommendation of
Colonel Memminger. When the trustees met in November



156 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY

the house had been completed ; but it had not been formally
received, because the committee was not entirely satisfied as
to the seasoning of some of the timber in it. The new
building was regarded as a great improvement on the plan
and style of the college residences.

No information about the occupants of any of the pro-
fessors' houses before 1835 has been obtainable. No record
appears to have been kept. In that year the board made
temporary assignments which have been recorded. Where
the different professors lived has been learned from corre-
spondence with alumni. Since 1835 the eastern half of this
house has been occupied by Professor Lieber, 1835; Pro-
fessor Thorn well, 1837; Professor Hooper, 1840; Professor
Pelham, 1846; Professor Venable, 1857 (left in 1862);
Hon. Isaac W. Hayne, January, 1863, to January, 1865.
Mr. Hayne paid at first a rent of $600, which was increased
to f 1,500 in December, 1864. After he left, the vestry and
wardens of Trinity church rented the premises for Reverend
Mr. Shand, who retained them at least to the end of 1865.
General E. P. Alexander lived here while he was a pro-
fessor in the University from 1866 to 1870. He was followed
by Professor T. E. Hart. Reverend B. B. Babbitt lived in
this house during radical days. Professor Burney has made
it his home since 1880, except during the session of 1882-
1883, when Professor McByrde lived in this residence. The
occupants of the western half have been Professor Ellett,
1835 ; Professor Brumby, 1848 ; Professor Reynolds, "1851 ;
Rev. A. W. Cummings, 1873 ; Colonel T. J. Lipscomb, 1879 ;
Major Sloan, 1880 (Governor H. S. Thompson lived with
him for a short time) ; Professor Wauchope, 1903.

SECOND PROFESSOR'S HOUSE.

In December, 1812, his excellency the governor, who was
president of the board of trustees, was requested to ask the
Legislature to grant another $8,000 for two professor's
houses, which he accordingly did. With this money a double
tenement was erected on the north side of the campus oppo-



OF SOUTH CAROLINA 157

site the first house. sNothing is recorded about the architect
or contractor. The building was finished in 1813.

Forty years later it was reported to the trustees that this
house was in need of extensive repairs. Owing to the work
that was then being done on other structures, it was impos-
sible to have them made at that time, although the occu-
pants, Professors LaBorde and Williams (afterwards
McCay), were insistent that the repairs should not be post-
poned. In December, 1854, the board set aside $5,000 for
the houses of Professors McCay and LaBorde, with the
understanding that the money should not be paid before
the first day of 1856. Dr. LaBorde said that his family of
ten children made his house very uncomfortable, especially
in its dilapidated condition, and asked that it should be
enlarged as well as repaired. Already in the latter part
of 1852 the trustees had caused a small building to be
erected on his premises, inasmuch as his family was too
large for the house he was occupying. From the minutes of
May, 1856, we learn that Messrs. Waring and Johnson
secured the contract for the repairing; nothing was said
about the enlargement.

Since 1835 the following persons have lived in the eastern
half of this house : Professor Stuart, 1835 ; Professor Twiss,
1839; Professor Williams, 1846; Professor McCay, 1853;
Professor Rivers, 1855; Professor H. J. Fox, 1873;
Mrs. Green, 1879 ; Professor Connor, 1880 ; Professor J. W.
Alexander, 1882; Professor E. W. Davis, 1891; Professor
Colcock, 1894. The occupants of the western tenement have
been: Professor Twiss, 1835; Professor Henry, 1839; Pro-
fessor LaBorde, 1842; Professor Fisk P. Brewer, 1873;
Mr. T. B. Trenholm, 1879 ; Professor Jones, 1880 ; Professor
Joynes, 1882.

OLD LIBRARY AND SCIENCE BUILDING.

Professor E. D. Smith and Tutor Hanckel reported in
November, 1815, that the room in which the philosophical
instruments and the chemical apparatus were kept was too
small and prevented their being kept in good order, and that



158 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY

some of the instruments suffered from exposure to gases used
in chemical experiments. Professor Smith also complained
that the room was too small for the students in attendance
on his lectures. The committee to which this report had
been referred replied after investigation that the erection
of a separate building of brick made fireproof was neces-
sary: it should contain an apparatus room, lecture rooms
for the chemical and mathematical professors, and a library
room with an observatory; an appropriation from the Legis-
lature would be required. In accordance with this recom-
mendation of the committee the trustees obtained on appro-
priation of $6,000 from the Legislature. Mr. Zachariah
Philipps contracted for the sum of f 6,000 to furnish material
and finish the building according to the plans of the pro-
fessors. The observatory was not included in this estimate,
for it was an unusual piece of work here and had for the
time to be left out. Later Mr. Philipps stated that for f 1,780
he would remove and reerect the library shelves, erect the
observatory, fit up the laboratory and apparatus room, and
complete such other interior work as was not included in
the original contract. In order to meet this additional
expense the Legislature was asked to give |2,000, all of
which was expended on the building before it was com-
pleted. This building, which was finished in the early part
of 1817, stood on the site of Legare College. In 1840 the
library was moved into the present building, and eight years
later Legare College was erected, constructed in part from
the material in the older building. During the period from
1840 to 1848 it continued to house the departments of math-
ematics, physics, and chemistry.

MAXCY MONUMENT.

This monument was unveiled in 1827 by the Clariosophic
Society in honor of Dr. Jonathan Maxcy, the first president
of the South Carolina College. It was designed by Robert
Mills. [See chapter on the societies.]



OF SOUTH CAROLINA 159

THE WALL.

As early as November, 1807, the trustees thought that
the erection of a wall around the college buildings would be
a great aid to the faculty in preserving good order and
decorum among the students. At the June meeting of 1808
the governor was requested to represent to the Legislature
the need of this wall. The board ordered that the ground
to be enclosed should be accurately measured and estimates
made for a brick wall nine feet high. There is no further
mention of a wall till 1835, nor is there any notice of the
putting up of the board fences which preceded the wall. In
December, 1835, the committee on college repairs reported
that, "the air of dilapidation and decay which the ragged
wooden fences about the colleges always presented induced
the committee to make contracts for a brick wall to surround
the whole college premises of about six feet nine inches in
height and of such thickness as would insure durability.
This wall is in progress but is not completed." The cost
of the wall is nowhere given.

During the suspension of college exercises on account of
the War Between the States the wall was severely damaged.
Mr. Orchard, bursar and marshal, reported in January, 1866,
that the southern portion of the wall around the colleges was
much broken down; large openings had been made in it,
through which horses and wagons were continually passing,
so that the gardens and yards of the professors had become
thoroughfares.

In 1883 President McByrde had the wall lowered in front
of the campus on Sumter street. The gate in this front or
western wall was in the center of the campus. At the
beginning of Dr. Woodward's administration it was closed
and the openings on the sides made as they now are. A
porter's lodge was once recommended ; but it was never built.
In 1909 openings were made in the eastern wall, in order to
carry the roads on the sides of the campus through to Bull
street.



160 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY

THIRD PROFESSOR'S HOUSE.

The Legislature of 1835 appropriated f 10,000 for the
erection of two new houses for professors. With this sum
the double tenement house now occupied by Professors A. C.
Moore and E. M. Rucker was erected ; an extra amount was
required for fences and outhouses. Mr. Wade, the con-
tractor, had the building completed by the end of 1836.

In the eastern tenement of this house have lived : Professor
Elliott (afterward Bishop Elliott), 1836; Professor Thorn-
well, 1840; Professor Brumby, 1851; Professor Joseph
LeConte, 1856 ; Professor Faber, 1870 ; Richard T. Greener,
1873; Dr. Louis Wood, 1879; Hon. William Stoney, 1880;
Professor R. Means Davis, 1882; Professor A. C. Moore,
1904. The other side has been occupied by: Professor
Lieber, 1836; Professor R. W. Barn well (nephew of Hon.
R. W. Barn well ) , 1856 mother and sisters continued to live
here after his death in 1863 ; Hon. R. W. Barnwell, 1 866 ;
Professor William Main, 1873 ; General M. L. Bonham, 1879 ;
Professor Patton, 1882; Professor Bain, 1898; Professor
Gordon B. Moore, 1910; Professor E. Marion Rucker, 1911.

ELLIOTT AND PINCKNEY COLLEGES.

President Barnwell urged on the board of trustees in
December, 1836, the need of more dormitory room : there
were then 142 students in the college, although it had been
planned to accommodate only 100; many rooms had three
students in them, which was not conducive to study. An
appropriation of |25,000 was secured. The building com-
mittee found that the least for which they could have two
dormitories built was f 26,000, which was the bid of Messrs.
Wade and Davis. The extra $1,000 was obtained from
unexpended moneys in the college treasury. According to
the contract one of the tenements was to be completed by
December 1, 1837, the other by March 1, 1838. The former
was finished and turned over for the occupation of students
by October 1, 1837, and at the regular December meeting of
the board it was stated that the other would be readv for



OF SOUTH CAROLINA 161

use by the specified time. These new dormitories were
known as "New South Building" and "New North Build-
ing," or "New South" and "New North" until 1848, when the
present names of Elliott and Pinckney Colleges were given
them. Room No. 1 of W. Elliott was occupied as an office by
the state treasurer from November, 1865, to midsummer,
1866.

THE LIBRARY.

[See chapter on The Library.]

HARPER AND LEGARE COLLEGES.

During the presidency of Hon. William C. Preston the
number of students reached its maximum in ante-bellum
days. In May, 1847, the professors were instructed to rent
rooms in town for such students as could not be accommo-
dated on the campus. A grant of $20,000 was secured from
the Legislature to put up two new college buildings and
remove the steward's house to the rear and south of the col-
lege buildings. President Preston reported in May, 1848,
that the committee had contracted for two buildings, one
connected with the old laboratory Legare College the
other on the site of the Steward's Hall Harper College
to be completed by October. They were meant to hold sixty
students. The report of Dr. R. W. Gibbes for the building
committee made in November shows that J. N. Scofield was
the contractor, and that the cost was $20,543.82.

In the center buildings of the two new colleges on the top
floors were halls for the literary societies. An extra thousand
dollars was spent in the fitting up of these. The Clariosophic
Society moved into Legare College from its old home in
Rutledge ; the Euphradian Society, whose old quarters were
in DeSaussure, occupied the uppermost floor of Harper
College.

The Confederate government used these colleges as hos-
pitals. When the Northern troops took possession of them
in May, 1865, Legare and Pinckney were filled with refugees,
twelve families occupying them in January, 1866. A large

11 H. U.



162 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY

part of Legare College was used for a time by the Federals
prior to December 6, 1865. The marshal and bursar, Mr.
W. H. Orchard, found that it was necessary to order the
refugee families to move out by July 1, 1866. Four rooms
in the center of Harper were used by the Federals as a
military prison.

THE OBSERVATORY.

The first observatory stood in the garden of the house
now occupied by Professor Colcock. It was erected in 1817
by Mr. Philipps, the cost not being given. It had a good
astronomical circle; but there was such meager equipment