Jemison-Vandegraaff House

Introduction

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Now a museum, the Jemison-Vandegraaff House is a historic home built in 1862 by its first owner, Robert Jemison, who was a wealthy landowner, businessman, and prominent state politician during the 19th century. The other namesake of the house, A.S. Vandergraff, was also a prominent figure, working as a lawyer, circuit judge, and serving in the state House of Representatives. The house is also significant for its Italianate architecture. It is one of the most elaborate homes built in the state at the end of the antebellum period (before the Civil War). Designed by architect Samuel Sloane, notable features include a first-floor veranda with paired columns and ornate tracery, a portico on the second floor with paired columns and a balustrade, and a cupola on the roof with pediments. Today, the house is open to tours and available to rent for weddings and other events.

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Jemison–Van de Graaff Mansion

Backstory and Context

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By the time Jemison built the house, he was very wealthy, having acquired his fortune in a number of ways. He invested in stage coaches, owned a lumber and sawmill business, operated surface coal mines, and, as alluded to above, owned large swaths of land totaling over 10,000 acres (he also owned 500 slaves). In the political arena, Jemison served in the Alabama Senate and House of Representatives. At the state convention in 1861, he argued strongly against secession but did serve in the Confederate Senate. Jemison was influential in other ways as well. He advocated for the establishment of a new hospital for the mentally ill in Tuscaloosa, and, after the war, he dedicated much of his time and energy in rebuilding the University of Alabama, which had largely been destroyed.

Jemison commissioned the construction of the home in 1857. He spared no expense in building it, spending approximately $80,000 which in today's numbers would equal around $2.2 million. It featured modern amenities for the period including a plumbing system, gas stove, built-in copper bath tub (this was the first permanent bath tub in Alabama), gas lighting, and an early type of a refrigerator. The house also features large panels of glass in the windows, which was very expensive at the time. Jemison was able to prevent Union forces from occupying or destroying the house in 1864 by hosting a wedding here. The troops agreed to leave the house alone.

The house remained in the family for several decades. His daughter, Cherokee Mims, and her husband, Andrew Coleman Hargrove, lived in the house after Jemison passed away in 1871. Hargrove also served in the state Senate and House of Representatives. Their daughter, Minnie Cherokee, married Vandergraaff. They had five children, one of whom invented a generator used to split atoms.

The house was restored in the 1940 by its owners J.P. and Nell Burchfield. In 1955, the next owner bought the house and donated it to the city, which used it as a public library (called the Friedman Public Library) until 1979. In 1972, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1980s, two local publications (first the Horizon then Antique Monthly) occupied the house. In 1991, the Jemison-Van de Graaff Mansion acquired it and opened it as a museum.

Sources

Floyd, Warner W. "Friedman Library." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. April 19, 1972. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/108c835b-8a56-461c-8cf2-c3dc2d84ffd1.

"History." Jemison-Vandegraaff House. Accessed December 18, 2020. http://www.jemisonmansion.com/history.html.

"Jemison-Vandegraaff House." Alabama Architecture. Spring 2014. https://alarchitecture.ua.edu/jemison-van-de-graaff-mansion.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jemison_Van_de_Graaff_Mansion.jpg

Additional Information